Let the Secret Out 2023
Notes
Transcript
What happens here is not mean to stay here. Let the secret out.
What do I want them to know? To tell people about Jesus
Why? People want to be connected to their Abba
What do I want them to do? Tell people about Jesus
Why?
ME
I am going to tell you a story I have never told....just kidding
It is a story that I have shared a couple years ago that many of you have not heard.
It is the story about Pastor Pete making HUGE, COLOSSIAL MISTAKE ON HIS VERY FIRST NIGHT OF youth group as a youth pastor
Some of you are probably wondering what I did?
I broke an unwritten rule, a rule many of us live by AND BECAUSE I DID IT IT ALTERED SOMEONE’S LIVE in not a in a good
If I did this to you, you probably would not be very happy with me.
It could alter our relationship and the relationship with others
I REVEALED SOMEONE’S SECRET THAT DIDN’T WANT ANYONE TO KNOW ABOUT IT AND NOT THE ESPECAILLY NOT THE COUPLE HUNDRED YOUTH AND YOUTH LEADERS THAT WERE
Context to what I did to set us up to were I ended.
Some of the youth leaders and I decided on the first night of youth group for the new school year that would introduce the youth leaders to the youth group as a fun way from them to get to know the youth leaders.
We will have the youth leaders fill out a form describing a little about them.
The form had questions about their family, what they liked to do for fun, Cubs or Sox fan, favorite snack, and embarrassing moment.
Then the Dave the other youth pastor would have the form and call the youth leader to the stage and read some of the things that the youth leaders wrote down, “Here is John he likes the Sox, loves to fish, loves sunflower seeds, and his most embarrassing moment is that his fly was down while he was in front of the whole church on a Sunday he did announcements.”
We had youth leader after youth leader come up.
Things were going really good until Dave called Jill up,
Dave called Jill up, at the moment I had that sinking feeling in my stomach, the utoh.
Why might you ask?
I forgot to tell Dave that Jill did not want her embarrassing moment shared, and it was a good one.
o This is Jill
§ She loves cooking, kickboxing, the white sox, and then Dave laughs as he shares her embarrassing moment.
o Jill put her head in her hands and walks off the stage....what was so embarrassing you might ask? I am not telling you...
- She was embarrassed, hurt, and thinking about quitting that night being a youth leader.
- She didn ‘t want to talk to me…another woman youth leader had to console her.... She could not believe I let her secret out a secret she asked me not to let out!
- By letting her secret out, a secret she did not want out,
I altered her life for a short period.
WHAT I LEARNED AND WAS REMINDED ABOUT WAS “Letting a secret out has leaves an impact an impact that is so big that at times it can alter someones life or our relationship”
It is not oh life just goes on
BY THE GRACE OF GOD IN SITUATION THE NEGATIVE IMPACT WAS SHORT LIVED.... NEWS IS RECONCILIATION DID HAPPEN
I profusely apologized
WE
HOW MANY OF US HAVE BEEN IN AMANDA’S SHOES? OR MY SHOES?
We shared a secret (on purpose or on accident) that someone did not want us to share. IT IMPACTED THEIR LIFE and your relationship with them.
About a crush
You SHARE SOMETHING AT THE WORK PLACE
Something personal
Or someone shared your secret.
Sometimes it was short lived....sometimes it lasts a long time, they are really mad at you.
What we have discover is that sharing a secret leaves an impact that can alter someone’s life and our relationship with that person in a negative way
It is not, oh life just goes on.
TENSION
BUT THIS GOT ME TO THINKING IS THIS TRUE FOR ALL SECRETS....THAT IF YOU LET THEM THEY CAN AND WILL ALTER SOMEONES LIFE…NOT IN A GOOD
OR CAN THERE BE SECRETS WHEN LET OUT DO ALTAR SOMEONES’ LIFE FOR THE BETTER?
GOD
This is where we find the disciples at in Acts 1 AND US TODAY
WE HAVE A SECRET…THE BIBLE CALLS IT A MYSTERY THAT HAS BEEN REVEALED TO US
What’s the mystery?
JESUS IS LORD....
the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints.
To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
Col 2:2
that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God’s mystery, which is Christ,
THEY MYSTERY WAS REVEALED
Jesus is Lord
Jesus is the suffering servant in Is 53, He is the Lamb of God as John 1:29, He is the Messiah, He is the Lion and Lamb Rev 5:5
Jesus is LORD
People were wondering who is the Messiah or who is the Messiah going to be.
