 Acts chapter 13. Acts chapter 13 is a great chapter. And just as we're reading it through again, I mean something that just popped out to me was verse 39 is just a great salvation message, right? I mean verse 39 says, and by him all that what? By him all that believe are justified from all things, from which he could not be justified by the law of Moses. So those that believe on the Lord Jesus Christ are justified because we can't be justified by the law. We don't care how good you are at keeping the commandments, you can't be justified by the law. Alright, that has nothing to do with the sermon. But it's just something that popped out at me. Alright, new series this evening. So we're talking about getting hung up in the Christian life. Hung up in the Christian life. So what are things that hang you up? That stop you? I mean why are we coming to church? Why are we learning the Bible? We're trying to move forward in this Christian life. We're trying to become fruitful Christians. We're trying to be people that do something with our lives, right? It's that take this one life that we have and actually make it matter for ourselves, our family, other people, right? So what are things that stop us from doing that, from that hang us up in this life? This evening what I want to talk about is failure. Failure in life is something that hangs a lot of people up. Past failures, especially. Alright, so let's look at the story in Acts chapter 13 and the person that I want to use as my main example is this person called John Mark in the Bible. Look at Acts chapter 13. Actually go back to Acts chapter 12. Acts chapter 13 mentions him. We'll get to that in a minute. But go back one chapter to Acts chapter 12. Who was this guy named John Mark in the Bible? So we know that he traveled in Acts chapter 13. We know that he traveled with Paul and Barnabas, these great missionaries. You know, Acts chapter 13 has Paul preaching the Gospel here to the Jews and the synagogue. But we know that John Mark traveled with Paul and Barnabas. But look at Acts chapter 12 and verse number 25. The Bible says and Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem when they had their ministry and took with them John whose surname was Mark. So his name was John. You'll hear, that's kind of like his first name, his surname was Mark. It's kind of a last name type of thing, right? So John Mark, Mark, Marcus. You'll hear him called all these different things in the Bible. But look, let me explain to you the missionary journeys that we see in the books of Acts. First of all, there's mainly, you know, there's three missionary journeys, mainly that Paul took that are documented in the book of Acts. If you look back to Acts chapter 13, we see, you know, the first missionary journey of Paul is really what we're seeing in Acts chapter 13. And in this missionary journey, you have these three men together. You have Paul, you have Barnabas, and you have John Mark all together. Okay, but look at Acts chapter 13 and look at verse number 1. The Bible says, now look, I mean the church at Antioch, you'll hear about this a lot in the book of Acts as well. Here's kind of what happened. So after Jesus was crucified, and he came back, and then he was, he ascended into heaven, the church at Jerusalem was under some serious persecution. And the Christians scattered from Jerusalem and they started this church at Antioch. And as far as Paul's missionary journeys and Barnabas especially, the church at Antioch was kind of like their home base. So that's why you'll see, you know, Antioch coming up again and again and again in the book of Acts, because Paul would get sent out from Antioch, he would come back to Antioch. And then he'd go out again, and it was kind of like their home church. Think of it that way. Alright, so look at Acts chapter 13 and verse number 1. Now there were in the church that was at Antioch certain prophets and teachers as Barnabas and Simeon that was called Niger and Lucius of Cyrene and Menein which had brought up with Herod the tetrarch and Saul. That's Paul. As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, separate me, Barnabas and Saul, for the work were unto I have called them. And when they had fasted and prayed, they laid their hands on them and they sent them away. So they being sent forth by the Holy Ghost, departed unto Seleutia, and from thence they sailed to Cyprus. And when they were at Salamis, they preached the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews, and they had also John to their ministers. So here's John Mark. Look at verse number 13 of the same chapter for the sake of time, where the Bible says now when Paul and his company loosed from Paphos, they came to Perga in Pamphylia and John departing from them returned to Jerusalem. So at this point we see in the story that you have Paul and Barnabas and John Mark together and like now if you were just normally reading the Bible, you wouldn't think that much about this one verse in verse 13. I mean he could have for some reason John Mark he left at this point and he went back to the church, he didn't go back to Antioch, he went back to the church at Jerusalem. So that's what we know so far at this point. I mean it could have been for any reason, it could have been for an emergency you know whatever. But maybe he