Latest / Living Waters of Grace / Calvary Chapel of Westmoreland Sunday Services / Living Waters of Grace 12.10.25

Transcript

Living Waters of Grace 12.10.25 · Living Waters of Grace / Calvary Chapel of Westmoreland Sunday Services

• 0:03
  This is Living Waters of Grace, the teaching ministry of Clark
• 0:08
  Wofford, senior pastor of Calvary Chapel of Westmoreland,
• 0:12
  County of Greensburg, PA. Now here's Pastor Clark as he
• 0:16
  continues teaching through God's Word.
• 0:37
  The Bible says that the Holy Spirit convicts the world of sin
• 0:41
  and of righteousness and of judgment because they don't
• 0:44
  believe in Jesus. So whenever you get the people
• 0:48
  and you begin to tell them about the gospel and they start
• 0:52
  getting uncomfortable and all that, that's the evidence of the
• 0:55
  work of the Holy Spirit. That's what he does.
• 0:57
  But the only way the Spirit can really convict people of the
• 1:01
  things that they need to be convicted of is to hear the
• 1:03
  truth, and the truth only comes by the Word of God.
• 1:07
  The Holy Spirit is the only one who can turn people to Jesus,
• 1:11
  but he needs believers to share the gospel and be bold for their
• 1:15
  faith because there's still so many who don't know the truth
• 1:19
  they think they know. But if they fully embrace the
• 1:22
  saving work of Jesus Christ, there should be an evident
• 1:26
  shift. In today's message, Pastor Clark
• 1:29
  encourages you to continue sharing the truth.
• 1:32
  It will always make people uncomfortable because they will
• 1:35
  begin to see that what they were living for was empty.
• 1:40
  Now here's Pastor Clark in Acts chapter 24 with today's edition
• 1:44
  of Living Waters of Grace. He was in a really plush palace
• 1:49
  in this area of the empire. He was given freedom to eat and
• 1:54
  to hang out. It was nice atmosphere.
• 1:57
  He was allowed to have friends come in and hang out with him
• 2:00
  and visit him. So this really wasn't
• 2:02
  imprisonment. And if this leader, Felix,
• 2:04
  thought that Paul was really guilty, he wouldn't have given
• 2:07
  him all these liberties. So what happens here Now in
• 2:10
  verse 24, after some days, Felix comes down with his wife
• 2:14
  Drusilla, who was a Jewish. She was sent for Paul and heard
• 2:19
  him concerning the faith in Christ.
• 2:21
  So she already knows what's going on and what's being
• 2:24
  communicated to all the people in the land at the time
• 2:27
  regarding the gospel of Jesus Christ.
• 2:29
  She's certainly not a believer. She's a very young woman,
• 2:32
  supposedly around 20 years old, very attractive.
• 2:35
  This couple together is not a really good team together,
• 2:39
  godless, but anyway, they're there and they're going to have
• 2:42
  this conversation. Now is he reasoned about
• 2:45
  righteousness? This see Paul right away the
• 2:48
  opportunity. Drusilla is here with Felix
• 2:50
  again, neither among believers. What are you going to do?
• 2:53
  You're just going to say, hey, let me go free because I'm
• 2:56
  innocent? No, right away.
• 2:58
  He starts the gospel again. He tells them about the need to
• 3:01
  be righteous. They're not righteous, They're
• 3:04
  unrighteous. They're godless.
• 3:07
  They're sinful Pagan people. So he's communicating what
• 3:11
  righteousness is versus what unrighteousness is.
• 3:14
  Then he talks about self-control.
• 3:17
  They have no self-control. They're just doing what makes
• 3:20
  them feel good and what makes them happy, which human race has
• 3:23
  a tendency to do. No issues of self-control.
• 3:27
  And then not only that, but the judgment that's eventually to
• 3:31
  come. So it says Felix was afraid, so
• 3:34
  he's under conviction. He's bothered by what it is that
• 3:37
  Paul's telling him. Just like you and I should be or
• 3:40
  anybody should be. The Bible says that the Holy
• 3:43
  Spirit convicts the world of sin and of righteousness and of
• 3:48
  judgment because they don't believe in Jesus.
