Shownotes
Join us for a powerful message from Pastor Josh Massaro as he explores the transformative story of Paul and Silas in prison. This episode emphasizes the importance of maintaining faith and praise in the midst of difficulties, illustrating how their reliance on God led to miraculous outcomes, including the salvation of the jailer and his family. Pastor Josh encourages listeners to reflect on what hinders their own praise to God and to seek opportunities to minister to others, even during personal trials. The sermon challenges us to embrace our calling to share the gospel, highlighting that our hardships can be avenues for divine purpose. As we approach the Christmas season, this message serves as a reminder of the hope and joy found in trusting God through every circumstance.
The narrative of Paul and Silas in prison serves as a powerful backdrop for an engaging exploration of faith, resilience, and evangelism in the podcast led by Pastor Josh Massaro. The episode intricately details the circumstances leading to their imprisonment—unjustly beaten and confined for their devotion to spreading the gospel. Pastor Josh draws attention to their remarkable response: instead of lamenting their plight, they turn to prayer and praise. This act of worship is not only a testament to their faith but also a profound example of how believers can find strength and joy in God, regardless of their situations. The podcast emphasizes that true worship transcends circumstances and is rooted in an understanding of God’s character and love.
As the episode unfolds, listeners witness a miraculous divine intervention through an earthquake that opens the prison doors. However, rather than fleeing to freedom, Paul and Silas choose to remain, prioritizing the spiritual wellbeing of the jailer over their own escape. This pivotal decision underscores a critical theme of the episode: the call to love and serve others, even in moments of personal crisis. Pastor Josh challenges the audience to think about what hinders their own worship and how they can reflect Christ's love in their interactions with others, especially during challenging times. The story serves as a catalyst for self-reflection about how personal trials can be transformed into opportunities for evangelism and testimony.
In the latter part of the podcast, the focus shifts to the jailer's conversion, highlighting the process of salvation that not only impacts him but also extends to his household. Pastor Josh stresses the importance of being prepared to share the gospel when opportunities arise, reminding listeners that the simplicity of believing in Jesus as Savior can lead to profound transformations. The closing remarks urge the audience to embrace their mission as Christians, to share the message of hope with compassion, and to draw strength from their faith in God. This episode serves as a heartfelt reminder of the ripple effects of faith and the importance of living a life that actively seeks to share the love of Christ with others, regardless of the challenges faced.
Takeaways:
- Paul and Silas relied on prayer and praise even when imprisoned, demonstrating deep faith.
- In trials, we should seek opportunities to minister to others rather than focus on ourselves.
- The jailer's transformation from despair to joy exemplifies the power of the Gospel.
- True joy comes from trusting God in difficult circumstances, not just in good times.
- Belief in Jesus Christ leads to salvation, not through works but through faith alone.
- The importance of sharing the Gospel within our families can impact generations to come.
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This podcast is produced by Ralph Estep, Jr., host of the Ask Ralph Podcast, a daily podcast on Christian Finance you can find it at https://www.askralphpodcast.com/
Transcripts
Hello and welcome to the Middletown Baptist Church podcast, where we are proclaiming the truth to the world.
Pastor Josh:My name is Pastor Josh, and I want to thank you for listening to this podcast.
Pastor Josh:I hope that this podcast can be a blessing to you and strengthen you in the word of God.
Pastor Josh:Now, come along.
Pastor Josh:Let's look into the Bible and see what God has for us here today.
Speaker B:Well, we're going to go ahead and turn to the Book of Acts.
Speaker B:If you have your Bibles, turn to the Book of Acts.
Speaker B:And we are going to be looking at one of my favorite stories in all of the Bible.
Speaker B:Bible.
Speaker B:Now, some of you have said.
Speaker B:I've heard you say that a million times.
Speaker B:True.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:I've got a lot of favorite stories, but this is one of my favorite stories.
Speaker B:And you can know that by the fact that one of the characters here, one of the individuals that's in the story, we named someone in our house with that name, Silas.
Speaker B:And I love this story.
Speaker B:This is the story of Paul and Silas in prison and how God miraculously worked through them to have individuals come to Christ.
Speaker B:And so this has been a couple of weeks since we've looked at this passage of scripture.
Speaker B:So I need to remind you about where we are and what's happened.
Speaker B:We see Paul and Silas in prison because they were preaching the gospel, because they cast out a demon in this girl.
Speaker B:And she obviously at that point stopped doing the things that her masters were having her do.
Speaker B:And they lost their money.
Speaker B:And so therefore what they did was they said, we're upset with these guys.
Speaker B:We're going to beat them, and we're going to throw them in jail.
Speaker B:That's where we left off.
Speaker B:And we left off in verse number 25, and it says, and at midnight, Paul and Silas prayed.
Speaker B:And so of all the things that Paul and Silas could have done, they could have complained, they could have gotten upset and tried to break out themselves.
Speaker B:But the response to this difficulty, the response to this trial, the response to this beating, the response to the imprisonment was that they would pray.
Speaker B:It's a complete reliance on the Lord.
Speaker B:And I'm going to tell you that as believers, we have the opportunity to completely rely on God at all points.
Speaker B:But specifically in times of difficulty, there's going to be times in your life where you might say, you know what?
Speaker B:I don't know what to do.
Speaker B:I don't know what God has in this for me.
Speaker B:I don't know what God is trying to teach me.
Speaker B:But one thing that you can do is say, I'm going to lean on him through this.
Speaker B:I'm going to trust in him through this.
Speaker B:And so therefore, they demonstrate their trust in God by praying.
Speaker B:It says, and they prayed.
Speaker B:And they didn't just pray.
Speaker B:What do they do?
Speaker B:It says, and saying praises unto God.
Speaker B:Now, now, I don't know about you, but it's very hard for me to truly sing praises to God if I'm angry, if I'm bitter, if I'm discouraged.
Speaker B:But what they do here is they say, you know what?
Speaker B:We trust in God so much that we are going to praise him not necessarily for the circumstance that we are in, but we are going to praise him for who he is.
Speaker B:We're going to praise him for his love, we're going to praise him for his provisions.
Speaker B:We're going to praise him for his power.
Speaker B:And that's what they do here.
Speaker B:They pray and they sing praises unto God, though they were arrested, though they were beaten, though they were imprisoned for doing good.
Speaker B:By the way, Paul and Silas were, as we see here, filled with joy.
Speaker B:They were filled with contentment.
Speaker B:They were filled with the love of God.
Speaker B:And so it seems as if nothing could stop them from praising God.
Speaker B:And this is a question that I would want to pose to you here this evening.
