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What Do You Do When You Want to Throw In the Towel?

We live in a culture where quitting is often a badge of honor. But what if God is calling you to stay. Listen as Pastor Kevin shares what to do when you want to throw in the towel.

Scriptures Referenced

1 Samuel 15:22; Acts 18:1-11; Romans 11:29, 12:1-2; 1 Thessalonians 5:18; James 1:2-3

Key Insights

  • We live in a society where quitting has become a badge of honor.
  • The foundational question to answer about starting, continuing, or quitting something is, “Am I called?”
  • You may have many to love, but you only have One to please.
  • The CALL should be the primary factor in whether you stay or whether you go.
  • When it comes to God’s call, you won’t have to make it happen.
  • The Holy Spirit will lead you if you let Him.
  • Walking out on what you’re called to do not only hurts you - it hurts others.
  • When we throw in the towel, we’re left empty-handed.
  • If you’re going to leave, leave with a blessing.
  • You can’t mess up God’s plan.

Prayer Targets

Please join us in prayer for:

  • A hunger for the Word.
  • Tears for the lost.
  • Testimonies to share.

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We would love it if you would consider joining us in person for one of our Sunday gatherings.

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

615-459-3421

Additional Resources

CCLI License 2070006

Transcript
Speaker:

Good morning, Springhouse.

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I want to just reiterate about this.

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One of the reasons why I love Operation Christmas

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Child, this particular outreach for Springhouse,

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is because this is something you can do on your schedule,

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on your time, and with your family.

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One of our favorite things is take our girls.

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We'll go to Dollar Tree or Walmart or Target.

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And they get to pick out the things that they put in there.

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They're a part.

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Their fingerprints are on there.

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And we get to teach our kids what it is to be selfless.

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And why we're doing this is to really give the gospel

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of Jesus Christ across the world.

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And we've had people--

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I've had people that came--

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we do this at the school.

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We've had people who have come who share.

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They were one of the kids who received the box

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at another country.

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And now they're living in the States.

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And they're sharing how they know Jesus because

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of this awesome ministry.

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So you have an opportunity here.

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It's real easy to do.

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And you can do it on your own timeline.

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I would love to see every family participate in this

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as our Springhouse outreach.

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Amen?

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Amen.

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OK, another outreach opportunity that's

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coming much sooner than this is October 31st.

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We will be doing our annual fall festival here

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where thousands of people come and are

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part of what the Lord's allowed us to put on here.

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Guys, we need help.

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If you're asking yourself, man, what can I do to serve here

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at Springhouse?

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What can I do?

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How can I plug in?

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We need your help.

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Do we have a spot for you?

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Absolutely.

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Do we have vacancies that need to be filled?

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Absolutely.

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We need your help that night.

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And so here's what I need you to do next Sunday.

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We want to feed you a free lunch.

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And we want to tell you about the event on the 31st.

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It'd be about an hour, maybe an hour and 15 minutes

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after this service.

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We're going to feed you.

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And then we want to get you to sign up to volunteer and be

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a part of it.

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Now, if you have kids, I understand if you have kids,

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you're going to want to walk with your kids

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and participate in the event as well.

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I totally get that.

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Well, here's the thing.

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The more volunteers we have, then we

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can put a schedule together so where you can serve

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and participate as well.

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OK, so we have everybody signed up to help.

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We have the capacity to do all of that.

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But man, I'll tell you, one of my favorite things

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about that night-- I said this last week--

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is Springhouse--

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--a presentation in here and gives the gift

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to everybody who comes.

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And so just similar to that Operation Christmas Child,

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we have the opportunity to give Jesus to people on that night.

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So it's going to be really, really good.

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And there's going to be a lot of candy that night too.

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And if you're bringing candy, there are buckets out there

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that we would ask you to put those in over the next--

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well, I guess it'd be this week or next Sunday

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if you could bring candy.

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After that, just drop it off.

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My office is right over down the hall.

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Anyway, God is good.

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Last thing I wanted to say this morning,

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I just wanted to tell you how not just proud

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I am of Springhouse, but just how grateful I

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am for this body.

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I genuinely, as your pastor, I feel that for a majority of you

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I could come to you and say, hey, I really have a need.

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Would you be willing to serve in this capacity or do X, Y, and Z?

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And so many of you have your yes ready to be put on the table.

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And I can't tell you what it means to me as a pastor

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to be able to know that when I need to call on somebody, man,

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the yes is right there.

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Yesterday we had a celebration of life service

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for Alyssa Lockett's here in this place.

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And everything turned around just last week.

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We were just getting things together.

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And man, at every juncture we were asking,

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would you be willing to serve?

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Would you be willing to help?

