Service - August 22, 2021

Amen, thank you worship. Team incredible. Excellent. Well, good morning again, everyone. Such a such a pleasure to be with you. We are one week away from our love PG event. So next Sunday, if we, as we've been talking about for for several weeks here. We are not going to have traditional church here in this building. We are going to have church out in the community. And so we have nine projects that that we highly encourage everyone here to sign up for and it is a form of worship. What we're doing on Sunday. We're not skipping Church to sit to take it easy, but we are, we are having church out in the community as a form of worship, what we are going to be doing the form of worship. So there aren't there. Three house projects where we doing various constructions and cleaning and regardless of your skill level. Please sign up for this house house project also in Emmaus house cleaning the sidings and windows you have food hampers led by dick and Simone and and Don and Lynne. And I just have to plug this out of out of all our project, big and Simone, and Donna. Lynn had been putting such an Effort into this were so grateful for them and they have all of the food at taking trips every day and we have tons of food set up out in the outbuilding in order to make baskets and take them in the community to people in the flat. Another excellent project. You can sign up for it. We have the Fort George parking to with food and prayer were just handing out food. Praying for people, the Life Center food giveaway. And then my personal favorite the best one on this list is that the youth sports activities on? I, I may or may not be reading that one that I'd love to have you there or just to be set up on the soccer field out here. I just ministering to the kids in his community Transport. And then at, from at noon, we'll start our barbecue. So we invite everyone to come regardless of which project you went to work and then go to a project at all, come out to the barbecue and fellowship as a church. So I highly encourage you to do that and worship God in that way. Next Sunday. And then after it was you were going to look forward to September. And September is actually a very big month for us to the church and the two to Sunday that we want to highlight, specifically are September 12th, and 19. And those are vicious and talk Sunday. The Pastor, Dan is going to come up, and he's going to just outlined to the church. What she's? What God has laid on his heart and laid on the parts of the elders and 4 leaders, for our fall. And for the upcoming year. We had here at Westside for highly. Encourage the Marquis De Sade in, your calendar, and easier for church on the 12th and the 19th of September computer vision that that God has. But also are the first Sunday in September 5th of September. Before these days. I'll actually be preaching and I think Danny's been talkin about handing out tomatoes and cabbage at the door just in case I say something that you guys don't like or something for medical field, be tomatoes and cabbage to throw at me from this. And then that's up. That's just the way it goes is what I'm told that everyone has to go through that and but also on September 5th to coffee Why is returning so not at 9:30. I come on. I said, I'm preaching everybody say style hair and I coffee bar. Come on, man. No, I agree. I'm having for the coffee bar. But the coffee bar will be back till 9:30 to coffee bar open and then church will start at 10. So we're looking forward to that. And then also on September 12th, one of our Visions are First Vision, talk Sunday, Sunday school return and I know parents are excited for that as well. But Sunday school, some Nursery through 11 years old and you will have Sunday school here at the building. Please contact Pastor Lucas. If you'd like to volunteer volunteer, we will get his contact information up here in a second thought. We'd love to have you volunteer for Sunday school or to minister to our kids. That would be incredible. And I'm also on September 12th. We are going to have baptism. So if you've made a commitment to follow Jesus recently, or if you think it's been walking with the board for a while, but you haven't made that that out Works professions of an inward State. Encourage you to contact one of the pass this year. On staff would love to talk with you and just leave you through this process of a just showing of the water baptized and making that. Affirmation of our traditional folk rice. So we encourage you to do that. And then our final announcement is, is just oh, yes, she was our contact information. So if you are obviously purple water baptism or if you wanted to volunteer, you can contact us. But, but even even more than that, it's if there is anything you need to fit, if you need prayers, you have a friend in you, that needs prayer. If you just need someone to talk to. Please reach out to anyone of us. We would love to just walk with you, pray with you and invite God into our lives afresh. Obviously. And so with that are our final now, that is just the fact that we're still not out. We're not passing the bag round yet. So or offering you can visit wfpg. That's created to give free transfer or you can drop an invoice off in the foyer if you liked it, but I've in person and with that, we get Pastor Durk twice. Today, this is truly a blessed Sunday cuz we got him for worship. And now we have Pastor Durk.