Speaker B:And it's a question that I'm posing to myself.
Speaker B:What in my life stops my praise to God?
Speaker B:What in my life makes me think about that instead of praising God?
Speaker B:And, you know, a lot of times it's what we would call legitimate things.
Speaker B:Hardships, pain, suffering, doubts, whatever it could be.
Speaker B:There are things in our life that pull us away from praising God.
Speaker B:And what the Bible says is that we have to relinquish our grip on those things and turn our eyes and turn our hearts to the Lord.
Speaker B:I'm going to say this.
Speaker B:Anybody can be happy when the circumstances are looking good, right?
Speaker B:Anybody, like an unsaved person, can be excited when things are going well for them, right?
Speaker B:But the true challenge of a believer to have the joy of the Lord is to say, I'm going to have the joy of the Lord in the midst of a difficulty.
Speaker B:And so the joy of the Lord is not given to believers only when things are going well.
Speaker B:The joy of the Lord is given to believers in the midst of all difficulties, in the good and in the bad, in the easy and the difficult.
Speaker B:And it says there at the end of verse 25.
Speaker B:And the prisoners heard them.
Speaker B:And so this lifestyle, this public display of worship to God was a testimony to those around them.
Speaker B:I mentioned this morning in my Sunday school class that, That a trial in and of itself is not a bad thing.
Speaker B:It's only a sin when we deal with that trial in a selfish, sinful way.
Speaker B:So, for example, I have a difficulty coming to my life.
Speaker B:I can choose to use this difficulty to point people to Christ to praise God through this, or I can choose to face it in bitterness and anger and totally point people away from the goodness of God.
Speaker B:And the true test for us is, are we willing to be a testimony to the Lord in the good or in the difficult?
Speaker B:And they are.
Speaker B:They're.
Speaker B:They're a testimony.
Speaker B:The prisoners hear them.
Speaker B:And we see the result of this in verse 26, says here, and suddenly there was a great earthquake.
Speaker B:So that the foundations of the prison were shaken, and immediately all the doors were open and everyone's bands were loosed.
Speaker B:This.
Speaker B:I believe this earthquake was a supernatural earthquake given by God because of the timing and the location.
Speaker B:And so what happens here is that this earthquake comes and all of the prisoners have an opportunity to run, including Paul and Silas.
Speaker B:This is.
Speaker B:This is the.
Speaker B:If this was a Hollywood story, this would be, hey, the earthquake came, our chains were loose, the doors are open, we're going to run out, and we're going to be free.
Speaker B:That's what we all would do, right?
Speaker B:I mean, that's what I would do.
Speaker B:I mean, I'm just to be completely.
Speaker B:Like, I could be transparent with you tonight.
Speaker B:If I was in prison for doing good for the Lord and these doors opened up and my chains fell off, I'd say, great, this is God answering my prayer.
Speaker B:And selfishly, I'm going to leave.
Speaker B:I'm going to go back to my family.
Speaker B:But what do they do here?
Speaker B:This is.
Speaker B:This is an amazing thing, what Paul and Silas do.
Speaker B:Their focus is not on their own freedom.
Speaker B:Their focus is on winning people to Christ.
Speaker B:Verse 27.
Speaker B:And the keeper of the prison awakening out of his sleep and seeing the prison doors open, he drew out his sword and would have killed himself.
Speaker B:Supposing that the prisoners had been fled.
Speaker B:So what happens here is that while this is all going on, there's a prisoner, a prison guard there, and the prison guard sees the doors open, he goes, oh, boy, they're all going to leave.
Speaker B:Now, why was he going to turn the sword on himself?
Speaker B:Because if these prisoners left and he did not hold them in captivity, he was going to lose his life.
Speaker B:He was going to lose his life.
Speaker B:His superiors would have killed him, and so he was going to kill himself.
Speaker B:And so the jailer did this for a reason.
Speaker B:Under Roman Law and under the customs that they were in, the guards who allowed prisoners to escape would have the penalty of the escaped prisoners, which would be the penalty of death.
Speaker B:But then we see something very interesting here, because they could have left.
Speaker B:Obviously, this is why the prisoner, the prison guard was going to go ahead and turn the sword on himself.
Speaker B:But it says in verse 28, but Paul cried with a loud voice saying, do thyself no harm, for we are all here.
Speaker B:Paul holds everyone there, and that's an interesting thing.
Speaker B:He assured the jailer that nobody was going to escape.
Speaker B:And so he says, don't.
Speaker B:Don't harm yourself.
Speaker B:We're all here.
Speaker B:Then he called for a light and sprang in and came trembling and fell down before Paul and Silas.
Speaker B:And so we see this jailer, he calls for a light.
Speaker B:He comes in, as it says here, trembling, and he falls down before Paul and Silas.
Speaker B:So.
Speaker B:So this prison guard, this one who is a hardened soldier, falls down trembling.
Speaker B:This was.
Speaker B:It was a dramatic moment for him.
Speaker B:This man was more affected by the love demonstrated to him from Paul and Silas than the actual earthquake itself.
Speaker B:He falls down before Paul and Silas because this demonstration of love was something that he was not used to seeing.
Speaker B:And we know that Paul and Silas have a motive here, and the motive is to win him to Christ.
Speaker B:And so this man was affected by their love.
Speaker B:And so he falls down before him, and he.
Speaker B:And it says in verse number 30, and brought them out and said, sirs, what must I do to be saved?
Speaker B:This is a wonderful question.
Speaker B:This is a question that we all should be desiring to have given to us, right?
Speaker B:Would you be able.
Speaker B:This is a true question here tonight.
Speaker B:I want you to think about this.
Speaker B:I don't want you to answer right now.
Speaker B:I want you to raise your hand and say, oh, yes, I know, exactly.
Speaker B:But what if someone came to you and said, what must I do to be saved?
Speaker B:Would you have a succinct answer, a clear answer to give them?
Speaker B:Or would you be able to say, well, come back and I want you to talk with my pastor?
Speaker B:It's okay.
Speaker B:I'd love to talk to him, but sometimes we don't have that luxury.
Speaker B:And I think about this, and I've read this passage of scripture many times, but I thought about what would I say if someone came up to me, said, what must I do to be saved?
Speaker B:Some folks would say, well, you gotta do xyz.
Speaker B:You gotta clean up your life.
Speaker B:You gotta make sure that you are in church.
Speaker B:You gotta make sure you're doing this.
Speaker B:And Doing that.
Speaker B:There's a lot of things that have been said over the years to how can you get saved?
Speaker B:Well, you gotta.
Speaker B:You gotta make sure that you do the sacrifices.
