WEBVTT 00:00:00.400 --> 00:00:04.559 If you have a Bible, I want to encourage you today, especially to open to the book of Acts. 00:00:04.639 --> 00:00:07.360 We're wrapping up kind of a series we've been looking at. 00:00:07.679 --> 00:00:11.199 For those of you not familiar with the New Testament, Acts is where Jesus has died. 00:00:11.279 --> 00:00:12.320 He's rose again. 00:00:12.480 --> 00:00:16.079 He's ascended and he sends out his believers for the first church. 00:00:16.239 --> 00:00:24.800 And it's it's been awesome taking a look at what God did there so that we could be here today, which is awesome. 00:00:25.600 --> 00:00:26.879 Justin was kind enough. 00:00:26.960 --> 00:00:34.719 He said, Hey, as we're looking at this series and we're taking the different parts, he goes, Hey, we want you to do uh we want you to do Paul, uh, Paul in the book of Acts. 00:00:34.799 --> 00:00:41.759 Well, if you're familiar with Acts, Paul is like a massive part of Acts, and then like wrote a ton of the New Testament. 00:00:41.840 --> 00:00:42.479 And I'm like, okay. 00:00:42.560 --> 00:00:44.320 And he goes, Yeah, we're gonna give you two weeks to do it. 00:00:44.399 --> 00:00:45.920 And I'm like, great. 00:00:46.159 --> 00:00:52.479 Uh, I could literally take one verse and do it for two weeks, and yet it's several chapters. 00:00:52.640 --> 00:00:54.479 So with that, I was a little bit overwhelmed. 00:00:54.560 --> 00:00:56.799 I'm like, God, where do you want to where do you want to go with this? 00:00:56.880 --> 00:00:58.560 What do you want to teach us through this? 00:00:58.640 --> 00:01:15.040 And and last week was just on, he just kind of opened my eyes to where Paul had these great motives, but the wrong focus, and how God knocked him off his donkey and and just really kind of took him through the process of refinement, said, This is who I really am, and sent him out. 00:01:15.120 --> 00:01:18.560 And we just looked at motive and where is our motive and how do we discern that? 00:01:18.799 --> 00:01:24.959 And this week, I was been praying for a couple weeks, just Lord, the rest of the book of Acts, where do you want to go with this? 00:01:25.040 --> 00:01:27.120 And what do you want to, what do you want to show us? 00:01:27.280 --> 00:01:32.480 And I titled these these particular Sundays, Therapy Sundays. 00:01:32.959 --> 00:01:36.879 Simply because as I look at this, today is for me. 00:01:37.439 --> 00:01:42.159 I need these lessons probably more than anybody else. 00:01:42.400 --> 00:01:49.439 I've probably failed greater in these areas and struggle in these areas more than probably anybody else here. 00:01:49.519 --> 00:01:57.519 And so I just, as I look at the truth and share kind of what I'm grappling with, you're welcome to listen in and uh let God speak to your heart as well. 00:01:57.599 --> 00:01:59.599 And I just I'm I'm excited about it. 00:01:59.680 --> 00:02:05.040 I also love that God shows me as I'm preparing sometimes where to go. 00:02:05.120 --> 00:02:08.080 I'm literally praying, like, Lord, can you give me some direction here? 00:02:08.319 --> 00:02:09.680 There's this massive information. 00:02:09.759 --> 00:02:11.360 I just want to kind of whittle it down. 00:02:11.439 --> 00:02:14.400 What exactly do you want to teach us this week? 00:02:14.560 --> 00:02:17.120 And I got an email about this commencement speech. 00:02:17.199 --> 00:02:19.280 I'm like, okay, I'll look at that later on, and that's great. 00:02:19.360 --> 00:02:22.800 And then the next day I'm I'm praying the same thing, kind of doing my prep time. 00:02:22.879 --> 00:02:26.479 And and this friend of mine goes, Hey, have you heard about that commencement speech at UT? 00:02:26.639 --> 00:02:32.159 And I'm just like, Yeah, yeah, somebody sent me an email about it, but I'm I really need to study right now, and I just don't have time for that. 00:02:32.240 --> 00:02:33.840 And I heard it like five more times. 00:02:33.919 --> 00:02:35.599 And God is so gracious to me. 00:02:35.919 --> 00:02:42.080 He knows that I was in special class in school, he knows that he's got to hit me like five times or something. 00:02:42.319 --> 00:02:54.000 And finally, as I'm just grappling, going, Lord, will you please give me some illustration, some some modern day world, how this your truth becomes real in our life and what that looks like. 00:02:54.080 --> 00:02:58.080 And even, Lord, to me as a man, what does that feel like and look like? 00:02:58.240 --> 00:03:06.719 And and so out of just frustration after lunch, one day I said, I want to finally look at this clip, and it was like, wow, that's it. 00:03:06.879 --> 00:03:10.080 And it's almost like God was like, I've been trying to tell you all week. 00:03:10.319 --> 00:03:13.120 I just kind of did this and uh kind of made it for you. 00:03:13.280 --> 00:03:17.280 Well, if you have time to go on to YouTube sometime, I highly recommend it. 00:03:17.439 --> 00:03:21.520 Admiral McCraven is a 37-year veteran in the Navy. 00:03:21.599 --> 00:03:31.759 He is the head of the Navy SEALs program, and he gives a 19-minute speech to the University of Texas, and I sat there and was just blown away. 00:03:32.240 --> 00:03:46.319 Because as I looked and listened to his speech and began to take notes on it, I looked at my notes literally sitting next to it, over what Paul had gone through and what Paul was learning and the lessons from Paul, and I'm like, wow. 00:03:46.800 --> 00:03:53.439 He did not quote one verse, and yet he hit so many pieces of exactly what God was laying on my heart about Paul. 00:03:53.520 --> 00:03:56.479 I'm like, coolness, this is awesome. 