WEBVTT - God Can Use This Too

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<v Speaker 1>Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick.

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<v Speaker 2>I'm the pastor of Elevation Church and this is our podcast.

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<v Speaker 2>I wanted to thank you for joining us today.

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<v Speaker 1>Hope this inspires you. Hope it builds your faith.

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<v Speaker 2>Hope it gives your perspective to see God is moving

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<v Speaker 2>in your life.

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<v Speaker 1>Enjoy the message.

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<v Speaker 2>All right, stay standing for just a moment. Those of

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<v Speaker 2>you that sat down, get a little exercise, stand back up.

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<v Speaker 1>If we do that enough, it can count a squats.

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<v Speaker 1>It's good to see you, Ti.

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<v Speaker 3>You been.

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to our EPAM online.

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<v Speaker 2>Those that we can't see, but you're my favorite ones

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<v Speaker 2>to preach too, because I just picture like you're writing

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<v Speaker 2>notes on everything I say. I just picture you sitting

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<v Speaker 2>there really enjoying it. So in my imagination, you are

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<v Speaker 2>not distracted running around with kids spilling juice on the carpet.

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<v Speaker 2>You are settled in ready to hear a word from God.

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<v Speaker 2>Let's give it up for our EPAM around the world.

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<v Speaker 2>Just drop us a little comment, would you in the chat,

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<v Speaker 2>just your way of saying I'm here, or maybe put

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<v Speaker 2>a little prayer hand emoji into chat something like that.

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<v Speaker 1>That'll be amazing.

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<v Speaker 2>God is good, Amen, I said, God is good. Amen,

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<v Speaker 2>God is good. God has been good to us. Well,

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<v Speaker 2>thank you, worship teams. Stay behind me for just a

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<v Speaker 2>moment while I read the scripture. And the reason we

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<v Speaker 2>stand for the word of God is so that nobody

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<v Speaker 2>falls asleep and to show our respect for what God speaks.

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<v Speaker 2>I'm thankful for the place where God speaks to me.

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<v Speaker 2>I value it, I honor it. There are things that

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<v Speaker 2>can only be said in the presence of God. You

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<v Speaker 2>can't say them to other people, and you can't hear

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<v Speaker 2>them from other people. And so God gives us moments

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<v Speaker 2>like this, whether we're physically together in a building or

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<v Speaker 2>whether we're connecting through technology, and He tells us things,

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<v Speaker 2>speaks things to us that our spirits understand, even if

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<v Speaker 2>our minds don't understand them yet.

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<v Speaker 1>The passage that.

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<v Speaker 2>I want to share with you from today is in

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<v Speaker 2>Acts chapter twenty eight, verses one through ten, And after

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<v Speaker 2>I shared this story with you, I'll give you my

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<v Speaker 2>thought and break it down today.

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<v Speaker 1>But it's really not just my thought.

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<v Speaker 2>It is something that the Lord wants to speak to you,

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<v Speaker 2>and it's going to help you with your perspective. So

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<v Speaker 2>in Acts chapter twenty eight, verse one through ten, the

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<v Speaker 2>Bible says, once safely on shore, we found out that

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<v Speaker 2>the island was called Malta. The islanders showed us unusual kindness.

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<v Speaker 2>They built a fire and welcomed us all. Because it

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<v Speaker 2>was raining and cold, Paul gathered a pile of brushwood,

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<v Speaker 2>and as he put it on the fire, a viper,

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<v Speaker 2>driven out by the heat, fasten itself.

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<v Speaker 1>On his hand.

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<v Speaker 2>Out When the islanders saw the snake hanging from his hand,

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<v Speaker 2>they said to each other, this man must be a murderer,

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<v Speaker 2>for though he escaped from the sea, the goddess Justice

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<v Speaker 2>has not allowed him to live. But Paul shook the

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<v Speaker 2>snake off into the fire and suffered no ill effects.

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<v Speaker 2>I thought y'all might be happy to hear that verse, to.

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<v Speaker 1>Know that it bit him, but it didn't kill.

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<v Speaker 2>Him, to know that it tried but it didn't work,

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<v Speaker 2>because I thought that might help you think about some

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<v Speaker 2>of the stuff that the devil did to you, the

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<v Speaker 2>weapons that he formed that didn't work. But you don't

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<v Speaker 2>have to shout about it. I'm just thankful that everything that.

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<v Speaker 1>Bit me didn't kill me. Now let's take it further.

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<v Speaker 1>Verse six.

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<v Speaker 2>The people expected him to swell up or suddenly fall dead,

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<v Speaker 2>But after waiting a long time and seeing nothing unusual

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<v Speaker 2>happened to him, they changed their mind and said he

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<v Speaker 2>was a god. So they're kind of flipping real quick.

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<v Speaker 2>Not that people ever flipped their opinion or anything like that.

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<v Speaker 2>But the Bible says something else that I want to

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<v Speaker 2>read you before I give you the sermon title. It

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<v Speaker 2>says there was an estate nearby that belonged to Publius,

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<v Speaker 2>the chief official of the island. He welcomed us to

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<v Speaker 2>his home and showed us generous hospitality for three days.

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<v Speaker 2>His father was sick in bed, suffering from fever and dysentery,

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<v Speaker 2>and Paul went in to see him, and after prayer,

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<v Speaker 2>placed his hands on him and healed him. When this

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<v Speaker 2>had happened, the rest of the sick on the island

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<v Speaker 2>came and were cured. They honored us in many ways,

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<v Speaker 2>and when we were ready to sail, they furnished us

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<v Speaker 2>with the supplies we needed. That's right there where I

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<v Speaker 2>want to stop. Everything you need is on this island.

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<v Speaker 2>God's not going to send you from this season of

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<v Speaker 2>your life life without what you need. But I need

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<v Speaker 2>you to understand this fundamental truth and look at your

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<v Speaker 2>neighbor and give them my title.

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<v Speaker 1>Say God can use this too. That's it. That's the whole,

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<v Speaker 1>that's the whole thing.

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<v Speaker 2>You ain't on the next part, I said, look at

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<v Speaker 2>him again and say God can use this too. And Father,

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<v Speaker 2>I thank you that nothing comes to our lives that

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<v Speaker 2>doesn't pass through your hand. Right now, would you speak

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<v Speaker 2>a word in season to your people in Jesus' name, Amen,

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<v Speaker 2>he can use this too.

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<v Speaker 1>Be seated Amen now, LJ.

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<v Speaker 2>I'm gonna set this Bible story up with a little

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<v Speaker 2>personal example. I don't have any real hobbies, so in

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<v Speaker 2>my free time, I like to listen to podcasts about

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<v Speaker 2>people who do have hobbies. I like to listen also

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<v Speaker 2>to podcast about people's creatative process. And I really love

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<v Speaker 2>to hear, especially about songwriting. And I know that's boring

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<v Speaker 2>to some people, but I love to hear what happened

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<v Speaker 2>the story behind the song that was written.

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<v Speaker 1>And so I kind of collect these little.

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<v Speaker 2>Stories because it's almost like they're magical to me to

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<v Speaker 2>just see behind the scenes. One songwriter that I like

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<v Speaker 2>to listen to him tell the stories. His name is

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<v Speaker 2>Clay Mills, and he said that he went in to

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<v Speaker 2>write with Darius Rucker for the first time, and he

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<v Speaker 2>went in to write with Darius and he said he

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<v Speaker 2>really wasn't feeling it. Darius was fine, but Clay said

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<v Speaker 2>he wasn't really feeling it. He said he just got

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<v Speaker 2>broke up with the day before. And so about halfway

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<v Speaker 2>through the session of getting to know each other, he

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<v Speaker 2>looked at Darius and said, I just got to be

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<v Speaker 2>honest with you, man, I'm not in a really good

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<v Speaker 2>spot today. I just had my heart broken and I'm

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<v Speaker 2>second guests and everything and all I could have done

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<v Speaker 2>and all that. And Darius was like, oh, I get it, man,

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<v Speaker 2>we all have had a heartbroken. He said, I go

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<v Speaker 2>back and think about a girl that broke up with

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<v Speaker 2>me in fifth grade and wonder what would have happened

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<v Speaker 2>if we'd stayed together. And Clay said really fifth grade

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<v Speaker 2>and Darius said, yeah, man, don't think I don't. And

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<v Speaker 2>Clay said when he said don't think I don't, he

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<v Speaker 2>kind of took his notebook and wrote that line down,

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<v Speaker 2>don't think I don't. And he went home that night

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<v Speaker 2>and he started to write a song called don't think

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<v Speaker 2>I don't think about it, and he took it back

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<v Speaker 2>to Darius the next day and they wrote the song

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<v Speaker 2>and it was Darius's first number one country hit. That's cool, huh.

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<v Speaker 2>And so he heard somebody say something and he did

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<v Speaker 2>something with it. Now you've heard a lot of people

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<v Speaker 2>say stuff. Did you make a hit with it? Here's

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<v Speaker 2>another example. I love one pop star. She was writing

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<v Speaker 2>with a Swedish producer named Max Martin and it was

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<v Speaker 2>her first time writing with him, and she was so

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<v Speaker 2>excited and they were working on a song and somebody

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<v Speaker 2>walked in the studio that claimed they knew this pop

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<v Speaker 2>star and so they claimed to be a friend.

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<v Speaker 1>Of this pop star's ex boyfriend.

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<v Speaker 2>And so they came to the studio and they started

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<v Speaker 2>talking and it was kind of an interruption, and the

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<v Speaker 2>dude who had busted into studio, he says, yeah, I

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<v Speaker 2>heard y'all are going to get back together. And so

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<v Speaker 2>they kind of got the guy to leave the studio

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<v Speaker 2>because he was unwelcome. And after he left, the pop

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<v Speaker 2>star turned to Max Martin and said, hey, trust me,

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<v Speaker 2>we are.

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<v Speaker 1>Never getting back together ever, ever, ever.

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<v Speaker 2>And Max Martin turned to Taylor Swift and said, we

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<v Speaker 2>got to write that song. So how many of you

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<v Speaker 2>in here have an X somewhere back in your past?

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<v Speaker 2>How many of you made a hip hoop banger out

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<v Speaker 2>of it, made millions of dollars out of it, and

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<v Speaker 2>became a global pop superstar.

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<v Speaker 1>See here's my point. And you're like, wow, this is

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<v Speaker 1>really you've had too much time off. You've been You've

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<v Speaker 1>been by yourself too much.

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<v Speaker 2>Creativity is not defined by how many ideas you have.

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<v Speaker 2>Creativity is defined by how you implement the ideas you have.

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<v Speaker 2>So that a great songwriter, a creative songwriter. Here's somebody

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<v Speaker 2>say a phrase that may maybe they said hundreds of

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<v Speaker 2>times before, and go, that's a song, let's write it.

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<v Speaker 2>Or that a great songwriter goes through a heartbreak, and

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<v Speaker 2>you know, maybe some people go through a heartbreak and

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<v Speaker 2>become an alcoholic or a drug addict, but they make

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<v Speaker 2>a hit out of something that happens. They make a

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<v Speaker 2>hit out of something that they hear. That's creativity.

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<v Speaker 4>Now, I would suggest to you that as Christians, what

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<v Speaker 4>distinguishes our Christian faith from those who do not have

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<v Speaker 4>faith is not necessarily the things that happen to us.

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<v Speaker 4>It's not necessarily the things that we even hear in church,

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<v Speaker 4>but it is our ability to take those things that

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<v Speaker 4>happen to us and do something with them that will

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<v Speaker 4>be fruitful and productive. And the more painful the event is, well,

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<v Speaker 4>the greater the opportunity for God to show his creative power.

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<v Speaker 2>See, God is not creative, He is creator. Creative people

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<v Speaker 2>can take something and make it into something. God is creator.

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<v Speaker 2>He can take nothing and make it into something. Come on,

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<v Speaker 2>get my rhythm so I don't have to work too

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<v Speaker 2>hard today.

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<v Speaker 1>Tell your neighbor. God can use it.

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<v Speaker 2>I love how he spoke into the darkness, but the

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<v Speaker 2>word that he spoke into darkness carried the potential energy

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<v Speaker 2>for light, so it became kinetic because God called it

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<v Speaker 2>light when it was darkness. God calls those things that

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<v Speaker 2>be not as though they are, so if he calls

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<v Speaker 2>you forgiven, it doesn't matter how many times shame calls

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<v Speaker 2>your name.

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<v Speaker 1>God can speak into nothing and create something.

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<v Speaker 2>The Hebrew word for this is burah when it talks

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<v Speaker 2>about God created the heavens and the earth. In the beginning,

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<v Speaker 2>there was nothing there, but it didn't stop God because

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<v Speaker 2>he is creator, not just creative. If you ask a

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<v Speaker 2>creative genius where do you get your ideas from, they'll

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<v Speaker 2>honestly tell you, well, I get them from every day.

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<v Speaker 2>I get them from something. I hear someone say, I

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<v Speaker 2>get them from something that I live through.

