How Do I Trust Jesus When I Don’t Understand? | Acts 1:4–8 | James Savage

Well, good morning, Crosspoint. Let's stand as we get ready to worship together. I want to say hello to our friends online and our friends at God Behind Bars. Listen, we're here today in pursuit of the presence and power of God. And we have been seeing Him move. He's been writing His story since this church started 2,000 years ago. He has been moving, and there is still more moving to do. I know I need to move a God, so let me ask you guys, do you need to move a God? Put your hand in the air. Do you need to move a God? Say, I need to move a God. Come on, I need to move a God. All right, y'all, put your hands together. Let's let this be our prayer. If you know it, sing. All we want, all we hunger for is You. Come on, sing it. We've come. We've come with expected hearts, undone, knowing who You are. Lord, we long for what only You can do. Let this be our prayer. So Holy Spirit, come light fire on the altar, fresh wind blowing through. We're gonna stay here until we encounter You. So make us an offering, make us another room. We're gonna stay here until we encounter You. Come on, church, is that our prayer? Until we encounter You. Make us desperate. Make us desperate. Tear our idols down. We're repenting. This is still Your house. Lord, You meant it when You said You'd pour Your Spirit out. So we sing, Holy Spirit, come light fire on the altar. Fresh wind blowing through.

We're gonna stay here until we encounter You. So make us an offering, make us another room. We're gonna stay here until we encounter You. Until we encounter You. Oh, we're calling on Your name, Lord. Oh, move farther. Come on, you sing, we need. We need a move of God. We need a move of God. Yes, we do. We need a move of God. Lord, we're hungry. We're desperate. Lord, open the hell. Now you try. We need a move of God. Yes, we do. We need a move of God. We're calling on You, Lord. We need a move of God. Lord, we're hungry. We're desperate. Lord, open the hell. We need a move of God. We need a move of God. We need a move of God. Lord, we're hungry. We're desperate. Lord, open the hell. Fire on the altar.

Fresh wind blowing through. We're gonna stay here until we encounter You. Make us an offering. Make us another room. We're gonna stay here until we encounter You. Fire on the altar. Fresh wind blowing through. We're gonna stay here until we encounter You. So make us an offering. Make us another room. We're gonna stay here until we encounter You. We need a move of God. We need a move of God. Yes, we do. We need a move of God. We're calling Your name. We need a move of God. Lord, we're hungry. We're desperate. Lord, open the hell. We need a move of God We need a move of God Oh, we need We need a move of God Lord, we're hungry, we're desperate Lord, open the heavens one more time We need a move of God Oh, we need We need a move of God Holy Spirit, we pray you come, pray you come We need a move of God Lord, we're hungry, we're desperate Lord, open the heavens Yes, Lord, we pray for you to move because we believe that you will move, Jesus We've seen you do the work, we've seen you move in our lives and the lives of our friends and our family We believe that you will move again, Lord

We've witnessed your goodness We trust who you are, Jesus When I was lost and all alone Your presence was where I found home You were there and you're here right now In every high and every low You never left me without hope You're good and you're good right now I've witnessed your faithfulness And I've seen you bring life within So I'll pour out my praise again Your word, God, you're worthy of all of it Your promises never fail I've got stories I'll live to tell So I'll pour out my praise again Your word, God, you're worthy of all of it You left the throne and chose the cross Laid down your life to rescue us The Savior then and the Savior now But even death was not the end You conquered hell so I could live Resurrecting then, resurrecting now Resurrecting then, resurrecting now I've witnessed your faithfulness And I've seen you bring life within So I'll pour out my praise again Your word, God, you're worthy of all of it Your promises never fail I've got stories I'll live to tell So I'll pour out my praise again

Your word, God, you're worthy of all of it So I'll pour out my praise again You're good and I've witnessed it You're strong and I've witnessed it You're constant and I'm confident That I'll see it again and again You love and I've witnessed it You heal and I've witnessed it You save and I've witnessed it I'm confident that I'll see it again and again You're good and I've witnessed it You're strong and I've witnessed it You're constant and I've witnessed it I'm confident that I'll see it again and again You love and I've witnessed it You heal and I've witnessed it You save and I've witnessed it And I'm confident that I'll see it again and again I've witnessed your faithfulness ♪ And I've seen you breathe life within ♪ ♪ So I'll pour out my praise again ♪ ♪ You're worthy, God, you're worthy of all of it ♪ ♪ And your promises never fail ♪ ♪ I've got stories I'll live to tell ♪ ♪ So I'll pour out my praise again ♪ ♪ You're worthy, God, you're worthy of all of it ♪ ♪ To the broken I'll witness it ♪ ♪ And to the hurting I'll witness it ♪ ♪ To the lost I will witness it ♪ ♪ And I'll tell them this, I'll tell them what I witnessed ♪

