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At Sandals Church, our vision is to be real with ourselves, God and others. This channel features sermons and teaching from Pastor Matt Brown and other members of the Sandals Church preaching team. You can find sermon notes, videos and more content at http://sandalschurch.com/watch
Music Hey everyone I'm Ashley Church I'm a worship leader here at Sandals, and today we will be reading out of Luke chapter 10 verses 38 through 42. Would you all stand for the reading of Scripture? As Jesus and the disciples continued on their way to Jerusalem, they came to a certain village where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. Her sister Mary sat at the Lord's feet listening to what he taught, but Martha was distracted by a big dinner she was preparing. She came to Jesus and said, Lord, doesn't it seem unfair to you that my sister just sits here while I do all the work? Tell her to come and help me. But the Lord said to her, my dear Martha, you are worried and upset over all these details. There is only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it and it will not be taken away from her. Let's pray. Lord, we thank you for your word. We pray that you would speak through Pastor Matt and that you would give him peace and courage as he speaks your truth. I pray our hearts would be prepared to receive the word you have for us today. We love you and it's in your name we pray. Amen. Grab a seat. Thank you. Let's give her a hand. I have to admit that while she was reading that eight font, I was a little jealous because I couldn't see it at all. I just looked blurred. I'm like, go for it, Ashley. Go for it. So I know all my critics. Why don't you read the word of God? Because I can't see it. But she could. She's got young eyes. We are in this series that is controversial and I wish that it wasn't, but it is. And I want to thank you as a church for being so supportive of me and praying for me through the years as I've grown as your pastor. And one of the reasons I haven't addressed this issue in the past for 25 years is I didn't feel equipped already. I didn't feel like I had a grasp of church history or an understanding of the original language in the way that I do now. And so we're just going to start off just to increase the controversy, amen. I'm going to teach you some Hebrew. So you want to know how you say she in Hebrew? You ready? He. Yeah. That's how you say she in Hebrew, right? You want to say her? You want to learn another word in her? She la. So it's not as funny, but that's how you say it. And so there's so much about pronouns today. And one of the comments was, oh great, you're teaching on pronouns. The Bible is full of pronouns because it's full of language. And language uses pronouns to let us know who they're talking about. Is it a man? It is, is it a woman? And that's something that's important as a church. We talked about last week that gender is binary. The Bible teaches that men or men and women are women. And here's the thing that I want to challenge you on today. It's that the Bible is full of this idea that women lead and teach everywhere in Scripture. And somebody can say, well, how did I miss that pastramat? Well, because God is hilarious. He gave me a great example this week. I was partnering with my son to do a project on his car. I'm not a real man. Usually we hire real men to do those things. But I was frustrated. And so I went to the, to Ace Hardware to get a particular tool. And I went into Ace Hardware and a lot of the employees there work at Sandals. And so they were gracious to me. I said, hey, I don't know which size tool I need. Can I take a handful of these out into the parking lot, figure it out and come back. And they're like, yeah, we just hope pastramat doesn't rob us. So they let me go out. And I was at Ace Hardware in a place called Woodcrest, which is in Riverside, California. And as I was working with this tool, I looked up on the building and for the first time. I've been going to this Ace Hardware for 20 years. For the first time in my life, I realized there are full size horses on the roof. And I looked up and I'm like, it's not just one, it's not two, it's several. They're everywhere. Full size who puts a horse on a roof? Welcome to Woodcrest, California. You know, somebody built this building. You know what this needs? A horse on the roof. And so I go inside to one of the employees that works at Sandals. I go, did you know that there are horses on the roof? And a female says, yeah, they've been there for 50 years. I have never noticed them before. Some of you have studied scripture for 50 years. And you have never noticed the women who lead, who teach, and who speak in the Bible. It's not that they weren't there. It's just that you and I missed them. And so I want to encourage you today. So challenge everything that I say, do so gracefully, and don't put it on my internet feed, please. Don't post on social media. Pray about it amongst yourselves. But ask the Holy Spirit. Say, Holy Spirit is what Pastor Matt is saying, is it true? Is this something that I've missed? Because here's what I've learned as I've continued to grow in scripture. I miss a lot of things. We tend to see what we want to see. We tend to see what we've been taught. What we want to see is what the Holy Spirit wrote down supernaturally in