Rescuing the Runaway
Susan LeSage 12/16/2025
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35:09
Summary
Susan LeSage explores the transformative power of patience through the biblical relationship of Barnabas and John Mark, showing how encouragement can rescue those who have stumbled. Even when we fail, God uses time and the patience of others to mold us into profitable servants for His Kingdom.
Key points
- •Patience is a primary characteristic of love and a literal fruit of the Spirit that demonstrates our trust in God's timing over our own expectations.
- •The story of John Mark (Acts 12, 15) illustrates how even those who fail or 'run away' from their calling can be restored to greatness in the Kingdom of God.
- •Barnabas (the Son of Encouragement) serves as the ultimate model for mentorship by risking his own reputation and friendships to invest in someone who had previously failed.
- •Time is the 'potter's wheel' God uses to shape us; we must resist the urge to demand immediate results and instead allow God's process to unfold.
- •The redemption of John Mark was so complete that Paul, who once rejected him, eventually declared him 'profitable for the ministry' (2 Timothy 4:11).
Scripture
Patience
Restoration
Mentorship
God's Timing
Grace
Life application
Identify one person in your life who has failed to meet your expectations or has experienced a spiritual 'stumble.' This week, choose to be a 'Barnabas' by reaching out with a word of encouragement or a prayer of faith rather than a spirit of judgment.
Reflection questions
- Who has been a 'Barnabas' in your life, showing you patience when you didn't deserve it?
- Are there areas in your life where you are trying to 'wash the bunny' (fix things in your own strength) instead of waiting on God?
- Why is it often harder to have patience with those closest to us or those we are mentoring?
- In what ways can a 'failure' in our past be used by God to make us more 'profitable' for His ministry today?
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Full transcript
0:00So, I hope you will give me those same
0:00courtesies tonight.
0:01But when pastor called me and asked me
0:05if I would teach tonight
0:08after I picked myself up and started
0:10breathing again, I said, "Sure, pastor."
0:13And there
0:15right away a message came to me that I
0:18taught many years ago when we had 9:00
0:21am service, Sunday school, and we would
0:26teach and then we would have service.
0:29And it stuck with me all these years.
0:31And I know it was a long time ago
0:32because
0:34um in my notes for this message, Wyatt
0:37and Link, who not all of you know, I
0:39realize that, but they've been gone
0:42eight and a half years, if you can
0:44believe that. And they're in my notes.
0:46So, I know it was a while ago and it has
0:49stuck with me because it impacted me. It
0:53really did. Even though I taught it, the
0:54studying so impacted me. And again, when
0:58I picked it up to go back through my
1:01notes and study it again, I meant I I
1:04spent many hours on the back porch
1:05sobbing,
1:07going through it again because the word
1:10of God can change us and move us and
1:13want us. We want to change and be like
1:16him. But it's called rescuing the
1:18runaway. And it's all about those
1:23relationships that transform us, that
1:25change us for the good, right? People
1:28that have the patience to rescue us from
1:31our failures
1:33or redirect us when we're moving away
1:36from God. They're they're the rescuers.
1:40They're the encouraers. I'm going to
1:41have to take some water. The mouth is
1:43already dry.
1:52So they're the they're the encouraers.
1:54And in my personal reading lately, I
1:57went through first and second
1:59Corinthians
2:01and then Galatians. And Paul is writing
2:03to the churches. And he's talking about
2:07in both of these chapters I'm going to
2:11talk about, he's talking about patience.
2:16And Paul said in 1 Corinthians 13, he
2:19talked about the importance of love. And
2:23he described it like this. He said, "If
2:25I give all that I have and even give my
2:29body to be burned and I don't have love,
2:32I've gained nothing."
2:35That's a big statement.
2:37And Paul went on to say
2:41um in in 1 Corinthians 13 he gave us the
2:45characteristics of love. Very first one
2:48he says love is patient.
2:52Love does not envy or boast. It is not
2:55arrogant or rude. Does not insist on its
2:59in its own way. And it goes on to list
3:02other things. But love is patient. Paul
3:05said. And then in Galatians 5, he's
3:09writing to that church and he's talking
3:10about the fruit of the spirit. And he
3:12said, if we live by the spirit, let us
3:15also keep in step with the spirit. And
3:18he describes the fruit of the spirit.
