Speaker 1: Do you have a copy of God's word today?
Speaker 1: I'm gonna invite you to turn to Acts, chapter number nine.
Speaker 1: We're gonna be in Acts, chapter number nine, for today's message.
Speaker 1: Hey, you picked a good Sunday to be here.
Speaker 1: You started the year off on the right foot.
Speaker 1: We're living in 2024.
Speaker 1: Can you believe it?
Speaker 1: We're living in the future and you started off the year right by being in the house of the Lord.
Speaker 1: Hey, I'm just curious how many of you guys were cold this morning?
Speaker 1: Amen, tell you what.
Speaker 1: I am a mixture of stubbornness and frugality.
Speaker 1: We have not turned the pilot light on our heater yet.
Speaker 1: So today, when I woke up, I was like, oh gosh, what have I done?
Speaker 1: So, yeah, it's real cold today, but hey, tell you what, if you're excited to hear God's word this morning, can I get an amen?
Speaker 1: That's how we do here at FCC.
Speaker 1: But hey, tell you what something a little bit about me is.
Speaker 1: I absolutely love learning about history, world history in particular.
Speaker 1: I mean, if you went to the volunteer Christmas party, you know me and Soutso.
Speaker 1: We're like this, right.
Speaker 1: But one era of history that really sticks out to me as just a pivotal time, and something that we're still even living within the repercussions of is the Cold War era, the time after World War II when the Soviet Union and the US completely dominated the world as superpowers but also built up nuclear armaments that were capable of covering every square inch of the world in a nuclear explosion.
Speaker 1: It was a really tense time in world history, and probably the most tense time within the Cold War was the Cuban Missile Crisis in October of 1962.
Speaker 1: If you don't know what it is, to put the long story short, the US put missiles that were capable of hitting Moscow in Italy and Turkey, and the Soviet Union responded in force by supplying missiles to Cuba, which was just a couple hundred miles off the coast of Florida, and were capable of hitting Washington DC and some nerve centers of the US quick enough so that the US could have no response time.
Speaker 1: So both leaders were at each other's throats because the US had put a naval blockade around the waters of Cuba to make sure no new missiles were making in.
Speaker 1: But the Soviet Union saw that blockade as a declaration of war.
Speaker 1: So both leaders of a country, both the Soviet Union and the US, had their fingers on the red button, so to speak.
Speaker 1: They were ready to launch into complete nuclear Armageddon they grew up in the 80s, 70s, 60s, mad, mutually Assured Destruction.
Speaker 1: The world was tense, the feeling was palpable.
Speaker 1: But there was one particular event that was probably the closest we ever came to having nuclear Armageddon here on this earth, and it all came down to one man.
Speaker 1: If you believe it or not, so the story goes is that US destroyerships were out in international waters, past the blockade, trying to scope out Soviet submarines, and they were sending out depth charges little explosions that were no much bigger than a hand grenade, just to see, to scope out, to see if they could find any Soviet submarines.
Speaker 1: And there was one B-59 submarine sent by the Soviet Union that was in those waters experiencing those depth charges.
Speaker 1: But what the US didn't know is that that particular submarine was armed with nuclear torpedoes capable of completely destroying any American warship and they hadn't heard from Russia in several days now, so they didn't know anything that was going on at the surface.
Speaker 1: They also were running low on oxygen, so they were starting to get a little CO2 in the system now and they're starting to get a little bit delirious.
Speaker 1: And there was no air conditioning so things were hot and stuffy in there.
Speaker 1: So it was tense.
Speaker 1: They didn't know what was going on and it was just a really awful situation.
Speaker 1: Well, the depth charges went off and the whole submarine started to shake and the commanding officer thought the worst had happened.
Speaker 1: He thought that atomic warfare had already broken out.
Speaker 1: So their response, as defenders of their motherland, was to send out a nuclear torpedo.
Speaker 1: They were considering it, but in that submarine it required the approval of three commanding officers.
Speaker 1: The first officer, like I said, the one in charge, was jumpy and he said no, no, no.
Speaker 1: We need to defend the motherland, we need to launch Now.
Speaker 1: The second one was a yes man to his commanding officer and he said, yes, let's do it, let's do it.
Speaker 1: But the third one was one man.
Speaker 1: This man, vasily Arkhipov, a Russian man, and he understood the weight that was on his shoulders.
Speaker 1: He understood that if he made the preemptive strike against the US, if nuclear had him broken out and they were just being jumpy what it meant was the end of the world.
Speaker 1: It was a complete, total destruction of every country, that was, nato and Warsaw, pactaline.
Speaker 1: He understood the gravity of that decision.
Speaker 1: So Sweat started beating down his face, his heart started racing, he started breathing real heavy, his hands started shaking and he finally gave the answer.
Speaker 1: And yet no, we don't have enough information, we don't know what's really going on.
Speaker 1: We need to get on the surface and we need to look around and see what's going on.
Speaker 1: So they took the submarine to the surface, they opened the hatch, they made contact with the US and they found out that no atomic warfare did not break out.
Speaker 1: And so the Americans, instead of capturing this, said hey well, you're in international waters, we can't really do anything, so why don't you guys just go back to Moscow?
Speaker 1: And so they did, but their tail in between their legs.
Speaker 1: They went back to Moscow.