• 3:51
  So whenever you get to people and you begin to tell them about
• 3:55
  the gospel and they start getting uncomfortable and all
• 3:58
  that, that's the evidence of the work of the Holy Spirit.
• 4:01
  That's what he does. But the only way the Spirit can
• 4:04
  really convict people of the things that they need to be
• 4:07
  convicted of is to hear the truth.
• 4:09
  And the truth only comes by the Word of God.
• 4:12
  You can have conversations about religion and spiritual stuff all
• 4:15
  day long, but if you don't give them the pure teaching of the
• 4:19
  gospel that Christ died for our sins according to the
• 4:22
  scriptures, that he was buried in the third day he rose again
• 4:25
  from the dead. You haven't given him anything
• 4:27
  to think about or anything to be convicted by.
• 4:30
  Honey, the blood of Jesus Christ can cleanse us from our sins.
• 4:33
  So Felix is afraid and he says go away for now.
• 4:38
  When I've convenient time, I will call for you.
• 4:40
  In other words, like he's bothered.
• 4:42
  The day's a day of salvation, right?
• 4:44
  Like if you're an unbeliever and you're like, hey, I, I'm nailed
• 4:49
  here, man. I got to make a decision.
• 4:51
  I have to believe this. And if I don't, I'm in trouble.
• 4:54
  I mean, when you start thinking that way, that's good news
• 4:56
  because this is the day that you want to be saved, the day that
• 4:59
  you get it and you're convicted of it and you know you need a
• 5:03
  savior. You don't want to put it off.
• 5:05
  Paul says today is a day of salvation.
• 5:08
  Behold, now is the accepted time.
• 5:10
  Behold, now is a day of salvation.
• 5:13
  And in Acts 1730, it says God commands all men everywhere to
• 5:18
  repent. So this not here in Macedonia or
• 5:22
  Jerusalem or the Roman Empire. Greensburg, Latrobe, Irwin,
• 5:26
  Pittsburgh, Ligonier, you know, California, Texas, South
• 5:31
  Carolina, Pakistan, Africa, Nigeria, Russia, Ukraine.
• 5:37
  Everybody needs to hear this, right?
• 5:41
  And we're the ones that are supposed to tell them.
• 5:43
  And if we're afraid because, well, what if they fire me from
• 5:47
  my job? Or what if they put me in jail?
• 5:50
  Or what if they make fun of me, or what if they don't like me
• 5:54
  anymore? Or what if they don't invite me
• 5:56
  to their house anymore? All these thoughts that get in
• 5:59
  our head, you know, 'cause us to be afraid of sharing the truth,
• 6:04
  right? But this is supposed to be told
• 6:06
  to everyone, everywhere, for all times and all places.
• 6:10
  This is not here and Acts, but right now we're hearing this
• 6:14
  stuff. So meanwhile, he also hoped that
• 6:18
  money would be given to him by Paul.
• 6:19
  So he's thinking, hey, maybe Paul, give me some money and
• 6:21
  then I'll let him go. Bribes are illegal.
• 6:23
  This guy has got problems, right?
• 6:25
  That he might release him. Therefore he sent for him more
• 6:28
  often and converse with him. So he keeps having him come
• 6:31
  back, but not so much to hear the gospel.
• 6:33
  He's hoping eventually he'll give me some cash, right?
• 6:36
  He wasn't looking for money. So Procus Festus succeeded
• 6:39
  Felix. Felix is done with the deal
• 6:42
  here. They got a new guy now that's
• 6:43
  going to come on the scene, and he wants the Jews, Jews a favor,
• 6:47
  and he leaves Paul bound. So chapter 25.
• 6:50
  Now when Festus had come to the province, after three days, he
• 6:53
  went up from Caesarea to Jerusalem.
• 6:55
  Then the high priest and the chief men of the Jews informed
• 6:59
  him against Paul, and they petitioned him, asking a favor
• 7:02
  against him, that he would summon him to Jerusalem while
• 7:05
  they lay an ambush among the road to kill him.
• 7:07
  So this is a setup again. They're trying to tell this
• 7:10
  governor, hey, you know, send Paul back to Jerusalem, we'll
• 7:13
  try him there, and that's the best place for him to be.
