Acts Chapter 7:1-8

Main are the group of people that had brought Peter and John in front of scolded them for talking about Jesus beat them through them in jail supplies and Stephen gets up in front of him and, accordingly, immediately rebuke some probably bad things in now. Somebody did look at his words brothers father's centers welcome to cross the bridge with David McGee.

David is the senior pastor of the bridge in Kernersville, North Carolina throughout Scripture we see that God is constantly reaching out to us and without understanding we should continue to reach out to others today. David explains why that's reach others as he continues in the book of acts chapter 7 of this chapter is about a young man who reminds me a lot of one of our associate pastors DA Brown and DA's with us on the program today welcome brother, Bob, this little bit more than 15 years ago I remember sitting in chair Watson Pastor David on TV and I knew right then as he is teaching the word of God. Verse by verse, the God change me to soak just that I put my trust in Jesus. Bob is incredible adventures that I hope everyone makes part of what a great testimony, brother, and now here's David McGee with his teaching Stevens address last week we asked, chapter 6, and so that we can start acts chapter 7 what this is talking about in the book of acts is the kind give you a quick catch-up.

Stephen was willing to literally way on tables, and we talked about the fact that God desires a study to use us in the small things and as were famed for the small things, then God will use us in bigger things but a lot of times we wait on the bigger things. Neglecting the small things in and so we go about the whole process with semen was willing to wait on tables and in what happened. God used them in a powerful and miraculous way. Then he gets in trouble for. And so that kinda brings us to chapter 7 verse one and the high priest said these things, so now this is great this is the high priest is asking a question and is asking the question because Stephen is been used by God and living his life in such a way that somebody wants to ask a question to me this is a beautiful thing. I think a lot of times we try to give answers when the mice asking us anything, and as a Christian you have to be careful with this, you can live your life in such a way that people will ask you what you believe in one at one occurrence might be of this is if you're at work. Your boss comes by 459 plays a pile of papers at your desk is this.

I really need you to take care of this before you leave now. I'm sure that probably happened to my lesson and I response was a very godly, but think about it in your response was godliness at all. Okay, I'll be happy to knock this out for you. Maybe somebody's watching maybe a coworker and a ligature there, confused, and maybe they can come up to you. I'm confused because it's for 59 years ago for 5 o'clock the boss just came and put a bunch of paper paperwork on your desk asking if it is for you and you smiled and said thanks and you be glad to. What's wrong with you something different that you would be like that. What makes you different bone.

Then you've got an opportunity to share how God gave me that job how God is blessing you do that job in your thankful for that job. Not only is he getting a job and looking after buddies forgive many of your sins and boom, then you're in the sharing the gospel to ways to do that where people ask another great way to do that is simply thanking God for your food in a restaurant that's not something that everybody dies and you have a relationship with the Lord you should thank the Lord for your food restaurant. I don't mean that all hanky drop thanking the Lord for the food. I'm not sure you know where you where you drop your napkin knowing it in the is going. Thank you Lord for this is I think it now. I'm talking about thanking God publicly for your food unit one as people noticed and ultimately you have somebody come up and say so. You will believe what's going on with that again then asking a question we see that Obama first Peter chapter 3 verse 15 says. Instead, you must worship Christ as Lord of your life and if you were asked about your Christian hope always be ready to explain, always be ready to give to every man and answer review will save you know Jesus, if you ask him to forgive you of your sins. Can you share your testimony in 30 seconds or you should have it kind of howling down to you.

A lot of times 30 seconds.

His argument again and you know and maybe cynical. There's no way in 30 seconds I can cover all the bad things of that will mean either you know you don't have to go through all the muck in the mire to tell where you are now and what Jesus has done in your life for student chapter 7 says and he said, brethren, and fathers listen to God's glory appeared to our father Abraham, when he was in Mesopotamia before he dwelt in her ran notices. These are the group of people that had brought Peter and John in front of scolded them for talking about Jesus beat them through them in jail twice and Stephen gets up in front of him and, accordingly, immediately rebuke some probably bad things and not now somebody that his words brothers father's is interesting Stevens doing something here now at the end of this message is not. Don't pull any punches. He's gonna speak the truth in love, but he's gonna speak the truth, but he starts out what's he doing. He's building a bridge and that so important. So often we think we have a ministry of certain bridges on fire and run it off. That's not Christianity. Christianity is building a bridge so that then you have an opportunity to talk to somebody about the Lord. You may have a neighbor that you've known for years that you haven't yet shared the gospel with but now there's a bridge in place where you can start to talk about those harder issues know if you have the opportunity to share with the Catholic don't immediately start talking about the Pope and Mary and how we disagree on this thing start talking about the things that we do agree on that Jesus is the son of God, that the Bible is the word of God and that Jesus didn't die on the cross.