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And it was yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.

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I love the heart posture of this church.

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And can I tell you, that should be the normal thing.

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That is what normal kingdom living should be.

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And so I just want to tell you I'm so grateful.

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I want to continue to be a place that loves big, lives truth,

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and is a healthy family.

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God is so good and He's on the throne.

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Is He not?

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Amen.

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We are going to continue our series today, His church.

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And I am super excited about the word

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that's being brought today.

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And I'm not bringing it.

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Pastor Allen is going to come and bring the word today.

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And I'm excited for what he's going to bring.

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Would you guys welcome Pastor Allen Smith.

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(congregation cheering)

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- Love you.

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- Love you.

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(congregation clapping)

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- Thank you, Michael.

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Stay here.

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I'm not trying to copy what happened in first service,

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but I'm trying to be obedient to the Lord.

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First of all, if somebody could fulfill Matthew 10

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and offer me a cup of water,

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I still have communion cracker in my teeth.

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And I'm trying, if I'm not preaching, I don't care.

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Thank you, brother.

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(congregation clapping)

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That's called obedience.

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That's called having a yes on the table.

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Thank you, brother.

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I am echoing pastors.

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I won't try not to cry for three minutes

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like I did in first service.

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It took me two or three minutes to get going.

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I want to echo his sentiment about this house,

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be the family, and how grateful,

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how grateful I am that you're my family.

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I know some of you deeply.

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I know some of you well.

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And then there are those of you that I know a little,

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and there's some of you that have not had the pleasure

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to meet and get to know yet,

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and my harsh desire is to do that.

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So here's, there's 400 of us between the two services.

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Find me.

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Hey, let's go get coffee.

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Hey, Pastor Allen, I'm Bill, I'm Joe, I'm Sally, whatever.

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'Cause I want to know you.

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A week ago, I had the joy of taking my adult children,

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and I took our kids to the beach and just got away,

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and somebody said, "You're an idiot.

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There's a hurricane coming."

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And I said, "I rebuke that thing in the name of Jesus."

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'Cause I paid for this back in April.

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Now don't get me wrong,

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my parents survived Hurricane Hugo

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in Columbia, South Carolina.

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That's 162 miles inland, and it destroyed their property.

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So my heart grieves.

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I've lived through a tornado in my childhood.

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I understand devastation.

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So don't get me wrong.

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My heart weeps for those people,

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and there are, there are, in fact, let me brief plug.

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If you've seen a white trailer out here,

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there's a brother in the house

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that if we will keep filling it up with supplies,

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he'll keep taking it to East Tennessee

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and Western North Carolina.

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It was supposed to be back today, I'm not sure if it is.

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He's working a 40 and 50 hour week

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and driving on Saturday to drop those supplies off

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and come back so that it's here on Sundays.

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So I challenge you, if you got water, if you got things,

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it takes a while to recover from that.

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So let me get forward.

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We're with my adult kids.

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We had a wonderful time of fellowship.

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Pastor Kevin went with us on the trip.

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[congregation laughing]

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Some of you know him, talk him out.

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Don't worry, I know the guilty party

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that papered my room when I came back.

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I haven't forgot you.

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He'll get yours over the course of a year.

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Anyway, we were so relaxed, so refreshed

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that we were coming home, we watched the service,

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Chelsea and Renee and I were in the car

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and we got to hear what a powerful word

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he brought last week in the worship.

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There were tears, we were singing,

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there was worship in the car.

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We had great, great, great, great.

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I don't mean this in the profane way,

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but anyway, I had all hell break loose in your life before.

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So you know what I mean.

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I don't mean just, I'm talking about where the kingdom

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of darkness comes against you and tries to destroy your faith

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and rob you of your joy and take your rest

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that comes from only God.

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We say, come unto me, all who are heavy laden

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and take my burden for his light and I'll find rest.

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And the enemy wants to just steal, kill and destroy

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and take that from you.

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We get home Sunday, or Saturday, sorry.

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We watched on Sunday, you weren't with us.

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I have to correct Sunday.

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She had to fly out Sunday morning early

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and Renee goes out to the van and is dead.

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I just bought a brand new battery the week before.

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Mike Dennis is trying to figure it out.

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So that's going on this week.

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I get a text at 6.20 on Monday morning

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about Alyssa's tragic, tragic story.

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And I'm just crushed at spirit.

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The Locketts were a precious family in this house

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and I was torn up.

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I only knew him five years.

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Some of the people in this house

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have known him their whole time.

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And it just ripped my heart.

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And then I get a call from one of my biker friends.

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And he says, "Hey, Donna's about to go home.

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She's in hospice, can you come and pray?"

