"Coloring Outside The Lines" | January 23, 2022

hi i'm robert jeffress pastor of first baptist church in dallas we are so excited to have you join us on the i campus today for a time of inspiring worship and biblical teaching you are part of a vast online community gathered from all over the world we consider you a part of our first baptist church family and we hope you feel a part of what god is doing in and through first baptist dallas no matter where you are we hope and pray that this is a time you will grow in your relationship with god and others as we worship our savior together welcome to worship [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] well good morning and welcome to worship at first baptist dallas today it's so good to see you we also welcome our guests and our i campus viewers joining across the world today let's stand together as we sing to our everlasting god strength will rise strength will rise as we wait upon the lord wait upon the lord we will wait upon the lord [Music] we will strength upon the lord [Music] [Music] [Music] god you do not think [Music] the lord way upon the lord we will wait upon the lord strength [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] we do not thank you [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] oh [Music] [Applause] thank you [Music] you come from [Music] oh praise his name this morning the everlasting god king of the world how great is our god the splendor of [Music] let all the earth rejoice all the earth rejoice he wraths himself in life [Music] and darkness dries too high and trembles at his voice trembles at his voice [Music] it is [Music] [Music] is [Music] oh is [Music] [Music] is [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] is [Music] how great [Music] [Music] [Music] how is [Music] [Music] oh [Music] is [Music] how great is our god we worship him today you may be seated well it is good to worship our lord and savior jesus christ together here at first baptist dallas this morning and we welcome each of you we also welcome our guests joining us here in our downtown dallas location as well as on our eye campus across the world today and guests we have a very special gift for you it's our pastor's brand new leather bound pathway to victory daily devotional bold biblical refreshingly practical messages for your day and for your new year 2022 guest as you came in this morning you received a worship guide you'll find enclosed this welcome card please take the time to fill this out keep the card with you at the end of this morning's worship service take it outside the main worship center doors right there you're going to find our welcome center our staff is waiting there for you to exchange your completed card for your gift today and answer any questions you might have regarding our church we look forward to meeting you now if you can't make it to the welcome center we have some orange boxes on your way out you can slip the card in one of those and we'll mail you a copy of your devotional guest joining us on icampus just follow that link provided on your screen to access your gift as well again welcome each of you to worship this morning so many exciting events are taking place here at first baptist dallas so let's all take a moment and look at the screen together [Music] good morning we are excited to share with you a few upcoming events join us for a relaxing dinner theater style evening of pure entertainment for around the piano on friday january 28th this event is a fun evening for everyone of all ages to enjoy a selection of inspiring music if you are a guest with us this morning we would like to invite you to join us for our next dinner with the pastor at maggiano's on thursday february 3rd you will enjoy a first-class meal and great conversations registration is required all of our members are encouraged to attend reach sunday on sunday february 6th or 13th we will be encouraged motivated and equipped by the good news of the gospel as well as hear powerful testimonies and enjoy some great food ladies we are excited to host our heartstrong faith conference on february 25th and 26th invite your friends to join us for a weekend of fellowship and hear from an incredible lineup of speakers including julia jeffrey sadler nika spalding rebecca carroll liz rodriguez laura storey and sheila walsh finally it's good to gather together in worship we encourage everyone to help maintain a healthy environment by using our hand sanitizer stations practicing social distancing when appropriate and wearing your mask if not vaccinated for more information on everything happening at our church visit firstdallas.org events [Music] today's scripture is found in ephesians 4 verses 11 through 13. the pastor will reflect back on this verse in his message to come in just a few moments we'll read from the new american standard bible and those will be the words you'll find here in the worship center and on icampus as well giving us all the opportunity to read god's word together and we invite you to stand to honor the reading of his word again we're reading ephesians chapter 4 beginning with verse 11 ending with verse 13. and he gave some as apostles and some as prophets and some as evangelists and some as pastors and teachers for the equipping of the saints for the work of service to the building up of the body of christ until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the son of god to a mature man to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of christ may god richly bless our reading of his holy word keep standing now as we continue our worship time together church this morning we know that there is power in that mighty name of jesus we're excited this morning to have back with us dr leo day let's welcome him as he leads us in worship there is power the name of jesus there [Music] there is power in the name of jesus to break everything break every chain break every everything [Applause] to break everything break every chain break everything [Music] jesus [Music] he's here today [Music] is [Music] is [Music] break everything [Music] is [Music] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] is [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] is [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] huh [Music] hey [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] hallelujah church hallelujah amen you may be seated and let's turn our attention to the screen one of the most endearing hallmarks of first baptist dallas is the warmth and friendliness of our church as guests arrive on sunday mornings it can feel a little overwhelming for some our first impressions teams are ready each week to greet our guests and to make their sunday experience memorable our goal from parking to pew is to remove all anxieties a guest may experience from street to seat guests are greeted and welcomed engaged and guided and suddenly a large church begins to feel small when god brings new people to our church he does so for the purpose of connecting them with himself and others first impressions helps people connect at first baptist dallas currently we need to strengthen our first impressions ministry by adding 80 new volunteers parking teams campus greeters welcome center hosts ushers and day one hosts are all needed as the lord continues to draw new people to our church we need to be ready to help them connect well i know those who serve in first impressions get more out of serving than those we serve recently one of our campus greeters told me john you know i have the best job in the church each sunday morning i get to be a door keeper at the house of the lord and welcome people to worship i want to invite you to join our first impressions ministry it's easy it's fun and you can have a huge impact in the lives of others christ is calling you to serve will you answer the call you know first baptist we believe everyone is called by god to serve and there are so many places to serve if you haven't found a place yet the one john mentioned is an excellent one first impressions many i was visiting with a person who is visiting with us and has been for a while those who walk in the door the first time so many have said i've never been greeted more warmly i've never felt more at home and that's the good job that our first impressions team is doing and that might be a great place for you if not there are a whole bunch of places this card in your worship folder that has the v on it for volunteer on the back side it lists all of those first impressions and many many others you check that off put your name there take it out to one of the tables in the concourse and i believe you'll find someone there who will talk with you about those ministry elements and also will be a great opportunity for you to volunteer and do what god would have all of us do and that serve him here in the life of our church if you'd like to find out more the card will get that process started it's time for us to dedicate the tithes and offerings here and what a joy it is to be in god's house today the last couple of days i've been communicating with ministry friends in ukraine and they're struggling because of the impending crisis there and we have the privilege of walking in here with very few real cares to worship god and to praise his holy name what a privilege that is so as you give your tithes and offerings and by the way they can watch our service there if they can't make it to church your tithes and offerings here are touching lives around the world so let's take time to dedicate those you may have already given you may have mailed it in you may drop them off as you exit in the boxes there but let's pray and thank god for his blessings in our life if you'll lower the kneelers in this main area we invite you to kneel as we dedicate our tithes and offerings to the lord lord we do pray with thanksgiving for the privilege of being here in your house we pray for those around the world who are struggling to do just that who are seeking hope many who are lost without christ thank you that from this place goes forth the strength the truth and the power of your word to those who need jesus thank you for the joy that we have of giving to be a part of your great work here in the life of this church and lord then also to be ambassadors for you serving you here in the church but also as we go through our daily lives serving in a way lord that brings joy to others and the hope of christ and brings pleasure to you as you see us as your servants thank you for this church thank you that we can dedicate our tithes and offerings because of the sacrifice that christ made for us and we pray all this in jesus name amen [Music] there was a holy hush all over as i walked into the room and i stood before him face to face i was gloriously made in you there was a great and awesome presence and the light as bright as day and as i bowed to kneel with the angels i heard the spirits all right [Applause] [Music] in the presence [Music] as we worship the messiah [Music] then i looked at those all around me with their hands uplifted high then the spirit laid his hands on me and i uplifted mine we were singing hallelujah praises to his name and as i allowed [Music] i heard [Music] [Applause] [Music] is [Music] worthy is [Music] [Music] holy [Music] [Music] [Applause] bye [Music] [Music] [Music] is [Music] [Applause] is [Applause] [Music] uh [Applause] we [Applause] thank you so much dr leo day and tremendous first dallas choir and orchestra for your music today we welcome those of you who've just joined us in our day one service along with the multitudes watching on the first dallas eye