Once you build that bridge then you can discuss those other issues that you quite frankly need to be discussed, but as it's been well put, they won't know they won't care how much you know until they know how much care to begin the build that bridge and communicate to them and that's a life lesson from the get-go here is weird to build bridges with people we are to build bridges with people you never forget plan playing golf with my dad and of course all pastors play golf seven days a week with I'm kidding I play golf couple years. My dad had this thing that he did you know when and I allow my father and my father was very helpful but you know whenever we go play golf.

I would be be in the middle of my back straight in my backswing and my dad know what you doing wrong. Yeah, I'm sometimes that's what we do as believers in we come to somebody is hurting in and messed up in the middle are sending away. Don't you well you probably do what they need is that answer they need that hope that you can get, and God himself built a bridge to us and now were to build bridges and others. We can tell other people. If you come to them if you ask him to forgive you of your send. He's willing to forgive you of your sins and what all something that's good news. That's why they call it the good news is also part of what Stephen is pointing out here is that Abraham wasn't in Jerusalem wasn't in Israel when God first spoke he was in Mesopotamia which was a place where a lot of idolatry went on and yet God spoke to him in that place, thinking a lot of us can identify the perhaps we were in a bad place. The first time the Lord started to soften our heart and speak to us and draw us to himself. Will God knows that God will speak to people in a lot of different places was due to verse three God was saying to Abraham and incident. Get out of your country and from your relatives summary statement and come to the lands that will show you now Abraham is often called the father of the faith and and and I think that's an appropriate title and it certainly true to a certain degree, but let me remind you again what Abraham was, when God Abraham was the son we believe of an automaker living in a land that made lots of and certainly played a part in Abraham's life and that maybe visiting a well yeah but you know after God called Abraham man he was rock solid state what book is that it say because in this book Abraham even after God called him, even after his faith was counted as righteousness still struggle with some pretty major issues of remember. You know he's in a couple situations like that's my sister and is why it is my sisters, my wife and there's only one.

One of Sen. and so you know, he struggled with the truth and why. And yet he's a father. The faith, the whole thing just smacks of grace smacks of grace many areas in this place and yet God reaches out to him and his goodness and his grace see and say that to knock Abraham know because he thought I was going ask about it when I get to heaven is like the one sick but here's the two often we think God calls somebody or save somebody because he sees something in them.

That's good old dangerous think God loves us so much that he desires a relationship with us we we have to leave behind this notion that God sees this mark of innate human goodness and and because of that reason, he beat the tweak shoe a little bit so that now you're saying and often Christianity takes the form of typical revenues try little bit harder to do a little bit better.

That's what it's all about that's not what it's all about it's not about playing harder about the fact that you're playing on the wrong team and you got a quit claim for that team enjoying the right and see we pick up this notion of Ellis so-and-so St. Weller the condensate well I almost claiming there almost a winning account is being saved is Kelly being kinda pregnant. Yeah, I mean it's either you are are you not you're not in some some people there almost segued me to be almost saved is to be entirely lost. The difference is the same but see here's the thing. God wants to call us.

Once a relationship with us right where we are in the midst of all stop and even the garbage in her life. Life lesson here, God wants to give meaning and purpose to each person and use them for his glory wants to use us very often we we look at ourselves and think, well done things that aren't good will, as we look at only Abraham's life but as we look next week and Moses like to see things that they did wrong. Still use the we have to consider the Scripture first Corinthians chapter 1 verse 26 says for consider your call brother. Not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise, and God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong. This is what God does pick some people that we just wouldn't you know, maybe you're sitting out here this morning, but amen what are you doing up there chooses the use people where he gets the glory. I went to my high school reunion and I was kind of a train wreck losers in the hospital and the end they asked me to do the invocation and after they explained to me that was the opening prayer can undo. I pray and when I got to pray, you know, the resulting spaces of people that know me narrowing you looking at the little bulletin in is a typo. You know, so I just went ahead and select standing before you, by the grace of God in us typo you know now my pastor God's done this thing and I say this because you know when I was in high school with you guys know I was pharmaceutically challenged and you know and and so you know. And God got the glory because they were centered on Jamie David. It's gotta be in sync meant it and set it up like that he would receive the glory for what he does in our lives is everybody else around this. Perhaps scratches their head will be right back with more from David McGee on cross the bridge right now there's a word from associate pastor DA Brown hey guys want to take just a minute to pray for some cities in our listening audience. Specifically, Ashland Oregon and Baker city Brookings Canyon Ville Cave Junction, Cloverdale, and Colton Lowy. Thank you for the cities and everyone listening. We pray that you would pour out your spirit on these broadcast audiences. Father we pray that pastors would have wisdom in the cities and how to love their communities.