the Word of God to teach us and instruct us. And so today I want to talk to you about how Jesus, right? Remember him? He's important. Jesus empowered women. Often times people say, well, I just don't like the way that religion puts women down. I don't like the way religion sees women as second-class citizens. I don't like the way that scripture is misogynistic. I don't like how scripture is male-oriented or male-centered. And what I'm saying today is you've missed so many of the radical things that Jesus did 2,000 years ago. And how he empowered women and many people in the church have missed this. So number one, this is huge. We just take this stuff for granted. We read right through this like it's no big deal. Number one, Jesus spoke with women. He spoke with women. You're like, well, why is that a big deal? Well, let me tell you why it's a big deal. It's open our Bibles to John 4 verse 27. Then his disciples came back and they were shocked. Shocked. Let me say it again. Shocked to find him talking to a whom. A woman. This didn't happen. This was not normal. This was radical. And not only is this a woman, but she's of a different ethnicity and she's poor. Jesus breaks through three major social systems in the ancient world. Number one that we don't talk a lot about is class. Like we're focused a lot on race in our culture, but we don't talk a lot about class. Look, if you're wealthy, it doesn't matter what color of the skin, color your skin is. You're flying on a nicer seat than I am on the plane. Amen. Right? There's first class and then there's our class. Amen. We're rolling in the back with the chickens. Amen. But there was also ethnic divisions. You didn't talk amongst ethnic groups. You kind of kept to yourself, kind of like in America. That's why we have Korea town, China town. We have all these areas where people were invited to America and then they were told to stay kind of in your area. The same was true then. And then there was a gender separation. You didn't talk to women publicly. You just didn't. Jesus broke all three of those barriers like that and the disciples are like, what are you doing? And here's what I'm going to tell you. Jesus is far more radical than you know. None of them had the nerve to ask, right? None of them. Now they would have tweeted about it later. Amen. They would have posted an anonymous tweet just challenging Jesus. I'm not sure he's the Lord. But they didn't have the nerve to ask. What do you want with her? Listen, why are you talking to her? And here's why, ladies, because she matters. She matters. She may not have mattered in her town. She may not have mattered to the men who used her and left her, but she matters to Jesus. And Jesus did not want her to enslave her. He wanted to release her. That's how Jesus empowered women. Number two, Jesus affirmed women as disciples. Some of you have missed this your entire life. It's why I had actually begin by reading scripture about Mary and Martha. It begins with these words and the disciples came to the house of Mary. Jesus is traveling with his disciples and he is going to be instructing his disciples. Now Martha is going to cook a meal for Jesus and the disciples and her sister Mary instead of helping where women belong in the kitchen. Amen. Don't amen that, guys. She's frustrated and she comes to, she comes to Taddle Tail on her sister and says, put my sister where she belongs with women in the kitchen and don't let her act like she's ever going to be a disciple. And Jesus says, my dear Martha, you are worried and upset over all these details. And there is only one thing worth being concerned about. And Mary has discovered it. Listen to the words of Jesus, ladies, and it will not be taken from her. It will not. And let me just say this, ladies, I know right, it's popular to say men are holding you down. Let me just tell you something. What I've learned is women like to hold each other down. Women like to hold each other back. I can't tell you the number of times where I've had another woman jealous of this success, prestige or position of another woman. It's crazy to me. We need to learn to celebrate each other and just recognize that we have different gifts and different talents and that's okay. Okay? I would love to sing for you guys to say it's not my gift. And if you heard me, you would never come back to church. I mean, you might have to because you work for me and you'd be like, oh, pastor, that was good. I felt the spirit a little bit, you know. First I wasn't so sure, but you know, you hit some notes there, pastor, Matt. Number three, this is huge. Women were a part of the traveling ministry of Jesus. Some of you've never noticed this. You've never seen this. It's right there in front of your face. And you missed it. You missed it. My wife asked me this week, we're putting together some chairs for our backyard. She said, where's the black chair that I had you put together and I went right next to you. She's like, oh, you ever done that? Like we say this if it was a snake, it would have bit me, right? It's right in front of your face. Right in front of your face. It's like every time I open the fridge to find something, I'm like, where is it? My wife is like, right here. Women traveled in the ministry of Jesus. They were a part of what he was doing from the very beginning. Luke 8, 1 through 3, after this, Jesus traveled