WEBVTT - I'm Annoyed (Robert Madu) 0:00:00.640 --> 0:00:05.040 Are you glad to be in the House of God today? 0:00:06.480 --> 0:00:08.239 I want to do something real quick. But my name 0:00:08.280 --> 0:00:12.920 is Robert Madou. I bring your greetings from the great 0:00:12.920 --> 0:00:17.040 country of Texas. And I didn't lift up my hand 0:00:17.079 --> 0:00:18.720 when they said first time guest. I am not a 0:00:18.720 --> 0:00:21.360 guest here. I'm a part of the Elevation family. And 0:00:23.360 --> 0:00:26.560 I love this church. I love this church. I love 0:00:26.600 --> 0:00:30.120 this church because it is a true reflection of your pastors, 0:00:30.400 --> 0:00:32.159 who are dear friends, and my wife and I. And 0:00:32.200 --> 0:00:34.279 before I say anything else, I want us to give 0:00:34.360 --> 0:00:36.880 honor to where honors do. Help me. Thank God for 0:00:37.000 --> 0:00:40.440 Pastor Stephen thirty, for Pastor Holly. Come on, you uncle, 0:00:40.520 --> 0:00:42.120 do better than that. Would you let them know how 0:00:42.200 --> 0:00:45.400 much you love them? Come on, would you let them 0:00:45.440 --> 0:00:54.640 know how much you appreciate him. Pastor Stephen is my brother. 0:00:54.880 --> 0:00:57.840 He is my brother from another mother. And I'm just 0:00:57.920 --> 0:00:59.760 thankful for him. There's so many things I could say 0:00:59.760 --> 0:01:02.720 about him, his brilliant mind to declare the word of 0:01:02.760 --> 0:01:04.880 the Lord, the incredible songs that he's written. But I'm 0:01:04.920 --> 0:01:07.480 just thankful that he is a brother. When I tell you, 0:01:07.520 --> 0:01:09.480 there have been Sundays before I get up to preach 0:01:09.520 --> 0:01:12.200 I'll get a text from Pastor Stephen saying you're anointed, 0:01:12.280 --> 0:01:14.120 You're a man of God. You can do it. Preach 0:01:14.200 --> 0:01:18.080 the gospel. That's that's just the heart of your pastor. 0:01:18.880 --> 0:01:25.479 We have a church called Social Dallas, and the first 0:01:25.600 --> 0:01:28.399 church to sow into us when we got ready to 0:01:28.440 --> 0:01:31.840 plant just a year ago, was your church. Your pastors, 0:01:32.319 --> 0:01:36.039 and my wife and I are just incredibly grateful for 0:01:36.080 --> 0:01:38.720 this house. And I want you to stay standing because 0:01:38.800 --> 0:01:40.880 oh my right toe is tingling. I feel like preacher. 0:01:41.200 --> 0:01:44.280 I'm gonna go straight to the word of God. I'm excited. 0:01:44.319 --> 0:01:46.360 I'm excited about what God has given me to share 0:01:46.360 --> 0:01:47.880 with you today. And I don't want to waste another 0:01:47.920 --> 0:01:49.920 second or another moment. But can we thank God for 0:01:49.960 --> 0:01:54.440 the incredible worship team that just let us so beautifully 0:01:55.440 --> 0:01:59.360 into the presence of God. Also, because I'm with family, 0:01:59.360 --> 0:02:00.920 I mean as well show you my fam you know, 0:02:00.920 --> 0:02:02.680 I got to give you the family update. This is 0:02:02.720 --> 0:02:08.880 my bride and my three little humans right there. That's 0:02:08.880 --> 0:02:12.520 the Madou crew. We did good. We did good. So 0:02:12.600 --> 0:02:14.760 y'all pray for us. That is an eight year old, 0:02:14.800 --> 0:02:17.919 a seven year old and a five year old. Amen, Yes, 0:02:18.040 --> 0:02:20.920 pray for your boy. Pray for your boy. But that's 0:02:20.919 --> 0:02:23.359 my family. But I have a word, and I want 0:02:23.360 --> 0:02:25.280 you to stay standing because I want to jump straight 0:02:25.320 --> 0:02:28.600 into it. Did you come to get a word from God? Oh? 0:02:28.639 --> 0:02:30.240 If y'all feel like hearing it like I feel like 0:02:30.280 --> 0:02:33.600 preaching it, something's going to happen in here today, go 0:02:33.720 --> 0:02:40.600 with me to Acts Chapter sixteen, Acts sixteen, And for 0:02:40.639 --> 0:02:44.000 the benefit of brevity, I want to look at verses 0:02:44.000 --> 0:02:49.880 sixteen through eighteen. Acts Chapter sixteen started verse sixteen, and 0:02:49.919 --> 0:02:53.920 will land at verse number eighteen. When you're ready to 0:02:53.960 --> 0:02:59.720 read it, say yeah, you're not ready. You need some times. 