Speaker 1: Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick.
Speaker 2: I'm the pastor of Elevation Church and this is our podcast.
Speaker 2: I wanted to thank you for joining us today.
Speaker 1: Hope this inspires you. Hope it builds your faith.
Speaker 2: Hope it gives your perspective to see God is moving
Speaker 2: in your life.
Speaker 1: Enjoy the message.
Speaker 2: We have also been releasing in this series that I'm doing,
Speaker 2: do the New you, not only this new book that
Speaker 2: I've written, but also we have been releasing six confessions
Speaker 2: of Faith into your life, one at a time, just
Speaker 2: giving you your daily dosage. And this one today is
Speaker 2: what Holly says is her favorite of the six, and
Speaker 2: I think she says that because I need it the most.
Speaker 2: We're gonna talk about joy today, and the specific mindset
Speaker 2: goes like this. The saying is only four words. It's
Speaker 2: the shortest of the mindsets. And this one goes, my
Speaker 2: joy is my job. Now you said it, all right,
Speaker 2: So just remember you said that when we finish this sermon,
Speaker 2: because to say that means that I'm going to start
Speaker 2: taking responsibility for my own attitude and my own emotions,
Speaker 2: and my own temper tantrums, and my own road rage
Speaker 2: and my own self pity parties. So let's say it again,
Speaker 2: my joy, or maybe you just want to tell this
Speaker 2: to your neighbor, maybe you dont want to say it
Speaker 2: about yourself. Just look at them and say, your joy
Speaker 2: is your job. Tell them I can't make you happy.
Speaker 1: So we're gonna look at this in detail today.
Speaker 2: But one of the things I've had a lot of
Speaker 2: fun in is going back through the topics and the
Speaker 2: book in the mindsets, but finding some stories, some epic
Speaker 2: Bible stories to locate.
Speaker 1: And this one today is as epic as it gets.
Speaker 2: Turning your Bible to Acts chapter sixteen, stay on your
Speaker 2: feet for just a moment as we read God's word
Speaker 2: Acts chapter sixteen. We're gonna pick up in verse twenty two.
Speaker 2: And you may have heard this story before, but that's okay,
Speaker 2: because I want to demonstrate to you today that your
Speaker 2: joy is your job. From Acts chapter sixteen, verse twenty two,
Speaker 2: Thank you Jesus.
Speaker 1: How many know? If you have Jesus, you have joy?
Speaker 2: The Bible says in Acts sixteen, verse twenty two. The
Speaker 2: crowd joined in the attack against Paul and silas the
Speaker 2: magistrates ordered them to be stripped and beaten with rods.
Speaker 1: After they had been severely flogged.
Speaker 2: They were thrown into prison, and the jailer was commanded
Speaker 2: to guard them carefully. Good luck with that guarding the
Speaker 2: apostle Paul and his partner Silas. Good luck with that, dude.
Speaker 2: But he was commanded to guard them carefully Verse twenty four.
Speaker 2: When he received these orders, he put them in the
Speaker 2: inner cell and fastened their feet in the stalks. About midnight,
Speaker 2: Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God,
Speaker 2: and the other prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly, suddenly,
Speaker 2: there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of
Speaker 2: the prison were shaken at once.
Speaker 1: The prison doors flew open, and everyone's chains came loose.
Speaker 2: Give God a change, came loose. Phrase lift your hands.
Speaker 2: If you ever had your chains come loose. Somebody shot
Speaker 2: my job.
Speaker 1: My job is my job.
Speaker 2: High five your neighbor and say we've got work to do.
Speaker 2: You may take your seat. God bless you, God bless you.
Speaker 2: Want you to do a little time travel with me. Okay,
Speaker 2: before we go all the way back, let's just go
Speaker 2: back briefly. The year is two thousand and nine. Turn
Speaker 2: to your neighbor and tell them how old were you
Speaker 2: in the year two thousand and nine. I think I
Speaker 2: had platinum blonde hair. I think my hair looked just
Speaker 2: like Graham's hair the year two thousand and nine. A
Speaker 2: you got it. The Lakers have just won Game two
Speaker 2: of the NBA Finals. Kobe Bryant is in a press conference.
Speaker 2: He's not smiling. The reporter asks him, aren't you happy?
Speaker 2: Why aren't you happy? Are you half happy? You're up
Speaker 2: two games to zero in the NBA Finals. You have
Speaker 2: to win four games to win the championship. So what
Speaker 2: Kobe said next is legendary. I'm not a big basketball fan.
Speaker 2: I'm not really a big sports fan, but my son
Speaker 2: Graham has quoted this so many times that I looked
Speaker 2: it up. And Kobe looks back, irritated, aggravated, and cold blooded.
Speaker 2: He says, aren't you happy? You're up two games to zero?
Speaker 2: Kobe says, what's there to be happy about? The jobs
Speaker 2: not finished? Oh, Kobe.
Speaker 1: Said what I feel all the time. I'm not saying
Speaker 1: it's right to live your life that way.
Speaker 2: It just feels so good to be seen by somebody.
