Latest / Calvary Church with Ed Taylor Podcast / #24465 - 5 Important Keys to Help Disciple Someone - Acts 14:19-28

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#24465 - 5 Important Keys to Help Disciple Someone - Acts 14:19-28 · Calvary Church with Ed Taylor Podcast

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Welcome to the Study of God's Word with pastor and author Ed
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Taylor recorded live at Calvary Church in Aurora, Co To learn
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more about the many resources available through Abounding
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Grace Media or to tune into our live stream services, visit us
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online at Calvary, Co dot Church or download our free Calvary
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Church app. Now here's Pastor Ed to take us
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into our study. Amen.
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Take your Bibles. Open them with you to Acts
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Chapter 14. We're going to pick up where we
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left off last time. Finish the chapter today.
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Acts Chapter 14. And I've entitled the Bible
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Study Today Five important keys to help disciple someone 5
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Important keys. And as I look at my notes, it's
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actually 8 important things, but I have them listed as five.
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But I'll give you 8 words that will help you remember how to be
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more useful in these relationships with your brothers
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and sisters in Christ. We often refer to them as
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discipleship relationships. There's a mandate that Jesus
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gave in Matthew chapter 28. He said to go into all the world
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and make disciples, and it's a Bible word.
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It's a church word. So let me define it for you.
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If you're new to church or new to the Bible, the word disciple
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simply means learner. It has the idea that you have
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submitted yourself to someone to learn from them, and in making
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disciples it it presupposes that you'll be sharing the gospel,
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men and women will be born again, and then you immediately
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enter into this discipleship relationship with Jesus himself.
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It is not primarily A primarily a relationship with a church,
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although God uses churches, and it's not primarily a
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relationship that you have with a pastor, although God uses
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pastors. When you and I are disciples, we
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are primarily disciples of Christ.
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What that implies is, is that you have a lot to learn and I
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have a lot to learn. It is a lifetime of learning
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that means what I currently believe today about certain
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things when I bring them to the Bible, and the Bible shows me
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another way to believe or the right way to believe.
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I have no other choice than to adopt what God has for me, where
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he is changing my mind into the image of Christ.
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He is renewing my mind, washing my mind.
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So that's why regular Bible study I think, is God's will for
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us. Because we live in the world.
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We deal with the world, the culture, the pressure, the
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social media, the Internet, all of this stuff bombarding us.
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And you may not realize what a heavy burden it is because it's
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just been slowly, slowly, slowly, slowly, slowly.
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Like that proverbial frog in the kettle where the heat is turned
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it up little by little. But there's a lot of pressure
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today on adults, on teenagers, on kiddos, and we need to yield
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ourselves to the word of God. And I want to help you
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understand that it involves a relationship that you have with
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others, a discipleship relationship.
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That's where we are here in Acts 14.
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We're in that place where the Bible students commonly call
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this the first missionary journey of Paul.
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On this one, he has Barnabas with him, and he also had a
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young man named John Mark with him temporarily, but he's on his
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first missionary journey. If you count them in the book of
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Acts, there's the most people come to the conclusion that he
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had four of them. Some people stop at 3:00, but
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four missionary journeys mentioned in the book of Acts
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that God has chosen to use Paul, who we met as Saul of Tarsus,
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which reminds us that God can do anything and anyone at any time.
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But today we're reminded that it can be hard to fulfill the will
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of God for your life. Following this first missionary
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journey, we see there was a lot going on, but also a lot of
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pain, a lot of difficulty. Let me show you what I mean.
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Turn back to verse 19 of chapter 14.
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It says the Jews from Antioch and Iconium came there, and
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having persuaded the multitudes, they stoned Paul.
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You could. You could say that they sought
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to murder this man. This was the reward for him
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laying his life on the line for God, going to another city,
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sharing the love of Jesus Christ, Seeing lives changed.
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This was his reward. They stoned him, they sought to
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murder him. They dragged his body out of the
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city, it says in verse 19. And they supposed him to be
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dead. However, when the disciples
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gathered around him, he rose up and went into the city.
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And the next day he departed with Barnabas to Derby.
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So each time you see these words, these are different
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cities. If you have a paper Bible, most
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paper Bibles in the back have maps, and I looked at mine last
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night. There is a map that shows all
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the missionary journeys with the arrows and the different places
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in Asia Minor, in Rome and in Europe there that God used Paul
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in and as a missionary. So here he is.
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He's in the city. The reward for his labor is that
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they tried to kill him. And no, they're not even sure if
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he really died or not. It says here that they supposed
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him to be dead. But I want to show you
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something. Would you turn over to 2nd
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Corinthians with me? 2nd Corinthians chapter 12.
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And Paul is referring back to this episode when he writes to a
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church in Corinth. So Second Corinthians chapter 12
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and look what he says. He tells.
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He says to the church and describing this he says it's
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doubtless not profitable. This is verse one of chapter 12.
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It's not profitable for me to boast.
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I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord.
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I know a man in Christ who 14 years ago, whether in the body I
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do not know or whether out of the body, I do not know.
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God knows such a one was caught up to the 3rd heaven.
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And I know such a man, whether in the body or out of the body,
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I don't know. God knows how he was caught up
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into paradise and heard inexpressible words, which is
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not lawful for a man to utter. Paul looks back on this episode
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and he begins to talk in the third person because of what we
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was dealing with in this, with the this letter to the
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Corinthians, he's talking about himself in the third person.
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And when he looks back on this, he goes, I don't even know if I
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died. Maybe I was out of the body and
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I died for a moment, Maybe I was still in the body.
