Hey. You're listening to Cut for Time, a podcast from Faith Church located on the North Side Of Indianapolis. My name is Claire Kingsley. Each week, I'll sit down with one of our preaching pastors to discuss their Sunday sermon. Cut for time is a look behind the scenes of sermon preparation and they'll share with us a few things that we didn't hear from the sermon on Sunday.

Thanks for listening. Okay. It's been a while. We're back with cut for time. We took a break for a little bit, few weeks.

So In a in a world of change, there's always cut for time. Although not always. I mean, it started at some point and, you know, nothing lasts forever except Jesus and his kingdom. So but it's good to be back together. Good to be back.

But before we get to what's ahead of us with jumping back into the book of Acts, let's talk about this weekend and how we really needed this sermon, not just to launch us back into the series that we're in. We needed this sermon to help bridge and meet a need. I'm just looking at at this moment as a church body, as a local church body in Indianapolis. And so, can you just give me a little bit of an overview from your sermon on Sunday? And, like, I know this was something that you really felt called to preach, and so I'd love to hear just, like, kind of your heart behind it and how it came about.

Yeah. Thanks. It's, that, you know, there there's always a danger of, you know, a pastor sort of choosing, I wanna go find a passage to, you know, say what I think needs to be said or what I think people need to hear or what I wanna say. But, I think if we're careful enough and let scripture speak for itself, I think we can also trust that God speaks to us through his word, and his word speaks to a lot of realities in our lives. And it seemed like because of the moment we're in, in transition, in pastoral transition as a church and sort of wondering, like, well, we thought things were going this way, and now they're going a different way.

And also getting us back into the ACT series, it seemed like, well, that's a great connection point because that's has to absolutely be where the disciples were after Jesus' death and resurrection. And, and now all of a sudden they find out I mean, he's already told them, but they find out things aren't gonna go exactly as they anticipated. Jesus isn't ushering in the end of the age and bringing about the fullness of God's kingdom, but there's still something good going on and God is present. And yet there's, a waiting that he calls them to do too. Right?

Like, they're disoriented. They thought things were going a certain way. They're kind of not sure what to expect, and Jesus comes to them in a series in a season of transition to say, okay. Remember what I told you to do. That that's still in play.

You you need to wait because I am gonna give you what you need. I'm gonna give you the power and the presence of the spirit that you need to guide you. You need to step back from your own assumptions about the way you thought things were gonna go and and check that. Not that, you know, our perceptions are necessarily bad, but we all, you know, interpret things from our own personality and our past and our perspectives. And and then in the middle of still not knowing how everything's gonna work out, can I lean into trusting God's promise and and God's presence and and that there's something meaningful that God is doing?

That this this period of waiting and uncertainty doesn't mean nothing's happening. It's it's not like a holding room, but God is actually doing something in us in the middle of the uncertainty and and filling the gaps with trust. So it just as I was looking at that passage in the beginning of acts, it just seemed like it fits so well, because we can understand what those disciples were going through. What they were experiencing, I think, speaks into our reality and how Jesus shepherds them through that uncertainty and the transition, I thought, was a good opportunity to remind ourselves of things that we probably need to hear and be reminded of, in in the uncertainty and the unknowing and the transition and the feeling like things are not the way we'd hoped or expected. Okay.

Yeah. One of the things that I was reminded of in your sermon, you said you loved the imagery of just God ruling from his throne with his feet on a footstool. Just kind of Yeah. In that position, that body language that just says relaxed. Right?

Mhmm. Or, completely unsurprised, unfazed, but in control. Yeah. And you you were mentioning, I think, you didn't didn't you do the women's bible study in Revelation? When it and that's so there's all those images in Revelation, right, of Yeah.

I had that moment, like, a, yeah, a few months ago doing that women's bible study, because the the author, John, he just is sharing the images of the throne room. Right? So, the Jen Wilkins study that we did, she has you draw a lot. And so you're trying to, like, track the the images and draw, not saying it's exactly reality. It's just like you're trying to understand, give your best understanding to them.

Yeah. Or I'm I just I loved, that God is always seated on his throne. I thought this of comparing to our, you know, just like leaders, worldly leaders who we need. We need it for order and structure, and yet they are pacing frantically or walking from one place to another and meeting and greeting and flying all over the world and trying to do their best to establish this order and control. And then there's God who does not need to move, and he is absolutely in complete authority.

