WEBVTT - Staying Power (Appointment With An Angel) 0:00:02.000 --> 0:00:04.560 Hey, this is Stephen Ferdik. I'm the pastor of Elevation 0:00:04.840 --> 0:00:06.840 Church and this is our podcast and I wanted to 0:00:06.880 --> 0:00:09.840 thank you for joining us today. Hope this inspires you. 0:00:10.200 --> 0:00:12.360 Hope it builds your faith. Hope it gives your perspective 0:00:12.400 --> 0:00:15.280 to see God is moving in your life. Enjoy the message. 0:00:17.440 --> 0:00:20.400 Are you ready now? Ask the person next to you, 0:00:20.440 --> 0:00:23.640 are you ready now? I remember when my dad told 0:00:23.680 --> 0:00:25.560 me when I was a little boy. I was probably 0:00:25.640 --> 0:00:28.520 Abby's age. I was probably nine one night when Friday 0:00:28.600 --> 0:00:30.200 Night he popped some popcorn and told me, I think 0:00:30.240 --> 0:00:36.240 you're ready for Rocky. He'd been waiting until my spiritual 0:00:36.240 --> 0:00:42.120 maturity and infrastructure emotionally could handle Ivan Drago. Oh. Yeah, 0:00:42.120 --> 0:00:43.720 when you start your kids on Rocky, you start him 0:00:43.760 --> 0:00:46.279 on Rocky four. You don't start them in the Old 0:00:46.320 --> 0:00:49.480 Testament with Apollo, Creed. You start them with Matthew, Mark, Luke, 0:00:49.520 --> 0:00:53.040 and John. I have a whole theory on this, and 0:00:53.080 --> 0:00:55.520 he started me with Rocky four. He walked me back 0:00:55.560 --> 0:00:59.320 to Rocky one. I'm glad that I was out of 0:00:59.360 --> 0:01:03.960 the house before Rocky five came out, because that's like 0:01:04.000 --> 0:01:06.480 an apocryphal book that didn't really make the canon. In 0:01:06.560 --> 0:01:10.160 my estimation, but I think you're ready. What I'm trying 0:01:10.200 --> 0:01:12.279 to say to you is I think you're ready now 0:01:13.080 --> 0:01:17.760 for Acts chapter twenty seven. When all this bull craft 0:01:17.840 --> 0:01:19.760 started in the world, I wrote down a list of 0:01:19.840 --> 0:01:22.080 sermons that I wanted to preach from, and it was 0:01:22.120 --> 0:01:25.880 amazing to me how all of the texts that I've 0:01:25.920 --> 0:01:28.959 seen so many times before it took on a new relevance. 0:01:29.600 --> 0:01:33.759 Almost said, reverence like a revelation with it becomes relevant. 0:01:34.440 --> 0:01:37.200 Sometimes you know something, but until you go through something, 0:01:38.720 --> 0:01:40.360 you don't have to put into practice what you know. 0:01:41.880 --> 0:01:45.759 And so revealence maybe that's a word revealance. It's when 0:01:45.800 --> 0:01:48.960 something that you already knew, that had already been revealed 0:01:50.240 --> 0:01:53.960 becomes relevant to your situation. Is when you get a 0:01:54.040 --> 0:01:57.680 chance to put into practice what you've been preaching. And 0:01:57.920 --> 0:02:01.160 I just want to encourage you today with a story 0:02:01.160 --> 0:02:07.520 of Bible story that that may be the best story 0:02:06.800 --> 0:02:19.440 that I could preach from. When Paul went through a storm, 0:02:19.440 --> 0:02:23.240 not crazy, man, I was just thinking, it's my favorite 0:02:23.240 --> 0:02:30.840 Bible story and it started with a storm. Do the 0:02:30.840 --> 0:02:34.400 biggest storms make for the best stories in our lives? 0:02:36.040 --> 0:02:40.000 I think sometimes they do. I think sometimes they do. 0:02:41.160 --> 0:02:44.520 When we were on vacation, we took a hundred bike rides. 