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<v Speaker 1>God didn't have to live through anything because he always was.

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<v Speaker 2>God didn't have to respond to anything, because when he spoke,

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<v Speaker 2>the light was the response to his word. I'm trying

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<v Speaker 2>to set this framework for this sermon around the idea

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<v Speaker 2>that the creator God lives inside of you. And so

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<v Speaker 2>if the God who can make something out of nothing

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<v Speaker 2>lives inside of you, it stands the reason that the

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<v Speaker 2>God with this kind of power Burrah is the Hebrew word,

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<v Speaker 2>can also take something in your life that does not

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<v Speaker 2>resemble what you prayed for, hope for, or preferred and

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<v Speaker 2>turn it into exactly what you need at the moment

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<v Speaker 2>you need it the most.

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<v Speaker 1>Because he's God like that, because he's good at that.

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<v Speaker 2>Because God doesn't have to hear anything to do something,

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<v Speaker 2>God doesn't have to have anything to do something. In fact,

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<v Speaker 2>God can take something so silly as a dumb decision

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<v Speaker 2>that you make and turn it into great wisdom for

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<v Speaker 2>your future. God can use this too. I read in

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<v Speaker 2>the Bible about a king called Solomon. He was the

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<v Speaker 2>wisest king that ever lived. But what surprised me about

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<v Speaker 2>Solomon's Wisdom Church was that his birth was actually the

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<v Speaker 2>result of a bad decision that his father, David made,

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<v Speaker 2>And if I teach you this, maybe it'll help you

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<v Speaker 2>feel not so bad about your dumb decisions.

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<v Speaker 1>Not that you made any in the last three years.

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<v Speaker 2>But you know, back when you were young and you

0:12:38.800 --> 0:12:41.640
<v Speaker 2>used to do dumb stuff, back before you were so

0:12:41.800 --> 0:12:44.640
<v Speaker 2>smart as you are now and you always get it right.

0:12:44.800 --> 0:12:47.040
<v Speaker 1>Just to let you know that God.

0:12:46.840 --> 0:12:51.680
<v Speaker 2>Prefers that you use wisdom as you're living your life.

0:12:52.240 --> 0:12:56.160
<v Speaker 2>But if you don't use wisdom, God is so big

0:12:57.040 --> 0:13:00.480
<v Speaker 2>and so good and so amazing that and you don't

0:13:00.559 --> 0:13:02.760
<v Speaker 2>use wisdom, God will use stupid.

0:13:07.440 --> 0:13:09.719
<v Speaker 1>That's a place to praise him. Right there, you missed it.

0:13:11.880 --> 0:13:13.720
<v Speaker 1>I know you can't clap because you might be sitting

0:13:13.760 --> 0:13:17.920
<v Speaker 1>next to him. I talked to one woman.

0:13:18.040 --> 0:13:20.880
<v Speaker 2>She said I never should have married him. Well, they

0:13:20.880 --> 0:13:24.400
<v Speaker 2>were married thirty two years, they had three kids.

0:13:25.000 --> 0:13:28.400
<v Speaker 1>She said, I was so stupid, stupid, stupid. She started

0:13:28.480 --> 0:13:28.960
<v Speaker 1>hitting her head.

0:13:28.960 --> 0:13:30.760
<v Speaker 2>I'm not going to do it up here for you,

0:13:32.520 --> 0:13:34.640
<v Speaker 2>just a little bit stupid, stupid, stupid.

0:13:34.720 --> 0:13:37.319
<v Speaker 1>She smacked herself hard. I said stop. I grabbed her hand.

0:13:37.400 --> 0:13:41.839
<v Speaker 1>I said, are you glad you have those kids. She said, yeah,

0:13:41.840 --> 0:13:43.000
<v Speaker 1>what dream I guess or anything.

0:13:43.640 --> 0:13:47.000
<v Speaker 2>I said, you had them with him?

0:13:47.240 --> 0:13:48.400
<v Speaker 1>She said, yeah, all three of them.

0:13:48.800 --> 0:13:50.880
<v Speaker 2>I was just checking, you know, I didn't pull out

0:13:50.880 --> 0:13:54.079
<v Speaker 2>a Mariy Povich paternity test or anything like that.

0:13:54.800 --> 0:13:59.280
<v Speaker 1>What that's a flashback? But she said, yeah, we've all

0:13:59.280 --> 0:13:59.959
<v Speaker 1>had them all to God.

0:14:00.200 --> 0:14:04.200
<v Speaker 2>I said, huh, in't that crazy that God gave you

0:14:04.280 --> 0:14:07.640
<v Speaker 2>what you just called your greatest gifts through your stupidest decision?

0:14:08.640 --> 0:14:12.080
<v Speaker 1>Stupid, stupid, stupid.

0:14:12.400 --> 0:14:15.240
<v Speaker 2>So before you take your hand and hit yourself like

0:14:15.280 --> 0:14:17.520
<v Speaker 2>I'm doing up here, I'm not doing it any harder

0:14:17.559 --> 0:14:20.000
<v Speaker 2>than that, stop for a minute and think about the

0:14:20.040 --> 0:14:25.560
<v Speaker 2>things that God gave you in spite of stupid. I'll

0:14:25.560 --> 0:14:27.960
<v Speaker 2>take it a step further, and all the Pharisees can

0:14:28.040 --> 0:14:30.040
<v Speaker 2>just walk right out the church on this one. Not

0:14:30.240 --> 0:14:36.480
<v Speaker 2>just in spite of stupid, but through stupid. God can

0:14:36.520 --> 0:14:40.640
<v Speaker 2>do more through stupid then humans can do through wisdom

0:14:40.680 --> 0:14:42.160
<v Speaker 2>without him.

0:14:42.200 --> 0:14:44.160
<v Speaker 1>This is how great God is. Why are you telling

0:14:44.200 --> 0:14:45.760
<v Speaker 1>me to go out and do dumb stuff?

0:14:45.800 --> 0:14:48.240
<v Speaker 2>You telling me to drive drunk, You're you're telling me

0:14:48.280 --> 0:14:50.480
<v Speaker 2>to make bad decisions, marry the wrong people. I'm not

0:14:50.520 --> 0:14:52.640
<v Speaker 2>saying any of that, but the fact of the matter

0:14:52.760 --> 0:14:56.040
<v Speaker 2>is we start this sermon in Acts chapter twenty eight,

0:14:56.880 --> 0:15:00.640
<v Speaker 2>where Paul does a great miracle, but it's started with

0:15:00.800 --> 0:15:06.680
<v Speaker 2>something stupid that could have been avoided but wasn't. And

0:15:06.720 --> 0:15:08.520
<v Speaker 2>I believe that what keeps a lot of people from

0:15:08.520 --> 0:15:11.720
<v Speaker 2>believing that God can use their life or use their

0:15:11.760 --> 0:15:16.160
<v Speaker 2>situation is that you know necessarily some of the things

0:15:16.760 --> 0:15:19.240
<v Speaker 2>that put you in the problem state to begin with.

0:15:20.600 --> 0:15:22.200
<v Speaker 2>And it's hard for me to believe for God to

0:15:22.240 --> 0:15:25.560
<v Speaker 2>get me out of what I got myself into. But

0:15:25.640 --> 0:15:28.480
<v Speaker 2>I want to remind you from David's life that when

0:15:28.520 --> 0:15:36.360
<v Speaker 2>you don't use wisdom, God will use stupid. Touch your

0:15:36.360 --> 0:15:38.240
<v Speaker 2>neighbor again and say He's going to use you. Pastor

0:15:38.240 --> 0:15:46.840
<v Speaker 2>Stephen just said it. David slept with Bathsheba. Stupid killed

0:15:46.880 --> 0:15:49.040
<v Speaker 2>her husband who was fighting for him.

0:15:49.120 --> 0:15:51.520
<v Speaker 1>Stupid tried to cover it all up.

0:15:51.880 --> 0:15:55.120
<v Speaker 2>Stupid went in and repented before the Lord when the

0:15:55.120 --> 0:15:58.800
<v Speaker 2>prophet Nathan confronted him. When he finished repenting, he went

0:15:58.840 --> 0:16:01.480
<v Speaker 2>into his wife, Bathshid and made love to her again.

0:16:02.080 --> 0:16:04.120
<v Speaker 2>She conceived and gave birth to a son.

0:16:04.280 --> 0:16:07.480
<v Speaker 1>His name was Solomon. He was the wisest king that

0:16:07.560 --> 0:16:08.200
<v Speaker 1>ever lived.

0:16:08.800 --> 0:16:12.600
<v Speaker 2>How could God make something so splendid out of something

0:16:12.720 --> 0:16:17.320
<v Speaker 2>so stupid. That's called grace. You want a definition of grace,

0:16:17.320 --> 0:16:20.240
<v Speaker 2>all right, I got one for you. When you don't

0:16:20.360 --> 0:16:25.360
<v Speaker 2>use wisdom, so God uses stupid when you choose the

0:16:25.400 --> 0:16:28.560
<v Speaker 2>wrong thing. But God uses it anyway. Now, we would

0:16:28.600 --> 0:16:30.720
<v Speaker 2>like to eliminate the number of times in your life

0:16:30.720 --> 0:16:33.280
<v Speaker 2>that God has to use stupid. We don't want to

0:16:33.280 --> 0:16:36.440
<v Speaker 2>give God raw materials to work with unnecessarily. Shall we

0:16:36.480 --> 0:16:40.760
<v Speaker 2>continue and send that grace may abound? God forbid? But yet,

0:16:41.000 --> 0:16:46.400
<v Speaker 2>I know that this storm we read about in Acts

0:16:46.520 --> 0:16:49.000
<v Speaker 2>chapter twenty eight, now there's nothing about the storm in

0:16:49.040 --> 0:16:50.920
<v Speaker 2>Acts chapter twenty eight. So I know you might be

0:16:50.960 --> 0:16:54.040
<v Speaker 2>confused because Acts chapter twenty eight, verse one put that

0:16:54.080 --> 0:16:54.760
<v Speaker 2>on the screen again.

0:16:54.800 --> 0:16:56.080
<v Speaker 1>Please well, I love this part.

0:16:56.480 --> 0:17:00.200
<v Speaker 2>It says, once safely on shore, we found out out

0:17:00.240 --> 0:17:03.000
<v Speaker 2>that the island was called in Malta. If you didn't

0:17:03.040 --> 0:17:05.240
<v Speaker 2>have context for the Bible, you might think Paul was

0:17:05.280 --> 0:17:08.520
<v Speaker 2>going on vacation so much needed R and R after

0:17:08.560 --> 0:17:11.360
<v Speaker 2>being stoned in Listra, you know, like trying to get

0:17:11.400 --> 0:17:14.480
<v Speaker 2>away from the crazy church at Corinth and turn off

0:17:14.520 --> 0:17:17.320
<v Speaker 2>his phone for a few days. But in Acts chapter

0:17:17.359 --> 0:17:20.640
<v Speaker 2>twenty seven, in fact, he has just spent the last

0:17:20.680 --> 0:17:25.280
<v Speaker 2>two weeks being blown by a hurricane force wind, which

0:17:25.320 --> 0:17:29.400
<v Speaker 2>is bad enough. But before the wind ever started blowing,

0:17:29.560 --> 0:17:31.400
<v Speaker 2>Paul tried to warn the other.

0:17:31.240 --> 0:17:33.920
<v Speaker 1>People on board. He said, this is not the time

0:17:33.920 --> 0:17:34.639
<v Speaker 1>for us to sail.

0:17:34.760 --> 0:17:37.840
<v Speaker 2>Trust me, you know sailing, But I know the Savior,

0:17:38.800 --> 0:17:42.159
<v Speaker 2>and I heard from God and I can sense that

0:17:42.240 --> 0:17:44.960
<v Speaker 2>this is bad. And they did it anyway, and Paul

0:17:45.080 --> 0:17:47.680
<v Speaker 2>was on board with somebody else's bad decision.

0:17:49.359 --> 0:17:51.000
<v Speaker 1>Now, I think this one of the toughest places to be.

0:17:52.480 --> 0:17:55.560
<v Speaker 2>It's one thing when you do stupid and to believe

0:17:55.560 --> 0:17:58.280
<v Speaker 2>God can use it, But what about when they do

0:17:58.359 --> 0:18:03.119
<v Speaker 2>stupid and they won't stop doing stupid and they wouldn't

0:18:03.119 --> 0:18:06.080
<v Speaker 2>even come to church with you today, and now you're

0:18:06.080 --> 0:18:09.199
<v Speaker 2>living in somebody else's stupid. Now, this is not a

0:18:09.240 --> 0:18:16.720
<v Speaker 2>parenting class, but one of the things that we have

0:18:16.760 --> 0:18:19.760
<v Speaker 2>to learn in our lives when we find ourselves in

0:18:19.800 --> 0:18:23.480
<v Speaker 2>situations that we didn't ask for, or when somebody else's

0:18:23.560 --> 0:18:27.600
<v Speaker 2>bad decision backfires and we catch some of it in

0:18:27.640 --> 0:18:33.440
<v Speaker 2>our own circumstance, is that when we don't use wisdom,

0:18:34.320 --> 0:18:37.720
<v Speaker 2>God can still use stupid.

