August 2, 2025 • 26 mins
Today on Bold Steps Weekend, Mark Jobe shows us how to tear down the walls that separate us from God. God is a wall breaker and Mark will be drawing from Ephesians chapter 2 to talk about this topic.
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S1 (00:00):
Today on Bold Steps weekend, Mark Jobe shows us how
to tear down the walls that separate us from God.
S2 (00:06):
One of the purposes in which Jesus came to fulfill
the mission of His father was the purpose of tearing
down walls. Jesus is a wall breaker, and if we
are to be the people of God, we also need
to learn what it means to tear down walls.
S1 (00:37):
And welcome to Bold Steps Weekend with Mark Jobe. Mark
is president of Moody Bible Institute and senior pastor of
New Life Community Church in Chicago. I'm Wayne Shepherd. Have
you ever felt like an outsider? Maybe you moved to
a new neighborhood or started a new job. Maybe you're
starting a new school. You may feel like you're on
one side of a wall and everyone else is on
the other. Mark, let's talk about that here today.
S3 (01:00):
Yeah, Wayne, there are walls that separate a lot of
people in different ways. One of the most obvious wall
is the one that separates man from God. Yes. And
that has to come down first. But when that wall
comes down, it actually leads to the tearing down of
a lot of other walls around us. Jew Gentiles, slave
(01:22):
free men, women, black and white, Hispanic, Asian God is
a wall breaker.
S1 (01:28):
Well, let's see what the Scripture says about this in
Ephesians chapter two with Mark. Now our message tearing down walls.
Here's Mark job.
S3 (01:37):
One of the tools used to tear down walls. It's
called a sledge hammer. You know, walls are interesting, aren't they?
We build walls normally for protection. We build walls because
(02:01):
we want something kept out, and we build doors because
we we want to allow something to come in. There's
famous walls like East Germany from West Germany was divided
by the Berlin Wall. One of the most famous walls
(02:23):
was the. Or is the wall in China, the Great
Wall of China? A year and a half ago, I
was able to go to China for some studies that
I was doing, and I actually was able to walk
on the Great Wall of China. The Great Wall of
China took 200 years to build. Hundreds of thousands of
(02:44):
people worked on that great wall made out of mud
and mud bricks. The wall of China is 6700 miles long.
And if you look at the terrain that it was
built on. It's just incredible that without tools that we
(03:07):
have in our modern day world, that they were able
to create this incredible wall going up and down mountains
that would span such a large, um, a large cycle.
In fact, it's the only man made edifice that is
able to be seen from outer space with the naked eye.
(03:31):
You know why the Emperor of China built the Wall
of China protection. He believed that there was going to
be invasion from Genghis Khan, and that he needed to
protect themselves from outside forces. And so he created this
(03:52):
wall for protection. You and I have walls. Oh, they're
not physical walls with bricks. But everybody has walls. Invisible walls.
We put up walls towards people in our life that
have hurt us, towards that family member that you just
(04:12):
kind of can't stand. And so at a family gathering,
you got that wall up. Oh yeah, you'll say hi,
but you know, that wall is up. Hey, don't get
too close because I know what happened last time. You
get close. There's walls sometimes in marriages. I just prayed
with a couple at our last service that is tearing
down walls. Even in their own marriage. There's walls that
(04:34):
we have in our life. Sometimes just. We put a
barrier of walls around us because some people walk with
a wall around them, thinking that if people really got
to know you, they wouldn't like you. And so although
you meet a lot of people, you keep people at
a distance, never let anybody get too close because you
feel if they really know the real me, they'll reject me.
(04:57):
There's walls all around this place. The city of Chicago
is known for some of its invisible walls. When I
first came to Chicago, to the southwest side. People showed
me a neighborhood and they said, you see this viaduct
(05:17):
on this side of the viaduct? It's all white on
that side of the viaduct. It's all black now. There's
no sign that says whites only, no sign that says
blacks only. But there's like this invisible wall. People know
you don't live in that neighborhood and you don't live
in that neighborhood. If you're this color, you don't live
(05:39):
over here, that color. You don't live over there. It's
an invisible wall of racial divide, but it's a wall nonetheless.
The thing about Jesus is that one of the purposes
in which Jesus Came to fulfill the mission of his
(06:02):
father was the purpose of tearing down walls. Jesus is
a wall breaker, and if we are to be the
people of God, we also need to learn what it
means to tear down walls. That's what Ephesians chapter two
is all about. It's really about tearing down walls. And
(06:23):
I'm going to begin reading in verse 11 of Ephesians
chapter two, as the apostle Paul talks to these folks
about the walls that need to be torn down. If
you're taking notes this morning, just write this down. Breaking
down walls. What do you need to know about breaking
down spiritual walls? The first thing you need to know
(06:46):
is that the wall is a part of everybody's story
at one time or another. Notice what Paul says. Therefore,
remember that formerly you who are Gentiles, You know what
a Gentile is? A Gentile is a non-Jewish person. So
(07:08):
you who were Gentiles, a non-Jewish person by birth, you
were called uncircumcised by those who called themselves the circumcision.