0:02:44.560 --> 0:02:47.840 But the only one y'all remember is when we were 0:02:47.880 --> 0:02:52.040 riding in the rain. That's the only one y'all talk 0:02:52.080 --> 0:02:55.680 about is the one where it rained. We rode to 0:02:55.720 --> 0:02:58.360 the store, We rode to the bowling we rode, We 0:02:58.440 --> 0:03:00.640 rode up and down the streets. Often when we were 0:03:00.680 --> 0:03:03.000 riding all around. We remember the bowling alley over at 0:03:03.040 --> 0:03:05.200 the other place we went there. We were, Yeah, you 0:03:05.240 --> 0:03:07.760 do when we went bowling into little thing Graham. You 0:03:07.760 --> 0:03:10.079 don't remember the little bowling alley that I took you to, say, 0:03:10.120 --> 0:03:13.520 They don't remember any of that. They don't remember the 0:03:13.520 --> 0:03:15.959 bowling alley hall I paid like one hundred and twenty 0:03:16.040 --> 0:03:18.480 dollars for us to bowl. They don't even remember it. 0:03:19.240 --> 0:03:22.840 But ask them about the rain riders. Ask them about 0:03:22.880 --> 0:03:24.919 when we were out and we got caught in the 0:03:25.040 --> 0:03:29.079 rain and the torrential downpour started, just started out of nowhere, 0:03:29.200 --> 0:03:32.160 and they can remember with vivid detail when we got 0:03:32.160 --> 0:03:38.120 caught in the rain. The greatest stories usually revolve around 0:03:38.160 --> 0:03:41.960 the biggest storms. If you are new to Christianity, we 0:03:42.120 --> 0:03:46.720 like our metaphors so you hear us always talking about mountains, 0:03:47.680 --> 0:03:50.360 but we're not talking about land masks. When we say mountains, 0:03:50.360 --> 0:03:52.960 we're talking about other stuff. You know. When we say 0:03:52.960 --> 0:03:55.120 God's going to move them ountain, they can mean almost anything. 0:03:55.160 --> 0:03:58.240 In church. God's gonna move them mountain in my life. 0:03:58.280 --> 0:04:01.360 What do you mean by that? It's gonna get me 0:04:01.400 --> 0:04:04.320 a job. It's just a metaphor. You know, whatever's in 0:04:04.360 --> 0:04:06.360 your way, God's gonna move it. We like these kind 0:04:06.400 --> 0:04:08.880 of things. The Bible uses them and we like them too. 0:04:10.280 --> 0:04:14.800 What's another one that we like. We're big on metaphors. Chains. Oh, 0:04:14.880 --> 0:04:19.040 we love chains in church. Almost every elevation worship song 0:04:19.080 --> 0:04:21.480 I've ever been a part of has a chain in it. Somewhere. 0:04:21.880 --> 0:04:25.080 We love to break chains and shake chains and sometimes 0:04:25.120 --> 0:04:28.200 we get creative the Sourus theology and call it a shackle. 0:04:28.440 --> 0:04:30.480 But the bottom line is we love to sing about 0:04:30.480 --> 0:04:36.000 this stuff, and we love to talk about storms, and 0:04:36.040 --> 0:04:38.280 it's really just a metaphor for whatever we're going through. 0:04:38.320 --> 0:04:41.480 I'm going through a storm right now. Old Country preacher said, 0:04:41.480 --> 0:04:44.000 you're either you're either here's the thing about storms. You're 0:04:44.040 --> 0:04:45.800 either in a storm, you're going through a storm, you're 0:04:45.800 --> 0:04:47.360 about to go through a storm, or you've just been 0:04:47.400 --> 0:04:52.159 through a storm, and I think that's true. And so 0:04:52.279 --> 0:04:54.400 the storm that we'll see in Acts chapter twenty seven 0:04:54.520 --> 0:04:58.159 is physical, but it doesn't have to be physical for 0:04:58.240 --> 0:05:01.960 it to be practical in your life. Do y'all remember 0:05:01.960 --> 0:05:06.919 when I preached on it will happen. Do you remember 0:05:06.920 --> 0:05:10.200 when I preached it had to happen. Remember when I preached, 0:05:10.240 --> 0:05:13.840 I'm glad it happened. Now you're ready for Rocky four. 0:05:18.520 --> 0:05:20.080 And I didn't know what to call it, so I 0:05:20.160 --> 0:05:24.880 made two titles. I'm super indecisive right now, and I 0:05:24.880 --> 0:05:28.720 don't know whether you want to call this message. Well, 0:05:28.760 --> 0:05:30.159 let me read the text and then I'll give you 0:05:30.160 --> 0:05:33.880 the titles. In Acts, chapter twenty seven, Verse twenty, the 0:05:33.880 --> 0:05:37.240 Bible says, when neither sun nor stars appeared for many days, 0:05:37.800 --> 0:05:42.120 and the storm continued raging, we finally gave up all 0:05:42.200 --> 0:05:45.520 hope of being saved. And after they had gone a 0:05:45.640 --> 0:05:50.800 long time without food, after they had gone a long 0:05:51.120 --> 0:05:55.200 time cooped up in the apartment, after they had gone 0:05:55.240 --> 0:05:59.080 