Amerigo.

Everybody wants to know what's happening in that room right now. Fourth grade getting lots of attention, even though it's negative attention. I really appreciate all that wonderful tension from my friend Dirk and he indeed is a good friend of mine until he's going to be back at 3. Labor Day, one more time and then we'll be launching into Sunday school at these had mentioned earlier. So we look forward to that till this summer, going to conclude the series that I started called engaging culture, engage in culture. And that we talked to him started off by talking about how that there is an increase in golf, in Western Society, between biblical Christianity, and some of the social side of norms that we find in our culture. And that certainly seems to be the case in ever-increasing ways. But then something like Afghanistan happen. And all of a sudden perspective begins to come home as to how we have it here in the west and the many of you, I'm sure are falling what's happening over there. Some days that there are somewhere between eight and twelve thousand christian christian in Afghanistan. And early reports are stating that the Taliban are going to going door-to-door, literally this to hunt them down into to kill them. I would say, that's persecution. I would say, that's living in the hall, Scott hostile culture. And so I thought it would be good if that's happening in our world right now that we just pause and let's pray for every single believer, whether they Taliban or otherwise in that country. And let's pray for their safety. Let's pray for God's mediate into Supernatural, Deliverance of our brothers and sisters that are in this land. So, let's just pray together. And just you, go ahead and pray and that let's pray together and I'll close this in prayer.

So Lord, we do lift up our brothers and sister sisters in that part of the world right now. We pray for divine protection. We pray for Supernatural intervention. We pray God, that you would be with those followers of Christ in a very, very Supernatural and Powerful way. During this time of tremendous, hardship and tribulations. We lift them up to you and commit them to you, in Jesus name. Amen. Amen, so engagement culture. So we've been talking about from the book of Acts different ways that they model, the Christians in the early church model for us as to how to engage culture. We talked about weeks ago, how that our primary Mission are is to be witnesses to our culture, and that needs to be Priority. One. We are to be Witnesses. And we read about that in Acts chapter 1, verse 8, we talked about the power that's available to the Believers. We talked about the need to be bold and courageous in the day in which we live. We have to be able to stand up for what's right and what's true. And we need to invoke and pray for the miraculous power. Got to work through us to reach culture. We talked about generosity last week and how the early Christians were marked by the Slavs. Generous spirit and how that we as Believers and whatever, culture, whatever day we find ourselves. We are to be at people who are generous to those who are around us. It didn't want to talk about the word. Reason reason and Acts chapter 2. We read about the in filling of the holy spirit with early Christians, and we know that's something absolutely incredible happen. Because the people who are observing this Pentecostal experience, commented and said, these people are drunk, they are intoxicated and Peter stands up and says, this is not what you suppose. This is what the prophet Joel prophesied about any begin to reason with him. He begin to present salvation history, starting all the way back from the beginning and follow through. What God is doing right in the present? So he reasoned with them and where the turn to Acts chapter 17 and look at this account of Paul in the city of Athens. And we're going to read a rather lengthy. A portion of scripture today and encourage you to either open up when your phones are open up your Bibles. You can follow along on the screen. We're going to go ahead and read from chapter 17 verse 16 all the way to verse 32. So hang with me. This is a powerful passage of scripture with some great lessons concerning how to interact with culture chapter 17 verse 16 in the book of Acts know what Paul was waiting for them. At Athens. His Spirit was provoked within him as he saw that, the city was full of Idols. So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the developed persons and in the marketplace every day with those who happen to be there. Some of the Epicurean and stoic philosophers, also conversed with him. And some said, what does this babbler wish to say? Other says he seems to be a preacher of for Divinity because he was preaching Jesus and the resurrection and they took him and brought him to the Arabic us saying may we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting for you. Bring some strange things to our ears. We wish to know there for what these things mean. Now all the Athenians in the foreigners who live there would spend their time and nothing except telling or hearing something new. So, Paul standing in the midst of the areopagus said, men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are religious, and I would say, Paul Captain Obvious here. There's a lot of Idols here. So you're very good in the students seeing that they are religious diversity. 