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But I do know this. It was a hard season.
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It was very difficult what they did to me.
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But out of it came something good, and that's important to
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remember. Out of it came something good.
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Because when pain comes our way, we need to remember out of it
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something good is going to come. We need to learn how to rejoice
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even in the difficulties in life.
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Notice I'm using my words very carefully.
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I'm not saying to rejoice for the difficulties, although
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sometimes you're even able to do that.
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But I am advocating what the Bible teaches to learn how to
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have joy. This is just, this is a work of
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God's Holy Spirit in the life of the believer.
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How God is able to transform our pain into joy.
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How he's able to take something that we don't want and we don't
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like and we wish it wouldn't happen.
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I mean, think of Paul. Think of Paul here.
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I mean, the guy had no nothing but good motives.
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He's not like he was in Acts 9 trying to go to a city and
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destroy lives. He's trying to help lives now.
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And what's the reward? They chase him around, they
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gossip about him, they slander about him, and then a group of
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guys decide they want to kill him and really go for it.
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Trying to do that and whether he died or not, we don't know, but
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the effects sure look like it. And here he is, years later,
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going, you know what? I remember this time?
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And I remember that event. And you know what God did?
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He gave me a vision of heaven. I got to see things, And when I
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needed to see things, I didn't even know I needed to see these
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things. And God gave me a gift, even
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though it was a very troubling time.
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James understood this. You can jot it down in James
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chapter one and verse two. It says, my brethren, count it
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all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the
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test of your faith produces patience.
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But let patience have it's perfect work, that you may be
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perfect and complete, lacking nothing.
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This is the place of maturity and a yielding to the work of
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God in your life. When you and I can obey this
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verse, count it all joy. When I fall into various trials,
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there are often things in my life that I don't like.
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There are things in my life right now that I don't like,
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that have been ongoing for quite a while.
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Things that are newer that I wish I didn't have to deal with.
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That I wish, you know, I don't like drama and I don't like
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difficulties and I I don't like unresolved things.
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And that just seems to be the life of a pastor.
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That's what a life of a I've been called to everything that
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is hard for me, which is part of my discipleship, isn't it?
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Because you could say the same thing in your life.
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It's how God uses this role to help me grow up and to trust him
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more. But they're just things I don't
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like, things that are miserable, They stink.
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However, I can still rejoice in the Lord for who He is and what
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He's doing, and I can count my life all joy.
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I can do that by faith. For those of you that are with
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us on Wednesday nights, you see this in the life of Joseph.
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Joseph, if anyone in the Bible could say this to us today and
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and whose testimony would have strong validation, like if he we
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gave him the pulpit for a weekend and Joseph gave and
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shared his whole life story, he would tell you this.
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On the other side we have this episode.
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We've been studying his life for the last few months as we finish
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up the book of Genesis, and we came to the place where he
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finally gets to see his brothers.
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And if you're unfamiliar with this man named Joseph as a young
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man, his brothers so jealous of him, they sell him, they they
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sell him to slave traders. They were going to kill him, but
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they changed their mind, decided not to kill him.
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Instead, spare his life. They sold him to slave traders.
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Those guys sold him to a guy named Potiphar.
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He's serving in this guy's house and the guy's wife accuses him
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of rape. He gets thrown in prison.
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And by the way, it was false. Completely live.
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She was going after him. He wasn't participating.
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He he runs away and is not. He's willing to to run away
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naked from this. That was his attitude towards
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sin. What was the result?
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They threw him in prison. He met a couple guys in prison,
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shares his story. They get out and he tells them,
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hey, when you get out, make sure that you remind them that I'm in
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prison and he's got that hope that they're going to advocate
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for him and they forget him. So there he is languishing in
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prison. I mean, he went from problem,
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not some little problem, not some little difficult.
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He went from problem after problem after problem after
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problem to finally where God really wanted him.
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And that was second in command in Egypt in a very trying time
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in the history of mankind. A severe famine came that was
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going to last for seven years, and God strategically placed
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Joseph where he wanted him using all the painful circumstances,
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deep, deep things. So now God has arranged for his
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brothers to stand before him, and he's there as the leader in
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Egypt, and he looks at them. And you know, if we read
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ourselves into the text, we may make mistakes on what happened
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because if it was us, we might look at them and be upset and
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want revenge, which are natural reactions but not spiritual
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reactions. Joseph looks at them and he
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tells them, you sold me as a slave.
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And again, if we read into it, we could go you guys, you know,
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you can think of all the way you would say it, but it's not
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recorded the way you say it. It's recorded the way Joseph
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said it. And it's very simple.
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You sold me as as a slave, but God sent me.
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That's what he said. I know what you guys did.
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I know you know what you did. I know what you did.
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And he summarized it in a little phrase.
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You sold me, but God gets the final word.
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And while you sold me and nothing good came, nothing good
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was on your mind for me. I just want you to know, Joseph
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says. I know that God was in it and I
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can count it all joy because God sent me ahead.
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You sold me, but God sent me. And that's an important
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perspective that we must have in life because hard things are
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going to come. They're going to come in our
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life. They're going to come in our
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family. They're going to come in our
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neighborhood. They're going to come in our
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house. They're going to come in the
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workplace. That's life.
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And here's the thing for the Christian You need to hear this
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out loud for the believer and dwelt by the Holy Spirit.
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You need to understand this. If you want to make it, you're
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going to make it. If you want to get through this,
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you're going to get through this.
