Trust The Process | The First Thing Jesus Built | Pastor Billy Humphrey

Trust the Process begins with a contrast between a human bet and God’s proven way. The Sixers’ process had no guarantee behind it, but God built the process of following Jesus and has never failed at what he said he would do. Acts 2 gives a snapshot of believers who devoted themselves to teaching, fellowship, meals, prayer, generosity, and shared life. These practices make following Jesus real instead of theoretical.

Jesus makes community one of his first priorities. The Son of God, who did not need wisdom, validation, or somebody to point out blind spots, still built a circle around himself. Jesus’ choice makes the question plain: if Jesus did not leave community as optional, why should anybody else?

James and John show why honest community matters. Their request for the good seats in heaven exposes ambition, and the other ten disciples expose that they wanted the same thing. Honest groups give pain, hopes, frustrations, and desires a place to come to the surface. Unspoken stuff does not disappear. It goes underground, where it grows into bitterness, resentment, and a more callous version of a person. Loving people can say, “You don’t need fire from heaven. You just need to learn forgiveness.”

Luke’s picture of Jesus praying shows another pattern. Jesus prays before choosing the twelve, before major moments, and before the hardest night of his life. Prayer within a small group gives answered prayers a place to be celebrated and turns testimonies into fuel for somebody else’s faith. God’s work in one person’s life reminds another person that God is still moving.

Gethsemane shows that Jesus does not carry crushing grief alone. Jesus brings Peter, James, and John close, even though they fail him by falling asleep. Community cannot carry everything perfectly, but its failures do not make isolation wise. Strong relationships protect people in hard seasons, and those relationships need to be built before the diagnosis, divorce papers, or funeral arrives.

Jesus calls the twelve first to accompany him, then sends them out to preach. Friendship comes before the project. The loneliness epidemic makes intentional Christian community more necessary, not less. Busyness, fear of being unknown, and fear of commitment often become self-protection, but self-protection cannot produce the deep desire to be known and fully loved. Communion finally shows Jesus sharing a meal with his closest people before the cross, giving his body and blood so that people can have relationship with him and learn to love one another.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. Honesty keeps pain from going underground [09:51] Honest community does not require everybody to have it together. Honest community gives frustration, disappointment, ambition, and hurt a place to be named before they become bitterness. Loving correction can feel uncomfortable, but isolation leaves every distorted thought unchallenged. A trusted group helps a person become less ruled by whatever is festering beneath the surface. [09:51]
• 2. Prayer turns answered burdens into testimonies [17:35] Prayer shared with others creates more than a list of requests. Prayer gives people the chance to watch God move, celebrate when he answers, and carry one another through the waiting. Testimony strengthens faith because God’s faithfulness in one life pushes back against despair in another. A small group becomes a place where God’s work is remembered out loud. [17:35]
• 3. Build community before the hard season [23:27] Gethsemane shows Jesus bringing close friends near before the cross arrives. Crisis is a difficult place to begin building trust, because pain makes vulnerability harder and relationships take time. Strong community does not remove suffering, but it keeps suffering from becoming completely lonely. A person cannot predict the hard season, but a person can choose now not to enter it alone. [23:27]
• 4. Commitment defeats the loneliness epidemic [35:13] Commitment feels risky because it requires showing up, being known, and possibly being let down. Guarded hearts may avoid immediate disappointment, but they also block the relationships that bring real joy and strength. Jesus did not build his circle by keeping every option open. Intentional friendship grows when people keep showing up, even on the nights they do not feel like it. [35:13]
• 5. Jesus makes relationship worth the cost [40:28] Communion remembers that Jesus did not merely say that he cared. Jesus gave his body and shed his blood so that sinners could have relationship with him. The table also reminds believers that community has a cost, because people will sometimes drop the ball and cause hurt. Christ’s love gives his people a reason to keep moving toward one another anyway.
  