a long time without going out to a restaurant, I'm 0:05:59.120 --> 0:06:02.080 preaching to somebody, after they had gone a long time 0:06:02.200 --> 0:06:04.760 without putting on pants with a button, I'm just preaching 0:06:04.800 --> 0:06:08.279 to quarantine situations, modernizing the text. After they had gone 0:06:08.360 --> 0:06:12.240 a long time without good news, after they had gone 0:06:12.279 --> 0:06:16.599 a long time without an increase, Paul stood up before 0:06:16.640 --> 0:06:20.440 them and said, men should have taken my advice not 0:06:20.520 --> 0:06:26.120 to sail from crete. We're gonna come back to that 0:06:26.200 --> 0:06:28.560 in a minute. We're gonna talk about how sometimes you 0:06:28.600 --> 0:06:33.279 give good advice, but you have bad timing. Holly's teaching 0:06:33.279 --> 0:06:36.960 a study called missus betterhef on Wednesdays about being a wife, 0:06:37.440 --> 0:06:40.040 and I think she should use that verse in there. Men, 0:06:40.120 --> 0:06:45.719 you should have taken my advice. Paul had good advice, 0:06:45.760 --> 0:06:48.679 but he had bad timing. But watch this in the text, 0:06:48.760 --> 0:06:53.840 because the scripture says, then you would have spared yourselves 0:06:53.839 --> 0:06:55.760 to this damage and loss. So, in other words, that 0:06:55.839 --> 0:07:07.080 could have been avoided. But now, now, now, now, now, now, 0:07:08.360 --> 0:07:12.200 I'm waiting on y'all to shout back. Now, come on. 0:07:12.200 --> 0:07:13.760 If y'alln't want to shout, I'm not gonna let you 0:07:13.840 --> 0:07:15.360 come back because there's a lot of This is a 0:07:15.360 --> 0:07:17.160 harder ticket to get to come to church right now 0:07:17.200 --> 0:07:18.840 than the bulls in ninety eight. So you need to 0:07:18.880 --> 0:07:25.960 shout now. Okay, now, he said, even though this could 0:07:26.000 --> 0:07:30.000 have been avoided. There is something that you can do now, 0:07:31.640 --> 0:07:36.040 and it does not really revolve around the situation. It 0:07:36.120 --> 0:07:39.600 revolves around your state of mind. So watch this. Keep 0:07:39.720 --> 0:07:42.760 up your courage, because not one of you will be lost, 0:07:43.080 --> 0:07:46.600 only the ship will be destroyed. Last night, an angel 0:07:46.760 --> 0:07:50.119 of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve, 0:07:50.480 --> 0:07:54.720 stood beside me and said, do not be afraid, Paul. 0:07:55.200 --> 0:07:59.960 You must stand trial before Caesar, and God has great 0:08:00.000 --> 0:08:03.600 faciously giving you the lives of all who sail with you. 0:08:03.840 --> 0:08:10.040 So keep up your courage. Men, or I have faith 0:08:10.240 --> 0:08:16.840 in God that it will happen just as he told me. Nevertheless, 0:08:16.920 --> 0:08:22.680 we must run aground on some island. On the fourteenth night, 0:08:22.760 --> 0:08:25.680 we were still being driven across the Adriatic Sea, which 0:08:25.720 --> 0:08:30.960 is the Mediterranean Sea, when about midnight the sailor sense 0:08:31.000 --> 0:08:33.600 they were approaching land. They took soundings and found that 0:08:33.640 --> 0:08:36.360 the water was one hundred and twenty feet deep. A 0:08:36.440 --> 0:08:38.760 short time later they took soundings again and found it 0:08:38.800 --> 0:08:42.679 was ninety feet deep. In case you're not following, they're 0:08:42.679 --> 0:08:47.600 getting closer to crashing. The water's getting more shallow. That 0:08:47.760 --> 0:08:50.760 means a crash is inevitable. And Paul already told them that, 0:08:50.760 --> 0:08:53.000 but now they are experiencing the thing that he said. 0:08:53.040 --> 0:08:54.920 And it's one thing to be told you're going to 0:08:54.920 --> 0:08:58.880 go through a storm. It's one thing to see it 0:08:58.880 --> 0:09:01.560 on a weather app It's another thing to get caught 0:09:01.559 --> 0:09:05.840 in one. It's one thing to say everything happens for 0:09:05.920 --> 0:09:10.360 a reason when someone that you don't really care about dies. 0:09:11.360 --> 