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So Monday evening, I sat there and I talked to the family.

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I said, "Are you ready to let her go?"

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'Cause they were tired of seeing her suffer.

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She's incoherent, she doesn't in the physical

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know what's going on, but I know in the spirit we do.

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And they said, "Yeah, we just wanna see her suffer."

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So we prayed.

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I grabbed her little hand and gnawed her head

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and I said, "Father, she's yours.

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And I just ask you, Jesus, in the name of Christ Almighty,

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that you would make it swift and peaceful."

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She passed away early Tuesday.

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So now I've got another funeral this Saturday.

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And then all kinds of chaos is going on in my life.

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I had to do something as a pastor

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that I don't like to have to do,

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but I had to bring correction and an incident.

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And I prayed for days.

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I asked Pastor Kevin, I even reached out

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to Pastor Bruce for wisdom.

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And I sent an email that I had bathed in prayer

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and asked the Holy Spirit to help me to write.

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And then I get an email back that's pages long.

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And it's just full of stuff.

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And even an accusation of a lawsuit in small claims court.

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And I'm going, "God."

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But rather than go, "Whoa, it's me and one,"

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I began to praise and sing songs of worship

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and cry out to God, "You're my Deliverer.

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You're my rocking shield.

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You're my defense."

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He just said, "Keep silent.

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Stand still and see my salvation."

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And I tell you in the midst of all the grief

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and all the heaviness and the woe,

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I had such a joy yesterday that couldn't be expressed.

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In the midst of this gathering with family,

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my heart was broken, but yet I was full of joy.

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I was full of hope.

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I will tell you this morning,

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I don't know what your chaos is.

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I don't know what your cell is.

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You were gonna talk about being in a prison cell today,

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just like Kevin a few weeks ago.

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I don't care what it is.

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Can I tell you there is a name that is above every name

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and that name is Jesus.

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And at that name, the darkness trembles.

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At that name, he solids his fears.

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And at that name, hope and deliverance can come to you.

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Father, thank you that you have given us a name

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that we can cry out, "I love Father."

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And you hear us and you watch over us

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to perform your word in our lives.

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So be with us, Lord.

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For those in this room, I cannot be the only one

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who's gone through a week of hell, literally, in this room.

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And some in this room may have been going through it

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for weeks, but Lord, we're gonna speak the name of Jesus today.

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And we're gonna see darkness tremble.

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We're gonna see fear silenced.

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And we're gonna see freedom in these situations

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in Christ's name.

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Amen.

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I had a rag.

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There it is.

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Y'all stop, I'm getting old.

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I'm gonna do it one more time

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because the Lord won't let me go.

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Laura, are you in this room right now?

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You met me in my office this morning at 8.25.

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Are you in the room?

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Okay.

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God, she's yours.

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Alrighty, let's try to get this thing done.

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You ever wanted to get the back end of something so quick,

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like at a birthday party?

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You just wanna get to the cake so quick.

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But you gotta do the games and the balloons

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and all the other stuff to get to the cake.

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That's today.

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I wanna get to page four so bad,

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but I gotta give you the first couple of pages.

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So I'm gonna read and set us up and get us there.

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And then I'm gonna try to be obedient to God.

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So we've been walking through the book of Acts this year.

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And in that, the beginning, we talked about setting it up.

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We had a few weeks talking about his word.

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And then we were talking about his life, talking about Christ.

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And now we're talking about his church,

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as it was in the book of Acts.

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So in that process, we realized that

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the things that were individuals who encountered

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struggles and trials and difficulties,

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no different than what we just go through in our lives,

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but they had the empowerment

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of the Holy Spirit in their lives.

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And we see how God moved in the early church

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in the first century.

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Can I tell you today, he still moves today

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just like he did then.

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They said when the apostles died,

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that the Spirit and all that was, that's not true.

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That's a lie.

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God still is looking to perform his word in our lives today.

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He's still active.

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He still speaks to us through the Holy Spirit.

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It might be a gentle nudge.

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It might be a whisper.

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Sometimes, like me, he has to hit me with something

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to get my attention, but he is still speaking,

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are we listening?

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I said listening.

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We hear, but are we listening?

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And there's a difference.

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One of the misconceptions we have in the Western culture

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is this, especially in the Western church.

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We think that being a follower of Christ,

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it's all rainbows and roses.

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It's all just blessing and favor.

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We are exempt from all the hard things that come in life.

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Can I tell you that is not true?

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That is a misconception.

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That is false teaching.

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Now there are blessings.

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There is favor to be had in the name of the Lord,

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but we are not exempt just because I call Christ my Savior.

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Scripture says the rain falls on the just and the unjust.

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We are all in this world together.

