Scattered: Week 6

Well, how they're se it is great to be with you. My name is Blake Bergstrom and I used to be a youth pastor here a long time ago and I have always loved this church, uh, for me to be back here. I, I just, um, I have some of the best memories of my life here. So my closest friends are here. And so for me to be back in this house is pretty emotional and very meaningful. So I'm hunter honored and humbled to be a with you to bring the good word today. If you're new around here, I just want to welcome you. I'm really glad that you came and I hope that you feel right at home. I'm, I'm fired up because I met a guy two days ago at planet fitness and am I invited him and he came and he also brought a friend.

So I'm like, shut up. This is amazing. So I really do. If you're, if you're new to south, he's never been around here. We're just really glad that you would try this place out and we hope that you feel right at home. Uh, anybody that's joining us online all around the world, thank you for being a part of all the gods doing here at southeast. We're glad that you're joining us. So I'll tell you a little bit about me. I am blessed to have an amazing family. I have a smoking hot wife and her name is Allie and she's the best part of me. Uh, and I also have four beautiful daughters that are all crazy in love with Jesus, but I don't know if you heard me. I said I have four daughters, so yeah, so they're like 15, 17, 19 and 21. So there's a lot of unnecessary drama in my house a lot.

And um, we, we have an illegal amount of fun in my home. I, I, um, I didn't know that I needed a women's ministry, but apparently God thought and need that. So I have that. But it is fun in my home, have lot mazing, amazing memories and, but here in this church grown up, I have great friends here and man, I'm just, I'm just fired up to be amongst you. Bring the good word. Let's get started. And we're in a series right now that's called scatter and in this series a in our heart is to talk about the early church and sort of how it began by doing a study through the book of acts. If you're new to the Bible, maybe you've never, never understood where the book of acts is or have any idea about the story of Jesus will. There was an old testament and the new testament, the new testament.

It starts with these four books called the Gospels, Matthew, mark, Luke, and John. And after that is the book of acts. And so we're. We're picking up today in the story is Jesus has actually left planet earth. He ascended into heaven, which is just a really cool way to say that. He flew, he flew in Devon and he left the disciples and they're looking at each other with like this one. Great big massive question. Here's the question to them. I talk today, here it is. We say this out loud with me. What now? What they're look, they're going, what are we supposed to do? Like I, I have this massive job. If you think about it, they're carrying the mantle of spreading the Gospel to the ends of the earth and that's all they have to do, no big deal, and they're looking at each other going like, I have to do this with you jokers like you're a bunch of Harry fisherman.

You're unschooled and you don't have a clue what you're doing, and I, I have the job of telling the entire world about the story of Jesus with you. What so maybe for you today, you might be at a place where you're saying the same question, what now? What are we going to do without our leader, but these men, these disciples, they were faithful and they weren't alone. The spirit of God filled them with great power and they started speaking boldly and the church exploded in spite of their shortcomings. See, God's power is released when we choose to talk about him, but if we choose to be silent, then then his power remains dormant inside of us, and so anybody that was talking about Jesus and and this movement, the Jews couldn't stand. They hated it. They hated the whole thing about this movement. They had killed the leader and they wanted to kill anybody else that was talking about Jesus, so they were trying to completely eradicate this movement and it acts seven.

You learned recently about the brutal murder of Steven. Steven does this amazing discourse, 51 versus long in ax seven talking about the history of Israel and it's amazing and then they. They murder him and so that happened in Jerusalem and because it happened to Jerusalem, now all of the believers that are there, injury, Islam are, are scared for their lives. It's dangerous to be there, but because of the persecution, it leaves Jerusalem and it goes through. It goes to Sumeria. And then in acts 11 where we're picking up today, the passage, Alice's signed a. We actually see for the first time the message of Jesus going to all of the earth. So this is actually called the diaspora. The diaspora is simply the dispersion of the message of Jesus to the gentiles, which are anybody that's a non Jew. So when it goes to the rest of the world, that's when we start to see the disciples starting to be scattered throughout the nations.

