How Do We Keep Going?

The Book of Acts ends with a whimper, not a bang—because while the book is finished, the mission isn't. Discover how to keep moving forward in your faith.

In this series finale covering Acts 28:17–31, Lead Pastor Neil McClendon wraps up the book of Acts by exploring what it takes for believers to stay the course. Unpacking Paul’s house arrest in Rome, Pastor Neil pushes back against modern, individualistic Christianity and calls the church back to a robust, corporate faith. Discover why the sufficiency of Scripture must outweigh our personal experiences, how Gentiles embraced the reality that salvation belongs to God, and why staying focused on the Kingdom and the Lord Jesus Christ provides the ultimate perspective for everyday life.

In this episode, we cover:

• The Corporate Nature of Faith: Why biblical Christianity has always been about "we" rather than an isolated, individualistic "me."
• Pity vs. Perspective: Choosing the enduring durability of biblical perspective over the modern appetite for self-pity and entitlement.
• The Sufficiency of Scripture: Realizing that the objective truth of God’s Word is far more reliable and authoritative than our personal experiences.
• Salvation Belongs to God: Contrasting religious arrogance with the humbling, Gentile reality that God alone owns and grants salvation.
• Staying Focused on the Main Thing: Following Paul’s example of boldly proclaiming the Kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ without hindrance.

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This podcast is brought to you by Grand Parkway Baptist Church. Helping people to know, enjoy, and glorify God. For more information about Grand Parkway, visit GrandProquay.org.

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Good morning, Church. Let's try that again. Good morning, Church. Welcome to church on the first Sunday of spring break. Pray for those who woke up this morning in a panic because they forgot to spring forward. They'll be here in the next service, or they'll just go to a brunch and call it a day. Amen? Either way, I'm glad you're here. If you got a Bible, I invite you to take it, open up to Acts chapter 28, and we're going to finish the book of Acts this morning. Now, one of the things you'll notice is the book of Acts is kind of like the last episode of Seinfeld. It doesn't end with a bang. Jerry and Elaine don't profess their faith, their love for each other, and get married. It just kind of goes away. I mean, it's more of a whimper than a bang. And the book of Acts ends like it does because it's not a biography about the Apostle Paul. The book of Acts is really basically about the Lord Jesus and all that he began to do and teach. And it's an example of what happens when people surrender to the Holy Spirit's leadership in their life. Now we want to say to you, the book is finished, but the mission isn't. Amen? The book is finished, but the mission isn't. What do you mean? The book demonstrates how you and I engage in the mission. The messengers come and go, but the message and the mission are unchanged. Okay, so I want to talk to you this morning about how do we keep going, okay? We don't just close the book of Acts and kind of go, that was great. What's next? We journey to the book of Acts and we say, Holy Spirit, what how could you work through me like you worked through the men and women in the book of Acts? And the answer is yes, because God left his spirit here on the earth to continue the ministry of Jesus, okay? So I'm gonna finish reading the book of Acts, Acts chapter 28, verse 17. It says, after three days he called together the local leader of the Jews, and when they had gathered, he said to them, Brothers, though I had done nothing against our people or the customs of our fathers, yet I was delivered as a prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans. When they had examined me, they wished to set me at liberty, because there was no reason for the death penalty in my case. But because the Jews objected, I was compelled to appeal to Caesar, though I had no charge to bring against my nation. For this reason, therefore, I have asked to see you and speak with you, since it is because of the hope of Israel that I am wearing this chain. And they said to him, We have received no letters from Judea about you, and none of the brothers coming here have reported or spoken any evil about you. But we desire to hear from you and what your views are, for with regard to this sect, we know that everywhere it is spoken against. When they had appointed a day for him, they came to him at his lodging in greater numbers. From morning till evening he expounded to them, testifying to the kingdom of God and trying to convince them about Jesus, both from the law of Moses and from the prophets. And some were convincing by some were convinced by what he said, but others disbelieved and disagreeing among themselves, they departed after Paul had made one statement. The Holy Spirit was right and saying to your fathers through the Isaiah the prophet, go to this people and say, You will indeed hear, but never understand, and you will indeed see but never perceive. For this people's heart has grown dull, and with their ears they can barely hear, and with their eyes they have closed, yet that they should see with their eyes, lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and turn, and I would heal them. Therefore, let it be known to you that this salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles. They will listen. He lived there two whole years at his own expense, and he welcomed all who came to him, proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness and without hindrance. See what I mean? It just kind of goes out. It's like no big crescendo. He doesn't save the world or anything. And so the question that I want