got called back to the church for some need or whatever. Honestly the Bible doesn't tell us what the exact reason was but turn to Acts chapter 15 so we don't know what we don't know right so the Bible doesn't tell us why exactly he left but we do know this. Look at Acts chapter 15 and verse number 36. We do know this. Look at verse 36 of Acts 15. The Bible says and some days after Paul said unto Barnabas, let us go again so now they're thinking about going out from Antioch again on another missionary journey and visit our brethren in every city where we have preached the word of the Lord, they preach the gospel and see how they do. And Barnabas determined to take with them John whose surname was Mark. But Paul thought not good to take with them who departed from them from Pamphylia and went not with them to do the work. So Paul here is referencing the exact incident in Acts chapter 13 where John left. And the contention you say so we don't know why he left but here's what we do know. Verse 39. And the contention was so sharp between them that they departed asunder one from another and so Barnabas took Mark and sailed unto Cyprus and Paul chose Silas and they departed being recommended by the brethren unto the grace of God. So we don't know why John left in Acts 13 but we know that the reason was not acceptable to Paul. That's what we know. We know that Paul was not good with it. Paul looked at it and it was so contentious. Imagine Paul and Barnabas, two of the greatest evangelists in the book of Acts in the entire New Testament having such a sharp argument amongst themselves that they literally decided not to go together anymore. You go this way and I'm going this way. But here's another interesting fact about John Mark. Turn to Colossians chapter 4. This shines a little bit of light on the situation for us on why Barnabas took one side and Paul took the other side. Look at Colossians chapter 4 and verse number 10. But I mean the contention was so sharp. I mean not only does the Bible say that the contention was sharp but they literally departed from each other. So you know that something happened. I'm thinking it was pretty uncomfortable for the folks at Antioch when these two men started having contensions that were this sharp. Two men of their leadership positions. But look at Colossians chapter 4 and verse number 10. We see a little bit of the reason here why there might have been this contention. Here's Marcus my fellow prisoner saluted you and Marcus sister's son to Barnabas touching whom he received commandments if he come unto you receive him. So here we see that John Mark Marcus is Barnabas's nephew. It's his sister's son. So you know Barnabas was like the favorite uncle I suppose. He was kind of looking out for his sister's son. It definitely shines some light on the situation and then people will constantly say well who was right? Who was right in the situation between Paul and Barnabas. And the answer is this they both were. They were both right. I mean Paul's take was he was serious. I mean Paul I mean if you understand anything about Paul he is a hard charging man in the Bible. He is a hard charging man. He is there to get a job done. It didn't matter how many times they tried to kill him. They tried to beat him. He just got right back up and went right back into the synagogue. I mean he had been stoned. He had been whipped. I mean you name it he went through it. He was serious about his commitment to the gospel. And he just simply did not trust somebody who left him when he was in the midst of that mission. Barnabas's take give the guy another chance. You know it's my sister's kid. I mean Barnabas was you know the favorite uncle to Marcus and he's just trying to give the kid another chance. And you know what Barnabas turned out to be right too. Barnabas turned out to be right. So look you have to understand how did this let's look at this whole situation with John Mark. Imagine you have just disappointed the greatest evangelist to ever live. I mean just think of the greatest Baptist preacher you can ever even think of. And you went to serve him or work for him or whatever and you just fell on your face and you failed and you quit. I mean that's kind of the equivalent of what happened with John Mark and Paul. But turn to 2 Timothy chapter 4. Let's see how you know I mean Paul didn't even want him with him anymore. He's like I'm not going with him. He wasn't just mad at him. He's like I'm not going with him. I don't want him with me. I mean that's a massive let down right there. But look at 2 Timothy chapter 4. How did it work out for John Mark? How did it end up for John Mark after such a major failure? The Bible says in 2 Timothy chapter 4 written by Paul look at verse number 11. He says Take Mark and bring him with thee for he is profitable to me for the ministry. Turn to Philemon chapter 1. So here we see somewhere between the contention between Barnabas and Paul in the book of Acts and 2 Timothy chapter 4 we see that Mark has you know become profitable again for the ministry. Look at Philemon chapter 1 and look at verse number 24 or chapter 3 we'll start. The Bible says They're salute thee Epaphorus, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus. So Paul's in jail. Marcus, Aristarchus, Deimos, Lucas, my fellow laborers. He's back