♪ And to my family I'll witness it ♪ ♪ To my city I'll witness it ♪ ♪ To the nations I'll witness it ♪ ♪ And I'll tell them this, I'll tell them what I witnessed ♪ ♪ Again and again, I'll tell it again and again, Lord ♪ ♪ Cause I've witnessed your faithfulness ♪ ♪ And I've seen you breathe life within ♪ ♪ So I'll pour out my praise again ♪ ♪ You're worthy, God, you're worthy of all of it ♪ ♪ And your promises never fail ♪ ♪ Cause I've got stories I'll live to tell ♪ ♪ So I'll pour out my praise again ♪ ♪ You're worthy, God, you're worthy of all of it ♪ ♪ So I'll pour out my praise again and again ♪ ♪ Cause all that I have is a hallelujah, hallelujah ♪ ♪ And I know it's not much, I've nothing else to fit for my king ♪ ♪ Except for a heart singing hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah ♪ ♪ Hallelujah ♪ ♪ I've got one response, come on ♪ ♪ I've got just one need ♪ ♪ With my arms stretched wide and I will worship you, oh ♪ ♪ So I'll throw up my hands and praise you again and again ♪ ♪ Cause all that I have is a hallelujah, hallelujah ♪ ♪ And I know it's not much, I've nothing else to fit for my king ♪ ♪ Except for a heart singing hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah ♪ ♪ We give you praise, we give you a hallelujah, a hallelujah ♪ ♪ A hallelujah, a hallelujah, a hallelujah, a hallelujah ♪ ♪ We give you a hallelujah, a hallelujah, a hallelujah, hey ♪ ♪ Come on, every voice, come on my soul, come on ♪ ♪ Son of God, come on, yeah ♪

♪ Oh, you're gonna get up and come on my soul, come on my soul ♪ ♪ Come on my soul, don't you get shy on me, lift up your song ♪ ♪ Cause you've got a lion inside of us all ♪ ♪ Get up and praise, get up and praise, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah ♪ ♪ Come on my soul, don't you get shy on me, lift up your song ♪ ♪ Cause you've got a lion inside of us all ♪ ♪ Get up and praise the Lord ♪ We give you all our pain, you're worthy of all our pain. Congratulations Lord, thank you Lord. So I throw up my hands, praise you again and again, cause all that I have is a problem. And we know it's not much, but I've nothing else fit for a king, except for a heart singing Hallelujah, Hallelujah. We sing Hallelujah, Hallelujah. All right, Cross Point, how are we feeling? Feeling pretty good? It's a good day, isn't it? It's a good day. Listen, I'm honored to be here, to be a part of this journey through Acts. If you've got a Bible with you, you can open up to Acts chapter one. We're going to pick up in verse four. We are on week two of a year long journey through one of the most fascinating historical documents of a series of events that we have. We're taking an entire year to study the book of Acts, to try to answer this question. How in the world are we here? How did it turn out that we are at church? There's a movement that's happening across the world, celebrating the name of Jesus. We're going to study the book of Acts for an entire year to see if we can answer that question. And that's a big question, because I don't mean to be offensive when I say this, but this is a reality. The majority of claims that are made about Jesus, I should say it this way. The majority of the claims that were made about Jesus's life are not historically significant.

Bear with me. The fact that Jesus was executed on a Roman cross is not historically significant. Do some studying. Ancient Rome literally killed hundreds of thousands of people on crosses. It's not historically significant that someone said that Jesus was the Messiah and that Jesus could perform miracles in the years before and after Jesus. Dozens of other people had those same claims made about them. But that begs the question. If it's true that those claims about Jesus's life are not historically significant, then why is it that you and I know the name of Jesus, and we don't know any of the others who also claim similar things? Why is it that right now, across the world, two and a half billion people in 120 different countries speaking thousands of different languages not only know the name of Jesus, but worship Jesus as Lord? What happened 2,000 years ago that led to the movement that continues today? The invitation for this year is unless you are sick or out of town, be here as we figure out why is it that the movement continues to change the world day by day and a person at a time. Today, we're going to specifically look at a moment at the very beginning of this movement. A moment when, honestly, the decision that was made impacts what we're doing right now. It's a moment when there were very few followers of Jesus, but those followers of Jesus were standing on a mountain of metaphorical gunpowder, and one of two things was about to happen. Either it would blow away into the winds of history like every other name that we have never heard of, or somebody would strike a match, and the world would change. We're going to look at a moment where these few Jesus followers had to make a decision. They had to answer a question, and honestly, it's a decision, and it's a question that any person who has ever heard the name of Jesus has to be able to answer. So here's the plan for today. We're going to look at this critical moment at the beginning of the story.