Speaker 1: But to think, to think that nuclear war would have broken out in 1962, total devastation of so many millions and billions of lives would have broken out had it not been for the decision of one man.
Speaker 1: And what's crazy for me to think is that this guy didn't even receive recognition within his lifetime.
Speaker 1: The story of what went down wasn't publicly shared.
Speaker 1: He did not receive applause from Moscow, he did not receive applause from the United States until after his passing.
Speaker 1: It wasn't until historians had discovered this moment that one said this this was not only the most dangerous moment in the Cold War, it was the most dangerous moment in human history.
Speaker 1: No one can doubt that this one man, through his one action, made a world of difference.
Speaker 1: Now, your workplace may or may not be giving you the same pressure as starting total nuclear war in the United States right, you may not have to deal with that in your workplace.
Speaker 1: But I believe this that God placed this man in that time, in that location, in that submarine, for a particular reason.
Speaker 1: I believe that was God guided.
Speaker 1: But I also believe that God has placed you where you are, within your family, within your workplace, within where you live, for a particular reason as well.
Speaker 1: You might think, well, I'm just one person, I'm just an individual, but I know that God uses individuals like this man to make a world of difference.
Speaker 1: I really believe this that God can use you to make a difference.
Speaker 1: God can use you to make a difference.
Speaker 1: I really believe that.
Speaker 1: I think it's shown in the scripture, as we're going to jump in here in a second, because I believe that God used an individual in Acts, chapter number nine.
Speaker 1: You see we're going to be talking about a guy that God used to make a huge difference, a world of difference, a historically impacting world of difference.
Speaker 1: This man came into the crossroads with a future apostle who would go out and share the word of Jesus with everybody.
Speaker 1: But we're not going to be talking about the apostle.
Speaker 1: We're talking about the man who did something that made a world impacting change in this apostle, because one person can make a difference.
Speaker 1: But how was he able to make that difference?
Speaker 1: We're going to find out today.
Speaker 1: Well, first of all, we're going to see this he made a difference because he was willing to take a chance.
Speaker 1: He was willing to take a chance.
Speaker 1: So, just to catch everybody up to speed, what's going on in Acts, chapter nine, so far, this is the early start to the church.
Speaker 1: Jesus has already ascended up to heaven.
Speaker 1: The church has already started.
Speaker 1: It's already exploded in growth.
Speaker 1: But the Jewish people at the time were starting to get concerned.
Speaker 1: They were seeing this new religion sprout up following after this guy named Jesus.
Speaker 1: And well, honestly, if a new religion sprouted up next week and it started exploding popularity, you might be scratching your head too, right?
Speaker 1: But here's the thing.
Speaker 1: There was one guy in particular.
Speaker 1: His name was Saul and he was a very devout Jewish person.
Speaker 1: He was very zealous and very religious for his beliefs and because this new way of Christianity, as he saw, was attacking his religion, his way of life and everything he stood for.
Speaker 1: He started persecuting the early church and so he started looking up, finding Christians, locking them up and overseeing their executions.
Speaker 1: You could literally call this guy like a Christian terrorist, really a guy who terrorized Christians.
Speaker 1: And so he was on his way from Israel to Syria, in a town to capital Damascus.
Speaker 1: He was on the road there explicitly to get more orders from the local government to continue doing what he was doing, which was persecuting Christians, when, all of a sudden, a bright light shown upon him on the road and he was blinded.
Speaker 1: It was Jesus.
Speaker 1: Jesus Christ himself appeared to this man and he said Saul, saul, why do you persecute me?
Speaker 1: And so Jesus appeared to him and he blinded him and he told him go into a city called Damascus where you're going to meet a guy that I have prepared ahead of time for you to meet.
Speaker 1: And now here we are in this story, acts, chapter number nine.
Speaker 1: Let's pick it up in verse 10.
Speaker 1: There was a disciple in Damascus named Ananias.
Speaker 1: He's our main character for today we're really going to focus in on him.
Speaker 1: And the Lord said to him in a vision Ananias here I am, lord".
Speaker 1: He replied.
Speaker 1: Get up and go to the street, called straight.
Speaker 1: The Lord said to him to the house of Judas and ask for a man from Tarshish named Saul, since he is praying there.
Speaker 1: In a vision, he has seen a man named Ananias coming in, placing his hands on him so that he may regain his sight.
Speaker 1: Lord Ananias answered I've heard from many people about this man, how much harm he has done to your saints in Jerusalem.
Speaker 1: He has the authority here from the chief priests to arrest all who call on your name.
Speaker 1: So we meet our guy we're going to be talking about today, ananias.
Speaker 1: Now, something to note about Ananias he's one of those guys in the Bible that's like.
Speaker 1: His name is only brought up, maybe like once or twice.
Speaker 1: He's brought up here in this chapter later on in Acts when Paul is giving his testimony, when he's telling about how he became a Christian, and maybe in like one instance in one of his Paul's writings later.
Speaker 1: So this guy is not a main character in the Bible, he's just a guy and honestly, from what we know about him, he's not a pastor, he's not an apostle, he's never even mentioned to be a church leader or anything.
Speaker 1: He's just said that he is a devout person, he loves God, he's just a regular Christian guy.
Speaker 1: But God appears to him in a vision and tells him to go do something in particular, tells him go to this place and talk to Saul.
Speaker 1: Of course, ananias says well, saul, hold on, I've heard about this guy.