campus or on pathway to victory if you were asked to make a list of the most creative people in history your like list might include leonardo da vinci michelangelo beethoven thomas edison benjamin franklin perhaps steve jobs and bill gates but i imagine everybody's list would include walt disney walt disney was known for his creativity that he evidenced early in life his biographer tells the story of one time when he was in the fourth grade his teacher gave the class an assignment to draw a bowl of flowers that she had on her desk she walked around to check how each student was doing but she stopped cold at disney's desk she looked down and walt where there should have been a face of a flower there was a face of a human being he had drawn and he replaced the leaves with arms she scolded him for what he had done but it is as his biographer notes that didn't stop him for the rest of his life walt disney continued to draw things the way he saw them we might say walt disney colored outside the lines when i think about that i can't help but think about my own experience when i was in the first grade my teacher called my parents in for a conference she was very worried because i couldn't stay within the lines in my coloring and she thought it exhibited some mental deficiency on my part and she said to my parents you know robert is a sweet little boy but don't expect too much out of him coloring outside the lines just really isn't appreciated and yet coloring outside the lines creativity is necessary for success in every area of life including spreading the gospel of jesus christ today we're going to look at two churches that were willing to color outside the lines and because of that the gospel was able to expand quickly and you and i today two thousand years later are christians because of the creativity of these two churches if you have your bibles turn to acts chapter 11 as we look at a portrait of two different churches that we're willing to color outside the lines now these churches are evenly divided in acts chapter 11. in the first 18 verses the focus is on the church at jerusalem a church that was willing to color outside the lines of prejudice now remember what had happened last time in acts chapter 10. the apostle peter the leader of the church at jerusalem a jew himself was called by god to be the one who would preach the gospel to the first truly gentile convert and that was cornelius the roman centurion up to this point all the leaders in the christian church were jews just like peter and when it came to gentiles they believed that gentiles could be saved but to be saved they had to pass through first what one writer calls the vestibule of judaism in other words gentiles had to become jews first and then after they became jews perhaps they could become christians but cornelius was the first gentile who didn't pass through the vestibule of judaism he was saved directly could a gentile be saved apart from faith or from judaism the answer is a resounding yes but the jewish leaders in jerusalem weren't so quick to realize that look at verse 1 of acts chapter 11. now the apostles and the brethren who were throughout judea heard that the gentiles also had received the word of god peter was at caesarea by the sea when he witnessed her cornelius but ward quickly made it back to headquarters about what had happened and so verse 2 says when peter came back to jerusalem those who were circumcised that would be the jews took issue with him saying you went to uncircumcised men gentiles and you ate with them they knew what had happened with cornelius they knew peter had stayed a few days extra there and now he they could smell the bacon on his breath perhaps they realized he had been eating with these gentiles and they took him to the woodshed so to speak about his fellowship with gentiles how did peter respond to that criticism look at verse four but peter began speaking and explained to them in orderly sequence everything that had happened he explained the miracle how he had been on the rooftop of simon the tanner and received this vision of the sheep coming down with most clean and unclean visions and god's saying to him don't declare unclean what i now say is clean and then how he miraculously ended up at cornelius home and how he preached the gospel and cornelius received it and received the baptism with the holy spirit he related all of those things and verse 17 says he concluded by saying to these jewish leaders therefore if god gave to them the same gift as he gave to us also after believing in the lord jesus christ who was i that i could stand in god's way now let's give these jewish leaders credit how did they respond to that testimony of what peter said had happened verse 18 says when they heard this they quieted down and they glorified god saying god is granted to the gentiles repentance leading to life let's give these jewish leaders some credit they had been taught since they were children that gentiles non-jews they were like mongrel disease-ridden dogs that roamed the streets of jerusalem they were nothing they were inferior to god's superior people the jews they conveniently forgot what deuteronomy 7 says that god chose the jewish people not because of anything on their part not of any merit on their part but simply out of grace he chose them to be his representatives in the world and yet here these jews who had been trained to look down on the gentiles when they heard what god had done they admitted that they had been wrong they admitted that god was now saving gentiles just as he was saving jews they were willing to color outside the lines you know when i think about that admission of being wrong i think about our own church the first baptist church of dallas for too many years we like other churches in the south we were on the wrong side of the race issue now there wasn't any explicit prohibition that kept people of color from joining our church but there was an attitude that was wrong in our church just like in many churches and i will never forget i was 12 years old i was sitting up in the balcony of the old sanctuary it was the sunday in june of 1968 the sunday after robert kennedy had been assassinated and the race issue was boiling over in our country dr criswell stood up and he preached a special message entitled the church of the open door the church at philadelphia and in that sermon he admitted that the church had been wrong in its attitude about race and he closed the sermon by saying and this is without fanfare it is without dramatics it is just the plain simple and unadored announcement that the first baptist church in dallas is like the philadelphian church of the book of the revelation it is the church of the open door and on that day dr chris will announce the church is open to everyone and 54 years later that open door remains open it doesn't matter the size of your bank account or the color of your skin or any other thing if you are a believer in the lord jesus christ you are welcomed in the first baptist church of dallas we are the church of the open door now some of you may be thinking pastor why don't you keep talking about that you talked about it last week you're talking about it this week is this your attempt to be woke no i'm not trying to be woke but i am trying to be biblical and the fact is this point of the church being open to everyone and the conversion of the gentiles this is something that is mentioned three different times in this chapter acts chapter 10 and acts chapter 11. it's repeated three times first of all when it happened in acts 10 and peter received the vision that everyone is welcome into god's family then in acts 11 when peter told the story to cornelius and then when he tells it to the leaders in the church of jerusalem now when something is repeated three times in two chapters it means you'd better take notice of it this is an important part point this early church was willing to go beyond the boundaries of their own prejudice they were willing to color outside the lines now listen when we talk about coloring outside the lines when it comes to prejudice we need to be clear we're talking about coloring outside man-made artificial lines but we can never color outside the lines go beyond the boundaries that god has established god has put some boundaries in place that we need to stay within for example the definition of marriage we can't expand the definition of marriage god has restricted marriage it's a relationship between a man and a woman that is a god-ordained boundary we can't extend go beyond god's boundaries when it comes to gender genesis 1 27 says god is the one who made them male and female you can't go outside that boundary you can't go outside the boundary of the requirements for ministry now listen god calls women to ministry just as much as he calls men to ministry i think about the women on our staff shelly taylor pam brewer my own daughter julia they are just as called to ministry as i'm called to ministry god calls women to ministry but god has said the role of the senior pastor is reserved for men that is a god-ordained boundary we can't just color outside that line in an attempt to be open-minded and god has established a boundary when it comes to who can be saved we can't say it's prejudicial it is exclusivism to say only christians can be saved we believe anybody who believes in god can be saved no jesus has that boundary he said in john 14 6 i am the way the truth and the life no man comes to the father except by me when we talk about coloring outside the lines we're talking about artificial man-made lines not the lines that god has established the jerusalem church colored outside of the lines of prejudice now when we come to verse 19 we look at a second church the church at antioch that was willing to color outside the lines of tradition more than 20 years ago my mentor dr howard hendricks wrote a book entitled color outside the lines a revolutionary approach to creative leadership and in that book prof hendricks said ministry has never been more demanding or more determinative than it is today the christian community in the western world needs a larger core of leaders who model creativity in every aspect of service for the savior i couldn't agree more and what prof hendrix wrote 20 years ago is even more true today listen in this worldwide pandemic every organization whether it be a a business or a school or a church has been forced to either be creative or to die and i'm grateful that in our church we had a staff and we have members in leadership like you who are creative enough to color outside the lines and use technology to help us keep connected and keep reaching others with the gospel through this worldwide crisis that's coloring outside the lines now the early church didn't have access to technology but they were still willing to go beyond the lines of tradition to reach people let me show you four ways that the early church the church at antioch was creative first of all the church at antioch established the first gentile church look at verse 19. so then those who were scattered because of the persecution that occurred in connection with stephen made their way to phoenicia and cyprus and antioch remember that word scattered means to be planted god was scattering the church he used persecution to scatter the church so that it could be planted throughout the world and so people who left jerusalem because of stephen's murder they came to phoenicia cyprus and antioch antioch was the third largest city in the roman empire behind rome and behind alexandria and some people some christians came to antioch and yet they were