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Second Thessalonians chapter two,

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verse 13 through
chapter three, verse five.

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But we ought always to give thanks to God
for you brothers beloved by the Lord,

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because God chose you as a firstfruits
to be saved

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through sanctification
by the spirit and belief in the truth.

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To this he called you through our gospel,
so that you may obtain

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the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

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So then, brothers,
stand firm and hold to the traditions

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that you were taught by us, either
by our spoken word or by our letter.

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Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself,
and God our Father,

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who loved us and gave us eternal comfort
and good hope through grace.

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Comfort your hearts and establish them
in every good work and word.

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Finally, brothers,
pray for us that the word of the Lord

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may speed ahead
and be honored as happened among you,

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and that we may be delivered
from the wicked and evil men.

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For not all have faith,
but the Lord is faithful.

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He will establish you and guard
you against the evil one.

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And we have confidence

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in the Lord about you that you are doing
and will do the things that we command.

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May the Lord direct your hearts
to the love of God

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and to the steadfastness of Christ.

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Well,

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welcome to the weekend gathering of Christ
Community Chapel.

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My name is Zach.

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I'm one of the pastors here, and I'm
so glad you are here with us this weekend.

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And I'm going to break a rule
that I'm not supposed to break normally

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on Thursday nights and use the word night.

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We're so glad you're here at night.

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The reason I don't normally say night

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is because sometimes we use this video
on Sunday mornings,

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in our East service, and I'm not supposed
to give away that it's at nighttime.

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But I'm doing that here because actually,
in all of our weekend services

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this upcoming weekend.

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So all of our Sunday services
will be watching this video of the sermon.

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That's not normal.

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So if you're a guest,
normally I would be in person,

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but you're watching video
because this Sunday, I'll be hanging out

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with the students of Casey
at their fall retreat.

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Over 200 middle school and high school
students at Camp Carl can't wait

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to hang out with them.

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And in some ways, I'm not going to be
with you to be with them, to let you know

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that's how much value I place on your high
school and middle school students.

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Can't
wait to hang out with them this weekend

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and tell them about
how much God loves them in Jesus.

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So thanks for hanging in there
with the video.

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But we are going to continue our sermon

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series, going through first
and second Thessalonians.

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We're almost done, almost to the end
of our ten weeks that we've been spending

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in these letters on the series,
we're calling

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the church that God Calls good.

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That's because these letters, first
and second Thessalonians,

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are overwhelmingly positive.

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The apostle Paul is writing
to a young church in Thessalonica,

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and he is proud of them.

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They are doing great,
and we're leaning in to what it was

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that made them so special, what it was
that had God saying about them.

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And to them.

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You are a church that I call good,
in the hopes that we might become

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more like that and become increasingly
a church that God is happy with.

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So if you have a Bible, would you take it
out and open it to Second Thessalonians?

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We're going to look at the end of chapter
two, the beginning of chapter three.

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Take out your phone or your tablet
or whatever device you want to use.

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And hey, also, if you're here
and you maybe didn't bring a Bible,

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maybe you aren't super familiar
with the Bible,

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you know you're never going to find
second Thessalonians first.

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I am so glad that you're here.

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Thanks for hanging out with us
this weekend.

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I want you to know that this service
is for you, and I hope you enjoy it.

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But I also want you to know
if you want to follow along in the Bible,

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you can, just by reaching in front of you
and grabbing the Bible

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that's in the pew in front of you
or in the back of East Hall.

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And I preach from one of those Bibles
just for you,

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so that I can tell you
that today's reading is on page 930.

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It also be on the screen, behind me.

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If you don't want to follow along
and just read it there.

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All right.
As we're looking at this passage,

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there are three things
that I want to pull out.

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To show you three kind of points I want
to use as mile markers to guide our time.

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They're very simple.

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They go like this.
I want to talk about proof

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power and potential.

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Proof power and potential.

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All right.

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Let's start with the first one. Proof.

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Now when I use the word proof here,

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I don't so much mean, necessarily proof
to win an argument.

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Like when, pastor talks about proof,
you would suppose maybe I'm going to get

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into the scientific argument for God or

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how you can know Jesus rose from the dead.

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And there are great arguments
for both of those things that I hope

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you'll check out.

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But that's not what I mean this time
when I use the word proof instead,

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I mean a little more,
what I'll call proof of concept.

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Proof of concept.

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It's when you show somebody enough
for them

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to think what they didn't think was good
is actually good,

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or what they didn't think was
possible is actually possible.

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Like, like an example that comes to mind
for me is in the past, when my wife and I

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have been looking to buy a house,
we are very different home buyers.

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So we walk into our house, she sees

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what will be when she gets done with it.

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Okay, I see what is okay.

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So when I walk in, if it's in disrepair
and I am not handy at all, like

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if you came to my house and said, Zach,
do you have this tool?

