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[0:00] Thank you so much for sharing.

[0:11] If you have your Bibles, I want to turn to Matthew chapter 8.! I just often call that the trial sermon, and I told you at the time that I was not on trial.

[0:36] I hadn't even been arrested. And then I preached on Mark chapter 6, among other passages, and I want to return to that today.

[0:47] Now, I will tell you, I'm not starting over at four years of sermons, okay? It's not the case. We're preaching through the book of Mark after we took an excursion during Easter.

[1:00] And as we approached this passage, I couldn't help but think about another passage. These two passages are two of the most startling passages that I've ever come across.

[1:15] They are two passages that stump me. It's found in Matthew chapter 8, beginning in verse 5, and it says this.

[1:27] When he had entered Capernaum, a centurion came forward to Christ, appealing to him, Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, suffering terribly.

[1:41] And he said to him, I will come and heal him. But the centurion replied, Lord, I'm not worthy to have you come under my roof, for I only say the word, and my servant will be healed.

[1:54] For I too am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. And I say to one, go, and he goes, and the other come, and he comes. And to my servant, do this, and he does that.

[2:05] When Jesus heard this, he marveled and said to those who followed him, truly I tell you, there is no one in Israel, with no one in Israel have I found such faith.

[2:27] Did you catch it? Jesus was amazed. It says he marveled at the man's faith.

[2:39] Now, Jesus was limitless. He knew all things and could do all things. The only limits that he had, he put upon himself, and he only had them while he lived in the flesh on the earth.

[2:52] Philippians 2, verse 6-8 gives us a hint of that, when it says, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God, a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men, and being found in human form.

[3:10] He humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on the cross. I don't know what all he gave up when he came in the flesh, in human form, and whoever tells you that they do completely understand that, either lies to you or is ignorant enough to think they know.

[3:31] The reality is, it is beyond us. But I would have thought that a man's faith would not have marveled him.

[3:44] But it did. So what amazed Jesus? I'll tell you what amazed Jesus. It was an abundance of unexpected faith.

[4:00] The man showed amazing faith. And he was not a man who was expected to show amazing faith. He was a centurion. A centurion was a high-ranked official, an officer in the Roman army.

[4:18] He led a century of men, usually between 80 and 100 men, in a company of soldiers. They were sharp men. They were notables of the community.

[4:30] They were known for their deliberation. They were known for their consistency. They were known for their strength. They were known as being battle-tested. They were known as being experienced.

[4:42] We see a presence of the centurions sprinkle throughout the New Testament. Here, this one had watched Jesus. and he had seen the power of Christ and he had now put his faith in Christ.

[5:00] There was another centurion that stood at the foot of the cross of Christ. He oversaw the death of Christ only to utter in the end in Mark chapter 15 verse 39 truly this man looking at Christ was the Son of God.

[5:18] In the book of Acts we find Cornelius. Cornelius is the first Gentile convert and interestingly enough he is also a centurion. Paul had a centurion at his side through many of his travels as he traveled from prison to prison having a centurion beside him many times.

[5:37] The status of a centurion made for an impressive resume but it also made for a Gentile who was an outsider.

[5:48] So what you have is a Gentile outsider working for the Roman government. That man was not expected to respond to Christ in a positive way.

[6:01] I mean think about this. Jesus was a Jew focused on saving and training Jews to reach the rest of the world for the kingdom of God. But those Jews that represented the kingdom of God to the people of that day they're the ones that tried to kill Christ.

[6:19] They're the ones that did not follow him. Upon arranging for his execution they built new and unheard of relationships with the Romans to have him executed.

[6:34] Yet here he is in fact a commander of the opposing army of another race that showed the greatest step of faith in all of the land.

[6:48] And Jesus marveled. He was astonished. He was astonished. At the belief of one that was not even expected to be listening.

[7:07] Not even expected to be watching. And then we look at Mark chapter 6. Mark chapter 6 verse 1 through 6 says this.

[7:24] Jesus went away from there and came to his hometown and his disciples followed him. And on the Sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue and many who heard him were astonished saying where does this man get these things?

[7:39] What is the wisdom given to him? How are such mighty works done by his hands? Is not this carpenter the son of Mary and brother of James and Joseph and Judas and Simon and are not his sisters here with us?