So let's dive in. I'm fired up. We're going to study acts chapter 11, verse 19. Do you have your bibles? We're looking to go there. So here's, here's what it says now, those who had been scattered by the persecution that broke out when Stephen was killed, traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch spreading the word only among Jews. However, some of them with where we at, new to this stuff. So some of them, however, men from Cypress and Cyrene went to Antioch and began to speak to what? Greeks also telling them the good news about the Lord Jesus, and then the Lord's hand was with him, and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord. So if, if you're new to church and new to understanding what we're all about, this series and this talk really might help you understand the why and the how that we do what we do here at this thing we call the church.

So many of you might not have heard this before, it's a little weird, but we actually call the church the bride of Christ. Now, if you're a guy and you're never heard that before, it's like, I'm not sure I want to be a bride. That's a weird thing to say, but we actually think of Jesus as our groom and we're his bride and he adores us. We actually call ourselves the beloved of Jesus himself. He's faithful to us even though we're continually unfaithful. And I'd like to say it this way, even though we're a hot mess and seem to mess things up all of the time and continually blow it. He loves us. It's Kinda like, it's Kinda like my bride, my wife, she's been married to me for 22 years. It'd be celebrated this last week and yeah, you can clap. That's awesome. And um, she, she loves me.

She does. She's really into me. She digs me and whatever I've got going with what she wants, but I'm telling you, I drive her nuts. There's nobody that's better. And making her crazy to me. I'm very gifted at it. She hates it when people touch her toes and tickler and I'm very gifted at that and I love doing it and it's Kinda the same. You know what? My bride, even though I make her crazy, she still loves me so much. My bride is committed to my crazy and I'm committed to her crazy. There's days she crawls under my skin like nobody's business bus or horror lover, but when we hold hands, I don't know why. Every time we hold hands she just thinks she has to reach down and pop my thumb. I can't stand that. I've told her 22 years like, I hate that still.

Why'd he do that? He's like, I'm helping you and I'm not. I don't want to be helped. Thank you. But no thank you. It's kind of the same in the church, isn't it? Like we love each other. We do. We're committed to each other. You're crazy. Smart, crazy when you belong to this family, but you drive me nuts sometimes. Some of your what we call Egr people. That stands for extra grace required, and so here's the thing about being a part of a family of God. We call ourselves brothers and sisters, and if you're new around here, that's weird too. Like you walk in the church. Hello brother, like hot. No, you sure you're my brother who went through what we do in call each other brothers and sisters and you're kind of grafted in. You become a part of this, this crazy family. And so here's the thing about following after Jesus and receiving his spirit.

Once you start walking in the spirit, you do things that's different than this world, don't you like they see you, you're filling gentleness and kindness and there's peace in you in this love. That's weird. And so I just want to do this real fast, um, turn to the person beside you. And here's what I want you to say. Just say, you know what? It's okay to be weird. Let's, let's, let's keep se weird. Go ahead and say that. Who wants to be normal? Let's, let's keep se weird. So I love, I love Pastor Russ. He's such an amazing man. And from the very beginning, his heart for this church, what will he would probably say this, we unapologetically want to be a church that looks like Jesus. That's his heart nuts. You need to know that about southeast. And we want the fruit of this place to be so alive that when you walk in the doors, you experience the fruit of the spirit, which is kindness and peace, joy like real joy, and I can illegal amount of love like we hope that you felt that when you walked in, if you're new around here.

And so here's the thing, when we live for the glory of God, we will stand out. We're going to be a little bit different. We're going to be you unique. And the most folks are going to look like we're off our rocker, right? Maybe some people would say Christians or crazy down. Well, it's been. It's been that way. I don't know if you know this since the very beginning when this movement was getting started. We find in acts chapter 11 that when it gets to Antioch, the people there were sort of sophisticated, sophisticated Greeks and they looked at these Christians as like a weird. They didn't understand them and so they're the ones that actually came up with the term and they, they said this for the very first time in the Bible, in acts chapter 11, it says, the disciples were called Christians first at what? India. So when they said that, that was the first time that they had heard this about themselves. They called themselves disciples or followers of Jesus are followers of the way. And so when they're called Christian, uh, that was, it was a label that was placed on that. Now, can I talk for just a second about some of the perceptions and the challenges that come along with that term Christian?

