Shownotes
What does it mean to follow Christ, even in the face of persecution? Listen as Pastor Kevin shares how God called, delivered, and sent the apostles back into a place of persecution, and how they responded.
Scriptures Referenced
Daniel 31:30; Matthew 7:21, 10:32-33 John 13:34-35; Acts 5:17-42; Romans 1:16; Philippians 2:9-11
Key Insights
- The American Christian has very little clue about real persecution.
- We must obey God rather than human beings.
- The name of Jesus is the most powerful name.
- Jesus is THE Way, THE Truth, and THE Life.
- The enemy has his plan, but God’s plan will always prevail.
- You have good news. You’re supposed to share it.
https://springhouse.captivate.fm/episode/choosing-sides
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Gathering Times
- Sundays, 9:00 AM
- Sundays, 11:00 AM
- Thursdays, 6:00 PM
Contact Info
Springhouse Church
14119 Old Nashville Highway
Smyrna TN 37167
CCLI License 2070006
Transcripts
- Well good morning church.
Speaker:It's a good day to be in the house of the Lord today
Speaker:because God is on the throne.
Speaker:And I prefer it that way 'cause when I get on the throne
Speaker:it doesn't go well for my life.
Speaker:What about you?
Speaker:Well some of you get off of it then.
Speaker:Couple of, just two other things
Speaker:in addition to Katie's announcement.
Speaker:If you are new to Springhouse,
Speaker:which I did meet a few of you this morning.
Speaker:If you're new to Springhouse or newer to Springhouse,
Speaker:we have a newcomer's lunch on September 8th.
Speaker:We'd like to invite you to be a part of.
Speaker:Our pastoral staff will be there to meet you
Speaker:and to show you and to tell you about their ministries.
Speaker:And so we'd like to invite you to be a part of that.
Speaker:Now what we want you to do is we want you to register
Speaker:so that we can have enough food, okay?
Speaker:So you register by that QR code.
Speaker:There's some placards out in the foyer
Speaker:that you can get the QR code as well
Speaker:and you can register for the luncheon.
Speaker:If you don't register and you wanna come, still come.
Speaker:I'll let you have my sandwich.
Speaker:But I want you to come and let us have an opportunity
Speaker:to hug your neck and meet you
Speaker:and tell you about Springhouse.
Speaker:And then second, this seems to be pretty early
Speaker:and seems to be thematic today too.
Speaker:But this is a little early for us to announce this.
Speaker:But I'm doing this because we had to scramble
Speaker:and make room last year
Speaker:because I was so surprised by the response.
Speaker:But in January, we will be doing a marriage retreat, okay?
Speaker:For married couples.
Speaker:So you got men's retreat, women's retreat, marriage retreat.
Speaker:Okay, so this will be in January.
Speaker:We're only gonna take 30 couples
Speaker:and the registration's open now.
Speaker:So you can go on the app if you're interested
Speaker:in that more details will come as we get closer to, okay?
Speaker:We are continuing our series, His Church.
Speaker:His Church, guys, are you growing
Speaker:through what you're learning through the Word of God?
Speaker:Well, praise the Lord.
Speaker:I'm glad that we're growing.
Speaker:We're gonna read in just a second,
Speaker:picking up in Acts chapter five, where we are right now.
Speaker:We talked about last night, last night.
Speaker:I was at the men's retreat last night,
Speaker:so I'm a little foggy today.
Speaker:Lord, please protect me from just in heaven.
Speaker:Things to write down about what I say today.
Speaker:Mispronounce words.
Speaker:Ananias and Sapphira.
Speaker:The Lord took Ananias and Sapphira out
Speaker:because they lied to the Holy Spirit.
Speaker:And we talked about last week that more than ever,
Speaker:more than ever, God added numbers to His kingdom,
Speaker:added numbers to His kingdom
Speaker:after the purification of the house,
Speaker:after the purification of the church.
Speaker:And so we're gonna pick up here where people,
Speaker:the numbers were being added to the kingdom.
Speaker:People were bringing the ones who needed healing
Speaker:from being sick.
Speaker:They just said if Peter's shadow would cast,
Speaker:if his shadow would be cast on him, they would be healed.
Speaker:The Holy Spirit was doing amazing, amazing things
Speaker:among the people.
Speaker:And we're gonna pick up here in verse 17.
Speaker:So would you guys stand with me?
Speaker:And we're gonna read together with some gusto church
Speaker:this morning.
Speaker:And, and we're gonna read a lot.
Speaker:Are you ready?
Speaker:Okay, here we go.
Speaker:Then the high priest and all his associates
Speaker:who were members of the party of the Sadducees
Speaker:were filled with jealousy.
Speaker:They arrested the apostles and put them in the public jail.
Speaker:But during the night, an angel of the Lord
Speaker:opened the doors of the jail and brought them out.
Speaker:Go, stand in the temple courts, he said,
Speaker:and tell the people all about this new life.
Speaker:At daybreak, they entered the temple courts
Speaker:as they had been told and began to teach the people.
Speaker:When the high priest and his associates arrived,
Speaker:they called together the Sanhedrin,
Speaker:the full assembly of the elders of Israel,
Speaker:and sent to the jail for the apostles.
Speaker:But on arriving at the jail,
Speaker:the officers did not find them there.
Speaker:So they went back and reported,
Speaker:we found the jail securely locked
Speaker:with the guards standing at the doors,
Speaker:but when we opened them, we found no one inside.
Speaker:On hearing this report, the captain of the temple guard
Speaker:and the chief priest were at a loss,
Speaker:wondering what this might lead to.
Speaker:Then someone came and said, look,
Speaker:the men you put in jail are standing in the temple courts
Speaker:teaching the people.
Speaker:At that, the captain went with his officers
Speaker:and brought the apostles.
Speaker:They did not use force because they feared
Speaker:that the people would stone them.
Speaker:The apostles were brought in and made to appear
Speaker:before the Sanhedrin to be questioned by the high priest.
Speaker:We gave you strict orders not to teach in the name, he said.
Speaker:Yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching
Speaker:and are determined to make us guilty of this man's blood.
Speaker:Peter and the other apostles replied,
Speaker:we must obey God rather than human beings.
Speaker:The God of our ancestors raised Jesus from the dead,
Speaker:whom you killed by hanging him on a cross.
Speaker:God exalted him to his own right hand as prince and savior,
Speaker:that he might bring Israel to repentance
Speaker:and forgive their sins.
Speaker:We are witnesses of these things,
Speaker:and so is the Holy Spirit,
Speaker:whom God has given to those who obey him.
Speaker:Father, I thank you for your word.
Speaker:I thank you that your word brings light
Speaker:and it brings life.