about from town and village to another, from one town and village to another. Now some of you and I have never thought about the logistics of that. Think about it if you're a rock band and you're going to go on tour. Do you just kind of just wing it? Just kind of say, we're going to pray about it and hope there's a place for us to stay. Jesus didn't travel by himself. He traveled with an entourage, right? I mean, something worthy of making people New Jersey jealous, amen? Jesus traveled with a huge group, every where he went, he maxed out all the hotels, all the grocery stores, people got hungry and got confused and needed to be fed. It was a huge undertaking to organize this three year ministry. And some of you just have this picture. Jesus is just kind of walking around. So listen to this. He's traveling from one village to another, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God. Now here's what you know, the 12 were with him. Of course, the 12 disciples, listen to what it says and also some women who had been cured of evil spirits and diseases. You're like, great, crazy women are traveling with Jesus. Hold on. One of these women is the most famous of all the female disciples, Mary called what? Magdalen. Whom he took seven demons out. Now there's another woman here. A woman that you've missed. Joanna. Do you know why Joanna is important? Because the Bible records, she's one of the women who are at the empty tomb and receive the commandment to go and tell. And who is Joanna? This is so important. Joanna, the wife of Shusa, listen to this, the manager of Herod's household. Now who's Herod? He's a king. This woman is not some woman in the kitchen. This woman is educated and gifted and she manages a king's house. She just shifted kings, amen? So here's the thing, she was not a slave. She was not a servant. She was a woman who was employed. She was a gifted woman who chose to end her career to serve Jesus because of what he had done for her. And Susanna and many others. These women were helping to support them. Listen to this out of their own means. Listen to me ladies, these are wealthy ladies. You see in the ancient world, it was a male dominated society. There were some women who broke through. And we know this. They had means. They traveled about. We meet these women in the book of Acts. Her name is Lydia. Who deals in fine purple and linen. She owns her own business. She's running a synagogue down by a river. This is a powerful, powerful woman. And Jesus saw their giftedness and he employed them in his service. And some of us have missed that. Oh, ministries, men's work. That's not what Jesus thought. Jesus counted on these women. And by the way, they were the most faithful and they were the most loyal. Where were the twelve when Jesus died? Running. Where was Mary of Magdalene? Where was Joanne? Right there in the tomb to make sure that Jesus was properly buried. Now we know why Joanne was there because she was wealthy. And she's going to make sure that Jesus has the proper frankincense, the proper mur, the proper wrappings. Now here's where I'm going to lose many of you. So just brace yourself. Number four, Jesus called on women to direct and lead men. I know you don't believe it. But listen to me, guys, how many of you have needed directions and you don't ask? Amen. Come on. Right? You won't even ask Siri. You're like, nope, I got it, driving around in circles. There's a reason Jesus tells the women to tell the men where to go. Amen. Right? Because they weren't going to ask for directions. They were just lost. But in Matthew 28, 8-9, the women ran quickly from the tomb. Right? They met the angel. The angel said, why are you looking for the living among the dead? He is not here. He is risen. And they were very frightened. They were terrified, but they were also filled with great joy. And they rushed to give the disciples the angels message. Jesus is alive. But listen, as they went, Jesus met them and greeted them. And they ran to him and grasped his feet and they worshipped him. Isn't it interesting that it took the disciples a while? Thomas says, I'm not worshipping until I see the nails in his hands and the wound in his side. They fell at his feet and worshipped him. And Jesus said to them, these are all women. Don't be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to leave for Galilee and they will see me there. Now here's what many of you have missed. When Jesus says go and tell in the book of Mark, in the book of Luke, and in the book of John, the word is Lego. Say, think of this, Lego, my, ego. Amen. Lego, land. You know, little Greek. You learned some Hebrew. You're learning some Greek. Here's what's interesting. How many guys have ever heard this saying? If you're a Christian, you've probably heard this. I want you to finish my sentence. I'm going to not finish it and this could fail miserably. But as Christians, we are called, I want you to finish my sentence, to practice what we... Look at it. Did I tell any of you that? No. Okay. And if you're new to church, you're like, how did they know? It's just a saying. It's a saying that we say to each other. As a Christian, you need to practice what you preach. Did you know that's an actual Bible verse? It's not like a saying. It's not a slogan. It's not a bumper sticker. It's a teaching that Jesus gave. And it's in Matthew 23, 3. And