Latest / Citipointe Church Caboolture / Cause and Effect | Ps Seraya Davidson

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Cause and Effect | Ps Seraya Davidson · Citipointe Church Caboolture

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Hey, welcome to the City Point Church podcast.
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Thanks for joining us. Every day is an opportunity to
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take hold of. So we hope this message inspires
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you and builds your faith, but it helps you have more of a God
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perspective for your day. Enjoy can.
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We be outstanding tonight. Can we honour the word of God
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tonight? Thank you.
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Jesus, look at she's all getting up so quick.
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I love it. I love it.
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This year is a church, just as you've seen on the screen behind
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me and the video that we just seen.
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We are going over a theme called is there not a cause?
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Is there not a cause? And what this is is not just a
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fun tagline. It's not just something that
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City Point would thought would look cute on social media.
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The way we get some reposts and, you know, slang it out and say
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it's all good. No, no, this is a declaration.
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This is what this is. It is a call.
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It is a call for our people to rise with conviction.
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It is a call for our people to live with purpose, to pray with
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passion, to stand with boldness. This is what is there not a
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cause means when we declare it over our cities, over our lives,
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over every single space we go into.
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And the only way that this can be done, the only way that we
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can answer this question is there not a cause, is with Jesus
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Christ. There is no other 'cause there
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is no other way. It is only with Jesus Christ.
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So today, as we get into the message, I want to pray over
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each and everyone of you. So if you bow your heads with me
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this morning, this afternoon, Father, Your Holy Spirit is here
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with us tonight ready to move and bring fresh new revelation
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through your living and active word.
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Father, we know the Holy Spirit carries a fire and a fire that
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can dwell within us and burn up to create and foster that
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conviction, to foster that boldness, Lord God.
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And we stand here tonight with hearts open and ready to receive
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what you have for us. Lord, we thank you for your
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spirit and for your Son tonight. And we declare all of this in
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the mighty name of Jesus. And we all said Amen.
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Amen. You may take your seats tonight.
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I might accidentally keep saying this morning, I'm sorry.
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It's just going to keep happening, but you'll get it.
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OK. I'll stop correcting myself
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after a bit. So this is what we're in.
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Is there not a cause? And the cause is Jesus Christ.
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I want to talk about a life today, a life that caught the
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cause of Christ, carried it all the way through with such an
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effect that it's seen so many cities, towns, people, places
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come to know Jesus. It had such a big effect on the
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world and as on our Bible as we know today.
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So the title of my message tonight is Cause and Effect,
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because when Jesus Christ is the 'cause when we send to Him where
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He is supposed to be centred and we exalt Him and put him in his
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rightful place, the effect is a life that is physically,
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emotionally, mentally and spiritually transformed.
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The effect ripples through generations of families.
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The effect restores brokenness and restores relational intimacy
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with the living God. The effect is seen in towns,
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cities, and in nations. There is no way that Jesus can
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enter a place and when hearts are humbled and ready to receive
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from Him, that an effect cannot take place.
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There is just it's not possible. So today I want to look at the
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life of the Apostle Paul, who was a man who encountered Jesus
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radically and then carried the cause of Christ every single
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place he went for the rest of his life.
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And whose life proves the truth that when Jesus is the cause,
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transformation is the effect. But it all carries a cost.
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So let's get into the first part.
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The first part is the cause. So if you turn with turn with me
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in your holy Bibles this afternoon to Acts 91 to 16, it's
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a little bit of a meaty piece of Scripture, but we need the whole
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bit so we know what's going on. So Acts 91 to 16, I'm reading
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from the ESP version and it says but Saul.
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And for those who don't know, Saul is Paul.
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His name just hasn't been changed yet.
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So if you hear that we're just talking about Paul, but Saul,
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still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of
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the Lord, went to the high priest and asked him for letters
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to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any
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belonging to the way, that's what they called Christians back
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then, men or woman, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.
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Now as he went on his way, he approached Damascus, and
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suddenly a light from heaven shone around him, and falling to
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the ground he heard a voice say to him, Saul, Saul, why are you
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persecuting me? And he said, Who are you, Lord?
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And he said, I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.
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But rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to
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do. The men who were travelling with
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him stood speechless, hearing the voice but seeing no one.