It's kind of a label that even today is sort of charged with emotion, isn't it? And sometimes when you're told what a Christian is, you're not, you're told that you're a Christian. It's kind of charged. So the bad thing about saying this word Christian, if I were to go to like 10 different people and ask you to give me an answer of what a Christian is, I'd probably get 10 different answers. So the word Christian today, it can actually the church for a lot of people, it can bring up a lot of pain when you talk about what it is to be a Christian and it can also bring up a lot of, a lot of great memories. But if we were to ask the outside world to actually define what it looks like to be a Christian, this is kind of rough, but this might be the definition that we get from people that are far from God and have no idea what the churches.

They might say it like this Christian judgemental, hypocritical, old fashion, boring, homophobic, moralists known for what they're against instead of what they're for. They're better than everyone else and they secretly relished the fact that everyone's going to hell. Like maybe that's pretty rough. And who wants to be a part of that? Like that's. That's tough to think that people might think of us like that, so, so this term Christians only said in the Bible three times, and this is actually the first place that we find in acts chapter 11, and in the first century, people from the outside, they, they didn't understand what we were about and they made fun of it. They'd actually laugh and there was satire and sarcasm when it came to the term Christian, there were tons of doubts. There's critics, skeptics, so people made Christians, the buttons, a lot of jokes and it hasn't changed a whole lot in today's culture has it here in America.

It's ironic because our country was founded on biblical truths and Christianity used to be the center of society is the bedrock of our neighborhoods, but that's no longer the case and that's because we have an identity crisis when it comes to our brand Christian, it's no longer admired or respected, and that's probably because a lot of people call themselves Christians, but they aren't like Jesus at all. In fact, God, he actually said that in the way that he said it was like this. I like your Christ. What I do not like your Christians, you Christians are so unlike your Christ. You know, people today actually say that America is, is post-christian or they have even heard that were antichristian. And so a lot of times when we talk about being a Christian, there's usually a disclaimer, isn't there? I'm a Christian, but I'm not like those Christians.

I don't have a mega bar. I'm not going to yell at you, right? We, we sometimes are scared to say it. In fact, as a, as a pastor, sometimes it's really hard to tell people what I do for a living. I'm sitting on a plane, so what do you do? I'm like, ah, because as soon as I say I'm a pastor, you under does, it just kills the conversation because they're like, oh, you're one of those. And so I'm in trepidatious to say it sometimes, and so a lot of times I want to qualify and I'll say like, now I'm a pastor, but listen, I, I'm not judging you and I still like you and I'm filled with love and grace and you can still cuss while we're talking.

And so a lot of times I'll just say, you know what, I, I, uh, I build furniture and I'm a carpenter and I love to help people. So I, I, I had this nonprofit in that I put in trade schools and metal shops and wood shops in orphanages and missions organization so they can have like a sustainable income for, for their ministry. And then they're like, what? That's so cool. Shut up, they're interested. They want to know more. Here's why. If we're honest, this is, this is what we need to be about. Love. Love is always attractive and contagious and that that's the story of Jesus' love is attracted and it's, and it's very like it just grows and people want to be a part of it. They want to know more. And that's, that's who Jesus is. That's what his story is all about.

And we as followers of Jesus need to need to be a representation of him. An example, making Jesus contagious by the way that we live. If the Bible's true, where it says, Christ in me is the hope of glory, then when people meet us and bump into us and experience our presence, they should go whatever that guy's got. I want that like Jesus should be alive in a so much so that he's contagious and people want more of it. As believers, we really need to get serious about why people have lost interest and walking away from the church. Unfortunately it might be because we're really bad at loving each other. We have a tendency to turn on our own. That's got to stop. So let's try to get back to the basics. What's a Christian and who's a Christian? To put it simply, it means to be like Christ.

It's a little Christ. It's a replica of the same and unfortunately for a lot of us we aren't like Christ, but that's. That's what Peter really was all about. We're going to study him in acts 12 and Peter, when he was, he just think about it seems this fisherman a common just guy that's out there chucking it up and we're not thinking Peter, a Scottish lover because he messes up. He's guy that pulls out his sword and chop the guy's a year off and it's like, Gosh, I hadn't had done that. And by the way, when I think of Peter, I don't know if you liked the movie cars, but I think of Peter's having the voice of Mater.