still following that prejudice yeah they knew gentiles could become converts but they preferred to speak to the jews alone verse 20 but there were some of them some men of cyprus and cyrene who came to antioch and they began speaking to the greeks also preaching the lord jesus and the hand of the lord was with him and a large number of those who believed turned to the lord now this was revolutionary for these people who came to antioch to preach the gospel to greeks as well as jews why was that revolutionary think about how the gospel had spread first of all in acts 2 it starts with the jews preaching to the jews on the day of pentecost and then in acts 8 preaching to the half jews the samaritans and then in acts 10 or in acts 8 philip preaching to the ethiopian court official who was a proselyte a con convert to judaism and then in acts 10 preaching the gospel to cornelius somebody who wasn't a jew at all but he worshipped the god of israel he was a god-fearer and now when we come to acts 11 the gospel is being spread to people who know nothing about the god of israel they know nothing about judaism they are pagan idolaters and yet they come to faith in jesus christ who were these men who had the courage to go beyond the lines and actually preach to pagans the gospel of jesus christ who were they we have no idea it just says some of them they're unnamed to us but god knows who they are you know when i read that this week i thought about an interview more than 30 years ago i saw between diane sawyer from abc news and the late billy graham diane sawyer asked billy graham aren't you excited about the idea of going to heaven and all the rewards you're going to receive for all the converts you made and billy graham shocked her by his reply he said you know i don't think i'm going to receive that many rewards i've received my rewards here on earth with the recognition the fame i believe the people in heaven who are going to be rewarded are those the world has never heard of before i think that's true these unnamed people who had the vision to take the gospel beyond the lines of tradition and preach to the gentiles they were willing to establish the first gentile church secondly their creativity is seen in their willingness to expand their leadership team they expanded the leadership team in antioch now when the church at jerusalem heard about the explosive growth in antioch to their credit they didn't try to shut down that church they weren't jealous they said let's see what we can do to encourage those new believers in antioch look at verse 22. the news about them that is the christians at antioch reached the ears of the church at jerusalem and so they sent barnabas off to antioch remember barnabas good old barnabas the son of encouragement we met him in acts 4 when he gave that gift to the jerusalem church and everybody else was encouraged by it we saw him again in acts chapter 9 when he was the one willing to stick up for saul of tarsus and say his conversion was real we're going to see him in acts 13 when he's the one who goes with paul on the first missionary journey and so the leaders of jerusalem said this church needs some encouragement let's send barnabas look at verse 23 and when he arrived and witnessed the grace of god he rejoiced and began to encourage them that's what he did best he encouraged them he encouraged them all with resolute heart to remain true to the lord why was that his message to remain true to the lord he understood what we know today that those who hear the gospel and receive it with joy they're in great danger of falling away from the faith if they're not grounded in the faith it's just true when a baby christian or somebody who is interested in the gospel hears the gospel but they don't have that spiritual root system so to speak when trials come into their life they're easily discouraged and they fall away i don't understand how that works out with the security of the believer but i know jesus talked about it in luke chapter 8 verse 13 he talked about the seed that was spread on soil and different kinds of soil representing the human heart and in verse 13. he talks about seed the word of god that falls on fertile soil it begins to bloom but when the hot sun comes out the plant withers and dies because it doesn't have the roots underneath to derive the moisture that it needs now no i don't believe people lose their salvation but i believe there are people who are attracted to the gospel they start to embrace the gospel but because they're not spiritually mature they wither up and wither away we see that all the time at these mass evangelism crusades where you'll see all of these people who supposedly come to faith in christ and yet five years later they're back to their own way of living they never grow as a christian they wither away and die that's what he was talking about here barnabas began to encourage them with a resolute heart to remain true to the lord and what was the result the result was this church experienced unprecedented growth how do i know that look at verse 21 and the hand of the lord was with them and they underline this large number who believe turn to the lord then in verse 24 and here it is again considerable numbers we're turning to the lord verse 26 and for an entire year they met with the church and taught considerable numbers have you ever heard people say oh god doesn't care about numbers he just wants quality not quantity have you ever heard that that's baloney i mean obviously somebody was doing some counting here they said considerable numbers were coming to the lord the lord cares about numbers numbers represent people and this church was reaching a lot of people in fact so many that barnabas said i can't take care of all of these new christians myself i need some help so we have the first staff member employed in the history of the church the very first one barnabas said i need some help so who does he go and get to help him he thinks about old saul of tarsus paul we hadn't seen paul since acts chapter 9 after he was converted and the jews wanted to kill him remember his friends put him on a boat at caesarea and sent him back to tarsus his hometown where he preached for five years and now barnabas says we need some help so he goes to tarsus and he finds paul and he adds him to the church at idiot they were willing to expand their leadership team and what is it that they did when they got back to antioch how did they ground these new converts in the faith notice this the church at antioch thirdly taught god's word in the church verse 26 when he that is barnabas found paul he brought him to antioch and for an entire year they met with the church and taught considerable numbers now listen to me in acts 2 46 it says that although the church in its beginning days met at the temple perhaps out in the courtyard to sing a song or to pray primarily acts 2 46 says they went from house to house they were small enough to meet in the house the house the house to teach the word but by this time 10 12 years later that's where we are in our acts 11. the church had grown so much the church at antioch had grown so much they could not meet in a house any longer instead paul and barnabas met with the church that greek preposition with is the preposition e-n-n you know what n means in they met in the church we don't know where that was but it was a place large enough to contain all of them so that paul and barnabas could teach all of the church and what did they do when they gathered the church together what did they do together did they sign petitions to remove the emperor of rome did they organize themselves into service projects to meet the needs of their community of antioch did they sit around and talk about their personal struggles and weaknesses did they pray and sing well they certainly did pray and sing but that's not even mentioned here what did they do they taught the word of god they knew the only way for these new christians to survive in a moral and spiritual cesspool like the city of antioch was for them to be grounded in the word of god that was their primary job to be taught and to teach the word of god to these new believers they taught considerable numbers and by the way two thousand years later the mission remains the same the way we make disciples is by teaching people the word of god that is our primary method for disciplining people this week i was reading an article by a theologian that i rarely agree with but he was right he was dead on right about this he was trying to answer the question why is it so many professing christians today are falling away from the faith refusing to identify as christians any longer why is it they are embracing ungodly ideas like transgenderism and homosexuality and universal salvation and all of these sorts of things why are they doing that and he said it's because the church is failing to do its primary duty and that is to teach the word of god he went on to say the average so-called christian attends church maybe once or twice a month he goes for 60 minutes half of the time is spent with announcements and music not that there's anything wrong with music we love our music it's a great tool for worship but half of the service is music and announcements and video presentations and maybe 20 minutes there's a message some positive thinking mumbo-jumbo but never the solid teaching of god's word and we wonder why people are falling away from the faith the early church understood the importance of teaching that's why teaching is such a primary importance here at first baptist dallas teaching god's word in our worship service in our sunday school and discipleship university people want to criticize oh you're too presentational you need to have more sharing sharing is important but teaching is the most important thing that we do in the church and by the way notice where the teaching happened they taught them in the church in the church now may i take a moment and share from my heart with you a very real concern i have the effects of this pandemic for the last two years have been devastating the hundreds of thousands of deaths we've seen in our country the deaths we've seen in our own church the economic turmoil the fear it's exacted a heavy toll on our world and on our church but there's a spiritual price that we've paid as well there's a spiritual toll this pandemic has taken on us as christians now i am grateful that over these last two years we've had the internet our eye campus and we continue to reach hundreds of thousands of people every week with that and i'm grateful for that but i'm afraid we've given the idea to people that somehow worshiping on television or worshiping on your computer is the same thing as being in church it's not it is no substitute for being in god's house now i realize some people have needed to stay home because of real health concerns or a desire to keep other people well that is all legitimate and well but understand that is no substitute for being in the church now some people will argue that they will say oh well i don't have to be in church i can read my bible i can pray i can grow spiritually on my own maybe you can but you won't and you don't and that's what the latest statistics have shown pew research had a poll recently in which they said christians are praying less they are reading their bible less they are even identifying as christians less now than ever before in history why is that doesn't take a rocket scientist to understand that many people have been separated from their churches they've been isolated christianity is a team sport we need to be together to encourage one another