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Saul rose from the ground, and although his eyes were open, he
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saw nothing. So they led him by the hand and
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brought him into Damascus, and for three days he was without
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sight and neither ate nor drank. Now there was a disciple at
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Damascus named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a
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vision, Ananias. And he said, Here I am, Lord.
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And the Lord said to him, Rise and go to the street called
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Straight, and at the House of Judas look for a man of Tarsus
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named Saul. For behold, he is praying, and
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he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay
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his hands on him, so that he might regain his sight.
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But Ananias answered, Lord, I have heard from many about this
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man, how much evil he has done to your Saints in Jerusalem, and
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here he has the authority from the chief priest to bind all who
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call on your name. But the Lord said to him, Go,
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for he is a chosen insurance of mine to carry my name before the
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Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel, for I will
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show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.
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Told you it was a meaty bit of Scripture, but we needed it to
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see what Jesus Christ did on that encounter with Saul on that
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road to Damascus. Straight after this, scripture
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says that Paul immediately began proclaiming Jesus in the
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synagogues, that he grew more in strength and baffled the Jews by
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provide up by proving that Jesus was Lord.
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But before this, Paul was literally on his way to the same
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synagogues to bring Christians back bound to Jerusalem for
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persecution. It says that he was breathing
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threats and murder against the disciples.
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Now I've been mad before. You can ask anyone in my family.
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I've been mad before. I've been angry, but I don't
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think that I have ever breathed murder.
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Like, how would that even look like?
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I can just picture Saul, Paul, Saul Paul on the way on the road
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to Damascus, just breathing murder.
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Like, what would that look like? That would affect your physical
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being? Like you've got to be something
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like this. I really think so.
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It had to be something you have to see and go.
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That guy's breathing murder. It had to be something like
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that. I love Scripture.
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I love scripture. I'm a very visual person.
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And what I love most about Scripture is that we have all
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these different people involved in in the testimony and the
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story of Jesus Christ. So in this one, I love to
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picture Ananias. You know, Ananias is just
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minding his business. He's in his secret place.
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He's praying to God. This is his secret place right
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here. He's like, oh, Lord.
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And then he has a vision. And the Lord goes, Ananias.
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Ananias goes, here I am Lord, like a good obedience servant.
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Here I am Lord. And then the Lord goes, do you
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remember Saul? And Ananias is like the guy who
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breathes murder? And the Lord's like, yes, can
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you please go to him? I could just picture Ananias
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just standing there, like, yeah, OK, all right, let's do this.
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OK. But what Ananias didn't know was
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that Paul had an encounter with the living God on the road to
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Damascus, that he met Jesus Christ, and he could never be
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the same. Before meeting Jesus, Paul had
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everything. He had a title.
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He had status. He had influence.
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Influence. Not influencer.
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I don't know. Sorry.
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Not influencer. He had influence, he had
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education, he had authority, he had power, all of those things,
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but none of this compared to the effect that Jesus Christ had on
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him. He immediately changed.
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There was no space for the old soul Paul to stay.
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The cause of his life was no longer breathing murder against
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Christians, but to be one that's it's like not even a whole 180
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like that's that's out of this world.
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Like your head is spinning. You don't know what's going on.
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You went to go breathe murder at people and now you're preaching
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that Jesus is Lord and you've got scales on your eyes.
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You don't know what's going on. This is what was happening to
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Saul Paul. See what happened was that Paul
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didn't just change his mind. He didn't just have a change of
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heart on that road to Damascus. He didn't just find a neat new
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message that sounded cute that he could go and tell people.
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He didn't just find a new group that he could try out and he
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thought these people seemed cool.
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He didn't. It wasn't that.
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It wasn't that he met Jesus Christ and it changed every
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single thing for him. Nothing could stay the same
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because of the encounter that he had had with Christ.
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And then he carried the cause of Christ straight away without any
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delay, without any shame or embarrassment.
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I don't know about you, but if I was just over in a different
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town going, yeah, well, I'm going over there.
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I'm on the road to Damascus and I'm going to come and kill
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people, breathe, murder their way.
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I'm yeah, I'm going to get letters from the high priest and
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we're going to bring them back here and we're going to, we're
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going to do something to them. I'd feel a bit embarrassed if
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then I came back and was like, oh, actually I was blind for
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three days, didn't eat, couldn't drink.