IT IS JESUS
NOW THE QUESTION IS,
WHAT ARE THE DISCIPLES, WHAT ARE WE TO DO WITH THE SECRET? THEY MYSTERY REVEALED?
DO WE FOLLOW THE UNWRITTEN RULE, KEEP THE SECRET BECAUSE IF YOU DO IT WILL ALTAR YOUR LIFE AND OTHERS FOR NOT THE GOOD.
Some of us might say oh yes, oh course
If we look at recent history, “What happened the, 40 days earlier, when Jesus declared publically that He was the Messiah, the King of Kings? last time this SECRET was let out PUBLICALLY, WHEN Jesus DECLARED HE WAS THE MESSIAH?
Do the religious and Roman authorities throw a celebratory party.... The Messiah is here!!! The King is here!
NO! They crucified Jesus
Maybe would be thinking “I should keep this SECRET about Jesus, a SECRET, where only a few people know who Jesus really is.”
DON’T WE SOMETIMES THINK THIS WAY TOO????? If I share who Jesus is people
Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours.
anybody been scared away by fear or been persecuted?? We have three enemies that does not want that person to know Jesus…world, flesh, devil and demons
BUT IS THAT ALWAYS GOING TO BE THE CASE???....how did you come to know Jesus?
someone letting the secret out
I am getting ahead of myself
What are the disciples and what are we to do with the secret that has been revealed to us?
Let’s pick up the story in Acts
Acts 1 Jesus was resurrected 50 days ago…it is fresh and they are hanging out on the mount of Olives with Jesus…the disciples have the mystery of the Gospel…what now? what’s next? What do we do with this mystery
In the first book, O 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 through 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 forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God.
And while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “you heard from me;
for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”
So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?”
Jesus is now the time you are going to set up a national kingdom to Israel? And you going to sit on the throne....Ride in on your war horse, establish a kingdom like David....
Is this the 2nd coming
What does Jesus say?
yes, this is the 2nd coming, the kingdom will be restored to Israel?
NO
Twofold answer
He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority.
When I come back is not for you to know
- It will happen but not it is not now
We are not moving forward on the churches timeline to the end of the 2nd coming
o This is not the second coming
This is not restoring the kingdom to Israel time
CAN WE JUST FAST FORWARD TO HEAVEN AND JESUS’ RETURN?
Can’t we just go there???
Don’t we often
Second, Jesus says,
Now is not the time.
I have mission for you
What’s the mission?
To let the secret out....the mystery is to be
But before we get there I am going to empower and equip you for the mission and I will share where you are to go
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
Jesus says to them and to us who know the Lord…I am going to equip you for the mission....
Do we realize the power that is inside of us
Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?
If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.
It is an impossible mission
But Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
I have called you to witness.....to witness means to testify proclaim about Jesus.
How do we this?
Proclaim to Jesus is Lord…He is the Messiah who came to rescue and redeem....Salvation story
It is more
2. 1 Peter 3:15
but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect,
Share your testimony you were dead and not alive....were lost and found
3. Share you daily testimonies
- I WAS STRUGGLING WITH DEPRESSION AND JESUS MET ME
I WAS STRUGGLING IN MY MARRIAGE AND JESUS SHOW UP
I was struggling with my finances and God provided
4. TESTIFY WITH OUR ACTIONS
“You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet.
“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.
Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house.
In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.
5. Testify with the character of Christ
Look like Jesus
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
WHERE DOES HE CALL THE DISCIPLES TO GO?
Jerusalem!?!
o What happened in Jerusalem 40 days earlier?
- Jesus was crucified.
Do you not remember that this the city where you were crucified?
o They do not like Christians in Jerusalem, neither the Romans nor the Jews
o Jesus even said,
Luke 13:34
ESV
O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!
o You want us to go there!?!
o But this is where Jesus is sending them
o We find out in Acts 2 that this is where the disciples go and Peter, Peter who denied jesus gives the first sermon of the church and power of the Holy Spirit descends upon them and 3000 people come to Christ
Judea
Let the secret out in Judea
- Jerusalem was the major city
- Judah was a major tribe inside Israel.
- Again this area is full of Jews who do not like Jesus, but this is where God is calling them to be a witness in word and deed
- The Gospel moves forth
Samaria
- Go forth and let the secret out in Samaria.
- Samaria!?!
- Jesus Jewish people don’t like Samaritans and they don’t really like us either.
o Tell the people who you don’t like and they don’t like you about the love of God….