to speak to this morning is how do we keep going? Okay, how do we just keep living in the understanding that we've gleaned from the book of Acts? And there's basically four things. We keep going by embracing four things in the text. Number one, the corporate nature of faith. The corporate nature of faith. Did you notice when I was reading verses 17 to 22? I would read it like this. After three days, he called together the local leaders of the Jews, and they and him and our. What I'm trying to do is emphasize the singular and the plural. When I say the corporate nature of faith, one of the things I want you to pick up on is that Christianity has always been we, not me. And in verse 20, Paul says, since it is because of the hope of Israel that I'm wearing this chain, he's basically saying, I hope in who we've always hoped in, okay? I'm not, I'm not out here on my own doing my own kind of thing. I don't have my own take on the faith, and that's why I'm I'm in prison. To see that, you'd have to go listen to a podcast by Rob Bell, but I digress. Paul says, listen, I believe what what the hope of Israel is this. This is this corporate belief that we as a nation, we as a people, the Jewish people have always believed, okay? The hope of Israel refers to the Jewish expectation that a Messiah is going to come. A savior is going to come. Now, the Bible teaches that this has been fulfilled in Jesus Christ, which essentially it means that the Jewish people were looking forward to a savior, to a Messiah who would deliver them and bring restoration. However, the Bible teaches in Jesus' incarnation and his coming in the manger, living a sinless life, okay, dying, rising from the dead, ascending back into heaven, that he has fulfilled all the prophecies around about this. And so Paul's saying, hey, this Jesus, this promised Messiah is Jesus, and what you've been waiting for has already come. And so he says, Listen, this is not my personal take on Christianity or religion. This is the hope of Israel. This is not an individualistic journey. See, he wasn't in change for his personal take on the faith. And here's my concern cards on the table. One of the reasons Christianity is so ineffective in America is it's become so individualistic. People talk about my faith, my truth, my journey. But here Paul talks about the hope of Israel. This is why I'm wearing this chain. I don't believe anything that hasn't always been true. And so what do you see? What you see here is corporate faith that produces individual consequences. He says, I believe what's always been believed. Now it affects me individually. So stay with me. You see corporate faith that produces individual consequences. However, in our day, we've kind of reversed those two, and we have this individual faith that we want to produce corporate consequences. Now, again, listen carefully. It's not just a play on words. What you see in the Bible, right here in Acts 28, is Paul has this corporate faith. I believe in the hope of Israel. I believe what our forefathers have always believed. It's already come. You guys can't see it, you don't open your ears, you can't hear it. Okay? So corporate faith produces individual consequences. However, in our day, we've reversed those two. We have individual faith. We want that to produce corporate consequences. Translation, if I'm doubting this, then none of it can be true for anyone. You cannot believe anything that I don't agree with. That is the culture that we live in nowadays. People like I've got I've I've been praying in a restaurant before. If somebody at a table over walked over afterwards and said, Excuse me, what were you just doing? And I'm like, Oh, I'm the wrong person, pew to tap on the shoulder. But I didn't say that. I said I was just giving thanks to God. Well, you know, not always believe that. That ain't my problem. And then it's awkward because now, babe, people get triggered. And if you get triggered, just because you use the word triggered, that don't mean squat to me, okay? Your triggering is not my responsibility. And so we live in a world where we got it reversed. Individual, individual faith has corporate consequences. And so if if what you believe transgresses or triggers what I believe, then you can no longer believe that. No. No. It's a great to quote to quote the great theologian Pancho Villa, I would rather die on my feet than live on my knees. And so the lady just quietly walked back. I said, You can you can go back to your table. I didn't tap you on the shoulder when you didn't pray and say, Why didn't you not why didn't you pray? So don't tap me on my shoulder when I'm done and say, What are you doing in a public what's the public space? This is my meal, my table, I'm paying for the money's provided by my God, this food provided by my God. So I'm just saying thanks to him for everything he provides. Now go back to your table, mind your business. I'm just trying to eat my Mexican food before it gets cold in Lufkin, Texas, the seed of the Bible Belt. You ever been to Lufkin? They sell Bibles at the pick and pay, okay? I mean, give me a break, lady, get out of here. See, lots has been written about the and and in about what's driving this individualistic bent in American Christianity. And I think it's simple, okay? I think it's simple. I think we prefer, stick with me. I think we prefer pity to perspective. Let me say it again. I think we prefer pity to perspective. As long as it's just me and my experience, that I can I can appeal to the Christian subculture and get lots of pity. Now, I'm glad that the crowd is kind of down today, so I don't get so many emails. We'll have to fix and say, but I'm fixing to say this, okay? Like, I miss my friend Sherry Bement, okay? Some of you know Sherry Bement. She went home to be with her Lord. Sherry Bement, one time she had a surgery coming up, and I called her and I said, No, Sherry, hey, this is Pastor Sunshine. I want to call check on you anything. You need meals or anything? She goes, Meals? I can cook. I knew the surgery was coming. I cooked two weeks of meals and put them in the freezer. Now she's of an other, she's of the older generation. If you're under 35 and you're gonna have a baby, you don't cook meals, you get a you get a meal train. You need 40 meals. That's pity. You don't need 40 meals. A couple meals, great. 