00:03:56.719 --> 00:04:02.479 And these lessons are so me right now of what I need. 00:04:02.560 --> 00:04:11.840 And some are gonna be just reminders, and some of them are gonna hit you the way I they hit me, of just going, duh, we've heard that, we know that, but here's my question. 00:04:12.000 --> 00:04:16.319 I know it's true, but is it true of you? 00:04:17.199 --> 00:04:21.600 And is it move from here to here to daily life? 00:04:21.759 --> 00:04:23.360 That's what we really have to ask. 00:04:23.519 --> 00:04:26.879 And I would even say this: don't try to grab all three lessons. 00:04:27.600 --> 00:04:34.560 Really listen for that one, because I believe that God wants to speak to every one of our hearts in one of these lessons today. 00:04:34.879 --> 00:04:43.279 The first one is really if we look in Acts, and I've picked out one verse in chapter 13 for this lesson. 00:04:43.519 --> 00:04:53.279 It's just one verse, but it typifies all of it, and it's kind of just an obvious given that, yeah, duh, that's it. 00:04:53.360 --> 00:04:57.839 And let me just read the verse and see if you can pick it out because you're way smarter than I am. 00:04:57.920 --> 00:05:05.199 But chapter 13, verse 46, it simply says this Paul and Barnabas answered them boldly. 00:05:05.279 --> 00:05:14.959 I'm not even gonna tell you the whole situation, and they said, We had to speak the word of God to you first, since you rejected it and did not consider yourselves worthy of eternal life. 00:05:15.120 --> 00:05:17.519 We now turn to the Gentiles. 00:05:18.560 --> 00:05:20.639 Three times in that one verse. 00:05:20.959 --> 00:05:22.959 It says, Paul and Barnabas. 00:05:23.199 --> 00:05:24.000 We, we. 00:05:24.480 --> 00:05:30.639 And the simple lesson of life, the simple command of God is stay together. 00:05:30.959 --> 00:05:32.480 Stay together. 00:05:32.720 --> 00:05:35.199 It's about we, not me. 00:05:35.680 --> 00:05:39.199 It's about making sure that I am not flying solo. 00:05:40.000 --> 00:05:50.079 Something within us, as we seek God, yes, we need to personally seek Him, have that time with the Lord, but we were never meant to do this alone. 00:05:50.319 --> 00:05:52.240 That is not the way God decided. 00:05:52.560 --> 00:05:55.360 When Jesus sent them out, he sent them out how? 00:05:56.480 --> 00:05:57.680 Two by two. 00:05:58.160 --> 00:05:59.360 Even did it on the ark. 00:05:59.519 --> 00:06:00.879 Bring me two of each animal. 00:06:01.759 --> 00:06:05.120 It's in his pattern and his DNA that we're not supposed to do this alone. 00:06:05.279 --> 00:06:23.920 And yet, how many of you, you don't have to raise your hands, but how many of you are like me, when we start hitting one of those tough times, or we maybe even fail in an area, or we're struggling in an area, we start to pull back and we start to get alone because nobody else is going to be able to understand this. 00:06:24.480 --> 00:06:27.120 Nobody else has ever failed this way. 00:06:27.600 --> 00:06:29.839 Nobody else has struggled with this. 00:06:30.160 --> 00:06:32.079 And we begin to pull back. 00:06:32.319 --> 00:06:46.480 And what God is saying to you and I in this amazing gift, and if you look through the entire book of Acts, if we were to write out we and any time there were more than one person, and the believers came together, it would overwhelm us and be just hundreds and hundreds of times. 00:06:46.720 --> 00:06:50.319 Everywhere Paul went, there was a group of believers that came up. 00:06:50.399 --> 00:06:55.120 Sometimes it was one or two, sometimes it was a group, but they were always together. 00:06:55.439 --> 00:06:58.319 This principle of stay together. 00:06:58.560 --> 00:07:04.000 As I listened, uh, and as I look at even the conflict, there's gonna be times where we don't even agree. 00:07:04.079 --> 00:07:09.040 And I love this in 15, chapter 15, verses 37 through 41. 00:07:09.199 --> 00:07:10.800 I love what happens. 00:07:11.279 --> 00:07:13.199 They're not on the same page. 00:07:13.439 --> 00:07:30.560 Sometimes we don't always agree on everything, but in 37 it says, Barnabas wanted to take John, who's called Mark, with them, but Paul did not think it wise to take him because he had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not continued with them in the work. 00:07:30.720 --> 00:07:34.720 They had such a sharp disagreement that they parted company. 00:07:34.879 --> 00:07:38.240 Barnabas took Mark and sailed to Cyprus. 