10.10 - A Look Forward

In our first episode without Paul, Noah discusses the future of the podcast, asks to hear from you using the updated Listener Survey, and shares a challenge from Acts 6 and 7.

Fill out our Listener Survey or Submit a Question.

Noah preaches and teaches with the Cedar Park church of Christ in Cedar Park, TX. You can visit our site at: https://www.cedarparkchurchofchrist.org/

Transcript

Noah 0:33

Welcome back to the Stand Strong Podcast. For the first time in over three years, I am sitting here to record this podcast, and I am not accompanied by Paul. And as I'm sure you're aware, if you're listening to this episode and therefore probably listened to last episode Paul has agreed to move to Beaumont, Texas, and will be working with a church there. And because of that change in geography and change in work he will no longer be on the Stand Strong Podcast with me. I know that many of the people that listen to this podcast know Paul personally and have a great appreciation for Paul and that is well-deserved. I am so thankful for Paul. I'm thankful for the way that he has mentored me and has worked alongside me for the last four years here where I preach at Cedar Park and also in this podcast and in a variety of other ways. He's been such an encouragement to me and in many ways a teacher and an instructor for me, and I am so thankful for him, and I will miss him being around here, as I know so many people will, and I'm sure everyone that listens to this podcast will as well. So Paul, if you happen to be listening to this episode just know that you are loved, you are appreciated, and I'm already looking forward to the next time that I get to cross paths with you. Thank you for your work. Now, for everybody else other than Paul, you're probably wondering what that means for this podcast. What are things going to look like moving forward? And I've had to put some thought into that, and I pray that the direction we're heading is one that will continue to be beneficial to people who listen to this podcast. The plan for the rest of 2026, and as we, we-- near the end of the year, I'll do some reevaluation. I will consider how the year has gone, and we may make some adjustments then going into 2027. But my plan through the rest of this year is to continue the podcast and to continue it at the same rhythm that we began this year with, which is n- we're gonna do two episodes a month. The first two Mondays of every month, we'll have an episode. The second episode of the month will be very similar to what we have been doing. So it'll be a little bit shorter and I'll take that opportunity to maybe dive a little bit deeper on one of the topics that we discussed the week before, or I may share some thoughts from some Bible study that I've been doing. That second week will be shorter. Maybe the thought might be a little bit more devotional in nature. We're gonna kinda feel that out as we go. But what I'm more excited about is that the first episode every, of every month, that first Monday, the plan for the rest of the year is that I will have another person to discuss things with. We may not follow the exact same rhythm that Paul and I have been following so far this year just because I wanna be accommodating of people who are willing to sit down with me and discuss in this format, which isn't always a comfortable format. But the first Monday of every month for the rest of this year, my plan is to have a different guest each month who will I'll who will sit down and we'll discuss together something of spiritual relevance, something based in scripture, and hopefully something that each of these men who I bring on will have particular passion for and particular desire to talk about. So that will begin in June. The first Monday of June, I'll have a guest, and as we go along, I'll try to make you aware of who the next guests will be. But I'm excited about this. I think it will be encouraging. I think it will allow for a richer, deeper study than if I were going to try to do this by myself. And I pray that it'll be of of benefit to those who listen to this podcast to hear these different voices, these different perspectives come on here and find the common truth that we have in God's Word. So I'm looking forward to that. Since there are so many changes going on I wanna take this moment to encourage you to submit any questions. I know Paul and I have been asking for those moving up to this point. That's not going away. That Q&A form is still linked in the episode description. I encourage you if there's something you want touched on, discussed in this podcast, feel free to put it in there. It's very possible that I might be able to discuss that in one of the second Monday episodes, or even if it's something that is a particular passion or area of expertise of somebody that I know, I might be able to get somebody on here who will be able to facilitate a really good discussion about your question. So please be filling out that Q&A form. Additionally, I have changed the feedback form. We've had a listener survey in the in the episode description for probably a year or more now at this point. I've added a couple of questions to that. It's still a very short survey. But with all the changes that are going on, I wanna make sure that as I try to helm this podcast, that we continue in a direction that helps the people who are listening, that encourages them and benefits them, and that's you. If you could fill out the new feedback form, the new listener survey that's in the episode description here moving forward, that will help me have a better idea of who's listening, and therefore it'll equip me to serve you better in this podcast. It's actually kinda funny. Just in the last week before this episode is published, I saw that for the first time in a few months, the listener survey was being filled out. A couple of people filled it out just in the past week or two. I appreciate that. If you're listening to this and that was you, thank you. Can you go do it again with the new feedback form? There's a couple extra questions, and I would love to get that extra information from you. Now I don't want this episode to just be a logistics update. I wanted to share something w- with you from scripture, and something that's been on my