0:09:13.520 It's another thing to believe that when you have to 0:09:13.559 --> 0:09:16.680 live without them. Oh, I'm going to preach in an 0:09:16.679 --> 0:09:20.680 empty room. So he said that we're going to crash, 0:09:20.760 --> 0:09:23.160 and then they were about to crash. And this is 0:09:23.200 --> 0:09:24.920 what I wanted to share with you about today, because 0:09:25.440 --> 0:09:28.080 I've never really paid much attention to this part of 0:09:28.120 --> 0:09:31.760 the text. He said. Fearing that we would be dashed 0:09:31.800 --> 0:09:35.840 against the rocks, they dropped four anchors from the stern 0:09:36.120 --> 0:09:40.920 and prayed for daylight. In an attempt to escape from 0:09:40.960 --> 0:09:44.760 the ship. The sailors let the lifeboat down into the sea, 0:09:45.400 --> 0:09:49.400 pretending they were going to lower some anchors from the bow. 0:09:49.559 --> 0:09:53.120 We're getting out of here. We're not staying around to 0:09:53.160 --> 0:09:55.000 see what happens. If it's one hundred and twenty feet, 0:09:55.040 --> 0:09:59.160 it's ninety. We're about to crash. And we're out. But 0:09:59.240 --> 0:10:00.480 watch what Paul says that this is what I want 0:10:00.480 --> 0:10:04.880 to appreach about today. Then Paul said to the centurion 0:10:05.040 --> 0:10:09.920 and the soldiers. Unless these men stay with the ship, 0:10:10.840 --> 0:10:15.440 you cannot be saved. So the soldiers cut the ropes 0:10:16.120 --> 0:10:20.880 that held the lifeboat and let it drift away. The 0:10:20.960 --> 0:10:23.240 thing I want to preach to you about today is 0:10:23.400 --> 0:10:30.400 staying power, staying power. Spirit of God, We receive your 0:10:30.640 --> 0:10:33.719 grace for the preaching of your word to every situation. 0:10:34.679 --> 0:10:37.000 There is not a single situation I can think of 0:10:37.080 --> 0:10:39.600 in my mind that you are not greater than. There 0:10:39.679 --> 0:10:41.720 is not a wave that tosses in the sea that 0:10:41.760 --> 0:10:44.840 does not know the vibration of your voice. And when 0:10:44.880 --> 0:10:49.040 you speak, waves die down. And when you speak, fear 0:10:49.120 --> 0:10:52.800 bows down, and when you speak waters part. You are 0:10:52.920 --> 0:10:56.080 God of the elements, You are God of all flesh. 0:10:56.240 --> 0:10:59.120 You are the God of this moment. And we worship you. 0:11:00.160 --> 0:11:06.080 Receive your word in Jesus' name. Put it in the chat. Amen. Amen, 0:11:06.160 --> 0:11:10.319 come on, David Patten, say Amen, staying power. Chase Colby, 0:11:10.880 --> 0:11:13.439 staying power. Now. A lot of people have starting power. 0:11:16.000 --> 0:11:18.319 They did keto last week and they'll be on weight 0:11:18.440 --> 0:11:23.319 Watchers next week. But Paul had starting power, he also 0:11:23.360 --> 0:11:27.760 had staying power. People used to tell me it must 0:11:27.760 --> 0:11:29.640 have taken a lot of faith to start this church. 0:11:31.040 --> 0:11:34.320 I guess. So the truth is I was just stupid, 0:11:35.960 --> 0:11:38.200 didn't take a lot of faith, just had to be really, 0:11:38.240 --> 0:11:41.680 really ignorant. That's all. Just do it in your twenties, 0:11:42.679 --> 0:11:45.360 that's all you gotta do. Put it in the chat. 0:11:45.440 --> 0:11:51.960 Do it in your twenties, because really, starting power is 0:11:52.000 --> 0:11:55.640 celebrated so much more, and even sometimes people will celebrate leaving. 0:11:57.240 --> 0:12:00.240 I've seen so many times in this church where someone 0:12:01.040 --> 0:12:03.160 might leave from a ministry position and we throw a 0:12:03.240 --> 0:12:06.880 party for him, and I'm thinking, like, well, that's great. 0:12:06.920 --> 0:12:08.800 I mean, it's probably polite to throw a party for 0:12:08.880 --> 0:12:11.240 somebody who leaves. And God calls different people to different 0:12:11.280 --> 0:12:15.720 things in different seasons. But can we have some Can 0:12:15.720 --> 0:12:20.200 we have some staying parties too? You know, just bring 0:12:20.200 --> 0:12:22.400 a cake into the office. You've been here eight hundred 0:12:22.400 --> 0:12:28.760 and seventy one days. Here's cake. You start your diet tomorrow. 