Speaker:I pray, Lord, that it would change us from the inside out.
Speaker:In Jesus' name, amen.
Speaker:Amen, you may be seated.
Speaker:Today we're gonna talk about persecution.
Speaker:Welcome to Springhouse.
Speaker:Today we're gonna talk about persecution.
Speaker:Can I just tell you this morning,
Speaker:if you are a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ,
Speaker:at some point in your life,
Speaker:you should be facing some point of persecution.
Speaker:There should be something in your life at times,
Speaker:not forced, but there should come a point in your life,
Speaker:and probably multiple points,
Speaker:where you come up against something
Speaker:that causes you to have to lean further into your faith
Speaker:as opposed to leaning into the world.
Speaker:As a believer of the Lord Jesus Christ,
Speaker:we are not supposed to look like the world.
Speaker:In other words, if I were to take the population
Speaker:of Springhouse here and double it,
Speaker:the double side being of the world,
Speaker:and everyone in here being believers,
Speaker:we should look different than the world.
Speaker:We should look different than the world.
Speaker:And so in that, we succumb at times
Speaker:to moments of persecution,
Speaker:because if we are gonna stand on the truth of God's word,
Speaker:if we are gonna believe what God's word says,
Speaker:then it causes us to react, it causes us to say things,
Speaker:it causes us to do things
Speaker:that would not be the choice path of the world.
Speaker:If we really believe what the word of God says,
Speaker:if we really believe in this Jesus
Speaker:who saved us from our sins,
Speaker:who was beaten and put on a cross,
Speaker:and rose again three days later,
Speaker:if we really believe in who we say we believe,
Speaker:then our lives ought to look completely different
Speaker:than the world with which we live.
Speaker:The American church, the American Christian
Speaker:has very little clue about real persecution.
Speaker:The American Christian has very little clue
Speaker:about real persecution.
Speaker:We tend to think that since they don't have
Speaker:our favorite flavor of coffee cream out in the foyer,
Speaker:that we are being persecuted for Jesus Christ.
Speaker:We tend to come in and say,
Speaker:"Man, that air conditioning is working this morning.
Speaker:"I am being persecuted by being here for Jesus Christ."
Speaker:We are cushy and comfortable,
Speaker:but we have really little idea
Speaker:what it is to truly be persecuted.
Speaker:I heard a story once, there were about 1,000 people
Speaker:who gathered in the Middle East under a tent,
Speaker:a big tent, actually it was enclosed, an enclosed tent,
Speaker:and they were gathered to worship.
Speaker:They wanted to worship the Lord.
Speaker:And so they get together and the musicians got up
Speaker:and the worship leaders got up
Speaker:and they started to worship the Lord,
Speaker:hands raised, reckless abandon.
Speaker:And somewhere in the middle of the service,
Speaker:a mob comes into the tent with automatic rifles.
Speaker:They come in and they surround all the people
Speaker:and everybody stops.
Speaker:They don't continue to worship, fear took over
Speaker:the whole mass population.
Speaker:Can you imagine if it happened here?
Speaker:Fear taking over, is this it?
Speaker:Is this going to be the end of us today?
Speaker:What's going on?
Speaker:Who sent these people in here?
Speaker:All the questions.
Speaker:And the leader of the mob said to the group,
Speaker:"If you are a true believer in the Lord Jesus Christ,
Speaker:"we want you to stay.
Speaker:"But if you are not a believer, you are free to go."
Speaker:The room cleared all but 50 people, all but 50 people.
Speaker:Once they closed the tent, the automatic rifles
Speaker:were pointed into the air and they shot them up in the air.
Speaker:After shooting them up in the air,
Speaker:they laid the automatic rifles down,
Speaker:they took off their mask and they said to the 50 people,
Speaker:"We just wanted to worship with those
Speaker:"who were really Christian."
Speaker:When it comes to your faith in Jesus Christ,
Speaker:are you willing to put your life on the line
Speaker:for the one you say you believe in?
Speaker:American Christians, us, we really don't have a clue
Speaker:when it comes to being truly persecuted.
Speaker:As we read the scripture,
Speaker:we're looking at two different groups
Speaker:and we're looking at the Sadducees here.
Speaker:And it dawned on me when I was reading this week
Speaker:that there may be people who,
Speaker:have you ever read the scripture and you look at Pharisees
Speaker:and you look at Sadducees and you're like,
Speaker:"I don't really know what the difference is here.
Speaker:"I know that they are religious leaders."
Speaker:They are religious leaders.
Speaker:I wanna differentiate because it's important this morning
Speaker:for us to know the difference
Speaker:between a Pharisee and a Sadducee.
Speaker:So a Pharisee, and there's some other differences,
Speaker:but these are core here.
Speaker:The Pharisees believed in the resurrection of Jesus Christ
Speaker:and afterlife and spiritual beings.
Speaker:So the religious people, the Pharisees,
Speaker:they believed that Jesus Christ rose from the dead,
Speaker:the afterlife and spiritual beings such as angels and demons.
Speaker:But the Sadducees in contrast
Speaker:did not believe in the resurrection,
Speaker:did not believe in the afterlife or spiritual beings.
Speaker:They saw Jesus, they acknowledged Jesus,
Speaker:but they did not acknowledge anything post death.
Speaker:So can you imagine that all you get
Speaker:is the 80 years here on earth, 90 years here on earth,
Speaker:and it's over, that's it.
Speaker:Back into the dust, there's nothing left.
Speaker:Guys, we know that that's not true
Speaker:because Jesus Christ is sitting right hand of God
Speaker:and we have an eternity that waits for us.
Speaker:And so the Sadducees were clearly in the wrong,
Speaker:but it's important for us to understand
Speaker:the point of view of the Sadducees
Speaker:to appreciate what's being written,
Speaker:what Luke is writing here in the book of Acts.
Speaker:So the Sadducees are here
Speaker:and they are noticing that at Solomon's colonnade,
Speaker:thousands upon thousands upon thousands
Speaker:of believers and converts are worshiping Jesus Christ,
Speaker:are being taught about the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Speaker:The apostles are teaching.
Speaker:And as you remember last week, I told you more than ever,
Speaker:numbers are being added to their numbers.
Speaker:So much so that they are, like I said before,
Speaker:they're bringing sick people.
Speaker:And if Peter's shadow would just be casted on them,
Speaker:they would be healed.
Speaker:The Holy Spirit was doing a mighty work.
Speaker:But the word tells us that the Sadducees,
Speaker:the Sadducees who did not believe this,
Speaker:they were caught up in jealousy.
Speaker:It says they became jealous.
Speaker:Have you ever been jealous of something going on around you?
