Timothy Ateek: Good morning. How are we doing today, Watermark? Hey, it's so good to see you. I'm glad you made it. If this is your first time ever with us on a Sunday, thanks for trusting us. We hope this place can feel like home very quickly. We are starting Every Generation July today. So, for the kids in the room, let me just hear where you are. Those sound like adult voices. Kids, I want to hear from you. Where are the kids? Okay. Yeah. Where are the parents of those kids? All right. I like it.
Hey, for the kids in the room… And when I say "kids," I'm talking about preschool, elementary, middle school, and high school. You are such an important part of this church. That's what I want you to hear. You are such an important part of this church. I know for the preschool and elementary and middle school kids, you aren't normally in here with us on Sundays, but over the month of July, here's what I hope for you. What I hope you see from the adults in this room is that we think Jesus Christ is awesome, and we want you to believe the same thing.
So, adults, that's our job. During the month of July, we get to model for our kids what we really believe about Jesus, that he is worthy of everything. If you're visiting today, we believe Jesus Christ changes everything, that we're not here to just go through religious motions; we're here to worship our King. Over the month of July, the elders have been kind to give me some time to pull back and rest and also plan for the fall and into 2027, but I wanted to come back today for a few very important reasons.
One reason is yesterday our country celebrated 250 years of freedom. What we're doing right now is one of the greatest expressions of freedom we have living in the United States of America. We should absolutely remember that today. So many brothers and sisters in Christ around the world are gathering secretly to worship. I'm so thankful we live in a country where we can gather freely, we can sing freely, we can study the Word of God freely, and then we can leave and share Christ with others freely. I'm so thankful for the freedom we have living in this country.
I also wanted to come back and share… Look. We've all seen the devastation that has unfolded in Venezuela because of earthquakes. When you look at the devastation, it's a reminder that we long for Christ to come back and set everything straight. But I do want you to know that on your behalf we have already released funds to one of our ministry partners, World Relief, as they are seeking to engage in relief efforts in Venezuela. So, please keep praying for what is unfolding there.
I also wanted to say we remember that it was a year ago that we were confronted with the flash flooding that resulted in 139 lives being lost. So, today, we remember those 139 lives. We remember the family and friends who today are grieving the loss of loved ones. Fifteen of those people were from the Dallas Metroplex. Many of you know those families. Many of you have been the hands and feet of Jesus Christ to those families over the last year, being great comforters in the name of Jesus Christ.
I just want to remind you of what Psalm 34 says. It says God is near to the brokenhearted and he saves the crushed in spirit. So, as we transition into our time of studying God's Word, I just want to take a moment, and I want us to pray. I want us to pray for our country. I want us to pray for what's happening in Venezuela. I want us to pray for the people grieving the loss of loved ones from the floods a year ago. So, let's pray. Would you pray with me?
Lord Jesus, we just say, "Come quickly." Lord, we look at what's happening in Venezuela, and I know it grieves your heart, yet I still declare that the earth is the Lord's and everything in it, and you, Jesus, are before all things, and in you all things hold together. You are the Lord over all creation. You're the Lord of the new creation that is being formed in your people. I pray today for your overwhelming grace to be displayed in Venezuela, that you would be a great comforter.
God, we remember the 139 adults and children who passed away last year because of the floods. Lord, we just ask and pray for your nearness to the family and friends who are grieving today, people in our city. We ask for your nearness, for your presence to be very tangible, for your church, for your people to be a great source of comfort. Lord, we just say thank you for the freedom we have right here in the United States of America. We're so grateful. We would worship you even if we had to do it in secret. No government can ever thwart the advance of your gospel.
Your gospel is winning in our world, even in the places with the greatest persecution. Yet we just say thank you that we have freedom to gather today. We can study your Word. We can sing out loud. We consider that a kind gift.
So, now, friends, as we transition into a time of studying the Word of God, I want to give you a moment to pray for yourself. Would you pray and prepare your heart? Would you say, "God, would you speak to me this morning?" Then, would you pray for the people around you and ask God to speak to them? Then, would you pray for Chris Sherrod? I'm so excited for the people you're going to get to hear from over the next few weeks. Would you pray for Chris Sherrod that God would speak clearly through him to you?