0:12:29.080 --> 0:12:43.600 You know, starting power, leaving power, staying power, staying get sexier. 0:12:44.320 --> 0:12:50.360 The longer you live, it gets sexier. I don't think 0:12:50.360 --> 0:12:52.520 you have to say it's sexy. Yeah, you know what 0:12:52.600 --> 0:12:55.960 the problem is, we have such a hard time celebrating 0:12:56.000 --> 0:12:57.760 the right things in our culture. I need to say 0:12:57.760 --> 0:13:01.560 it just like that, because we live in a culture 0:13:01.600 --> 0:13:04.480 where starting is sexy. Oh I'm gonna start a church. 0:13:04.679 --> 0:13:07.719 Oh I'm gonna start a business. Oh I'm an entrepreneur. 0:13:07.920 --> 0:13:10.600 Oh I'm gonna start a Bible reading plan. You started 0:13:10.640 --> 0:13:14.920 fourteen Bible reading plans in twenty twenty before January was over. 0:13:15.280 --> 0:13:18.360 You know which plan of the Bible plan God is 0:13:18.360 --> 0:13:23.720 gonna bless the one you stay with, the one you 0:13:23.840 --> 0:13:28.040 stay with. Do you know what situation you're gonna see 0:13:28.080 --> 0:13:32.400 God work in the one you stay with? So I said, well, 0:13:32.440 --> 0:13:34.240 I don't know which workout to do you know which 0:13:34.240 --> 0:13:38.400 one's gonna work the one you stay with, stay with? 0:13:39.240 --> 0:13:41.880 And I thought it was interesting that the apostle Paul 0:13:42.160 --> 0:13:44.559 who showed us the power of starting. Now, you got 0:13:44.600 --> 0:13:48.960 to remember, Paul knew how to get something started. He 0:13:49.200 --> 0:13:53.880 started by some calculations fourteen churches in a time when 0:13:53.920 --> 0:13:58.160 the concept of church was foreign junk. Somebody need some 0:13:58.200 --> 0:13:59.840 different people in the room this week is kind of 0:14:00.120 --> 0:14:02.720 out there. He knew how to start a church in 0:14:02.760 --> 0:14:05.240 a city that had never even heard the name of Jesus. 0:14:06.040 --> 0:14:08.280 He would walk into a church, and step into a 0:14:08.320 --> 0:14:11.360 synagogue and start preaching, and before you know it, there 0:14:11.400 --> 0:14:14.959 would be such an uproar in the city that it 0:14:15.000 --> 0:14:19.320 would start a riot in the streets. Paul can start 0:14:19.360 --> 0:14:22.880 a church, Paul has start a riot. Paul has starts 0:14:22.920 --> 0:14:26.240 something in a minute. But yet, in Acts chapter twenty seven, 0:14:26.560 --> 0:14:29.520 he shows us that the greatest power is often not 0:14:29.640 --> 0:14:34.160 in what you have the faith to start, but what 0:14:34.280 --> 0:14:38.880 you have the faith to stay with. And when we 0:14:38.920 --> 0:14:41.400 think about storms in the Bible, we think about Peter 0:14:42.200 --> 0:14:44.440 who stepped out of the boat to walk on water, 0:14:45.600 --> 0:14:48.520 and we never preach about John, who stayed in the boat. 0:14:51.760 --> 0:14:54.160 But I've been wondering as a forty year old man 0:14:54.560 --> 0:14:56.960 who has seen people come and go, and emotions come 0:14:57.000 --> 0:15:00.920 and go, and moods come and go and and and 0:15:00.920 --> 0:15:04.040 and fads and trends come and go, and the zeit 0:15:04.080 --> 0:15:06.560 guy slips all around, and you never really know what's 0:15:06.600 --> 0:15:08.840 going to be popular or in fashion one day to 0:15:08.920 --> 0:15:11.720 the next, And church members come and go and and 0:15:11.720 --> 0:15:14.720 and songs come and go and and and seasons come 0:15:14.760 --> 0:15:17.320 and go, and trials come and go. As someone who 0:15:17.360 --> 0:15:20.040 has seen this. I'm wondering, does it take more faith 0:15:20.080 --> 0:15:22.320 to step out of a boat that Jesus told you 0:15:22.360 --> 0:15:26.120 to get into or to stay in it believing that 0:15:26.200 --> 0:15:31.080 if He called you to the other side, you can 0:15:31.280 --> 0:15:35.479 stay through any storm. You can sleep through any storm, 0:15:35.720 --> 0:15:40.960 you can praise through any storm. I got staying power. 