0:18:38.920 --> 0:18:40.800
<v Speaker 1>I'll prove this to you in a couple of different ways.

0:18:40.800 --> 0:18:41.399
<v Speaker 1>From the text.

0:18:41.440 --> 0:18:44.639
<v Speaker 2>Number one, the storm that they went through was a

0:18:44.680 --> 0:18:48.320
<v Speaker 2>stupid storm. They could have easily Not every storm can

0:18:48.320 --> 0:18:50.439
<v Speaker 2>be avoided. They could have easily avoided this storm. They

0:18:50.440 --> 0:18:53.080
<v Speaker 2>didn't because of the advice that they failed to heat.

0:18:54.040 --> 0:18:55.280
<v Speaker 2>So that's number one.

0:18:55.560 --> 0:18:56.879
<v Speaker 1>The number two I don't know if you noticed this

0:18:58.119 --> 0:18:59.879
<v Speaker 1>after they crashed.

0:18:59.480 --> 0:19:02.399
<v Speaker 2>And I really do apologize that I can't do this

0:19:02.440 --> 0:19:04.600
<v Speaker 2>story justice. I wish I could give you the prequel,

0:19:05.200 --> 0:19:07.639
<v Speaker 2>but since we just picked up in chapter twenty eight,

0:19:07.760 --> 0:19:10.560
<v Speaker 2>verse one, where they landed on an island called Malta,

0:19:10.560 --> 0:19:12.080
<v Speaker 2>isn't that crazy They didn't even know what it was

0:19:12.119 --> 0:19:15.159
<v Speaker 2>called till they got there. In life, kind of like that,

0:19:16.640 --> 0:19:19.679
<v Speaker 2>you don't really know what to call it until you

0:19:19.720 --> 0:19:22.360
<v Speaker 2>get there. You know what it looks like on other

0:19:22.400 --> 0:19:25.840
<v Speaker 2>people's Instagram, but you don't really know what to call

0:19:25.880 --> 0:19:29.119
<v Speaker 2>it until you get there. And what I love about

0:19:29.160 --> 0:19:32.760
<v Speaker 2>God is that on one hand, they crashed, but on

0:19:32.800 --> 0:19:36.359
<v Speaker 2>another hand, they were called to help the people on

0:19:36.400 --> 0:19:39.919
<v Speaker 2>that island. Because we read about how Paul ended up

0:19:40.000 --> 0:19:43.960
<v Speaker 2>healing every sick person on the island, how many believed

0:19:43.960 --> 0:19:45.520
<v Speaker 2>that God was calling Paul.

0:19:45.320 --> 0:19:46.919
<v Speaker 1>To that island to help those sick people.

0:19:48.080 --> 0:19:49.760
<v Speaker 2>Come on clap your hands if you believe God was

0:19:49.800 --> 0:19:55.800
<v Speaker 2>calling Paul to that island. How many of you believe

0:19:55.880 --> 0:19:59.240
<v Speaker 2>that Paul crashed because the sailors didn't take his advice?

0:19:59.280 --> 0:20:04.399
<v Speaker 2>Clap your hands you believe he crashed. How many of

0:20:04.440 --> 0:20:06.640
<v Speaker 2>you are confused? And you're just clapping to be polite

0:20:06.640 --> 0:20:09.280
<v Speaker 2>to me because it's past their appreciation.

0:20:08.840 --> 0:20:16.159
<v Speaker 1>Money say, I'm confused. Is it a crash or a calling?

0:20:21.000 --> 0:20:25.679
<v Speaker 1>I'm confused. Did he crash or was he called?

0:20:26.600 --> 0:20:29.600
<v Speaker 2>And is it possible that sometimes God uses a crash

0:20:30.000 --> 0:20:31.760
<v Speaker 2>as a cover for a calling.

0:20:33.080 --> 0:20:37.440
<v Speaker 1>And is it possible that what you have called a.

0:20:37.480 --> 0:20:42.000
<v Speaker 2>Crash in your life, a crash in your relationship, a

0:20:42.119 --> 0:20:44.439
<v Speaker 2>crash in your finances, a crash.

0:20:44.600 --> 0:20:45.800
<v Speaker 1>I'm so glad you're still here.

0:20:45.840 --> 0:20:48.120
<v Speaker 2>I was watching a sermon from twenty sixteen the other

0:20:48.160 --> 0:20:49.840
<v Speaker 2>day and I saw you when you used to sit

0:20:49.880 --> 0:20:52.240
<v Speaker 2>down there, and I was wondering if you were still around,

0:20:52.359 --> 0:20:53.600
<v Speaker 2>And I'm so glad you made it.

0:20:53.600 --> 0:20:54.600
<v Speaker 1>It is good to see you, brother.

0:20:55.160 --> 0:20:59.520
<v Speaker 2>Seriously, I was watching you, and the reason I noticed

0:20:59.520 --> 0:21:02.840
<v Speaker 2>in the video you were crying. You were crying and

0:21:02.880 --> 0:21:05.880
<v Speaker 2>you aren't gonna believe this. I was preaching on X twenty.

0:21:05.680 --> 0:21:09.480
<v Speaker 1>Eight I'm not making this up. Y'all are like this

0:21:09.560 --> 0:21:11.280
<v Speaker 1>sounds kind of stage. It's not stage.

0:21:11.600 --> 0:21:13.920
<v Speaker 2>I literally just looked, and what a way to confirm

0:21:13.960 --> 0:21:19.919
<v Speaker 2>a word, huh. I was preaching the same passage. And

0:21:20.000 --> 0:21:22.640
<v Speaker 2>I bet since that day, I bet you've been through

0:21:22.680 --> 0:21:26.040
<v Speaker 2>some crashes, and I bet you've been through some things.

0:21:26.040 --> 0:21:28.679
<v Speaker 2>But what blesses me about some of you in the

0:21:28.760 --> 0:21:33.040
<v Speaker 2>church is that you keep coming even after the crash.

0:21:33.880 --> 0:21:41.040
<v Speaker 2>Come on, come on, no, no, no, no, no, don't try

0:21:41.040 --> 0:21:43.720
<v Speaker 2>to trick me looking like you didn't. Some of y'all

0:21:43.720 --> 0:21:45.919
<v Speaker 2>crashed out on the way to church in the car.

0:21:46.840 --> 0:21:49.720
<v Speaker 2>Some of y'all were calling each other everything but child

0:21:49.800 --> 0:21:51.640
<v Speaker 2>of God on the way to church in the car

0:21:52.000 --> 0:21:55.200
<v Speaker 2>this morning. But you came, you came, you came, you came,

0:21:55.560 --> 0:21:57.760
<v Speaker 2>you came, you came, and.

0:21:57.640 --> 0:22:04.800
<v Speaker 1>They arrived safely. Everybody says faith on sure, Now say unsure.

0:22:05.920 --> 0:22:07.040
<v Speaker 1>Now say on shore.

0:22:08.200 --> 0:22:12.679
<v Speaker 2>You can be on shore, but unsure, which means that

0:22:13.560 --> 0:22:17.280
<v Speaker 2>I'm not sure yet whether this thing that happened in

0:22:17.359 --> 0:22:19.800
<v Speaker 2>my life is something that is going to turn out

0:22:19.840 --> 0:22:22.520
<v Speaker 2>for my good or whether it's going to be my

0:22:22.640 --> 0:22:26.440
<v Speaker 2>bitter end. I'm not sure yet whether this person leaving

0:22:26.480 --> 0:22:29.000
<v Speaker 2>my life was a good thing or whether it was

0:22:29.040 --> 0:22:32.320
<v Speaker 2>a bad thing. I'm not sure yet whether losing that

0:22:32.480 --> 0:22:35.919
<v Speaker 2>job was opening another opportunity or if it's just draining

0:22:36.000 --> 0:22:37.080
<v Speaker 2>my bank account.

0:22:37.280 --> 0:22:41.240
<v Speaker 1>I'm not sure yet. I'm on sure, but I'm unsure.

0:22:41.720 --> 0:22:44.680
<v Speaker 2>And what I love about God is that no matter

0:22:44.720 --> 0:22:47.879
<v Speaker 2>whether you call it a crash, whether you call it

0:22:47.920 --> 0:22:51.840
<v Speaker 2>an accident, whether you call it a mistake, whatever you

0:22:51.960 --> 0:22:55.800
<v Speaker 2>call it, God looks at it and says, don't think

0:22:56.440 --> 0:23:03.800
<v Speaker 2>I don't know how to make something amazing and brilliant

0:23:05.080 --> 0:23:09.720
<v Speaker 2>out of a broken heart. Now, how about for somebody saying he.

0:23:09.640 --> 0:23:10.800
<v Speaker 1>Can do it, he can do it, He can do it,

0:23:10.800 --> 0:23:11.400
<v Speaker 1>he can do it.

0:23:12.200 --> 0:23:15.320
<v Speaker 2>They need to hear you say that, because when we

0:23:15.440 --> 0:23:18.960
<v Speaker 2>find ourselves crashed out on islands where people don't even

0:23:19.080 --> 0:23:21.960
<v Speaker 2>speak our same language. The version I put up there

0:23:22.240 --> 0:23:24.520
<v Speaker 2>was the politically correct version of the Bible.

0:23:24.640 --> 0:23:25.119
<v Speaker 1>The NIV.

0:23:25.240 --> 0:23:28.119
<v Speaker 2>It's more modern, so when it talks about these people,

0:23:28.160 --> 0:23:32.560
<v Speaker 2>it calls them islanders, but in the original language it

0:23:32.640 --> 0:23:37.760
<v Speaker 2>called them barbarians. Because to Paul and the two hundred

0:23:37.760 --> 0:23:40.560
<v Speaker 2>and seventy six prisoners don't even tell you this part yet.

0:23:40.800 --> 0:23:43.040
<v Speaker 2>The reason Paul is on the ship is because he's

0:23:43.080 --> 0:23:47.560
<v Speaker 2>going to stand trial before Caesar in Rome. So he

0:23:47.680 --> 0:23:52.600
<v Speaker 2>is a preacher, disguised as a prisoner, headed toward a calling,

0:23:52.720 --> 0:23:59.719
<v Speaker 2>disguised as a crash, looking at some people who are

0:23:59.720 --> 0:24:03.520
<v Speaker 2>building him a fire, but don't speak his same language.

0:24:04.640 --> 0:24:07.400
<v Speaker 1>Can I work on this for a minute.

0:24:07.600 --> 0:24:10.240
<v Speaker 2>I wonder, have you landed in a strange place today,

0:24:11.880 --> 0:24:15.400
<v Speaker 2>strange place in your life, strange place in your emotions,

0:24:16.280 --> 0:24:22.240
<v Speaker 2>strange place at your particular season. If you have, I

0:24:22.280 --> 0:24:26.359
<v Speaker 2>believe you have every reason to expect that God will

0:24:26.800 --> 0:24:31.720
<v Speaker 2>use a barbarian, which simply means something you're not familiar with.

0:24:33.200 --> 0:24:35.840
<v Speaker 2>Everything in the text points in the same direction that

0:24:35.920 --> 0:24:37.160
<v Speaker 2>God can.

0:24:37.119 --> 0:24:38.720
<v Speaker 1>Use this too.

0:24:39.640 --> 0:24:44.679
<v Speaker 2>Okay, when they get there, they meet barbarians, people that

0:24:44.680 --> 0:24:47.200
<v Speaker 2>they're afraid of. But the barbarians are building them a fire.

0:24:47.640 --> 0:24:51.520
<v Speaker 2>That's the favor of God. When God uses something that

0:24:51.600 --> 0:24:55.479
<v Speaker 2>you think is barbaric to build something to keep you alive.

0:24:56.560 --> 0:24:57.600
<v Speaker 1>When God uses.

0:24:57.359 --> 0:25:00.359
<v Speaker 2>Somebody you don't even like to tell you it's something

0:25:00.359 --> 0:25:01.080
<v Speaker 2>that you need to know.

0:25:02.000 --> 0:25:04.719
<v Speaker 1>When God uses a process that you resist, that is

0:25:04.760 --> 0:25:06.200
<v Speaker 1>the strange grace of God.

0:25:06.760 --> 0:25:09.760
<v Speaker 2>Have you ever had God give you strange grace? I

0:25:09.840 --> 0:25:13.480
<v Speaker 2>might should have called this message strange grace It's not

0:25:13.600 --> 0:25:15.639
<v Speaker 2>the grace that comes from people that I counted on.

0:25:16.720 --> 0:25:19.200
<v Speaker 2>It's the grace that comes from people that I don't

0:25:19.240 --> 0:25:22.000
<v Speaker 2>even know what to call them. It's the grace that

0:25:22.080 --> 0:25:25.199
<v Speaker 2>comes from places that I never chose to be.