and if we're not together we eventually fall away the writer of hebrews talked about that in hebrews chapter 10 verses 24 and 25 he said let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds not forsaking our own assembling together as is the habit of some but encouraging one another all the more as you see the day drawing near you know we are like pieces of charcoal in a fireplace that is burning that charcoal as long as it's in the fireplace burns bright orange but if you take a single piece of charcoal out of the fireplace and place it on the side it quickly turns to a cold steely gray and the only way to reignite that piece of charcoal is to put it back into the fireplace where it begins to glow bright orange again we're the same way as christians remove us from the fireplace the church and we can get cold very very quickly we need the encouragement that comes from one another notice what the writer of hebrews said don't forsake the assembling together of yourselves as has become the habit of some again we're in the throes of this omicron virus right now many of our church members have it and if you're home because of it thank you for staying home for this temporary period of time but the time is coming soon we're going to be beyond that and i'm afraid some of our members some christians have developed the bad habit of staying at home of worshiping god in their pajamas because it's convenient it's easy it's no substitute for being in church very soon is coming the time when we can all come back to church and we need to be in church in fact this is such a concern for me that i talked to the staff this week and we were talking about this and we said we've all gotten into some bad habits during this pandemic maybe we have forgotten some of the spiritual disciplines so we have established what we're calling spring training eight weeks to spiritual fitness and starting april 3rd through may 22nd we're going to have eight weeks of relearning some of the disciplines of the christian life so we can become fit and spiritually healthy again we're gonna have some creative ways to help you get back into the word maybe if your prayer life has slacked off how to get back into prayer and some other things that will increase our spiritual health but that's what this early church did they taught the word of god and what was their purpose in teaching the word of god not to make smarter sinners look at verse 12 of ephesians 4 we read it this morning the purpose of the church is to equip the saints for the work of service to the building up of the body of christ until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the son of god to a mature man to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of christ listen to me clearly the mission of the church is to make disciples the method for making disciples is training people in the word of god but the measure of being a disciple is are you becoming like jesus christ are you measuring up to the stature of jesus christ are you becoming more like christ in your attitudes your affections and your actions that's the measure of discipleship and apparently these early christians at antioch the result of hearing the word of god was they were becoming more like christ how do i know that look at the fourth way they colored outside the line of tradition the church at antioch is called by a new name verse 26 and these disciples were first called christians into antioch that word christians comes from two greek words christos which means messiah and iannos which means the member of a sect or a party who was it that called these believers at antioch christians it wasn't the christians themselves did you know never in the new testament do christians refer to other people as christians it wasn't what they called themselves it's what the pagan idolaters in the city of antioch called them those members of the church at antioch oh they are christians they are jesus people as we used to say they're jesus freaks that was meant as a pejorative term but there's no higher compliment than to be known as a jesus person when they looked at their behavior they listened to their conversation they said they're just trying to become like jesus you know we used to ask the question years ago if you were arrested for being a christian would there be enough evidence to convict you for the christians at antioch there was they were known as christians for the first time in antioch in his commentary on the book of acts dr criswell tells a true story from history about alexander the great who conquered the world at the age of 23. one day word came to alexander that there was a sour a soldier in his army who was a notorious coward and the soldier's name was also alexander he had been named by his parents in honor of the great conqueror so the general alexander the great demanded to see the soldier they brought the soldier before alexander and the great general said is it true that your name is alexander and that you were named for me the trembling soldier said yes sir it is then the conqueror said to him then either act like a brave soldier or change your name in this increasingly dark world it's imperative that we who call ourselves christians jesus people either act like his followers or we change our name let's bow together in a word of prayer maybe i'm speaking to some of you who are watching either on television or the internet or you're here in our worship center and day one you're already a christian but perhaps you've gotten off course these last two years maybe your focus has been on other things and you're ready to get back to living your life for jesus christ if so remember it is never too late to start doing the right thing maybe there's some specific things you know you can do right now to become more like jesus in your life but there are others of you right now who are watching or listening perhaps you've never received the forgiveness that's available to you through christ jesus methods change but the gospel never changes it hasn't changed in 2000 years the gospel message is we've all sinned we all deserve god's punishment but god has offered us one way of escape and that is by trusting in jesus for the forgiveness of our sins today if you would like to receive that free gift of salvation i want to invite you wherever you are to pray this simple prayer with me to god knowing that god is listening to you right now would you pray this with me dear god thank you for loving me i know that i have failed you in many ways and i'm truly sorry for the sins in my life but i believe what i've heard today that you love me so much you sent your son jesus to die on the cross for me to take the punishment i deserve to take for my sins and right now i'm trusting in what jesus did for me not in my good works but in what jesus did for me to save me from my sins thank you for forgiving me and help me to live the rest of my life for you in jesus name amen now if you're watching online and you prayed that prayer with me i want you to go to the top of your screen click on that link that says i prayed the prayer to trust in christ and as soon as you do that i'll be notified of your decision and i have some free material to send you this week about what it means to live your life as a christian don't wait a moment longer go to the top of the screen click on that link now for those of you in day one or here in our worship center let me encourage you to take out your card and there's a place the third box for you to indicate if you prayed that prayer if you'll check that box i'll send that material to you this week as well maybe you're a guest today check that first box perhaps you want more information about our church you can indicate that as well maybe you would like to join first baptist dallas and these days we're making it simple to join our church all you have to do is check that box if you want to be a part of a church that teaches the word of god a church where you can grow in your spiritual life we invite you to join just by checking that box now if you do check that box to join or you'd like to have more information about our church you'll automatically be invited to our dinner with the pastor a week from this thursday night in maggiano's at north park we'll have a great complimentary dinner together and i'll be there to answer your questions about first baptist dallas so if you check the box you're a guest today if you check the box you'd like to join our church today we'll be in contact with you this week about that dinner now once you finish the card if you'll drop it off at the welcome center or just simply drop the card off in a box we'll get to you our new pathway to victory 528 page daily devotional is our way of saying thanks for coming thank you for being here today and don't forget discipleship university tonight at 5 30. one more opportunity for you to grow in your faith in jesus christ now let's stand together as tyler comes to lead us in our final song thank you pastor let's worship together singing his praise this is my story this is my story this is my song [Music] this is [Music] [Applause] [Music] god bless you church well thank you so much for joining us for worship today on the first dallas i campus it's our honor and privilege to worship chat and pray with you throughout the service if you are local to dfw let me encourage you to come on down we'd love to have you visit us in person we'd love to greet you and show you a great spot in the worship center for you to sit it would be our honor to worship with you in person in the heart of downtown dallas right here at first baptist dallas also if you are new here to the eye campus or have been watching for a while and want to get plugged in let me encourage you to sign up for a free gift we'd love to provide that to you directly in your inbox and then sign you up for pastors daily devotional it's straight from the pen of dr jeffress and you will be encouraged with that great resource each and every day simply visit the link that's provided on your screen and lastly stay connected with us each and every day with our facebook global group there we encourage one another through scripture and graphics but also pray for one another so head on over to facebook and join our icampus global facebook group thank you again for joining us today for worship we look forward to seeing you next week on the first dallas i campus hi i'm robert jeffress pastor of first baptist church in dallas we are so excited to have you join us on the i campus today for a time of inspiring worship and biblical teaching you are part of a vast online community gathered from all over the world we consider you a part of our first baptist church family and we hope you feel a part of what god is doing in and through first baptist dallas no matter where you are we hope and pray that this is a time you will grow in your relationship with god and others as we worship our savior together welcome to worship [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] well good morning and welcome to worship today here at first baptist dallas it's so great to see you we welcome guests and high campus viewers joining us across the world let's stand together we sing to our everlasting god and he reigns in this place today lift your voice straightforward upon the lord we will wait upon the lord strength will rise as we wait upon the lord wait upon the lord we will wait upon the lord our god foreign [Music] [Applause] god [Music] will be [Music] [Music] wait upon the lord we will wait upon the lord [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] is [Music] thank you [Music] me together [Music] me [Music] you are [Applause] [Applause] god thank you [Music] [Music] me [Applause] [Music] oh praise the lord this morning he's our everlasting god the same yesterday today and forever come on let's sing the splendor of the kings [Music] [Applause] let all the earth rejoice all the earth rejoice [Music] he rises [Music] and darkness tries to hide and trembles at his voice trembles is [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] is [Music] [Music] father spirits [Music] foreign [Applause] [Music] [Music] is [Music] is [Music] is [Music] oh [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] how [Music] with me [Music] is [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] oh praise the lord how great is our god you may be seated it is so good to worship the lord together with god's people this morning here at first baptist dallas it's great to see you we also welcome our guests joining us in the room today as well as on our icampus and guests we have a very special gift for you today it's our pastor's brand new 528 page leather leather-bound pathway to victory daily devotional for your new year and guest as you came in this morning you received a worship guide you'll find and close this welcome card please take the time to fill this out keep the card with you at the end of the service you can take it outside these main worship center doors right there you're going to find our welcome center our staff is waiting there for you to exchange your completed card for your gift today and answer any questions you might have about your visit today and about our church we look forward to meeting you now if you can't make it to the welcome center we have some orange boxes on your way out you can just simply slip the card in one of those boxes and we'll mail you a copy of your devotional and guest joining us on icampus just follow that link you'll see provided on your screen to access your gift as well again welcome each of you to worship at first baptist dallas today there's so many exciting events taking place here in the life of our church so let's all take a look together now at the screen [Music] good morning we're excited to share with you a few upcoming events join us for a relaxing dinner theater style evening of pure entertainment for around the piano on friday january 28th this event is a fun evening for everyone of all ages to enjoy a selection of inspiring music if you are a guest with us this morning we would like to invite you to join us for our next dinner with the pastor at maggiano's on thursday february 3rd you will enjoy a first class meal and great conversations registration is required all of our members are encouraged to attend reach sunday on sunday february 6th or 13th we will be encouraged motivated and equipped by the good news of the gospel as well as hear powerful testimonies and enjoy some great food ladies we are excited to host our heartstrong faith conference on february 25th and 26th invite your friends to join us for a weekend of fellowship and hear from an incredible lineup of speakers including julia jeffrey sadler nika spalding rebecca carroll liz rodriguez laura storey and sheila walsh finally it's good to gather together in worship we encourage everyone to help maintain a healthy environment by using our hand sanitizer stations practicing social distancing when appropriate and wearing your mask if not vaccinated for more information on everything happening at our church visit firstdallas.org events so good to see so many of you here today worshiping the lord in our service our scripture reading today is found in ephesians chapter 4 verses 11 through 13. it'll be a passage that the pastor will get to in his message in just a little bit here in the service we're going to be reading from the new american standard bible and so those words will be on our screen in the worship center and for eye campus as well so that we can all read god's word together and i invite you to stand with us to honor the reading of his word again it is ephesians chapter 4 beginning with verse 11 and then we'll end with verse 13. and he gave some as apostles and some as prophets and some as evangelists and some as pastors and teachers for the equipping of the saints for the work of service to the building up of the body of christ until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the son of god to a mature man to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of christ may god richly bless our reading of his word keep saying as we continue our worship time together [Music] church we are here to lift up that mighty name of jesus and dr leo day is in the house with us this morning let's welcome him as he leads us in worship let's sing together church there is power in the name of jesus [Music] there is power in the name of jesus there is power in the name of jesus to break every chain break everything break everything [Music] [Applause] break everything [Music] is [Music] there's an army it's rising in earth is [Music] [Music] to break everything [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] from [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] oh boys [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] ah [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] is [Music] [Applause] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] well praise the lord god is good you may be seated and let's turn our attention to the screen one of the most endearing hallmarks of first baptist dallas is the warmth and friendliness of our church as guests arrive on sunday mornings it can feel a little overwhelming for some our first impressions teams are ready each week to greet our guests and to make their sunday experience memorable our goal from parking to pew is to remove all anxieties a guest may experience from street to seat guests are greeted and welcomed engaged and guided and suddenly a large church begins to feel small when god brings new people to our church he does so for the purpose of connecting them with himself and others first impressions helps people connect at first baptist dallas currently we need to strengthen our first impressions ministry by adding 80 new volunteers parking teams campus greeters welcome center hosts ushers and day one hosts are all needed as the lord continues to draw new people to our church we need to be ready to help them connect well i know those who serve in first impressions get more out of serving than those we serve recently one of our campus greeters told me john you know i have the best job in the church each sunday morning i get to be a door keeper at the house of the lord and welcome people to worship i want to invite you to join our first impressions ministry it's easy it's fun and you can have a huge impact in the lives of others christ is calling you to serve will you answer the call your first baptist we believe that god has called all of us to serve in the life of the church and if you don't have a place where you think you might serve john bernard had a pretty good suggestion the first impressions people so many have heard or walked in we've heard people say this is the friendliest place i've ever been or i've i've been welcomed so much i feel right at home that's a job of first impressions and they do a terrific job but that's not the only opportunity in your worship folder is a card that has that big v on it and on the back side are listed many many many different opportunities for you to serve including first impressions you can fill out the information contact information on the card turn that in at the tables at the back and if you want to visit with some of the folks about those ministry opportunities that will be a huge blessing god i believe will use it in your life as well as in the life of our church you know it's a joy to be in god's house today but there are people all over the world who are struggling because of the current situation whether it's covet or conflict i've been in touch with people in ukraine our ministry friends just the last two days even today because of the potential conflict there and yet we are able to walk into this place by god's grace and in relative ease worship praise the lord and hear god's message i'm so grateful for our ministry that sends our message all over the world to those who cannot get out and i'm thankful for a church that stands so true on god's word we come to a time of dedicating our tithes and offering it's only because of your graciousness and giving through this church that we're able to do all these things have a worldwide impact and an impact right here so thank you for your gifts we want to dedicate those you have maybe already given you've already sent it in you've done on online giving or you can drop off your contributions and the offering receptacles as you exit but we certainly want to dedicate these tithes and offerings to the lord so on the main level are kneelers if you'll lower those and as you're able to kneel let's bow before the lord heavenly father we do give great thanks for the privilege of being in this place to see these who love you come to worship you thank you for the opportunity to share the hope that we have we have sung our hope our strong deliverer and lord may your word go forth from this place in such a powerful way that hearts and lives will be delivered no matter what the circumstances surrounding them then lord as we give our tithes and offerings let us not forget that we are ambassadors for christ so that we give of ourselves in our daily walk looking for that opportunity to share that hope with those who are hopeless and destined for hell without christ thank you for our pastor for the church for the strong powerful messages of truth that emanate from this place we lift them up to you and we dedicate our tithes and offerings in thanksgiving for what christ did for us on the cross and all this we pray in the name of jesus our savior amen [Music] there was a holy hush all over as i walked into the room and i stood before him face to face i was gloriously made new there was a great and awesome presence and the light as bright as day and as i bowed to kneel with the angels i heard the spirits say all right [Music] to stand before the throne in the presence [Music] as we worship the messiah [Applause] [Music] and i looked at those all around me with her hands of a lifted high then the spirit laid his hands on me and i uplifted mine we were singing hallelujah praise this to his name and as i vowed [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] messiah is [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] i [Music] ah [Music] [Music] oh [Music] in the presence [Music] [Music] [Applause] right we [Applause] thank you so much dr leo day and fabulous first dallas choir and orchestra for your music today we're so blessed by you every week we welcome the multitude of you who've joined us on our first dallas eye campus and on pathway to victory thank you for joining us today for worship if i ask you to make a list of the most creative people in history i imagine some of you would write down michelangelo or leonardo da vinci perhaps beethoven thomas edison henry ford perhaps even bill gates steve jobs in today's culture but no list of creativity would be complete without the name walt disney walt disney was a creative genius in fact his genius his biographer said emerged at an early age the biographer tells the story of walt disney being in the fourth grade and his teacher gave an assignment to the class to draw a little bouquet of flowers that she had sitting on her desk and she made the rounds to check each children a