Speaker 2: Because happy people, smiley people make me sick. What are
Speaker 2: you smiling about? What is there to be happy about
Speaker 2: Kobe wanted to know the jobs not finished. I feel
Speaker 2: that way. I feel that way all the time. And
Speaker 2: I am a work in progress. And God is not
Speaker 2: finished with me yet, and He's developing me and getting
Speaker 2: me past this point of thinking that I've got to
Speaker 2: be completely finished in order to be fulfilled. So if
Speaker 2: we travel back to two thousand and nine, or we
Speaker 2: travel forward to twenty twenty four, it occurs to me
Speaker 2: today that everybody in this room is sitting in the
Speaker 2: middle of unfinished business. There will always be a place
Speaker 2: in your life that feels unfinished, frustrating, and think about
Speaker 2: it is you know, if you really want to get
Speaker 2: down to it, to be humanists, to be unfinished. But
Speaker 2: even the Apostle Paul, if we go all the way
Speaker 2: back's time travel a little more. Let's go to eighty fifty,
Speaker 2: he's taking the Gospel to the known world. You could
Speaker 2: say that he was the shooting guard of.
Speaker 1: The New Testament Church.
Speaker 2: Okay, honor and respect to the Apostle Paul, because he
Speaker 2: was unbelievably effective at what he did. But even in
Speaker 2: his own travels, in his own journey, he encountered many dips,
Speaker 2: cut scrapes, and bruises along the way.
Speaker 1: For instance, he.
Speaker 2: Tried to enter on his second missionary journey, not his
Speaker 2: second NBA Playoff game, but his second missionary journey. I'm
Speaker 2: kind of making some parallels here between Kobe and the
Speaker 2: apostle Paul, but I'm just doing it for the illustrations point,
Speaker 2: because he's going forward with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Speaker 1: But the Bible says.
Speaker 2: That he was prevented from entering a certain place where
Speaker 2: he wanted to go preach in Asia, and he couldn't
Speaker 2: go in, and says he.
Speaker 1: Couldn't go in.
Speaker 2: He had a vision to go help people in a
Speaker 2: region called Macedonia, which is in Europe, and he gets there,
Speaker 2: it's going pretty good, and it's going so good in fact,
Speaker 2: that he has identified a woman named Lydia who had
Speaker 2: adequate resources to help them start their first house church.
Speaker 2: And so this is a big breakthrough because it's in
Speaker 2: a city called Philippi, which is a strategic center of
Speaker 2: trade and commerce in the region of Macedonia on the
Speaker 2: continent of Europe. And the Gospel has never been to
Speaker 2: Philippi before. And we see now that God has a
Speaker 2: strategy to fill Philippi with the gospel, and it's going
Speaker 2: so good because Paul talks to this woman named Lydia
Speaker 2: and goes in her house and starts teaching an e
Speaker 2: group or a pop up and Lydia's house is such
Speaker 2: an accommodating environment for a pop up church.
Speaker 1: Shout out to.
Speaker 2: All our e fam Let's give a shout out to
Speaker 2: all our EPAM from one one from what's this address?
Speaker 2: One one's seven oh one elevation point. Yeah, we give
Speaker 2: you a shout out from one one seven oh one.
Speaker 2: We bless you in the name of Jesus. Wherever you
Speaker 2: are having church right now, whatever you're going through, we
Speaker 2: confer the presence of God upon you and your house
Speaker 2: and everything that's on your mind. Right now, we speak
Speaker 2: the peace of God to your situation. So Paul is
Speaker 2: preaching and he's met somebody who is a viable partner,
Speaker 2: and he and his partner, Silas, are going down the
Speaker 2: street and all of a sudden, this little this I
Speaker 2: sad caller, A little girl.
Speaker 1: I don't know how old she was. The Bible calls
Speaker 1: her a girl.
Speaker 2: Maybe she wasn't small in stature, but she had a
Speaker 2: very unique gift. She had the ability to tell the future.
Speaker 2: But it was a demon spirit that enabled her to
Speaker 2: do it. And so the people that employed her and
Speaker 2: enslaved her. I call it employed, but they really made
Speaker 2: all the money off of her, off of.
Speaker 1: Her gifts, so they were using her well.
Speaker 2: She followed Paul and Silas around all through Philippi for
Speaker 2: a little while, and she was shouting in a sarcastic,
Speaker 2: mocking kind of way.
Speaker 3: These men are servants of the Most High God, and
Speaker 3: they are telling you the way to be saved. These
Speaker 3: men are servants of the Most High God, and they
Speaker 3: are telling you the way to be saved. She said
Speaker 3: that so many times that eventually Paul the Preacher, Paul
Speaker 3: the Apostle, Paul the Holy Man of God, turned around,
Speaker 3: and the Bible says he was annoyed.
Speaker 1: The Bible actually says that he was annoyed.
Speaker 2: You know, you can be anointed and annoyed, right, you
Speaker 2: know you can have a mission and have mood swings.
Speaker 4: Right.
Speaker 1: Yeah. He turns around and says, in.
Speaker 2: The name of Jesus Christ, come out of her, and
Speaker 2: the spirit left.
Speaker 1: But when the spirit left the girl, so did her ability.
Speaker 2: To earn income for our masters, which made them unhappy
Speaker 2: since they were unhappy.
Speaker 1: They dragged Paul.
Speaker 2: And Silas into the middle of the civic square where
Speaker 2: the commerce happened there in Philippi put them on trial,
Speaker 2: made up lies about them, said, these men are going
Speaker 2: against our Roman customs, even though Paul and Silas had
Speaker 2: Roman citizenship. The enemy is a liar, and he will
Speaker 2: lie about anything and use anything in order to wage
Speaker 2: his war.
Speaker 1: To keep you from doing what God has called you
Speaker 1: to do.