0:03:00.000 --> 0:03:03.560 Hold up. I heard that. Hold up. Come on, hurry up. 0:03:05.639 --> 0:03:07.360 They gonna put it on the screen. You're good, You good. 0:03:08.200 --> 0:03:11.120 Shout out to all the campuses and the Epham everybody. 0:03:12.880 --> 0:03:18.440 Acts Chapter sixteen, starting in verse number sixteen, and it 0:03:18.480 --> 0:03:23.000 says once when we were going to the place of 0:03:23.120 --> 0:03:29.040 prayer that we is Paul and Silas. We were met 0:03:29.040 --> 0:03:31.600 by a female slave who had a spirit by which 0:03:31.600 --> 0:03:35.400 she predicted the future. She earned a great deal of 0:03:35.440 --> 0:03:39.360 money from her owners by fortune telling, and she followed 0:03:39.360 --> 0:03:42.600 Paul and the rest of us shouting, these men are 0:03:42.680 --> 0:03:45.920 servants of the Most High God, who are telling you 0:03:46.040 --> 0:03:49.720 the way to be saved. She kept us up for 0:03:49.800 --> 0:04:01.560 many days. Finally Paul became so I was falalsing for 0:04:01.600 --> 0:04:06.760 you to say it annoyed that he turned around and 0:04:06.840 --> 0:04:11.400 said to the spirit, in the name of Jesus Christ, 0:04:11.680 --> 0:04:18.080 I command you to come out of her. At that moment, 0:04:19.000 --> 0:04:26.599 the spirit left her. Can you say amen? Spoiler alert 0:04:27.839 --> 0:04:34.039 that girl's liberation led to their incarceration. But they found 0:04:34.040 --> 0:04:36.160 out at midnight that even in change, you can still 0:04:36.200 --> 0:04:42.520 have church. And they started singing worthy, you were worthy, 0:04:43.279 --> 0:04:45.200 and the chains broke. You know the story. You bet 0:04:45.240 --> 0:04:49.040 at church the doors flew open. But none of that 0:04:49.480 --> 0:04:52.680 is what drew me to The text is verse eighteen, 0:04:53.600 --> 0:05:02.240 where it says Paul finally became so annoyed. I want 0:05:02.240 --> 0:05:06.200 to preach for about six and a half hours today, 0:05:06.960 --> 0:05:08.520 but I want to do something. I want to do something. 0:05:08.520 --> 0:05:10.479 I'm at home so I can do this. I want 0:05:10.480 --> 0:05:13.559 to do something that I've never done in a sermon before. 0:05:13.760 --> 0:05:16.640 I'm gonna give you part of my title right now, 0:05:17.440 --> 0:05:19.400 and then the other half of it I'm gonna give 0:05:19.400 --> 0:05:21.799 you at the end of the message. Is that cool? Okay? 0:05:21.800 --> 0:05:23.680 So if you leave early or epam you log off, 0:05:23.680 --> 0:05:26.080 You're gonna be lost. Okay it. I'm only giving you 0:05:26.120 --> 0:05:28.039 half of the title right now, but here's the half 0:05:28.080 --> 0:05:29.320 I want you to get. I want to talk to 0:05:29.360 --> 0:05:36.640 you from this thought. I'm annoyed. I'm annoyed. I'll give 0:05:36.680 --> 0:05:38.400 you the second half later, but for right now, look 0:05:38.400 --> 0:05:43.240 at your neighbor, whichever one you like the best, and say, neighbor, Oh, 0:05:43.279 --> 0:05:44.800 come on, don't be afraid to talk to your neighbor 0:05:44.800 --> 0:05:46.719 in church. You know I can see you. Come on, 0:05:46.800 --> 0:05:53.480 say neighbor. Can I be honest? I'm annoyed. Look at 0:05:53.480 --> 0:05:56.720 your other neighbor, say other neighbor. You're my second option. 0:05:59.680 --> 0:06:04.720 And I gotta tell you this title. Say I'm annoyed. 0:06:05.360 --> 0:06:07.040 If you believe God's going to speak, would you give 0:06:07.120 --> 0:06:14.080 us some praise? Right now? Father, I have your way today. Amen, 0:06:14.120 --> 0:06:16.599 you may be seated in the presence of the Lord. 0:06:18.560 --> 0:06:25.400 I'm annoyed. I forgot to mention that I am not 0:06:25.480 --> 0:06:28.840 here by myself. My father is here with me. Robert 0:06:28.920 --> 0:06:32.880 madeu senor Dad. Would you just stand up real quick? 