We're going to do some Bible study on it. It's going to be a ton of fun, and then we're going to have to wrestle with it. with this question that they wrestled with. And if we have time, then I wanna share with you why little nails like this are some of the most special things in the world to me. So, do we wanna dive in to see if we can answer the question, what happened 2000 years ago that led to the movement that we're in today? All right, front row, let's go. Okay, so before we get to Acts chapter one, I'll just catch you up a little bit. The disciples, 11 of the 12 disciples are hanging out with Jesus on the Mount of Olives. Judas isn't there, he's not a part of the crew anymore. They're on the Mount of Olives, which is a small mountain range that overlooks the city of Jerusalem. Now, this is after Jesus's death. This is after Jesus's life and his death. Side note, you ever consider this reality? What's the most logical thing to happen after Jesus's death? Logically, what should have happened to the Jesus movement after he died? The most logical answer to that would be that if the Jesus movement was going to continue, you would assume that Jesus's followers would continue his teachings about generosity

and charity and love and forgiveness, and they would celebrate Jesus as a martyr. That's what you think would have happened. But historically, we know that's not what happened. After Jesus was executed on that Roman cross, an outrageous claim was made. And the funny thing is, although it's the most outrageous claim that was ever made about Jesus, it's also the most unanimously agreed upon claim about Jesus, which is kind of funny, because for 2,000 years, we Christians can't seem to agree on anything, but we've always agreed on this, that three days after Jesus was crucified, he resurrected himself from the grave, appeared to hundreds of people, and spent 40 days teaching those people about the kingdom of heaven. When we pick up with Jesus and the disciples on the Mount of Olives in Acts 1, verse four, we're on the 40th day. We're on the 40th day with Jesus having the last conversation he will have with his disciples on earth. And it's in this moment, on this metaphorical mountain of gunpowder, that Jesus gives them direction and forces them to have to answer a question. So that conversation gets going.

Luke, the author of Acts, says this is how it went. On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command. Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit. Then they gathered around him and asked him, Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel? He said to them, it's not for you to know the times or the dates the father has set by his own authority, but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth. Now there's a few more verses that we need to read today, but first we have to pause. Because if I'm on that mountain in that moment, if I'm listening to Jesus, kind of freaked out that the guy that I watched die from a distance is speaking to me now when he says these things to me and 10 of my buddies, I'm a little overwhelmed. Because he said one thing that's terrifying, one thing that's confusing, and another thing that's terrifying. The first thing that Jesus says is that he tells them to go where?

Anybody catch it? To go back to or stay in Jerusalem. Now, if I am a follower of Jesus, why would I not want to go back to Jerusalem? Because 43 days before that, the leader of the movement that I'm in was arrested, beaten and whipped within an inch of his life and then publicly executed on a Roman cross. And Rome has more crosses. And Rome has more people who want to kill people who believe what I believe. The most hostile place in the world for me at this moment is Jerusalem. But the disciples assume they know what's going on. They say, Jesus, you want us to go back to Jerusalem to take it back over to push out Rome? See, they know about the Old Testament prophecy that says that one day God will restore all things and it'll happen through Israel. So they say, is that what's happening? That's what's happening now? That you're gonna restore the kingdom to Israel? And you saw it, Jesus gives them like a non-answer. Like, don't worry about that. That's another story for another day. Instead, I want you to go back to Jerusalem. And notice he didn't say fight. He didn't say defend. He didn't say argue. He said, go back to Jerusalem and wait.

And if I'm hearing that as a disciple, I'm thinking, I don't know, man. It's a pretty scary thing to do. But he had a specific reason for asking them to wait. We read it, let's read it again in verse five. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the what? The Holy Spirit. Now, if I'm listening to this, I'm a little confused. I've gone from scared to confused because I'm familiar with the idea of baptism. An ancient Jew would be familiar with the idea of a spiritual ritual cleansing that involves water. And I'm familiar with the idea of God working through his Holy Spirit. It was the Spirit that spoke through the burning bush to Moses. It was the Spirit that led the Israelites out of Egypt. It was the Spirit that would descend on the tabernacle and on the temple in a cloud of smoke. I'm familiar with these terms, but the idea of being baptized in God's Holy Spirit, that's a new concept. And honestly, when Jesus says this, I can't help but wonder, did any disciples giggle? Or at the very least, when Luke was writing this, did he chuckle when he wrote it? Because, and y'all, I've been looking forward for weeks to tell you what I'm about to tell you. I did not grow up knowing this, but now that I know this,

