Acts 4: Facing Opposition

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(upbeat music)

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- Couple of things real fast here

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before we continue to move forward in what God has for us.

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Midweek gatherings are going to begin this Thursday night,

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this Thursday night, six o'clock.

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We're doing a series on Galatians

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and Pastor Justin is gonna be bringing the word

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this Thursday and you don't wanna miss it.

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So August is usually a reset for a lot of folks.

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And so if you have the capacity,

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I would invite you to make six o'clock Thursday night

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a part of your regular routine.

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If you do have a teenager,

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youth group also will meet at six o'clock

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and at seven thirty, six and seven, six and seven.

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And then the kids ministry meets at six o'clock

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for junior Bible quiz.

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So we have programming for everybody across the board,

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but if you have the capacity to make this a part

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of your weekly schedule, please do that.

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Also next week we will be relaunching, restarting

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our Sunday school class, okay?

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So at nine o'clock, this is our 10 30 gathering.

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At nine o'clock, there will be a Sunday school class

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called the 12 and they're gonna be pairing along with us

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in the book of Acts, taking some different perspectives.

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And I wanna invite you guys,

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if you can get up just a little earlier

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and come to church and get a second dose.

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You know what I find is the people who go

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into the Sunday school and learn and they come in here

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already filled, ready to go, man, there's something

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about already being filled before you come

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into the corporate gathering.

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And so I encourage you in the fellowship hall,

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nine o'clock next Sunday, also make that a part

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of your weekly schedule if you're able to swing that

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and if that's in your capacity, okay?

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Last thing I wanna do very quickly,

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if you are a teacher, an educator, a principal,

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or a student going to school, if you will quickly

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come make your way here.

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We have school starting back and we wanna cover

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all of you peoples who are involved in school.

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So I'm gonna count to five and you're gonna be here.

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One, two, three,

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four,

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and four and a half, as I say with my kids,

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four and three quarters.

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Would you all stand and stretch your hands here please?

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Father, we've been given the great privilege

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of education in this country and I thank you, Lord,

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for every one of the people that are sounding my voice

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who will be entering school buildings across the county

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or at home, Lord, learning over the next year.

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I pray a hedge of protection over each one.

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I ask, Lord, that they would be a conduit of your grace

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and your light and your joy every place that they go.

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I pray, Lord, that the enemy's voice would be silenced

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in their mind and the Holy Spirit, Lord,

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your Holy Spirit would lead each one.

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Lord, I pray, Lord, that the educational process

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would not just be about math, spelling, science,

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reading, all of those things, but there would be a maturity

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that would happen in you this year,

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that there would be growth that would happen in you.

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So Lord, would you protect those?

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I pray for all educators in the county, Lord,

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as they're getting ready to mount up this year.

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God, I pray, Lord, especially though,

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for those in this congregation, Lord,

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that you would use them, help them be diligent

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in what they're tasked with ahead of them.

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And Lord, I pray, Lord, that you would protect them

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and guide them in Jesus' name.

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And everybody said, amen, amen, you may be seated.

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Let's have a great school year.

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Guys, we're continuing our series, His Church,

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and we are actually getting into the book of Acts today.

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And I do challenge you to be in the book of Acts

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if you want to follow along with us.

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I believe we're in Acts chapter four today.

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Welcome, Pastor Justin.

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- Good morning.

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Good morning.

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I will mention this to you guys.

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I mentioned it in the early gathering.

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If you're new here, if it's your first time,

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or if you're just not familiar,

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we do actually have our midweek gatherings

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on Thursday by design.

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Okay, Wednesday is typically that day

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that everybody is either in church or it's blocked off.

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For some reason, other sports don't usually schedule things

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on Wednesdays, and so that is an intentional day

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that you have margin, and so we encourage you

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to spend time with your family.

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We encourage you to connect with other people.

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That'd be a great night to plan dinners

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or do anything like that throughout the fall

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'cause it's already blocked off.

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Just like when you open a book,

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the words don't go all the way to the edge of the page.

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That's by design, so there's built-in margin,

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but we also recognize the importance of getting together,

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and so we do our midweeks here on Thursday, okay?

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Thursday nights.

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It's a great segue, right?

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Okay.

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I was gonna have you keep standing,

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but Pastor Kevin told you to sit down,

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so would you stand with me?

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What were you, where does that put

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all this stuff back together?

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Okay, here we go.

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All right, we're gonna be reading Acts chapter four.

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We're gonna read verses 13 and 14,

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and then we're gonna read 18 through 20,

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so if you're following along at home,

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you can flip to your Bible there.

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Are we ready?

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Here we go.

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Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John

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and perceived that they were uneducated, common men,

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they were astonished, and they recognized

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that they had been with Jesus,

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but seeing the man who was healed standing beside them,

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they had nothing to say in opposition.

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And verse 18.

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So they called them and charged them not to speak

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or teach at all in the name of Jesus,

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but Peter and John answered them,

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whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you

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rather than to God, you must judge,

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for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard.

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Father, we thank you for this day that you have given us.

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We thank you for waking us up this morning,

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keeping us in our right minds.

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God, we don't invite your presence here.

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We acknowledge that your presence is already here.

