Humility from our inability helps our unbelief. Humility from our inability helps our unbelief. That is the centerpiece of this text. That is the story of our lives, is it not? Humility from our inability actually helps us in our unbelief. That's what's going on in this episode here. As we watch this scene unfold in Mark chapter 9, we see from the beginning, because it's got that context, here is Peter, James, and John, the three of that core team of Jesus' 12 disciples, and they're coming down the mountain from a mountaintop experience. They've seen the glory revealed of who Jesus is, God in flesh, they've seen it. And so as they come down from this mountaintop experience, they come to the rest of the disciples with a big crowd. And do you see what's happening? The disciples are arguing with the scribes. What are they arguing about? This, the disciples are not able to cast out an evil spirit from a boy. So here we have three disciples who heard God's voice, experienced the glory of God on the mountain, and down there we have disciples experiencing humiliation in the valley. They are experiencing failure in front of everybody, namely their critics. Does this feel familiar to you? Have you had that failure in front of everybody, especially your critics? You knew they were just waiting for you just to make that mistake, which you often do, and I often do, and then you did, and they got you. Ha ha! Look at you, you mere human. Does this feel familiar to you? Does this feel familiar to us, for the church in the world? Isn't the church meant to be sent by Christ into the world? Victorious, triumphant, extraordinary, compelling, the hope of the world, and all what the billboards say. What every church sign would want to say, that's us. Isn't the church meant to succeed in the world? To conquer. Conquest. Triumph. Stand firm. Win. Beat them. And if we can, punish them, for they were wrong. There are whole conferences and cultures set up in the wider Christian world that expect that. Isn't that meant to be the case? That even teach that. That's meant to be the case. And then we just forget that's not the case. Because we are often humiliated by our inability to do what we think we can do. And that often happens in front of our critics. Well then what happens? What happens is, this is often familiar, you'll feel this familiar, we don't succeed, we don't do well, so what do we do? We argue about it. And we do this in front of our critics. The wider church does this. How do I know this? Because there are things called Facebook groups, where we just argue about it all the time. Why isn't the church succeeding? Who's better? Who's doing it right? Who's doing it wrong? And argue, argue, argue, argue, argue in front of our critics. For it's not just enough for us to argue in person, which is where we're supposed to do that with love and joy and appreciation of the other person, listening to their arguments, learning how to form a human argument and do that kind of thing that they used to teach us at school, but somehow that's all been lost. We don't just do it in person anymore. We've got this great place we like to argue as the wider worldwide church you know this great place is called social media we love it we get on there and we treat it as a spectator sport in the left ring in comes this particular view in the right ring now let's watch the Christians to slam each other until someone falls flat on the floor and then we can say yeah I won through bleeding mouth and so we argue about things We argue about the mission of the church. What is the mission of the church? We argue about the purpose of the church. We argue about what other disciples have not been able to do that we think we can do better. And we always say that we can do better than the previous generation. We argue about our societal sins rather than actually addressing them. And there are real societal sins that we face, real evils in the world. We've seen them as a church. We have met and many of you have served in the Bendigo Winter Night Shelter and done the night shift and the evening shift and met people in crippling poverty and homelessness where you realized if you actually get to know them over time and know them by name and you see them down the street and you know who they are and they might even recognize you, you actually serve and get to know them in that way. It's so complex and overwhelming why they're in that situation. It's not just a matter of just throw more programs at them. It's overwhelming when you meet this up close and personal. It's no good just to talk about it. Actually get and do it. And we see that's really, really hard. If you've ever gone to march for the babies or the protest against abortion, which I have, it's hard. If you've ever written to politicians, I've written to Jacinta Allen. I don't know if you're listening, Jacinta. I pray for you. This is not a thing. But our Premier, I've written to her several times on several societal sins, and I don't get the warmth in reply that maybe I could hope for someone who is a representative of the people. But I don't suppose she writes them anyway, but it's a photocopied signature. I'm just saying. But those societal sins are overwhelming. And my letters, I seem unable to actually change anything. My protesting, unable. Euthanasia. Human trafficking. Racism. Racism in Australia is, let's just face it, it's endemic. It's embedded