it is one of my favorite things in all of the Bible. Luke is writing this in Greek. We're reading it in English. So when we read the word baptized, what we're reading is a translation of the Greek word baptizo. Can we all say that together? Say baptizo on the count of three. One, two, three, baptizo. Y'all, that's some pretty good Greek. Congratulations, we'll get you a degree right after this. If you wanna like have some fun with scripture, sometimes you can take the languages that they were originally written in and just do word studies and see how else these words were used in the time that they were written. If you do a historical dive on the word baptizo, what you'll find is that the earliest account of the word baptizo was used about 200 years before Jesus was born. But it wasn't used in a spiritual sense. It was used in a culinary sense by this man named Nicander of Colophon. Nicander, we'll call him Nick. So Nick was an ancient poet 200 years before Jesus was born and he must have moonlighted as a chef because the earliest usage of the word baptizo is by this man, Nicander of Colophon, when he is describing the recipe for a, you ready for this?

Pickle, which is fantastic for me. This has nothing to do with the sermon. Let me just tell you about me. I love pickles. Where my pickle fans at? Yes, come on. Look, I love spicy pickles. I love regular pickles. I love kosher dill pickles. I love sweet pickles. I love whole pickles. I love pickle slices, pickle chips. I love those expensive pickles that are only expensive because someone on TikTok said that they're good. And you can judge me all you want. I love bread and butter pickles. That's right, come on, let's be best friends right now. So Nicander, he uses two words. When describing dipping a vegetable into the brine, the act of dipping, he used the word bapto, which literally means to dip. But when describing leaving that vegetable in there over a period of time so that it would be changed on a molecular level from the inside out, he uses the word baptizo. Now, I don't know if Nicander was thinking spiritually when he was writing down that recipe. As funny as it is for me to think about this, pickling is kind of a perfect analogy for what it means to be baptized.

Because what happens when we're being baptized? If you've been baptized, what that means is that you have repented of your sin and received the grace of Jesus to cleanse you from your sin and you have invited the Holy Spirit of Almighty God to enter your soul and change you from the inside out. See, when something is pickled, you're describing the fact there was a moment in time when the pickling took place, but you're also saying that what went into that jar has come out as something completely different. And when we are baptized in the name of Jesus and baptized by the Holy Spirit, what we are saying is I used to be something and now I am something different. Yes, there was a moment that I was baptized, but I'm forever changed from the inside out by the Holy Spirit. This is why Paul, a few years later, would famously write these words in 2 Corinthians 5, verse 17. He would say, therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come, the old is gone, the new is here. And Jesus says, I want you to go to the most hostile place on earth so you would be pickled by the Holy Spirit of God, to be baptized by the Holy Spirit. And he's not asking this, he's not saying this for their entertainment or fun. If you notice, there's a very specific reason why he wants them to go.

Let's look in verse eight. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you. Go do this, because you will receive power. But pay attention, because he does not say that you will receive power in order to be praised, in order to be served, to lord it over. No, he says, but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will be my, someone say it out loud, witnesses. Now, if I'm listening to this, I went from scared of Jerusalem, confused by this Holy Spirit thing, and now I'm nervous again. So let's do some more Greek studying. That word witnesses, it's translated from the Greek word martis. And the word martis speaks to the idea of witnessing in a legal courtroom. Notice, Jesus did not say, you will be my legal defendants who have every answer to every question. He said, you will be my witnesses. And what does a witness do in a legal courtroom? A witness simply says what he or she saw. But as many words do, martis has multiple meanings. Martis is not only how we translate the word witness, but it's also where we get the word martyr. And Jesus is saying, you will give your life over to testifying what you have seen here. You wanna find most fascinating about this sentence

is if you pay close attention, you'll see that Jesus did not ask them to be his witnesses, and Jesus did not command them to be his witnesses. He declared, you will be my witnesses. And in this moment, I believe Jesus is doing two things at once. I believe he's speaking prophetically, he's speaking inevitably. Because I believe he knows prophetically that 10 out of these 11 men will be martyred for their claim Jesus is alive and Jesus is Lord. The only one who survives to an old age, John does so because he survived an attempted martyrdom. He's speaking prophetically, but he's also speaking inevitably. Because Jesus knows this universal truth about the reality of our lives is that your life, my life, our lives bear witness to the things that we say that we believe for better or for worse. And look, this is another sermon for another day, but I think I need to say this, that we need to think seriously about the reality that if you bear the name Christian, then your life is bearing witness to Jesus for better or for worse. And there are friends that you have that don't read the Bible, but they believe things about Jesus. About his truth, about his reality,