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Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [00:43] - Trusting God’s Process
• [02:38] - Six Core Practices From Acts 2
• [04:13] - Jesus Builds a Small Group
• [06:41] - Honest Community and Correction
• [12:53] - Why Isolation Makes People Weird
• [15:16] - Jesus Prays Before Big Moments
• [19:12] - Gethsemane and Painful Seasons
• [24:23] - Friendship Before the Project
• [29:38] - What Stops People From Joining
• [35:13] - Commitment Over Self-Protection
• [39:36] - Communion and Community

Bible Reading

Acts 2:42-47
“And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.”
[02:38]

Mark 10:35-45
“And James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came up to him and said to him, ‘Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.’ And he said to them, ‘What do you want me to do for you?’ And they said to him, ‘Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory.’ But Jesus said to them, ‘You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?’ And they said to him, ‘We are able.’ And Jesus said to them, ‘The cup that I drink you will drink, and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized, but to sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared.’ And when the ten heard it, they began to be indignant at James and John. And Jesus called them to him and said to them, ‘You know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. But it shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.’”
[06:41]

Mark 14:32-38
“And they went to a place called Gethsemane. And he said to his disciples, ‘Sit here while I pray.’ And he took with him Peter and James and John, and began to be greatly distressed and troubled. And he said to them, ‘My soul is very sorrowful, even to death. Remain here and watch.’ And going a little farther, he fell on the ground and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him. And he said, ‘Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.’ And he came and found them sleeping, and he said to Peter, ‘Simon, are you asleep? Could you not watch one hour? Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.’”
[19:12]

Mark 3:13-14
“And he went up on the mountain and called to him those whom he desired, and they came to him. And he appointed twelve (whom he also named apostles) so that they might be with him and he might send them out to preach.”
[24:23]

Observation questions

1. What practices did the early believers devote themselves to in Acts 2, and what repeated actions show that their fellowship was more than simply attending a gathering? [02:38]
2. In Mark 10, what does the response of the other ten disciples reveal about the group’s desires, and how does Jesus redirect all twelve disciples?
3. What specific words does Jesus use to describe his emotional condition in Gethsemane, and whom does he bring closer with him? [19:12]
4. In Mark 3:14, what comes first: being with Jesus or being sent out to preach? Why might that order stand out? [24:23]

Interpretation questions

1. James and John openly reveal their desire for status, while the other disciples become angry because they seem to want the same thing. Why can a loving Christian community be a safer place for ambition, disappointment, and frustration to come into the open rather than remain hidden? [09:51]
2. Jesus corrects the disciples’ view of greatness by pointing them toward service and his own sacrifice. What might servant-hearted greatness look like when believers disagree, feel overlooked, or want recognition in a group?
3. Jesus brings Peter, James, and John near in Gethsemane even though they later fall asleep. What does this show about both the value and the limits of human relationships during painful seasons? [21:40]
4. Acts 2 connects shared prayer with shared life, and answered prayer can become encouragement for others. Why does hearing a specific testimony of God’s faithfulness often strengthen someone who is still waiting for an answer? [17:35]

Application questions

1. Is there a disappointment, frustration, hurt, or desire that has been kept underground rather than brought into the light with a trusted believer? What would a wise and honest next step look like? [10:05]
2. When someone who loves you sees something unhealthy in your thinking, attitude, or behavior, how easy is it for you to receive correction? What kind of correction helps you hear the truth without becoming defensive? [15:16]
3. What is one real need in your life that you would normally keep vague when asking for prayer? What would it look like to ask this group to pray specifically and to follow up with you? [38:41]
4. Who are the people you could call if a painful season arrived this week? If that list is short, what is one practical way you could begin building deeper relationships now rather than waiting for a crisis? [23:29]
5. Which barrier most often keeps you from intentional Christian community: busyness, fear of being misunderstood, fear of being unknown, or fear of commitment? What is one small change you could make this week to move toward community instead of self-protection? [36:49]
6. Jesus called the twelve first to be with him and then sent them out. Where might your life be overly focused on productivity, projects, or staying busy while leaving little room for friendship and shared life? [25:30]