Lord, we love you, and you are worthy of everything. Lord Jesus, you take first place. We want you to have first place over our thoughts, over our words, over our feelings, and over our actions. We pray that this time, as we open up the Word of God and study, by your Spirit's leading… I pray, Lord Jesus, that you would be glorified in our midst. We need you and we love you. Use this time for your glory, amen.
Female: Today, we are reading from Acts 15:36-41. "And after some days Paul said to Barnabas, 'Let us return and visit the brothers in every city where we proclaimed the word of the Lord, and see how they are.' Now Barnabas wanted to take with them John called Mark. But Paul thought best not to take with them one who had withdrawn from them in Pamphylia and had not gone with them to the work.
And there arose a sharp disagreement, so that they separated from each other. Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed away to Cyprus, but Paul chose Silas and departed, having been commended by the brothers to the grace of the Lord. And he went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches."
This is the Word of God.
Chris Sherrod: Good morning, my friends. How are you today? If I haven't met you, my name is Chris Sherrod, and I'm the equipping director. I'm excited about all we're going to learn this morning. So, let me tell you a little story. Back in 2019, my wife and I came in possession of a school bus. We have a little picture of it up there. We decided we were going to renovate it into an RV. So, we had to gut the whole thing and start from scratch, just kind of metal. We started in the back and started working our way forward.
Then a little thing called COVID happened, and everything was put on hold. So, mid-process, our bus got stalled just like this. We'd only built the back part. Because of COVID, some of our kids and their friends came back from college. That summer, it became the quarantine headquarters for a lot of Pine Cove summer staff. They got COVID, and they needed a place to stay. The whole time, I was constantly explaining to people, "Let me tell you my vision of what it's going to become. This is what I'm picturing."
I kind of wished I had a sign like this that said, "Work in progress," that I could keep reminding people "It's going to get better." Eventually it did. We finally got it all completed a little bit later. That's what it ended up looking like. But if you had looked at my bus or come on my bus mid-process, you would have been like, "This is your vision? This is what you're thinking about?"
This is why I love the story of John Mark that we just read about. If all we knew of John Mark ended in Acts 13 when he abandoned Paul and Silas, or even right here where he just kind of sails off into the sunset with Barnabas, we might think, "Well, what a failed project. He quit. He's unreliable. He's a failure." But God wasn't done with John Mark. Like my bus, a lot of God's work is messy mid-process. It's true for all of us.
All of us are a work in progress. In fact, I think this sign would be helpful for us to always keep this in mind in our lives. Some of us should walk around with one on, maybe. (Not really.) My point is we all need to be reminded that we are a work in progress. So, what we just read here is two things happening at the same time. You have this painful disagreement between godly men, but then you have this redemption story that God wasn't done writing.
So, we're going to jump into this today and talk about the first part. This is mainly an important part of life: conflict happens. Paul and Barnabas sharply disagreed over whether or not they should take John Mark. Barnabas wanted to take him. Paul said "No" because he left them in Pamphylia. He saw it as, "Hey, this isn't a minor thing. It's kind of a ministry reliability issue." Here's what I want us to know, first of all: this disagreement didn't destroy a godly friendship.
I think, a lot of times, because we don't handle conflict well, we assume they are bitter enemies now. The Bible doesn't tell us that. It just says they separated. Barnabas took John Mark, who's also his cousin, and they actually sailed… Just to give you a little picture of where they went, they left Antioch where they were. There's a map there. That's the dotted line on the bottom there. They sail to Cyprus. They're retracing the mission trip he and Paul had taken initially. That's actually where Barnabas was from, so that kind of made sense.
Then Paul takes Silas, and they head north to Syria. If you notice, they go through Tarsus where Paul was from. So, the trip happens. It's not like they're bitter enemies. They just didn't go on a mission trip together. Okay? God still used both of them. Now, I will point out this is the last time that we see Barnabas in the book of Acts, but here's what I want you to remember: godly people can disagree in a healthy way without becoming enemies.