• 7:16
  Well, fortunately, this governor didn't listen because they're
• 7:18
  going to plan to assassinate Paul and that's not going to
• 7:22
  happen. This isn't the time.
• 7:23
  So Festus answered that Paul should be kept at Caesarea in
• 7:27
  verse 4, and that he himself was going there shortly.
• 7:31
  Therefore, he said, let those who have authority among you go
• 7:34
  down with me and accuse this man to see if there's any fault in
• 7:37
  there him. They keep trying to find fault
• 7:39
  with this guy. It's impossible.
• 7:41
  He's done nothing wrong. It's just a real setup.
• 7:44
  You know, it just continues. It's a joke.
• 7:47
  And so he remains there with them more than 10 days, goes
• 7:51
  down to Caesarea the next day, sitting on the judgment seat.
• 7:55
  His guy's all in this pomp and circumstance.
• 7:57
  Now is a big authority. He commands Paul to be brought.
• 8:01
  When he had come, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem
• 8:03
  stood about and laid many serious complaints against Paul.
• 8:07
  This is going on all over again, which they could not prove,
• 8:10
  while he answered for himself. Neither against the law of the
• 8:13
  Jews, nor against the Temple, nor against Caesar have I
• 8:17
  offended in anything at all. But Festus, wanting to do the
• 8:21
  Jews a favor, answered Paul and said, Are you willing to go up
• 8:24
  to Jerusalem and there be judged before me concerning these
• 8:27
  things? Paul said in verse 10, I stand
• 8:30
  at Caesar's judgement seat where I ought to be judged as a Roman
• 8:34
  citizen. He doesn't need to go back to
• 8:36
  Jerusalem. And if he did, he knew what
• 8:37
  would happen to the Jews. I have done no wrong, as you
• 8:41
  very well know. For if I'm an offender or if
• 8:43
  committed anything deserving of death, I don't object to dying.
• 8:47
  But if there is nothing in these things of which these men accuse
• 8:50
  me, no one can deliver me to them.
• 8:53
  I appeal to Caesar. So this is Paul's right.
• 8:55
  He knows the law is a Roman citizen and he's going to
• 8:58
  eventually get to Rome. It was prophesized that the Lord
• 9:01
  would give Paul to Rome. Then Festus, when he had
• 9:03
  conferred with the council, answered, you have appealed to
• 9:07
  Caesar to Caesar you shall go. So after some days in verse 13,
• 9:13
  King or Grappa and Bernice came to Caesarea to greet Festus.
• 9:17
  When they had been there many days.
• 9:19
  Festus laid Paul's case before the king, saying there's a
• 9:22
  certain man left a prisoner by Felix, about whom the chief
• 9:26
  priests and elders of the Jews informed me when I was in
• 9:30
  Jerusalem asking for a judgment against him.
• 9:33
  To them I am answered, It's not the custom of the Romans that
• 9:37
  deliver any man to destruction before the accused meets the
• 9:40
  accusers face to face, and his opportunity to answer for
• 9:43
  himself concerning the charge against him.
• 9:46
  Therefore, when they had come together without any delay, the
• 9:48
  next day I sat on the judgment seat and commanded the man to be
• 9:52
  brought in. When the accuser stood up, they
• 9:54
  brought no accusation against him of such things as I'd
• 9:57
  suppose, but had some questions against him about their own
• 10:01
  religion and about a certain Jesus who had died, whom Paul
• 10:05
  affirmed to be alive. This is sort of funny because
• 10:08
  these people think like, when I heard about this, this sort of
• 10:11
  like, doesn't seem to be true. But there's this guy supposedly
• 10:15
  by the name of Jesus that died and was killed, and he's alive
• 10:19
  again. Obviously, this doesn't connect
• 10:22
  with a lot of people back then, and it certainly doesn't connect
• 10:25
  with a lot of people today. So Paul firms this guy to be
• 10:29
  alive. And because I was uncertain of
• 10:31
  such questions, I asked whether he was willing to go to
• 10:33
  Jerusalem and be judged according to these matters.