0:25:25.280 --> 0:25:26.000
<v Speaker 1>And listen to this.

0:25:26.760 --> 0:25:30.320
<v Speaker 2>Just because you didn't choose it doesn't mean he won't

0:25:30.400 --> 0:25:37.320
<v Speaker 2>use it. Paul wanted to go to Rome, but not

0:25:37.400 --> 0:25:42.240
<v Speaker 2>as a prisoner. God used chains to get him to

0:25:42.359 --> 0:25:47.320
<v Speaker 2>the place. When they started out on the journey, they

0:25:47.359 --> 0:25:50.720
<v Speaker 2>were on a ship. Look at Acts twenty seven, verse

0:25:50.760 --> 0:25:54.480
<v Speaker 2>forty four, right before they got to the island safely.

0:25:55.480 --> 0:25:58.160
<v Speaker 2>Look how they got there safely. I'm doing air quotes

0:25:58.200 --> 0:26:00.600
<v Speaker 2>for a reason. The rest were to get there on

0:26:00.760 --> 0:26:05.520
<v Speaker 2>planks or other pieces of the ship. In this way,

0:26:05.600 --> 0:26:11.159
<v Speaker 2>everyone reached land safely. Ain't that crazy? How sometimes you

0:26:11.200 --> 0:26:15.560
<v Speaker 2>got to praise God for pieces? Think about it. They

0:26:15.600 --> 0:26:19.320
<v Speaker 2>started out on a boat, They floated in on a board.

0:26:20.520 --> 0:26:23.359
<v Speaker 2>Would you rather ride in on a boat or paddle

0:26:23.400 --> 0:26:27.000
<v Speaker 2>in on a board. But it doesn't matter what you

0:26:27.080 --> 0:26:30.480
<v Speaker 2>would rather do, because sometimes God will call you to

0:26:30.520 --> 0:26:34.199
<v Speaker 2>grab hold of what you have and remember your swimming

0:26:34.280 --> 0:26:39.960
<v Speaker 2>lessons and breast stroke your way to the shore with

0:26:40.040 --> 0:26:42.680
<v Speaker 2>what you have, And I want you to learn how

0:26:42.680 --> 0:26:46.320
<v Speaker 2>to praise God for pieces in your life, because I

0:26:46.320 --> 0:26:47.560
<v Speaker 2>know we would prefer the boat.

0:26:48.359 --> 0:26:50.480
<v Speaker 1>I know we would prefer that the things stayed the same.

0:26:50.560 --> 0:26:54.159
<v Speaker 2>None of us really like change, right, none of us

0:26:54.200 --> 0:26:56.560
<v Speaker 2>really liked change at all. You were praying summer away,

0:26:57.240 --> 0:27:00.520
<v Speaker 2>and they got cold for a day, but.

0:27:00.480 --> 0:27:01.280
<v Speaker 1>You were so hot.

0:27:01.359 --> 0:27:04.240
<v Speaker 2>We don't even want the season to change because it's uncomfortable.

0:27:05.000 --> 0:27:07.879
<v Speaker 2>And yet sometimes the only way to really have peace

0:27:08.040 --> 0:27:12.160
<v Speaker 2>in your heart, peace over your situation, is to take

0:27:12.200 --> 0:27:17.080
<v Speaker 2>the piece that you have, piece and float in with

0:27:17.119 --> 0:27:20.680
<v Speaker 2>what you have. Because everybody knows a boat can get

0:27:20.720 --> 0:27:24.679
<v Speaker 2>you to shore, but so can a board. I got

0:27:24.800 --> 0:27:27.520
<v Speaker 2>to say that again. Everybody knows a boat can get

0:27:27.600 --> 0:27:31.200
<v Speaker 2>you to shore. That doesn't take a miracle. But when

0:27:31.240 --> 0:27:35.159
<v Speaker 2>you made it in on a board, a piece of

0:27:35.200 --> 0:27:39.680
<v Speaker 2>the boat, a remnant of the former boat. Yes, I'm

0:27:39.720 --> 0:27:42.239
<v Speaker 2>talking to people who are older. You can make it

0:27:42.280 --> 0:27:45.639
<v Speaker 2>in on boards. Your body might not work like it

0:27:45.720 --> 0:27:48.160
<v Speaker 2>used to work, but you can still do what you're

0:27:48.200 --> 0:27:51.199
<v Speaker 2>called to do. Your mind might not work like it

0:27:51.280 --> 0:27:53.640
<v Speaker 2>used to work, but you can still do what you're

0:27:53.640 --> 0:27:56.920
<v Speaker 2>called to do. One missionary said, when I can't pray,

0:27:57.240 --> 0:28:00.119
<v Speaker 2>when I can't read, when I can't even think, I

0:28:00.160 --> 0:28:03.800
<v Speaker 2>can still trust and the faith to know that if

0:28:03.800 --> 0:28:06.760
<v Speaker 2>I can't make it in on a flotation device, I

0:28:06.800 --> 0:28:09.200
<v Speaker 2>can make it in floating by the grace of God.

0:28:09.600 --> 0:28:10.920
<v Speaker 1>That kind of faith is so.

0:28:11.080 --> 0:28:14.280
<v Speaker 2>Necessary in this season of your life, when what you

0:28:14.480 --> 0:28:17.520
<v Speaker 2>had was broken apart, when what you had was driven

0:28:17.600 --> 0:28:20.320
<v Speaker 2>by the wind. Don't you believe in your life that

0:28:20.440 --> 0:28:23.720
<v Speaker 2>the same God who brought them safely to the shore

0:28:23.720 --> 0:28:27.439
<v Speaker 2>on a board is bringing you where you're supposed to

0:28:27.480 --> 0:28:31.399
<v Speaker 2>be right now on the thing that you have that

0:28:31.560 --> 0:28:34.879
<v Speaker 2>is with you. Because God will never call you to

0:28:35.040 --> 0:28:36.919
<v Speaker 2>somewhere he can't get you with what.

0:28:36.800 --> 0:28:41.680
<v Speaker 1>You still have. I still got it. I still got it.

0:28:42.760 --> 0:28:45.080
<v Speaker 2>Maybe that's the message of this, to tell you you

0:28:45.240 --> 0:28:48.000
<v Speaker 2>still got it. No, you don't have the ship how

0:28:48.000 --> 0:28:50.360
<v Speaker 2>it looked. No you don't have the life that it

0:28:50.480 --> 0:28:52.800
<v Speaker 2>used to be. No, you don't have the answers that

0:28:52.840 --> 0:28:55.280
<v Speaker 2>you wanted to have. But somebody say, I still got it.

0:28:56.680 --> 0:28:58.760
<v Speaker 2>The thing you got to realize is that the board

0:28:58.800 --> 0:29:01.040
<v Speaker 2>they floated in on were of the boat that they

0:29:01.040 --> 0:29:03.880
<v Speaker 2>had been riding on. So it wasn't that the boat

0:29:03.920 --> 0:29:06.840
<v Speaker 2>went away, It just changed forms.

0:29:07.440 --> 0:29:10.200
<v Speaker 1>God is going to continue to provide in your life.

0:29:10.240 --> 0:29:12.200
<v Speaker 2>But He will do it in many different ways and

0:29:12.280 --> 0:29:16.000
<v Speaker 2>many different layers, at many different levels. And the key

0:29:16.040 --> 0:29:20.960
<v Speaker 2>to this is you believing God can use this too.

0:29:21.960 --> 0:29:23.440
<v Speaker 2>If he can bring me in on a boat, he

0:29:23.480 --> 0:29:26.960
<v Speaker 2>can bring me in on a board. If he can

0:29:26.960 --> 0:29:28.960
<v Speaker 2>bless me with a lot, he can keep me with

0:29:29.000 --> 0:29:33.320
<v Speaker 2>a little. Paul said in another scripture, I have learned

0:29:33.320 --> 0:29:36.520
<v Speaker 2>whatever state I'm in, to be content. I know how

0:29:36.560 --> 0:29:39.720
<v Speaker 2>to have plenty boat. I know how to have not

0:29:39.880 --> 0:29:45.560
<v Speaker 2>much boards. Whether I got a boat or a board, my.

0:29:46.200 --> 0:29:49.560
<v Speaker 1>Song is the same. God can use this too. Let's

0:29:49.560 --> 0:29:53.880
<v Speaker 1>clap our hands and praise him for the times that

0:29:53.960 --> 0:29:59.560
<v Speaker 1>he brought us to shore on a board. Now here's

0:29:59.560 --> 0:30:03.280
<v Speaker 1>where it gets interesting, church, because when.

0:30:03.200 --> 0:30:04.520
<v Speaker 2>You arrive on the shore and you got there on

0:30:04.560 --> 0:30:06.480
<v Speaker 2>a board, and you see people building you a fire,

0:30:06.560 --> 0:30:09.280
<v Speaker 2>you automatically assumed that the fire is a blessing.

0:30:10.520 --> 0:30:11.000
<v Speaker 1>And it is.

0:30:12.640 --> 0:30:14.400
<v Speaker 2>But but I don't know if I don't know if

0:30:14.400 --> 0:30:16.760
<v Speaker 2>Paul made a bad decision here or not. It's really

0:30:16.840 --> 0:30:18.800
<v Speaker 2>up for debate. I know that the storm was in

0:30:18.880 --> 0:30:20.720
<v Speaker 2>his fault. I know that the chains were in his fault.

0:30:21.720 --> 0:30:24.440
<v Speaker 1>This part is up for review. You can see what

0:30:24.480 --> 0:30:25.960
<v Speaker 1>you think about it.

0:30:25.960 --> 0:30:28.720
<v Speaker 2>It says in verse two, the islanders showed us unusual kindness,

0:30:28.720 --> 0:30:30.440
<v Speaker 2>and they built a fire and welcomed us all because

0:30:30.480 --> 0:30:31.400
<v Speaker 2>it was raining and coal.

0:30:31.960 --> 0:30:33.400
<v Speaker 1>And here's the part I want to ask you about.

0:30:33.520 --> 0:30:34.120
<v Speaker 1>See what you think.

0:30:34.640 --> 0:30:37.920
<v Speaker 2>Paul gathered a pile of brushwood, and as he put

0:30:37.920 --> 0:30:41.360
<v Speaker 2>it on the fire, a viper, driven out by the heat,

0:30:41.480 --> 0:30:42.920
<v Speaker 2>fastened itself on his hand.

0:30:43.760 --> 0:30:44.880
<v Speaker 1>So here's why I want to ask you.

0:30:45.000 --> 0:30:47.200
<v Speaker 2>Should Paul have just stuck the preaching and not mess

0:30:47.280 --> 0:30:51.720
<v Speaker 2>with fire building, because it looks like in his effort.

0:30:51.440 --> 0:30:54.400
<v Speaker 1>To help, he got hurt.

0:30:56.640 --> 0:30:59.800
<v Speaker 2>And I know Paul, like not personally, but I studied

0:30:59.800 --> 0:31:01.160
<v Speaker 2>at him a lot. I spent a lot of time

0:31:01.160 --> 0:31:04.719
<v Speaker 2>thinking about him. And I know Paul what he really

0:31:04.760 --> 0:31:07.560
<v Speaker 2>wanted to do in this situation when he meets a

0:31:07.560 --> 0:31:11.480
<v Speaker 2>group of barbarians, people that he's never seen before, what

0:31:11.560 --> 0:31:14.960
<v Speaker 2>he really wanted to do was tell them about Jesus.

0:31:15.920 --> 0:31:18.920
<v Speaker 1>That's all Paul ever wanted to do. Sounds like if

0:31:19.000 --> 0:31:19.360
<v Speaker 1>it was.

0:31:19.400 --> 0:31:22.239
<v Speaker 2>Jews who were circumcised, if it was Gentiles who had

0:31:22.240 --> 0:31:26.840
<v Speaker 2>been ostracized, Paul wanted you to know about Jesus. So

0:31:27.560 --> 0:31:29.520
<v Speaker 2>he shows up on the island, he doesn't know what

0:31:29.560 --> 0:31:34.640
<v Speaker 2>it's called. And worse of all, he doesn't speak their language. Now, remember,

0:31:35.240 --> 0:31:38.760
<v Speaker 2>Paul is good with words. If there had ever been

0:31:38.800 --> 0:31:41.080
<v Speaker 2>a you know, a Kendrick and Drake, but with like

0:31:41.120 --> 0:31:43.440
<v Speaker 2>Paul and Peter, Paul would have beat Peter senseless.

0:31:44.760 --> 0:31:48.600
<v Speaker 1>Nobody did words like Paul. All the Foundational all.

0:31:48.560 --> 0:31:53.360
<v Speaker 2>The Foundational doctrines that we quote by heart today came

0:31:53.400 --> 0:31:55.880
<v Speaker 2>either from the pen or the tongue of Paul.

0:31:57.280 --> 0:32:00.240
<v Speaker 1>Even the posters we hang in the weight room of

0:32:00.840 --> 0:32:02.840
<v Speaker 1>our high schools, public high schools.

0:32:03.120 --> 0:32:07.080
<v Speaker 2>I can do all things, That's something Paul said. He said,

0:32:07.080 --> 0:32:09.520
<v Speaker 2>through Christ's strengthens me. But we don't have to finish it.

0:32:09.560 --> 0:32:10.680
<v Speaker 2>We're just gonna take the first part.

0:32:10.840 --> 0:32:12.960
<v Speaker 1>I can do all things. No, you can't unless Christ

0:32:13.000 --> 0:32:13.600
<v Speaker 1>strengthens you.

0:32:13.840 --> 0:32:17.000
<v Speaker 2>But Paul was not only brilliant in his ability to

0:32:17.040 --> 0:32:19.080
<v Speaker 2>say pithy statements that would help motivate us.

0:32:19.160 --> 0:32:19.960
<v Speaker 1>Paul actually could.

0:32:20.280 --> 0:32:22.960
<v Speaker 2>Paul actually could make a legal defense from the Gospel.

0:32:22.960 --> 0:32:24.040
<v Speaker 1>He could show you how.

0:32:24.240 --> 0:32:28.680
<v Speaker 2>That Abraham, the progenitor of the Jewish faith, Abraham, Father Abraham,

0:32:29.200 --> 0:32:31.800
<v Speaker 2>was actually justified by faith, not works. And then he

0:32:31.840 --> 0:32:34.920
<v Speaker 2>could take you line by line by line, you do

0:32:35.000 --> 0:32:36.080
<v Speaker 2>not want to get into.

0:32:36.000 --> 0:32:40.040
<v Speaker 1>Debate with Paul. He is too good with his words.

0:32:40.880 --> 0:32:44.240
<v Speaker 1>And God used his words everywhere he went to preach.

0:32:44.280 --> 0:32:46.280
<v Speaker 2>Even if he showed up in a city like Athens,

0:32:46.280 --> 0:32:49.560
<v Speaker 2>where they worshiped all kinds of idols, he would start

0:32:49.600 --> 0:32:53.760
<v Speaker 2>with their idolatry instead of starting with his belief, and

0:32:53.840 --> 0:32:57.720
<v Speaker 2>he could quote their poets but bring them to his

0:32:57.800 --> 0:33:01.200
<v Speaker 2>point of view, so he would get them to Jesus

0:33:01.200 --> 0:33:04.280
<v Speaker 2>from whatever starting place that they had, because he was

0:33:04.320 --> 0:33:08.040
<v Speaker 2>so good with his words. Not just one language. Paul

0:33:08.080 --> 0:33:10.360
<v Speaker 2>could speak Greek. One city he got in, he wasn't

0:33:10.400 --> 0:33:12.720
<v Speaker 2>able to speak Greek coin a Greek, which was the

0:33:12.800 --> 0:33:14.880
<v Speaker 2>language of the day, because they had a different dialect.

0:33:15.200 --> 0:33:17.560
<v Speaker 2>So Paul started speaking in Arabic. And when he spoke

0:33:17.560 --> 0:33:19.880
<v Speaker 2>in Aramaic, which was a local dialect, they all shut

0:33:19.960 --> 0:33:22.560
<v Speaker 2>up and they were able to hear because Paul was

0:33:22.600 --> 0:33:24.920
<v Speaker 2>able to speak the word of God.

0:33:25.760 --> 0:33:27.480
<v Speaker 1>God really used Paul's words.

0:33:28.320 --> 0:33:30.680
<v Speaker 2>As a matter of fact, he used Paul's words to

0:33:30.720 --> 0:33:33.440
<v Speaker 2>the point that something like thirty percent of our New

0:33:33.480 --> 0:33:37.520
<v Speaker 2>Testament that we read today came from the pen of

0:33:37.560 --> 0:33:39.600
<v Speaker 2>a man who spent much of his life in a prison.

0:33:40.880 --> 0:33:44.120
<v Speaker 2>While he was in prison, some thought rotting. He was writing,

0:33:45.360 --> 0:33:47.680
<v Speaker 2>I'm trying to get you a vision today for the

0:33:47.760 --> 0:33:51.080
<v Speaker 2>seasons of your life that you think are wasted, the

0:33:51.160 --> 0:33:54.680
<v Speaker 2>seasons of your life that you think are waiting. God

0:33:54.760 --> 0:34:00.000
<v Speaker 2>can use waiting seasons, not as wasted seasons, but those

0:34:00.080 --> 0:34:05.840
<v Speaker 2>seasons can actually become if you choose. They choose, if

0:34:05.880 --> 0:34:08.720
<v Speaker 2>you choose to take the instrument that you have. Paul

0:34:08.760 --> 0:34:11.920
<v Speaker 2>proves that I can take a pin in a prison.

0:34:12.400 --> 0:34:14.680
<v Speaker 2>And what he wrote with a pin in a prison

0:34:15.080 --> 0:34:18.200
<v Speaker 2>is so powerful that we quote it from our pulpits today.

0:34:18.640 --> 0:34:21.120
<v Speaker 2>Isn't that amazing? I had looked at y'all in the

0:34:21.120 --> 0:34:22.240
<v Speaker 2>back very much, discermon.

0:34:22.520 --> 0:34:24.080
<v Speaker 1>Isn't that amazing.

0:34:25.040 --> 0:34:28.200
<v Speaker 2>That all the way from a prison cell, Paul could

0:34:28.200 --> 0:34:33.680
<v Speaker 2>write something so powerful that we would understand our faith

0:34:33.800 --> 0:34:38.800
<v Speaker 2>in Jesus through his words today his words, God used

0:34:39.160 --> 0:34:42.560
<v Speaker 2>his words. But now Paul is in a situation where

0:34:42.600 --> 0:34:44.000
<v Speaker 2>his words will not work.

0:34:44.760 --> 0:34:46.400
<v Speaker 1>But he wants to preach Jesus.

0:34:46.480 --> 0:34:50.760
<v Speaker 2>I know he does, because that's his mission, that's his purpose.

0:34:50.760 --> 0:34:54.439
<v Speaker 1>That's his calling, that's what he's good at. But how

0:34:54.440 --> 0:34:55.400
<v Speaker 1>do you preach.

0:34:55.200 --> 0:34:59.200
<v Speaker 2>Jesus to people who don't speak your same language. Nobody

0:34:59.239 --> 0:35:03.160
<v Speaker 2>on the ship's this language. That's why they called them barbarians.

0:35:03.640 --> 0:35:04.879
<v Speaker 1>So while Paul is.

0:35:04.840 --> 0:35:07.719
<v Speaker 2>Waiting to try to figure out why would God let

0:35:07.760 --> 0:35:10.520
<v Speaker 2>me crash here? Of all the islands, why would God

0:35:10.560 --> 0:35:12.000
<v Speaker 2>put me here? Now, this is where some of us

0:35:12.040 --> 0:35:14.080
<v Speaker 2>are not like Paul. We never stop and ask the

0:35:14.160 --> 0:35:19.000
<v Speaker 2>question God, why do you really have me here? We

0:35:19.120 --> 0:35:23.520
<v Speaker 2>just settled for the surface story. I'm here because I'm stupid.

0:35:25.800 --> 0:35:27.520
<v Speaker 2>But if you'd ever get past how stupid you were

0:35:27.520 --> 0:35:29.080
<v Speaker 2>to get there, maybe you could see how God wants

0:35:29.120 --> 0:35:31.520
<v Speaker 2>to use your stupid to keep somebody else from stupid

0:35:31.960 --> 0:35:35.920
<v Speaker 2>in the future. Look, you are the solution to somebody

0:35:35.920 --> 0:35:37.200
<v Speaker 2>else this future stupid.

0:35:40.239 --> 0:35:42.319
<v Speaker 1>I like my own preaching sometimes. I like what I

0:35:42.440 --> 0:35:46.120
<v Speaker 1>just said that helped me. I ran into somebody's car

0:35:46.200 --> 0:35:46.680
<v Speaker 1>last week.

0:35:48.520 --> 0:35:51.600
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, I ran right into it and they were parked

0:35:51.640 --> 0:35:54.880
<v Speaker 2>and I couldn't find them. And I don't want to

0:35:54.880 --> 0:35:56.960
<v Speaker 2>tell you this part, but I gotta be completely honest.

0:35:56.960 --> 0:36:01.640
<v Speaker 2>I looked at Holly, I was like, should we stay?

0:36:03.480 --> 0:36:04.600
<v Speaker 1>And this is what she said. Back.

0:36:04.640 --> 0:36:07.200
<v Speaker 2>Listen how sanctimonious she sounds. Listen how self right she said.

0:36:07.840 --> 0:36:13.960
<v Speaker 1>I would want a gentle review right now. Yes, you're

0:36:14.000 --> 0:36:14.760
<v Speaker 1>a man of God.

0:36:15.400 --> 0:36:17.120
<v Speaker 2>So I know what to do, so I couldn't find him.

0:36:17.160 --> 0:36:19.239
<v Speaker 2>So I put a note on the thing and some

0:36:19.320 --> 0:36:20.759
<v Speaker 2>money on the thing, and I put our number on

0:36:20.760 --> 0:36:21.560
<v Speaker 2>the thing, and we're.

0:36:21.400 --> 0:36:22.239
<v Speaker 1>Gonna have pay for it.

0:36:22.480 --> 0:36:24.759
<v Speaker 2>They A week went by and we didn't hear from him.

0:36:24.800 --> 0:36:28.839
<v Speaker 2>I'm like, prey, thank you Jesus rah.

0:36:29.360 --> 0:36:31.439
<v Speaker 1>I was singing. I was singing, the Lord would for vide.

0:36:32.040 --> 0:36:33.480
<v Speaker 1>But then they called and we got paid for it.

0:36:33.840 --> 0:36:38.040
<v Speaker 2>But but listen to this in this funny, I was

0:36:38.040 --> 0:36:40.319
<v Speaker 2>telling my brother in law we had dinner that night.

0:36:40.360 --> 0:36:43.440
<v Speaker 2>I said, I ran into a car today, and you

0:36:43.480 --> 0:36:45.839
<v Speaker 2>know he said, he said, huh, He said, how long

0:36:45.880 --> 0:36:47.040
<v Speaker 2>before you put it in a sermon?

0:36:49.760 --> 0:36:51.719
<v Speaker 1>I said, I hadn't even thought of that yet.

0:36:53.480 --> 0:36:56.680
<v Speaker 2>If I gotta pay for it, I might as well

0:36:56.719 --> 0:37:02.439
<v Speaker 2>preach it, because I know God can use when I.

0:37:02.360 --> 0:37:02.919
<v Speaker 1>Do it right.

0:37:04.160 --> 0:37:09.200
<v Speaker 2>But here I am looking at a stupid thing I did, realizing, huh.

0:37:09.280 --> 0:37:11.080
<v Speaker 2>I can use an example of a time that I

0:37:11.160 --> 0:37:13.560
<v Speaker 2>prayed for my kids. I can use an example of

0:37:13.560 --> 0:37:16.000
<v Speaker 2>a time that I drove safely but I just hit

0:37:16.040 --> 0:37:22.400
<v Speaker 2>somebody's fender. God can use this too. And I'm trying

0:37:22.440 --> 0:37:26.279
<v Speaker 2>to get you to see about that thing in your

0:37:26.320 --> 0:37:28.720
<v Speaker 2>life today bigger than a fender.

0:37:28.760 --> 0:37:32.120
<v Speaker 1>I get it. Some failures are bigger than fenders. I

0:37:32.160 --> 0:37:32.520
<v Speaker 1>get it.

0:37:33.000 --> 0:37:35.480
<v Speaker 2>But it is just an illustration to let you know

0:37:36.360 --> 0:37:39.120
<v Speaker 2>that the God that can make something out of nothing

0:37:39.280 --> 0:37:43.600
<v Speaker 2>ex Nilo, the God who can Barrah can also asah.

0:37:44.040 --> 0:37:47.160
<v Speaker 1>A sah is the Hebrew word in Genesis one sixteen.

0:37:48.239 --> 0:37:51.480
<v Speaker 2>And when it says that God created in Genesis one sixteen,

0:37:51.480 --> 0:37:54.480
<v Speaker 2>it doesn't mean to create something out of nothing.

0:37:55.080 --> 0:37:56.040
<v Speaker 1>It means to take.

0:37:56.040 --> 0:38:00.520
<v Speaker 2>Already existing things and make something that has ever been

0:38:00.640 --> 0:38:05.759
<v Speaker 2>seen out of something that already exists. So it's when

0:38:05.800 --> 0:38:09.160
<v Speaker 2>somebody says, don't think I don't and you say, think

0:38:09.200 --> 0:38:12.120
<v Speaker 2>about it, and you put their words with your melody,

0:38:12.120 --> 0:38:15.600
<v Speaker 2>with your chords and make a hit song. It's when

0:38:15.640 --> 0:38:19.239
<v Speaker 2>somebody walks in the studio that you don't even want

0:38:19.280 --> 0:38:23.279
<v Speaker 2>to see, and you say ever ever ever, and eventually

0:38:23.560 --> 0:38:28.560
<v Speaker 2>you have a stadium of people saying ever ever ever See.

0:38:28.640 --> 0:38:30.080
<v Speaker 1>Sometimes you don't get to.

0:38:30.080 --> 0:38:33.680
<v Speaker 2>The thing that God wants to do because you do

0:38:33.760 --> 0:38:38.120
<v Speaker 2>not recognize what has been brought into your life.

0:38:39.880 --> 0:38:43.520
<v Speaker 1>As a gift. Yeah, gifts.

0:38:45.160 --> 0:38:51.200
<v Speaker 2>Wait a minute, Paul got warmed by the fire and

0:38:51.239 --> 0:38:56.920
<v Speaker 2>then check this out, Hally, the same thing that.

0:38:56.880 --> 0:39:01.680
<v Speaker 1>Warmed him wounded him.

0:39:01.920 --> 0:39:04.920
<v Speaker 2>You have been warmed by a thing one minute and

0:39:04.960 --> 0:39:10.200
<v Speaker 2>wounded by it the next. The more warmth the relationship

0:39:10.200 --> 0:39:12.239
<v Speaker 2>gives you, the greater the potential it can wound you.

0:39:15.480 --> 0:39:19.239
<v Speaker 2>The more passion you have, the more susceptible to certain

0:39:19.280 --> 0:39:24.640
<v Speaker 2>temptations you will be, The more creative you are, the

0:39:24.680 --> 0:39:29.080
<v Speaker 2>more constrictions will try to keep you from creating. Because

0:39:29.080 --> 0:39:31.840
<v Speaker 2>that was a powerful thought for me, Chris. He's standing

0:39:31.920 --> 0:39:35.000
<v Speaker 2>by the fire and it's warming him. And then the

0:39:35.040 --> 0:39:38.640
<v Speaker 2>same fire that one moment was bringing him warmth brought

0:39:38.680 --> 0:39:41.200
<v Speaker 2>him a wound. Now let's read about the wound for

0:39:41.200 --> 0:39:43.120
<v Speaker 2>a moment, because we may never know. We may never

0:39:43.200 --> 0:39:48.120
<v Speaker 2>know if Paul was like doing too much by putting

0:39:48.120 --> 0:39:50.600
<v Speaker 2>wood on the fire. It sounds like the islanders had

0:39:50.600 --> 0:39:53.279
<v Speaker 2>it pretty well taken care of. And Paul's like, I'm

0:39:53.280 --> 0:39:54.200
<v Speaker 2>not just standing around.

0:39:54.200 --> 0:39:56.520
<v Speaker 1>This is ridiculous. I make this fire higher.

0:39:56.560 --> 0:39:58.799
<v Speaker 2>And see he's not native to the island, so he's

0:39:58.800 --> 0:40:00.560
<v Speaker 2>doing something that he doesn't naturally do.

0:40:00.680 --> 0:40:02.760
<v Speaker 1>Remember, he's good with words, not wood.

0:40:05.200 --> 0:40:07.120
<v Speaker 2>And sometimes when you step out of your comfort zone

0:40:07.120 --> 0:40:08.920
<v Speaker 2>and try to do something that you're not naturally good

0:40:08.960 --> 0:40:09.319
<v Speaker 2>at doing.

0:40:09.520 --> 0:40:12.160
<v Speaker 1>Look what happens in verse four, out.

0:40:11.840 --> 0:40:15.040
<v Speaker 2>Of the heat came a viper a snake, And the

0:40:15.080 --> 0:40:18.360
<v Speaker 2>Bible says that I fastened itself on his hand. And

0:40:18.480 --> 0:40:20.560
<v Speaker 2>verse four is the one that I really want you

0:40:20.600 --> 0:40:23.320
<v Speaker 2>to look at. When the islanders saw the snake hanging

0:40:23.360 --> 0:40:27.080
<v Speaker 2>from his hand, they said to each other, who said

0:40:28.120 --> 0:40:30.520
<v Speaker 2>They said to each other, this.

0:40:30.480 --> 0:40:32.880
<v Speaker 1>Man must be a murderer.

0:40:33.560 --> 0:40:37.080
<v Speaker 2>Now what we know, because we've already read to the

0:40:37.239 --> 0:40:40.600
<v Speaker 2>end of this story, is that the one they're calling

0:40:40.640 --> 0:40:44.400
<v Speaker 2>a murderer is actually going to heal all of their sicknesses.

0:40:45.920 --> 0:40:49.320
<v Speaker 2>So the man they're calling a murderer is actually carrying

0:40:49.360 --> 0:40:54.759
<v Speaker 2>their medicine. Did my mic cut out? I thought, you

0:40:54.800 --> 0:40:58.680
<v Speaker 2>say amen to that. The one that they were calling

0:40:58.719 --> 0:41:02.000
<v Speaker 2>a murderer, the one that they were saying this is

0:41:02.640 --> 0:41:06.399
<v Speaker 2>a proof of divine dissavor, the one that they saw

0:41:06.480 --> 0:41:09.319
<v Speaker 2>the snake. Because track with me. He crashes on an

0:41:09.360 --> 0:41:11.399
<v Speaker 2>island that God has called him to, but nobody knows

0:41:11.440 --> 0:41:14.719
<v Speaker 2>that yet. He's building a fire, and out of the

0:41:14.760 --> 0:41:17.080
<v Speaker 2>fire as he's building it, he gets bit. By the

0:41:17.120 --> 0:41:21.600
<v Speaker 2>way bonus point, you can't build anything without getting bit.

0:41:23.560 --> 0:41:24.000
<v Speaker 1>Anything.

0:41:25.520 --> 0:41:27.680
<v Speaker 2>So if you ever want to start a church and

0:41:27.719 --> 0:41:29.440
<v Speaker 2>you want to build a church, you're gonna get bit.

0:41:30.560 --> 0:41:34.800
<v Speaker 1>Sheep bite, not y'all.

0:41:36.719 --> 0:41:39.200
<v Speaker 2>You want to build a business, you're gonna get bit.

0:41:40.320 --> 0:41:43.640
<v Speaker 2>You wanna build a family, you're gonna get bit. You

0:41:43.680 --> 0:41:45.480
<v Speaker 2>ever heard the phrase bite the hand.

0:41:45.239 --> 0:41:45.799
<v Speaker 1>That feeds you.

0:41:46.840 --> 0:41:50.239
<v Speaker 2>That's what it means that whatever you try to build, Now,

0:41:50.440 --> 0:41:53.239
<v Speaker 2>if you sit back and don't do anything for God,

0:41:53.480 --> 0:41:55.759
<v Speaker 2>if Paul doesn't build a fire, he doesn't get bit.

0:41:57.360 --> 0:41:59.640
<v Speaker 2>But if he doesn't get wounded, he doesn't get warmed.

0:42:00.400 --> 0:42:02.279
<v Speaker 2>So what are you gonna do. Spend the rest of

0:42:02.320 --> 0:42:05.440
<v Speaker 2>your life just trying to avoid being injured, trying to

0:42:05.520 --> 0:42:09.200
<v Speaker 2>avoid being disappointed, try to avoid getting your heart broken.

0:42:12.719 --> 0:42:14.480
<v Speaker 2>He's like, man, I wish I could preach to these people,

0:42:14.480 --> 0:42:17.240
<v Speaker 2>I could lead them all to Jesus. I can't preach,

0:42:17.280 --> 0:42:19.600
<v Speaker 2>So let me throw some fire on here. And then

0:42:19.680 --> 0:42:22.080
<v Speaker 2>all of a sudden, because he is not native to

0:42:22.160 --> 0:42:23.840
<v Speaker 2>this land, here comes a snake.

0:42:23.880 --> 0:42:25.400
<v Speaker 1>He doesn't really know to look out for snakes.

0:42:25.400 --> 0:42:27.640
<v Speaker 2>He's not from around these parts, and snake jumps up

0:42:27.800 --> 0:42:30.439
<v Speaker 2>bites him on his hand. And now the Bible says

0:42:30.480 --> 0:42:32.400
<v Speaker 2>they all started calling him a murderer for though he

0:42:32.560 --> 0:42:33.839
<v Speaker 2>escaped from the sea, the.

0:42:33.800 --> 0:42:36.319
<v Speaker 1>Godess Justice has not allowed him to live.

0:42:36.719 --> 0:42:38.560
<v Speaker 2>Y'all, I need to slow down and tell you that

0:42:38.680 --> 0:42:42.600
<v Speaker 2>anytime you try to interpret your identity through an event.

0:42:42.600 --> 0:42:51.160
<v Speaker 1>You miss see it. The snake bit he must be

0:42:51.200 --> 0:42:51.800
<v Speaker 1>a murderer.

0:42:52.520 --> 0:42:56.320
<v Speaker 2>A bad thing happened. I must be a bad person. No,

0:42:56.840 --> 0:43:00.400
<v Speaker 2>you made a stupid decision. God, can you stupid? And

0:43:00.440 --> 0:43:02.560
<v Speaker 2>there is still time for you to take what you

0:43:02.719 --> 0:43:05.960
<v Speaker 2>learned and throw another log on the fire and see

0:43:06.000 --> 0:43:12.319
<v Speaker 2>God use your life. And in verse five, I think

0:43:12.360 --> 0:43:14.799
<v Speaker 2>Paul preaches one of the most powerful sermons that he

0:43:14.840 --> 0:43:19.399
<v Speaker 2>ever preached, and he didn't say a word.

0:43:21.320 --> 0:43:23.359
<v Speaker 1>The one who changed the world.

0:43:23.040 --> 0:43:28.040
<v Speaker 2>With his words preached a powerful sermon because see when

0:43:28.040 --> 0:43:29.960
<v Speaker 2>they saw the snake on his hand, they saw it

0:43:30.000 --> 0:43:30.840
<v Speaker 2>as a sign.

0:43:30.600 --> 0:43:32.200
<v Speaker 1>Ooh, this is a bad guy.

0:43:32.320 --> 0:43:35.919
<v Speaker 2>God lets bad things happen to bad people. When Paul

0:43:35.960 --> 0:43:37.879
<v Speaker 2>saw the snake on his hand, he could have thought this,

0:43:38.920 --> 0:43:41.880
<v Speaker 2>of all of the two hundred and seventy five prisoners

0:43:41.880 --> 0:43:47.640
<v Speaker 2>on this ship who actually did something bad, You're gonna

0:43:47.719 --> 0:43:50.520
<v Speaker 2>let all these bumps that aren't even help him build

0:43:50.560 --> 0:43:54.400
<v Speaker 2>the fire, and you're gonna let the snake. Have you

0:43:54.400 --> 0:44:01.680
<v Speaker 2>ever had a moment like really, God, really, they get

0:44:01.760 --> 0:44:10.160
<v Speaker 2>to get married before I do them, I can understand them.

0:44:10.200 --> 0:44:12.759
<v Speaker 2>But then the snake bites and Paul could go this,

0:44:14.680 --> 0:44:17.640
<v Speaker 2>this is how you reward me for surviving the shipwreck.

0:44:18.960 --> 0:44:21.520
<v Speaker 2>This is how you affirmed me for preaching the gospel.

0:44:21.840 --> 0:44:25.160
<v Speaker 2>This is how you want to use me. See, I

0:44:25.200 --> 0:44:27.799
<v Speaker 2>think the reason Paul got bit by a snake. I'm

0:44:27.840 --> 0:44:32.439
<v Speaker 2>a little controversial on this. I don't think God made

0:44:32.520 --> 0:44:33.479
<v Speaker 2>the snake bite Paul.

0:44:34.840 --> 0:44:36.160
<v Speaker 1>I don't think the devil did either.

0:44:37.360 --> 0:44:43.720
<v Speaker 2>I think the snake bit Paul because snakes bite.

0:44:44.520 --> 0:44:46.279
<v Speaker 1>Okay, I know that's real deep.

0:44:49.960 --> 0:44:52.240
<v Speaker 2>But what you got to remember while we're so busy

0:44:52.280 --> 0:44:56.400
<v Speaker 2>trying to figure out why me? And why this? And

0:44:56.440 --> 0:44:58.319
<v Speaker 2>when are you gonna get me off this island? God,

0:44:58.600 --> 0:45:01.160
<v Speaker 2>I don't believe, and I think you could substantiate it

0:45:01.239 --> 0:45:03.960
<v Speaker 2>from the New Testament. I don't believe that Paul was

0:45:04.040 --> 0:45:07.320
<v Speaker 2>just waiting to get off the island. I believe he

0:45:07.400 --> 0:45:09.799
<v Speaker 2>showed up with the question, why am I really here?

0:45:10.960 --> 0:45:13.759
<v Speaker 2>Why am I really on this job? Why am I

0:45:13.840 --> 0:45:17.480
<v Speaker 2>really in this season? Why am I really having this conflict?

