← ArchiveB2ChurchSunday, August 18, 2019DateAugust 18, 2019Speaker—TextMarkPassages in this sermonMark 104:20Mark 15:48Mark 810:55Ephesians 242:31TranscriptMachine transcribed. Click any line to jump there.0:00Music playing My name is Josh. I didn't have the chance to introduce myself.0:29I was overshadowed by Christian earlier, lead pastor here at Bethel. And let me just say, if you are a guest, welcome. I hope that you have found people who are friendly and loving. I had someone tell me that was in our new member orientation today that when they came for the second time, one of our church members kissed them on the head. And I said, welcome committees look different for different people. So I don't know who that was.0:58So if you're kissed on the head, that's just our way of saying welcome. We love you. And Christ loves you. If you're watching online, hey, we're glad that you are here with us today. And for our covenant members, there is no better place to be than surrounded together in the presence of the Lord around his word. You say, well, how can you boldly say that? Because Jesus says that where two or three are gathered in his name, there he is also.1:21So what a joy that is for me. We are going to continue today a series. It's a new series called Because You Asked. Because you asked. And today we're going to look at difficult people. You know who you are. So why am I preaching on difficult people? Well, first, because you've asked me to preach on difficult people.1:51The reason that I think we have that question is because all of us, at some point in our lives, I would even say on a daily basis, struggle with people who are difficult, who are challenging, who create tensions, who are egregious in some aspect. So you're not alone in that. So if you've dealt with maybe even on the way here, someone who is difficult, you're not alone. So how do we seek Christ and interact with these exasperating individuals?2:19I think what would be better than me answering that question is to say, well, what does Jesus do? Not only is Jesus Christ our Messiah and our maker, but he is also our model. So I Googled. I said, how to handle difficult people. Just like that. Because that's how we type now. Like a Tyrannosaurus Rex. And I said, well, if I didn't like people, what careers?2:51And so there are actually career lists for people who don't like people. So for our youth, right? Here you go. Here's a career ladder for you if you don't like people. Top five. First, accountant. Just deal with numbers all day. Second would be closely familiarized with that is an actuary. Someone who deals mostly with numbers and insurance side of that.3:18A third would be an archivist. So that's the person who puts the books and archives information in the way that it should be. I assume that's a physical archivist in a library, not a data archivist. But it could be both. A fourth, and this was surprising to me, a head chef. So if you don't like people, you can just make their food and not have to deal with them. And fifth would be an electrician.3:46You can just wire houses all day or commercial buildings and not deal with people. Now, I began to think about that list and said, that's not entirely accurate. Because even these fields have to deal with difficult people. So there is no career that you could choose or even change midstream where you will not interact with difficult people. So how does Jesus do that?4:15He is our maker. He is our model. He is our Messiah. So with that, I want us to read through Mark chapter 10. And we're going to read the scripture with a lens on the people that Jesus deals with. So Mark is the gospel of action. It is very quick, succinct, narrative, active points in the life of the Messiah.4:40Of course, you have Matthew who's showing that Jesus is the kingly Messiah. He is the one who has been rightfully named the king of the Jews. That's why you see the wise men coming. And you have in Luke showing Jesus as a person for all the world. The humanity, the Gentile sympathizer of Jesus Christ. That's why you have the shepherds coming to Jesus Christ in the beginning of Luke.5:09But Mark really has very little dialogue. Mark just gives us, this is what Jesus did. This is who he is, believe him or not. And what you do with Jesus matters for eternity. And so this is what Mark says. And we're going to read this scripture with a specific lens on the people that Jesus interacts with. Does that make sense? So before I give you difficult people, think about who is active and actively participating with Christ in this passage.5:40So Mark chapter 1, Mark chapter 10, 1 through 10 this morning. He, Jesus, I'm reading from the CSB version. He set out from there and went to the region of Judea across the Jordan. Anytime you hear across the Jordan, he's no longer in Israel.6:10He's a cross on the Gentile side. And the crowds converged