guess what word for preach is in the Greek? Lego. Lego. Go and tell. What is Jesus saying? Go and preach to my knuckleheaded disciples and tell them where to go. He didn't say go, ask them to pray about it. He said go and tell. And some of you missed this thing, especially if you're a woman. We've missed why he told them not to be afraid because he was asking them to do something that was outside of their comfort zone. And some of you ladies, you've never used your giftedness because you're afraid. Here's what you need to do. You need to do whatever Jesus says. Whatever he calls you to do, you must do. But Lord, I'm not one of the 12. Yeah, those knuckleheads, but by the way, there aren't 12. There's 11 because Judas hung himself. Go and tell the 11 to meet me in Galilee. They were told to speak authoritatively. Listen, not to just men, not to elders, not to overseers to the 12. These are the most powerful men in the church. We don't just call them disciples. We call them the apostles. And you need to understand that these women spoke to the apostles. I'm a pastor. I'm not an apostle. I don't carry their authority. These men wrote scripture. And Jesus told these women to tell them, to preach to them. You need to go to Galilee. So here's what I want you to know. Jesus unleashed women to minister in his church. It's everywhere. It's absolutely everywhere. Women were encouraged to prophesy. Now, we don't know exactly what this gift is because it's honestly hard to tell. When are you prophesying and when are you teaching? Like right now, I'm preaching some of its prophecy. I'm speaking to you. The Holy Spirit is speaking through me to you. And some of it's just instruction. I'm summarizing teaching, educating you as to what the Word of God says. So it's really, really difficult to understand and know exactly when we're switching from one to the other. But here's what First Corinthians 115 says. But every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head. Now, some of us are turned off by the command to cover your head, but we miss what Paul is saying. What can women do in the church? They can pray and they can prophesy. They can speak authoritatively for God. Now, here's what's important. They are not to do so as men. They are to do so as women of God. And it's very, very careful. And this is why so many churches don't agree on this. It's not easy to put all the pieces together. I don't know if you noticed, but behind me, the logo is a puzzle piece. Because we're trying to figure this out. Sometimes on scripture, it's exactly clear. Like we know Jesus as God. We know Jesus was crucified. Nobody debates that He died. Nobody debates that He rose. All Christians affirm that. There's a clear picture in scripture of what we're supposed to believe about that. But some things, there's a puzzle piece that we have to put together. And it's not easy. And that's why there are people that are going to say, I sold out, I forsaken the gospel. I've walked away from the consistent teaching of scripture. And here's what you need to understand. The church is 2,000 years old. And at times, we have had a high value for women in the church. And at times, we've had a low value for women in the church. Historically speaking, it has changed. And the reason for that is the scriptures aren't clear. It's a little confusing. Because we have to do our homework. And we have to contextualize it and figure this out. So here's all I want you to know. Women can prophesy in the church. They can speak prophetically in the church. And here's what's amazing. Acts 21, 8 through 9. The next day we went on to Cesarea and we stayed at the home of Philip the Evangelist. Now we're in the book of Acts. This is part of the early church and the early church movement. Listen to this. He had four unmarried daughters. Why is that important? They're single and they're young. They're young. And what were they? They all had the gift of what? Prophecy. It's so important. OK, these aren't elder women. These aren't old ladies. These are teenage girls who have been supernaturally given the gift to speak prophetically. Now here's what you need to know. At Sandals, I am the teaching pastor in our church. Here's what you need to understand. Prophecy is a greater gift than a teaching gift. And I can prove it biblically. The Apostle Paul says this in Corinthians 1228. And God has appointed in his church first Apostles, second prophets, third teachers. It's an order of giftedness. It's an order. And women are allowed to speak and women are allowed to speak with authority. But it goes even further. So here's the challenge. There are prohibitive texts in the Bible that seem to speak against women speaking. And I will deal with those specifically, the passage in 1 Corinthians chapter 14 verses 33 through 35, and the passage in 1 Timothy chapter 2. I'm going to deal with those passages. We're not going to duck those. We're not going to ignore those. We're going to try to deal with those and just know this. The scripture seems to indicate two different things. The scripture is not confused, but we are confused. Amen. How do we figure this out? So here's what we know. Women at times instructed men. They did. And it's all throughout scripture. I wonder if we took a survey of which book in the Bible is the most important book, theologically outside of the gospel. So if you don't