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People had to come and hear me with the power of the Holy
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Spirit. Like that would have been
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embarrassing for me, would have gone back with my tail between
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my legs. But not Paul.
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He carried the cause of Christ without delay, without shame or
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embarrassment, without any timidness, without any worry for
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what the culture was saying or trying to impose on to him.
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You see, this is what happens when we encounter the living
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God. This is what happens when we
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encounter Jesus Christ. He changes us in a way that
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doesn't make sense. It literally does not make
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sense, but it shifts every single thing about what we are
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currently doing and it affects every single part of our life.
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You may be here in this place today and you don't know Jesus
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Christ. You don't know this Jesus that
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Paul had the encounter with. And I want to tell you that
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there is no better place for you to be than right here, right now
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to be able to have the same kind of encounter that that Paul did
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on the road to Damascus. You see, Jesus isn't just for
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church people. Jesus isn't just for people who
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can tick off that they come to church every Sunday.
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That's not who He was. He came for every single living
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person that they would no longer be bound to death and sin, but
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would be set free by the price that He paid for every single
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person in this room. And if that's you in here today
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and you haven't experienced it, like I said, there's no better
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place for you to be than right here, right now.
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And at the end of the service, we will put a call out for you
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to encounter Jesus Christ. But it doesn't even have to wait
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there. If you can feel the Holy Spirit,
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you feel something funny in your heart, your feet feel funny,
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your hands are shaking, it's OK. Jesus is here and He wants you
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to know him. He knows that he paid the price
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for you and he is for you. So this encounter changed Paul
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and had an effect on his life. And see, this is the cause and
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the effect of Christ. And that's what we're going to
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move into next, which is the effect had an effect on Paul.
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And the effect that it did have was a life that could not stop
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preaching Christ. This is where we see Paul go.
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Paul carried the cause of Christ wherever he went.
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And we see the effect it had on Paul and to the places that he
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ministered to. Acts 19, eight to 10 says this.
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The whole of Acts 19 is just incredible.
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If you've got time, which we all do to have in our Bible, go read
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through the whole of Acts 19. But Acts 19, eight to 10, says
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this. And he entered the synagogue,
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and for three months spoke boldly, reasoning and persuading
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them about the Kingdom of God. But when some became stubborn
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and continued in unbelief, speaking evil of the way before
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the congregation, he withdrew from them and took the disciples
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with him, reasoning daily in the hall of Tyrannus.
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This continued for two years, so that all the residents of Asia
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heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks.
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So we see here Paul is in Ephesus, and he's been
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ministering for a bit, but we see the effects that this had on
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Paul. He's no longer breathing murder
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at people that won't listen to him.
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He's speaking boldly. He's reasoning with people and
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persuading them about the Kingdom of God.
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And when he's rejected by the synagogue, he doesn't go back to
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his old ways or retreat, become violent, anything like that.
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He redirects and goes out to the Gentiles because the cause of
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Christ had too great of an effect on him to stop.
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And he preached daily for two years.
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I can barely do a weekly one, and he's doing preaching daily.
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And the effect is that all the residents of Asia heard the word
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of the Lord. You see, the effect it had on
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Paul was that the gospel didn't just stay contained to his safe
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little space with his nice people that he trusts and in his
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nice little world. No, it's spread.
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The cause of Jesus Christ in Paul's life had such an effect
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on him that there was no other objective than the advancement
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of the gospel. Acts 19 continues on to say this
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in 11 and 12. And God was doing extraordinary
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miracles by the hands of Paul, so that even handkerchiefs or
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aprons that had touched his skin were carried away to the sick,
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and their diseases left them, and the evil spirits came out of
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them. Not only did Paul experience the
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effect of Christ, the town of Ephesus got it too.
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I said, I preached this at Bribee and I said the same
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thing. And some people look blank at
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me. But do you ever remember Oprah?
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She doesn't, she doesn't do anything.
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But Oprah, you know, when she's, she's so rich, she's given
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things out to people and like, there was that joke where she's
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like, you get a car and you get a car and you get a car.
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Well, Paul was like the Oprah of the Christian world back then.
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He's going out with life. So he's coming out to everywhere
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and he's like you're, you're getting Jesus and you could get
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Jesus and you don't, you're not baptizing the Holy Spirit.