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We acknowledge that your spirit is already here,

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and so we ask that our hearts instead would be open

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to an encounter with you,

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that our eyes and ears would be open to see you,

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to hear you, that through the power of the Holy Ghost,

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that you would anoint me to speak and convey your message

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clearly to your people,

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that we will be transformed more

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into the image of your son Jesus,

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and that it would bring you glory here in our lives,

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here on earth, the same way as it is in heaven.

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So Father, we love you.

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We thank you today.

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Be with us now in Christ's name, amen, amen.

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You can be seated finally.

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Have you ever had moments or seasons

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where everything is going great,

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everything is fine, nothing is on fire,

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everything's good, you're doing the right thing,

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your kids are not in trouble,

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none of them are on probation,

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everything's fine at work, right?

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And then all of a sudden, bam,

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here comes adversity and opposition,

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and the winds of adversity blow all your lawn furniture

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over the backyard.

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You ever had that happen?

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You're doing the right thing, you're walking it out,

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everything's fine, and all of a sudden,

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you face opposition.

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This is what we see very early in the book of Acts.

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The disciples are doing their thing,

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and all of a sudden, they face opposition.

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What do we do when we run into adversity?

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How do we respond?

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How should we respond when there's adversity

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or opposition in our lives?

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Before I get started, I wanna give you guys

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a little bit of cautionary warning, okay?

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I am a lifelong Tennessee Volunteers fan, okay?

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Anybody else in the house?

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Okay.

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I didn't say any of those opposing,

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I didn't say no roll tide, none of that, okay?

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I said, are you a Vols fan in the house, right?

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Anybody?

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Okay.

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So because of that, I suffer from what is called BVS,

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battered vol syndrome, okay?

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And if you're unfamiliar with BVS,

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this means that I have seen Tennessee snatch defeat

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from the jaws of victory more times than I can count, okay?

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There is no lead in football, baseball, basketball

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that is ever safe, okay?

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I have guys over at the house, and they'll be like,

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relax, stop chewing your finger.

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James will tell you, it'll be the fourth quarter,

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up by three scores, and I'm over, and my wife says,

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stop chewing your nails, stop chewing your nails.

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I'm like, I can't.

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They're gonna find a way.

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They're gonna find a way to lose this game.

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I just know it.

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That is BVS, and it takes a long time

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to uncondition yourself from that type of thinking.

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Here's what I want you to see, okay?

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Just because we will face opposition and adversity

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does not mean we need to always be on the lookout for us.

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This can create a cynical view and rob us of our peace.

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We can be robbed of peace if we're constantly like,

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what now, what's gonna happen now?

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I get, you know, things are going way too good.

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I better get my hands up because it's all gonna fall off.

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Well, maybe, and yes, you will have trouble,

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but that doesn't need to create a cynical worldview in us

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because it will steal and rob you of your peace, okay?

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So I just wanted to get that out there before we start.

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Just because you will face adversity and opposition

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does not mean that needs to be where your focus is at.

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Amen?

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Okay.

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So now what's going on?

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What's going on in Acts chapter four?

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Word, how did we get here?

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So since we're starting here,

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I wanna give you guys a little bit of a recap

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of how we got here.

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So in order to understand what's happening,

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we need to look back on what has just taken place.

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So I'm gonna give you guys a quick little recap

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of the book of Acts so far.

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So Jesus has ascended to the Father.

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He has ascended and he said,

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go wait for the promise of the Holy Spirit, okay?

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And there's about 120 apostles and disciples

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that are gathered together

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and they're waiting on the promise of the Holy Spirit, okay?

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Then Pentecost happens and the Holy Spirit comes to earth

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and they're all filled with the Holy Ghost

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and then Peter starts preaching

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and 3,000 people get saved.

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So now we're a little bit over 3,100 people

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plus the other ones that are a part of the church now, okay?

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Then Peter and John, after this,

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they're going to the temple to pray

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and they encounter a guy who is lame

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and he is laying at the gate

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and he doesn't even ask them to heal him.

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He's like, you guys got a couple of dollars I could borrow?

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And Peter says, I don't have any money,

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but what I got for you is not silver and gold.

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Instead, in the name of Jesus, rise, take up your bed

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and walk and the guy gets up and walks and he's healed, okay?

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And he's leaping and he's praising.

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Is that how you leap these days?

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I don't know.

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That was a terrible leap, James.

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Don't let me leap like that in front of all these people.

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So he's healed, he's laying at the beautiful gate

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that God gets up, he's healed,

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and then everybody sees that

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and then Peter starts preaching again.

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Peter's just, he'll go with any moment.

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Give Peter a half a second

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and he'll just start preaching the gospel.

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And then 5,000 people got saved.

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So we've got 5,000, 3,000 plus the 120.

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We got almost 10,000 people added to the church right now

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in this first little four chapters, okay?

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But then what happens is they both got arrested

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for preaching the resurrection

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and they were placed in jail overnight

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until they could appear in court the next day.

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The way this works is the Sanhedrin will meet during the day.

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Okay, court is during the day.

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So if you get arrested at night,

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you gotta go to jail that night, okay?

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I don't know if it's like up here in jail

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where they throw you all in a room

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and there's a drunk guy over there.