0:15:44.480 --> 0:15:48.080 I love Paul because he gave advice to the men 0:15:48.280 --> 0:15:52.560 in the ship and he wasn't even a he wasn't 0:15:52.600 --> 0:15:59.480 even a nautical expert. Is maybe some type of commentary 0:15:59.560 --> 0:16:03.840 on the arrogance of preachers that he's up there telling 0:16:03.880 --> 0:16:05.520 someone who owns the ship what he ought to do 0:16:05.640 --> 0:16:09.760 with it. And I used to tell them all the time. 0:16:09.840 --> 0:16:12.080 I'm not going to preach a parenting sermon until my 0:16:12.160 --> 0:16:16.760 kids are fifty, until I'm out of the window of 0:16:16.880 --> 0:16:20.520 where God can like boomerang my own teaching back on me. 0:16:20.800 --> 0:16:24.480 I'm not teaching anything about parenting. I'm not doing it. 0:16:24.760 --> 0:16:26.760 I'm not writing a parenting book. I'm not preaching a 0:16:26.760 --> 0:16:29.080 parenting series. You can preach this is us if you 0:16:29.120 --> 0:16:31.560 want to. I'm not preaching any of it. I'm not 0:16:31.720 --> 0:16:37.600 doing it. And I really found out that most of 0:16:37.640 --> 0:16:40.720 the time people don't really want you to give them 0:16:40.760 --> 0:16:45.120 advice when they ask for it. They just want you 0:16:45.200 --> 0:16:49.400 to affirm what they already decided to do. And if 0:16:49.400 --> 0:16:50.960 you don't give them the advice, I'm gonna save you 0:16:50.960 --> 0:16:53.160 a lot of time. Right now, you're ready. It's not 0:16:53.240 --> 0:16:57.000 that they really want advice. They usually want either attention 0:16:57.880 --> 0:17:05.040 or affirmation. Now, what Paul says is true. He says 0:17:05.320 --> 0:17:08.400 this storm could have been avoided because he told them 0:17:08.400 --> 0:17:13.240 to stay. He did. They were loaded up for Rome. 0:17:13.800 --> 0:17:16.679 They went in a small boat and they stopped at 0:17:16.680 --> 0:17:19.000 an island where they were transported to a larger boat. 0:17:19.040 --> 0:17:21.360 Because this is a long voyage. Man, we're going all 0:17:21.400 --> 0:17:23.280 the way to Rome. Somebody say, we're going all the 0:17:23.280 --> 0:17:26.480 way to Rome. We're going all the way to Rome. 0:17:27.000 --> 0:17:30.560 Paul always wanted to go to Rome. That's the interesting thing. 0:17:30.920 --> 0:17:34.439 He wanted to go to Rome. But what God doesn't 0:17:34.480 --> 0:17:36.840 tell you is that you don't always get to choose 0:17:36.880 --> 0:17:45.160 your transportation. Deeper, you know, the scripture says that God 0:17:45.240 --> 0:17:48.720 is taking us from glory to glory. I believe that 0:17:49.840 --> 0:17:52.600 we go from glory to glory, strength to strength. I 0:17:52.640 --> 0:17:55.879 believe that I believe God is taking you somewhere. I 0:17:55.920 --> 0:17:59.040 believe God is moving you forward. I believe that God 0:17:59.080 --> 0:18:02.240 has promised that we will go from glory to glory, 0:18:02.600 --> 0:18:04.840 but he just didn't tell us exactly how we're going 0:18:04.920 --> 0:18:13.399 to get there. So when we pray for something in 0:18:13.440 --> 0:18:18.679 our lives, we don't get to choose transportation. This is 0:18:18.720 --> 0:18:21.840 not uber x uber black uber extreme. God does not 0:18:22.040 --> 0:18:27.760 let you choose the luxury of the transportation. And so 0:18:27.880 --> 0:18:31.399 Paul is doing something he always wanted to do, going 0:18:31.440 --> 0:18:34.880 to room to preach the gospel. But he's headed there 0:18:35.040 --> 0:18:40.159 in a ship as a prisoner in chains, not how 0:18:40.200 --> 0:18:42.919 we say change, where it can mean just anything, and 0:18:42.960 --> 0:18:45.679 not just how we say storm, where it could mean 0:18:45.720 --> 0:18:47.960 I have a headache and I can't find that advilo. 