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I would have to have
you show me a picture of that tool

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before I can answer that question
so I don't see what will be.

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I see what is.

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I see broken things that I couldn't fix.

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And I, I think most people must be like me
because I've noticed that now

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when you buy something on Amazon
or, or various other websites,

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they actually have a feature where
you can place that thing in your house.

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Have you seen this?

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So like, you're gonna buy a couch
and you don't know if my wife can look

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at that couch and go, oh, that will look
great in our living room, I can't.

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So it's like this augmented reality thing
where you take your phone

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and you can position
the couch in your living room to see it.

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And that's because they know

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people like me are never going to buy it
until there's proof of concept.

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Proof that what I think might look good
is actually going to look good.

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That's what this passage is about.

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See, the Apostle Paul is a missionary.

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He his job is to travel
all over the known world

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and to tell people about Jesus
and to start churches.

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So this is a letter from a missionary
to a church that he helped

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start in a city called Thessalonica.

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But they're important to him
for this reason.

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Look at what he says in verse 13 and 14.

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He says this.

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But we are always to give
thanks to God for you brothers,

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beloved by the Lord, because God chose you

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as the first fruits to be saved

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through sanctification by the spirit
and belief in this and the truth.

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To this he called you through our gospel,

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so that you may obtain
the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

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He says to this church,
you are the first fruits.

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And what he means by that is,
you are one of the first cities

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that I went to and preach the gospel,
and a church was formed,

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and you are the first evidence

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of what God is doing, the first evidence
that our message is true.

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You are our proof of concept.

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So Paul says, I'm traveling all over
the world telling people about Jesus.

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And you got to remember in Paul's day,
Christianity is a very new religion, okay?

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It's totally new.

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Paul is showing up and saying that
a guy named Jesus was the Son of God,

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that he lived and died and rose
from the dead, ascended into heaven,

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and he is now the only way
to have a relationship with God.

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But he is the way anyone who wants to
can have a relationship with God.

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It's a totally new religion.

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It's an outrageous claim.

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And what he's saying is, as I travel,
I point to you

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as evidence that what I'm saying is true.

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You are first fruits.

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You are my proof of concept.

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And that's important
because people have a hard time

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believing something they can't see.

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They have a hard time buying into
something that they haven't experienced.

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So Paul's saying, it's important to me
that I can point to you

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as my proof of concept.

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Let me give you an example
that illustrates what I mean.

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There's a guy in Hollywood
a couple years ago, decade or so ago,

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and he had a script that he had written

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about his experience as a jazz drummer.

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Okay.

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He was a drummer in a jazz, group.

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He went to a jazz music school.

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He lived in that world.

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And, and he wanted to make a movie
about his experience.

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Not not a biography, just a movie about
the experience of being a jazz drummer.

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And he wanted to make it a movie
about the pursuit of perfection.

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Like, like the work you had to put in
to be really, truly great at something.

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And he wanted to drive at the question
of how far is too far?

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How maniacal should you get in the pursuit
of being great at something?

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And more importantly,
how much should you let other people

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push you in your pursuit of being great?

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He wrote the script
and he took it to every movie studio

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he could get a meeting with,
and no one would buy it.

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No one was interested.

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Everyone thought, you can't make a movie
about jazz drumming.

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That's too niche, that's too esoteric.

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No one will want to watch it.

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No one really cares.

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No one would buy it.

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Which you think
would make him give up. But.

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But he believed that there was
a great movie there, and that it was.

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It was just that they couldn't see it.

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So what he decided to do was
he made a short film version of the movie

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like a five minute version of the movie,
that he could show the movie studios

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so that they could see what he had
in mind, that they could catch the vision

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that he had for.

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Why this movie would be so poignant
for people.

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So he makes the short film,
and he starts taking that to the studios,

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and the minute he does that,
they buy it right away.

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They buy it.

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That movie, by the way,
went on to become the movie whiplash.

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Maybe you saw it.

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That movie won three Oscars.

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It was nominated for Best Picture.

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It took $3 million to make,
and it made $50 million globally.

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So in other words,
when this guy has a script, he has a $47

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million script,
an Oscar winning, Oscar worthy script,

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and no one can buy it because it's
really hard to buy what you can't see.

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They couldn't see it.

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So he
realized, I need to give them a glimpse.

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I need to give them, a sign.

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I need them to be able to see my vision.

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And if they can just see
a little bit of it, I believe

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they'll see the beauty of what I have to
tell.

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That's what Paul is saying,

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that Christians and churches

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are meant to be proof of concept
for the message of Jesus Christ,

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that their lives, that their community,
are meant to be a kind of vision

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for people who are not yet Christians
to look at and say,

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wow, there's something compelling there.

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There's something interesting there.

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Paul is saying, listen, I'm taking
the gospel to the ends of the earth.

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Paul is writing the New Testament,
but he's saying, I am dependent on this.