There's an expression some of you might have heard before that says, "In essentials, unity; in nonessentials, liberty; in all things, charity." Christians obviously can't compromise on gospel issues, like the reliability of God's Word, the deity of Christ, and salvation by grace alone through faith. Those are nonnegotiables, but when there are wisdom issues, strategy issues, or secondary matters, we can preserve love, and we can actually agree to disagree.
This is true in marriages, in Community Groups, in friendships, with neighbors and family and coworkers. Disagreement doesn't have to make us enemies. Conflict is a part of that, especially marriage. These relationships are all confrontational by nature. Marriage is just like that. Having conflict in your marriage doesn't mean you have a bad marriage; it means you have a marriage. By the way, there's a great resource we have on our website called the Conflict Resolution Road Map, if you ever need some help in that area.
But this is where Paul and Barnabas now are going on their separate ways. This is what I want to really zoom in on now. The second thing we see is this wonderful truth that grace redeems. Mark did fail early on. We're not told why. We don't know if he was afraid, if there was hardship, or maybe just immaturity, but Paul saw it as really serious.
This is right before the persecution really gets going, where in Lystra, Paul is almost stoned to death. It says in Acts 15 that they had risked their lives for the gospel. So, it was a big deal what they were going on, and how are they going to resolve this? We saw corporate conflict happening in Acts 15 earlier. We talked about this and how they resolved it last week.
Now it's this personal conflict, and they decided, "Listen. We're going to stick with the gospel plan, but you go ahead and take John Mark, and I'll take Silas with me." Again, at this point, Mark could have looked unreliable. It really could have been where people were like, "I'm not sure about this young guy." But Barnabas, son of encouragement, saw the potential. He believed failure wasn't final.
When it comes to grace, grace is this second chance. It's not a free pass or a license to sin; it's a second chance that can now propel you into the future, propel you forward. So, where Paul saw risk, Barnabas saw restoration, because Mark's story wasn't over. This is what's beautiful. God often writes his best chapters after what looks like failure. If you fast-forward 12 to 15 years, do you know what you find? Paul and Mark have been restored.
Mark is serving with Paul. Paul mentions Mark in Colossians and Philemon as his faithful ministry partner. This is so beautiful. At the very end of 2 Timothy, which is Paul's last letter near his death, his final request is "Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is very useful to me for ministry." Think about how stunning that is, you guys. The guy Paul didn't want to bring with him for ministry becomes his last ministry request.
Mark also wrote a gospel. A lot of you guys know that. God used this young man, who walked away initially, to record the story of redemption. Mark had matured. Grace repaired what failure had damaged, and God redeemed his story. If you read early church history, Mark becomes known as Mark the Evangelist. He goes to Alexandria to be a bishop. He's actually martyred for his faith there. So, overall, we find out Mark was this faithful servant whose life overall was faithful ministry.
God had sovereign purposes for Mark's story. But again, if Acts 13 was all we knew, we might write Mark off as unreliable, unfinished. He was immature. He had failed, but failure was a chapter. This is really important to all of our lives. God was still writing. Mark was restored. God used him greatly, but he's not an exception. John Mark's story reminds us that the only people God uses to build his kingdom are broken people like us.
That's exactly how he builds his church, which means his church will always be filled with unfinished people. Listen to this quote from Tim Keller. "The mistaken belief that a person must 'clean up' his or her own life in order to merit God's presence is not Christianity. This means, though, that the church will be filled with immature and broken people who still have a long way to go emotionally, morally, and spiritually." Mark was one of those unfinished people, but so were Paul and Barnabas, and so are you and I.
Christianity is not this museum of polished people; it's a construction zone full of grace. That's what it's all about. If you want to see this beautifully displayed, come to re:gen tomorrow night. We're just a construction zone. That's all we are in all of this. So, how do we apply this? I'm going to give you three applications, but the big picture is this: we need to see everyone through the lens of redemption. God is doing something. We're all this work in progress.