0:06:33.080 --> 0:06:41.200 Do I love it? Because he hates it. He is 0:06:41.320 --> 0:06:45.279 annoyed right now because I made him stand up. But 0:06:45.960 --> 0:06:49.400 traveling with him actually gave me a flashback. He gave 0:06:49.440 --> 0:06:55.560 me a flashback to a ministry moment that is indelibly 0:06:55.720 --> 0:06:58.880 etched in my mind. I'll never forget this moment. It's 0:06:58.960 --> 0:07:01.679 years years ago. I was just starting off in the ministry, 0:07:01.800 --> 0:07:05.200 just starting off preaching, years years ago, just a young 0:07:05.240 --> 0:07:08.840 buck preaching the gospel. I was preaching and working at 0:07:08.880 --> 0:07:13.600 Banana Republic. Yes, yes, yes, working at Banana during the weekend, 0:07:13.640 --> 0:07:16.080 preaching on the weekends. Yes, I had a ministry of 0:07:16.120 --> 0:07:19.640 folding khakis during the week and preaching the gospel on 0:07:19.640 --> 0:07:22.200 the weekend. And I'll never forget I got invited to 0:07:22.280 --> 0:07:26.240 this church to preach their Sunday morning services. I'll never 0:07:26.240 --> 0:07:29.080 forget it. I was elated. I was excited because I 0:07:29.080 --> 0:07:32.080 had primarily preached just to the youth group and to 0:07:32.120 --> 0:07:33.960 the youth camps of this church. So when they called 0:07:34.000 --> 0:07:36.120 me to preach Sunday morning, I said, oh, how at 0:07:36.160 --> 0:07:39.480 your boy, I have made it to the big leagues 0:07:40.040 --> 0:07:43.120 from moving on up And uh, I got the itinerary. 0:07:43.160 --> 0:07:45.040 I got the itinerary before I got ready to go 0:07:45.080 --> 0:07:47.800 preach there, and I noticed something on the itinerary and 0:07:47.960 --> 0:07:53.520 immediately arrested my attention. It was my accommodations where I 0:07:53.640 --> 0:07:55.520 was staying while I would be preaching there. And it 0:07:55.600 --> 0:07:59.000 said that I would be staying who at a motel? 0:08:00.240 --> 0:08:03.800 Mo mo hotel, Not a hotel, but a motel. I 0:08:03.920 --> 0:08:05.880 wasn't too alarmed at first. I said, hold on, don't 0:08:05.920 --> 0:08:07.600 judge a book, bise cover. Wait till you see the 0:08:07.600 --> 0:08:10.800 motel first. Robert and Pastor picked me up. I'll never 0:08:10.800 --> 0:08:12.640 forget it. And we pulled up to the motel and 0:08:12.680 --> 0:08:17.040 oh it was a mo. It was a mo. Tell 0:08:17.320 --> 0:08:21.040 everything about the exterior of this motel. Let me know 0:08:21.120 --> 0:08:23.480 what the interior was going to look like. I will 0:08:23.520 --> 0:08:26.960 never forget. The pastor handed me the key to my room, 0:08:27.000 --> 0:08:28.400 said I'll pick you up tomorrow. I had to meet 0:08:28.440 --> 0:08:32.240 the key to my room. The key to my room, 0:08:32.280 --> 0:08:38.200 not a card, a physical key to my room at 0:08:38.280 --> 0:08:39.839 the motel. I said, you know what, Lord, I said, 0:08:39.840 --> 0:08:41.360 if you can use anything, you can use me. So 0:08:41.400 --> 0:08:44.720 I'm cool and open the door. Open the door to 0:08:44.800 --> 0:08:47.800 the motel. And as soon as I opened the door, 0:08:47.920 --> 0:08:50.600 my goodness, the room looked like a scene from CSI. 0:08:51.360 --> 0:08:55.440 The pungent odor that was permeating from the carpet hitting 0:08:55.480 --> 0:08:58.720 me in the face, said, singed my nose here there 0:08:58.800 --> 0:09:02.640 was stains on the bed and stays on the carpet 0:09:02.679 --> 0:09:06.080 and stays on the dress. So I said, this is ridiculous. 0:09:06.120 --> 0:09:08.240 What happened in this room? I looked to the right. 0:09:08.360 --> 0:09:10.439 The roaches were looking at me like, you're gonna stay here? 0:09:10.480 --> 0:09:13.800 For real? Are you gonna slave here? Never forget it, 0:09:13.800 --> 0:09:15.439 I'll never forget it. And uh, I said, boy, it's 0:09:15.440 --> 0:09:17.440 gonna be rough. It's gonna be rough, rough, rough trip. 0:09:17.480 --> 0:09:20.000 And so I was stinking to myself. I said, I 0:09:20.000 --> 0:09:22.240 can't stay here. I can't stay here. And I noticed 0:09:22.320 --> 0:09:26.120 that down the street from the motel was a hotel. 