Speaker:Excuse me, have you ever been jealous of someone
Speaker:being elevated above you?
Speaker:Now the Sadducees were not necessarily jealous.
Speaker:They weren't jealous of the people's relationship
Speaker:with the Lord.
Speaker:The Sadducees were jealous
Speaker:of their positional relationship with the people.
Speaker:And so they were seeing all of these masses gather
Speaker:around these apostles and the Sadducees are saying,
Speaker:wait a second, we're the religious leaders here.
Speaker:We should be in these high places.
Speaker:We should be the ones drawing the crowds.
Speaker:And they got caught up in jealousy.
Speaker:Jealousy is a byproduct of fear.
Speaker:It causes one to say, I don't think I'm good enough
Speaker:or I'm worth enough.
Speaker:It calls into question the relationship.
Speaker:And like I said, the Sadducees were not concerned
Speaker:about their relationship with the Lord
Speaker:as much as they were concerned
Speaker:about their positional relationship with the people.
Speaker:The mass gathering took attention away from them.
Speaker:And they wanted the attention.
Speaker:They wanted the leadership.
Speaker:So they make a decision to arrest the apostles.
Speaker:They arrest the apostles and they take the apostles
Speaker:and they put them in jail.
Speaker:They put them in jail.
Speaker:And so they're in jail and the apostles are there
Speaker:and in the middle of the night, an angel comes.
Speaker:An angel comes and unlocks the door.
Speaker:Now guys, I want you to understand something.
Speaker:God leaves no stone unturned.
Speaker:He is intentional on everything he does, okay?
Speaker:An angel comes and unlocks the door,
Speaker:brings the apostles out.
Speaker:And I wanna stop right there for just a second.
Speaker:What did we just say the Sadducees did not believe in?
Speaker:The resurrection and spiritual beings.
Speaker:Isn't God a mastermind?
Speaker:That something miraculous was going to happen here,
Speaker:that the Sadducees are gonna happen upon this jail cell
Speaker:where the apostles have disappeared
Speaker:and there's no evidence of anything happening
Speaker:except for you can only explain it
Speaker:to be supernatural intervention.
Speaker:God's up to something.
Speaker:He wants to show these Sadducees his power,
Speaker:his might, his glory, his supernatural movement.
Speaker:So an angel pulls them out of jail
Speaker:and he gives them a directive.
Speaker:He says, I want you to go back to the colonnade
Speaker:and I want you to preach out in the open the word of God.
Speaker:Now I want you to think about that for just a second.
Speaker:You have just been caught and thrown into jail
Speaker:for proclaiming the Lord Jesus Christ.
Speaker:And an angel lets you out of jail and says,
Speaker:now this is what I want you to do.
Speaker:I want you to go back into the spotlight again
Speaker:and I want you to preach the word of God.
Speaker:Now most of us, this is what we like.
Speaker:God, I need you to free me from my jail.
Speaker:Okay, jail could be anything.
Speaker:Lord, I need you to free me from my jail.
Speaker:And the Lord comes along and he frees you from your jail
Speaker:and guess what, you take off running.
Speaker:But here's the thing, anytime God moves in your life,
Speaker:he always has instructions to follow.
Speaker:He never is going to free you from something
Speaker:so that you can be elevated and that you can be lifted up.
Speaker:He's gonna free you from stuff so that he can be exalted.
Speaker:So when he frees you from stuff,
Speaker:there's going to be some instructions behind that.
Speaker:Every single time, he's going to make himself exalted
Speaker:and acknowledged.
Speaker:This is why when you have a testimony of God's faithfulness,
Speaker:you're supposed to share that thing.
Speaker:It's not because I did anything.
Speaker:It's not because I'm good enough.
Speaker:It's because he moved in my life.
Speaker:He did the thing.
Speaker:And so he says, I want you to go
Speaker:and I want you to preach again in the open
Speaker:and I want you to risk everything.
Speaker:Can you imagine?
Speaker:Now, I believe the apostles were filled with faith.
Speaker:So I can't really imagine them having too much
Speaker:of a problem going out there,
Speaker:especially seeing an angel who opens the door.
Speaker:But just let's make them human for just a minute
Speaker:'cause they were human and think about man.
Speaker:So wait a minute, you want me to go put myself,
Speaker:but if I'm in jail now, then it seems to reason
Speaker:that if I get caught out there again,
Speaker:the consequences are going to be greater.
Speaker:Yes, the consequences are going to be,
Speaker:church, I want to ask you today,
Speaker:are you willing to put your life on the line
Speaker:when the Holy Spirit asks you to put your life on the line?
Speaker:I want us to understand today that the Holy Spirit of God
Speaker:will always meet you where you are.
Speaker:If he asks you to do something,
Speaker:he never sends you out alone.
Speaker:He'll be right there with you.
Speaker:You can trust that he will equip you, he will protect you.
Speaker:He will give you every tool you need
Speaker:if he asks you to do something.
Speaker:Guys, are you willing to lean in and obey the Holy Spirit
Speaker:when the Holy Spirit of God asks you to do something?
Speaker:There's a guy by the name John Bunyan.
Speaker:Some of you may know that name, John Bunyan.
Speaker:If you're familiar with Pilgrim's Progress,
Speaker:he is the author of Pilgrim's Progress.
Speaker:And in the mid 1600s, John Bunyan was confronted
Speaker:with King Charles II.
Speaker:And he was confronted because he went out to preach
Speaker:the gospel and he did not have a license to do so.
Speaker:And so he's pulled in by the king and the king says,
Speaker:"You don't have a license to do this,
Speaker:"so you're gonna be thrown into jail."
Speaker:However, John, I wanna give you an out here.
Speaker:I wanna give you a way out.
Speaker:We can either throw you in jail for doing this,
Speaker:or if you promise never to speak that gospel again,
Speaker:you can be set free.
Speaker:And he looks at those who accuse him
Speaker:and they're going to throw him in jail and said,
Speaker:"If you free me right now, I'm going right back out there
Speaker:"to preach the gospel that I know is true."
Speaker:They throw him in jail for 12 and a half years,
Speaker:and in 12 and a half years, he writes letters,
Speaker:he writes Pilgrim's Progress, he writes all of these things.
Speaker:And guess what happens the day he gets out of jail?
Speaker:He goes right back out there to start ministering
Speaker:the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Speaker:Are you willing to put your life on the line
Speaker:for the one you say you believe in?
Speaker:The one that we just worshiped for a half hour,
Speaker:45 minutes.
Speaker:The one you're throwing your hands up
Speaker:with reckless abandon and saying,
Speaker:heal me, you are the author and the finisher of my faith.