working with Paul. He got the job back. So he came back from such a failure. He says the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you, be with your spirit amen. Turn to 1 Peter chapter 5. It gets even better. It gets even better. Look at 1 Peter chapter 5 and verse number 11. So not only did John Mark redeem himself with Paul to where he was laboring next to Paul again, but he made a name for himself in Jerusalem as well with Peter. Look at 1 Peter chapter 5 and verse number 11. The Bible says to him be glory and dominion forever and ever amen. By Silvanus a faithful brother unto you as I suppose I have written briefly exhorting and testifying that this is the true grace of God wherein ye stand. The church that is at Babylon elected together with you salute with you and so doth Marcus my son. He calls Marcus his own son. That's how close he is to him. So Marcus has redeemed himself amongst the men of the New Testament. Now look, here is some history, some secular history for you. Now this isn't the Bible, but this is what secular history says about what happened to John Mark. Okay, look the Gospel of Mark was written by this guy. This is the Mark that wrote the Gospel of Mark. Jerome a historian speaks thus Mark a Gospel of Peter at the request of the brethren at Rome wrote a brief Gospel according to that which he had heard Peter relate. So Peter supposedly through secular history related the Gospel to Mark. When Peter examined it he pronounced it good. Upon his word he gave it to the church to read the Gospel of Mark right there. Afterwards when Mark was sent by Peter to Egypt, this is actually here that in the eighth year of Nero, so he was sent to Egypt to preach the Gospel by Peter that in the eighth year of Nero when he at the feast of the Passover preached the blessed remembrance of the suffering and death of Christ to the church at Alexandria. Keep in mind this is the guy that quit on Paul. This is the guy in Acts 13 that just quit on Paul and Paul was so upset with him he didn't want to take him to the next missionary journey. So he's preaching in Egypt, he's preaching in Alexandria. The heathen priests and the whole populace seized him and with hooks and ropes which they fastened around his body they dragged him out of the congregation through the streets and out of the city so that his flesh everywhere adhered to the stones and his blood was poured out upon the earth. And they that again thrust him, they that they then again thrust him still alive into prison once he having been strengthened and comforted by the Lord in the night. So he's thrown into prison after going through this situation. The Lord strengthens him in the night, he was then taken out again and dragged to the place Bakuli until he with the last words of the Savior. Isn't that interesting? I mean this is secular history but it matches up with what the Bible says God's going to do for us in those times. He with the last words of the Savior committed his spirit into the hands of the Lord and expired. So he ended very well I would say. He ended strong he finished his race So all that as introduction to say this you know for application for us let me just give you a few points from the Bible on how failure should affect you in your life. You say well I've failed a lot. Well let's just look at a few points in the Bible and from the life of John Mark on how you should take failure in your life. And the first one is this. Failure in life at no point should dictate future success I mean John Mark could you imagine a more complete redemption? Look he had a low point. He had a low point but look it takes time to redeem your reputation it takes time to redeem failures it doesn't happen overnight but look getting back up going and reproving yourself all those things. Look he ended up with Paul again working with Paul in the ministry the very guy that he left and the very guy that wanted to have nothing to do with him he ended up back with him that is success that's full circle redemption right there to Paul. Look if he would have buried his head and focused on his failure he never would have done anything where he could have moved forward he redeemed himself amongst all the brethren I mean that's impressive and he was even sent out by Peter and ended his life you know preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ no matter what the cost he never stopped he never said oh these people are getting mad I better not preach exactly what you know the Bible says I better water it down no he said what the Bible said he preached the gospel and it cost him his life and he went out like an apostle like an apostle should look here's the second point failure may mean a different path forward for you there are certain failures that may mean a different path forward but still a path forward an example of this is like divorce is a failure in someone's past right say you get divorced okay say you wanted to be a pastor one day say you wanted to go into the ministry and be a pastor of a church but then you end up getting divorced well you can't be a pastor now according to the Bible you're no longer qualified for that but look God has a plan B for your life God has a plan B and if you mess up plan B God has a plan C and if you mess up plan C God has a plan D and a plan E and a plan F look hopefully