0:09:26.240 --> 0:09:29.520 What's a hotel, you know, nothing, nothing fancy but a 0:09:29.559 --> 0:09:31.760 few stars above this one. I said, you know what, 0:09:31.920 --> 0:09:34.000 I can go to that hotel and go to that 0:09:34.080 --> 0:09:36.000 hotel and I can just stay. I'm like, I'll pay 0:09:36.000 --> 0:09:37.720 for it. I realized, you know, I ain't even ask 0:09:37.760 --> 0:09:39.920 anybody to pay for it. I'll go. And the problem 0:09:40.080 --> 0:09:43.720 was the pastor dropped me off and he was picking 0:09:43.760 --> 0:09:46.439 me up in the morning. So I was in a conundrum. 0:09:46.440 --> 0:09:47.600 I said, wait a minute. If I go to the 0:09:47.640 --> 0:09:49.640 hotel and leave the motel, what am I gonna do 0:09:49.679 --> 0:09:51.120 in the morning when he comes and picks me up. 0:09:51.120 --> 0:09:52.880 I'm either gonna have to go to the hotel then 0:09:52.880 --> 0:09:55.360 come all the way back to the motel for him 0:09:55.400 --> 0:09:57.000 to pick me up in the morning. So I was like, oh, 0:09:57.280 --> 0:09:59.000 I said, is that gonna look bad? I don't want 0:09:59.000 --> 0:10:00.640 to be rude. This is my first big Sunday. I 0:10:00.640 --> 0:10:02.240 don't want to miss this. Up, I was like, is 0:10:02.240 --> 0:10:05.200 that gonna be rude if I switch hotels? So I 0:10:05.200 --> 0:10:08.320 call my father who was here with me, and I 0:10:08.320 --> 0:10:12.600 should say my Nigerian father, and I call him up. 0:10:12.640 --> 0:10:15.920 I will never forget this. I called him and said, Dad, 0:10:16.280 --> 0:10:17.880 I don't know if you can smell this through the phone. 0:10:19.400 --> 0:10:21.440 I said, but they got me out here at the 0:10:21.520 --> 0:10:24.720 motel and I want to switch. I want to switch 0:10:24.720 --> 0:10:26.199 to the hotel. Dad. I'm gonna pay for it. I 0:10:26.240 --> 0:10:28.360 want to switch to the hotel. But I don't know 0:10:28.400 --> 0:10:32.040 if it's gonna look bad or look rude if I switch. 0:10:32.120 --> 0:10:33.880 Do you think it would be bad? Dad? If I 0:10:33.960 --> 0:10:37.640 switched from the motel to the hotel, I will never 0:10:37.679 --> 0:10:41.440 forget for this, Nigerian man said to me. First words 0:10:41.440 --> 0:10:46.720 out of his mouth were, oh, my goodness, oh my God, 0:10:46.800 --> 0:10:49.920 what didn't look bad? Wood did look bad if you switch, 0:10:50.120 --> 0:10:53.040 of course, it would look bad if you switch to 0:10:53.160 --> 0:10:57.640 a different hotel. Son, you are only death for one night. 0:10:57.880 --> 0:11:01.040 You are death for one night. You are not there 0:11:01.080 --> 0:11:06.199 on vacation. You are there to preach the gospel of Jesus' Christ. 0:11:06.480 --> 0:11:11.640 You adare foul one night, he said, it's the apostle. 0:11:11.720 --> 0:11:17.160 Paul can be shipwrecked and beaten and witch for the gospel. Charlotte, 0:11:17.240 --> 0:11:28.840 you can't stand I did motel found one hung up 0:11:28.880 --> 0:11:36.920 the phone. Will never ever forget that moment. I was 0:11:37.040 --> 0:11:45.000 so annoyed. I was annoyed then, but in retrospect I 0:11:45.040 --> 0:11:49.760 realized the wisdom of my father. He said, I thought 0:11:49.800 --> 0:11:52.760 that he wasn't feeling me. I thought he wasn't being 0:11:52.800 --> 0:11:56.760 empathetic to my plight in my situation. But upon further reflection, 0:11:56.840 --> 0:12:00.119 I realized not that he wasn't being empathetic to my situation. 