Transcription

Chris
So, Jeff, today Jesus is preaching in Galilee. Yeah. And when I think of the word Galilee, I don’t know why, but I always think of like, glee. Glee, like I think happy. Remember back when the word gay meant happy, and then you have glee in there, then you have happy. And I just think that the word Galilee, even on a subliminal level, makes me feel happy. Just makes you happy. That’s really true.

Jeff
Well that’s good. We love it when Chris is happy.

Chris
Do you think the same thing or. No.

Jeff
Uh, I never thought of that before, but I’m happy if you’re happy. Chris. Galilee. Yeah. So he’s Chris, and I’m Jeff, and we’re the Bible guys.

Chris
Okay. All right. Well, hey, today we’re doing a very quick segment, actually. Oh, okay. So we have we have some minutes to to talk this out. I guess, uh, it’s only one statement. Uh, we’ve taken it from mail bags.

Jeff
Oh, mail bags, mail bags.

Chris
So this is Ben P and Ben P says and I’m assuming he’s meeting both of us. He says, since you’re both pastors and work on Sundays, I assume Saturdays are your rest days. Uh, so what are your favorite things to do on Saturdays? Great question. Hey, before we answer that, uh, I just want to say, hey, if you have any question for us, uh, you can email us at anytime at info at the Bible guys. Com uh, or you can submit a question or comment on YouTube, uh, or any one of those, uh, you know, ways to get a hold of us. And we would love to answer your questions. Respond to them either in Mailbags or Stump the pastor. But, uh, we just love getting your feedback, so thank you for that.

Jeff
Yeah, that’s a good question. Uh, so I’ll be honest with you. Yeah, I’ve always used it. Please do. Yeah, yeah. This is I’m not preaching right now. I’m telling you the truth. Well, what.

Chris
Does that mean? What does that mean?

Jeff
I’m joking.

Chris
That means when you preach, you don’t tell the truth. That’s one of the worst statements you’ve ever made since I’ve known you.

Jeff
And I’ve made some bad statements, haven’t I? Yeah, yeah, I’m preaching right now. Tell the truth. This segment just got longer, didn’t it? Terrible. That’s terrible. Good. So, um.

Chris
You’re obviously kidding.

Jeff
Absolutely. But. Well, I’m going to tell the truth. Yeah. Um, so I’ve always viewed it that, uh, you know, we ask almost 1000 people to volunteer and most of them at Heritage Church and most of them volunteer on Sundays. Yeah. Not all. I mean, we have people who volunteer with teenagers and through the middle of the week and we have, you know, celebrate recovery and the food pantry and lots of things. But I would say more than half of our volunteers volunteer on Sunday. So I really view, uh, the 3 or 4 hours during the services. Yeah, I really view those as volunteer time for me. I don’t count them as as work time. Um, uh, like, I, I want to make sure I’m getting in 45 hours or so a week without including the, you know, the times that the, the church service times happen. We have three identical service on the weekend. Uh, because if I’m going to ask a thousand people to volunteer, then I feel like I should be volunteering too. So I’ll get in usually 40, 45 hours a week without including the church times. Yeah. So, I mean, we’re there at 6:00 in the morning on Sunday morning. I’m going to count that as one time. But as soon as the first service starts. At what? What time does it start? Nine. Um, I’m not counting that as work time, but I get what you’re saying. So, you know, the Bible says, uh, man shall work six days and on the seventh day, should he rest, right? Yeah. And so I try to think that way. Um, but I want to have a 24 hour period that we that I take off, um, where we’re not plowing Heritage’s field.

Jeff
Remember the Sabbath? Jesus said the Sabbath is a gift to humanity. So I want I want to take advantage of that gift. So for me, my real break is between, uh, like 2:00 on Sunday until about 1:00, 2:00 on Monday. That would be what I consider my Sabbath. But because we put in a lot of hours to the rest of the week, sometimes, most of the time I’ll get Saturdays off. So that’s a really great question. So, uh, here’s the answer. That was a long answer, but I just wanted people to know that, yeah, it’s important to know that if I’m going to ask you to volunteer.