child's progress and she stopped cold at walt's desk he looked down and noticed that he had replaced the bloom of the flower with human faces and where there should have been leaves there should have he put arms instead she chastised him but his biographer says nevertheless walt disney continued to draw things the way he saw them we might say walt disney learned how to color outside the lines i can't help but compare disney's experience to my own when i was in the first grade my teacher was very distressed about my inability to color within the lines she called my parents in for a conference certain that i had some kind of mental deficiency and she said to my parents robert is a sweet little boy but don't expect too much out of him coloring outside the lines is not always appreciated but learning to be creative to color out the signs is necessary for success in every area of life including sharing the gospel of jesus christ today we're going to look at a portrait of two different churches that were willing to color outside the lines and yet it was because of their creativity that the gospel expanded as quickly as it did in fact in a very real sense you and i are christians today because of the creativity of these two churches if you have your bibles turn to acts chapter 11 acts chapter 11. now remember what happened in chapter 10 we saw how god used peter a jew the leader of the church at jerusalem to reach the true first gentile convert a roman soldier named cornelius you know it's not that the jews didn't believe gentiles could be saved that was understood but they believed as one writer said that a gentile had to first of all pass through the vestibule of judaism before he could be saved in other words gentiles had to become jews and then once they were jews they could be saved but what about a gentile who wasn't a jew could he be saved the story of peter and cornelius answers that question with a resounding yes but not everybody was convinced when they first heard that news look at chapter 11 verse 1 we see that the church at jerusalem was eventually willing to color outside the lines of prejudice and let's see how that happened verse one now the apostles and the brethren who were throughout judea heard that the gentiles had received the word of god words spread like wildfire from caesarea by the sea about cornelius being converted in what peter had done it had traveled back to jerusalem and the jews there weren't exactly thrilled about it why look at verses two and three it went outside what they believed was proper and when peter finally returned to jerusalem those who were circumcised that is the jews took issue with him saying you went to uncircumcised men gentiles and you ate with them they had not only heard how peter shared the gospel with them but he stayed with cornelius in the family for a couple of days which means he ate with them that was forbidden and these jews could still smell the bacon breath that peter had probably when he got back to jerusalem they said something is wrong with this so how did peter respond to their criticism look at verse 4 but peter began speaking and proceeded to explain to them in orderly sequence all that happened he spoke calmly he said let me tell you the story i was on the top of simon the tanner's house when this vision came to me of the sheep coming down with clean and unclean animals and god said to me don't any longer declare unclean what is clean and i was thinking about what that meant when suddenly i was dispatched to caesarea to preach the gospel to cornelius and he and his family not only believe but they received the baptism with the holy spirit verse 17. therefore peter said to these jewish leaders if god gave to them the same gift as he gave to us also after believing in the lord jesus christ who was i that could stand in god's way it's a great verse who are we to stand in god's way of what god is doing now let's give these jewish leaders some credit even though they had been trained since early childhood that gentiles were nothing more than mongrel disease-ridden dogs roaming up and down the streets of jerusalem even though they had been taught that when they heard what peter testified they had a change of heart they changed their mind verse 18. when they heard this they quieted down and glorified god saying god has granted to the gentiles repentance leading to life they were willing to admit they were wrong now they would struggle as we'll see later in our study of acts they'd struggle for years with what role judaism should have in the life of the church should they keep the sacrifices should they keep the jewish law that was a continuing debate but they changed their mind about gentiles complete gentiles who had no connection to judaism coming to faith in jesus christ they were coloring outside the line of their man-made prejudice you know when i read this story i think about our own church i mean if we're going to be honest and we need to be honest about our history our church like so many churches in the south was on the wrong side of the race issue for far too long and there wasn't any explicit direction that people of certain races couldn't join our church but our attitude was wrong about it and then on a sunday in june of 1968 it was the sunday after robert kennedy had been assassinated when the race issue was boiling over in our country i never will forget i was 12 years old seated in the balcony of the historic sanctuary when dr crystal spoke a special message that day called the church of the open door and he admitted our church had failed to address this important issue and he said in this sermon and so i say this without fanfare it's without dramatics it's just simply the plain simple unadored announcement that the first baptist church in dallas is like the philadelphian church of the book of the revelation we are the church of the open door and what is true 54 years ago continues to be true today it doesn't matter the size of your bank account or the color of your skin or the degrees you have or don't have if you're a believer in the lord jesus christ you are welcome at the first baptist church in dallas we continue to be the church of the open door now some of you may be saying pastor you talked about that last week and you're saying that this week why do you keep harping on this is this your attempt to be woke no i'm not trying to be woke but i am trying to be biblical and i want you to notice that this story about gentiles being saved the gospel extending beyond racial boundaries is repeated three times in acts 10 and 11. first when it happens to peter in acts 10 he receives the vision then when he goes and relates that vision to cornelius and then in chapter 11 he tells it a third time to the church in jerusalem when you find something repeated three times in the bible and two chapters it's god's wake-up call you better take notice of what god is saying in doing this church was willing to color outside the lines of its prejudice now i need to be real clear here when we talk about coloring outside the lines of prejudice we're talking about man-made lines not god's lines god has established some boundaries as well and we have no right to go beyond god's ordained boundaries for example god has given a boundary when it comes to marriage he says marriage is between a man and a woman we cannot extend that boundary to include whatever we want to as our own definition of marriage god has boundaries lines when it comes to gender genesis 1 27 says god made them male and female not male female in question mark we don't assign gender god makes us that way male or female when it comes to ministry we need to recognize get rid of man-made lines of prejudice god calls women just as much as he calls men to ministry god called june hunt to ministry god called pam brewer and shelley taylor and my daughter julia they are just as called of god as i am as the pastor of this church but there's one restriction women can't serve as senior pastors of the church god in his design said a man is to be the pastor of the church we can't go beyond that boundary and we certainly can't go beyond the boundary of what god says about salvation we can't erase the line and say anybody is saved who believes in god no jesus said in john 14 6 i am the way the truth and the life no man comes to the father but by me no we have to stay within the god-given boundaries but we need to move beyond man-made boundaries and the church at jerusalem was willing to do that and that's why god blessed the church now when we come to verse 19 we look at another church the church at antioch that was willing to color outside the lines of tradition to reach people with the gospel my late mentor dr howard hendricks wrote a book more than 20 years ago called color outside the lines the subtitle is a revolutionary approach to creative leadership and in that book prof hendricks said ministry has never been more demanding or more determinative than it is today the christian community in the western world needs a larger core of leaders who model creativity in every aspect of service for the savior i couldn't agree more and if that was true 20 years ago that ministry is demanding it's much more demanding even today this worldwide pandemic we've been under for the last two years has forced businesses organizations and yes churches to either be creative or to die unfortunately this church is embraced because of a gifted staff and committed members like you was able to embrace technology and continue to reach people hundreds of thousands millions of people every week with the gospel of jesus christ who were not able to come to church now the early church didn't have technology but they were still very creative and i want to show you four ways the church at antioch colored beyond the boundaries of tradition that are encapsulated in that saying we've never done it that way before this church was willing to go beyond that first of all notice in verses 19 to 21 they were willing to establish the first gentile church the first gentile church look at verse 19. so then those who were scattered because of the persecution that arose in connection with stephen remember when stephen was martyred the church scattered but that greek word scattered means planted god used persecution to scatter the church so it could be planted throughout the world some people went to phoenicia and cyprus and to antioch antioch was the third largest city in the roman empire right behind rome and alexandria it was an idolatrous city a pagan city some of these jewish christians went to antioch but notice speaking the word to no one except to jews alone they were still bound up a little bit in their prejudice it's not that they didn't believe gentiles could be saved but they didn't want to have any part of it and so they just spoke to their fellow jews but this is in key word verse 20 but there were some of them men of cyprus and cyrene who came to antioch and they began speaking to the greeks also preaching the lord jesus christ now think about how the gospel was expanding first in acts 2 on the day of pentecost 12 years before this on the day of pentecost peter preached the message to jews and jews were saved and then you have an acts 8 half jew samaritans being saved and then later in acts 8 you have the ethiopian court official who was a gentile but he had proselyted to judaism he was a gentile or a gentile convert to judaism he was saved then you come to acts chapter 10 you've got a gentile cornelius who worshipped the god of israel being saved and now you have complete pagan idolaters who know nothing about the god of israel now they