Skip to content Wk 2: To Hope Feb 9 · 50 min ...more
Wk 2: To Hope
February 9, 2014 · 50 min
When your situation seems hopeless, hold onto Jesus. He is the only legitimate source of hope.
Series The Church of Eleven22 February 9, 2014 · 50 min · The Church of Eleven22
When your situation seems hopeless, hold onto Jesus. He is the only legitimate source of hope. ...more Show the full description Show less When your situation seems hopeless, hold onto Jesus. He is the only legitimate source of hope.
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Joby Martin is the founder and lead pastor of The Church of Eleven22 in Jacksonville, Florida. Since launching the church in 2012, he has led a movement for all
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0:00 We're gonna talk today about holding fast to hope. The term hold fast is a nautical term, and it means to cling to. When a when a rope is taught on a ship, it's called it's fast and and so0:12 sailors would sometimes tattoo the term or the word hold fast on their knuckles so that in times of trial, they would be reminded to not let go of that rope that they were holding on0:24 to and so, this whole series is about holding on to certain things in the midst of the storm and so that's where we're to pick it up in Acts chapter 27. We you you probably0:35 remember Paul is on a ship. He got outvoted last week on on whether to sail or not and so now, they they decided to sail and he's on his way to Rome. That's where they're trying to get to0:47 to kind of finish up his trial and so this week, we're going to talk about holding fast to hope. Just go ahead and jot this down in case I forget to tell you but at the end of the sermon, if you if you0:59 need some resources in regard to hope, you can go to our website COE 2 2. Com slash hope and you can find out how to how to get a Steven minister there. That's just basically Christian friend1:10 that's been trained to walk with you through what you've been going through. There'll be a list of like church of 11 22 counselors. Also, just a resource lots of resources there depending on what your situation1:22 is and so we're going to pick it up in verse 13. Acts 27 13. Now, when the south wind blew gently, everything's gonna be great, right? When the south1:34 wind blew gently, supposing that they had obtained their purpose, they weighed anchor and they sailed along Crete, close to the shore. But soon, a tempestuous wind called a nor'easter struck1:46 down from the land. And when the ship was caught and could not face the wind, we gave way to it and we were driven along. Running under the lee of a small island called Cauda, we1:57 managed with difficulty to secure the ship's boat. And after hoisting it up, they used supports to undergird the ship and then fearing that they would run aground on the Certus, they lowered2:09 the gear and thus they were driven along. And since we were violently storm tossed, they began the next day to jettison the cargo and on the 3rd day, they threw the ship's tackle overboard with their own2:21 hands. So everything is going along smoothly, and then the storm hits. And when the storm hits, they're overwhelmed, and they don't know what to do. And so everybody's just running around doing something.2:33 When it says they secured the whole of the ship, that means that they would literally take ropes and wrap them around the whole of the ship because the storm was so bad that they felt the ship itself might just fall2:44 apart. And they start they start throwing off the tackle, and they're bringing in the sails, and I'm sure some people are just running around doing something. What are you doing, dude? I don't even know what I'm doing,2:53 but I gotta do something because I'm just overwhelmed with this storm, with this nor'easter. And when the storm hits you, there are times when you're just overwhelmed and you3:05 just don't know what to do. And so you start calling people and you send out prayer requests and you're looking for bible verses and you're signing up for counseling and you're watching Oprah and Doctor Phil and you and3:13 whatever. You you don't even know what you're doing. I don't know what to do. I don't even know where to start but I know I'm overwhelmed and and I don't even know what to do and if you're a Christian, oh my goodness,3:23 then, then, sometimes, these well meaning, idiotic Christians that we all have in our life, they come up and they say the stupid stuff like, well, you know, god will never give you more than you can handle. Well, that's3:34 BS, bull scuba lawn. That's what that is. Okay? That is not in the bible. It's in that made up version of 2nd opinions or 3rd hesitations that we like to quote but it's not in the actual word of God.3:46 Because that's not true. Sometimes God will give you more than you can handle. Don't believe me? See Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane and on the cross. So, today's message, if you came to get pumped up3:58 and cheery, you've come to the wrong church