We're in Acts 15 this morning, and I want to start by asking us all a question. You can put your hand up if you like. Have you ever strongly disagreed with someone before? Yeah? All right. Okay. We have a few liars in the room as well. That's what we're going to look at this morning, is what it looks like to strongly disagree with somebody. Sometimes our disagreements are about what's right and wrong, like actually what's right and wrong. So you have in Acts 15, you have this contention at the start of the chapter where they're arguing, well not arguing, but there's a disagreement over Who is Jesus and what is he accomplished in the cross? Yeah, that's what I preached last time. This idea of the church is that the Gentiles don't have to follow the law of Moses. They don't have to be circumcised. They come in by faith. And this is this strong disagreement. It says, if you look up at verse 2, I think it is, therefore when Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and dispute with them, okay? So you see the word dissension and dispute, and you're like, those are negative words, but they're fighting over something really good. They're fighting for the gospel. And so this is a matter of right and wrong. And sometimes you've had disagreements like that over right and wrong, like Stoke being better than Port Ville or, well, not those ones. More like, you know, who is Christ? What did he accomplish on the cross? The Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit, you know? So real big issues that need to be fought over. The Bible coming from God. And so those are a matter of what's right and wrong. But if you're honest this morning, and let's be really just honest, most of your arguments are not over what's right and wrong. Most of your arguments are preference issues. Am I right? Most of the things that you're disagreeing with people over, I'm not just talking church by the way, I'm just talking life in general, are preference issues, okay? And so it's arguing over what you want versus what they want, and the other person's view might be legitimate. But your view is also legitimate. And so that's the disagreement. That's where the fight's taking place. And it's not right and wrong. It's just you want to have it your way and they want to have it their way. And that essentially is marriage 101, right? That's marriage, you get brought in and you get into marriage and the first week's over and all of a sudden she has so many other things that you do way differently and of course her way's the right way, but my way's the right way too. And all of a sudden you have the clashes and the collisions, that's marriage, right? Our disagreements on our first few weeks of marriage was what way the torret roll goes on the, you know, when you pull it, what way does that go? And there's debate and vicious, not between us, there wasn't vicious debate, but there's preference issues. And of course, I think I got my way on that one, I don't know. One of our disagreements was what do we call the middle of the day meal and the evening meal? I was brought up, it was breakfast, lunch, and dinner. And Victoria's like, what? It's breakfast, dinner, tea. I'm like, tea? Tea? And there's this, and I've had to yield. Now, now, you should praise God that I can now say breakfast, dinner, tea, you know? Victoria's worked it on me. Is that right? So these are preference issues. And if we're honest in the room this morning, this is where a lot of the tension is in life. Matt and I have been working together for nine, 10 months now. We've never had a disagreement over right and wrong. but we've had disagreements over preference issues. This is how I prefer it, and this is how he prefers it. And we've had disagreements. We haven't head-butted each other. That scar on his head wasn't me that time before. It was a table he ran into, honestly. So we have had these disagreements. Here's the question, then. When it comes to these preference issues, how do they get resolved? And the answer, the situation then is this, who is humble enough to yield to the other person? Who is humble enough to say, you know what, it's not a big deal, we'll do it your way. It's not a big deal. So as the competition between Christians is meant to be, who will be humble enough to yield first over this non-essential issue? Another way to say it would be this, who trusts God enough to give up his or her preference in love for the other person. Who trusts God enough to say, you know what? We'll do it your way. And praise God, in Matt and I's working together over these last nine months, there's been moments like that where I've said, this is what I would like to do. And he said, well, this is what I'd like to do. And then one of us has just said, you know what? It's not a big deal. Let's do it your way. And the other way too, you know what, it's not a big, let's do it your way. And we've been able to do that with one another and see actually at the end of it all, like, yeah, your way worked. My way still would have been better, but your way worked. Not really. But that's how it's been. And when marriage goes well, that's how it is. It's like, you know what, let's do it your way. It's fine. And all relationships, you can yield. These are not essential issues. So it's really a matter of who has the humility and who has the trust. Sadly, the other way it gets resolved, which is what we see a lot in our lives, is who is a bully enough to demand their own way. Who's a bully enough to demand their own way? And that's in the marriage relationship, it's in church life, it's in every context. And it's parent-children