in us. If we just recognized it. And then we've got issues like the subtle ones. What I would call, and this is my term, and I could be wrong, I think there is a pornification industrialization of social media going on. Social media is more and more, why is it there are many people, this pornification industrialization, why is it there are many people? particularly women, but it's not just women, who seem to feel like they've got to get on there and show their wares and display their life and do so in such a way to get likes and attention. So there's now whole companies talking about how you can beat the algorithm, get on the algorithm and just are industrializing our friendships. And lastly, of all our societal sins, And I intentionally left this to last because you saw it in the last three minutes. There's just the anger and rage that has invaded us all. We're just always angry about something. I am, you can see it. I get angry. We just, and that we amplify that. These are appalling societal sins, but here's the problem. Even for me, and let me put me at front and center of my anger and rage and whatever else, what we can end up doing as a church is just arguing about it. We end up arguing what should be done about them. We argue who should do more. And yet, when did our arguing ever make us more able? Arguing as our activity, as we'll see today in today's episode, in today's text, is the wrong posture in a world that doesn't need more arguing. What does it need? It needs help with real power. Actual power. Can I ask you, Wiss, when did having a conflict about the conflict in the world we face ever solve that conflict? When did having a conflict about the conflict ever solve the conflict? Never. It never did. Now, people might point out Wilberforce. Well, actually, go and read some history about that, because this is what this text is about. He wasn't having a conflict about the conflict. He was doing something else with his friends and that group as he fought slavery. They were praying. Until we let God's word show us what is really wrong with the world, and until we actually see the depths of spiritual power behind every societal sin that manifests in all those symptoms of those societal sins, then all we will do is argue and we won't actually pray. We need to see this today. Humility from our inability actually helps us in our unbelief. It helps me. It helps you. Let's see how. Let's meet a desperate dad. Let's meet a desperate dad in the text today. We hear his voice. We hear his cry. It becomes our cry. We meet him. Jesus goes toward the sound of the humans heated up in their own hot mash of arguing. And Jesus knows always how to ask that key question, doesn't it? Have a look there. Jesus knows how to ask the key question. It's in verse 16. He comes up and he says, hey, guys, what are you arguing about? It's like he just comes into this hot mess and ask the right question. Now, friends, I would love to have that question as a motto on the wall in every room that Christians are quarreling in. I would love that every time Christians are having a quarrel, having a debate, having a disagreement, having an argument, we should put on the wall, and if it's not on the wall, I'll give you a black texter. We've got, no, I'm board of management's gonna have a field day with this. Black texters, welcome desk. Go and write, if you're having a debate, a heated argument, or someone's offending you for something, go and write on the wall, what are you arguing about? Because that would help us to stop and think this. What could we be doing instead? That's what Jesus is asking, isn't he? What are you arguing about? How fruitful and productive is that meeting going? What could you be doing instead? And here we have today, this is our day, everybody arguing and posturing like man babies around the bonfire and the drum fire arguing with each other. Man babies, there's so many man babies today that spend all their time arguing and pointing out everyone else's problems and not actually doing what men should do, put holy hands together and pray for goodness sake. And in that argument, In that fight, there's only one person, did you notice? There's only one person with the humility to acknowledge he can't face the problems he faces. Do you see who it is? It's the father of a boy who is at his wits end, a desperate dad. Here is a dad in desperation, whose child is not just sick. We've seen sick people in Mark's gospel. He's not just sick. He's more than broken. This is a battle with evil itself. Notice the unclean spirit, this evil spirit, this demon, is doing more to make the boy than just sick. He's trying to destroy the boy, throwing him into fire, throwing him into water to drown him. This demon is intent on destruction. And so the desperate dad goes to Jesus and tells him in verse 18, whenever it seizes him, this is what he does. I asked your disciples to cast it out. And the key phrase is, they were not able. Now, at this point, it could seem in Jesus' response, because you're looking in the Bibles now and you're perhaps wondering, is Jesus venting? Like, is Jesus making mild lowly? Is he a little bit cranky? What's going on, Jesus? You look at Jesus' response. And he answered them, a faithless generation. How long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you? Bring him to me. Is Jesus just being like one of those parents that's just like, no, he's