20 meals? Come on, man. You feel how quiet I just got in here? Some of you men are like, I'm not even smiling at that. I'm just saying this: there's a durability to people over 45. Now I ain't hate on the younger generation. Don't send me emails if you want. I love reading them. I'm just saying. I mean, she was a classic example, and she would scoff at these younger women. They need to suck it up. And I'm like, would you like to make that announcement next Sunday? Because here's the thing. Hey, now I've been accept off any. Let's just go ahead and get all the way in, okay? Like, this is a news flash, ladies. Having kids is exhausting. So, oh, oh, oh, you ain't going there. You don't know. I'm not saying it's not tiring, but you having kids is not the community's responsibility. Oh, I'm losing y'all by the numbers here. Yes. Hey, we out here, let's just have at it, okay? This is what you get when you come to church on the first Sunday of spring break when all your sinner friends are at the beach getting drunk right now. I can't hear one more person say, Oh, especially you got one kid and you're how tired. Hey, by the way, we don't tell you how many kids to have. So you have a bunch of kids and you look to us to help you. We don't, we'll help you some, but then we'll start resenting you. Yes, because we didn't tell you how many kids. There's people in our church have 10, 11 kids. Those people, families of big kids, they don't say a word. I mean, I see the Burns family come in, they got 11 kids. They got everything from a baby to a 19-year-old. I just think. And those kids are running around, it's just chaos. And the mom and dad are right in the middle of them, just like, hey, hey, how's everybody doing? Good, good, good. And I'm like, they don't say, hey man, can you come to our house? Because we're tired. No, they figured out they want to have 11 kids, that's their responsibility. They got 11 kids, they hold it down. I wish y'all could see your faces. Again, here's I'm gonna stick to Landy like a good gymnast. Look at me. I'm not saying it's not exhausting, it is exhausting, okay? We had kids. After our firstborn was born, I had to leave and get on a plane and go make money to pay for that kid. Five days I was home and that was it. We've never lived near family. We don't have them. There's people that will not take a church in another city because they don't get free babysitting from their parents. I wish I was making that up, but I'm not. Oh, well, you know, we live here in this area in the Metroplex and we've got a support system. Great, you're not called if you can't leave your support system. I'm not saying it's not exhausting, it is exhausting. Here's what this jerk is saying exhaustion does not equate to entitlement. Ladies, I'll be down front to receive your praises as soon as we're done. And men, you do. Hey, it's not just women, men talk about man, we got two kids and it's hard. Did we tell you to have them two kids? Somebody said to me one time, hey, would you like to come babysit our kids sometime? Mm-mm. Because I would whip these wayward fools. They run roughshod over you, and they would not run roughshod over me. You would show up, I'd be shirtless out back smoking, and your kids would be mowing the yard. Be sure to edge that sidewalk now, kids. Don't you miss that? I want it tight and right. No, I don't want to look like a wild dog shooting. I want that thing, yow. And then they said, Well, we have our own parody philosophy. I can tell. I can tell. Again, I ain't mad at anybody, I ain't making fun of you. I got nobody in mind. I'm just saying there's a generational difference in the way you think about exhaustion and whose responsibility is that you're exhausted. You're welcome. Yes, you may be thinking, what's this got to do with the corporate nature of faith? Here's what it's got to do with it. If you're not careful, you can get a lot of pity in the religious subculture, but you never get perspective that only comes from the Bible. What do you mean? If you look into scripture and you see those who've gone before you, you get perspective, or at least I get perspective. Allow me to demonstrate. I want to read a lot of the Bible this morning. This is Hebrews chapter 11. I'll start reading verse 6. It'll come up on the screen. Just hear this. Just hear, these are people, they're just Christians. They're not super people. Hebrews 11, verse 6, and without faith it is impossible to please him. Whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and he rewards those who seek him. By faith, Noah, being warned by God concerning events yet unseen and reverent fear, constructed an ark for the saving of his household. By this he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith. By faith, Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance, and he went out not knowing where he was going. Hello! Not knowing. And he went out not knowing where he was going. By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city that's foundations, whose designer and builder is God. By faith, Sarah herself received power to receive, to conceive, even when she was past the age, since she considered him faithful, who had promised. Therefore, from one man and him as good as dead were born descendants, as many as the stars of heaven, as many as as innumerable grains of sand on the shore. Skip down to verse 17. By