today. I'm sorry. So, today's message is only for broken people. Those of us that have been broken, you're in the midst of the storm, or even for those4:10 of you that have a a gentle south wind on you now. It might be time for you to just get ready for those moments when the storms hit. Because if you've4:22 lived long enough, you know, it's not a matter of if, it's just a matter of when and and and we want to talk about how do you hold fast to hope when you feel like you're in a hopeless situation because the thing about4:34 hope is like you don't really think about it until it's too late. Nobody who's just living great today, right? Like you Seahawks fan, you you're not thinking, man, I really need Jesus today. You're thinking, hey, all is4:45 well. Ain't life good? And by the time you need it, often times, it's too late and and our tendency, when we get in some kind of storm of life, what we've our 1st instinct is to figure4:57 out why. Why did this happen to me? Why did this happen? Because we think if I could know why this would happen, somehow everything would be okay. And and I love you enough to tell you the truth. Sometimes, the reasons5:06 you're in storms in your life, sometimes it's your fault. It's your fault. I know it stings a little, doesn't it? You can say out your amen but it's true. Sometimes it's your fault. Nobody told you to go out with her5:18 again. Nobody made you drink it. Nobody made you take it. Nobody made you buy it. You just decided, hey, I'm going out in this direction. And so sometimes it's that's on5:30 you. Sometimes you find yourself in the storm and it's not your fault. It's the dumb decision of somebody else and you just happen to be a crew member in the ship. And the captain said, hey, we're we're riding into the5:40 storm anyway. Like, it's not your fault that you got laid off, right? That that that the CEO just made some dumb decisions and now here you are paying the price. That happens often. Sometimes,5:52 sometimes it's your fault, sometimes it's others, and sometimes this one's a hard 1 to take. Sometimes, it's actually the pruning of god. Did you know that? That sometimes god is actually the initiator of your pain for6:03 your benefit and his glory and every parent of a child that loves him enough to discipline them understands it from the parent side of the equation. Well, see, we're on the kids side of the equation. There are6:14 times in my walk with Jesus that I've started to walk through the mud and I go, father, I need your help and he goes, okay, son. I got you and he just dips me into it. Oh, okay. That's how it's going. Yeah. And on6:26 this side of it, you look back and say, thank you and praise you Jesus that you would love me enough to discipline me that way but when you're in the middle of the storm, you just crying out lord help and then sometimes,6:38 sometimes, it it you can't even assign fault. I know you lawyers are freaking out but you can't. That we just live in a broken world, a chaotic world, and not only did Adam and Eve and the serpent6:50 get cursed but we also lived in a curse and chaotic world that 1 day will be made new but until then, it's broken and it's chaotic and nor'easters just come out of nowhere.7:03 Here's the thing, the what now is way more important than the why. The why you ended up in in the storm that you're in, it is,7:14 well, quite honestly, it's not relevant until you get out of it and if it was your fault, you should probably learn from it and not go that direction again but the why isn't going to help you as much but the what now is7:26 the question that you've got to answer and so, regardless of why these men on this boat find themselves in the storm. Now, let me just tell you this, when you find yourself in the next storm that you're going through. I7:38 can promise you that if you're a Christian, it's not punitive. That god is not punishing you. He may be pruning you, maturing you to discipline but he is not punishing you and you know how I know this?7:50 Because Christ endured the full wrath of god on the cross. So, in Romans 8 1, therefore, now, there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. So, if you're in a storm in your life8:01 and even if it's your own fault, god is not punishing you there. Now, he might not rescue you from your own consequences but he is not punishing you. Some of us think that god8:13 that we serve kind of a frustrated god that's just tolerating us. That's not the god of the Bible. That god loves you and he lavishes his love upon you and he8:25 doesn't love some future version of you, he loves you now. He never looks at your life. He didn't look at your weekend and go and start 2nd guessing the fact that he died on the cross for you. He knew the deal8:37 he was getting into when he adopted you into his family and he's still okay with it. See, that's the god that we serve. And so, these men find themselves in8:49 an overwhelming situation. In verse 20, this is a very sad verse. It says, when neither sun nor stars appeared