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God is ready to encourage and strengthen and help you in
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everything you desire to do. As a matter of fact, if you want
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to endure through trials, that desire to endure came from God.
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You're cooperating with him and he's ready to help.
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However, if you don't want to make it, you won't.
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You'll throw in the towel and you'll give up.
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I think a believer is, you know, when it comes to alcohol, you
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know, just totally, totally drunk all the time, but wanting
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to get free. And they walk in to a sanctuary
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like this, just thinking, I don't think it's ever going to
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happen. I've tried, I've tried, I've
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tried. But for the one that's born
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again, I have the privilege of looking in the eye and say, Oh
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no, not only do you desire it, but God is ready to deliver you
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from it. Not only has God ready to
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deliver you, but through the blood of Jesus Christ, you are
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all ready. Delivered from whatever
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addiction, pornography, alcohol, You know, you're angry, punch
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holes in the wall, whatever, whatever it is, if you want it
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in Christ, you can have it. But if you want to keep living
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the way you're living, that's so the kind of life you want to
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live you. You just want broken
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relationships. You want everybody upset and and
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then you want to drown it out and you just want, if that's
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what you want, then God says go ahead, live that life.
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But I have something so much better for you, so much greater,
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so much grander life is available to you on a higher
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plane. I was just talking to someone,
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all right? After service, we were just
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talking about his family. He was showing me, actually, I
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saw his tattoos and I asked them about them.
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I wanted to know why he did them.
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And they were names of his family.
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And. And one of them was of his dad
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that passed away a couple years ago, and he was sharing
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testimony about sobriety and about how God gave him victory.
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It's a really great conversation.
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And and then we were able to say, you know, look, I, I, I, I
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was able to look him in the eye. I go, you know what?
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One thing I learned in my life is that I'm a better man when
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I'm sober, I'm a better man. He goes, oh, you know what?
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That's my testimony too. And I'm like, yeah, that's a
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testimony for everyone. You are a better person, a
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better woman, when you are able to look someone in the eye, in a
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sober mind and be who you are, and especially if you're born
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again. This is so powerful.
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Like, if you want to make it, whatever you're facing today,
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you're going to make it you. You can make it through.
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God is ready to help you, but if you don't want to make it,
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you're just one more decision. I mean, you're so close to even
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falling away from the Lord, running away from His strength,
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because there's a difference. When you think of joy and
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happiness, there's a difference between the two.
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We often confuse them. So when the Bible says count it
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all joy, you kind of interpret that.
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What do you mean? I have to be happy for
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everything? No, you don't have to be happy
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for everything. Happiness is different than joy.
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Happiness is directly related to happenings.
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That's how I want you to remember it.
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Your happiness in mine almost always is associated with
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something, something that happened.
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So if something good happened, then I'm happy about it.
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You know, if you see someone that's hey, how you doing today?
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I'm pretty happy. When you ask the question why,
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they're almost always going to say, well, there's this
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situation. I mean, I just got a raise.
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That's why I'm happy. Got a new car, I'm happy.
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God's working. I'm happy because happiness is
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dependent upon happenings, so that when you have a bad day, we
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all know it. You know why?
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Because you're not happy and you have reason to be.
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And there's a roller coaster. If you're and you guys know
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this, those of you that live on the emotional realm, you're more
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emotional than most people. You know this.
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This is your daily life. Happy, sad, happy, sad, happy,
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sad because you're so affected by your happenings and what God
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is offering you today is Even if you have happiness and sadness
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because of your happenings, you can count it all.
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Joy no matter what. And joy's different than
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happiness because joy is inward. It's a peace and a contentment
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and an ability to take joy in God no matter what comes our
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way, that he is able and he is faithful and he keeps his
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promises and that everybody goes through things.
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But I have hope in what God has shown me, that even in the worst
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of the worst, there's new life on the other side.
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This is what's happening. With all that in mind, in Acts
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14, this is one of the messages that Paul is taking.
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He's delivering it, I'm sure, differently than I just did, but
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he's taken the same word and delivering it to areas that have
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never heard it before, that salvation has come to your city.
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It says in verse 21 now. And when they had preached the
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gospel to that city and made many disciples, there's that
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word again. They returned to Lystra,
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Iconium, and Antioch, strengthening the souls of the
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disciples. Again.
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There's that word exhorting them to continue in the faith and
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saying we must through many tribulations enter the Kingdom
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of God, which is what I just spent time sharing with you.
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I that Paul summarizes it in one's phrase, We must through
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many tribulations enter in to the Kingdom of God.
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That is part of life. But you can take one of two
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approaches to that, right? You can be the one that goes.
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We were going to go through many tribulations and maybe get to
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the Kingdom of God one day and we are people that emphasize the
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many tribulations. But you know what I read in this
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text, we will must through many tribulations we're going to
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enter the Kingdom of God church. That's the key.
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If we're going to enter in we're going to be in the presence of
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the Lord. We're going to see all of our
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desires fulfilled in the presence of God.
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And many tribulations are going to come along the way.
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It all depends on your perspective, and perspective is
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important, as we'll see in a moment.
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So it says in verse 23, when they had appointed elders in
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every church and prayed with fasting, they commended them to
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the Lord in whom they had believed.
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And after they passed through Presidia, they came to
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Pamphilia. And when they preached the word
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in Purga, they went down to Italia.
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And again, a Bible map will help you see all these things.
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And watch where they were going. These are, we're reading the
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text in a couple seconds, but we're talking days and weeks and
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months of travel here, of where they're going and to the
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different places that they come to before they get back home.