you don't get to run out of the alphabet but you know God always has another plan for you it's just it's up to you to get up and move forward and you know look here's the thing about going into the ministry and becoming a pastor you know how many pastors this church needs one you know how many people are needed to serve faithfully in this church a lot so I mean that's the thing I mean maybe there's a little bit too much emphasis put on you know that no everybody has to go into the ministry everyone has to be a pastor no I mean look the church the church this church Jesus Christ church with this candlestick needs one pastor but it needs multiple people to serve to help I mean like the church needs more people to serve than it needs then a pastor so I mean look I mean it's it's just it's just so if you're not qualified to be a pastor I mean so what I mean the church needs people to serve in all different kinds of areas I mean plan B plan C plan D plan E there's always a plan there for you okay that's the beauty of the Christian life but you can't stop you have to get back up and keep moving forward you're not going to make plan anything the third point is this and here's the thing that people really need to get right in all aspects of life if you aren't failing you aren't participating if you aren't failing you aren't participating one of my favorite quotes from any president throughout the history of the whole United States is a quote that Teddy Roosevelt gave in 1910 my dad I remember said on in his office and he headed on the wall in his office and it reads like this it's called the man in the arena and this is what it means this is what it says this is from Theodore Roosevelt whatever you say about Theodore Roosevelt this man was a tough character I mean he wasn't messing around and I mean he was a tough man and he knew how to get things done through failure now listen to this quote he says this he says it is not the critic who counts not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done them better the credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood who strives valiantly who errs who comes short again and again because there is no effort without error or shortcoming there is a man who has failed a few times there is no effort without error or shortcoming but who actually does actually strive to do the deeds who knows the great enthusiasm the great devotions who spends himself in a worthy cause who at best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement and who at worst if he fails at least fails while daring greatly so his place shall never be known with those cold and timid souls that neither know victory nor defeat that's a great quote so many people will never know success because failure has defined their future that's why so many people quit it thanks I mean anybody from the secular world to the bible will tell you that the road to success is paved in failure but the trick is this the trick is this the trick is learning how to minimize those failures and to get over them quickly and move forward that's the trick look I've had some I've had some good ideas in my life but here's the rule that I've learned I've learned that out of the ideas that I have about one in ten is good you say one in ten so the trick to success for me is learning how to deal with those nine failures and recognize that one so you gotta look here's the thing you gotta deal with the nine you gotta quickly realize it's a failure quickly put it behind you and quickly move forward you can't dwell on one of those nine you can't get depressed about one of those nine you gotta just recognize it's not gonna work it was a bad idea and just move on now look there may be smarter people than me there may be dumber people than me maybe some people have every two ideas out of ten or every three ideas out of ten are good but they still have to deal with those seven I mean that's the bottom line I've seen so many people like that maybe people have one in twenty but they can't deal with the nineteen you have to deal with the failures you have to deal with the failures and you have to quickly move forward turn to John chapter 21 look even Peter even Peter I'll just give you one example Peter failed a few different times in the Bible but look at John chapter 21 look at verse number three this is you know Jesus has been crucified you know everybody's just they're like what in the world Jesus has just risen from the dead not everybody knows about it and you know Peter like the big shot one of the leaders of the disciples look at John chapter 21 in verse number three the Bible says Simon Peter sayeth unto them I go fishing they say unto him we also go to feed you went forth and entered a ship immediately then at the night they caught nothing so I mean after this whole thing Jesus has been crucified I mean it's just everything's a train wreck it doesn't look like it's going well at all he's like I'm going fishing and he takes a bunch of the guys with him I mean of course we know how it turns out Jesus shows up you know they catch a bunch of fish you know they realize it's the Lord Peter gets it right and moves forward it moves forward with his life but look Peter messed up too any of the greats of anything none of the greats made it without failing I mean think of these