on him again. And as his custom was, he taught them again. Verse 2. Some Pharisees came to test him, asking, Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?6:35We were wondering that. Jesus replied to them, What did Moses command you? They said, Moses permitted us to write divorce papers and send her away. But Jesus told them, He wrote this command for you because of the hardness of your hearts.7:02But from the beginning of creation, God made them male and female. And for this reason, a man will leave his father and mother and the two will become one flesh. Therefore, God, what God has joined together, let no one separate. When they were in the house again, the disciples questioned Jesus about this matter. And he said to them, Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her. Also, if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.7:33Verse 13. People were bringing little children to him in order that he might touch them, but the disciples rebuked him. When Jesus saw it, he was indignant and said to them, Let the little children come to me. Do not stop them because the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly, I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child8:02will never enter it. After taking them in his arms, he laid hands on them. He blessed them. Let's pray. Lord, we ask right now that you begin to stir our hearts. That we would burn with a passion and a hunger for righteousness. Lord, that we would desire your word and your truth.8:30Lord, that we would not live as people who only hear, but that we would do what is said and commanded in your word. Lord, make us different. Make us right. Lord, for those here who do not believe, who have not committed their lives to Jesus as the way and the truth and the life. Lord, we pray right now. I pray that you would bring them near. That they would recognize their sin.8:59That they would know that you have made a new way for them. And that they would run to your throne where they will find forgiveness and mercy in their time of need. And Lord, where we are ungrateful and where we lack grace towards others. Father, change us today. I pray this in your son's name. The name of Jesus. The name that is above all names.9:27The Messiah. Amen. And amen. So let's look at the people that Jesus interacts with. Because I think this will help us deal with certain groups of people in our lives. Now, this is not a comprehensive list. It's not an exhausted list. And I would even say the task to preach on difficult people was daunting this week. How do I summarize how to deal with everyone in our life in one message?9:51I said, what's better than the word of God? So very first we see this in the sacred text. We see in verse 1. This group. He set out from there and he went to the region of Judea and across the Jordan. Then. Okay, let's try it again. He set out across the Jordan.10:23Then. Crowds. Crowds conversion. Do the crowds have a name? Crowds. That's all that we know. And I begin to think about that. Jesus has set out across Israel probably trying to find solace. Probably trying to find quiet. And the crowds do what? They converge. They swarm. It's almost that they are gathered together, the Greek says. It's just they are there. As if Jesus does not have any rest.10:52It's the same thing that happens in Mark chapter 8. After Jesus feeds the 4,000 and he goes and he rests. Guess who shows up again? The crowds. They're there. They're everywhere. And we don't know when they showed up. But we know why they're there. They want Jesus to heal. And they want Jesus to speak with authority. And they want to see this prophet, this Messiah who has come from Nazareth. So much so that they will even travel outside of their territory just to have the presence of Jesus in their life.11:23So that's the crowd. They don't have a name. So let's give them a name. I call this person Common Charlie. Now, if your name is used at all this morning, please don't take it personal. I was not thinking of you. If your name is Charlie, you're in luck because it gets worse from here. So you just need to thank the lucky stars.11:49Your point number one. But what about Charlie do we know about this common person? Think with me for a moment. Where do you find the crowd and the Common Charlie in your life?12:13Everywhere. Everywhere. This person is at the grocery store behind you. They show up in the cubicle at work next to you. Maybe it's a classmate. Maybe it's that random person that's friended you on Facebook that you don't have any other common friends. And you're thinking, are you even from this hemisphere? Maybe it's the person that you sit in front of at the ball field or behind.12:41This person is everywhere. What makes Common Charlie so difficult? He is always around. Look at what Christ does. The crowds do what? They converge. And how does Jesus respond to this person? I