Remember that at a time you were separate from Christ,
(07:29):
excluded from the citizenship in Israel, foreigners to the covenant
of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. Well,
the Apostle Paul wants to remind these believers that he's
talking to. He wants to remind them that at one
time they were on listen, they were on the other
side of the wall. All of us at one time
(07:53):
have been outsiders. How about it? You say? Well, not me,
pastor man. I'm like the ultimate Popular insider. No no
no no. You've been an outsider, too. Everybody's been an
outsider at one time or another. Hey, when you transferred
to the school in the middle of the school year,
class had already started. Everybody knew where they were seated
(08:17):
immediately at a lunch table. The clans and cliques all
sat together. But there you were with your lunch tray.
The new kid, the outsider wondering, should I sit at
that table or that table? Will they accept me? Where
do I belong and where do I fit in? Anybody
know what I'm talking about? The outsider. Maybe you were
(08:38):
new at that job and just hired. And when you
got to that floor and all your coworkers were there,
you knew you were the outsider. You knew that everybody
had their friends and talked a certain language, and they
knew the system. But you didn't know the system because
you're what? You're the outsider. Or maybe you moved into
(08:58):
that neighborhood and And everybody seems to have lived in
that neighborhood forever. And everybody knows each other's kids and
everybody knows each other's names. But you drive up and
suddenly the conversation gets quiet and no one seems to
acknowledge you. You see, you're a foreigner. You're an outsider.
You don't belong. You're on the other side of the wall.
(09:24):
There's nothing more intimidating than going to some event and
walking in by yourself, and everybody's talking and cliques and
groups of people. But there you are, not really knowing
anybody in the room. Feeling a little bit like, I
(09:45):
don't want to just stand here and look dumb. The
best thing to do in those situations get a cup
of coffee. At least you are doing something. Something about
just having something in your hand that feels like, at
least I'm not just standing there like this. I'm sipping
(10:05):
my coffee. But there's something extremely intimidating about being in
a place where you don't know people, and it doesn't
seem like people want to know you because you're on
the other side of the wall, the other side of
the wall. You're the outsider, not the insider. Paul is
talking to believers. He's talking to Christian, Gentile, non-Jewish people.
(10:30):
And he's reminding them, never forget that at one time
in your life you also were on the other side
of the wall. Never forget, now that you're an insider.
Never forget what it felt like to be an outsider,
because it wasn't that long ago that you were on
the outside of the wall. It wasn't that long ago
(10:52):
that you didn't really understand the things of God, that
you didn't really have Christ, that you didn't understand his
promises that you were without the hope of God in
the world. It wasn't long ago that people looked at you.
There was a divide, by the way, between the Jews
and the Gentiles. And in order to understand this, I
(11:14):
have to give you a little bit of historical perspective.
Of course, you know that Jesus was born a Jew, right?
I know you've seen the paintings. He looks like a
German with blue eyes and blond hair. But let me
tell you, that's not what Jesus looked like. Oh, that's
a medieval painting of Jesus, I can guarantee you. Jesus
(11:35):
wasn't white, blond and blue eyed. That wasn't Jesus. He
was probably more than likely olive complected skin. Dark hair
like you would find in a in a middle eastern culture.
Jewish individual. And that's the image, really, of Jesus. He
(12:00):
wasn't movie star looking either. The Bible says he had
no stately form or majesty that we would gaze upon him.
It wasn't like he was. Whoa! Here is the latest
Jewish movie star either. He was just a normal, natural individual,
physically speaking. But he was born of Jewish descent. You
(12:21):
could trace his roots all the way back to the
lineage of King David. And when Jesus was born, he
never really traveled beyond 60 miles from his hometown. The
12 disciples that he chose were Jewish men. He ministered
primarily in the context of Jewish people. Why? Not that
(12:42):
Jesus wanted to exclude non-Jewish people, but he came unto
his own, first of all, to give the message to them.
And the Bible says, he came into his own, but
his own received him not. And then to them he
gave the right to become the sons of God, to
ever who ever believed on him. So he came, first
(13:04):
of all to the Jewish people who were the chosen
people of God from generations previous through Abraham. He came
to the Jewish people, and he gave them the first
opportunity to respond to his message. But he always the
gospel always came first to the Jew, but then it
expanded to the non-Jewish, to the Gentile. And you have
(13:28):
to understand that as you read the New Testament, because
a lot of the writings of Paul are directed in
that direction.