not. That last phrase is particularly important. Jesus is showing us what they could have done all along. Jesus is showing us what the disciples should have done all along instead of arguing about their inability they could have just gone to Jesus that's what they're trained for the disciples of anyone of that particular time and place are like the special forces of go to Jesus team like they're highly trained go to Jesus people we've got a problem we can't face go to Jesus They could walk around, you know, like, look at them, they know how to go to Jesus. The dad comes to them so he can get to Jesus. But what do they do? Oh yeah, let's not go to Jesus, let's just argue about it for ages. Jesus is not frustrated to the point where he doesn't want to be with them. He's saying, why didn't you just come to me earlier? And the phrase he uses, which we'll see is repeated later, is bring him to me. So verse 20, they bring the boy to him. Now notice this, the spirit sees Jesus. What does the spirit do when it sees Jesus? The spirit had so far seen who? Oh, I see, I see a few disciples, there's some scribes, whatever, sees Jesus. immediately goes into the last throes of his own destruction. And Jesus, with compassion, draws out from the dad his own need for Christ and asks him, how long has this been happening? And the dad says, verse 22, you can do anything. If you can do anything, have compassion on us. And Jesus hears that conjunction. If, if you can, all things are possible for one who believes. And notice this. I've been around the block a few times. I've been to a few different types and genres of churches. We sang a song called all things are possible. And it was taught that you could do absolutely anything. All your wildest dreams could come true. If you just asked about it or believed it would happen. But notice this, Jesus is not, look in the text, Jesus is not saying that all your wildest dreams will come true in this life if you just wish upon a Jesus. But Jesus does say again and again, verse 27. Sorry, not verse 27. Jesus does say again and again, all things are possible, verse 23. And how do we know this? Because of other passages where he says it. Jesus says this on repeat, Mark 10, 27. Jesus says, with man it's impossible, but not with God, for all things are possible with God. Jesus says it again and again and again. Jesus is teaching the desperate dad what he needs most, that what is possible with God is to believe in who Jesus really is. That's possible. For up until now, the Desperate Dad, you've noticed, he wants Jesus' power without understanding the person and purpose of Jesus himself. And here is the point. The Desperate Dad, in his struggle to understand, he actually articulates the struggle we experience. Even as believers in Jesus. Someone noticed this morning and we had a dear sister, I was away all day yesterday, this other presbytery doing this thing, and I get home late and there's a dear sister from our church there. And she says, you're not going okay. And I said, yeah. Believers struggle, right? We're not just these kind of superheroes that now we're Christians, we have a victorious life, all smiles. We struggle, and so this man articulates our cry. Verse 24, immediately after the father of the child cried out and said, I believe, help my unbelief. Here is a moment of good news for this man. It's actually also gospel for us. Here it is. Notice this, how Jesus speaks to this man. At that point where the man cries out, I believe, but help my unbelief. what do we expect religious version of Jesus to do? See, notice this, Jesus doesn't say to the desperate dad, well firstly, you need to get your life together, you need to clean yourself up, you need to get holy first, be pure first, start with your sanctification, and then I will help you. That's not what Jesus says. Sadly, there are many unhealthy branches of the Christian church that have a culture of that or even teach that. Jesus also doesn't say to the man, oh no, oh, uh-oh, we've got a problem here. You've just admitted that you don't have enough faith. Well, that's your problem. And now, because you don't have enough faith, your boy won't be healed. Sorry. I stood in the waiting room of a hostel that one of the sisters of our church who had cancer at 27 was dying. It was her last breath. It was her last hour. A guy randomly calls my phone because I'm a pastor. My phone is out there. My number's out there. He's another pastor of another church. He calls, I didn't know this guy was, for Amy and you, and Amy is the, she's a gift to me in so many ways. And she, I know she doesn't particularly like when I mention her in sermons, but she knew and she could tell this would not be a moment. She, she could see the person, she knew who it was, grabs the phone and says, I'll talk to him. She knew the person, the person says, the reason your dear sister is dying is because your church has not had enough faith. I'm really glad Amy took that phone call. I've got enough sin in my life without doing that. Jesus does not say that. Tragically, there are too many unhealthy branches of the Christian church that have a cruel and unbiblical view of Jesus and even use this as an excuse to why their so-called healing ministries don't work. The person didn't have enough faith, really. That's not how Jesus operates. Jesus doesn't say to people who are struggling in faith, it's your fault. What does