love how Jesus responds in verse 2. Verse 1. As was his custom, the crowd converges again.13:11And as was his custom, he does what again? He teaches them. He instructs them. I think that's a great paradigm for how we should interact with people on a daily basis. That we need to be ready every moment. We're going to get to a verse that reminds us of that. You know, Jesus, I believe, purposed in his life to always be a stepping stone for the gospel and not a stumbling block.13:35You say, well, how can I do that? When you check out at the grocery store, Charlie's there. When someone cuts you off in traffic, common Charlie's next to you. When you lose your temper, the crowd's there.14:01When you are tempted at work just to fudge the numbers so it's not really illegal, but to make yourself look better, the crowd is watching. Parents, when you look one way in public, but act a different way behind closed doors. Little Charlie's watching. And the reminder in scripture of how we deal with the crowds who are always there.14:30So how do we handle these common Charlie's in our life who are always there? Are you ready? Are you prepared? I'm so thankful that Jesus didn't leave the gospel in the synagogue.15:00And when the crowd converges again at the Transjordan, he says, really? I just need some rest. I just fed 4,000 of you guys. Go home. Go. I'll heal you later. Jesus had every right to do that, did he not? Yes. But Jesus was always ready.15:30When they conversed again, he did what? He taught them again. Are we ready? And I was praying through this and I began to think of people in my life. And this is what the Holy Spirit convicted me of. Common Charlie doesn't need a pastor in his life. He needs you and he needs your Jesus. My neighbors don't need the pastor.15:57They need Josh. They need a neighbor who loves Jesus and loves them and who's praying for them. Your co-worker doesn't need you to call the pastor up and say, Pastor, evangelist, he's ready. They need you to love them and to be ready for them and to pray for them and be a stepping stone to the gospel. How do we deal with common Charlies in our life?16:26Prepare your heart today because they're going to be there tomorrow. Spend time on your knees today for people that you might encounter. And we should just pray daily. Lord, give me an open door to the gospel and give me the boldness to walk through that. Because when they arrive, it's too late. How is Jesus? How is he ready? Because he was abiding in the spirit. Are you ready for the crowd in your life?16:55Oh, that our hearts would be aflame with the spirit that when someone would come upon us, we would give them the gospel. But that's not the only difficult person. We could just leave it at crowds. Some of you are fearful of crowds. And so that is enough in itself. But wait, there's more. In the crowd, we see another group in verse 2. Hidden. Maybe passive until the opportune time. Look at verse 2.17:25Some Pharisees came to test him. That's how they talk. And they probably ask the question this way. Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife? Because Pharisees like to be heard. And when they ask questions, they want to make sure their questions are heard.17:56You see, Pharisees are peculiarly grumpy people. And so let's give them a name. Let's call them critical Christines. Critical Christines. I've already talked to my wife. I am not using her name in any of these examples. I've already, the stress is removed from her life.18:25But what are these people? How do we interact with them? You see, this person is someone who is sharp, intuitive. And they ask a lot of questions. However, their inquisitions are not from curiosity, but from a critical spirit. That's why they're called critical Christines. We all have those people who are critical in our lives, do we not? This question was not out of curiosity.18:54It's not like they just said, Jesus, we were kind of hanging out and we just had this question. It just randomly came up in conversation. No, Mark tells us exactly why they're asking this. What's the purpose of the question? To test Jesus Christ. So for those who are critical in your life, pay close attention to their questions. Because the surface question is not necessarily hostile, but it is definitely a test. Do you ever have people that are constantly testing you?19:23Hey, here's a post on Facebook. See if you take the bait. I know you don't believe it, but let's just see. Or they come to your cubicle and say, hey, have you tried this? Hey, have you made this call? Hey, listen to this joke. What do you think about X? And the question sounds innocent enough, but it's really not. It's a test. It's a temptation. What do temptations do? They lure you away.19:53They detour you so that you lose the main point of your life. And that is to glorify Jesus Christ and him alone. Now, why is this question