00:07:38.399 --> 00:07:45.680 But Paul chose Silas and left and commanded by the brothers to the grace of the Lord. 00:07:46.000 --> 00:07:52.560 And here's the deal: we don't have to agree on everything all the time, but we do have to stay together. 00:07:52.879 --> 00:07:56.079 They were divided, they were different, but they were not divided. 00:07:56.240 --> 00:07:58.720 They take the same truth, different directions. 00:07:58.800 --> 00:08:00.319 They didn't agree, and that's okay. 00:08:00.480 --> 00:08:08.079 But to say, hey, God's still God, Christ is still Christ, the good news is still the good news, let's agree to disagree here and move forward. 00:08:08.240 --> 00:08:14.639 And it's it's it there's just something about that unity of Christ, even when we don't agree on everything. 00:08:14.959 --> 00:08:16.319 I love several. 00:08:16.480 --> 00:08:21.519 The uh Admiral McCraven had 10 lessons that he shared in this commencement speech. 00:08:21.600 --> 00:08:23.759 In 19 minutes, it was rapid fire. 00:08:24.000 --> 00:08:27.600 But I love several of one of them was just critical. 00:08:27.839 --> 00:08:34.080 He he says this simply, he said, uh, I was commissioned in the Navy, I went to training, and then I ended up in SEAL training. 00:08:34.159 --> 00:08:39.200 He said, I learned a life worth of lessons in six months of SEAL training. 00:08:39.440 --> 00:08:43.600 He said, Here's the 10 lessons I've learned, and I'm just like, whoa, and I'm trying to write them all down. 00:08:43.759 --> 00:08:45.360 But I'll not forget the one he said. 00:08:45.519 --> 00:08:48.559 One of them was simply, he says, you gotta stay together. 00:08:48.799 --> 00:08:49.679 You gotta stay together. 00:08:49.840 --> 00:08:53.840 And he described part of SEAL training on the coast, on the Pacific coast. 00:08:54.000 --> 00:08:57.039 He says, we were in crews of, I think it was seven men. 00:08:57.279 --> 00:09:03.279 And he says, one of the daily almost drills was you have to take your raft and your guys, and you have to go into the surf. 00:09:03.360 --> 00:09:08.159 You gotta get past the surf and then paddle two miles down the coast. 00:09:08.399 --> 00:09:16.879 He says, getting past that surf is impossible unless everybody paddles together. 00:09:17.120 --> 00:09:18.559 You gotta paddle together. 00:09:18.799 --> 00:09:23.600 And it says it doesn't matter who you are, where you're from, how big, how small you are, and he even goes into the details. 00:09:23.679 --> 00:09:25.679 He said, We used to make fun of this one crew. 00:09:25.840 --> 00:09:34.320 He says, we called them the dwarfs or the midgets or the little bitty guys, and he said, They came up with all kinds of names because there was not one of them over five foot five. 00:09:34.559 --> 00:09:40.399 And they were the little guys, and they were just oh, look at their little flippers, they're little paddles, and they would just make fun of them. 00:09:41.120 --> 00:09:42.720 And he says, you know what? 00:09:43.039 --> 00:09:46.240 Those guys won every paddle. 00:09:46.559 --> 00:09:48.799 They won every swim. 00:09:49.519 --> 00:09:54.639 Because in their minds, they had to stay together, they had to do it together. 00:09:54.799 --> 00:09:57.519 He says, they were the most unified crew there. 00:09:57.759 --> 00:10:02.480 He says, all the other crews would lose guys and they would tap out and ring the bell and leave the program. 00:10:02.720 --> 00:10:04.159 Those guys stuck together. 00:10:04.240 --> 00:10:10.559 And he says, it was amazing because there was there was one African American, there was one Native American, there were two guys from the Midwest, one guy from New York. 00:10:10.639 --> 00:10:12.559 He's just named this barrage of people. 00:10:12.639 --> 00:10:16.399 He says, it didn't matter because they stayed together. 00:10:16.639 --> 00:10:17.679 You got to paddle together. 00:10:17.759 --> 00:10:22.159 And he says, even when you paddle together, there was gonna be this failure in the midst of that, and that was a struggle. 00:10:22.240 --> 00:10:24.799 He says, but you've got to stay together. 00:10:25.039 --> 00:10:29.600 I don't care how great we are, we're gonna see this theme throughout the New Testament. 00:10:30.000 --> 00:10:35.279 We're meant to be together because no matter how great you are, you have blind spots. 00:10:35.440 --> 00:10:41.279 No matter how uh how good I am at any one area, I need help in others. 00:10:41.440 --> 00:10:42.480 And I see this all the time. 00:10:42.639 --> 00:10:50.399 When I sit down with friends, they'll we'll just talk about life and I'll glean from them, they'll glean from me, as it says in Proverbs, iron sharpens iron. 00:10:50.480 --> 00:10:54.960 We need to be around those who follow Christ because we're gonna be better with it. 00:10:55.120 --> 00:10:56.320 And we have blind spots. 00:10:56.480 --> 00:11:04.399 I may have shared this story before, but some of those closest relationships, I'll never forget when I was in college, I had surgery on my face. 00:11:04.559 --> 00:11:07.279 Now, some of you are looking and going, it didn't work. 00:11:07.440 --> 00:11:10.480 Um, but that that wasn't that kind of surgery. 