0:18:48.080 --> 0:18:55.560 There it is. He's in physical chains, in a literal storm, 0:18:55.600 --> 0:18:59.320 but he has an appointment to go to Rome. Now, 0:18:59.320 --> 0:19:00.920 I want to tell you something that nobody's told you 0:19:00.960 --> 0:19:02.639 in a few weeks. You're ready, you have an appointment. 0:19:04.119 --> 0:19:07.320 It's been a while since you've heard that, right, I 0:19:07.359 --> 0:19:09.679 want to tell you something that you haven't heard for 0:19:09.760 --> 0:19:14.240 a while. You have an appointment, and just by faith, 0:19:14.280 --> 0:19:16.439 go ahead and say it right now in this chat 0:19:16.480 --> 0:19:21.960 on YouTube on Facebook, say I have an appointment. Come on, 0:19:22.000 --> 0:19:25.880 I'm preaching to somebody because you have an appointment. Now, 0:19:25.920 --> 0:19:29.440 what happens in our hearts is that we get disappointed. 0:19:30.920 --> 0:19:34.560 We get disappointed in the way that God does certain things. 0:19:35.040 --> 0:19:38.399 We get disappointed in the people that don't help us 0:19:38.440 --> 0:19:42.280 along the way. But just because you're disappointed in people, 0:19:42.760 --> 0:19:46.200 don't jump off the ship and drown in the sea. 0:19:47.280 --> 0:19:50.160 Did you hear me? Just because people let you down, 0:19:50.560 --> 0:19:54.560 don't give up on God, who never will just because 0:19:54.600 --> 0:19:58.800 you lost a job, don't stop trusting that God is 0:19:58.920 --> 0:20:04.480 my provider. Jehovah Jirah, that's still his name, Jehovah Rafika. 0:20:04.800 --> 0:20:08.680 He's still a healer. I'm still gonna get there. I'm 0:20:08.800 --> 0:20:18.240 still going to Rome. I got an appointment. Some of 0:20:18.280 --> 0:20:20.120 the stuff that you're going through right now is getting 0:20:20.160 --> 0:20:22.320 you to the places that you ask God to take you, 0:20:22.560 --> 0:20:29.000 but you just don't like how you're getting there. So 0:20:29.680 --> 0:20:32.640 we could preach a series on this, how many want 0:20:32.680 --> 0:20:38.320 me to preach a whole series on the appointment in 0:20:38.359 --> 0:20:42.200 the storm? Did you know that you have an appointment 0:20:42.240 --> 0:20:46.280 in the storm? Paul knew something in the storm that 0:20:46.320 --> 0:20:50.120 the other people didn't know. What did he know? How 0:20:50.160 --> 0:20:52.719 could you stand up and tell people after they've been 0:20:52.760 --> 0:20:57.280 through fourteen days of the tempest and the billows and 0:20:57.560 --> 0:20:59.840 you know what other words for a storm, the lightning 0:21:00.080 --> 0:21:03.160 and the thunder and the breakers? How can you tell 0:21:03.200 --> 0:21:06.399 them when the winds are blowing knocking you sideways? You know, 0:21:06.800 --> 0:21:10.240 and and and and and and Peter's wig comes flying 0:21:10.280 --> 0:21:12.679 off in the storm. How are you going to tell me? 0:21:12.920 --> 0:21:15.320 How are you going to tell me in the storm 0:21:15.359 --> 0:21:18.439 to stay with the ship when you already told me 0:21:19.119 --> 0:21:26.200 it was going to break apart? How could God call 0:21:26.280 --> 0:21:33.160 you to stay with something that is breaking, and yet 0:21:33.280 --> 0:21:37.440 it is staying with the breaking that produces the blessing. 0:21:42.080 --> 0:21:48.399 It's breaking. It's breaking, not my boat, my heart, my heart. 0:21:49.520 --> 0:21:54.920 My heart is breaking. Did you know that the place 0:21:55.000 --> 0:21:58.879 God promises to dwell not visit, it's the broken and 0:21:58.960 --> 0:22:03.120 contrite heart. What does that mean? That means that when 0:22:03.880 --> 0:22:10.159 my heart is breaking, it is important that I abide 0:22:11.000 --> 0:22:16.320 in God's love so that I can experience his presence 0:22:17.000 --> 0:22:22.399 in a greater measure. It may not be your boat 0:22:23.680 --> 0:22:28.080 that is broken today. It may be your heart. It 0:22:28.119 --> 0:22:32.600 may be your business. It may be it may be 0:22:32.720 --> 0:22:37.240 the number in your bank account that is screaming, you 0:22:37.280 --> 0:22:45.160 are broke, all right, So I am broke. God's not right, 0:22:45.560 --> 0:22:47.720 all right? So this is how I want to preach 0:22:47.800 --> 0:22:51.320 to get people through a storm, Isn't that? Isn't that 0:22:51.359 --> 0:22:54.160 what we've been saying, that that we're in the same storm. 