Working Towards Well Done | Tyrone D. Jones | Book of Acts | Full Service

(crowd cheering) (upbeat music) (crowd cheering) (upbeat music) (crowd cheering) (upbeat music) (crowd cheering) (upbeat music) (crowd cheering) (upbeat music) - Good morning church for the city. So good to be back in the house of the Lord. My name's Will and if you're new here, it's your first time, we'd like to get to know you. You can use your phone and tap the disc on the chair in front of you. Or you can check in with the next step. Move down the lobby if you're watching online. Welcome. You can check on the digital connect card there. The verse I wanna share with you this morning comes from Luke, it's chapter 12, verse 24. Jesus is talking with his disciples and he's talking with them about worry. And in this verse, he says, look at the ravens. They don't plant or harvest or store food and barns for God feeds them. And you are far more valuable to him than any birds. We live in a broken world and honestly,

it's crazy out there right now and it's really easy to fall into a state of worry. And if we're not careful, that worry can grow and consume us into anxiety and fear where it can take us over and it can actually pull us away from God. Jesus is saying, hey, knock it off. Like, God loves you. He's gonna take care of the birds. He's gonna take care of you too. You know, God's done so much more for us than he's ever done for the birds. He gives the birds food so they can eat and live on this earth. He gave us his one and only son that died so we can live forever and eternity with him. So as we go into this time of worship, I wanna take any fear or anxiety or a word that you brought in here with you or that you're holding on to and lay it at the cross. Let it go, lean into God and trust in him. He's got you, let's pray. Dear Lord, thank you for this day. Thank you for bringing us together to allow us to be together in your house this morning, Lord. I pray that you open our hearts and our minds so we can receive whatever word you have for us this morning and apply it to our lives in the way that glorifies you. In Jesus name, let's pray. Let's get this party started.

(upbeat music) (upbeat music) I'll put your hands together this morning. ♪ In the evening, set me in on your feet ♪ ♪ Somebody pray the Lord to me ♪ ♪ And if you believe, I wanna clap your hands ♪ ♪ Since we've got the history ♪ ♪ This little I know, testify ♪ ♪ When it's our fear ♪ ♪ This little I will testify to the Father's lips ♪ ♪ Let's tell somebody ♪ ♪ When the Lord is done for you ♪ ♪ Some right place revenues ♪ ♪ You preach that gospel truth ♪ ♪ There's no sleep in what I've got to do ♪ ♪ What is that for me? ♪ ♪ We'll do it for you ♪ ♪ It's a infinity, yeah, I'll trust me ♪ ♪ Come on and come along with me ♪ ♪ Somebody, let's tell somebody ♪ (upbeat music) ♪ These foam walls don't stand a chance ♪ ♪ 'Cause the church can't solve the move ♪ ♪ Fire in your bones like a holy flame ♪ ♪ It's time to let it lose ♪ ♪ This little I go to testify ♪ ♪ Where it inside me ♪ ♪ This little I go to testify ♪ ♪ To revivals in the streets ♪ ♪ Somebody, let's tell somebody ♪

♪ When the Lord is done for you ♪ ♪ Somebody, let's breath the news ♪ ♪ You preach that gospel truth ♪ ♪ Just don't seek it when I got it to you ♪ ♪ When it's done for me, it'll do it for you ♪ ♪ If you pick the team, get out your seat ♪ ♪ Come on, tell them along with me ♪ ♪ Somebody, let's tell somebody ♪ ♪ By the way of the land ♪ ♪ This is how we overcome ♪ ♪ And by the way of our testimony ♪ ♪ This is how we overcome ♪ ♪ By the way of the land ♪ ♪ This is how we overcome ♪ ♪ By the way of our testimony ♪ ♪ This is how we overcome ♪ ♪ This is how we overcome ♪ ♪ By the way of the land ♪ ♪ This is how we overcome ♪ ♪ By the way of our testimony ♪ ♪ This is how we overcome ♪ ♪ By the way of the land ♪ ♪ This is how we overcome ♪ ♪ By the way of our testimony ♪ ♪ This is how we overcome ♪ ♪ Somebody, let's tell somebody ♪ ♪ What the Lord has done for you ♪ ♪ Somebody, let's grab the news ♪ ♪ You preach that gospel truth ♪ ♪ There's no secret what I've got to do ♪

♪ What he's done for me, he'll do for you ♪ ♪ If you pit my team, get out your seat ♪ ♪ Come on and tell all of me ♪ ♪ Somebody, let's tell somebody ♪ Somebody better spread the news You preach that gospel truth There's no secret where I'm God But you know what it's not for me You're too real If you're being the team Get out your seat Come on, tell the world to me Somebody better tell somebody Somebody better tell somebody Tell somebody Come on, we give Him praise and glory We worshiped the Jesus Come on, we can see the worship If you're being the Jesus Come on, we can see the worship You're too real If you're being the Jesus We worshiped the Jesus Come on, we can see the worship We worshiped the Jesus Come on, we can see the worship We worshiped the Jesus Come on, we can see the worship We worshiped the Jesus Come on, we can see the worship

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Don't want to go real again It's for your glory Every story of revival, every miracle we've seen It's a glimpse of what has come So our faith help us believe And we know the days come And we will see your face Every knee will bow before you And every heart will sing Oh, praise the Father Come on church sing it Praise the Son Yes, we praise Jesus Oh, sweet Make us cry Every nation Try them down Come on, this is your cry You're a kingdom Lord, hear our cry This joy will be done This is our cry You're a kingdom It's a kingdom ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ That's just meant for her. She'll be crying, If all face down and we wish. We all cry out. You won't be gone. You won't be gone.