guys Mark Peter I mean that's I mean you recognize the names because there's books of the Bible named after them their main characters in the Bible turn to Luke chapter 9 it's a mat it's just if you're participating you're going to fail if you're in it you're going to fail look at Luke chapter 9 in verse number 57 Luke chapter 9 in verse number 57 the Bible says it came to pass that as they went in the way a certain man said unto him Lord I will follow thee with or so ever thou goest and Jesus said unto him foxes have holes the birds of the air have nests but the son of man hath not where to lay his head and he said unto the other follow me but he said Lord suffer me first to go bury my father I mean that seems like a reasonable request can I go bury my father Jesus saith unto him let the dead bury their dead but go thou and preach the kingdom of God it's moving he's like let the dead bury the dead let the unsaved bury the unsaved there's still people breathing on this earth that need to hear the kingdom of God that need to hear the gospel preach and another also said Lord I will follow thee but first let me go bid them farewell which are at my home at my house let me go say goodbye and Jesus said unto him look does this sound like this guy this long-haired hippie that's just like you know carrying a sheep around all the time and just like love everybody he's dropping hammers on people he's telling people look this is what it's going to take you want to follow me this is what it's going to take you want to waste time burying somebody who's not even saved let the dead bury the dead he's like you want to waste time he's like there's work that needs to be done look Jesus cared about people going to heaven and he's showing the urgency here and Jesus said unto him no man having put his hand to the plow and looking back is fit for the kingdom of God he's like look if you're going to be this guy that comes with me and goes to preach the gospel and you're like oh I miss my mommy and all this kind of stuff he's like it's not going to work out he's like because we're going to put our hands to the plow and we're going forward I mean he's like a drill sergeant here he's like we're not going to look back and that leads me to my last point is that your past failures should not define your future your past failures should not define your future turn to Philippians chapter 3 and I don't care what those failures are I don't care what your failures were or if they were yesterday if you are saved today those failures should not define where you go in the future period look at verse number 13 of Philippians chapter 3 think about who this is coming from this is coming from Paul Philippians chapter 3 and verse number 13 is everybody there brethren to have apprehended but this one thing I do I count not myself to have apprehended he's like I'm not there yet but this one thing I do forgetting those things which are behind did Paul have some failures we'll talk about those failures in a couple sermons from now in this same series but forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forth onto those things which are before I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus look Paul is like I'm not there yet but he's pressing towards the mark now look here's the thing I don't care what kind of pressing that you're doing there will always be risk in pressing there will always be risk in pressing whenever you're pressing against something you're pushing I remember I used to wrestle in high school and you would always want somebody to push on you I would love it if somebody came into a wrestling match and started pushing on me and pushing me because it's really easy just to throw somebody when they come pushing at you because they're using their own weight towards you you just throw them to the ground super easy you don't have to do any work so there's risk in pressing you're pressing on something you're working on your car I mean how many times are you pressing on something your muscles you're pressing I mean there's risk in pressing you hit yourself you cut yourself I mean I can feel it right now it hurts but look here's the thing here's the nice thing about church hopefully you can press forward without failing so much if you're in a good church you're looking you know you're learning you're growing but look unless you've figured out the sinless life please don't come out come here and say you figured out the sinless life but until you figure out this how to get rid of this flesh this sin that we have you know what you're going to fail you're going to fail in this Christian life I mean think of Mark I mean just imagine today let me just like think of Mark and Peter think of I mean they quit the ministry think of someone today quitting the ministry what would you think of them what would you think of somebody today that quit the ministry I've heard of people doing that and you have too of people quitting the ministry I'm not talking about getting kicked out of the ministry I'm just talking about people that just quit the ministry I've heard of it happening and I mean I've thought it myself I'm like man I'm that one but look these men that came back from that kind of low point you know these men that have quit the ministry that we know about that we've heard about they should