mind recently because of some conversations I've been having and also because of some sections of scripture that I've been reading, is the idea of responding to correction. Th- the Bible is full of admonitions about the wisdom in accepting reproof and correction in listening to the wisdom of others, especially those who are more advanced in years and maturity, especially spiritual maturity. And recently, I-- in a conversation I was having with a friend, I talked about how the tendency to respond to correction with defensiveness with the need to be right not for the sake of being righteous, but for the sake of proving oneself that's something that I think a lot of people struggle with, and I know throughout many parts of my life I have struggled with. It's been something that I've had to put a lot of prayer and work into to see improvement, and I still have Much improvement needed in that area. So I think it's something that we struggle with the idea of dealing with other people correcting us or reproving us. And an example that came to mind, an example I'm sure many of you, if not all of you, are familiar with, is in Acts chapter 7. Eh it actually begins in Acts chapter 6. We're introduced to a man named Stephen. He's described as f- being full of grace and power and doing great wonders and signs among the people. That's in Acts 6:8. But in verse 9, we're told that,"Some of those who belonged to the Synagogue of the Freedmen, as it was called, and of the Cyrenians and of the Alexandrians and of those from Cilicia and Asia rose up and disputed with Stephen." Okay, so these people are arguing with him. They're disagreeing with him. Verse 10 says,"But they could not withstand the wisdom and the spirit with which he was speaking. And they secretly instigated men who said,'We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God.' And they stir up the people." So these people are arguing with Stephen, and he's refuting them in wisdom and in the spirit. They couldn't argue against his teaching and his arguments, and so they instigate the Jewish council against him. There's this trial that goes on because there's there's an accusation. He's saying that Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and will change the customs that Moses delivered to us. And in chapter 7 verse 1, the high priest says to Stephen,"Are these things and what we get for a large chunk of Acts chapter 7 is Stephen's response. It's a sermon, and it's a defense. And we don't-- we're not gonna read through that sermon right now, but I encourage you to do that if you have a moment. You can pause right now and read it or you can listen or read it after you're done listening to the podcast. But Stephen teaches intelligently. His response here, his defense is one that is is rational. It's intelligent. It's based on Jewish history. It's based on scripture. It's inspired by the Spirit. And when he finishes, he has some words that are pretty difficult to hear. They are a correction. They're an, they're a reproof for the people who are accusing him. He says in Acts 7:51,"You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you.""Which of the prophets did your father not persecute? And they killed those who announced beforehand the coming of the Righteous One, whom you have now betrayed and murdered. You who received the law as delivered by angels and did not keep it." Those words are not gentle. Those words would not be considered kind by most people, but they were the correction that these people needed, and they were the conclusion of a sermon that should have convicted these people. We see their response in verse 54. They were enraged, and they ground their teeth at him. He then looks up to heaven full of the Holy Spirit and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. And when he says that to them, when he observes what he is seeing, they cried out in verse 57,"With a loud voice and stopped their ears and rushed together at him. Then they cast him out of the city and stoned him." This is what Stephen got for teaching the truth and for offering correction. He was rejected, and it wasn't because of a problem with the teaching. His teaching was inspired by the Holy Spirit, and it was well-reasoned, and it was an argument from history and from scripture. The reason he was rejected was because there was a heart problem in the people listening to him. So how about us? That's the challenge that I wanna issue in this context. I understand on a very personal level how hard it is to accept correction, to accept reproof, and to do so humbly and meekly and quietly. But this is the alternative, is that we could be hearing teaching and correction straight from the words of scripture, straight from the mouths of the apostles and the prophets and the inspired word of God. And if our heart is in the wrong place and we are unwilling to listen to correction, we could reject the life-giving message just because our hearts are in the wrong place, and that's sobering to think about. Now, I understand that's not necessarily the happiest thing to think about, but the fact is how we respond to correction and reproof and hard teaching matters. So I would encourage you read through Stephen's sermon. Read through that context, and we should learn from the example of those who, despite hearing one of the best sermons outside of the Gospels, still rejected the Word of God. Let's learn from their negative example. With that being said we're gonna go ahead and wrap this episode up. This is the shorter of the two for the month. We will be back the first Monday of June with our first guest, and I'm looking forward to that. I'm excited about that, and I hope that you will be as well. As always, thank you for listening. Again, we are going to miss Paul here in this podcast, and I ask that you bear with me. This is gonna be an adjustment for me. My comfort zone in this podcast has been being able to have these discussions with a good friend and mentor like Paul, and there's gonna be some adjustment. Things may not go as smoothly as they have for so long, but I appreciate you being here, and I appreciate you listening. And my prayer is that between now and the first Monday of June, when we'll be back for our first discussion without Paul, that you will continue to stand strong.