Chris
I doubt that hardly anybody knows any routine of hours. Yeah, yeah. So that’s hopefully interesting if they like us. Yeah.

Jeff
And I want people to know that if I’m asking you to volunteer, I think I should be volunteering too. Sure, sure, sure, sure. So, um, uh, what do I like to do? Uh, well, we love anything outdoors. I love going to the lake. I love hunting, uh, during the fall. I love all those kinds of things. So, yeah, uh, anything that gets us out of the house and run around doing fun things Bonnie likes, like carnivals and fairs and festivals. Yeah.

Chris
So, you know. Yeah. That’s us. Yeah. Yeah. We like, um. So I’m just going to make my answer pretty quick. Uh, because I agree with everything you said on the preliminary side.

Jeff
You do a lot of that too, right? I mean, I mean, you put in way more hours than. Yeah, yeah, yeah, 40 hours. And so really Sunday is more of a volunteer thing for both.

Chris
Yeah, I think so. And uh, and I do, I do take time off, you know, you sort of work hard. Play hard. Right. And um, and uh, so last Saturday, I think, uh, we went miniature golfing. Oh, yeah. And so we’re a huge miniature golf family. Uh, we love going, you know, we play, we say putt putt, you know, but it’s miniature golf. And, uh, and I remember going there and, and as we were walking through the parking lot, getting ready to pay, you know, my kids are older, right? So we grew up doing this when they were kids. So the fact that you have a 24 year old and a 23 year old that actually want to go with their parents miniature golfing at this age, right, is a delight to me. Yeah. And so and so we were actually, you know, going with our adult children, miniature golfing. I looked over to my wife and I was like, this is one of my favorite things, you know? So I think I think, you know, having fun together as a family.

Jeff
Yeah. Uh, almost anything that’s not. Office worker or church work feels fun to me. Yes. Right, right. So there’s that. And then if we don’t have something scheduled. Bonnie and I are both kind of homebodies, too, so we like to just stay home. And usually that means there’s going to be smoke coming out of the grill. If we’re hanging out on a Saturday at home. That’s fun. Yeah. So yeah that’s good. Great question man. Now I want it to be Saturday. Yeah.

Chris
Right. Right. And it’s not Saturday. No. We still have several days of Saturday here working away. So uh, thank you, Ben P and, uh, so we, uh, if you were here last week tuning in with us, uh, Jeff was, uh, out of town, and we had, uh, Kyle with us, who did a great job. Yeah. Last week. Great job. And, um, actually, we did, uh, woman at the well, I think is where we sort of finished. Yeah. And Jesus revealed himself as the Messiah for the very first time, and now, uh, you know, just privately, even though that she told everybody. Right, right. And now we’re moving into Jesus preaching in Galilee.

Jeff
Yeah. And his ministry hadn’t really kicked off very much. It was pretty, pretty small. He wasn’t super famous. He pretty much just been run out of Nazareth. That was pretty much his right. Right, right. But, um, so we’re going to read four passages. You know, we’ve been reading these parallels, um, and a lot of these, these things that we’ve been reading come up in one or 2 or 3 passages. These next few only come up in the one place where they’re written, um, but they come together at about the same time in each book, kind of hinting at or or highlighting different facets of Jesus ministry in Galilee.

Chris
Well, you know, it’s so funny is that, uh, Matthew, uh, is in chapter four at this point when he records this. Yeah. Uh, Luke is in chapter four, John is in chapter four. And then remember we mentioned Mark gets a lot done in one chapter.

Jeff
He sure does.

Chris
He just whizzes over events by 1 or 2 sentences. And so Mark’s still only halfway through his first chapter. Yeah. By by listing these things. So Mark spends a lot more time later on. Yeah. But right now he’s sort of, you know, recording the events. Yeah. Chronologically, he doesn’t give a lot of detail.

