The Sardis Syndrome: When a Biblical Church Forgets the Gospel Engine

[00:00:25] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]:
The Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ
[00:00:54] For the delights of His love, but to all on the altar we lay.
[00:01:17] For the favor He shows and the joy He bestows are for them who will trust and obey.
[00:01:19] We trust and obey For there's no other way To be happy in Jesus But to trust and obey Then in fellowship sweet We will sit at His feet Or we'll walk by His side
[00:02:07] Let us pray together.

[00:02:29] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]:
Gracious and eternal God, our Father in heaven, we come before you today not on our own strength, not in our own wisdom, not in our own righteousness, but we come standing on the firm foundation of Jesus Christ, your Son, our Savior and Lord.
[00:02:46] When the storms of life rage around us, when darkness seems to press in, when our own hearts fail us, when the world offers no sure footing,
[00:02:57] We know that there is one who stands unchanging, one who is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
[00:03:06] Lord, we confess that we've tried to build our own lives on shifting sand, on our own accomplishments, our possessions, our plans, our pride.
[00:03:14] But Father, we declare today that our only hope, our only sure foundation is found in Jesus Christ and His righteousness alone, not in our feelings with change with the wind, not in our circumstances which rise and fall, but in the unchanging Word of God, in the finished work of Calvary's cross, in the empty tomb that proclaims victory over sin and death.
[00:03:41] So Lord, we ask you now, build your church on this rock.
[00:03:45] Build our lives on this rock.
[00:03:47] Build our faith on this rock.
[00:03:49] And we stand before you one day.
[00:03:51] May it be said that we stood firm, not because we were strong, but because we stood on the solid rock.
[00:03:59] These things we pray in the mighty name of Jesus Christ our Lord, and all who agree say, Amen.

[00:04:20] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]:
All is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness.
[00:04:33] I dare not trust the sweetest grain, but only lean on Him.
[00:04:44] All other ground is sinking sand When darkness veils His lovely face I rest on His unchanging face In every high and low
[00:05:09] I was fallen, brought by sin, All other ground is sinking sand.
[00:05:32] All other ground is sinking sand.
[00:05:33] His holy power, that is God, Supports me in the bounding flood.
[00:05:35] When all around my soul gives way,
[00:05:46] All other ground is sinking sand All other ground is sinking sand
[00:06:11] All other ground is sinking sand.
[00:06:24] All other ground is sinking sand.

[00:06:40] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]:
As we come now to continue our worship through the giving of our tithes and our offerings, I want to take just a moment to share with you some exciting things that are taking place here in the life of First Baptist Church.
[00:06:51] Ways that you can get connected, ways that you can be praying, and also ways that your giving has an impact.
[00:06:58] This afternoon at 4 o'clock we'll gather right here in the sanctuary for a gospel hymn sing.
[00:07:04] So you get two worship services in one day.
[00:07:08] So we invite you to come out and join us this afternoon for just a wonderful time of singing, fellowship, and gathering and honoring Jesus Christ through gospel singing.
[00:07:18] Also this upcoming Tuesday at 11.30 our Joy Luncheon will take place.
[00:07:24] This is for all of our senior adults and so they will gather for a time of fellowship and meal together and have a wonderful presentation.
[00:07:32] So please call the church office if you would like to get signed up for that.
[00:07:37] Also October the 29th we will have Treat Street.
[00:07:40] This is open to our community.
[00:07:42] So we encourage you to invite folks from your neighborhood all around Morrisville to come and be a part of this great event.
[00:07:49] Our kids get to dress up in their Halloween costumes, all those fun things.
[00:07:53] See, even some adults will do that too.
[00:07:55] Not me, but some will do it.
[00:07:58] But that will be from 5 o'clock to 7 o'clock on October the 29th.
[00:08:03] and then finally November the 9th we will have a church-wide brunch that will take place during our Sunday morning Bible study hour it will be in the fellowship hall if you are someone that perhaps has yet to get connected with the Sunday school class please come a little bit earlier come hear about all the great things that our Bible studies are doing on Sunday mornings come join us in fellowship get to know some folks and so we encourage you again to come out for that October excuse me November the 9th at nine o'clock in the fellowship hall
[00:08:34] We just sang an amazing song, On Christ the solid rock I stand.