about his authenticity, about his power. They believe things about Jesus because of what they see in you. You have coworkers and classmates who don't go to church, they don't read the Bible and they don't listen to worship music. And they believe things about Jesus because of what they see in you. Some of you who have kids in Crosspoint Kids right now, your kids watch you go to church every Sunday and they watch you the other six days of the week and they are developing what they believe about Jesus because of what they see in you. It's nothing to be scared of, but it's a reality to take seriously that inevitably our lives bear witness to the things that we say that we believe. Another sermon, another day. Jesus says, go to Jerusalem, we will be baptized in the Holy Spirit. You'll be given power to witness in Jerusalem. But you notice he didn't stop in Jerusalem. In Jerusalem where they're gonna wanna kill you, in Judea where you have already feared for your life, in Samaria where they hate you and in the rest of the world where, look, all bets are off. And this is why it's so important that the disciples first go to Jerusalem to receive the Holy Spirit.

See, they were thinking, God, Jesus, you're gonna restore Israel, right? And Jesus said, oh, you're not thinking big enough. I'm not just restoring Israel, I'm restoring all of humanity and I'm going to do this through you. And if you feel like that is a job that is bigger than you, you're right. As Pastor Kevin said last week, because we're being called to something bigger than us, we have to receive power from something greater than us. So don't get ahead of this. Don't try to muscle your way through being a better Christian or building better churches or making better communities. You first start with the Holy Spirit, which will empower you to do more than you even know how to pray for in this moment. I had a buddy who was, we were looking at this passage together a couple of weeks ago and he said, do you ever notice, do you ever notice that every perfect plan of God is initiated by the Holy Spirit, not by a person? In this moment, the book of Acts is about to kick off in chapter two, initiated by the Holy Spirit. It bookends the end of Jesus's earthly ministry with the beginning of Jesus's earthly ministry. Because how did Jesus's earthly ministry begin? With an angel going to Mary and saying,

the Holy Spirit will come upon you. How does the Bible begin? In Genesis chapter one, go all the way back to the beginning. Before God says, let there be light, what is hovering over the waters? The Holy Spirit. And let it be a warning to us. That's gonna be a warning to me. I love to fix things and get my hands into things. I need to hear this word that says before you go, you better pause and say, Holy Spirit, would you fill me first? Because I do not want to do this without you. So Jesus says, go to Jerusalem, be filled with the Holy Spirit. And then you will bear my witness. You will be my witnesses where you live, outside of where you live and across the world. And you can imagine in this moment, ooh, hearts beating in their chest and thinking, how is this all gonna work? I don't understand what's gonna happen next. And then Luke tells us this crazy detail. In verse nine, in this moment of excitement and tension, he says, after he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes and a cloud hid them from their sight. You think any disciples just said, did he just say all that and then float away?

Yeah, I don't know, man. While they're looking up intently into the sky as he was going, they were looking, let me say this right, they were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. These are angels, because at this point in the story, why not? Men of Galilee, they said, why do you stand looking here into the sky as the same Jesus who has been taken from you into heaven will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven, which is a gentle and prophetic and poetic way of saying, why are you guys looking at where Jesus just was instead of going to the place that he said his spirit would be? And it's this moment, they're standing on that metaphorical mountain of gunpowder where they have to make a decision. What do we do next? And their decision is gonna be based off of one question, a question they had to answer, a question you and I have to answer, a question that every person who's ever heard the name of Jesus has to answer. And that question is, do I trust Jesus? Notice the question is not, do I understand Jesus? Because how could they? How could they fully understand what it's gonna be like

when they get off the mountain and go into Jerusalem? There's no way for them to understand what's about to happen in Acts 2 before it happens. There's no way to comprehend what it means for them to be witnesses across the world. The question is, do I trust Jesus even if I don't understand what comes next? That word trust is a funny thing. I mean, it's one of those beautiful things that we have in the human experience, but the irony is that trust can only exist or at least can only be experienced when there is a gap in information, a gap in understanding. There's a difference between knowing and trusting. If you know something, there's no room for trust because you know it. But trust is the bridge that spans the ocean of the unknown. And trust is saying, I'm gonna step forward even if I don't see where this bridge lands. Trust is saying, I don't know, and I don't have to because I trust you. And in this moment, on this mountain, the disciples have to ask themselves, do I trust Jesus with my life? And do I trust Jesus with my death? I'm gonna go out on a limb. Let me speak to the Christians that are here. I'm gonna go out on a limb and assume that you trust Jesus with your death.