he do? You can see what he does. It's writ large before you in this episode, in every single place where people struggle and come, overwhelmed with the problems before them. Here is God in Christ, up close and personal, welcoming the cry of the desperate dad. It's not like God himself is thrown by struggling people like God's like, Oh, well, look, you know, I can't deal with this. No, no, no. He welcomes, he embraces it. Take your struggles to Jesus. Take your struggles and your doubts to Jesus. He's the only one who can deal with them. He's the only one that welcomes them. And then hear God, here is God hearing the cry out of the desperate dad. And what does he do? Does he dilly dally? Does he wait? He just answers the prayer. And the boy is healed. Friends, you and I, you and I can cry out to God in the same way. In fact, we're taught to. How do we know this? There's this whole book, it's called the Psalms. We have cross-reference readings every week. They always relate to the sermon text. There are whole Psalms. I noticed this, I love this about the Psalms and I need this because sometimes, you know, I'm just, I'm in a desperate straight and often I don't pray by default. That's why I need God's words, why I need sermons for my own heart, right? But the Psalms, the Psalms, lots of the Psalms don't start with, um, Oh Lord, I'm coming to tell you I'm working on this. I'm doing this in my life, cleaning myself up. I've been working on my faith. I really have been. And now I've come to this place where I'm ready to trust you and I can fully prove that. And no, no, no. The Psalms often start with help. Oh God. All I have is, would you help me? And when you don't know how to pray, the psalmist shows us, just start with whatever gurgling cry you got. Just start. Help, I'm really, I'm finding it hard to pray. I'm finding prayer so hard. Just help. You and I can cry out to God in the same way. For you to cry out to God doesn't require you to become more holy first, but to confess your helplessness first. And this is what the disciples needed to see that day. Second point, they needed to say, and they needed to see that only prayer can drive this out. We pick it up in verse 25 onwards. Now we know in the gospel books, right? The four gospels, the disciples were often asked, sorry, the disciples are often asking Jesus about the parables he's teaching. So whenever Jesus teaches a parable, you can see this in Mark's gospel, he teaches a parable, like a story with a punchline, for them to get, for us to get. They often don't get it, right? It's like me with, you know, half the jokes I hear. I'm standing there in a circle, everyone else is laughing, I'm going, I just don't notice that I don't get it. Well, they're like that. And so they're often going, they're standing there, the public teaching of Jesus, there's the parable, and everyone else is going, mm-hmm, mm-hmm, mm-hmm, mm-hmm, I must respond to that. And the disciples are like, privately, Jesus, it's just that we don't understand the parable. Often doing that, now they're asking about this. Because the disciples were humiliated in public, they ask Jesus in private. Verse 28, why could we not cast it out? Now notice this friends, notice they don't say, are we supposed to cast it out? Was that on our list to do today? Of course they were. How do we know this? Mark's gospel. So if you go to Mark 6, turn your Bibles to Mark chapter 6. Turn with me to Mark 6 verse 7. Mark 6 verse 7. And he called the twelve and began to send them out two by two and gave them authority over the unclean spirits. He charged them to take nothing for their journey except the staff, no bread, no bag, no money in their belts, but to wear sandals and to put on two tunics. And he said to them, whenever you enter a house, stay there until you depart from there. And if any place will not receive you and they will not listen to you, when you leave, shake the dust off your boots on your feet. Sorry, not boots. That's an accidental insertion. shake the dust that is off your feet, and is a testimony against them." So they went out and proclaimed the people should repent, and here's the kicker, and they cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many who were sick, and healed them. You can go back to Mark 3 and see Jesus, when he first gathers the disciples, Mark 3 verse 14, he appointed 12, whom he also named apostles. That means sent ones. We don't have apostles today. We've been through this, but if you want to talk about that, there's many a sermon or an article on the journal we can read later. But their apostles, they're particularly sent, commissioned by Jesus for a particular purpose, with particular authority. And in Mark 3.15, what is their authority in Mark 3.15? To drive out demons. Were they supposed to drive it out? Absolutely. That was their job. Their job was to proclaim that people should repent and to face the evil by driving out demons in that time and place. So why were they not able to? Jesus tells them why in verse 29, Mark 9.29, this kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer. Now, I don't have time in a sermon, and yes, I do look at the time, just in case you're wondering. There's a big clock there that I bought at a shop. It sits there, it's like my little friend. It's your friend too. I don't have time to get into this whole, this kind business. Suffice to say this, if you, if you belong to a