• 10:37
  But when Paul appeared to be reserved for the decision of
• 10:41
  Augustus, I commanded him to be kept till I could send him to
• 10:45
  Caesar. Then Agrippa, said the Festus, I
• 10:48
  also would like to hear this man myself tomorrow.
• 10:51
  He said you shall hear him so. The next day Agrippa and Bernice
• 10:54
  come in this great pomp. Enter the auditorium with the
• 10:57
  commanders and the prominent men of the city of Festus.
• 11:00
  They command Paul to be brought in Festus, said King Agrippa,
• 11:04
  and all the men who are here present with us.
• 11:07
  You see this man about whom the whole assembly petitioned me,
• 11:11
  both at Jerusalem here and crying out that he was not fit
• 11:14
  to live any longer. But when I found out that he had
• 11:17
  committed nothing deserving of death, isn't that interesting
• 11:20
  that he himself had appealed to Augustus, I decided to send him.
• 11:25
  I have nothing certain to write to my Lord concerning him.
• 11:28
  Therefore I brought him out before you, and especially
• 11:31
  before you, King Agrippa, so that after the examination has
• 11:34
  taken place I may have something to write for.
• 11:37
  It seems to me unreasonable to send a prisoner and not to
• 11:41
  specify the charges against him. Talk about a waste of time, a
• 11:46
  waste of talent and resources. And trials that go on and on and
• 11:52
  on. And they, they never come to any
• 11:54
  kind of resolution, you know, even when there's evidence that
• 11:57
  there's nothing illegal going on here.
• 12:01
  So we'll finish in this section here and I'll read this quickly.
• 12:04
  It's tough when you're teaching these kind of chapters because
• 12:08
  you got to read the history in order to understand what's going
• 12:10
  on in any way you're going to understand is if I read it
• 12:13
  right, I can't give you the Cliff Notes version of this.
• 12:16
  I mean, just got to. But that's why we're a church
• 12:18
  that goes through the Bible and we literally go through the
• 12:20
  Bible, don't we? The stuff that's really
• 12:23
  interesting and sometimes the stuff that puts you to sleep,
• 12:26
  like in Leviticus, but we go through it all because it's all
• 12:28
  God's Word, right? So chapter 26.
• 12:31
  Then Agrippa said to Paul, you are permitted to speak for
• 12:34
  yourself. So Paul stretched out his hand
• 12:37
  and answered for himself. I think myself happy, King
• 12:40
  Agrippa, because today I shall answer for myself before you
• 12:44
  concerning all the things at which I am accused of by the
• 12:48
  Jews, especially because you are expert on all customs and
• 12:52
  questions which have to do with the Jews.
• 12:55
  Therefore I beg you to hear me patiently.
• 12:57
  My manner of life. I love the testimony here.
• 13:00
  He doesn't hide anything. My manner of life for my youth,
• 13:03
  which was spent from the beginning among my own nation at
• 13:06
  Jerusalem, all the Jews know. They knew me from the first, as
• 13:10
  if they were willing to testify that according to the strictest
• 13:14
  sect of our religion, I lived a Pharisee.
• 13:16
  So Paul was a Pharisee, hated Christians, hated anything other
• 13:22
  than strict Judaism. And now I stand and I'm judged
• 13:26
  for the hope of the promise made by God to our fathers.
• 13:30
  I'm being judged for something that the whole Testament taught.
• 13:34
  To this promise, our 12 tribes, earnestly serving God night and
• 13:37
  day hope to attain. For this hope's sake, King
• 13:42
  Agrippa, I am accused by the Jews.
• 13:44
  Why should it be thought incredible by you that God
• 13:47
  raises the dead? Why should it be a problem?
• 13:50
  Why can't you see this? Indeed, I myself thought I must
• 13:54
  do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth.
• 13:58
  So the very things he's going to say that he did at one time,
• 14:01
  they're doing to him. This I also did in Jerusalem.
• 14:04
  And many of the Saints I shut up in prison, having received
• 14:08
  authority from the chief priest. And when they were put to death,
• 14:11
  I cast my vote against them. And I punish them often in every
• 14:15
  synagogue and compelled them to blasphemy.
• 14:17
  I mean, he forced them to deny their faith.