Speaker 1: He is literally imprisoning and persecuting and executing Christians.
Speaker 1: I mean just to put it into perspective.
Speaker 1: Imagine if it was the early 2000s and God appeared to you in your bedroom while you're just chilling in your bedroom in a vision and says here, go to this place in Pakistan and go pray with Osama bin Laden.
Speaker 1: Like that's literally how it would be.
Speaker 1: This guy was a bad dude.
Speaker 1: This guy was like FBI's most wanted in the church world, right, this guy was like whoa, this guy's an unlovable guy.
Speaker 1: But God told him go and talk to him, go and pray with him.
Speaker 1: It's a crazy thing to put it into perspective.
Speaker 1: But Ananias was different and that's why he was a difference maker.
Speaker 1: He had his reservations, he had his hesitations, right.
Speaker 1: He was like I don't know about this guy, lord, and he even expresses it to God directly.
Speaker 1: But, spoiler alert, he went and he talked to this guy anyways, and that's how God can use us to make a difference.
Speaker 1: We've got to be willing to take a chance on people, we've got to be willing to step out of our comfort zones.
Speaker 1: And ultimately, what is that?
Speaker 1: That's demonstrating love to people, because love is what makes the difference.
Speaker 1: Jesus even told his disciples this.
Speaker 1: He said this in John, chapter 13,.
Speaker 1: By this, by this, everyone will know that you are my disciples.
Speaker 1: Everyone will know what is the thing Jesus is going to talk about.
Speaker 1: He could have said a lot of different things.
Speaker 1: He could say if you memorize all the books of the Bible in order, right, even without the song, even if you did it that way, right.
Speaker 1: He could have said if you know all the fancy doctrinal words, he could say if you read the Bible every day and you go to church every Sunday, he could have said that, and those are great things.
Speaker 1: But Jesus didn't say that.
Speaker 1: Jesus said everyone will know that you are my disciples if you love one another.
Speaker 1: That is the mark that Jesus says as of a disciple If you love one another, if you show other people love.
Speaker 1: That is what Jesus says is the mark of somebody who's following me, is the mark of somebody who is a Jesus follower.
Speaker 1: If you love one another and the love that we show people, the motivation, it doesn't come from guilt, it doesn't come from coercion, it doesn't come from a preacher on stage telling you you need to live until you decide I want to love now.
Speaker 1: It comes from this.
Speaker 1: It's from meditating on, thinking about it's from experiencing and just taking a moment to internalize the love that God has for each and every one of us.
Speaker 1: Just thinking about how he took the first step, how he loved us even before we were born, how he came and he died on our behalf, just so that we could have a relationship with him, just so we could be forgiven of our sins and have a home in heaven.
Speaker 1: God did that for us and he didn't stop there.
Speaker 1: He has a relationship with us where he is willing to hear our needs, where he is able to give us gifts in life, where he wants us to have an abundant life.
Speaker 1: He loves us so, so much.
Speaker 1: So when we think about, when we experience the depth and the richness of God's love, you know what that's gonna do.
Speaker 1: It's gonna bubble up in our soul, it's gonna boil up and it's just like a pot on the kettle, it's gonna explode on out.
Speaker 1: It's gonna go on out and bubble out and touch every person that is around us, our friends, our family.
Speaker 1: That's how it's supposed to be.
Speaker 1: That's the motivation.
Speaker 1: That's the way Ananias was because he loved God and understood the love of God, it bubbled out, it overflowed out of his life and reached even the unlovable person's soul.
Speaker 1: So what does that look like?
Speaker 1: What does that look like in day-to-day life?
Speaker 1: Well, how can we make a difference in our workplace, in our families, in our church, by showing love to somebody?
Speaker 1: Well, think of it this way.
Speaker 1: Thank you for this one.
Speaker 1: When's the last time that somebody did just a small thing for you, just a tiny little, small act of kindness, a small act of love that made you feel loved and appreciated?
Speaker 1: I'm willing to bet right now things are coming up in your head, things are coming up in your mind.
Speaker 1: Just a small thing.
Speaker 1: Maybe somebody gave you a compliment on something that you put a lot of effort into your outfit, your car project, you work on it and it just really made you feel loved and appreciated and seen.
Speaker 1: Maybe somebody gave you a listening ear.
Speaker 1: You just came into the workplace and you could tell something was wrong and they were willing to listen to you without judgment.
Speaker 1: Maybe somebody sent you a text, maybe somebody sent you just a little reminder, like hey, I see you, we haven't talked in a while, but hey, you're still my friend, we're still related, it's all good.
Speaker 1: I know, for me this might seem silly, but like when I go into my workplace I work at a school when I go into the staff room early in the morning and I know I see somebody made the effort to go out earlier than they can spend their own money, because teachers don't make a lot of money, right, they go in and they bought donuts for the whole staff.
Speaker 1: That honestly just puts a smile on my face.
Speaker 1: It makes me feel loved.
Speaker 1: It might seem silly, but that's just one thing.
Speaker 1: It just makes my day, it makes me feel loved.
Speaker 1: But I'm curious what about you guys?
Speaker 1: What's something that?
Speaker 1: It's a small act of kindness, something small someone did that just made you feel seen, loved, appreciated, something like that.
Speaker 1: A hug, a hug and encouraging text.
Speaker 1: Yeah, anybody else.