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I don't know, I've only heard stories about it

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of what happens up there in jail.

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I don't know.

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What are y'all laughing like that for?

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Some of y'all are so judgy.

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Man, look.

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I'm talking about I know you.

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Don't be telling all these visitors.

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I'm not the lead pastor.

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This is their first time, right?

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So they get arrested.

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Now, here's why this was such a big deal.

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They didn't get arrested for preaching.

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They got arrested

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because they were preaching the resurrection.

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That's, the resurrection is the linchpin.

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The resurrection is everything our faith hinges on.

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The resurrection of Jesus Christ is what we believe

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that separates us from every other religion in the world.

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It's that Jesus died and he rose,

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the Holy Ghost raised him from the dead.

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And then he ascended to the right hand of the father.

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Most of the synhedron was comprised of Sadducees,

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which did not believe in the resurrection.

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You're not resurrected, he's not resurrected.

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So they were going against their belief,

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their long held belief.

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Most opposition we will face is a result of a direct threat

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to the power or control of a person or a group of persons.

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Let me say that again.

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It challenges the idea that they are not right

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and they don't believe or agree with it,

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or it causes them to have to come to the terms

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with the idea that they may be wrong

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or have missing information.

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For so many years of my life,

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I held my belief of God like this.

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This is what I believe by God.

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This is, you can't tell me anything.

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How many people realize that you don't know everything

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you're supposed to know at 21?

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But you don't realize that at 21,

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you realize that at 40, right?

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You're like, God, how did I make it?

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And you start looking back, like songs hit different now.

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You're like, that's what they meant.

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You'll watch a show and you'll be like,

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man, that makes so much sense.

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Or you'll think about what your dad said

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or you'll read Bible stories and you'll be like,

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amen, I understand it now.

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I get it now, right?

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Because it's challenged the way that you think.

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But if you hold your belief,

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if you hold your belief and everything you understand

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or you think you understand about God like this,

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then the Lord can't take out things that are not right.

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I mean, he can, 'cause he's God, but he's not going to

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'cause you've got such a death grip on it.

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This is what I believe and that's it.

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And guess what?

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He can't add anything to that because guess what?

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I've already got what I believe.

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This is what I believe.

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And God, you can't show me anything

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or I can't unlearn anything.

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And that's an unhealthy way to live.

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And we actually do that in more ways than we realize.

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Man, it creates these,

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we create these little tribes and groups

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and we don't want to be around anybody

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that challenges the way that we think.

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That's why we get around people that think like us

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and act like us instead of being around people

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that are gonna challenge you and challenge your belief.

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Not that you have to always cause doubt in someone,

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but they were, these Sadducees were challenged

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because they see something happening,

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but they can't make sense of it in their head.

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They can't make sense of it.

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And most of the time when you face opposition in the church

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or when somebody says something, you're like,

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that's in the scripture?

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I never saw that.

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And it challenges your worldview

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that can seem like opposition or adversity.

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It typically happens when we have differences of opinion

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concerning our theology.

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So let's look at some ways that we,

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me and sometimes you,

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typically handle adversity and opposition.

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So we're talking about Peter and John here, correct?

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That's who we're talking about.

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So it wasn't but a few days, weeks and months ago

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that these guys were faced with opposition and adversity

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and they handled it in a completely different way.

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So let's think back to,

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because the gospels flow right into the book of Acts, okay?

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So let's think back to the Garden of Gethsemane.

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This is the last night that the disciples are all together.

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They've had the last supper.

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Then they go to the Garden of Gethsemane

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on the Mount of Olives and they're praying with Jesus

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and Jesus is pouring out his soul.

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He's in anguish.

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They come to arrest him.

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Is everybody familiar with the story that I'm talking about?

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They come and they arrest Jesus.

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Then they take him off to be crucified.

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This happened before then.

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The first way that we typically handle opposition

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or adversity is we run from it.

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We flee from it or we bail from it.

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Some of us will avoid potential conflict at all costs

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or when it happens, we get the heck out of Dodge.

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I'm gonna tell you guys one of my toxic traits right now.

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I will argue for as long as you want to argue

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if we start arguing right now.

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Swear.

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Right now, you catch me outside in the hallway

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and start arguing.

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I'll argue as long as you want to argue.

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But if you say I want to talk to you tomorrow,

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I'll throw up.

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I can't.

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I can't.

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I can't handle that stress.

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I got to know right now.

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Pastor Kevin used to do this on purpose.

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I know he did.

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He'd be like, "Hey, bud, can we meet Thursday?

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"It's Monday."

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I'm like, "Absolutely not.

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"I need to know right now."

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And the whole rest of the week,

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I'm texting him trying to figure out insights and clues.

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Be like, "Hey, man, what'd you think

Speaker: 00:18:07

"about that sermon on Sunday?"

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Trying to make sure I didn't go too far off the rails.

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Or I'm like, "Hey, man, what do you think?

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"When you were saying this at the gym the other day."

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I'm trying to figure it out,

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'cause in my mind, I've played out all the scenarios.

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And I'm answering for Kevin too.

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I'm like, "Hey, bud, when you did this."

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"Well, you don't know my heart behind that."