Speaker 2: So the people take Paul and Silas and locked them
Speaker 2: in prison, and we picked up the story at a
Speaker 2: pretty unhappy point in Acts, chapter sixteen, verse twenty two,
Speaker 2: at least for Paul and Silas. It is a very
Speaker 2: pivotal moment where the Bible says, the crowd.
Speaker 1: Joined in the attack against Paul and Silas.
Speaker 2: Please put verse twenty two on the screen because I
Speaker 2: want this lovely, beautiful church to see something altogether. It says,
Speaker 2: the crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas.
Speaker 2: And after I've told you everything I've told you by
Speaker 2: way of background today, could we agree that the size
Speaker 2: of the attack on your life is relative to the
Speaker 2: size of the assignment on your life. A crowd would
Speaker 2: not have attacked them if they were not affecting a
Speaker 2: lot of people, there would have been no attack, if
Speaker 2: there was no anointing. And I mentioned this last week
Speaker 2: because I was trying to tell you that God is
Speaker 2: not against you, but he's in it with you, working
Speaker 2: through you, fighting for you. And yet to have God
Speaker 2: fighting for you does not mean that no one or
Speaker 2: nothing will fight against you.
Speaker 1: It almost guarantees that they will.
Speaker 2: I know it's not a fun place to clap, but
Speaker 2: let's clap because God doesn't leave us alone when we're
Speaker 2: under attack. Can we clap about that? Let me point
Speaker 2: out something else. The attack is not absence of God's presence. Yeah,
Speaker 2: and I'm going to show you that in just a moment.
Speaker 2: But before I do, let's talk a little bit about
Speaker 2: what Kobe said, the jobs not finished?
Speaker 1: What's there to be happy about?
Speaker 2: You know, we're recording a bunch of new songs here tonight,
Speaker 2: and the most amazing musicians, singers, and technicians and videographers
Speaker 2: and graphic designers in the world will put together, hopefully
Speaker 2: an amazing evening and I hope you can be here
Speaker 2: and I hope that you will enjoy it. This morning,
Speaker 2: I was writing the church, listening to one of the
Speaker 2: songs that we're going to be singing tonight, the song
Speaker 2: that says.
Speaker 1: Oh my God, you sure been good to me, and
Speaker 1: we'll be recording that song tonight.
Speaker 2: But I was playing it and I was writing with
Speaker 2: Abby and I was writing with her, and I was thinking, Oh,
Speaker 2: I hope we record it right tonight. I hope it
Speaker 2: goes good. Hope the people show up ready. I hope
Speaker 2: they don't show up sometimes like they do where they
Speaker 2: don't really sing loud and then they mess up the
Speaker 2: recording because they weren't really into it and then we
Speaker 2: can't use the song.
Speaker 1: I hope they show up tonight. I hope it's good.
Speaker 2: I hope everybody got enough sleep, hope everybody's voice works good.
Speaker 1: I hope all the songs go good. And I'm thinking
Speaker 1: about the fact that.
Speaker 2: We're going to record this song and I looked over
Speaker 2: and Abby was singing the song off the demo, and
Speaker 2: I realized that it will be wonderful when we record
Speaker 2: the song. It will be wonderful when we release the song.
Speaker 2: It will be wonderful if millions of people are blessed
Speaker 2: by the song, and I hope that they are. But
Speaker 2: this right now, somebody say this right now, this, right now,
Speaker 2: even though it is unfinished, it is fulfilling.
Speaker 1: Right now.
Speaker 2: I want to learn how to be sitting in something
Speaker 2: that's unfinished and still be fulfilled.
Speaker 1: I want to learn how to.
Speaker 2: Be able to say I've got something to be happy
Speaker 2: about even though the job's not finished. Because, in the
Speaker 2: words of that famous hymn writer bon Jovi, we're halfway there.
Speaker 2: WHOA somebody say, whoam halfway there?
Speaker 1: Yeah? I got two wins. So while Kobe's strategy.
Speaker 2: May be an excellent strategy for sports, it is a
Speaker 2: bad strategy for happiness. For you to focus on what
Speaker 2: is unfinished in your life, the unfinished business of your
Speaker 2: spiritual growth, the underdeveloped areas of your character that still
Speaker 2: aren't as far along as you wish they were, the
Speaker 2: unfinished business enterprises that you don't yet know if they're
Speaker 2: going to turn out good.
Speaker 1: Or turn out bad.
Speaker 2: For you to focus on the unfinished is to diminish
Speaker 2: the gift of this, this right here, this right now,
Speaker 2: this breath, this sermon, this moment, this gathering, this praise,
Speaker 2: this opportunity, this new day, this season, this moment, this person,
Speaker 2: this relationship, this effort, this breath this right here, somebody
Speaker 2: say this right here. So I'm headed somewhere and I'm
Speaker 2: excited about it and I'm working on something because I'm
Speaker 2: not complacent. But ah, God, teach me to be content
Speaker 2: while I'm in it. Time travel to the year fifty
Speaker 2: a D with me. Well, let's get out of two
Speaker 2: thousand and nine. H we're gonna party like this a
Speaker 2: D fifty in the church today. Oh yeah, we're gonna party.
Speaker 2: Touch somebody say it's gonna be a party in here today.
Speaker 1: Before this preacher finished.
Speaker 2: Precious but first, but first, in order to get to
Speaker 2: the party, we gotta go through the pain.
Speaker 1: And I need to speak to you a little bit.
Speaker 2: Today about the danger of postponing joy. Don't let the
Speaker 2: pressure make you postpone the joy.