know what the gospels are, they're Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. We have 27 books, Christian books in the New Testament that make up our scriptures. I would guess almost unanimously, Christian theologians and pastors. If they had to pick one book out of those outside of the gospels that's the most important, almost unanimously, I'm going to guess people would say Romans. Romans is the most important book because it's written to the most important town in the ancient world. Rome is where Caesar ruled, and it's where the church began to invade. It's where the church began to grow. And here's the thing, some of you've missed, right? Whenever we see the list of names, I mean, come on, who skipped them? I do. I do. I mean, come on. On us people, you're like, oh, listen, names, forget it. We just do that. I mean, San Jose vision is to be real. So we can all be real about our stupidity, OK? And here's the thing is, those lists of names are important. And some of you've missed it. So when the Apostle Paul concludes, Romans chapter 16, he does so with a list of 28 names, 10 of which are women. The Apostle Paul in the ancient world, in a male-dominated misogynistic patriarchal world, addresses 10 women in the most powerful city in the world. Why? Because women had authority, and women utilized their giftedness in the early church. And for him to ignore them would to be ignore the roles that they played. One of those women, her name is Priscilla, and you can just Google her. She's all throughout the scriptures. And we've forgotten about her. She's married to a man named Aquila. That's a cool name. I wish that was my name. I'd go by Aqua, you know? So Priscilla is married to her husband, Aquila. Here's the thing. Oftentimes, when you see their names listed, she is listed first, unheard of. Why is that? Because she probably had the greater role in the church, and she carried more spiritual authority than her husband. Some of you guys, you married up. You did? Ladies? Some of you married, like, way down. Way down. I know he was cute, but you should have raised that up a little bit. So what happened to Aquila? He married up. He married a brilliant woman who was a theologian, who was a leader, and who taught men, and not just any men. In Acts 1826, she teaches one of the most important male leaders in the early church. This guy rivaled Paul, the Apostle Paul, for authority. And people would argue, you know, whose church you go into, Paul's or a Paulist's? He was that important. In Acts 1826, Priscilla and Aquila, they heard Apollo, now who is he? Think Billy Graham. Think Greg Laurie. Major, major evangelists. Preaching boldly in the synagogue, right? He's giving it all that he's got, but he's like, young Matt Brown, he doesn't know it all yet, even. Yeah, don't go back in Google. Don't go Google those things. I was passionate, but wrong, often. So what did they do? Did they rebuke him? Did they do what people do nowadays slam him on? Tick-tock, split screen, you know? Here's where Apollo is, isn't it yet? No, that's not what they did. Listen, they took him aside and they explained the way of God even more accurately. Who do you think explained things? You think it was Aquila? Is Priscilla. Priscilla is the leader that we see over and over and over again. And when you look at church history, you can read about men like John Calvin wrestling with what the text says, women shall not have authority over men and then they go, oh my gosh, everyone says she carried authority, not over men, but with God. And they don't know how to reconcile those two truths. So Priscilla is an amazing woman. But here's the thing, women ministered alongside men. Can I just tell you, if all the women disappeared at Sandals Church, we wouldn't have a church. Women are more faithful, more loyal, and they serve more. It's not close, guys. 70% of all missionaries in the world regardless of denomination or women. The gospel does not advance without women. Here's what the Apostle Paul says in Romans 16, chapter 16, verse three and four. He says, give my greetings to Priscilla and Aquila. Listen to this, this is the Apostle Paul. This guy authored the majority of our Christian Bible. Listen to how he describes Priscilla, who's named first, and Aquila. He says as my co-workers. You may miss this. Like if you grew up Catholic, the Apostle Paul is higher than the Pope. And what he's saying is Priscilla and Aquila are equal with me. And to convince you, listen to what he says, in fact, they once risked their lives for me. And some of you guys say, well, I just don't think women are strong enough to lead. You ever watch somebody get birth? Do you know how many kids would be born if men pushed out babies? Guys, we'd be on an island running from women, right? Uh-uh, I saw what happened to Bob. Man, he was split in half. I'm never doing that again. You know? So don't say they're not strong enough. They have a different strength, but it's strength. He says this, I am thankful to them. And so are all the Gentile churches. Everybody knew about Priscilla and Aquila. They were rock stars. They were Christian celebrities. They had power and they had influence in the early church. Paul goes on, Roman 16, seven. He says, greet Andronicus. And Junia, now Andronicus is a male name, sometimes it's hard to tell. Andronicus, right? Is a male name and Junia