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"Well, I'm trying to get you in line,

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"and you don't want to tell me instructions."

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And sometimes I walk through the house,

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and Jesse's like, "Who are you talking to?"

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I'm like.

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Right?

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My kids are there.

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I'll be in the truck doing it.

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And they'll be like, "Who are you talking to?"

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I'm like, "I was playing out scenarios in my head."

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(congregation laughing)

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Because there's an adversity coming,

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and I know it, and I don't like conflict and opposition.

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But if conflict happens right now, let's go.

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I'm serious.

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It's weird.

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I don't know why.

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I don't know why.

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And a lot of us will do that though.

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If we know there's opposition coming,

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or when opposition shows up, we'll run.

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We'll run from it, we'll flee from it,

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we'll bail in any kind of way.

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That's what the disciples did.

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Look at Mark 14, 50, it says,

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"The disciples, and they all left him and fled."

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Opposition came, they were all there in the garden together,

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and what did they do?

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They all ran.

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One guy stuck around for a little bit, and then ran,

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but they all fled.

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The second way that we usually handle opposition

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and adversity is we fight in our flesh or we lash out.

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Let's look at Peter again in the garden.

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This story is recorded in all four gospels,

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so it must have been a big deal.

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Now, before anybody says anything, this is just my opinion

Speaker: 00:19:50

of how I think the situation went down.

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I don't think Peter was that skillful with a rapier

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to just nick that guy's ear off.

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Peter is not Assassin's Creed, this guy's a fisherman,

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and you can say what you want.

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He was with Jesus for three and a half years

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and was strapped the whole time.

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Was he not?

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Why did he have a knife in the garden?

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So they come up to arrest Jesus,

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I think he tried to cut the guy's head off.

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He's not that skilled.

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He swung and he's, "Oh, hey,"

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and Jesus is like, "Peter, calm down."

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(congregation laughing)

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Read the story, read the story, read the story.

Speaker: 00:20:31

The guards come up, Peter pulls his sword,

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he's swinging, right, and the guys, "Whoa, whoa,"

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gets his ear, Jesus says, "Chill out, bro,"

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and picks his ear up and he's like,

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"I gotta fix all your mess ups," right?

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And he puts the guy's ear on

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and he says something to Malchus.

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He's like, "My bad, he got a little wild back there.

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I'll get him under control, I'll take care of him."

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I think Peter tried to kill the guy.

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I think he tried to cut his head off.

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He's not that skilled.

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He's not that, he didn't just nick his ear off.

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He swung for the head and somehow the guy lost his ear.

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Here's what is important.

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I'm just postulating, but this is what I think.

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And then Peter ran just like the rest of them

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and then even denied him.

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Peter allowed his response to opposition

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to be dictated by his emotions.

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Peter allowed his response to opposition

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to be dictated by his emotions.

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Some of us don't wanna move unless we feel like it.

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Pastor Kevin gave an admonition this morning

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to step out in faith and go pray or say a word.

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And some of you didn't feel like coming up and doing it.

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If we're moved by how we feel,

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then we're saved when we feel like it.

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Technically, we never been saved, we merely tried it.

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And no wonder we're never sold out

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'cause we return it after we buy it, okay?

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It's not about our feelings.

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Peter responded out of his feelings.

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Feelings are fair, but you can't stay there.

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You can't respond to opposition and adversity

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based on your emotions.

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That's why a lot of times, a lot of us have to apologize

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for something we said or we did

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because we lashed out in anger.

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Anybody besides Justin apologize for something they said?

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I've had to come up here and tell you guys,

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I'm sorry, I hurt somebody's feelings.

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I don't even know who it is.

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But some of you would tell me after service

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that I was the guy you hurt my feelings.

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Sorry, you should have told me we were gonna argue.

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Don't just come up arguing, now you know.

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If you wanna argue with me, don't catch me.

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You better tell me we're gonna argue.

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Then I'll be the one that's offended by it.

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Here's the thing, guys.

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You know they talk about that fight or flight response,

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that fight or flight emotion.

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You don't really know it until something happens

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and you have to either fight or flight.

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You don't know what's inside of you until you're squeezed.

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You won't know what's inside of you until you're squeezed.

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But it's when your cup gets bumped,

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what's in the cup comes out of the cup.

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And you can tell me all day

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that the fruit of the Spirit is inside

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until you get squeezed and something else comes out.

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You can say it all you want until you get squeezed.

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And then there's love, joy, peace, patience, kindness,

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faithfulness, goodness, gentleness and self-control come out

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or you're trying to cut somebody's head off,

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or ran and left all your boys behind.

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Left him there by himself to get arrested.

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Peter and John were squeezed

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and what came out was fear and anger.

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Peter and John were squeezed

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and what came out was fear and anger.

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It's interesting the place in which this squeezing

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took place, it took place in Gethsemane.

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And Gethsemane was a garden that was located

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on the Mount of Olives, it was across from the temple.

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And in Hebrew, the garden of Gethsemane means Gethshamim.

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And it means oil press.

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There was a literal oil press, an olive press

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located in the garden of Gethsemane.

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And they would take olives and put them in this press

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and they would crush them and press them and squeeze them

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in order to extract the oil.