Jeff
Mark spends a lot of time on the miracles. Yes, that’s where Mark spends, which is really cool because it’s so fast. Yeah. Okay, here we go. Matthew chapter four, uh, verse 13, he says he went first to Nazareth, then left there and moved to Capernaum beside the Sea of Galilee in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali. This fulfilled what God said through the prophet Isaiah in the land of Zebulun and Naphtali, beside the sea, beyond the Jordan river in Galilee, were so many Gentiles live. The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light. And for those who lived in the land where death casts its shadow, a light has shined. From then on Jesus began to preach, repent of your sins and turn to God, for the kingdom of heaven is near. So that’s Matthew. Mark says, the time promised by God has come. At last he announced, the kingdom of God is near. Repent of your sins and believe the good news. Thanks, Mark. Yeah, thank you buddy, I think it’s so funny. And then Luke said, Then Jesus returned to Galilee, filled with the Holy Spirit’s power. Reports about him spread quickly through the whole region. He taught regularly in their synagogues and was praised by everyone. At the end of the two days, Jesus went on to Galilee.

Chris
Wait, wait, you want to mention that’s John?

Jeff
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Chris
Now we’re picking up in John. That was the end of Luke. Now we’re going to John. Yes.

Jeff
And was praised by everyone. Yes. Period.

Chris
Luke I just want our listeners who aren’t watching. That’s one of them to know.

Jeff
Yeah, yeah, yeah. And then John chapter four verse 43 says, at the end of the two days Jesus went on to Galilee. He himself said that a prophet is not honored in his own hometown. Yet the Galileans welcomed him, for they had been in Jerusalem at the Passover celebration and had seen everything he did there. As he traveled through Galilee, he came to Cana, where he had turned water into wine. There was a government official in nearby Capernaum, whose son was very sick. When he heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee. He went and begged Jesus to come to Capernaum to heal his son who was about to die. Jesus asked, Will you never believe in me unless you see miraculous signs and wonders? The official pleaded, Lord, please come now before my little boy dies. Then Jesus told him, go back home. Your son will live. And the man believed what Jesus said and started home. While the man was on his way, some of his servants met him with the news that his son was alive and well, and he asked them when the boy had begun to get better. And they replied. Yesterday afternoon at 1:00, this fever suddenly disappeared. Then the father realized that that was the very time Jesus had told him, your son will live. And he said he and his entire household believed in Jesus. This was the second miraculous sign Jesus did in Galilee after coming from Judea. Hmm. Isn’t that a great one?

Chris
That’s great.

Jeff
I love it. So his first miracle was to keep the party going at a wedding. And then his second one was to heal a little boy. Yeah, that those are very significant. And I. And I don’t think it’s a mistake that those are the first two that are recorded. Yeah. One. Jesus kept the or, um, protected a bride and a groom and their parents.

Chris
And their family business from from.

Jeff
Shame and embarrassment. That’s right. The reputation of the party going and the celebration of. I mean, that is about as fundamental of a of a human celebration as you can have as a wedding celebration.

Chris
Not to mention, if you think about the big picture things, the way that God sees, always sees things, is that marriage was created as a reflection of our relationship with God. That’s right. And so just the dynamics of the family institution is so significant and it’s so relatable. And so Jesus was honoring and protecting that tradition, which was created primarily as a message. Yeah, it’s a message to us.

Jeff
Have you ever been getting ready for an event? And then you realize we really don’t have enough money to pull this event off?

Chris
We got let me think.

Jeff
We’ve got a bunch of friends coming over.

Chris
Most of my life.

Jeff
We’re not ready for this, right? Yeah, yeah. So, you know, those parents getting ready to throw that big celebration. We’re anxious. Yeah. Going, boy, I hope this lasts. I hope cousin cousin Gary goes home early. Right? Whatever. He’s a heavy drinker. Whatever. And so that anxiety and I love the fact that Jesus stepped in. This isn’t a very wealthy person’s wedding. He steps in to somebody who’s probably nervous from the very beginning. Yeah. And he rescues them in this very important human event. And then the next miracle he does is with, for a little kid and a dad, a dad and a son. And both of these are very family oriented things. It shows you what Jesus priorities were and what got his attention.

