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A New Kind of Family

GregLaurie.TV

February 14, 2021

27:29

Pastor and Evangelist Greg Laurie teaches the simple yet life changing message of the Gospel.

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A New Kind of Family

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♪ This is the day whenthe lost are found ♪
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♪ Oh can't you hear allthe angels are singing ♪
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♪ This is the day theday when life begins ♪
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- Hey everybody, welcomeback to Harvest at Home.
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We're back in our seriesin the Gospel of Mark
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which we're calling thegospel for busy people,
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and the title of my message is,
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a new kind of family, family.
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Well, we all have afamily of some kind,
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some families are big and loud,
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some families aresmall and quiet,
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pretty much every family is,
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I would say generallydysfunctional.
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If your family is a bitweird, welcome to the club
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we all have strangeuncles and weird cousins.
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Did it ever occur to youthat you're the weird cousin
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or you're the strangeuncle in your family?
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You probably are.
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Every family has itsform of dysfunction.
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I came from adysfunctional family,
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now I'm the head of adysfunctional family.
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It was comedian George Burns,who once said, and I quote,
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"Happiness is having alarge loving, caring,
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"close knit familyin another city."
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End quote.
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So you can probablyrelate to that.
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Guess what?
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Jesus had a family too.
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He had a mother named Mary,
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and a father namedGod, tap that.
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Jesus also hadbrothers and sisters,
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and Jesus had a childhood, amysterious childhood no doubt.
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After all there'snever been a man
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who has ever walked the earth
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that was fullyGod and fully man.
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He was not a man becomingGod, that's impossible,
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He was God who becamea man, God came near.
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Jesus was God with skin on,
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Jesus was God walkingamong us, God had a face.
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And here in the Gospelof Mark we see Him
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beginning His public ministry.
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You know, the ministryof Christ lasted
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around three and a half years,
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but yet He lived 30 yearsbefore that, 33 years total.
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So what was He doing for thefirst 30 years of His life?
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Why didn't He havea 15 year ministry,
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why only basicallythree year ministry?
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Answer, because Jesuswas out living our life.
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He was breathing our air,
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He was experiencingour pressures,
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He was facing our temptations
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and ultimately Hewould die our death.
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I know it's hard forus to wrap our mind
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around the fact thatGod became an embryo,
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that God came among usas a helpless little baby
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born in a manger thatneeded to be cared for
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and nurtured and nursedlike any other little baby,
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but that's exactly what happened
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and what we call the nativity.
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When He was in that manger,He cried like any other baby,
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and He grew up likeany other child.
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It's not like Hewas in the manger
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and with, you know,the ability to speak.
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"Hello, Mary, Joseph, I'mJesus I'm hear on a omission."
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No, He was just a little baby
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that grew up likeany other baby,
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and grew physically andgrew in every other way.
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In fact, Luke 2:52 says,
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"He grew in height and wisdom,
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"and was loved by Godand by all who knew Him."
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So He had the privilegesof deity that He laid aside
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as He walked among us as a man.
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He never ceased to be God,
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but He walked amongus as a human being.
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He never sinned once.
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Not only did He never sin,
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but He never even had athought out of harmony
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with the will of HisFather in heaven.
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Jesus said,
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"I always do the thingsthat please Him."
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Who could say that,but Christ Himself,
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He always did the thingsthat pleased the Father.
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So question, how doesthe biological family
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of Jesus respond to all of this?
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How does Mary respond?
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How do the othersiblings respond?
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That brings us to ourtext, Mark 3:20-21.
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"One time Jesus entered a house
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"and the crowds beganto gather again.
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"Soon He and His disciplescouldn't even find time to eat.
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"When His family heardwhat was happening,
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"they tried to takeHim away saying,
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"'He's out of His mind.'"
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Wait, what?
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He's doing all these miracles.
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He's busy doing thework of the Father,
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and His family shows up andthey wanna take Him back home
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because they say
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"He's out of His mind."
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This brings us topoint number one,
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the hardest people toreach with the gospel
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are those who areclosest to you.
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The hardest people toreach with the gospel
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are your parents, or yourchildren, or your husband,
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or your wife, or yourbrothers, or your sisters.
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Now you may thinkbecause I'm a preacher
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that all of my familybelieved immediately.
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The fact of the matter is
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is my mom was notresponsive to me
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when I first came to Christ.
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Now I have to admit
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I probably was a biton the overkill side,
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and I hit her with bothbarrels of my gospel gun
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telling her she neededto repent of her sins,
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but it took not just years,
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it took decades for mymother to come around
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and believe in Jesus Christ.
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And in fact, she did notreally come to believe in Him
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until the end of her life,
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and the same was trueof her husband, Bill
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who I tried to reachwith the gospel.
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I didn't really reach himuntil the very end of his life.