for many days and no small tempest lay on9:00 us, all our hope of being saved was at last abandoned. That when neither sun nor stars appeared for many days. Now this isn't just because they like to sit out and look at the9:12 stars. These are pre compass days. Okay? So the way that they would find the direction that they're supposed to go is based on the sun and the stars, and And they haven't seen the sun and the stars for many days, and so9:23 they don't even know what direction to turn. You ever feel like that? You ever feel like, I can't I don't even know what to do. I don't know which way to turn. And that's how they feel. And then and then the the the9:34 storm just keeps pounding them. Keep pounding em. No small tempest lay on us and all hope of being saved was at last abandoned. Like9:46 how the Bible says it here. They didn't lose hope. That's kind of the that's kind of the terminology we we use, right? Don't lose hope as if they're your car keys. I might see my car keys. I put my hope somewhere. You9:57 know? I think sometimes my wife, she's gotten better at it now but she used to walk in the house and just throw a car key somewhere, search for em. My daughter does that with her little blankie. She just loses it10:08 daily, right? Just throw it somewhere over there. So, I know that we don't lose our hope like that. I know that but but here's what they do. They're going to abandon it. They didn't just misplace10:20 it. They they say, look, based on our current circumstances and what the future looks like for us, we're going to leave hope aside. Because our circumstances are so bleak.10:33 Is that anybody in this room? Because I know based on the prayer cards because I read them every week that it is. There's some of you in this room and you you think10:45 you're in a hopeless marriage. I mean, you you stood, you were so serious. You were standing in that altar and you said, till death do us part but you don't think you're to make it. And you've tried to do your10:57 part. I mean, you went to counseling, you read a book, and all of that. And I know there's some of you in this room and you're thinking the Jamaica couple's trip is the last hurrah. If god doesn't11:09 turn something around, then I'm out. And it seems hopeless. And I know that there's some of you in here and you feel like your financial situation is hopeless. I mean, you're just begging11:21 god. God, you gotta get a deal to come through or something's gotta turn around in my industry because if something doesn't change, I'm going to lose my house and I don't know what to do or I already have. I'm bankrupt.11:30 I don't know what to do, god. You feel hopeless or some of you have a prodigal son or a prodigal daughter and you've been praying for him and praying for him and praying for him year after year after11:42 year and you fill out the prayer cards and you raise them in church and you did everything right and they're just ruining their lives. And no matter how much you just try to tell them what to do, it just didn't11:54 work it. Some of you have been trying to have a baby for year after year after year and you've spent tons of money and you've seen lots12:06 of doctors You're saying, come on god. All my only prayers, I just wanna be a parent. I mean, how can like the worst people in the world be the most fertile people ever?12:18 And I'm like a good church going, wanna just take my kid to the restore place over here, raise him up in the church, just begins to feel hopeless.12:30 Some of you your your singleness has turned into loneliness and you're just saying, god, I just I just wanna enjoy this12:41 life with somebody. The Bible says, he who finds what a a wife finds what is good. I've been looking. I can't find 1. I just I just want to be have a companion. Sick of being a12:53 long guy. Or some of you get that call from the doctor this week or this month. And it wasn't good. There's some scary words or it spread or whatever it is and you are just at13:05 this place and you feel like all hope of our being saved was at last abandoned. I can tell you 1 of the most hopeless times of my13:17 life and as I share it, I I want to be careful on a couple of things. 1, let me just warn you again against this. If you're walking through some pain, it does no 1 any good to compare your pain to somebody13:29 else, okay? The, well, at least I'm not, that that's kind of irrelevant, alright? Your pain is your pain and if it's real to you, then it's real and other people have their pain13:41 and it's real to them. When I was 14 years old, I came home from school 1 day and and I kind of hesitate. I don't share this very often. Just13:52 because because you'll see that it's not super awesome news but but I just want to honor my mom and dad. I came home 1 day from school and there's this note on my bed from my mom says, I love you but I can't14:04 stay here anymore and tell your brother. She left. Now, if you pull back the curtains a little bit now as a grown man, I can see there's mistakes on