Lord I pray that people would put their trust in you gotta pray that you would give the governmental leaders wisdom and discernment that you would protect the city's father there be peace in the cities and Lord, that your word would be high and lifted up in Jesus name, amen, amen.

Thank you brother now get back to David McGee as he continues teaching verse by verse verse four. Then he came out of the land of the Chaldeans, and dwelt in Herat and from there when his father was dead, he moved into this land and what you now dwell. God gave them no inheritance and it's not even enough to satisfy Don, but even when Abraham had no child. A promise to give it to him for possession and to his descendents after him and that's great God takes the son of an automaker from a land of idolatry tells me to go to put them in this land that he's never seen before and told him you don't have a whole bunch of descendents and relatives.

Even though he has no kids and the whole thing works. So what was it that God can't do in your life. God can do anything here in the midst of something and you just can't see your way through some ways, that's a good place to be because God will come through and you will not was that you wasn't even your prayers. Perhaps wasn't your relatives or your friends or your coworkers.

It was God himself who brought you through the that's a great place because after you get through that you look back and you go must've been the Lord just like Abraham, no children, no land, but the Bible says he believed God about these things. Even though he didn't see any evidence you man of faith. Verse six the gospel in this way that his descendents would dwell in a foreign land that they would bring them into bondage and oppressive 400 years in the nation to whom they will be in bondage. I will judge the God and after that they shall come out and serve me in this place. Now it's interesting because you know there were people that were serving God in Egypt in the midst of a again another idolatrous nation filled with all sorts of healing practices and yet it says serve me in this place mean when they came of that land to serve them in that place as well. And here again we touched on this last week serve God wherever you are.

Serve God wherever you aren't tumbling well I'll serve God and if I agree hundred percent with everything the pastor does lets you never going to find that relationship serve goddesses upon a perfect church. There is no perfect church on planet Earth.

So you're not on the playsets, convenient that you give yourself that leap of that loophole not excuse it, or God. If you just gave me more time in a day on serve you more. I have to challenge you will know is even God gave me a magically gave you like for six more hours it's been watching more television or read more magazines or whatever it is that's taking time like the logic of well not start the of them. I won the lottery wind says a few people in small things the Lord will trust you with more things. So serve God wherever you are with with your whole heart. Verse eight is any gave in the covenant of circumcision, and so Abraham begot Isaac and circumcising on the eighth day begot Jacob, and Jacob got the 12 patriarchs, part of what Stephen is saying to them is that they are forgetting their spiritual roots misunderstanding or spiritual words, we need to understand an interest in the real easy to sit back during this chapter go all those silly Jewish religious leaders. But what when there's a lot of application in this chapter for us because I think we in part at least, have misunderstood the roots of Christianity.

The roots of Christianity are Jewish in nature. Jesus was a Jewish man born to a Jewish family and a Jewish society and was the Jewish Messiah Messiah, the Michiana this whole book this whole Bible. There's only one Gentile that wrote many books and absolute gospel of Luke and the book of acts that were in now written by Luke, who was a gentle heart, not a Jewish person and there's 1 More Pl. and in the Daniel Nebuchadnezzar was non-Jewish person so Jewish but sometimes we forget our roots of Christianity. Our roots are found where will the whole thing starts in Matthew right now you have some people worse Christianity start will you know it started move the birth of Christ are starting calorie. The Bible itself in the New Testament says before the foundations of the world were created had this plan to bring Jesus to this earth to him for him to die for our sins and so that's one Thursday night.

