WEBVTT 00:00:00.880 --> 00:00:02.640 Welcome to our podcast. 00:00:02.879 --> 00:00:08.720 We hope this powerful word from City Center Church transforms your mind and improves your relationship with Jesus Christ. 00:00:08.960 --> 00:00:18.640 Be sure to check out our website at CityCenterCurch.com for all of our sermons, outreach events, and the opportunity to partner with us to advance the kingdom of God through your generosity. 00:00:19.120 --> 00:00:22.079 Thank you for joining us, and let's get into the word of today. 00:00:22.320 --> 00:00:23.440 I'm excited to be here today. 00:00:23.519 --> 00:00:24.320 Are you excited? 00:00:24.719 --> 00:00:31.519 Come on, I'm excited for so many reasons because what we're doing here today is we're closing out a sermon series that we've been in. 00:00:31.600 --> 00:00:33.600 I believe that this has been speaking to all of us. 00:00:33.759 --> 00:00:35.039 Has this been blessing you? 00:00:35.359 --> 00:00:36.560 Come on, it's been blessing me. 00:00:36.640 --> 00:00:39.759 We're in a sermon series that we're we're calling Built for This. 00:00:40.640 --> 00:00:47.280 And we have been talking about seasons because how many of you know that life happens in seasons? 00:00:48.240 --> 00:00:54.960 Seasons are happening all the time, and uh every season requires something different out of you. 00:00:56.000 --> 00:00:59.039 And what I want to talk about here today is uh winter. 00:00:59.119 --> 00:01:03.439 While I was studying winter, I discovered something about the word winter. 00:01:03.600 --> 00:01:04.640 Can I share it with you? 00:01:05.040 --> 00:01:14.400 If you look at the word winter spelled out, there's something that's there that is right there in plain sight. 00:01:14.560 --> 00:01:15.439 Can you see it? 00:01:17.840 --> 00:01:21.040 W I N. 00:01:22.319 --> 00:01:27.439 In other words, what I came here to tell you is that there is a win in winter. 00:01:31.439 --> 00:01:33.680 There is a win in winter. 00:01:33.760 --> 00:01:35.040 How many of y'all are taking notes here today? 00:01:35.120 --> 00:01:36.400 Wave at me if you're gonna take some notes. 00:01:36.480 --> 00:01:37.840 I want you to write that in your notes right now. 00:01:38.239 --> 00:01:42.959 Go ahead and write, there's a win in winter. 00:01:43.519 --> 00:01:49.040 I came to preach to somebody this morning that you've been looking at your season and your situation that didn't work. 00:01:49.200 --> 00:01:54.239 You've been looking at things that you lost, you've been looking at the things in your life that have been changing. 00:01:54.400 --> 00:01:57.040 In fact, you've been looking at people who walked away. 00:01:57.359 --> 00:02:01.760 And just because you're in a winter season doesn't mean that you're losing. 00:02:03.760 --> 00:02:05.680 And I'd like to preach this word here today. 00:02:05.840 --> 00:02:08.159 If you have a Bible, turn with me this morning. 00:02:08.240 --> 00:02:11.599 We're gonna be in the book of Acts, chapter 28. 00:02:12.080 --> 00:02:21.439 Acts chapter 28, we're reading about a man named Paul, and and what you need to know is that we are we are jumping right into the middle of a story. 00:02:21.759 --> 00:02:27.759 In fact, if you read it long enough, you'll you'll discover that we're actually jumping into the middle of a mess. 00:02:27.919 --> 00:02:34.479 Because by the time we get to what we're about to read here today, in Acts chapter 28, Paul has been through some stuff. 00:02:34.719 --> 00:02:36.159 Do I have any people in the room? 00:02:36.400 --> 00:02:37.919 You've been through some stuff. 00:02:39.520 --> 00:02:42.400 How many of you know that God can turn a mess into a message? 00:02:45.840 --> 00:02:47.360 Acts chapter 28. 00:02:47.520 --> 00:02:50.400 I'd like to read to you the first to the eighth verse. 00:02:50.719 --> 00:02:59.919 The Bible says this once safely ashore, we found out that the island was called Malta. 00:03:00.000 --> 00:03:01.199 Somebody say Malta. 00:03:01.840 --> 00:03:04.400 Uh, if you're taking notes today, will you write that in your notes? 00:03:04.639 --> 00:03:08.719 Malta, circle, underline, highlight, whatever you got to do, we'll come back to it. 00:03:09.759 --> 00:03:14.719 The Bible says that the islanders showed us unusual kindness. 00:03:15.520 --> 00:03:20.560 They built a fire and they welcomed all of us because it was raining and it was cold. 00:03:20.800 --> 00:03:35.520 Paul gathered a pile of brushwood, and as he put it on the fire, watch this a viper, driven out by the heat, fastened itself on his hand. 00:03:36.400 --> 00:03:42.560 And when the islanders saw the snake hanging from his hand, they said, Oh, he's a goner. 00:03:43.120 --> 00:03:50.479 They said, This man must be a murderer, for though he escaped the sea, the goddess justice has not allowed him to live. 00:03:50.719 --> 00:03:54.719 But the Bible says that Paul shook the snake off. 00:03:57.599 --> 00:04:04.240 He shook the snake off into the fire, and he suffered no ill effects. 