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If I walk outside and there's a blackened sinner

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walking with me and there's a storm coming out,

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if we don't carry an umbrella,

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we're both gonna get soaking wet.

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It's the same for you.

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We think that we can just pray

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and God will just make it all go away

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and it's all gonna get better.

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It can.

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Most of the time it does,

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but sometimes we still have to walk through.

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He didn't say go around the valley of the shadow of death.

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He said we gotta walk through sometimes.

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I'm gonna use some examples and I know they won't mind.

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I can tell you this couple right here

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almost four years ago would have liked to have walked around

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a valley of the shadow of death,

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but they had to walk through it literally

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and their testimony shone through that

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to those around them and God was with them.

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He never left them forsaken.

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He walked through the valley.

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Sometimes we have to walk through it.

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I'm gonna save y'all the 18 verses of Scripture

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to make you stand and read.

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I love when Pastor Ronnie and sometimes Pastor Kevin go

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and we're gonna read the whole thing

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and it's like oh Lord my legs.

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Y'all been standing.

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Acts 16, 20.

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16 through 30 says this.

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Once as we were on our way to prayer,

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a slave girl met us who had a spirit of prediction

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and made a large profit for her owners by fortune telling.

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As she followed Paul and us, she cried out,

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"These men are the slaves of the most high God

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"who are proclaiming to you the way of salvation."

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And she did this for many days.

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And Paul was greatly aggravated.

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Do you know that you can be aggravated as a believer?

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That's not a sin.

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Show of hands.

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You might have been aggravated.

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Spiritually aggravated and I know you flesh.

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There's a difference.

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Left hand if you've been in your flesh.

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Right hand if you've been.

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Both hands.

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Everybody should be like this in the name of Jesus.

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I see those hands.

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He was greatly aggravated.

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In other words, he wasn't just a little tit.

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He was upset.

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He'd had enough.

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It's different.

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I'm reading from Harlem and y'all got NIV.

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So excuse the words.

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And turning to the Spirit, notice he did not call her out.

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He did not demean and provoke and chastise her.

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He recognized there was a Spirit.

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You do realize, Pastor Justin's been teaching it

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on Thursdays, we are in a spiritual battle.

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It ain't us against us.

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It's the kingdom of light against the kingdom of darkness.

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A third of the angels fell with Satan,

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Lucifer when he fell.

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That means that two thirds are still on Jehovah's side.

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I think that means he's outnumbered, right?

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Just saying.

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He turned to the Spirit and said,

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"I command you in the name of Jesus Christ

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"to come out of her."

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And it came out five days later.

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What's yours, what does it say?

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Thank you.

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In that moment.

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God is an on time, in that time moment kind of guy.

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When her owners saw that their hope of profit was gone,

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they grabbed Paul and Silas and dragged them

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into the marketplace to the authorities

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and bringing them before the chief magistrates,

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they said, "These men are seriously disturbing our city,

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"for they are Jews and are promoting customs

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"that are not legal for us Romans to adopt our practice."

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When you stand up to do the right, wait a minute.

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What's the title again?

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Do What's Right.

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When I first read the sermon schedule,

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I thought it said do the right thing

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and I went, why are we talking about Spike Lee in 1989?

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Do What's Right.

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When you stand up to do what's right in the name of God,

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guess what?

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You gonna get some stuff.

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You gonna create a situation

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because the enemy has come to steal, kill and destroy

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and he ain't gonna sit there and go,

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"Okay, Curt, do what you gotta do."

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No, he's gonna buffer and do everything he can

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to make that guy give up on his faith in God

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and put obstacles in your way so that you'll give up

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and not do what's right.

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But Paul was not operating in the spirit of Paul.

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He was operating through the spirit of God,

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through the Holy Spirit.

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And when you walk with the power of the Holy Spirit

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in your life, according to Acts 1 and 8,

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you will be a witness and you will have a boldness about you

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to do what's right.

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The mob joined in against them with attack

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and the chief magister stripped off the clothes,

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ordered them to be beaten with rods

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and after they inflicted many blows on them,

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threw them in jail, ordering the jailer

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to keep them securely guarded.

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After receiving such an order,

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he put them into the inner prison

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and secured the feet and stocks.

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Now today, to get stripped ain't a big thing.

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There's such a, we live in such a society,

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a world where people just run around half-naked

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and stupid anyway.

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But in that time, if you were pulled out in public

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and stripped, that was a humiliation.

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It was demeaning, you were degraded,

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you were less than, you were looked down on

Speaker:

and you were shamed.

Speaker:

All because they were doing what God had told them to do

Speaker:

and that created the chaos in the community

Speaker:

and they pulled them together and stripped them.