0:12:00.320 --> 0:12:02.800 It's not even that he was advocating for me to 0:12:02.840 --> 0:12:07.960 stay in nasty motels. For what he was doing in 0:12:08.000 --> 0:12:11.720 that moment was trying to get me to look at 0:12:11.720 --> 0:12:16.880 my circumstance through the lens of my purpose. He was 0:12:16.920 --> 0:12:20.800 trying to get me to look at my circumstance through 0:12:20.840 --> 0:12:24.200 the lens of my purpose. That's why he kept saying 0:12:24.400 --> 0:12:28.440 one night, you are just there for one night. He 0:12:28.520 --> 0:12:31.200 was trying to get me to see that my stay 0:12:31.400 --> 0:12:34.800 at that motel was temporal, but the gospel that I 0:12:34.920 --> 0:12:38.720 was preaching is eternal, and if I can focus on 0:12:38.760 --> 0:12:43.280 the purpose, it ought to give me clarity for the circumstance. 0:12:43.320 --> 0:12:45.680 I don't know who this message is for today, but 0:12:45.720 --> 0:12:48.120 I felt like God wanted me to remind you that 0:12:48.160 --> 0:12:51.280 if you could learn to look at your circumstance through 0:12:51.320 --> 0:12:54.079 the lens of your purpose, if you could look at 0:12:54.120 --> 0:12:57.440 the frustrations and the agitations in your life through the 0:12:57.520 --> 0:13:02.720 lens of your divine assigned that would change everything for you. 0:13:03.080 --> 0:13:05.439 As a matter of fact, there is nothing more powerful 0:13:05.600 --> 0:13:08.160 than somebody that is learned to look at what they're 0:13:08.200 --> 0:13:11.800 going through through the lens of what they are called to. Oh. 0:13:11.960 --> 0:13:14.640 If you want to see somebody that's unstoppable, look at 0:13:14.640 --> 0:13:16.960 somebody that knows who they are and they know the 0:13:17.040 --> 0:13:19.640 mission and the call that is on their life. Nothing 0:13:19.880 --> 0:13:23.400 can stop that person. Every obstacle will turn into an 0:13:23.400 --> 0:13:27.000 opportunity because they know there's a greater story there's a 0:13:27.040 --> 0:13:32.800 greater call than what I say right now. A matter 0:13:32.840 --> 0:13:37.319 of fact, the Apostle Paul could write a master's class 0:13:37.600 --> 0:13:40.679 on what it's like to look at your circumstance to 0:13:40.800 --> 0:13:44.240 the lens of your divine purpose. I'm telling you, the 0:13:44.280 --> 0:13:47.920 Apostle Paul could do a ten hour ted talk on tenacity. 0:13:48.240 --> 0:13:51.320 Who else but the Apostle Paul. Who else but the 0:13:51.320 --> 0:13:55.080 one who said, I glory in my sufferings, the one 0:13:55.080 --> 0:13:57.480 that said, oh that I may know him in the 0:13:57.559 --> 0:14:00.360 fellowship not of his success, but in the fellowship of 0:14:00.440 --> 0:14:04.760 Christ's suffering and his resurrection. Who else but the Apostle Paul, 0:14:04.920 --> 0:14:09.720 that tenacious tent maker from Tarshiss, that gospel globe trotter 0:14:09.880 --> 0:14:12.480 who was full of tower and authority. You know, Paul 0:14:12.600 --> 0:14:15.680 was unstoppable. He was off the chain. Every city he 0:14:15.720 --> 0:14:19.280 went into, he would turn the city upside down because 0:14:19.320 --> 0:14:21.280 he knew there was a greater call, there was a 0:14:21.280 --> 0:14:23.640 greater mission on his life. They could not stop the 0:14:23.720 --> 0:14:27.840 Apostle Paul. Everywhere he went. He was effective in ministry. 0:14:27.960 --> 0:14:30.360 They said, Paul, we gonna kill you. He said, that's 0:14:30.360 --> 0:14:33.640 cool to die? Is game? They said, okay, then, Paul, 0:14:33.760 --> 0:14:35.680 we're gonna let you live. He said, that's cool too, 0:14:35.720 --> 0:14:38.080 to live as Christ. They said, all right, then, Paul, 0:14:38.080 --> 0:14:40.520 were gonna make you suffer. He said, that's cool too, 0:14:40.640 --> 0:14:42.680 because I already know that the present sufferings of this 0:14:42.760 --> 0:14:45.480 world are not worthy to be compared to the glory 0:14:45.520 --> 0:14:48.720 of God that's gonna be revealed down on the inside 0:14:48.760 --> 0:14:53.840 of me. Paul. He was absolutely off the chain. And 0:14:53.880 --> 0:14:58.840 no wonder my dad said if the Apostle Paul could 0:14:58.840 --> 0:15:03.640 be shipwrecked, and surely you can stay there for one night, 0:15:04.200 --> 0:15:06.840 we'll get to my Texas. In Acts chapter sixteen, Paul 