Speaker B:You gotta make sure that you religiously come before the church and do all these things.
Speaker B:That's not what they say, though.
Speaker B:Verse 31 is a very clear and basic explanation of what an individual does to understand salvation.
Speaker B:Says, and they said, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.
Speaker B:Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
Speaker B:Now we know by context that doesn't just mean believe that he exists.
Speaker B:It means believe that he is your savior.
Speaker B:Believe in Him, Believe in His sacrifice.
Speaker B:Believe in his life, his death, and his resurrection.
Speaker B:Believe in everything that he is.
Speaker B:Believe in what he has done for you.
Speaker B:Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.
Speaker B:There's another passage in the book of Romans that very similarly looks to this as Romans chapter 10.
Speaker B:Most of you know this.
Speaker B:Romans chapter 10.
Speaker B:I want you to see it, though, because I don't want you to think that I'm making this up.
Speaker B:If you know the Romans Road, I'm sure you are familiar with this verse, but it says in Romans chapter 10, verse 9, that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
Speaker B:And so a lot of times what we do is we convolute, we cloud up the explanation of what a person must do to come to Christ.
Speaker B:Now, are there steps after salvation that allow for spiritual growth?
Speaker B:Of course.
Speaker B:But the initial step of salvation is just believing in faith that Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sins, he rose again on the third day, and that we as sinners, need salvation.
Speaker B:We need his salvation in our life.
Speaker B:And so that's how they respond to him.
Speaker B:They say, hey, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.
Speaker B:Very clear mention of the Gospel here.
Speaker B:And so we would stop there, but there's more to the story.
Speaker B:Says thou shalt be saved.
Speaker B:And then these three words at the end of verse 31 have actually caused some confusion with a lot of people.
Speaker B:Says here in verse 31, and thou shalt be saved and thy house.
Speaker B:Now, there are some people out there that teach and use this passage as a proof text that if you are saved, that your whole family is saved.
Speaker B:And I would clearly explain to you in context as we look later on, that that's not what this is talking about.
Speaker B:What?
Speaker B:What is this talking about?
Speaker B:What is he talking about?
Speaker B:With his house being saved.
Speaker B:Well, I believe in this case that this is speaking prophetically through the Holy Spirit, that if he got saved and that he would allow his family to be introduced to the gospel, that they would be saved.
Speaker B:But we do know that odds are going to go up in our family that if we are saved, statistically speaking, our family is going to get saved because we are a testimony to them.
Speaker B:And so there's a couple of different ways that you could look at this.
Speaker B:But essentially what they're telling them is telling him is this, yes, you believe on Jesus Christ and you will be saved.
Speaker B:And it will influence your house.
Speaker B:It will allow you to see your family come to Christ as well.
Speaker B:I'm going to tell you that one of the greatest decisions that you can make, the greatest decision that you can make is your personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
Speaker B:But the second most important decision that you can make is sharing that decision with other people, specifically the people that you love, your family.
Speaker B:Like I see it, obviously, I'm a preacher of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Speaker B:And so my job is to preach the gospel to everyone that I come across in this world.
Speaker B:Okay?
Speaker B:But I will say that my number one ministry, and I'm going to unapologetically say this right now, and frankly, it's.
Speaker B:It sometimes rubs people the wrong way.
Speaker B:My number one ministry is sitting on that pew right over there in my home.
Speaker B:If I cannot clearly demonstrate the gospel to my wife and to my children and to my family, I am missing the point.
Speaker B:And so what we can see here is that the gospel decision that we make impacts our family for the cause of the gospel.
Speaker B:It doesn't automatically mean that everybody in my house is going to get saved.
Speaker B:But my decision that I make for the Lord, if I truly believe that and if I truly live the gospel message out, will impact my family for the cause of the gospel.
Speaker B:I can tell you, you know what, there have been a lot of people that have preached the gospel to thousands of people around the world, but miss the closest people to them because of the big focus, and they miss the eternal decree that I must be a missionary to my own family as well.
Speaker B:And so we see here this message in verse 31, that he would be saved if he believed on the Lord Jesus and thy house.
Speaker B:Now, we do know that prophetically, his house does get saved.
Speaker B:And so Paul's answer to the prison guard is a classic statement of the gospel.
Speaker B:This is what we would call salvation by grace alone, by faith alone.
Speaker B:Grace alone, through Faith.
Speaker B:Ephesians, chapter 2, verses 8 and 9.
Speaker B:There's no works involved with this salvation.
Speaker B:And so what we can say here is that it's very clear that salvation is through trusting in what God has done for us.
Speaker B:Some have actually really gotten upset with this passage of scripture because they believe that Paul is making it too easy to get saved.
Speaker B:You've ever heard of a phrase, easy believism?
Speaker B:Well, a lot of people are concerned with this passage that, hey, Paul's making it too easy to come to Christ.
Speaker B:You have to be repentant.
Speaker B:Well, folks, yes, you had to be repentant.
Speaker B:I believe the jailer already demonstrated repentance.
Speaker B:Go, go back.
Speaker B:What happens here?
Speaker B:He falls before Paul and Silas and is trembling, and he says, what must I do to be saved?
Speaker B:Now, repentance is not what saves you, but repentance brings you to a place in which you're able to receive and understand the message of Jesus Christ.
Speaker B:Repent and believe.
Speaker B:And so there must be a time in our life where we recognize our sin condition.
Speaker B:And then what we say is, lord, I need you in faith.
Speaker B:And so he comes in a place of repentance, and he comes in faith.
Speaker B:And what we see is that he trusts in the Lord.
Speaker B:So Paul specifically gives him the catalyst, the beginning to the Christian life.
Speaker B:And that is faith.
Speaker B:And so Paul did not necessarily say, hey, you have to believe that he exists.
Speaker B:You have to be a good person.
Speaker B:He says, trust in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Speaker B:So we move on.
Speaker B:It says here in verse 32, and they spake unto him, the word of the Lord.
Speaker B:Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.
Speaker B:He's not going to just get saved because the earthquake.
Speaker B:He's not just going to get saved because Paul and Silas are good people.
Speaker B:Paul and Silas have to present to him the Word of God.
Speaker B:That's.
Speaker B:That's sometimes where we fall short.
Speaker B:Sometimes we think, well, you know what?
Speaker B:Someone's just going to get saved by watching my life.
Speaker B:Well, that's going to be an impact for them to see the difference.
Speaker B:But just watching a Christian person is not going to save you.
Speaker B:The Word of God must be presented.
Speaker B:Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.
Speaker B:So.
Speaker B:So there must be the Word of God presented.