You trust that because Jesus has saved you from your sin and given you the Holy Spirit that you believe that when you take your last breath here on earth, which is the day that's coming for all of us, your next breath will be in heaven and Jesus will walk you into the throne room of your heavenly father, who you will spend eternity with your creator because you trust Jesus with your death. But let's flip that coin and spend a couple minutes being honest with each other. Do you trust Jesus with your life? Does your life reflect someone who trusts Jesus with their life? Did you trust Jesus with your life this week? Let's be honest. Did you trust Jesus with the decisions you made last night? If someone did an audit on your life and you were being fully transparent, how would you answer the question? How would you answer your own question, do I trust Jesus? Do I trust Jesus with my family? Do I trust Jesus with my relationships or my relationship to drugs? Do I trust Jesus with my time or my taxes? Do I trust Jesus for money and generosity? Do I trust Jesus with healing? Do I trust Jesus in the way that I'm parenting and the way that I'm going to school? Do I trust Jesus with who I date,

with who I'm gonna marry? Do I trust Jesus with my identity? Do I trust Jesus with my sexuality? Do I trust Jesus with my values? Do I trust Jesus when asking for forgiveness? Do I trust Jesus when giving forgiveness? Do I trust Jesus with my body? Do I trust Jesus with my health? Have I even considered whether or not I trust Jesus in these areas or have I been so focused on Him that I never even thought what would it mean to trust Jesus for this area of my life? And when scripture and when Jesus bumps up against the way that I've been living, is my reflex to put my trust in myself or is my reflex to put my trust in my creator? Do I trust Jesus is a question that we have to answer because we're not gonna understand everything on this side of heaven, but that's not the question. The question is not do we understand? The question is, do we trust? You know what the crazy thing is though? I love our faith. I love the gospel. I love how upside down and beautiful it is because whether or not you trust Jesus, you know what a crazy, beautiful irony is? Whether or not you trust Jesus, Jesus trusts you.

Does this blow anyone else's mind? What's God's ultimate mission? His ultimate goal is to redeem the world from sin and death. We were created for freedom, sin brought about bondage, and now God's goal is to free us from bondage. And how does God go about freeing us from bondage? Look through all of these pages. You know what we'll find? People, you. Jesus trusts you. Jesus gives you the Holy Spirit. It started way back with Abraham. God trusted Abraham and then Jacob and then King David. He trusted Moses, he trusted Peter and the disciples and Paul, even though Abraham got caught lying and Moses was a murderer and Jacob, that's a true story by the way, Moses was a murderer, and Jacob was a deceiver and David was an adulterer and the disciples abandoned Jesus and Peter denied Jesus and Paul was literally a terrorist against the Christian movement and he gave them his Holy Spirit when they were ready to receive it and he said, I'm trusting you with this next chapter. And friend, it's the same truth for you. Jesus trusts you. He trusts you in your workplace and with your friend group and at your school, he trusts you with your family. And I mean it, you, you who grew up in church and you who have been running from it your whole life.

You who got sober yesterday and you who have never had a sip. You who have secrets. You who are currently having an affair. Jesus is trusting in you. He's trusting you who goes to church every Sunday and then denies Jesus with the rest of your life. He trusts you who has more questions than you have answers. He trusts you who can't wait for this next season of life and he trusts you who's afraid that the best days are behind you. He trusts you who've been in middle of Tennessee for decades and he trusts you who just got here yesterday. By the way, welcome home. And do you know why? Look, God could bring about the redemption of the world any way he wants, he's God. Why in the world would he put the keys in your hands? Why in the world would he offer you his Holy Spirit? Why would he bring you into this big picture of redemption? Because the best picture that we have of who it is that created all of these things, that created existence, the best picture that we have is one of a loving father who delights in his children. Therefore, Ephesians 2.10 says we are created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. You were created in Christ Jesus to do good works because God has prepared in advance the redemption of the world and he looks at you and says,

I want you to be part of this story. So here's what we're gonna do. I'm gonna share with you why nails like this are incredibly important to me. And then we're gonna spend a moment at the end of this service worshiping. If part of you is like, ooh, song at the end, I'm gonna go beat the traffic at that time. I'm gonna encourage you to stay here and trust Jesus with the traffic. So a couple of years ago, somewhere along the line, my dad, he was at my house, I've got this little workshop on the end of our carport. And he said, hey, what if we took out the exterior wall, put up a beam and doubled the size of that workshop? And I said, that sounds great, but it's a little bit above my skillset. And he said, how about this? Follow my lead, I'll show you how to do it. And honestly, it was one of my favorite projects I've ever done with my dad. His fingerprints are all over. It was just a great system of like chopping wood, nail it in, chop it and nail it in. And most of that workshop now is held together by these three-inch construction nails. But if you look closely around the workshop, particularly on some spots in the floor, you'll see these much smaller rooms. roofing style nails.