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And the oil that came out first

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was the extra virgin olive oil.

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It was the purest oil and they used that oil

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to anoint priests and kings

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and to light the menorah in the temple.

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Do you think it's any coincidence that the place

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where Jesus is being crushed and squeezed and pressed

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and anguished till blood is coming out of his pores,

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he's being crushed and tortured.

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And what comes out of him is the oil of the anointed king

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who would become the light of the world.

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Do you think it's any coincidence that that's the place

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in which that happened?

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So while Jesus is being squeezed and pressed and crushed

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for our benefit, the disciples were being squeezed

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and what came out of them was fear and anger.

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What comes out of us when we were squeezed?

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What comes out of us when we're squeezed?

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Let's look back at the story.

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Now let's get back into the story.

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Peter and John are before the council, including Caiaphas.

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Yeah, that same guy.

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And they boldly proclaimed the gospel as their defense.

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They proclaimed the gospel was their defense, okay?

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Let me remind you guys of something.

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Right will defend itself.

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If you're in the wrong, you don't have no defense anyways.

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You don't have a defense.

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And if you're right, you don't have to defend yourself

Speaker: 00:25:48

because right will defend itself.

Speaker: 00:25:50

So Peter and John are before the council.

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And then let's pick up in verse eight.

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Let's read this what it says.

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It says, "Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit,

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said to them, 'Rulers of the people and elders,

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if we're being examined today concerning a good deed

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done to a crippled man,

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by what means this man has been healed,

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let it be known to all of you

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and all of the people of Israel

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that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth,

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whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead,

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by him this man is standing before you well.

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This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you,

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the builders, which has become the cornerstone.

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And there is salvation in no one else,

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for there is no other name under heaven

Speaker: 00:26:37

given among men by which we must be saved.'"

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Whew.

Speaker: 00:26:45

Are these the same two guys

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that was trying to cut people's heads off and ran?

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These are the same two guys?

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It can't be the same guys.

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Can't be the same guys, but instead it is the same guys.

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And what changed?

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What changed in that amount of time?

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Verse eight, verse eight,

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"Peter was filled with the Holy Spirit."

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Why are we coming down here talking about,

Speaker: 00:27:13

do you need to be filled with the Holy Spirit?

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This is why.

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This is why.

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This created a boldness in these two guys.

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Peter was filled with the Holy Spirit.

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He's on trial.

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He's in court, okay?

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And he is actually presenting the judge with the gospel.

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He's inviting them to get saved.

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He was like, "Hey guys, remember that guy?

Speaker: 00:27:41

Y'all killed?

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Got raised in front of the dead, by the way.

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Also want you to know you rejected him

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and now he's the cornerstone of our faith.

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Do you guys wanna get saved and be with us?"

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Right?

Speaker: 00:27:54

And they didn't have no idea what to do with it.

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Look, look at verse 13.

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They had no idea what to do.

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It says, "When they saw the boldness of Peter and John

Speaker: 00:28:04

and perceived they were uneducated common men,

Speaker: 00:28:08

they were astonished."

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These were regular dudes.

Speaker: 00:28:12

And they went in there with some kind of swagger, right?

Speaker: 00:28:17

They just tried to kill somebody a month ago

Speaker: 00:28:21

and the other guy ran off without his t-shirt, okay?

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I don't know if it was an actual t-shirt.

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Go read the Bible.

Speaker: 00:28:28

That's just something happened.

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He did not go.

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But like this, he left the garden

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without some of the clothes he started in the garden with.

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Okay?

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So how that flesh is out, don't know

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'cause they don't know what they wore.

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Okay?

Speaker: 00:28:41

Now I could study that out for you

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and come back with an answer,

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but we ain't got time for that.

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Not today anyway.

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Midweek gatherings for Sunday morning, we'll find that out.

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Boldness.

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It said that they saw the boldness of Peter and John.

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Why is this word important?

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In the Greek, this is parasia,

Speaker: 00:29:02

and it's a very important word in Acts,

Speaker: 00:29:04

which depicts spirit, inspired, courage,

Speaker: 00:29:07

and confidence to speak in spite of any danger or threat.

Speaker: 00:29:10

I'm gonna say this again.

Speaker: 00:29:12

Boldness that they had was spirit inspired courage

Speaker: 00:29:18

and confidence to speak in spite of any danger or threat.

Speaker: 00:29:24

This reveals to us the third way

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that we should handle opposition.

Speaker: 00:29:31

And this is to stand firm in your position

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with a confident humility that is only possible

Speaker: 00:29:38

through the Holy Ghost.

Speaker: 00:29:39

Jesus exuded this confident humility.

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He knew that he was capable of calling down legions of angels

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and so did the enemy.

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He knew he was capable of that,

Speaker: 00:29:52

but instead he subjected himself to the cross.

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Jesus knew who he was and chose the cross anyway.

Speaker: 00:30:01

He knew who you were and chose the cross anyway.

Speaker: 00:30:04

He knew who I was and chose the cross anyway.

Speaker: 00:30:10

That's what changed in them.

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What changed in them was that they were now filled

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with the Holy Ghost.