[00:08:38] There's a beautiful line in that song that says, In Jesus, He is our hope and our stay.
[00:08:47] And so it is our prayer this morning that as you give,
[00:08:50] That you give because your hope is in Jesus, not the things of this world.
[00:08:55] That you give because of the relationship that you have with Jesus.
[00:08:58] You can't help but invite others to come and experience Him in their lives just as you have.
[00:09:05] So this morning as you give, thank you.
[00:09:08] Know that your giving has an impact.
[00:09:09] Know that your giving changes lives here in Mooresville and all around the world.
[00:09:15] Let's pray together.
[00:09:22] Heavenly and gracious Father, we know that every good gift comes from you and from you alone.
[00:09:31] So as we now bring our tithes and our offerings, we do so, God, with hearts that are so grateful and thankful for your constant provision, your mercy, and your never-ending grace in our lives.
[00:09:47] And it is our prayer that you would use our gifts to strengthen your church,
[00:09:52] To spread your gospel and to bring hope, God, to those who are in need.
[00:10:00] God, may you teach us to give not out of obligation, but out of love for you and for the love and the joy in serving your kingdom.
[00:10:13] For it is in Jesus' name that we do pray.
[00:10:15] Amen.

[00:10:59] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
Let us pray.

[00:11:28] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]:
.
[00:11:51] .
[00:11:51] .
[00:11:55] I'll walk with joy as one who's been forgiven
[00:12:11] I know my name is dear before my Father
[00:12:30] I am His child and I am not afraid So greatly pardoned, I'll forgive my brother
[00:13:02] of God, my glad King will obey.
[00:13:26] I then shall be as the news from compassion I've been so loved that I'll miss coming to you
[00:13:57] I'll dare to see From the first point of view That when we lay
[00:14:27] The nationships demand the Midwest Then I'll be there to care and follow through

[00:14:54] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
.
[00:15:09] .
[00:15:09] .
[00:15:09] .
[00:15:09] .

[00:15:19] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]:
Your kingdom come, the round and true and empty.
[00:15:33] Your power and glory let them shine through me Your hallowed name only I bear with awe

[00:16:05] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]:
The bread of life, O may I share with honor, and may you

[00:16:34] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
Amen.
[00:17:01] Amen.

[00:17:50] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]:
Well, we are really looking forward to the hymn sing tonight, 4 o'clock.
[00:18:00] I hope that you will make plans to be here.
[00:18:01] We've had a great time preparing it.
[00:18:04] The choir, soloists was in the choir, some instrumentalists coming in, and of course,
[00:18:11] The Singers.
[00:18:12] Can't do a hymn sing without singers.
[00:18:13] So we hope that you'll plan to be here.
[00:18:15] If you're visiting with us today, the children are leaving out the door to my right for Children's Church.
[00:18:22] And if you need to retrieve them at the end of the service, which we hope you will, the easiest way is behind the piano here up the ramp.
[00:18:29] Turn right down the stairs and turn right again and you can find them there.
[00:18:37] Seth preached last week about the intensity of prayer, the work of prayer, the power of prayer, and we firmly believe that at First Baptist.
[00:18:47] As you came in, there are prayer sheets on the back.
[00:18:50] Please let the church office know or any of us on staff if you have prayer requests.
[00:18:56] At this time, let's go to the Lord in prayer.
[00:19:01] Heavenly Father, we come before you today with humble hearts, seeking your presence, your power in our lives.
[00:19:08] Lord, we acknowledge that you are our refuge and our strength and ever-present help in times of trouble.
[00:19:17] Father, we lift up to you all those who are hurting, all those who are weary and heavy laden.
[00:19:24] You know each burden we carry, every pain that weighs upon our hearts.
[00:19:30] We ask for your healing touch, healing for bodies that are sick, minds that are troubled, and spirits that are broken.
[00:19:40] For, Lord, you are the Great Physician, and we trust in your power to restore and to renew.