Sweet crowning. If all face down and we wish. We all cry out. You won't be gone. You won't be gone. You won't just give Jesus all the honor and the praise in this moment. God, we worship you. We thank you, Jesus, for your sacrifice. God, let us buy your stripes so we are healed. Come on, Church, let's continue to celebrate as we watch so we go under the waters of baptism and go public with their faith to turn your eyes to the stream. Hi, my name is Cassandra. Before I had a personal relationship with God, my life was really hard. Growing up, I went through physical and emotional abuse. I had a very broken relationship with my parents and my younger brother. I was hurting and I allowed it to change the way I treated others. I didn't care how my actions affected those around me. I felt hopeless and didn't know what to do. I felt like I had no other purpose and no reason to believe that things could get better. My best friend, California, introduced me to the Church for the City and I started going every Sunday with her. Through the people there and through hearing about God, I began to understand that the Lord really does love me and has a plan for my life. During service, I experienced a moment of hope that I hadn't felt in a long time. I started my life to Jesus. After starting my life to Jesus, I started realizing that my past didn't have to define me. God gave me hope when I had none. He had changed my heart, my relationship, the way I saw myself and the people around me. I am still growing, but I am not the same person I was before. Now that I know my life has a purpose and I know that God was there for me when I couldn't see him. Today, I'm going public with my faith. Cassandra, Jesus said every disciple should be baptized in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

And because of your confession of faith today, I baptize you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ for the remission of your sins. And according to Scripture, you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Come on Church, let's celebrate the angels of heaven. God, you are so worthy. You are the Lord who endured all the shame of the cross to the Lamb who was slain as a torment for us. To the Son who overcame all the power of death we praise. For the stripes, for the walls, for the beating, for the tears, for the blood that was within the core. For the merciful, wonderful man who saved the world. To the world who endured all the shame of the cross to the Lamb who was slain as a torment for us. To the Son who overcame all the power of death we praise. We praise, we praise, we praise it. For the stripes, for the walls, for the beating, for the tears, for the blood that was within the core. For the merciful, wonderful man who saved the world. We crown you, we fall face down and we worship. We all cry out, you are the God. You are the God, you are the God. We crown you, we fall face down and we worship. We all cry out, you are the God. You are the God, you are the God. You are the God, you are the shame of the cross to the Lamb who was slain as a torment for us. To the Son who overcame all the power of death we praise. Put your strength, put your sky on the walls Put your feet in the fire Put your feet, put your blood Put your feet in the fire Put your blood in the fire Put your hands on the fire Put your hands on the fire Put your hands on the fire Put your hands on the fire

Put your feet in the fire Put your body in the fire Fall faced down, we looked We all cried out, you were worthy You were worthy, you were worthy We cried, fall faced down, we worship We all cried out, you were worthy You were worthy, you were worthy You were worthy, you were worthy We cried, fall faced down, we worship We all cried out, you were worthy We all cried out, you were worthy We cried out, you were worthy We cried, fall faced down, we worship We all cried out, you were worthy You were worthy, you were worthy Oh, praise his name, Jesus Come on, shout hallelujah, Church He who is seated on the throne Come on, who is worthy today Who is worthy today? Come on, say his name, who is worthy Who is worthy? Who is worthy? Come on, shout hallelujah To the King of kings and Lord of lords Jesus He who is worthy on the throne Amen, Church We love worshiping together as the body of Christ And next we're going to prepare for the message

Before we do, we're going to go into what we call a minute to mingle, find and greet three people that you've never met before Find a new face, tell me your things We're here in the house today, ask them how they are Prepare for the message (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) Good morning, are you blessed to be in church this morning? (Music) I told Billy she ruined my moment Just now, so in first service I don't know what I'm telling this, but I'm going to tell it In first service, during the worship, Phil remembers There was that moment where you, at the end of the chorus On this song, you'll be backed out and you're like Just the crowd, right? So in first service, it was a beautiful moment You just hear the crowd singing the worship song And all the worship team kind of backed out of their mics

And it was cool, you just hear the congregation singing together like a choir, right? And I don't, I wasn't quite ready for the key But I'm like in second service, I'm like, they're going to hear this And then Billy didn't back out of the mic So we just heard her Someone's third, I'm going to have my moment, I can tell you right now Alright, I will be crowning him I don't know why I just shared that, but Let me tell you, I said this in first service, but I'm going to say it again Church is fun Church is fun, I love being at church I look forward to being at church, my best friends are at church I have good moments at church We get to celebrate things here in church We celebrate Jesus, we celebrate life We celebrate grace and mercy This specific Sunday, because it's coming up this week We get to celebrate our women's conference We're excited about the women's conference If you're not aware, it's on the 18th and the 19th Right here at CTC, ladies, there is still room for now There's still room for now If you're here in the building, you can stop at the connect table In the lobby, or you can tap the disc in front of you It is only $35 if you're watching this online right now It doesn't mean that you can't register There'll be a link for you to click We just really believe It's going to be a great time in the presence of God It's going to be a refreshing time