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When they were not filled with the Holy Ghost,

Speaker: 00:30:23

they were acting out of their flesh,

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and they had a good teacher.

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They walked with Jesus for three and a half years.

Speaker: 00:30:28

So you can be around the word.

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You can know the word.

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Are you hearing me?

Speaker: 00:30:33

You can come to church for three and a half years

Speaker: 00:30:35

and be around church folks.

Speaker: 00:30:37

And then when you get squeezed, something else comes out.

Speaker: 00:30:39

Why?

Speaker: 00:30:40

'Cause we have to be filled with the Spirit.

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We have to be filled with the Spirit.

Speaker: 00:30:45

Holy Spirit, I need you to fill me

Speaker: 00:30:47

'cause I need you to guide me

Speaker: 00:30:48

'cause the last time I got squeezed,

Speaker: 00:30:50

I tried to cuss my head off.

Speaker: 00:30:52

And then I had to run.

Speaker: 00:30:54

And then I had to wait on you to come restore me.

Speaker: 00:30:56

You know Peter, Peter went back to what he knew.

Speaker: 00:30:59

He went back to what was familiar.

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Some of us when we run,

Speaker: 00:31:03

we just run back to what's familiar.

Speaker: 00:31:05

Where did Jesus find him?

Speaker: 00:31:08

Fishing.

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Where did he find him when he started?

Speaker: 00:31:11

Fishing.

Speaker: 00:31:12

He went back to what he knew.

Speaker: 00:31:13

He went back to what was familiar.

Speaker: 00:31:16

But when the Holy Ghost got ahold of him,

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when the Holy Ghost filled his life,

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when Pentecost happened,

Speaker: 00:31:23

and he was accessible to all believers

Speaker: 00:31:26

to live inside of you and dwell in you

Speaker: 00:31:28

and to help you and to remind you

Speaker: 00:31:30

of all the truth that Jesus said,

Speaker: 00:31:33

that's what Jesus said he would do.

Speaker: 00:31:34

He would remind you and instruct you

Speaker: 00:31:37

in the way you should go.

Speaker: 00:31:39

And when Peter leaned into that,

Speaker: 00:31:41

he's like, "Hey guys, this guy just got healed.

Speaker: 00:31:43

Let me tell you the gospel.

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Hey guys, we're in jail.

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Let me tell you the gospel.

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Hey guys, I don't know if it's right

Speaker: 00:31:50

if you tell us to shut up,

Speaker: 00:31:52

but I'm gonna tell you the gospel."

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And the crowd was stunned

Speaker: 00:31:55

because they're like, "These are regular guys."

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These are regular dudes.

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And a lot of us are afraid to speak up

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because what do I know?

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I'm just a regular old,

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I'm not up there on stage.

Speaker: 00:32:08

We need less people on stage

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and we need more people out here

Speaker: 00:32:10

just being examples saying a word.

Speaker: 00:32:12

'Cause you don't want this judgment

Speaker: 00:32:17

that I gotta endure according to the word.

Speaker: 00:32:19

I heard Francis Chan say something the other day.

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He said, "Everybody wants to be a mouthpiece.

Speaker: 00:32:28

Everybody wants to speak.

Speaker: 00:32:29

Everybody wants to say something.

Speaker: 00:32:30

We need less people saying and more people doing.

Speaker: 00:32:33

We need more people just being examples of the kingdom

Speaker: 00:32:37

instead of just telling us

Speaker: 00:32:38

what we should be doing in the kingdom."

Speaker: 00:32:41

And how do you do that?

Speaker: 00:32:42

By being filled with the Holy Ghost,

Speaker: 00:32:44

walking it out day by day.

Speaker: 00:32:45

So let's do this last part.

Speaker: 00:32:49

This is the verse seven, second, he says,

Speaker: 00:32:51

"But in order that it may spread no further among the people

Speaker: 00:32:54

let us warn them not to speak anymore in this name."

Speaker: 00:32:57

So they called them and charged them not to speak

Speaker: 00:33:00

or teach at all in the name of Jesus.

Speaker: 00:33:02

But Peter and John answered them,

Speaker: 00:33:03

"Whether it's right in the sight of God to listen to you

Speaker: 00:33:05

rather than to God, you must judge

Speaker: 00:33:07

for we cannot but speak of what we have seen

Speaker: 00:33:09

and what we heard."

Speaker: 00:33:10

And then they threatened them some more.

Speaker: 00:33:12

And when they had further threatened them,

Speaker: 00:33:14

they let them go finding no way to punish them

Speaker: 00:33:18

because of the people for all were praising God

Speaker: 00:33:21

for what had happened.

Speaker: 00:33:23

For the man on whom this sign of healing was performed

Speaker: 00:33:27

was more than 40 years old.

Speaker: 00:33:30

He was more than 40 years old.

Speaker: 00:33:32

There's a bonus story of opposition

Speaker: 00:33:36

that's laced in this bigger story of opposition.

Speaker: 00:33:39

I love the way that God does that.

Speaker: 00:33:40

Do you think there's any coincidence

Speaker: 00:33:41

the Holy Ghost put in there?

Speaker: 00:33:43

Hey, I just want you to know this guy was over 40

Speaker: 00:33:45

when this happened to him.