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Then it says it beat them with rods.

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Everybody over 50, y'all remember in mama's house?

Speaker:

I ain't even gotta finish, y'all know where I'm going.

Speaker:

It was my mother who was mom, mommy,

Speaker:

I'm 60 years old and I call her mommy, shut your mouth.

Speaker:

Her mom was mother because she always called her mom mother.

Speaker:

So my grandmother was mother

Speaker:

and my great-grandmother was mama.

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If mama Barfield wanted to tan me,

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give me a switch.

Speaker:

And I knew that if I go to that bush

Speaker:

and pull off that switch, I better do two things.

Speaker:

It better be thick and I better pull the leaves off of it

Speaker:

before I give it to her.

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And then I'd get tanned.

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These guys didn't get switched.

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They got beaten.

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The custom in the time were rods

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that were about a meter long.

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As you know, they're all meters, they're not feet.

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So anyway, 39 inches, whatever.

Speaker:

And they were as thick as your finger

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and they bundled them together, about nine to 10 of them

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and put a rope around them and all this up

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and the leaders, they walked around with it

Speaker:

like a bow and arrow thing over the shoulder.

Speaker:

They walked around on it, just looking.

Speaker:

Boy, I'll whip you.

Speaker:

The Jews had a custom that was against the law for 40 lashes.

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So everywhere in Scripture you see where the Jews did it,

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it was 40 minus one or 39 lashes

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'cause they didn't wanna break the law, the Mosaic law.

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Romans didn't care.

Speaker:

I'll beat you 'til my arm gets tired.

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So it says after they had induced many lashes.

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How many is many?

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Wasn't just one guy beating him either.

Speaker:

So imagine the picture.

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See, we make the Bible so septic and so clean.

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Come on, Kurt.

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Come here.

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Me and Kurt, Paul and Silas,

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we're walking around declaring the gospel.

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We call that spirit out.

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They bind us, they strip us,

Speaker:

and then they beat us to within inches of our life.

Speaker:

We're stripped, we're welted, we're bloodied, we're bruised.

Speaker:

Probably in the dirt, face down.

Speaker:

No, I'm just kidding.

Speaker:

[audience laughing]

Speaker:

See the picture.

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We read the page and we just flip the page.

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See the picture.

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Then they grab 'em up and drag 'em to jail.

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Roman prisons weren't a nice place.

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It ain't like going down the metro, is it, Justin?

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>> It ain't nice here.

Speaker:

[audience laughing]

Speaker:

>> See?

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At least he had air condition.

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This says if it ain't going to jail bad enough,

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General Popp, they put 'em in the inner cell,

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similar to an isolation situation

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where there is darkness, there's poor ventilation.

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What food you did get,

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you probably wasn't wanting to eat anyway.

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Rats, vermin, not a good place.

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That's bad enough, but now sit down

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and we'll lock your feet in the wooden stalks.

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And there's not a wall to lean on

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'cause we won't make this as uncomfortable for you

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as you can be in.

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'Cause at least you got a wall I can lean back.

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No, we want your back to hurt.

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We want your thighs to cramp.

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We want you to suffer.

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[audience laughing]

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They didn't do anything wrong.

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They hadn't broken a wall.

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What they did was obey the Holy Spirit

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and speak deliverance to somebody that was bound.

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But the world was against it.

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And it created a stir because let me tell you,

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when you do what's right,

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it's gonna draw conflict in your life.

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There is gonna be a spirit of antagonism against you

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because you're trying to be righteous,

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sanctified and justified in Christ

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and bring freedom to other people.

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Guess what?

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Lucifer, Satan, the enemy does not want that for them.

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And he will do all that he can to shut you up.

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Here we are, we find ourselves.

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I am so far.

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Often those who figure it out.

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Did I skip all of them?

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There we go.

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Crowd joined in the attack against Pylosallos.

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Magisterous Orleans, stripped, beaten rods,

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severely flogged, thrown in prison.

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Received the orders, put them in the inner cell,

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fastened their feet.

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Anybody been in a prison?

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Pastor Kevin just preached about it a few weeks ago.

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Most of the time, not all the time,

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most of the time, we build our own prisons.

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When it starts caving in and life starts happening,

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we implode, we go to dark places in our mind

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like that inner cell.

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We captivate ourself in our own cells.

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We put our own cells in shackles and stocks

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because we get so full of fear and anxiety

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that we imprison ourselves.

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We have a choice.

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We can whine and complain,

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which is in our DNA if you read Exodus.

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Some of you read your Bible.

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Or we can do what Pylosallos did.

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The scripture says at about midnight,

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I'm a night owl.

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I usually see 1230, 1245, one o'clock before I fall asleep.