So please, don't miss that opportunity to be able to be in that setting. Also too, we are a church that we steadily believe and we constantly want to make sure that the people of CTC understand we are a part of something much bigger than ourselves. And we love our community. We love our city. But we also want to make sure that we are partnering with those that can go beyond what we are capable of doing. And I just want to make sure you know if you are seeing anything in the news about the devastation going on in Nepal, which in Nepal they are dealing with flooding. We are partnered with Convoy of Hope. So there is portions of your giving that we budget in our budget that is for missions that is going to Nepal by way of Convoy of Hope. So I want you to remember, there is times where you see devastation and you are saying I wish I could do something about it. Well this is another one of those circumstances where you can say because I give at CTC I am doing something about that. I get to be a part of the solution. We are so incredibly grateful for Convoy and what they represent. What they do goes just above and beyond what we have seen with many other organizations. Not only do they have boots on the ground handling many of the things that need to be done in the moment, but they set the community up to be self-sustaining and to make sure that they can continue to thrive and continue to recover from the things that they have faced. They are very unapologetically gospel centered, so we love Convoy of Hope. Before I pray, I want to acknowledge two things. One, our pastor is traveling, him and Lady V. This weekend they are truly just off as they travel. They have been ministering in different places, but they are just having some fun downtime wherever they are in the country right now. We are thankful that they are resting and we are thankful that they get the opportunity to get away.

Truthfully, I am thankful that you all keep coming to church even while they are gone. All of that is good, but specifically I want to reflect on something over this past week. We looked at the marking of 25 years since September 11, 2001. For many of us in this room, you remember where you were when it happened. You remember how you found out. Many of us remember basically life shutting down as we knew it, as we were watching moments that would mark us for the rest of our lives. I think it is fair to say that it marked our nation. There are dates that we can think of like December 7, 1941, if you don't mind me saying this. These dates are when America received a scar, but how many of you understand that having a scar doesn't mean that you are completely defeated? Because we still, despite having scars, we are still the greatest nation in the world, and we are thankful that we get to live in that freedom. We are thankful that we get to live in the grace and mercy of God. I still believe that we are a nation under God that stands on the Word of God. But here is the other thing I think it is important for us to reflect on as we pray for those who have been affected and I probably watched way too many things this week on stories of families that were affected directly and even indirectly that we have to share these stories because we are now at a point where the traditional college age student wasn't even born when this happened, which everyone 40 and above just said, "Whoa, wow." But we are now telling stories not as much of where we are you, but we are telling stories to young people that are 24 years and younger that weren't even born when this happened, but they are living in the wake of it. How many of you remember, the only way you can understand this nowadays is through movie scenes? How many of you remember when you can just run through an airport and go hop on the plane if you are running late? Not anymore. You will get tackled if you try to run through an airport, but I am thankful for security.

I am thankful that we are safe. I am thankful that we can still fly. I am thankful that we live in a nation. I am thankful that we have the most safe and secure church in all of Yuma County. I was going to go further on that, but I will just leave it, but believe me, we are safe. I will have people hold up their Bibles. I think I will have them hold up what they have to keep us safe, but anyway, I am better pray because I am up here to preach and so I am going to pray, thank you for your generosity. This doesn't happen without you being a church that believes in the vision, without you being a giving church, without you being a generous church. You can give by tapping the disc, you can give by putting in the offering boxes, of course you can give online, but truthfully, thank you for just being such a good church that believes not only in the truth of who Jesus is, but believing in the vision of the pastors and leaders of this house. in the moment may have caused pain in the moment may have caused even distress. Lord, thinking back to that day my sophomore year of high school watching what went on to the Twin Towers and the devastation and the tears and the fact that we were looked in the eyes of students and said your life will never be the same. I've been thinking about those moments. I'm thankful God that we can reflect back and say God you're still good. God you're still on the throne. God you're still, you are victorious. Lord our nation still stands. Lord as we think of all the things that we have coming up the Women's Conference, the opportunities to do missions, the opportunities to reach schools even locally, the opportunities to take care of orphans and widows. Lord we we ask God that You continue to give us your thoughts, your wisdom, your ways. Be with our pastor and Lady V as they travel. God let them not only be safe but let them be refreshed. But we're so thankful that they pour into us so sacrificially. So we ask God that they are refreshed during this time. As we move forward in this service God we thank You that each and every person that's here today is ordained by You to be here in this moment. They were selected and drawn by the power of Your Spirit to be here in this moment. So we ask God that we posture ourselves and receive everything that You intend for us to receive throughout this time.