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So again the hardestpeople to reach
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are those in your family.
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Lemme say a word to you.
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If you're marriedto a non-believer,
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especially if you're a womanand maybe you came to Christ
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and your husband hasnot come to Christ yet,
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and you're saying,how do I reach him?
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I'll preach a sermonto him every day.
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I'll put little gospeltracks in His sandwiches
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and when he has lunchhe'll bite into them
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and that'll reach him.
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No, actually what you need to do
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is probably not givehim any more sermons,
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you need to just live it.
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1 Peter 3, talksabout the way to reach
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a non-believing personis not by your words,
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but by living the word.
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As one translation puts it,
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the silent preachingof a lovely wife.
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So there comes a point wherethey don't need more sermons,
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they need to seeit demonstrated.
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But now, as our story progresses
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we see the family ofJesus showing up again.
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Now I'm not sure what happenedto bring this event about,
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but they let Him knowthat they were there
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and maybe they wantedspecial attention
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or a better seat in thehouse or whatever it was,
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but word came to Jesus,
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your family are hereto visit with you.
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And we read in Mark 3:31,
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"Jesus' mother andbrothers came to see Him.
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"They stood outside
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"and sent word for Him tocome out and talk with them.
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"And there was a crowdsitting around Jesus
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"and someone said,
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"'Your mother and brothersare outside asking for you.'"
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Listen to thisresponse of Christ.
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"Who is my mother,who are my brothers?
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"Then He looked at those whowere around Him and He said,
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"This is my mother, theseare my brothers and sisters.
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"In fact, anyone who doesthe will of my Father
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"is my brother andsister and mother."
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Bringing us to point number two,
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when we become Christians,we're placed in a new family.
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Jesus could have elevatedHis mother at that point,
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or even His siblings,but He's saying,
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"Hey, who is my mother?
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"Who are my brothersand sisters?
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"Those that do the will of God."
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Reminding us that whenyou become a Christian,
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you become a partof a new family.
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Now that doesn't meanyou're not still part
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of your biological family,
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but sometimes the bond betweenChristians can be closer
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than what we callthe blood bond.
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We say that we'rerelated by blood,
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but when we becomefollowers of Jesus
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are we not alsorelated by blood,
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the blood of Jesus Christthat was shed on the cross
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for all of our sins.
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Bringing me topoint number three,
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Jesus now establishes Hisnew family of disciples.
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So we're gonna reada list of the men
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that He used tochange the world.
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Some are familiar names,others not as familiar,
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but as we look at these people
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we see the had eachdiverse personalities.
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We see these peoplebecause we recognize them,
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they're probably likerelatives we already have,
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an eclectic bunch,no doubt about it.
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But these are the onesthat Jesus called.
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Recently I watched an oldmovie from my childhood,
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it was called the "Dirty Dozen"
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ever seen that movie?
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Starring Lee Marvin andCharles Bronson and others,
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and the story of this militaryguy that goes to a prison
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and recruits a bunch ofguys some headed for death
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and others who would spend
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the rest of theirlives in prison,
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and he recruits themfor a special mission.
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So they were calledthe dirty dozen.
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I'm not suggesting that the 12apostles were the dirty dozen
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but I am suggesting they werevery ordinary individual.
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We might call themquestionable hires,
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but each one was handselected by Jesus
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and they could not be moredifferent from one another.
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We read about them in Mark 3:16.
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"Now He appointed Simon,
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"to whom he gave the name Peter,
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"James the son of Zebedeeand his brother John,
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"to them He gavethe name Boanerges
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"which means Sons of Thunder.
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"There was Andrew, Philip,Bartholomew, Matthew,
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"Thomas, James son ofAlphaeus, Thaddeus,
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"Simon the Zealot and JudasIscariot who betrayed them."
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So right at the top of the list
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a very familiarname, Simon Peter.
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Apart from JesusHimself no other name
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is mentioned in the NewTestament more than Simon Peter.
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He was a central figure ofJesus three years of ministry,
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and also for the first threeyears of the early church,
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and Jesus spent more timewith Peter than anybody else.
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Now other thing Iwould point out,
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no other person speaks as often,
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or as spoken to asoften as Simon Peter.
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I might also add,
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no other disciple isreproved and corrected
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as often as Simon Peter was.
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See what distinguishedPeter from others is
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he would just saywhat he was thinking.
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You know how you have insightthoughts and outside thoughts,
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and you veto a lot ofthings you think about
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and don't say them, Peterseemed to just blurt out
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whatever he was thinking.
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You always knew where youstood with the big fishermen.
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I think he always meant well,
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he just didn't thinkthings through.
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So if we were to comparethis to a family reunion,
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Peter is sort of likeyour lovable loud uncle
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who will hold court,
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you know, after the mealtelling great stories
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and entertaining everybody,that was Peter, very out spoken.