We take time and we study in the Hebrew Scriptures and yet so many believers so many Christians like well it's Old Testament evening study that visits old and I don't think it's God's plan of redemption and as we study and as we look at it on Thursday night and you see Jesus a like every page of every page.

And so understand this is our roots now for some of you you just got really uncomfortable you what what percentages are great sure that the New Testament, this is what Paul says in the book of Romans Romans chapter 11 verse one says I say that as God cast away his people.

Certainly not for I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham of the tribe of Benjamin. God has not cast away his people whom he foreknew. Discussions with people. People say, well, got finished with Israel are churches replaced Israel it has not.

Every time you see Israel in the New Testament, it literally means Israel and replacement theology is just biblically on sound when I got finished with Israel always really don't understand them given him back the land so miraculously if he's finished with them but why do you think God is finished with Israel well they acted out Ellis think this through. So your view of God is that when somebody acts up. He then looks at him and says I'm done with you while what's your relationship with God like are you meaning the tell me that once you can say what you asked the Lord to forgive you ever sent. If you mess up. After that you're done that if you go to the Lord.

Six. Lord I know you forgetting that one time but I messed up again and I need to forgive me God.

No baby once you're done now. That's not the way Lord is the Lord forgives you and then there's a couple other things, look at this. It says circumcised him on the eighth day there is a spiritual aspect to circumcision that is important for us to understand Romans talks about Romans 228 you are not a true Jew just because you were born of Jewish parents are because you have gone through the Jewish ceremony of circumcision. No true Jew is one whose heart is right with God and true circumcision is not a cutting of the body, but a change of heart produced by God spirit. Whoever has that kind of change seeks praise from God, not from people.

It's a Paul in Romans, nothing to certain degree, Stephen.

Here's reminder list. That's not all there is just in a ritual that you all of a sudden you're in the family of God. Again were tempted as we read this to goal the silly Jewish leadership they thought because of circumcision is all of a sudden somebody was in the family was bring that to modern-day American Christianity. Is it any more reasonable or rational prescription because we sprinkle water on and it they become a Christian. That is a modern day you much like the circumcision issue was today.

Why are you going on the circumcision thing, because there's a concept of precept if you will.

That's important for us to understand a lot of times we think that we have to turn in the good people before we asked the Lord to forgive us our sins. I believe faith should lead to good works.

I believe once you asked the Lord to forgive you present in your life should begin the change, not necessarily on your timetable are the people something a little God's timetable.

Your life should begin the change. But here's the problem. While faith leads to good works, good works does not usually lead. Here's what I mean by their people in this world who pander their you would refer to him as good people. The Bible says they're not. You might refer to him as good lately close up or seen the homeless and in all these things and yet they don't know Jesus as their trusting in their own good works to earn their entrance and so while faith leads to good works, good works doesn't always lead to faith friend you know for sure that your sins been forgiven.

You can know right now only Jenna short, simple prayer simply telling God you're sorry and asking him to help you to live for him.

Please pray this prayer with me out well right now. Dear Jesus, I believe you died for me that I could be forgiven and I believe you were raised from the dead that I could have a new life not done wrong things I have sent and I'm sorry.

Please forgive me of all those things. Please give me the power to live for you. All of my days in Jesus name, amen friend of you prayed that prayer according to the Bible you've been forgiven you've been born again. So congratulations bring you just made the greatest decision that you will ever make.

God bless you, if you pray that prayer with David for the first time we'd love to hear from you. You can visit cross the bridge.com to receive our first steps package with helpful resources to help you begin your walk with Christ. Or you can write to cross the bridge at PO Box 12, 515 Winston-Salem, NC 27117 and share how God is working in your life you're the Bible tells us that the free gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord. But it does cost for us to come and bring that message to you and to others in your neighborhood through radio through the Internet and through the mobile technologies that God has gifted us to be able to use so if you like to support this ministry. Please go to cross the bridge.com. Click on the donate button and ask God how much you would have you give either on a one-time basis or continuing basis each month to help ensure that the teaching of God's word continues to go out through cross the bridge. Thank you so much ODA before we go.

What are some ways that we can bless our listeners each day. You can wake up with encouragement from Pastor David to the word of God with his email devotional life lessons to consider daily reading plan enough thought to meditate on throughout your day. From the heart. The David McGee those are terrific and it's easy and it's free so folks sign up today, cross the bridge.com. Thanks again for listening and join us next time.

As David McGee continues teaching verse by verse in the book of acts