[7:58] And they took offense at him. And Jesus said to them a prophet's not without honor except in his hometown and among his relatives and in his own household.

[8:19] And he could do no mighty work there except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and healed them. And he marveled because of their unbelief and he went about among the villages teaching.

[8:40] What amazes Jesus in this circumstance? An absence of expected faith. He was preaching in his hometown among those that knew him best yet they did not respond.

[9:00] Now we're not talking about some wild child that's finally come home and now he'll come back and let's see what he's made of. Not at all.

[9:13] The reality is this is Jesus. He didn't have wild days. He didn't involve himself in the debaucheries of the day. Christ was sinless.

[9:24] He was born into common means. He was born to a common family. But he was 100% God and at the same time 100% man. His ministry did not start until he came out of a desert of temptation and he came out of it as a sinless man.

[9:42] His testimony preceded his ministry. Yet the very people that he had come from the very people that he was sent to train and prepare the people that you know will believe in him.

[9:58] The expected people. His own people failed to recognize his power and might. They failed to recognize who he really was and he was amazed.

[10:15] Now I want you to notice what this means because verse 5 makes this clear. people's lives were not impacted by Christ as they could have been because the very people that should have been his support did not believe him.

[10:34] Those who really knew him. That's amazing. I wonder how we amazed what do we do that amazes Jesus?

[10:57] Now I doubt we surprise him. As a matter of fact we don't surprise him. He knows us. Nothing throws him off.

[11:10] He knows our heart. The frailness though of humanity in the incarnate Christ has been shed. Jesus is all knowing.

[11:22] He's ever present. He's all powerful Lord. He sits at the right hand of the Father praying for us. And he knows how to pray for us because he knows us. He knows how to pray for us when we utter our ramblings.

[11:37] When we skirt around the real issues of our life. when we share our grocery list of wants and wishes to an almighty God that sees into us and sees through us the whole time while we're trying to convince him that we are of one heart and mind with his will.

[11:59] He knows all that. But aren't we still amazing? How we look past the work that he's done in his word the work that he's done through his word the work that he's done through our lives the work that he's done in our lives the work that that he's working in us and through us and yet we're still afraid to hand him the reins of our life.

[12:31] It isn't amazing that we still worry we still do the very things that he tells us not to do we worry about things we worry about stuff we worry about mammon that's a good King James Version word right there mammon you know what mammon is?

[12:49] Mammon's that stuff it's your stuff you know you may not have much but it's your stuff don't mess with my stuff matter of fact some of that mammon we've made tremendous sacrifice for they never satisfy we want a little more a little bigger a little better a little newer he tells us to be anxious for nothing but yet a doctor tells us he wants to run a test and sheer panic invades our lives he tells us to seek him first and if we're if most of us are honest the agenda of God in our lives sometimes comes second place maybe third place maybe we won't go there the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords comes in the flesh to live among us takes upon himself our frailties yet passes every tempting test giving every trial to the Father dying a sinner's death so that we would not have to was buried in a barred tomb because you don't need to buy something that you're only going to use for a few days and later he arose he walked among us for 40 days and ascended to the right hand of the Father to build us a place in heaven to make intercession on our behalf to wait until the Father says go and the trumpet blows and he comes to take us home isn't it amazing even with all that that our daily lives often do not reflect the change that's taken place we must amaze

[14:45] Jesus still today no I don't think we catch him off guard I don't think we catch him by surprise he saw it coming all the time but surely he marvels at the missed opportunities that we walk away from don't you think he marvels at the people that he places in our path that we walk by don't you think he marvels at the way he always makes a way out when we're tempted 1 Corinthians 10 13 promises us that and yet we fail and we fall right back into the same sinful patterns time and time again don't you think he marvels that he's given us all that we'll ever need yet instead of tapping into the power that is within us by the Holy Spirit of God we reach for everything around us looking for something to lean on it's amazing folks don't you marvel over that don't it amaze you

[15:52] I mean what do you think God would do how do you think he would bless if we decided today to live our lives in a way that will amaze him amaze him that we that we dedicate ourselves to the Word of God.

[16:12] Amaze Him in the way that we dedicate ourselves to prayer. Amaze Him in the way that we trust Him in all that we do. Amaze Him in the way that we forsake this world and follow Him instead of forsaking Him and following the world.