00:11:12.080 --> 00:11:21.360 I had broken my nose three times that that I can remember, just getting hit with a baseball and hit with an elbow, and and this side of my nose did not work. 00:11:21.840 --> 00:11:26.960 And my parents during one of the break, I think it was spring break, or maybe it was over the summer, they said, Hey, we got to get that fixed. 00:11:27.039 --> 00:11:34.480 We go to the doctor, he goes, Yep, deviated septum, you got some blockage, that side doesn't work, and I'm gonna go in, I'm gonna shave it up and straighten it up, and it'll be great. 00:11:34.639 --> 00:11:42.480 And so we go through the process, and for I think it was three or four days after the procedure, you're packed with gauze. 00:11:42.639 --> 00:11:54.240 And if you've had this experience, I'm gonna try to say some of the gory details, but you just got gauze all up in your sinuses, and it's just like, oh, no, no, no, it just feels really odd. 00:11:54.559 --> 00:11:57.759 But then came, that wasn't the painful, but surgery. 00:11:57.919 --> 00:12:00.559 I mean, you're knocked out, it wasn't really painful. 00:12:00.960 --> 00:12:05.519 Then came the day of the most excruciating pain I've ever felt in my life. 00:12:05.759 --> 00:12:07.440 I went in and he did the check on it. 00:12:07.600 --> 00:12:08.639 He goes, Oh, that looks good. 00:12:08.720 --> 00:12:12.240 And he kind of was in my blind spot, and he goes, Hey, let's go ahead and take care of that pack. 00:12:12.320 --> 00:12:14.399 And I'm like, okay, so he just kind of turned my head. 00:12:14.559 --> 00:12:17.759 He immediately shoved a pair of scissors that far up my nose. 00:12:17.919 --> 00:12:18.639 I'm like, huh. 00:12:20.639 --> 00:12:25.840 And then he took it, he goes, Okay, hold still, and he put his hand on my face, and then he just twisted and pulled. 00:12:26.000 --> 00:12:30.080 And the gauze that had been there for three days and caked on came out. 00:12:30.480 --> 00:12:43.840 And have you ever been in so much pain that your eyes shut and cry, and you just like and then I can't get my eyes open, and I feel him watering me and goes, okay, let's get the other side. 00:12:44.240 --> 00:13:28.240 And before I could say, let's not, uh, he's on the other side and he's grabbing it and he's pulling it, and I'm just like, oh, I it was just like and I feel this excruciating pain, followed by I exhaled the pain, and then I just went, oh my nose worked for the first time in years, both sides, and my whole head filled with air, and I'm like, wow, it's the closest I think I will ever be to childbirth where you go through pain and then baby, that's wow, that much pain to total euphoria, and I'm like, wow, this is unbelievable. 00:13:28.879 --> 00:13:33.600 It works, and I was so euphoric that I completely tuned him out. 00:13:33.679 --> 00:13:39.039 He was starting to talk about the drainage and that you get it for a couple days, and you gotta put pads and this, that, and the other. 00:13:39.120 --> 00:13:41.360 I'm like, yeah, okay, I'm breathing, man. 00:13:41.440 --> 00:13:42.320 This is awesome. 00:13:42.559 --> 00:13:47.919 And he's like, and there's gonna be drainage, you're gonna be numb, and it's not gonna feel, and you're gonna do a couple days, it'll all be back to normal. 00:13:48.000 --> 00:13:51.679 But right now, I just totally, I'm just like, yeah, okay, great, sure thing. 00:13:51.919 --> 00:13:53.360 So I get out of there. 00:13:53.600 --> 00:13:59.120 And I've been in the house for three days, and my brother, my younger brother, he goes, Hey man, you wanna go, uh you want to go hang out? 00:13:59.200 --> 00:14:00.639 I'm like, Yes, I just want to be out. 00:14:00.720 --> 00:14:01.200 Let's go somewhere. 00:14:01.279 --> 00:14:02.000 Let's go to the mall. 00:14:02.159 --> 00:14:02.879 Let's go to the mall. 00:14:03.039 --> 00:14:04.159 Went to Cumberland Mall. 00:14:04.240 --> 00:14:07.600 We're walking around Cumberland Mall, and this is why we need friends. 00:14:07.759 --> 00:14:09.600 We need to be around each other. 00:14:09.759 --> 00:14:13.840 I'm standing there in a sporting goods store and I'm just looking at stuff, breathing. 00:14:15.279 --> 00:14:16.240 This is awesome. 00:14:16.399 --> 00:14:18.399 I can smell things, both sides work. 00:14:18.559 --> 00:14:23.200 And my brother just kind of walks up and goes, hey man, go to the bathroom. 00:14:24.639 --> 00:14:28.320 I don't have to go to the bathroom, I'm breathing. 00:14:29.120 --> 00:14:31.759 And he goes, Man, go to the bathroom. 00:14:32.159 --> 00:14:35.039 Like, dude, I don't have to go to the bathroom. 00:14:35.279 --> 00:14:38.000 And uh, it smells bad in bathrooms, and my nose works now. 00:14:38.080 --> 00:14:39.679 I don't want to go to the bathroom. 00:14:40.480 --> 00:14:45.039 And then he just kind of came over and he just kind of nudged me, he kind of ushered me towards the bathroom. 