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So for our time here, I've got a couple things to share with you
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in our remaining time before we do share in communion together.
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And I want to talk about this discipleship aspect of your
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relationship with others. It's important that every
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Christian listening to my voice today have someone in their life
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that they are helping grow in following Jesus.
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It is very important. It is not reserved for me to
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have someone in my life that I'm helping because I'm the pastor.
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No, it's for all of us. Every Christian should have
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someone else in their life that they are helping to grow in
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their Christian walk. Just as much as every Christian
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should have someone that doesn't know Christ, that you can then
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share the hope of Jesus with them.
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These are the types of people that you should have in your
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life. You should also have someone in
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your life that's helping you. We call these discipleship
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relationships. The world's been using the word
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mentor, but it's more than a mentor.
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You're helping someone grow and answer questions and help them
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understand what the Bible's saying and what does it look
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like in their life, so that you're learning and teaching,
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teaching and learning. I like to share it with the team
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here, but I want to share it with you to change your thinking
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a little bit. That when you face issues with
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other people and you have issues with other believers, I want you
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to think of it this way. I want you to think of it as a
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discipleship moment rather than a problem.
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I mean, it is a problem, but let's set that aside for a
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second and say this is an opportunity to help somebody see
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Jesus more clearly, whether it's through correction instruction,
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whether it's through prayer. And I want to give you it was 5
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things. But once I've looked at the
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words, I want to give you 8 things.
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Eight ingredients that are going to help you in this discipleship
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relationship. This is a must.
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The Bible says to go and make disciples.
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This is not a mandate to a church like just a large church
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like ours. It's for every single individual
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that you and I are sharing and experiencing the joy of not only
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seeing people get saved, but also to watching them grow in
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the grace of Jesus. So I want to give you 8 things,
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eight things, and we'll go through them from the text here
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that will help you in your discipleship relationships with
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others. Number one notice in verse 23 or
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excuse me, in verse 22 they went back.
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But but first of all let me let me say this, in verse 21 they
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went back. Notice to Lystra, Iconium and
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Antioch in verse 21 because those churches have already been
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established. So after they've established the
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church, now they're heading back home.
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But they're heading back home to go help these new believers.
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That's what's happening here. And as they choose to help these
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new believers, notice what they're doing, the first thing
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that they do in verse 22 is strengthening the souls of the
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disciples and discipling others and encouraging others or
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helping others. You need to strengthen the
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brethren. Strengthening.
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I believe this was done through the teaching of the word of God.
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This is the tool, God's word. This is the tool.
23:30
Not, not your opinion, not what you think about it, not what
23:33
your experience has been. The tool of strengthening souls,
23:37
of brothers and sisters is through the word of God.
23:40
It's important. It's impossible to grow
23:42
spiritually and to be strong apart from God's Word.
23:48
And it's one of the many things. There's a lot of things I can do
23:51
for you. I can help you, but that's one
23:53
of the things I can't do for you is read the Bible for you.
23:57
Like this is something you have to desire.
23:59
It's something you have to make that choice in your own life, to
24:03
take the word of God as it is God's word to you personally.
24:08
Read it so that you might understand it.
24:12
The church according to Acts 242 was already continuing
24:15
steadfastly in the apostles doctrine, in prayer, in the
24:19
breaking of bread, and in fellowship.
24:21
Now they needed to be strengthened and disciples, they
24:24
get stronger by diving into God's word.
24:27
You can jot it down in Hebrews chapter 12 in verse 12 it says
24:31
therefore strengthen the hands which hang down and the feeble
24:35
knees that make straight paths for your feet so that what is
24:39
lame may not be dislocated but rather be healed.
24:43
And that's how a lot of times folks, you guys walk into the
24:46
church. My I do myself at from time.
24:48
I'm just weak and tired. Had a long week, had a hard
24:51
week, had a difficult day, whatever it might be.
24:54
And it's good. It's something about being with
24:56
other believers. You know, this is this
24:59
discipleship relationship. Hap, you know, I'm inviting you
25:01
into it all the time. Like like there'll be times
25:04
where at the end of a service, I'll say, you know, the pastors
25:06
will be up here to pray. But you don't need the pastors
25:08
because you can pray with one another.
25:10
That's an invitation for a discipleship connection.
25:13
That's an invitation for you to be used in their in someone's
25:16
life. It's an invitation for you to be
25:19
involved in a small group, like a life group, or to come with
25:21
the men or the women, or to be a part of the marriage ministry.
25:24
Where you're looking for these relationships that are possible.
25:28
You're not going to make them happen.
25:29
They're not going to artificially happen.
25:31
But the more you present yourself to God, the more you
25:34
will be in other people's lives and the desire to strengthen
25:39
them. Because you look in the eye, you
25:40
can see today's not a good day. You can just see it.
25:43
Even if they don't give it to you, you can see it.
25:45
You can pray for them. You can stand stand in the gap
25:47
with them. We need to be strengthened from
25:50
time to time and the primary way that we get that is from each
25:53
other through God's word #2. Notice what they did in this
25:56
discipleship, what they did to the disciples and with the
25:59
disciples it says in verse 22 the next word is exhorting them
26:04
to continue in the faith. So I got 2 words for this
26:09
exhorting and comforting so, so far.
26:11
Strengthening, exhorting and comforting.
26:14
This is what disciples need. They need to be exhorted and
26:18
comforted. Now along with teaching always
26:21
comes exhortation. Exhortation can also be this
26:26
word in the original language could also be translated
26:29
comfort, same Greek word. Sometimes it's translated
26:32
exhort, sometimes it's translated in courage or
26:35
comfort. And it really depends on the
26:38
context. But exhortation almost always
26:41
includes strong calls to action or warnings.