Speaker B:And so the Word of God is presented here, says that very clearly.
Speaker B:They speak unto him the word of the Lord, and to all that were in his house.
Speaker B:If his house was just saved, automatically, he wouldn't have needed to preach to them.
Speaker B:But he preaches to all of them.
Speaker B:He preaches to everybody in the house and all of them make a decision for the Lord.
Speaker B:And so this seems to be a specific promise for the jailer here under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Paul says, hey, as you trust in Jesus, so will your family as well.
Speaker B:This is a promise made specifically to this jailer, but it's a promise that the Holy Spirit may very well allow us to bring the gospel message to our own family.
Speaker B:So they're all saved.
Speaker B:They all trust in the word of God.
Speaker B:And Jesus is revealed through the word of God.
Speaker B:I want you to remember that.
Speaker B:I want you to remember that Jesus's truth, Jesus's love, Jesus's sacrifice, Jesus's forgiveness is extended to us through the Word of God.
Speaker B:We cannot, we cannot eliminate the word of God from preach, from our preaching, right?
Speaker B:So, so if someone comes to me and says I want to get saved, and I say, okay, well let me tell you Jesus loves you and let me just tell you that he doesn't care what you do.
Speaker B:He doesn't care how you live your life.
Speaker B:All he wants you to do is just believe that he exists.
Speaker B:I have now undercut what the word of God says.
Speaker B:I haven't presented the truth of the word of God.
Speaker B:I haven't presented the whole complete message.
Speaker B:So the complete message of the gospel is yes, Jesus loves you, but yes, Jesus does not want you to stay the same.
Speaker B:He wants you to be transformed.
Speaker B:And so we must preach the whole word of God.
Speaker B:And that's what they do here to this jailer and to his family.
Speaker B:And so verse 33, and he took them the same hour of the night and washed their stripes and was baptized.
Speaker B:He and all of his straightway.
Speaker B:And so what we see here is that the same jailer who punished them, the same jailer who threw them in jail and was holding them captive is now cleaning them up, he's now taking care of them.
Speaker B:This shows how a repentant sinner will be changed.
Speaker B:He followed the example of the love of Paul and Silas and now he's reciprocating that love to them.
Speaker B:You see how Paul and Silas could have just left and missed this opportunity.
Speaker B:How many opportunities in my life have I missed just because I'm so self focused?
Speaker B:But Paul says, no, we're going to stay.
Speaker B:Silas says, no, we're going to stay and we're going to minister to this jailer.
Speaker B:And therefore we see that their love demonstrated to the jailer, allowed the jailer to then demonstrate his love to them.
Speaker B:And that's the whole point.
Speaker B:After we're saved, we're called to serve.
Speaker B:The service is not what saves us, but we are called to serve after we are saved.
Speaker B:And we see that this jailer doesn't hesitate.
Speaker B:He says, I want to be baptized.
Speaker B:I want to follow in obedience.
Speaker B:I want to serve.
Speaker B:And so the jailer and his family saw no reason to delay service.
Speaker B:They saw no reason to delay baptism.
Speaker B:They were baptized that very night, and they begin their service to the Lord.
Speaker B:I don't know when you were saved.
Speaker B:I don't know.
Speaker B:Maybe it was decades ago, maybe it was recent.
Speaker B:But what I will say to you is that you are qualified to serve God.
Speaker B:You were qualified to serve God.
Speaker B:The moment that you've trusted in Jesus Christ as your Savior, you're immediately qualified for the job that he wants you to do.
Speaker B:Now, not all of us are qualified to do everything right.
Speaker B:We wouldn't say, like, let's say, for example, someone came up this morning and they got saved in our church.
Speaker B:They.
Speaker B:This is the first time walking into church.
Speaker B:They.
Speaker B:They walk in and they hear the gospel.
Speaker B:They get saved.
Speaker B:We don't say next Sunday.
Speaker B:All right, you're the one preaching.
Speaker B:Get on up there, right there.
Speaker B:There's levels of maturity that we look for when it comes to different areas of service.
Speaker B:But the Bible says immediately we can start to serve God in the capacities that we're ready for.
Speaker B:And so what we see here is that he's ministering to Paul and Silas by washing their stripes, washing their wounds.
Speaker B:Verse 34.
Speaker B:And when he had brought them into his house, he set me before them.
Speaker B:So we see his hospitality there.
Speaker B:He's giving them what they need.
Speaker B:He's giving them food.
Speaker B:And so he brings them there.
Speaker B:He sets meat before them and rejoice, believing in God with all of his house.
Speaker B:This man was.
Speaker B:I want you to see this path that this individual was on, okay?
Speaker B:He was on a path of persecuting Christians.
Speaker B:Then he went from the path of persecuting Christians to being suicidal.
Speaker B:Then he was from suicidal to saved and from saved to abundant joy.
Speaker B:And then he was going from abundant joy to service and hospitality.
Speaker B:His script was flipped.
Speaker B:His life was changed.
Speaker B:The Holy Spirit used Paul and Silas and their courage and in their adversity, in their difficulty to minister this individual.
Speaker B:And this individual has.
Speaker B:Individual has a life that has changed for the cause of the Gospel.
Speaker B:And so his life is changed.
Speaker B:And he went from a place of evil and rejection and eventually self harm to a place of salvation, a place of joy and a place of service.
Speaker B:That's the testimony for all who Believe in Jesus Christ.
Speaker B:He's believing.
Speaker B:He's rejoicing.
Speaker B:His rejoicing is the fact that he's believing in God and that his house is believing in the Lord.
Speaker B:Verse 35.
Speaker B:And when it was day, the magistrate sent the sergeant saying, let those men go.
Speaker B:And the keeper of the prison told this, saying to Paul, the magistrates have sent to let you go.
Speaker B:Now therefore depart and go in peace.
Speaker B:But Paul said unto them, they have beaten us openly, uncondemned being Romans, and have cast us into prison.
Speaker B:And now do they.
Speaker B:Do they thrust us out privily?
Speaker B:Nay, verily, but let them calm themselves and fetch us out.
Speaker B:And the sergeants told these words unto the magistrates, and they feared when they heard that they were Romans.
Speaker B:The irony of all of this is that Paul and Silas didn't even have to go through this.
Speaker B:They could have claimed their Roman citizenship before all of this, but they allowed themselves to go through all of this for the cause of the Gospel.
Speaker B:They were Roman citizens.
Speaker B:They didn't have to be treated this way.
Speaker B:But yet they humbled themselves, allowed themselves to go through this pain and this suffering so that they could be a testimony.