00:14:45.120 --> 00:14:52.720 It's like, and we get in the bathroom, and as I walk in the bathroom, picture the mirror right there, I just turn on, I'm like, what are you talking about? 00:14:52.879 --> 00:15:06.559 And as I turned around, what the doctor had said is your nose will be numb for a few days, and you'll have drainage, and and you need to just keep attention to that. 00:15:06.799 --> 00:15:08.159 Now, here's the disgusting part. 00:15:08.320 --> 00:15:10.480 Put your fair hands over yours if you can't handle it. 00:15:10.639 --> 00:15:17.279 Because here's what, as I spun around, there was like a four-inch booger just hanging out of my nose. 00:15:18.320 --> 00:15:25.279 And it was disgusting, it was like blood cake, just oh what? 00:15:26.480 --> 00:15:27.039 What? 00:15:27.759 --> 00:15:31.360 And I'm sitting here and I'm reaching for a paper towel or something like that. 00:15:31.519 --> 00:15:33.039 Is oh my word. 00:15:34.320 --> 00:15:36.399 And I said, How long has that been there? 00:15:36.559 --> 00:15:37.279 He goes, I don't know. 00:15:37.360 --> 00:15:39.840 I was just, I saw it and I told you to go to the bathroom. 00:15:39.919 --> 00:15:42.000 And I'm just like, wow. 00:15:42.559 --> 00:15:46.639 Now he could have gotten me back for years of picking on him. 00:15:46.799 --> 00:15:50.000 He could have walked around the store going, hey, look at my brother over there. 00:15:51.440 --> 00:15:55.360 He could have done it, but he didn't. 00:15:56.000 --> 00:16:00.080 And the truth is, is that we have blind spots. 00:16:00.240 --> 00:16:07.360 We have areas that are numb, that are painful, that are embarrassing, and we need each other. 00:16:07.440 --> 00:16:09.919 And God says, hey, don't do this alone. 00:16:10.159 --> 00:16:14.240 Don't walk around with those faults that you don't have to. 00:16:14.559 --> 00:16:15.759 Because I'm with you. 00:16:15.919 --> 00:16:24.879 Not only am I with you, but I designed you to be with one another, to look for those blind spots, to be able to tell, hey, I'm here with you. 00:16:25.200 --> 00:16:26.960 We're on this path together. 00:16:27.200 --> 00:16:29.360 You don't have to go through the pain alone. 00:16:29.600 --> 00:16:32.320 Which really leads to the second lesson. 00:16:32.639 --> 00:16:40.639 And the second lesson is there's a great verse in Matthew that kind of sets it up, and it's in chapter 5, verses 45. 00:16:40.799 --> 00:16:47.120 And just put that in the margin because here's the deal: the second lesson is this life happens. 00:16:48.159 --> 00:16:49.759 It just happens. 00:16:50.080 --> 00:16:50.960 Now what? 00:16:51.360 --> 00:16:52.960 Life is gonna happen. 00:16:53.360 --> 00:16:58.480 And the way that Matthew chapter 5, verse 45 puts it is simply this. 00:16:58.720 --> 00:17:01.919 It says that you may be the sons of your father in heaven. 00:17:02.240 --> 00:17:05.680 He causes his son to rise on the evil and the good. 00:17:05.839 --> 00:17:08.880 He sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 00:17:09.200 --> 00:17:09.759 Guess what? 00:17:09.920 --> 00:17:11.920 Good and bad is gonna happen to everybody. 00:17:12.160 --> 00:17:12.640 Everybody. 00:17:12.880 --> 00:17:14.160 So what are we gonna do with it? 00:17:14.400 --> 00:17:15.519 Life is gonna happen. 00:17:15.599 --> 00:17:18.160 It's not always going to be roses. 00:17:18.720 --> 00:17:26.319 And in Acts chapter 16, we see that Paul and and his buddy, they're doing the right stuff. 00:17:26.640 --> 00:17:33.599 Paul is going through, and he and Silas are on this trip now, and and they're going in the city and they're telling the good news. 00:17:33.759 --> 00:17:34.640 Jesus has risen. 00:17:34.720 --> 00:17:36.079 He really does love all of you. 00:17:36.880 --> 00:17:41.599 You're not set apart in a bad way, kept from God, but you can know Christ. 00:17:41.759 --> 00:17:51.039 And he rose from the dead, and they're doing this, and there's this little girl who is possessed, and she's yelling behind them, but it's it's not a bad yell. 00:17:51.119 --> 00:17:55.279 She's just like, these are the men who are telling you of the most high God and and how to be saved. 00:17:55.440 --> 00:18:02.240 Well, the people who handled this little girl made a lot of money off of her telling the future. 00:18:02.480 --> 00:18:09.599 And after a few days, Paul just goes, listen, he turns around and addresses the demon and says, Hey, come out of her, leave. 00:18:09.759 --> 00:18:10.240 And he does. 00:18:10.319 --> 00:18:13.200 The demon leaves, and this little girl is now whole. 00:18:13.440 --> 00:18:16.799 And that should be a good, that should be a good result, right? 00:18:17.119 --> 00:18:22.960 But then the people who are kind of handling her were just like, we've lost our income. 00:18:23.279 --> 00:18:31.039 So they come against them, and and not only come against them, but they start lying about them, and and now it's like total chaos breaks loose. 00:18:31.200 --> 00:18:34.319 All they did was what was right and what was good. 00:18:34.640 --> 00:18:39.440 And then look what happens in chapter 16, verses 22 through 36. 