3:20There's going to be fruit. There's going
3:22to be evidence if we are walking with
3:24the spirit. And he goes on to say that
3:28the fruit of the spirit is love, joy,
3:31peace patience
3:34kindness goodness faithfulness
3:36gentleness self-control.
3:39Now, this patience word, it takes up a
3:43lot of space in my mind because
3:46I'm not always good at it.
3:49>> So, if my family were to stand up to and
3:52testify, which they will not,
3:56They'll be written out of the will. They
3:58will not stand up and testify. But if
4:01they did, they'd probably tell you that
4:03at times my patience meter is
4:06malfunctioning.
4:08And I can confess that at times it feels
4:11completely broken.
4:13It's hard sometimes, isn't it, to have
4:16patience to wait and deal with things,
4:19but sometimes I react too quickly.
4:24And then I have to deal with the
4:26consequences
4:27of how I feel afterwards.
4:31There's going to be some repenting and
4:32telling God, I I don't want to be like
4:35that. Nobody has to get on to me. Now,
4:37if you're not from the south, that means
4:39correction.
4:41And nobody has to get on to me. I'm
4:42going to get on to myself
4:44and I'm going to tell myself that is not
4:47who you are or who you want to be. So
4:50patience
4:51and often we, you know, life is full of
4:55misunderstandings. Can we all agree on
4:57that? Unfulfilled expectations. We just
5:00have these high standards that we want
5:03met and people don't meet them and we're
5:05disappointed and we're done with them.
5:07Just leave. But
5:10we have assumptions. We We know we hear
5:13part of a conversation. We've figured it
5:16out. We know what's going on and we're
5:19going to do something about it.
5:22Instead of having the patience to let
5:25the Lord move and work and mold and
5:29change and shape us maybe
5:33and have patience with him for the Lord
5:35to do the same. Let me give you an
5:36example. Two neighbors
5:39live next door to each other out in the
5:41country. One and over the years they
5:44became good friends. They had barbecues
5:46together. Neighbor number one, she goes
5:49and she buys a dog and she buys a big
5:53one, a Rottweiler, and names it Bruno.
5:57So Bruno is a dog. And the next door
5:59neighbor goes and gets a bunny and calls
6:02it Fluffy.
6:04And so Fluffy and Bruno are neighbors.
6:07This is a dangerous situation.
6:10So they put up a fence to protect little
6:14Fluffy. And all is well for a long time.
6:18And Bruno is at the fence constantly
6:21sniffing through saying, "If only, if
6:24only I could get there." So Bruno's
6:26owner is like, "Honey," she's telling
6:28her husband, "Our friendship is going to
6:30end. I just know it's going to happen.
6:31One day Bruno's going to get over that
6:32fence. He's going to grab Fluffy and
6:35he's going to bring it right to right to
6:37us." So sure enough, one day she's doing
6:40her laundry and she hears a commotion
6:44out front and she runs outside and there
6:47is Bruno with Fluffy.
6:50Fluffy is filthy. She's covered in mud
6:55and dirt. And Bruno is just so proud and
6:58places it at his owner's feet. And so
7:02the mom says, "I cannot do this. I
7:05cannot tell my neighbor this has
7:06happened." So she grabs Fluffy, she goes
7:09into the kitchen and she washes Fluffy
7:13and she makes him smell nice and gets
7:15him blow dries him and she goes and puts
7:18Fluffy on the front porch of her
7:20neighbor's
7:22house, leans him against the pole. So
7:25he's there. Well, in a few minutes
7:28there's a knock on the front door,
7:30frantic, and the neighbor that owned
7:33Fluffy said, "You are not going to
7:35believe this.
7:37FLUFFY DIED last night and we buried him
7:39in the backyard and he is clean and
7:42smells good and is leaned up against the
7:44post on our front porch.
7:49Do we not do that?
7:52We instead of going, "Okay, God, I don't
7:55know what just happened, but I I'm gonna
7:57have the patience to let you figure this
8:00out and whatever I need to do, Lord, you
8:02direct me." No, we're going to fix it.