relationship. Who's bully enough to demand their own way? Who can be more persuasive? Who can shout louder and longer until they get what they want? Would you not agree that that's been you a lot of the time? That's how you get your way? Because you've shouted louder, you've shouted longer, you've been able to connive and manipulate. Let me just say this before we get into the passage, and I'm saying this in light of where we're going to get to, which is the mercy of God. If you've ever got your own way, and I'm speaking as someone who's a sinner, right? I'm speaking to someone who gets this wrong. So I'm not speaking to someone who's perfected this. If you ever get your own way because of how loudly you demanded it with your husband and wife, with your parent or child, with your friend or colleague, let me assure you, that was not the Holy Spirit at work in your life. You understand? That's not the Holy Spirit at work in your life. That's not what he wants to produce in you. He wants to produce Christlikeness, and Christlikeness is yielding and laying down your life for the other person. Yeah? So it's not the Holy Spirit. If you managed to get your own way, because you shouted louder and shouted longer, that wasn't the Holy Spirit working in you, be assured. Last week, Matt said, a Christian can disagree in such a way that it doesn't just have a desire for answers, but a desire for peace. He also said that grace concedes to the other person. Grace says, you know what? It's all right. We can do it. We can do it your way. Grace concedes. And he also said this, what the gospel means to me, I really believe this message where we've been singing about this morning, that I get to preach now, that we get to talk to each other about it, we get to break bread over. If I really believe this message, it'll be revealed in how I treat my brothers and sisters, how I treat my wife, how I treat Matt when I'm working with them, how I treat the people. I love Jesus is revealed how I love you. You understand? That's what that's what God read. First John, first John, simply that whole statement said multiple times over how I love God is revealed and how I love my wife and how I love my pastor and how I love my deacons and how I love my brothers and sisters in church and how I love my mom and how I love my dad and how I love my siblings and how I love my children. That's how I can show you that I love him, right? Says God. So we're here in Acts chapter 15. And the background, as we know from last week, there was a potential split between the two churches because of Acts 15, the start. There was this, are we going to be circumcised? Do the Gentiles have to be circumcised and keep the rules or not? and there was almost a split between the churches. And thankfully, it was all dealt with by the Jerusalem Council, and the Gentiles come by faith in Jesus alone. They've already received the Holy Spirit, so they don't need to be circumcised, and they don't need to keep the law to get in. But for the sake of peace between Jewish Christians and Gentile Christians, the Gentiles were asked to concede some of their liberties, right? And in order to live in harmony with one another, just be aware of a few things, guys. That was what was asked. And we saw that grace conceded. So Paul and Barnabas, they head back up to Antioch. They bring two Jewish Christians with them from Jerusalem, Judas Barzabas and Silas. It says in verse 30 to 31 here, they read the letter. And they read it and rejoiced over its encouragement. Praise God, it is only by faith that we get in and we're able to be kept in by the Holy Spirit. And we can still be brothers and sisters with one another. And it was all because of how this was dealt with. Beautiful. Judas and Silas kick around in Antioch for a while. It says in verse 32, they were prophets, so they exhorted and strengthened the brethren with many words. Can I pause before we get into the break bit? into this section. I want to just say this. Look at what it says here in verse 32. Look at the end of verse 32. They exhorted and strengthened the brethren. What? With what? With many words. If you go back with me to chapter 14 in verse 22. Chapter 14 in verse 22. This keeps happening. They strengthen the souls of the disciples high. by extorting them to continue in the faith. And here we have in chapter 15, what we just seen, that they are strengthening the brethren by exhortation with many words. If you go to the end, if you go to verse 41, he went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches. How do you think Paul did that? Through exhortation with many words, right? This is what's amazing. I don't know what you think about preaching. I don't know what you think about Bible lessons and the stuff that we do here as a church, but God has decreed, this is in God's wisdom, He has decreed that the strengthening of a church would come from exhortation using many words. He's decreed that in his wisdom, that the strengthening of a church would come from exhortation using many words. So Silas decides to stay. Paul and Barnabas, they're sticking around in Antioch and preaching as well. In verse 34 to 35 says that they were teaching and preaching the word of the Lord. Antioch is a city of growing churches. It's a flourishing church, churches all across the city, people getting saved all over, leaders that are strong and love Jesus. It's great, things are going really well. So that's the background. We get down to verse 36 where we're gonna start seeing what happens. Verse 36, we have a plan. It says that after some days, Paul says to Barnabas, let's now go back and visit our brethren in every city where we've preached the word of the Lord, and let's see how they're doing. It's around 49 AD. Paul wants to go back and see how the churches are doing. You know, those churches we've been looking at in chapter 13 and 14, where he's visited all those different churches. He wants to go back there and see how they're doing. We know that Paul has a deep care for the churches. He would have been in prayer for them daily. Paul would have been praying for these churches every day. Every letter that Paul sends in the epistles, he's like, I pray for you guys daily. Every time I remember you, I'm always praying for you. I do not cease to give thanks for you. Paul was constantly praying. for these churches. And he knows that the churches are dealing with persecution. Like he's been telling them that. You know, you got to continue in the faith through many tribulations. He knows that. And now he knows that the false teaching about the circumcision stuff is beginning to spread as well. So he's really concerned. He has a heart for the church. And his love for the church causes him to pray for the church and causes him to want to go and see how they're doing. This is the love that Jesus has for his church. And what's happening is the love that Jesus has for his church is in Paul, why? Because Paul's amazing. No, because the Holy Spirit lives in Paul. And the Holy Spirit living in Paul loves the church through Paul. Let me just say this, the early church idea of an evangelist. When you think about the word evangelist, what do you think about? Someone who goes out and shares the gospel with people, which is definitely a part of it. But the early church idea of an evangelist, you'll know or find it, it wasn't just about getting people saved and coming to faith in Christ. No, there was also a passion that those who had come to faith in Jesus would grow in Jesus as well, right? The biblical way to do evangelism was like, you need to trust Jesus, and then they trust Jesus. Now you need to grow in Jesus, and you gotta come and grow as well. What is the Great Commission? Anyone know what the Great Commission is? Anyone want to shout it out? The Great Commission? Matthew 28. All right, go forth and make disciples of every nation. And people stop there. It's like the normal place to stop. But it doesn't stop there. Go therefore and make disciples of every nation. In other words, teach people about Christ, share the gospel, pray they'll come to Christ. And then they come to Christ and they become disciples, right? So we teach disciples of every nation. Then what does it go on to say? Baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. Who baptizes? The church. So what this is saying is they get added to the church. And then what does it say? And teach them all things that I've told you, which is discipleship. So biblical evangelism is we want to see people come to Christ, we want to see people added, and we want to see people grow. And that's Paul's heart. Paul's like, all right, we got to go back and see how they're doing. OK, so that's the plan. The plan is let's go and see how these churches are doing, who we care for deeply. Then we get to the second part, which is where we're gonna spend our time this morning. Verse 37 to 39, the disagreement. Paul's like, let's go see how they're doing. Barnabas is like, sounds like a great idea. Let's bring John Mark with us. And Paul says, no chance. No chance we're bringing John Mark. So who is John Mark? We'll crack into this a little bit. Who is this John Mark guy that they wanna bring in verse 37? Well, his mother had a church in her home in Jerusalem, okay, in Acts chapter 12. He's the cousin or the nephew of Barnabas. We know that from Colossians. He came with them on their first trip. So it was Paul, Barnabas, and John Mark who were together in Cyprus on the first missionary trip. But what we know is, from Acts 13, that when he landed back on the mainland, he totally abandoned them. Like he forsook Paul and Barnabas. He's like, we don't know why, but essentially he'd had enough, and he left. And we know that he was living back in Jerusalem. After he left, he went to Jerusalem, it says. And now he's in Antioch again, because probably when Paul and Barnabas went down to Jerusalem, Barnabas goes and sees how his sister's doing, and there's John Mark. And he's like, come on back to Antioch, kid. God's a God of second chances. You know, there's grace here, brother. Come on. Come on back down to York. And so we come back down to York and I Barnabas is saying, let's bring him again. Let's give him another chance, Paul. Let's give John Mark another chance. So we don't know why he left. There's lots of speculative reasons why he left, but whatever the reason, Paul sees him now as someone who is unreliable, and he's afraid that he's going to abandon them again. Verse 38 says Paul insisted that they should not take with them the one who had departed from them in Pamphylia and had not gone with them to the work. So Paul's like we bring this guy again and he clears off again just leaves us stranded. We can't take him again Barnabas. But if you notice the words that are being said here in verse 37 Barnabas was determined and Paul Insisted, right? So you've got this determining and you've got this insisting. And here we have this disagreement over a preference issue. Paul would likely be quoting verses like, no man putting his hand to the ploy and turning back is worthy of the kingdom. He might have said things like that. Barnabas would have quoted things to Paul like, yeah, but remember Jesus said 70 times, seven times, we should forgive one another. And yet there was a standstill. There's this, verse 39 says, this contention became so sharp. So this is a sharp difference of opinion between them. Barnabas is known as the son of encouragement. He trusted Paul when no one else trusted Paul. And now he wants to give his young nephew another chance. Just like Jesus gave Peter another chance, didn't he? And Barnabas might've raised that. You don't remember Paul? Do you remember how Peter denied Jesus three times? And then after the resurrection, Jesus came and said, feed my sheep. Don't you remember that? And yeah, John Marks went off, but he can come back. And Paul's like, no, we're not having him. We're not having him. So who's to blame? Who's to blame in this conversation? Paul is insisting and Barnabas is determining. Who's at fault? So let's have, whose side do you take in this conversation? Who thinks Paul was right to say we're not taking John Mark with us? Who thinks that? Matt's kind of half and half, Bobby's half and half. Who thinks we should have taken, Barnabas is right, you should take John Mark, okay. You know, the author doesn't actually say who's right and wrong, and that's on purpose, because it's not a gospel issue. And this conversation is not actually about who's right and wrong. Do you understand? They're both right in some ways, and they're both wrong in some ways. And so it's not about this, it's about how they're disagreeing with one another. And no one is willing to yield to the other person. Paul, stubbornly not trusting John Mark again. Barnabas, stubbornly demanding that John Mark would come. The author leaves it open intentionally for you, because some of you in this room are reading it, and you've been hurt by people before. You've been betrayed. You've been upset by people. And you're thinking to yourself, I understand Paul. I know exactly where he's coming from. I would do the same, Paul. Paul's right. And you're doing that out of your experiences, and that's fair. Paul's like that. And some of you in this room have been given a second chance by people. And some of you have given other people a second chance and you've watched them flourish with it. And so you're like, no, Barnabas is right. I remember what it was like to receive a second chance. So Barnabas is the one that's right. And the author doesn't say who's right and wrong because he knows there's people who are gonna read this thinking, yeah, Paul's right. And other people thinking, no, Barnabas is right. And that's not the point. The point isn't who's right and wrong. The point is how they're going about this disagreement because it's a non-gospel issue. This isn't a gospel doctrine problem. It's a preference issue. So there's not actually a right or wrong answer here. There's not a right or wrong answer. And so Luke doesn't say it. Was Paul right to say no? Some say that he was. Was Barnabas right to demand? Some argue that he was. Luke doesn't tell us. The reality is about these two men, that they are men. If you turn back to chapter 14 and verse 15, chapter 14 and verse 15, And this is Paul speaking as they're about to worship Paul and Barnabas as Seuss and Hermes. And Paul says, man, why are you doing these things? We also are men with the same nature as you. We're just like you guys, except we've been saved, right? We're not better than you. We're the same. We just know Jesus and we want to give him to you as well. So these men are just men. Paul the Barnabas, Paul might have been an apostle, but he's a man. He's a human. And they can be wrong. Paul the Barnabas can be wrong. Not when they're writing scripture inspired by the Holy Spirit, but when they're in these non-gospel issues, they can be wrong. And not only can they be wrong in what they're thinking, in their opinion, but they can also be wrong in how they go about the disagreement. And that's the stress here. They can be wrong in how they go about the disagreement. And likely, I think there was wrong on both sides in how they went about it. Neither would yield to the other. And you know what's amazing is Paul's gonna write in the future, after this experience, and he's gonna write things like this, prefer one another in love. prefer one another in love. And he's gonna go back in his mind's eyes to times like this where he didn't put Barnabas's opinion first. And there was this strong insistence. There's gonna be times where he writes in 1 Corinthians that love hopes all things. And he thinks back to this moment in his life and he's like, but I didn't put hope in John Mark. I didn't trust him. He's gonna write in Philippians that we should be perfectly of one mind together. And perhaps the memory of this split with Barnabas comes to mind. And he's gonna write in 1 Corinthians that love is not easily provoked. And he's gonna remember this time when he and Barnabas provoked each other. Because that's what verse 39, this contention became so sharp can also mean they were provoking one another. And he's going to write later on, love does not provoke. And remember, I provoke Barnabas. Barnabas provoked me. But there's mercy for those things, right? Because he's able to write this stuff in the future. So we get to verse 39 to 41, and Barnabas picks Mark and goes to Cyprus. They parted from one another, it says. And he goes to Cyprus, Paul takes Silas, and commended by the grace, to the grace of God by the brethren, he goes to Syria and Silas. He goes back to the churches that we've been seeing him in, in chapter 14. These men had worked hard, they traveled, they essentially lived together for a good few years now. So this is a painful day for Paul and Barnabas to split. And you're meant to be reading this not thinking, that's right, Paul, you had it your way, or that's right, Barnabas. You're meant to be reading this thinking, how sad. Psalm 133 says that the blessing is when brothers and sisters dwell together in unity. How sad this took place. And that's what you're meant to be thinking. But God turns it for good, because in verse 39, Barnabas and Mark strengthen the churches in Cyprus, and in verse 40 to 41, Paul and Silas strengthen the churches in Syria and Cilicia. It led to two missionary journeys instead of one, and God was able to bless and turn it all for good in the end. The fact that God uses this for good never gives you and I permission to quarrel. It never is like, well, if you and I split from one another, God can use it for good. So let's fight. That should never be how we respond to this. Let me get to the future, and then we'll get some applications for us today. later writes about Barnabas. So Paul and Barnabas split from one another now. Strong provocation, strong disagreement, sharp insistence and demanding, and now they're split from one another, right? And then later on in the future, Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 9, verse six, and he says about Barnabas. And when he asks this question, he says, is it only Barnabas and I who have no right to refrain from working? You know what that indicates? It indicates that, and though it's very, very subtle, it indicates that Paul and Barnabas were together again. That they were friends, that they figured it out, and they were working together. At least at parts, at least at times, they were doing this together again. So that's Paul and Barnabas. And then we see Paul writing about John Mark. Mr. Unreliable John Mark, I couldn't trust him as far as I can throw him, Barnabas. Look at Colossians chapter four and verse 10. It says, Mark, the cousin of Barnabas, about whom you received instructions, if he comes to you, welcome him. So this is a long time later, and John Mark, who was given a second chance, is still in the work. He's still traveling around. He lived up to the second chance. And what's beautiful, the most beautiful one is 2 Timothy 4, verse 11. 2 Timothy 4, verse 11. Get Mark and bring him with you for he is useful to me for ministry. Isn't that beautiful? Paul later on was like, I need Mark. The unreliable one, he's reliable and I need him. Would you bring him here? It's so beautiful to see that. We also know that Peter calls Mark my son, just because of the relationship. And this is the same Mark who wrote Mark's gospel. God gave him a second chance and he lived up to it. It's beautiful. So what does this mean for you and for me? This disagreement we see here in Acts chapter 15 and all the things we're looking at in this section, what does it mean for us? And then we'll wrap it up. Number one, I just wanna focus again on biblical evangelism, biblical evangelism. And again, it's this, we're not just passionate about winning people to Christ. And believe me, we need to be. But we're not just passionate about that. We're also meant to be passionate about maturing people in Christ. Our purpose for existing as the church is not just to make disciples. Well, that's a huge part of it. but it's also the strengthening of the disciples is our huge focus as well. Those who have trusted in Jesus need to grow in Jesus together. That's Ephesians chapter four if you want to take the time to read it. Yes, our church, Blurton Baptist, must continue to be a hospital for the sin sick, where the sin sick can come in and find life and healing in Jesus. But it's also meant to have a huge rehabilitation wing, right? Huge rehabilitation wing with a person who has messed it up, with a believer who's got it wrong, or the believer who's stumbling or struggling or sinning or whatever it is. learns to walk in grace daily. You ever seen like someone learn to walk again who's lost the ability to walk? And they've got the bars and they're learning to walk again. That's the church as well. We're teaching people how to walk in the new life that Jesus Christ has given. We wanna be a church that reaches out, but we also wanna be a church that cares for itself. This is a big conversation that's happening with the NHS right now. and nurses and doctors who don't have time to care for themselves because they're so busy caring for other people equals what? Disaster. And a church that's so busy with outreach and programs that it's not focused on each part building itself up in love is a disaster. So how do we build each other up? How do we get this rehabilitation thing going and staying? Through re-exhortation. The exhortation. Strengthen the church through exhortation with many words. So let me say this. How does this apply to us this morning? Come for exhortation. Come to the times where there's exhortation. You're here this morning. Come this evening. Come to Wednesday night. Come to the moments in our church where there is exhortation so that we can strengthen you. Number two, switch on during the exhortation. Just being here doesn't actually do anything. Be here and be with us. Focus in, lean in, hear what's being said. It's from God's word we're trying to preach. Number three, be someone who's busy about exhortation yourself. Exhort one another daily. That's what we want. We want to be a church that exhorts. Number two, Number one was biblical evangelism. Number two is right and wrong. And I hope this helps each of us this morning. Ultimately, either Paul or Barnabas or both were wrong in how they went about this disagreement, ultimately. So I want to say this, you can be right about what you believe and you can be totally wrong in how you go about it. You understand? You can be right in what you believe and totally wrong in how you go about it. That's in how you deal with other Christians and in how Christians deal with the world and how we share the message with the world. You can be right in what you believe and totally wrong in how you go about believing it. The Bible says that the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God. That's James chapter 1 verse 19 to 20. The wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God. I said it at the start, I'm going to say it again. If you ever get your own way because of how loudly you demand it, for how long you sulk for when you don't get it, or how cunningly you manipulate it so that it happens, whether that's your husband or wife, your parents or children, your friend or your colleagues, that's not the Holy Spirit at work in your life. So in your disagreements, you're dishonoring Jesus if in that disagreement, you're not humble, gentle, meek, and self-controlled. Please understand this, and I'm speaking as a sinner. I'm speaking as someone who messes this up. If in your disagreement, you can be dishonoring Christ, even if it's a gospel issue, if you're not humble, gentle, meek, self-controlled as you disagree. So you can be right and still be completely wrong about that. Number three, just like me, just like me. I'm really glad that Luke records this passage. I'm so glad that he records it. Because don't Paul and Barnabas just look like superheroes? You're reading the stuff they're getting up to and you're like, man, I do not have what it takes to be like Paul and Barnabas. And Luke puts this in under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit to show you these guys, they're just men. They're sinners who need Jesus every day. They're sinners who need the Holy Spirit to work in their lives every day and when they don't let the Holy Spirit work in their lives every day, it doesn't go well just like you and me. So I can read this section and be like, yeah, I can resonate. I'm like that sometimes. And it comforts me to know Paul and Barnabas are men just like me. And so when I see them do these great things for Jesus, going out encouraged and preaching Christ's name and showing these miraculous things and doing these beautifully sacrificial things for other people. I can read that and think that's because the Holy Spirit is at work in them and the Holy Spirit's also at work in me. So I'm able to do these things because the Spirit of God who's in them is working in me. I can't ever say, well, I'm nothing like them. You are actually. It's the Holy Spirit in these people. And number four, I wanted to finish with this because I know I've been challenging us this morning. I hope I've been challenging us this morning about how we disagree in family, in church, whatever. You have a God of mercy. You've got a God of mercy. God had not given up on John Mark for his failure. Isn't that so good to know? John Mark blew it. John Mark wholly blew it. He comes, he's part of the journey, and then he absolutely, he doesn't, he's not just like, it's been great, I'm gonna, he abandons Paul and Barnabas. He completely blows it. And God, in his mercy and his love for John Mark, puts Barnabas back in his life again to encourage him and to build him up again after his defeat. So you go back, you go from being on this missionary journey and it's all exciting and you're like, I got it, I'm leaving. And you abandon these men. and you go back to Jerusalem, and your confidence is broken, you're a mess of shame and guilt, and God's like, Barnabas, go down there to that Jerusalem council, and John Mark's there too, right? And so they meet, and Barnabas, the son of encouragement, is there with John Mark, giving him life again after his defeat. And later, Paul, as we saw there, Paul's gonna reach out to John Mark. And we don't know where that happened, we don't know when it happened, but just imagine what that looked like, this beautiful reunion between these two men, where probably both of them apologized, yeah? Where Paul says to Mark, listen, I'm sorry I didn't trust you, man. I'm sorry I didn't trust you again. I take that on me, love hopes all things, and I didn't. You're my brother, and I didn't treat you that way, and I'm sorry. And John Mark says, I'm sorry for leaving. I'm sorry for abandoning you and forsaking you like that. I shouldn't have done that. I get it, it was wrong. And they unite with one another, and they reconcile, and Paul slowly learns to trust Mark again. This is the God of mercy. Please hear this this morning. However much you've blown it in your life, and some of us have blown it big time, right? However much you've blown it in your life, there is grace for you in Jesus. However much you've blown it this week, and some of you blew it big time this week, there is grace for you in Jesus. And you blow it, and you come to God, and confession, and humble repentance, and God forgives you and he restores you. And he picks you back up again, and he dusts you off, and he embraces you. And he takes you by the hand and says, let's go again. second chance God, third chance, fifth chance, 70 times seven chance, infinity chance is our God of mercy and grace. So if you've blown it, you don't need to hide away, you don't need to run back to Jerusalem and shame, you just come to Christ and experience the same mercy that John Mark experienced here in this chapter. What a God of mercy we have, amen.