0:15:06.920 --> 0:15:09.920 is on his second missionary journey. But let us not 0:15:09.960 --> 0:15:13.440 forget how he stepped into his purpose. Acts chapter nine 0:15:13.640 --> 0:15:18.080 lets us know the conversion and the commissioning of the 0:15:18.160 --> 0:15:21.680 Apostle Paul the Artist formerly known as Saul. I love 0:15:22.040 --> 0:15:25.960 Paul because Paul was actually not waiting to be converted 0:15:26.000 --> 0:15:28.440 to move at the speed of his purpose. He was 0:15:28.640 --> 0:15:31.760 already headed somewhere. You know that church planner used to 0:15:31.760 --> 0:15:34.400 be a Christian killer. He was on his way to 0:15:34.640 --> 0:15:37.600 kill more Christians when all of a sudden, God just 0:15:37.760 --> 0:15:41.440 interrupted him on his journey. A bright light came from 0:15:41.480 --> 0:15:45.920 heaven and interrupted him. He wasn't seeking after God. God 0:15:46.040 --> 0:15:49.360 wasn't on his radar. Oh, but he was on God's radar. 0:15:49.600 --> 0:15:52.080 I'm want to pause right there. I thank God that 0:15:52.240 --> 0:15:55.840 sometimes when you're not thinking about him, he's thinking about you. 0:15:56.280 --> 0:15:59.720 I thank God that sometimes when you're not even having 0:15:59.760 --> 0:16:02.920 an appointment with him on your schedule, God will have 0:16:02.960 --> 0:16:05.840 an appointment with you on his schedule. Somebody watching this 0:16:06.000 --> 0:16:08.440 right now, you don't even know. God is interrupting your 0:16:08.480 --> 0:16:11.840 regular schedule program because He has a call on your life. 0:16:11.880 --> 0:16:14.120 He has a purpose for your life, and you might 0:16:14.160 --> 0:16:16.640 be headed in the wrong direction. But buckle up your 0:16:16.680 --> 0:16:19.480 feet out because when God wants to get your attention, 0:16:19.840 --> 0:16:23.480 he will get your attention. Somebody came to church today 0:16:23.720 --> 0:16:31.440 because God is trying to get your attention. Got Paul's 0:16:32.080 --> 0:16:34.720 got Paul's attention in next chapter nine, But in next 0:16:34.840 --> 0:16:37.720 chapter sixteen, let us not forget that this is Paul's 0:16:38.200 --> 0:16:42.400 second missionary journey. It's a secure missionary journey. And he's 0:16:42.400 --> 0:16:46.400 got his homeboy Silas with them. He's got Silence. He's 0:16:46.440 --> 0:16:48.320 even got this young cap by the name of Timothy 0:16:48.320 --> 0:16:51.640 with him. And you can't even really appreciate the connection 0:16:52.120 --> 0:16:56.840 between Paul and Silas until you first understand the separation 0:16:57.600 --> 0:17:02.520 that occurred between Paul and Barnabas. This is his second 0:17:02.720 --> 0:17:06.600 missionary journey, and Silence, believe it or not, was Paul's 0:17:06.720 --> 0:17:10.960 second choice. Oh yeah, he didn't pick Silas first. He 0:17:11.080 --> 0:17:13.879 actually had a missionary journey Acts thirteen to fifteen and 0:17:13.920 --> 0:17:16.920 he was with Barnabas. Barnabas Barney. I love it because 0:17:16.920 --> 0:17:21.040 the Holy Spirit separated Paul and Barney put them together 0:17:21.280 --> 0:17:24.040 to accomplish a call. Proof positive that whenever God has 0:17:24.040 --> 0:17:25.679 a call on your life, he will make sure that 0:17:25.720 --> 0:17:28.760 you are connected with somebody to do it. There are 0:17:28.800 --> 0:17:31.600 no lone rangers in the Kingdom of God. All of 0:17:31.640 --> 0:17:33.879 y'all up in here talking about I don't need nobody, 0:17:34.000 --> 0:17:36.920 I don't need the church. It's me myself and I no, no, no, no, 0:17:36.920 --> 0:17:39.480 no no. If your dream and your vision only affects you, 0:17:39.760 --> 0:17:42.320 it is not from the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom 0:17:42.320 --> 0:17:46.240 of God will always cause a divine collaboration with somebody. 0:17:46.320 --> 0:17:51.639 You need, somebody else hardwired for connection and community. So 0:17:51.680 --> 0:17:54.320 wouldn't it be just like the Holy Spirit to connect 0:17:54.320 --> 0:17:58.200 Paul and Barney to go plant churches and preach the gospel. 