00:04:04.960 --> 00:04:16.959 The people expected him to swell up and suddenly fall dead, but after waiting a long time and seeing nothing unusual happen to them, uh they changed their minds about Paul and they said, Well, he must be a god. 00:04:19.120 --> 00:04:24.879 There was an estate nearby that belonged to Publius, he was a chief official of the island. 00:04:24.959 --> 00:04:32.720 And the Bible says that he welcomed Paul into his home and he showed him generosity and hospitality for three whole days. 00:04:32.800 --> 00:04:34.319 But watch this, verse 8. 00:04:35.600 --> 00:04:38.720 The Bible says that Publius's father was sick. 00:04:38.959 --> 00:04:43.759 In fact, he was in the bed, in fact, he was suffering from fever and dysentery. 00:04:43.839 --> 00:04:46.240 And the Bible says that Paul went in. 00:04:49.920 --> 00:04:56.399 He laid hands on him, and the Bible says that he was healed. 00:04:57.040 --> 00:04:59.120 Good God Almighty. 00:04:59.360 --> 00:05:04.079 I want to talk to you all today with the lesson topic of there's a win in winter. 00:05:04.319 --> 00:05:06.160 Will you lift your hands towards heaven and receive this blessing? 00:05:06.240 --> 00:05:09.839 Father, we just come before you now, thanking you for your goodness, your greatness, and your mercy. 00:05:10.079 --> 00:05:15.199 Holy Spirit, I'm asking, God, will you preach this word in and through me today? 00:05:15.839 --> 00:05:18.160 Will you open up hearts to receive this word? 00:05:18.720 --> 00:05:24.560 You bless everyone under the sound of my voice here today and watching online, and may something be said or done that's gonna change a life. 00:05:24.800 --> 00:05:28.879 We give you all the glory for what you're doing, for what you've done, and what is still to come. 00:05:29.040 --> 00:05:31.519 In the mighty, matchless name of Jesus, we pray. 00:05:31.680 --> 00:05:33.519 Come on, if you believe it, will you say amen? 00:05:33.839 --> 00:05:35.600 Come on, say amen one more time. 00:05:36.079 --> 00:05:37.279 Charles bless you, sir. 00:05:37.360 --> 00:05:38.319 Thank you so much. 00:05:38.560 --> 00:05:41.199 We're gonna be talking about winter today. 00:05:41.680 --> 00:05:46.800 And when you think about winter, you probably don't think about growth. 00:05:47.279 --> 00:05:51.040 When you think about winter, you probably don't think about productivity. 00:05:51.439 --> 00:05:54.879 When you think about winter, you probably don't think about fruitfulness. 00:05:55.040 --> 00:05:59.360 Winter is usually associated with things slowing down. 00:05:59.759 --> 00:06:11.040 Things are becoming dormant, things are becoming cold, the days are getting shorter, the nights are getting longer, and from the outside, it can look like nothing is really happening. 00:06:11.279 --> 00:06:17.600 And I wonder if there's anybody here today or maybe watching online, and this is how you see your life right now. 00:06:18.240 --> 00:06:21.680 You don't see anything changing in your life right now. 00:06:21.920 --> 00:06:32.639 You don't see the answers that you've been praying for right away, you haven't seen a breakthrough in some time, and you see yourself in what can be described as a winter season. 00:06:32.879 --> 00:06:39.439 And I want to show you in scripture what a winter season looked like for a man named Paul. 00:06:39.600 --> 00:06:44.800 Now, there's so much happening in the first eight verses in Acts chapter 28. 00:06:44.879 --> 00:06:52.160 I need you to go home and read this for yourself, but but but but Paul is standing safely on the shore of Malta. 00:06:52.319 --> 00:06:53.600 Somebody say Malta. 00:06:54.079 --> 00:07:06.480 Now, now if if the author who is Luke, Luke wrote Acts, if Luke is telling me that that Paul is safely on shore, then apparently something happened before he got to shore. 00:07:06.720 --> 00:07:10.480 And I want to talk about it here today before we dive into this lesson. 00:07:10.639 --> 00:07:16.879 If you go back just one chapter with me, if you have a paper Bible, turn with me to Acts chapter 27. 00:07:18.160 --> 00:07:20.240 I love the sound of pages turning. 00:07:20.480 --> 00:07:25.839 Acts chapter 27, uh, verses 7 through 12 say this. 00:07:26.560 --> 00:07:34.480 We made slow headway for many days, and we had difficulty arriving at Snidas. 00:07:35.040 --> 00:07:39.680 And when the wind did not allow us to hold our course, watch this. 00:07:39.920 --> 00:07:44.079 We sailed to the Lee of Crete opposite of Salmonet. 00:07:44.720 --> 00:07:48.480 We moved along the coast, watch this, with great difficulty. 00:07:48.639 --> 00:07:50.720 Have you ever had a season like that before? 00:07:50.959 --> 00:07:54.879 And we came to a place called Fairhavens. 