Chris
Yeah, yeah. And by the way, I’m sort of opening a can of worms here, but like I the thing that jumped out at me is it says the man believed what Jesus said. Yeah. And started home. And I think that I’ve heard people in the past because actually we just talked about this at lunch yesterday, uh, I went out to lunch with, uh, three of my staff members on the arts team at heritage, and we were talking about somebody who is sick in our group, uh, who was very sick. And we were talking about the idea that, like, hey, if you just believe and you call people over and you pray you’ll be healed, because there are parts in the Bible that say very plainly and you will be healed. Yeah. Right. And and so there are teachings out there that talk about, uh, yeah. You know, you just have to believe, you pray and it’s going to happen. And so, uh, our staff member, who is very sick, said that he was on the phone with a, with a with a friend of a friend, kind of a guy who said, hey, get another CT scan, and I promise you it’s going to be it’s going to be gone, you know. And he and he’s like, and he’s like, I promise you. And then and then and so our staff member said, yeah, this is probably not what I need to hear right now. And then we just sort of talked about like he’s like, should I have should I have had more belief because I’m pretty sure I know it’s not gone. I can tell, you know, that kind of thing. And so anyway, all that to say this, I have and I’m sure you have had run ins with people who have gone to like healing services or prayed this way, and they have tried with their whole might.

Chris
And then what ends up happening is if they’re not healed, then the explanation that is given to them is, oh, I know why. It’s because you didn’t believe faith. Yeah, you didn’t have faith. And so then they beat themselves up, right? And they go through their entire life, uh, my my old, uh, the church I previously worked at, uh, one of our staff members daughter had a, had a, has a condition that’s eventually going to be terminal, at least according to the stats. So she’s been going, you know, doing these prayer services and, uh, and she’s been told everywhere she goes, I guess you just don’t have enough faith. Yeah. That’s terrible.

Jeff
Yeah. I think there’s a lot of danger in. In saying that, uh, because here’s the issue. Um, life is 100% terminal. Yeah. That little boy Jesus healed isn’t alive right now, right? So at least.

Chris
Not in the physical.

Jeff
World, right? Right. Not in the physical world. Um. Uh. So. The book of Hebrews says, and we’ve already done this. We already did the book of Hebrews. It’s appointed unto man once to die. And after this suggestion we all have an appointment. So if God’s choosing to, um, that this is your time, then physical healing is not coming today because of that. Also, God chooses to do different things in different ways, right? So, um, he could like this instantly heal. The guy realized he asked Jesus at 1:00 yesterday afternoon and Jesus said, your son’s healed. Yeah, Jesus didn’t even bother to go to the guy’s house. He just said, right. He’s like, your son’s healed.

Chris
My power is strong over there.

Jeff
Yeah, exactly.

Chris
And by the way, the journey back home probably wasn’t down the street because people traveled for miles.

Jeff
Well, it was a day’s journey, right? It was probably at least, uh, 20 miles. Right? Right. So 15 miles. And you know that area. It depends on where it was at. If he’s going over hills. Yeah. It was it was 15. It was ten miles. 15 miles. Uh, if they were going straight around the edge of the thing, he probably 20 miles. So, um, Jesus just healed him. So it happened immediately. But then there’s other times where there’s this progressive healing. Remember when Jesus healed the blind man with the mud he spit in? We’ll talk about that. But there was this progressive healing that happened. It didn’t happen all at once, right? It was it was a progressive thing. So Jesus does. God does all kinds of things. I think that what we do is.

Chris
And the lepers, too, remember the lepers as they were going.

Jeff
As they were going. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That’s right. So I think that there’s something about something to be said about praying in faith, believing in faith, and then trusting that God’s going to do what needs to be done and what is best, right? What is God’s plan for me and trust him in that. And that, I think, requires even more faith. Yeah. Uh, because if you just believe that God’s a genie, that you get to three wishes and you know your wish is my command.

Chris
Yeah, that’s the danger.

Jeff
That’s that’s how we tend to think.

Chris
The danger is. Is that I have faith.

Jeff
You must.