[00:19:47] We lift up Veronica Horvath, Mike Privet, Connie Parnell, Jim and Judith Lotz, Vicki Brawley,
[00:19:59] Audrey Harris, Jeanette Farr.
[00:20:04] Lord, we pray for those facing uncertainty and fear.
[00:20:11] Remind us, Father, of your promises that you will never leave us nor forsake us, that your plans for us are good, and that nothing can separate us from your love.
[00:20:23] Give us the assurance that comes only from knowing you, the peace that passes all understanding.
[00:20:31] Lord, strengthen our faith when we are weak.
[00:20:34] Help us to cast all our anxieties upon you, knowing that you care for us.
[00:20:41] Let us feel your presence in our darkest hours and see your hand working in ways we cannot yet understand.
[00:20:50] Lord, we lift up the Sprinkle family as they are dealing with the tragic loss of little Jesse.
[00:20:58] And Lord, we thank you for your grace and mercy, for the sacrifice of your Son, Jesus Christ, through whom we have hope and salvation.
[00:21:08] May we rest in the knowledge that you are sovereign over all things and that your love endures forever.
[00:21:16] In Jesus' precious name we pray.
[00:21:18] Amen.

[00:21:27] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]:
Well, good morning everyone.
[00:21:28] That sounded pretty weak.
[00:21:32] Good morning everyone.
[00:21:34] Thank you so much for being here.
[00:21:35] Thank you to the men's choir.
[00:21:37] You just did such a phenomenal job, and we are so excited about tonight.
[00:21:41] Make sure you come back, invite a friend, bring a neighbor with you.
[00:21:45] I think we're just going to have an amazing time in worship here at 4 o'clock through the old gospel hymn singing.
[00:21:52] Well, if you will, will you kindly get out your Bibles and turn to Acts.
[00:21:58] We're going to be in Acts 13, but actually what you could do is maybe go to Acts 13 and then kind of bookmark that and go back to chapter 11.
[00:22:07] So we're going to look at both of these passages today.
[00:22:11] As you turn there, let me tell you something that's coming up.
[00:22:14] Starting on November 5th, that's a Wednesday, it's about two weeks, we're actually going to be doing, I'm going to be launching a Bible study on Wednesday nights at 6 o'clock over in the C building.
[00:22:27] And we're going to be looking at kind of a case study about the church at Antioch.
[00:22:31] We're going to be talking about the church at Antioch today, but this is going to be a little bit more in-depth.
[00:22:37] It's really going to be about theology and doctrine.
[00:22:40] You know, we're first Baptists.
[00:22:41] What do Baptists believe?
[00:22:43] We're going to be talking about polity, things like that.
[00:22:45] Some of you have been in our Next Steps class or New Members class.
[00:22:48] It's kind of like that, but on steroids.
[00:22:50] And so we'd just love for you to come be a part of this.
[00:22:53] Maybe you're not a member looking to become a member.
[00:22:55] Maybe you've been a member for 50 years.
[00:22:58] But just looking at some more.
[00:22:59] Want to know more about theology and Baptist doctrine?
[00:23:02] We'd love for you to come and be a part of this November 5th over in the C building.
[00:23:06] There will be a sign-up sheet next week.
[00:23:08] You can also get online at our website and sign up.
[00:23:11] And I'd appreciate if you'd do that because
[00:23:13] The word books are pretty extensive and so we need plenty of time to make sure we get enough for everyone who's going to participate but we're going to focus on the church in Antioch which is what we're going to talk about today and I need to hurry up as we were singing right before we sung my wife opened up the bulletin and said sweetheart it looks like there's a lot of fill in the blanks today and I said there is and then she just gave me this look like you better hurry it up so let me let me try to do that real quick uh with your
[00:23:40] Let's start in Acts chapter 11.
[00:23:45] Okay, we're going to start in verse 20 looking at the church in Antioch, the most influential church there's ever been.
[00:23:53] Starting in verse 20, preached about this a couple weeks ago, but just want to give you a quick reminder.
[00:23:57] It says this,
[00:24:00] Men of Cyprus and Cyrene who on coming to Antioch spoke to the Hellenists also preaching the Lord Jesus.