Speaker:We, I so worship you, God, you're the same God
Speaker:yesterday, today, forevermore.
Speaker:God, I need you, all of this.
Speaker:We cry out to him because we need him
Speaker:to meet our immediate circumstances,
Speaker:because we need him to put French vanilla coffee creamer
Speaker:out there when there is none.
Speaker:God, would you please move?
Speaker:Yet, when we are walking by people who on their way to hell,
Speaker:we will not even open our mouth.
Speaker:Because we are scared, or we're about ourself,
Speaker:or we're not listening.
Speaker:Time is of essence, people.
Speaker:Because there's coming a day where glory to glory,
Speaker:he's gonna split the sky.
Speaker:And God's most favorite resource to use
Speaker:to advance his kingdom is you, is you.
Speaker:What are you doing with your faith?
Speaker:What are you doing with your walk, with your life?
Speaker:Is it eternal focus, or is it centered on you?
Speaker:And so they find out that they are preaching the gospel,
Speaker:again, out in Solomon's colonnade,
Speaker:and they go out there and notice the,
Speaker:it says they go out there and they ask them to come back,
Speaker:and they say, come on, and they don't take them by force,
Speaker:because they're afraid of the people.
Speaker:They're afraid of the people.
Speaker:Now, this tells me a little bit
Speaker:about the character of the apostles,
Speaker:because the apostles could have right then and there
Speaker:just gone toe to toe with the Sadducees
Speaker:and said, we're not going anywhere with you.
Speaker:But yet, the Sadducees were in authority.
Speaker:So they responded to the authority,
Speaker:trusting that the Holy Spirit
Speaker:was gonna work everything out.
Speaker:So they go back in with the Sadducees,
Speaker:and the Sadducees look at them and they say this,
Speaker:we gave you strict orders not to teach in the name.
Speaker:What do you notice about this?
Speaker:They do not say the name, just the name.
Speaker:Can I tell you that there is no greater name
Speaker:on the face of this planet than the name Jesus Christ?
Speaker:There is no greater name than the name of Jesus.
Speaker:And the apostles respond with this, they say,
Speaker:we must obey God rather than human beings.
Speaker:Guys, I have to tell you, there are gonna come times
Speaker:when you have a choice to obey a human or obey God,
Speaker:and I tell you, always go with God.
Speaker:Make sure it's God, because if it's not God,
Speaker:it's gonna be a mess.
Speaker:But if the Holy Spirit's telling you to go left
Speaker:and everybody else telling you to go right,
Speaker:you better go left and you better trust
Speaker:that he's gonna meet you right there in your left turn.
Speaker:There have been moments in my life
Speaker:where everyone in my ear is saying, you need to do this,
Speaker:but the Holy Spirit is saying, do this other thing.
Speaker:And I am so thankful as I look back on some of those times
Speaker:that I chose to go with the Holy Spirit.
Speaker:I chose to go with the Holy Spirit.
Speaker:The times when I've missed it and I've gone with humans,
Speaker:it has always failed.
Speaker:It has always failed.
Speaker:This is why it's so important,
Speaker:if you're in somebody's ear trying to lead them,
Speaker:you better make sure you're hearing
Speaker:from the Holy Spirit as well.
Speaker:Because when you're giving advice
Speaker:and you're telling people what they ought to do,
Speaker:because it naturally seems like what you should do,
Speaker:naturally, do you know we serve a supernatural God?
Speaker:That means beyond the natural.
Speaker:And so when somebody's saying,
Speaker:I don't know if you should believe for that,
Speaker:I don't know if you should do this,
Speaker:this is what you should do.
Speaker:And the Holy Spirit of God has told you to do something else,
Speaker:always lean into the Holy Spirit.
Speaker:He'll meet you every single time.
Speaker:He'll meet you every single time.
Speaker:So they just say the name.
Speaker:Listen, the consequences of not obeying man
Speaker:pale greatly of the consequences of not obeying God.
Speaker:The apostles were preaching not just in the name,
Speaker:but in the name of Jesus, the name of Jesus Christ.
Speaker:The name of Jesus is powerful.
Speaker:There is nothing greater in this world
Speaker:than the name of Jesus.
Speaker:Listen, a believer without the name of Jesus
Speaker:is no believer at all.
Speaker:A church without the name of Jesus is no church at all.
Speaker:A gospel without the name of Jesus is no gospel at all.
Speaker:Jesus, as Paul writes in Philippians,
Speaker:it says this, God has exalted Jesus to the highest place
Speaker:and given him the name that is above every other name.
Speaker:Guys, whatever label the culture has given you,
Speaker:whatever name it's trying to call you,
Speaker:whatever thing you're trying to lean into
Speaker:that the culture of the world is saying,
Speaker:God has given Jesus a name above all of those names.
Speaker:It is the most powerful name on there,
Speaker:this most powerful name that we lean into.
Speaker:No other name is above this name
Speaker:and every knee is going to bow.
Speaker:Not some knees, not the knees that choose,
Speaker:not just every single knee is going to bow
Speaker:and every tongue will confess that he is Lord.
Speaker:It's going to happen.
Speaker:And so here's the tension.
Speaker:We either, we either are going to,
Speaker:we're either gonna bow willfully in submission
Speaker:or we're gonna be forced in confession,
Speaker:one way or the other.
Speaker:And I wanna be on the side of willful submission
Speaker:because when I bow my knee in willful submission,
Speaker:I get to exalt the king and I get to see him
Speaker:for the mercy and grace he gives instead of being condemned.
Speaker:Let me tell you something, every knee is gonna bow.
Speaker:Every tongue is going, that is the bottom line period
Speaker:at the end of sentence, every knee is going to bow.
Speaker:Every tongue is going to confess that he is Lord,
Speaker:that he is Lord.
Speaker:You belong to a kingdom and you have a king.
Speaker:This is not a democracy.
Speaker:As much as you might not like some of the things
Speaker:that the Lord has put in his word, it is not a democracy.
Speaker:We serve a king and he is a sovereign, just king.
Speaker:A sovereign, just king who loves you.
Speaker:The word, we talked about this before,
Speaker:the word is the constitution of the kingdom.
Speaker:It is what we look at to order our life.
Speaker:It's where we go to get the answers that we need
Speaker:to life's problems.
Speaker:The Lord is never going to go against his word.
Speaker:Well, the Holy Spirit told me to do X,
Speaker:but it's not in God's word.
Speaker:It doesn't line up with God's word.
Speaker:The Holy Spirit didn't tell you to do that.
Speaker:It will always line up with his word.
Speaker:It always, he doesn't change, he's flawless in his character.
Speaker:He's flawless in his character.
Speaker:He doesn't make mistakes and you're not a mistake.