Chris
Heal me. It’s like a balance, right? It’s like, on one hand, you have this idea that, like, if we believe, you know, hey, if you have enough faith that mount, you can move that mountain, right? And great things will be done. And so and so people sort of lean, although the pendulum swings all the way that way and they say, whatever, I pray for whatever I want. Uh, assuming that it’s a good thing, you know, like, it’s not a bad thing, right? Uh, that God will grant it. And we just have faith and it will happen. Which is the guy with the CT scan, right? Yeah, sure. And then then there’s the other side that says, hey, we don’t have control. It’s all in God’s hands. Uh, you know, we just pray and then just, you know, whatever God wants, uh, happens. But I have I have no control. Right. But but but quite honestly, the balance is sort of somewhere in between because and again, we’re going to probably get there, uh, eventually. Uh, but you know, remember when, uh, Jesus said the kingdom of God is like, yes, somebody who knocks on the door and he’s persistent and says, give me some bread. I got some neighbors. And then then the guy on the side says, it’s late and I’m sleeping, and everybody’s sleeping. Please go away. And he said, and yet, because of the man’s persistency, his audacious, you know, just relentless pursuit, uh, he said he will get up and he will answer the door. And he said, it’s that way with the kingdom of God when you pray. So the answer, I believe, is somewhere in between. He’s not a magic genie bottle, but we have faith to believe that God can heal if God chooses.

Chris
And so you will be healed means like, don’t get discouraged if there’s cancer, right? Like don’t say it’s impossible, right? Right. You will be healed means if God wills it, you will be healed.

Jeff
Well and we will be healed one way or the other. Right? Right. Because as as a believer in Christ, you’re going to live forever. So, uh, whether this body runs out of gas or not, you know, you’ve been healed. So there’s that. But I would also say this. We’ve said this before, but I think it’s important to remind people, uh, the Bible is its own best commentary. The Bible defines itself better than we can define it itself. So there are certain fundamental doctrines. There’s there’s a theology concept called systematic theology. There are elements that build one after the other because of this, then this. Right. So the idea that there is a God is foundational to theology. Nothing else matters. A Bible doesn’t matter. Um, miracles don’t matter. None of the other things matter if there’s no God. So first of all, there is a God. Then on top of that, then we believe because there’s a God. We also believe he gave us a book, the Bible. And then, uh, from the Bible. The Bible then tells us about man. It tells us about sin. It tells us about the sacrifice, tells us about Jesus being the sacrifice. Oh, this order. Right. So there’s the Bible defines and explains itself. But there are some verses that take priority over others. When Jesus taught us to pray or even one time, Jesus says, pray in the will of the father and it will be done for you. Yeah. Jesus said in, we’re going to read this in just a few more podcasts. When Jesus taught us to pray, um, our father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, your kingdom come, your will be. Then he says, he says, your kingdom come and your will be done, right?

Jeff
Right. So we’re praying in God’s will. So Jesus teaches when he teaches on prayer multiple times, he he teaches to pray in God’s will and in God’s will. Then we will. If we’re praying for the thing God wants, God will do it right? Right. That’s it. If we’re praying for God’s, uh, fulfillment of his plan, um, then God will do that. But God is not going to go against his plan. Yeah.

Chris
And I would also like to think, based on what I believe and have studied, is that God’s will has many different options. Sure. Right. So, so which is the whole reason why he says, keep knocking, keep persisting. Right. It’s why Abraham said, hey, would you say the city if there was this many, this many, this many, this many, right. Because because he’s, you know, and it’s, you know, God is persuaded by Abraham. God is persuaded by the person knocking says Jesus himself. Yeah. So I think that I’d like to think that it’s not you know, people always say God’s one perfect will, which is in in the Scripture, right, the perfect will of God. Romans 12 two but, uh, but but but yet I’d like to think that there are options in God’s will. Yeah, it’s okay if God intervenes. And does this.

Jeff
To imply that God has a will and a perfect will is is a fallacy? Yeah. All of God’s will is perfect because everything God does is perfect, right? So I believe God has options. Yeah, he has multiple perfect wills.

Chris
And both are.