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I have a message,
but you are my proof of concept.

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You are my proof of concept.

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Well, I want you to think second point
about why that's so important.

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What's the power of a proof of concept?

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Why is it so important that I can
visualize a couch in my living room?

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Why is it so important
that I watch a five minute short film

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to be able to understand
what it's because seeing is believing.

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It's because we can see something
and realize,

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oh wow, what I thought wouldn't work
actually works.

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Now, the best expression of this actually
is in the book of Psalms.

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It's this beautiful verse in Psalm 34,
verse eight,

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which says, this taste
and see that the Lord is good.

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Blessed
is the man who takes refuge in him.

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Other translations will say,
blessed is the man who trusts in him.

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00:13:17,596 --> 00:13:21,734
The psalmist is saying that
this is how most people work.

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You have to taste and then trust.

233
00:13:25,838 --> 00:13:29,441
You have to see
and then believe, experience

234
00:13:29,775 --> 00:13:33,913
and then buy in and taste and see,
he says.

235
00:13:34,413 --> 00:13:37,049
And then you can trust.

236
00:13:37,049 --> 00:13:38,684
Now when I read that verse, I can't help

237
00:13:38,684 --> 00:13:42,288
but think about a particular experience
I had a few months ago

238
00:13:42,555 --> 00:13:45,558
at this annual get together of pastors
that I go

239
00:13:45,558 --> 00:13:48,561
to every February in San Diego.

240
00:13:48,727 --> 00:13:53,432
I know it's hard to go to San Diego in
February, but somehow I make it through.

241
00:13:53,999 --> 00:13:57,536
And when I was there at this past time,
there's a guy who leads the group

242
00:13:57,536 --> 00:13:59,905
that I go to. His name is, Larry Osborne.

243
00:13:59,905 --> 00:14:02,608
He's a phenomenal teacher
and preacher, has written a lot of books.

244
00:14:02,608 --> 00:14:06,579
And actually, one year from right about
today, he's going to come preach here.

245
00:14:06,579 --> 00:14:08,514
I'm very excited for you to meet him.

246
00:14:08,514 --> 00:14:10,015
You're going to really like him.

247
00:14:10,015 --> 00:14:13,352
But we're standing
in the kitchen of the house where we meet,

248
00:14:13,619 --> 00:14:15,521
and we're getting ready
to leave to go somewhere.

249
00:14:15,521 --> 00:14:19,425
But everybody's putting together
a lunch really quickly, and I see Larry

250
00:14:19,425 --> 00:14:23,495
working over the counter at something
that I assume he's going to eat.

251
00:14:23,495 --> 00:14:25,831
And so I say to him, Larry,
what are you making?

252
00:14:25,831 --> 00:14:27,132
What are you going to eat?

253
00:14:27,132 --> 00:14:32,071
And he goes, oh, I'm making a mayonnaise,
peanut butter and pickle sandwich,

254
00:14:33,572 --> 00:14:35,941
which I thought was about
the grossest thing I've ever heard of

255
00:14:35,941 --> 00:14:36,842
in my entire life.

256
00:14:36,842 --> 00:14:40,446
And I shared that opinion
pretty strongly with Larry,

257
00:14:40,779 --> 00:14:43,916
both in my body language and my face
and in what I said.

258
00:14:43,916 --> 00:14:45,751
That's disgusting, Larry.

259
00:14:45,751 --> 00:14:47,553
I said, why do I fly across the country

260
00:14:47,553 --> 00:14:50,522
to learn from a man
who would eat something like that?

261
00:14:51,023 --> 00:14:54,026
And the thing is, Larry, in his wisdom,
he didn't say anything.

262
00:14:54,026 --> 00:14:56,695
He just grabbed another piece of bread
out of the

263
00:14:56,695 --> 00:14:58,797
the loaf of bread, put it on the counter,

264
00:14:58,797 --> 00:15:01,934
started spreading peanut butter
and then mayonnaise and pickles on it,

265
00:15:02,034 --> 00:15:05,704
folded it up, handed it to me and said,
all right, big shot, try it,

266
00:15:06,639 --> 00:15:09,541
try it.

267
00:15:09,541 --> 00:15:12,544
He's calling my bluff, so I did.

268
00:15:12,845 --> 00:15:15,681
I tasted the mayonnaise,
peanut butter and pickle sandwich.

269
00:15:15,681 --> 00:15:19,051
And I'm here to tell you it was one of
the top ten experiences of my life.

270
00:15:19,952 --> 00:15:21,320
Okay, that might be an exaggeration,

271
00:15:22,922 --> 00:15:24,023
but it was awesome.

272
00:15:24,023 --> 00:15:25,024
It was awesome.

273
00:15:25,024 --> 00:15:26,759
Mayonnaise, peanut butter and pickles.

274
00:15:26,759 --> 00:15:29,161
Sandwiches are delicious.