8:05We're going to make sure that whatever
8:07needs to happen happens. But that's not
8:10the best way to live our lives. God
8:13wants us to have faith in him and have
8:15patience and let him do his will and his
8:18work. So my lesson tonight is drawn from
8:22Acts 12 through15
8:27where revival is happening in the
8:30church.
8:31Jerusalem, the Holy Ghost is being
8:33poured out and they hear that there is
8:36revival in Antioch
8:38and even the Greeks are being filled
8:41with the Holy Ghost. And so the church
8:44is praying, "What are our next steps?
8:48Where should we go next?" And they're
8:50praying and they're fasting
8:52and the Holy Ghost speaks while they are
8:56praying
8:58and fasting. And the spirit said, "Set
9:01Barnabas and Saul apart for the work I
9:05have called them to do." And what we
9:08also know is that a young man named John
9:11Mark goes with them on this missionary
9:15trip.
9:17And somewhere along the line,
9:20this young man leaves the the missionary
9:23trip before he was supposed to. That's
9:26all we really know. And when John Mark
9:29left, Paul got pretty upset
9:32that he left this missionary trip and
9:35Paul was disappointed in him.
9:40And when they set out to go on their
9:43second missionary trip, Mark said, I
9:45mean, Barnabas says, "Let's take John
9:47Mark with us again." And Paul said,
9:50"Nope, we're not taking him. He left us.
9:53He abandoned us." Acts 15:38.
9:57In fact, it became a point of contention
9:59between the two men.
10:02And Mark insisted that they take him and
10:04Paul insisted that they don't. And
10:06consequencely consequently, Paul and
10:09Barnabas agree to disagree.
10:12Paul goes on his missionary trip
10:16and Barnabas takes Mark with him. Now,
10:19Barnabas had a nickname which was
10:22Joseph, which meant the son of
10:24encouragement. And you'll see that
10:26Barnabas did just that. He was an
10:29encourager. He was a rescuer. And he
10:32demonstrated a strong sense of spiritual
10:34maturity, patience, and godliness in his
10:38effort to mentor this young John Mark.
10:42He defends him. He expresses confidence
10:45in him. And he took him along on his
10:48missionary trip. What a vital role we as
10:53mature saints of God can play
10:56in a person's life if we will have
10:59patience.
11:01If we will pick up the weaker brother
11:03and rescue them from their failures.
11:06We've all had someone do that. If we're
11:08standing here today, we've had someone
11:10that do that for us. One writer said it
11:14like this. God is not only the God of
11:16second chances, he's the God of another
11:19chance. Most of us have blown through
11:21that second and third and fourth chance
11:24very quickly in our lives.
11:29And God gave us another chance. One of
11:32the most amazing things about God is
11:35that he is incredibly patient with us.
11:39We forget that when we're looking at
11:41someone else. He has been incredibly
11:44patient with us. And isn't it
11:46interesting that Paul
11:49so quickly gave up on John Mark when he
11:53needed patience when and needed to be
11:55cared for when he was on the road to
11:57Damascus and was blinded and had to be
12:00cared for and then he wanted to join up.
12:03They wanted to take him to the other
12:05disciples. The other disciples like,
12:06"Hold on just one second. Isn't this the
12:09guy that's been persecuting the
12:10Christians, imprisoning them? They're
12:14being executed. You want us to take him
12:16in? And Barnabas steps up.
12:19It's all right there in Acts. He steps
12:21up and speaks on Paul's behalf and said,
12:25"It's true. I've seen him. He's
12:27transformed."
12:30But even Paul ultimately, and we're
12:32going to see this in this lesson, even
12:34Paul ultimately recognized Mark's value
12:37in the kingdom of God. And at the end of
12:40his life when he's imprisoned,
12:43he writes to Timothy and he says, "Take
12:46Mark." We're talking about the same
12:47young man from many years ago. Take Mark
12:50and bring him with thee, for he is
12:53profitable to me in the ministry. Now,
12:57this didn't happen quickly. It took some
12:59time for John Mark to become who he was.
13:03Did he fail? Did he quit on the job?
13:06Sure. But he became a giant in the
13:09kingdom of God.
13:12And you and
13:14it's hard to live within time, isn't it?