Speaker:So the enemy is working tirelessly right now, today.
Speaker:The enemy of your soul, the enemy of your life
Speaker:is working tirelessly to denounce the name of Jesus.
Speaker:But every time he tries, he fails
Speaker:because the enemy has his plan,
Speaker:but God's plan will always prevail.
Speaker:The enemy has his plan, whatever it is in your life
Speaker:that you're looking at and you're like,
Speaker:I don't understand, the enemy is messing with me,
Speaker:this is going on, the thoughts that are produced
Speaker:in your mind, God has a plan that will always prevail.
Speaker:But God, Kevin, I've messed up the plan.
Speaker:You don't know, he told me to do this, I did this,
Speaker:I messed up this, I did all this.
Speaker:You know what, God is a genius.
Speaker:He's able to come right back around
Speaker:and take an ashy situation and make it beautiful.
Speaker:God's word will always stand.
Speaker:His word, his plan will always prevail
Speaker:every single time, every single time.
Speaker:So the job of the Holy Spirit,
Speaker:what is the job of the Holy Spirit?
Speaker:It is to point people to?
Speaker:Point people to?
Speaker:The job of the Holy Spirit is to point people to Jesus.
Speaker:So when he tells you to go somewhere,
Speaker:to witness to someone, to pray for someone,
Speaker:it's always about exalting the name of Jesus.
Speaker:It's always about ultimately pointing people to Jesus.
Speaker:There were three guys in the book of Daniel, chapter three,
Speaker:Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, what wonderful names.
Speaker:Some of you should adopt those names
Speaker:into your babies as they're coming, okay?
Speaker:Shadrach, Meshach, I would love a little Meshach
Speaker:running around here, okay?
Speaker:Abednego, okay?
Speaker:And these three guys are willing,
Speaker:they are willing, listen to me,
Speaker:they're willing to obey, listen,
Speaker:they're willing to obey the king Nebuchadnezzar
Speaker:up to the point when he says, bow down and worship me.
Speaker:And Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego say,
Speaker:whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa,
Speaker:their ear days lay long, they have been drawn.
Speaker:We will do what you ask us to do,
Speaker:but we will bow to no man because we serve a glorious God.
Speaker:And they have a fiery furnace in front of them,
Speaker:and they are threatened with their lives.
Speaker:And Nebuchadnezzar says, if you do not bow down
Speaker:and worship me, I'm gonna throw you into this fire.
Speaker:And Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego say,
Speaker:put me in there, put me in there.
Speaker:I'm gonna turn it up, I'm gonna turn up the heat.
Speaker:They say, we will not bow down, put us in there.
Speaker:But can I tell you that when Shadrach, Meshach,
Speaker:and Abednego were put in the fire,
Speaker:there was a fourth man in that fire.
Speaker:There was a holy God that was waiting
Speaker:in the midst of that circumstance
Speaker:that no man is going to prevail over my plan, says the Lord.
Speaker:If you will choose the Lord, even in the midst of tension,
Speaker:even in the midst whenever there is something in front of you
Speaker:that doesn't seem comfortable, that doesn't seem right,
Speaker:that seems to be a consequence for you,
Speaker:turning your back on the world and going to God,
Speaker:he will always meet you right there.
Speaker:There was a fourth man in the fire.
Speaker:There was a fourth man in the fire.
Speaker:Guys, I'm asking you today, are you willing,
Speaker:are you willing to put your life on the line?
Speaker:And so today, here's the point,
Speaker:here's the crux of my message today.
Speaker:This is a fundamental question I wanna ask you,
Speaker:and it's a sobering question.
Speaker:I don't want everyone to take it seriously in this place.
Speaker:Here's the question I have for you, Springhouse Church.
Speaker:Are you ashamed of Jesus?
Speaker:Are you ashamed of Jesus?
Speaker:In order to not be ashamed of Jesus,
Speaker:the very first step is you have to unquestionably
Speaker:acknowledge the reality of his existence.
Speaker:I was 16 years old when I wanted,
Speaker:there are times still even in my life
Speaker:as a flawed 40-year-old, there are times in my life
Speaker:when I wake up and I ask God,
Speaker:I say, why am I even alive today?
Speaker:Why would you even have me here today?
Speaker:God, I am not worth anything being here on this earth.
Speaker:Take my life.
Speaker:And 16, I decided to take that in my own hands,
Speaker:and I took my car on Old Nashville Highway up to the hill,
Speaker:and my plan was to ram my car into a newly built CVS wall
Speaker:that was going up right next door to the church.
Speaker:And so I got up to that hill, and I turned around,
Speaker:and tears just streaming down my eyes,
Speaker:90 miles an hour I start to take off toward this wall,
Speaker:and something happened to me that has never happened
Speaker:in the other decades of my life.
Speaker:Never has this happened except for this one moment, guys,
Speaker:when I hit that bank, I heard the audible voice of God say,
Speaker:I'm not finished with you yet.
Speaker:And because of that experience with the Holy Spirit,
Speaker:every one of you have the ability
Speaker:to turn around and deny this God,
Speaker:but I do not get that privilege because I know he is real.
Speaker:I know that he is alive.
Speaker:I know that he has a plan for my life.
Speaker:I don't have the ability to deny Christ.
Speaker:I don't, because he's real.
Speaker:I would be lying to myself.
Speaker:I'd be lying to you if I turned my back and said,
Speaker:he doesn't exist, because I know he does.
Speaker:And in order for us to be in a place
Speaker:where we are not ashamed of Jesus,
Speaker:we have to be in a place where we undeniably
Speaker:don't question but acknowledge his existence.
Speaker:Church, are you ashamed of Jesus?
Speaker:I remember a time at Chick-fil-A,
Speaker:I used to work at Chick-fil-A eight years,
Speaker:and there was this guy,
Speaker:it was my second half of those eight years,
Speaker:I was at this store, and this guy comes in,
Speaker:and he wants to introduce me to his friend.
Speaker:One of my employees wanted to introduce me to his friend.
Speaker:I think his name was Jeff.
Speaker:And he walks in, and I get out behind the counter,
Speaker:and I go shake his hand, and the employee says,
Speaker:hey, Jeff, this is Kevin O'Day.
Speaker:He says, I've heard of you.
Speaker:You're that Jesus guy.
Speaker:And I immediately thought to myself,
Speaker:how embarrassing that I would be called that Jesus guy.
Speaker:Do you know that there is no better higher compliment
Speaker:to be called than that Jesus guy?
Speaker:There is no better thing to be pegged for
Speaker:than to wear the name of Jesus Christ,
Speaker:the name above every other name on your sleeve,
Speaker:that when people see you, they know you because of him.