Speaker 1: A card Heating up the car?
Speaker 1: There you go, right?
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's a good one, but just it's so.
Speaker 1: It's so minuscule, right, so it's just so small, the things that people do for us that just shift our day, turns our frowns upside down, right.
Speaker 1: But you know what we can do that for someone else?
Speaker 1: We have the capability of being loving and showing people around us to our friends, our family, our coworkers the love of God through our actions.
Speaker 1: Saul experienced the love of God through his servant, ananias.
Speaker 1: Because we can be that loving person for someone, we can be a difference maker, and the motivation where it comes from is the overflowing love of God in our lives.
Speaker 1: Because love makes the difference.
Speaker 1: Love makes the difference.
Speaker 1: Jesus said.
Speaker 1: All men are going to know you are my disciples if you love one another.
Speaker 1: Why?
Speaker 1: Because love makes the difference.
Speaker 1: The reason why you thought in your head at the time someone made your day by just a small act of love, a small act of kindness, because it sticks with you, because love makes the difference.
Speaker 1: And it's that love that we can show other people, and the love of God we can show through our actions to other people that will make the difference in somebody's life and somebody's day.
Speaker 1: So we see, first of all, ananias was a difference maker because he was willing to take a chance, love the unlovable, step out of his comfort zone and show love to somebody.
Speaker 1: The second of all is this it's because he obeyed God.
Speaker 1: He obeyed God.
Speaker 1: God directly told him go and do this thing.
Speaker 1: And so what did he do?
Speaker 1: He got up and he went, and he did it Because he was willing to be directed by God, led by God and listening to God's instruction, he was willing to go and make a difference.
Speaker 1: We see in Acts, chapter nine, verse 15.
Speaker 1: We'll pick it up right here.
Speaker 1: But the Lord said to him go, for this man is my chosen instrument to take my name to Gentiles, kings and Israelites.
Speaker 1: So God had a plan for Saul.
Speaker 1: God had big plans for Saul.
Speaker 1: Saul was going to turn his name into Paul, be an apostle and share the name of Jesus throughout the whole world, basically.
Speaker 1: And so Ananias understood this and so he went and he did it.
Speaker 1: We'll pick it up in 17.
Speaker 1: Ananias went and entered the house.
Speaker 1: He placed his hands on him and said now, look at this, this is important, brother Saul.
Speaker 1: He was already accepting him into his family.
Speaker 1: He was already saying brother Saul, you're a family member, you're in the family of faith.
Speaker 1: Putting his hands on him, so loving, so tender, so kind, even though this guy was unlovable.
Speaker 1: He was willing to show compassion to him.
Speaker 1: Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road you were traveling, has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.
Speaker 1: And at once, something like scales fell from his eyes.
Speaker 1: He regained his sight and he got up and was baptized.
Speaker 1: What an amazing story.
Speaker 1: What an amazing testimony of the fact of Ananias heard God leading him to tell him and said hey, go to this one place and talk to this one guy.
Speaker 1: There's going to be something there.
Speaker 1: And what did Ananias do?
Speaker 1: He got up and he went and, sure enough, just like God said, there's Saul, he's blind, he needs somebody to talk to him.
Speaker 1: And we learn in later parts in it expands upon this story.
Speaker 1: In the later parts of Acts, when Paul gives his testimony, he says they took me, they sat me down, they taught me about Jesus.
Speaker 1: I received Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior and they took the time to teach me about Jesus.
Speaker 1: So he didn't stop there, he went and he talked to them.
Speaker 1: He showed compassion to him and, directed by God, he shared Jesus with him and he believed on Jesus and got baptized.
Speaker 1: Saul would go on to be an incredible Christian and write many parts of the scripture right here in the New Testament, lots of books in the scripture.
Speaker 1: He would go out and make Jesus known to basically the whole known world at the time.
Speaker 1: And all that was possible because Ananias was willing to be a catalyst for God, was willing to be led by God to go do great and mighty things, and even though they were uncomfortable, even though he had his hesitations, he knew God was leading him to go do something.
Speaker 1: So he went and he did it.
Speaker 1: Now you might be thinking well, gosh, you know what, if God came to me in a vision in my living room and told me to go do something, I think I would go do it.
Speaker 1: But I haven't really experienced that yet, and you know that's fair.
Speaker 1: But at the same time, god does lead us, even to this day.
Speaker 1: God leads us, every one of us.
Speaker 1: If you're a Christian, you have the Holy Spirit living in you.
Speaker 1: What does the Bible say about that?
Speaker 1: Well, jesus in John, chapter 16, is speaking to his disciples Right before he is about to go on trial be crucified, die, be buried, resurrected and rise again.
Speaker 1: But all before that, jesus takes some time to talk to his disciples and he's going to talk to them about what's to come after this whole crucifixion, death, burial and resurrection.
Speaker 1: And he tells them this when the spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth, for he will not speak on his own, but he will speak whatever he hears.
Speaker 1: So we see here that Jesus says that after I'm gone, the spirit of truth will come and he will guide you.
Speaker 1: It doesn't say he may guide you Sometimes he guides you but no, it says he will guide you.
Speaker 1: That's a promise.
Speaker 1: Every single person who is believed on Jesus.
Speaker 1: Not only do you get forgiveness of sins, not only do you have a home in heaven, not only do you get all these great things, but you get the Holy Spirit to guide you.