are being saved that's what jesus had in mind you shall be my witnesses in judea samaria jerusalem and to the uttermost parts of the earth the gospel was expanding verse 21 and the hand of the lord was with them and a large number were being turned to the lord who were these men who were willing to but tradition and start a gentile church what were their names we're not told luke doesn't tell us the names of these people we don't know their name but god knows their names you know when i read this this week i couldn't help but remember 25 years ago an interview diane sawyer from abc news had with the late billy graham and she asked dr graham aren't you excited about going to heaven with all the rewards you're going to receive for all the converts you've made to christianity and billy graham shocked her when he said i don't think i'm going to receive many of any rewards in heaven she said why do you say that he said i've received all my rewards here on earth the fame the recognition i believe the people who receive rewards in heaven are going to be those people the world has never heard of but were faithful in their service to jesus christ i think that's true about these two men we don't know but god knows their name and notice how god blessed their church it grew in numbers in fact in such numbers that secondly the church had to expand its leadership team now notice when the church at jerusalem heard about this explosive growth to their credit they didn't try to shut it down they didn't say oh this church is growing too quickly it's a threat to us no what did they do look at verse 22 the news about antioch reached the ears of the church at jerusalem and so they sent barnabas off to antioch good old barnabas we see him again the son of encouragement remember we met him in acts 4 when he gave that gift to the church and encouraged the church then we saw him in acts 9 when nobody wanted to have anything to do with the new christian named saul of tarsus nobody believed it was legitimate except barnabas and he stood up for him it'll be barnabas who goes out on the first missionary journey with paul in acts 13 and when the church said we need somebody to go encourage these new christians they send barnabas and so what did he do look at verse 23 when he arrived and witnessed the grace of god he rejoiced and he began to encourage them that's what he did he encouraged people he encouraged them all with resolute heart to remain true to the lord his message to these new converts was to remain true to the lord why was that his message because he understood something that is still true today when a christian is a baby christian they're in great danger of falling away from the faith because they haven't developed the maturity they need to stay strong jesus talked about that in luke chapter 8 verse 13. remember he talked about seed the word of god that is planted in fertile soil and it begins to grow but when the hot sun comes out it withers away and dies because it hasn't established that root system necessary to get the moisture that it needs from the ground he said that's why it's so important that we encourage and nurture new christians so that they don't dry up and get discouraged because of problems they face that's what he did he began to encourage them with a resolute heart in fact he had so many of these people that he couldn't handle it all on his own the church was growing exponentially how do i know that look at verse 21 the hand of the lord was with them and uh underline it large number were being saved they turned to the lord verse 24 and considerable numbers were brought to the lord verse 26 and for an entire year they met with the church and taught considerable numbers three times in three verses the word numbers large numbers is used have you ever heard people say well god doesn't care about numbers our church may be dying but that's okay god cares more about quality than he does about quantity somebody here was doing some counting they know large numbers were coming the god does care about numbers because numbers represent people some people are trying to be more spiritual than god is god cares about numbers but they want something done with those numbers so what did they do well they started to teach them and so barnabas realized he could not handle this on his own so he went out and here he is coloring outside the lines of tradition he goes to hire the first church staff member in history he needs somebody to assist him in the work and who does he go after he remembers that guy named saul paul remember the last time we saw paul was five years earlier in acts chapter nine he had been in jerusalem they were plotting to kill him so his friends put him on that ship at caesarea and sending back home to tarsus where he has been ministering for the last five years but when barnabas needs somebody to work with him he leaves antioch and he goes to tarsus and he finds the apostle paul to assist him in the ministry and that leads to the third way they colored outside the lines the church at antioch taught god's word in the church now this is key look at verse 26 when barnabas found paul he brought him to antioch and for an entire year they met with the church and taught considerable numbers in acts 2 46 which was 12 years before this after the day of pentecost the bible says the christians had some kind of meeting at the temple we don't know what they did they gathered at the temple perhaps in the courtyard to sing and to pray but mainly acts 2 46 says they went from house to house teaching the word and strengthening believers but now that changes now when we're in antioch the bible says that they met with the church that greek preposition with is e-n in the church you know what n means in the church they were not meeting in homes exclusively the numbers had outgrown that they met in one place we have no idea where it was but it was in one place large enough to accommodate the considerable numbers that were coming to the lord and barnabas and paul taught them the word of god when they got together as a church what did they do now listen to this when they came together as a church they didn't sign petitions to remove the roman emperor that's not what they did they did not organize themselves into service projects to meet the need of their community of antioch no they met together to hear the word of god taught barnabas paul understood that the only way these new christians were going to survive in a moral spiritual cesspool like antioch was to be taught the word of god and that is true two thousand years later today i read this week an article by a theologian i rarely agree with but he was right on target with this he asked the question why is it countless christians are embracing ungodly unbiblical teachings like transgenderism or abortion or same-sex marriage or universal salvation why are christians now falling away from even being identified as christians how do you explain the apostasy he said we as the church have failed to teach our people god's word we're doing everything in the church except teaching god's word he went on to say the average christian comes to church maybe once or twice a month he comes for a 60-minute sermon half of it is announcements and music and it's followed by 25 minutes of a feel-good sermon and we wonder why people are falling away from the faith they're not being grounded in they're not being taught the word of god and look we do a lot of things at first baptist dallas but our central method for making disciples is by preaching the word every sunday in this pulpit and teaching god's word in sunday school and in our du you can't get enough of god's word to withstand the onslaught of attack we're facing in today's culture that is our method and we're not going to apologize for it we are teaching the word of god and may i point out to you where this happened they taught god's word in the church in the church may i share something with you that is a deep concern to me as your pastor look this pandemic has taken a very real toll on our country and on many of you personally the deaths from cobit are real not imaginary the deaths in our church from covet are real not imaginary there's been economic turmoil people are more anxious and fearful today than ever before i don't deny the reality of kovid makovit has taken a spiritual toll on us as well that we need to address this isolation this being disconnected from other christians it is exactly a spiritual toll and yes i'm grateful for our eye campus i'm grateful for pathway to victory we're glad you're worshiping with us because i realize there's some of you worshipping who can't be in a church and we're glad to be your online church and to be able to minister to you but let's be clear watching online is no substitute for being in church it is no substitute for it whatsoever again there are legitimate reasons some people can't come but the fact is a lot of people have developed a bad habit of just not coming they find it more convenient after two years of staying in their pajamas and watching on the internet and they say things like well i don't have to be in church to grow in my relationship with god i can read my bible on my own i can pray on my own well you can but you don't and you won't not on a consistent basis how can i say such a thing the studies are out pew research poll came up recently a few weeks ago with a poll that says americans are praying less they're reading their bible less or even identifying less as christians than ever before why is that it's not rocket science when you separate people from a body of believers they become discouraged they become lazy they fall into bad habits it just happens that's the way it is christianity is a team sport it was never meant to be practiced in isolation we need the encouragement that comes from one another isn't that what the writer of hebrews said in hebrews 10 verses 24 to 25 let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds not forsaking our own assembling together as is the habit of some but encouraging one another and all the more as you see the day drawing near see not coming to church becomes a habit even back in the first century we're like pieces of charcoal in a burning fireplace that charcoal burns a bright orange as long as it's in the fireplace but if you take out that piece of burning charcoal and set it outside the fireplace on its own very quickly it turns to a steel cold gray color and the only way to ignite that piece of charcoal again is to put it back in the fire we're like that when we're separated from other believers we tend to grow very cold very quickly in our faith we need the heat if you will the encouragement the stimulation that comes from other christians now listen to me i realize we're in the middle of this omicron variant right now it's real and those of you who are home because you have it thank you for staying home really you're doing the right thing the responsible thing but this thing's going to be over soon we're going to be past this soon and when we get through this it's time to be back in the fireplace to be back in church all of us back in church the church needs you and you need the church in fact i've been thinking about this so much i was talking to the staff this week we were having a discussion about this and we came up with an idea you know how baseball teams have spring training well we're going to have a spring training program here in our church we're going to call it eight weeks to spiritual fitness and when we can all be back say starting the first week in april from april 3rd to may 22nd we're going to have eight weeks