Speaker:They know you as Jesus.
Speaker:And I was so embarrassed, Lord, forgive me even today
Speaker:as I think about it and tell the story again,
Speaker:that I would deny your existence,
Speaker:that I would be embarrassed by the one who saved my life,
Speaker:who took me out of the muck and mire,
Speaker:the one who I cannot deny his existence.
Speaker:Guys, this is why Ruby can be on the verge of death,
Speaker:and all I can say is you're sovereign, God.
Speaker:Do your will, but I know that you're real.
Speaker:I'm not gonna question your reality.
Speaker:This is why when my wife is having her first baby,
Speaker:and she's losing the blood and could lose her life,
Speaker:God, I cannot deny your reality.
Speaker:You are sovereign.
Speaker:I might not know why, I might not understand it,
Speaker:but I'm not gonna question whether you are real.
Speaker:I'm not gonna question whether you are real.
Speaker:Are you ashamed of Jesus?
Speaker:Paul says this over in the book of Romans.
Speaker:It says, I am not ashamed of the gospel
Speaker:because it is the power of God that brings salvation
Speaker:to everyone who believes.
Speaker:This is not just a verse of comfort.
Speaker:This is a verse declaring war on the world.
Speaker:This is a verse that says, whatever you throw my way,
Speaker:I am not ashamed of the God of this universe.
Speaker:I am not ashamed of anything that is standing before me.
Speaker:I'm going to stand firm in my foundation of the truth.
Speaker:Now, here's the thing.
Speaker:If you don't know the truth,
Speaker:then it's very hard not to be ashamed
Speaker:because you don't know who you believe in.
Speaker:So it's so important that you have a relationship
Speaker:with the word of God so that you understand
Speaker:who it is that you say you believe in.
Speaker:Otherwise, it's very confusing.
Speaker:And when we get doubled up with the world, guess what?
Speaker:You smell like the world, you look like the world,
Speaker:you sound like the world.
Speaker:Are you a Christian really?
Speaker:Are you a believer really?
Speaker:Not everyone who says to me, says Jesus, Lord, Lord,
Speaker:will enter the kingdom of heaven,
Speaker:but only the one who does the will of my Father
Speaker:who's in heaven.
Speaker:How do we know the will of God?
Speaker:The word of God.
Speaker:The word of God.
Speaker:The Holy Spirit gives us the strength.
Speaker:Am I 100% in obeying the will of God?
Speaker:Guys, you better betcha I'm the most flawed person
Speaker:in the room, but I have this Holy Spirit,
Speaker:this gift who's walking beside me,
Speaker:this gift of the Holy Spirit.
Speaker:When I start going this way, he says,
Speaker:ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah.
Speaker:Turn around and go this way.
Speaker:Turn around and go this way, Kev.
Speaker:I want to make Jesus famous through your life.
Speaker:I want to tell people I wanna advance my kingdom.
Speaker:You need to put down those drugs.
Speaker:You need to put down that pride.
Speaker:You need to stop going back to those old vices,
Speaker:those old things that formed,
Speaker:the reason Christ liberated you from your sin,
Speaker:the reason he liberated you from your sin
Speaker:is so that you could be free.
Speaker:And with your freedom, you would proclaim
Speaker:the gospel of Jesus Christ
Speaker:and lead people into his kingdom.
Speaker:Are you ashamed of the gospel?
Speaker:Jesus says, whoever acknowledges me,
Speaker:this is so sobering, before others,
Speaker:I will acknowledge before my Father in heaven,
Speaker:looks into this, but whoever disowns me before others,
Speaker:I will disown before my Father in heaven.
Speaker:Guys, I wish sometimes we could only believe
Speaker:some of the Bible, but we actually have to believe
Speaker:the entire thing.
Speaker:(congregation murmuring)
Speaker:This is Jesus Christ.
Speaker:This is Jesus Christ.
Speaker:Are you ashamed of Jesus?
Speaker:Part of the reason why I think we get hung up
Speaker:is because we don't really lean in and understand
Speaker:the reality of how limited our life is here on earth
Speaker:compared to our overall existence.
Speaker:I've shared this before,
Speaker:but your life is so much more
Speaker:than just this little time on earth.
Speaker:Your existence goes on and on and on and on and on
Speaker:and on and on and on and on and on and on.
Speaker:It just continues and continues and continues.
Speaker:This is your existence, this is your being.
Speaker:This part is how much we spend on earth.
Speaker:And whatever you choose to do with this part
Speaker:has everything to do with what's gonna happen
Speaker:with this part.
Speaker:(congregation murmuring)
Speaker:Here's the glorious thing.
Speaker:From the moment of your death here on earth,
Speaker:there's no more persecution.
Speaker:There's no more trial, there's no more brokenness.
Speaker:The Bible tells us he's gonna wipe every single tear
Speaker:from every eye.
Speaker:Some of you have been contending with brokenness and pain
Speaker:and all of the things that are going on in your life,
Speaker:not understanding a promise that was not fulfilled,
Speaker:all of these things, that all ends
Speaker:when you enter into eternity.
Speaker:But what you do with that during this part
Speaker:determines what this part's gonna look like.
Speaker:And it also determines other people
Speaker:who are watching you say, I believe
Speaker:who I say I believe in.
Speaker:I don't understand, you should be really upset with God.
Speaker:You should be really mad at God for X, Y, and Z.
Speaker:Man, I don't understand why you're going back to church
Speaker:and worship it.
Speaker:Didn't he say he was gonna do that
Speaker:and he didn't do yada, yada, yada?
Speaker:And you watch that person pull up
Speaker:because of the power of the Holy Spirit,
Speaker:because of the peace that the Holy Spirit gives,
Speaker:and all of a sudden you've got people just rallying around
Speaker:and numbers more than ever are added to the kingdom.
Speaker:And you say, I don't understand why I had to go there.
Speaker:And the Lord Almighty says, son, daughter,
Speaker:just wait and see, you are part of my bigger plan.
Speaker:Christ died on the cross for you.
Speaker:He was not in the wrong.
Speaker:The righteousness of God nailed to a tree.
Speaker:We must understand that our existence
Speaker:is so much more than the red part.
Speaker:So what is the barometer or the litmus test
Speaker:of whether or not we are truly ashamed of Jesus?
Speaker:What's the litmus, what are we supposed to look at?
Speaker:Like, what do we see?
Speaker:Like, how do I know, like, am I ashamed, not ashamed?
Speaker:All of these things, I can sum it up in one word.
Speaker:Love.
Speaker:The barometer and the litmus test
Speaker:of whether or not you are ashamed of Jesus Christ
Speaker:is you looking like and acting like Him on earth, on earth.