Speaker 1: And to just to put it into perspective, we just had Christmas, emmanuel.
Speaker 1: What does that mean?
Speaker 1: It means God with us.
Speaker 1: That was Jesus.
Speaker 1: Jesus was God with us While he was here on earth.
Speaker 1: He was man, he was God and he was God with us.
Speaker 1: But Jesus says after I leave, you're going to have the Holy Spirit, and that is God in us, god in us, dwelling in us, to guide us, to give us guidance, to guide us in truth.
Speaker 1: And it also says right here the second part of the verse, where he will not speak on his own, but he will speak whatever he hears.
Speaker 1: And we learned that in later parts of the scripture it clarifies that that's talking about how the spirit will guide us to talk to other people about Jesus, how the spirit will lead us to testify about Jesus and make Jesus known.
Speaker 1: Now, when I said that you know what, it's okay, but some of you guys maybe felt uncomfortable with that because you don't know what to say, you don't feel like you're ready, you don't feel like you know the right answers.
Speaker 1: Like if somebody asks questions, you don't know if you'll be the one to answer it right.
Speaker 1: But tell you what the Bible says, that the spirit will guide us to do that.
Speaker 1: And you know what?
Speaker 1: Next Sunday is going to be a real special Sunday.
Speaker 1: Next Sunday is going to be Vision Sunday.
Speaker 1: Pastor Nate was saying right before this message we're going to have a very special Sunday where we're not only going to be giving out this swanky shirt, right, we're not only going to have a hot donut truck, but we're really going to be coming together and talking about our plan for 2024.
Speaker 1: And not to steal Pastor Nate's thunder, but the main drive that we're going to talk about is how we want every person in this church to feel equipped, to feel ready and to feel like they can talk to other people about Jesus, so that you can help people to know Jesus, to your friends, to your family and to everybody.
Speaker 1: And it's okay if you don't feel like you're ready for that, because, honestly, the vast majority of Christians in America don't feel like they're ready.
Speaker 1: But you don't want to miss next Sunday because we want to come together in a rally, we want to come together as a team and say 2024 is going to be the year where we're going to learn how to make Jesus known.
Speaker 1: So I hope you can make it next Sunday.
Speaker 1: So, talking about being led by the Spirit, you might be thinking so how do I know when it's the Spirit, when it's just like a voice to the back of my head, like a conscience, or if it's just like indigestion or something like that, right?
Speaker 1: Well, how can you tell the difference?
Speaker 1: How can you tell the difference?
Speaker 1: Well, there's a couple litmus test is given by the scripture.
Speaker 1: But first of all, before we get to that, I got to say the best things you can do for listening for the voice of God is just to listen.
Speaker 1: If you're anything like me, this might seem something that happens to you.
Speaker 1: I'm driving in my car, I'm blasting my radio, I'm blasting my Spotify, whatever right, I'm singing along.
Speaker 1: I'm making my way downtown you guys know the rest, right.
Speaker 1: So, and then, all of a sudden, I pull into Walmart, I pull into Costco, pull into the mall, and it's busier than I thought and I'm like, oh shoot, I got to find a parking spot now.
Speaker 1: So what do you do?
Speaker 1: What do you?
Speaker 1: Do you turn off the music so that you can use your eyes better?
Speaker 1: I don't know, it just happens.
Speaker 1: It's just a thing.
Speaker 1: But honestly, why do people do that?
Speaker 1: Why do people do that?
Speaker 1: It's to remove distraction, so that you can focus in your senses better.
Speaker 1: That's really what it is right.
Speaker 1: Even though they're different senses, I want to turn off all my senses so that I could focus on my sight.
Speaker 1: So when we want to listen for God's voice, we want to try to be in a place where we can remove distractions.
Speaker 1: We want to be in a place like Jesus did.
Speaker 1: Honestly, he woke up in early in the morning, got away from the crowds and prayed and asked for the Father for guidance.
Speaker 1: Maybe that's something that we can do Just when we want to be guided by God.
Speaker 1: We have to be actively listening for God's voice.
Speaker 1: And how will we know when it's God's voice?
Speaker 1: Well, luckily for us, god has already spoken through His Word, through His holy Bible.
Speaker 1: So if we want to know and recognize God's voice, in the same way, if we want to learn somebody's voice, we listen for it and we get used to it.
Speaker 1: We got to be in the Word, we got to be listening to what God has already said.
Speaker 1: And as we familiarize ourselves with the Bible, as we familiarize ourselves with God's voice that he's already spoken, we're going to familiarize ourselves with God's leading and God's voice for us today, because God's leading by His Spirit will never contradict God's Word that he's already spoken.
Speaker 1: So we can have that litmus test that way, by familiarizing ourselves with God's Word and listening for it actively.
Speaker 1: But second of all is this God has already given us a list of qualities that living by the Spirit and being led by the Spirit will produce, and it's called the fruits of the Spirit.
Speaker 1: Now, in the Bible, god doesn't really give a list a whole lot of times, some in the New Testament, some in Proverbs.
Speaker 1: So when God gives a specific list of qualifications and specific list of qualities, that ought to perk our ears up and make us think, oh okay, god is telling us specifically a list of things right here and we see the list in Galatians, chapter number five.
Speaker 1: Bible tells us this but the fruit of the Spirit.
