S1: Welcome to our Valar podcast, this is Mike Jonker, Pastor
S1: Mike here at Harvest. This podcast is a part of
S1: the men's ministry at Harvest, where Greg Laurie is senior pastor. Hey,
S1: we're not only going through the Book of Acts on
S1: Sundays with Pastor Greg, we're also going through it in
S1: our men's ministry and Harvest Group's ministry, which is pretty
S1: cool because it helps us move through God's word together
S1: and gives us great synergy and connection when we get together,
S1: get together in our men's groups. We are in acts
S1: nine vs. 22 31 and we are looking at this
S1: man named Saul, who had just had a one on
S1: one with Jesus Christ and was changed forever. Saul, soon
S1: to be Paul, was saved, changed and impacted by Jesus Christ.
S1: I was talking with some in the other day and
S1: one of them said Mike. Before I became a Christian,
S1: I never knew that Jesus was a real person. I
S1: thought he was a myth or a legend. I didn't
S1: know that he was a historical person. Well, he was.
S1: And there is substantial evidence to prove that. The bigger
S1: question is, is Jesus who he claimed to be and
S1: who others claimed he was? Sölden think that Jesus was
S1: the son of God, that Jesus is the savior and
S1: Lord until he had an encounter with the resurrected Jesus himself.
S1: After that encounter, he went from being a disbeliever and
S1: an adamant persecutor of believers and followers of Christ to
S1: a devout and radical proclaimers of Jesus Christ, both Savior
S1: and Lord of All. And you can check out last
S1: week's podcast with with Pastor Elijah to hear Saul's encounter
S1: with Jesus. I was in a grocery store the other day,
S1: walking by the book and magazine section, and I saw
S1: a Time magazine that had the 100 most influential people
S1: of 2021 that a picture of some of these people
S1: on the front cover and my first thought was, well,
S1: good for them. But my second thought was really. I
S1: think we would all agree that in our generation, there
S1: are people that have made great impacts and been great influencers.
S1: People like Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Elon Musk, even guys
S1: like Anthony Fauci have had a great influence or made
S1: a big impact in the way we live for better
S1: or for worse. Years ago, a man named Will Durant,
S1: the Great American historian, published a book called The Greatest
S1: Minds and Thinkers of All Time about men and women
S1: who have impacted the World, and it's a pretty interesting book.
S1: Get the audio book, and we would recognize names like
S1: Michelangelo or Aristotle Mozart, Galileo, Isaac Newton, Albert Einstein, Thomas Edison,
S1: and others. And I'd have to say, besides the greatest
S1: change agent of all time, Jesus Christ, this guy, Saul
S1: of Tarsus later to be known, the Apostle Paul not
S1: only influenced his circle, but he influenced the Roman world
S1: of his day and all of history as we know it,
S1: even to this very moment right now. God had told
S1: a man named Anna NAIAS about Saul that he was
S1: going to be a chosen vessel of mine to bear
S1: my name before Gentiles, Kings and the children of Israel.
S1: For I will show him how many things he must
S1: suffer for my namesake. And it was tough sledding for Saul,
S1: but he didn't do it alone. So let's read Acts
S1: Chapter nine, starting with verse 20. After Saul's encounter with
S1: Jesus and after Anthony's had gone to Saul at God's
S1: direction to encourage him to pray. So let's start in
S1: verse 20. It says immediately Paul preached the Christ in
S1: the synagogues that he is the son of God, then
S1: all who heard were amazed and said, Is this not
S1: he who destroyed those who called on this name in
S1: Jerusalem and has? Has he come here for that purpose
S1: so that he might bring them down to the chief priest?
S1: But Saul increased all the more in strength and confounded
S1: the Jews who dwelt in Damascus, proving that this Jesus
S1: is the Christ. Now, after many days were passed, the
S1: Jews plotted to kill him, but their plot became known
S1: to Saul, and they watched the gates day and night
S1: to kill him. Then the disciples took him by night
S1: and let him down to the wall in a large
S1: basket when Saul had come to Jerusalem. He tried to
S1: join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him,
S1: and they did not believe that he was a disciple.
S1: But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles,
S1: and he declared to them how he had seen the
S1: Lord on the road that he had spoken to him.
S1: And now he had preached boldly in Damascus in the
S1: name of Jesus. So he was with them at Jerusalem,
S1: coming in and going out, and he spoke, spoke boldly
S1: in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and disputed
S1: against the Hell A. But they attempted to kill him.
S1: And when the brethren found out, they brought him down
S1: to Sensoria and sent him out to Tarsus, then the
S1: churches throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace
S1: and were edified. They were walking in the fear of
S1: the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit.
S1: And they were multiplied. Like I said before, the Book
S1: of Acts is like an action movie. And think about this.
S1: Saul went to all of these places Judea, Galilee, Samaria.
S1: He went to Corinth, Galicia, Ephesus, Philippi, Colossi, Thessalonica, Berea, Athens, Rome.
S1: And he was preaching the truth about the saving work
S1: of Jesus Christ. He also wrote letters that we read
S1: today about God's love and salvation. He wrote about justification.