34 I passed along and observe the objects of your worship. And I found also and altar with this inscription to the unknown, God, what they're for you worship is unknown this I Proclaim to you, the God who made the world and everything in it being Lord of Heaven and Earth does not live in temples made by men. Nor is he served by human hands as though he needed anything? Since he himself gives to all mankind, life, and breath and everything and he made from one man. Every nation of mankind to live on the face of the Earth. Having determined a lot of periods in the boundaries of their dwelling place that they should seek God and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him yet. He is actually not far from them. Each one of us for in him. We live and move, and have our being, and even some of your own poem. Deb said we are indeed. We are indeed his offspring being then God's Offspring. We ought not to think of that. That the Divine being is like gold or silver or stone and image formed by the art and Imagination of, man, the times of ignorance overlooked. But now he commands all people everywhere to repent because he was, he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world and righteousness by a man, whom he has appointed and out of this, he is given Assurance to All by raising him from the dead. Now, when they had heard of the resurrection of the Dead son locked, but other said, we will hear you again about this. I've told some stories in the past about how in the beginning years of ministry, my wife and I were in campus ministry, college campus ministry, center in Rochester, New York, and we would travel around the Northeastern United States, and assistant build up the Christian groups that were there. We would hold Evangelistic campaigns in these in these different college campuses throughout New York state, Pennsylvania. And that whole area. In fact, Brianna was about the age of Ainsley when we took her to some of these, some of these events so that little blonde curly head. We were take her along into the college campuses and so forth. And so are our attempt was to connect to the college students, in to gain inroads and gain opportunity to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ. And so we would look for creative ways to do this. And this was the late 80s and early 90s. When AIDS was Topic of discussion. And so I came up with a lecture topic. I called God, sex and AIDS and we we presented the topic, a different campuses. And then we wouldn't with then go into phase into presenting the gospel to people. And that one particular event was in a school that was just north of New York City. And it was a very artistic school and extremely Progressive in and liberal. In fact, the two Christians in the Christian group that we were going there to support, they were barely hanging on. I mean, they were in a hostile climate and environment. And so, we were in our youthful Zeal, my youthful Zeal. We're going to present this topic of God sex in AIDS at a, at a very artistic College where the largest student group was a gay. Lesbian Alliance. And I don't know if you can begin to figure out some of the Dynamics that are about to roll out here or not, but they were challenging and matter fact as I presented as we we were setting up and getting ready, somebody set up a camera and and dozens and dozens of people came into this classroom and it was absolutely packed out. And at one point as I'm presenting, it was okay in the beginning part, but as I got to the gospel, I begin to get some serious opposition. And at that point, I begin to think. How am I going to get my wife and little baby daughter out of this place? Okay, and there was an incredible interaction that took place but it was all for an opportunity. How can we relate to culture in a way where we can begin to share the truth of the Gospel of the Lord? Jesus Christ? In this passage. This is an interesting passage in the book of Acts. He see Paul was was coming from Macedonia where he had experienced some Hardship, it's a persecution. So they were there. Kind of trying to avoid the persecution and he had left stylus Silas and Timothy a back in the other location and he ended up in Athens. And so he really hearing was in the City by himself without any of his co-workers. And what was he to do. And so this is the, the scene in which we find Paul in this, in this city called Athens. Now Athens was certainly not of its former glory, the center of intellectual ideas and thoughts and philosophy, but it was still a main intellectual community and an International Community in the beginning verses that we read today. It says that Paul reasoned with them. He reasoned with them, we talked about a lot of different things in the previous week's concerning how to engage culture, but we as believers, Need to know how to present sound ideas. Reasonable argument and defense for the gospel of the Lord. Jesus Christ want to talk about engaging culture, with sound reason. How many of you have read the book. Could it be that simple by Timothy Jennings? If you want to? When a pastor Marlow's disciples, you probably read that. He loves to hand that out and go through that with others. But in this book, Timothy Jennings who is a Christian psychologist psychiatrist, one of the two, he talks about in the early chapters how that we need both conscience and reason to make healthy sound decisions. He defines the conscience, as the spiritual eye that faculty within us in which God speaks to us, where there is a sense of morality that deep sense in the gut that you This is, this is wrong. This is, this is right. This is good. So that part of us where the, where the where God can speak and we have this idea or sense of morality and he makes the point when conscience when you're conscious Works without reason, we can end up in Waco with David koresh. And so we also need reason which is defined as to think or the way evidence for the draw conclusions. And because we don't have infinite knowledge, we also need our conscience until both reason, and conscience needs to work together for us to make sound healthy decisions and when they don't things get messed up. And so reason is a part of that equation that we want to focus in on this morning. We many of us are familiar with First Peter. Chapter 3 verse 15 where Peters says this He says, always be prepared to give an answer. What's the Greek word behind that? Some of you might know that given answer?