[00:24:09] I told you that Antioch was planted not by people being sent out but by people being scattered.
[00:24:16] They were running from persecution.
[00:24:18] They go to Antioch, and look at this, they immediately start preaching to the Greeks.
[00:24:23] That's what the Hellenists are.
[00:24:24] Now, who were these people that were preaching?
[00:24:27] We don't know their names.
[00:24:28] Look at this, the Bible says, some of them.
[00:24:32] Who are they?
[00:24:33] We don't know.
[00:24:34] Just some of them.
[00:24:35] They're nameless, but they're faithful to the Word of God.
[00:24:39] Well, they're preaching, and look at this, verse 21.
[00:24:41] The hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number, not just a few people, a great number who believed turned to the Lord.
[00:24:49] Verse 22.
[00:24:51] The report of this came to the ears of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch.
[00:24:58] And when he came, he saw the grace of God, and he was glad.
[00:25:02] And he exhorted them all to remain faithful to the Lord with steadfast purpose.
[00:25:06] Verse 24 For he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith.
[00:25:13] And a great many people were added to the Lord.
[00:25:15] You see that?
[00:25:16] A great many people.
[00:25:17] Second time it says that this church is exploding in Antioch.
[00:25:22] Verse 25, So Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul.
[00:25:25] Remember, Saul was the guy who was rejected in chapter 9 by the church in Jerusalem.
[00:25:31] Well, Barnabas goes and gets him and says, you've got to come and check this out.
[00:25:34] Verse 26, And when he found him, he brought him to Antioch.
[00:25:39] Antioch, where the church is growing.
[00:25:41] For a whole year they met with the church.
[00:25:44] They taught, look at this, a great many people.
[00:25:48] Lots and lots of people in this church at Antioch.
[00:25:52] and in Antioch the disciples were first called Christians.
[00:25:57] I told you there's something I just love about this church.
[00:26:00] Three things, three reasons why I think this church is the most influential church that's ever existed.
[00:26:05] Did you notice this is the first place we retained the name Christians.
[00:26:09] Christionos, it means to be like Jesus or like little Jesus.
[00:26:13] And notice they didn't call themselves Christians.
[00:26:15] This is what other people were calling them right here in Antioch.
[00:26:20] The other thing is that this church was the first church that was not just Jewish people but Greeks.
[00:26:27] It was the Hellenists.
[00:26:29] So it was a church full of Gentiles.
[00:26:31] Listen, if there was never a church in Antioch, there would never be First Baptist of Morrisville.
[00:26:36] We actually trace our lineage right here to this church in Antioch.
[00:26:41] This is what I love the most about Antioch.
[00:26:42] This was the first church to actually send out missionaries.
[00:26:46] And that's going to be Paul.
[00:26:48] These two guys that we're introduced to in Acts 11 are going to be the two that are sent out, not scattered, but sent out to be the first New Testament missionaries to proclaim the name of Jesus.
[00:27:02] Now just look here in Acts 11 when Saul and Barnabas get there, they actually are there for a whole year.
[00:27:09] And what are they doing within this year?
[00:27:11] Well, they're teaching the Word of God.
[00:27:14] So now let's pick up at the end of this year, after they've been there for a year teaching, and to do that, flip over to Acts chapter 13.
[00:27:23] And we're just going to look at the first three verses here in Acts chapter 13.
[00:27:27] It goes like this.
[00:27:28] Now there were in the church at Antioch prophets and teachers.
[00:27:34] Barnabas, of course we know he's there, Simeon, who is called Niger, Lucius, a Cyrene, Manaiah, a lifelong friend of Herod the Tektar, and Saul.
[00:27:43] Verse 2.
[00:27:44] While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.
[00:27:55] then fasting and praying they laid hands on them and look at this they sent them off right here it is acts chapter 13 verse 3 the first new testament missionaries are actually being commissioned and sent off into the mission field what an important and powerful church
[00:28:16] I'm telling you Antioch is like the perfect picture of the way a church should run.
[00:28:22] So what was it that made Antioch so special?