• 14:20
  And being exceedingly enraged against them, I persecuted them
• 14:24
  even to foreign cities while thus occupied, as I journeyed to
• 14:29
  Damascus. And then Paul's doing all this
• 14:31
  persecution stuff. And we read about this earlier
• 14:34
  in the book of the Acts. He's heading to Damascus with
• 14:36
  authority and Commission from the chief priests to persecute
• 14:40
  Christians. At midday, O king, along the
• 14:43
  road I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, shining
• 14:47
  around me and those who journeyed with me.
• 14:50
  And when we all had fallen to the ground, I heard a voice
• 14:53
  speaking to me, saying in the Hebrew language, Saul, Saul, why
• 14:57
  are you persecuting me? And of course, this is Jesus
• 15:00
  speaking to him. It is hard for you to kick
• 15:03
  against the goads. So I said, Who are you, Lord?
• 15:07
  And he said, I am Jesus whom you are persecuting.
• 15:10
  But rise and stand on your feet, for I have appeared to you for
• 15:14
  this purpose, to make you a minister and a witness both of
• 15:17
  the things which you have seen and other things which I will
• 15:20
  yet reveal to you. I will deliver you from the
• 15:23
  Jewish people as well as from the Gentiles to whom I now send
• 15:28
  you to open their eyes in order to turn them from darkness to
• 15:32
  light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may
• 15:35
  receive forgiveness, His sins and an inheritance among those
• 15:39
  who are sanctified by faith in me.
• 15:41
  Isn't this beautiful? So he gets to give this
• 15:43
  testimony of what he was like. And you and I all have a
• 15:46
  testimony. It's not like it's something
• 15:48
  you're proud of, but it's part of your legacy and your life
• 15:51
  and, and God gets glory from saving you from what he saved
• 15:54
  you from. That's what makes a testimony
• 15:57
  wonderful thing to tell people because lots of times people
• 16:00
  meet you and I and they think, oh, you were always good, you
• 16:03
  were perfect. You never did anything wrong.
• 16:05
  Let me tell you what I did. And they look at me and they
• 16:07
  say, wow, man, you were bad, you know?
• 16:11
  Yeah, it was. That's why I needed to get
• 16:12
  saved, right? That's why you need to get
• 16:14
  saved. We're all bad.
• 16:15
  We're all sinners, right? So therefore King Agrippa was
• 16:19
  not disobedient to the heavenly vision, but declared first to
• 16:22
  those in Damascus and in Jerusalem and throughout all the
• 16:25
  region of Judea and them to the Gentiles, that they should
• 16:28
  repent and turn to God and do works befitting repentance.
• 16:33
  So not any getting saved and getting born again and knowing
• 16:36
  that your sins are forgiven, but living a life now that shows you
• 16:41
  really repented from your sin. You're not living the same way
• 16:44
  you used to live, right? You're not perfect, but you're
• 16:46
  certainly not living the way you know you used to live.
• 16:50
  That was wrong. For these reasons, verse 21, the
• 16:53
  Jews seized me in the temple and tried to kill me.
• 16:56
  Therefore, having obtained help from God, to this day I stand
• 16:59
  witnessing both to the small and great, saying no other things
• 17:04
  then those which the prophets and Moses said would come.
• 17:07
  So he's not giving them any new information.
• 17:10
  He's using their own Bible, the Old Testament at the time to
• 17:14
  teach them and proclaim to them the things that now he believes
• 17:18
  and understands that the Christ would suffer, that he would be
• 17:23
  the first to rise from the dead and would proclaim light to the
• 17:27
  Jewish people and to the Gentiles, the gospel he's giving
• 17:31
  them verse 24. Now as he thus made his defense,
• 17:34
  Festus said with a loud voice, Paul, you are beside yourself.
• 17:38
  Much learning is driving you mad.
• 17:41
  He thinks he's crazy, but he said I am not mad.
• 17:44
  Most noble Festus, but speak the words of truth and reason.
• 17:48
  For the king, therefore, whom I also speak freely, knows these
• 17:53
  things. For I'm convinced that none of
• 17:55
  these things escapes his attention, since this thing was
• 17:59
  not done in a corner. King Agrippa, do you believe the
• 18:02
  prophets? I know that you do believe.