Speaker B:That one is a struggle for me, because I don't know if I'm at the place in my life where I would do that.
Speaker B:I would have claimed my Roman citizenship a lot earlier.
Speaker B:And we know that in other places Paul did.
Speaker B:But in this case, he allowed himself to be a messenger of the Gospel.
Speaker B:So Paul and Silas left the prison to minister to the jailer, yet they returned to the prison willingly to spare the jailer's life.
Speaker B:This is again, more love.
Speaker B:And so if Paul and Silas were released the day after their beating, arrest and imprisonment, why did God send the earthquake?
Speaker B:That's a good question.
Speaker B:I believe that the earthquake had nothing to do with freeing Paul and Silas actually, but it had everything to do with the salvation of the jailer and his household.
Speaker B:And so I think that sometimes we think of a situation as our perspective, but obviously God has a different perspective.
Speaker B:And in this case, they needed that, that event to bring that jailer to a place of fear and a place of repentance so that they could be a Gospel message.
Speaker B:So, so.
Speaker B:So Paul and Silas claimed the Roman citizenship.
Speaker B:Why didn't they claim their citizenship earlier?
Speaker B:Maybe, maybe, just maybe, they didn't get a chance to.
Speaker B:But I believe it's more likely that they were led by the Holy Spirit to not reveal it at that time for a purpose.
Speaker B:And I thought about it this.
Speaker B:A commentator put it this way.
Speaker B:Our Rights are not as important as our obedience to the will of God.
Speaker B:You think about that back when that idea of exercising our Christian liberty, our rights are not as important as our obedience to the will of God.
Speaker B:God may ask us to lay down our rights for the good of another.
Speaker B:I've thought about that a lot.
Speaker B:And I've thought about, am I willing to say, you know what?
Speaker B:I have the authority.
Speaker B:I have the right to do this, but for the sake of the gospel, for the sake of the furtherance of the truth of Jesus Christ, I'm willing to die to my flesh, die to my rights, and go through a difficulty so that the furtherance of the Gospel can be seen.
Speaker B:And so that's what happened here.
Speaker B:That's what happened.
Speaker B:They were willing to go through that so that someone could get saved, so that this house could be saved.
Speaker B:And it says in verse number 39, and they came and besought them and brought them out and desired them to depart out of their city.
Speaker B:And they went out of the prison and entered into the house of Lydia.
Speaker B:And when they had seen the brethren, they comforted them and departed.
Speaker B:So Paul and Silas are called to leave here.
Speaker B:They're called to leave this area after the work of God was done, not before.
Speaker B:And what did they do when they left?
Speaker B:They encouraged.
Speaker B:They encouraged them, they comforted them and they departed.
Speaker B:Paul and Silas, really, what we can see in this passage of scripture, we're able to be.
Speaker B:You remember where this started?
Speaker B:You remember where this passage started?
Speaker B:It was, Paul didn't want to go here.
Speaker B:Paul wanted to go somewhere else.
Speaker B:You think about that.
Speaker B:Paul wanted to go to Asia, and the Holy Spirit closed the door.
Speaker B:And because of that roadblock and because of that detour, Paul was able to go to a new place that he didn't even expect.
Speaker B:And we see Lydia is converted.
Speaker B:We see that they cast out the demon of this young girl.
Speaker B:We see that Paul and Silas preach to the jailer, and he's saved, and the jailer's house is saved.
Speaker B:And I think the message there in chapter 16 is that sometimes God is going to change our path, and sometimes God is going to allow us to go through difficulties.
Speaker B:It doesn't mean that he's taken his hand off of us.
Speaker B:It doesn't mean that he stopped loving us.
Speaker B:It means that he's allowing us to have a different path so that we can see opportunities that maybe we would have never imagined if Paul would have pressed forward and said, you know what?
Speaker B:Even though the Holy Spirit's stopping me, I'm Going to move forward.
Speaker B:He would have missed the opportunities here to minister to Lydia, to minister to this jailer, to minister to his family and folks.
Speaker B:So many times, at least in my life, I push forward so hard and just push and push and push and say, you know what?
Speaker B:I'm just going to do what I want to do, and God's going to bless that.
Speaker B:No, we need to be sensitive to what God has for us.
Speaker B:And if he closes the door, it's there for a reason.
Speaker B:He changes our path, it's there for a reason.
Speaker B:And we can see that as they leave, they leave with fruit.
Speaker B:It was.
Speaker B:It was strange how it worked out, but ultimately it was a blessing.
Speaker B:And I would encourage you to think about those times in your life where maybe things are not added up the way that you want them to be.
Speaker B:Maybe.
Speaker B:Maybe God has changed the path in your life.
Speaker B:Maybe God has closed doors.
Speaker B:Maybe God has allowed a very difficult thing to happen in your life.
Speaker B:Maybe you feel like Paul, maybe you feel like Paul and Silas.
Speaker B:You've done what's right, and now you're in a difficult place.
Speaker B:You know, it would have been a lot easier if I would have just not been truthful.
Speaker B:It would have been a lot easier if I would have lived for the Lord.
Speaker B:I would have been away from that.
Speaker B:And they could have said that, right, man, why did we go do that?
Speaker B:Why did we go there?
Speaker B:And now they're going to throw us in jail.
Speaker B:But no, they looked to the Lord, they prayed, they sing praises to God.
Speaker B:They were a testimony in the midst of a difficulty.
Speaker B:They were looking for the gospel message to be presented.
Speaker B:I often think about this.
Speaker B:I often think about, am I in the midst of my trial, looking for an opportunity for God to work through me?
Speaker B:Most of the time I'm not.
Speaker B:I'm gonna tell you really what happens in my life.
Speaker B:And maybe this is for you, maybe it's not.
Speaker B:But a lot of times when I'm going through a trial, I'm just looking to get out of it.
Speaker B:I'm just holding on tight and just say, lord, get me out of this.
Speaker B:Lord, get me out of this.
Speaker B:Lord, get me out of this.
Speaker B:Instead of just saying, lord, get me out of this.
Speaker B:I might need to say, lord, what are you teaching me through this, Lord?
Speaker B:Lord, who can I minister to while I'm in this struggle?
Speaker B:We hear a lot of people, including myself, I've asked this question just transparently, Lord, why?
Speaker B:Why do I need to go through this?
Speaker B:Why are you allowing this to happen?
Speaker B:And you know what?
Speaker B:You Might not get an answer.
Speaker B:You might not get an answer.
Speaker B:There have been people in Scripture that have asked the why question, not got an answer.
Speaker B:But we know through Scripture, we know that God has a plan and a purpose for our lives.