Let me give you the first application, though: view your own story with hope. Some of you this morning might feel like a John Mark. You failed. You quit. You drifted. You sinned again, maybe even last night. You disappointed others. But your worst chapter doesn't have to be your final chapter. Don't treat failure as final when God is writing more. His grace is always deeper than our depravity.
What do you do when you're faced with that? Well, it's called repentance. Your repentance, even today, might be this turning point. This isn't just something you do at salvation, repentance and faith. We do this all the time, turning and trusting every day in our lives to have a new daily attitude when we come to Jesus each morning.
So, it's never too late. Trust the promise of Philippians 1:6, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Christ Jesus. He'll bring it to completion. Trust the promise of 1 John 1:9, that if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Be encouraged by this quote from Charles Spurgeon. This is so beautiful. Listen to what he says. "Let not your sense of sin make you think little of my Master. You are a great sinner, but he is a greater Savior. Do not say that you have matched Christ, or overmatched him. Come, Goliath sinner, the Son of David can conquer thee or save thee yet: 'Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.'" You can be a hundred times worse than you are, and it's no match for God's grace. Amen? Such good news.
Now, I want to remind you in this, we don't use this as an excuse to never change, to never repent. Like, "Oh, we're all just a work in progress," and you never, ever move on. It's a work in progress. But I want to make sure, for some of you, that you don't feel like the younger brother in the prodigal son story in Luke 15 who said, "I'm no longer worthy." That's not the attitude God is looking for. God's love for you is not based on your performance, which is such good news.
So, that's the first application: view your own story with hope. Second application: view others with grace. If we're all a work in progress, view others with grace. Maybe your struggle is like the older brother in the prodigal son story, that you're actually looking at some people going, "Their immaturity and their pace… Like, how can they still be struggling with that? How come their convictions aren't there yet? How can they not see it?"
Well, everyone around us is still immature, including all of us. We all have a long way to go. Imagine walking into a gym, looking at all of the people, and going, "Man, look at some of these people. What a bunch of hypocrites. They're so out of shape. How come they're not farther along?" You'd go, "But that's why they're at the gym. They know they need help. They know they're in the process of growing." All of us are in different phases, at different points of our growth.
So, the reminder, you guys, is… Do you see yourself the way God still sees you, the way the older brother needed to be reminded? "Hey, God doesn't love you based on your performance either." That's really good news. Are you reminded of the amazing story of your rescue? This is what Titus 3 says: "For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another."
Then, here's the good news of the gospel: "But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness…" Did you get that? God's love for you is not conditional. It's not because of your performance. "…but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior…"
For some of you, that's your application today. Receive that free gift that's not based on your righteousness but Jesus'. If I truly understand who I really am by myself, that I can't offer anything that can add to my righteousness or earn God's favor, how could I ever look down on someone or judge someone? I'm just one beggar telling another beggar where I found bread, how I found an oasis in the desert, the cure for my disease, how I was found and adopted by the King of the universe, and you can be too. That's the good news we get to share with everybody.
So, Barnabas reminds us that no struggler is ever a lost cause. The grace he was showing John Mark saw the future fruit over his present maturity where he was. This doesn't mean, by the way, we ignore sin or remove accountability. Paul's caution mattered. That's really important. People need grace and truth, but don't freeze someone forever in their weakest season. Look at them with grace.
It's like family photos. You guys know this. You're trying to take family photos, and the kids are a mess, or somebody blinked, or they're crying or looking away, and Dad is frustrated. Eventually, you're going to get a picture that you'll put on social media or it's going to be your Christmas card, but if all you saw of this family was mid-process, you'd think very differently of this family. Right? This is where Acts 13 is only a snapshot of John Mark's life. It's not the final portrait. So, we want to view others with grace.
Last application: view your own family with patience. View your family with patience, especially your kids. Parents, I want to talk to you especially right now. This last spring, we had about 25 middle schoolers over at our house all at once. It was so loud, very loud, but it got me thinking about my middle school years, which were over 40 years ago. I was like, "Man! What were adults thinking of me?" as I was looking at these young people. I had so far to go.