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This last week, my poor wife,

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me flip flopping and moaning and crying out to the Lord,

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about midnight, Paul and Silas were praying.

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What is your first response when you're in prison,

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when you're in a dark place, when you start imploding,

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when you're captivated, when you have done the right thing?

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Hear me, if you're walking in sin

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and following after the desires of the flesh

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and you become imprisoned, guess what?

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Guilty.

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You put yourself there because you're walking out

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to fulfill the lust of the flesh.

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But if you are genuinely trying to walk

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to fulfill the gifts and the fruit of the Spirit

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in your life and you're doing the right thing,

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but yet you still find yourself in prison, pray.

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Don't complain.

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This is a saying, hymns to God.

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Some translations it says hymns of praise.

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They weren't in the prison singing songs of lament

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and woe is me, they were giving praise to God.

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Songs of David.

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How great and marvelous are you my God,

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the creator of heavens and earth.

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You have given me favor.

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They sang songs of praise and worship to God.

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Big line there.

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And the other prisoners were listening to them.

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Oh, I'm in here by myself.

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I'm in this struggle all alone.

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Nobody cares.

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There are people in your life listening

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to how you respond to what's going on in your life.

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They are watching what you're gonna do.

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I'm a believer in Christ.

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I go to church.

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I this, I that, all those good little,

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I got the bumper sticker, the fish, the t-shirt.

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I got the whole package.

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Does your actions line up with your appearance?

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Do your words reflect how you walk or vice versa?

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They were listening to them.

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Here's a good word.

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I love the book of Mark.

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If you go read the book of Mark,

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I used to be able to tell you the number.

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So many words immediately, suddenly, at once,

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at that very moment.

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Do you know we serve a God that is a suddenly,

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at once, in that very moment kind of God?

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You can sometimes have to go through it.

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Look at Joseph, three years.

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Felt like God forgot him.

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He literally was in prison too.

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But God is also a God of in that very moment.

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But how do you respond to him?

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Can influence the way he will respond to you.

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Suddenly, there was such a violent earthquake

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that the foundations of prison were shaken.

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It didn't start from the top down.

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God shook the earth and that prison fell apart

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from the bottom up, from the roots up.

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Whatever is holding you, whatever is binding you,

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whatever place you put yourself in,

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if you will cry out to God and pray,

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sing songs of deliverance and praise,

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and trust in him that others will see you,

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he will shake it from the foundation,

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and he'll bring freedom.

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Gets better.

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There's that word again.

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At once, a few of the doors, Paul and Silas' door.

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All the doors flew open, and every once,

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changed, came loose.

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You had the capacity, you have the ability,

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in your worshiping, in your reaction to life,

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to bring freedom that will open other people's doors

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and release them from the chains they're in.

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I got people I love.

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And I want my reaction to bring freedom to them,

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but guess what?

Speaker:

There's people that hate me too.

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And I can't be a man of God if I go,

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I only want it for the ones I love.

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God said, whosoever will,

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call me, shall be saved.

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So I gotta walk it out in front of everybody.

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I can't walk it out just in front of you, that's easy.

Speaker:

Can I do it in the marketplace?

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Can I do it at the ball field?

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Can I do it in emails where people are persecuting

Speaker:

and threatening lawsuits?

Speaker:

Can I be that guy then, to bring freedom for them?

Speaker:

The jailer wakes up.

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I guess so.

Speaker:

'Cause if you're one, I think,

Speaker:

well, Renee, say earthquake, can't wake me up.

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The earthquake shaking and rattling the timbers

Speaker:

and everything of a prison,

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probably enough to wake that guy up.

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Let's say there's 20 or 30 prisoners and they're bound up.

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You think their chains fall off,

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they just gonna sit there going, wow, that's pretty cool.

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I got a feeling that even unbelievers were freaking out

Speaker:

and going, what is happening?

Speaker:

What are y'all doing?

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How did this happen?

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So there might have been a little Pentecostal prayer meeting

Speaker:

happening in the prison cell.

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And it wakes the jailer up.

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And he's in a panic.

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'Cause he was told, you guard them,

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you put them in the inner prison.

Speaker:

And now this happens and he's freaking out 'cause,

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duh, if I'm locked up and it breaks free,

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I'm leaving.

Speaker:

But they had to do what was right.

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Paul and Silas all of a sudden become

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the wardens of this jail.

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Those that were bound for doing what was right,

Speaker:

stripped and humiliated, beaten,

Speaker:

and put in the darkest part of this prison,

Speaker:

now they're running the asylum.

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And the jailer is in fear of what's about to happen to him.

Speaker:

Says he's about to kill himself.