come back they should come back from it I mean men in the Bible did Mark and Peter did they came back and they did great look and here's another thing in this Christian life the more out on a limb you go the more disabilities you take on yourself the more you decide I'm going to serve you know I'm going to take on this new service I'm going to do this for the church I'm going to decide to serve in this way the more you grow and give to the Christian life as you should your failures it seems like they're more visible it seems like they're more visible but look does it it doesn't change the fact that you should put those things behind you and move forward they jumped back in and became amongst the greatest men in the entire Bible I mean there's no doubt about it so look in conclusion this evening especially for the person out here that has failed at things in a past life I'll say before you were saved you had some failures in your life look the Bible says you're a new creature now I mean the Bible says just think about it I mean people have failed at major things in their life they've failed at marriage they've failed at raising children I mean these are major things like you need to just you need to get things as right as you can and you need to move forward I mean some things you're just not going to be able to fix you're not just going to be able and some things you know just aren't going to be fixed right it's going to be plan B time it's going to be plan C time but look maybe it means that you just won't be able to get remarried you know plan B maybe that means you have a long road mending relationships I know Christians who have gotten right after their kids are 20 now they got a long road to mend relationships look it's better not to go down those roads but you can't let that past failure stop you from moving forward in the future you get things as right as you can you do things the right way from now on look maybe that means that you won't be a pastor but look you know what does it take a pastor to go out and preach the gospel I mean do we need more people to go out and preach the gospel or don't we I mean I met a kid I mean look we will teach you how to go out and and get people from heaven to hell hell to heaven I'm sorry we will teach people we will teach you how to get people out of this situation that they're in look it doesn't take it doesn't take a college degree it doesn't take paying a bunch of money it doesn't look we met we met a kid a couple months ago that he was just so obsessed with all these online ministries and sending this money to these and following all these online guys that were just like you have to do this and this and this it's like look we'll make you a missionary here it's free look we'll send you across the world here we'll teach you how to do something with your life here but look if you take look God doesn't hold these past failures against you turn to 2nd Corinthians chapter 5 he doesn't hold these past failures against you but guess what if you use them as excuses going forward he will look at 2nd Corinthians chapter 5 in verse number 17 the Bible says therefore if any man be in Christ he is a new creature old things are passed away behold all things are become new look the Bible says that God doesn't hold these things against you these failures in the past but look if you are in this Christian life and you've been given this gift of salvation and you just say you know what I'm going to obsess over my past failures and I'm going to do nothing with this gift then God's going to hold that against you now now you're in chastisement territory so you must press towards this mark you can also not be afraid of future failures either when you set a path a goal it just needs to be a matter of when you get there not if that's the problem with people today they set a goal and they're like I wonder if I'll ever get there no you just set a goal you just purpose in your heart and whatever you just keep going until you get there fail a test bummer take it again again take it again take a certain test 15 times I know one guy is like the most persistent person I've ever met has taken a test like 18 times I'm like man maybe it's just not for you but he just keeps faking it he's going to get it start a new job I mean there's some of you starting new jobs look you're probably not going to get it right for a while let me just let you know you're probably not going to get this if it's a job worth having like the first day I remember the first job that I ever had out of college I thought I was a moron for like 2 years I mean I'm not kidding that's my wife I went home to my wife every like on a bi-weekly basis and I'm like I'm an idiot I don't understand this stuff like am I stupid like it's so complicated I can't understand it for like 2 years and I'm doing stuff wrong and it's just you just keep grinding that's it parenting you set a goal to homeschool and you just do it you set a goal to homeschool and you just fail your way through it that's what you do when we first started homeschooling there was no support we first started homeschooling it was us that's it people in our family were against it people in the little town that we live close to were against it everybody was against it we just started doing it we're all by ourselves we don't