275
00:15:29,161 --> 00:15:29,962
They're delicious.

276
00:15:29,962 --> 00:15:33,232
I know it sounds disgusting, and I know
some of you are never going to try it.

277
00:15:33,232 --> 00:15:36,402
Others of you are going to go home
and try it as soon as you get home.

278
00:15:36,402 --> 00:15:40,773
And when you do, you will see
how magically these flavors work together.

279
00:15:41,106 --> 00:15:44,677
It's like three things you didn't know
belong together, but really do.

280
00:15:45,010 --> 00:15:48,948
That's what I think of every time I think
of the psalmist saying taste and see.

281
00:15:49,181 --> 00:15:52,918
And the reason
why is because in that moment I had zero

282
00:15:52,918 --> 00:15:56,989
belief, zero confidence,
that a mayonnaise, peanut butter

283
00:15:56,989 --> 00:15:59,992
and pickle sandwich would be good at all.

284
00:16:01,026 --> 00:16:04,029
And Larry said to me, taste

285
00:16:04,430 --> 00:16:06,932
and see, taste and see.

286
00:16:06,932 --> 00:16:10,769
And when I did, I realized
just how good it can be.

287
00:16:11,303 --> 00:16:14,873
Now you're Paul
and you're traveling over the known world.

288
00:16:14,873 --> 00:16:19,611
In the first century, you're preaching
a religion that no one has ever heard of.

289
00:16:19,712 --> 00:16:23,882
You are telling them that everything
they thought they knew about God is wrong,

290
00:16:23,882 --> 00:16:28,287
that they can be forgiven through Jesus,
that they can have a relationship with God

291
00:16:28,387 --> 00:16:32,291
through Jesus, that they have to turn
from their sin and follow Jesus.

292
00:16:32,424 --> 00:16:35,627
You're
preaching a message that to most people

293
00:16:37,363 --> 00:16:38,263
is a mayonnaise,

294
00:16:38,263 --> 00:16:41,266
peanut butter, and pickle sandwich.

295
00:16:41,533 --> 00:16:44,503
It's not something
that they're interested in.

296
00:16:44,503 --> 00:16:46,472
You can see that,
by the way, in this passage.

297
00:16:46,472 --> 00:16:49,908
Look at what he says right after he says,
oh, you're my proof of concept.

298
00:16:49,908 --> 00:16:53,645
And he says this in verse 15, 16 and 17.

299
00:16:53,645 --> 00:16:54,346
He says this.

300
00:16:54,346 --> 00:16:59,051
So then, brothers,
stand firm and hold to the traditions

301
00:16:59,051 --> 00:17:03,555
that you were taught by us, either
by our spoken word or by our letter.

302
00:17:04,423 --> 00:17:08,894
Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself,
and God our Father, who loved us

303
00:17:08,894 --> 00:17:13,665
and gave us eternal comfort and good hope
through grace, comfort your hearts

304
00:17:13,932 --> 00:17:17,102
and establish them in every good work

305
00:17:18,103 --> 00:17:19,638
and word.

306
00:17:19,638 --> 00:17:22,007
Now that's quintessential
biblical language.

307
00:17:22,007 --> 00:17:23,742
Stand firm.

308
00:17:23,742 --> 00:17:26,478
Good works, good words.

309
00:17:26,478 --> 00:17:29,982
He's telling them, keep doing
these things that God is telling you.

310
00:17:29,982 --> 00:17:31,583
Be obedient.

311
00:17:31,583 --> 00:17:33,452
Surrender your life.

312
00:17:33,452 --> 00:17:36,422
Do the things God is telling you to do.

313
00:17:36,422 --> 00:17:39,391
And I'm telling you, as a guy who's
spent the past 20 years of his life

314
00:17:39,391 --> 00:17:42,895
preaching similar things to people,
for most people,

315
00:17:42,895 --> 00:17:46,532
that message is a mayonnaise,
peanut butter, and pickle sandwich.

316
00:17:49,301 --> 00:17:51,537
I feel that when I get up here

317
00:17:51,537 --> 00:17:55,140
and preach messages
like two weeks ago on judgment,

318
00:17:56,175 --> 00:17:58,811
or four weeks ago on death,

319
00:17:58,811 --> 00:18:01,146
I feel that when I get up here and say

320
00:18:01,146 --> 00:18:06,685
that God knows best how life works
and that he's telling you

321
00:18:06,718 --> 00:18:12,157
that, for example, being generous leads
to greater happiness than being selfish.

322
00:18:12,391 --> 00:18:16,161
I know for most people that's mayonnaise,
peanut butter, and pickle.

323
00:18:17,463 --> 00:18:19,498
But when I say that God tells us

324
00:18:19,498 --> 00:18:23,402
that that relationships work
best when they go straight to marriage,

325
00:18:23,402 --> 00:18:27,706
and not when you get on the relationship
escalator and begin sleeping together

326
00:18:27,706 --> 00:18:31,810
and then living together
and then doing things at your own pace.