00:18:40.720 --> 00:18:47.200 The crowd joined the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered them to be stripped and beaten. 00:18:47.359 --> 00:18:52.240 After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison. 00:18:52.400 --> 00:18:57.680 And the jailer was condemned to guard them carefully, or commanded to guard them carefully. 00:18:57.839 --> 00:19:03.519 Upon receiving such orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet to the stocks. 00:19:03.920 --> 00:19:18.559 Now here's, I want to pause there for a second and just to ask the question, because some here today, you've done what's right, and you've done the right, the right actions, you've made the right decisions, and the opposite results have happened. 00:19:18.799 --> 00:19:23.920 And you may even be here today struggling through an issue, feeling like, I don't deserve this. 00:19:24.240 --> 00:19:30.720 Maybe it was something imposed on you by someone else, maybe it's financial, I don't know what it is, but the opposite has happened. 00:19:30.960 --> 00:19:34.799 And and life has happened, and it's not fair. 00:19:35.039 --> 00:19:37.200 We hear all the time life's not fair. 00:19:37.519 --> 00:19:39.599 But we know the great judge. 00:19:39.839 --> 00:19:43.359 We know the one who says there is never pain without a purpose. 00:19:43.519 --> 00:19:47.759 And when I know Christ, he's involved going, hey, keep doing what's right. 00:19:47.839 --> 00:19:54.799 Now, Paul and Silas, they could have gone, God, all we did was right, all we did what you said, and now we're in prison and we've been severely beaten. 00:19:55.519 --> 00:19:58.640 But here's the point God always has a plan. 00:19:58.880 --> 00:20:04.559 When life knocks us down, we don't have to think, well, I'm in pain, but there's a purpose. 00:20:04.720 --> 00:20:07.039 Because look what happens next. 00:20:07.359 --> 00:20:10.079 In 22, we keep, they've been flogged, they're in prison. 00:20:10.240 --> 00:20:14.640 It says that about midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God. 00:20:14.799 --> 00:20:17.119 Now there's an attitude adjustment right there. 00:20:17.759 --> 00:20:21.039 When we don't feel like it and we don't understand it. 00:20:21.359 --> 00:20:23.200 God, I know you're in control. 00:20:23.440 --> 00:20:25.519 What song do you want me to sing right now? 00:20:25.759 --> 00:20:26.799 And just start singing. 00:20:26.880 --> 00:20:28.720 I'm telling you, there's something about it. 00:20:28.880 --> 00:20:30.960 There's something about flipping on an iPod. 00:20:31.359 --> 00:20:35.119 They didn't have an iPod, but they had a song on their head and they started singing. 00:20:35.440 --> 00:20:37.920 There's something about that that gives us perspective. 00:20:38.160 --> 00:20:42.799 Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundation of the prisons were shaken. 00:20:42.880 --> 00:20:48.160 And at once, all at once, the prison doors flew open and everybody's chains were loosened. 00:20:48.400 --> 00:20:52.319 And after that happened, the doors fly open, the chains are loose, the jailer wakes up. 00:20:52.559 --> 00:20:59.279 Now, those in the military, those who are jailing, if anybody escapes, they're the ones who pay the price. 00:20:59.519 --> 00:21:00.240 Look what happened. 00:21:00.319 --> 00:21:03.119 The jailer woke up and we saw the prison doors open. 00:21:03.279 --> 00:21:08.240 He drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped. 00:21:08.559 --> 00:21:11.680 But Paul shouted, Don't harm yourself. 00:21:11.839 --> 00:21:12.880 We're all here. 00:21:14.079 --> 00:21:17.680 Now, there's so much to this one piece. 00:21:17.759 --> 00:21:22.880 I'm not going to get into all of it at all, but you're beaten unjustly. 00:21:23.119 --> 00:21:25.680 You're thrown into prison unjustly. 00:21:25.920 --> 00:21:28.400 The chains fall off and the doors open. 00:21:28.720 --> 00:21:32.160 Is there anybody else like me going, thank you, God, I'm out of here? 00:21:33.119 --> 00:21:34.079 But they didn't. 00:21:34.160 --> 00:21:37.759 They were so focused on the fact that God is with me. 00:21:38.000 --> 00:21:42.160 Their chains fall off and the doors open, and they just keep singing. 00:21:42.400 --> 00:21:44.640 And they just keep rejoicing that God's with me. 00:21:44.960 --> 00:21:46.000 I'm worthy of this. 00:21:46.160 --> 00:21:46.880 It's amazing. 00:21:47.039 --> 00:21:51.200 The jailer woke up and he goes to kill himself, but Paul shouted, Don't harm yourself. 00:21:51.359 --> 00:21:54.400 Verse 29 the jailer called for lights. 00:21:54.640 --> 00:21:59.759 They turn them up, rushed in, fell trembling before Paul and Silas. 00:22:00.319 --> 00:22:04.319 He then brought them out and asked, sir, what must I do to be saved? 00:22:05.279 --> 00:22:07.119 He's so overwhelmed. 00:22:07.440 --> 00:22:10.400 In the midst of our pain, God has a plan. 00:22:11.279 --> 00:22:12.559 Am I so focused? 