13:17We want things done fast. We want to see
13:19something happen. But we're all
13:22creatures of time and we're in the
13:23process of becoming. We still are. No
13:26matter what age you are, you're still in
13:28the process of becoming. And isn't that
13:30the motto of Cathedral of Pentecost?
13:34Helping people become.
13:38So time is God's method to his chosen
13:42vessel,
13:44his chosen method to unveil his
13:46purposes.
13:48And time is the potter's wheel.
13:51It's hard to stay on that will and let
13:53God do what he needs to do and wait on
13:55him. But it's on that potter's wheel
13:57that we are shaped according to his
14:00purposes. And when we demand results,
14:04look, God, I've dealt with this person
14:06at work long enough. I need you to
14:08change his mind and I need you to do it
14:10by the end of the week. I'm just going
14:12to have a nervous breakdown.
14:15We want God to do it immediately. But
14:17we're forgetting one thing. God does not
14:20typically impose his will on anyone. You
14:23and I have free choice whether to live
14:25for him and serve him and sit on that
14:28potter's wheel and allow him to shape us
14:31and have the patience to wait. He uses
14:36time. That's the interest in instrument
14:39of his will to stimulate and inspire
14:42change.
14:43dealing with those disappointments,
14:47dealing with those surprise health
14:49challenges,
14:51coming to grips with our mortal
14:53mortality where our knees hurt more than
14:56they used to, right, Brother Herald?
15:00Where we were stronger and we just know
15:02we can still do it until we try and then
15:04for days our mortality is speaking to
15:08us.
15:10suffering hardships.
15:12That's all part of God shaping us.
15:16But guess what? So are experiencing joys
15:20and mercies and unmmerited kindness
15:25and unexpected pleasures and being in
15:28his presence and reading his word and
15:31hearing the preached word of God.
15:33They're all agents of change in our
15:36life. So it's important that we learn
15:39the the value of patience.
15:43Patience demonstrates wisdom.
15:46It demonstrates understanding.
15:49And when we have patience, it shows that
15:52we not only trust God in what he's going
15:55to do, but how he's going to do it. We
15:58got a way we think it should be done
16:02and we're waiting on God to do it. But
16:04sometimes he does it in another way and
16:06we go, "Wow, I never saw that coming,
16:10>> but you worked it out. I just knew it
16:13had to happen this way." But God, he
16:16loves us. He's got us. And having
16:19patience shows that we trust him. So,
16:22this brings me back to Mark
16:26and the story that we've been talking
16:28about. We don't know a lot about him,
16:31but we know four solid facts from
16:33scripture. We know that as a younger
16:36man, he abandoned a mission trip.
16:39We know that when they when Paul and
16:42Barnabas were considering their second
16:44trip, we know that Barnabas believed so
16:47much in Mark that he was willing
16:51to risk his important friendship with
16:54Paul. Now, they had a successful
16:57ministry. Revival was happening and
17:01Barnabas was a part of that. But he
17:03chooses to take Mark and go on a
17:07different missionary trip. And we know
17:10that Mark in his later years revealed a
17:13mark change. He won the respect of Paul.
17:16I read that he was he vindicated
17:19Barnabas's early belief in him. Second
17:22Timothy 4:11. and he earned the
17:24affection and trust of Peter
17:28who called him son in first Peter 5:13.
17:33So Mark is credited with having recorded
17:36the gospel that now bears his name. Mark
17:40it wrote Mark.
17:43So patience is necessary.
17:47Patience for those who fail to meet our
17:49expectations.
17:55So what we do know about Mark, the the
17:59first record of Mark is in Acts 12 when
18:03Peter is imprisoned.
18:06Uh one of the disciples have already
18:08been killed. Herod had him killed. And
18:10now Peter has been imprisoned. And the
18:13people of God are praying for for Peter
18:15to be released.
18:18And we know that he he was bound. He had
18:22two soldiers on either side of him. And
18:24somehow he falls asleep. And we know
18:28this because the angel of the Lord wakes
18:31him up and says, "Peter, get your
18:32sandals on." And he's like, "What?"
18:37And the chains fall off, the prison
18:40gates open, and the gates to the city
18:42open. And read it. The Bible says he he
18:45wasn't even sure if he was dreaming. You
18:49know what what is happening here?