• 18:05
  So here's the king. I mean, he already can
• 18:09
  understand what Paul's saying here.
• 18:11
  He's not at the point he's ready to to become perhaps a believer
• 18:15
  or to admit that he believes these things.
• 18:17
  He's sort of in a catch 22 here. And Agrippa says to Paul, you
• 18:21
  almost persuade me to be a Christian now.
• 18:25
  I wonder how many of these people did become Christians
• 18:28
  eventually. We're just reading stuff in real
• 18:31
  time here when it was written by Luke and he's given us a record
• 18:35
  of what happened. But it wouldn't it be neat to
• 18:37
  know like all the people that ended up becoming saved during
• 18:41
  these times in these trials, and I'm sure quite a few of them
• 18:44
  did. We'll get to know.
• 18:45
  We'll meet him in heaven. We'll say, hey, remember that
• 18:47
  Sunday that we took the time to read Acts 2425 and 26 and we
• 18:52
  didn't skip it. We want to find out like who you
• 18:55
  guys, you know, how did you eventually come to to become
• 18:58
  born again? I mean, this is fascinating
• 18:59
  stories of people will meet one day in the Kingdom of heaven.
• 19:03
  And so Paul, this Agrippa flattering in a way, Hey man,
• 19:09
  you almost got me here to become a believer.
• 19:11
  Paul said I would to God that not only you, but also all who
• 19:15
  hear me today might become both almost and all together, such as
• 19:19
  an I am except for being in these change.
• 19:22
  And so Paul says to us today, if you're hearing this, I'm hearing
• 19:25
  this and his prayer was that would the God that his testimony
• 19:30
  and the things he said would cause people to become born
• 19:34
  again. And that's what's so wonderful
• 19:36
  that this word that we have, that we get all to teach and to
• 19:39
  preach and to listen to and to believe and to talk about and to
• 19:43
  share, it has the power to save lives and transform hearts.
• 19:49
  The gospel is the power of God and the salvation to everyone
• 19:52
  that believes, to the Jew 1st, and also to the Gentile.
• 19:56
  It's good news, isn't it? So when he said these things,
• 20:00
  the king stood up, as well as the governor and Bernice and
• 20:03
  those who sat with them. And when they had gone outside,
• 20:07
  I love this part, they talked among themselves, saying this
• 20:10
  man is doing nothing deserving of death in chains.
• 20:13
  He's not doing anything wrong. They're vindicating him.
• 20:18
  But they can't perhaps do it publicly because then they'll
• 20:21
  tie themselves into this way. And then Agrippa, said the
• 20:25
  Festus, this man might have been set free if he had not appealed
• 20:30
  to Caesar. So what the apostle Paul did,
• 20:35
  his faithfulness, He never stopped doing what he was
• 20:38
  supposed to do. He preached the gospel in season
• 20:41
  and out of season. He didn't worry about the
• 20:44
  consequences of what would happen to him if he did certain
• 20:47
  things. He never thought twice about
• 20:51
  hiding the truth from anybody. He always was open with the
• 20:55
  gospel, with everybody he could possibly come in contact with.
• 20:59
  And I pray that the Holy Spirit would make us more with that
• 21:02
  kind of heart that Paul had that whenever we're around with
• 21:07
  people in life, every day in life, that we're always thinking
• 21:11
  like, Lord, make a way that we can have a conversation about
• 21:14
  you. Give me an opportunity to tell
• 21:17
  someone about my testimony or give me an opportunity to let
• 21:21
  someone know I'm praying for him.
• 21:22
  And then they might say, well, why are you going to pray?
• 21:25
  Because I know a God who will answer your prayers.
• 21:28
  And that people will look at a shock or surprise or inquisitive
• 21:31
  or curious. And they might have that same
• 21:35
  response to you and me that, you know, you almost caused me to
• 21:40
  consider these things and to be a Christian.
• 21:42
  That's you get people close to that point.
• 21:45
  It won't be too long before the Lord brings them in, right?