00:07:55.199 --> 00:07:59.839 I want you to write that in your notes for me, right in Fair Havens, and we'll come back to that. 00:08:00.160 --> 00:08:07.759 We came to a place called Fair Havens near the town of Lacey, and and and much time had been lost. 00:08:08.000 --> 00:08:15.519 Have you ever had a season of your life where much time had been lost? 00:08:16.000 --> 00:08:22.319 And sailing, watch this, had already become dangerous because by now it was the day of atonement. 00:08:22.560 --> 00:08:26.959 If you read another translation, it'll say, it was so late in the fall. 00:08:27.360 --> 00:08:29.360 What season comes after fall? 00:08:30.319 --> 00:08:31.279 Interesting. 00:08:32.480 --> 00:08:45.679 So Paul warned them, he said, Man, I can see that our voyage is going to be disastrous and bring great loss to the ship, the cargo, and to our very lives. 00:08:45.919 --> 00:08:46.480 Verse 11. 00:08:46.559 --> 00:08:53.519 But the centurion, instead of listening to Paul, he followed the advice of the pilot and the owner of the ship. 00:08:53.679 --> 00:09:01.039 And since the harbor, watch this, was unsuitable to winter in, what season are we talking about today? 00:09:01.600 --> 00:09:10.559 The majority of them decided that we should sail on, hoping to reach Phoenix and winter there. 00:09:11.039 --> 00:09:12.559 Are you following me, church? 00:09:12.720 --> 00:09:16.320 Let's put these two stories here together and see what we can come together with this. 00:09:16.480 --> 00:09:22.559 If you're keeping track and reading in Acts chapter 27, you'll read about a disastrous storm. 00:09:23.039 --> 00:09:26.080 They give us detail about a violent hurricane wind. 00:09:26.159 --> 00:09:29.519 It's a ship that they can barely control the cargo, y'all. 00:09:29.679 --> 00:09:33.039 They are throwing their possessions overboard just to survive. 00:09:33.120 --> 00:09:39.360 The Bible tells us that they went days, days without seeing, nor the sun or the stars. 00:09:39.440 --> 00:09:43.360 And eventually many of them gave up hope of ever being saved. 00:09:43.519 --> 00:10:00.320 Have you ever had a season where your hope they find themselves in a winter season, not only emotionally, not only spiritually, but they find themselves quite literally in a winter season physically. 00:10:00.399 --> 00:10:10.639 And if you look at Acts chapter 27, verse 12, it tells us that the harbor that they were at, Fair Havens, was unsuitable to winter in. 00:10:10.799 --> 00:10:15.679 So they decided to go ahead and see if they could reach Phoenix to winter there. 00:10:15.919 --> 00:10:21.919 The reason they wanted to leave Fairhavens was because they didn't want to spend the winter there. 00:10:22.080 --> 00:10:26.080 The harbor was not ideal and it wasn't comfortable. 00:10:26.480 --> 00:10:32.320 And what I love about this story is that they were trying to avoid winter and sail directly into a storm. 00:10:35.279 --> 00:10:45.519 In other words, I wonder how many times you and I have sailed into something because we didn't want to stay comfortably where God has told you to stay. 00:10:47.120 --> 00:10:53.120 Sometimes we become so desperate to get out of where we are that we'll move before it's time to move. 00:10:53.360 --> 00:10:57.679 We'll attach ourselves to somebody because we're just tired of being alone. 00:10:58.000 --> 00:11:03.759 We'll enter something God never told us to enter and we'll exit something God told it never told us to leave. 00:11:03.919 --> 00:11:05.200 But can I help you today? 00:11:05.440 --> 00:11:07.120 Somebody say, help us, JD. 00:11:07.440 --> 00:11:08.240 I'm gonna help you. 00:11:08.320 --> 00:11:10.879 Not every winter is something that you need to escape. 00:11:13.279 --> 00:11:16.480 Not every winter season do you need to be looking for the exit door. 00:11:16.639 --> 00:11:19.679 Can I make this practical for somebody in the room here today? 00:11:19.840 --> 00:11:24.559 Because when I say winter, your winter might be different than the person seated next to you. 00:11:24.879 --> 00:11:27.519 For some people, your marriage is in a winter. 00:11:27.679 --> 00:11:31.200 Where are my married people at where you wave at me, married people? 00:11:31.440 --> 00:11:34.320 For some of you, uh, your marriage is in a winter. 00:11:34.480 --> 00:11:41.279 You love each other, you're committed to one another, but if we're being honest, it's cold in this room right now. 00:11:42.559 --> 00:11:45.440 Don't look to your left and your right, we'll know that we're talking about you. 00:11:45.600 --> 00:11:51.840 Communication hasn't been easy, intimacy uh wasn't what it used to be. 00:11:52.000 --> 00:11:58.159 And you're and you're wondering, God, can you breathe life into this marriage again? 00:11:58.320 --> 00:11:59.519 Can we laugh again? 00:11:59.759 --> 00:12:00.960 Can we trust again? 00:12:01.120 --> 00:12:03.360 For some people, that's winter. 00:12:03.679 --> 00:12:06.960 For somebody else, singleness feels like winter. 