18:52And it the ver the very first place that
18:55Peter chooses to go is to Mary's house,
18:59the mother of John Mark.
19:04That says a lot about John's mother.
19:07And if tradition has it right, this is
19:10the house of the Last Supper.
19:12It's the place where the apostles prayed
19:16after Christ's ascension. And it's the
19:17place where the Holy Spirit fell the day
19:20of Pentecost. Wow. And the place where
19:23Mattheus was elected as a disciple when
19:26Judas betrayed Jesus.
19:29So if tradition has it right, John Mark
19:32grew up grew up in quite a home, quite a
19:35powerful place. He saw a lot of
19:37miracles.
19:39But even if tradition is unreliable,
19:42As I said, it speaks volumes that this
19:44is where Peter wanted to go the minute
19:46he res released. So Mark's mother's
19:49house was a house of prayer.
19:53So we know that John Mark grew up in a
19:57good home, but he showed some early
19:59immaturity.
20:01He goes on this mission trip with
20:03Barnabas and Saul, who was later called
20:06Paul. They're traveling by land and sea.
20:09I don't I don't really know how long,
20:11but they went to many different places.
20:13Revival's happening and not much is
20:15recorded to happening until they get to
20:18this town called Pyos.
20:24And in Pyos, they are preaching and the
20:29governor or the military leader in that
20:31town hears about the teachings of Paul
20:34and Barnabas. And he's a very
20:36intelligent man. And he he wants to hear
20:40what Paul and Silas Yep. Paul and
20:43Barnabas are preaching. And so he calls
20:47for them to come. Well, his advisor who
20:50thought he was supposed to be the
20:52governor's spiritual advisor. He also
20:55called himself a magician. He starts
20:57bugging Paul and Barnabas. He starts
21:00getting in the way. He wants to poison
21:02this relationship. No way am I letting
21:05them preach the gospel to our leader. It
21:09ain't happening. And he gets in the way.
21:11And Paul takes it and takes it and takes
21:14it until one day it says that Saul
21:19filled with the Holy Ghost set his eyes
21:21on him and said, "Oh, full of subtility
21:25and all mischief, thou child of the
21:27devil, thou enemy of all righteousness.
21:30Wilt thou not cease to pervert the ways
21:33of the Lord? Paul's mad. He's calling
21:35him every name. He's calling him out.
21:38And then he says, "And now, behold, the
21:41hand of the Lord is upon thee, and thou
21:43shalt be blind.
21:45I'm done with you. You're going to be
21:47reaching out asking somebody for help.
21:49You're not getting in the way any
21:51anymore." And so, he said it would be
21:54for a season. And now this man that
21:56claimed to have spiritual insights, he's
21:58blinded and reaching out, crying out,
22:00"Help me, lead me, guide me." Just like
22:05Saul had to do after Damascus, he was
22:08blind, needing someone to take him by
22:11the hand. I don't know. Maybe this was
22:13what what Mark Mark sees this, he's
22:16like, "This is too freaky for me." I
22:18mean, don't we have people come in and
22:20the Holy Ghost is falling and they go,
22:22"Um,
22:27why are they rebuking the devil and and
22:30they're running and shouting? Who are
22:32they running from?
22:34Why? Why are they screaming?" Right?
22:36People go, "Okay, this is strange. I
22:41don't know. Maybe that's what caused
22:43Mark. That's all we know is that Mark
22:46left.
22:48And time went by and Paul and Barnabas
22:50returned to Jerusalem in Acts 15:36-4.
22:56And this is where they decide to go on
22:58this second mission trip. And the Bible
23:01says Barnabas was determined and Paul
23:04was equally determined. And the
23:06contention between the two man men
23:10became so much that they went on
23:13different mission trips. And the Bible
23:14does not record another record of them
23:17going on a mission trip together.
23:20Again, Barnabas believed that John Mark
23:24was worth it. And Luke, who was the only
23:27one to record Mark's failure,
23:31that's the last time he recorded or
23:34mentioned Mark when Barnabas and he were
23:36in Cyprus.
23:38So, you know, that patience can be
23:41tested.
23:44Paul
23:45believed that if you were on a mission
23:47trip, you should be committed.
