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Living Waters of Grace 09.30.25 · Living Waters of Grace / Calvary Chapel of Westmoreland Sunday Services

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  This is Living Waters of Grace, the teaching ministry of Clark
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  Wofford, senior pastor of Calvary Chapel of Westmoreland,
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  County of Greensburg, PA. Now here's Pastor Clark as he
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  continues teaching through God's Word.
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  The repentance that Peter's preaching about is a change of
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  mind. You might be here today and
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  God's challenging you to change your thinking, change your mind.
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  He's not telling you you got to be perfect.
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  You got to act perfect because you can't be perfect.
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  Only He's perfect. But He's saying that I will take
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  your hand and show you a new way to live.
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  And I was at that point ready for a new way to live, and he
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  gave me new life. No matter how hard you and I
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  try, we cannot live up to God's standard of perfection.
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  Our hearts are stained by sin and we are unworthy of God's
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  presence. But Pastor Clark reminds us that
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  by the blood of Jesus, we have a new way to gain access to the
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  Father's throne room. When we repent of our sins and
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  commit our lives to Jesus, he calls us to a new way of living.
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  While we will never live up to that perfect standard, Jesus
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  lifts our heads. It reminds us that in him we are
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  made righteous and holy. Now here's Pastor Clark in Acts
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  Chapter 5 with today's edition of Living Waters of Grace.
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  So here we are today, where we're viewed by people in the
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  House and the Congress and in the White House as troublemakers
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  that need to be silenced. Where are you and me in regard
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  to sharing our faith? I met with the evangelist at the
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  campus of Penn State College last week.
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  He's been a friend of mine for years, and he stands in front of
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  the science building. All these bright young brains
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  coming out of Penn State to go into incredible careers and he
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  would just talk and preach and share and give positions on what
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  is truth and students would engage with him.
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  Some would argue, some would listen, some would end up
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  believing and become Christians. Well, Gary told me now, he said,
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  Clark, it's so bad up here that anybody that's a student that
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  hears this will be really apprehensive about engaging me
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  in any kind of dialogue. Because they said what'll happen
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  is, is that the students will get blackballed on Facebook or
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  social media and they'll be held out as being like right wing
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  crazy people because they are interested in the gospel of
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  Christ. And they're concerned that
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  that'll be set up somehow in their resumes and they won't be
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  able to get jobs. And so they're like running
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  silent. Fortunately, he's he's allowed
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  to continually do that. Quite a wealthy man many years
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  ago made an endowment to the college that this would be the
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  deal, that there would be a preacher in front of the science
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  building until Jesus came being funded by some very wealthy
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  person. So they can't throw Gary off
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  campus. They just got to put up with
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  him, which is. Which is pretty cool, you know?
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  Yeah, So you have the situation, though, that in Jerusalem at the
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  time, I mean, it was definitely bad and and I would say worse
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  than what maybe we think we're experiencing right now.
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  The captain went with the officers and brought them
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  without violence. They feared the people would
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  unless they should be stoned. And when they brought them, they
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  set them before the council. And the high priest asked them
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  saying, did not we strictly command you not to teach in his
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  name? Like what?
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  What's up with you guys? We told you you can't do this.
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  And look, you have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine and
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  intended to bring this man's blood on us.
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  So what? What's amazing is there was such
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  a a power in the early church that the whole city was aware of
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  the gospel. Unfortunately, the whole city of
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  Greensburg, I'm sure, is not aware of the Gospel, nor the
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  state of Pennsylvania, nor the United States of America, let
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  alone the rest of the world. Why?
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  Because we as Christians have been, I think, apathetic or
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  complacent in regard to sharing our faith when we have
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  opportunities to share it. I'm not talking about pushing
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  people with this stuff. There was a time when people
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  tell me about this before I believed I didn't want to hear
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  them. So I don't want to, I don't want
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  to hear about this stuff. So people would, you know,
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  respect me and my opinion and maybe pray for me, but they
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  wouldn't bug me about this stuff all the time.
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  But there has to be this opportunity to have conversation
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  with people that have views that are different than yours and
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  mine, not out of judgment, but out of love.
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  You want lost people to know that there's a God who loves
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  them and cares about them no matter what they've done.
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  He's a forgiving, merciful God that has to be in our hearts as
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  Christians, front and center. And the positions of that come
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  up, you know, nowadays in regard to human sexuality or, you know,
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  issues of when life is truly in the womb and positions of morals
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  and creation and all these things that are obviously very
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  viable truths that need to be communicated right to people
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  that don't know the other side. I mean, I think it's good to
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  have a, a, a conversation with someone who's an evolutionist,
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  you know, ridicule them and make fun of them and call them
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  stupid, whatever you want to find out why they think the way
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  they think and what causes them to have the position they have.