We love You Lord we honor You Jesus name. Amen. All right as you stand I just want to do a brief recap of where we are. We're in a sermon series in the book of Acts and I have the opportunity on preaching from chapter seven. And as I recap week one of the series our pastor preached on the foundations and the beginnings of the church in chapter one through four and then the following week chapter five we talked about when sin entered the church. We know in Genesis to sin entered the world but in Acts chapter five we saw sin entering the church that's also the chapter where they first started using the word church. It went from just a corporate gathering to a church. And then in chapter six last week Ryan brilliantly preached on church leadership and selection of leaders and why that's important why it's needed, why we value that process. And before I preach on chapter seven I'm actually going to venture us to a passage in Matthew 25 verse 23. And just to give you some background on this this is a moment where Jesus is telling a parable. And then this parable Jesus is explaining that there's a master and a master gives talents or we can even say treasures to three different men. This master he's giving them the opportunity to be responsible to I should say steward what they're being receiving one has five talents one has two talents one has one and the one with one talent it says that he just buried it didn't do anything with it and the ones with five talents and the one with two talents doubled it. And the response to both of those who stewarded well what the master left for them and I please don't miss this the master was there present with them left them things to steward with a promise to return and then as promised he returned and they had to give an answer for that is that sounding familiar so that's what our life looks like and and I want to go over the response that the master gave to this one that doubled his talents and Matthew chapter 25 verse 23 says this the person said that they doubled their talents the master said to him well done good and faithful servant you have been faithful over little I will set you over much enter into the joy of your master well done good and faithful servant you have been faithful over a little Lord thank you for your word as we dive into each thought each passage what I pray that I'm just a vessel that you speak through so that every single listener can hear your voice in Jesus name amen go ahead and take your seats I want to make it clear that I am culinary limited I don't know if I made up that word or not but culinary limited nobody shows up to my house for my cooking I think it's weird, I turned 40 and all of a sudden some of my key values in life are green grass and good grilling.

I didn't expect that to happen, you know, I used to want to be good at sports and stuff forever. I'm like, forget that, give me some fertilizer, you know. Come to discover though that my palate, at least in my mind, is maturing. Now, here's some things, I guess probably the most important thing you can put on the grill. Now, in U.M. Arizona, I think the most important thing you can put on the grill is Karnia Sada. But that's a whole nother conversation. Mine's getting pretty good, we're getting there. But a great rib-eye steak, and here's some things that are important. First of all, that outside needs to be crusted a bit, okay? There has to be a little char on that outside, and it needs to be seasoned, come on guys, oh, Jesus name, seasoned that, okay? Please, please, season it. But what I've come to discover that my favorite cook is a little charred on the outside enough, but the inside a beautiful medium rare. A beautiful medium rare, all right, some of you all are feeling the glory, okay? Some of you all, the rest of you guys are catching up. If you order a medium rare at a restaurant, and they bring it medium, which sometimes happens because it's hard to, you know, there's a fine line, the medium is doable. If you order medium, and they bring it medium well, that's starting to get a little. You're starting to cook the flavor out of that thing. And from what I understand, there's one more level above that that some of you peasants still eat, I don't understand it. So I think this is, I mean, open forum, I guess. Are there people in this room that still eat their steaks well done? Goodness gracious. Here's the weird part. Every hand I just saw right now, at least the ones that I saw was a lady.

'Cause you got them used to that, it's because you can't get that thermometer out. I just, I can't do well done anymore. Not with a steak. I can do well done, Carnesata and different things. And I don't know, I know probably my email, my socials, or even the conversations in the lobby are going to blow up, if you're explaining to me why I'm wrong about steak and whatever else. But here's the thing, we can disagree on that well done, but I do think that there's one well done that we can all agree on. I think every single one of us in this room can agree that because we have an understanding that we have a life in Christ that we were gifted to steward, every one of us have the opportunity to steward our time, talent, and treasures. And the deepest, most ultimate desire is to steward those in a way that when we come face to face with our maker, we will hear the words well done. Hearing the words well done is the ultimate goal when it comes to pleasing the one who chose for us to have life to begin with. And there's a number of times in scripture where we see someone receiving their well done in one way or another. And expressing being pleased with someone, Jesus expressing being pleased with someone. One of the greatest well done's we've ever seen is here in Acts chapter 7. In Acts chapter 7, we see this man named Stephen and I'm not going to give too much of his background because last week as Ryan was preaching through chapter 6, he gave us a good understanding. He talked about the fact that Stephen was a Hellenist, meaning a Greek speaking, Greek trained Jew, and that he was a part of a selection process. That was based on the fact that the apostles were saying that there is more needs rising up in the church that us apostles ourselves can't meet. There are practical needs that need to be met and so we need to raise up leaders so that we apostles can devote our time to prayer and the preaching of the word. And so Stephen, amongst others, would raised up. I love the reasons why they were chosen.

It says that Stephen was faithful, he was full of wisdom, and most importantly, he was full of the Holy Spirit, faithful, full of wisdom, and full of the Holy Spirit. And now Stephen finds himself in a place where he's being called before the Sanhedrin as a result of the message that he's preaching. You see, the Sanhedrin is this Jewish counsel who still, they believe in God but they don't believe in Jesus. In fact, their lives are still based on what we see in Old Testament scripture. These guys, their job is to memorize the Torah, which is the first five books of the Bible. And they express that living by the law means that you're living according to God's will. And now we have this group growing by the thousands that are saying we aren't disregarding the law, but we serve a God who has fulfilled the law. In fact, there's a savior that you guys don't understand that has come to this earth, defeated death hell in the grave, and now we can have life in him. And it says that Stephen, when brought before them, they couldn't handle and combat the wisdom that he was expressing with. He was so wise that they could not respond in terms of making their point to him. They were basically being stumped by the fact that every response he gave was so full of wisdom and spirit and power that they had to set someone up. They had to set him up to be light about. And so the lies that were told about him is that he was preaching and promoting against the temple. He was preaching and promoting against Moses.