Give an answer but it's a weird apologia. So I thought maybe some of you might know that apology up from where we get the word apologetix, right? It's it's to give an answer to the reason of the hope that is with a nurse in that work reason, actually comes from the Greek word for Logos, which is word or reasoning. And so Paul is, is, excuse me. Peter here is challenging us to you individually each and everyone of us. We need to ready ourselves to be able to give sound answers to those, who asks us. It can't just be on the conscious level. It has to be on the, on the logical level. We have to be able to present the gospel, give answers the questions that people have for us, four points. I want to make today number one concerning a sound reason, is we need to reason with knowledge of our audience. So it's not enough just to know our material to know our Information. We have to understand who we are speaking to. And you know, what is a preacher presents prepares to present to a congregation. It's almost an impossible task because you all are the are you all are in such different places. So for me to try to hit each and everyone of you where exactly where you are at is almost an impossible task, but we do our best but I take hope in the fact that the Holy Spirit does speak to each and everyone of us, but you do your best to know who you are. Speaking to Paul again in verse 17 says, so he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and The Devout person so Jews, and then in the Gentiles who were monotheistic they were they believed in the Jewish religion, but they were Jews were there. And in the marketplace at the everyday person and also with the epicureans and stoic philosopher. So notice the three types of groups, the two to three groups of people. Paul was addressing number one. He was addressing religious people. So when you talk to somebody from a religious background, you can make reference to the Bible. You can make reference to maybe some of their Christian Heritage and you can point them back too and make those connections. It says, he also spoke to those who were in The Marketplace and when you're out and about speaking to people and that you have to be aware if you're if you're sensitive and wanting to Be an Effective with this, you have to discern and determine where that each each individual might be at in their life, and they also were interacting. Paul is also interacting with the With this sophisticated group of folks, these philosophers, and so each group of people, you'd have to take a different approach. And I love 1st Corinthians 9:22. Where Paul says, to the week. I became weak that I might win the week. I become all things to all people that by all means. I might save some you know, it's sometimes we just don't we don't get where people are out. I know if you are maybe quick to speak and slow to listen, baby. Sometimes I'm guilty of that. Are you guilty that then at all, we have to listen, right? When we're trying to interact with folks, and this last week or is it the week before or the week before two guys were with backpacks were hitchhiking and he come to one, guy comes in and he says, can we pitch our tent out of first of all, he says, we're walking across Canada preaching. The gospel. Can we see? Portent in your field and I'm Italy was skeptical. I was like, why did you have to say? You're preaching the gospel walking across the country. It sounded like a bit of a story to me. And so I will immediately dismissed them as yester set up your tent, but we actually look them up on Facebook and sure enough. They are believers in there going across the country, sharing the gospel in and tinting where they go. So I'm totally misplaced. Then there was, you know, summers in adventure around you should hang out sometimes by the fire hydrant. I when I got here, early in the morning looks like they were kind of just chilling behind a fire hydrant. I know how long they've been there and I could see them getting ready and poking my head out the window. And think I may not go out and talk to them. Maybe I'll call donkeys, were to go talk to them. And finally, the white guy comes in and I said, well, how long you been there? I said, how long you been there? I've we've been there since 6 a.m. My girlfriend was really tired. We just left hope. That's okay. Could you could you call a taxi? For me. And I still tell me a little bit about your story and I says, well, I met my girlfriend about 5 years ago and she was into drugs. Then I got in the drug matter fact. I'm, he was some kind of a tradesperson. I said he had his own company. His own business doing well from what he's telling me and he says he got into drugs and he's literally lost everything. And I'm thinking to myself this guy and I said, where do you want to go? Where are you going to go to to rehab rehabilitation facility somewhere? Or are you going to try to get help with your goals in life? You said? Yes, we're heading to a place right now and it's still listening