to spiritual fitness and we're going to talk about some specific ways and give you some specific weeks ways that for eight weeks you can redevelop some spiritual disciplines like reading god's word and praying and doing those things that make you spiritually healthy we're going to do it together as a team as a church so that we can get spiritually healthy again that's god's plan god's plan is for us to grow strong through the teaching of god's word and how do we know if we're growing strong god didn't give us his word to make us smarter sinners he gave us his word to become more like jesus christ that's what paul said in ephesians 4 verses 12 and 13 what is the purpose of the church for the equipping of the saints for the work of service to the building up of the body of christ until we all attain to the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the son of god here it is to a mature man what does that mean to be a mature person to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of christ don't miss this the mission of the church the mission of first baptist church is to what make disciples the method for fulfilling that mission is teaching people the word of god but the measure of whether we're successful is how closely we resemble jesus christ in our attitudes our actions our affections and by that standard the church at antioch was a raging success how do i know that look at the fourth way they colored outside the lines of tradition verse 26 ends with this word and the disciples were first called christians in antioch as a result of hearing and applying god's word they were first called christians now they did not call themselves christians in fact did you know never in the bible do christians refer to themselves as christians or refer to other people as christians that word christians is a term that was used by the godless pagan residents of antioch to call these believers in jesus christ the word christians comes from two words christos referring to the messiah jesus and ianos which means the members of a sect or a political party these believers in antioch weren't known as being republicans or democrats they were part of a sect jesus christ of jesus christ when these antioch residents said oh they're just a bunch of christians literally they are christ ones they are christ people as we used to say they're jesus freaks that's who they are they meant it as a pejorative term but there's no greater compliment for somebody than to be called a follower a jesus freak remember that question we used to ask years ago if you were arrested for being a christian would there be enough evidence to convict you for these antioch christians there was enough evidence so much so that even the pagans were referring to them as jesus people in his commentary on the book of acts dr crystal tells the true story of alexander the great who conquered the world by age 23. one day it came to alexander's attention that he had a soldier in his army whose name was also alexander he had been named alexander in honor of the great general but he was a notorious coward and so he asked to see the cowardly soldier the soldier was brought in and the great general looked at him and he said is it true that your name is alexander and you were named so in my honor the trembling soldier said yes sir it is the great conqueror said then either become a brave soldier or change your name in this world that becomes increasingly darker with each passing day it's imperative that those of us who call ourselves christians either change our behavior or change our name let's bow together in a word of prayer maybe there's some changes god has brought to your mind already that you need to make in your life as a believer maybe especially these last two years you've gotten off track spiritually but you're ready to come back it's never too late to start doing the right thing and if god has spoken to you about something specifically he wants you to start doing or stop doing to become more like christ i encourage you to follow his direction today but i know i'm speaking to many of you here in our worship center watching online or on television who have never received the forgiveness that is available to jesus christ methods for spreading the gospel change but the gospel message never changes that gospel message is that in spite of our sin god loves us and he offers one way for us to be absolved forgiven of our sin and that's by trusting in jesus as our savior and today if you would like to trust in the lord jesus christ and receive his gift of eternal life i encourage you to pray this simple prayer in your heart to god as i prayed out loud knowing that god is listening to you would you pray this with me dear god thank you for loving me i know i failed you in many ways and i'm truly sorry for the sins in my life but i believe what i've heard today that you loved me so much you sent your son jesus to die on the cross for me to take the punishment i deserve to take for my sins and right now i'm trusting in what jesus did for me not in my good works but in what jesus did for me to save me for my sins thank you for forgiving me and help me to live the rest of my life for you in jesus name amen if you are watching online we thank you for tuning in if you prayed that prayer with me i want you to go to the top of the screen and check the box that says i prayed the prayer to trust in christ as soon as you click on that link i'll be notified of your decision and i have some free material i want to send you this week about what it means now for you to live as a christian for those of you in our worship center if you would take out the card that is in your bulletin if you prayed that prayer with me check the third box i prayed the prayer to trust in christ and we'll send you this week that same material we're sending to our friends online maybe you're a guest here we're so happy you're here today check that box maybe you want more information you can check that maybe like so many in our first service you'd like to join a bible-believing bible teaching church like first dallas if so you can join simply by checking that fourth box now if you indicate that you are a visitor or you are a new member you will be invited to our dinner with the pastor a week from this thursday night next thursday at maggiano's at north park it'll be a complimentary delicious dinner i'll be there to answer your questions and tell you more about the ministries of first baptist dallas so if you check the guest box or the you'd like to join box we'll be in contact with you this week now when you finished your card you can take it to the welcome center and exchange it for our new 538 page pathway to victory daily devotional or you can drop your card off in one of the boxes on the way out we'll process the card and get the book to you thank you so much for being here now the climax the culmination of our service is the dedication of two families and so there's shelley our great children's minister is going to come and introduce our families to us thank you pastor we are so excited to dedicate this morning sweet little chin ado ichie iwoondu ginadu was born on august 21st 2021 and his parents are chuka and next we have mr sean judah mackey sean was born on january the 19th 2021 and his parents are travis and farrah mackey you know each time we dedicate children and family to the lord we read from the book of deuteronomy chapter 6 verses 5 through 7 and you shall love the lord your god with all your heart with all your soul and with all your might these words which i'm commanding you today shall be on your heart and you shall teach them diligently to your children you shall talk of them when you sit in your house when you walk by the way when you lie down and when you rise up families if you could turn and face me for a moment we're so happy for you on this special occasion of dedicating your children to the lord you know this is a time for us not only to dedicate your children but you as their parents as well and so today i want to ask you before this congregation and as you stand before god do you promise to do everything you can to raise your child up to know serve and obey jesus christ with all of their heart do you all right let's pray together father we thank you for these two wonderful families you've blessed us with thank you for giving the gift of life to their children of placing them in christian homes where the word of god is revered father we pray for each child the first of all you would soften their hearts and that early in life they would come to a saving faith in the lord jesus christ we pray that they would seek to love you and serve you with a whole heart not a divided heart we pray you would keep each child safe from the attacks of the enemy who comes to kill steal and destroy and we pray for the parents that you would give them the patience the strength the unique insight they need to raise their children in a way pleasing to you help us to be an encouragement to them in this all-important role of parenting our children and we pray this in jesus name amen now if you'll turn and face the congregation one more time if you are encouraged by these families and want to pray for them would you signals doing so by your applause and approval we love these two families i appreciate all they mean to us thank you so much thank you church for being here today don't forget another great opportunity to be trained in god's word tonight discipleship university 5 30 and also on your way out you'll notice on the concourse different ministry opportunities you can stop and learn more about whether it's first impressions sunday school music or a myriad of other things if you don't have time to stop just indicate on the volunteer card that you'd like some more information and drop that in the receptacle on the way out it's been a great day of worship and by the way don't you just love our music here at first baptist dallas tyler thank you leo our choir and orchestra for another great job let's stand together as tyler leads us in our final song thank you so much pastor so good to worship our lord together let's seek his praise everyone this is my story this is [Music] this is [Music] have a blessed day church well thank you so much for joining us for worship today on the first dallas i campus it's our honor and privilege to worship chat and pray with you throughout the service if you are local to dfw let me encourage you to come on down we'd love to have you visit us in person we'd love to greet you and show you a great spot in the worship center for you to sit it would be our honor to worship with you in person in the heart of downtown dallas right here at first baptist dallas also if you are new here to the icampus or have been watching for a while and want to get plugged in let me encourage you to sign up for a free gift we'd love to provide that to you directly in your inbox and then sign you up for pastor's daily devotional it's straight from the pen of dr jeffress and you will be encouraged with that great resource each and every day simply visit the link that's provided on your screen and lastly stay connected with us each and every day with our facebook global group there we encourage one another through scripture and graphics but also pray for one another so head on over to facebook and join our icampus global facebook group thank you again for joining us today for worship we look forward to seeing you next week on the first dallas i campus you

Channel: First Baptist Dallas

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Length: 181min 5sec (10865 seconds)

Published: Sun Jan 23 2022