[00:28:24] What was it that gave Antioch kind of this power that the hand of the Lord was upon them?
[00:28:29] Well simply put, I believe that Antioch was a spirit sensitive church.
[00:28:35] It's a spirit sensitive church.
[00:28:37] Did you notice how many times it says the hand of the Lord was upon them or the Spirit spoke to them and they responded?
[00:28:43] They were a Spirit-sensitive church.
[00:28:45] So the question I want to ask you today is what does it take for First Baptist to be a Spirit-sensitive church?
[00:28:53] So I want to give you four things today and you can write some of these down.
[00:28:56] A Spirit-sensitive church must be, here's the first one, a Scripture-saturated church.
[00:29:05] A spirit-sensitive church.
[00:29:07] How do you know if you're in a Baptist church?
[00:29:08] All the points start in the same letter.
[00:29:10] That's a good key, okay?
[00:29:12] So a spirit-sensitive church must be a Scripture-saturated church.
[00:29:16] Did you pick that up in this story?
[00:29:19] Go back to chapter 13, verse 1.
[00:29:20] Look at this.
[00:29:21] Now, there were in Antioch, look at this,
[00:29:24] Prophets and Teachers.
[00:29:26] By the way, the word prophets here literally means to proclaim.
[00:29:30] It means that they were preaching.
[00:29:31] So you got preachers and you got teachers.
[00:29:33] You got five of them that's listed here in this church.
[00:29:36] Well, here's my question for you.
[00:29:38] What are they preaching and what are they teaching?
[00:29:41] It is simply the Word of God.
[00:29:44] You know why?
[00:29:45] Write this down.
[00:29:46] Number one, because the Word was their foundation.
[00:29:49] That was the foundation that this church was built on.
[00:29:53] The Word of God.
[00:29:55] Alan mentioned this earlier, last week.
[00:29:58] If you were here, we were looking at Acts chapter 12 when we talked about prayer.
[00:30:02] Listen, prayer, if you wasn't here, I hope you go back and listen to that sermon.
[00:30:06] But prayer at its very basics is, well, just you talking to God.
[00:30:11] That's how you communicate to God, right?
[00:30:13] Okay, well here's the question.
[00:30:15] How does God talk to you?
[00:30:17] How does God communicate to you?
[00:30:18] It's His Word.
[00:30:20] That's how He does it.
[00:30:21] It's the Bible.
[00:30:22] This is how God communicates with you.
[00:30:24] Now, is that the only way God talks to you?
[00:30:27] No.
[00:30:27] I mean, there's a variety of ways.
[00:30:29] Like God could talk to you maybe through someone else.
[00:30:32] I've actually experienced this before where someone I loved or trust came up to me and gave me a word of encouragement or maybe even a word of caution, right?
[00:30:40] And I knew, I knew that was God using them to speak to me.
[00:30:43] Maybe God could speak to you through an impression.
[00:30:46] A feeling.
[00:30:47] A discernment.
[00:30:48] I've certainly experienced that.
[00:30:50] Maybe God could speak to you through a dream.
[00:30:55] You have a vision.
[00:30:56] You have a dream.
[00:30:56] Maybe you've experienced that.
[00:30:58] But it's the Word of God that's the most guaranteed way you know it's the Lord.
[00:31:04] See, I say it's guaranteed because think of it like this.
[00:31:06] Let's say you have a dream.
[00:31:08] How do you know that's God speaking?
[00:31:09] It could be God, but it could also be a demonic spirit.
[00:31:14] The Bible says that Satan actually gives us certain thoughts and tries to disrupt our peace.
[00:31:20] Or, listen, maybe it could just be your nerves.
[00:31:23] You ever done that?
[00:31:24] I've done this.
[00:31:25] I've been worried about something before I go to bed and, you know, my anxiety is kind of high dwelling on it and then whatever I'm thinking about, I end up dreaming about it.
[00:31:32] It ever happen to you?
[00:31:33] Or, here's the fourth thing, it could be that chimichanga you heated up at 11 p.m. before you went to bed.
[00:31:39] Tell me I'm not the only one who's ate something weird before I went to bed and then had kind of freaky dreams, right?