So he's like, Oh, you're my bitch. Good friends. So I just kind of think of him like that. Like I said, I love you. So, so that's where I kind of think of him. And so he, here's, here's Peter in this predicament going, I want to be like you. You're, you're a rabbi. Rescued me and you asked me to follow you saw so I am. I just want to beat just like you. So he becomes one of Jesus's closest disciples and friends and one of the greatest leaders of the movement of Christianity. And so he, he'd quit his job and gave himself completely to be like Jesus now because he's a leader amongst this movement, inherited, wanted to crush this movement. Um, the Jews wanted Peter Dead and p, Herod just wants to please the juice because he's a people pleaser. He all, all he lives for is the approval of man.

And so he's like, yeah, I'll, I'll catch him. And so he does. He gets Peter and he throws him in prison. Now when they caught Peter, Peter had escaped prison once before and he knew that, so he put 16 men on Peter and he actually took two guys and changed them to Peter's wrists. So there's two guys connected to them and ease in prison. And, and the circumstance is really bleak. So in acts chapter 12, here's, here's what it says. So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly. We say it, praying to God for him.

The night before Herod was to bring him to trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains and centuries stood guard at the entrance. Now Herod's a tyrant. He's, he's known for being evil. His Dad was evil, isn't Grandpa, was evil, and now he's just his bat. And so for the early church, you need to imagine how they must have felt in this moment. They know that, that Steven was brutally murdered. James has now been killed and now Peter is locked up in prison and they knew there's not, not a chance he's getting out. Harris is going to kill him. Uh, without a doubt that that's gonna happen. And so Peter had absolutely no control of this circumstance. Can I just preached for a second?

The greatest illusion that we have is the illusion of control. We love to think we're in control though, and some of you are control freaks and some of you because of your control, you're trying to hold on so tight to the circumstance that you're trying to manipulate and make things go your way. And some of you might think of that as worried and you're very gifted at worry. He said it's an ability that you feel like, if nobody else is going to worry around here, then I'm gonna. Nobody's going to talk common sense. And talk about what things we should worry about that I'm going to tell you. What was your worry about? Is Anybody here good at worrying? Well, worry is the opposite of faith and that's not what's going on with theater. My man St Jude's. What's he doing? Like sound asleep.

We can learn a lot from that guy. Some of you find yourself a night tossing and turning, staying up all night long thinking every scenario in your mind, over and over and over and over. The very worst case scenarios, 99 percent of which will not happen, but you just play them over and over in your mind and maybe you need to do this. Just say a prayer, believe and trust in God completely. Take a deep breath and go to sleep. That's free. I just want to give you that today. So throughout, throughout history, when the church is persecuted, our faith increases. It grows and our prayers increase. Unfortunately, that's true for me. When I'm going through hard times, I turned to God and that's exactly what's happening here in chapter 12. They're, they're, they're feeling scared to death. They're worried because Steven Jane, Peter's in prison and it had to feel like their movement was fixing to be squashed. They had to feel hopeless, but then you won't believe what happens in chapter 12. Here's, here's what it says. Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell.

He struck Peter on the side, woke him up quick, get up. He said, and the chains fell off Peter's wrist. That's awesome. Then the angel said to him, this is in the Bible. I'm not making it up. Put on your clothes and your sandals. What was my main liaison between those two guys in his wife died. He's. Anyways, I'll just leave that there. And so peter puts out a clothes and sanders gets a wrap your cloak around you and follow me. The Angel told him. Peter followed him out of the prison, but he. He had no idea that what the angel was doing was really happening. He fought. He was seeing some vision. They passed the first and the second guards and came to the iron gate leading to the city. It opened for them by itself, which is awesome. Happens to me on time. I leave church today.

Yes, except no. When, when they had walked the length of one street, suddenly the angel just bloop. He was gone. Then Peter came to himself and he said, I'm going to talk like mater. Now. I know as soon as age these rescued me from heritage pledges and from everything that Jewish people were opening with apple. When this had dawned on him, he went to the House of Mary. The mother of John also called Mark, where many people had gathered and slash were you guys say it, praying. Peter knocked at the door at the outer entrance and a servant named Rhoda came to answer the door. When she recognized Peter's Voice, she was so overjoyed that she read back without opening it and they explained the door.