faith, Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he would receive the promise, was in fact offering up his only son, of whom it was said, Through Isaac shall your offspring be named. He considered that God was able to even raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back. Verse 20, by faith, Isaac invoked future blessings on Jacob and Esau. By faith, Jacob, when dying, blessed each of his sons, each of the sons of Joseph, bowing in worship over the head of his staff. By faith, Joseph at the end of his life made mention of the exodus of the Israelites and gave instructions concerning his bones. By faith, Moses, when he was born, was hidden for three months by his parents because they saw that the child was beautiful and they were not afraid of the king's edict. By faith, Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the sons of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. He considered the reproach of Christ greater than wealth, greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt. He was looking for the reward. By faith, he left Egypt, not being afraid of the anger of the king, for he endured as seeing him who is invisible. By faith he kept the Passover and sprinkled the blood, so that the destroyer of the firstborn might not touch him. By faith, the people crossed the Red Sea as on dry land. But the Egyptians, when they attempted to do the same, were drowned. By faith, the walls of Jericho fell down, and they had been encircled for seven days. By faith, Rahab the prostitute did not did not perish with those who were disobedient because she has given a friendly welcome to the spies. And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barack, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets, who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouth of lines, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight, women received back their dead by the resurrection. Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life. Others suffered mocking and flogging and even chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two. Hello! Not a David Blaine magic trick. They were cut in half. They were killed with a sword, they went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated, of whom this world was not worthy, wandering around in deserts and mountains and in dens and in caves of the earth. And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised. You mean to tell me I went through all this and I ain't getting no cookie? Since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us, they should not be made perfect. Therefore, I'll let you say this. Here's perspective. Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also less out every weight in the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us. Look into Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Now, the difference it does in them is that for them faith was a verb. And for us, tragically, faith has eroded into a noun. I just asked this simple question. By faith, by faith, by faith, by faith, by faith. With the people of this kind of faith, would they recognize what you call faith? That's all. I'm not mad at anybody, I'm not mocking anybody. I'm just saying, hey man, I think faith has become so individualistic that everybody else is responsible for what you think you need. Some podcast got that language in the water with a generation of people and they've drunk it and they believe it. I just want to push back and say, hey man, maybe maybe less pity and more perspective. Maybe that. Here's the second way we keep going. We believe in the sufficiency of scripture. It's verses 23, 27. If we get a little this guy, Paul. Now, by the way, is there a picture on the screen behind me? That's martial matters. Some of you are wondering, he's just a kid that's trying to launch a music career. Now you may be thinking, why do you have that in church? I read the King James 16, 11, and I don't even listen to secular music. Because when the Apostle Paul would talk to people, this is what it was like. The Apostle Paul was the real Slim Shady before Slim Shady, okay? We act like we we don't have a context. I just want to give you a context. When Paul would get up and talk, people would like to pull their hair out, like, oh my gosh. His real name is Marshall Mathers, and his rap name, he goes by M and M, two M C M, but it's spelled E-M-I-N-E-M. Not that your kids would know or anything. He came on the scene at the MTV Music Awards years ago. He came out in a white t-shirt, and a bunch of kids came out in white t-shirts and bag baggy jeans. And he said, There's more like me, walk like me, talk like me, blah, blah, blah, like me. And people are like, Who is this? And he changed. Now, you ask all rappers in the music industry, who's the one person you do not want to have a rap battle with? It's this white kid from Eight Mile. They're like, man, they just call him M. will smoke you. That brother vicious. No one wants to go up against him. Now, why do I say that? I'm not, I'm not, don't send me emails. I'm not endorsing his lifestyle. I'm not even endorsing his music. I'm saying to understand how otherworldly Paul was talking to his own people, this is what it was like. Some people were down with it, and some people wanted to kill him. What do I mean the sufficiency of scripture? Here's what I mean. Get a load of this Paul guy, okay? He's just, he has a captive audience. Context, he has a captive audience. They they've come to his house, then more than came initially. That's what verse 23 says. When they had appointed a day for him, they came to him at his lodging in greater numbers. And from morning till evening, he expounded on them, testifying to the kingdom of God and trying to convince him both about Jesus from both from the law of Moses and from the prophets. Now, when I say the sufficiency of scripture, what