[00:31:45] Of course that happens.
[00:31:46] You see, you don't know.
[00:31:47] It could be a one-to-four chance that it's God speaking.
[00:31:50] But if it's the Word of God, it's guaranteed.
[00:31:54] That's a one-to-one chance you know it is God speaking to you.
[00:31:58] Amen?
[00:31:58] And this church, their foundation was the Word of God.
[00:32:03] And that's what these pastors were teaching was God's Word.
[00:32:06] Let me give you three things real quick.
[00:32:08] This is not in your bulletin, but I want you to write these down.
[00:32:10] Three things about why this word is so important.
[00:32:12] Number one, it tells us who God is.
[00:32:14] He reveals God to us.
[00:32:16] Listen, you don't have to have the Bible to know that there is a God.
[00:32:19] The Bible even tells us this, like Romans chapter 1, that God reveals himself through creation, right?
[00:32:25] That's why the psalmist says, the heavens declare the glory of the God.
[00:32:29] The sky proclaims God's handiwork.
[00:32:32] So you look out at creation.
[00:32:33] Well, the same way when you look at a building, you know there has to be a builder.
[00:32:36] When you see a painting, you know there has to be a painter.
[00:32:39] When you look at creation, you know there has to be a creator.
[00:32:41] But here's the problem.
[00:32:42] Here's the problem.
[00:32:43] Listen, you can go through a hike in the middle of the woods.
[00:32:46] It might tell you there's a God, creation, but it's not going to tell you who that God is.
[00:32:50] That only happens through the Word of God.
[00:32:52] of God.
[00:32:53] Amen.
[00:32:53] But watching the sun set is not going to tell you that Jesus is merciful and loving and caring.
[00:32:59] That's only through the word of God.
[00:33:01] So the word of God tells us who he is and the word of God tells us what he's done for us.
[00:33:06] That he has come to forgive us.
[00:33:08] That's why Paul later on in Romans chapter 10 will say it this way.
[00:33:17] Verse 13...
[00:33:29] Preaching.
[00:33:30] Preaching what, First Baptist?
[00:33:33] The Word of God that tells us who God is and what God has done for us.
[00:33:39] And how are they to preach unless, look at this, they are sent.
[00:33:44] And see Antioch knew that.
[00:33:45] The first church, it's no coincidence, the first church that sends out missionaries is the same church that's anchored
[00:33:53] and the Word of God.
[00:33:54] Amen?
[00:33:55] That's why the Bible says, How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news.
[00:33:59] The Word was their foundation.
[00:34:02] I told you three things the Bible does.
[00:34:04] It tells us who God is.
[00:34:05] It tells us what God has done.
[00:34:06] But it also tells us the lives that we're supposed to live.
[00:34:10] That's why God tells us not to lean too much on our own or our sins, but trust in Him.
[00:34:14] He will lead God and direct our paths.
[00:34:15] Your Word is a lamp unto my feet, a light unto my path that I may hide in my heart that I would not sin.
[00:34:21] Let me ask you, is the word directing you?
[00:34:24] Is the word leading you?
[00:34:27] Is the word your foundation?
[00:34:29] It was for these people.
[00:34:30] See, in Antioch, write this down, the word formed their convictions.
[00:34:36] The Word told them how to live their lives.
[00:34:39] The Word tells us how to spend money, how to raise our kids, how to leverage our jobs for the kingdom's sake.
[00:34:46] It's the Word that guides us.
[00:34:48] And if the Word is not forming your convictions, listen to me closely, brothers and sisters, the world will.
[00:34:56] If you are not anchored in the Word of God, you will be swayed by the world.
[00:35:02] Can I just tell you something that I find incredibly dangerous and disappointing?
[00:35:06] As you and I meet in this church right now, there is lots of Christians meeting in North Carolina, lots of Christians meeting in America, lots of Christians sitting in pews, but they are attending churches that are not anchored in the Word.
[00:35:22] There are some people who are going to church, but they are anchored, not in the word, they're anchored in comfort.
[00:35:30] So they go to what we call these really dangerous false gospels.