Speaker 1: Isn't that what Kobe was trying to say. No, I
Speaker 1: still gotta get us to gain get we.
Speaker 2: Got we gotta win. We gotta win four of these,
Speaker 2: not two. So I can't smile at you right now.
Speaker 2: And it's a genius press conference strategy for a SoundBite.
Speaker 2: I mean, let's be honest, we're still talking about it today.
Speaker 2: But it is a horrible way for you to approach
Speaker 2: raising your kids.
Speaker 1: Jobs. I'm finished?
Speaker 5: When?
Speaker 1: When? When? When? When will it be? When do you
Speaker 1: think it's gonna be finished? You think you're gonna send
Speaker 1: them off and they're gonna be finished. There is a
Speaker 1: boomerang anointing on your children.
Speaker 2: Uh huh mm hmm, come right back. When will it
Speaker 2: be finished? When will it be finished? What's there to
Speaker 2: be happy about? I still I still have a job.
Speaker 2: I've been looking four months. Well, when you get a job,
Speaker 2: can't you lose it? Talk to me, we'll see. I'm
Speaker 2: single right now. When I meet my boass what's that face?
Speaker 1: I will be blessed and highly favor.
Speaker 2: And all the married people said, ha, unless you marry Holly,
Speaker 2: then you will be finally, eternally happy, that is, but she's.
Speaker 1: Off the market.
Speaker 2: And the thing about it is, the thing about it
Speaker 2: is if you postpone your joy because of the pressure,
Speaker 2: you will never give God praise.
Speaker 1: If you think there is a future date where you
Speaker 1: will be keyword. I'm gonna teach you for a little
Speaker 1: bit when I'm free from this.
Speaker 2: When I'm free from this, and I have more time
Speaker 2: when I'm free from this, and I don't struggle so
Speaker 2: much when I'm free from this, and it's not a
Speaker 2: temptation anymore. When I'm free from this, do not shout Amen.
Speaker 2: When I am free from this relationship. If you're sitting
Speaker 2: next to them, go quiet, just go dark right now,
Speaker 2: Just look really confused, as I preach. If it wasn't
Speaker 2: for them, if it wasn't for this, it would amaze
Speaker 2: you how many people are waiting to be free from
Speaker 2: something because you think you're going to feel something when
Speaker 2: you're free from something. And what I have to learn
Speaker 2: how to do in my life, and I suggest it
Speaker 2: is the task of all of us who walk.
Speaker 1: By faith and not by sight.
Speaker 2: It's to be free unfinished, to be free unfinished, to
Speaker 2: know that. Okay, well, my money isn't where I want
Speaker 2: it to be, but my marriage is. My marriage isn't
Speaker 2: where I want it to be. But my relationship with
Speaker 2: God is growing. My relationship with God.
Speaker 1: Isn't where I wanted to be.
Speaker 2: But I'm in church today, Devil, did you see me
Speaker 2: show up with my good clothes on where it gree
Speaker 2: Come on, pitch somebody real quick and say I just
Speaker 2: wanted to get one in.
Speaker 1: Pinch yourself real quick. Pinch yourself real quick.
Speaker 2: I mean some of you need to wake up and
Speaker 2: realize all the things that God has done. And you
Speaker 2: are sitting there not smiling, not shouting, not celebrating, waiting
Speaker 2: on something else good to happen. It would be a
Speaker 2: good time for you to praise him.
Speaker 1: Pablah, Bless the Lord in all time.
Speaker 2: Oh me, Joe, blessen me, Bless him, Bless him right now.
Speaker 6: Bless him, my brother, blessen my sister, Bless him, my friend.
Speaker 1: Blot down high five. Somebody say it's the right time.
Speaker 1: It's the right time. The Bible says that.
Speaker 2: The jailor was command Hey, watch out for these two.
Speaker 2: Watch out for these guys. They're turning our city upside down.
Speaker 2: Watch out for them. That's why the devil has had
Speaker 2: you contained.
Speaker 1: That's why the.
Speaker 2: Devil is trying to constrain you with anxiety. That's why
Speaker 2: the devil is trying to press you down with depression,
Speaker 2: because there's.
Speaker 1: Something in you.
Speaker 2: The attack against you only indicates the potential that is
Speaker 2: within you.
Speaker 1: That's all it is. So what you gonna do about it? Paul?
Speaker 2: And this must have shocked everybody who saw him in
Speaker 2: those shackles. This must have shocked everybody who saw him
Speaker 2: in those shackles. It's about midnight, the Bible says, which
Speaker 2: is a bad time. It's a bad time to go out.
Speaker 2: It's a bad time to be awake if you're in
Speaker 2: I want to be in my bed at nine forty
Speaker 2: five pm Eastern Standard time every night. It is a
Speaker 2: product of the stage of my life. And as the
Speaker 2: process of day gives way to the process of night,
Speaker 2: something very interesting happens.
Speaker 1: Say my joy is my job.
Speaker 2: Now. The jailer was commanded to Paul and Silas as
Speaker 2: their guard. But the Bible says in Proverbs four twenty
Speaker 2: three that you are to guard your heart above all else.
Speaker 1: So while the.
Speaker 2: Jailer is guarding Paul, we see that Paul was apparently
Speaker 2: guarding Paul too, because at this point he has allowed
Speaker 2: bitterness to seep into his heart.
Speaker 1: Because this isn't fair.
Speaker 2: And if at this point he has allowed uncertainty to
Speaker 2: paralyze him, he is not going to do what he
Speaker 2: does next.