0:17:58.200 --> 0:18:00.480 Can you see Paul and Varney go on out, They're 0:18:00.480 --> 0:18:03.760 planting churches, They're preaching the gospel. It was an effective trip. 0:18:03.840 --> 0:18:06.200 It was so effective. Paul said, let's run that back again. 0:18:06.680 --> 0:18:09.840 Let's do it again. Barnabas was like, cool, I'm cool 0:18:09.840 --> 0:18:12.040 with that. Let's run it back again. And then Paul says, 0:18:12.080 --> 0:18:14.800 all right, let's go. And then Barney goes, well, let's 0:18:14.840 --> 0:18:19.120 bring John Mark, my nephew with us. And Paul said, 0:18:19.119 --> 0:18:21.840 oh no, no, no, no, no, hold on, we can 0:18:21.880 --> 0:18:23.359 bring a whole lot of people if we are not 0:18:23.600 --> 0:18:29.080 bringing your little stinky nephew, Sean Mark. Don't forget due 0:18:29.119 --> 0:18:31.720 your due diligence and read Joe Bible. You remember John 0:18:31.760 --> 0:18:36.280 Mark was their assistant who abandoning them halfway in the journey. 0:18:36.320 --> 0:18:39.159 And Paul still felt some type of way about it. 0:18:39.160 --> 0:18:41.240 He said, no, no, no, we can bring a whole 0:18:41.280 --> 0:18:43.480 lot of people, but we are not bringing John Mark. 0:18:43.600 --> 0:18:47.479 I got beat and whipped stones hitting my head on 0:18:47.520 --> 0:18:50.280 that last missionary journey. And John Mark left because he 0:18:50.320 --> 0:18:52.400 had a little tummy age because he was sea fig 0:18:52.560 --> 0:18:54.880 and went back to Jerusalem. There is no way he's 0:18:54.920 --> 0:18:57.560 coming back. See, I like Paul I'm actually on Paul's side. 0:18:58.480 --> 0:19:01.120 Oh yeah. They got into a heated disagreement because Paul 0:19:01.320 --> 0:19:04.680 is a builder. He is ride or die, And Paul said, 0:19:04.680 --> 0:19:06.600 if I'm gonna build with somebody, I need to build 0:19:06.640 --> 0:19:09.159 with somebody who's faithful. I need to build with somebody 0:19:09.200 --> 0:19:11.600 that will show up. Is anybody like me. I like 0:19:11.680 --> 0:19:14.520 people that are dependable. I like people that when they 0:19:14.520 --> 0:19:16.680 tell you they're gonna be there at seven o'clock, they'll 0:19:16.720 --> 0:19:20.240 be there at six thirty five. I won't Sarada die 0:19:20.280 --> 0:19:24.560 people in my life. I'm on, Paul said. Paul said 0:19:24.600 --> 0:19:27.919 that boy is not coming with us because he abandoned us. 0:19:28.119 --> 0:19:31.359 Problem with Paul's he's a builder who Barnie is an encourager. 0:19:32.840 --> 0:19:35.040 You know how them encourage us are. He's like, come on, Paul, 0:19:35.240 --> 0:19:38.960 give him another chance. Didn't God give you another chance? 0:19:39.480 --> 0:19:42.240 He's the one killing Christians, don't act brand new? How 0:19:42.240 --> 0:19:44.840 come you can't give him another chance? And they keep 0:19:44.880 --> 0:19:48.639 going back and forth. It was a heated argument between 0:19:48.680 --> 0:19:51.240 the two and all of a sudden there was no resolve. 0:19:52.080 --> 0:19:56.359 They disagreed and they win their separate race. They had 0:19:57.000 --> 0:20:02.520 a disagreement that made them go their separate ways. Paul said, cool, 0:20:02.600 --> 0:20:05.080 I'm out. John Mark said cool, and I'll take Barnabas 0:20:05.160 --> 0:20:08.480 with me. They went their separate ways and just agreed 0:20:09.280 --> 0:20:12.040 to disagree. Do you know what's from with our culture 0:20:12.119 --> 0:20:15.679 today is we have lost the art of civil discourse. 0:20:16.119 --> 0:20:20.280 We have lost the art of just agreeing to disagree. 0:20:20.520 --> 0:20:23.240 We live in a society that anybody that doesn't agree 0:20:23.280 --> 0:20:25.720 with you, anybody doesn't think like you think, talk like 0:20:25.760 --> 0:20:28.320 you talk, walk like you walk, vote like you vote. 0:20:28.400 --> 0:20:31.159 You got an issue with you want to demonize that person. 