23:50There's no room for the weak and the
23:51feeble. We're we're traveling. We're
23:53spreading the word of God. He had some
23:55expectations, right? And doesn't life
23:57teach us? How many times have you heard
23:59that a man's past determines his future?
24:03Well, maybe so in the world, maybe so.
24:06Someone says, "I've changed.
24:09It's over. It's behind me." And their
24:12family is rejoicing. And for a while,
24:15they do. And sometimes they do fall back
24:18into that whatever that trouble was.
24:27But Paul knew better than anybody that
24:30people can change.
24:33Didn't he tell the Philippian church to
24:35forget those things which are behind and
24:38to reach forward to those that are
24:40before you? Philippians 3:13.
24:44But he also said if a man puts his hand
24:47to the plow and he looks back that man
24:49is bound
24:52to go back in the direction that he's
24:54looking. So Paul had some high
24:56standards. We all do that sometimes,
24:59don't we? He had some high he had some
25:02expectations and nothing less would do.
25:06It had to be that way or he didn't want
25:09you on his trip. But thank God there was
25:12a Barnabas,
25:15a patient man that looked for the good
25:18in John Mark.
25:21I don't know where he saw it. Maybe he
25:23was at the house of of his mother and he
25:26saw as a young man. Doesn't pastor tell
25:29us to look at our hearts. Know your
25:33brother. Know their heart.
25:35And so he saw something in John Mark.
25:40But Paul in all of his wisdom and
25:43experience was blind to what Barnabas
25:46saw.
25:48Help us to be Barnabases in people's
25:52lives.
25:54And I'm sure Barnabas had no clue how
25:58great John Mark would become in the
26:00kingdom of God and what he re would
26:03record
26:04and who he would become.
26:07We don't know. I many of you that are
26:11sitting here, I saw you as little kids.
26:14Austin, I held you when you were born.
26:18I appreciate the man of God that you
26:20have become.
26:22I saw goodness in you as a young child,
26:25Gabby. That voice, I didn't know that
26:28when you were in these little
26:31little plays,
26:33but man, God has given you a ministry
26:36and a gift that is unbelievable.
26:39We have children that fail and they make
26:41mistakes, but our job is to plead the
26:44blood over them to believe in them and
26:47believe that God will change them and to
26:50be patient,
26:53hold on to hope and faith and pray over
26:57them, not to give up on them. Our
27:00expectations
27:01don't have to be met. God's
27:05God is the one that changes people. And
27:08our faith insists that people can
27:10change.
27:12God can change people and interrupt the
27:15the the bondage that people have been
27:18bound with for years or even
27:20generations.
27:22And Barnabas applied that. Listen to
27:25this scripture in 2 Timothy 2:24 through
27:2826.
27:30The servant of the Lord must not strive,
27:34but be gentle unto all men, apt to
27:37teach patient
27:40in meekness, instructing those that
27:42oppose them, in meekness,
27:46instructing those that oppose them. if
27:48God per adventure will give them
27:50repentance
27:52to the acknowledging of the truth and
27:54that they may recover themselves out of
27:56the snare of the devil
27:58and are taken captive who are taken
28:02captive by his will. Be patient. Give
28:05them time to find repentance and perhaps
28:09they will find their way out of the
28:11grips of hell and out of the snare of
28:15the devil. Now, here's the ironic part.
28:17Barnabas didn't write that. Paul did.
28:22Paul wrote that. And we we talked about
28:25all the scripture before that Paul wrote
28:28about patience.
28:30So, Barnabas's patience demonstrates
28:33trust. Trust in who? God. His sovereign
28:37oversight and his care. I don't know.
28:41Maybe traveling with Barnabas on that
28:44second trip gave him the opportunity
28:48to encourage John Mark to help restore
28:52his faith and confidence in God and his
28:55calling to the ministry.
28:57Man, there had to be a debt of gratitude
29:01and appreciation from John Mark's mom.
29:06You know, she was a believer and this
29:08man took the time and had the patience
29:11to encourage her son. And we know that
29:14his patience was vindicated.
29:16We know, we don't know what happened to
29:20bring Mark to maturity, but eventually
29:22he changed completely.
29:25And is it possible that it was Barnabas
29:28that played the largest part in that?