Speaker 1: The Bible says, about midnight, Paul and Silas were.
Speaker 2: Praying and singing hymns to God, and other prisoners were
Speaker 2: listening to them. Process. Put it in the chat. Say
Speaker 2: it's a process. It's a process. It's a process. It's
Speaker 2: a process. And when you're going through things in your
Speaker 2: life and the unfinished business and realizing that it's a process,
Speaker 2: I'm a process. Recovery is a process. Wealth building is
Speaker 2: a process. Holiness is a process. Relational intimacy is a process,
Speaker 2: Showing up is a process, Staying put is a process.
Speaker 1: Day is a process. Night is a process.
Speaker 2: Today the birth of day includes the process of the
Speaker 2: coming of night. And at midnight Paul and Silas started
Speaker 2: praying and started singing. If I could give that guard
Speaker 2: one word of advice, it would be you made a mistake.
Speaker 1: Not when you put their feet in the shackles.
Speaker 2: You made a mistake, Not when you put them in
Speaker 2: the inner cell, that's the most secure part of the prison.
Speaker 1: I understand you were doing what you were supposed to do.
Speaker 2: I wouldn't even tell the guard that he made a
Speaker 2: mistake when he went to sleep, because you'll see in
Speaker 2: just a few verses that he actually was dozed off
Speaker 2: over there in the corner somewhere. And that's fine too,
Speaker 2: because their feet were in the shackles. But the mistake
Speaker 2: that you made was putting them together in the same cell.
Speaker 2: If you would have kept them in isolation, they would
Speaker 2: have processed this pain differently. If you would have kept
Speaker 2: them separated, Paul would have started processing, well, maybe God
Speaker 2: doesn't want.
Speaker 1: Us over here in Europe.
Speaker 2: If you would have he kept Paul in isolation in
Speaker 2: his own cell, he would have started processing why does
Speaker 2: life have to be so hard for me? God, you
Speaker 2: got Peter out of prison, You can't keep me out
Speaker 2: of prison. If he would have kept them in isolation,
Speaker 2: maybe he would have started comparing.
Speaker 1: It to the last time that he preached.
Speaker 2: Maybe if he would have kept Paul in isolation, he
Speaker 2: would have gone into self pity.
Speaker 1: Maybe if he would have.
Speaker 2: Kept Silace in isolation, he would have sabotaged. But the
Speaker 2: Bible says he did one thing wrong. He put them
Speaker 2: in the cell. The devil did one thing wrong this morning.
Speaker 2: He let you get to Elevation Church at eleven seven
Speaker 2: oh one Elevation Point Boulevard on Saint Patrick's Day of
Speaker 2: twenty twenty.
Speaker 1: Four, because he puts you next to somebody who is
Speaker 1: about to pens You pins.
Speaker 2: Your neighbor real quick, who is about to penshew.
Speaker 1: And look them in the eye and say, wegg up.
Speaker 1: God is with us. Flap your hands if.
Speaker 2: You know God is with me in the process.
Speaker 1: I'm singing over your life. God is with you in
Speaker 1: the process. God is with you when it's two to zero,
Speaker 1: when it's zero to two, when it's.
Speaker 2: Game four, game five, game six, game seven. God is
Speaker 2: with me in the postgame analysis because he's with me
Speaker 2: in the process, but in the comments, he's with me
Speaker 2: in the process.
Speaker 1: He's with me in the process.
Speaker 2: And I want to make sure that the way you
Speaker 2: are processing the unfinished places in your life, the way
Speaker 2: you are processing the imperfect parts of you, the way
Speaker 2: that you are processing the parts of your life that
Speaker 2: do not match your preference. I want to make sure
Speaker 2: that your process doesn't become your prison. So you ruminate
Speaker 2: and stew and have imaginary conversations where you get back
Speaker 2: at people who aren't even thinking about you right now.
Speaker 2: If I invested all the imagination and energy into preaching
Speaker 2: that I did, into imaginary arguments with people, I would
Speaker 2: be Charles Spurgeon, Billy Graham.
Speaker 1: I just don't want because we have to go into
Speaker 1: some prisons.
Speaker 2: Right they were thrown into one prison, but the other one,
Speaker 2: I think sometimes you aren't thrown into it. I think
Speaker 2: you think your way into it. So we got a process.
Speaker 2: It's hard to process as we're talking about joy. It's
Speaker 2: hard to process when you're in prison and your feet
Speaker 2: are in stocks and it's dark outside and your back
Speaker 2: is raw because you were beat with rods. I know,
Speaker 2: we normally don't go through things to this magnitude. That's
Speaker 2: why I think the story is so helpful because whatever
Speaker 2: you're going through, it isn't this, and whatever pressure you
Speaker 2: have on you, it isn't being the lead apostle for
Speaker 2: the gospel just decades after Jesus Christ walked the earth.
Speaker 2: So if they did this, it can become an illustration
Speaker 2: for me. And it takes a day. So as you process,
Speaker 2: I want you to write down three things. Make sure
Speaker 2: you got the right partner to process. Write down the
Speaker 2: word partner. I need a partner. I need a partner
Speaker 2: in my life who will help me to process my
Speaker 2: imperfection and my unfinishedness in a way that encourages me
Speaker 2: with the grace to sit in my unfinished but also
Speaker 2: gives me an example and a goal that I can
Speaker 2: go forward and grow into all God has called me
Speaker 2: to be.
Speaker 1: Clap your hands if you need a partner here. A
Speaker 1: matter of fact, I told I told.