327
00:18:31,810 --> 00:18:36,248
I know for most people in their 20s
and 30s, that is a mayonnaise,

328
00:18:36,248 --> 00:18:39,251
pickle and peanut butter sandwich.

329
00:18:39,485 --> 00:18:44,656
Most of what the Bible has to say
doesn't sound very appetizing to us.

330
00:18:44,756 --> 00:18:50,629
Most of what the Bible has to say doesn't
sound like or feel like good news to us.

331
00:18:50,629 --> 00:18:54,900
The message that God knows best,
that God wants good things

332
00:18:54,900 --> 00:18:57,936
for us, that we need to zig
when we've been zagging.

333
00:18:57,936 --> 00:19:01,440
The message of surrender,
the message of repentance,

334
00:19:01,540 --> 00:19:05,444
the message of forgiveness through
the life and death and resurrection

335
00:19:05,444 --> 00:19:09,948
of Jesus is, for most people,
something they're not interested in.

336
00:19:10,082 --> 00:19:15,187
Which is why Paul says it is the job
of every Christian to live their life

337
00:19:15,187 --> 00:19:19,625
in such a way that the gospel of
Jesus is proven to be true.

338
00:19:21,360 --> 00:19:24,062
That's what he said.

339
00:19:24,062 --> 00:19:25,964
He's saying,
listen, I'm traveling all over the world

340
00:19:25,964 --> 00:19:27,633
telling people about Jesus.

341
00:19:27,633 --> 00:19:32,371
But what I'm dependent on in my preaching,
what I'm dependent on, in my message,

342
00:19:32,371 --> 00:19:37,209
is that you are inviting
those around you to taste and see

343
00:19:38,610 --> 00:19:42,948
that you are surrendering your life,
that you are pursuing

344
00:19:42,948 --> 00:19:47,219
obedience,
that you are giving control to Jesus.

345
00:19:47,219 --> 00:19:51,790
And as a result, those around
you are able to see how he leads you

346
00:19:51,790 --> 00:19:55,694
to goodness, to stand back and say, wow,
I didn't think that

347
00:19:55,694 --> 00:19:57,963
would lead to happiness, but there it is.

348
00:19:57,963 --> 00:20:01,200
I didn't think that would be good,
but there it is.

349
00:20:01,200 --> 00:20:02,334
I couldn't see it.

350
00:20:02,334 --> 00:20:05,304
But now I can.
Brother and sister in Christ.

351
00:20:05,304 --> 00:20:07,172
Do you realize what Paul is saying?

352
00:20:07,172 --> 00:20:12,811
That what he's saying
is that your holiness, your pursuit

353
00:20:12,811 --> 00:20:17,349
of righteousness, your obedience to
Jesus, is not just about you.

354
00:20:19,384 --> 00:20:22,120
It is evidence

355
00:20:22,120 --> 00:20:25,123
of the reality of the gospel.

356
00:20:26,458 --> 00:20:30,295
In other words,
it says, you and I surrender to Jesus

357
00:20:30,295 --> 00:20:36,301
that we become living testimonies
to the goodness of his authority.

358
00:20:36,301 --> 00:20:40,606
We become living examples of the grace
that he extends.

359
00:20:40,606 --> 00:20:45,978
We become living, breathing
examples of his goodness as a king.

360
00:20:45,978 --> 00:20:47,713
We are ourselves.

361
00:20:47,713 --> 00:20:51,617
The invitation to our neighbors
and friends and family members

362
00:20:51,617 --> 00:20:54,620
to taste and see.

363
00:20:55,621 --> 00:20:58,890
Which is why the church that God calls
good is not just a church

364
00:20:58,890 --> 00:21:02,995
where the preaching is true and right,
or the music is true and right,

365
00:21:02,995 --> 00:21:05,163
or the Bible studies are true and right.

366
00:21:05,163 --> 00:21:09,468
The church that God calls good is a church
that yes, is preaching truth,

367
00:21:09,468 --> 00:21:15,040
singing truth, teaching
truth, and living truth.

368
00:21:18,977 --> 00:21:22,347
Because the reality is that
if I stand up here, for example,

369
00:21:22,547 --> 00:21:27,819
and I say that God is telling you
that sex is only best expressed

370
00:21:27,819 --> 00:21:31,156
in the covenant of marriage,
where you're not using each other,

371
00:21:31,156 --> 00:21:32,724
but you're committed to each other

372
00:21:32,724 --> 00:21:36,895
because God desires for you
to have a relationship full of intimacy.

373
00:21:36,962 --> 00:21:40,365
And if you don't do it his way,
you will suffer

374
00:21:40,365 --> 00:21:42,734
a lack of intimacy as a result.