Speaker 1: So again, what is going to naturally be produced by your life, if you live being led by the Spirit, is this love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
Speaker 1: So if you hear that little voice in the back of your head because a lot of times the Spirit isn't going to be a yelling in the ear, at least for me it's been very few times A lot of times for me, when I feel led by the Spirit, it's a tugging on the heartstrings, it's a tap on the shoulder.
Speaker 1: It's an Edgar, you need to bring your pride down and you need to go talk to this person and seek forgiveness.
Speaker 1: It's a you know what, edgar, you're in the wrong and you need to go and seek the truth.
Speaker 1: A lot of times it's a voice in the back of the head saying you know what you haven't really heard from so-and-so in a long time.
Speaker 1: Why don't you just text them, see what's up?
Speaker 1: And I'm amazed at what God does through those little pulls, those little taps, little voices in the back of the head.
Speaker 1: And so, when you hear those things, when you feel those things, give yourself this litmus test Does this action, and if I do this, will it produce me being loving, will I be joyful, will I be peaceful, will I be patient, will I be kind, good, faithful, gentle and self-controlled?
Speaker 1: Think about it that way, because this is what God says is the will be produced if you live being led by the Spirit?
Speaker 1: Let me ask you this, because I really believe it God speaks, but are you listening?
Speaker 1: God is speaking to us.
Speaker 1: If you are a Christian, there's a promise in the scripture, right there, that he will guide you into all truth.
Speaker 1: The Spirit guides us, the Spirit gives us those tugs on the heartstrings, those taps on the shoulders, those voices in the back of your head that tell you hey, go talk to someone.
Speaker 1: So, hey, go seek forgiveness, go seek peace, be a loving person.
Speaker 1: And because Ananias heard God and he heard God to go, tell him to do something that was kind of scary.
Speaker 1: Honestly, it was really uncomfortable to go talk to this guy named Saul, but because he knew God's voice and because he knew what would be produced if he listened to God's voice, he went and he talked to Saul, and glory to God.
Speaker 1: Saul accepted Jesus as his Lord and Savior and became a great Christian.
Speaker 1: So, first of all, we see that Ananias was a difference maker because he was willing to step out of his comfort zone and be a loving, caring, tender person who was willing to take a chance.
Speaker 1: And, second of all, we see that Ananias was a difference maker because he was listening for God's voice and he obeyed it, god's voice.
Speaker 1: And then, last of all, is this just?
Speaker 1: God used him.
Speaker 1: God used Ananias in a great and mighty way, and God can use you in the same way.
Speaker 1: Because Ananias was willing to take a chance, because he was willing to show love, because he was open to the leading of God's leading of God to his life, he was able to go talk to Saul and Saul got saved.
Speaker 1: But the thing is it didn't just stop there.
Speaker 1: That's the crazy thing.
Speaker 1: We all have access to the same Holy Spirit and we all have access to God, and God works in so many different people's lives.
Speaker 1: It didn't just stop there.
Speaker 1: We see that a few years past, between what happened, what we just read and what happens, what we're gonna read here in just a moment, just a few years happened where Saul stays there in the desert of Syria and he talks to different Christians, he communes with different Christians, he joins a church over there and he talks to different people and people teach him about Jesus.
Speaker 1: People lovingly accept him and teach him about Jesus.
Speaker 1: But then, finally, the time came for him to come to Jerusalem, where that early church was really centered.
Speaker 1: That's where all the famous apostles were, that's where Peter and John and James were right.
Speaker 1: If it's time for him to go there, well, we pick it up in verse 26.
Speaker 1: When he arrived in Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, since they did not believe he was a disciple.
Speaker 1: And again, you might read this and might think, oh, I can't believe they did that.
Speaker 1: But really put it into perspective.
Speaker 1: Imagine if Osama bin Laden walked into our church in 2002.
Speaker 1: That's kind of the same response that people would give.
Speaker 1: We'd be afraid.
Speaker 1: We'd be like this guy's a dangerous guy.
Speaker 1: You know, some of the Christians were thinking like is he gonna write my name on a list?
Speaker 1: Is he here to, like, scope us out?
Speaker 1: Is he here to, like you know, get more of us in prison?
Speaker 1: So, naturally, some of them were afraid, but there was somebody there who was a difference maker.
Speaker 1: There was somebody there who was willing to love and willing to be led by the spirit, and here's his name Barnabas.
Speaker 1: However, took him in and brought him to the apostles and explained to them how Saul had seen the Lord on the road, that the Lord had talked to him and how, in Damascus, he had spoken boldly in the name of Jesus Barnabas.
Speaker 1: Barnabas, he was a difference maker.
Speaker 1: Everybody else was afraid, but Barnabas was willing to love the unlovable, was willing to be led by the spirit.
Speaker 1: And when Saul came in, barnabas took him under the arm and said no, I vouch for this guy.
Speaker 1: I've seen what the Lord's been doing in his life.
Speaker 1: I know what he's been doing for the Lord.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna take him to the leaders and we're gonna get him plugged in.
Speaker 1: We're gonna accept this guy, we're gonna love this guy.
Speaker 1: That's the difference and that's what can make you into a difference maker, because when one person is willing to make a difference, when one person is willing to be loving, to be kind, to be led by the spirit, it makes a huge impact.