They say to her, you're out of your mind. When she kept insisting that it was so, they said, it must be an angel, but beater get knocking. When they opened the door and saw him, they were astonished. Now I don't know what kind of prayer meeting this was. I don't know if they were like gathered in the circle and holding hands. I don't know if they were like on their knees. I don't know if they're doing popcorn prayers, but it's very possible they were probably praying. God, Jesus, would you please send an angel to Peter and could you possibly break the chains off of him and and maybe would you them here to the house, Lord. So father just send them to the house in road. It comes back and she, she's like, I've got to go get the door. I'll be right back. When she comes back, she's like, I think it's Peter. And what did they say? You're out of your mind. It must be an angel. It can't be him. Do you guys ever pray and actually think there's no way this is going to happen? You guys ever, ever think that when I, when I pray, it's just going nowhere and it's not really gonna work.

Like your

praying with such little faith that you just know it's not going to happen. God's God's not gonna come through. Well, I recently, I remember I was thinking about this story with my wife and

I remember when I was a youth pastor and my first youth ministry and Kentucky, I had a car. It was an amazing car. It was a green intrepid and the transmission was going out and we did not have the money. We were broke as a joke to try and fix this car or buy a new car and so my wife and I got on her knees and we prayed, Lord, would you please help us get the money or get a new car? We prayed like one night and then the very next day I get a phone call. I'm not making this up and it's one of the people in our church and they say, hey, we felt like we were supposed to buy you a car and I didn't believe him. I was like, no, that's not real. Both of us were like, we don't even believe it.

Do you guys ever do that? Do you ever go to God and you ask them something and you're like, please help me with this. What is it for you? Is it your marriage? Maybe you're going to like, we just can't seem to find connection and God, we need your help. Well, maybe for you it's finances and you're looking at a stack of bills going out. I have no idea how I'm going to do that, or maybe it's in foreclosure on your house or you're about to lose a car. You're just going, God, please help me in in this circumstance, and your you're praying is specific prayer, but it's just not happy. Maybe it's a kid that's rebelling and running far from God and you're just at your wits end praying that the lord would do something or for you. Maybe it's an addiction and it's got you and you can't seem to be free from it and you're praying, Lord, please help me to not be this way and help me not want this anymore. Are you trying to control with all your mind the circumstance and maybe not giving it to God completely expecting him to move, expecting that as soon as that door knocks that God there is Peter's here, go get it. That's Peter. I gotta, I gotTa. I can't wait to see him. It wasn't. That wasn't.

Maybe you're worried about the future of this church. When you're asking what now? Southeast God will bring you a new pastor. He's not in heaven pacing, stressing, pulling his hair out. God's got this. He actually has a plan in the future for this church. The movement is still being forcefully advanced, not just here in Parker, but around the world. Jesus told Peter upon this rock our build, my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against her. What? God starts, he finishes. He's the rock of ages. He's the cornerstone in him. We can trust and we can place all of our faith because he is faithfully growing his church.

That's true.

That's true. I love the way that Pastor Russ said that last week. He just the best, isn't he? He's such a cute little fella.

I couldn't wait to say that. I'm so excited. Here's what he said. He said, let's not wonder how we in our own power and my wisdom, I'm adding to it because I'm making it better, but how we are going to build this church. Just watch how God will build his church. It's not ours never belonged to us. It's a movement that God started and he's growing 47 years ago. It was just like the early church, five families met together and in in the living room, they're looking at each other going, what? What? What? Now? What are we going to be about? Look what he's done. He is less discharge and this family is beautiful and you guys do love each other. You're good at it, but I think we can get better. Don't you? God, God sent you to work and he's telling you to this day exactly what Pastor Russ said. Keep on keeping on. Keep believing. Keep preaching the good word. Keep

praying without ceasing. Stay faithful and let's not give up on God or each other. Alright, we're family like it or not. If you love Jesus than the church, his bride is not an option. You're stuck with each other. All y'all jokers have to figure this out and do it together. It hasn't changed since Jesus left, right? All we see in acts and the rest of the Bible is about church. It's about Jesus. Tell him, Paul would go on these missionary journeys and he did a church after church after church, and the Gospel is continued to grow. God is forcefully advancing his kingdom in to. To love Jesus is is to love the church, to love inexperienced. God's love vertically is a direct responsibility for us to love horizontally at. That's, that's the deal. It's a package deal and I think we sometimes forget to just keep did.