29:32Here's the crazy part. We read about it.
29:35While Paul is in prison.
29:38He calls for the services of Mark and he
29:42says in his letter that
29:45he was with a younger man, Deus, I think
29:47was his name. And he abandoned Paul. And
29:51so he writes to Timothy and he says,
29:56"Only Luke is with me. Take Mark and
29:58bring him with with thee for he is
30:01profitable to me for the ministry.
30:05How many of you
30:08have become profitable to the ministry?
30:11Please Lord, let me be profitable to the
30:14ministry of this house. So many of you
30:19have practiced hours.
30:22You've worked hard. You've been patient.
30:25And you've waited on that calling.
30:27You've waited on that moment when the
30:29Lord says, "Okay,
30:31John, Mark, it's your time. You've gone
30:34through some hardships. You've made it
30:36through some of these
30:40disappointments.
30:41People being disappointed in you. That's
30:43not hard to deal with, is it?" Oh,
30:47but here's the ironic part.
30:50Life sometimes brings us full circle,
30:52doesn't
30:53it? And this scripture is a great
30:55reunion. Here we have Luke, the only one
30:59to record Mark's failure. And we have
31:01Paul, who believed Mark's failure was
31:04crippling.
31:06And we have Mark, the runaway himself.
31:10Here they are at the end of Paul's life
31:14when Paul is looking for strong
31:16Christian fellowship and support. He
31:19calls on Mark.
31:21He calls on Mark, the little guy that
31:24disappointed him and made him mad
31:26because he didn't follow through with
31:27what he should have. So patience
31:31is priceless, isn't it? It's priceless.
31:36Failings are forgotten because of
31:38someone's patience.
31:40Mark's failure in his childhood is
31:43overshadowed by the fact that his name
31:45is listed at the head of one of our
31:48gospels.
31:50In fact, his youthful indiscretion is
31:53only mentioned so that you can see what
31:55a giant he became in the kingdom of God
31:59kingdom of God after the Lord worked on
32:01him and patience was displayed. That's
32:04the testimony of patience.
32:08Think about it. It gives young people
32:10who fail the opportunity to build trust
32:13again when we are patient.
32:17It gives backsliders an open door to
32:19come home.
32:21When we are patient, it gives God an
32:24opportunity to work out those situations
32:27that seem impossible. When we are
32:29patient,
32:32when we are willing to sit on the
32:34potter's wheel and say, "Okay, God, I
32:37know I you love me. I'm going to be
32:39patient and sit right here and let you
32:42do your will your way,
32:46and I'm going to let you work it out. I
32:49don't know why this is happening." How
32:51many of us have reached that point where
32:53we're just like, I I can't figure this.
32:55Why? I can't figure this one out. Why
32:58God would you take me here or take my
33:00grandson there or let us go through
33:04situations but go we have to have faith
33:07that and patience that he will work it
33:10out. He will make a way. He is faithful.
33:16So Barnabas waited. He waited for time.
33:21God's an instrument for creating change.
33:25And Mark, the man with whom history is
33:28now familiar,
33:30became a giant. Patience is one of the
33:33gifts of the spirit. We started out with
33:35that, didn't we? Patience is an
33:37attribute of love. Corinthians 13. And
33:41God is love. 1 John 4:8. One of the most
33:45convincing ways we can demonstrate trust
33:48and faith in God is being patient.
33:53Think about that. God, help us to be
33:56Barnabases, to be patient and allow the
33:59kids of Cathedral
34:01the opportunity to overcome their
34:03failures. Our brothers and sisters,
34:06help us, Lord, to have patience with one
34:08another to pick up the weaker brother or
34:11sister and have patience to let God let
34:15God work the situation out.
34:20I'm thankful I'm standing here today
34:22because of patience.
34:26My family is here today because of
34:29patience.
34:31Patience shown by a man of God, David
34:34Elms and Melanie Elms. I was a mess when
34:39I came to this church. A mess.
34:42But there was a patient man of God that
34:45preached the word. And that word changed
34:48my life. And I'm standing here today
34:51because of a Barnabas.
34:55Lord, help us to pursue love, to pursue
35:00patience, and to pursue the ability to
35:04wait on God, and to be Barnabases. I
35:08love you all.