Speaker B:And ultimately that plan and purpose is for the furtherance of his gospel message.
Speaker B:And so as I'm going through a difficulty, as I'm going through a struggle, am I willing to say, lord, I'm going through pain, but who can I bless in the midst of this pain?
Speaker B:Who can I reach?
Speaker B:Who can I share this message with?
Speaker B:You ever think about the fact that you're going through this struggle so that later on, when God gets you through this struggle, that you can help somebody else who is in that same struggle as you?
Speaker B:That's the point of the church.
Speaker B:Some of you folks that have a lot more maturity are looking around and you see a lot of people, a lot of people with less maturity.
Speaker B:I'm not trying to use old and young, but that's what I'm saying, okay?
Speaker B:We have older people in our church, and we have younger people in our church.
Speaker B:All right?
Speaker B:A lot of the older people in the church have gone through experiences that the younger people have not gone through yet.
Speaker B:Or maybe they are going through it, but they're not handling it biblically.
Speaker B:You know what the Bible says for you to do?
Speaker B:The Bible doesn't say for you to go, well, they'll figure it out one day.
Speaker B:Not my problem, not my issue.
Speaker B:The Bible actually says for you, this is in the New Testament.
Speaker B:There's multiple passages of scripture, talk of this, but Titus 2 would be one that you would say, look, no, I want to be a blessing to this family.
Speaker B:I want to be a blessing to this individual by helping them, by teaching them what I have learned.
Speaker B:You know, that's.
Speaker B:That's like, hey, I've gone through a trial in my life.
Speaker B:God got me through this trial.
Speaker B:He can get you through this trial.
Speaker B:And you know that.
Speaker B:That.
Speaker B:That speaks volumes.
Speaker B:You know, as a pastor, let's say I'm going to be honest with you, sometimes when a other pastor comes up to me and says, hey, you know what?
Speaker B:I've gone through this, too.
Speaker B:It doesn't make me feel good that he went through that, but it makes me feel good that he got through it.
Speaker B:And he's telling me that you're going to survive, okay?
Speaker B:That that's how it goes sometimes it's like, hey, you know what?
Speaker B:I know that other people have seen the power of God in their life, but through the Redeemed of the Lord, say so.
Speaker B:And so it's, yeah, that's what the testimonies are about.
Speaker B:The testimonies are not about, hey, look at me.
Speaker B:Look what I have done.
Speaker B:The testimonies.
Speaker B:Look what God has done.
Speaker B:And he can do that same thing through you.
Speaker B:I love when folks in our church share their salvation testimony.
Speaker B:I love that.
Speaker B:Because you know what that is, that that's the moment that you came to life.
Speaker B:You know, I, I, I love to tell stories about when my children were born.
Speaker B:I, I love that.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:You know, back in the day, they used to have the wallets and you'd have, you, you put your, you know, all the pictures out and you go, there's all my pictures.
Speaker B:I have a phone now so I can show you all the pictures of my children when they were born.
Speaker B:I love telling those stories.
Speaker B:The greatest days of my life outside of my salvation and my wedding was the days that these children were born.
Speaker B:Right?
Speaker B:And it doesn't, it doesn't hurt me, doesn't.
Speaker B:It's not a challenge for me.
Speaker B:No one has to poke me or pry me to tell the story about my children, their new life.
Speaker B:You know what?
Speaker B:When we tell people about our salvation, that's what we're doing.
Speaker B:We're talking to people about a new life, that we were reborn in Christ.
Speaker B:And so I would encourage you to think about times in your life where you can point people to Jesus.
Speaker B:And that's what we see here, Paul and Silas, where we're in the midst of a prison, they're in the midst of being beaten, but yet they say, we're going to sing praises, we're going to pray, and we're going to allow ourselves to preach the gospel.
Speaker B:They could have left, but they didn't leave the call of the gospel.
Speaker B:They saw an individual that needed Jesus Christ.
Speaker B:They walked circumspectly.
Speaker B:They had compassion.
Speaker B:I want, I want to go to another passage of scripture because this is, this is, at least for me, one of the most challenging passages of scripture.
Speaker B:Go to ch.
Speaker B:Matthew, chapter nine with me if you're like me, which some of you are not like me, which is a good thing.
Speaker B:I struggle with the area of compassion.
Speaker B:Okay, you say what?
Speaker B:You should not struggle with compassion.
Speaker B:I struggle with compassion because you know what?
Speaker B:I look at somebody and I go, oh, I can't believe this.
Speaker B:I can't believe they did this.
Speaker B:Instead of saying, wow, I don't know what they're going through right now.
Speaker B:They need Jesus or they might need my love.
Speaker B:They Might need my grace.
Speaker B:But we see here In Matthew chapter 9, Jesus says something so, so important at the end of chapter nine, it says in verse 35, and Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and preaching the gospel of the kingdom and healing every sickness and every disease among the people.
Speaker B:Jesus in his humanity is exhausted.
Speaker B:I mean, he's been preaching, he's been healing people.
Speaker B:But when the multitudes.
Speaker B:But when he saw the multitudes, this phrase here, he was moved with compassion on them because they fainted and were scattered abroad as sheep having no shepherd.
Speaker B:Jesus was moved with compassion.
Speaker B:Literally here in the Greek, it's that his bowels were aching for them.
Speaker B:That was the seed of their emotions back then in that culture.
Speaker B:And so he's moved with compassion towards them.
Speaker B:He's like, I got to do something for them.
Speaker B:And though we know he can do something for them, he says in verse 37, then saith he unto his disciples, the harvest is truly plenteous, but the laborers are few.
Speaker B:Pray therefore, the Lord of the harvest that he will send forth laborers into the harvest.
Speaker B:Jesus has compassion, and he realizes that.
Speaker B:I want my followers to have the same compassion for those people that need Jesus Christ.
Speaker B:We are never going to be able to minister to people in the midst of our difficulties unless we have compassion for them, unless we have compassion for the loss, unless we have the same eyes that Jesus had there in Matthew chapter nine.
Speaker B:Because you know what?
Speaker B:At least for me, sometimes it's like, well, I will do those things.
Speaker B:When everything's going right in my ministry, when I have a little bit more free time, I'm going to tell you, sometimes people will come up and say, hey, Pastor, you know, do you have any free time?
Speaker B:No, not really.
Speaker B:I don't have any free time.
Speaker B:Uh, I can budget some time out, but there.
Speaker B:There isn't just a lot of time.
Speaker B:I'm just sitting around, right?
Speaker B:Everybody's busy.
Speaker B:We live in a world that's too busy, admittedly.
Speaker B:But what we should do is we should say, you know what?