0:22:54.200 --> 0:22:56.960 But we're not in the same boat. And you will 0:22:57.000 --> 0:22:59.920 remember that it is not what you go through that 0:23:00.119 --> 0:23:04.600 determines where you end up. Many people went through betrayal 0:23:04.600 --> 0:23:08.560 worse than you went through, and they're not bitter and 0:23:08.600 --> 0:23:13.679 you are. Many people were disappointed more than you were disappointed, 0:23:13.720 --> 0:23:16.840 and yet they still have strong faith and you don't. 0:23:18.560 --> 0:23:21.200 Many people are struggling with their daily needs more than 0:23:21.200 --> 0:23:25.199 you are, and they're less worried than you are about it. 0:23:25.200 --> 0:23:27.880 It is not what I go through that determines where 0:23:27.880 --> 0:23:34.040 I end up. It's not it's who I listened to. 0:23:37.880 --> 0:23:42.080 Paul said, you should have taken my advice. I told you, 0:23:43.760 --> 0:23:45.800 I told you to stay in the harbor. They set 0:23:45.840 --> 0:23:47.720 out to go to Rome. They got caught up in 0:23:47.760 --> 0:23:50.840 a storm, they lost their course, and this is what happens, right, 0:23:51.240 --> 0:23:55.880 you get blown off course. Oh no, this was not 0:23:55.920 --> 0:23:59.399 on our GPS. Back in the day we had tripped. 0:23:59.680 --> 0:24:02.680 What was called trip tick and triple A. They didn't 0:24:02.680 --> 0:24:05.920 put this on my trip tick. This wasn't on my itinerary. 0:24:06.160 --> 0:24:08.680 You get blown off course, then you start freaking out 0:24:08.800 --> 0:24:10.280 and now you're like, oh my god, I was going 0:24:10.359 --> 0:24:12.840 to retire in twelve years, but now I see this situation. 0:24:13.080 --> 0:24:17.080 When you get blown off course, you have got to 0:24:17.160 --> 0:24:21.480 decide at that point, who will I listen to? And 0:24:21.480 --> 0:24:25.080 what will I guide by? Who will I listen to? 0:24:26.440 --> 0:24:30.320 What will I guide by? Now? These are the questions 0:24:31.760 --> 0:24:38.360 that you must answer in this crisis of your life. 0:24:36.760 --> 0:24:41.479 This is the heart of what God is asking today. 0:24:41.800 --> 0:24:48.080 Who will you listen to? And what will you guide by? 0:24:49.000 --> 0:24:51.600 Paul said, this is not a good time to sail, 0:24:52.440 --> 0:24:56.160 and they sailed anyway. Paul said, we ought to stay 0:24:56.160 --> 0:24:58.320 here in this harbor. For the reason they didn't want 0:24:58.320 --> 0:24:59.760 to stay in the harbor when Paul told them to 0:24:59.760 --> 0:25:03.200 stay is because it says it was undesirable to winter there. 0:25:04.520 --> 0:25:06.840 So rather than stay in a place they didn't like, 0:25:08.640 --> 0:25:14.800 they sailed into something that would destroy them. Rather than 0:25:14.960 --> 0:25:19.080 stay in a place that they didn't like, they sailed 0:25:19.080 --> 0:25:23.199 into something that would destroy them. See, it's not the 0:25:23.200 --> 0:25:26.160 first storm that you have to worry about the first 0:25:26.160 --> 0:25:29.120 storm is the storm that you can't control. It started 0:25:29.160 --> 0:25:31.840 raining Friday here in Charlotte. It looked like God got 0:25:31.880 --> 0:25:35.360 sick of everybody. And I was like, oh, the governor 0:25:35.480 --> 0:25:37.240 led us to stay at home order. And at the 0:25:37.280 --> 0:25:40.480 same time, this storm comes out of nowhere, and I'm like, Lord, 0:25:41.240 --> 0:25:44.080 are you speaking? I'll stay inside. I'm sorry, Lord, Oh, 0:25:45.000 --> 0:25:47.640 I know what to do. Out of nowhere. Storms are 0:25:47.720 --> 0:25:54.200 like that one text message can change the next three 0:25:54.280 --> 0:25:58.840 years of your life in eighty characters. Out of nowhere. 0:25:59.760 --> 0:26:02.240