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'Cause he thought the prisoner escaped.

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But Paul shouted, y'all do see the word says shouted.

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Paul didn't go like, whoa, wait a minute, it's all right.

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Paul realizes there's a need.

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Hey, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, wait, wait.

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We're here, it's okay.

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Nobody's left, we're all here.

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There are people watching.

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There are people in your life that operate in fear,

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that are living in fear,

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and you have to bring a word of the Lord

Speaker:

that will bring life.

Speaker:

The jailer called for lights,

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rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas.

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Why was he trembling?

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Because he had experienced the power of God

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through an earthquake, through the praise and worship,

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through the bonds being broken.

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He recognized and experienced the power of God

Speaker:

in that dark setting.

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And it says, he then brought them out

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and says, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?

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"How can I have what you have?

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"How can I have what gave you freedom in this bondage?"

Speaker:

They replied, "Believe in the Lord Jesus,

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"and you will be saved."

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But not just you.

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You and your household.

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His household ain't there, he's in the prison.

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But Paul, one, brought the word of the Lord,

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which was life and liberty and deliverance,

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and then he prophesied over the jailer

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and said, "Not just you, but you and your household

Speaker:

"will be saved."

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Can you bring the word of the Lord?

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Can you have the boldness?

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You can if you're filled with the Holy Spirit.

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At that hour,

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Paul's Roman citizen,

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they didn't realize that.

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They accused him of being Jews, which he was.

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Throw him in prison, all this happens.

Speaker:

This Roman jailer takes them out,

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washed their wounds, and immediately,

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he and all his household were baptized.

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The jailer brought them into his house

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and sent a meal before them.

Speaker:

Psalm 23, come to mind.

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A table in the presence of mine, enemies.

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He was filled, who was?

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The jailer was filled with joy

Speaker:

because he had come to believe in God.

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There are people that are bound and lost in darkness,

Speaker:

and when you bring the word of God to them,

Speaker:

and they experience freedom,

Speaker:

they will be filled with joy

Speaker:

because they have what you have.

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Because you've given it to them freely.

Speaker:

He and his whole household.

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Worship team, y'all can kinda come this way.

Speaker:

God has got a restoration.

Speaker:

They took them in the broad of day,

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stripped them and humiliated them

Speaker:

before the crowds of people.

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In the middle of the day, beat them severely.

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In the middle of the day, put them in prison.

Speaker:

God does his thing, the jailer and his family gets saved,

Speaker:

word comes about what's happened to the chief magistrates.

Speaker:

They find out that they're Roman citizens and went, uh-oh.

Speaker:

Uh-oh, 'cause that means trouble for them.

Speaker:

'Cause I've done this to a Roman citizen.

Speaker:

And he goes, hey, just kinda take them out the back

Speaker:

and give them some bread,

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just get 'em on, move 'em on away.

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Here's where the boldness of God comes in your life

Speaker:

with the empowerment of the Holy Spirit.

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Paul said, no, no, uh-uh, woo, uh-uh.

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You embarrassed us and humiliated us in public.

Speaker:

You're gonna release us and apologize to us in public.

Speaker:

Don't believe me, read the scripture.

Speaker:

When you sweat and cry, you get blurry eyes.

Speaker:

When daylight came, the chief magistrates

Speaker:

sent the police to say, release those men.

Speaker:

The jailer reported these words to Paul.

Speaker:

The magistrates have sent orders for you to be released

Speaker:

so come out now and go in peace.

Speaker:

In other words, shh, go that way.

Speaker:

And Paul said, they beat us in public without a trial?

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Although we are Roman citizens and they threw us in jail,

Speaker:

and now, now they gonna smuggle us out secretly, uh-uh?

Speaker:

Certainly not.

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On the contrary, let them come themselves

Speaker:

and escort us out.

Speaker:

(soft piano music)

Speaker:

Can I tell you that God will have you escorted out

Speaker:

with honor from what the enemy did in shame

Speaker:

so that his name will be glorified?

Speaker:

Wasn't about Paul and Silas,

Speaker:

it wasn't about, oh, we're Roman citizens.

Speaker:

It was about they were believers in God

Speaker:

and they weren't gonna take it from the devil anymore.

Speaker:

And them being made a spectacle,

Speaker:

when they were escorted out, they were given honor

Speaker:

because they did what was right

Speaker:

and they suffered for it.

Speaker:

Sometimes we will suffer for doing what's right.

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But trust me, God will always,

Speaker:

God will always be glorified.

Speaker:

For these light and momentary afflictions,

Speaker:

there are scripture after scripture

Speaker:

which says they counted themselves worthy to suffer

Speaker:

for the name of Christ.