S1: He wrote about predestination. He wrote about this new life
S1: we have in Christ and on and on. Paul had
S1: picked up the torch where Jesus had left off Peter
S1: John Paul. All three were used mightily by God, but
S1: no one more than Paul. I want to consider what
S1: he did also, but look how God brought people into
S1: his life to help two guys in particular and nice
S1: who we looked at last week and Barnabas. And how
S1: important it is to function as a family, as a team,
S1: as the body of Christ. You know, guys, we are
S1: kind of like kings in our own castles. Leaders in
S1: our home. And of course, we share that stewardship with
S1: our wives for those of us who are married. And man,
S1: we need help with that, don't we? But as far
S1: as our walk with Jesus in our calling and position
S1: in his church, we are all in it together. You know,
S1: we're in the thick of football season and you may
S1: have your team, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers with Tom Brady
S1: or the Green Bay Packers with Aaron Rodgers or L.A.
S1: Rams with Cooper Kupp or Aaron Donald. Or maybe you're
S1: a charger fan with Justin Herbert or Keenan Allen or
S1: Mike Williams. These guys, they win and lose as a team.
S1: I mean, some stand out, some get more public accolades.
S1: But the guys on the teams know that they need
S1: each and every player. These quarterbacks, their favorite players are
S1: the linemen. All they love the linebackers. Everybody has their part,
S1: their strength, their gift. And the Bible even says a
S1: man's gift will make a way for him. But I
S1: have a question for you today. We are at the
S1: beginning of a new year. A new season. Is God
S1: using you? Are you using your gift to help the
S1: church to do what we are? We have all been
S1: called to do to tell people about Jesus and to
S1: make disciples. Last week we looked at a reluctant Anthonys
S1: go at God's direction to a radical Christian killer turned
S1: Christian named Saul. And an I said, OK, Lord, I'll go.
S1: And he ministered to Saul in the passage we just read,
S1: we read about this guy, Barnabas, whose names mean son
S1: of encouragement. He steps out and he helps Paul to
S1: become welcome and effective in the church. He exerted himself
S1: a little bit. He steps in and help Saul become
S1: welcome and effective in the church. He introduced Saul to
S1: the other disciples in Jerusalem. He exerted himself. You know,
S1: when I first became a committed believer, I came out
S1: of a lifestyle that included, you know, surfing and partying
S1: and working and more partying. And it just seemed like
S1: whatever I was doing there was always partying in there somewhere. Well,
S1: I gave my life to Christ and I went to
S1: church and it was great. I'm usually I was with
S1: a girlfriend of mine, but I really didn't fit in
S1: too well when I was by myself with some of
S1: the guys and just what was going on at church.
S1: For whatever reason, things weren't clicking. I was somewhat popular
S1: and fit pretty well in the world, but and I thought,
S1: maybe I'm doing something wrong. I went to Bible studies.
S1: I went to church. I was committed. I wanted no
S1: part of the world and I was growing, but I
S1: wasn't like slotted in. And this guy named Billy took
S1: me under his wing. He was 10 years older than me.
S1: He had gone to the same high school as me,
S1: and I didn't know him, but I found out that
S1: he went to the same high school and me. But
S1: he really came alongside and he helped me. He introduced
S1: me to his crew at church. He let me hang out.
S1: They were a little bit older, even had kids. But,
S1: you know, let me go on a few vacations with
S1: them to the river. That didn't include partying. He just
S1: showed me the ropes. And I was so thankful for
S1: this guy, Billy. He's still a friend. He was. He
S1: was my Barnabas. My question to you is, are you
S1: helping others? You know, God wants to use you in
S1: the body of Christ. Some are sitting on the sidelines,
S1: you know, Paul wrote to a young Timothy, a man
S1: that he mentored. And he wrote in Thessalonians five 11.
S1: He said, so encourage each other and build each other
S1: up just as you are already doing. Are you doing
S1: that with someone? Hey, if you're not. Why don't you
S1: start commit this year to disciplining someone to come alongside
S1: someone encouraging them in the faith? Maybe you need someone
S1: to come alongside you. Maybe you were like me. Just
S1: not really didn't really fit in. You just need us.
S1: Need someone to come alongside. You will hang in there.
S1: Keep praying and step out in faith. God will make
S1: it happen. Hey, maybe you would join a group one
S1: of the harvest groups, the men's groups. You can go
S1: to Harvest Church forward slash group and get involved with that.
S1: But it's so important to do this Christian thing, to
S1: walk this walk of faith together as the body of Christ.
S1: And there's no better time to start doing that. That's
S1: how God works. He uses each and every one of us,
S1: and sometimes we're disciplined and sometimes we're being disciples. God
S1: works out all out, but we need to be together
S1: to do that. So I just pray that you would
S1: pray about being a part of the body of Christ
S1: this year. Don't be isolated. Don't be a lone ranger Christian.
S1: Get involved. Be a part of what God's doing. We
S1: will see people not only come to faith, but we'll
S1: see people grow in faith. And in the meantime, we'll
S1: be growing in our faith, too. So God bless you. Hey,
S1: you guys, I wanted to let you know that we
S1: have a men's prayer breakfast coming up this Saturday at
S1: both campuses. It'll start at eight o'clock and go to 9:30.
S1: We spend time in really, really powerful time of prayer,
S1: praying with other guys at your table. But we we
S1: pick topics and we pray over those things. Usually it's
S1: our family, our church, our country, people that we know.
S1: But we really get together. We pull together and pray,
S1: and we have some breakfast burritos and some coffee and
S1: orange juice and things like that. So that's all there.
S1: But hope you can join us this Saturday from eight
S1: to 9:30. That's at Harvest Riverside and at Harvest Orange County,
S1: and you can find out more information about that at
S1: Harvest Dot Church. So God bless you, and we'll talk
S1: to you soon.