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  And then share some information that you have regarding Genesis
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  and what the Bible teaches about how mankind came into existence
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  in regard to the issue of jobs right now and all the people
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  that or complaining, there's no one that's out there that wants
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  to work well. No one ever asks the question,
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  why is there less people physically able to work?
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  Well, when you think about the number of lives that have been
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  taken over the last 30 years, if they weren't taken, there'd be a
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  lot of people that would be here that could work or do whatever.
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  They're not here. They weren't given a chance.
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  They were taken out before they were born.
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  So these kind of situations are things that have to be
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  communicated. And so are we afraid?
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  Are we different than these people here?
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  Because, well, what if they don't like me anymore?
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  What if they hate me? Or what if they reject me?
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  Or what if they you know, what if what if I got fired from my
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  job because I I have a position of Christian principles.
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  That's something you have to look down deep inside and know
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  that God does expect us to speak out about truth.
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  Let the redeemed of the Lord say so whom he's delivered out of
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  the hands of the enemy. So these guys are being accused
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  of filling the city with the doctrine of the gospel of Jesus
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  with that's that's a good thing, right?
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  And then these guys are complaining, well, you're
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  bringing this man's blood on us. They forget that months ago when
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  they were standing and Pilot was there saying this man is
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  innocent. I refuse to be held culpable for
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  his demise. He's washing his hands as a
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  symbol that he's not guilty. Pilot's saying, you know, I'm
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  not going to be guilty of this man's blood on my hands.
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  And they yelled, yelled out, well, let his blood be on our
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  hands. The masses cried out.
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  So it's already true that the man's blood of the crucifixion
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  of Christ is on everyone who's rejected Christ and who's lived
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  willful, sinful lives to realize they're responsible for the
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  crucifixion. So Peter and the other apostles
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  answered and said we ought to obey God rather than men.
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  Now the Bible tells us that we have authorities in office to
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  keep the Commonwealth safe from the governing officials to the
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  police departments, all these kind of things.
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  We're told to respect these people that have rollover us.
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  That's in the Bible. But there comes a time where you
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  may have to decide that there's certain things you're being told
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  you can or cannot do that are against your constitutional
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  rights and your Christian liberties.
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  Where you can say, well, I respect your opinion, but I have
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  to obey God rather than man to stand up for what the truth is.
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  And this is what Peter said. Now, this guy was a guy that was
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  a wimp, freaking out whenever they asked him.
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  Before Jesus was crucified, you were with him, weren't you one
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  of his followers? No, I never knew him.
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  I never saw him. He's cursing.
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  You know, he's he's he's doing all he can to get out of the
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  issue of being connected with Jesus.
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  How different it is now that he's still with the power of the
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  Holy Spirit and he's able to boldly say we ought to obey God
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  rather than men. The God of our fathers raised up
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  Jesus, whom you murdered by hanging on a tree.
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  Him God has exalted to his right hand to be Prince and savior.
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  That word Prince is translated as pioneer.
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  He was the first and only one that could die and come to life
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  again through resurrection. And because of what he's done,
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  we're all followers of him. We're also going to be
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  resurrected on that final day. We have life everlasting because
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  of what Christ has done for us. And then he continues preaching.
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  He says him, God has exalted to his right hand to be Prince and
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  Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins.
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  That's a good news thing, right? It's like repentance is turning
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  direction. Like I know my own life, you
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  know, and you know your life. There came a point in life where
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  I was hell bound. I was going on, I was on that
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  highway to hell, you know, and, and I didn't care.
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  And I that's the way I was. And this is how I rolled.
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  And this is what my life was like.
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  And then by the grace of God, through the prayers of a godly
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  mother and other people, praying for a son that was wayward and
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  lost and clueless and proud and arrogant and self-centered, that
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  my heart would be softened and I would be slightly interested in
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  this message of forgiveness in the gospel of Jesus Christ.
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  So at 20 years old, I began to think there has to be more to
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  life than what I'm living and how I'm living.
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  And I wasn't happy anymore. I wasn't peaceful, I wasn't
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  satisfied. I, I didn't have any peace in my
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  life, had no joy. And then I'm confronted with
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  this message of the gospel and it began to really get to me and
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  it began to make me realize I needed to change my evil ways.
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  Remember that song by Santana? You've got to change your evil
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  ways. That was a big song back then
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  when I and I was, I was enjoying my evil ways.
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  Well, all of a sudden I wasn't having fun in evil ways anymore
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  and I knew I needed to change. But how do I change?
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  I can't change myself. And then the Lord began to teach
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  me that. I'll change you, Clark.
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  I'll make you new. I'll give you a new heart, a new
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  way of looking at things, a new mind.
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  I'll give you my Bible, the Word.
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  Or you can learn and understand what it means to be a follower
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  of me. That I'm still learning today
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  how to follow Him deeper and closer.
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  It doesn't end just when you become a believer.