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All 12 of you can get it as well.
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And Jesus over there, you can get it.
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Jesus for everyone. This is Paul.
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He was the Oprah. He was the Oprah of back then.
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He was telling everyone could get it.
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Anyone who came near it got him, got it.
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So the effects we continue to see, where that extraordinary
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miracles were happening, there was healings, deliverance, and
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the authority of Jesus was publicly displayed.
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The effects we see here in Ephesus flowed from one thing
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and that was Jesus being preached without compromise
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because Paul understood the cause of Christ, then we see
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revival break out. Acts 1917 to 20 says this.
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And this became known to all the residents of Ephesus, both Jews
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and Greeks, and fear fell upon them all, and the name of the
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Lord was extolled also. Many of those who were now
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believers came confessing and divulging their practices, and a
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number of those who had practiced magic arts brought
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their books together and burned them in the sight of all.
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And they counted the value of them and found it came to 50,000
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pieces of silver, which roughly adds up to $5 million today.
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So the word of the Lord continued to increase and
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prevail mightily. You see the effect this had in
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Ephesus when Jesus is the cause and was brought in by Paul.
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The fear of the Lord fell, Jesus was exalted, repentance became
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public, and all of the items that no longer aligned with
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Jesus will for their lives were brought forth and publicly
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burned and the word of the Lord prevailed mightily.
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See, this wasn't emotional hype. This wasn't just, hey, my friend
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went up and put their book down, so I'm going to put my book down
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as well. This was not that.
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It was not just emotional hype. This was transformation that was
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caught by the cause of Jesus Christ and was having an open
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effect over this town and its people.
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Because when Jesus is the cause, transformation is the effect.
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When Jesus is the cause for freedom is the effect.
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When Jesus is the cause, revival is the effect.
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This was Jesus Christ having deep effect in people, that
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there was no space for them to be the same.
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Could you imagine what that would look like over our city if
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we had a modern day Ephesus revival where people are coming
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up to the altars with things that they don't want to give
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away because they're like, no, I can't give this to somebody else
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because I know the death that's in it, but I need to do
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something with it. I said this out at Bribie.
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We would. We need to have burn barrels
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everywhere. We would need to have like a
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string of burn barrels that are just going 24/7 because people
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would be coming with all of these things.
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It's not just witchcraft stuff that stuff can come and get
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burnt to, it can get it, But everything else that that keeps
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us in death and chains away from Jesus Christ.
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This could be things that you were harboring like addiction,
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stuff that are addictions. Could you imagine what that
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would look like over Caboolture? I've lived in this town for so
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long and the things that you see here, but I couldn't picture and
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see in faith, people coming to the altar with bottles of
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alcohol saying I can't do anything with this anymore.
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I can't give this to anybody. I don't want to finish it.
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I need to get rid of it and I don't know what to do.
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But Jesus Christ has such an effect on me that I have to burn
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it and it has to go. This is things like vapes and
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cigarettes and all those kinds of things that that cigarette
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shop at the end of the street here.
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Could you just picture it? People coming and going.
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Imagine if that owner, I'm just going to just bear with me.
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Imagine that owner coming down here and going, hey, I've got
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the keys to my shop, I've got the keys to my shop.
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I don't know how to get out of what I'm in, but I've got the
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keys to my shop. You need to either burn it, you
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need to take it from me. I can't do this anymore.
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Could you imagine that? You see, when Jesus Christ is
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the cause, the effect is so amountable in our lives that it
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doesn't matter how much we paid for something, doesn't matter
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how much we will lose for something, because the cause of
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Jesus Christ is greater than any of that.
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And the effect that he has on your life, when you fully let
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him into your heart, it's so great that it doesn't matter.
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None of it matters. I'm declaring that we should
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see, we should see that owner and go, oh, where's your keys?
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Give me your keys, mate. But there is a cost, right?
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There was a cost for Paul. There's a cost for us today.
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We opened in Acts 9, and at the very end of the scripture I read
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out in Acts 916, the Lord says to Ananias that I will show him
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how much he must suffer for my name.
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This is him talking about Paul. You see, Paul didn't carry the
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cause of Christ without a cost. And God was very upfront about
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it here in Acts 916. He didn't sugarcoat it.