• 21:48
  You get them to the point that you're almost, you almost got me
• 21:51
  there where the Holy Spirit's really working, isn't it, When
• 21:53
  we know that the Lord's almost got people to that point.
• 21:56
  So let's just pray that in these days as a church, we have an
• 22:01
  impact that is based upon the good news getting out the people
• 22:07
  outside the four walls and whatever opportunity we have to
• 22:11
  to take our own testimony and and use Paul as a a courageous
• 22:16
  hero and a guy you want to be mentored by in ministry or life
• 22:21
  or being a believer. You know, Paul said, follow me
• 22:25
  like I follow Christ in me. So whatever he's done is a good
• 22:30
  example for us to follow. Lord Jesus, we are grateful.
• 22:34
  And Lord, we are so thrilled with the Bible and the Word of
• 22:36
  God when you give it to us and we can feed on it, Lord, and we
• 22:40
  just don't get one or two verses.
• 22:42
  You give us chapters, Lord, You give us paragraphs.
• 22:45
  Lord, You give us comparison of the Bible from Genesis to
• 22:49
  Revelation, and you give us your whole counsel.
• 22:52
  Lord, there's not one thing that you've hid back from us, Father,
• 22:55
  that you want us to know. And we thank you, Lord, today
• 22:58
  that Paul was in deep water. And yet, Lord, you protected
• 23:02
  him. You promised him you would get
• 23:04
  him to roam. And there was all these people
• 23:07
  that were trying to destroy him and kill him so that would never
• 23:10
  happen. But nothing can happen to us in
• 23:13
  our lives in regard to leaving this world until it's your time
• 23:16
  for us to leave. So, Lord, help us in these days
• 23:19
  to live for purposes that are much bigger than ourselves.
• 23:24
  Help us, Lord, to know that there's more to living life than
• 23:27
  making this the living. Lord, there's a purpose behind
• 23:30
  every relationship and every job and every community and every
• 23:35
  family and every nation, Lord, and that's that the gospel would
• 23:40
  get out the people. And Lord, I pray for my brothers
• 23:43
  and sisters today when they go out into their homes and their
• 23:47
  communities and their family and friendships, relationships, that
• 23:51
  they have opportunity to talk about you and what you've done
• 23:54
  for them. Thanks for joining us on this
• 23:58
  journey through Acts. On today's edition of Living
• 24:01
  Waters of Grace, Pastor Clark shares that one of the most
• 24:04
  remarkable things about the book of Acts is how it shows the
• 24:08
  disciples transformation. The followers of Jesus we meet
• 24:12
  here are very different from the often confused and fearful
• 24:17
  disciples in the Gospels. After Jesus's death and
• 24:21
  resurrection, and especially through the power of the Holy
• 24:24
  Spirit, the apostles experienced a profound change in their
• 24:29
  hearts and boldness. Their faith became unwavering,
• 24:33
  and they moved forward with courage to spread the gospel
• 24:36
  despite opposition and hardship. Acts reminds us that the same
• 24:41
  Spirit who empowered them is at work in US today, shaping our
• 24:46
  hearts and giving us strength to live boldly for Christ.
• 24:50
  Living Waters of Grace is a ministry of Calvary Chapel
• 24:53
  Westmoreland. If you're in the Greensburg, PA
• 24:56
  area, we invite you to join us this Sunday at 10:30 AM at 400 E
• 25:02
  Pittsburgh St. Unit 6B.
• 25:04
  Visit calvarychapelonline.com For more information, where you
• 25:09
  can also join our e-mail list. Submit prayer requests, give
• 25:13
  online and download our mobile app.
• 25:17
  If you are in the Greensburg area, you can listen to Grace FM
• 25:20
  on the new 91.7 frequency. Pray about helping support the
• 25:25
  new station that will reach thousands more listeners.
• 25:28
  Send gifts to Grace FMPO Box 716, Greensburg, PA 15601.
• 25:36
  If you can join us in person, you can subscribe to the Calvary
• 25:38
  Chapel Westmoreland YouTube channel so you'll be alerted
• 25:42
  when new material becomes available.
• 25:45
  We're so grateful that you joined us today in Axe TuneIn
• 25:48
  again soon for another edition of Living Waters of Grace.