both sides and she probably have good reasons to do that and and my mom14:15 and dad love me very much and I have great relationship with them both right now and and and it's all, you know, but when I was 14 years old and I'm sitting there reading that thing, all hope was lost. I mean, when your14:27 parents won't cooperate, it just changes the world of a 14 year old and to make it worse. I got saved the summer before that. That summer at camp was when I surrendered my life to14:39 Jesus and every testimony they marched up on the stage was this, my life was a wreck and then I met Jesus and then cash and prizes. Why ain't getting any cash and prizes? It went the other way. It's like things are14:50 pretty good. I met Jesus and now it's awful. It's awful. And I remember just, I mean, just weeping and feeling like like all15:02 hope was lost. What am I going to do? How do I explain this to my younger brother who's going be home from school any minute and Proverbs 13 12, the Bible says this, that hope deferred makes the heart15:14 sick. And I don't know about you. I'd rather have a sick body than a sick heart. And you lose hope. I'm telling you, it's a heart matter. It cuts you15:25 deep, deep, deep in here and so this is the situation that these these men find themselves in. That all hope of our being saved was at last15:37 abandoned. So, what do you do when you find yourself in that situation regardless of how you got there? Whether it was your fault or somebody else's fault or the world or the devil or whatever.15:49 You find yourself in that situation where it feels like your next step is to abandon all hope. What Paul's gonna do is Paul is essentially gonna preach hope16:01 into these men on this ship. So, if you look in verse 21, it says, since they had been without food for a long time, Paul stood up among them and said, men, you should've listened to me. Don't you16:13 love Paul? Come on, I love Paul. I'm from the kind of Paul school of counseling. I don't know if this is the best time to get up and tell tell everybody, hey, I told you so. Alright?16:25 The I told you so shirts are in. What size would you like? Because you're gonna have to wear this around for a while. You understand? Men, you should've listened to me. That's why I'm just gonna warn you now. If you sign16:35 up for me to do your counseling and you sit in my office, I go, now, what's your problem? And they, you're to tell me a problem. I go, I'm pretty sure I told you not to do that, alright? So, but it doesn't really help a16:45 whole lot but that's what I can't make to meet this guy. So, he says, man, you should have listened to me and not have set sail from Crete and incurred this injury and loss. Verse16:57 22. Now, what he's going to say is, alright. So, even though this is your fault, I got good news. That's not the end of the story. Alright, I've got good news and it's a word from god and essentially, what Paul is going17:07 to unpack from him from them now is god has spoken to me and he's told us. He's promised us that as long as we stay on this ship, not 1 of us will lose our life. Verse 22, he17:19 says, yet now I urge you to take heart. Now, why would he start out with take heart? He's saying this, listen, man, take care of your heart. Why? Because Paul was a former17:31 Pharisee. That means Paul's memorized the entire Old Testament. That means Paul knows Proverbs 13 12. Paul Paul knows that hope deferred makes the heart sick and he's like, listen, man. We we don't we don't17:43 have a ship's problem. We got a heart problem. 1st and foremost, I know the circumstances look hopeless but but you better take heart, take care of your heart. Because if we lose that, we lose17:54 everything. And so he says, take heart, and then he's gonna paint a picture of the future for him. He says, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship. To which if you're listening to this, you're18:05 like, Paul, on what authority is this coming from? I mean, really, is this just like a pep talk? So, we'll so, you'll feel good as we drown to our death. He's like, no, no, no. I am here on a higher authority. Verse 23,18:16 for this very night, there stood before me an angel of the god whom I belong and whom I worship. The next time you find yourself in a storm and you feel overwhelmed and you feel18:28 hopeless or maybe that's you today, 1st and foremost, what Paul does and what he instructs us to do is that you have faith in god. You put your faith in god. You trust that god is in18:40 control. Now, listen, because some of you be like, well, how do you do that? Listen, faith is not a feeling, right? Faith is not a feeling. Think about faith as trust. Where are you gonna put your trust? Are you gonna18:50 put your trust in your circumstances? Are you gonna put it in you? Are you gonna put it in the the almighty god that is sovereign over even your circumstances? Now, the amount of faith that you have is a gift from god19:02 and you might say, pastor, I just have that itty little tiny bit of