26:45
Or be careful, and the church needs exhortation.
26:49
Today we need to move out on what we know, and that's really
26:54
the proof of real faith, a person doing what they believe.
26:57
And because your beliefs have changed, your behavior's going
27:01
to change. Sometimes your behavior changes
27:03
so much. People don't believe you.
27:06
Oh, I remember where you came from.
27:08
And I remember your reputation. And I remember, yeah, that's
27:10
where I came from. But I'm a new creation in
27:13
Christ. My mind has changed.
27:16
And because my mind has changed, it's reflective that my life has
27:20
changed. And the way that we know that is
27:22
your behavior has changed because you and I, we always, we
27:27
always that our beliefs always dictate our behavior.
27:32
That's why Jesus would say you know a tree by its fruit.
27:36
All you need to do is wait it out and watch and you will see
27:41
the reality of a person. Just wait it out and watch
27:45
because their behavior will take them back to what they believe.
27:48
We need to be exhorted and comforted.
27:50
Remember we were talking about gossip recently.
27:52
What a horrible sin it is. And let's let's look at this in
27:55
the context of a discipleship moment.
27:58
You want to get to brother, get together with a sister or a
28:00
brother at the coffee house. So you show up there, you're
28:02
there all by yourselves, against the wall at the table, and there
28:06
you are talking. And all of a sudden they're,
28:09
they start to gossip. And remember, gossip takes 2.
28:12
So you got the talker and the listener, and then they're
28:14
gossiping. And let's say you're the
28:16
listener. So they're telling you stuff.
28:18
And then you're hearing it. And you're like, I don't think
28:20
this is right, but you're like, no, I need to know more.
28:22
And then you ask more. And now back and forth you're
28:24
going You got the talker, you got the listener, and maybe then
28:27
you add some stuff and it's just not from the Lord.
28:30
Ever. Never.
28:31
Never. Here's the gift of exhortation
28:33
in that one of you needs to stop it and tell the other person to
28:39
stop it. That is discipleship.
28:43
It's not discipleship to carry on with other people's sins and
28:46
just kind of let it go. That's not the responsibility of
28:49
a believer. You, you and I, we are
28:51
encouraged, we're told in the Bible to have nothing to do with
28:56
the unfruitful works of darkness.
28:58
And so the reality of exhortation is so important.
29:02
Sometimes it comes through comforting.
29:04
Sometimes the delivery is different.
29:06
But here he they needed for them in particular, notice what they
29:10
needed to do was continue. You see that in verse 22.
29:14
That was the we know what he was talking about.
29:16
And it makes sense because in Lystra they almost killed Paul
29:20
and then he left. He got to leave.
29:22
They had to stay with those same people in that same environment
29:27
and the temptation to hey man, this is not what I signed up
29:29
for. This is not what I want.
29:31
This is not to to just quit. Paul was sent back as they go
29:36
through to strengthen them and to exhort them.
29:38
No, keep going, keep going. Thirdly, notice it says in verse
29:44
23 that when they had appointed elders in every church.
29:49
This gives us our Third Point. It's not easily seen, but I want
29:52
to, I want to show it to you so that you can see it and that's
29:56
this. The church needed to be
29:58
directed. So the Word is directing and and
30:02
really what this, what what I see here is that the church
30:05
needed organization. It was young and it needed
30:09
leaders and it needed elders. And So what Paul did is he when
30:12
he came back, he directed them. These are the guys you need to
30:15
put in leadership because that's what's going to help the church
30:18
move forward when it comes to one another with each other.
30:21
We need direction or we need organization.
30:24
This happened not too long ago. I had AI had a young guy come up
30:27
with all these questions. He said I got all these
30:29
questions, pastor all these questions, you know, when can we
30:32
meet this week to answer all the questions?
30:33
I said, well, the offices are open.
30:35
You can call the pastors here every day of the week.
30:38
They would love to talk to you about that.
30:40
But but we're here right now, so why don't you take out, you
30:43
know, all your questions and just give me the most important
30:45
one. Just tell me the most important
30:47
one on that list and we'll sit down and I'll try to answer it
30:50
for you. And so he asked the question, I
30:52
gave the answer, and I'm like, hey, I got more time.
30:54
What's the second most important question on this list?
30:57
And I'll tell you why. What I was doing was helping
31:00
organize for this young man that while he has all these
31:04
questions, they all don't all have the same weight.
31:07
They're not as important as each other.
31:09
I was also sharing with him the difference between philosophical
31:12
questions and biblical questions.
31:15
You know, philosophical questions are questions we make
31:18
up in our minds. What if and what about?
31:20
And they're hypothetical. Do you know the Bible won't
31:22
answer all the questions you make up?
31:24
Did you know that? That just won't.
31:27
Like you ask a question you know the Bible doesn't really say.
31:30
But let me tell you what the Bible does say to help form your
31:34
thinking. And So what I was doing with him
31:36
is I was giving him some direction directly or
31:39
indirectly. Like I didn't sit down and
31:41
explain this to him. I was just saying, hey, give me
31:43
your question. I see you have a long list, but
31:46
I know that this list that like all these questions can be
31:48
answered one way or another. But here's the most important
31:51
one now the second most important one.
31:53
And and it's like you don't have to live the rest of your life
31:57
with all these unanswered questions.
31:58
God's ready to help you. That's direction.