0:45:18.280 --> 0:45:20.640
<v Speaker 2>And not only why, but God, how do you want

0:45:20.680 --> 0:45:21.920
<v Speaker 2>to use this?

0:45:22.520 --> 0:45:24.520
<v Speaker 1>Say this? Now?

0:45:24.640 --> 0:45:27.640
<v Speaker 2>It's one thing to want God to use your words

0:45:28.680 --> 0:45:33.080
<v Speaker 2>Paul was used to that. This was different because when

0:45:33.080 --> 0:45:36.640
<v Speaker 2>the snake bit him, he shook it off into the

0:45:36.640 --> 0:45:42.200
<v Speaker 2>fire and suffered no ill effects. Isn't that amazing that

0:45:42.280 --> 0:45:44.960
<v Speaker 2>Paul wanted a way to show them how great God was.

0:45:46.680 --> 0:45:47.240
<v Speaker 1>And he knew.

0:45:47.280 --> 0:45:52.040
<v Speaker 2>God knew that Paul couldn't speak their language, but he

0:45:52.120 --> 0:45:57.480
<v Speaker 2>knew that everybody on that island could speak snake, because

0:45:57.560 --> 0:46:01.400
<v Speaker 2>everybody on the island. I'm about to help you understand

0:46:01.440 --> 0:46:04.080
<v Speaker 2>how some of the stuff you're going through it's not

0:46:04.239 --> 0:46:07.440
<v Speaker 2>something that God did, but is something that He wants

0:46:07.480 --> 0:46:12.480
<v Speaker 2>to use. And the sooner you decide God can use

0:46:13.040 --> 0:46:18.280
<v Speaker 2>this too, say it. God can use this too. That's

0:46:18.320 --> 0:46:21.640
<v Speaker 2>the whole lesson today. If I've confused you talking about

0:46:21.719 --> 0:46:25.759
<v Speaker 2>barbarians and boards and winds, and if I've confused you

0:46:25.880 --> 0:46:29.960
<v Speaker 2>talking about snakes and prison cells and pins and pulpits,

0:46:30.160 --> 0:46:32.759
<v Speaker 2>if all of this rhetoric has done nothing but to

0:46:32.840 --> 0:46:35.640
<v Speaker 2>confuse you, I want you to realize at the time

0:46:35.719 --> 0:46:39.279
<v Speaker 2>when Paul could not use words to preach, God gave

0:46:39.360 --> 0:46:44.120
<v Speaker 2>him something that speaks louder than words, and his wounds

0:46:44.640 --> 0:46:47.040
<v Speaker 2>spoke louder than his words.

0:46:48.719 --> 0:46:50.840
<v Speaker 1>Because when they saw him get bit.

0:46:52.320 --> 0:46:56.680
<v Speaker 2>And he shook the snake off, and something bad happened.

0:46:57.120 --> 0:47:00.640
<v Speaker 2>But after something bad happened, Paul did not debate with

0:47:00.719 --> 0:47:04.120
<v Speaker 2>the snake. He learned that from Genesis chapter three, you

0:47:04.120 --> 0:47:05.160
<v Speaker 2>don't talk to snakes.

0:47:06.160 --> 0:47:07.720
<v Speaker 1>I said, you don't talk to snakes.

0:47:08.600 --> 0:47:11.280
<v Speaker 2>You don't speak the stuff that's beneath you.

0:47:11.280 --> 0:47:12.160
<v Speaker 3>You don't argue with.

0:47:12.200 --> 0:47:15.239
<v Speaker 1>Stuff that's trying to kill you. You don't reason your.

0:47:15.120 --> 0:47:18.840
<v Speaker 2>Way out of shame and condemnation. You shake that stuff off.

0:47:19.640 --> 0:47:22.720
<v Speaker 2>So sometimes Paul would use his words and he would speak,

0:47:22.920 --> 0:47:25.400
<v Speaker 2>and people would be saved, and he would speak and

0:47:25.440 --> 0:47:27.919
<v Speaker 2>people would be healed, and he would speak and people

0:47:27.960 --> 0:47:32.080
<v Speaker 2>would understand. And it's wonderful that God used Paul's words

0:47:32.080 --> 0:47:35.640
<v Speaker 2>in such an unusual way, with such an unusual gift.

0:47:35.680 --> 0:47:38.720
<v Speaker 2>But now he is in a situation where his words

0:47:38.760 --> 0:47:39.640
<v Speaker 2>will not work.

0:47:40.360 --> 0:47:42.560
<v Speaker 1>So if you have faith to believe it, here's what

0:47:42.760 --> 0:47:46.760
<v Speaker 1>I think. The text proves that God knew that of all.

0:47:46.560 --> 0:47:50.479
<v Speaker 2>The other prisoners on that island, there was only one

0:47:50.640 --> 0:47:54.239
<v Speaker 2>out of two hundred and seventy six who still had

0:47:54.320 --> 0:47:57.799
<v Speaker 2>enough faith after the shipwreck that if I let this.

0:47:57.840 --> 0:48:00.560
<v Speaker 1>Snake bite him, I'm not going to send a snake him.

0:48:00.760 --> 0:48:04.160
<v Speaker 2>Life just happens I'm not saying God is punishing you

0:48:04.320 --> 0:48:07.960
<v Speaker 2>or God caused it. It doesn't matter, because even if

0:48:08.000 --> 0:48:08.960
<v Speaker 2>God didn't do.

0:48:09.080 --> 0:48:13.840
<v Speaker 1>It, he can use it. He can use it. He

0:48:13.880 --> 0:48:17.120
<v Speaker 1>can use this too. High five three people say he

0:48:17.200 --> 0:48:18.120
<v Speaker 1>can use this too.

0:48:19.719 --> 0:48:21.560
<v Speaker 2>Come on, take your left hand in high five of

0:48:21.600 --> 0:48:22.879
<v Speaker 2>them say he can use this too.

0:48:24.560 --> 0:48:27.160
<v Speaker 1>I read so many of Paul's words. Oh, I'm sorry,

0:48:27.160 --> 0:48:30.360
<v Speaker 1>that was sloppy. I can't go out like that. I

0:48:30.480 --> 0:48:31.640
<v Speaker 1>have a nightmare about that.

0:48:31.719 --> 0:48:33.880
<v Speaker 3>We gotta get at least three more to make up

0:48:33.920 --> 0:48:37.200
<v Speaker 3>for that bad one. You ever have a bad DAP

0:48:37.200 --> 0:48:40.120
<v Speaker 3>and it just haunts the rest of your life three

0:48:40.200 --> 0:48:42.560
<v Speaker 3>years later, having flashbacks thinking about it.

0:48:42.600 --> 0:48:43.920
<v Speaker 1>Don't think I don't think about it.

0:48:44.400 --> 0:48:50.640
<v Speaker 2>And Paul took that snake and he said, Oh, this, this, this, this.

0:48:51.360 --> 0:48:54.120
<v Speaker 2>I've been asking God for a way to reach these

0:48:54.160 --> 0:48:57.280
<v Speaker 2>people since we got on this island. I've been asking

0:48:57.320 --> 0:48:59.839
<v Speaker 2>God why he put me here. I've been asking God

0:49:00.000 --> 0:49:02.480
<v Speaker 2>to use me in this season of my life. I've

0:49:02.480 --> 0:49:05.239
<v Speaker 2>been asking God to show me a purpose. I've been

0:49:05.280 --> 0:49:08.239
<v Speaker 2>asking God to turn it around. I've been asking God

0:49:08.280 --> 0:49:11.440
<v Speaker 2>to make this situation new. I've been asking God to

0:49:11.520 --> 0:49:13.520
<v Speaker 2>reveal to me why it's been so hard.

0:49:16.360 --> 0:49:18.120
<v Speaker 1>So this must not be a snake.

0:49:19.080 --> 0:49:23.000
<v Speaker 2>This must be a microphone, because I'm about to preach

0:49:23.120 --> 0:49:29.239
<v Speaker 2>this gospel of the power of God. Oh yeah, I'm happy. Now,

0:49:30.360 --> 0:49:34.440
<v Speaker 2>high five your neighbors say this too. I know you

0:49:34.520 --> 0:49:37.319
<v Speaker 2>want God to use you in a certain way. I

0:49:37.400 --> 0:49:39.400
<v Speaker 2>know you want him to get you there on the ship.

0:49:39.800 --> 0:49:42.200
<v Speaker 2>I know you don't want the business to fail. I

0:49:42.239 --> 0:49:44.320
<v Speaker 2>know you don't want your kid to flunk the class.

0:49:44.680 --> 0:49:46.640
<v Speaker 2>I know you don't want to carry the illness in

0:49:46.680 --> 0:49:50.560
<v Speaker 2>your body. I'm just saying that snakes bite because snake's bike.

0:49:52.800 --> 0:49:58.680
<v Speaker 1>But God knows how to turn a snake into a sign.

0:50:01.320 --> 0:50:08.600
<v Speaker 2>Oh God, blah blah blah. Now a few days later,

0:50:08.600 --> 0:50:11.880
<v Speaker 2>Paul gets a dinner invitation after he shook that snake

0:50:11.920 --> 0:50:15.319
<v Speaker 2>into the fire. Everybody you walk past, it's coming in

0:50:15.320 --> 0:50:16.480
<v Speaker 2>for the eleven thirty today.

0:50:16.600 --> 0:50:19.440
<v Speaker 1>When they walk past you, just do that, give him

0:50:19.480 --> 0:50:22.600
<v Speaker 1>a little preview. And when they look at you kind

0:50:22.600 --> 0:50:25.279
<v Speaker 1>of funny or they want to fight you, just look

0:50:25.320 --> 0:50:29.040
<v Speaker 1>at him. Keep walking. Come on, you got some stuff

0:50:29.080 --> 0:50:31.880
<v Speaker 1>you need to shake today. You got some stuff you

0:50:31.880 --> 0:50:34.400
<v Speaker 1>need to shake today, and when you do, it's going

0:50:34.480 --> 0:50:34.719
<v Speaker 1>to be.

0:50:34.680 --> 0:50:37.840
<v Speaker 2>The loudest sermon that your life ever preached, and you

0:50:37.880 --> 0:50:38.800
<v Speaker 2>will begin to discover.

0:50:39.160 --> 0:50:40.160
<v Speaker 1>I'm telling you right now.

0:50:40.360 --> 0:50:42.880
<v Speaker 2>If Paul would have started using his speaking gift in

0:50:42.920 --> 0:50:44.879
<v Speaker 2>this moment to argue with the people who were saying

0:50:44.920 --> 0:50:47.800
<v Speaker 2>he was a murderer, he would have died in that

0:50:47.840 --> 0:50:49.880
<v Speaker 2>crazy off. He would have used his primary gift, it

0:50:49.920 --> 0:50:54.000
<v Speaker 2>would have gotten him killed. His primary gift was words.

0:50:54.000 --> 0:50:57.040
<v Speaker 2>But God said, your words won't work in this situation.

0:51:00.080 --> 0:51:01.759
<v Speaker 2>So I need to trust you enough to give you

0:51:01.800 --> 0:51:06.600
<v Speaker 2>a wound. Because when God really wants to reveal who

0:51:06.600 --> 0:51:11.320
<v Speaker 2>he is, he gives a wound, and then the decision comes,

0:51:11.960 --> 0:51:17.520
<v Speaker 2>will you use the wound. The snake didn't shake Paul's faith.

0:51:18.680 --> 0:51:24.440
<v Speaker 2>Paul's faith shook that snake. He knew which.

0:51:24.200 --> 0:51:28.600
<v Speaker 1>One could be bit and not be bitter. And I

0:51:28.680 --> 0:51:31.000
<v Speaker 1>believe that for some of the.

0:51:30.920 --> 0:51:33.040
<v Speaker 2>Precious people that God has given me to preach to,

0:51:34.520 --> 0:51:37.719
<v Speaker 2>the miracle isn't that you didn't get bit, It's that

0:51:37.760 --> 0:51:38.600
<v Speaker 2>you didn't get bitter.

0:51:45.320 --> 0:51:46.120
<v Speaker 1>Oh you've been bit.

0:51:48.200 --> 0:51:50.280
<v Speaker 2>Oh so when you were worshiping today you were lifting

0:51:50.280 --> 0:51:55.919
<v Speaker 2>bit hands. I almost didn't notice. I almost didn't see

0:51:55.920 --> 0:51:56.680
<v Speaker 2>your bite.

0:51:56.680 --> 0:51:56.919
<v Speaker 1>Mark.

0:52:01.440 --> 0:52:10.520
<v Speaker 2>This dude named Publius almost named you that son. This

0:52:10.600 --> 0:52:16.520
<v Speaker 2>dude Publius, the Headman on the island. The Headman on

0:52:16.560 --> 0:52:21.560
<v Speaker 2>the Island a few days later says, bring me a

0:52:21.560 --> 0:52:25.160
<v Speaker 2>prisoner to have dinner with me. No, no, no, no,

0:52:25.920 --> 0:52:28.719
<v Speaker 2>that's not what important people you think. Publius said, bring

0:52:29.080 --> 0:52:32.120
<v Speaker 2>me a bring me a killer, bring me a prisoner.