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And on one occasion,
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he made this amazingstatement to Jesus.
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He said in Matthew19:27 to Christ,
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"Lord we've lefteverything to follow you.
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"What then will therebe there for us?"
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In other words, he's saying,
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hey Lord, we've given upeverything to follow you,
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what's in it for us.
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I mean, one of the thingsthat he just blurt out,
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but that was Peter.
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He thought it so, he thoughtI'm just going to say it.
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There's an old proverb,it's not a biblical one,
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but it has some truth init which basically says,
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when you don't know whatto say, don't say anything
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because it's betterto be thought a fool
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than to open your mouthand dispel all doubt.
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Then we have Andrew,the brother of Peter,
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they couldn't beany more different.
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If Peter was like your louduncle at the family reunion,
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Andrew was likethe quiet cousin.
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While Peter's talkingAndrew's clearing the table
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and working behind the scenes.
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In fact, it was actually Andrew
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who brought hisbrother Peter to Jesus.
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In John 1:41, we read,
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"The first thing Andrew did,"
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After he realized thatJesus was the Messiah.
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"Was he broughthis brother Peter,
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"and he said to him,
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"'We found the Messiah.'
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"And he brought him to Jesus."
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And that's what Andrewwas always doing,
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bringing people to Jesus,
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and what a greatthing to be known for,
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bringing people to Jesus.
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You remember the story ofthe feeding of the 5.000,
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and the people were hungry andthey didn't know what to do,
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and Andrew went andfound a little boy
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with some loaves and fishesand he brought him to Jesus.
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And you know we givea lot of attention
00:13:19.279 --> 00:13:20.447
to the Simon Petersof the world,
00:13:20.447 --> 00:13:22.883
but we must notforget the fact that
00:13:22.883 --> 00:13:24.751
there are also the Andrews.
00:13:24.751 --> 00:13:26.620
Remember if therewere no Andrews
00:13:26.620 --> 00:13:28.822
there would be no Simon Peters,
00:13:28.822 --> 00:13:31.358
people that work faithfullyand quietly behind the scenes.
00:13:31.358 --> 00:13:35.896
So we've got Peter the loud one,
00:13:35.896 --> 00:13:38.198
we've got Andrew, the quiet one,
00:13:38.198 --> 00:13:40.667
and now we have Jamesand John, the fiery ones.
00:13:40.667 --> 00:13:44.938
If Peter's like your loud uncle,
00:13:44.938 --> 00:13:46.306
and Andrew's your quiet cousin,
00:13:46.306 --> 00:13:48.575
these are the brotherswho were always arguing.
00:13:48.575 --> 00:13:51.144
You know, they're atthe family reunion
00:13:51.144 --> 00:13:53.446
and they turn everythinginto to a big debate
00:13:54.314 --> 00:13:57.450
and they get veryupset about things.
00:13:57.450 --> 00:13:59.152
These are the kinda people that
00:13:59.152 --> 00:14:00.720
when they post on socialmedia, it's all in caps, right?
00:14:00.720 --> 00:14:04.357
They're always firedup about something
00:14:04.357 --> 00:14:07.193
and that is a gooddescription of James and John,
00:14:07.193 --> 00:14:10.730
they're described as the Sonsof Thunder for good reason.
00:14:10.730 --> 00:14:14.567
They had fiery temperaments.
00:14:14.567 --> 00:14:17.203
So we've got the loudone, Simon Peter,
00:14:17.203 --> 00:14:19.406
we've got the quiet one, Andrew,
00:14:19.406 --> 00:14:21.908
we've got the fired-up ones,
00:14:21.908 --> 00:14:24.110
James and John theSons of Thunder,
00:14:24.110 --> 00:14:26.579
now we have the skeptical one,
00:14:26.579 --> 00:14:28.615
and that of course is Thomas.
00:14:28.615 --> 00:14:31.251
When you're at a family reunion,
00:14:31.251 --> 00:14:32.752
you know, everybody'ssees things a certain way,
00:14:32.752 --> 00:14:36.656
and Thomas is likethat relative will say,
00:14:36.656 --> 00:14:39.326
well, I see itcompletely differentlythan the rest of you.
00:14:39.326 --> 00:14:43.763
That's just his nature.
00:14:43.763 --> 00:14:46.099
He was a guy whothought for himself.
00:14:46.099 --> 00:14:50.637
Of course we remember Thomas
00:14:50.637 --> 00:14:52.272
because He did missthe resurrected Christ.
00:14:52.272 --> 00:14:55.942
After Jesus was crucified,
00:14:55.942 --> 00:14:59.346
He rose again and Heappeared to the disciples
00:14:59.346 --> 00:15:01.982
in the upper room,and they told Thomas,
00:15:01.982 --> 00:15:04.851
hey, man you should havebeen there last night,
00:15:04.851 --> 00:15:07.654
guess who showed up?