do I mean? Think about this for a minute. Think about our experienced lading culture, how somebody, some Christian goes through a little bit of hardship and they got a movie deal and a book coming out, and they're launching a podcast, and you can get a thermal coffee mug with our slogan on it. Just one time I want us to go through something really hard and not write a book about it. It's just a Tuesday for people in the Bible. Oh my gosh, it was raining and I had to get an umbrella. Okay? Toughen up a little bit. Come on, people. And you mean the sufficiency of scripture? Just get this in your mind. Get a little this Paul guy. He has a captive audience, he just survived a heroin journey. That ended with a shipwreck. He just healed an island full of people. Remember that in chapter 27? He healed the one guy that's public dad. And then everybody on the island comes. He heals all of them. Would you not be gloating like, hello? Who wants some of this magic? No. No. And yet he chooses to talk about the Bible from morning till evening. He doesn't have a smartphone. He doesn't have a slideshow. Here is me on the ship. I put my D down on my Yeti cooler to brace myself. By the way, I'm sponsored by Yeti. I've got product on my resource table. No. See, the entrepreneurial spirit is taking American Christianity hostage. There ain't nothing we won't sell. Now, by the way, we sold ourselves in order to sell all this junk. Just the word from morning to evening, okay? Why didn't he just set up a podcast and tell stories? Here's why. He has a high view of scripture. And people in the Bible always, all of them had a high view of scripture. Matter of fact, Scripture, get ready. This is going to be insulting as well. Scripture was bigger and better and more important than their experiences. He said, What do you mean? I'll just read from Scripture. 2 Peter chapter 1, verse 16, for we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For when he received honor and glory from God the Father, and the voice was born to him by the majestic glory that said, This is my beloved Son with whom I am well pleased. This is not about the Mount of Transfiguration, okay? We ourselves heard this very voice born from heaven for when we were with him on the holy mountain. Quite an experience, okay? Not only did God speak on this mountain transfiguration, but Jesus floated up in the air and glowed. I mean, that deserves a bumper sticker, bro. And look what the Bible says. He says, Hey, we had this incredible experience, verse 19. And we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you would do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts, knowing this first of all. If this isn't true, then the rest of it doesn't matter. Knowing this, first of all, that no prophecy of scripture comes from someone's own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. Now, if you're here and you're like, man, I don't know about this whole Christianity thing, I'm just kind of checking it out. You seem to be a little passionate. I suggest decaf or something like that. Let me just say this, okay? I'm glad you're here. And I say to you what they said back in the first century to scoffers and unbelievers and people that are just curious and just like, hey man, I this could be true. He says, uh, and we, verse 19, and we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed. Let's talk about the Bible. The Bible is more reliable than our experiences. He says, this though, to which you would do well to pay attention. I would just say, if you're an unbeliever in the room today, I would just say, pay attention. I ain't mad at you. I'm actually an enjoyable person, okay? Uh he says, hey, to which you would do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place. This is a lamp that shines in a dark place. Because it is by nature light. It reveals the truth. Just pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place. How long do you pay attention? Until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your heart, until God reveals Himself to you. Just pay attention. Just listen to what the Bible says. I promise you, your life will not get better. You will change as a person, and as a byproduct of that, your life will be different. This is not pragmatism. This is objective truth. Let's don't subject it to such a small standard as, oh, it works. No, no, no. Three things we believe about the Bible. Number one, the Bible isn't someone's opinion. He says right there, it's not someone's own interpretation. It's not someone's opinion. Number two, people didn't write the Bible. I heard all the time. Well, I mean, no, I don't want to offend you. Probably not going to happen, but go ahead. Well, I mean, the Bible was written by man. No, it wasn't. No, they didn't write the Bible. No prop, it says right here, no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man. And then finally, the Bible's a product of divine revelation. Men spoke, second Peter says, men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. Carried along. This is the reason Paul reasoned with these religious people, using only, by the way, using only the Old Testament. Why? Because they were living the New Testament. He just had the Old Testament. Talk about the law, the prophet, the law, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy. How about you witness out of those bad boys? And then the prophets, people with the funny names, Obadiah, or people with 11 kids going to get named for their children. Obadiah, Haggai, Zachariah. That's all they had. And from morning to evening, he smoked these fools. I mean, slayed them. Like two dogs' cages, he tore this roof off. They couldn't get enough of it. They were like, ah. Why? Because not only is the Bible true, not only is it authoritative, look at me, beloved, it is sufficient. It is sufficient today for what