Speaker B:There's no excuse to put off what God has for us.
Speaker B:There's no excuse to put off the number one mission.
Speaker B:The number one mission is to point people to the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Speaker B:Paul and Silas could have been so focused on their own issues, on their own problems, and they could have missed this opportunity for this jailer here to be saved, at least to be presenting the message of the gospel to him, but yet they were willing and ready to preach that gospel in the midst of the Difficulty.
Speaker B:I would say to you, and I would say to me, what's our excuse?
Speaker B:What's.
Speaker B:What's pulling our attention and our time away from demonstrating compassion to those around us?
Speaker B:For me, it's busyness.
Speaker B:For me, It's.
Speaker B:It's the 9 to 5.
Speaker B:For me, it's trying to get.
Speaker B:Accomplish my checklist for the day.
Speaker B:And Pastor Spicer, some of you know, Pastor Spicer, he was.
Speaker B:He was here for a long, long time, one of the.
Speaker B:One of the great guys that I really look up to, and he preached a sermon one time about God's interruptions.
Speaker B:And it was this.
Speaker B:You know what?
Speaker B:If you knew Pastor Spicer, he always had a little thing in his pocket, and he had a checklist for the day.
Speaker B:And he would.
Speaker B:He'd always would tell me, pastor Josh, you need to be writing down everything.
Speaker B:You need to be having a little thing in your pocket right here.
Speaker B:I'm like, well, Pastor Spicer, I've got my phone.
Speaker B:He goes, no, no, no, you need to have a paper right here.
Speaker B:And he had his checklist.
Speaker B:But he said, you know, there's times in my life where I'm going about my checklist, and I gotta say, yes, this is an interruption, but this is God's interruption.
Speaker B:I need to put away the checklist, and I need to focus on that person.
Speaker B:I think so many times in our life, we get so busy with what we have to do that we miss out on what is needed around us.
Speaker B:And so Paul and Silas were not busy.
Speaker B:Even in the sake of, we would say, justified busyness, like, I need to not die here in this prison, they were willing to say, hey, you know what?
Speaker B:This is my opportunity to preach the gospel to this man.
Speaker B:You know, I don't know who your Philippian jailer is, but there might be someone that's coming up in your life that while you're going through a difficulty, he or she could be that gospel opportunity for you.
Speaker B:And I pray that we can all see those gospel opportunities around us.
Speaker B:And so that's Acts, chapter 16 started with a detour.
Speaker B:It started with a closed door.
Speaker B:It ended with lives that were changed, regions of the world that were impacted for the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Speaker B:Who knows?
Speaker B:One decision that you make, one decision that you don't make that God makes for you, could impact a whole family, could impact a whole world.
Speaker B:I use.
Speaker B:I use this all the time as an example.
Speaker B:I am so, so, so thankful for that Pastor.
Speaker B:His name was Raymond Hancock.
Speaker B:I'm so thankful for Pastor Hancock that he witnessed to My grandfather, that he was willing to go up to a man that was a rough guy, and my grandfather was a rough guy and he preached the gospel to him.
Speaker B:My grandfather got saved, my grandmother got saved.
Speaker B:And there's some crazy stories about who they were before they were saved and how they changed after.
Speaker B:And then I'm thankful for that.
Speaker B:My dad grew up in that same church and my dad got saved and my dad preached the gospel to me.
Speaker B:And that's a legacy that I'm able to pass down to my children, that I can preach the gospel to them.
Speaker B:And then, Lord willing, if God tarries, that my children will pass on to their children.
Speaker B:Who knows how long the line that we can impact by just sharing the gospel to one person.
Speaker B:And I know that all of you probably have stories about that.
Speaker B:Aren't you thankful for that person that shared the gospel with you?
Speaker B:Could have been your parents, could have been your father, your mother, could have been a grandparent, could have been a Sunday school teacher, could have been a preacher, could have been your friend.
Speaker B:I don't know who it was, but someone loved you enough to give you the gospel.
Speaker B:Who knows if they were having a good day that day.
Speaker B:Who knows if everything was going well.
Speaker B:Maybe they're going through a struggle, but yet they loved you enough to tell you about Jesus Christ.
Speaker B:Let's be those ones that are willing to do that.
Speaker B: Folks, in: Speaker B:And yet, folks, we have to understand that it's not motivated out of, you know what?
Speaker B:I gotta be there because Pastor Pastor has a checklist.
Speaker B:And if I'm not there, I don't get my Baptist bucks for this week.
Speaker B:That's not what this is about.
Speaker B:What this is about is I want to have a heart for the gospel.
Speaker B:I want to have a heart for sharing my faith with people.
Speaker B:No one was forcing Paul and Silas to do this.
Speaker B:And the gospel being spread.
Speaker B:The gospel was never spread through force.
Speaker B:We've never seen that successful effort.
Speaker B:You can't be.
Speaker B:I can't take a sword with me and make people believe in the gospel.
Speaker B:It must be done out of the motivation of love and sacrifice.
Speaker B:And so that goes the same in the church.
Speaker B:I cannot force anybody in the church to be a good soul winner.
Speaker B:I can't force anyone to be a good father.
Speaker B:It must be the change that happens in your heart because of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Speaker B:All I can do is try to show you in the word of God what it means to be a good godly Christian.
Speaker B:But folks, I'm going to tell you that we're all going to fall short.
Speaker B:We all fall short of this.
Speaker B:But what we can do is we can strive to be compassionate.
Speaker B:We can err on the side of compassion, we can err on the side of grace.
Speaker B:And we can say, you know what, we can see the loss come to Christ because we can demonstrate that love, the love that was demonstrated to the jailer was then demonstrated to those around him and then was demonstrated through his life, through his salvation.
Speaker B:So I encourage you to think about that when we come to this.
Speaker B:These passages of scripture that are just so life.
Speaker B:Life changing.
Speaker B:If you read this passage of scripture as reality, a lot of times we look at Bible passages and we see it as a story.
Speaker B:I'm even guilty of this sometimes.
Speaker B:I'll say the Bible character here, but they're not characters.
Speaker B:They're real people, right?
Speaker B:They're the real individuals that walked in real places, that dealt with real emotions, real pain, real suffering.
Speaker B:But we have a real God who was working in their life.
Speaker B:And all the more the reason why I encourage you to try to take.
Speaker B:I know today, with the climate of the Middle East, I understand, but the trip to Israel, by the way, the trip to Israel changed my perspective on things because I always heard about Bethlehem and Jerusalem and I was like, okay, yeah, I have my picture of like, I thought that's what the manger scene looked like.