00:22:12.720 --> 00:22:15.200 Am I willing to go, okay, life is happening? 00:22:15.440 --> 00:22:19.039 Am I so focused on the fact, God, you're with me? 00:22:19.839 --> 00:22:23.039 What do you want to, what purpose do you want to bring out of this pain? 00:22:23.200 --> 00:22:24.960 Lord, what do you want to do? 00:22:25.279 --> 00:22:26.480 Because yes, it's pain. 00:22:26.559 --> 00:22:28.480 I'm not pretending it's not there. 00:22:28.799 --> 00:22:30.400 But what do you want to bring through this? 00:22:30.559 --> 00:22:34.480 Am I willing to be beaten relationally, financially, physically? 00:22:34.640 --> 00:22:38.880 You name the category, in order for God to move. 00:22:39.039 --> 00:22:48.880 It says the jailer was immediately, he took them to his house, and his wife and his family were baptized, and they're just like, this is amazing. 00:22:49.119 --> 00:22:50.960 And it began to spread throughout. 00:22:51.119 --> 00:22:53.279 Am I willing to take that pain? 00:22:54.240 --> 00:22:58.400 I love what Admiral McCraven had said about trials and failure. 00:22:58.480 --> 00:22:59.519 He said, You know what? 00:22:59.680 --> 00:23:03.119 He says, You the another lesson I learned was that it's going to happen. 00:23:03.200 --> 00:23:05.599 No matter how good you are, it's going to happen. 00:23:05.680 --> 00:23:10.400 He says, Part of our training was at least once a week they had to come out in their uniform. 00:23:10.559 --> 00:23:13.359 And he says, you did everything to make sure it was perfect. 00:23:13.599 --> 00:23:17.839 Shoes polished, belt buckle polished, everything perfectly creased and seamed. 00:23:18.000 --> 00:23:19.519 Everything perfect. 00:23:19.759 --> 00:23:23.599 And he says, and they all come out and they spend all this time to get perfect. 00:23:23.839 --> 00:23:26.079 He says, then they're into expect inspect it. 00:23:26.160 --> 00:23:27.839 And he said it never failed. 00:23:27.920 --> 00:23:33.680 He said, the uh sergeants would come out and they're just, they would find something wrong. 00:23:33.920 --> 00:23:35.440 They would find something wrong. 00:23:35.519 --> 00:23:43.680 And in SEAL training, he says that they found anything wrong, they would go, they called it sugar cookie, which is hilarious to me. 00:23:43.839 --> 00:23:55.839 They had to literally go from attention in full uniform, in full uniform, completely as they had to go into the surf and they had to get wet, then they had to come on the beach and roll around until their entire body was covered in sand. 00:23:56.400 --> 00:23:58.480 And he says they called it sugar cookie. 00:23:58.640 --> 00:24:06.160 And he says, after about the third or fourth time of inspection, and they would try even harder and even harder and even harder to be even more perfect. 00:24:06.319 --> 00:24:10.079 And he says, then it dawned on me, I'm never gonna be perfect. 00:24:10.799 --> 00:24:12.880 I'm never gonna be good enough. 00:24:13.279 --> 00:24:14.319 And you know what? 00:24:14.400 --> 00:24:15.519 I don't know why. 00:24:15.680 --> 00:24:18.079 This is part of the training, but I'm not gonna be good enough. 00:24:18.240 --> 00:24:19.920 So, okay, I'm gonna do my best. 00:24:20.000 --> 00:24:23.279 I'm gonna take it, I'm gonna move me a sugar cookie, and then I'm gonna have to run around in this. 00:24:24.240 --> 00:24:24.559 Okay. 00:24:25.039 --> 00:24:28.960 Just resolve the fact that this is not going to stop me. 00:24:29.519 --> 00:24:31.039 And that is part of their training. 00:24:31.119 --> 00:24:36.559 They said mentally, we want you to face utter, complete failure and still keep going. 00:24:36.960 --> 00:24:42.799 And when everything that you plan perfectly does not work out, keep going. 00:24:43.119 --> 00:24:44.160 Don't stop. 00:24:44.480 --> 00:24:49.279 We need those who have the ability to look past and never give up. 00:24:49.599 --> 00:24:51.119 And I'm just like, wow. 00:24:51.359 --> 00:25:00.480 He shared another concept that they have in the same category where they would literally, they would be on the beach, they would do a full day of training, the surf, the paddling, down and back. 00:25:00.559 --> 00:25:09.359 And he says, by the end of the day, you are so fatigued and so exhausted, so freezing, so cold, so wet, you were uncontrollably shaking and chattering. 00:25:09.599 --> 00:25:15.039 He says, then you had to do a timed swim or a run after all that. 00:25:15.519 --> 00:25:16.720 And it was timed. 00:25:16.880 --> 00:25:31.200 And if you did not, if you made the time, if you were able to somehow complete it, you'd go back exhausted, start working on cleaning the uniform that you were gonna have to go roll in the sand with, andor total exhaustion, you would go back. 00:25:31.279 --> 00:25:36.640 But if you did not make it, then you had the joy of going to what they called the circus. 00:25:37.200 --> 00:25:43.759 He says, which was two hours of additional calisthetics and running and swimming. 00:25:44.400 --> 00:25:48.000 And he said, it was mentally brutal. 00:25:48.319 --> 00:25:50.000 He says, but then I started to see something. 