Speaker: 00:33:47

Why would he say that?

Speaker: 00:33:49

Why?

Speaker: 00:33:52

Why would that be a detail that I need to know

Speaker: 00:33:54

reading this story?

Speaker: 00:33:56

(gentle music)

Speaker: 00:33:58

Because God wants me to see how long did that guy lay there

Speaker: 00:34:01

at that gate?

Speaker: 00:34:02

Laying, waiting.

Speaker: 00:34:08

How many times did you think that he wished

Speaker: 00:34:12

that he could get up and go inside the temple

Speaker: 00:34:13

with the rest of them that were going?

Speaker: 00:34:15

How many times do you think that he may have said,

Speaker: 00:34:16

"I don't even wanna go in there

Speaker: 00:34:18

'cause I've got to lay here day after day begging for money."

Speaker: 00:34:21

Year after year after year, he faces adversity

Speaker: 00:34:25

and opposition, shame and guilt and ridicule.

Speaker: 00:34:30

And he's not even asking to be healed

Speaker: 00:34:32

when Peter and John show up.

Speaker: 00:34:33

But Peter and John are different now

Speaker: 00:34:35

'cause they're filled with the Holy Ghost.

Speaker: 00:34:37

So when they walk in this situation,

Speaker: 00:34:39

they're looking at something different.

Speaker: 00:34:41

And the guy says, "Man, you guys got any money?"

Speaker: 00:34:43

And he said, "Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, look at me.

Speaker: 00:34:46

Look at me, give me that camera, look at me.

Speaker: 00:34:49

Silver and gold I have none, but what I do have,

Speaker: 00:34:53

rise, take up your bed in the name of Jesus."

Speaker: 00:34:55

And while he came, he was laying there wanting money

Speaker: 00:34:59

and got healed.

Speaker: 00:35:00

Some of you came in here this morning

Speaker: 00:35:03

for something completely different.

Speaker: 00:35:05

And God said, "No, I wanna heal you from that.

Speaker: 00:35:07

You've been carrying it for a long time.

Speaker: 00:35:09

Pastor Kevin invited you down here.

Speaker: 00:35:10

You've been praying for somebody for a long time.

Speaker: 00:35:12

You've been hurting for a long time.

Speaker: 00:35:14

And do you think God forgot about you?"

Speaker: 00:35:17

He was over 40 years old.

Speaker: 00:35:20

I think the Holy Ghost put that in there to show us,

Speaker: 00:35:23

"You're not, I ain't forgot about you.

Speaker: 00:35:25

You might feel like, man, I should be here by now.

Speaker: 00:35:30

It's getting later in life.

Speaker: 00:35:31

I feel like I'm so far behind."

Speaker: 00:35:34

How do you think that man felt

Speaker: 00:35:36

when he just got healed at 40?

Speaker: 00:35:38

He wasn't looking at all the time he missed and wasted.

Speaker: 00:35:41

He was thanking God and praising God and said,

Speaker: 00:35:43

"You know what, from this moment forward,

Speaker: 00:35:44

I'm gonna tell everybody what happened."

Speaker: 00:35:47

And God said, "I ain't forgot about you.

Speaker: 00:35:49

I didn't forget about you.

Speaker: 00:35:51

This man was over 40 years old.

Speaker: 00:35:53

He faced so much opposition, faced so much adversity.

Speaker: 00:35:59

Some of us had been waiting for healing for so long.

Speaker: 00:36:04

And God said, "I ain't forgot.

Speaker: 00:36:05

I haven't forgot."

Speaker: 00:36:08

Imagine how behind you'd feel just starting.

Speaker: 00:36:11

And a beautiful thing is he never even asked to be healed.

Speaker: 00:36:15

He still wanted to be.

Speaker: 00:36:17

And so we love to tell you what you have

Speaker: 00:36:20

'cause you ain't asking.

Speaker: 00:36:21

Some of you don't even need to ask.

Speaker: 00:36:22

You just need to show up around people

Speaker: 00:36:23

where the spirit's moving.

Speaker: 00:36:25

Sometimes you just need to get around people

Speaker: 00:36:27

where the spirit is moving.

Speaker: 00:36:29

And Peter and John were different.

Speaker: 00:36:32

So this time when they got squeezed,

Speaker: 00:36:34

something else came out.

Speaker: 00:36:35

Some of us are trying to run from opposition.

Speaker: 00:36:39

Some of us are facing adversity

Speaker: 00:36:42

and we don't want nothing to do with it,

Speaker: 00:36:43

so we're just gonna run from it.

Speaker: 00:36:45

And then some of us, we're trying to fight

Speaker: 00:36:47

every way we can in our flesh.

Speaker: 00:36:49

We're angry, "Why is this happening to me?

Speaker: 00:36:51

I'm doing everything right.

Speaker: 00:36:53

I'm filled with the Holy Spirit now.

Speaker: 00:36:57

I'm going to church to pray.

Speaker: 00:36:59

Why is this happening to me?"

Speaker: 00:37:01

That's what happened to them.

Speaker: 00:37:04

Jesus didn't, he warned them.

Speaker: 00:37:07

He said, "In this world, you will have trouble,

Speaker: 00:37:11

but take heart for I have overcome the world."