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  The first day, it's a constant every day changing my mind about
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  the way I am and things that God wants to do different in my
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  heart or help me to see things in a deeper perspective.
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  The repentance that Peter's preaching about is a change of
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  mind. You might be here today and
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  God's challenging you to change your thinking, change your mind.
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  He's not telling you you've got to be perfect.
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  You've got to act perfect because you can't be perfect.
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  Only He's perfect. But He's saying that I will take
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  your hand and show you a new way to live.
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  And I was at that point ready for a new way to live.
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  And He gave me new life. He said if anyone is in Christ
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  as a new creation, old things pass away.
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  Behold, all things become new. And he said, and we are his
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  witnesses. Peter said, we are the
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  witnesses. That's what we are in this
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  church as Christians, as people, as brothers and sisters.
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  You know, you go to places, you know people I, I don't know and
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  vice versa. You have an opportunity to
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  spread this gospel, this witness to give people an opportunity to
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  understand what the Lord has done for you and what he can do
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  for them. We are witnesses to these
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  things, and so also is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to
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  those who obey him. I'm so excited studying a book
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  of the Acts right now personally, because I know it's
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  energizing my life as a pastor and the other leaders in the
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  church. But I'm sure it's energizing you
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  too, to share the Lord. And I get more texts and phone
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  calls now than I have in a long time.
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  Pray for this person. I'm sharing the Lord with them.
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  Pray for that person that doesn't know Jesus or, you know,
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  this person's closed or this person became a believer,
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  whatever. I mean, it's, it's exciting
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  because the witness is what gets the gospel out.
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  And so the culture, as I said, can change based upon us talking
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  more about the good news, right? Talking about the good news,
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  telling people the good news. So there's this guy Gamaliel
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  here, and we're gonna read this and then we'll finish up in this
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  section. Gamaliel was a a leader in the
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  Jewish sect of the Pharisees, a very bright guy.
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  The Apostle Paul, before he got saved, sat at the feet of
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  Gamaliel. He was a very, very bright guy.
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  As a matter of fact, when he died, he was such a strict Jew
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  that they said when he died, the Jewish people weren't that on
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  fire about their faith anymore and they began to become laxed
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  in their following of the law and all that kind of stuff.
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  But anyway, he's going to give some advice here.
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  When they heard what Peter said this, they were furious and
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  plotted to kill them. I mean, this is the first time
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  in accident. They're just not mad and put him
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  in prison. We're gonna kill these guys and
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  get rid of him. Then one in the council stood
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  up, a Pharisee named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law, held in
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  respect by all the people. He was respected by everyone and
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  commanded them to put the apostles outside for a little
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  while. Calm down, guys, Quiet down.
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  Put these guys out. I want to give you some other
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  perspective here. And he said that the men of
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  Israel, take heed to yourselves what you intend to do regarding
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  these men. Think about it.
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  He's speaking some sanity to him.
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  For some time ago, Thaddeus rose up claiming to be somebody.
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  This was a cult leader. A number of men, about 400,
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  joined him. He was slain, and all who obeyed
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  him were scattered and came to nothing.
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  So in other words, this, this leader, at this time, this guy
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  Thaddeus, wasn't really effective when he died.
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  His movement, his, his plan, whatever it was, ended up coming
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  to nothing. Verse 37 After this man, there's
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  another guy they mentioned in their history.
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  Judas of Galilee rose up in the days of the census and drew away
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  many people after him. He also perished, and all who
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  obeyed him were dispersed. And now I say to you, keep away
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  from these men and let them alone.
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  For if this plan or this work is of men, it will come to nothing.
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  But if it is of God, you cannot overthrow it, lest you even be
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  found to fight against God. Isn't that fascinating?
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  Over 2000 years ago, this thing has not ended being nothing, has
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  it? We're all here today, recipients
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  of the power of the gospel. Every one of these men, these
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  apostles except for one, the apostle John, were martyred,
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  Very serious ways of dying, being speared to death, being
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  hung, being put upside down on a cross, on and on and on.
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  Horrific deaths every apostle had except for John, They tried
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  to destroy him in boiling water, didn't work.
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  And he ended up this time of old age after down the road, after
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  he wrote the Book of Revelation. So he speaks truth to these guys
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  to think about what they're doing, and they agreed with him.
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  And this Gamaliel isn't even a Christian and he's not really
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  fascinated or interested in, even though he knows about the
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  miracles that have occurred. You know, there's a lot of
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  people that that believe historically that Jesus is real,
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  that he died, that he rose again, that he did miracles, but
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  they still don't believe. That's ironic.
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  It's just the pride in the heart that keeps us from humbling
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  ourselves and surrendering our lives to the will of God.
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  I fought that for years. I, I didn't, I turned my back on
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  this stuff. I'm so thankful that God and His
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  grace turned my life around so that I could commit my life to
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  following Jesus and wanting to be a witness, wanting to be a
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  better witness. So they agreed with him.