00:12:07.120 --> 00:12:17.039 You're watching everybody else get engaged, you're attending everybody else's marriage, everybody else is posting pictures, and you're genuinely happy for them. 00:12:17.200 --> 00:12:22.639 You're celebrating them publicly while privately you're asking God, well, what about me? 00:12:24.320 --> 00:12:25.679 That's somebody's winter. 00:12:25.759 --> 00:12:28.320 For somebody else, wintering is parenting. 00:12:28.480 --> 00:12:30.480 Where are my parents at when you wave at me? 00:12:30.639 --> 00:12:33.039 You did everything you knew to do, didn't you? 00:12:33.360 --> 00:12:51.919 You prayed, you taught them scripture, you brought them to church, you you you you tried to raise them right, and and somewhere along the way, they started making decisions that you never thought that they would ever make, and you keep replaying things in your mind like, where did I go wrong? 00:12:52.240 --> 00:12:53.600 Where did I mess up? 00:12:53.759 --> 00:12:55.919 What should I have done differently? 00:12:56.080 --> 00:12:58.000 And you're asking God, what happened? 00:12:58.159 --> 00:12:59.440 That is a winter season. 00:12:59.600 --> 00:13:01.679 Winter is walking into a doctor's office. 00:13:01.759 --> 00:13:08.399 You thought you were going in for a routine checkup, and yet the doctor uses words that you have never heard in your life before. 00:13:09.120 --> 00:13:12.559 Winter is for somebody else, it's it's on your job. 00:13:13.840 --> 00:13:21.679 For some people, you you get up every morning, you clock in, you're doing what you're supposed to do, you're collecting a paycheck, but you don't feel no purpose there no more. 00:13:22.720 --> 00:13:28.000 Maybe you feel stuck or overlooked, maybe you're sitting at your desk every day thinking, God, is this really it? 00:13:28.960 --> 00:13:30.879 Is this all you have for me? 00:13:31.120 --> 00:13:32.559 That could be winter. 00:13:32.639 --> 00:13:36.240 And for somebody, it's waiting on God to answer a prayer. 00:13:36.399 --> 00:13:39.919 You've prayed so long that you've forgotten how to even pray it anymore. 00:13:40.320 --> 00:13:44.879 It used to be a long, elaborate prayer, now it's just a short prayer. 00:13:45.039 --> 00:13:46.320 That's a winter. 00:13:46.559 --> 00:13:53.919 You see, church, when we think about winter, especially here in Kansas City, you know that winter gets cold. 00:13:54.480 --> 00:13:58.480 Because it's not always just about the cold, it's about how long that cold lingers. 00:13:58.639 --> 00:14:00.399 Do I have any witnesses in this house? 00:14:00.639 --> 00:14:05.679 Uh we get in those stretches where the temperatures drop and they stay low. 00:14:05.919 --> 00:14:14.879 Day after day, cold morning after cold morning, gray sky after gray sky, and after a while it starts wearing on you. 00:14:15.039 --> 00:14:20.559 And I wonder if there's somebody here today, you're in a winter season and you can feel just that. 00:14:20.720 --> 00:14:25.679 It wasn't just one bad day, it's that the fact that you've had multiple bad days in a row. 00:14:25.840 --> 00:14:28.639 For somebody else, depression has felt like winter. 00:14:28.799 --> 00:14:32.240 Things that used to bring you joy don't bring you joy anymore. 00:14:32.399 --> 00:14:38.480 You know how to smile when people are around, but when you go home, it gets cold when you walk into your house. 00:14:38.639 --> 00:14:41.120 And maybe nobody knows about your winter. 00:14:41.600 --> 00:14:43.279 You haven't told anybody about your winter. 00:14:43.440 --> 00:14:48.240 Oh, you come in here dress to dress, smiling from ear to ear. 00:14:48.399 --> 00:14:53.360 You know that everything is not good on the inside, and yet you'll smile on the outside. 00:14:54.000 --> 00:15:02.639 There could be somebody here today, and you're wondering, JD, that's a great title, but how do I win in winter? 00:15:02.799 --> 00:15:08.639 I believe that Paul shows us in this text, and I want to give you three points here today. 00:15:08.799 --> 00:15:10.720 How many of you are taking notes, wave at me one more time? 00:15:10.799 --> 00:15:12.000 I'm gonna talk to you, just my note-takers. 00:15:12.080 --> 00:15:14.000 If you don't have your hand up, I'm not gonna look at you during something. 00:15:16.240 --> 00:15:18.399 Point number one, will you write this down? 00:15:18.879 --> 00:15:21.919 Point number one is shake it off. 00:15:23.600 --> 00:15:25.279 You feeling that, huh? 00:15:25.759 --> 00:15:27.679 Let me exercise this for a quick second. 00:15:27.840 --> 00:15:35.120 You see, in Acts chapter 28, starting at the third verse, the Bible tells us that Paul gathered some wood. 00:15:35.200 --> 00:15:36.399 Do you remember that in the story? 00:15:36.639 --> 00:15:43.919 He put it on the fire, and the Bible says that a viper, driven out by the heat, fastened on his hand. 00:15:44.159 --> 00:15:48.480 The Bible goes on to say in verse 5, but Paul shook the snake off. 00:15:48.559 --> 00:15:53.440 Somebody raise your hand like this and shake, just, just, just, just, just, just shake, he he shook it off. 00:15:53.759 --> 00:16:00.480 And in Acts chapter 27, he he encounters a massive storm, a storm that probably should have taken everybody out. 00:16:00.559 --> 00:16:08.080 Then you go into Acts chapter 28, he's safely ashore, and Paul is adding wood to the fire, and all of a sudden he gets bitten by a venomous steak. 