32:01
You don't have to be intimidated Church.
32:03
You can find the same answers I I think back to how long I've
32:07
been walking with the Lord and the answers I used to give when
32:10
I was a new believer compared to today.
32:12
I mean, they're profoundly different, even though the
32:15
content's pretty much the same. You learn over time so that when
32:20
people come to you, you don't have to be intimidated.
32:22
You can study, you can find the answers, You can help people.
32:26
That's what Paul's doing here. He's bringing organization.
32:29
And sometimes we just need to help people.
32:31
This is how you live your life. This is what you do.
32:34
This is how you answer, where you give direction to help a
32:38
person apply what they've learned in the Bible.
32:42
We give them biblical answers so that they can give biblical
32:46
answers. Let's go to #4, or at least on
32:49
the list. If we're counting words 12345,
32:53
the 5th and 6th word is found in the same thing in verse 23.
32:59
It says in these discipleship relationships they prayed and
33:02
fasted. And those are the words praying
33:05
and fasting. What do you do with other
33:07
brothers and sisters? You pray and fast together.
33:09
You don't wait for the church to do it.
33:11
You don't wait for a call to fast.
33:13
This is a normal Christian living.
33:15
We say it all the time. Read your Bible.
33:17
Pray every day. Add to that fasting.
33:21
If you're unfamiliar with biblical fasting, just go to our
33:24
website or to our app and put the word fast in the search bar.
33:28
I've taught on it in depth many times and I will explain to you
33:31
in depth what fasting really is. It's necessary.
33:35
It's not like a diet option fasting or you know you want to
33:39
slim down for an upcoming event. Biblical spiritual fasting is
33:43
this. You give up physical food for
33:47
the sake of seeking God spiritually.
33:50
That's a basic definition. You are giving up food and the
33:54
best way to fast is to give up all food for an extended length
33:58
of time just taking in water. Now, of course, some of you will
34:01
have to talk to a doctor and what your body might do.
34:04
But if that's the highest level that you are able, then you deny
34:10
you, you, you tell your body here, here's what happens.
34:12
You're like, well, I don't understand how that could even
34:14
be any significance. I could get through that.
34:16
It's no big deal. But here's what happens.
34:18
If you choose to fast, just say you're going to go.
34:20
OK, Pastor, I'm going to do it on Tuesday.
34:22
I'm going to fast on Tuesday, Tuesday morning.
34:25
The first thing on your mind when you wake up will be food.
34:31
You. And then you'll remember I made
34:33
a commitment, OK, Lord, I made a commitment.
34:35
I'm not going to eat today. And then that just happens to be
34:38
the the day that your boss brings in doughnuts in the
34:42
morning and they're your favorite doughnuts and they got
34:45
them right where they wanted. And then you pick and they're
34:47
like, no, no, no, I said no, I'm not going to.
34:51
And then about that time you start to get these massive
34:53
headaches because you know what's happening.
34:55
Your body is saying I don't like this and I don't like you.
35:01
So I'm going to remind you that I'm hungry and I'm going to
35:05
remind you that I'm in control. And when you fast, you shift
35:09
everything you you, you flip the tables on yourself.
35:13
Because here, whether you realize it or not, you and I
35:15
have learned how to accommodate life, basically getting what we
35:19
want when we want most of the time.
35:22
I know on occasion we don't, but we basically have adopted a
35:26
lifestyle or try to have a lifestyle where we don't have
35:28
any problems or worries, money in the bank or whatever,
35:31
whatever it might be, we've accommodated and and really
35:34
what, what, what, what that translates to is you've also
35:37
with that mindset, you've also accommodated Christianity into
35:40
your life. And so it's just one more thing
35:43
you do and you've kind of fit it in.
35:45
And fasting reminds you that that's not the way you want to
35:48
live because you know, you get through it.
35:51
The headaches will end. So you won't be so hungry
35:54
anymore. And you'll be able to, you'll be
35:56
able to to look at your life and go, no, like, I'm not eating
36:00
right now. I'm going to spend extended time
36:01
in prayer and I'm not eating right now because, yeah, you
36:04
know what? I don't have to be ruled by my
36:06
body and my body appetites because while you have the
36:10
physical body appetite of food, you know, your body has other
36:14
appetites like lust. And you just teach.
36:19
You know what? I'm not going to live that way.
36:21
Like alcohol, as we mentioned earlier, like whatever vibe you
36:25
can learn through the spirit, God does something.
36:29
It's not just some self help thing.
36:31
God does something when you present yourself to him.
36:34
So when it makes sense in your relationships with each other
36:37
that when you know you might be walking with a brother or sister
36:40
through a long trial, someone in that group says I just need it.
36:42
Would you pray and fast with me? Because I I got to.
36:45
I got to press into the things of God through this and and
36:48
together you're praying and fasting.
36:51
Together you're seeking the Lord.
36:53
That's discipleship. This makes sense, doesn't it?
36:56
Because this is how the missionary journey started in
36:59
Acts 13. They came together.
37:02
They sought the Lord together. God spoke.
37:04
Paul and Barnabas were separated.
37:06
Then what did they do? They prayed and fasted and sent
37:09
them off. What does Paul take with them?
37:12
Prayer and fasting. I I know I'm not going to ask
37:16
for hands or anything, but I I 100% know that this is something
37:21
that's lacking in most relationships in this, in this
37:25
room right now might be praying for one another.