such a trap? Let me give you some background here, possibly. There's a high chance that Jesus has, across the Transjordan, now come to a region called Perea or Perea. And in this region, one of the counselors over the region was Antipas. You might know him as Herod Antipas. And he did something that would not be even welcome today, but he's married his sister, his half-sister, called Herodias.20:21And John the Baptist calls him out on it. John the Baptist says, that's immoral. That's not godly. We know you don't believe in our God, but still, whatever God you believe in, that's still not what you should be doing. And so John the Baptist is pushing back on Antipas. And you know what happens to John the Baptist? He lost, he was beheaded because he spoke against that illicit affair and now illicit marriage.20:52So it's possible that Jesus is in that region. And so the Pharisees are saying, Jesus, what do you think? Oh, by the way, your cousin died when he answered this question. What do you think? That critical eye, that sinister voice. And Jesus now begins to interact. So how do we deal with critical people in our lives?21:22Don't take the bait. Don't share it. Don't like it. Don't engage it. What does Jesus say? Look in verse 3. Jesus replied to them, well, you guys like the Pentateuch. You are learned men of the law. Tell me, what did Moses command? So Jesus now says, what did Moses command?21:49And they're going to say, well, he permitted this. And Jesus very clearly says, he wrote this command in verse 5, because of the hardness of your heart. Critical people have critical hearts. And so how do you deal with critical people? You engage the heart. Because it's a heart condition. It's a heart issue.22:19And Jesus addresses that. He does not flee and he does not fight. He addresses the heart because that is where the cold, calloused, critical nature comes from. So when you deal with critical Christians in your life, speak to the heart. They do have one. It's just difficult to get there. You see, they speak of, well, Jesus, this is commanded, right? Jesus says, no, this is permitted.22:49Why? Because of the hardness of your heart. The Mosaic provision was meant to limit a problem, not license a practice. So Jesus addresses this main issue. And I would simply suggest to you that a critical spirit is self-defeating. So if that's you and you're just a critical person and all you can think of is to nitpick, nitpick, nitpick. One commentator said this about a critical spirit. He said, you don't learn how to fly an airplane by starting with the crash manual.23:17You don't deconstruct how to be an airline pilot with first following the instructions for the crash landing. It's self-defeating. How do you deal with critical Christian? Address the heart. Now let me kind of take a left turn really quick and speak in an aside. I don't have time to actually just walk through this passage.23:43But some of you are divorced in this room and you're thinking, man, this is such a harsh word from the Lord. Let me tell you what Jesus is doing here. For those who have been divorced, the intent of Jesus' teaching is not to shackle you with debilitating guilt. If you're divorced or if you're divorced and remarried, you're thinking, oh no, I have transgressed the commands of Jesus Christ. The question in this day where divorce was rampant because women had little or no rights and men could just kick them out on the street.24:13And Moses says, okay, at the very least, because of your hard hearts, I'm going to limit this. You can't just kick your wife out on the street. In the day of Jesus, someone would only get divorced if they already had the marriage preplanned, the next marriage. So Jesus is saying, no, I'm calling you to a higher commitment than any culture would ask you.24:36And let me remind you too in scripture, if you're still struggling with, I still bring the guilt of being divorced and I don't know if I'm accepted. Listen to this about the gospels. No one that has ever sought forgiveness from Jesus Christ in the gospels was ever refused. There is not one person, you cannot find someone who came to Jesus Christ. Not a Pharisee, not a tax collector, not a thief and a criminal on the cross that came to Jesus and said, Jesus, forgive me.25:05But Jesus refused. And it's his grace. And so if you're living with that guilt of a second marriage or a third marriage, you can now live out the calling of God to commit to that marriage and seek forgiveness where it is found. Does that make sense? I don't want to just gloss over that and leave you. What's this, that hurt there? I want you to know that Christ loves you and that he can restore you through that.25:34Deal with the heart. We see another group of people in verse 13. So Jesus deals with the Pharisees. He addresses their heart. And now here again, we have people bringing little children to Jesus