00:16:08.240 --> 00:16:17.440 Have you ever been in a season before where when you finally get out of one thing, you haven't even had time to thank God yet until the next thing reaches up and bites you. 00:16:19.759 --> 00:16:26.320 But, but, somebody say, but, but Paul shook the snake off. 00:16:26.639 --> 00:16:28.320 I don't want to discredit anything. 00:16:28.399 --> 00:16:34.240 Listen, the bite was real, but Paul realized something that all that all of us need to discover today. 00:16:34.480 --> 00:16:36.879 Some things you're just gonna have to shake it off. 00:16:36.960 --> 00:16:38.320 Somebody say, shake it off. 00:16:38.559 --> 00:16:41.600 The snake was fastened to his hands, but he shook it off. 00:16:41.759 --> 00:16:46.080 But I think that one of the problems that we have here today, somebody say, JD, what's the problem? 00:16:46.320 --> 00:16:47.759 I'm gonna tell you what the problem is. 00:16:47.919 --> 00:16:54.320 I believe what the problem that is is that many of us are still having conversations with things that continue to bite us. 00:16:57.039 --> 00:16:59.360 You know that boy ain't no good for you. 00:17:00.159 --> 00:17:02.240 You know that girl ain't no good for you. 00:17:02.480 --> 00:17:04.880 You know that group of friends ain't no good at you. 00:17:05.119 --> 00:17:07.680 They have bit you so many times, and yeah, what do you do? 00:17:07.759 --> 00:17:09.519 Hey, what y'all doing this weekend? 00:17:11.119 --> 00:17:17.200 We're still negotiating with things that keep hurting us, we're still entertaining things that keep poisoning us. 00:17:17.359 --> 00:17:24.799 And somebody walked into this church this morning, and you're still carrying something that you should have shook off a long time ago. 00:17:25.920 --> 00:17:31.920 Something happened, somebody hurt you, somebody disappointed you, something bit you, Bubba. 00:17:32.319 --> 00:17:34.880 But now the bite has become baggage. 00:17:35.119 --> 00:17:39.039 What what happened in one moment you've been carrying for 10 years? 00:17:40.160 --> 00:17:44.799 What happened in one relationship, you've now carried to every relationship since. 00:17:45.119 --> 00:17:46.319 I'm losing eye contact. 00:17:46.400 --> 00:17:48.240 I must be talking to somebody in this place here today. 00:17:48.480 --> 00:17:53.119 You've been allowing what happened in one season to follow you into every single season. 00:17:53.279 --> 00:17:54.559 Can I help you here today? 00:17:54.799 --> 00:17:59.519 What you shake off in this season can't follow you into the next season. 00:18:01.759 --> 00:18:07.359 You need to shake off disappointment, you need to shake off the offense, you need to shake off the bitterness. 00:18:07.440 --> 00:18:08.799 Somebody say, shake it off. 00:18:09.039 --> 00:18:10.640 I want to be clear here, church. 00:18:10.720 --> 00:18:12.799 I'm not telling you to get over it. 00:18:13.119 --> 00:18:15.279 Look at your neighbor say that's not what he said. 00:18:15.599 --> 00:18:19.279 I didn't say get over it, I said shake it off. 00:18:19.519 --> 00:18:22.880 There's a difference between shake it off and get rid of it. 00:18:23.039 --> 00:18:26.319 Get rid of it could discredit the fact that the betrayal was real. 00:18:26.720 --> 00:18:28.720 Hey, that divorce, it was real. 00:18:28.960 --> 00:18:31.200 The diagnosis the doctor said, that was real. 00:18:31.440 --> 00:18:34.160 The rejection, the people that walked out on you, that was real. 00:18:34.319 --> 00:18:37.680 The abuse was real, the disappointment was real, the bite was real. 00:18:37.759 --> 00:18:38.640 But can I help you? 00:18:38.799 --> 00:18:41.920 Just because it bit you doesn't mean it has to stay attached to you. 00:18:46.400 --> 00:18:48.000 Somebody say, Shake it off. 00:18:48.240 --> 00:18:51.359 Now you might be sitting there right now and be like, okay, JD, that's preaching real good. 00:18:51.440 --> 00:18:52.079 Okay, okay. 00:18:52.319 --> 00:18:54.319 But how do I shake it off? 00:18:54.400 --> 00:18:55.039 I'm glad you asked. 00:18:55.119 --> 00:18:57.039 Somebody look at your neighbor and say, That was a really good question you had. 00:18:57.119 --> 00:18:58.079 Thank you for asking him. 00:18:58.240 --> 00:19:02.960 But but because scripture gives us language for situations like this. 00:19:03.039 --> 00:19:05.279 There's so many of them, and can I just give you a few? 00:19:05.440 --> 00:19:10.640 There's things that we need to do to the things that are trying to stay attached to us. 00:19:10.799 --> 00:19:16.400 The Bible says to cast all of your anxiety on him because he cares for you. 00:19:16.640 --> 00:19:20.880 There's some of y'all that are entertaining your anxiety, you've been taking it out on multiple dates. 