have any support we're pretty much on our own look you have support by the way you will fail less but there will be times there will be days when you will think you're not a good teacher there will be days when you're like you know what I don't have the temperament for this does God really want me to do homeschool my kids yea half God said that's what that is yes God wants you to homeschool I mean that's the goal to homeschool your kids Deuteronomy 6 verse 6 I'll just read it for you and these words this is for you mom and these words what I command thee this day shall be in thine heart and thou shall teach them diligently unto thy children and shall talk of them when thou walkest by the way when thou liest down and when thou rises up it is your job it is what God said right there I mean look that's for you homeschool mom it doesn't matter how much you fail that's the beauty of the word of God by the way you know your emotions change our feelings change the word of God never changes it's always right there telling us that's what you need to do so when you're like oh am I really cut out for this am I really supposed to do this yes because it's right there and it doesn't change it doesn't change with our feelings or our inadequacies you know we should just always revert back to it to bring us back around always back to the word of God look some people just have a lot of quit in them that's the bottom line if this is you you need to fix this or you'll ruin a lot of things you just need to become the type of person that just doesn't get hung up on your past failures because that failure could be five minutes ago I mean you guys starting new jobs let me give you another piece of advice on this new job thing I know it's relevant right now when I moved from North Dakota to Sacramento I got this job and I was like it was a miracle that I got the job I was ready to go work we were talking about it today I was going to go hit a couple backup plans but I ended up getting this job and I got into that job and I hated it I hated it every single day I was just like I hate this I can't believe I'm doing this and I wanted to go and I wanted to get a different job and I wanted to I even met with some other people and like had some opportunities to get a different job but I just couldn't get over this idea that God provided this job for me I mean it was so profound a moment in my life I was just like you know God just provided this job for me so I'm just going to grind it out I decided not to leave it just grind it out at this job and out of that job came opportunity and and opportunity that allowed me to get the job that I have here isn't that weird here I was like this is the worst job ever my pride was all like man you don't don't they know who you are why are they making you do this stuff you know I mean my pride was all messing with me and all this but no this is the job that God provided for me so I'm just going to stay there so look get a job God provides you a job and just stick with it just stick with it and just grind it out you fail own it move on fail again repeat it's not complicated and soon you will begin to fail less and that is how like Mark and Peter and Paul you know you'll reach that mark that you're pressing towards I mean failing like here's the thing I mean failing will happen to us if we're participating you're not going to fail if you're not participating because as far as the man in the arena goes you're that cold and timid soul you're that cold and timid soul who will never know victory nor defeat so you must get up and move forward that's what the Bible teaches that's what we see from these men look these stories in the Bible aren't just there for us to read and just that's a cool story these stories are in the Bible because this is stuff we're going to go through this is stuff we're going to go through look there's going to be failures in your Christian life there's going to be failures in your family life there's going to be failures look we want to fail less we don't want to fail by you know falling into horrible things or whatever we want to fail less that's what we're trying to do by preaching the Bible here get you to fail less but when you fail you need to get up and go forward that's what Jesus taught because look we need to move forward forward forward in front of us is so much I can hardly imagine it we can't afford to have anybody laying on the ground crying about their failures there's too much to do we're coming up on a one year anniversary here one day will be an independent church God willing there's a lot of work to do there's a lot of I mean it's intimidating to me how much is in front of us I need help we can't afford to have brother George laying on the ground in a pile crying about his failure yesterday we can't afford to have anyone doing that so we want to fail less but move forward together I mean people's eternity depends on it think about it if we have a third of the people here that are depressed and not moving forward I mean that's going to matter for people in Fresno but if we have everybody here moving forward in the right direction in unison then I mean sky's the limit and God will be with that that's what God tells us to put our hand to the plow and don't look back let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer