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Speaker 1: Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick.

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Speaker 2: I'm the pastor of Elevation Church and this is our podcast.

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Speaker 2: I wanted to thank you for joining us today.

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Speaker 1: Hope this inspires you. Hope it builds your faith.

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Speaker 2: Hope it gives your perspective to see God is moving

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Speaker 2: in your life.

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Speaker 1: Enjoy the message.

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Speaker 2: All right, stay standing for just a moment. Those of

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Speaker 2: you that sat down, get a little exercise, stand back up.

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Speaker 1: If we do that enough, it can count a squats.

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Speaker 1: It's good to see you, Ti.

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Speaker 3: You been.

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Speaker 1: Welcome to our EPAM online.

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Speaker 2: Those that we can't see, but you're my favorite ones

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Speaker 2: to preach too, because I just picture like you're writing

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Speaker 2: notes on everything I say. I just picture you sitting

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Speaker 2: there really enjoying it. So in my imagination, you are

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Speaker 2: not distracted running around with kids spilling juice on the carpet.

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Speaker 2: You are settled in ready to hear a word from God.

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Speaker 2: Let's give it up for our EPAM around the world.

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Speaker 2: Just drop us a little comment, would you in the chat,

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Speaker 2: just your way of saying I'm here, or maybe put

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Speaker 2: a little prayer hand emoji into chat something like that.

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Speaker 1: That'll be amazing.

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Speaker 2: God is good, Amen, I said, God is good. Amen,

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Speaker 2: God is good. God has been good to us. Well,

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Speaker 2: thank you, worship teams. Stay behind me for just a

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Speaker 2: moment while I read the scripture. And the reason we

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Speaker 2: stand for the word of God is so that nobody

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Speaker 2: falls asleep and to show our respect for what God speaks.

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Speaker 2: I'm thankful for the place where God speaks to me.

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Speaker 2: I value it, I honor it. There are things that

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Speaker 2: can only be said in the presence of God. You

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Speaker 2: can't say them to other people, and you can't hear

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Speaker 2: them from other people. And so God gives us moments

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Speaker 2: like this, whether we're physically together in a building or

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Speaker 2: whether we're connecting through technology, and He tells us things,

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Speaker 2: speaks things to us that our spirits understand, even if

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Speaker 2: our minds don't understand them yet.

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Speaker 1: The passage that.

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Speaker 2: I want to share with you from today is in

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Speaker 2: Acts chapter twenty eight, verses one through ten, And after

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Speaker 2: I shared this story with you, I'll give you my

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Speaker 2: thought and break it down today.

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Speaker 1: But it's really not just my thought.

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Speaker 2: It is something that the Lord wants to speak to you,

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Speaker 2: and it's going to help you with your perspective. So

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Speaker 2: in Acts chapter twenty eight, verse one through ten, the

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Speaker 2: Bible says, once safely on shore, we found out that

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Speaker 2: the island was called Malta. The islanders showed us unusual kindness.

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Speaker 2: They built a fire and welcomed us all. Because it

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Speaker 2: was raining and cold, Paul gathered a pile of brushwood,

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Speaker 2: and as he put it on the fire, a viper,

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Speaker 2: driven out by the heat, fasten itself.

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Speaker 1: On his hand.

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Speaker 2: Out When the islanders saw the snake hanging from his hand,

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Speaker 2: they said to each other, this man must be a murderer,

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Speaker 2: for though he escaped from the sea, the goddess Justice

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Speaker 2: has not allowed him to live. But Paul shook the

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Speaker 2: snake off into the fire and suffered no ill effects.

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Speaker 2: I thought y'all might be happy to hear that verse, to.

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Speaker 1: Know that it bit him, but it didn't kill.

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Speaker 2: Him, to know that it tried but it didn't work,

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Speaker 2: because I thought that might help you think about some

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Speaker 2: of the stuff that the devil did to you, the

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Speaker 2: weapons that he formed that didn't work. But you don't

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Speaker 2: have to shout about it. I'm just thankful that everything that.

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Speaker 1: Bit me didn't kill me. Now let's take it further.

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Speaker 1: Verse six.

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Speaker 2: The people expected him to swell up or suddenly fall dead,

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Speaker 2: But after waiting a long time and seeing nothing unusual

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Speaker 2: happened to him, they changed their mind and said he

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Speaker 2: was a god. So they're kind of flipping real quick.

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Speaker 2: Not that people ever flipped their opinion or anything like that.

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Speaker 2: But the Bible says something else that I want to

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Speaker 2: read you before I give you the sermon title. It

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Speaker 2: says there was an estate nearby that belonged to Publius,

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Speaker 2: the chief official of the island. He welcomed us to

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Speaker 2: his home and showed us generous hospitality for three days.

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Speaker 2: His father was sick in bed, suffering from fever and dysentery,

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Speaker 2: and Paul went in to see him, and after prayer,

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Speaker 2: placed his hands on him and healed him. When this

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Speaker 2: had happened, the rest of the sick on the island

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Speaker 2: came and were cured. They honored us in many ways,

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Speaker 2: and when we were ready to sail, they furnished us

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Speaker 2: with the supplies we needed. That's right there where I

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Speaker 2: want to stop. Everything you need is on this island.

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Speaker 2: God's not going to send you from this season of

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Speaker 2: your life life without what you need. But I need

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Speaker 2: you to understand this fundamental truth and look at your

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Speaker 2: neighbor and give them my title.

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Speaker 1: Say God can use this too. That's it. That's the whole,

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Speaker 1: that's the whole thing.

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Speaker 2: You ain't on the next part, I said, look at

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Speaker 2: him again and say God can use this too. And Father,

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Speaker 2: I thank you that nothing comes to our lives that

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Speaker 2: doesn't pass through your hand. Right now, would you speak

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Speaker 2: a word in season to your people in Jesus' name, Amen,

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Speaker 2: he can use this too.

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Speaker 1: Be seated Amen now, LJ.

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Speaker 2: I'm gonna set this Bible story up with a little

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Speaker 2: personal example. I don't have any real hobbies, so in

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Speaker 2: my free time, I like to listen to podcasts about

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Speaker 2: people who do have hobbies. I like to listen also

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Speaker 2: to podcast about people's creatative process. And I really love

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Speaker 2: to hear, especially about songwriting. And I know that's boring

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Speaker 2: to some people, but I love to hear what happened

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Speaker 2: the story behind the song that was written.

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Speaker 1: And so I kind of collect these little.

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Speaker 2: Stories because it's almost like they're magical to me to

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Speaker 2: just see behind the scenes. One songwriter that I like

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Speaker 2: to listen to him tell the stories. His name is

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Speaker 2: Clay Mills, and he said that he went in to

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Speaker 2: write with Darius Rucker for the first time, and he

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Speaker 2: went in to write with Darius and he said he

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Speaker 2: really wasn't feeling it. Darius was fine, but Clay said

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Speaker 2: he wasn't really feeling it. He said he just got

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Speaker 2: broke up with the day before. And so about halfway

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Speaker 2: through the session of getting to know each other, he

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Speaker 2: looked at Darius and said, I just got to be

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Speaker 2: honest with you, man, I'm not in a really good

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Speaker 2: spot today. I just had my heart broken and I'm

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Speaker 2: second guests and everything and all I could have done

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Speaker 2: and all that. And Darius was like, oh, I get it, man,

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Speaker 2: we all have had a heartbroken. He said, I go

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Speaker 2: back and think about a girl that broke up with

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Speaker 2: me in fifth grade and wonder what would have happened

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Speaker 2: if we'd stayed together. And Clay said really fifth grade

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Speaker 2: and Darius said, yeah, man, don't think I don't. And

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Speaker 2: Clay said when he said don't think I don't, he

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Speaker 2: kind of took his notebook and wrote that line down,

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Speaker 2: don't think I don't. And he went home that night

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Speaker 2: and he started to write a song called don't think

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Speaker 2: I don't think about it, and he took it back

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Speaker 2: to Darius the next day and they wrote the song

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Speaker 2: and it was Darius's first number one country hit. That's cool, huh.

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Speaker 2: And so he heard somebody say something and he did

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Speaker 2: something with it. Now you've heard a lot of people

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Speaker 2: say stuff. Did you make a hit with it? Here's

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Speaker 2: another example. I love one pop star. She was writing

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Speaker 2: with a Swedish producer named Max Martin and it was

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Speaker 2: her first time writing with him, and she was so

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Speaker 2: excited and they were working on a song and somebody

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Speaker 2: walked in the studio that claimed they knew this pop

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Speaker 2: star and so they claimed to be a friend.

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Speaker 1: Of this pop star's ex boyfriend.

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Speaker 2: And so they came to the studio and they started

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Speaker 2: talking and it was kind of an interruption, and the

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Speaker 2: dude who had busted into studio, he says, yeah, I

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Speaker 2: heard y'all are going to get back together. And so

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Speaker 2: they kind of got the guy to leave the studio

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Speaker 2: because he was unwelcome. And after he left, the pop

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Speaker 2: star turned to Max Martin and said, hey, trust me,

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Speaker 2: we are.

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Speaker 1: Never getting back together ever, ever, ever.

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Speaker 2: And Max Martin turned to Taylor Swift and said, we

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Speaker 2: got to write that song. So how many of you

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Speaker 2: in here have an X somewhere back in your past?

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Speaker 2: How many of you made a hip hoop banger out

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Speaker 2: of it, made millions of dollars out of it, and

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Speaker 2: became a global pop superstar.

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Speaker 1: See here's my point. And you're like, wow, this is

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Speaker 1: really you've had too much time off. You've been You've

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Speaker 1: been by yourself too much.

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Speaker 2: Creativity is not defined by how many ideas you have.

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Speaker 2: Creativity is defined by how you implement the ideas you have.

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Speaker 2: So that a great songwriter, a creative songwriter. Here's somebody

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Speaker 2: say a phrase that may maybe they said hundreds of

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Speaker 2: times before, and go, that's a song, let's write it.

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Speaker 2: Or that a great songwriter goes through a heartbreak, and

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Speaker 2: you know, maybe some people go through a heartbreak and

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Speaker 2: become an alcoholic or a drug addict, but they make

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Speaker 2: a hit out of something that happens. They make a

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Speaker 2: hit out of something that they hear. That's creativity.

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Speaker 4: Now, I would suggest to you that as Christians, what

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Speaker 4: distinguishes our Christian faith from those who do not have

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Speaker 4: faith is not necessarily the things that happen to us.

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Speaker 4: It's not necessarily the things that we even hear in church,

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Speaker 4: but it is our ability to take those things that

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Speaker 4: happen to us and do something with them that will

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Speaker 4: be fruitful and productive. And the more painful the event is, well,

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Speaker 4: the greater the opportunity for God to show his creative power.

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Speaker 2: See, God is not creative, He is creator. Creative people

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Speaker 2: can take something and make it into something. God is creator.

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Speaker 2: He can take nothing and make it into something. Come on,

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Speaker 2: get my rhythm so I don't have to work too

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Speaker 2: hard today.

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Speaker 1: Tell your neighbor. God can use it.

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Speaker 2: I love how he spoke into the darkness, but the

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Speaker 2: word that he spoke into darkness carried the potential energy

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Speaker 2: for light, so it became kinetic because God called it

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Speaker 2: light when it was darkness. God calls those things that

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Speaker 2: be not as though they are, so if he calls

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Speaker 2: you forgiven, it doesn't matter how many times shame calls

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Speaker 2: your name.

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Speaker 1: God can speak into nothing and create something.

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Speaker 2: The Hebrew word for this is burah when it talks

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Speaker 2: about God created the heavens and the earth. In the beginning,

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Speaker 2: there was nothing there, but it didn't stop God because

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Speaker 2: he is creator, not just creative. If you ask a

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Speaker 2: creative genius where do you get your ideas from, they'll

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Speaker 2: honestly tell you, well, I get them from every day.

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Speaker 2: I get them from something. I hear someone say, I

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Speaker 2: get them from something that I live through.

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Speaker 1: God didn't have to live through anything because he always was.

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Speaker 2: God didn't have to respond to anything, because when he spoke,

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Speaker 2: the light was the response to his word. I'm trying

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Speaker 2: to set this framework for this sermon around the idea

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Speaker 2: that the creator God lives inside of you. And so

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Speaker 2: if the God who can make something out of nothing

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Speaker 2: lives inside of you, it stands the reason that the

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Speaker 2: God with this kind of power Burrah is the Hebrew word,

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Speaker 2: can also take something in your life that does not

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Speaker 2: resemble what you prayed for, hope for, or preferred and

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Speaker 2: turn it into exactly what you need at the moment

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Speaker 2: you need it the most.

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Speaker 1: Because he's God like that, because he's good at that.

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Speaker 2: Because God doesn't have to hear anything to do something,

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Speaker 2: God doesn't have to have anything to do something. In fact,

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Speaker 2: God can take something so silly as a dumb decision

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Speaker 2: that you make and turn it into great wisdom for

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Speaker 2: your future. God can use this too. I read in

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Speaker 2: the Bible about a king called Solomon. He was the

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Speaker 2: wisest king that ever lived. But what surprised me about

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Speaker 2: Solomon's Wisdom Church was that his birth was actually the

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Speaker 2: result of a bad decision that his father, David made,

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Speaker 2: And if I teach you this, maybe it'll help you

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Speaker 2: feel not so bad about your dumb decisions.

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Speaker 1: Not that you made any in the last three years.

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Speaker 2: But you know, back when you were young and you

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Speaker 2: used to do dumb stuff, back before you were so

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Speaker 2: smart as you are now and you always get it right.

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Speaker 1: Just to let you know that God.

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Speaker 2: Prefers that you use wisdom as you're living your life.

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Speaker 2: But if you don't use wisdom, God is so big

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Speaker 2: and so good and so amazing that and you don't

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Speaker 2: use wisdom, God will use stupid.

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Speaker 1: That's a place to praise him. Right there, you missed it.

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Speaker 1: I know you can't clap because you might be sitting

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Speaker 1: next to him. I talked to one woman.

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Speaker 2: She said I never should have married him. Well, they

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Speaker 2: were married thirty two years, they had three kids.

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Speaker 1: She said, I was so stupid, stupid, stupid. She started

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Speaker 1: hitting her head.

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Speaker 2: I'm not going to do it up here for you,

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Speaker 2: just a little bit stupid, stupid, stupid.

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Speaker 1: She smacked herself hard. I said stop. I grabbed her hand.

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Speaker 1: I said, are you glad you have those kids. She said, yeah,

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Speaker 1: what dream I guess or anything.

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Speaker 2: I said, you had them with him?

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Speaker 1: She said, yeah, all three of them.

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Speaker 2: I was just checking, you know, I didn't pull out

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Speaker 2: a Mariy Povich paternity test or anything like that.

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Speaker 1: What that's a flashback? But she said, yeah, we've all

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Speaker 1: had them all to God.

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Speaker 2: I said, huh, in't that crazy that God gave you

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Speaker 2: what you just called your greatest gifts through your stupidest decision?

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Speaker 1: Stupid, stupid, stupid.

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Speaker 2: So before you take your hand and hit yourself like

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Speaker 2: I'm doing up here, I'm not doing it any harder

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Speaker 2: than that, stop for a minute and think about the

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Speaker 2: things that God gave you in spite of stupid. I'll

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Speaker 2: take it a step further, and all the Pharisees can

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Speaker 2: just walk right out the church on this one. Not

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Speaker 2: just in spite of stupid, but through stupid. God can

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Speaker 2: do more through stupid then humans can do through wisdom

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Speaker 2: without him.

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Speaker 1: This is how great God is. Why are you telling

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Speaker 1: me to go out and do dumb stuff?

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Speaker 2: You telling me to drive drunk, You're you're telling me

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Speaker 2: to make bad decisions, marry the wrong people. I'm not

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Speaker 2: saying any of that, but the fact of the matter

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Speaker 2: is we start this sermon in Acts chapter twenty eight,

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Speaker 2: where Paul does a great miracle, but it's started with

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Speaker 2: something stupid that could have been avoided but wasn't. And

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Speaker 2: I believe that what keeps a lot of people from

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Speaker 2: believing that God can use their life or use their

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Speaker 2: situation is that you know necessarily some of the things

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Speaker 2: that put you in the problem state to begin with.

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Speaker 2: And it's hard for me to believe for God to

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Speaker 2: get me out of what I got myself into. But

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Speaker 2: I want to remind you from David's life that when

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Speaker 2: you don't use wisdom, God will use stupid. Touch your

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Speaker 2: neighbor again and say He's going to use you. Pastor

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Speaker 2: Stephen just said it. David slept with Bathsheba. Stupid killed

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Speaker 2: her husband who was fighting for him.

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Speaker 1: Stupid tried to cover it all up.

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Speaker 2: Stupid went in and repented before the Lord when the

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Speaker 2: prophet Nathan confronted him. When he finished repenting, he went

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Speaker 2: into his wife, Bathshid and made love to her again.

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Speaker 2: She conceived and gave birth to a son.

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Speaker 1: His name was Solomon. He was the wisest king that

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Speaker 1: ever lived.

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Speaker 2: How could God make something so splendid out of something

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Speaker 2: so stupid. That's called grace. You want a definition of grace,

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Speaker 2: all right, I got one for you. When you don't

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Speaker 2: use wisdom, so God uses stupid when you choose the

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Speaker 2: wrong thing. But God uses it anyway. Now, we would

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Speaker 2: like to eliminate the number of times in your life

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Speaker 2: that God has to use stupid. We don't want to

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Speaker 2: give God raw materials to work with unnecessarily. Shall we

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Speaker 2: continue and send that grace may abound? God forbid? But yet,

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Speaker 2: I know that this storm we read about in Acts

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Speaker 2: chapter twenty eight, now there's nothing about the storm in

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Speaker 2: Acts chapter twenty eight. So I know you might be

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Speaker 2: confused because Acts chapter twenty eight, verse one put that

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Speaker 2: on the screen again.

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Speaker 1: Please well, I love this part.

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Speaker 2: It says, once safely on shore, we found out out

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Speaker 2: that the island was called in Malta. If you didn't

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Speaker 2: have context for the Bible, you might think Paul was

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Speaker 2: going on vacation so much needed R and R after

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Speaker 2: being stoned in Listra, you know, like trying to get

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Speaker 2: away from the crazy church at Corinth and turn off

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Speaker 2: his phone for a few days. But in Acts chapter

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Speaker 2: twenty seven, in fact, he has just spent the last

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Speaker 2: two weeks being blown by a hurricane force wind, which

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Speaker 2: is bad enough. But before the wind ever started blowing,

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Speaker 2: Paul tried to warn the other.

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Speaker 1: People on board. He said, this is not the time

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Speaker 1: for us to sail.

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Speaker 2: Trust me, you know sailing, But I know the Savior,

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Speaker 2: and I heard from God and I can sense that

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Speaker 2: this is bad. And they did it anyway, and Paul

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Speaker 2: was on board with somebody else's bad decision.

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Speaker 1: Now, I think this one of the toughest places to be.

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Speaker 2: It's one thing when you do stupid and to believe

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Speaker 2: God can use it, But what about when they do

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Speaker 2: stupid and they won't stop doing stupid and they wouldn't

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Speaker 2: even come to church with you today, and now you're

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Speaker 2: living in somebody else's stupid. Now, this is not a

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Speaker 2: parenting class, but one of the things that we have

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Speaker 2: to learn in our lives when we find ourselves in

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Speaker 2: situations that we didn't ask for, or when somebody else's

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Speaker 2: bad decision backfires and we catch some of it in

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Speaker 2: our own circumstance, is that when we don't use wisdom,

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Speaker 2: God can still use stupid.

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Speaker 1: I'll prove this to you in a couple of different ways.

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Speaker 1: From the text.

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Speaker 2: Number one, the storm that they went through was a

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Speaker 2: stupid storm. They could have easily Not every storm can

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Speaker 2: be avoided. They could have easily avoided this storm. They

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Speaker 2: didn't because of the advice that they failed to heat.

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Speaker 2: So that's number one.

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Speaker 1: The number two I don't know if you noticed this

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Speaker 1: after they crashed.

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Speaker 2: And I really do apologize that I can't do this

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Speaker 2: story justice. I wish I could give you the prequel,

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Speaker 2: but since we just picked up in chapter twenty eight,

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Speaker 2: verse one, where they landed on an island called Malta,

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Speaker 2: isn't that crazy They didn't even know what it was

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Speaker 2: called till they got there. In life, kind of like that,

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Speaker 2: you don't really know what to call it until you

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Speaker 2: get there. You know what it looks like on other

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Speaker 2: people's Instagram, but you don't really know what to call

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Speaker 2: it until you get there. And what I love about

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Speaker 2: God is that on one hand, they crashed, but on

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Speaker 2: another hand, they were called to help the people on

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Speaker 2: that island. Because we read about how Paul ended up

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Speaker 2: healing every sick person on the island, how many believed

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Speaker 2: that God was calling Paul.

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Speaker 1: To that island to help those sick people.

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Speaker 2: Come on clap your hands if you believe God was

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Speaker 2: calling Paul to that island. How many of you believe

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Speaker 2: that Paul crashed because the sailors didn't take his advice?

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Speaker 2: Clap your hands you believe he crashed. How many of

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Speaker 2: you are confused? And you're just clapping to be polite

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Speaker 2: to me because it's past their appreciation.

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Speaker 1: Money say, I'm confused. Is it a crash or a calling?

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Speaker 1: I'm confused. Did he crash or was he called?

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Speaker 2: And is it possible that sometimes God uses a crash

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Speaker 2: as a cover for a calling.

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Speaker 1: And is it possible that what you have called a.

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Speaker 2: Crash in your life, a crash in your relationship, a

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Speaker 2: crash in your finances, a crash.

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Speaker 1: I'm so glad you're still here.

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Speaker 2: I was watching a sermon from twenty sixteen the other

378
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Speaker 2: day and I saw you when you used to sit

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Speaker 2: down there, and I was wondering if you were still around,

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Speaker 2: And I'm so glad you made it.

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Speaker 1: It is good to see you, brother.

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Speaker 2: Seriously, I was watching you, and the reason I noticed

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Speaker 2: in the video you were crying. You were crying and

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Speaker 2: you aren't gonna believe this. I was preaching on X twenty.

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Speaker 1: Eight I'm not making this up. Y'all are like this

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Speaker 1: sounds kind of stage. It's not stage.

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Speaker 2: I literally just looked, and what a way to confirm

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Speaker 2: a word, huh. I was preaching the same passage. And

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Speaker 2: I bet since that day, I bet you've been through

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Speaker 2: some crashes, and I bet you've been through some things.

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Speaker 2: But what blesses me about some of you in the

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Speaker 2: church is that you keep coming even after the crash.

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Speaker 2: Come on, come on, no, no, no, no, no, don't try

394
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Speaker 2: to trick me looking like you didn't. Some of y'all

395
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Speaker 2: crashed out on the way to church in the car.

396
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Speaker 2: Some of y'all were calling each other everything but child

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Speaker 2: of God on the way to church in the car

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Speaker 2: this morning. But you came, you came, you came, you came,

399
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Speaker 2: you came, you came, and.

400
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Speaker 1: They arrived safely. Everybody says faith on sure, Now say unsure.

401
00:22:05,920 --> 00:22:07,040
Speaker 1: Now say on shore.

402
00:22:08,200 --> 00:22:12,679
Speaker 2: You can be on shore, but unsure, which means that

403
00:22:13,560 --> 00:22:17,280
Speaker 2: I'm not sure yet whether this thing that happened in

404
00:22:17,359 --> 00:22:19,800
Speaker 2: my life is something that is going to turn out

405
00:22:19,840 --> 00:22:22,520
Speaker 2: for my good or whether it's going to be my

406
00:22:22,640 --> 00:22:26,440
Speaker 2: bitter end. I'm not sure yet whether this person leaving

407
00:22:26,480 --> 00:22:29,000
Speaker 2: my life was a good thing or whether it was

408
00:22:29,040 --> 00:22:32,320
Speaker 2: a bad thing. I'm not sure yet whether losing that

409
00:22:32,480 --> 00:22:35,919
Speaker 2: job was opening another opportunity or if it's just draining

410
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Speaker 2: my bank account.

411
00:22:37,280 --> 00:22:41,240
Speaker 1: I'm not sure yet. I'm on sure, but I'm unsure.

412
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Speaker 2: And what I love about God is that no matter

413
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Speaker 2: whether you call it a crash, whether you call it

414
00:22:47,920 --> 00:22:51,840
Speaker 2: an accident, whether you call it a mistake, whatever you

415
00:22:51,960 --> 00:22:55,800
Speaker 2: call it, God looks at it and says, don't think

416
00:22:56,440 --> 00:23:03,800
Speaker 2: I don't know how to make something amazing and brilliant

417
00:23:05,080 --> 00:23:09,720
Speaker 2: out of a broken heart. Now, how about for somebody saying he.

418
00:23:09,640 --> 00:23:10,800
Speaker 1: Can do it, he can do it, He can do it,

419
00:23:10,800 --> 00:23:11,400
Speaker 1: he can do it.

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00:23:12,200 --> 00:23:15,320
Speaker 2: They need to hear you say that, because when we

421
00:23:15,440 --> 00:23:18,960
Speaker 2: find ourselves crashed out on islands where people don't even

422
00:23:19,080 --> 00:23:21,960
Speaker 2: speak our same language. The version I put up there

423
00:23:22,240 --> 00:23:24,520
Speaker 2: was the politically correct version of the Bible.

424
00:23:24,640 --> 00:23:25,119
Speaker 1: The NIV.

425
00:23:25,240 --> 00:23:28,119
Speaker 2: It's more modern, so when it talks about these people,

426
00:23:28,160 --> 00:23:32,560
Speaker 2: it calls them islanders, but in the original language it

427
00:23:32,640 --> 00:23:37,760
Speaker 2: called them barbarians. Because to Paul and the two hundred

428
00:23:37,760 --> 00:23:40,560
Speaker 2: and seventy six prisoners don't even tell you this part yet.

429
00:23:40,800 --> 00:23:43,040
Speaker 2: The reason Paul is on the ship is because he's

430
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Speaker 2: going to stand trial before Caesar in Rome. So he

431
00:23:47,680 --> 00:23:52,600
Speaker 2: is a preacher, disguised as a prisoner, headed toward a calling,

432
00:23:52,720 --> 00:23:59,719
Speaker 2: disguised as a crash, looking at some people who are

433
00:23:59,720 --> 00:24:03,520
Speaker 2: building him a fire, but don't speak his same language.

434
00:24:04,640 --> 00:24:07,400
Speaker 1: Can I work on this for a minute.

435
00:24:07,600 --> 00:24:10,240
Speaker 2: I wonder, have you landed in a strange place today,

436
00:24:11,880 --> 00:24:15,400
Speaker 2: strange place in your life, strange place in your emotions,

437
00:24:16,280 --> 00:24:22,240
Speaker 2: strange place at your particular season. If you have, I

438
00:24:22,280 --> 00:24:26,359
Speaker 2: believe you have every reason to expect that God will

439
00:24:26,800 --> 00:24:31,720
Speaker 2: use a barbarian, which simply means something you're not familiar with.

440
00:24:33,200 --> 00:24:35,840
Speaker 2: Everything in the text points in the same direction that

441
00:24:35,920 --> 00:24:37,160
Speaker 2: God can.

442
00:24:37,119 --> 00:24:38,720
Speaker 1: Use this too.

443
00:24:39,640 --> 00:24:44,679
Speaker 2: Okay, when they get there, they meet barbarians, people that

444
00:24:44,680 --> 00:24:47,200
Speaker 2: they're afraid of. But the barbarians are building them a fire.

445
00:24:47,640 --> 00:24:51,520
Speaker 2: That's the favor of God. When God uses something that

446
00:24:51,600 --> 00:24:55,479
Speaker 2: you think is barbaric to build something to keep you alive.

447
00:24:56,560 --> 00:24:57,600
Speaker 1: When God uses.

448
00:24:57,359 --> 00:25:00,359
Speaker 2: Somebody you don't even like to tell you it's something

449
00:25:00,359 --> 00:25:01,080
Speaker 2: that you need to know.

450
00:25:02,000 --> 00:25:04,719
Speaker 1: When God uses a process that you resist, that is

451
00:25:04,760 --> 00:25:06,200
Speaker 1: the strange grace of God.

452
00:25:06,760 --> 00:25:09,760
Speaker 2: Have you ever had God give you strange grace? I

453
00:25:09,840 --> 00:25:13,480
Speaker 2: might should have called this message strange grace It's not

454
00:25:13,600 --> 00:25:15,639
Speaker 2: the grace that comes from people that I counted on.

455
00:25:16,720 --> 00:25:19,200
Speaker 2: It's the grace that comes from people that I don't

456
00:25:19,240 --> 00:25:22,000
Speaker 2: even know what to call them. It's the grace that

457
00:25:22,080 --> 00:25:25,199
Speaker 2: comes from places that I never chose to be.

458
00:25:25,280 --> 00:25:26,000
Speaker 1: And listen to this.

459
00:25:26,760 --> 00:25:30,320
Speaker 2: Just because you didn't choose it doesn't mean he won't

460
00:25:30,400 --> 00:25:37,320
Speaker 2: use it. Paul wanted to go to Rome, but not

461
00:25:37,400 --> 00:25:42,240
Speaker 2: as a prisoner. God used chains to get him to

462
00:25:42,359 --> 00:25:47,320
Speaker 2: the place. When they started out on the journey, they

463
00:25:47,359 --> 00:25:50,720
Speaker 2: were on a ship. Look at Acts twenty seven, verse

464
00:25:50,760 --> 00:25:54,480
Speaker 2: forty four, right before they got to the island safely.

465
00:25:55,480 --> 00:25:58,160
Speaker 2: Look how they got there safely. I'm doing air quotes

466
00:25:58,200 --> 00:26:00,600
Speaker 2: for a reason. The rest were to get there on

467
00:26:00,760 --> 00:26:05,520
Speaker 2: planks or other pieces of the ship. In this way,

468
00:26:05,600 --> 00:26:11,159
Speaker 2: everyone reached land safely. Ain't that crazy? How sometimes you

469
00:26:11,200 --> 00:26:15,560
Speaker 2: got to praise God for pieces? Think about it. They

470
00:26:15,600 --> 00:26:19,320
Speaker 2: started out on a boat, They floated in on a board.

471
00:26:20,520 --> 00:26:23,359
Speaker 2: Would you rather ride in on a boat or paddle

472
00:26:23,400 --> 00:26:27,000
Speaker 2: in on a board. But it doesn't matter what you

473
00:26:27,080 --> 00:26:30,480
Speaker 2: would rather do, because sometimes God will call you to

474
00:26:30,520 --> 00:26:34,199
Speaker 2: grab hold of what you have and remember your swimming

475
00:26:34,280 --> 00:26:39,960
Speaker 2: lessons and breast stroke your way to the shore with

476
00:26:40,040 --> 00:26:42,680
Speaker 2: what you have, And I want you to learn how

477
00:26:42,680 --> 00:26:46,320
Speaker 2: to praise God for pieces in your life, because I

478
00:26:46,320 --> 00:26:47,560
Speaker 2: know we would prefer the boat.

479
00:26:48,359 --> 00:26:50,480
Speaker 1: I know we would prefer that the things stayed the same.

480
00:26:50,560 --> 00:26:54,159
Speaker 2: None of us really like change, right, none of us

481
00:26:54,200 --> 00:26:56,560
Speaker 2: really liked change at all. You were praying summer away,

482
00:26:57,240 --> 00:27:00,520
Speaker 2: and they got cold for a day, but.

483
00:27:00,480 --> 00:27:01,280
Speaker 1: You were so hot.

484
00:27:01,359 --> 00:27:04,240
Speaker 2: We don't even want the season to change because it's uncomfortable.

485
00:27:05,000 --> 00:27:07,879
Speaker 2: And yet sometimes the only way to really have peace

486
00:27:08,040 --> 00:27:12,160
Speaker 2: in your heart, peace over your situation, is to take

487
00:27:12,200 --> 00:27:17,080
Speaker 2: the piece that you have, piece and float in with

488
00:27:17,119 --> 00:27:20,680
Speaker 2: what you have. Because everybody knows a boat can get

489
00:27:20,720 --> 00:27:24,679
Speaker 2: you to shore, but so can a board. I got

490
00:27:24,800 --> 00:27:27,520
Speaker 2: to say that again. Everybody knows a boat can get

491
00:27:27,600 --> 00:27:31,200
Speaker 2: you to shore. That doesn't take a miracle. But when

492
00:27:31,240 --> 00:27:35,159
Speaker 2: you made it in on a board, a piece of

493
00:27:35,200 --> 00:27:39,680
Speaker 2: the boat, a remnant of the former boat. Yes, I'm

494
00:27:39,720 --> 00:27:42,239
Speaker 2: talking to people who are older. You can make it

495
00:27:42,280 --> 00:27:45,639
Speaker 2: in on boards. Your body might not work like it

496
00:27:45,720 --> 00:27:48,160
Speaker 2: used to work, but you can still do what you're

497
00:27:48,200 --> 00:27:51,199
Speaker 2: called to do. Your mind might not work like it

498
00:27:51,280 --> 00:27:53,640
Speaker 2: used to work, but you can still do what you're

499
00:27:53,640 --> 00:27:56,920
Speaker 2: called to do. One missionary said, when I can't pray,

500
00:27:57,240 --> 00:28:00,119
Speaker 2: when I can't read, when I can't even think, I

501
00:28:00,160 --> 00:28:03,800
Speaker 2: can still trust and the faith to know that if

502
00:28:03,800 --> 00:28:06,760
Speaker 2: I can't make it in on a flotation device, I

503
00:28:06,800 --> 00:28:09,200
Speaker 2: can make it in floating by the grace of God.

504
00:28:09,600 --> 00:28:10,920
Speaker 1: That kind of faith is so.

505
00:28:11,080 --> 00:28:14,280
Speaker 2: Necessary in this season of your life, when what you

506
00:28:14,480 --> 00:28:17,520
Speaker 2: had was broken apart, when what you had was driven

507
00:28:17,600 --> 00:28:20,320
Speaker 2: by the wind. Don't you believe in your life that

508
00:28:20,440 --> 00:28:23,720
Speaker 2: the same God who brought them safely to the shore

509
00:28:23,720 --> 00:28:27,439
Speaker 2: on a board is bringing you where you're supposed to

510
00:28:27,480 --> 00:28:31,399
Speaker 2: be right now on the thing that you have that

511
00:28:31,560 --> 00:28:34,879
Speaker 2: is with you. Because God will never call you to

512
00:28:35,040 --> 00:28:36,919
Speaker 2: somewhere he can't get you with what.

513
00:28:36,800 --> 00:28:41,680
Speaker 1: You still have. I still got it. I still got it.

514
00:28:42,760 --> 00:28:45,080
Speaker 2: Maybe that's the message of this, to tell you you

515
00:28:45,240 --> 00:28:48,000
Speaker 2: still got it. No, you don't have the ship how

516
00:28:48,000 --> 00:28:50,360
Speaker 2: it looked. No you don't have the life that it

517
00:28:50,480 --> 00:28:52,800
Speaker 2: used to be. No, you don't have the answers that

518
00:28:52,840 --> 00:28:55,280
Speaker 2: you wanted to have. But somebody say, I still got it.

519
00:28:56,680 --> 00:28:58,760
Speaker 2: The thing you got to realize is that the board

520
00:28:58,800 --> 00:29:01,040
Speaker 2: they floated in on were of the boat that they

521
00:29:01,040 --> 00:29:03,880
Speaker 2: had been riding on. So it wasn't that the boat

522
00:29:03,920 --> 00:29:06,840
Speaker 2: went away, It just changed forms.

523
00:29:07,440 --> 00:29:10,200
Speaker 1: God is going to continue to provide in your life.

524
00:29:10,240 --> 00:29:12,200
Speaker 2: But He will do it in many different ways and

525
00:29:12,280 --> 00:29:16,000
Speaker 2: many different layers, at many different levels. And the key

526
00:29:16,040 --> 00:29:20,960
Speaker 2: to this is you believing God can use this too.

527
00:29:21,960 --> 00:29:23,440
Speaker 2: If he can bring me in on a boat, he

528
00:29:23,480 --> 00:29:26,960
Speaker 2: can bring me in on a board. If he can

529
00:29:26,960 --> 00:29:28,960
Speaker 2: bless me with a lot, he can keep me with

530
00:29:29,000 --> 00:29:33,320
Speaker 2: a little. Paul said in another scripture, I have learned

531
00:29:33,320 --> 00:29:36,520
Speaker 2: whatever state I'm in, to be content. I know how

532
00:29:36,560 --> 00:29:39,720
Speaker 2: to have plenty boat. I know how to have not

533
00:29:39,880 --> 00:29:45,560
Speaker 2: much boards. Whether I got a boat or a board, my.

534
00:29:46,200 --> 00:29:49,560
Speaker 1: Song is the same. God can use this too. Let's

535
00:29:49,560 --> 00:29:53,880
Speaker 1: clap our hands and praise him for the times that

536
00:29:53,960 --> 00:29:59,560
Speaker 1: he brought us to shore on a board. Now here's

537
00:29:59,560 --> 00:30:03,280
Speaker 1: where it gets interesting, church, because when.

538
00:30:03,200 --> 00:30:04,520
Speaker 2: You arrive on the shore and you got there on

539
00:30:04,560 --> 00:30:06,480
Speaker 2: a board, and you see people building you a fire,

540
00:30:06,560 --> 00:30:09,280
Speaker 2: you automatically assumed that the fire is a blessing.

541
00:30:10,520 --> 00:30:11,000
Speaker 1: And it is.

542
00:30:12,640 --> 00:30:14,400
Speaker 2: But but I don't know if I don't know if

543
00:30:14,400 --> 00:30:16,760
Speaker 2: Paul made a bad decision here or not. It's really

544
00:30:16,840 --> 00:30:18,800
Speaker 2: up for debate. I know that the storm was in

545
00:30:18,880 --> 00:30:20,720
Speaker 2: his fault. I know that the chains were in his fault.

546
00:30:21,720 --> 00:30:24,440
Speaker 1: This part is up for review. You can see what

547
00:30:24,480 --> 00:30:25,960
Speaker 1: you think about it.

548
00:30:25,960 --> 00:30:28,720
Speaker 2: It says in verse two, the islanders showed us unusual kindness,

549
00:30:28,720 --> 00:30:30,440
Speaker 2: and they built a fire and welcomed us all because

550
00:30:30,480 --> 00:30:31,400
Speaker 2: it was raining and coal.

551
00:30:31,960 --> 00:30:33,400
Speaker 1: And here's the part I want to ask you about.

552
00:30:33,520 --> 00:30:34,120
Speaker 1: See what you think.

553
00:30:34,640 --> 00:30:37,920
Speaker 2: Paul gathered a pile of brushwood, and as he put

554
00:30:37,920 --> 00:30:41,360
Speaker 2: it on the fire, a viper, driven out by the heat,

555
00:30:41,480 --> 00:30:42,920
Speaker 2: fastened itself on his hand.

556
00:30:43,760 --> 00:30:44,880
Speaker 1: So here's why I want to ask you.

557
00:30:45,000 --> 00:30:47,200
Speaker 2: Should Paul have just stuck the preaching and not mess

558
00:30:47,280 --> 00:30:51,720
Speaker 2: with fire building, because it looks like in his effort.

559
00:30:51,440 --> 00:30:54,400
Speaker 1: To help, he got hurt.

560
00:30:56,640 --> 00:30:59,800
Speaker 2: And I know Paul, like not personally, but I studied

561
00:30:59,800 --> 00:31:01,160
Speaker 2: at him a lot. I spent a lot of time

562
00:31:01,160 --> 00:31:04,719
Speaker 2: thinking about him. And I know Paul what he really

563
00:31:04,760 --> 00:31:07,560
Speaker 2: wanted to do in this situation when he meets a

564
00:31:07,560 --> 00:31:11,480
Speaker 2: group of barbarians, people that he's never seen before, what

565
00:31:11,560 --> 00:31:14,960
Speaker 2: he really wanted to do was tell them about Jesus.

566
00:31:15,920 --> 00:31:18,920
Speaker 1: That's all Paul ever wanted to do. Sounds like if

567
00:31:19,000 --> 00:31:19,360
Speaker 1: it was.

568
00:31:19,400 --> 00:31:22,239
Speaker 2: Jews who were circumcised, if it was Gentiles who had

569
00:31:22,240 --> 00:31:26,840
Speaker 2: been ostracized, Paul wanted you to know about Jesus. So

570
00:31:27,560 --> 00:31:29,520
Speaker 2: he shows up on the island, he doesn't know what

571
00:31:29,560 --> 00:31:34,640
Speaker 2: it's called. And worse of all, he doesn't speak their language. Now, remember,

572
00:31:35,240 --> 00:31:38,760
Speaker 2: Paul is good with words. If there had ever been

573
00:31:38,800 --> 00:31:41,080
Speaker 2: a you know, a Kendrick and Drake, but with like

574
00:31:41,120 --> 00:31:43,440
Speaker 2: Paul and Peter, Paul would have beat Peter senseless.

575
00:31:44,760 --> 00:31:48,600
Speaker 1: Nobody did words like Paul. All the Foundational all.

576
00:31:48,560 --> 00:31:53,360
Speaker 2: The Foundational doctrines that we quote by heart today came

577
00:31:53,400 --> 00:31:55,880
Speaker 2: either from the pen or the tongue of Paul.

578
00:31:57,280 --> 00:32:00,240
Speaker 1: Even the posters we hang in the weight room of

579
00:32:00,840 --> 00:32:02,840
Speaker 1: our high schools, public high schools.

580
00:32:03,120 --> 00:32:07,080
Speaker 2: I can do all things, That's something Paul said. He said,

581
00:32:07,080 --> 00:32:09,520
Speaker 2: through Christ's strengthens me. But we don't have to finish it.

582
00:32:09,560 --> 00:32:10,680
Speaker 2: We're just gonna take the first part.

583
00:32:10,840 --> 00:32:12,960
Speaker 1: I can do all things. No, you can't unless Christ

584
00:32:13,000 --> 00:32:13,600
Speaker 1: strengthens you.

585
00:32:13,840 --> 00:32:17,000
Speaker 2: But Paul was not only brilliant in his ability to

586
00:32:17,040 --> 00:32:19,080
Speaker 2: say pithy statements that would help motivate us.

587
00:32:19,160 --> 00:32:19,960
Speaker 1: Paul actually could.

588
00:32:20,280 --> 00:32:22,960
Speaker 2: Paul actually could make a legal defense from the Gospel.

589
00:32:22,960 --> 00:32:24,040
Speaker 1: He could show you how.

590
00:32:24,240 --> 00:32:28,680
Speaker 2: That Abraham, the progenitor of the Jewish faith, Abraham, Father Abraham,

591
00:32:29,200 --> 00:32:31,800
Speaker 2: was actually justified by faith, not works. And then he

592
00:32:31,840 --> 00:32:34,920
Speaker 2: could take you line by line by line, you do

593
00:32:35,000 --> 00:32:36,080
Speaker 2: not want to get into.

594
00:32:36,000 --> 00:32:40,040
Speaker 1: Debate with Paul. He is too good with his words.

595
00:32:40,880 --> 00:32:44,240
Speaker 1: And God used his words everywhere he went to preach.

596
00:32:44,280 --> 00:32:46,280
Speaker 2: Even if he showed up in a city like Athens,

597
00:32:46,280 --> 00:32:49,560
Speaker 2: where they worshiped all kinds of idols, he would start

598
00:32:49,600 --> 00:32:53,760
Speaker 2: with their idolatry instead of starting with his belief, and

599
00:32:53,840 --> 00:32:57,720
Speaker 2: he could quote their poets but bring them to his

600
00:32:57,800 --> 00:33:01,200
Speaker 2: point of view, so he would get them to Jesus

601
00:33:01,200 --> 00:33:04,280
Speaker 2: from whatever starting place that they had, because he was

602
00:33:04,320 --> 00:33:08,040
Speaker 2: so good with his words. Not just one language. Paul

603
00:33:08,080 --> 00:33:10,360
Speaker 2: could speak Greek. One city he got in, he wasn't

604
00:33:10,400 --> 00:33:12,720
Speaker 2: able to speak Greek coin a Greek, which was the

605
00:33:12,800 --> 00:33:14,880
Speaker 2: language of the day, because they had a different dialect.

606
00:33:15,200 --> 00:33:17,560
Speaker 2: So Paul started speaking in Arabic. And when he spoke

607
00:33:17,560 --> 00:33:19,880
Speaker 2: in Aramaic, which was a local dialect, they all shut

608
00:33:19,960 --> 00:33:22,560
Speaker 2: up and they were able to hear because Paul was

609
00:33:22,600 --> 00:33:24,920
Speaker 2: able to speak the word of God.

610
00:33:25,760 --> 00:33:27,480
Speaker 1: God really used Paul's words.

611
00:33:28,320 --> 00:33:30,680
Speaker 2: As a matter of fact, he used Paul's words to

612
00:33:30,720 --> 00:33:33,440
Speaker 2: the point that something like thirty percent of our New

613
00:33:33,480 --> 00:33:37,520
Speaker 2: Testament that we read today came from the pen of

614
00:33:37,560 --> 00:33:39,600
Speaker 2: a man who spent much of his life in a prison.

615
00:33:40,880 --> 00:33:44,120
Speaker 2: While he was in prison, some thought rotting. He was writing,

616
00:33:45,360 --> 00:33:47,680
Speaker 2: I'm trying to get you a vision today for the

617
00:33:47,760 --> 00:33:51,080
Speaker 2: seasons of your life that you think are wasted, the

618
00:33:51,160 --> 00:33:54,680
Speaker 2: seasons of your life that you think are waiting. God

619
00:33:54,760 --> 00:34:00,000
Speaker 2: can use waiting seasons, not as wasted seasons, but those

620
00:34:00,080 --> 00:34:05,840
Speaker 2: seasons can actually become if you choose. They choose, if

621
00:34:05,880 --> 00:34:08,720
Speaker 2: you choose to take the instrument that you have. Paul

622
00:34:08,760 --> 00:34:11,920
Speaker 2: proves that I can take a pin in a prison.

623
00:34:12,400 --> 00:34:14,680
Speaker 2: And what he wrote with a pin in a prison

624
00:34:15,080 --> 00:34:18,200
Speaker 2: is so powerful that we quote it from our pulpits today.

625
00:34:18,640 --> 00:34:21,120
Speaker 2: Isn't that amazing? I had looked at y'all in the

626
00:34:21,120 --> 00:34:22,240
Speaker 2: back very much, discermon.

627
00:34:22,520 --> 00:34:24,080
Speaker 1: Isn't that amazing.

628
00:34:25,040 --> 00:34:28,200
Speaker 2: That all the way from a prison cell, Paul could

629
00:34:28,200 --> 00:34:33,680
Speaker 2: write something so powerful that we would understand our faith

630
00:34:33,800 --> 00:34:38,800
Speaker 2: in Jesus through his words today his words, God used

631
00:34:39,160 --> 00:34:42,560
Speaker 2: his words. But now Paul is in a situation where

632
00:34:42,600 --> 00:34:44,000
Speaker 2: his words will not work.

633
00:34:44,760 --> 00:34:46,400
Speaker 1: But he wants to preach Jesus.

634
00:34:46,480 --> 00:34:50,760
Speaker 2: I know he does, because that's his mission, that's his purpose.

635
00:34:50,760 --> 00:34:54,439
Speaker 1: That's his calling, that's what he's good at. But how

636
00:34:54,440 --> 00:34:55,400
Speaker 1: do you preach.

637
00:34:55,200 --> 00:34:59,200
Speaker 2: Jesus to people who don't speak your same language. Nobody

638
00:34:59,239 --> 00:35:03,160
Speaker 2: on the ship's this language. That's why they called them barbarians.

639
00:35:03,640 --> 00:35:04,879
Speaker 1: So while Paul is.

640
00:35:04,840 --> 00:35:07,719
Speaker 2: Waiting to try to figure out why would God let

641
00:35:07,760 --> 00:35:10,520
Speaker 2: me crash here? Of all the islands, why would God

642
00:35:10,560 --> 00:35:12,000
Speaker 2: put me here? Now, this is where some of us

643
00:35:12,040 --> 00:35:14,080
Speaker 2: are not like Paul. We never stop and ask the

644
00:35:14,160 --> 00:35:19,000
Speaker 2: question God, why do you really have me here? We

645
00:35:19,120 --> 00:35:23,520
Speaker 2: just settled for the surface story. I'm here because I'm stupid.

646
00:35:25,800 --> 00:35:27,520
Speaker 2: But if you'd ever get past how stupid you were

647
00:35:27,520 --> 00:35:29,080
Speaker 2: to get there, maybe you could see how God wants

648
00:35:29,120 --> 00:35:31,520
Speaker 2: to use your stupid to keep somebody else from stupid

649
00:35:31,960 --> 00:35:35,920
Speaker 2: in the future. Look, you are the solution to somebody

650
00:35:35,920 --> 00:35:37,200
Speaker 2: else this future stupid.

651
00:35:40,239 --> 00:35:42,319
Speaker 1: I like my own preaching sometimes. I like what I

652
00:35:42,440 --> 00:35:46,120
Speaker 1: just said that helped me. I ran into somebody's car

653
00:35:46,200 --> 00:35:46,680
Speaker 1: last week.

654
00:35:48,520 --> 00:35:51,600
Speaker 2: Yeah, I ran right into it and they were parked

655
00:35:51,640 --> 00:35:54,880
Speaker 2: and I couldn't find them. And I don't want to

656
00:35:54,880 --> 00:35:56,960
Speaker 2: tell you this part, but I gotta be completely honest.

657
00:35:56,960 --> 00:36:01,640
Speaker 2: I looked at Holly, I was like, should we stay?

658
00:36:03,480 --> 00:36:04,600
Speaker 1: And this is what she said. Back.

659
00:36:04,640 --> 00:36:07,200
Speaker 2: Listen how sanctimonious she sounds. Listen how self right she said.

660
00:36:07,840 --> 00:36:13,960
Speaker 1: I would want a gentle review right now. Yes, you're

661
00:36:14,000 --> 00:36:14,760
Speaker 1: a man of God.

662
00:36:15,400 --> 00:36:17,120
Speaker 2: So I know what to do, so I couldn't find him.

663
00:36:17,160 --> 00:36:19,239
Speaker 2: So I put a note on the thing and some

664
00:36:19,320 --> 00:36:20,759
Speaker 2: money on the thing, and I put our number on

665
00:36:20,760 --> 00:36:21,560
Speaker 2: the thing, and we're.

666
00:36:21,400 --> 00:36:22,239
Speaker 1: Gonna have pay for it.

667
00:36:22,480 --> 00:36:24,759
Speaker 2: They A week went by and we didn't hear from him.

668
00:36:24,800 --> 00:36:28,839
Speaker 2: I'm like, prey, thank you Jesus rah.

669
00:36:29,360 --> 00:36:31,439
Speaker 1: I was singing. I was singing, the Lord would for vide.

670
00:36:32,040 --> 00:36:33,480
Speaker 1: But then they called and we got paid for it.

671
00:36:33,840 --> 00:36:38,040
Speaker 2: But but listen to this in this funny, I was

672
00:36:38,040 --> 00:36:40,319
Speaker 2: telling my brother in law we had dinner that night.

673
00:36:40,360 --> 00:36:43,440
Speaker 2: I said, I ran into a car today, and you

674
00:36:43,480 --> 00:36:45,839
Speaker 2: know he said, he said, huh, He said, how long

675
00:36:45,880 --> 00:36:47,040
Speaker 2: before you put it in a sermon?

676
00:36:49,760 --> 00:36:51,719
Speaker 1: I said, I hadn't even thought of that yet.

677
00:36:53,480 --> 00:36:56,680
Speaker 2: If I gotta pay for it, I might as well

678
00:36:56,719 --> 00:37:02,439
Speaker 2: preach it, because I know God can use when I.

679
00:37:02,360 --> 00:37:02,919
Speaker 1: Do it right.

680
00:37:04,160 --> 00:37:09,200
Speaker 2: But here I am looking at a stupid thing I did, realizing, huh.

681
00:37:09,280 --> 00:37:11,080
Speaker 2: I can use an example of a time that I

682
00:37:11,160 --> 00:37:13,560
Speaker 2: prayed for my kids. I can use an example of

683
00:37:13,560 --> 00:37:16,000
Speaker 2: a time that I drove safely but I just hit

684
00:37:16,040 --> 00:37:22,400
Speaker 2: somebody's fender. God can use this too. And I'm trying

685
00:37:22,440 --> 00:37:26,279
Speaker 2: to get you to see about that thing in your

686
00:37:26,320 --> 00:37:28,720
Speaker 2: life today bigger than a fender.

687
00:37:28,760 --> 00:37:32,120
Speaker 1: I get it. Some failures are bigger than fenders. I

688
00:37:32,160 --> 00:37:32,520
Speaker 1: get it.

689
00:37:33,000 --> 00:37:35,480
Speaker 2: But it is just an illustration to let you know

690
00:37:36,360 --> 00:37:39,120
Speaker 2: that the God that can make something out of nothing

691
00:37:39,280 --> 00:37:43,600
Speaker 2: ex Nilo, the God who can Barrah can also asah.

692
00:37:44,040 --> 00:37:47,160
Speaker 1: A sah is the Hebrew word in Genesis one sixteen.

693
00:37:48,239 --> 00:37:51,480
Speaker 2: And when it says that God created in Genesis one sixteen,

694
00:37:51,480 --> 00:37:54,480
Speaker 2: it doesn't mean to create something out of nothing.

695
00:37:55,080 --> 00:37:56,040
Speaker 1: It means to take.

696
00:37:56,040 --> 00:38:00,520
Speaker 2: Already existing things and make something that has ever been

697
00:38:00,640 --> 00:38:05,759
Speaker 2: seen out of something that already exists. So it's when

698
00:38:05,800 --> 00:38:09,160
Speaker 2: somebody says, don't think I don't and you say, think

699
00:38:09,200 --> 00:38:12,120
Speaker 2: about it, and you put their words with your melody,

700
00:38:12,120 --> 00:38:15,600
Speaker 2: with your chords and make a hit song. It's when

701
00:38:15,640 --> 00:38:19,239
Speaker 2: somebody walks in the studio that you don't even want

702
00:38:19,280 --> 00:38:23,279
Speaker 2: to see, and you say ever ever ever, and eventually

703
00:38:23,560 --> 00:38:28,560
Speaker 2: you have a stadium of people saying ever ever ever See.

704
00:38:28,640 --> 00:38:30,080
Speaker 1: Sometimes you don't get to.

705
00:38:30,080 --> 00:38:33,680
Speaker 2: The thing that God wants to do because you do

706
00:38:33,760 --> 00:38:38,120
Speaker 2: not recognize what has been brought into your life.

707
00:38:39,880 --> 00:38:43,520
Speaker 1: As a gift. Yeah, gifts.

708
00:38:45,160 --> 00:38:51,200
Speaker 2: Wait a minute, Paul got warmed by the fire and

709
00:38:51,239 --> 00:38:56,920
Speaker 2: then check this out, Hally, the same thing that.

710
00:38:56,880 --> 00:39:01,680
Speaker 1: Warmed him wounded him.

711
00:39:01,920 --> 00:39:04,920
Speaker 2: You have been warmed by a thing one minute and

712
00:39:04,960 --> 00:39:10,200
Speaker 2: wounded by it the next. The more warmth the relationship

713
00:39:10,200 --> 00:39:12,239
Speaker 2: gives you, the greater the potential it can wound you.

714
00:39:15,480 --> 00:39:19,239
Speaker 2: The more passion you have, the more susceptible to certain

715
00:39:19,280 --> 00:39:24,640
Speaker 2: temptations you will be, The more creative you are, the

716
00:39:24,680 --> 00:39:29,080
Speaker 2: more constrictions will try to keep you from creating. Because

717
00:39:29,080 --> 00:39:31,840
Speaker 2: that was a powerful thought for me, Chris. He's standing

718
00:39:31,920 --> 00:39:35,000
Speaker 2: by the fire and it's warming him. And then the

719
00:39:35,040 --> 00:39:38,640
Speaker 2: same fire that one moment was bringing him warmth brought

720
00:39:38,680 --> 00:39:41,200
Speaker 2: him a wound. Now let's read about the wound for

721
00:39:41,200 --> 00:39:43,120
Speaker 2: a moment, because we may never know. We may never

722
00:39:43,200 --> 00:39:48,120
Speaker 2: know if Paul was like doing too much by putting

723
00:39:48,120 --> 00:39:50,600
Speaker 2: wood on the fire. It sounds like the islanders had

724
00:39:50,600 --> 00:39:53,279
Speaker 2: it pretty well taken care of. And Paul's like, I'm

725
00:39:53,280 --> 00:39:54,200
Speaker 2: not just standing around.

726
00:39:54,200 --> 00:39:56,520
Speaker 1: This is ridiculous. I make this fire higher.

727
00:39:56,560 --> 00:39:58,799
Speaker 2: And see he's not native to the island, so he's

728
00:39:58,800 --> 00:40:00,560
Speaker 2: doing something that he doesn't naturally do.

729
00:40:00,680 --> 00:40:02,760
Speaker 1: Remember, he's good with words, not wood.

730
00:40:05,200 --> 00:40:07,120
Speaker 2: And sometimes when you step out of your comfort zone

731
00:40:07,120 --> 00:40:08,920
Speaker 2: and try to do something that you're not naturally good

732
00:40:08,960 --> 00:40:09,319
Speaker 2: at doing.

733
00:40:09,520 --> 00:40:12,160
Speaker 1: Look what happens in verse four, out.

734
00:40:11,840 --> 00:40:15,040
Speaker 2: Of the heat came a viper a snake, And the

735
00:40:15,080 --> 00:40:18,360
Speaker 2: Bible says that I fastened itself on his hand. And

736
00:40:18,480 --> 00:40:20,560
Speaker 2: verse four is the one that I really want you

737
00:40:20,600 --> 00:40:23,320
Speaker 2: to look at. When the islanders saw the snake hanging

738
00:40:23,360 --> 00:40:27,080
Speaker 2: from his hand, they said to each other, who said

739
00:40:28,120 --> 00:40:30,520
Speaker 2: They said to each other, this.

740
00:40:30,480 --> 00:40:32,880
Speaker 1: Man must be a murderer.

741
00:40:33,560 --> 00:40:37,080
Speaker 2: Now what we know, because we've already read to the

742
00:40:37,239 --> 00:40:40,600
Speaker 2: end of this story, is that the one they're calling

743
00:40:40,640 --> 00:40:44,400
Speaker 2: a murderer is actually going to heal all of their sicknesses.

744
00:40:45,920 --> 00:40:49,320
Speaker 2: So the man they're calling a murderer is actually carrying

745
00:40:49,360 --> 00:40:54,759
Speaker 2: their medicine. Did my mic cut out? I thought, you

746
00:40:54,800 --> 00:40:58,680
Speaker 2: say amen to that. The one that they were calling

747
00:40:58,719 --> 00:41:02,000
Speaker 2: a murderer, the one that they were saying this is

748
00:41:02,640 --> 00:41:06,399
Speaker 2: a proof of divine dissavor, the one that they saw

749
00:41:06,480 --> 00:41:09,319
Speaker 2: the snake. Because track with me. He crashes on an

750
00:41:09,360 --> 00:41:11,399
Speaker 2: island that God has called him to, but nobody knows

751
00:41:11,440 --> 00:41:14,719
Speaker 2: that yet. He's building a fire, and out of the

752
00:41:14,760 --> 00:41:17,080
Speaker 2: fire as he's building it, he gets bit. By the

753
00:41:17,120 --> 00:41:21,600
Speaker 2: way bonus point, you can't build anything without getting bit.

754
00:41:23,560 --> 00:41:24,000
Speaker 1: Anything.

755
00:41:25,520 --> 00:41:27,680
Speaker 2: So if you ever want to start a church and

756
00:41:27,719 --> 00:41:29,440
Speaker 2: you want to build a church, you're gonna get bit.

757
00:41:30,560 --> 00:41:34,800
Speaker 1: Sheep bite, not y'all.

758
00:41:36,719 --> 00:41:39,200
Speaker 2: You want to build a business, you're gonna get bit.

759
00:41:40,320 --> 00:41:43,640
Speaker 2: You wanna build a family, you're gonna get bit. You

760
00:41:43,680 --> 00:41:45,480
Speaker 2: ever heard the phrase bite the hand.

761
00:41:45,239 --> 00:41:45,799
Speaker 1: That feeds you.

762
00:41:46,840 --> 00:41:50,239
Speaker 2: That's what it means that whatever you try to build, Now,

763
00:41:50,440 --> 00:41:53,239
Speaker 2: if you sit back and don't do anything for God,

764
00:41:53,480 --> 00:41:55,759
Speaker 2: if Paul doesn't build a fire, he doesn't get bit.

765
00:41:57,360 --> 00:41:59,640
Speaker 2: But if he doesn't get wounded, he doesn't get warmed.

766
00:42:00,400 --> 00:42:02,279
Speaker 2: So what are you gonna do. Spend the rest of

767
00:42:02,320 --> 00:42:05,440
Speaker 2: your life just trying to avoid being injured, trying to

768
00:42:05,520 --> 00:42:09,200
Speaker 2: avoid being disappointed, try to avoid getting your heart broken.

769
00:42:12,719 --> 00:42:14,480
Speaker 2: He's like, man, I wish I could preach to these people,

770
00:42:14,480 --> 00:42:17,240
Speaker 2: I could lead them all to Jesus. I can't preach,

771
00:42:17,280 --> 00:42:19,600
Speaker 2: So let me throw some fire on here. And then

772
00:42:19,680 --> 00:42:22,080
Speaker 2: all of a sudden, because he is not native to

773
00:42:22,160 --> 00:42:23,840
Speaker 2: this land, here comes a snake.

774
00:42:23,880 --> 00:42:25,400
Speaker 1: He doesn't really know to look out for snakes.

775
00:42:25,400 --> 00:42:27,640
Speaker 2: He's not from around these parts, and snake jumps up

776
00:42:27,800 --> 00:42:30,439
Speaker 2: bites him on his hand. And now the Bible says

777
00:42:30,480 --> 00:42:32,400
Speaker 2: they all started calling him a murderer for though he

778
00:42:32,560 --> 00:42:33,839
Speaker 2: escaped from the sea, the.

779
00:42:33,800 --> 00:42:36,319
Speaker 1: Godess Justice has not allowed him to live.

780
00:42:36,719 --> 00:42:38,560
Speaker 2: Y'all, I need to slow down and tell you that

781
00:42:38,680 --> 00:42:42,600
Speaker 2: anytime you try to interpret your identity through an event.

782
00:42:42,600 --> 00:42:51,160
Speaker 1: You miss see it. The snake bit he must be

783
00:42:51,200 --> 00:42:51,800
Speaker 1: a murderer.

784
00:42:52,520 --> 00:42:56,320
Speaker 2: A bad thing happened. I must be a bad person. No,

785
00:42:56,840 --> 00:43:00,400
Speaker 2: you made a stupid decision. God, can you stupid? And

786
00:43:00,440 --> 00:43:02,560
Speaker 2: there is still time for you to take what you

787
00:43:02,719 --> 00:43:05,960
Speaker 2: learned and throw another log on the fire and see

788
00:43:06,000 --> 00:43:12,319
Speaker 2: God use your life. And in verse five, I think

789
00:43:12,360 --> 00:43:14,799
Speaker 2: Paul preaches one of the most powerful sermons that he

790
00:43:14,840 --> 00:43:19,399
Speaker 2: ever preached, and he didn't say a word.

791
00:43:21,320 --> 00:43:23,359
Speaker 1: The one who changed the world.

792
00:43:23,040 --> 00:43:28,040
Speaker 2: With his words preached a powerful sermon because see when

793
00:43:28,040 --> 00:43:29,960
Speaker 2: they saw the snake on his hand, they saw it

794
00:43:30,000 --> 00:43:30,840
Speaker 2: as a sign.

795
00:43:30,600 --> 00:43:32,200
Speaker 1: Ooh, this is a bad guy.

796
00:43:32,320 --> 00:43:35,919
Speaker 2: God lets bad things happen to bad people. When Paul

797
00:43:35,960 --> 00:43:37,879
Speaker 2: saw the snake on his hand, he could have thought this,

798
00:43:38,920 --> 00:43:41,880
Speaker 2: of all of the two hundred and seventy five prisoners

799
00:43:41,880 --> 00:43:47,640
Speaker 2: on this ship who actually did something bad, You're gonna

800
00:43:47,719 --> 00:43:50,520
Speaker 2: let all these bumps that aren't even help him build

801
00:43:50,560 --> 00:43:54,400
Speaker 2: the fire, and you're gonna let the snake. Have you

802
00:43:54,400 --> 00:44:01,680
Speaker 2: ever had a moment like really, God, really, they get

803
00:44:01,760 --> 00:44:10,160
Speaker 2: to get married before I do them, I can understand them.

804
00:44:10,200 --> 00:44:12,759
Speaker 2: But then the snake bites and Paul could go this,

805
00:44:14,680 --> 00:44:17,640
Speaker 2: this is how you reward me for surviving the shipwreck.

806
00:44:18,960 --> 00:44:21,520
Speaker 2: This is how you affirmed me for preaching the gospel.

807
00:44:21,840 --> 00:44:25,160
Speaker 2: This is how you want to use me. See, I

808
00:44:25,200 --> 00:44:27,799
Speaker 2: think the reason Paul got bit by a snake. I'm

809
00:44:27,840 --> 00:44:32,439
Speaker 2: a little controversial on this. I don't think God made

810
00:44:32,520 --> 00:44:33,479
Speaker 2: the snake bite Paul.

811
00:44:34,840 --> 00:44:36,160
Speaker 1: I don't think the devil did either.

812
00:44:37,360 --> 00:44:43,720
Speaker 2: I think the snake bit Paul because snakes bite.

813
00:44:44,520 --> 00:44:46,279
Speaker 1: Okay, I know that's real deep.

814
00:44:49,960 --> 00:44:52,240
Speaker 2: But what you got to remember while we're so busy

815
00:44:52,280 --> 00:44:56,400
Speaker 2: trying to figure out why me? And why this? And

816
00:44:56,440 --> 00:44:58,319
Speaker 2: when are you gonna get me off this island? God,

817
00:44:58,600 --> 00:45:01,160
Speaker 2: I don't believe, and I think you could substantiate it

818
00:45:01,239 --> 00:45:03,960
Speaker 2: from the New Testament. I don't believe that Paul was

819
00:45:04,040 --> 00:45:07,320
Speaker 2: just waiting to get off the island. I believe he

820
00:45:07,400 --> 00:45:09,799
Speaker 2: showed up with the question, why am I really here?

821
00:45:10,960 --> 00:45:13,759
Speaker 2: Why am I really on this job? Why am I

822
00:45:13,840 --> 00:45:17,480
Speaker 2: really in this season? Why am I really having this conflict?

823
00:45:18,280 --> 00:45:20,640
Speaker 2: And not only why, but God, how do you want

824
00:45:20,680 --> 00:45:21,920
Speaker 2: to use this?

825
00:45:22,520 --> 00:45:24,520
Speaker 1: Say this? Now?

826
00:45:24,640 --> 00:45:27,640
Speaker 2: It's one thing to want God to use your words

827
00:45:28,680 --> 00:45:33,080
Speaker 2: Paul was used to that. This was different because when

828
00:45:33,080 --> 00:45:36,640
Speaker 2: the snake bit him, he shook it off into the

829
00:45:36,640 --> 00:45:42,200
Speaker 2: fire and suffered no ill effects. Isn't that amazing that

830
00:45:42,280 --> 00:45:44,960
Speaker 2: Paul wanted a way to show them how great God was.

831
00:45:46,680 --> 00:45:47,240
Speaker 1: And he knew.

832
00:45:47,280 --> 00:45:52,040
Speaker 2: God knew that Paul couldn't speak their language, but he

833
00:45:52,120 --> 00:45:57,480
Speaker 2: knew that everybody on that island could speak snake, because

834
00:45:57,560 --> 00:46:01,400
Speaker 2: everybody on the island. I'm about to help you understand

835
00:46:01,440 --> 00:46:04,080
Speaker 2: how some of the stuff you're going through it's not

836
00:46:04,239 --> 00:46:07,440
Speaker 2: something that God did, but is something that He wants

837
00:46:07,480 --> 00:46:12,480
Speaker 2: to use. And the sooner you decide God can use

838
00:46:13,040 --> 00:46:18,280
Speaker 2: this too, say it. God can use this too. That's

839
00:46:18,320 --> 00:46:21,640
Speaker 2: the whole lesson today. If I've confused you talking about

840
00:46:21,719 --> 00:46:25,759
Speaker 2: barbarians and boards and winds, and if I've confused you

841
00:46:25,880 --> 00:46:29,960
Speaker 2: talking about snakes and prison cells and pins and pulpits,

842
00:46:30,160 --> 00:46:32,759
Speaker 2: if all of this rhetoric has done nothing but to

843
00:46:32,840 --> 00:46:35,640
Speaker 2: confuse you, I want you to realize at the time

844
00:46:35,719 --> 00:46:39,279
Speaker 2: when Paul could not use words to preach, God gave

845
00:46:39,360 --> 00:46:44,120
Speaker 2: him something that speaks louder than words, and his wounds

846
00:46:44,640 --> 00:46:47,040
Speaker 2: spoke louder than his words.

847
00:46:48,719 --> 00:46:50,840
Speaker 1: Because when they saw him get bit.