S1 (13:41):
You're listening to Mark Jobe here on Bold Steps Weekend,
and we'll continue today's message in just a moment. Don't forget,
if you ever miss our message on the radio, you
can always catch up online at bird-stamps.org. You know, Mark,
something I love about our Bold Steps Weekend listeners is
they have so many encouraging comments and questions. Here's a
question from Randy who says, I've listened to the series
(14:02):
about baptism. Question Does the Holy Bible say anything about
the fate of children, or even adults who were born
with mental or physical impairments, such as down syndrome or
cerebral palsy, etc., who never talked or walked?
S3 (14:14):
Yeah, Randy, thank you for that question. And I've had
people ask me on multiple occasions about this. So let
me first of all say that a person is a
person of dignity and value before the Lord. So even
if someone is handicapped, they still have a spirit and
they still have a soul, right? John the Baptizer within
(14:36):
his mother's womb. He was full of the spirit in
his mother's womb. And so, um, there's a spirit, there's
a soul. Sometimes our mental capacity is limited. And I
would say this, that for a person with down syndrome
and I've run into various degrees and I've seen down
syndrome children and adults that in a simple way grasped
(15:01):
the gospel and have a fervent faith in Jesus. But
if someone is more disabled and maybe low functional, I
think as a parent, what we need to do is
speak truth into their life at whatever level they can comprehend.
I believe their spirit is affected by your prayer, and
(15:21):
I believe that at whatever level they're able to understand
the gospel, even if it's a very, very minimal, simple level,
I still believe that faith in a child, which is simple,
can be as powerful as an adult that understands it,
maybe in a more complex way. And so I believe
(15:43):
that when someone has the ability to comprehend enough to
understand and say yes to Jesus, then they have the
ability to be baptized. Yeah, a baby obviously can't comprehend,
and I don't believe that God holds someone Sponsible until
they are able to have enough cognizance and mental faculty
(16:06):
to be able to understand the difference between good and evil.
S1 (16:10):
In the case of cerebral palsy, of course, the intellect
is there. Yes, the physical body just isn't able sometimes,
and I'm sure the Lord understands that, right?
S3 (16:18):
We baptized a woman who had cerebral palsy, and it
was one of the most powerful baptisms that we've had.
She had to be had to be lifted and put
down in there, and she has passed away. But she
was actually pregnant at her baptism, and it was one
of the most powerful baptisms that I remember. This woman
(16:41):
in a wheelchair and her daughter is now alive and
well and following the Lord. And so, yes, I believe
that God can work powerfully in men and women with disabilities.
S1 (16:53):
That must have been a very special baptism indeed. Thank
you Mark. Well, listening today, if you want to get
more connected. One of the best ways to do that
is by becoming a bold partner. You can become part
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book unstuck and access to our Bold Partner post a
(17:16):
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online store. So sign up today online at Bold Steps.
Let's return to our message now. Here's Mark Jobe with
(17:37):
more of today's message titled Tearing Down Walls on Bold
Steps Weekend.
S3 (17:52):
Now, what you may not understand is that there was
an extreme bias, prejudice and racial divide between Jews and non-Jews.
In fact, if you read some of the Jewish literature
of the time, some of the Jewish writers of the
time indicated that God had created Gentiles for the sole
purpose of fueling the fires of hell. It was unlawful
(18:16):
for a Jew to help a Gentile woman give birth
for the for simply the fact that she would be
helping another Gentile into the world. In the days of Jesus,
a Jewish man would pray this prayer in the synagogue.
He would say, thank you, Lord, that you did not,
that I was not born a Gentile. And thank you, Lord,
(18:39):
that I was not born a woman, because there was
extreme bias towards women as well in the days of Jesus.
If you went to the temple, even the temple itself
showed that there was division. The temple had the Holy
of Holies. The Holy of Holies was a place divided
(19:03):
by a curtain, a heavy curtain. Behind that heavy curtain
in the Holy of Holies area, was the Ark of
the covenant that had the tablets of the Ten Commandments
and a few other artifacts that had been part of
Israel's history. And it was a sacred place, a place
(19:23):
which was considered the place where God would dwell in
a manifest, special way. Only the high priest would allowed
to go into the Holy of Holies once a year
on the Day of Atonement. Before he went into the
Holy of Holies, he had to sacrifice and make sure
that he was cleansed. He wore robes, and at the
(19:44):
bottom of that robe there were little bells. The bells
would indicate movement. As he moved around. People knew that
he was busy. About once he went behind the curtain,
you could hear the bells moving as he went about
his sacrificial duties, but they also would tie a rope
around his ankle just in case he had not done
(20:09):
everything right, and he was struck dead by the power
of God, and no one could go in to retrieve
the body. They had a rope around the ankle so
that they could drag the body out in case God
struck him dead. I mean, not a job that everybody
would want. If you so happen to be someone that said,
I want to get closer to the Holy of Holies,
(20:31):
but yet I'm Gentile, and you would go into the
court of women or go into the court of men.