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I love this because what if we didn't sugar coat it for people
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when they come to Christ? What if we didn't sugar coat
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things for them and tell them that it would be easy and tell
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them that nothing would change and that it would still be the
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same and you could still got What if we didn't sugar coat it
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for them? How much more would they catch
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the cause of Christ in their life?
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Says here, Paul must suffer for the name of Jesus Christ.
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I have the honour of being able to teach an internship.
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I love it. My pastors are great.
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They're just like, off you go. And I'm like, awesome.
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And if you're going to sign up, I think you've got like 10
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minutes, so you better do it soon.
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But anyway, I have the honour of being able to teach an
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internship and I think last year I taught maybe two or three
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times and you get to interns go through a book, so you get given
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a chapter and then you got to come and teach about that
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chapter. And last year, I think by the
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end of it, when I was in my last chapter and I was coming to do
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my last class, I look back on my other ones and realise that the
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whole time I'd been talking, every time I'd stood in front of
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interns, all I talked about was suffering.
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Silly thing. One of them was about ordering
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your private world, I think it was.
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And I was like, suffer, suffer for Christ.
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Like I just don't know how we get there, but we always get
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there when I'm talking about it, like you want to follow Jesus
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Christ and order your world according to his will.
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Suffer like this is just where I go.
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And so I acknowledged it when we were in internship.
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I was like, I don't want you to think I'm some like sadistic
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woman. That's like looking at all these
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people who are wanting to get in ministry and do things, you
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know, for the cause of Christ. And I'm just telling you about
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suffering, but the the point is is because I understand that to
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follow Christ and to carry his cause and to allow him to have
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an effect in your life so that that can go out into the world
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of other people. There is a a cost and there is
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some suffering for it. You see, the reason I share this
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is because as Christians there are things we will suffer for
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the cause of Christ. I'm not talking about, you know,
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you ate too much pasta last night and your stomach hurts
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today. That's not what I'm talking
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about. I'm not talking about
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self-inflicted suffering. I'm talking about suffering for
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the cause of Christ. You see, Jesus spoke about it
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during His time on earth. These are some of the
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scriptures. They won't be on the screen, but
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in Matthew 510 to 12, John 1518 to 20, Matthew 1022, John 1633.
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These verses show that as people who carry the cause of Christ,
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we should expect suffering and opposition for following Jesus.
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But we are encouraged to endure with joy and confidence, just as
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Paul did. You see 2 Corinthians 1124 to 27
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tells us exactly how Paul suffered.
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Says this five times I received at the hands of the Jews the 40
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lashes less 1. Three times I was beaten with
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rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, and
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night and day I was adrift at sea.
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On frequent journeys. In danger from rivers, danger
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from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles,
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danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea,
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danger from false brothers in toil and hardship.
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Through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often
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without food, in cold and exposure.
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So here we see some things that Paul enjoyed.
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Whippings, beatings, stonings, imprisonment, starvation,
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exposure. Paul says in Philippians 129.
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For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you
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should not only believe in him, but also suffer for his sake.
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You see, there was and still is a cost, but the cause was and
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still is greater. You see, you don't endure
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through what Paul suffered unless you were utterly
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convinced of what you're living for.
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Paul says that believing in Christ also means to suffer for
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His sake as a band comes up. Like I said, I don't say this to
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a room of believers tonight to say that you must be in pain and
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suffer for the rest of your life.
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I say it in the context of just look at the world right now.
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Look at what is happening in our world.
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It is getting harder for us to be able to freely go out,
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proclaim the name of Jesus without coming up with some kind
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of opposition. This may be in your workplace,
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you may have to suffer for the cause of Christ.
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This may be in your family. You have to suffer for the cause
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of Christ. This may be with your children.
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You have to suffer for the cause of Christ.
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That's where we are right now. I will suffer for the cause of
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Christ in my children's life every single day because I won't
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let culture have them. I won't let culture have them.
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I will suffer every day for the cause of Christ in my children's
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life because they will be godly men and they will be allowed to
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be godly men. I will suffer every day for my
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marriage to see my husband sit as the head of our home.
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I will suffer every day for that.
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Against the words of culture saying hey girl, you can do
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better. Hey girl, you could go and do
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this. Hey girl, don't you know that
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power is femininity and you are a feminist and you can do it.