ails you and what ails me. And sometimes when I feel pity creeping in on me, I go to Hebrews 11, I read that, and I go, you know what? My back not as sore as I thought it was. Mm-hmm. Here's the third thing that we got to embrace if we're going to keep going, that there will always be an audience. It's verse 28 and 29. There will always be an audience. Because what got a mad was Paul quotes Isaiah 6. And he says, Hey, the Holy Spirit was right and saying to your father through Isaiah the prophet, go to this people, and you will indeed hear, but never understand. These are people that just hear it, they don't understand. They look, but they don't see it. He says, Hey, imagine this. The word of God is accurate in the way it describes humanity. When I say there will always be an audience, what do you mean? Look at verse 28. He said, Therefore let it be known to you that this salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles. They will listen. This is a great turning. You know, he came into his own, and his own received him not. Yes. Paul says in Romans 1, I'm not ashamed of the gospel. It's the power of God and the salvation for anyone who believes to the Jew first and then to the Gentile. It's come to the Jews. This is a historic moment in the history of Christianity. These religious people are like, we do not believe you. We don't like Ebeneam. It's too loud. This is vulgar. What do you mean, rap music? Where's Conway Tweety? And the gospel goes to the Gentiles. There will always be an audience. You see, we don't have to create an audience with our programming. Does that make sense to anybody but me? We do not have to create an audience with our programming because the church in America has figured out how to sociologically engineer things, get people to come, and they have some visiting evangelists come in and he preaches and people walk an aisle and then you don't see those people ever again. And that church calls themselves succeeding in reaching their city. Now, I think what Jesus said to the Pharisees about their evangelistic zeal, he said, you cross land and sea to make one convert. And when you do, you make them twice the son of hell as you are. Yeah. We don't have to create an audience with our programming. See, we live in a world full of people who believe that they own salvation. They act as if they've got a salvation voucher in their pocket. They can just whip it out anytime and redeem it whenever they're done sinning. However, nothing can be further from the truth. Here's one of the bigger differences between the Jews and the Gentiles. Listen carefully. The Jews believe that they own salvation. And the Gentiles believe that God owns salvation. And so for a Gentile to come to faith, it was a big deal. That's why verse 28 says that salvation was of God. It belonged to God. It's something God does, and they listen because it's humbling for a Gentile to hear something that you've been excluded from your whole life because you weren't religious, or you didn't have church closed, or you didn't come for the right family, or your family didn't go to church. These people heard this and they were just like, see, when I hear this kid right here, uh, I just think, what Christian shared the gospel with him growing up? Did anybody reach out to him and say, Marshall, you want to go to church? I'll come out and pick you up. And you got church clothes. That's all right, man. You got you ain't gonna wear church clothes. You can come just like that. Sleeveless white t-shirt. I don't care. What are you saying, Pastor? I'm saying for Gentiles, it was humbling to hear something that has its origins in God and yet it benefits and blesses you. This is why, if you look in the Bible, you'll see Gentile reaction to the gospel is so much more overwhelming. Like John chapter 4, the woman at the well, that Jesus got in the conversation with, and he said, See, give me a drink. And then he says, Hey, go call your husband. And she says, I don't have a husband. And Jesus said, You're right, you don't have a husband. You've had five husbands, and the man you shacked up with right now, he ain't your husband. And she's like, Uh-oh. And then the grace of God finds her and unwinds her. She leaves her bucket at the well, runs into town, and says to all her friends, This man told me everything I've ever done. Hear this. Could this be the Messiah? True conversion makes you curious about God. You don't live with the illusion that it makes God curious about you. What else are you going to do for me? You forgave me. You're going to give me a ticket into heaven. What else? I might sign on the die line today. Mm-mm. If you want to know who's really converted, the Spirit of God, when the Spirit of God changes your, regenerates your cold dead heart, you are curious about God. No one has to create desire for you, for God, or the things of God. Hey, no one's calling on Saturday night. Hey, it's Saturday. I know it's busy. I know it's busy, but tomorrow we worship. You need us to come pick you up? No, it's in there. Now, when I say that there was always to be an audience in there, the Bible's very clear that salvation belongs to God. The Gentiles understood. The Jews thought, hey, we we own salvation. We're auditioning messiahs, and we vote thumbs down on Jesus of Nazareth. Arrogant religious people. And yet the Bible is very clear about this. Revelation chapter 7, verse 9. They're around the throne of God. Hear this. All of heaven believes that salvation belongs to God. After this, I looked, and behold, the great multitude that no one could number from every nation, from all tribes, peoples, and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, what are they saying? Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne and to the Lamb. And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and they worshiped God, saying, Amen. Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever. Amen. You know why? We don't want to acknowledge that salvation belongs. There's a lot of people nowadays that are like the Jews. You think it belongs to you. And the reason you believe that is because you want glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might. But when you look into heaven, you see people gathered around. Not only people here on the earth, but people from every nation, all tribes, people, languages, angels, angels, elders, and the four living creatures. And they're all saying the same thing. They agree, salvation belongs to God. This is why the Jewish people don't come to faith, because in their religious arrogance, they think they own it. And there's not another Messiah coming to audition for their affection. And the Gentiles are like, oh my gosh, me? Come be the man who told me everything I've ever done. I mean, could this be the Messiah? By the way, if you read John 4 today, you'd see that the whole town comes to Jesus and they say to the woman, Hey, we no longer believe just because of what you said. We ourselves heard it ourselves. Yeah. It's the last thing. How do we keep going? Stay focused. Stay focused. Verse 30. He lived there two years at his own expense and welcomed all who came to him, proclaiming. See, he didn't start a GoFundMe account. I'm just offending people. Let me just offend everybody today. Amen. He didn't say, he didn't spot a website, hey, I survived a shipwreck. Can you all give me money? I had a little setback. And it's the world. By the way, there's a lot of people who won't darken the door of a church, will give money to every GoFundMe that comes across because they feel spiritual. I'm not saying not help people. I helped a lot of people this week. I gave away a dog, I gave away a dining room table, a refrigerator, a pickup truck. Yeah. So don't, don't, I don't pass, you say no. I'm saying stop craving pity. He didn't say, oh, survived a shipwreck. He didn't have t-shirts on his merch table in the eye of the storm. No. No. The dude just gets up and just goes and does what he's always done. He lives there two whole years at his own experience. That's mind-blowing in his pity culture at his own expense. And he welcomed all who came to him. I ain't got time to get into the he didn't go seek out Peter. He was under house arrest. And people are like, where's this Paul guy? Because I want somebody that'll tell me the truth. Because I'm sick of going through the religious emotions of nothingness. And Paul's chained for two years, still just setting it off, going crazy. He welcomed all who came to him. Verse 31, I'm done. You still with me? Look at this. Proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness and without hindrance. When I say stay focused, what do I mean? Paul's under house arrest. People keep coming to him because they're hungry. Notice how the book of Acts ends with a focus on two realities. And I'm done. Number one, the kingdom of God, and secondly, the Lord Jesus Christ. One of the things I love about books of the Bible and preaching through books of the Bible, though it takes a long time, oh, is the cohesion of the books of the Bible. What do you mean? I want to end the book of Acts where we begin by reading the first three verses. Now, now remember I say it says right here with all boldness and without hindrance, Acts chapter 1, verse 8. He says, You'll receive power and the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you'll be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria, and the uttermost parts of the earth. Paul's now at the uttermost parts of the earth, Rome. I mean, it's like, whoa, man. He's there. And guess what? He's demonstrating this power that God promised in the Holy Spirit. That's why he says that he was teaching about the Lord Jesus with all boldness, power, and without hindrance. And so I just want to see, I want you to see the cohesion of the Bible, and we'll be done this morning. This is Acts chapter 1, the first three verses. In the first book of Old Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach until the day when he was taken up, after he had given commands to the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. He presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during 40 days and speaking about the kingdom of God. All Jesus began to do and teach, the book of Acts is not about Paul, it's about Jesus. It's a continuous ministry of Jesus and speaking about the kingdom of God. Look at me. One last question and I'm done. If all God said you could talk about for the rest of your life was the Lord Jesus Christ and the kingdom of God, would you know what to say? Or would you fall back on experiences? And by the way, I'm not ragging on experiences. I've had experiences I don't even talk about because I don't know how to talk about it. I could tell you, and you go to lunch and go, Patrick. I'm crazy. Okay. I was there. So don't hear me saying, I'm just saying experience is pale in comparison to the authority of God's word. That's all I'm saying. Because if you don't get that right, oh, your flesh, my flesh, let me know, my flesh, whoo, it just craves pity. Oh, yeah. Most of our staff is off this way, you know that? Ian's in England doing on vacation or something, drinking hot tea. He and Andy, I mean, how hard can it be? They're another country. Julian's in Indonesia. That's a different story over there, by the way. He gets a hall pass. Clyde? I don't know where Clyde is. Nobody knows the trouble I've seen. Now, somebody said, Man, most of your staff is gone. What are you gonna do? We're gonna be fine. They're not doing anything wrong. They're all out doing the Lord's work. Glory to God. I don't feel sorry for myself. Why? Because I read about people who share the same faith that I profess to have. And they