Jewish law prescribed that you would be executed for violating
that law. Now, that helps you understand a little bit
the divide that existed in the religious community between the
Jews and the Gentiles.
S1 (20:55):
You're listening to Bold Steps Weekend, the Bible teaching of
Mark Jobe. And today's message was titled Tearing Down Walls.
You can hear part two of this message next weekend,
so keep listening. Well, maybe today's message stirred up some
feelings you were trying to keep hidden behind a wall,
but you're not alone. As Mark said today, Jesus came
to break down the walls that separate us from him
(21:16):
and from others. Have you ever felt too broken to
be fixed, too far gone for restoration? In his book
Moving Forward After Messing Up, Doctor Chris Rappaccini reveals that
our failures are never final in God's eyes and Chris
is with us today. And to talk with Mark about
this transformative, bold step gift. Mark.
S3 (21:34):
You know, we've all made mistakes, some small, some life altering.
But what happens after we mess up? How do we
move forward when we feel stuck in our past failures? Well,
Doctor Chris Rappaccini, in your book, Moving Forward, after messing up,
you share your personal journey with your brother who struggled
(21:55):
with addictions. I think a lot of people can relate
to that. And I want to ask you this. How
did that experience shape your understanding of God's role in
our recovery process?
S4 (22:05):
Well, Mark, thanks so much. That's a great question. You know,
I think God, when I when I was going through
this situation with my brother, you know, he was estranged
from our family. It made us turn inward. It made
me turn inward to God and to really understand who
God is in these situations. And the thing that I
learned the most is that God is a God of
(22:27):
second chances and third chances and fourth chances, not just
for my brother, but for me as well.
S3 (22:34):
I love that Chris, and I think that some people,
when they've messed up, they figure it's over. I'll never
be able to be restored. God can never use me.
And I think in this book you remind us that
there is a pathway forward.
S4 (22:50):
Yeah, exactly. And that's the hard part for people when
they're in, you know, this hurricane of a mess that
they're going through. What they need to remember is that
God is there. He's always standing on the shores of
our lives, walking us back in. And if you thumb
through the pages of Scripture, that's what you're going to see.
That's the nature of God. That's that's his personality. That's
(23:10):
who he is, is he's always there, welcoming us back
with open arms. It's hard to see it in the moment,
but he's there when we look, when we look deep
enough into the scriptures and we when we look into
other people's lives, we see that, hey, he's there and
he wants us back.
S1 (23:25):
Chris, I'm sure we have people listening to us right
now who have been praying fervently for loved ones, perhaps
for many years. This book could be an encouragement to
them not to give up hope.
S4 (23:34):
That's right. And really hope is the underlying theme of
the book. So when my brother, you know, he ended
up being homeless, end up being arrested. In fact, his
arrest is what brought us back together, because I had
to tell him that our grandmother had passed away and
I couldn't get a hold of him. And I found
out he was in prison. He was well, he was
in jail. And so when I picked up the phone and,
(23:56):
you know, called the jailhouse and told him, He told
me his side of the story, and I realized, how
did it get to this? How did our relationship get
to this? Um, he's in jail. You know, I, I
have a career and a family and things like that,
but I had failed. I had messed up myself. But
there was hope. There's hope in the gospel. And, um,
(24:18):
so I tried to share a little bit about that story,
to give hope to people who have family members siblings, fathers, mothers, kids, uncles, cousins,
brothers and sisters who are in that same situation.
S1 (24:30):
Well, Mark, this is a terrific book. And we we
really want our listeners to get a copy. So if
you contact us, give a gift of any size to
bold Steps. We'll be happy to send you a copy
of Chris's book, Moving Forward After Messing Up. Chris. Thank
you so much.
S4 (24:44):
My pleasure. Thank you.
S1 (24:45):
Well, we will send you a copy of this gift today.
Just send us your financial gift and request the book
moving Forward after Messing Up by Chris Rappaccini. We'll put
it in the mail when you write to us at
Bold steps. 820 North LaSalle Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois 606 ten. Now,
maybe it's easier. You can give and request the book
by calling 800 Moody. Again, that's (800)Â 356-6639 or donate online
(25:12):
and request the book when you go to boldsystems.org. And
don't forget to sign up for my weekly email devotional,
It's The Bold Stepper Weekly, and you can join hundreds
of listeners across the country who are starting their week
off right and getting a behind the scenes look at
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is quick and easy online when you go to Bold
Steps and Wayne Shepherd, on behalf of Mark Jobe, we're
(25:36):
wishing you a wonderful weekend. We'd love it if you
tuned in Monday for our daily Bold Steps program with
Mark Jobe. And of course, join us next time as
we wrap up this message. Tearing down walls on Bold
Steps weekend with Mark Jobe. Bold Steps Weekend is a
production of Moody Radio, a ministry of Moody Bible Institute.