37:28
He might use your Bible every now and again, but pressing into
37:30
the things of God, praying and fasting, reminding yourself that
37:36
you're not controlled by your body appetites, but you're
37:40
controlled by the spirit of God. Sometimes we just need a very
37:44
practical reminder of that. And So what does Jesus say when
37:47
you fast? He expects it from us and it's
37:51
part of discipleship. And then finally the last two
37:53
words are found in verse 23. Again, the last thing they did
37:58
when before they left was they commended them to the Lord in
38:02
whom they had believed, they commended them.
38:06
The 2 words I have for this is commending and encouraging.
38:10
Now, commending in the English kind of like like, like has the
38:14
meaning of approval or you get a commendation.
38:17
That's not the word here. It's an unfortunate translation.
38:21
This would be this word commending.
38:24
The Greek word would be the. This is the phrase we would
38:26
often say, pointing people to the Lord.
38:29
That's what he did there. As he heads out, he just says,
38:33
you know, keep your eyes on the Lord.
38:34
Don't forget you're saved. Don't just keep your eyes on the
38:37
Lord. That's something we use all the
38:39
time. Church language, like keep your
38:41
eyes on the Lord, point you to the Lord.
38:43
This is what you need to see. That's what he's doing.
38:45
As he leaves, he goes, don't forget, you are following the
38:48
Lord. And you can see how all of these
38:51
work together in helping us grow, that we can help each
38:56
other grow. If you just adopt these eight
38:58
things, which at this point you're like, well, I don't even
39:01
know where to begin. And if you're thinking that, I'm
39:03
glad that you asked because I have a couple things that we
39:06
have here in the church that we've had for years that are
39:09
absolutely free. We're a resourcing church.
39:12
We have them available up on the stage over here.
39:14
And if you want to, if you want the PDF file itself, you can
39:18
e-mail me, I'll send you a link and you can have the PDF.
39:21
You can print off as many as you want.
39:23
The first one is this packet called Biblical Principles for a
39:27
Strong Foundation Discipleship Workbook.
39:30
You get two of these, or whoever you're sitting down with, you
39:33
have one, they have one and you go through it together and you
39:37
can apply all these things together and this one in
39:39
particular, it's going to take you through the word of God of
39:41
who is Jesus, Who is the Father, what a strong foundation means,
39:46
who is the Holy Spirit? What is spiritual growth?
39:48
It's all in here and it's in small bite sized pieces and this
39:53
is available for free. It'll help you personally.
39:55
It'll help you with others. Another tool that we have here
39:58
is what we give to everyone that responds to the gospel.
40:01
It's this first steps booklet 20 years in the making.
40:04
Every year we improve it. It's taken US 20 years to put
40:07
this together. And this is a booklet a little
40:09
bit different than that one that answers the question, what do I
40:13
do next as a new belief? What am I supposed to do now?
40:16
Well, those are great questions. We answer them here.
40:20
We answer them on what? What would be good to build a
40:22
spiritual library? How to share your faith on and
40:25
on here. This is also something that you
40:27
get a couple of copies and you just go through it together and
40:30
just talk about it. And you're going to find all
40:32
these eight principles, whether it's strengthening, whether it's
40:36
exhorting, comforting, directing, the brethren, whether
40:39
it's praying, fasting, commending, encouraging, can
40:42
come out as you have some guidance in the word of God.
40:46
And when you get together, you're really wanting to build
40:49
each other up in Christ, learners and teachers.
40:53
And these. The First Steps booklet is also
40:55
up here as at the stage, but also on the website.
40:59
So if you Scroll down on the website, on the bottom it says
41:01
how to know God or something like that.
41:03
The PDF is right there. You click it, click through, you
41:05
can download it, print it out, use it as a discipleship tool as
41:10
much as you want. This is Paul, and this is our
41:13
responsibility as well. Let's finish up and then we'll
41:16
enter into communion. In verse 26, they sailed to
41:19
Antioch. This is home base, so they're
41:21
going back to Acts 13 where they left.
41:24
They go back to Antioch, where they had been commended to the
41:27
grace of God for the work which they had completed.
41:30
So the first trip is done, the missionary journey, the mission
41:34
is done. So once the mission is done,
41:36
it's time to go home. That's what they did.
41:39
And then it says when they'd come and gathered the church
41:42
together, they reported all that God had done with them and that
41:45
he had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles.
41:47
And they stayed there a long time with the disciples.
41:51
So it was completed. They came back.
41:53
You could call this the first missionary conference.
41:56
It's kind of what we do on Wednesday nights when
41:57
missionaries come back. We want them to give a testimony
42:00
of all that God has done through them.
42:02
So we interview them up here on the stage and they share what
42:05
God has been doing in their life.
42:07
So they have this conference, they report.
42:09
And I just want you to emphasize, I, I, I it's not
42:12
directly explicit in the text, but I think it's pretty clear
42:17
that the Holy Spirit used this phrase.
42:19
It says they had reported in verse 27 all that God had done
42:24
with them. And you know what I take from
42:26
that is that they reported all the good things and didn't
42:30
maximize. They maximized all the good
42:32
things and minimized all the trouble.
42:35
They minimized the trouble. I don't think they discarded it
42:38
or ignored it, but they didn't make it the big deal.
42:40
Oh, this trip was so hard. It was so difficult.
42:43
I can't believe why we went in this city.
42:46
We had this and that. I mean, who's going to be a
42:47
missionary with that kind of report?
42:49
It's like, didn't we? Didn't God tell you to go?
42:51
Yeah, God told me to go. And it was nothing.
42:53
I don't think I ever want to go again.
42:55
No, no, no, no. That's not from the Lord.