Speaker:I say this with such humility,
Speaker:but I have been so ridiculed and made fun of in my life
Speaker:for the deep way I love people.
Speaker:I have been so made fun of.
Speaker:I've been so ridiculed.
Speaker:Again, I say this with such humility
Speaker:because they say it's so weird the way you love.
Speaker:It's so weird, it's so strange.
Speaker:You know what, it is weird.
Speaker:Because it's not like the culture, it's not like the world.
Speaker:It should look like the kingdom.
Speaker:Because this is what Christ says.
Speaker:He says this, He says, love one another, what?
Speaker:As I have loved you.
Speaker:Jesus Christ loved you to the point of death on the cross.
Speaker:There is no more selfless act
Speaker:than Jesus dying on a holy perfect God
Speaker:dying on a cross for you.
Speaker:There's no more selfless act.
Speaker:So guys, every single one, who here every day
Speaker:needs to be reminded by God that He loves you?
Speaker:Raise your hand.
Speaker:I need to be reminded by God.
Speaker:Okay, if it's true that we are to love one another
Speaker:as He has loved us, then that tells me
Speaker:if every day I need to be reminded from Him,
Speaker:then you better, I love you.
Speaker:I love you.
Speaker:Kurt, I love you.
Speaker:Hannah, I love you.
Speaker:Do you have anything?
Speaker:Is there anything I can do for you?
Speaker:Do you need anything?
Speaker:What can I do?
Speaker:How can I serve you?
Speaker:How can I be less of me?
Speaker:How can I, Dave, I love you.
Speaker:How can I serve you?
Speaker:What can I do to wash your feet?
Speaker:Jesus washed people's feet.
Speaker:How can I serve?
Speaker:Every day.
Speaker:Man, you told me you loved me five days ago.
Speaker:You don't need to tell me for another month.
Speaker:No, every day.
Speaker:Moment by moment, I'm gonna tell you again.
Speaker:I'm gonna tell you again.
Speaker:I'm gonna tell you again.
Speaker:That's so weird.
Speaker:Here's the thing.
Speaker:You know what's crazy about this weird love?
Speaker:When it's removed, you miss it.
Speaker:- Yeah. - Yeah.
Speaker:- When it goes away, you go, whoa, whoa, whoa.
Speaker:I didn't realize I had something really, really good.
Speaker:And that's why the love of Christ
Speaker:is so attractive to a world.
Speaker:That's why instead of looking at the world and saying,
Speaker:this is what you've done wrong,
Speaker:we showed them the love of Christ
Speaker:and they are drawn into the kingdom.
Speaker:I am not ashamed of Jesus Christ and his love for me.
Speaker:I'm not ashamed to love you
Speaker:even though you smack me in the face,
Speaker:even though you put me down,
Speaker:even though you got a fiery furnace waiting for me.
Speaker:I'm here, I'm gonna love you.
Speaker:- Yeah. - Yeah.
Speaker:- I'm gonna love you.
Speaker:I'm gonna see you the way that Christ sees you.
Speaker:I'm gonna turn the other cheek.
Speaker:I'm gonna, I'm not ashamed.
Speaker:I'm not ashamed.
Speaker:There were two primary things that people accused Jesus of
Speaker:that got him on that cross.
Speaker:The first one was being God.
Speaker:The second one was how big he loved.
Speaker:The emptiness and void that every single one of us
Speaker:have in our life can only be filled by the love
Speaker:of the God of the universe.
Speaker:And he chooses his people, his most precious resource is you
Speaker:to help fill those gaps through the Holy Spirit.
Speaker:Are you ashamed of Jesus?
Speaker:More than what's coming out of your mouth,
Speaker:I'm talking about your actions.
Speaker:Are you ashamed?
Speaker:Does your life speak or shout,
Speaker:I'm ashamed of the King of kings and Lord of lords.
Speaker:You have the answer for a dying world.
Speaker:Not an answer, you have the answer.
Speaker:Jesus said, I am the way.
Speaker:I am the truth.
Speaker:I am the life.
Speaker:If I hold in my hand, if I hold in my hand the antidote
Speaker:for Dana's life, and I know that if all I have to do,
Speaker:she's dying, and if I hand this to her,
Speaker:go and take this, if I hand this to her and she takes it,
Speaker:she's alive.
Speaker:Why in the world would I not want to make sure Dana has that?
Speaker:And you all have been equipped with every,
Speaker:you have the answer to dying world.
Speaker:You have the answer even within the church.
Speaker:People who say, I believe, you have the answer
Speaker:for people who need healing,
Speaker:who need a move and a touch from God, you have the answer.
Speaker:You've been equipped.
Speaker:Why would we not, why would we hold on to what we have?
Speaker:Is this good this morning or no?
Speaker:(congregation cheering)
Speaker:Listen.
Speaker:Worship team, you can make your way back out.
Speaker:How we love the dying world around us, it matters.
Speaker:How we love one another, it actually, it matters.
Speaker:If you're going to be persecuted in this life,
Speaker:let it be because you loved too big.
Speaker:If you're going to be persecuted in this life,
Speaker:let it be because you loved too big.
Speaker:Later in the scripture, after what we read,
Speaker:Gamaliel comes around because they brought these guys
Speaker:into the Sanhedrin and they've arrested them again.
Speaker:But you know something different about Gamaliel?
Speaker:Gamaliel is a Pharisee.
Speaker:Remember we talked about Pharisees, Sadducees?
Speaker:Think about this.
Speaker:In the midst of trial, we threw you in jail
Speaker:and you went back and did the exact same thing
Speaker:we told you not to do?
Speaker:Oh, y'all are about to suffer this.
Speaker:And the Lord raises up a Pharisee named Gamaliel, yeah.
Speaker:I call him G, he raises up G.
Speaker:Everybody needs a G in their life.
Speaker:And he says, wait a minute, guys.
Speaker:You've seen how this works out.
Speaker:If what these guys, if what these apostles are saying
Speaker:is of man's hands, it's gonna fail.
Speaker:But if it's God, you can't do anything about it anyway.
Speaker:So let's just take our hands off of this
Speaker:and let it play out the way it's going to play out.
Speaker:Isn't it interesting?
Speaker:The Sadducees have to contend with the gospel.
Speaker:They have to contend with a mysterious angel that comes in
Speaker:and the Lord's gonna raise up a Pharisee in the same story.
Speaker:The one who does believe in the resurrection to say,
Speaker:hey, let's leave these guys alone
Speaker:and see how this plays out.
Speaker:And so you know what they did to the apostles?
Speaker:They pulled them in and they beat them.
Speaker:They did, they beat them.
Speaker:They didn't slap them on the hand.