00:19:20.960 --> 00:19:22.799 You need to let that anxiety go. 00:19:23.119 --> 00:19:28.960 The Bible says that we need to throw off everything and every sin that hinders that so easily entangles. 00:19:29.039 --> 00:19:34.319 The Bible, the Bible says that we need to take captive every thought and make it obedient to Christ. 00:19:34.559 --> 00:19:37.759 Some things aren't going to fall off just because you ignore them. 00:19:37.839 --> 00:19:38.880 Oh no, no, no, no. 00:19:39.039 --> 00:19:41.839 Some things you're gonna just have to shake it off, baby. 00:19:42.799 --> 00:19:45.680 Some things require an intentional release. 00:19:45.839 --> 00:19:49.200 Sometimes you just need to say, God, I give this to you. 00:19:49.440 --> 00:19:53.599 Sometimes you need to lift your hands and just say, I've carried this for too long. 00:19:53.839 --> 00:19:55.920 And it's time for me to give this back to you. 00:19:56.000 --> 00:20:01.519 I've allowed what they did to define my life for way too long, and there is a wind in my winter. 00:20:01.599 --> 00:20:03.359 If you believe it, say amen. 00:20:04.880 --> 00:20:07.839 Sometimes we just need to shake it off. 00:20:08.559 --> 00:20:09.279 Point number two. 00:20:09.839 --> 00:20:11.119 Write this in your notes. 00:20:11.839 --> 00:20:14.400 Serve where you are. 00:20:16.400 --> 00:20:18.720 Serve where you are. 00:20:18.880 --> 00:20:28.240 Also in Acts chapter 28, starting at the seventh verse, the Bible says that Paul came to an estate belonging to a man named Publius. 00:20:28.319 --> 00:20:30.000 He was a chief official of the island. 00:20:30.240 --> 00:20:33.519 The Bible says that he welcomed Paul into his home. 00:20:34.240 --> 00:20:36.960 Now, mind you, Paul had just gone through a storm. 00:20:37.039 --> 00:20:46.400 He had been shipwrecked, and now he's finally on uh Malta, and now he's walking into a home with a man whose father is sick. 00:20:46.720 --> 00:20:55.279 The Bible says that he walks in and he prays, and he uh, through the power of the Lord, laid his hands on him and healed him. 00:20:55.519 --> 00:20:57.519 But somebody say, Hold up. 00:20:57.920 --> 00:20:59.759 Somebody say, wait a minute. 00:21:00.880 --> 00:21:02.400 What did the snake bite? 00:21:03.759 --> 00:21:05.279 What did the snake bite? 00:21:06.240 --> 00:21:08.160 What did he lay on the father? 00:21:13.519 --> 00:21:14.880 400 of y'all missed it. 00:21:14.960 --> 00:21:15.680 I'm gonna say it again. 00:21:15.839 --> 00:21:17.119 Can I run it back? 00:21:17.839 --> 00:21:24.079 The Bible tells us that the snake did what? 00:21:24.880 --> 00:21:25.680 His hand. 00:21:27.039 --> 00:21:33.359 And then he goes into Publius' house and he laid what on the father? 00:21:34.240 --> 00:21:35.839 And it got me thinking. 00:21:36.240 --> 00:21:44.799 It got me thinking, what if Paul had allowed what happened to his hand to make him afraid to use his hand again? 00:21:46.480 --> 00:21:52.400 What if, what if, what if Paul allowed one painful experience to make him question everything God had placed over his life? 00:21:52.559 --> 00:21:54.400 I'm talking to somebody in this room here today. 00:21:54.559 --> 00:21:59.839 What if Paul allowed the trauma of what happened yesterday to determine his obedience today? 00:22:00.880 --> 00:22:02.400 Can I help you in this moment? 00:22:02.720 --> 00:22:07.519 Don't let what bite you and bit you keep you from using what God gave you. 00:22:12.799 --> 00:22:15.839 What I'm trying to say is don't let one winter season. 00:22:16.240 --> 00:22:20.640 Don't let one season convince you that God is finished using you. 00:22:20.880 --> 00:22:23.599 Someone could be asking, well, well, how do I win in winter? 00:22:23.759 --> 00:22:29.440 The way that you win in winter is you don't put your calling on pause because you don't like your circumstances. 00:22:31.359 --> 00:22:34.960 You don't put your calling on hold because you're not in a job that you like. 00:22:36.079 --> 00:22:37.440 Serve where you are. 00:22:37.680 --> 00:22:41.920 You don't put your calling on hold on pause just because you don't like your circumstances. 00:22:42.079 --> 00:22:45.680 The married people in this room here today, your marriage might be in winter, but guess what? 00:22:45.759 --> 00:22:47.920 Why don't you go ahead and serve your spouse? 00:22:48.480 --> 00:22:49.599 Where's my mirror at? 00:22:49.680 --> 00:22:51.119 Because I need to be talking into one real quick. 00:22:51.200 --> 00:22:52.000 Hold on just one second. 00:22:52.079 --> 00:22:52.640 I got you, baby. 00:22:52.720 --> 00:22:52.960 I got you. 00:22:53.039 --> 00:22:59.920 Let me let me you hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, when things get rocky, why don't you go ahead and try and serving your spouse instead of ignoring them? 00:23:00.160 --> 00:23:01.839 Why don't you love when it's hard? 00:23:02.000 --> 00:23:03.680 Why don't you forgive when it's hard? 00:23:03.839 --> 00:23:05.200 I'm talking to myself here today. 