And I just said to the ladies, I'm like, what a power move. Like, God is like, he has he's seated and he does not have to get up. And I love that picture because it is, imagine, imagine what it would be like if like, we read that the throne room, God is walking and moving and pacing. Like, what does that then change about our idea of God being in control? It just doesn't seem to match, like, that the piece that we need, and understanding that God is seated changes something in our own heart posture as well.

Hey, hey. I love that. Jen Wilkin is awesome too, by the way. I've got to hear her a couple of times speak at gospel coalition conferences, and I highly recommend her. She is such a good teacher and such great insight.

And, Jen Jen Wilkin is a gift to the church. She's great. Yeah. And I I love those images in Revelation. Man, I that resonates with me too.

Yeah. The the picture of God just seated. Like, he he's not pacing. He's not and he's he doesn't it's almost like, you know, somebody else mentioned as kind of a rabbit trail, but, you know, the the the battle of Armageddon at the end, you know, towards the end of the book of Revelation. And, you know, we hear so much about it.

And somebody somebody I heard recently say, like, it's literally, like, the biggest letdown in the entire Bible. There's no battle. Mhmm. Like, Jesus just shows up, and he doesn't have to do anything. He just wins by his presence.

Like, he doesn't have to exercise anything. He doesn't. He it's oh, man. What a what a beautiful image. Right?

Like, Jesus doesn't need to to marshal armies even or, you know, and gather forces or come up with a plan. He just shows up, and he wins. And that's so encouraging and reassuring for us. Yeah. There is no fight.

There's no struggle. There's not like this, what's gonna happen moment. Right. In goodness. I just I got this image of, you know, like, when I was a kid, probably like a lot of boys, I had, like, the little green army men or plastic toys, you know, something, and you'd set them up.

And, like, it was no effort for me to, like, knock them over. Right? Like, they could line themselves up if they had that power in any way they wanted to, but there's nothing they're gonna be able to do that's gonna overpower me. And I just thought, man, that is I think that's maybe kind of an image for us of who Jesus is, who the father is. Right?

Like, the the the battles, the stress, the uncertainty, all of it is like, God is like, that's not a challenge. That's not a thing. It's I mean, I know that it's real and it matters, and I'm with you in it. But I just want you to know, my children, that it's it's not stressful. It's not overwhelming.

It's not threatening. It's not concerning. And that's I think that's just such a great reminder for us, to to to see God that way and to take hope and encouragement and strength from that. Yes. It reminds me of I've heard this from a few different authors of books that I've read.

Clearly, there's a theme here because they're all talking about Jesus in the same way, which is relaxed. Right. That's why I've heard, them share from multiple different sources writing about an interview that Dallas Lillard had. Okay. Someone asked him to describe Jesus in one word, and he said, of all the words he chose, he chose relaxed.

Because when we see Jesus, he is not someone who's in a rush, even though most of us who are following him are constantly hurried. Yeah. Yeah. And so, anyways, I've just thought in this moment of transition, we all are called to look to Christ. Right?

We have probably a lot of things. Even staff were thinking, like, we've got a lot of things we need to do. We have so much we got a lot on our plate. There's a lot changing. We're trying to handle it all, and then there's there are non staff members who are feeling that way or volunteer leaders who are feeling that way.

Sure. And of all the things that we think we should do, the one thing we actually need to do as a church is to be like Christ, and how was Christ? And just thinking, like, he was a lot of things. Okay. I'm not saying he's only relaxed.

I don't know. He was relaxed. And so, what would it look like for us to, I don't know, just be relaxed, not because we're, lazy or we feel complacent or whatever, but because we actually just know it's God who's in control. We can be relaxed on the means of who we are, but because who is holding this whole situation and knows who that is. And so we can choose to opt into that.

And so I love that, Claire. The, the other the other word that comes to mind, related to that is nonanxious. Mhmm. Jesus could be busy. He could be engaged.

He could be working hard. I can be busy, with a lot of things, and and you and I just had, you know, a a kind of business y type meeting around communications, and there's a lot to do. And you're just reminding me I can be busy without being anxious. Why? I I can be working hard.

I can be you know, have a lot of things on my to do list and a lot of things I need to get done this week without having to be anxious about it. That's such that's a great reminder for us in this season, like, in the uncertainty and all the busyness and extra meetings and, you know, more discussions and things going on and plans changing, it's a you know, we can do that and be nonanxious and have a peace and a and a relaxed I like, I like how you said Dallas will report it a a relaxed nature posture about us, not because we don't care, not because we're not engaged, but because God's got this, ultimately. And and that's our confidence. Right. Jesus could do that because he was connected to the father.