Speaker B:Now, I didn't see the real manger scene, but.
Speaker B:But the reality is, is that what we sometimes have in our minds as a concept is not really what was true.
Speaker B:And what I can say to you is this, what we, what we must do is we must say, okay, you know what?
Speaker B:As a believer, the same God that helped Paul and Silas, what we would say break out of jail, but didn't really break out of jail.
Speaker B:God just worked them out and worked their favor up.
Speaker B:But the same God who worked that miracle through them in that prison is the same God that's working in your life.
Speaker B:He's the same God that's dealing with you in your workplace.
Speaker B:How many of you don't raise your hand?
Speaker B:How many of you would say, my workplace seems like a prison sometimes.
Speaker B:My boss is like the Philippian jailer.
Speaker B:You might feel like, man, I can't get out of this.
Speaker B:I can't find any hope in this.
Speaker B:Maybe for some of you, you say, you know, you don't know my family life.
Speaker B:You don't know my struggle, my physical struggle.
Speaker B:Pastor I wake up in the morning and it takes everything for me to even get out of bed and get to a place.
Speaker B:And sometimes I'm not able to get out of bed.
Speaker B:I don't understand all of those things.
Speaker B:But you know what God does understand, and the same power that allowed Paul and Silas to do these miraculous things is the same power that's living within you as a Christian, the Holy Spirit indwells you.
Speaker B:The same power that rose Jesus from the dead is the power that's living within you.
Speaker B:That's the same spirit.
Speaker B:So I'm not saying that God's going to send an earthquake tonight, but what I am saying is that God can do miraculous things and will do miraculous things in your life if you submit to him and his will.
Speaker B:And so I want you to think about that.
Speaker B:I'm going to think about that here this week.
Speaker B:I'm going to encourage you to do the same.
Speaker B:So we're going to go ahead and close here now for the for the next few.
Speaker B:We're going to take a break here in the Book of Acts.
Speaker B:For the next few weeks.
Speaker B:We're going to be talking about some different stories revolving around the Christmas story on Sunday night.
Speaker B:So this is a good place to stop acts, chapter 16.
Speaker B:And it's somewhat of a halfway point here.
Speaker B:It's not exactly the halfway point, but it's, it's somewhat of the halfway point.
Speaker B:And so what we'll do is when we start the new year, we're going to get into more of the Book of Acts.
Speaker B:And I encourage you to see that the Book of Acts not just as a history, which it is, by the way, it's real history, but see it as an opportunity for an example of how these Christians relied on the Lord through the midst of a very, very difficult times.
Speaker B:And you know, we are not exempt from difficult times.
Speaker B:We sometimes feel like we are, you know, whether we know it or not, we are so blessed.
Speaker B:The fact that we can meet here in a building and project the God, this isn't even guaranteed in other countries in our world.
Speaker B:You know that, right?
Speaker B:And I think that so many times we don't utilize our freedoms, we don't exercise what we should do.
Speaker B:No one is going to get thrown in jail by preaching the gospel in our country.
Speaker B:Not right now.
Speaker B:At least not right now.
Speaker B:It could it's not always guaranteed.
Speaker B:But you know how many people that live in other countries would say, wow, you get the, you had the freedom to pass out Tracks.
Speaker B:You had the freedom to preach the gospel.
Speaker B:You had the freedom to share your faith.
Speaker B:You guys must be doing that 24 7.
Speaker B:And we go, well, you know, someone might, you know, call me crazy if I tell them the gospel.
Speaker B:They're going to, yeah, okay, great call.
Speaker B:Let them call you crazy.
Speaker B:And so I've been challenged all the more to say, you know what?
Speaker B:I want to use these freedoms that we have been given.
Speaker B:God given freedoms, by the way, that I think we should have.
Speaker B:Praise God for that.
Speaker B:Let's use these freedoms for the cause of the gospel, not for the cause of me, not for my own whims, my own desires.
Speaker B: e going to be looking into in: Speaker B:I'm going to tell you that in January, we're going to have a Sunday called Vision Sunday.
Speaker B:And we're going to take the Sunday morning service and the Sunday evening service and talk about really what the direction of Middletown Baptist really is.
Speaker B: o move forward as a church in: Speaker B:We cannot stay still.
Speaker B:We cannot stay stagnant.
Speaker B:We have to be a missionary church.
Speaker B:We have to be a missionary church.
Speaker B:A missionary church is a church that's focused on presenting the gospel to a lost and dying world.
Speaker B:We don't want to be a country club church.
Speaker B:A country club church is, hey, we're just all getting together and we're social folks.
Speaker B:We can be social.
Speaker B:That's a good thing.
Speaker B:But there's the social aspect of church and there's the missional aspect of church.
Speaker B:Are we willing to say that we have a mission?
Speaker B:You ever.
Speaker B:You ever seen a movie?
Speaker B:I'm rambling, but I'm just going to finish this right now.
Speaker B:You ever seen the movie that.
Speaker B:Any movie that they have a mission, like, you have a mission, and they.
Speaker B:The guys, they're like in a dark room and they've got a computer, and they're like, all right, it's a secret mission that you're going on.
Speaker B:You've got to complete this mission.
Speaker B:Right?
Speaker B:Those are the kind of movies I like.
Speaker B:They go out on a mission and they do something and they complete the mission.
Speaker B:That's how we are.
Speaker B:God has given us a mission just for us.
Speaker B:We have an exclusive mission that's called the Great Commission.
Speaker B: you meet on Sunday morning at: Speaker B:I don't care if you sit in pews or chairs.
Speaker B:I don't care if you know, he says, but all I care about is that you do this mission right here, right?
Speaker B:However you get this done, get this done.
Speaker B:And that's how we're going to look at it as we move forward as a church.
Speaker B:So I will stop here and thank you for your patience.
Speaker B:Thank you for your attention.
Speaker B:I do appreciate you all.
Speaker B:It's exciting to see God working in your lives.
Speaker B:I do thank you for the opportunity to be a part of it.
Pastor Josh:Thank you again for listening to the Middletown Baptist Church podcast.
Pastor Josh:I hope that this sermon has been a blessing for you.
Pastor Josh:If you would like to find out more information about our church or this sermon, you can find us at middletownbaptistchurch.org or find us on Facebook or YouTube.
Pastor Josh:You can also email me directly at Josh Massaroiddletownbaptistchurch dot com if you've enjoyed this podcast.
Pastor Josh:Please subscribe and follow along for future podcasts and updates.
Pastor Josh:Thank you so much.
Pastor Josh:God Bless.
Pastor Josh:Have a wonderful day.