00:25:50.160 --> 00:25:54.799 He says, the guys, he said, and everybody went to the circus at least once. 00:25:55.440 --> 00:25:58.799 He says, but I started to see these guys who would go to the circus over and over. 00:25:59.279 --> 00:26:04.640 And he said they started getting stronger and they started getting faster, they started getting better. 00:26:05.039 --> 00:26:09.440 And he said, nobody wanted to go to the circus, but everybody wanted the results of the circus. 00:26:09.599 --> 00:26:12.240 It's like, wow, that's amazing. 00:26:12.400 --> 00:26:19.519 Could it be that God in his infinite wisdom would say, hey, I'm gonna take you through some times of trials, I'm gonna take you through them. 00:26:19.599 --> 00:26:20.960 You're not gonna understand them. 00:26:21.119 --> 00:26:22.880 Don't lean on what you understand. 00:26:23.039 --> 00:26:27.039 Acknowledge me in them because I'll make your path straight. 00:26:27.119 --> 00:26:28.000 It's for a reason. 00:26:28.160 --> 00:26:30.640 There's never pain without a purpose. 00:26:31.440 --> 00:26:33.279 Life happens. 00:26:33.839 --> 00:26:48.960 I'm not gonna go into great detail, but if you look at the end of Acts in verses 27 and 28, and for those of you who are believers, has God ever laid a direction on your heart and you think, oh good, and then nothing happens to help? 00:26:49.599 --> 00:26:54.400 And I don't know if you're there today, but if you are, I encourage you to go back, read Acts 27 and 28. 00:26:54.559 --> 00:26:58.880 Paul is told, You will stand before Caesar and give an account of me. 00:26:59.680 --> 00:27:03.759 And then he is brought into Jerusalem and they try to kill him. 00:27:04.000 --> 00:27:11.279 And he evades that and he goes before two, three different judges, and they're like, You're there's I don't understand why you're here. 00:27:11.440 --> 00:27:12.799 And he says, I appeal to Caesar. 00:27:12.880 --> 00:27:16.640 I'm a Roman citizen, I appeal to Caesar, so they send him to Rome. 00:27:16.880 --> 00:27:22.000 And in the process of that of several months, if you read this part, he goes through shipwreck. 00:27:22.160 --> 00:27:24.240 Literally, he should be dead. 00:27:24.400 --> 00:27:33.279 They're on the sea for days with no stars in this huge, perfect storm of a storm, and they're literally thinking, we're going to die. 00:27:33.599 --> 00:27:35.119 We're going to die. 00:27:35.519 --> 00:27:37.359 Now hit pause on that for a second. 00:27:37.440 --> 00:27:41.839 And whether you are there, have been there, or will be there, don't forget this. 00:27:42.000 --> 00:27:45.920 In the midst of that, and I don't know if you've been there before, I know I have. 00:27:46.640 --> 00:27:51.440 And there's something about that tragic storm of life. 00:27:51.759 --> 00:27:58.640 Lord, I thought you called me to do this, but obviously I've missed it because this is not what I signed up for. 00:27:58.960 --> 00:28:01.359 This is not the way you get there. 00:28:02.000 --> 00:28:03.839 And he thought they were gonna die. 00:28:04.079 --> 00:28:05.599 You know what happens in those times? 00:28:05.759 --> 00:28:07.279 We get really honest. 00:28:07.759 --> 00:28:12.559 I don't know how you are, but I start thinking back, Lord, what did I fail to confess? 00:28:12.799 --> 00:28:17.440 What I'm confessing sins, I've already confessed, I'm confessing sins, I didn't even commit. 00:28:17.599 --> 00:28:20.319 And it was just like, Lord, what is going on? 00:28:21.200 --> 00:28:24.319 Because circumstantially, this is not where I plan on being. 00:28:24.400 --> 00:28:31.759 I plan on being fulfilling what you called me to, and none of this is in the plan, in my plan, but God just says, I got this. 00:28:32.000 --> 00:28:34.160 Because sometimes it's to help those around us. 00:28:34.240 --> 00:28:43.920 And Paul said to the guys on the ship, and he's like, guys, and they're literally planning, they're throwing stuff overboard, they haven't eaten, they haven't can't see the stars, they're like, we're dead. 00:28:44.079 --> 00:28:48.400 He said, Guys, all I can tell you is God told me I'm gonna stand before Caesar. 00:28:48.720 --> 00:28:50.960 So I'm gonna make it. 00:28:53.599 --> 00:28:54.480 We're gonna get there. 00:28:54.559 --> 00:28:59.119 And then after a few more days, he literally goes, guys, good news. 00:28:59.680 --> 00:29:01.599 B, take courage. 00:29:01.920 --> 00:29:04.319 God showed me a dream last night. 00:29:04.559 --> 00:29:06.400 Every one of you is gonna make it with me. 00:29:06.640 --> 00:29:07.759 You're gonna make it. 00:29:08.000 --> 00:29:09.119 I don't know how. 00:29:09.359 --> 00:29:10.319 But you know what? 00:29:10.559 --> 00:29:13.599 Let's take some of the grain that we're about to throw overboard, let's eat. 00:29:13.759 --> 00:29:16.079 They haven't eaten in two weeks, and he goes, Let's eat. 00:29:16.240 --> 00:29:20.640 And they bake up as much as they can eat, and they eat bread, and he goes, Take courage. 00:29:20.880 --> 00:29:26.559