reforming group, you would have gone through this text because it's interesting. Jesus is not saying, Oh yeah, now we're into kind of, uh, this, this year there's, they've brought out a demon mark 9.1. It's a new generation demon, and it's got some new features that you wouldn't have engaged with yet. He's not saying a kind of demon, like it's the next iPhone, right? You know, cause iPhones are demonic, but it's, um, I've got one, but he's not saying that. Because in the text he uses kind as well or genos or generation earlier for this faithless generation. Because he's not saying there like this generation, generation nine of the first century is different to generation eight. You guys are so like better than the boomers, but so faithless. He's not saying that at all. He's just saying this demon can't be driven out. And the key word is not the kind of the, what do you notice the key word is? What's the thing they're missing? Prayer. The disciples could not cast the evil spirit out, not because the kind of strength of the evil spirit, not because they're anything else, but their lack of prayerful dependence upon God's power. And Jesus used this moment to now help them to grow in faith, to help their functional unbelief. For they've been prayerless. And we know from the same episode in Matthew 17, that prayerlessness, see Jesus in this same episode, equates prayerlessness with faithlessness. If you don't pray, you're functionally not having faith. Because what is prayer? We often ask our kids, you know, we teach them catechisms and teach them scriptures. We say, what is prayer? And prayer is talking to God, that's true. Or the New City Catechism says prayer is pouring out your heart to God. Absolutely true. What is prayer? Ultimately, prayer is an expression of faith. You pray because you trust that I can't do it, only you can do this God, whatever that is. And mainly that is everything. Prayer is expressing faith. So if you're not praying, you're saying, I don't trust you, God. I don't have my functional faith is not in you. It's in me and my ability to do it, which then when you hit your inability, what does that lead to? Humility. And every time you are humbled, you get helped. Proverbs, it's quoted in James, it's quoted in 1 Peter 5, one of my favorite little quotes, favorite passages, God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Friends, it doesn't matter what you're facing, what evil or sin you are contending with, be that a societal sin or a personal sin, whatever struggle you see before you, it will not matter what your arguments are. Here is a fact for the Christian life. Prayerlessness is functional unbelief. Just look at the disciples. Of course they were not able to. Were they not able to do anything but for the grace of God through faith working in them? Here are the disciples in their own functional unbelief and they need help and so do we. So here's what Jesus does. He helps us. Help our prayerlessness become helping our prayerfulness. Our daily discipleship often feels like we go from the mountain of power to the valley of problems, doesn't it? You ever feel that? Just feel like when you're just getting ahead and, you know, having hope, happiness, joy, a bit of rest. Next problem. Comes out of nowhere. Usually like, it's not like rugby, which is a gentleman's game. Rugby league, rugby union, gentlemen's game. I'm going to offend all the Victorians. It's like AFL because you're allowed to tackle people from behind. It's like that. You're going along in life and like, ah, I'm feeling good. I'm feeling hopeful and boom in the kidneys. And that's legal. I think to me as an uneducated scholar of the game. Scholar, spectator, bystander, casual observer, we'll talk about it later. But that's what it feels like for me. I'm used to seeing, wouldn't my problems, I'd be better off if I could see my problems coming towards me and then I can brace myself for that tackle. Maybe I could even slow down a little bit. No, it comes from behind. We go from the mountain of power to the valley of problems, and here's what happens. Humility from inability helps our unbelief. Because often it happens in front of others, doesn't it? And often it can happen in front of our critics. Friends, don't let that defeat destroy you. It does not need to. In fact, that is the moment Jesus works best in the mess. Jesus doesn't go, you need to get things tidied up first, then I'm going to come and help you. He goes, Ooh, you are in a real pickle there. This is my work. Why didn't you just come to me earlier? The greatest danger in this episode of Mark 9 is not the demon. It's not the demon possessing the boy. It's the prayerless disciples. and the failure of the disciples, is God actually merciful to them, that in that moment, they get to grow in grace. And it's one thing to know God is powerful, isn't it? But it's another thing to depend upon his power, isn't it? That's what we need, those cross-references of Psalm 121 and Ephesians 3. I lift my eyes to the hills, where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord who made heaven and earth. He is my help. It's one of his nicknames. We can cry out to God like the Psalms. We can cry out in prayer. We can rely upon him who can do whatever he chooses to do all things, whatever he chooses to do. He's God. And Ephesians 3, which is going to become our benediction today. I love this. Now to him, here's his