848
00:46:52,320 --> 00:46:56,680
Speaker 2: And he shook the snake off, and something bad happened.

849
00:46:57,120 --> 00:47:00,640
Speaker 2: But after something bad happened, Paul did not debate with

850
00:47:00,719 --> 00:47:04,120
Speaker 2: the snake. He learned that from Genesis chapter three, you

851
00:47:04,120 --> 00:47:05,160
Speaker 2: don't talk to snakes.

852
00:47:06,160 --> 00:47:07,720
Speaker 1: I said, you don't talk to snakes.

853
00:47:08,600 --> 00:47:11,280
Speaker 2: You don't speak the stuff that's beneath you.

854
00:47:11,280 --> 00:47:12,160
Speaker 3: You don't argue with.

855
00:47:12,200 --> 00:47:15,239
Speaker 1: Stuff that's trying to kill you. You don't reason your.

856
00:47:15,120 --> 00:47:18,840
Speaker 2: Way out of shame and condemnation. You shake that stuff off.

857
00:47:19,640 --> 00:47:22,720
Speaker 2: So sometimes Paul would use his words and he would speak,

858
00:47:22,920 --> 00:47:25,400
Speaker 2: and people would be saved, and he would speak and

859
00:47:25,440 --> 00:47:27,919
Speaker 2: people would be healed, and he would speak and people

860
00:47:27,960 --> 00:47:32,080
Speaker 2: would understand. And it's wonderful that God used Paul's words

861
00:47:32,080 --> 00:47:35,640
Speaker 2: in such an unusual way, with such an unusual gift.

862
00:47:35,680 --> 00:47:38,720
Speaker 2: But now he is in a situation where his words

863
00:47:38,760 --> 00:47:39,640
Speaker 2: will not work.

864
00:47:40,360 --> 00:47:42,560
Speaker 1: So if you have faith to believe it, here's what

865
00:47:42,760 --> 00:47:46,760
Speaker 1: I think. The text proves that God knew that of all.

866
00:47:46,560 --> 00:47:50,479
Speaker 2: The other prisoners on that island, there was only one

867
00:47:50,640 --> 00:47:54,239
Speaker 2: out of two hundred and seventy six who still had

868
00:47:54,320 --> 00:47:57,799
Speaker 2: enough faith after the shipwreck that if I let this.

869
00:47:57,840 --> 00:48:00,560
Speaker 1: Snake bite him, I'm not going to send a snake him.

870
00:48:00,760 --> 00:48:04,160
Speaker 2: Life just happens I'm not saying God is punishing you

871
00:48:04,320 --> 00:48:07,960
Speaker 2: or God caused it. It doesn't matter, because even if

872
00:48:08,000 --> 00:48:08,960
Speaker 2: God didn't do.

873
00:48:09,080 --> 00:48:13,840
Speaker 1: It, he can use it. He can use it. He

874
00:48:13,880 --> 00:48:17,120
Speaker 1: can use this too. High five three people say he

875
00:48:17,200 --> 00:48:18,120
Speaker 1: can use this too.

876
00:48:19,719 --> 00:48:21,560
Speaker 2: Come on, take your left hand in high five of

877
00:48:21,600 --> 00:48:22,879
Speaker 2: them say he can use this too.

878
00:48:24,560 --> 00:48:27,160
Speaker 1: I read so many of Paul's words. Oh, I'm sorry,

879
00:48:27,160 --> 00:48:30,360
Speaker 1: that was sloppy. I can't go out like that. I

880
00:48:30,480 --> 00:48:31,640
Speaker 1: have a nightmare about that.

881
00:48:31,719 --> 00:48:33,880
Speaker 3: We gotta get at least three more to make up

882
00:48:33,920 --> 00:48:37,200
Speaker 3: for that bad one. You ever have a bad DAP

883
00:48:37,200 --> 00:48:40,120
Speaker 3: and it just haunts the rest of your life three

884
00:48:40,200 --> 00:48:42,560
Speaker 3: years later, having flashbacks thinking about it.

885
00:48:42,600 --> 00:48:43,920
Speaker 1: Don't think I don't think about it.

886
00:48:44,400 --> 00:48:50,640
Speaker 2: And Paul took that snake and he said, Oh, this, this, this, this.

887
00:48:51,360 --> 00:48:54,120
Speaker 2: I've been asking God for a way to reach these

888
00:48:54,160 --> 00:48:57,280
Speaker 2: people since we got on this island. I've been asking

889
00:48:57,320 --> 00:48:59,839
Speaker 2: God why he put me here. I've been asking God

890
00:49:00,000 --> 00:49:02,480
Speaker 2: to use me in this season of my life. I've

891
00:49:02,480 --> 00:49:05,239
Speaker 2: been asking God to show me a purpose. I've been

892
00:49:05,280 --> 00:49:08,239
Speaker 2: asking God to turn it around. I've been asking God

893
00:49:08,280 --> 00:49:11,440
Speaker 2: to make this situation new. I've been asking God to

894
00:49:11,520 --> 00:49:13,520
Speaker 2: reveal to me why it's been so hard.

895
00:49:16,360 --> 00:49:18,120
Speaker 1: So this must not be a snake.

896
00:49:19,080 --> 00:49:23,000
Speaker 2: This must be a microphone, because I'm about to preach

897
00:49:23,120 --> 00:49:29,239
Speaker 2: this gospel of the power of God. Oh yeah, I'm happy. Now,

898
00:49:30,360 --> 00:49:34,440
Speaker 2: high five your neighbors say this too. I know you

899
00:49:34,520 --> 00:49:37,319
Speaker 2: want God to use you in a certain way. I

900
00:49:37,400 --> 00:49:39,400
Speaker 2: know you want him to get you there on the ship.

901
00:49:39,800 --> 00:49:42,200
Speaker 2: I know you don't want the business to fail. I

902
00:49:42,239 --> 00:49:44,320
Speaker 2: know you don't want your kid to flunk the class.

903
00:49:44,680 --> 00:49:46,640
Speaker 2: I know you don't want to carry the illness in

904
00:49:46,680 --> 00:49:50,560
Speaker 2: your body. I'm just saying that snakes bite because snake's bike.

905
00:49:52,800 --> 00:49:58,680
Speaker 1: But God knows how to turn a snake into a sign.

906
00:50:01,320 --> 00:50:08,600
Speaker 2: Oh God, blah blah blah. Now a few days later,

907
00:50:08,600 --> 00:50:11,880
Speaker 2: Paul gets a dinner invitation after he shook that snake

908
00:50:11,920 --> 00:50:15,319
Speaker 2: into the fire. Everybody you walk past, it's coming in

909
00:50:15,320 --> 00:50:16,480
Speaker 2: for the eleven thirty today.

910
00:50:16,600 --> 00:50:19,440
Speaker 1: When they walk past you, just do that, give him

911
00:50:19,480 --> 00:50:22,600
Speaker 1: a little preview. And when they look at you kind

912
00:50:22,600 --> 00:50:25,279
Speaker 1: of funny or they want to fight you, just look

913
00:50:25,320 --> 00:50:29,040
Speaker 1: at him. Keep walking. Come on, you got some stuff

914
00:50:29,080 --> 00:50:31,880
Speaker 1: you need to shake today. You got some stuff you

915
00:50:31,880 --> 00:50:34,400
Speaker 1: need to shake today, and when you do, it's going

916
00:50:34,480 --> 00:50:34,719
Speaker 1: to be.

917
00:50:34,680 --> 00:50:37,840
Speaker 2: The loudest sermon that your life ever preached, and you

918
00:50:37,880 --> 00:50:38,800
Speaker 2: will begin to discover.

919
00:50:39,160 --> 00:50:40,160
Speaker 1: I'm telling you right now.

920
00:50:40,360 --> 00:50:42,880
Speaker 2: If Paul would have started using his speaking gift in

921
00:50:42,920 --> 00:50:44,879
Speaker 2: this moment to argue with the people who were saying

922
00:50:44,920 --> 00:50:47,800
Speaker 2: he was a murderer, he would have died in that

923
00:50:47,840 --> 00:50:49,880
Speaker 2: crazy off. He would have used his primary gift, it

924
00:50:49,920 --> 00:50:54,000
Speaker 2: would have gotten him killed. His primary gift was words.

925
00:50:54,000 --> 00:50:57,040
Speaker 2: But God said, your words won't work in this situation.

926
00:51:00,080 --> 00:51:01,759
Speaker 2: So I need to trust you enough to give you

927
00:51:01,800 --> 00:51:06,600
Speaker 2: a wound. Because when God really wants to reveal who

928
00:51:06,600 --> 00:51:11,320
Speaker 2: he is, he gives a wound, and then the decision comes,

929
00:51:11,960 --> 00:51:17,520
Speaker 2: will you use the wound. The snake didn't shake Paul's faith.

930
00:51:18,680 --> 00:51:24,440
Speaker 2: Paul's faith shook that snake. He knew which.

931
00:51:24,200 --> 00:51:28,600
Speaker 1: One could be bit and not be bitter. And I

932
00:51:28,680 --> 00:51:31,000
Speaker 1: believe that for some of the.

933
00:51:30,920 --> 00:51:33,040
Speaker 2: Precious people that God has given me to preach to,

934
00:51:34,520 --> 00:51:37,719
Speaker 2: the miracle isn't that you didn't get bit, It's that

935
00:51:37,760 --> 00:51:38,600
Speaker 2: you didn't get bitter.

936
00:51:45,320 --> 00:51:46,120
Speaker 1: Oh you've been bit.

937
00:51:48,200 --> 00:51:50,280
Speaker 2: Oh so when you were worshiping today you were lifting

938
00:51:50,280 --> 00:51:55,919
Speaker 2: bit hands. I almost didn't notice. I almost didn't see

939
00:51:55,920 --> 00:51:56,680
Speaker 2: your bite.

940
00:51:56,680 --> 00:51:56,919
Speaker 1: Mark.

941
00:52:01,440 --> 00:52:10,520
Speaker 2: This dude named Publius almost named you that son. This

942
00:52:10,600 --> 00:52:16,520
Speaker 2: dude Publius, the Headman on the island. The Headman on

943
00:52:16,560 --> 00:52:21,560
Speaker 2: the Island a few days later says, bring me a

944
00:52:21,560 --> 00:52:25,160
Speaker 2: prisoner to have dinner with me. No, no, no, no,

945
00:52:25,920 --> 00:52:28,719
Speaker 2: that's not what important people you think. Publius said, bring

946
00:52:29,080 --> 00:52:32,120
Speaker 2: me a bring me a killer, bring me a prisoner.

947
00:52:32,120 --> 00:52:34,399
Speaker 2: No no, no, don't worry about following me the light guys,

948
00:52:34,400 --> 00:52:35,040
Speaker 2: that'll be distracted.

949
00:52:35,120 --> 00:52:39,520
Speaker 1: Just let me walk, he said, bring me bring me

950
00:52:39,560 --> 00:52:40,040
Speaker 1: a preacher.

951
00:52:40,120 --> 00:52:42,760
Speaker 2: No, no, no, he didn't know Paul was a preacher

952
00:52:43,080 --> 00:52:44,760
Speaker 2: because they couldn't understand his language.

953
00:52:45,960 --> 00:52:50,640
Speaker 1: But he spoke snake. He said, there was a guy

954
00:52:50,680 --> 00:52:55,239
Speaker 1: who got bid and didn't die. No, it was crazy,

955
00:52:55,360 --> 00:52:56,040
Speaker 1: it was be a.

956
00:52:56,160 --> 00:53:03,120
Speaker 2: He just just shut be a bold and assertive. He

957
00:53:03,320 --> 00:53:07,120
Speaker 2: just shook that thing right off, and he just kept

958
00:53:07,160 --> 00:53:09,799
Speaker 2: right on standing there. And pooblic said, I want to

959
00:53:09,800 --> 00:53:11,959
Speaker 2: have dinner with him. Now, let me ask a question.