0:52:32.120 --> 0:52:34.399
<v Speaker 2>No no, no, don't worry about following me the light guys,

0:52:34.400 --> 0:52:35.040
<v Speaker 2>that'll be distracted.

0:52:35.120 --> 0:52:39.520
<v Speaker 1>Just let me walk, he said, bring me bring me

0:52:39.560 --> 0:52:40.040
<v Speaker 1>a preacher.

0:52:40.120 --> 0:52:42.760
<v Speaker 2>No, no, no, he didn't know Paul was a preacher

0:52:43.080 --> 0:52:44.760
<v Speaker 2>because they couldn't understand his language.

0:52:45.960 --> 0:52:50.640
<v Speaker 1>But he spoke snake. He said, there was a guy

0:52:50.680 --> 0:52:55.239
<v Speaker 1>who got bid and didn't die. No, it was crazy,

0:52:55.360 --> 0:52:56.040
<v Speaker 1>it was be a.

0:52:56.160 --> 0:53:03.120
<v Speaker 2>He just just shut be a bold and assertive. He

0:53:03.320 --> 0:53:07.120
<v Speaker 2>just shook that thing right off, and he just kept

0:53:07.160 --> 0:53:09.799
<v Speaker 2>right on standing there. And pooblic said, I want to

0:53:09.800 --> 0:53:11.959
<v Speaker 2>have dinner with him. Now, let me ask a question.

0:53:12.920 --> 0:53:15.160
<v Speaker 2>If Paul didn't survive that snake, you think he would

0:53:15.200 --> 0:53:16.040
<v Speaker 2>have gotten that invitation.

0:53:18.920 --> 0:53:20.240
<v Speaker 1>So what is it that you've been.

0:53:20.120 --> 0:53:26.080
<v Speaker 2>Through that God gave you that your bike marks become

0:53:26.080 --> 0:53:27.720
<v Speaker 2>a passport to your purpose?

0:53:30.160 --> 0:53:35.560
<v Speaker 1>Because look, I got to stop in a minute.

0:53:35.560 --> 0:53:38.440
<v Speaker 2>Can I give you a little more, just a little

0:53:38.440 --> 0:53:40.480
<v Speaker 2>more if you've got to leave, I understand, But this

0:53:40.600 --> 0:53:43.279
<v Speaker 2>is for the ones who have been bit. And you're

0:53:43.320 --> 0:53:45.120
<v Speaker 2>not just in a hurry to get off the island,

0:53:45.160 --> 0:53:46.719
<v Speaker 2>and you're not just in a hurry to get out

0:53:46.719 --> 0:53:48.480
<v Speaker 2>of church, and you're not just in a hurry to

0:53:48.520 --> 0:53:50.360
<v Speaker 2>get back to Hell, and you're not just in a

0:53:50.520 --> 0:53:52.920
<v Speaker 2>hurry to get back to fighting around your house about

0:53:52.920 --> 0:53:53.640
<v Speaker 2>every little thing.

0:53:53.960 --> 0:53:56.080
<v Speaker 1>Don't you want to know why you're fighting at the house.

0:53:58.880 --> 0:54:02.600
<v Speaker 2>Paul who was a great order, Paul who was an expositor,

0:54:02.640 --> 0:54:06.279
<v Speaker 2>Paul who was a prolific author, Paul who was a philosopher.

0:54:06.360 --> 0:54:09.200
<v Speaker 1>All these things happened through his words. But you know

0:54:09.239 --> 0:54:10.000
<v Speaker 1>what Luke.

0:54:09.800 --> 0:54:13.320
<v Speaker 2>The medical doctor said about Paul in Acts, chapter nineteen,

0:54:13.400 --> 0:54:13.960
<v Speaker 2>verse eleven.

0:54:14.160 --> 0:54:16.200
<v Speaker 1>I just remembered this scripture.

0:54:15.760 --> 0:54:18.000
<v Speaker 2>This week when I was studying, because I thought about

0:54:18.000 --> 0:54:21.600
<v Speaker 2>how the snake bit Paul in his hand, and then

0:54:21.600 --> 0:54:24.480
<v Speaker 2>he healed a man in a house with his hand

0:54:24.520 --> 0:54:27.800
<v Speaker 2>that had been bit, and I thought that was so amazing,

0:54:27.840 --> 0:54:30.319
<v Speaker 2>and I reflected on it, and I meditated on it,

0:54:30.360 --> 0:54:32.040
<v Speaker 2>and I said, well, what do I tell them about that?

0:54:32.680 --> 0:54:34.879
<v Speaker 2>And he took me to Acts nineteen, verse eleven. Look

0:54:34.880 --> 0:54:39.480
<v Speaker 2>at this verse, Luke says, now, God worked unusual miracles

0:54:39.520 --> 0:54:44.680
<v Speaker 2>by the hands of Paul. By the what what did

0:54:44.680 --> 0:54:46.560
<v Speaker 2>the snake bite?

0:54:48.280 --> 0:54:50.960
<v Speaker 1>The enemy always bites you where God has blessed you.

0:54:55.239 --> 0:54:55.399
<v Speaker 2>Too?

0:54:56.200 --> 0:54:58.000
<v Speaker 1>You too, you too.

0:55:00.239 --> 0:55:04.560
<v Speaker 2>The fire and the fangs came from the same place.

0:55:05.680 --> 0:55:09.560
<v Speaker 2>The pain and the purpose came from the same place.

0:55:10.440 --> 0:55:13.800
<v Speaker 2>The hand that God used this is a healing hand.

0:55:14.200 --> 0:55:16.480
<v Speaker 2>This is a hand that when Paul laid his hands

0:55:16.480 --> 0:55:18.239
<v Speaker 2>on the believers.

0:55:17.760 --> 0:55:19.480
<v Speaker 1>They received the Holy Spirit.

0:55:19.880 --> 0:55:24.319
<v Speaker 2>God worked unusual miracles through the hands of Paul. And

0:55:24.440 --> 0:55:27.160
<v Speaker 2>what I am learning the longer that I spend time

0:55:27.360 --> 0:55:33.279
<v Speaker 2>in this human body is that wherever God has blessed you,

0:55:33.280 --> 0:55:34.160
<v Speaker 2>you will be bitten.

0:55:35.880 --> 0:55:36.919
<v Speaker 1>But listen to me good.

0:55:38.600 --> 0:55:43.920
<v Speaker 3>The biggest breakthroughs happen after the biggest bites.

0:55:45.920 --> 0:55:46.560
<v Speaker 1>I've learned that.

0:55:47.680 --> 0:55:50.640
<v Speaker 2>It took me a while to learn that because I

0:55:50.719 --> 0:55:52.480
<v Speaker 2>used to think this isn't fair. I used to think

0:55:52.520 --> 0:55:54.040
<v Speaker 2>I want this to go away. I used to think

0:55:54.040 --> 0:55:56.280
<v Speaker 2>this shouldn't have happened to me. I used to stand

0:55:56.280 --> 0:55:59.360
<v Speaker 2>there and argue with snakes. I used to try to

0:55:59.400 --> 0:56:01.480
<v Speaker 2>prove stuff people. I used to try to think that

0:56:01.520 --> 0:56:03.640
<v Speaker 2>I needed to get to another place. I used to

0:56:03.680 --> 0:56:05.400
<v Speaker 2>think I don't want to be on Malta. I'm supposed

0:56:05.440 --> 0:56:07.760
<v Speaker 2>to be in Rome. I used to curse the boards

0:56:07.800 --> 0:56:09.920
<v Speaker 2>because I missed the boat. I used to live in

0:56:09.960 --> 0:56:12.560
<v Speaker 2>the nostalgia of the past because I couldn't embrace the

0:56:12.640 --> 0:56:13.880
<v Speaker 2>uncertainty of the now.

0:56:14.840 --> 0:56:16.040
<v Speaker 1>But then I learned.

0:56:15.719 --> 0:56:20.320
<v Speaker 2>That that when I get bit, it is God marking

0:56:20.719 --> 0:56:25.439
<v Speaker 2>that hand that he wants to use. So if your

0:56:25.880 --> 0:56:30.440
<v Speaker 2>hand is going to be extraordinarily used by God.

0:56:30.480 --> 0:56:33.560
<v Speaker 1>If it's going to be unusually.

0:56:32.760 --> 0:56:37.560
<v Speaker 2>Used by God, the hand that has been unusually blessed

0:56:37.960 --> 0:56:43.040
<v Speaker 2>will be unusually bitten. And Paul shows us and serves

0:56:43.160 --> 0:56:46.520
<v Speaker 2>us in this moment to help us understand what to

0:56:46.600 --> 0:56:50.120
<v Speaker 2>do in those moments where it's not where you planned

0:56:50.200 --> 0:56:53.120
<v Speaker 2>or what you prayed for. To look at the thing

0:56:53.160 --> 0:56:56.640
<v Speaker 2>that is hanging on your hand and confessed by faith

0:56:56.840 --> 0:56:57.760
<v Speaker 2>you ready.

0:56:58.320 --> 0:57:12.719
<v Speaker 1>God can use this too. God put it in the chat.

0:57:13.320 --> 0:57:15.600
<v Speaker 1>God can use this too.

0:57:17.960 --> 0:57:22.240
<v Speaker 2>What the enemy meant to kill you, God can use

0:57:23.320 --> 0:57:27.280
<v Speaker 2>to develop you. What the enemy meant to burn you.

0:57:28.360 --> 0:57:31.760
<v Speaker 2>God can use to free you. What the enemy meant

0:57:31.760 --> 0:57:35.680
<v Speaker 2>to take you out. God can use to bring you in.

0:57:36.520 --> 0:57:41.280
<v Speaker 2>God can use this. God can use this too. He

0:57:41.320 --> 0:57:44.880
<v Speaker 2>has a history of doing it. God likes to use

0:57:44.960 --> 0:57:47.840
<v Speaker 2>boards to bring people safely to shore. God likes to

0:57:47.920 --> 0:57:51.680
<v Speaker 2>use barbarians to build fire. God likes to use snakes

0:57:52.400 --> 0:57:55.800
<v Speaker 2>to heal eyelids. So I don't know what it is

0:57:56.840 --> 0:58:02.320
<v Speaker 2>you're this, but I know God can use this too.

0:58:03.800 --> 0:58:08.200
<v Speaker 2>The God who used Paul's words also used Paul's wounds.

0:58:10.000 --> 0:58:13.280
<v Speaker 2>Don't be so quick to categorize the things in your life.

0:58:13.400 --> 0:58:16.680
<v Speaker 2>You can never really understand what it is until you

0:58:16.720 --> 0:58:20.520
<v Speaker 2>see how God uses it. And there are some snakes

0:58:20.520 --> 0:58:23.840
<v Speaker 2>that need to go back in the fire today. There

0:58:23.840 --> 0:58:26.960
<v Speaker 2>are some beliefs, there are some things that you have

0:58:27.040 --> 0:58:30.360
<v Speaker 2>allowed to latch onto your life.

0:58:29.440 --> 0:58:30.920
<v Speaker 1>That we just need to let go of in the

0:58:30.960 --> 0:58:31.760
<v Speaker 1>presence of God.

0:58:32.800 --> 0:58:35.880
<v Speaker 2>Because if you stand there and fight about it, if

0:58:35.880 --> 0:58:38.600
<v Speaker 2>you stand there and blame about it, if you stand

0:58:38.640 --> 0:58:40.880
<v Speaker 2>there and hurt about it, and just hurt about it

0:58:41.000 --> 0:58:43.840
<v Speaker 2>and heard about it, your hands were not made for hurting.

0:58:43.880 --> 0:58:48.080
<v Speaker 1>They were made for healing. And there is a next

0:58:48.160 --> 0:58:53.120
<v Speaker 1>thing that God is calling you to do. Thank you

0:58:53.160 --> 0:58:53.920
<v Speaker 1>for joining us.

0:58:54.240 --> 0:58:56.680
<v Speaker 2>Special thanks to those of you who give generously to

0:58:56.760 --> 0:59:00.280
<v Speaker 2>this ministry. Is because of you that this ministry is possible.

0:59:00.680 --> 0:59:02.880
<v Speaker 2>You can click the link in the description to give

0:59:02.960 --> 0:59:07.080
<v Speaker 2>now or visit Elevationchurch dot org. Slash podcast for more

0:59:07.160 --> 0:59:10.920
<v Speaker 2>information and if you enjoyed the podcast, you can subscribe.

0:59:11.240 --> 0:59:12.560
<v Speaker 1>You can share it with your friends.

0:59:12.840 --> 0:59:15.120
<v Speaker 2>You can click the share button, take a screenshot and

0:59:15.160 --> 0:59:17.280
<v Speaker 2>share it on your social stories and tag us at

0:59:17.320 --> 0:59:24.880
<v Speaker 2>Elevation Church. Thanks again for listening. God bless you.