phrase, who is able. His disciples not able, you and I not able, now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than we could ask or think according to the power at work within us. My goodness, I just wish I could believe that better some days. I wish I could believe that better. What do I need to do? You can all counsel me now over morning tea. Russ, just say to Jesus, I believe to help my unbelief. What prevents us doing that though? Question for Reflection and Reforming, what prevents us doing that? We don't want a church culture that prevents us doing that. I think a few things prevent us. One is the self-preserving need to look like we've got it all together. That's the pornification industrialization of Instagram, for example. I see very few, I see a couple and I like them. Very few people on a channel like that. I'm on it. I'm on Twitter, it's worse. I'm not criticizing the channels. I just think you've got to think, why do they exist? What's their existence? It's to make money, right? Primarily, yes, it helps us connect to our friends, but what happens is this. I see very few pictures, even of Christian culture presented where I am so messed up. I got nothing. Would you pray for me? I see it occasionally. I love that realism. Mostly it's just here I am being in my Bible, doing this, doing that. And I got the perfect answers and I got my life all together else. And it just, it just shapes the culture of our thinking. And it means that we often see churches to have this culture of the self-preserving need to look like I have all the answers, to look like I am right, to look like that I've got it all together. Cause I could not possibly show that I've got doubts or I'm unsure, I'm still learning, I'm still growing, or I humbly treat others who have disagreement with me instead of arguing about it. I think that stops us from being where we could be helped. I think another one is, I mean, I like social media, let's take it out. Social media has got some good things, got some positive things. I saw this the other day on social media. So the reason there's a growing anger and angst in the world is because you look at the way it works, right? Someone posts something positive, What happens for you? You watch something positive on social media. You look at it and you go, that's lovely. And then you get on your bike or in your vehicle or go walk and you walk to work or do whatever you do in your day. And you think about it for how many minutes, right? What happens when someone posts something negative? An argument, an arguing thing, conflict issue. How long do you think about it? All the day. All the week. It's designed for you to dwell on it. It's designed for you to feed the anger and the rage. And what does that stop us doing? Praying about it. Because we're just thinking about it, thinking about it, thinking about it. We're not praying about it. And I think the second thing is, and this doesn't have to involve social media, and this is not assuming it's social media, right? Our church is on it. We're on Instagram and Twitter and Facebook and we'll post things there. Cause it's basically, it's an advertising ability to show people what's happening. And we'll put pictures up of our kids or my mom, you know, she's lovely. There's my mom, but. She's not actually here, by the way, I just pointed in that direction to those blank seats, but she's on social media. My mum likes most things I post. Isn't that lovely? But here's where it doesn't involve social media. Just so you know, I'm not harping on about that. It's just, I think the other thing that stops us crying out to God is this need to be right in every argument. Now we are a Reformed church, Reformed in theology, Reformed historical. That's who we are. It's part of our name as well. But I think that would be one of our temptations, that we've always feeling like we've got to be right. And we will argue and argue and argue until someone has proven wrong. When actually, here's the irony of Reformed theology, it ought to make us more humble. Reformed theology humbles us because it's saved by grace. We should show grace to someone else, even though we disagree with them. That's reformed theology at its heart is a humbling grace. I think there's something else as well that stops us crying out to God. We need to feel that we are able. We like to feel capable, don't we? I like to feel capable. Yes, I'm a trained professional in this job. I'm a pastor. Everyone looks to me for the answers. Sometimes I wish they wouldn't, but they do, and I've got to make sure I go to the Bible, but then I'm still learning, right? And I should be the prayerful one, but then I find I'm not always. And it's so tempting for me to present as if I'm able. I can do this. I can handle this. We need someone to go to Northeast Presbytery, convene a visitation. Yes. Can you do that? Yeah, I got to ask. Yes, I will go. We need someone to teach the college a couple of lectures. Oh, that sounds pretty cool. I will do that. We need someone to be the moderator, intra-moderator of two churches that don't have a pastor. Yes. Send me! Here I am, Lord!" And we've had this need to feel like we're able to do anything. And it stops us to crying out to God for everything. Why don't we pray for the kinds of problems and evils we face? The prevention ultimately, in a nutshell, is this, is pride. And if you're wondering, can I tell my kids I'm