is a woman's name. And scholars have struggled with this. For centuries, they translated her as Junia as a man. And we now know they were wrong. She's a woman. He said, my fellow Jews, listen to this, who were in prison with me. Now let me stop there for a second, ladies. There was no such thing as gender segregated prisons 2000 years ago. Matter of fact, Romans usually didn't throw women into prison. Because you can imagine what would have happened to you. If you were thrown into prison as a woman, what kind of men do you think you're going to be chained with in next two? What do you think is going to happen to you? We know in the ancient world that the Roman prisons are described as dark, dank, and most people died chain to a wall before they ever appeared for their penalty. And the Apostle Paul says, Junia, she was a rock star. She was in prison right next to me. Now here's where it gets interesting. And we don't know for sure one way or the other. And anybody who tells you they know exactly how to interpret this next verse is lying or selling you something. But here's what the text says is best we can tell. They, and Dronechist, the male and Junia are highly respected amongst the Apostles. Some people think Junia may have been an Apostle. So are you ready to have your mind blown? Are you ready? You don't feel like you're ready. Here's what the Apostle Paul says, and they became followers of Christ before I did. I want you to think about something that you may have missed every time you read scripture. You know Jesus sent out the 70 disciples and he sent them out in pairs of two. It's probably never crossed your mind that some of those pairs were husbands and wives. Who is in Dronechist and Junia? They may have been part of this elite Christian class that were known as Apostles, not the Apostles, not the 12 plus Paul, but a level of Apostles just below that walked with the Lord and knew him. And when he sent them out, they went as a couple. And so the Apostle Paul has great reverence for them because they had been faithful and known the Lord longer than he did. Isn't that crazy? Next, women spoke with authority in the early church. I've chosen my words very carefully. I'm gonna say it again. I need some of you to graduate to a varsity level Christian thinking here. Women spoke with authority. They did not have authority over men. And this is why I think there's a huge divide amongst what women can and cannot do. Women could not have authority over or here's a better word dominate men. So here's what we have in ancient culture. We have Jesus unleashing women with freedom. They've never experienced what they've never had. They've had roles and influence they've never had. And at times, like in Ephesus, things got out of control. And the Apostle Paul has to remind them of the creation story because in Ephesus, here's what they believe. They believe that the woman was made first. The temple of Artemis said, the Adam was not created first, a woman was made first. And the Apostle Paul has to set the record straight. He says, that's not what we're teaching. And women began to dominate men and Peter didn't know what to do. Excuse me, Timothy didn't know what to do. And so he told them, look, they can't do that. But they could speak and lead with, and this is key with the authority of God. So when the women go to tell the disciples what to do, is that based upon their authority or God's authority? And you need to understand that subtle difference. Here's part of the problem when we talk about leadership. Ladies, when we talk about leadership in our culture, we're talking about power, position, and authority. When you read about leadership with Jesus and in the New Testament, it's about attitude, service, and humility. So people today want authority. You miss what Jesus says. Do not lead like the pagans do for they lord it over those. How did Jesus lead? He washed the feet of the disciples. For the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve. And that word in the Greek is deacon, which we translate in English minister. I am not just a pastor. I am a licensed minister. Licensed to be wealthy, powerful, rich? No, I'm licensed to serve. I'm licensed to serve. I work very hard in Tammy and I work very hard to live humble lives, to drive cars that do not embarrass you, and to live in homes that do not draw attention to ourselves. The Lord has blessed us, but that is not why we serve Him. We serve Him because He called us to serve. And there are way too many examples of pastors, male and female, lording it over their congregations, living in absurd wealth that is not what Jesus is calling us to. Here's one of the things that you need to know. And this is not your fault. This is not my fault. We didn't know. But some of you have no idea how the book of Romans was delivered to the church in Rome. It was written by Paul through his scribe, but it was delivered by a woman. And you're like, so what? It's not like she worked for Amazon. It's not like she worked for the postal service. You have no idea what it meant for a woman to carry a letter of God to the churches. So the Apostle Paul says this in Romans 161, I commend to you our sister, Phoebe. A servant of the church. What words does that mean? Deacon minister at Sincrea, that you may welcome her, listen to this in the Lord. In a way, how do we treat her guys? In