Today on Bold Steps weekend, Mark Jobe shows us how
to tear down the walls that separate us from God.
S2 (00:06):
One of the purposes in which Jesus came to fulfill
the mission of His father was the purpose of tearing
down walls. Jesus is a wall breaker, and if we
are to be the people of God, we also need
to learn what it means to tear down walls.
S1 (00:37):
And welcome to Bold Steps Weekend with Mark Jobe. Mark
is president of Moody Bible Institute and senior pastor of
New Life Community Church in Chicago. I'm Wayne Shepherd. Have
you ever felt like an outsider? Maybe you moved to
a new neighborhood or started a new job. Maybe you're
starting a new school. You may feel like you're on
one side of a wall and everyone else is on
the other. Mark, let's talk about that here today.
S3 (01:00):
Yeah, Wayne, there are walls that separate a lot of
people in different ways. One of the most obvious wall
is the one that separates man from God. Yes. And
that has to come down first. But when that wall
comes down, it actually leads to the tearing down of
a lot of other walls around us. Jew Gentiles, slave
(01:22):
free men, women, black and white, Hispanic, Asian God is
a wall breaker.
S1 (01:28):
Well, let's see what the Scripture says about this in
Ephesians chapter two with Mark. Now our message tearing down walls.
Here's Mark job.
S3 (01:37):
One of the tools used to tear down walls. It's
called a sledge hammer. You know, walls are interesting, aren't they?
We build walls normally for protection. We build walls because
(02:01):
we want something kept out, and we build doors because
we we want to allow something to come in. There's
famous walls like East Germany from West Germany was divided
by the Berlin Wall. One of the most famous walls
(02:23):
was the. Or is the wall in China, the Great
Wall of China? A year and a half ago, I
was able to go to China for some studies that
I was doing, and I actually was able to walk
on the Great Wall of China. The Great Wall of
China took 200 years to build. Hundreds of thousands of
(02:44):
people worked on that great wall made out of mud
and mud bricks. The wall of China is 6700 miles long.
And if you look at the terrain that it was
built on. It's just incredible that without tools that we
(03:07):
have in our modern day world, that they were able
to create this incredible wall going up and down mountains
that would span such a large, um, a large cycle.
In fact, it's the only man made edifice that is
able to be seen from outer space with the naked eye.
(03:31):
You know why the Emperor of China built the Wall
of China protection. He believed that there was going to
be invasion from Genghis Khan, and that he needed to
protect themselves from outside forces. And so he created this
(03:52):
wall for protection. You and I have walls. Oh, they're
not physical walls with bricks. But everybody has walls. Invisible walls.
We put up walls towards people in our life that
have hurt us, towards that family member that you just
(04:12):
kind of can't stand. And so at a family gathering,
you got that wall up. Oh yeah, you'll say hi,
but you know, that wall is up. Hey, don't get
too close because I know what happened last time. You
get close. There's walls sometimes in marriages. I just prayed
with a couple at our last service that is tearing
down walls. Even in their own marriage. There's walls that
(04:34):
we have in our life. Sometimes just. We put a
barrier of walls around us because some people walk with
a wall around them, thinking that if people really got
to know you, they wouldn't like you. And so although
you meet a lot of people, you keep people at
a distance, never let anybody get too close because you
feel if they really know the real me, they'll reject me.
(04:57):
There's walls all around this place. The city of Chicago
is known for some of its invisible walls. When I
first came to Chicago, to the southwest side. People showed
me a neighborhood and they said, you see this viaduct
(05:17):
on this side of the viaduct? It's all white on
that side of the viaduct. It's all black now. There's
no sign that says whites only, no sign that says
blacks only. But there's like this invisible wall. People know
you don't live in that neighborhood and you don't live
in that neighborhood. If you're this color, you don't live
(05:39):
over here, that color. You don't live over there. It's
an invisible wall of racial divide, but it's a wall nonetheless.
The thing about Jesus is that one of the purposes
in which Jesus Came to fulfill the mission of his
(06:02):
father was the purpose of tearing down walls. Jesus is
a wall breaker, and if we are to be the
people of God, we also need to learn what it
means to tear down walls. That's what Ephesians chapter two
is all about. It's really about tearing down walls. And
(06:23):
I'm going to begin reading in verse 11 of Ephesians
chapter two, as the apostle Paul talks to these folks
about the walls that need to be torn down. If
you're taking notes this morning, just write this down. Breaking
down walls. What do you need to know about breaking
down spiritual walls? The first thing you need to know
(06:46):
is that the wall is a part of everybody's story
at one time or another. Notice what Paul says. Therefore,
remember that formerly you who are Gentiles, You know what
a Gentile is? A Gentile is a non-Jewish person. So
(07:08):
you who were Gentiles, a non-Jewish person by birth, you
were called uncircumcised by those who called themselves the circumcision.