42:57
What is from the Lord is hey, look what God has done.
43:01
Was it hard? Oh, it was hard.
43:03
But look what God has done. So you know what that means.
43:06
On this trip, I think they reported the salvation of
43:09
Sergius, not the the heavy resistance from Alimus.
43:13
If you remember back in Acts 13, I think they reported all the
43:17
open doors. I don't think they spent a lot
43:19
of time going, Oh yeah, you know John Mark, he ditched us and
43:22
deserted us. I don't think they drug another
43:25
man's name through the mud. They just said hey man, God's
43:28
opened doors. I I think that they reported
43:31
back how the Gentiles were begging for them to stay and
43:35
don't leave. I don't think they reported too
43:39
much, how the Jews were following everywhere and the
43:41
envy of the Jews stirred up the city against them.
43:45
I think they reported the open door and Iconium, not the
43:48
persecution that followed them or the healing in Lystra, not
43:53
the violent attempt on their life.
43:55
And while I'm sure he talked about being stoned in Lystra,
43:58
because there was probably still evidence physically on his body
44:02
that he was greatly hurt, close to death, if not death itself, I
44:07
think he reported the faithfulness of God, that there
44:09
was still a church when he went back to visit, and that they're
44:12
doing well and they're continuing on in the faith.
44:16
Which reminds me that our perspective on things is
44:20
everything. The way we view things is every
44:23
Do we focus only on the bad, or are we also looking for the
44:27
good? It's important that we make a
44:29
habit to dwell on the goodness of God.
44:32
And you know, the devil gets way too much attention and way too
44:36
much credit. Joseph is a great example.
44:38
You sold me, but God sent me. So let's get busy.
44:43
We're not going to go back and try to work it all out.
44:45
There's forgiveness, there's healing, and we need to move
44:48
forward. We we need to move forward.
44:51
Allowing God to do that work and so avoid the trap.
44:55
The enemy is set. It makes a difference.
44:58
I guess you could say it this way.
44:59
The next time you find yourself complaining about your job, or
45:02
murmuring about your finances, or upset about where you live,
45:05
or unhappy with your marriage, or frustrated with your kids, or
45:09
decisions are made that you don't like, whatever that might
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be, stop and begin to praise the Lord.
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Not for what he's a not for what you don't like, but for what
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he's doing and his faithfulness in your life.
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It's perspective because otherwise you're just going to
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live your life all beat up and upset and mad all the time and
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and things get worse that way, not better.
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Through many tribulations you're going to enter into the Kingdom
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of heaven church, but emphasize you're going to enter into the
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Kingdom of heaven. The whole world goes through
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many tribulations. All of everybody suffers.
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But it's the believer that has hope.
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And I'm just blown away by the early church.
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I I I pray for so much. I want more zeal in my life.
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I want more boldness in my life. I want more faith in my life.
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That's what the book of Acts is doing with me.
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I want to see. I want to watch this unfold.
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Not a carbon copy of the Book of Acts, but what God's doing in my
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life. I want to see it.
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I want to experience it. It's one of the motivations I
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moved to Colorado. I want to see everything I hear,
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everything I hear my pastor teach God put in my heart.
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This is my gift in your life. This is what I want you to do.
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And you know what was matched in me.
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Lord, I want to see it. I I want to be a part of
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whatever you want to do wherever you take me.
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And whether it's across the street or across the country, it
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doesn't matter. And God is still working today.
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And that's why we're in the Book of Acts.
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Why? Why?
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We're studying because God is stirring up this, this church
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for a new season of what's up ahead.
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And it's pretty exciting. What's waiting is you and where
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you stand on all this and what God wants to do in your life.
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But you know what? It's pretty exciting.
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You're going to have a lot of problems, a lot of troubles, a
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lot of difficulties I could list out for me, I I was talking to a
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pastor this week because I I have a conference I'm going to
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be teaching at next year and which is the they gave me my
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assignment which is really where rare.
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They rarely give assignments, but I got my assignment.
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And so you can be praying for me because it's in the first half
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of next year I'm going to be teaching on suffering and
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ministry. And I was thinking through this
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is a great text just to be reminded.
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Everyone suffers and every believer is in ministry.
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It's just the way it is. And when you embrace God's will
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for your life, you'll get through it.
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You want to get through it. You'll get through it.
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And while it started out bad, God's going to use it, working
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all things together for the good.
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Amen. All right, Father.
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We pray for your spirit right now to make clear to us a heart.
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You know the the things that I'm sharing that you would bring
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order and and you would tie it all up for those listening to me
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right now near and far, on the radio, on the Internet, here in
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this room downstairs. I pray God for the families that
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are represented, the kids, grandkids.
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I pray God for the extended families, the in laws, the the
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different folks that we're connected with.
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And I also pray for new discipleship relationships.
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I pray against this sense where guys and gals, they want to draw
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people to themselves. They want it all to be about
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them. They want it all to be so they
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can be seen and they can be known and they can be the one.
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It's just not you and it's so obvious.
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So I just pray they would use all that time and energy to draw
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people to you and not try to sidestep.
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And some are not even in any relationship right now helping
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someone grow. So I pray you begin new
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relationships like that throughout the church, here,
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there and everywhere. Lord, that it doesn't have to be
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formal or on this property, but that we would be the church
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wherever we go. In Jesus name.
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Amen. We pray that you've.
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Been encouraged by this Bible study delivered live from the
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sanctuary of Calvary Church. For prayer, call us at 87730
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Grace. That's 877 304-7223.
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Worship Jesus this week.