00:23:05.359 --> 00:23:11.279 Your finances might be in winter, but why don't you be faithful with what with what's already in your hand? 00:23:11.519 --> 00:23:18.160 Don't don't don't wait for God to bless you with more before you get faithful with what he has already put in your hand. 00:23:19.200 --> 00:23:21.200 How do I win in my winter season? 00:23:21.359 --> 00:23:25.920 By realizing that your location may change, but your calling never changed. 00:23:27.599 --> 00:23:29.599 The calling has still remained the same. 00:23:29.759 --> 00:23:32.640 The Bible says to go, to go. 00:23:33.440 --> 00:23:35.759 Jesus is one of his last few words on the earth. 00:23:35.839 --> 00:23:46.000 He said, Therefore, go and make disciples, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son, teaching them all that I have commanded you. 00:23:46.640 --> 00:23:50.319 And I will be with you, even until the very end of the age. 00:23:50.400 --> 00:23:53.119 But here's the thing: many of y'all don't want to go, you want to stay. 00:23:53.359 --> 00:23:56.079 You want to stay in this hurt season that you've been in. 00:23:56.240 --> 00:24:00.160 You want to stay in this winter season and not give what God has given you. 00:24:00.240 --> 00:24:06.880 But I came here with a testimony in my mouth here today that you needed to get up and actually serve where you are. 00:24:07.039 --> 00:24:09.039 I didn't think my marriage was gonna look like this. 00:24:09.200 --> 00:24:12.000 Many people will say that that's why you won't serve your spouse. 00:24:12.160 --> 00:24:18.960 Many of you are are spending your entire winter season frustrated because you're like, this isn't where I thought I would be. 00:24:19.279 --> 00:24:20.640 Can I help you today? 00:24:20.960 --> 00:24:25.680 God's thoughts are not our thoughts, neither are his ways our ways. 00:24:25.759 --> 00:24:30.079 So I'm thankful that he didn't consult your thoughts before he gave you what he gave you. 00:24:32.319 --> 00:24:35.440 There's a lot of people in here saying, I didn't think my career would look like this. 00:24:35.599 --> 00:24:39.039 I didn't think my marriage would look like this, I didn't think my family would look like this. 00:24:39.200 --> 00:24:40.880 I didn't think I would still be waiting. 00:24:41.039 --> 00:24:43.440 I didn't plan on being in this season. 00:24:43.599 --> 00:24:47.920 The Bible says that many are the plans of man, but it's God's will that will prevail. 00:24:48.079 --> 00:24:54.000 I'm so thankful that he doesn't consult me and you about your plans for the plans that he has for your life. 00:24:56.079 --> 00:25:00.880 Because sometimes we spend the entire winter asking, God, bring me spring. 00:25:02.799 --> 00:25:08.559 When God is looking at me and you saying, Before I change your season, I want to show you what I can do in this winter season. 00:25:11.279 --> 00:25:20.000 And I just believe that even in your winter season, even when it's cold, even when it's lingering, even when it's something that you want to escape, God is sovereign. 00:25:20.240 --> 00:25:22.720 He is good, and he's always gonna be there on time. 00:25:22.799 --> 00:25:24.160 If you believe it, we say, Amen. 00:25:24.480 --> 00:25:24.720 Amen. 00:25:24.880 --> 00:25:26.000 I'm gonna work this last one real quick. 00:25:26.079 --> 00:25:26.559 Are y'all ready? 00:25:26.640 --> 00:25:27.839 Come and get throw up number three. 00:25:28.000 --> 00:25:30.160 Number three, uh, write this in your notes here today. 00:25:30.480 --> 00:25:33.839 Stand on what God said. 00:25:34.400 --> 00:25:36.640 I'd like to spend a little bit of time in this last one. 00:25:36.960 --> 00:25:40.640 We've been talking about how you need to you need to throw off, you need to shake it off. 00:25:40.799 --> 00:25:43.279 We've talked about how you need to serve where you are. 00:25:43.519 --> 00:25:47.680 Point number three, stand on what God said. 00:25:49.359 --> 00:25:59.599 You see, there's there's some winter seasons that I haven't talked about yet that the Lord placed on my heart to share because some winters aren't loud. 00:26:00.079 --> 00:26:12.720 Some winters are are are are private, they don't happen in front of everybody to see, because the reality is there could be a woman or a mother sitting in this room right now who knows the winter of a miscarriage. 00:26:15.920 --> 00:26:28.240 You carried a dream, a plan, you carried a future, you imagined something, and then you experienced a loss that perhaps not everybody in this room can fully understand. 00:26:28.559 --> 00:26:34.720 People may have moved on, but yet the winter season that you've endured lingered. 00:26:35.279 --> 00:26:41.039 There may be a woman here today who has prayed for having a child, and you haven't been able to have a child. 00:26:41.200 --> 00:26:48.480 You've waited, you believed, and month after month, year after year, barrenness has felt like winter. 