Speaker 2: Isaiah Zeke Templeton, I might bring him up to be
Speaker 2: my partner. So come on, I think we should do it.
Speaker 2: Would you all give Zeke a handas as he comes. Oh,
Speaker 2: come on, you can do better than that. It seek everybody,
Speaker 2: zee as you come. I'll be Paul, you be Silas.
Speaker 2: Let's give the people a mental picture. Yeah, give him
Speaker 2: a microphone. We might do some singing before this illustration.
Speaker 1: I'm just saying.
Speaker 2: I'm just saying the partner I picked might indicate the.
Speaker 1: Purpose I have in mind.
Speaker 2: That's a whole sermon point. Nobody wrote it down. I
Speaker 2: picked my partner according to my purpose. God picks people
Speaker 2: according to his purpose. God picked you according to a purpose.
Speaker 2: So here's here's what they did. Here's what they did.
Speaker 2: The Bible says it's midnight, and it doesn't say that
Speaker 2: they were sitting like this, just to be a good
Speaker 2: way to get the point across.
Speaker 1: But they were in the same cell.
Speaker 2: And maybe maybe Paul I have some speculations about this passage.
Speaker 2: Let's just first of all, I'll see the scripture Acts
Speaker 2: sixteen twenty five about midnight, Paul and Silas were praying
Speaker 2: and singing hymns to God. Okay, so this is just
Speaker 2: a speculation. It's not in the text, but I respectator.
Speaker 2: I don't think Paul was a very good singer. I
Speaker 2: think Silas was a better singer than Paul.
Speaker 1: Okay. And I take it from.
Speaker 2: One scripture where people used to say when he would
Speaker 2: get up that he was unimpressive in person. So if
Speaker 2: you're a great singer, nobody's going to say that about you, right.
Speaker 2: So I don't think Paul's very good singer. But I
Speaker 2: think this is another speculation. I think Paul is the
Speaker 2: one who started singing because one thing Paul knew how
Speaker 2: to do is start stuff. He was an instigator, Okay.
Speaker 2: And so I imagine it's about midnight, and what else are
Speaker 2: you gonna do? Because you can't move. He's not gonna
Speaker 2: do any burpies. His feed are in stocks. He's not
Speaker 2: gonna get prison ripped this time. And he goes, I
Speaker 2: know they didn't have musical directors in prison, but just
Speaker 2: give me a see so I can sing in a.
Speaker 1: Good note there. Yeah, okay, Mmmm. I think sometime in
Speaker 1: the middle of night, Paul went what a fellowship, What
Speaker 1: a joy?
Speaker 2: Divine leing on the everlastings.
Speaker 1: It says they sang.
Speaker 2: Hymns right, and I know that him wasn't written red
Speaker 2: yet use your imagination.
Speaker 1: I think they sang something like that, right, what a blessedness?
Speaker 1: What a piece is mine?
Speaker 2: And he probably don't feel a lot of peace when
Speaker 2: he sings at But I'm gonna.
Speaker 1: Give you a life, principal worshipers.
Speaker 2: Sometimes you've got to sing until your soul catches up
Speaker 2: with your song.
Speaker 1: You feel that Silas leading on the ever last ding
Speaker 1: arms lead, Hey, Silas, you'll wake back there, be safe
Speaker 1: and secure.
Speaker 5: From now.
Speaker 2: I think when Silas started singing, Paul started getting louder.
Speaker 7: Leave leave on the evens.
Speaker 4: Oh, but it says they sang put the verse back up.
Speaker 2: They sang hymns plural, so they didn't stop singing. I mean,
Speaker 2: I think faun.
Speaker 1: Knew so many hymns. He just started a medley, you
Speaker 1: know what I'm saying, because.
Speaker 2: I think he memorized some songs in a previous season.
Speaker 1: That God knew he would need at a midnight hour.
Speaker 5: Uh huh.
Speaker 1: So I think next he went less. It is sure
Speaker 1: Jesus is mine?
Speaker 7: Oh what a footy of glory divine.
Speaker 1: You take this part silas Era Selva shut.
Speaker 5: Purchase fat onn of his speed, washed in his blood.
Speaker 2: I want you to remember their feet are in shackles,
Speaker 2: but they're washed in his blood.
Speaker 1: I want you to remember that their feet are.
Speaker 2: In shackles, but they're born of his spirit. I want
Speaker 2: you to remember that your situation is dark, but your
Speaker 2: born of his spirit. I want to remind you that
Speaker 2: this chapter is painful.
Speaker 1: What's her story? Is another? And plass it. This is
Speaker 1: my soul. This is my song, raising my say yo,
Speaker 1: oh the day long. This is my store that I
Speaker 1: can sell us. But do it, hi, This is my story.
Speaker 5: Yesis my.
Speaker 2: That's the kind of singing res my So.
Speaker 1: What am I doing?
Speaker 5: Carrais my.
Speaker 2: Leader?
Speaker 5: Lead leader, raising my say yea oh theday, praising.
Speaker 1: Save at midnight too.
Speaker 2: And all of a sudden, the Bible says, as they
Speaker 2: were singing, something started.
Speaker 1: Shaking.
Speaker 2: As they were singing, something started shaking, Something started shaking.
Speaker 2: Praise started shaking something. And Lydia might have felt it
Speaker 2: at her house, and she didn't know what it was.
Speaker 1: But Paul knew.
Speaker 2: When we pray, say it solace, when we pray, when
Speaker 2: we pray.