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I'm not saying go out and look for every opportunity

Speaker:

to be beaten down, whatever.

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We do have a place of blessing and honor and favor

Speaker:

in the name of Christ.

Speaker:

But sometimes we have to suffer

Speaker:

because there are people looking

Speaker:

and they're gonna see how you respond.

Speaker:

And the way you respond, the way I respond

Speaker:

will bring life or death to them.

Speaker:

Four years ago, I should have died in November from COVID.

Speaker:

And I'm gonna tell you, I wasn't much of a Christian

Speaker:

that first three hours.

Speaker:

They're trying to shove air bows and air flows

Speaker:

and all this on me and it was causing pain

Speaker:

because the mixture was wrong.

Speaker:

And I was fighting my nurse, male nurse.

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Let me clarify, it was a male nurse.

Speaker:

His name was Ryan.

Speaker:

But I was fighting.

Speaker:

I kept telling him, you're hurting me,

Speaker:

you're not helping me.

Speaker:

And once I got out of my flesh

Speaker:

and started praying in the Holy Ghost under my breath,

Speaker:

a precious lady named Kay came in.

Speaker:

And she, little gal, in the middle of all that chaos

Speaker:

came into room four, the whatever that is, the bad place.

Speaker:

I see you.

Speaker:

And she said, "Hey!"

Speaker:

And that room went quiet.

Speaker:

And she said, "What is going on?"

Speaker:

And I said, "He keeps trying to put this on

Speaker:

"and I'm telling you, it hurts, it burns.

Speaker:

"It's chemical, it's not heat."

Speaker:

She checked the gauges of the valves, adjusted it,

Speaker:

and said, "If you'll try it now, just try it."

Speaker:

Put it on and it brought relief.

Speaker:

But for the next 13 days,

Speaker:

I encountered 23 people in that hospital,

Speaker:

seven of them from that night,

Speaker:

and I had to repent to them.

Speaker:

I verbally told Ryan, "Brother, I am sorry

Speaker:

"for cussing and yelling at you and fighting you."

Speaker:

And he's like, "That's okay, brother, you hurt."

Speaker:

I said, "No, it's not okay!

Speaker:

"I'm a believer in Jesus and my response was wrong.

Speaker:

"And I repent, I am sorry, and I need you to forgive me.

Speaker:

"Can I tell you for the next 13 days,

Speaker:

"that man did anything I asked for.

Speaker:

"I got to pray with him.

Speaker:

"He's a veteran from Afghanistan War.

Speaker:

"He's a male nurse at the hospital at Stonecrest."

Speaker:

We became so close that by the time I was released

Speaker:

on the 29th of November, he cried when we hugged to leave.

Speaker:

I could have left it on my first three hours of response,

Speaker:

but I chose to repent and do what was right.

Speaker:

So here we are.

Speaker:

I don't know where you are.

Speaker:

I don't know what hell has unleashed in your life

Speaker:

in the last week, month.

Speaker:

I don't know what's ahead of you.

Speaker:

I know this, we are called to do what is right.

Speaker:

And if we will do what is right,

Speaker:

God will bring release for you,

Speaker:

salvation for those that are around you,

Speaker:

and he will be glorified.

Speaker:

Different altar call.

Speaker:

Stand, sit, kneel, come.

Speaker:

It's open.

Speaker:

Allow the Lord to work in your life this morning,

Speaker:

whatever it is.

Speaker:

Actually, yes, Lord.

Speaker:

There are some people in here this morning

Speaker:

that you need to profess it to somebody.

Speaker:

So I am gonna ask elders and those that will pray

Speaker:

to come forward.

Speaker:

(gentle music)

Speaker:

There's a few of you that do need to come and verbally

Speaker:

tell somebody what it is in your life

Speaker:

that you're believing for,

Speaker:

and I challenge you to come down.

Speaker:

This song, we're doing "Tremble Again."

Speaker:

Let the darkness be gone in your life this morning.

Speaker:

Would the elders and those that are gonna minister,

Speaker:

please come forward.

Speaker:

If you're feeling unction of the whole,

Speaker:

that's not your breakfast,

Speaker:

that's not some uneasy feeling,

Speaker:

that's the Holy Spirit that's working in your life.

Speaker:

I need to go forward, I need to tell somebody.

Speaker:

If that's you, come forward.

Speaker:

If you don't feel that, just speak to somebody,

Speaker:

but you need this altar space.

Speaker:

Come get before the Lord so there's no distractions.

Speaker:

If you can't get down here and you need it there,

Speaker:

just stand up and allow the Holy Spirit

Speaker:

to minister to you there.

Speaker:

Would you stand?

Speaker:

(gentle music)

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