Jeff
Perfect. So God can decide. God can decide I’m going to do this. And that’s perfect. Right? And then Moses can go up on the mountain and say, no, don’t do this, please don’t do this. And God, the Bible literally says God changed his mind right when Moses prayed. That’s right. In fact, the Bible uses the word King. James uses the word. He repented. Right? Repent isn’t always a bad word, right? It just means turn right. He changed his mind. And uh, that’s literally the phrase. So both of those wills were perfect, the perfect will of God. And it turns out, just like you as a human have options, so does God, right? And so sometimes God can just be going this way, plowing in that direction. Suddenly you, you, you go to him, you intervene, and it still fits within his will. And he goes, okay, I’ll do that. Hezekiah prayed after he found out he was going to die, the prophet of God came to tell him, prepare your situation. You’re going to die. Hezekiah prays and God gives him 15 more years, right? Right in the Old Testament. So God can and does on occasion change his mind. That doesn’t mean that he changes or that he’s different. It’s that he has options and he seizes one option over another option sometimes. And that’s what we’re doing when we’re praying and asking God to change the circumstance. Yeah.

Chris
That’s great. Hey, I’m going to squeeze in a closing story. I’ll go do that. Go ahead. So you know how it says that he left. He believed. And then he realized that when the healing took place, it was the same time of the day. Um, so my quick story is we were in Salt Lake City doing a home extreme makeover, and it was supposed to be revealed with a big press release, uh, on like a Friday. And we took an entire team all the way to Salt Lake City. And then they found out that there’s no press release, no big reveal. It was all for naught because, uh, somebody too many chiefs, not enough Indians, but all the construction workers, uh, none of them forgot or all of them forgot to call the, uh, utilities. So you have, you know, electric, water and gas, right? Right, right. And every construction worker knows that, like, you know, you’re at the mercy of utilities, right? And sometimes they take months to get out there. Right? And they’re never, you know, nobody ever even contacted them. So they had the ground ripped up, uh, before the sod, you know, ready for that? And then they discovered this, the inspections? Yeah, for the inspections. And it was all canceled. Right. So our whole team goes back to the hotel and it’s like. And I remember it was 530 in the afternoon. The reason why I know that is because of what I’m about to tell you. So we’re all, like, gathering in our little circle. And then this one guy that I was with, Mike Menino, uh, Mike says to me, he goes, we need to pray for a miracle. This is this is this is a family that needs their house.

Chris
And so we all, like, postured ourselves on our knees. We all prayed, and we get done praying and we prayed hard. Uh, we got done praying, and we were up in the Salt Lake City, uh, mountains. Right. So we see double rainbow and and I swear to you, Mike’s reaction was like, the guy, the double rainbow video guy, right? Yeah. And we took pictures and everything. He’s like, double rainbow. God hurt us, right? So we get up the next day and instead of getting there at 6 a.m., like we always did, uh, we just decided to lounge around because it’s called off. Right? So our team just, you know, Lollygag got there at 11 a.m. and come to find out, man, everything’s on. There’s a press there. There’s a bus. Everything’s there. Right. There’s sod on the ground. It’s all all done.

Chris
Beep beep beep. All these things.

Chris
They’re moving and going, right? And we get there. We’re like, what happened? And then and they were excited to tell me because I was the pastor. So they all ran to me and they basically said, long story short, that last night, uh, they were the city was drilling underneath the freeway with this machine that only drills underneath freeways, and it broke. And then the mayor himself called one of our construction worker guys and said, hey, you’re the only guy in town that has another one of these machines, and we need it right now. And the guy’s like, well, yeah, sure. And he runs it out there. And the mayor said. Whatever you need. Is there anything you need? Whatever you need. I’ll make it happen. And. And he goes. Well, as a matter of fact. Wow. And so all three utilities came out at the same hour at 6 a.m. the next day. Wow. Which is impossible, right? And so then and so then here’s the part that gets me choked up. So what time did that happen? What time? And so he flips his phone out, right? And says, look, when the call came in, 531.

Jeff
Well, you guys were praying. Yeah.

Chris
Not even kidding. Wow. Which is unbelievable.

Jeff
That does it, man. We you probably have half a dozen of those kinds of stories for sure. So do I, man. It got God shows up just in time. Yeah.

Chris
And it’s beyond coincidence. Yeah. Right. Absolutely. You can’t you can’t make that up. Absolutely. Yeah. So hey, that’s a great place to end. And, uh, we will see you tomorrow on The Bible Guys.