[00:35:34] We call it prosperity gospel.
[00:35:37] Where, okay, if you're a Christian, everything's going to go well for you, you'll never get cancer, never stub your toe, you'll be happy, healthy, successful, handsome, all that.
[00:35:44] And they have these really feel-good messages because they're formed, they're anchored in their comfort.
[00:35:51] There's another false gospel that's right here in our own backyard, right here in Morrisville, and that's people not being formed in comfort, but formed in their own desires.
[00:36:00] And so this is what we call the false gospel of progressive gospel.
[00:36:05] This is where people, because they want to do what they want to do, then they'll preach a message where they're redefining what sin is.
[00:36:13] Or they're redefining what sexual immorality is.
[00:36:16] Or redefining what God's standards is.
[00:36:19] You just find your truth and let your truth be your truth.
[00:36:22] And that's good enough.
[00:36:24] They sing songs like this.
[00:36:26] I love you, you love me, we're one big family.
[00:36:29] Do whatever you want.
[00:36:30] Do whatever you feel.
[00:36:32] It's okay.
[00:36:32] Sin's no big deal.
[00:36:34] Brothers and sisters, sin is a big deal.
[00:36:37] You're either going to be anchored in your comfort.
[00:36:40] You're either going to be anchored in your desires.
[00:36:42] You're going to be anchored in the world.
[00:36:45] Or you can be like Antioch and you can be anchored in the Word of God.
[00:36:51] Amen?
[00:36:52] The most influential church was anchored by the Word of God.
[00:36:56] And that changed everything for them.
[00:36:59] See, Antioch wasn't just anchored in Scripture.
[00:37:02] They were anchored in it before they were ever active in the mission.
[00:37:07] It was the Word of God that shaped everything, everything.
[00:37:11] Let me show you something else that's kind of been disappointing for me over the years.
[00:37:16] The university that I graduated from, I would often get invited back to come and teach or preach at chapel services.
[00:37:24] It was supposed to be a Christian university.
[00:37:26] It's not, but just kind of by name only.
[00:37:30] Well, one day they had this Missions Emphasis Week, and because we had lived in the international mission field, they invited me to come and speak.
[00:37:38] I tried to do the best I could standing in front of hundreds of young men and women, students.
[00:37:44] I wanted to just implore them and beg them to leverage their life for the kingdom of God.
[00:37:51] Amen?
[00:37:52] I told them the same thing I want to tell you, that right now,
[00:37:55] Right now, there is 1,600 people groups.
[00:38:00] People groups are defined by their ethnicity, by the language they speak, by the culture that they have.
[00:38:04] 1,600.
[00:38:05] By the way, that is 3.2 billion people in this world who have not heard the name of Jesus.
[00:38:14] that means that these cultures there's less than two percent that live within these people groups uh who are christian there's no church that's close to them there's no bible in their language there's no pastor that they can go to and ask questions to they just do not know the name of jesus and so i just begged them and implored them you go and you leverage your life so you can go name jesus in places he's not been named before amen
[00:38:39] And, you know, afterwards the response was great.
[00:38:41] Many people came, many students came and said, hey, I want to do this.
[00:38:44] But here's where I got so disappointed.
[00:38:45] Here's where I was so frustrated.
[00:38:47] I would have college men and women, students, come up and say, you know, I feel like I'm ready to do that.
[00:38:53] And I would ask this question, well, what does your local church say?
[00:38:56] They know about this calling in your life?
[00:38:59] I'd say, well, I'm not a part of a local church.
[00:39:02] Oh, okay.
[00:39:03] Okay, I get it, you're in college, it's a hard transition, sometimes hard to find that church.
[00:39:08] What about the student ministries you're a part of?
[00:39:11] I haven't really plugged in to any student ministries.
[00:39:14] Oh, okay.
[00:39:18] Tony, anyone about this?
[00:39:19] What about your roommate?
[00:39:22] I don't really talk to my roommate.
[00:39:25] Okay, so you're wanting to go to unreached people groups and proclaim the name of Jesus
[00:39:33] But you've not been bold enough to proclaim the name of Jesus with someone you live with?