00:15:07.654 --> 00:15:08.822
"Year, who?"
00:15:08.822 --> 00:15:09.689
Thomas says,
00:15:09.689 --> 00:15:10.924
"Jesus, He appeared tous, all right yeah."
00:15:10.924 --> 00:15:14.194
Thomas says,
00:15:14.194 --> 00:15:15.395
"I'll believe thatwhen I can put my hand
00:15:15.395 --> 00:15:18.498
"in the prints of the nails,
00:15:18.498 --> 00:15:20.600
"and put my fingerinto his side."
00:15:20.600 --> 00:15:23.870
Well, the next timethey got together
00:15:23.870 --> 00:15:26.706
for a meeting, Thomas was there,
00:15:26.706 --> 00:15:28.508
and guess who shows up?
00:15:28.508 --> 00:15:30.043
Jesus.
00:15:30.043 --> 00:15:31.311
Well, Thomas seeing therisen Christ just said,
00:15:31.311 --> 00:15:33.680
"My Lord and my God."
00:15:33.680 --> 00:15:35.849
And he believed on the spot.
00:15:35.849 --> 00:15:37.817
See, we call himdoubting Thomas.
00:15:37.817 --> 00:15:39.486
I don't think he was at doubter,I think he was a skeptic,
00:15:39.486 --> 00:15:42.355
and he wanted whateverybody else had,
00:15:42.355 --> 00:15:45.191
he wanted to see andknow for himself.
00:15:45.191 --> 00:15:47.560
And by the way,
00:15:47.560 --> 00:15:49.029
you don't have to liveoff somebody else's faith.
00:15:49.029 --> 00:15:51.264
It's okay for youto say to the Lord,
00:15:51.264 --> 00:15:53.266
make yourself real to me,help me with my doubts,
00:15:53.266 --> 00:15:57.103
help me with my questions.
00:15:57.103 --> 00:15:58.605
I certainly did that whenI was a brand new believer,
00:15:58.605 --> 00:16:01.608
I was filled with skepticismand I said to Jesus,
00:16:01.608 --> 00:16:05.578
if you're real you're gonnahave to make yourself known
00:16:05.578 --> 00:16:08.415
to me 'cause I havea hard time believing
00:16:08.415 --> 00:16:11.017
some of these things for myself.
00:16:11.017 --> 00:16:13.019
And you know what?
00:16:13.019 --> 00:16:13.853
He did, and He does,
00:16:13.853 --> 00:16:16.156
and He'll do the same for you.
00:16:16.156 --> 00:16:19.025
Yeah, Thomas if he didn'tunderstand something,
00:16:19.025 --> 00:16:21.428
would talk about it out loud.
00:16:21.428 --> 00:16:23.897
One occasion inJohn 14, Jesus said,
00:16:23.897 --> 00:16:26.099
"At my Father's houseare many mansions
00:16:26.966 --> 00:16:29.169
"if it were not so, Iwould have told you.
00:16:29.169 --> 00:16:30.703
"I go to preparea place for you.
00:16:30.703 --> 00:16:32.705
"And if I go andprepare a place for you,
00:16:32.705 --> 00:16:34.641
"I will come again andreceive you unto myself
00:16:34.641 --> 00:16:37.911
"and where you go you know,and the way you know."
00:16:37.911 --> 00:16:41.214
I think all the disciples areprobably nodding in unison,
00:16:41.214 --> 00:16:44.884
in agreement, yeah, that'sdeep, that is really true.
00:16:44.884 --> 00:16:48.221
And it's Thomas whosays, excuse me,
00:16:48.221 --> 00:16:50.323
I don't know if he raises hishand, but I have a question.
00:16:50.323 --> 00:16:53.026
Yes Thomas.
00:16:53.026 --> 00:16:54.194
"We don't knowwhere you're going,
00:16:54.194 --> 00:16:55.695
"and we don't know the way."
00:16:55.695 --> 00:16:57.630
I liked that, he was honest.
00:16:57.630 --> 00:16:59.432
And what does Jesus say?
00:16:59.432 --> 00:17:00.533
He doesn't rebuke him.
00:17:00.533 --> 00:17:02.135
He says,
00:17:02.135 --> 00:17:03.369
"I am the way, thetruth, and the life,
00:17:03.369 --> 00:17:05.872
"and no man comes tothe Father, but by me."
00:17:05.872 --> 00:17:10.276
Listen skepticism is not asign that a person is wrong,
00:17:10.276 --> 00:17:15.148
it may be a signthat he is thinking.
00:17:15.148 --> 00:17:18.585
You may have childrenwho are pushing back
00:17:18.585 --> 00:17:21.287
on the way you've raisedthem in your Christian home.
00:17:21.287 --> 00:17:24.157
They have their own questions,
00:17:24.157 --> 00:17:25.625
hey mom, how can I know theBible is the Word of God?
00:17:25.625 --> 00:17:28.595
Hey dad, I'm grapplingwith this question.
00:17:28.595 --> 00:17:30.964
You're thinking, oh,look what we have done,
00:17:30.964 --> 00:17:32.265
we fail our kids.
00:17:32.265 --> 00:17:33.466
No, they're thinkingfor themselves,
00:17:33.466 --> 00:17:34.801
they're like Thomas,
00:17:34.801 --> 00:17:36.169
so help them workthrough those things
00:17:36.169 --> 00:17:38.171
and help them developtheir own faith.
00:17:38.171 --> 00:17:41.241
Now I wish I had time to go
00:17:41.241 --> 00:17:42.475
into all the othersthat are on our list,
00:17:42.475 --> 00:17:44.244
but there's one last namethat I wanna end with,
00:17:44.244 --> 00:17:47.013
and that would beJudas Iscariot.
00:17:47.013 --> 00:17:50.116
So Peter is likeyour loud uncle,
00:17:50.116 --> 00:17:52.418
Andrew's the workingbehind the scenes guy,
00:17:52.418 --> 00:17:54.721
James and John are alwaysfired up about something,
00:17:54.721 --> 00:17:58.158
Thomas is this skeptical one,
00:17:58.158 --> 00:18:00.193
who's Judas?
00:18:00.193 --> 00:18:01.461
He's not the evilguy you may think.
00:18:01.461 --> 00:18:04.697
You know, when we seemovies about Jesus
00:18:04.697 --> 00:18:08.434
or religious artdepicting the disciples
00:18:08.434 --> 00:18:11.471
you can always figureout who Judas is
00:18:11.471 --> 00:18:13.673
because he looks so treacherous,
00:18:13.673 --> 00:18:15.642
he's always hidingover in the shadows.
00:18:15.642 --> 00:18:18.244
If all the other discipleswere wearing white robes
00:18:18.244 --> 00:18:20.480
he's got a black robe,a black leather robe
00:18:20.480 --> 00:18:22.649
with the collar turned up,wearing sunglasses, right?
00:18:22.649 --> 00:18:25.185
Not really, butyou get the idea,
00:18:25.185 --> 00:18:26.953
oh, that's Judas.
00:18:26.953 --> 00:18:28.555
That is not theway Judas appear,
00:18:28.555 --> 00:18:30.990
he appeared as the mostvirtuous of the lot.
00:18:30.990 --> 00:18:34.961
Judas is sort of like yourself righteous relative
00:18:34.961 --> 00:18:39.465
who's alwaysmoralizing, judging,and putting others down,
00:18:39.465 --> 00:18:44.704
and one day you find out
00:18:45.205 --> 00:18:46.406
he is the biggesthypocrite of them all.
00:18:46.406 --> 00:18:49.842
Judas is the literaldefinition of a hypocrite.
00:18:49.842 --> 00:18:54.180
Now I don't think we even know
00:18:54.180 --> 00:18:55.515
what the word hypocrite means,
00:18:55.515 --> 00:18:57.083
we throw it around a lot.
00:18:57.083 --> 00:18:59.352
We say someone who claims tobe a Christian and slips up,
00:18:59.352 --> 00:19:02.088
that's not hypocrisy.
00:19:02.088 --> 00:19:03.356
That's not hypocrisy,that's humanity.
00:19:03.356 --> 00:19:06.593
Every one of us asfollowers of Jesus mess up,
00:19:06.593 --> 00:19:09.862
we make mistakes, wesay the wrong thing,
00:19:09.862 --> 00:19:12.799
we do the wrong thing,
00:19:12.799 --> 00:19:14.167
hopefully we ownit and admit it,
00:19:14.167 --> 00:19:16.202
that's not a hypocrite.
00:19:16.202 --> 00:19:17.904
A hypocrite literallydefined as an actor.
00:19:17.904 --> 00:19:21.374
It's a performer,
00:19:21.374 --> 00:19:22.976
it's a person who is pretending
00:19:22.976 --> 00:19:24.911
to be something they are not,
00:19:24.911 --> 00:19:26.913
and that was Judas.
00:19:26.913 --> 00:19:28.781
He appeared to be themost virtuous guy of all
00:19:28.781 --> 00:19:31.684
when in reality hewas the most wicked.
00:19:31.684 --> 00:19:34.887
Here's a perfect example,
00:19:34.887 --> 00:19:37.056
all the disciples weregathered together for a meal,
00:19:37.056 --> 00:19:40.727
and we read how Marybegan to wipe the feet
00:19:40.727 --> 00:19:44.030
of Jesus with somevery expensive perfume
00:19:44.030 --> 00:19:47.333
and the fragrancefilled the air.
00:19:47.333 --> 00:19:49.969
So this perfume thatshe wiped His feet with
00:19:49.969 --> 00:19:53.139
because she was givenan insight into the fact
00:19:53.139 --> 00:19:55.675
that Christ was gonna gosuffer and die on the cross.
00:19:55.675 --> 00:19:59.279
She wanted to dosomething extravagant,
00:19:59.279 --> 00:20:02.048
something next level,
00:20:02.048 --> 00:20:03.616
something to demonstrate toJesus how much she loved Him.
00:20:03.616 --> 00:20:08.488
So this is probablya family heirloom
00:20:08.488 --> 00:20:10.957
worth thousands andthousands of dollars.
00:20:10.957 --> 00:20:13.226
So she's anointingthe feet of Jesus
00:20:13.226 --> 00:20:16.195
with this beautiful fragrantperfume, and Judas says,
00:20:16.195 --> 00:20:19.832
"That perfume isworth a small fortune.
00:20:19.832 --> 00:20:22.769
"It could have been sold andthe money given to the poor."
00:20:22.769 --> 00:20:26.306
The other disciples probablynodded in unison and said,
00:20:26.306 --> 00:20:28.941
you know, that's true Judas,
00:20:28.941 --> 00:20:30.610
and Mary I don't know ifthat was good stewardship
00:20:30.610 --> 00:20:33.646
to waste that perfumein the feet of Jesus.
00:20:33.646 --> 00:20:36.316
But then we're giventhis little detail
00:20:36.316 --> 00:20:38.985
in the Gospel ofJohn in John 12:6,
00:20:38.985 --> 00:20:41.788
"Judas said that not becausehe cared for the poor,
00:20:41.788 --> 00:20:44.123
"he said it becausehe was a thief
00:20:44.123 --> 00:20:46.225
"and he was in chargeof the disciples funds
00:20:46.225 --> 00:20:49.495
"and he took somefor his own use."
00:20:49.495 --> 00:20:52.165
Wow.
00:20:52.165 --> 00:20:53.633
So at the moment he appearedto be the most virtuous,
00:20:53.633 --> 00:20:56.602
he was actually the most wicked,
00:20:56.602 --> 00:20:59.005
and it's this greed for money
00:20:59.005 --> 00:21:01.841
that destroyed thelife of Judas Iscariot.
00:21:01.841 --> 00:21:05.445
Let's not forget he sold outJesus for 30 pieces of silver.
00:21:05.445 --> 00:21:10.683
And how did he betray Christ?
00:21:11.317 --> 00:21:13.753
With a handshake?
00:21:13.753 --> 00:21:15.254
With a pat on the back?
00:21:15.254 --> 00:21:16.422
Oh no, you know the answer.
00:21:16.422 --> 00:21:17.957
He betrayed him with a kiss.
00:21:17.957 --> 00:21:19.859
He told the religious rulers,
00:21:19.859 --> 00:21:21.527
"The one that I kiss,
00:21:21.527 --> 00:21:23.796
"He's the oneyou're looking for."
00:21:23.796 --> 00:21:25.898
So they're in the Gardenof Gethsemane here's Jesus
00:21:25.898 --> 00:21:28.534
and Judas approachesHim and kisses Him.
00:21:28.534 --> 00:21:31.504
And in the originallanguage, it's implied,
00:21:31.504 --> 00:21:33.573
He kissed Him overand over again
00:21:33.573 --> 00:21:36.476
not just a peck on the cheek.
00:21:36.476 --> 00:21:38.745
He kissed Him like,
00:21:38.745 --> 00:21:39.679
oh, I love you so much, Jesus,
00:21:39.679 --> 00:21:42.281
but he was just identifyingChrist so he could be arrested.
00:21:42.281 --> 00:21:46.185
He was the worst kindof hypocrite out there,
00:21:46.185 --> 00:21:49.188
but you wanna knowsomething amazing,
00:21:49.188 --> 00:21:51.624
he could have been forgiven.
00:21:51.624 --> 00:21:52.959
Jesus knew Judaswould betray Him,
00:21:52.959 --> 00:21:56.763
Jesus knew Judaswould abandon Him,
00:21:56.763 --> 00:22:01.200
but Jesus offered to Judasan opportunity to repent.
00:22:01.200 --> 00:22:05.638
When the disciples gatheredtogether in the upper room
00:22:05.638 --> 00:22:08.708
for what wouldbecome Last Supper,
00:22:08.708 --> 00:22:11.677
we read that Jesus washthe disciples feet.
00:22:12.545 --> 00:22:16.115
Now that doesn't makea lot of sense to us,
00:22:16.115 --> 00:22:18.751
but back in these days
00:22:18.751 --> 00:22:19.986
when you would govisit a person's house
00:22:19.986 --> 00:22:21.888
the servant in the homewould wash your feet.
00:22:21.888 --> 00:22:26.025
So Jesus was takingthe role of a servant,
00:22:26.926 --> 00:22:29.262
He washed their feet,
00:22:29.262 --> 00:22:31.831
and He came to the feet ofJudas Iscariot and washed him.
00:22:31.831 --> 00:22:34.400
If I was Jesus, I would nothave washed the feet of Judas,
00:22:34.400 --> 00:22:38.070
I would have brokenthe feet of Judas,
00:22:38.070 --> 00:22:40.606
but the Lord evenwashed His feet.
00:22:40.606 --> 00:22:42.809
And then He identifiedJudas as the betrayer,
00:22:42.809 --> 00:22:45.445
and then He said to Judas,
00:22:46.012 --> 00:22:47.747
"Whatever you do goand do it quickly."
00:22:47.747 --> 00:22:50.349
And we read that Satanfilled the heart of Judas
00:22:50.349 --> 00:22:54.320
So he was not somehelpless pawn.
00:22:54.320 --> 00:22:56.289
No, he made a deliberatedecision to betray Jesus,
00:22:56.289 --> 00:22:59.992
but even there in theGarden of Gethsemane
00:22:59.992 --> 00:23:02.595
as Judas approach, weread Jesus said to him,
00:23:03.496 --> 00:23:05.932
"Friend, why have you come?"
00:23:05.932 --> 00:23:09.068
If Judas had repented of his sin
00:23:09.068 --> 00:23:12.371
Jesus would haveforgiven him even there,
00:23:12.371 --> 00:23:15.274
but he was neverpart of God's family.
00:23:15.274 --> 00:23:17.810
He could have been, buthe was a wicked man.
00:23:17.810 --> 00:23:21.814
Listen, we can all bea part of God's family.
00:23:21.814 --> 00:23:25.451
You say, how do you do that?
00:23:25.451 --> 00:23:26.819
Well, you're born intothe family of God.
00:23:26.819 --> 00:23:30.189
Oh, you're saying you have tobe raised in a Christian home.
00:23:30.189 --> 00:23:32.925
No, not at all,
00:23:32.925 --> 00:23:34.627
you need to be born againinto the family of God.
00:23:34.627 --> 00:23:38.197
Jesus said, youmust be born again.
00:23:38.197 --> 00:23:42.134
So when you turn from your sin
00:23:42.134 --> 00:23:44.070
and you ask God to forgive you,
00:23:44.070 --> 00:23:46.205
you become a partof God's family.
00:23:46.205 --> 00:23:48.941
The Bible says,
00:23:48.941 --> 00:23:49.876
"For as many as received Him,
00:23:49.876 --> 00:23:51.477
"He gave them the powerto become sons of God."
00:23:51.477 --> 00:23:55.581
So you can be in thisincredible family of God
00:23:55.581 --> 00:23:59.752
no matter what you've done.
00:23:59.752 --> 00:24:00.987
Maybe you relate toone of the people
00:24:00.987 --> 00:24:03.022
I've talked aboutin this message,
00:24:03.022 --> 00:24:05.124
maybe you're like Simon Peter
00:24:05.124 --> 00:24:06.826
and you walked withthe Lord for a time,
00:24:06.826 --> 00:24:09.061
but you messed up and youfailed and you sinned,
00:24:09.061 --> 00:24:12.565
and in the case of Peter,
00:24:12.565 --> 00:24:13.799
he denied three timesthat he knew Jesus,
00:24:13.799 --> 00:24:16.869
but he was forgiven.
00:24:16.869 --> 00:24:18.204
Or maybe you're likeThomas, you believe,
00:24:18.204 --> 00:24:20.206
but you've had your doubts.
00:24:20.206 --> 00:24:22.074
Or you're like some of theothers who have had setbacks,
00:24:22.074 --> 00:24:25.912
but Jesus loved everyone of these men,
00:24:25.912 --> 00:24:29.248
He loved every one of thesewomen that followed Him,
00:24:29.248 --> 00:24:31.617
and He loves you.
00:24:31.617 --> 00:24:33.185
And if you're apart of His family,
00:24:33.185 --> 00:24:35.054
He wants to maintainfellowship with you.
00:24:35.054 --> 00:24:38.157
You know, when we'resinning against God
00:24:38.157 --> 00:24:42.728
we don't break off relationship,we break off fellowship.
00:24:42.728 --> 00:24:47.600
You're still in the family,you're just not communicating,
00:24:47.600 --> 00:24:52.004
and it's 'cause we've brokencommunication down by our sin,
00:24:52.004 --> 00:24:55.274
but the Bible says,if we confess our sin,
00:24:55.274 --> 00:24:57.643
He's faithful and justto forgive us our sin
00:24:57.643 --> 00:25:00.513
and cleanse us fromall unrighteousness
00:25:00.513 --> 00:25:02.748
and communicationcan be restored.
00:25:02.748 --> 00:25:10.256
Hey, maybe God hasspeaking to your heart
00:25:11.123 --> 00:25:14.427
through this message.
00:25:14.427 --> 00:25:15.628
I want you to knowthat Jesus Christ died
00:25:15.628 --> 00:25:18.264
on the cross for you,
00:25:18.264 --> 00:25:19.765
He shed His blood onthe cross for you.
00:25:19.765 --> 00:25:22.902
And you know what?
00:25:22.902 --> 00:25:24.136
It wasn't nails thatheld Him to the cross,
00:25:24.136 --> 00:25:25.705
it was love for you.
00:25:25.705 --> 00:25:28.274
God loves you, and Godhas a plan for your life.
00:25:28.274 --> 00:25:31.577
And Christ wants to comeand live inside of you,
00:25:31.577 --> 00:25:34.780
but He will notforce His way in.
00:25:34.780 --> 00:25:36.983
The same Jesus whodied in the cross
00:25:36.983 --> 00:25:39.085
and rose from thedead three days later
00:25:39.085 --> 00:25:41.454
is standing now at the door ofyour life and He's knocking,
00:25:41.454 --> 00:25:44.690
and He is saying,
00:25:44.690 --> 00:25:46.158
if you'll hear my voice andopen the door, I will come in.
00:25:46.158 --> 00:25:49.662
Would you like Jesus Christ tocome and live in your heart?
00:25:49.662 --> 00:25:52.932
Would you likeyour sin forgiven?
00:25:52.932 --> 00:25:55.334
Would you like to fill thatbig hole inside of you?
00:25:55.334 --> 00:25:58.571
Would you like to haveyour guilt removed?
00:25:58.571 --> 00:26:00.740
And would you like tohave this certainty
00:26:00.740 --> 00:26:02.508
that when you die youwill go to heaven?
00:26:02.508 --> 00:26:04.810
If so, I'm gonna leadyou in a simple prayer
00:26:04.810 --> 00:26:07.980
and I would ask that youwould pray this prayer
00:26:07.980 --> 00:26:10.416
out loud if you like after me,
00:26:10.416 --> 00:26:12.518
this is a simple prayer
00:26:12.518 --> 00:26:14.387
of asking Christ tocome into your life.
00:26:14.387 --> 00:26:16.489
So again, if you want Jesusto come into your life
00:26:16.489 --> 00:26:19.825
pray this with meright here right now.
00:26:19.825 --> 00:26:23.295
Pray these words,
00:26:23.295 --> 00:26:24.130
Lord Jesus,
00:26:24.130 --> 00:26:25.831
I know that I am a sinner,
00:26:25.831 --> 00:26:28.167
but I know thatyou're the Savior
00:26:28.167 --> 00:26:30.469
who died on the cross for my sin
00:26:30.469 --> 00:26:33.139
and rose again from the dead.
00:26:33.139 --> 00:26:35.541
I turn from my sin now,
00:26:35.541 --> 00:26:37.943
and I choose to follow youfrom this moment forward.
00:26:37.943 --> 00:26:42.314
In Jesus name I pray.
00:26:42.314 --> 00:26:44.417
Amen.
00:26:44.417 --> 00:26:45.685
Hey, did you justpray that prayer?
00:26:45.685 --> 00:26:47.153
Maybe you felt somethingreally emotional,
00:26:47.153 --> 00:26:49.622
maybe you felt nothing.
00:26:49.622 --> 00:26:50.823
I'll tell you this,
00:26:50.823 --> 00:26:52.258
the day I prayed that prayer,I didn't feel anything,
00:26:52.258 --> 00:26:54.660
but I look back and Iknow that is the day
00:26:54.660 --> 00:26:56.696
Christ came into my life,
00:26:56.696 --> 00:26:58.664
and if you prayed thatprayer and meant it,
00:26:58.664 --> 00:27:01.267
God heard it andHe's answered it
00:27:01.267 --> 00:27:03.602
and you are now a child of God.
00:27:03.602 --> 00:27:06.105
Thanks for watching,
00:27:06.105 --> 00:27:07.673
and until next time,
00:27:07.673 --> 00:27:09.308
God bless you.
00:27:09.308 --> 00:27:10.876
(light music)
00:27:10.876 --> 00:27:14.013
♪ This is the day theday when life begins ♪
00:27:14.013 --> 00:27:14.013

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A New Kind of Family

A New Kind of Family

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A New Kind of Family

A New Kind of Family

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