Tell you enemies about Jesus
- This is the place in Acts 8 Stephen is martyred killed in Samaria.
Ends of the Earth
- The secret is to be told to the ends of the earth, the rest of the world. The secret is to get out.
- The word of God continues to ends of the Earth
- Acts 10 Peter goes to the Gentiles
o The secret mystery of the Gospel is that the Gospel is to be proclaimed amongst the Gentiles
- Paul is a religious Jew is converted and lets the secret out all over the middle east and Europe.
This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.
- For many of us in this room the reason we are here in this room right now is because Paul did not keep the secret to himself.
o We have life because of Paul!!!
HE SAYS CHURCH I HAVE
WHY WOULD THEY DO SUCH A THING?
Why would they go to these hostile places?
PEOPLE NEEDED TO HEAR THE GOOD NEWS THAT JESUS IS LORD
JESUS SAYING TO US CHURCH YOU CALLED TO LET THE SECRET OUT
Several years ago we took a vacation and we went to Massachusetts and we visited a little museum on Nantucket Island. It was devoted to a volunteer organization that was formed centuries ago, over 300 years ago.
In those days, travel by sea was extremely dangerous, and given storms in the Atlantic, and the real rocky coasts of Massachusetts, many many lives were lost real close to the shore, within a mile or less of the land.
And a group of people who lived on that island couldn’t stand to think about all these people going down so close to them. So, they went into the life saving business. They banded together to form what was originally was called the Humane Society, THE NAME HAS CHANGED NOW. They built little huts that dotted the shore. You can still see one of them in this museum. They built little huts containing boats and rescue equipment. They were sometimes called huts of refuge.
Huts of refuge. And people were posted in those huts all the time. And their job was just to keep watching the sea. And any time a ship went down, the word would go out. They would devote everything. They would risk themselves to save every life they could. Twenty four hours a day, seven days a week, somebody was watching. Everybody was willing.
They did it for no money. They did it for no recognition. They did it just because they prized human life.
And to remind them how seriously they took this task, and what was at stake, they adopted a motto. I love this motto: “You have to go out, but you don’t have to come back.” That is a catchy little recruiting slogan, don’t you think? “You have to go out, but you don’t have to come back.” You wouldn’t think that would entice a whole lot of people into joining them, but it did.
It is a fascinating thing to read accounts in that museum of people who risked everything, even their lives, to save other people they had never met, faces they had never seen, names they might not ever know.
Over time things changed and after a while, what would come to be known as the U.S. Coast guard, started to take over this task. And, for a little while, the Coast Guard and the Life Saving Society worked side by side. Eventually the idea that carried the day was, “Let the professionals do it. They are better trained. They get paid for it.”
Volunteers stopped manning the little huts. They stopped searching the coastline for sinking ships. They stopped sending out teams to rescue people.
And, it is a funny thing. They couldn’t bring themselves to disband. And the life saving society still exists today. It meets every once in a while in Boston or someplace in New England to have dinners. And they hand out awards for things like community service. They enjoy each other’s company. They sponsor programs. They get together. They are just not in the life saving business any more. They don’t scour the coastline anymore to see if anybody is going down.
They don’t know the thrill any more of what it is to risk themselves to save a life that could perish. They don’t speak those words to each other any more, “You have to go out, but you don't have to come back.” They are just not in the life-saving business anymore.
It happens all the time. It doesn't happen in a day. It doesn't happen in a month. But over time, a church forgets it is in the life saving business. It usually doesn't disband, at least not until much later. People still meet. They still enjoy each other's company. They still use words like community. They still have services and buildings and staffs and programs. They might even be involved in various forms of community service. They are just not sending out teams any more for people who are going down. THEY ARE NOT IN THE LIFE SAVING BUSINESS ANYMORE. They are just not really scouring neighborhoods and offices, schools and networks and cities to see if there is somebody that needs to be saved.
They forgot, maybe, that Jesus put this rescue effort in the hands of volunteers who would love the people that God loves so much and adopt for themselves the motto, "You have to go out, but you don’t have to come back.”
They have buildings and budgets and staffs and meetings. They are just not in the life saving business any more. It can happen to a church. It can happen to a small group. It can happen to an individual. And don’t think it can’t happen in our church; don’t think it can’t. Don’t think it can’t happen to you.
Whether or not we stay into the life-saving business is in the hands of the people in this room. Jesus is still looking for people who are willing to go into the life saving business. That is what the church does. THIS OUR MISSION