My immaturity… I just wanted to be cool with my friends, funny with my friends, cool with the girls, and I did some knuckleheaded things. I tried to jump over a bonfire in seventh grade at the beach and landed on the bonfire. It was to impress these eighth graders and this girl I liked. Again, I had so far to go. But this is where it's really hard sometimes. One of the hardest parts about being a parent is not overreacting to a chapter, maybe a bad week, a foolish choice, a rebellious season, a spiritual low, or even a spiritual high.
We can look at these and start thinking long-term, like, "Well, this is just going to be who they are." We end up thinking this chapter is the whole book. I love that God continues writing. He writes longer stories than you and I. If the church is filled with immature, broken people, like we just read, who are still growing morally and spiritually, why would we be shocked when our own children are also works in progress? So, don't mistake your child's current chapter for the final process. God is still writing their story.
So, yeah, John Mark was unreliable. He was immature, but later he was trusted and faithful and useful. So, as a parent, don't idolize good seasons, but don't despair when there are rough seasons. Keep praying, discipling, correcting, encouraging, modeling, and trusting God in all of this. So, here's our conclusion: Acts 15 isn't just a story about conflict; it's a story about redemption after conflict. Paul and Barnabas disagreed. The church moved forward. Mark was restored. God kept writing.
Interestingly (this is really cool to think about), Mark is the only gospel writer who includes the parable of the seed growing, which describes this crop growing, and the farmer doesn't understand or really help. It's a reminder of how God is going to accomplish his purposes, whether or not we understand it or see it. He has sovereign purposes, and at the right time, he's going to bring forth the right amount of fruit.
So, here's what I want you to do. We're going to do something we don't usually do. I'm going to give you two minutes. I want you to turn to those around you. So, if you're with your family, you can turn to them. Turn to your neighbor, or anybody, and I want you to answer this one question: "Where do I most need to remember that God is still writing the story?"
Is it in your own story? You have a struggle, a fear, a weakness, a failure. Is it in someone else's story…a friend, a spouse, a Community Group member, a coworker? Or is it your family's story…your kids, your parent, or another family member? Which one do you need to remember most as you go out from this service? Got it? I'm going to give you two minutes. Ready, go. Turn to those around you.
[Pause]
All right, friends. Let's come back together. Good job. Let me end by reminding you of this. The God who redeemed John Mark's story still specializes in doing the same thing today in our lives. That's what he's always all about. You are a precious work in progress. This progress, by the way, in the Bible is called sanctification, becoming more like Jesus. It's our gradual growing righteousness made possible by the Spirit's work in us. Because God is sovereignly committed to us, no story is ever a lost cause. God is constantly redeeming all of our stories.
By the way, one of the reasons we are a Bible-revering church is because of that sanctification. In John 17, Jesus prayed, "Father, sanctify them by the truth; your Word is truth." It's through that, even, that God begins to work on us and grow us. You can't be close to God and far from his Word, by the way.
Parents, friends, children, we're all a work in progress. So, maybe your application today is to view your own story with hope. Maybe you need to remember the gospel or receive the gospel. Be encouraged by God's free gift. Maybe your application is to view other people with grace, remembering that we are all just a work in progress. Maybe your application today is to view your family with patience. God is still writing their story. Kids, pray for your parents. Pray for each other. All of us, pray for this next generation. This is how God is building his kingdom. Isn't it beautiful? Let me pray for us.
God, thank you for this reminder from John Mark that you are building your kingdom and you use all of us broken people despite ourselves. You love us, yet you love us too much to leave us the way we are. God, help us to partner with you in that process, but, God, help us to be patient with ourselves, with others, with our kids, and with family members and friends, Lord, that you would be glorified, that you would be our strength, that you would mold and shape us as we move from glory to glory, becoming more and more Christlike as we go. Lord, we trust you for that promise, that process, as well. We ask this in Jesus' name, amen.