had perspective, not pity. And I want to live and die in that perspective. Again, if all you could talk about for the rest of your life was the Lord Jesus Christ and the kingdom of God, would you know what to say? Let's pray together. Lord, thank you for the book of Acts. I feel like I'm saying goodbye to an old friend here. And a good friend, a faithful friend that wounds me when I need to be wounded and comforts me when I need to be comforted. And God, we're not afraid of the wounding or the comfort. We say we welcome both of them. So, Holy Spirit, just brood over us while we think just for a little bit about the pleasure of understanding a book of the Bible. That's not lost on us, God. So we just think now to the glory of God. Lord, we want to be like the people we read about in Acts, the Apostle Paul, proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ. We want to do that with all boldness and without hindrance. We want to be like the guy on the screen back there. When we take the mic, people want to hear what we're saying. But for many of us, I would say most of us, when we get the mic in our hand, people don't want to listen. We do not tell a compelling story. And the kingdom and the Lord Jesus Christ is the beginning of a compelling story. For that we're grateful. We're also invited. So we say thank you for that privilege in Jesus' name. And everyone says, Amen, amen. If you're our guest today, let me say thanks for being here. Uh you're always welcome here. If you have any questions about anything you've heard, uh uh then some of our pastors be available down front if we got any in town this week. Uh it's a joke. Uh we'd love to talk with you. Hey, hey, I love milk trains. I just don't think you need 20. I'm just saying it, and I'm not the only one. So don't leave, oh there's this thing, community is an experience, it's not an excuse. That's the way I would say. I'm just trying to thin out my emails before I get home today, all right? Uh and so uh, if you're a guest, all we ask of you, you just text welcome to that number on the screen behind me, gives us a record of your visit. We'll shoot you a text back. We want, we think you were created by God for a relationship with God and for a relationship with the people of God. And the people of God, sometimes they come for you and sometimes they make you angry. Someone said to me not long ago in the lobby, you know, most days I really like what you say, but some days you just tick me off. And I said, Sounds like I'm doing my job. And she and washed off. I said, seriously, you shouldn't come to church every Sunday and be like, Yeah, yeah, yeah, I got it, I got it, got it. Milk, egg, no, not eggs, can't afford them, butter. You should be like, whoo! I gotta think about that. Huh, that that that rubbed me the wrong way. That's not hate, that's love. The person that says some of the most offensive things to me ever is sitting right there. And I don't divorce her, I stay with her, and she doesn't apologize. She just looks and does her eyebrows like I'm like, and she's just like, pal, you want, you're wrong about that. Anyway, we have things going on in the life of our church. We'll make you aware of those by the way of our video announcements. So check out what's coming up.

SPEAKER_02 42:27

Here's what's happening at Grand Parkway Baptist Church. Team of our students embarked on a mission to the UK on Friday, bringing the gospel into schools by day and leading youth ministry by night. Continue to pray that hearts are open to the message of Christ and for the safety of everyone on the trip. They will return home on March 15th. Ladies, the deadline to register for the gathering is approaching. Be sure to sign up by March 19th to take part in meaningful conversations and have your parenting questions answered by a panel of seasoned women sharing their life experiences. This event takes place on March 23rd from 6 to 8 p.m. in the gathering room. Dinner and child care will be provided. The men's ministry is hosting a golf scramble on March 20th at 11 a.m. at the golf club at Cinco Ranch. So for $85, you get range balls, scramble participation, contest prizes, and a hot dog buffet in the clubhouse. Is Graham Parkway your church home? You're invited to our starting point experience that meets on two consecutive Sundays, March 23rd and March 30th. You'll hear how Graham Parkway is led, what we believe, and our core values and vision. You'll learn what it means to be a member, both what's expected of you and what you can expect from us. You also have the opportunity to meet several of our staff. There's no pressure, just the information you need to determine if this church is the right fit for you. We'll meet at 1030 a.m. upstairs in room 204. Space is limited, so reserve your spot by registering today. Finally, join the Kids Ministries New Believer Class. It's a three-week study where they will look at what it means to be a Christian, what it looks like to be part of a church, baptism, and more. This class is for kids first through fourth grade who have already made a decision to follow Christ or who are very curious. Parents and kids will meet on March 26th, April 2nd, and April 9th from 6 to 7.30 p.m. in the kids' building. For more information or to register for these events, visit our website at gramparkway.org. If you have any questions or want someone to pray for you, find one of our pastors at the front of the stage at the conclusion of our service.

SPEAKER_01 44:22

Would you stand to your feet? We'd like to conclude our service with a spoken blessing. So if you would hold your hands out. Salvation that belongs to God, he shares with humanity. It's not just a blessing, it's responsibility. Depart now. Live in the blessing and the responsibility of being the people of God. In the name of the Father and the Son, the Holy Spirit. Amen. Bless you.