He was preaching and promoting against the law, and he was preaching and promoting against the true God. And they bring him to this place. And we see this starting to begin in chapter six. And then in chapter seven, he begins what is truly a monologue. It's one of the chapters in scripture that it's one person pretty much talking the whole time. And it's 60 verses of him not defending himself. I think it's important that even though he got in Acts seven, Stephen got brought before the council, he didn't stand there to defend himself. He stood there to defend his message. It was, he never made it about him. He wanted to defend the why and the cause of the fact that he couldn't and wouldn't stop sharing the gospel of Jesus. And so what we call this, even in modern church worlds, we call it apologetics, meaning using your faith to defend the faith, defending the faith with scripture. And Stephen begins to really brilliantly lay out what he believes and why and how he can prove that the Sanhedrin, these guys, the council, aren't even accurate with their accusation. And they aren't accurate with the life that they're claiming to live. You with me, Acts chapter seven. So what he does is he begins to march this out, starting in verse one through eight, and he starts to address the life of Abraham.

It's so significant that even him, a Greek-speaking Greek-trained Hellenist, calls him Father Abraham. Because he says Father Abraham, because he wants to make it clear, you're not gonna leave me out of the lineage. You call him the father of your faith, I call him the father of my faith too, even though you think I'm not worthy of calling him that. I was baptized into the faith. Yeah, you were born and I was baptized into the faith. And he says Father Abraham. And the other thing that he starts to address is that God appeared to Abraham. Not only did he appear in voice, but he appeared in presence during the selection of Abraham. And it's very important to note this, that God appeared to Abraham in this place called Mesopotamia. Mesopotamia. And why is that significant? Because Abraham was not yet in the Promised Land. He wasn't yet in Canaan. He wasn't in a place where he had received the promise. In fact, he never really had the opportunity to indulge in the milk and honey like that. But here's the truth. What Stephen wanted the Sanhedrin to understand is that your God, the God that you claim, spoke to Abraham, blessed Abraham,

and appeared to Abraham and it didn't have to be in Jerusalem or in the temple. And the reason why he wanted to make that point, and the reason why I was so significant is because at this point, these Jewish believers basically idolized the city that they were in and the temple that they were in. They had an understanding that if God's gonna show up, it has to be to people like us in places like this. And from the very beginning of his message, Stephen wanted to make it clear. God is not limited to specific places in time. You putting God in a box doesn't mean that I have to put God in a box. And I love how he Stephen did this. And I'm gonna prove to you that one of your patriarchs was selected and appointed It was very significant, very important that it was recognized that God isn't limited to space and time the way that you guys are trying to teach, the way that you guys are believing. And so, we start to get to this point where you can tell that Stephen is not throwing shots at them, but he's just preaching truth and how many of us understand that sometimes when someone preaches truth, it feels like a direct shot at us. Maybe just me. There's times where I've been in rooms of hundreds, sometimes I've been in rooms of thousands,

and I think to myself, how does this preacher know me personally like this? He looked through my phone. And this is what's happening from the very beginning as Stephen is preaching this message to the Sanhedrin. And then he begins to, in the next section, he begins to speak on another one of their patriarchs, a man by the name of Joseph. If you're new to the Bible, we're not familiar with the story of Joseph. Joseph, known as the one with the code of many colors, his father found favor with him, gave him this code of many colors, even though he was the younger of the brothers and the brothers, as a result of their jealousy, they put him in a pit, and as a result of that pit, he ended up in slavery and following that slavery ended up in prison. Thanks be to God, and God's sovereign hand, from that prison, he landed in the palace and being the number two person in the nation, able to make some of the greatest nation shifting decisions. And those same brothers who didn't know if that younger brother was even alive had to go and take a trip to that same palace, looking their younger brother in the face, asking, can you keep us from starving? And he starts to talk about, Stephen starts to talk about the story of Joseph,

and once again, what he wants to indicate is God is not limited in his power to circumstance. Because they know the story of Joseph. In fact, they had to memorize it. They memorize the tour of the first five books of the Bible. So now he's taking them on this journey and saying, you guys are so convinced that God is limited to this box. God is limited to these four walls. God is limited to your level of training. When the whole time you memorize the story of Joseph from Pitt to prison to palace, and you know that God's hand was on him the entire time. And he's bringing this clarity to them that though you limit God, I'm telling you stories that you've known for decades. And now you have no choice but to come face to face with the fact that you have chosen to see them wrong. And this is also interesting too. I read this in the study. We don't see the apostles and disciples quote the Old Testament with Jesus when Jesus was on earth. In the Gospels, you really don't see the apostles quoting the Old Testament. But in Acts, we see them quoting the Old Testament over and over and over and over again. Why? Because when Jesus died on the cross and went and ascended to heaven, and these guys were filled with the Holy Spirit,

it brought clarity to the Old Testament for them. 'Cause remember, Jesus, the Old Testament isn't abolished, the Old Testament isn't worthless. Jesus just fulfilled the Old Testament. So it all matters, it's one story and it's about one person. And so we see that now there's one more detail with Stephen, as he's telling the story of Joseph, that he really wants to make a clear point with the Sanhedrin, these Jewish leaders. He wants to make it clear. The ones that rejected Joseph, the ones that set up Joseph for slavery to begin with, it wasn't in a competing nation. It wasn't a nation that we were at war with, it was his own brothers. Joseph, God's anointed. Joseph eventually used to be a prophetic voice for the kingdom. Joseph, whom you, Sanhedrin, looked to as a picture, looked to as an understanding of God's faithfulness and you don't realize that the ones who rejected him to begin with were also his Israelite brothers. I love that Stephen's doing this because now the Sanhedrin has no choice but to think, is there another prophet? Is there another deliverer that the Sanhedrin thinking? Our current generation actually rejected us ourselves? Stephen is really giving them this sound familiar? Look, you also rejected a prophet. You also rejected one that had the message.