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  And when they had called the apostles and beaten them, they
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  commanded that they should not speak in the name of Jesus and
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  they let them go. This wasn't a calm beating.
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  It was 39 lashes so bad that it ripped their skin apart.
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  People died from a blood hemorrhage from these kind of
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  beatings. So it wasn't a light discipline,
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  but they told them you guys should not speak in the name of
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  Jesus and let them go. It's interesting how it's
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  translated here. You should not speak in a
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  they're not saying you, you will not speak in the name of Jesus.
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  They're trying to like convince them because of the beating and
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  all this other stuff, you, you know, you really shouldn't be
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  doing this anymore. You're just creating more
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  problems for yourselves and pain and suffering.
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  So they departed from the presence of the Council,
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  rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his
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  name, Remarkable men that they were actually proud that they
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  went through this beating and the suffering and they were
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  associated with Jesus Christ. And I pray that would be the
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  case for us. Whenever we get pushed back or
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  people don't like us anymore, they, you know, condemn us or
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  accuse us or slander us or whatever about whatever in life
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  that we don't really focus on what people say or think.
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  We're just glad that we're affiliated with the Holy
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  Trinity, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, that we are
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  representatives of the Creator God, and that we have the
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  privilege to live for Him and speak on behalf of Him and share
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  the Gospel with whoever will listen.
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  They were, they counted it worthy to suffer shame for His
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  name. Whenever you feel embarrassed or
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  shame because you're a follower of Jesus, read this chapter
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  again and be encouraged that you don't have to hold your head
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  down in shame. You can hold your head up high
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  knowing that one day, whenever you stand before the Lord and
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  give an account of how you lived your life, the things that'll
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  matter at that time is what you did for Jesus.
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  How you spoke up for Him, how you lived for Him, how you cared
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  for people. You're not responsible for the
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  results of who believes or who doesn't believe.
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  We can't make anybody believe that God uses your life and mine
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  to be a bridge between lost people in the Kingdom of God.
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  Then it finishes in verse 42. It says in daily, in the temple
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  and in every house. They did not cease teaching and
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  preaching Jesus as the Christ. Isn't that a wonderful way of
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  ending this chapter daily in the temple and in every house.
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  They did not cease. In other words, the directions
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  they were given by the governing authorities to not speak in the
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  name of Jesus was not followed. They did not stop teaching and
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  preaching Jesus as the Christ and I believe that's what we're
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  to do. We, you know, we don't stop
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  teaching or preaching the gospel because of what people say or
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  what they threaten us with. We just keep on doing what we're
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  called to do, right? To be witnesses of the Lord.
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  I pray this week He would give you opportunity to love on
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  people, love on your neighbors, love on your enemy, love on your
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  family, your friends, and share humbly the good news with
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  someone. Ask the Lord to give you one
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  person this week just to say something about God, what He's
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  done for you, how He's blessed you, how He's loved you, how
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  He's forgiven you, and that He wants to do that with every
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  human being, doesn't he? He wants to do that for every
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  human being. And the only way they'll know is
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  by us telling them, May God give you strength and me strength to
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  do that. We're so glad you joined us
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  today on this edition of Living Waters of Grace.
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  Pastor Clark is teaching through the Book of Acts, which is the
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  only book that chronicles the history of the early church
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  immediately after Jesus's ascension.
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  It gives us a front row seat to how the Gospel began to move
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  outwards, starting in Jerusalem and reaching into the heart of
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  the Roman Empire. In just three decades, a small
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  group of frightened ordinary believers became a bold, spirit
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  empowered movement that transformed the known world.
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  Acts is not just a history lesson.
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  It's a reminder of what God can do when His people are
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  surrendered, obedient and filled with the Holy Spirit.
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  Their perseverance still inspires us today.
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  May we follow their example and live faithfully for Christ in
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  our own time. We hope today's message
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  encouraged you. Living Waters of Grace is a
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  ministry of Calvary Chapel, Westmoreland.
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  If you're in the Greensburg, PA area, we'd love to have you join
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  us in person. Our Sunday service begins at
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  10:30 AM at 400 E Pittsburgh St. Unit 6B.
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  Be sure to visit calvarychapelonline.com to
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  confirm times and learn more. If you are in the Greensburg
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  area, you can listen to Grace FM on the new 91.7 frequency.
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  Please pray about supporting this outreach.
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  Gifts can be sent to Grace FMPO Box 716, Greensburg, PA 15601.
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  Stay connected through Facebook, YouTube, or our Calvary Chapel
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  Westmoreland app. Join our e-mail list, submit
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  prayer requests, and give online all at calvarychapelonline.com.
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  Thank you for tuning in and spending this time in God's
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  Word. Be sure to join us again for
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  Living Waters of Grace.