to a story. I was then be able to engage him and to try to encourage him to the best of my ability. But we need to, we were out there in the market place, first, and four and foremost, when we're engaging culture, we need to actively listen to people. The second thing concerning reason, I like to say today is that we need to reason in areas that matter most and verse 32. Paul again says this, he says I perceive in every way that you are religious and it goes on and he's talking to the different groups of people, like, we just mentioned. But those two philosophical groups of people that he mentions is interesting, the epicureans. They don't deny that there are Gods, but they believe that they are impersonal. So they're kind of pantheistic in their worldview, but their main thrust of their message is is basically Hedonism their pursuit of pleasure was their greatest is to be the greatest, good, you maximize happiness, anybody interact with Heathen, hedonistic type, folks, were their main goal is to have fun in life. Enjoy. And what's the next High? In way of a fun and so forth. So that's one group. And then the other group is or the stoics and they denied any kind of a Transcendent God, but they're kind of Dia stick in their, in their philosophy. They believe in something personal being that may be out there. And but they believe that you should conduct life through, through reasoning and logic are two, totally different types of people it. So as we seek to engage folks, we need to discern. What are the issues. What are the things that a concern them? And if we do the first point of actively listening, then we're better set up to actually talk to them about the issues that matter most to them. I often, when I talked to folks. I I kind of try to get into the areas of meaning and purpose. Like, what, what do you have? What, what do you think's going on in your life? What's the next stage of your like, what what are some of your dreams? What are some of your asp? Durations, what are your goals? Is there something that you're really wanting in life that you're striving for? You're talking to somebody that has tremendous trauma and their lives and hurt. Will you need to be able to address areas of of healing and how they can receive God's love? Maybe there's a relational turmoil in a person's life. Again. You got to, you got to you got to focus in on some of those areas of life. And today social issues are huge right? Until you start to talk to some not non-Christian folks about certain social issues. And some people have some very strong convictions about how things should be. I was talking to an individual recently who's not following the Lord in anyway, and I could discern that. He really cared about racial issues. He really cared about the oppressed and and I tried to really relate to him on that level in that the gospel, you know, who else? Cares about that guy? Cares about people who are pressed, God cares about the folks that have that have been that have experienced Injustice until you relate to them. On that particular level. You can talk about the, the question of, for example, of evil and suffering. And if you're like me, you have a tendency to go into the philosophical reasons. Why maybe there's evil and suffering in the world, but maybe the person you're talking to doesn't care about your philosophical reasons. They just experienced it. They've experienced hardship. They've experienced incredible, a loss in their life. They just need to be able to be connected to God's love into and understand that. He's a good God. That indeed loves him very, very deeply. Third point. I want to make here today is reason with with General and specific Revelation, Jen. And specific Revelation. And let me tell you what I mean by that. In the first, in the early part of the passage, that we read verses 24 to 27. Notice that Paul makes the appeal to Creation. He says, in verse 24, The God Who made the world and everything in it. So the conversation did start. Let me tell you about the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. Let me tell you how you can repent and get right with God know he begins his conversation with talking about the world and creation and how there's one God that created, all this, this beautiful planet in which we live. And you know, I think of folks that the god uses sometimes to speak truth into into our culture that maybe are not either Believers at all or maybe their nominal Believers. I think it's something like a Jordan Peterson who I love reading some of his stuff in. I think some of what he speaks in their culture is like a pre Avenger, ilysm where he gets people ready to hear the gospel. He speaks, he speaks in areas of life many times truth and it gets people in a place where they can hear the more specific message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. So when we were talking to people we can talk about things like creation, we can we can talk about things like morality. Where does morality come