to here to be the Redeemer. Stephen's not done. Now in verse 17 through 43, he starts talking about one that's known as the deliverer, which is Moses. God's sovereign hand on Moses. Moses born in an era where he was supposed to be put to death right at birth. Moses protected. Moses being set apart. Moses being put in a place that despite the actual lineage he was born in, being raised in a palace with the best training, with the best schooling, with the best fight preparation, with the best kingdom leadership preparation, with the best preparation for how to speak, with the best preparation on how to lead. And Moses finding favor with God once again, without needing the four walls of a temple. Stephen wants to make it clear. He's marching through this basically saying, I'm giving you guys a history lesson that you missed the entire time. In order to add to it, he talks about how Moses, how God truly showed up to him both tangibly and audibly and Midian. Midian wasn't present-day Jerusalem. Midian wasn't present-day land of milk and honey by any means. Midian was outside of that. So once again, the Sanhedrin had to come face to face with the fact that God's not limited to what we are trying to make him be limited to.

God's not limited to these four walls. God's not limited to our traditions. God's not limited to specific prayers. God's not limited to specific people. There was no temple required. And once again, Stephen wasn't disregarding the temple by any means. He was just making it clear that God's not limited to the temple. You guys with me on that? He also points out that in a specific moment, when Moses comes down from the mountain, specifically when he was there to get the law that these guys so much idolized, this law that these guys so much think it's the most highest priority to live by. Maybe remember, when Moses came down the mountain, what was going on? They were worshiping a golden calf. The men of this Sanhedrin, the men of this council didn't want to hear the fact that their great and faithful lineage is capable of idolatry. Stephen's pointing out, making it clear, "Listen, idolatry has been in the hearts of us Israelites for a long, long time. Idolatry was in our hearts, even in the seasons, that we look back and celebrate now in the Sanhedrin. They didn't want to hear that. Where God's chosen, where God's anointing. We're not capable of idolatry. Stephen is making it very clear, "Yes, you are, and yes, you have." So now, just to make sure that they have a clear understanding about the fact that the temple is great, but the temple itself doesn't change anybody. That church is great, but church in itself doesn't change anybody. He even starts to talk about the tabernacle. The tabernacle, which we would call, I guess, a makeshift temple

until the temple in itself was actually built. But God said, "Build a place where my glory can dwell." And they're getting bothered because now Stephen's saying, "Even in times when we had the tabernacle, there was still rebellion. Even in times when we had the tabernacle, we still got it wrong." And then David was given the vision for the temple and Solomon built the temple, and even he himself rejected the word and the instructions of God. I know it sounds like I'm hammering this. I'm just, I'm just, my main man Steve, he told me what to say. He's making it clear, the limitations that you guys put on God, and also the limitations that you put on yourself. This is what he wants the Sanhedrin to truly understand. The fact that you think that you can't rebel, the fact that you are trying to convince yourself that there's no idolatry in your heart, the fact that you think that showing up to the temple day after day after day is going to save you, the fact that you think showing up to the temple and living out these traditions day after day after day makes you righteous? Let me show you in your own history how wrong that is. Stephen does a brilliant job laying this out, and then we get to a point where Stephen, I wrote this in my notes that he, I like to say he goes for the jugular because now Stephen starts talking about that the Sanhedrin absolutely doesn't want to hear about. He starts talking about the Holy Spirit. And he said, "You guys have rejected the Holy Spirit, and you've been rejecting the Holy Spirit this whole time. And I love the fact that Stephen wants to make clear. The Spirit you reject is the only reason why I can stand here right now knowing that I'm facing death and still declare the good news and gospel of Jesus Christ. The only reason why I can stand here and not from an aggressive way call you out, but do my best to call you up. The only way I can do that is by way of the Holy Spirit. And I want to read together. I want to read together what happens