a way that is worthy of the saints and help her in whatever she may need from you. And why is that? For she has been a patron of many and myself as well. When the Apostle Paul sent a letter to the church at Rome and he had never been, he sent a woman. And here's what you need to understand. She has two roles. She delivers the letter and she reads it, listen to me. And she answers questions that the church has about the things that Paul has said. That's her job. She acts as proxy, listen to me, as the Apostle Paul. So why does America send the vice president somewhere? Because the president cannot be there. And so the vice president speaks in the name of and with the authority of the president. And so who does the Apostle Paul send? Phoebe. If you have an old Bible, maybe your grandma, your grandparents, or you have a family Bible, I want to encourage you to go look up old translations because this is how Romans used to end in the old translations. Romans 1627. It's not in our modern Bibles anymore. This is the King James Version. To God only wise, be glory through Jesus Christ forever, amen. And then there's a note in our old Bibles, written to the Romans from Corinthus and sent by Phoebe, servant of the church of Cancria. Let me translate it, sent by Phoebe, the minister of the church in Cancria. Isn't that powerful? That's not new. That's old. That's old. Now she's been lost to history, but she's not lost to God. So what do we do with this? Ladies, let me, let me speak as your pastor. Women are never called to be men. Some of the stresses and anxieties that you carry, are you are carrying burdens God did not design you to carry. And I believe I'm speaking prophetically in this. There's an epidemic of anxiety amongst women today, and that is because you are trying to be a man, and God did not make you a man. And it is as silly as you trying to be a man as it is, men carrying menstrual products. I know, I can't laugh at that. Women are never called to be men, or to be over men, listen to me, but to come alongside men serving God with their supernatural gifts given to them by the Holy Spirit. Sin has torn the sexes apart. Christ has died to bring us together. Amen. So let me say this, gender is real, but so is gifting. And the scripture teaches two things. Guys, some of you are like, great, I don't have to lead anymore. Stop, stop. Do you know why God put men in charge? Because He knows you're lazy. He knows you're lazy. Right? Here's what the scripture teaches. Number one that men are called to lead, and should lead, and women when gifted, should be allowed to lead and speak in the church with the authority of God. Both are true. Both are true. And this is the best that I can do to communicate these truths, these difficult truths to you. So I want to end by praying over the women in our church, and I want the men of this church to pray over them. So if you're a woman in your battling anxiety, you're battling fear, you're wondering where you fit in, I think you're like the women who found the empty tomb, and Jesus said, do not be afraid. But if you're a man, would you stand, and I just want to pray over the ladies in our church, that they would be free of anxiety, that they would find the peace of God, and they would answer the call of Jesus, whatever it is, to lead in whatever way that He has called them. So men, would you stand up? Ladies, if you want to receive this prayer, just put out your hands like this. Because right, we're not a church of men. We're not a church of women. We're a church of Jesus Christ, amen? And He's called us together. So guys, would you just extend your hands? Ladies, if you would just lift your hands. Heavenly Father, we just pray over the women of this church. We thank you for them. There's no sandals without them. Lord, I almost moved to tears. When I think of the faithful women of God in this church, who've served, who've prayed, who've ministered, who've led, there's no sandals without them. And we're thankful for them. But Lord, so many of them carry burdens, and they do so because men are weak. Lord, make us strong as men. Let us carry our load, and let us come on alongside them, empowering them, and lifting them up to do whatever they have been called. Holy Spirit, would you just take this anxiety away? And would you just give them your peace? Would you bless them with your strength, and let us end with the words of the Lord Jesus to women? Do not be afraid, but go and tell. Father, we pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen. Hi, thank you so much for watching. If this material is helping you to further your authentic relationship with Jesus Christ, I want to encourage you to move from being someone who watches content, to someone who participates, and helps give towards this content. I want you to know that no amount is too small. Jesus Christ Himself makes the biggest deal out of the smallest gift. And so whether that's $1 or $5 or $10, every dollar helps us in our mission to reaching the world with this vision of authenticity. So if God is prompting you, the Holy Spirit is moving you towards generosity to San Luis Church, I want to encourage you to go to donate.sc. And here's all we ask, give whatever God asks you to give, and we will just pray over that and ask God to bless that so that we can reach more people like you with this life-changing message.