0:20:31.359 --> 0:20:34.760 But we don't know how to just agree to disagree. 0:20:35.000 --> 0:20:37.400 And you go your way and I'll go my way. 0:20:37.640 --> 0:20:41.639 And here's the powerful thing. The gospel of Jesus Christ 0:20:41.960 --> 0:20:45.880 was still preached. With Barnabas going his way and Paul 0:20:46.000 --> 0:20:48.800 going his way. Oh God said, I know how to 0:20:48.840 --> 0:20:51.879 turn division and to multiplication. I know you went just 0:20:52.000 --> 0:20:55.960 separate ways, but the gospel is still don't be preached 0:20:56.040 --> 0:21:00.440 in the way. Y'all don't like that. You want to 0:21:00.520 --> 0:21:03.280 demonize the people you disagree with. But can I tell 0:21:03.359 --> 0:21:06.800 you God reserves to right to use people that you 0:21:06.960 --> 0:21:11.120 disagree with. God reserves to write to use people that 0:21:11.160 --> 0:21:15.880 you don't like. You use them and not even check 0:21:15.960 --> 0:21:21.680 with you. It was still effective. John Mark and Barnabas 0:21:21.880 --> 0:21:24.960 were still effective, and Paul said, I'm gonna be effective 0:21:25.000 --> 0:21:28.080 too because I'm rude or die, He said, I got 0:21:28.080 --> 0:21:31.240 to get me somebody else and picks up silence with them. 0:21:31.280 --> 0:21:34.880 Can you see that interview? He's already feeling some type 0:21:34.920 --> 0:21:36.720 of way because John Mark quit on him. He's like, oh, 0:21:36.800 --> 0:21:39.159 silence or you ride or die? You sure you can 0:21:39.240 --> 0:21:41.320 roll with me? Sounds like of course. He's like, all right, 0:21:41.359 --> 0:21:43.920 let me just check punches them in a gut. You 0:21:44.040 --> 0:21:46.840 use my epogetical imagination. Sounds like, oh, what's that for? 0:21:46.920 --> 0:21:48.440 He's like, it's real out here in these church playing 0:21:48.440 --> 0:21:51.359 the streets. I'm just trying to make sure you can 0:21:51.400 --> 0:21:53.640 take a looking to keep on ticket. By the way, 0:21:53.680 --> 0:21:56.160 can you sing? Can I sing? Yes? Can you sing? Yes? 0:21:56.200 --> 0:21:57.720 I want to know somebody pop off at midnight. I 0:21:57.800 --> 0:22:00.080 want to know if you still got to praise in 0:22:00.160 --> 0:22:02.800 your belly saying something right now? Silence is like right now, 0:22:02.960 --> 0:22:08.360 right now, I'm gonna see y victory. I've gotta see you. Yeah, 0:22:08.359 --> 0:22:10.000 you're off key, but you're good. Come on, let's go 0:22:12.640 --> 0:22:17.160 look at him. He's got Silas with him. He picks 0:22:17.240 --> 0:22:21.520 up Timothy along the way, who follows not playing first 0:22:21.520 --> 0:22:23.800 thing he does with Timody, another young youngster, just like 0:22:23.840 --> 0:22:26.880 John Mark's like, oh you call. Timothy's like yeah, you call, 0:22:27.119 --> 0:22:29.439 all right, let me cut you. Circumcises them on the 0:22:29.480 --> 0:22:32.760 first day, just trying to make sure you're ready to roll. 0:22:34.640 --> 0:22:40.880 And uh. They start moving into Figuria. They're effective. They 0:22:40.920 --> 0:22:45.440 start moving, guided by the Holy Spirit, into Galatia. They're effective. 0:22:46.040 --> 0:22:49.359 The ministry is thriving. Paul says, you know what, how 0:22:49.400 --> 0:22:52.679 about we go to the Province of Asia. This is 0:22:52.720 --> 0:22:56.000 modern day Turkey. And they get ready to go to 0:22:56.040 --> 0:22:58.119 the Province of Asia, and the Bible says something that 0:22:58.119 --> 0:23:00.000 we have yet to read in the Book of act 0:23:00.600 --> 0:23:06.280 It says the Holy Spirit forbid them from going to 0:23:06.359 --> 0:23:10.240 the province of As. I said, okay, maybe not, hey, 0:23:10.240 --> 0:23:13.000 sul let's go to Bithynia. So they start setting sell 0:23:13.119 --> 0:23:15.600 getting ready to go to Bithynia, and the Bible says 0:23:15.600 --> 0:23:21.359 again that the Holy Spirit forbid them from going into Bithnia. 0:23:22.520 --> 0:23:26.280