Speaker 1: But when multiple people and even a church full of people are willing to be loving, to be kind and to help make Jesus known by being led by the spirit, it turns the world upside down, because take a look at verse 31.
Speaker 1: So the church throughout all Judea, galilee and Samaria had peace and was strengthened, living in the fear of the Lord and encouraged by the Holy Spirit.
Speaker 1: It increased in numbers Because not only Ananias but Barnabas was willing to be all those things to solve An unlovable person.
Speaker 1: It changed his life and it changed the world.
Speaker 1: Well, you might be sitting here thinking, well, what can I do?
Speaker 1: What can I do?
Speaker 1: I'm just a regular person, what can I do?
Speaker 1: But it's not about what you can do.
Speaker 1: It's about what God can do through you.
Speaker 1: It's not about what much power you have, because we serve an almighty God who can do all things and who does so many things above and beyond anything that we can imagine.
Speaker 1: But when you're willing to step out of your comfort zone and you're willing to be maybe put in uncomfortable situations, but you're willing to be loving, to be kind to people who might not even deserve it.
Speaker 1: You're gonna make a world of difference.
Speaker 1: When you're actively listening for God's guiding in your life, when you're thinking about what's the Lord telling me to do today and you're willing to go and do it and let people know about Jesus, you're gonna make a world of difference and you're gonna be amazed at what God does through you.
Speaker 1: I mean just full confession time.
Speaker 1: You already know me.
Speaker 1: I'm at the next step table.
Speaker 1: I'm the tablet guy.
Speaker 1: I'm just the tablet guy, right, but honestly, being out there at the next step tables, I get to rub shoulders with a lot of people who come to our church for the first time and I love it.
Speaker 1: I love learning people's names and all that.
Speaker 1: But more than I love people learning people's names, I love hearing people's stories, and God is already using you to bring people in here and to know Jesus.
Speaker 1: I mean, just to go up the top of my head, right, I've heard stories of oh well, I was just talking to my hairdresser and we started talking about God and I invited her to a church and now she's a member here, right, I heard stories of.
Speaker 1: Well, I was just scrolling on social media and my friend shared something about this church and, honestly, it just looks like what I need right now.
Speaker 1: So now I'm here.
Speaker 1: I've heard stories of I just drive here.
Speaker 1: I just drive around here.
Speaker 1: Every morning I go to the AMPM to pick up like a little thing for breakfast, and I notice every Sunday somebody's out there smiling at me, waving at me, and so one day I just decided I'm gonna, I'm gonna bad place in life and I wanna just turn in here.
Speaker 1: I wanna figure out what's going on here.
Speaker 1: And now I'm here.
Speaker 1: God is already using you and the actions you do, the love that you demonstrate, the love of God that overflows from your heart into other people.
Speaker 1: God is using you to bring people here.
Speaker 1: God is using your spirit led actions to bring people here and make Jesus known.
Speaker 1: And we believe that God isn't done right now.
Speaker 1: God will continue to work in this church and through us, through each and every one of us, to make Jesus known.
Speaker 1: And I, like I said, I hope you're here next Sunday.
Speaker 1: Next Sunday is gonna be a great week where we're gonna feel ready, we're gonna have a rally together, we're gonna feel equipped to make Jesus known on a vision Sunday.
Speaker 1: It really is such an invaluable thing to learn how you can effectively communicate to people, how they can know Jesus too, the blessings that we have, the blessings that we have through this church by knowing Jesus.
Speaker 1: We can multiply that through our friends and family and loved ones.
Speaker 1: We can talk to people about Jesus.
Speaker 1: Because, let me tell you this, you underestimate the impact that you can make.
Speaker 1: You might think of yourself as just one person.
Speaker 1: I mean, what can I do really?
Speaker 1: What impact can I make against the workplace culture, my family culture?
Speaker 1: What can I do?
Speaker 1: But you really underestimate the impact that you make.
Speaker 1: Just one kind action, just one spirit led action, can make a whole world of difference in someone's life, and you might not even know it.
Speaker 1: You know how.
Speaker 1: I know that.
Speaker 1: I'm a result of that.
Speaker 1: It was October of 2010, and my parents had finally just given up and told me Edgar, you can go to any English speaking church you want to go to.
Speaker 1: I grew up in a Spanish speaking church and I don't know how.
Speaker 1: I just don't know how.
Speaker 1: I think I know how, but English is my first language.
Speaker 1: I speak Spanish, my parents speak Spanish, but English is my first language.
Speaker 1: I blame it on the fact that they plopped me right in front of TV and I just I absorb the English right, but for me in Spanish it's just never clicked.
Speaker 1: It never clicked.
Speaker 1: Nothing wrong with the churches, it just never clicked.
Speaker 1: And so I remember it was a cold, rainy October morning, on a Sunday in 2010,.
Speaker 1: And I had previously received an invitation to go to Pastor Nate's, his dad's church, and I remember I went in with a really, really big raincoat.
Speaker 1: Honestly, I looked awful.
Speaker 1: I was at that age where I thought my peach, fuzz sideburns and mustache looked cool.
Speaker 1: So, right, I sat down at the back of the auditorium and I just kinda like sulked in there.
Speaker 1: I was moody teenager, I was like I don't know if this is for me and honestly, I did feel kinda out of place because it was a really conservative church.
Speaker 1: It was like Suits and Tie type of church.