And these are here because about three quarters of the way through the project, I invited my son who was about three at the time, my daughter who was six, Joanna and Cooper. I asked them to come in and help drive in some nails. Because I wanted their story to be a part of this family project as well. I tell you what, some of my favorite things and the favorite moments in the world is when I walk into that shop and I see the memory of my dad and I working together and I see those little shiny nails that look different than the other ones. And I look at them and go, oh, that one was the one Cooper put in and that one was the one that Joanna put in. Now, I did not need my children to drive in those nails in order to finish that project. My dad didn't need me to work alongside him to finish that project. So why are we all involved? Look, I'm nothing close to a perfect dad. But I can tell you this, I'm a father who delights my children. And I wanted them to be a part of something that was bigger than themselves that we could always remember. And when I handed them that hammer, you better believe it was too heavy for them. And they swung it awkwardly.

I was kind of like, well, we've got some work to do teaching them how to swing a hammer. And they bent nails and they went in sideways. But I came alongside them and I helped them hammer, use a tool that was heavier, too big, too heavy and too big for them to use. And we drove it in together. And now we have this family memory of, look how our fingerprints are on this thing that's all something bigger than ourselves. Friends, you have a heavenly father who is inviting you into something that is bigger than yourself. If I was going to participate in the building of that shop, I needed to trust my dad when my dad said, I'll show you how to do this. If my kids were gonna drive in those nails, they would have to trust me when I handed them something that was too heavy for them to hold. And if those disciples were going to go into Jerusalem, the most, not hospitable, the most hostile place in the world for them and receive something that was bigger than them, to do something that was greater than them, they had to say, I trust you, even though I don't understand. And the question that sits on our doorstep today, as I believe there's another metaphorical mountain of gunpowder, I believe God is doing something in our country,

in our state, in the world that I have never seen before. The question is, even if we don't understand where he's going, do we trust Jesus enough to say, I don't know, but if that's where the spirit's going, that's where I'm gonna be. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. So, the decision is, So, the decision is, is not dependent on how much strength we can muster and how much we can convince ourselves. The decision rests on our ability to trust Jesus. So we'll land at that same spot. Do I trust Jesus? And look, the reality is, if we do an audit on our life, I don't know if any of us score 100. So if we wanna spend this year as individuals and as families and as a church, saying we wanna exercise the muscle of trust together, to not get out ahead of what the Holy Spirit's doing, but receive the Holy Spirit, then what if we started this week in saying,

I'm gonna exercise that muscle every day? And it might be something super simple, like this breath prayer. I might have said this from the stage before, but if I have, it bears repeating. Maybe what you do today is that you write down this prayer, I trust Jesus. And every day you pray, I trust in Jesus. When you go to bed, when you wake up, you pray, I trust in Jesus. When you're about to have a hard conversation at work, when someone's having a hard conversation with you, you're praying to yourself, I trust Jesus. When you're about to take a test, when you're about to invite someone into your home, when you're about to go on a trip, you just repeat over and over and over, and you work that muscle, reminding your heart, no, my trust is not in the things that are in front of me, my trust is in Jesus. Maybe what happens next is before you leave, you turn to the person next to you. Because when you think about what areas of my life, if I'm being honest, I'm not actually trusting Jesus, maybe there's one thing that's been rising to the surface of your heart this entire message. And what you need to do is tell the person next to you, hey, before we leave, I need you to know that I'm gonna start trusting Jesus in this area of my life, and I'm gonna ask you to help me be accountable.

Or maybe you need to finally talk to the campus pastor that you've never met. Say, hey, pastor, I'm gonna ask you to help me trust Jesus with this area of my life. Maybe you say, all right, I'll sign up for Serve the City. Especially, listen, if you haven't signed up for Serve the City because you don't have enough time, you don't think you're good at those kinds of projects, and you feel awkward in social situations, let this be an act of trust to sign up and say, Jesus, I don't understand how you're gonna use me, but I'm gonna go because I trust that your spirit moves when we serve people with honor and dignity. So I'll be a part of Serve the City for a project because Jesus, I trust you. Or maybe, ooh, maybe today is the day that you say, I'm done. I'm done fighting the battles that I can't win. Today, I'm admitting for the first time that I am a sinner and I'm putting my trust in Jesus for the salvation of my soul for eternity and for an abundant life today. And if that is you, after this service, you find someone on a prayer team and you tell them, today, I'm trusting in Jesus. And friends, may we be a church over this next year as we watch how wild this story gets. May we be a church that says, we might not see every detail of the road ahead of us, but we trust the one who has gone before us. And that's the scripture that we have scheduled for today.