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No, get away from me, get away from me.
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I want to hear that. I want the godly covenant of
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marriage in my life and I will suffer every day for that.
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I will suffer to see the cause of Christ be made true in my
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life because the effect it has had has been greater than
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anything I've had to give up anything that I've had to set
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aside anything that I have said no to.
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Jesus Christ has been better every single time, and He will
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continue to be better every single time.
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You may be in this room today and you don't know Jesus yet,
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and you're like, well, I'm suffering already.
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And let me tell you, this was one of the hardest things I had
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to reconcile when I first came to Christ was I grew up
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suffering without anyone to protect me, without anyone to
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look after me. I suffered through abuse and
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emotional neglect. When I was five years old, we
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had to flee states from my father because of domestic
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violence. And then my mum, we could just
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imagine what happened to her and what she had to try and heal
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through and walk through. And we didn't know Jesus back
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then. And then I didn't know my father
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or see him until I was about 15-16 years old.
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And by then I was already a loose cannon, so I suffered.
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So when I found Christ and he came into my life and I took on
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the cause of Christ, and he had this effect so deep in me, I had
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such a hard time trying to reconcile the fact that I'd
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suffered so greatly. And my beautiful husband, as he
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always does, comes in with a word of wisdom.
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We suffer either way in this life.
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You suffer without Christ, and you can suffer with Christ for
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His cause. And let me tell you now, I take
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that side every time. Suffering for the cause of
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Christ has seen my life produce a fruit that I never knew was
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possible. Suffering for the cause of
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Christ has seen my marriage move from bounds and bounds to create
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an intimacy I never knew I could have.
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Suffering for the cause of Christ meant my sons get to grow
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up in a home where they are well looked after.
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Not to toot my own horn, but that they know Jesus Christ.
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They grow up in a home with the Holy Spirit.
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Not scared of what it's going to look like when one of the
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parents get home. Not worried about where our next
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meal is coming from. Not worried about how we're
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going to get clothes or anything like that.
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See, the cause of Christ is different.
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When you suffer with the cause of Christ, it is different.
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So now whenever I suffer, I suffer for the cause of Christ
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with joy, hope, and endurance, just as Paul.
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And like I said, you might be here today and you don't know
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what that's like. You don't know what it's like to
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suffer with Jesus, and you're suffering right now and you're
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trying to make sense of it. But I'm here to tell you that
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the only way you can is with Jesus Christ.
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There's no other way. By taking up and carrying the
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cause of Christ in your life. You see Paul and joy through
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suffering because the cost wasn't as great as the cause.
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And we heard about everything Paul suffered through, and it
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still wasn't as great as the cause.
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The cause had such an effect on Paul that his life was marked
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for Jesus until the very end. Paul says in Philippians 38 to
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11. This is my favorite Bible verse.
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Indeed. I count everything as loss
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because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.
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For His sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count
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them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in
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Him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the
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law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, The
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righteousness from God that depends on faith.
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That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and
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may share His sufferings, becoming like Him in His death,
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that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the
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dead. Yes, there is a cost, but it
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does not compare to the cause which is Jesus Christ.
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I say this message today to empower and encourage you in the
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Holy Spirit. We live in a time where it
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doesn't look like smooth sailings for believers, and that
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is OK. That is OK because we have this.
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We have this. That has already given us the
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blueprint. Paul, who has already suffered
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immensely. I don't need to go out and get
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whipped tomorrow. Not in the physical, you might.
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No, I'm not going to get whipped.
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In the spiritual, it's fine. I walk in the victory of Jesus
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Christ. I don't have to suffer the same
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way that Paul did. There are other ways that I do
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that for the cause of Jesus Christ.
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You see, we are modern believers that still hold an ancient
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calling. We may not face lashes and
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shipwrecks, but we face compromise.
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We face distraction, we face comfort, we face fear of
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rejection, we face cultural pressure.
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Pressure. This is what we face nowadays.
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This is what we are coming up against as believers.
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But the cause was never meant to end with Paul.
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Paul wasn't meant to carry this and go through everything he did
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for us to say. Cool story.
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No, the same cause still exists. Jesus Christ has not changed.
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He never will. The gospel has not lost its
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power. The cause goes on and it's the
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'cause that you carry as a believer of Christ.
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Thank you Jesus.