Speaker 1: You know what I'm talking about.
Speaker 1: It was a Suits and Tie type of church and I came in with a scruffy looking really big raincoat and I felt out of place.
Speaker 1: And I remember they started the service, they sang a song, the pastor went up to go talk and then it was every introvert's nightmare oh, handshaking time.
Speaker 1: So I remember I stood up and I shook some people's hands around me and then I just kinda sat back down Cause, like I said, I was like I don't know if this is a church for me, I don't know if this is like my vibe, but there was somebody.
Speaker 1: There was somebody who was willing to be a difference maker, who would impact the rest of my life.
Speaker 1: He didn't know it, I didn't know it, but it was just one thing.
Speaker 1: One thing I was sitting in the back right of the auditorium and there was a section in the front left of the auditorium Like imagine the distance between that wall and that wall.
Speaker 1: That's how far we were sitting.
Speaker 1: But he looked around and somebody saw me.
Speaker 1: Somebody saw me sitting in, some little perky-looking teenager sitting in the back of the auditorium, all by himself, and he got up from the front of the auditorium and he made his way all the way to the back of the auditorium and he went up and he extended a hand, like hey, my name's Nick, what's your name?
Speaker 1: And I said, hey, my name's Edgar.
Speaker 1: And he was like well, is it your first time here, edgar?
Speaker 1: I was like yeah, it is.
Speaker 1: He was like well, tell you what Us in the youth group.
Speaker 1: We like to go sit in the front over there in that little section.
Speaker 1: You want to come with us and sit with us?
Speaker 1: I was like you know what, sure?
Speaker 1: So I got up with him, I sat with him and I got to know some really cool people.
Speaker 1: People like Kelsey, our worship leader.
Speaker 1: People like Steven he plays our piano and a bunch of other people in that youth group.
Speaker 1: But you know what, when I felt the love that not only he but the people around us had, I was like this is my place, these are my people.
Speaker 1: Now, and you know what happened I came the next Sunday.
Speaker 1: You know what happened.
Speaker 1: I came the next Sunday and I joined the youth group and I joined the church and I heard a message where I accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior.
Speaker 1: There at that church I got baptized.
Speaker 1: I got to know Pastor Nate.
Speaker 1: I got to know my wife Tyler there at that church and praise the Lord, she's the biggest blessing in my life.
Speaker 1: Right, I got saved.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1: I heard God calling on my life to be a preacher.
Speaker 1: I got the connections.
Speaker 1: I needed to go to the right Bible college.
Speaker 1: And all of that happened because one guy got out of his comfort zone, went all the way to the back of the auditorium and shook my hand and invited me to sit with him.
Speaker 1: His act of love, his act of kindness and, I no doubt, spirit led action impacted my life forever and I am eternally grateful for him and the God that worked through him.
Speaker 1: But you know what?
Speaker 1: You can be that someone for someone else Because of the great God that works through you, the great God that works through your love and through your spirit led actions.
Speaker 1: You can be that Nick for somebody else.
Speaker 1: I really believe that, because we can get the next slide up on the screen, fellas, let's all say this together on the count of three Ready One, two, three.
Speaker 1: God can use me to make a difference.
Speaker 1: I really believe that and I hope you believe that too.
Speaker 1: God can use you to make a difference through your loving, kind, spirit led actions.
Speaker 1: He used Ananias in such a great way.
Speaker 1: We never see Ananias really in the Bible in narrative form ever again.
Speaker 1: This was his one contribution to the Bible, what he did, how he loved and served and was spirit led to go talk to this guy.
Speaker 1: Saul changed the world and one person came and talked to me and that changed my life forever.
Speaker 1: You can be that someone for someone else.
Speaker 1: Just some takeaways real quick as we close off today.
Speaker 1: Just some application points, something you can take home for yourself.
Speaker 1: It's the beginning of the year, we have New Year's resolutions.
Speaker 1: I'm sure some of them are already broken, right, I was telling myself I was going to eat healthier, but me and Pastor Nate went out to eat like three times this week.
Speaker 1: So I don't know.
Speaker 1: But honestly, something you can give yourself Because, like we saw, jesus said the mark of his disciples was people loving one another.
Speaker 1: First of all is this Commit to showing love to someone every week.
Speaker 1: Commit to showing love to somebody, and it doesn't have to be big, doesn't have to cost money, even it.
Speaker 1: Just be kind to somebody, love somebody, make someone feel loved, accepted and seen.
Speaker 1: You're going to be amazed at what God does through that.
Speaker 1: Second of all is this Listen for God's guidance in your life.
Speaker 1: Listen for God's guidance in your life.
Speaker 1: Turn off the radio, turn out the distractions, right so as we say, and just listen for God's guiding.
Speaker 1: God speaks today, but are we listening?
Speaker 1: God speaks to us and wants to guide us to do great and mighty things through us, but we've got to be listening.
Speaker 1: And then, third of all and I'm sure you guys have heard me say this before maybe right, but make sure to be here next week.
Speaker 1: Make sure to be here next week.
Speaker 1: It's going to be a great Sunday, not only for the donuts, not only for the cool shirts, but honestly, I'm just excited to let everybody in this room feel ready and equipped and able to make Jesus known.
Speaker 1: It's such a great privilege that we get to talk to other people about Jesus and I hope that you're excited to do that as well.
Speaker 1: But