from? Where does purpose come from? And so forth. Before we get specific to talk about the gospel and and Paul does that he Transitions and he says yet he God is actually not far from each and everyone of us and inverse 30s is the times of ignorance overlooked but now he commands all people everywhere to repent because he is fixed the day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man. So there is, he's getting specific in his message. A man who he is a point. End of this is giving a surance to us all by raising him from the dead. So that he begin to transition the conversation from the general revelation of God is seeing an increase in to the specific revelation of scriptures of God giving Jesus Christ to die for our sins. And so he begins to relate to these folks in this way. So, tremendous approach to take when you're talking to people, you can talk about General, Revelation move to specific Revelation. And, finally, this morning. We need a reason with an open and generous Spirit. You notice in the beginning of the passage up. It says that Paul was provoked. He was provoked. Anybody been provoked? Lately watching mainstream media. Has anybody get agitated you watch too much news. Will, Paul. Paul is kind of looking around culture and he's getting agitated. He's looking around and seeing these Idols, he sent home and people don't have to Live like this. Why why are they worshiping these dumb Idols if they're just Stone and he just seeing how people are being misled into lies and worship of nothing. And so he's provoked and abide by what. He's seeing there in this city and he's actually called this phrase babler. He's that they do. They call him a babbler which is actually a serious charge. And, and so he's been criticized and he's being he's being provoked here, but despite of all that opposition, you can see is you read this passage Paul maintains a gracious spirit that generous Spirit still with a heart to want to reach people in love people. And so in our engagement and culture and I'll refer back to what we talked about the number weeks ago with, with God's Supernatural. Love moving through US member the scripture recorded, recorded back in Matthew. Chapter 9 verse 36. It says that Jesus when he saw them altitudes, he felt compassion for them for. They were downcast and distress like sheep without a shepherd. And so is we we seek to be a witness in our day and in our culture, as we seek to be a light from this church. Let's bring it home. We seek to be and end have an impact upon the community around us and upon our city. Let's look to the Lord to fill us with fresh Loaf and, and the, and the grace to stand at the Stanford biblical truth, but we got to move when the generous and an open Spirit as we seek to engage the community around us. I was driving with my four-year-old grandson yesterday and we're coming up to mr. PG and he said, love PG. I said, no. No, that's called mister. PG PG. We were talking about a church. Yeah, it's love PG. And so, as we're looking at that little, that little mascot or whatever, you call it. Mr. PG. It's like God, give us a heart to win our community, give us a hard to love our neighbors and we're X. And they call us babblers, or whatever unpleasant trees that might be thrown at us. But God help us to, to be effective in reaching our neighborhood, our community, and our city. And this is a good time to segue into love PG. Now. This is an opportunity to serve. You know, what, we're modeling to the young people as servanthood. You know, Pastor Derek asked the kids member. Yes. The kids. Do you know which project your parents are signing you up for none of them. Raise their hand. That could be a number of reasons, but I trust and I pray that we zabadi. We're really rally around this 226. We want, we want it. Sure if we want to Take this day as a as it as a representation. What what what we want to be all year long, and if we want to love our city, we want God to move through us to see people come to the Lord Jesus Christ and the kingdom of God to be extended in the city. Amen. So go on to the website and sign up today, if you could. Amen. Let's pray Heavenly Father. We thank you. And we bless you today and Lord, as we are a people that are Christ followers in this day, and this culture. We don't live in Afghanistan. We don't live in another part of the world. We live in this city and this continent in this country and Lord. We want to be faithful and effective witness in this land, that you have placed a stent. Help us to be faithful to cultivate the ground. You called this to be faithful, is a church. Got an effective as Witnesses within this community. And civil rights is pray for Westside family. Fellowship today, as we conclude this this, this idea of engaging culture. God help us to be impactful in this day, help with the be impactful in our culture. Father. We pray and we thank you for your grace and your power to do. So in Jesus name. Amen. Amen. God bless you. And look forward to seeing