Speaker:They beat them, okay?
Speaker:Let's look at their response, shall we?
Speaker:The apostles left the Sanhedrin.
Speaker:What's the next word?
Speaker:Say it loudly.
Speaker:Say it again.
Speaker:Because they have been counted worthy
Speaker:of suffering disgrace for Jesus.
Speaker:Guys, when have you been in a situation?
Speaker:Guys, not everything that bad happens to your life
Speaker:is of the enemy.
Speaker:Sometimes you're in situations that God is saying,
Speaker:if you'll just wait on me, I'm right there with you.
Speaker:I've taken you through this thing
Speaker:because I wanna do something powerful through you.
Speaker:And if we could get to a place
Speaker:where when we suffer for Christ Jesus,
Speaker:we could say, I counted such a joy
Speaker:that you counted me worthy enough
Speaker:to suffer for you, Christ Jesus.
Speaker:Forgive me when I put myself in the center
Speaker:and it's all about my comfort
Speaker:and what I wanted and the peace that I needed.
Speaker:But God, that you would choose to use me
Speaker:so that others would know you.
Speaker:It says they were beaten and they left rejoicing.
Speaker:They were beaten and they left rejoicing.
Speaker:And day after day, this is after they've been beat.
Speaker:We have a saying over at school that says,
Speaker:when you know better, you do better.
Speaker:Okay?
Speaker:There would be a lot of us say,
Speaker:that beating did not feel good.
Speaker:So I'm not doing this anymore.
Speaker:Day after day in the temple courts and from house to house,
Speaker:they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news
Speaker:that Jesus was the Messiah.
Speaker:Church, you have a choice.
Speaker:It is a day by day choice.
Speaker:Christ Jesus, Lord, I need your reminder every day
Speaker:that you love me.
Speaker:But I also understand that your call for me today
Speaker:is to pick up my cross and follow you.
Speaker:Christ, I understand that you're actually not saying
Speaker:that you saved me so that I could try to get as much riches
Speaker:as I can accumulate here on earth.
Speaker:But that actually, God, that you wanna put me in position
Speaker:because of the gifts that you've given me.
Speaker:You wanna leverage the gifts, the anointing of the gifts
Speaker:that you placed in my life so that I might be leveraged
Speaker:to advance your kingdom.
Speaker:Glory to glory.
Speaker:You wanna use pitiful, broken, a shameful me to do that?
Speaker:He says, absolutely.
Speaker:You know why?
Speaker:Because you're willing to trust me.
Speaker:You're willing to trust me.
Speaker:Church, are you ashamed of Jesus?
Speaker:Because boy, if we could become unashamed
Speaker:of the one that we worship, and if we could start to love
Speaker:the way that he loves, do you wanna talk about,
Speaker:guys, I'm already to a point saying some of you
Speaker:need to start coming into early gatherings,
Speaker:but this place is gonna be packed.
Speaker:This place would be packed because of him.
Speaker:Because of him.
Speaker:It's no coincidence that Ananias and Sapphira
Speaker:are right before this story because it starts
Speaker:with the recognition that he is a holy God.
Speaker:There are some things I need to clean up in my,
Speaker:oh, oh, I'm not supposed to, oh, there's boundaries.
Speaker:Oh, I actually gotta, oh, I need to live a life
Speaker:that, Lord, is pleasing to you.
Speaker:Why?
Speaker:Because if you're not doing that,
Speaker:then it's a hypocrisy thing that happens
Speaker:when you're trying to dish out the Lord.
Speaker:Here, I wanna show you Jesus, but I'm not living like him.
Speaker:I'm not ashamed of Jesus, I just wanna live for him.
Speaker:I'm not ashamed for Jesus, I don't wanna look like him.
Speaker:No, we need to look like our savior, God,
Speaker:and it's only this, it's right here.
Speaker:It's gonna be over soon.
Speaker:This tension, this war, this daily struggle
Speaker:of getting up every day and deciding,
Speaker:I'm gonna pick up my cross and follow him,
Speaker:and he never meant for us to do it alone.
Speaker:He gives us the power of the Holy Spirit to do it.
Speaker:So here's the deal.
Speaker:You have good news.
Speaker:Share it.
Speaker:Share it.
Speaker:At the grocery near the clerk,
Speaker:with the person who cuts you off in traffic,
Speaker:with that person you can't stand,
Speaker:the people with bad breath.
Speaker:Because there's coming a day he's gonna split the sky.
Speaker:Well done, good and faithful servant.
Speaker:Well done, good and faithful servant.
Speaker:Don't you want him to say that to you?
Speaker:Can you imagine the God of the universe
Speaker:looking at you, Dave, and saying,
Speaker:well done, good and faithful.
Speaker:You raised your boys well.
Speaker:You did everything that you're supposed to do.
Speaker:You supported your wife.
Speaker:You got in there and you served when you didn't.
Speaker:When nobody looked at you and thanked you,
Speaker:you continued to serve.
Speaker:Well done, good and faithful servant.
Speaker:Thank you for being a conduit of grace
Speaker:because guess what?
Speaker:There are people over here
Speaker:that you weren't paying attention to.
Speaker:They were looking at you.
Speaker:They were watching your life.
Speaker:And you didn't get mad when that person did that thing
Speaker:or said that thing.
Speaker:They'd say, watch that, and they didn't understand that.
Speaker:But guess what?
Speaker:It nudged them along toward me
Speaker:and now there are multitudes in the kingdom
Speaker:because you're faithfulness.
Speaker:Well done, good and faithful servant.
Speaker:Are you ashamed of Jesus Christ?
Speaker:Stand with me, church, today.
Speaker:We're gonna close out with this worship song
Speaker:and here's the call today.
Speaker:Once again, these are some hard words and acts
Speaker:I told the staff this week.
Speaker:Acts is a tremendous book for us to be going through.
Speaker:But it calls into question,
Speaker:do you really wanna be a Christian?
Speaker:Do you really want to do this thing?
Speaker:And so this morning, again, I wanna invite you,
Speaker:if you want to, you can stay in your seats
Speaker:or you can come to the altar space
Speaker:if there is a call to surrender,
Speaker:if there's a call that you need to say, Lord, forgive me,
Speaker:because I at times have been ashamed of you
Speaker:and I no longer wanna be ashamed,
Speaker:I wanna be used by you,
Speaker:I wanna be used for your glory, God.
Speaker:Would you choose me, would you use me
Speaker:because I understand what you did for me in my life.
Speaker:I wanna spend my eternity with you.
Speaker:If that is you and you wanna come
Speaker:and you wanna worship and make that proclamation,
Speaker:come now, let's worship together, worship team.