after this because truthfully, if it was, it's just one of my favorite passages in all of scripture, if I'm allowed to say that. But we see here in verse 55, if you go with me in chapter 7, verse 55. And now I'll start in 54. Now, when they heard these things, they were enraged. And they ground their teeth at him. Some verses say that they begin to gnash their teeth. But he, Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. And he said, "Behold, I see the heavens open and the Son of man standing at the right hand of God." But they cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears and rushed together at him. I want to make sure we're seeing this picture. Stephen's looking up to the heavens. And he's seeing the heavens open up to him. And he's getting visions and pictures of Jesus. And he's getting pictures and visions. And he's seeing God the Father. And he's seeing the place that he knows that in any moment he's going to be. Because he's facing death. And these same people that he preached the good news to are now screaming, yelling, gnashing their teeth and attacking him. Why are they doing that? Because they're starting to experience truth on the inside of them. And they're not responding in the right way. I don't know about you guys, but I've been there where the truth is being told so I get more in attack mode. And that's what they're doing. Gnashing their teeth, lunging at him that the Scripture makes it clear that when you study that makes it clear that this wasn't some, all right, Stephen, that's enough, buddy, come with us. They attacked him. And it says that they cast him out of the city. This is verse 50. They cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul. And as they were stoning, Stephen, he called out, "Lord, Jesus, receive my Spirit." And falling to his knees, he cried out with a loud voice, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them." And when he had said this, he fell asleep, a couple of things that I think we should notice that happen in this moment. One is, he used two words, two, I should, sorry, two statements when he was facing death. One of them sounded a lot like Father, forgive them. And another was, "Receive my Spirit." Father, forgive them, receive my Spirit. You're tracking with me. Father, forgive them, receive my Spirit. As he's dying truthfully from a spiritual standpoint, what is a glorious death? But can we not disregard that he's, and in that exact moment, he's dying a gruesome death, a gruesome death. I never want to get to a point when I'm looking in John 8, I never want to get to a point when I'm reading Acts 7 that I take

stoning lightly. A person being pelted with stones publicly until they die. There's nothing pretty about that. That's bloody. I can imagine seizures. I can imagine broken bones. I can imagine vomit. I can imagine every other fluid that can come out of your body. Guys, he's putting, getting put to death by way of rocks. We can't take that lightly. And he knew it was going to happen, and it didn't stop a single word that was supposed to be said declaring the goodness of God. He was looking death in the face the entire time, and it didn't stop him from declaring the message. But here's the part to me that is the most beautiful thing, and I hope I can get through this. But there's something that I need you guys to help unpack here with me because I'm a little team you guys can come up. I'm a little scripture never contradicts scripture, but there's something that doesn't seem to add up with me until we take a closer look. There's a verse in Hebrews. Go ahead and I want you guys to kind of look at it and read it with me 'cause it's talking about Jesus. Hebrews chapter 10, it can't get this wrong. It says, "But our high priest offered himself to God as a single sacrifice for sins." Who's our high priest, it's Jesus, correct? He offered himself to God as a single sacrifice for sins, good for all time. Then he, what did Jesus do? Then he sat down in the place of honor at God's right hand. The job is finished, he sat down in the place of honor at God's right hand. Okay, that actually sounds familiar because that is what I've always been told that Jesus is seated. Okay, let's make sure that we're accurate, Apostle Paul, Romans eight, the great eight, you know, one of the greatest chapters ever, and let's read it, Romans 834, what does it say? Who then, help us Paul, who then will condemn us? No one for Christ Jesus died for us

and was raised to life for us, and he is sitting in the place of honor. He's sitting at God's right hand pleading for us in other versions that says interceding for us. But when I look at the end of Acts chapter seven and Stephen is looking to the heavens, it says, but he followed the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven, and saw the glory of God in Jesus, standing at the right hand of God. And he said, "Behold, I see the heavens open, "and the Son of man standing." His Savior, the one that he knows he's going to come face to face with finally, the one that he's preaching about, the one that he's looking death in the face for, he looks up and he sees him standing at the right hand of God. And there's a couple of different reasons why Jesus could be standing in that moment. One of them, I love how this writer, by the way, Ours, who sprull paints this picture, he says, "I want you to imagine a courtroom. "I want you to imagine a courtroom in a courtroom. "The prosecutor stands. "The defendant at a certain point has to stand. "But the judge remains seated. "Prosecutor stands. "Defendant eventually has to stand. "The judge remains seated. "But Doctor, Doctor R.C.

"But he also made something clear. "But see, Jesus, Jesus, in scripture, "we see him known as one seated in the judgment seat. "We refer to it as the judgment seat of Christ, "but we also can know Jesus is something else, "our advocate. "It's easy for us to say, "Well, the Holy Spirit is our advocate, right? "The word paraklete? "Yeah, yeah, the Holy Spirit is absolutely our advocate. "But Jesus advocated before the Holy Spirit ever had to jump in "and advocate for us in the book of God. "Jesus is the original advocate. "Jesus is the original one that says, "I'll speak for them. "I'll stand for them." And he says, "I want you to imagine "the accusation is happening. "The defendant is standing alone, "and the one in the judgment seat stands up, "comes around to the defendant, puts his arm around him and says, "I'll speak for this one. "I'm leaving the judgment seat, "and I'm gonna come be his advocate. "I'll stand for him. "The same Jesus that stood for you. "The same Jesus that can stand and give life to your words "when society wants to put your words to death. "The same Jesus that gives life to your business "when society doesn't want your business to last.