in order that he might touch them. But the disciples rebuked. We'll get to them shortly. So following the crowd and the criticizer, we find rapid succession, another group in the audience.25:59Now, this group is very needy. They can't feed themselves, possibly. They can't even change their own diapers, some of them. But they live in anonymity because what is the name of this group? Children. We don't have a name. As with the crowd, we are not given a name. This reminds us of their informal, anonymous nature.26:27Now, I just simply call this group needy neds. Needy neds. And so to make a point about the status of this group, typical ancient understanding of children and the attitude of young children was that they were less important than adults. And thus, important teachers should not be bothered by less needy or more needy, less important groups.26:52So that's why the disciples act in the way they do. They say, Jesus, you are important. And this group is needy. Don't spend time with them. And needy people not necessarily have to be children, do they? Because all of us have people in our lives that are just extremely needy.27:18I remember having a friend. She's now passed away and she's with the Lord. But she was always in need. Always in need. And every time she would call, she would be in a panic. Every time she would talk to me, she was in an emergency. Everything was urgent. Everything in her life was for my immediate tension at that moment.27:45So much so, she would call me out of breath. Hey, Pastor. Hey, hey, hey, hey. And after five minutes of her, I just talk her down from the ledge. Okay, what do you need? I need a ride to the grocery store. And I'm thinking, you called me at 10 o'clock at night. And I just begin to think, Lord, how, if we're honest, needy people are draining on us.28:09And Jesus does not abandon them. He does not dismiss them. But Jesus speaks directly to these children. I begin to think, Lord, how would you address my friend who is constantly in need? So let's look at how Jesus deals with these needy children here. In verse 13, the disciples said, leave them alone.28:37Jesus was indignant and said to the disciples, let's let them come to me. Oh, and by the way, in case you didn't get the rebuke, disciples, the kingdom of heaven is for them. That's what we call a Jesus bomb. Can you imagine how the disciples felt?29:04Jesus just looks at these men who have been with him, these 12, and said, one, I am angry at you because you just don't get it. And oh, by the way, they're going to go to heaven before you are. Wow. And then what does Jesus do with this group? He takes them in his arms. And he laid his hands on them. And he blessed them.29:34Did he dismiss them? No. Did he rebuke them? The needy children? No. He receives them. And so some ways that we can deal with needy people in our lives. We help without enabling. That's key. That's key. So how do you help without enabling them? We have to meet people's needs, not their wants.30:01So what I would do with my friend is, is once I would talk her down from the ledge and she was so upset, I would say, okay. Do you have food tonight? Do you have food tonight? Do you have food tonight? Yes. Okay. I'll find you a ride tomorrow. I'll meet your need. But it's not an emergency. And I would pray with her and I would encourage her. And I could just hear her sometimes on the phone just take a deep breath. One, because she knew I cared about her.30:30And two, she knew that she would have someone that would meet that need in her life. So how do you deal with needy people? Yes, it is draining, but we should meet their needs without enabling them. What they need from us is discernment and love. That we as a church are not called to only meet people's wants. We're called to meet their needs. That's what Jesus does for us. Are you not glad that Jesus meets your needs and not your wants?30:59Praise God he doesn't give me everything that I want. My life's already a mess sometimes, and it would be such a greater mess if he gave me what I wanted. Because I would never have salvation if I had what I wanted. How do we deal with needy people? We serve them. We love them and we meet their needs. But there's another group here in this narrative. We have these children who are in this emotionally needy group, but we have the disciples.31:27Now, let's not forget this piece of the puzzle. The children were pressing upon the Messiah, and the disciples were not silent. Their response? Shoo, shoo. You don't understand how important our Savior is. And if you did, you would then understand how important his 12 friends are. Oh, but that's me, by the way. So, run along.31:58See, this is what we can call the elitist Eric. And I've already had his permission. It has nothing to do with Eric. I warned him. But these people, in that moment, because the disciples, their voice betrayed