00:26:49.359 --> 00:26:54.079 And there's so many seasons of winter that many of us have gone through very similar to this. 00:26:54.240 --> 00:27:05.839 They're they're they're personal, they they're they're hard to talk about, and it got me thinking how in the world did Paul make it through everything that he had made through in his entire story? 00:27:06.000 --> 00:27:09.759 How do you go through that and still keep believing? 00:27:10.319 --> 00:27:12.880 How do you get uh arrested and keep believing? 00:27:13.039 --> 00:27:17.039 How do you get caught in a storm and the ship breaks apart and you keep believing? 00:27:17.200 --> 00:27:21.599 How do you watch everybody in your camp stop believing and yet you keep believing? 00:27:21.759 --> 00:27:25.119 How do you get washed up on Malta and keep believing? 00:27:25.279 --> 00:27:29.359 How does a snake bite your hand and you keep believing? 00:27:29.519 --> 00:27:34.240 What did Paul know that nobody else had the privy information of? 00:27:34.799 --> 00:27:39.920 And what you have to do is you have to go back a few chapters to Acts chapter 23. 00:27:40.480 --> 00:27:46.079 Acts chapter 23 tells us that Paul is in Jerusalem and he has been arrested. 00:27:46.240 --> 00:27:49.599 And listen, y'all, his circumstances don't look great. 00:27:50.720 --> 00:27:54.559 He doesn't know about the upcoming storm that's gonna happen four chapters later. 00:27:54.720 --> 00:28:01.200 He doesn't know about the shipwreck yet, he doesn't know about Malta yet, he doesn't know about the snake yet, but God does. 00:28:15.759 --> 00:28:16.799 Take courage. 00:28:18.000 --> 00:28:20.079 That's somebody's word here for today. 00:28:20.880 --> 00:28:32.000 Take courage, as you have testified about me in Jerusalem, you must also testify in Rome. 00:28:33.039 --> 00:28:42.160 What I'm trying to say is that the storms were raging, the boat was sinking, but Paul had not yet made it to Rome, like the Lord said he would. 00:28:43.279 --> 00:28:49.119 Which means we've been reading about Malta, but Malta was never part of the plan. 00:28:49.599 --> 00:28:52.160 God, I wish y'all would get this with me here today. 00:28:52.480 --> 00:28:54.960 Malta was never a part of the original destination. 00:28:55.119 --> 00:28:58.240 Have you ever ended up somewhere where you didn't think you'd be? 00:28:58.720 --> 00:29:02.480 You've been trusting the Lord to get you somewhere, and yet you found yourself on Malta. 00:29:02.640 --> 00:29:09.920 What I want to encourage you here today is that Paul was shipwrecked on Malta with over 270 others, but this is what I want you to see. 00:29:10.079 --> 00:29:14.240 Before his winter season ever showed up, God had already spoken. 00:29:17.039 --> 00:29:19.359 God had already said what he was going to say. 00:29:19.519 --> 00:29:25.519 What I want to encourage you today is don't let your winter make you forget about what God said before your winter ever came. 00:29:25.759 --> 00:29:33.200 Because sometimes you have to, you've shaken everything you know to shake, you've prayed everything you know to pray, and the season still hasn't changed. 00:29:33.359 --> 00:29:38.480 When you've done everything you know to do, what I'm encouraging you today is to stand. 00:29:39.519 --> 00:29:40.880 Stand on what, JD? 00:29:41.119 --> 00:29:43.680 You need to stand on everything that God has already said. 00:29:43.920 --> 00:29:46.559 God, you said that by your stripes we are healed. 00:29:46.799 --> 00:29:49.200 God, you said you'd be my refuge and my strength. 00:29:49.359 --> 00:29:51.359 A very present help in a time of trouble. 00:29:51.519 --> 00:29:54.480 God, you said no weapon formed against me shall ever prosper. 00:29:54.640 --> 00:29:56.880 You said that you would keep my mind in perfect peace. 00:29:57.039 --> 00:29:59.119 God, you said that you would renew my strength. 00:29:59.279 --> 00:30:04.480 God, you said that you would walk through with me anytime I walk through the valley of the shadow of death. 00:30:04.640 --> 00:30:07.279 I have nothing to fear because you are with me. 00:30:07.440 --> 00:30:10.480 God, you said that you'll never leave me nor forsake me. 00:30:10.640 --> 00:30:14.000 God, you said that you would be my shield and my rampart. 00:30:14.240 --> 00:30:16.480 God, you said that your grace is sufficient for me. 00:30:16.640 --> 00:30:20.720 You say that your grace and mercy will follow me all the days of my life. 00:30:20.880 --> 00:30:26.799 You say that a thousand may follow my left, ten thousand by my right, but the danger will not come near me. 00:30:26.960 --> 00:30:33.200 I know, I know that I know that God has never left me, nor has He forsaken me. 00:30:37.759 --> 00:30:40.319 Listen, I know that you've been listening to podcasts. 00:30:40.480 --> 00:30:44.960 I know that you've been talking to Chat GT, uh, you know, about your therapy session. 00:30:45.119 --> 00:30:52.880