[16:30] Amaze Him in the way that we lean on Him daily. Amaze Him in the way that we truly believe that He's everything that we've got. He's the only hope that we've got. Amaze Him in the way that we believe that He saves all who will believe.

[16:46] Amaze Him in the way that we rest in the guidance that He gives us when we listen. To amaze Him with the way we believe He gives peace for everyone who will find their rest in Him.

[17:07] I don't know about you. But I want to amaze Jesus. Not with the things that I fail to believe. But the way I'm determined to believe that God's up to something pretty special.

[17:23] Because His grace is amazing. I said His grace is amazing.

[17:44] Why don't our lives amazing? The question is, are we willing to live an amazing life for Jesus today?

[17:58] To just live for the Lord Jesus in an amazing fashion. I'm going to tell you, this whole dark world needs that kind of light.

[18:14] And God's called us to be that kind of light. Not only called us now, He enabled us by the Spirit of God to be that for His honor and for His glory and for His kingdom.

[18:35] I don't know if it will be amazing to Him. But I know one thing. If we trust Him with everything we've got and lean on Him completely and live for Him wholeheartedly, it would be absolutely amazing.

[18:52] May we do that. May we do that. I'll tell you how it starts. It starts by surrendering your life to the Lord Jesus.

[19:06] It starts by asking Him to come into your life and to forgive you of the sins that have separated you. And asking Him to cleanse you. And to make you whole.

[19:17] And committing your life to live amazing for Him. Not in your own strength, but by the power of the strength of God. The Spirit of God that indwells us.

[19:30] You've never given your heart and life to the Lord. Give it to Him. Today. Maybe you're here this morning. You have done that, but you've never acknowledged that publicly.

[19:41] You've never been baptized as a believer. And Jesus, by His commission and by His example, tells us that the proper way to acknowledge our salvation is to follow that up with public baptism.

[19:54] It's a physical representation of what happens to us spiritually. If you've never done that, I encourage you to come. We plan to do that in the next few weeks.

[20:06] And so I encourage you to come. I told you when I began that that I preached on these two passages and a very similar theme on the first Sunday that I preached in this church.

[20:24] I remember it. I had a three-piece suit on with a tie. Sitting right here.

[20:36] Taking all of it in. Trying to figure out what in the world. What in the world are they getting into? What in the world am I getting into?

[20:47] How's all this going to work out? And I remember working on that sermon in preparation for that day and saying, God, if you're not going to do amazing things in that church, I don't want to go.

[21:14] I don't want to go. I could have stayed where I was. God, if you're going to do something where we can tell it's been by your hand and by your direction and you're going to allow me to get in on a move of God, then I want to be a part of it.

[21:41] Lord, let it be amazing. I can tell you after almost four years, it's been amazing. God's been good to us.

[21:55] He really has. So if you're a guest here today, this ain't a sales pitch. It's true. God's leading you to be a part of Pickett's First Baptist Church. I can tell you that I thank God if He's leading you, you need to follow.

[22:12] It's a blessed body of believers and we're excited about what God's done. We're excited about what God's going to do. It's a good people to be a part of if God so leads.

[22:25] Whatever that is, then there's the rest of us that in reality there's things in our life that we just, it's just not amazing.

[22:42] It just needs to be changed in our lives and we need to lay those down before the Lord today. And you can do that where you stand as this song is sang or you can do it at this altar or you can do it with a pastor praying for you.

[22:58] I'll always tell you, I never want you to do more than what God tells you to do. But it is always my prayer that you'll never be satisfied with doing less than what God would have you to do.

[23:11] Just be obedient. If you need Christ, come. Let me share Christ with you. If you need to publicly acknowledge Him, come. We'll line that up. God's leading you to this church, you come.

[23:24] God's leading you to deal with a matter in your life that you need to lay down before Him. You come. You take care of that. However God leads you to do it, you take care of that. Heavenly Father, I love you. And I thank you, Lord, for the blessing that you give us to be your children, to allow you to lead and guide us, God.

[23:45] And I'm thankful, Lord, for how we've seen it in our midst, dear Father. And I ask, God, that you will make us hungry to be more like you, to live more for you, to lay down today the matters that we need to lay down before you and to walk out of here ready to live amazing lives for the Lord Jesus Christ.

[24:09]  Lead us right now, oh God, I pray in Jesus' name. Amen.