"The same Jesus that stands for you, "when doctors say there's no life in you." Then there's another reason why we believe that Jesus stood in that moment, and I learned this when I was in young adult ministry. I first heard this with David Deanda. He said, "Very simply, "after Stephen preached, what he preached? "Being willing to look death in the face "with holding nothing, looking up to the heavens. "He was able to see his Savior, giving him a standing ovation." ovation is the ultimate way of saying, "Well done." Jesus is giving Stephen his well done. There next to the Father saying, "That one's mine." I'm telling you guys, there's a bunch I probably have to answer for at the end of my life. I don't think he's going to ask about my kids' sports, I don't think he's going to ask about the size of my house, and my vehicles, or where I've traveled, or anything like that. But I want to be able to look him in the face and say, "God, with what you've given me, time, talent, treasures, God, with this gospel that you've put in my hand, that you've put in the hand of every single person sitting here at CTC. When we were able to hear your gospel, that means it was put in our hand and God, I hope and believe I can look you in the eyes and hear you say, "Well done," with the message that I've given you. I hope I can look him in the face and he says, "I'm proud of the way that you've honored me with your life. I didn't expect you to be perfect, but I did expect you to be faithful, and I empowered you to do so." Three quick things we can learn from this story of Stephen, this life of Stephen is first of all, are we willing to stand, are we willing to have the faith to stand, do we have the faith to stand?

Stephen was facing death, Stephen was facing the end of his days, early in ministry. He didn't get to spend a bunch of time doing what he was called to do, but he stood firm in the faith. Why? Because he understood that was his assignment in the moment. Will we carry out our assignment when it's not popular? We carry out our assignment when no one else seems to be standing with us. That can look different for everyone of us in this room. Our assignment is going to be different, but it's all for the same reason to honor the God that loves us, to honor Jesus that gave his life for us on that cross. First Corinthians 16 says, "Beyond guards stand firm in the faith. Be courageous. Be strong." From the story of Stephen, we have to learn that we live for a cause that's worth dying for. One thing that said about younger millennials and Gen Z is like, they'll get behind a cause. They may not just hop up and volunteer for anything and everything, but they'll get behind a cause. CTC, there's no greater cause than spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ. In Acts chapter 20, what does Paul say? He says, "My life is worth nothing in comparison to sharing this gospel." We have a cause that's worth dying for. Guys, can I be straight forward, transparent with you? We have a cause worth dying for and sometimes I'm bothered that my communion ruined my gum. I'm being serious. We have a cause worth dying for and there's times, it's the first Wednesday of the month and I'm like, "Oh shoot, I can't stay home and watch the game." We have a prayer gathering for a cause worth dying for. We're a God that gave everything for me, for a God that looks upon me and all of my mess

and says, "I love you and I can use you," despite my brokenness, despite the messes that I've made. I want to open this book every day and say, "There's a cause worth dying for. I want to get in times of worship, in times of prayer and say, "Lord, you can take everything. You can have it all. This cause worth dying for in the last." As you stand to your feet, here's my question to you. When you look at this story, how do you imagine your welcome received? What's the Lord saying to you in the moment where you come face to face with Him? All to team you can come. When you imagine coming face to face with your maker, what are the words that He says to you? There's a well-done available for every one of us. And the best news is that we didn't have to save ourself and we don't have to empower ourself. You know what He's asking? He's asking the same thing that they found in Stephen, faithful, full of the Holy Spirit and allowing that Holy Spirit to give us wisdom. None of that takes talent, none of that takes abilities. The truth is, that doesn't even take a healthy body. We're all going to come face to face with our maker, but thankfully, because of Jesus dying on the cross, we don't have to earn salvation. We don't have to earn His grace. We don't have to earn His love, but we have work to do. a part of an army of an already victorious God. So for you today, we may need to surrender your life to Jesus, or recommit your life to Jesus, or you want someone to pray with you about getting put right back, put it back on the right path, or some things that you may need to get rid of in your life, or there's something going on in your body, in your mind even, this prayer team wants to pray for you, but I just truly believe that we can leave here today after hearing Acts chapter 7, and

be challenged to live a life where we steward our time, talent, and treasures in a way that's honoring a God that's worthy of it all. Lord, I thank You so much for Your Word. I thank You, God, for Your grace, for Your mercy. I thank You, Lord, that when we are imperfect, You are a perfect God. When we fall short, You rescue, when we are fearful, You replace that with Your faith. God, we don't know what we'll face for the rest of our days. We don't know if we'll ever face death, but Lord will face voices, will face thoughts, will face ideas that are contrary to Your Word, and I ask that You give us the faith to stand. I ask that You give us the strength to stand. I ask that You remind us that once again, that You have drawn us through the power of Your Spirit, to stand firm in the faith, not defending ourselves but defending the message and the messenger that set us free. Lord, help us to live a life that's worthy. Help us to live a life of purpose. Help us to live a life of destiny. Help us to live a life that gives You the glory so that someday, when You decide, we can look You in the face and we can receive our well done in Jesus' name, Amen. To the one who would do all the shame of the cross, to the lamb who was slain, as a told man for eyes, to the sun who overcame all the power of death with grace, for the stripes, for the words, for the beatings, for the tears, for the blood that was winning the glory, for the mercy, for what the full majesty of Your love, Oh God, oh the shame of the cross, to the lamb who was slain, as a told man for eyes, to the sun who ye all the pain, for the power of death with grace, for the stripes, for the words, for the beatings, for the tears, for the blood that was winning the glory, for the mercy, for what the full majesty of Your love, we crown You, before face down and we worship, we all cry out, You are eager, You are eager, as we crown You, before face down and we worship, we all cry out, You are eager, You are eager.

Amen Church, God bless you Church, we will see you next Sunday, have an amazing week, if you still need prayer, altars are open. (gentle music)