Speaker: 00:37:14

He didn't tell them you're not gonna face adversity.

Speaker: 00:37:17

He didn't say you're not gonna face opposition.

Speaker: 00:37:19

What he said instead was, "Go wait for the promise

Speaker: 00:37:22

and I'm gonna give you the power to overcome it.

Speaker: 00:37:25

I'm gonna send my, go wait and I'm gonna send my spirit

Speaker: 00:37:30

and he's gonna help you through it and overcome it."

Speaker: 00:37:34

And then when you are faced with opposition,

Speaker: 00:37:36

when you are faced with adversity,

Speaker: 00:37:38

you can face it head on and say,

Speaker: 00:37:39

"Look, I don't know if it's right for me to listen to you

Speaker: 00:37:42

or to listen to God, but I'm just gonna keep following God.

Speaker: 00:37:45

I'm just gonna keep standing here.

Speaker: 00:37:46

I'm just gonna keep showing up.

Speaker: 00:37:47

I'm just gonna keep praying for people.

Speaker: 00:37:48

I'm just gonna keep asking God to heal me.

Speaker: 00:37:50

I don't know if I feel, I ain't even gotta feel healed.

Speaker: 00:37:52

I just trust that I am.

Speaker: 00:37:54

And if I never get it on this side of the Jordan,

Speaker: 00:37:56

so be it, amen."

Speaker: 00:37:58

Right?

Speaker: 00:37:59

It's easy to get here and say that

Speaker: 00:38:01

until the winds of adversity are blowing

Speaker: 00:38:03

and you're actually facing opposition.

Speaker: 00:38:05

It's easy to get in and say that

Speaker: 00:38:06

when you're in a good season.

Speaker: 00:38:07

I'm in a good season right now,

Speaker: 00:38:09

but I refuse to say, "What's coming down the pike?"

Speaker: 00:38:12

No.

Speaker: 00:38:13

You just keep walking.

Speaker: 00:38:16

You just keep walking.

Speaker: 00:38:17

You didn't know they were going to jail that day.

Speaker: 00:38:19

That's most of the jail situation.

Speaker: 00:38:22

I didn't know I was going to jail those days, okay?

Speaker: 00:38:24

Newsflash, I did go to jail, okay?

Speaker: 00:38:26

There, truth's out.

Speaker: 00:38:29

Transparency here at the church.

Speaker: 00:38:32

You don't usually know you're gonna face

Speaker: 00:38:37

the things that you're gonna face.

Speaker: 00:38:38

David didn't know he was gonna face a giant

Speaker: 00:38:40

the day he faced a giant.

Speaker: 00:38:42

He was just walking out of his life,

Speaker: 00:38:43

his ordinary, everyday life.

Speaker: 00:38:45

Romans 12 one says, "Take your ordinary, everyday life

Speaker: 00:38:47

and lay it before God's offering."

Speaker: 00:38:49

Embracing what God does for you

Speaker: 00:38:51

is the best thing you can do for him.

Speaker: 00:38:52

Why?

Speaker: 00:38:53

Because he's filled us with his Holy Spirit

Speaker: 00:38:54

and empowered us to walk it out.

Speaker: 00:38:57

And we make it so difficult.

Speaker: 00:38:59

You're gonna face trials.

Speaker: 00:39:01

You're gonna face adversity.

Speaker: 00:39:03

Some of you are in it this morning.

Speaker: 00:39:05

And if you're in it, or you feel like God has forgotten you,

Speaker: 00:39:07

then we're gonna open the altar

Speaker: 00:39:09

and we're gonna pray for you.

Speaker: 00:39:10

We're gonna sing this song.

Speaker: 00:39:11

Some of us are gonna sing through it.

Speaker: 00:39:12

And some of us that are in a good season,

Speaker: 00:39:14

we're not gonna freak out.

Speaker: 00:39:15

We're gonna pray for those that are in that season.

Speaker: 00:39:18

We're gonna pray for those that have been laying at the gate

Speaker: 00:39:21

waiting on their healing, feeling like it's never coming.

Speaker: 00:39:24

Regardless if you feel like it or not.

Speaker: 00:39:27

Because God has filled us with his Spirit

Speaker: 00:39:31

to walk and face any trouble or trial that we face.

Speaker: 00:39:36

So those that are gonna pray, I ask for you to come down

Speaker: 00:39:39

and we're gonna worship, we're gonna praise,

Speaker: 00:39:41

and we're gonna thank God for the victory.

Speaker: 00:39:43

We're gonna thank God for the ability to overcome.

Speaker: 00:39:45

We're gonna thank him for sending his Holy Spirit.

Speaker: 00:39:47

Imagine if he never sent him.

Speaker: 00:39:49

We'd still be out here trying to cut people's heads off

Speaker: 00:39:53

and running from everything.

Speaker: 00:39:54

But instead, they have a confident humility to say,

Speaker: 00:39:59

you know what, I can face this head on

Speaker: 00:40:02

'cause I know who's in me now.

Speaker: 00:40:04

I'm different now.

Speaker: 00:40:05

And God's got it.

Speaker: 00:40:07

Let's pray.