their elitism, did it not? It betrayed their exclusivism. They felt like they were somebody. When you get to the throne of Christ, God is no respecter of persons.32:27God doesn't care who you are. He just simply cares who you know. Do you believe in his Son, Jesus Christ? So, how do we deal with elitist? And we all know someone who thinks they're better than you. Who simply doesn't have the time for you. Or who doesn't want the inconvenience of you. That's where the disciples were. And it was cultural.32:56And it was natural. And they felt it was the best thing. Hey, they were protecting Jesus. Jesus, you don't have the time. Run along. And Jesus. Man, Jesus just speaks to them directly. It was as if the disciples were saying to these kids, God doesn't have the time for you right now. Maybe we don't say it like that.33:26But have you ever had someone say, Well, I just don't feel like I can go to that church. Oh, that breaks my heart. Because I want to say, look, we're not anyone special. We're sinners just like you. And the same grace that's offered to me can be offered to you. And I just want you to know, if I have lived my life in a way that I've made you feel like I'm better than you, I'm sorry. Because that's not the way that we should live.33:54How should we live? And how do we break down these barriers? How did Jesus respond? How does Jesus respond right here in this scripture? First, he becomes indignant. So the word indignant means that he expressed displeasure rather than brooding about it. Some of us, when we see injustice, we just, something wells up within us, but we stay silent. Jesus does not.34:26Jesus speaks to these people. So I believe that his irritation is at their failure to learn and their self-centered attitude. I believe Jesus is looking at Peter and saying, come on, Peter, really? We all know how many times you failed. And that whole rooster thing is coming down the pipe. But how quickly, if we're not careful, we feel like we're somebody.34:53Look what position I have. Look at what car I drive. Look at how many Bible verses I know. Look at me and God is saying, no, that's not what the kingdom is about. So how do we deal with elitist? We must speak up and speak out. That's called church discipline. I heard someone say this week, I've never judged anyone outside the church, but my job as a Christian is to judge inside the church.35:21That we should expressively forbid injustice, favoritism, classism, racism, elitism. And if you stay silent, if we stay silent when these things happen, especially in the community of faith, you might as well sanction it. Listen to what the half-brother of Jesus would say, James. He would say it this way. Do not show favoritism as you hold on to the faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ.35:48You see, this has no place in the kingdom of God. Rather, every person, regardless of status, must come to Jesus like a child. Empty-handed and fully dependent. How do we handle elitist? Speak up and speak out. One more group. We haven't read the passage yet, but we're going to.36:18You know the story well. It's a rich, young ruler. Mark does not tell you that, but Luke tells you that he is a rich, young ruler. And in verse 17, he was setting up on a journey, and a man ran to him, and he knelt down and asked Jesus, good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life? And Jesus says, why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. You know the commandments. Don't murder.36:48Don't murder. Don't commit adultery. Steal. Bear false witness. Do not defraud. Do not honor your father or mother. And he said to him, teacher, it's so great that you picked out those commandments. Because I have kept all those, even from youth. I love this verse, verse 21. Looking at him, Jesus, what? Jesus loved him and said, you lack one thing.37:16Go, sell all you have, give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. And then come follow me. Jesus has just answered his request. He said, what must I do to have eternal life? And Jesus says, do this, and you will have eternal life. What a wonderful response from the Messiah who loves him. And we see in verse 22, he was dismayed by this demand, and he went away grieving because he had many possessions.37:39This man was influential. He was young. He was successful, and he was good. He was a salt-of-the-earth type of guy. He was the ideal disciple and the ideal church person. Young, fit, ready to serve, and he tithed really, really well. Man, look at his heart.38:11One commentator said he was the most attractive recruit for the kingdom of God. And this man, in all genuineness, felt like he was good on the outside and he was good on the inside. I would call him a southerner found on every corner. We'll call him good old boy, Gary. Because he just felt he was good. Because he just felt he was good. I keep my nose