960
00:53:12,920 --> 00:53:15,160
Speaker 2: If Paul didn't survive that snake, you think he would

961
00:53:15,200 --> 00:53:16,040
Speaker 2: have gotten that invitation.

962
00:53:18,920 --> 00:53:20,240
Speaker 1: So what is it that you've been.

963
00:53:20,120 --> 00:53:26,080
Speaker 2: Through that God gave you that your bike marks become

964
00:53:26,080 --> 00:53:27,720
Speaker 2: a passport to your purpose?

965
00:53:30,160 --> 00:53:35,560
Speaker 1: Because look, I got to stop in a minute.

966
00:53:35,560 --> 00:53:38,440
Speaker 2: Can I give you a little more, just a little

967
00:53:38,440 --> 00:53:40,480
Speaker 2: more if you've got to leave, I understand, But this

968
00:53:40,600 --> 00:53:43,279
Speaker 2: is for the ones who have been bit. And you're

969
00:53:43,320 --> 00:53:45,120
Speaker 2: not just in a hurry to get off the island,

970
00:53:45,160 --> 00:53:46,719
Speaker 2: and you're not just in a hurry to get out

971
00:53:46,719 --> 00:53:48,480
Speaker 2: of church, and you're not just in a hurry to

972
00:53:48,520 --> 00:53:50,360
Speaker 2: get back to Hell, and you're not just in a

973
00:53:50,520 --> 00:53:52,920
Speaker 2: hurry to get back to fighting around your house about

974
00:53:52,920 --> 00:53:53,640
Speaker 2: every little thing.

975
00:53:53,960 --> 00:53:56,080
Speaker 1: Don't you want to know why you're fighting at the house.

976
00:53:58,880 --> 00:54:02,600
Speaker 2: Paul who was a great order, Paul who was an expositor,

977
00:54:02,640 --> 00:54:06,279
Speaker 2: Paul who was a prolific author, Paul who was a philosopher.

978
00:54:06,360 --> 00:54:09,200
Speaker 1: All these things happened through his words. But you know

979
00:54:09,239 --> 00:54:10,000
Speaker 1: what Luke.

980
00:54:09,800 --> 00:54:13,320
Speaker 2: The medical doctor said about Paul in Acts, chapter nineteen,

981
00:54:13,400 --> 00:54:13,960
Speaker 2: verse eleven.

982
00:54:14,160 --> 00:54:16,200
Speaker 1: I just remembered this scripture.

983
00:54:15,760 --> 00:54:18,000
Speaker 2: This week when I was studying, because I thought about

984
00:54:18,000 --> 00:54:21,600
Speaker 2: how the snake bit Paul in his hand, and then

985
00:54:21,600 --> 00:54:24,480
Speaker 2: he healed a man in a house with his hand

986
00:54:24,520 --> 00:54:27,800
Speaker 2: that had been bit, and I thought that was so amazing,

987
00:54:27,840 --> 00:54:30,319
Speaker 2: and I reflected on it, and I meditated on it,

988
00:54:30,360 --> 00:54:32,040
Speaker 2: and I said, well, what do I tell them about that?

989
00:54:32,680 --> 00:54:34,879
Speaker 2: And he took me to Acts nineteen, verse eleven. Look

990
00:54:34,880 --> 00:54:39,480
Speaker 2: at this verse, Luke says, now, God worked unusual miracles

991
00:54:39,520 --> 00:54:44,680
Speaker 2: by the hands of Paul. By the what what did

992
00:54:44,680 --> 00:54:46,560
Speaker 2: the snake bite?

993
00:54:48,280 --> 00:54:50,960
Speaker 1: The enemy always bites you where God has blessed you.

994
00:54:55,239 --> 00:54:55,399
Speaker 2: Too?

995
00:54:56,200 --> 00:54:58,000
Speaker 1: You too, you too.

996
00:55:00,239 --> 00:55:04,560
Speaker 2: The fire and the fangs came from the same place.

997
00:55:05,680 --> 00:55:09,560
Speaker 2: The pain and the purpose came from the same place.

998
00:55:10,440 --> 00:55:13,800
Speaker 2: The hand that God used this is a healing hand.

999
00:55:14,200 --> 00:55:16,480
Speaker 2: This is a hand that when Paul laid his hands

1000
00:55:16,480 --> 00:55:18,239
Speaker 2: on the believers.

1001
00:55:17,760 --> 00:55:19,480
Speaker 1: They received the Holy Spirit.

1002
00:55:19,880 --> 00:55:24,319
Speaker 2: God worked unusual miracles through the hands of Paul. And

1003
00:55:24,440 --> 00:55:27,160
Speaker 2: what I am learning the longer that I spend time

1004
00:55:27,360 --> 00:55:33,279
Speaker 2: in this human body is that wherever God has blessed you,

1005
00:55:33,280 --> 00:55:34,160
Speaker 2: you will be bitten.

1006
00:55:35,880 --> 00:55:36,919
Speaker 1: But listen to me good.

1007
00:55:38,600 --> 00:55:43,920
Speaker 3: The biggest breakthroughs happen after the biggest bites.

1008
00:55:45,920 --> 00:55:46,560
Speaker 1: I've learned that.

1009
00:55:47,680 --> 00:55:50,640
Speaker 2: It took me a while to learn that because I

1010
00:55:50,719 --> 00:55:52,480
Speaker 2: used to think this isn't fair. I used to think

1011
00:55:52,520 --> 00:55:54,040
Speaker 2: I want this to go away. I used to think

1012
00:55:54,040 --> 00:55:56,280
Speaker 2: this shouldn't have happened to me. I used to stand

1013
00:55:56,280 --> 00:55:59,360
Speaker 2: there and argue with snakes. I used to try to

1014
00:55:59,400 --> 00:56:01,480
Speaker 2: prove stuff people. I used to try to think that

1015
00:56:01,520 --> 00:56:03,640
Speaker 2: I needed to get to another place. I used to

1016
00:56:03,680 --> 00:56:05,400
Speaker 2: think I don't want to be on Malta. I'm supposed

1017
00:56:05,440 --> 00:56:07,760
Speaker 2: to be in Rome. I used to curse the boards

1018
00:56:07,800 --> 00:56:09,920
Speaker 2: because I missed the boat. I used to live in

1019
00:56:09,960 --> 00:56:12,560
Speaker 2: the nostalgia of the past because I couldn't embrace the

1020
00:56:12,640 --> 00:56:13,880
Speaker 2: uncertainty of the now.

1021
00:56:14,840 --> 00:56:16,040
Speaker 1: But then I learned.

1022
00:56:15,719 --> 00:56:20,320
Speaker 2: That that when I get bit, it is God marking

1023
00:56:20,719 --> 00:56:25,439
Speaker 2: that hand that he wants to use. So if your

1024
00:56:25,880 --> 00:56:30,440
Speaker 2: hand is going to be extraordinarily used by God.

1025
00:56:30,480 --> 00:56:33,560
Speaker 1: If it's going to be unusually.

1026
00:56:32,760 --> 00:56:37,560
Speaker 2: Used by God, the hand that has been unusually blessed

1027
00:56:37,960 --> 00:56:43,040
Speaker 2: will be unusually bitten. And Paul shows us and serves

1028
00:56:43,160 --> 00:56:46,520
Speaker 2: us in this moment to help us understand what to

1029
00:56:46,600 --> 00:56:50,120
Speaker 2: do in those moments where it's not where you planned

1030
00:56:50,200 --> 00:56:53,120
Speaker 2: or what you prayed for. To look at the thing

1031
00:56:53,160 --> 00:56:56,640
Speaker 2: that is hanging on your hand and confessed by faith

1032
00:56:56,840 --> 00:56:57,760
Speaker 2: you ready.

1033
00:56:58,320 --> 00:57:12,719
Speaker 1: God can use this too. God put it in the chat.

1034
00:57:13,320 --> 00:57:15,600
Speaker 1: God can use this too.

1035
00:57:17,960 --> 00:57:22,240
Speaker 2: What the enemy meant to kill you, God can use

1036
00:57:23,320 --> 00:57:27,280
Speaker 2: to develop you. What the enemy meant to burn you.

1037
00:57:28,360 --> 00:57:31,760
Speaker 2: God can use to free you. What the enemy meant

1038
00:57:31,760 --> 00:57:35,680
Speaker 2: to take you out. God can use to bring you in.

1039
00:57:36,520 --> 00:57:41,280
Speaker 2: God can use this. God can use this too. He

1040
00:57:41,320 --> 00:57:44,880
Speaker 2: has a history of doing it. God likes to use

1041
00:57:44,960 --> 00:57:47,840
Speaker 2: boards to bring people safely to shore. God likes to

1042
00:57:47,920 --> 00:57:51,680
Speaker 2: use barbarians to build fire. God likes to use snakes

1043
00:57:52,400 --> 00:57:55,800
Speaker 2: to heal eyelids. So I don't know what it is

1044
00:57:56,840 --> 00:58:02,320
Speaker 2: you're this, but I know God can use this too.

1045
00:58:03,800 --> 00:58:08,200
Speaker 2: The God who used Paul's words also used Paul's wounds.

1046
00:58:10,000 --> 00:58:13,280
Speaker 2: Don't be so quick to categorize the things in your life.

1047
00:58:13,400 --> 00:58:16,680
Speaker 2: You can never really understand what it is until you

1048
00:58:16,720 --> 00:58:20,520
Speaker 2: see how God uses it. And there are some snakes

1049
00:58:20,520 --> 00:58:23,840
Speaker 2: that need to go back in the fire today. There

1050
00:58:23,840 --> 00:58:26,960
Speaker 2: are some beliefs, there are some things that you have

1051
00:58:27,040 --> 00:58:30,360
Speaker 2: allowed to latch onto your life.

1052
00:58:29,440 --> 00:58:30,920
Speaker 1: That we just need to let go of in the

1053
00:58:30,960 --> 00:58:31,760
Speaker 1: presence of God.

1054
00:58:32,800 --> 00:58:35,880
Speaker 2: Because if you stand there and fight about it, if

1055
00:58:35,880 --> 00:58:38,600
Speaker 2: you stand there and blame about it, if you stand

1056
00:58:38,640 --> 00:58:40,880
Speaker 2: there and hurt about it, and just hurt about it

1057
00:58:41,000 --> 00:58:43,840
Speaker 2: and heard about it, your hands were not made for hurting.

1058
00:58:43,880 --> 00:58:48,080
Speaker 1: They were made for healing. And there is a next

1059
00:58:48,160 --> 00:58:53,120
Speaker 1: thing that God is calling you to do. Thank you

1060
00:58:53,160 --> 00:58:53,920
Speaker 1: for joining us.

1061
00:58:54,240 --> 00:58:56,680
Speaker 2: Special thanks to those of you who give generously to

1062
00:58:56,760 --> 00:59:00,280
Speaker 2: this ministry. Is because of you that this ministry is possible.

1063
00:59:00,680 --> 00:59:02,880
Speaker 2: You can click the link in the description to give

1064
00:59:02,960 --> 00:59:07,080
Speaker 2: now or visit Elevationchurch dot org. Slash podcast for more

1065
00:59:07,160 --> 00:59:10,920
Speaker 2: information and if you enjoyed the podcast, you can subscribe.

1066
00:59:11,240 --> 00:59:12,560
Speaker 1: You can share it with your friends.

1067
00:59:12,840 --> 00:59:15,120
Speaker 2: You can click the share button, take a screenshot and

1068
00:59:15,160 --> 00:59:17,280
Speaker 2: share it on your social stories and tag us at

1069
00:59:17,320 --> 00:59:24,880
Speaker 2: Elevation Church. Thanks again for listening. God bless you.