375
00:21:42,734 --> 00:21:44,836
If your friend turns to you and says,

376
00:21:44,836 --> 00:21:48,540
do you believe this mayonnaise,
peanut butter and pickle stuff

377
00:21:49,574 --> 00:21:52,577
and you say, never tried it.

378
00:21:57,749 --> 00:22:01,019
They have no interest in it anymore.

379
00:22:04,156 --> 00:22:07,159
You see, it's our willingness

380
00:22:07,459 --> 00:22:10,462
to step into obedience

381
00:22:10,629 --> 00:22:13,965
that is the proof of concept God uses

382
00:22:15,167 --> 00:22:19,171
to bring those around us into a place

383
00:22:20,505 --> 00:22:23,508
where they're willing to taste and see.

384
00:22:26,778 --> 00:22:29,781
It's the testimony of your obedience

385
00:22:29,781 --> 00:22:32,784
that gets your friend to come

386
00:22:33,452 --> 00:22:35,520
and hear what

387
00:22:35,520 --> 00:22:38,890
whoever is up here saying has to say.

388
00:22:39,691 --> 00:22:42,961
Because they've seen the evidence,
they've seen the power.

389
00:22:42,961 --> 00:22:46,765
It's the short film
that will lead them to watch the movie.

390
00:22:46,898 --> 00:22:51,002
It's spreading the peanut butter
and mayonnaise that will get them to taste

391
00:22:51,002 --> 00:22:55,841
and try it and enter into the idea that
perhaps there is a God who loves them,

392
00:22:55,841 --> 00:22:59,845
and he does have a plan for their lives,
and they can meet him today.

393
00:22:59,845 --> 00:23:03,882
And that well, leads me to my third point,
which is to say, do you see what Paul

394
00:23:03,882 --> 00:23:04,616
is saying?

395
00:23:05,684 --> 00:23:06,118
That it's

396
00:23:06,118 --> 00:23:11,957
preaching and the power of your life
that increases the potential

397
00:23:12,090 --> 00:23:16,461
that the nations
and your neighbor will buy into Jesus?

398
00:23:16,461 --> 00:23:19,264
Look at what he says in chapter
three says it so well.

399
00:23:19,264 --> 00:23:22,267
He says as finally, brothers, pray for us

400
00:23:22,467 --> 00:23:25,470
that the word of the Lord may speed ahead

401
00:23:25,637 --> 00:23:29,775
and be honored as it happened among you,

402
00:23:30,442 --> 00:23:32,844
as it happened among you.

403
00:23:32,844 --> 00:23:34,713
I love that he says, hey, pray for us.

404
00:23:34,713 --> 00:23:36,481
We're going to keep taking the gospel out.

405
00:23:36,481 --> 00:23:37,916
And what we're hoping to see

406
00:23:37,916 --> 00:23:42,120
is that the same thing that happened with
you will happen with them.

407
00:23:42,120 --> 00:23:46,825
We're preaching the message, but you,
the power is in the proof of concept

408
00:23:46,958 --> 00:23:48,059
of what God has done.

409
00:23:48,059 --> 00:23:51,663
He says this, by the way, in first
Thessalonians chapter one, when he says

410
00:23:51,797 --> 00:23:55,200
everyone is talking
about the change in your life,

411
00:23:55,333 --> 00:23:58,403
he is saying, I'm going to preach it,
you're going to live it.

412
00:23:58,470 --> 00:24:02,307
And when you put those things together,
the potential is unlimited.

413
00:24:03,442 --> 00:24:05,944
Now it means two things
here, and I want you to hear me say them.

414
00:24:05,944 --> 00:24:10,015
The first thing I believe that he means
is that the reason, Paul,

415
00:24:10,048 --> 00:24:11,783
you understand
if you read the book of acts.

416
00:24:11,783 --> 00:24:14,786
Paul was chased out of Thessalonica.

417
00:24:14,920 --> 00:24:16,154
Paul has been beaten.

418
00:24:16,154 --> 00:24:17,489
He's been shipwrecked.

419
00:24:17,489 --> 00:24:20,325
He's been snake
bitten. He's been lied about.

420
00:24:20,325 --> 00:24:22,127
He's had to sneak out at night.

421
00:24:22,127 --> 00:24:24,830
And sometimes I wonder
what kept him going.

422
00:24:24,830 --> 00:24:28,600
And I think the first thing he's saying
here is what kept him going

423
00:24:28,667 --> 00:24:32,337
was the proof of concept in places
like Thessalonica.

424
00:24:33,438 --> 00:24:36,341
Let me just be super vulnerable
with you for a minute.

425
00:24:36,341 --> 00:24:39,144
The last two weeks for me
have been incredibly hard ones

426
00:24:39,144 --> 00:24:42,147
as a pastor.

427
00:24:43,348 --> 00:24:45,183
I mean, Joe could tell you
I popped in his office

428
00:24:45,183 --> 00:24:47,786
just the other day and said, man,
you gotta help me with this.

429
00:24:47,786 --> 00:24:48,854
This has been really hard.

430
00:24:48,854 --> 00:24:52,324
Being a pastor
sometimes means being in your living room

431
00:24:52,324 --> 00:24:54,993
or your hospital room at some of the
hardest moments of your life.

432
00:24:55,994 --> 00:24:57,662
And listen, that's a privilege
I want you to hear.

433
00:24:57,662 --> 00:24:59,431
That's a that's a privilege.

434
00:24:59,431 --> 00:25:01,466
It's an honor to be with you.

435
00:25:01,466 --> 00:25:03,535
But it's hard

436
00:25:03,535 --> 00:25:05,804
and it's heavy,

437
00:25:05,804 --> 00:25:08,373
and sometimes it's hard to get up here
and preach about judgment

438
00:25:08,373 --> 00:25:09,875
or death or something.

439
00:25:09,875 --> 00:25:12,878
You know, people aren't going to like,
just the other day, my daughter was right

440
00:25:12,878 --> 00:25:15,881
at the house going, dad,
somebody called you stupid on YouTube.

441
00:25:17,449 --> 00:25:18,283
And it was my wife.

442
00:25:18,283 --> 00:25:21,286
No, I'm just kidding.

443
00:25:21,853 --> 00:25:23,255
It can be hard.

444
00:25:23,255 --> 00:25:26,825
But what Paul is saying
is what keeps pastors going,

445
00:25:26,925 --> 00:25:30,896
what keeps missionaries going,
what keeps preachers of the gospel going,

446
00:25:31,096 --> 00:25:35,000
is the evidence
of the reality of the gospel in your life

447
00:25:36,468 --> 00:25:37,235
and in God's grace.

448
00:25:37,235 --> 00:25:40,772
Just this week, I got stories from,
a Monday night ministry

449
00:25:40,772 --> 00:25:43,875
we have called Region of People's Lives
that are changing.

450
00:25:43,875 --> 00:25:46,878
There's a testimony Joe shared with me
a couple of a couple

451
00:25:46,878 --> 00:25:49,981
who's getting married here at the church,
and the guy was an atheist

452
00:25:49,981 --> 00:25:51,016
when he started coming.

453
00:25:51,016 --> 00:25:53,285
And Jesus has just changed his life.

454
00:25:53,285 --> 00:25:57,088
And you read those
and you say it's working.

455
00:25:59,124 --> 00:26:00,358
Paul says, pray for me.

456
00:26:00,358 --> 00:26:03,361
Here's my prayer request that everywhere
I go, everywhere

457
00:26:03,361 --> 00:26:07,566
I preach, what I saw happen with
you might happen there.

458
00:26:07,566 --> 00:26:13,505
Listen, your pursuit of Jesus is what will
keep me preaching for the next 20 years.

459
00:26:13,505 --> 00:26:16,174
In God's grace.

460
00:26:16,174 --> 00:26:19,177
But the second thing he means.

461
00:26:19,945 --> 00:26:21,479
Is that the power of gospel

462
00:26:21,479 --> 00:26:24,482
ministry is in preaching.

463
00:26:25,150 --> 00:26:28,153
And in your life.

464
00:26:29,087 --> 00:26:33,558
You can have an effective ministry
just by having a phenomenal preacher.

465
00:26:34,192 --> 00:26:34,726
You know that.

466
00:26:34,726 --> 00:26:36,928
And I know that we listen
to the same people.

467
00:26:36,928 --> 00:26:38,463
We watch the same YouTube channels.

468
00:26:38,463 --> 00:26:39,864
Okay, you think they're awesome?

469
00:26:39,864 --> 00:26:42,300
I think they're awesome to.

470
00:26:42,300 --> 00:26:45,804
You can grow a church just on the strength
of an effective communicator.

471
00:26:45,804 --> 00:26:47,439
You gotta have a really
good one. But you can do it.

472
00:26:49,140 --> 00:26:50,041
You can also grow

473
00:26:50,041 --> 00:26:53,011
a church on the strength of changed lives.

474
00:26:53,011 --> 00:26:55,814
Even if the preaching is not interesting
or boring.

475
00:26:55,814 --> 00:26:56,948
You can grow a ministry

476
00:26:56,948 --> 00:27:00,552
just by showing the effect of the gospel
in the lives of people.

477
00:27:00,685 --> 00:27:05,123
But if you want to take the gospel
from Jerusalem on the day of Ascension,

478
00:27:05,156 --> 00:27:08,393
the day of Pentecost to Thessalonica,
to Rome,

479
00:27:08,393 --> 00:27:11,396
to the ends of the world, you need both.

480
00:27:12,030 --> 00:27:14,032
You need both.

481
00:27:14,032 --> 00:27:17,035
You need powerful, unapologetic preaching,

482
00:27:17,235 --> 00:27:20,238
but you need a congregation
that is living it out.

483
00:27:20,805 --> 00:27:23,675
That is saying to people,
I know it sounds like mayonnaise,

484
00:27:23,675 --> 00:27:26,211
peanut butter and pickle.
I know it sounds gross.

485
00:27:26,211 --> 00:27:28,880
I know you don't think God is for you.

486
00:27:28,880 --> 00:27:31,883
I know generosity doesn't sound great.

487
00:27:31,916 --> 00:27:35,520
I know surrendering authority
to Jesus doesn't sound great.

488
00:27:35,553 --> 00:27:38,056
I know on the surface it isn't appealing.

489
00:27:38,056 --> 00:27:40,425
But watch what he's doing in my life.

490
00:27:40,425 --> 00:27:43,762
Because I'm telling you, it's
transforming me.

491
00:27:43,762 --> 00:27:47,132
It's preaching and testimony.

492
00:27:48,566 --> 00:27:50,735
That's what this passage is all about.

493
00:27:50,735 --> 00:27:52,270
Paul says, here's what keeps me going.

494
00:27:52,270 --> 00:27:53,538
Here's what keeps me preaching.

495
00:27:53,538 --> 00:27:55,640
Here's what keeps the gospel advancing.

496
00:27:55,640 --> 00:27:57,342
It's the story of Jesus.

497
00:27:57,342 --> 00:28:01,813
It's the truth of the gospel,
and it's the proof of concept in the lives

498
00:28:01,813 --> 00:28:06,751
of men and women and families and churches
that are being changed.

499
00:28:06,785 --> 00:28:10,388
It's when you forgive that family member
you've been bitter towards,

500
00:28:10,555 --> 00:28:14,225
and when they ask you why, you tell them
Jesus and they go, what does that mean?

501
00:28:14,225 --> 00:28:16,194
And you go, I don't know how to explain
it. Come with me.

502
00:28:16,194 --> 00:28:19,197
This weekend there's another guy
who would tell you all about it.

503
00:28:21,066 --> 00:28:23,201
It's preaching

504
00:28:23,201 --> 00:28:25,603
and proof of concept.

505
00:28:25,603 --> 00:28:30,375
It's preaching
and the power of changed lives.

506
00:28:31,476 --> 00:28:33,278
If that can take the gospel,
hear me on this.

507
00:28:33,278 --> 00:28:34,045
I'll end with this.

508
00:28:34,045 --> 00:28:37,348
If that can take the gospel
from Jerusalem to Thessalonica

509
00:28:37,382 --> 00:28:41,653
to Rome to Hudson, Ohio,
it can reach that family member.

510
00:28:41,686 --> 00:28:43,388
You're so desperate to come to Jesus.

511
00:28:48,560 --> 00:28:48,927
There's not a

512
00:28:48,927 --> 00:28:54,299
single person in your family
or in your circle, beyond the potential

513
00:28:54,365 --> 00:28:57,469
of what the gospel can do,
if it is rightly preached

514
00:28:57,635 --> 00:29:00,638
and rightly lived.

515
00:29:01,773 --> 00:29:04,275
Don't you want that?

516
00:29:04,275 --> 00:29:07,278
I know I do, I know I do.

517
00:29:07,579 --> 00:29:10,448
That's what makes a church

518
00:29:10,448 --> 00:29:12,584
good. Let me pray for us.

519
00:29:12,584 --> 00:29:17,055
Father God, thank you so much
for this passage and what it teaches us.

520
00:29:17,055 --> 00:29:21,359
Thank you that you have given each
one of us proof of concept

521
00:29:21,359 --> 00:29:25,330
in the lives of people around
us, in the the lives of people we know,

522
00:29:25,330 --> 00:29:29,701
in the stories that we've heard
that led us to be interested in Jesus.

523
00:29:29,701 --> 00:29:32,170
God make us those kinds of people.

524
00:29:32,170 --> 00:29:36,107
Make us a church full of preachers
and teachers and evangelists and

525
00:29:36,241 --> 00:29:39,677
and children's ministry volunteers
who accurately

526
00:29:39,677 --> 00:29:43,848
and excitedly share Jesus with people,
but also make us a church

527
00:29:43,915 --> 00:29:48,019
full of people whose lives
are being transformed by the gospel

528
00:29:49,354 --> 00:29:50,522
so that

529
00:29:50,522 --> 00:29:53,491
one might feed into the other
and vice versa.

530
00:29:54,292 --> 00:29:57,295
We ask this because there are people
we are desperate

531
00:29:57,595 --> 00:30:00,899
to see come to faith in Jesus,
and it's our hope

532
00:30:00,899 --> 00:30:04,502
that you will use our lives as a vehicle
to make that happen.

533
00:30:05,503 --> 00:30:07,405
In his name we pray. Amen.