Remember that at a time you were separate from Christ,
(07:29):
excluded from the citizenship in Israel, foreigners to the covenant
of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. Well,
the Apostle Paul wants to remind these believers that he's
talking to. He wants to remind them that at one
time they were on listen, they were on the other
side of the wall. All of us at one time
(07:53):
have been outsiders. How about it? You say? Well, not me,
pastor man. I'm like the ultimate Popular insider. No no
no no. You've been an outsider, too. Everybody's been an
outsider at one time or another. Hey, when you transferred
to the school in the middle of the school year,
class had already started. Everybody knew where they were seated
(08:17):
immediately at a lunch table. The clans and cliques all
sat together. But there you were with your lunch tray.
The new kid, the outsider wondering, should I sit at
that table or that table? Will they accept me? Where
do I belong and where do I fit in? Anybody
know what I'm talking about? The outsider. Maybe you were
(08:38):
new at that job and just hired. And when you
got to that floor and all your coworkers were there,
you knew you were the outsider. You knew that everybody
had their friends and talked a certain language, and they
knew the system. But you didn't know the system because
you're what? You're the outsider. Or maybe you moved into
(08:58):
that neighborhood and And everybody seems to have lived in
that neighborhood forever. And everybody knows each other's kids and
everybody knows each other's names. But you drive up and
suddenly the conversation gets quiet and no one seems to
acknowledge you. You see, you're a foreigner. You're an outsider.
You don't belong. You're on the other side of the wall.
(09:24):
There's nothing more intimidating than going to some event and
walking in by yourself, and everybody's talking and cliques and
groups of people. But there you are, not really knowing
anybody in the room. Feeling a little bit like, I
(09:45):
don't want to just stand here and look dumb. The
best thing to do in those situations get a cup
of coffee. At least you are doing something. Something about
just having something in your hand that feels like, at
least I'm not just standing there like this. I'm sipping
(10:05):
my coffee. But there's something extremely intimidating about being in
a place where you don't know people, and it doesn't
seem like people want to know you because you're on
the other side of the wall, the other side of
the wall. You're the outsider, not the insider. Paul is
talking to believers. He's talking to Christian, Gentile, non-Jewish people.
(10:30):
And he's reminding them, never forget that at one time
in your life you also were on the other side
of the wall. Never forget, now that you're an insider.
Never forget what it felt like to be an outsider,
because it wasn't that long ago that you were on
the outside of the wall. It wasn't that long ago
(10:52):
that you didn't really understand the things of God, that
you didn't really have Christ, that you didn't understand his
promises that you were without the hope of God in
the world. It wasn't long ago that people looked at you.
There was a divide, by the way, between the Jews
and the Gentiles. And in order to understand this, I
(11:14):
have to give you a little bit of historical perspective.
Of course, you know that Jesus was born a Jew, right?
I know you've seen the paintings. He looks like a
German with blue eyes and blond hair. But let me
tell you, that's not what Jesus looked like. Oh, that's
a medieval painting of Jesus, I can guarantee you. Jesus
(11:35):
wasn't white, blond and blue eyed. That wasn't Jesus. He
was probably more than likely olive complected skin. Dark hair
like you would find in a in a middle eastern culture.
Jewish individual. And that's the image, really, of Jesus. He
(12:00):
wasn't movie star looking either. The Bible says he had
no stately form or majesty that we would gaze upon him.
It wasn't like he was. Whoa! Here is the latest
Jewish movie star either. He was just a normal, natural individual,
physically speaking. But he was born of Jewish descent. You
(12:21):
could trace his roots all the way back to the
lineage of King David. And when Jesus was born, he
never really traveled beyond 60 miles from his hometown. The
12 disciples that he chose were Jewish men. He ministered
primarily in the context of Jewish people. Why? Not that
(12:42):
Jesus wanted to exclude non-Jewish people, but he came unto
his own, first of all, to give the message to them.
And the Bible says, he came into his own, but
his own received him not. And then to them he
gave the right to become the sons of God, to
ever who ever believed on him. So he came, first
(13:04):
of all to the Jewish people who were the chosen
people of God from generations previous through Abraham. He came
to the Jewish people, and he gave them the first
opportunity to respond to his message. But he always the
gospel always came first to the Jew, but then it
expanded to the non-Jewish, to the Gentile. And you have
(13:28):
to understand that as you read the New Testament, because
a lot of the writings of Paul are directed in
that direction.
S1 (13:41):
You're listening to Mark Jobe here on Bold Steps Weekend,
and we'll continue today's message in just a moment. Don't forget,
if you ever miss our message on the radio, you
can always catch up online at bird-stamps.org. You know, Mark,
something I love about our Bold Steps Weekend listeners is
they have so many encouraging comments and questions. Here's a
question from Randy who says, I've listened to the series
(14:02):
about baptism. Question Does the Holy Bible say anything about
the fate of children, or even adults who were born
with mental or physical impairments, such as down syndrome or
cerebral palsy, etc., who never talked or walked?