Yes. Also, just as if we abide. I oh, what you said there is so important, Claire, too. And it and it's not, you know, I I'm I love the way you put it. It's not Jesus can be nonanxious because he's God in the flesh.

I mean, that's true. But to say he's non anxious because he's so connected to the father brings it to us as well. And and Jesus even praying that we would be one together as a community just as he and the father are one and that the relationship that he has as the son to the father, he makes available to us. It's not that Jesus is in some unique category, and he's able to be calm and relaxed and trusting because he's the eternal son of God. I true.

Yes. But he's able to be relaxed and non anxious because he knows the father in a certain way and has a relationship with him that he invites us to experience as well. Yeah. In the middle of the uncertainty and the busyness and, you know, the ordinariness of a Tuesday afternoon, whenever it is. Yeah.

That that's thank you. That's that's so good. Yeah. Well, okay. So knowing the posture that we, are being called to in this season, we also, are excited to think of Yeah.

Yeah. Inclusion of our act series that we're going to have in the next few months. And so help me out. Tell me where did we leave off, and what do I need to know? What's the context for this Sunday?

So I can hear the sermon and understand where we're at. Yeah. So, Paul had gone back to Jerusalem with this offering for the poor believers there. And he's he's actually been trying to mend defenses with with some of his Jewish, fellow fellow Jewish, countrymen by going to the temple and participating in the temple worship. And things just go sideways.

And people are looking for a reason to be angry with Paul. A riot starts. The Roman garrison has to come in and rescue him. He gets, sent off to Caesarea for his own protection, which is kind of the Roman administrative capital. He's been in prison there now for two years under this former governor Felix, who was, you know, just kinda looking for a bribe, to to speed Paul's case up.

A new governor has come in, a guy by the name of Festus, and we we kind of ended the last time we were in Acts before, before Lent with Paul having had an opportunity to sort of state his case and and talk about Jesus and be a witness for him and this governor Festus realizing there's not really a lot here, but he kind of Festus kind of wants to make good relationships with the Jewish authorities in Jerusalem. And so he asked Paul, hey. I'll send you back to Jerusalem to be tried there, and and you can face your accusers. And Paul knows that that's a trap, not on Festus's part, but, you know, his life will be orphaned if that happens. So he he kinda, like, presses the big red stop button that says, I appeal to Caesar.

And that's sort of like, I'm appealing to the Supreme Court. And now Festus has this issue of, okay. I've I literally have to send him to Rome to appeal to Caesar. And but I've gotta have something to say about this guy, and there's really nothing criminal that he's done. And that's sort of where we left things last time.

So now, a couple of more characters are gonna come on the scene, like, a king in the Herod dynasty line that we'll talk a little bit about on Sunday who happens to know kind of Jewish religion and prophecies and debates. And, so Paul's like, oh, this is gonna be great. I've I've got an opportunity now to talk to another audience who should understand who Jesus the Messiah is. And that's kind of where we're gonna pick things up is Paul is still in Roman custody in Caesarea. He's he's definitely heading towards Rome because he said, send me to Rome.

I I wanna go to Rome. I'll take my case to Caesar. Because for Paul, he's like, this is exactly what I want to have happen. I if it means going in chains to Rome, I don't care. I just wanna get to Rome.

Rome is essentially the capital of the known world. It it's the New York City and Washington and kinda London. And, I mean, it's the financial, the economic, the military, the cultural capital of everything. And Paul wants Jesus to be known and and wants to take Jesus to every place that he can where there's an opportunity for the gospel to spread and to and to influence the world that he knows. So if that means going in chains, Paul's like, fine.

I'll take that on. So this is sort of launching us into this last couple of major movements in the book of acts of the gospel heading towards Rome, but it's gonna be a journey to get there. And there's there's a lot of steps and a lot of things that God's doing in the process. So that's where we're heading. Okay.

Thank you, Jeff. I appreciate you giving me a recap, and hopefully it benefited somebody else as well. No. It's good a good reminder for me because, yeah, it's been eight weeks since any of us were in Axe. Right?

Almost. Yeah. Yeah. Alright. Thank you, Jeff, for your time today, and, we'll be back again next week with, you with, following your sermon back in the book of Acts.

Sounds good. Thanks, Claire. Thanks for listening to this week's episode of cut for time. If you wish to submit questions to our pastors following their sermon, you can email them to podcast@faith,liveitout.org or text them into our faith church texting number. And we'll do our best to cover it in the week's episode.

If this conversation blessed you in any way, we encourage you to share it with others. Thanks for listening. We'll be back again next week.