clean, go to church.38:40But you know his tragic mistake? He was okay with committing to a Judeo-Christian set of ideals. But he didn't want to commit to Jesus as his Lord and Savior. And he went away dismayed and said, How do we deal with people who on the outside they look good and they truly feel in their heart that they are good?39:06And if you think those people don't exist, open your eyes. Because they are all around us. Most people in society feel like they are good. And the Christian worldview shatters that. We stood up here today and said, Look, Christian, this little young boy, he's not good. He is a sinner. But one day he can be made right if he runs to Jesus.39:33If he finds eternal life, if he confesses his sin and he repents. How do we deal with good old boy Gary? First, I love how Jesus deals with him. He looks at him and he loves him. And Jesus loves him enough not to stay quiet. You see, Gary is difficult because he can live his whole life thinking he is good.39:57And there's even a chance that there's someone here today and that's you. There's a chance that you're a member here on these church roles. You've committed to the church. You're giving. You're serving. But you've never truly committed your life to Jesus. I love you enough to say that's not good enough. Oh, that you would be made righteous and whole through the blood of the lamb.40:28To this man, Jesus loved him enough to say, deny yourself. You want to talk about an anti-culture mantra and motto? Go up to someone and say, hey, this is what Jesus says. Deny yourself. Watch how they look at you. Because we live in a culture that says, get yours. You know, I'm going to get mine.40:58That's just what we believe. And Jesus says, if you don't hate your father and your mother, your wife and your son, if you don't deny yourself and take up your cross, you cannot follow me. And oh, that we would look at good old boys and good old girls and say, you're not good. And I want you to know I'm not saying that because I'm good. But I want to introduce you to the one who is good. He's Jesus. And he died on the cross for your sins that you would be made right again.41:22That's the hope. That's the message that we need. That's how we deal with difficult people. There's one more person here that we have not even addressed. And you have not even read about him. Or her. The most difficult person in the world is not the person that we encounter. It's the one who lives inside of you. Let's call this person sinful self.41:52How do you deal with this person? You see, I believe there's times in my life where I don't deal with difficult people well. Because I forget that I've been forgiven much. You know what Jesus says about those who love much? Those who have been forgiven much, love much. And there are times in my life, if I'm honest, I don't handle situations in the right way.42:19Because I forget how much I've been forgiven at the cross. How do we deal with our self? Ephesians 2 says this. At that time you were without Christ. You were excluded from the citizenship of Israel and foreigners to the covenants of promise. Without hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus, you who were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.42:46For he is our peace and who made both groups one and tore down the dividing wall of hostility. How do we deal with self? His name is Jesus. And he's the Messiah. You hear it, Ephesians says. That when you are far away, Jesus brings you near. If that's you today, we just want you to know that if you repent of your sins and you run to Christ,43:17he will forgive you, he will restore you, he will love you, and he will give you abundant life. Maybe you're here today and you've been convicted. Because you just simply struggle with other people. And the reason you struggle is because you are quick to forget that you were once far away yourself. And that God forgave you and brought you near. Maybe you just need to spend time in forgiveness and say,43:46God, remind me of your love and forgive me where I am short-tempered. Maybe you are the difficult person. And you need to ask God to change your heart. We're going to sing a song of response to the gospel. We want you to know that God loves you. He loves you enough that he sent his only son to die on the cross. That whosoever believes might not perish, might not die in hostility and walk a path of destruction to an eternal hell away from God.44:12But that they might be brought near. And I thank God that I'm a whosoever. That he loved me. That he embraced me. Church, you are the difficult person. And God loves you enough to say, okay, Josh, it's going to be okay.44:39Turn from yourself. Turn to my son and I will restore you. And I will bring peace in your life. Let's pray.← Previous in B2ChurchSunday, August 11, 2019Next in B2Church →Sunday, August 25, 2019More sermons on Mark →