S3 (14:14):
Yeah, Randy, thank you for that question. And I've had
people ask me on multiple occasions about this. So let
me first of all say that a person is a
person of dignity and value before the Lord. So even
if someone is handicapped, they still have a spirit and
they still have a soul, right? John the Baptizer within
(14:36):
his mother's womb. He was full of the spirit in
his mother's womb. And so, um, there's a spirit, there's
a soul. Sometimes our mental capacity is limited. And I
would say this, that for a person with down syndrome
and I've run into various degrees and I've seen down
syndrome children and adults that in a simple way grasped
(15:01):
the gospel and have a fervent faith in Jesus. But
if someone is more disabled and maybe low functional, I
think as a parent, what we need to do is
speak truth into their life at whatever level they can comprehend.
I believe their spirit is affected by your prayer, and
(15:21):
I believe that at whatever level they're able to understand
the gospel, even if it's a very, very minimal, simple level,
I still believe that faith in a child, which is simple,
can be as powerful as an adult that understands it,
maybe in a more complex way. And so I believe
(15:43):
that when someone has the ability to comprehend enough to
understand and say yes to Jesus, then they have the
ability to be baptized. Yeah, a baby obviously can't comprehend,
and I don't believe that God holds someone Sponsible until
they are able to have enough cognizance and mental faculty
(16:06):
to be able to understand the difference between good and evil.
S1 (16:10):
In the case of cerebral palsy, of course, the intellect
is there. Yes, the physical body just isn't able sometimes,
and I'm sure the Lord understands that, right?
S3 (16:18):
We baptized a woman who had cerebral palsy, and it
was one of the most powerful baptisms that we've had.
She had to be had to be lifted and put
down in there, and she has passed away. But she
was actually pregnant at her baptism, and it was one
of the most powerful baptisms that I remember. This woman
(16:41):
in a wheelchair and her daughter is now alive and
well and following the Lord. And so, yes, I believe
that God can work powerfully in men and women with disabilities.
S1 (16:53):
That must have been a very special baptism indeed. Thank
you Mark. Well, listening today, if you want to get
more connected. One of the best ways to do that
is by becoming a bold partner. You can become part
of this team and support the ministry by committing to
giving a monthly gift of any amount. And when you do,
you'll receive special bonuses like a signed copy of Mark's
book unstuck and access to our Bold Partner post a
(17:16):
series of video messages from Mark designed to equip and
encourage you each month. Now, if you choose to give
a monthly gift of $30 or more, you'll also receive
a 50% discount off any item in the Moody Publishers
online store. So sign up today online at Bold Steps.
Let's return to our message now. Here's Mark Jobe with
(17:37):
more of today's message titled Tearing Down Walls on Bold
Steps Weekend.
S3 (17:52):
Now, what you may not understand is that there was
an extreme bias, prejudice and racial divide between Jews and non-Jews.
In fact, if you read some of the Jewish literature
of the time, some of the Jewish writers of the
time indicated that God had created Gentiles for the sole
purpose of fueling the fires of hell. It was unlawful
(18:16):
for a Jew to help a Gentile woman give birth
for the for simply the fact that she would be
helping another Gentile into the world. In the days of Jesus,
a Jewish man would pray this prayer in the synagogue.
He would say, thank you, Lord, that you did not,
that I was not born a Gentile. And thank you, Lord,
(18:39):
that I was not born a woman, because there was
extreme bias towards women as well in the days of Jesus.
If you went to the temple, even the temple itself
showed that there was division. The temple had the Holy
of Holies. The Holy of Holies was a place divided
(19:03):
by a curtain, a heavy curtain. Behind that heavy curtain
in the Holy of Holies area, was the Ark of
the covenant that had the tablets of the Ten Commandments
and a few other artifacts that had been part of
Israel's history. And it was a sacred place, a place
(19:23):
which was considered the place where God would dwell in
a manifest, special way. Only the high priest would allowed
to go into the Holy of Holies once a year
on the Day of Atonement. Before he went into the
Holy of Holies, he had to sacrifice and make sure
that he was cleansed. He wore robes, and at the
(19:44):
bottom of that robe there were little bells. The bells
would indicate movement. As he moved around. People knew that
he was busy. About once he went behind the curtain,
you could hear the bells moving as he went about
his sacrificial duties, but they also would tie a rope
around his ankle just in case he had not done
(20:09):
everything right, and he was struck dead by the power
of God, and no one could go in to retrieve
the body. They had a rope around the ankle so
that they could drag the body out in case God
struck him dead. I mean, not a job that everybody
would want. If you so happen to be someone that said,
I want to get closer to the Holy of Holies,
(20:31):
but yet I'm Gentile, and you would go into the
court of women or go into the court of men.
Jewish law prescribed that you would be executed for violating
that law. Now, that helps you understand a little bit
the divide that existed in the religious community between the
Jews and the Gentiles.
S1 (20:55):
You're listening to Bold Steps Weekend, the Bible teaching of
Mark Jobe. And today's message was titled Tearing Down Walls.
You can hear part two of this message next weekend,
so keep listening. Well, maybe today's message stirred up some
feelings you were trying to keep hidden behind a wall,
but you're not alone. As Mark said today, Jesus came
to break down the walls that separate us from him
(21:16):
and from others. Have you ever felt too broken to
be fixed, too far gone for restoration? In his book
Moving Forward After Messing Up, Doctor Chris Rappaccini reveals that
our failures are never final in God's eyes and Chris
is with us today. And to talk with Mark about
this transformative, bold step gift. Mark.
S3 (21:34):
You know, we've all made mistakes, some small, some life altering.
But what happens after we mess up? How do we
move forward when we feel stuck in our past failures? Well,
Doctor Chris Rappaccini, in your book, Moving Forward, after messing up,
you share your personal journey with your brother who struggled
(21:55):
with addictions. I think a lot of people can relate
to that. And I want to ask you this. How
did that experience shape your understanding of God's role in
our recovery process?
S4 (22:05):
Well, Mark, thanks so much. That's a great question. You know,
I think God, when I when I was going through
this situation with my brother, you know, he was estranged
from our family. It made us turn inward. It made
me turn inward to God and to really understand who
God is in these situations. And the thing that I
learned the most is that God is a God of
(22:27):
second chances and third chances and fourth chances, not just
for my brother, but for me as well.
S3 (22:34):
I love that Chris, and I think that some people,
when they've messed up, they figure it's over. I'll never
be able to be restored. God can never use me.
And I think in this book you remind us that
there is a pathway forward.
S4 (22:50):
Yeah, exactly. And that's the hard part for people when
they're in, you know, this hurricane of a mess that
they're going through. What they need to remember is that
God is there. He's always standing on the shores of
our lives, walking us back in. And if you thumb
through the pages of Scripture, that's what you're going to see.
That's the nature of God. That's that's his personality. That's
(23:10):
who he is, is he's always there, welcoming us back
with open arms. It's hard to see it in the moment,
but he's there when we look, when we look deep
enough into the scriptures and we when we look into
other people's lives, we see that, hey, he's there and
he wants us back.
S1 (23:25):
Chris, I'm sure we have people listening to us right
now who have been praying fervently for loved ones, perhaps
for many years. This book could be an encouragement to
them not to give up hope.
S4 (23:34):
That's right. And really hope is the underlying theme of
the book. So when my brother, you know, he ended
up being homeless, end up being arrested. In fact, his
arrest is what brought us back together, because I had
to tell him that our grandmother had passed away and
I couldn't get a hold of him. And I found
out he was in prison. He was well, he was
in jail. And so when I picked up the phone and,
(23:56):
you know, called the jailhouse and told him, He told
me his side of the story, and I realized, how
did it get to this? How did our relationship get
to this? Um, he's in jail. You know, I, I
have a career and a family and things like that,
but I had failed. I had messed up myself. But
there was hope. There's hope in the gospel. And, um,
(24:18):
so I tried to share a little bit about that story,
to give hope to people who have family members siblings, fathers, mothers, kids, uncles, cousins,
brothers and sisters who are in that same situation.
S1 (24:30):
Well, Mark, this is a terrific book. And we we
really want our listeners to get a copy. So if
you contact us, give a gift of any size to
bold Steps. We'll be happy to send you a copy
of Chris's book, Moving Forward After Messing Up. Chris. Thank
you so much.
S4 (24:44):
My pleasure. Thank you.
S1 (24:45):
Well, we will send you a copy of this gift today.
Just send us your financial gift and request the book
moving Forward after Messing Up by Chris Rappaccini. We'll put
it in the mail when you write to us at
Bold steps. 820 North LaSalle Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois 606 ten. Now,
maybe it's easier. You can give and request the book
by calling 800 Moody. Again, that's (800)Â 356-6639 or donate online
(25:12):
and request the book when you go to boldsystems.org. And
don't forget to sign up for my weekly email devotional,
It's The Bold Stepper Weekly, and you can join hundreds
of listeners across the country who are starting their week
off right and getting a behind the scenes look at
all the things that are on Mark's heart. Signing up
is quick and easy online when you go to Bold
Steps and Wayne Shepherd, on behalf of Mark Jobe, we're
(25:36):
wishing you a wonderful weekend. We'd love it if you
tuned in Monday for our daily Bold Steps program with
Mark Jobe. And of course, join us next time as
we wrap up this message. Tearing down walls on Bold
Steps weekend with Mark Jobe. Bold Steps Weekend is a
production of Moody Radio, a ministry of Moody Bible Institute.
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