Simple being a Jesus follower. It's not complicated. Jesus gave a new theme. The theme was, I'll tell you some of the whole New Testament. He said, love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, all your mind. Right? And then he also said, love your neighbor as yourself. So if you want to know what your job is, church, here it is. To know God and to make him known to love God and to love his people. That's it. I love the way that he said it. In John Thirteen, Jesus says, so now I'm giving you a new commandment. Does anybody want to know what the new commandment is? It's really hard. I'm gonna. It's three words. I want you guys to all say it with me if you would. Here we go, love each other. Just as I have loved you. You should love each other. Your love for one another. Will you guys say it? Prove to the world that you might've cycles. That's the litmus test. You told me you love God, but you're not living people. I won't believe you. You show me somebody that's loving people with all their heart. I'll show you somebody that loves God.

It proves to the world that the love of God is real and it's alive inside of us, so maybe our our brand shouldn't be Christian. Maybe our brand needs to change and it simply needs to be love one another. That's our brand, that that's who you are, that that's your job, so let's get better at that. You're a follower of Christ. Then we celebrate our differences. We recognize that all of us are given unique gifts and abilities that God wants to use to forcefully advanced his church. We worship God together in our crazy family, brings all of our gifts to the table and God puts them together and that's what makes us strong. Whether you're methodist, Presbyterian, deserey, baptist, assemblies of God, where every breed of Christian is called to bring heaven to earth and show the world that Jesus really is the way he.

Jesus really is the life and he really is the truth and he's worthy of our allegiance. We're called to show the world the presence of God, the presence of good fighting, injustice, demonstrating piece, giving mercy, love and grace abundantly united in the bond of peace and equal in Christ Jesus. Amen for me, man. I, I believe this message and I, I've taken the truths of Jesus to be my own truths and and you can say that that's crazy, but I've decided I'm trying to not do things my own way. In a way I got God's way. I want to do things for him and for his glory. I've decided the burger king motto isn't for me anymore. Have joy. Like, I've tried that and it's not working out, and so God's ways are higher than our ways. One of my favorite quotes of all times from an old, a pastor that used to have a radio ministry, uh, he, he said, he said this, and I just love the way he said it. So I can't say it without hearing the way he said it. So I'm going to say it like he did. Please forgive me. God made the universe and he does things his own way. You may have a better way, but you don't have the universe.

I just love that. And so I just want to challenge us today. Maybe you think you're always the best way, but, but maybe would you consider today to your Creator the God of the universe that puts you together. He actually has a plan for you and a purpose for you. He didn't mess up and he's got a job for you to do. That's a love people and love God. So, so you might be saying to me, men, how do I do that? Well, you just ask God to come into your heart and you ask the spirit to guide you and following after the spirit of God is the most amazing adventure on planet earth, there is no greater experience than to follow after Jesus and it may seem nuts, but hear me, Oh, all we have is God the end of your life. You're going to look your Creator in the eyes and he's going to ask you if you are faithful.

It's up to you. Say, I was. I loved you. I loved your people. I was clumsy. I tried, I talked to that you. So you asked me Blake, what now? I'm really glad you asked. Here's what I think we should do. Let's love one another and pray like we mean it. Well, you got to say that out loud. Let's love one another and pray like we meeting. What would if we really prayed, if we really believe, if we trusted within expected prayer, God make this church into the church. You've called us to be. Send us out by the power of your spirit and help us change the world.

Will you guys pray with me? Jesus, we want to be like you and we blow it.

We messed that up so much.

Repent of the Times that we fall. We ask for your grace and your mercy. We're sorry for being a bad representation of who you are on earth, but I pray, God, you'd help changes. I pray. Father, you'd help us to become more and more like you, that your spirit would fill us and that we would go out into the world and make your name great. We give all glory to you in the EU would be contagious in and through us. So father, we welcome you to come and make us a new thing, a brand new church with a whole heart for the kingdom that's just exploding out of us. Jesus. We trust you to do that and we love you with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength. It's in your precious and holy name we pray. Amen. I love you, se. Let's love one another. Great.