But if you don't tell Pastor Kevin, I'll give you a teaser of what we're gonna talk about next week. You wanna hear it? All right, got one, yeah, so let's do it. So in this moment, the disciples are on the Mount of Olives. This is a real moment in history. This isn't fiction. This is a real moment in history. Jesus says, go to Jerusalem, receive my spirit, be my witnesses, and then he floats away. And the next decision they make will be in direct relation to how they answer the question, do I trust Jesus? And the next five words are some of the most powerful five words you can find anywhere in history. Luke says in Acts 1, verse 12, then the apostles returned to Jerusalem. They said, yes, I don't understand all this, but I trust that that's where his spirit is, that that's where I'm gonna be. And when we read the rest of this book over the course of this year, what we're gonna see is, yes, they went to Jerusalem and they witnessed in the gospel of Jesus not only filled Jerusalem, but it spilled out into Judea and Samaria. And then it started to creep across the world. And if you watch the timeline throughout history,

what you'll see is over the course of 2000 years, the Holy Spirit started to infuse people's hearts and give them power to do things that they didn't even know how to pray for, not power for themselves, but power for the kingdom of God to come down onto earth. And a dark and a cold world started to get light and life. And over 2000 years, Christians have pioneered the buildings of orphanages and hospitals. They've led freedom revolutions. They've built schools all in the name of a new life that is being breathed into God, because people have said, I have seen the risen Jesus and he is Lord. And it began when this group of people chose to trust Jesus, strike a match, and the world began to change. But I ask you this, why? Why would they trust Jesus in this moment? Because these are the same disciples who 43 days ago abandoned Jesus, denied that they ever knew him, and they did not trust him as Jesus was on the way to the cross. Why, 43 days later, would they literally give their lives over to testifying, I have seen a risen savior and he is Lord. It is because what they were looking at was a risen savior. The most significant claim about Jesus of Nazareth

is that three days after his death, he rose himself from the grave and that validated every Messiah claim, every Christ claim, every healing. What happened on the cross is validated because these men had an undeniable experience with the resurrected savior and it changed their life and it changed our world. So friends, cross point, my prayer is that we would have an undeniable experience with the risen savior and that we would be his witnesses in Nashville and in Dixon and in Bellevue and in Franklin and in Mount Juliet and Hendersonville at the Deborah Johnson Rehabilitation Center, at the 10 counties around Nashville and across the world. Saying, I might not see you where this goes, but Jesus, if that's where your spirit is, that's where we will be. Let me pray for us and then let us worship, celebrating the goodness of God, which has come here and let us worship as a declaration. Say, Jesus is alive and he is Lord and my trust is in him. Can we pray, Jesus, thank you. Lord, that you have placed this moment before us to put our eyes not on what we can build, but to place our eyes on where you are. Lord, would you help us have the courage to come down off of our mountains and go to where your spirit is leading.

Would you infuse us with your Holy Spirit so that we would be your witnesses for the glory of your name and for the good of the communities that we get to serve. We pray this Jesus, we sing this Jesus in your present and your powerful name. Amen. Would y'all stand and let's worship together. ♪♪ ♪ Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine. ♪ ♪ He's been my fourth man in the fire, time after time. ♪ ♪ Born of His Spirit, washed in His blood. ♪ ♪ And what He did for me on Calvary was more than enough. ♪ You sing. ♪ I trust in God, my Savior, the one who will never fail. ♪ ♪ He will never fail. ♪ ♪ I trust in God, my Savior, the one who will never fail. ♪ ♪ He will never fail. ♪ ♪ Perfect submission, all is at rest. ♪ ♪ I know the author of tomorrow is Lord and myself. ♪ ♪ So this is my story, this is my song. ♪ ♪ Praising my risen King and Savior all the day long. ♪ ♪ I trust in God, my Savior, the one who will never fail. ♪ ♪ He will never fail. ♪ ♪ Oh, I trust in God. I trust in God, my Savior, the one who will never fail. ♪ ♪ He's never failed me yet. He's never failed me yet. ♪ ♪ He will never fail. ♪ ♪ You've been so good to me. Every time I call on your name, Jesus. ♪ ♪ Oh, so good. Oh, so kind. ♪ ♪ I sought the Lord and He heard and He answered. ♪

♪ That's why, that's why I trust Him. That's why I trust Him. ♪ ♪ I sought the Lord and He heard and He answered. That's why, that's why I trust Him. That's why I trust Him. ♪ ♪ I sought the Lord and He heard and He answered. That's why, that's why I trust Him. That's why I trust Him. ♪ ♪ I sought the Lord and He heard and He answered. I sought the Lord and He heard and He answered. I sought the Lord and He heard and He answered. That's why I trust Him. That's why I trust in God. He's my Savior, the one. He will never fail. He'll never fail. I trust in God. My Savior, the one. Who will never fail. He'll never fail. I trust in God, my Savior, the one who will never fail. You will never fail. I trust in God, I trust in God, my Savior, the one who will never fail. You are the one who will never fail. You will never fail.