proud of them? Yes, there's an article in a journal I wrote about this recently. Great question. But pride stops me looking desperate. Cause that's what I am. Pride won't help me like the desperate dad let go of that pride. We often try and white knuckle it through, but our pride lies to us and says, I need to prove myself. But see here, that cry of unbelief is a confession of unbelief to God that starts a profession of faith in God that a proudful person can't have. As you see on the service sheet this season, we're starting up as part of our new leadership development ministry. We call it cruciforming. Because it's cruciform, which means cross-shaped. And cruciforming is we're reforming. So it's a verb, ongoing verb. I like it. I like the ings on things. Cruciforming. On the second Saturday every month, we're turning our men's breakfast and women's brunches, which have been pretty low in attendance, but that's not the reason we're doing it. We are strategically, we're still going to have men's events and women's events throughout the year. Don't worry. That's going to be there. But on the second side of the month, we are now going to start all in brunch. Leadership development training for anyone at reforming. We're going to look at different things and aspects of growing as humans, as disciples, as leaders, because we're all leaders in some way, form, and we want people to be leading people to Christ. But we're going to start with a couple of things, and then in about May, I think it is, we're going to end with having an in-group brunch. The brunch is delicious, by the way. You should see, we're going to eat and drink. It's fantastic. You should come. 10 o'clock to 12. Really easy. Two hours over the Saturday. It's really easy in the cafe. Really easy. Come along. All the plugs done. I'll put it on social media. But this book, we're going to start a book club, and we're going to talk about, discuss this book in about May. We're buying some copies. I think it's about $22. People who can't, you know, probably have to send in some edible things. We want to not stop anyone being able to read this book or listen to it on Audible. This book is excellent. And it's all about prayer. It's one of my top two books on prayer. I've read a few. This is excellent. This one's by Tim Keller, but this one by Paul Miller, both Presbyterian ministers. That's not just a thing. We're not doing that because they're Presbyterians, but they both happen to write excellent books on prayer. And this one called A Praying Life. Let me just read from page 54 on our helplessness. Paul Miller, and what I love about this book is it's so real. He writes about his own problems as a pastor even, his own family, situations he's faced with children and sickness, awful things, hard things. And he writes about his own helplessness and his own prayerlessness. And here's what he says. I am starting to see there's a difference between saying prayers and honest praying. Both can sound the same on the outside, but the former is too often motivated by a sense of obligation. and guilt, whereas the latter is motivated by a conviction that I am completely helpless to do life on my own. Or in the case of praying for others, that I am completely helpless to help others without the grace and power of God. We think this is going to be helpful. Sermons are helpful, I believe in that. I pray this has been helpful. It's not just a once a sermon or a conversation or even a once a prayer. It's a culture in our church that we pray will change and develop and grow. That of all the things here we do, prayer is the ministry. Often we think about praying for the work, praying for the ministry, but as David Jones once said, not the shop, person, another person called David Jones, who's a minister, retired now, but he once said, prayer is the work. Did you notice that in this whole episode, as we close, did you notice this, that Jesus is the only person in this scene that doesn't pray? He's the only one that doesn't pray to drive the evil out. He just tells it, get out. Don't come back. What does that say to us? It means of all the things in our prayers, we need to be brought to that guy. And that's repeated in this passage. Look at verse 17. Teacher, I brought my son to you. Verse 19, bring him to me. Verse 20, they brought the boy to him. We need to be brought to Jesus and we need one another to do that. A fellowship at church like us is not just an information dispensing moment on Sunday that we go away and go, oh, it's a bit long. And it was a bit long again. My elders say, stop apologizing. Don't bring it up. Don't talk about it. I'm trying to get back to kind of 40 minute sermons. We're trying to get there. I've got lots of faults. This is one of them. I didn't have a word of this sermon written until 6 PM last night. I started writing it. That's not an excuse. It's just my week. This is how it was. Finished it at about 1. Here we go. excuses over cut that from the record but of all things that we need to do as a church most of all is not just one of the marks of the church is hearing God's word and receiving it John Calvin says is not just that but it's actually responding to it by us having a church culture that brings one another to Jesus in prayer often we tussle it out or muscle it out argue it out Talk it out, but actually talk on it. We should pray. We could pray about this. Actually do that in our culture. That would change everything. This is not a plug for the prayer service, but it's really helpful and encouraging to get part of that. Tonight's Hope Explored. It's not a prayer service this week and next week. We've got people coming along, which is fantastic. learning Christ. But, to come to the prayer service and congregationally pray. Because what do people need? They don't need to become more politically conservative. That's not their greatest need. Their greatest need is not just to be nice with good values. The greatest need in the world is not to succeed in the power of the flesh. Our friends don't need that. Our friends need to be brought to Jesus. How? In our prayers. Praying for them. You can even do this. I know our evangelism team, which currently is Ryan and Mikey, so it's a small two-man team, two-man special ops team, right? That team is to encourage the whole church in evangelism. I've heard Mikey say it. You can just even say to someone who's serving you, look like they're having a bad day at the shops, perhaps the waiter, the waitress, and just say, oh, can I pray for you? You might not do it in that moment. You can read the moment, read the person, read the room. But you can say, I'm going to pray for you and actually do that. Because look at Jesus, with all his power, he has all this compassion, such compassion that he comforts the hurting, such power that he tells an evil spirit, get out, go away, never come back, such power that when the boy looks like he's a corpse, what does Jesus do as a glimmer of the future? Raises him from the so-called dead. He is the one who sends his disciples, his apostles, to face the forces of evil of that day. And friends, reforming, he is the one who sends reforming, not as apostles, but as his disciples to face the evils of our day. We are called as Christians to bring the gospel What is the power of God? Is it political conservatism or changing politics or politicians or policy? No. What is the power of God? You are reforming. You've been through Romans. You know this. You could say it as a creed. What is the power of God? It is the gospel is the power of God. That's the thing that's going to change people. And sometimes it concerns me that we functionally don't believe that. We are called to care for the poor, to comfort the suffering, to confront the societal sins of this present darkness. For the evilness world of sin that so dehumanizes humanity and seeks to destroy us like a demon against that boy, every societal sin you see, Satan is backing it up. The problem is not physical, it's spiritual. It's not political, it's darkness. And we are not able to do anything in the face of that except depend upon God in prayer in our ministry to this. Yes, we'll write letters, we'll do things, we'll open Bibles and proclaim the gospel, but we will pray and that is the work. We will be totally inadequate and unable unless we do. Reforming, we've got enough people in the world who think they can do whatever they need to do on their own. They need Jesus. And reforming, we've got enough churches in the world, too many Christians who functionally believe they can work through their own problems themselves. But when they have their doubts and their own arguments, when they struggle with their sin and try and deal with it themselves, rather than go to Jesus, rather than go to the church to help one another... Friends, they don't have to. Because what is our creed now? Jesus. We're not able. Help our unbelief. Because when you go to Jesus, here's what you see. One day, as we sang, a man will come. And that man, as we heard in the kids' talk, is the King, the God-man. And in Mark's gospel, we will see him in a few weeks' time in a garden. It's the second great garden of the narrative of humanity. This one's not called Eden, it's called Gethsemane. And it's the last night before he's about to be tortured and butchered on a cross rack. Slain as a substitute for our sins. And we see Jesus in the garden pray this. Hear these words ring. Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but your will be done. See that? The one who says all things are possible for those who believe, believes it and knows that, but says God's will is the way. And then what does he do? Only what he could possibly do. The father cries out, if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us. If he can, he did. Friends, when in doubt, look at the cross, look again at what He did for you and know this, there is nothing we can bring to Jesus where He is not able. And there is everything where we are not able that we can bring to Jesus. Let's pray. Now, Father in heaven, we are in need. We cry out like that desperate dad, help our unbelief. Help us. We pray that people would bring us to you. We pray that we would come to you, be brought to you when whatever it is is preventing us. And so to that end, we pray that whatever is presenting us that you would work in these things and with your compassion and gentleness and kindness, would you humble us? Humble our hearts. We ask firstly, please don't do it in front of others, our critics, but do what you need to do to humble us that we would humbly depend upon you in prayer for everything. We believe, yet help our unbelief. and knowing your love and compassion and grace, we trust you that you will. And now we pray this for our church, for our friends, for ourselves, in Jesus' name. Amen.