Speaker 3: Hand the founday since started second and Paul said, Christ.
Speaker 2: The side past around he is seeking.
Speaker 5: Said, oh, lother ground.
Speaker 1: He's singing jade hour.
Speaker 7: Oh, Christ's the side my litter in this shackle. But
Speaker 7: I'm standing over.
Speaker 2: Saking, said, oh love the ground he's see say, I'm
Speaker 2: gonna take the foundation.
Speaker 1: For a minute. No, no, you can't shake him like that.
Speaker 2: You can't sink him like that. You gotta get down
Speaker 2: on the inside of your belly, from therbelly, from your belly,
Speaker 2: from your belly.
Speaker 6: Somebody shout up to God, shaken, shaken, shaken, shaken, shaken, shaken, shaken, shaken.
Speaker 2: I'm singing in shackles and something starts shaking. I'm singing
Speaker 2: in shackles and something starts shaking. I'm singing in loneliness
Speaker 2: and something starts shaking. Because I got a partner, I
Speaker 2: got a praise. And the Bible says they did one
Speaker 2: more thing. They prayed. Did the Bible say they prayed
Speaker 2: in verse twenty five or did I make it up?
Speaker 1: They prayed?
Speaker 2: Verse twenty five says they sang, they praised, and they prayed.
Speaker 2: I don't know what songs they sang. I don't know
Speaker 2: what prayers they prayed, but I have a speculation about
Speaker 2: what they didn't pray. I would imagine if you're in
Speaker 2: a prison, your prayer, your dominant goal and thought, would
Speaker 2: be what get us out?
Speaker 1: Somebody say it, get us out? And yet the Bible says,
Speaker 1: because I never heard this passage breached.
Speaker 2: Like you wouldn't believe about how a shout will bring
Speaker 2: you out, which confused me when I read the next verse,
Speaker 2: because the Bible says, can I preach the Bible? Y'all
Speaker 2: are looking at me so quiet? I feel nervous, like
Speaker 2: I stole something from target. The Bible says that after
Speaker 2: they sang and prayed, because I'm imagining Paul going, God,
Speaker 2: get us out by your power, by your blood, just
Speaker 2: like you brought Moses out of Egypt, just like you
Speaker 2: brought Neemiah the.
Speaker 1: Captives back to Jerusalem.
Speaker 2: Just like you did it for them, just like you
Speaker 2: brought Jonna from the belly of the whale.
Speaker 1: God, get me out, the Bible says.
Speaker 2: Suddenly there was a violent earthquake and the foundations shook,
Speaker 2: and everyone's chains came loose. Now, what do you do
Speaker 2: when you're in prison and your chains come loose one,
Speaker 2: two three. Leave when your chains come loose, you leave
Speaker 2: right because I prayed and he brought me out. But
Speaker 2: watch this. Verse twenty seven says the jailer woke up. Dude,
Speaker 2: you had one job. And the jailer woke up, and
Speaker 2: when he saw that the prison doors were open, he
Speaker 2: drew his sword and was about to kill himself because
Speaker 2: if he did it, his superior officer would because he
Speaker 2: thought the prisoners had escaped.
Speaker 1: Well, yeah, that's what you're supposed to.
Speaker 2: Do when God sends an earthquake and opens the doors.
Speaker 2: Unless they weren't praying for God to get them out.
Speaker 2: I don't know who this is for, but you keep
Speaker 2: thinking God wants to get you out, and sometimes he does,
Speaker 2: and eventually they left. They didn't leave there. But verse
Speaker 2: twenty seven is very powerful. Can I reach verse twenty seven?
Speaker 2: Can I reach verse twenty seven? Is there one person
Speaker 2: in this church that wants to hear what happened in
Speaker 2: verse twenty seven?
Speaker 1: I have.
Speaker 2: The Bible, says the jailer woke up, and when he
Speaker 2: saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword about
Speaker 2: it comes up because he thought the prisoners had this game.
Speaker 2: Verse twenty eight but Paul shouted, don't harm yourself.
Speaker 1: We are all here. Why are you still here?
Speaker 2: And Paul says, I wouldn't praying God to get me out.
Speaker 2: I was praying for God to come in. And these
Speaker 2: doors help me preach Holy God. These doors are open
Speaker 2: because the tring of Glory.
Speaker 1: Is coming in. He's coming in.
Speaker 2: Somebody lift your hands if you know he's coming in.
Speaker 2: So I want to propose to you, child of God,
Speaker 2: that you keep saying, when I get out of this,
Speaker 2: I'm gonna.
Speaker 1: Praise God, which is.
Speaker 2: The wrong perspective because you can praise God when you
Speaker 2: get out of it, but you can also praise God
Speaker 2: into it. And I'm gonna give you twenty four seconds
Speaker 2: to do it right now. So need to show you this.
Speaker 2: It would be glory to God. Glory to God. She
Speaker 2: said it, She said, glory to God. That's what you've
Speaker 2: got to do right now. That's your job in this
Speaker 2: season of your life. Sila said, Paul. The doors are open,
Speaker 2: Paul said, the job's not.
Speaker 1: Finished. Listen to this. You've been wondering why you're going
Speaker 1: through what you're going through.
Speaker 2: I suggest there is always a bigger picture, and I
Speaker 2: present to you that Not only did they have a
Speaker 2: partner and a praise and a prayer, but they had
Speaker 2: a purpose. And I say that to you about every
Speaker 2: single cell that you are locked in in your life today.
Speaker 1: See, it would be wonderful if we could just come
Speaker 1: out of it. But shouldn't we first ask God to
Speaker 1: come into it? Yeah, that's my job.
Speaker 2: It's not by coincidence that Paul and the prisoners were
Speaker 2: still sitting there. The Bible says in verse twenty nine
Speaker 2: that the jailer called for lights, rushed in, fell trembling
Speaker 2: before Paul and Silas, and brought them out and asked, sirs,
Speaker 2: what must.
Speaker 1: I do to be saved?
Speaker 2: Wow, that's what that servant girl was following them around,
Speaker 2: saying a few verses earlier, these are the men who
Speaker 2: will tell you how to be saved. Now, the prison
Speaker 2: break happened not so they could get out, but so
Speaker 2: that God could get in, because there was somebody whose
Speaker 2: life he.
Speaker 1: Wanted to touch.
Speaker 2: Wait a minute, this isn't a prison. It's a pop
Speaker 2: up church in Philippi. God is starting a pop up
Speaker 2: church in your life right now. He's going to demonstrate
Speaker 2: some things through you. He's going to show some of
Speaker 2: the people. The Bible says all the other prisoners for
Speaker 2: listening to Paul and Silas. Somebody's looking at your life,
Speaker 2: listening to your life. You are doing this for an example.
Speaker 2: The gospel is with you. The assignment of God is
Speaker 2: heavy on your life. There is a shout that will
Speaker 2: bring you out. But there is also a shout that says,
Speaker 2: I'm still here. And that's what Paul shouted. And he
Speaker 2: said the job's not finished. And this dude comes over
Speaker 2: to Paul and Silas and God a sermon.
Speaker 1: Listen, how good the sermon.
Speaker 2: When I learn how to preach this shortened this good,
Speaker 2: We'll be out of here in time for brunch next week.
Speaker 2: They replied verse thirty one. Believe in the Lord Jesus
Speaker 2: and you will be saved.
Speaker 1: You and your household. Why were they in prison? Why
Speaker 1: did the foundations shake?
Speaker 2: Because as the foundations of that prison were shaking, a
Speaker 2: foundation for a church was being laid, the first church
Speaker 2: in Europe. And it all started in shackles. What is
Speaker 2: God starting in the shackles of your life right now,
Speaker 2: in the area where you can't move and can't do it.
Speaker 2: I know this much. You only have one job. One
Speaker 2: job because when he asked them how to be saved,
Speaker 2: they didn't say, get your act together and clean up
Speaker 2: your house and stop falling asleep on your night shift.
Speaker 1: They said, believe, and not just believe. Believe in the Lord.
Speaker 2: Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.
Speaker 2: And they spoke the word of the Lord to God
Speaker 2: I love it, and to all the others in his house.
Speaker 2: And at that hour of the night, the jailer took
Speaker 2: them and washed their wounds. Then immediately he and all
Speaker 2: his household were baptized. The jailer brought them into his
Speaker 2: house and set a meal before them.
Speaker 1: He was filled with joy.
Speaker 2: Because he had become to believe in God, he and
Speaker 2: his whole household. What do you have to be happy about.
Speaker 2: I'm filled with joy because I believe in God. That's
Speaker 2: my basis, that's my firm foundation on Christ, the solid
Speaker 2: raw I stand. I want to give an invitation right now,
Speaker 2: bow your head and close your eyes for those of
Speaker 2: you who God has brought to this message today so
Speaker 2: that you can believe in the Lord Jesus and be saved.
Speaker 2: The Bible says that that jailer, upon believing in Jesus
Speaker 2: was filled with joy. At the moment that you place
Speaker 2: your faith in Jesus Christ, you are filled with His spirit.
Speaker 2: You are forgiven of your sin, and you are freed
Speaker 2: for your future.
Speaker 1: Right now. If that's you and God brought you here,
Speaker 1: and you have.
Speaker 2: Been in the prison of your sin and your self effort,
Speaker 2: I believe that right now is a defining moment in
Speaker 2: your life. I'm going to pray a prayer with you,
Speaker 2: and you repeat this prayer after me. And if you
Speaker 2: repeat this prayer and mean it from your heart, the
Speaker 2: Bible says that.
Speaker 1: You will be saved.
Speaker 2: Praying after me Church for the benefit of those who
Speaker 2: are coming to God or back to God Heavenly Father.
Speaker 2: I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God
Speaker 2: and the savior of the world. And today I make
Speaker 2: Jesus the lord.
Speaker 1: Of my life.
Speaker 2: I believe you died that I would be forgiven and
Speaker 2: rose again to give me life. I receive this new life.
Speaker 2: This is my new beginning. On the count of three,
Speaker 2: shoots your hand up. If you prayed that one, two, three,
Speaker 2: shoot them up.
Speaker 1: All over the room online online.
Speaker 2: Say I received Jesus.
Speaker 1: Come on, Let's clap our hands and thank God.
Speaker 2: Church family. We can do better than that.
Speaker 1: Let's thank God for every soul.
Speaker 2: He's saved, every life he's touching.
Speaker 1: Come on, let's give him a great sum of press.
Speaker 1: Thank you for joining us.
Speaker 2: Special thanks to those of you who give generously to
Speaker 2: this ministry. Is because of you that this ministry is possible.
Speaker 2: You can click the link in the description to give now,
Speaker 2: or visit Elevationchurch dot org slash podcast for more information
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Speaker 2: Elevation Church.
Speaker 1: Thanks again for listening. God bless you.