faith. Well, guess what? You'd make a great disciple. You'd make a great disciple because Jesus said, is that if you had the faith the size of a mustard19:12 seed, you know how that big that is? It's just super teeny tiny. If you've just got itty bitty like you can't even see it from here faith, then you can move mountains because it's not the size of your faith19:24 that counts. It's the size of where you put your faith that counts. That your faith can't do anything but faith in the almighty sovereign god can change everything.19:36 So 1st and foremost, you've got to determine who your lord is. Are your circumstances your lord? Or is Jesus your lord? Was he his lord over your19:48 circumstances? And if you just have a tiny little bit of faith, it's a gift from god and you take all your chips, sorry, Southern Baptist and you push them all in to the god pile and say, I'm all in on19:59 you. I'm all in. You stand up and you walk around the table and you say, I'm all in on whatever it is that you are calling me to god. I'm going to trust you over my circumstances and let me just20:11 tell you this. Can I tell you some good news? If you're just trying to muster up, sorry for the pun. If you're trying to muster up that amount of mountains of of faith just to push in to god, that the same god that spoke20:21 to Paul in this ship speaks to us today. The same God that empowered David to walk out and fight the giant, if you're a Christian, lives in you today.20:33 That the same Holy Spirit that fell down at Pentecost and changed the world forever lives in you today that the same power of god that resurrected his son, Jesus Christ, from the grave lives20:45 in you today and so it's not about your faithfulness, it's about god's faithfulness and so by choice, not feeling, that you take your faith and you push it over to20:57 god. That's the 1st thing that he does for this very night. There stood before me an angel of god whom I belong and whom I worship And then he does the 2nd thing, verse 24, and he said, do21:09 not be afraid, Paul. This is what the angel's saying. Do not be afraid, Paul. You must stand before Caesar and behold, god has granted you all those who sail with you. So, take heart. There it is again. So, take heart,21:20 men, For I have faith in god that it will be exactly as I have been told but we must run aground on some island. So, the 1st thing that you do is you trust that god is in21:32 control even if your life looks out of control And the 2nd thing you do is you preach the word of God. You preach it to yourself 1st, but you lean into the word of God. When you find21:44 yourself in that hopeless situation, then you lean into God's word. Look at what Romans 15 4 says. This is what the Bible says about itself. For whatever was written in former days was written for21:55 our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the scriptures, we might have hope. This is not just a history book. This is not just a Sunday school22:07 textbook, but God has given us his word to encourage us and to have hope. You know when Jesus was in the when Jesus was in the desert being tempted by the enemy,22:20 that 3 times the devil comes at Jesus with specific temptations and all 3 times, Jesus answers the same way. He answers with this, it is written and then he begins to quote22:32 the Bible. You see when you find yourself in those hopeless situations I hope and pray you've got some it is written in your life. That when your feelings are going all over the place, when your circumstances are just22:43 not the way you thought life was gonna be, What you've gotta do is you gotta have an anchor in your life and the anchor can be the almighty word of god. For your hope and for your22:55 encouragement. So, I wanna share a couple of em with you that I go to. Philippians 4 6 and 7 says this, do not be anxious about anything. That's how it starts. So, listen,23:07 that's kind of ridiculous, isn't it? Any of you anxious about anything? Well, a little bit. Alright, moms, every mom in here is like, well, how do I do that? I don't know how to do that. Yeah, I need, you know, you that23:17 you're just anxious people. That's how you're wired. Thank goodness. That's why our kids get fed, alright? We need you to be a little. So, how do you do that? If you're worried about something, you just don't do that.23:26 That's how Paul would say. Hey, you're anxious? Oh, yeah. I am. Kinda worried. Yeah. Okay. Don't do that. How? It's like if you're afraid of heights, I just be like, don't be afraid and you're like, okay. I can't just do23:36 that. Here's how. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your request be made23:48 known to God. Alright. So what? So pray about what? Everything? How? Supplication. That means you're just praying about something to god. With thanksgiving24:01 and make your request known to god. We serve a good dad. He wants to give good gifts to his kids. So are you supposed to just ride around on the boat that's falling apart and be like, well, praise Jesus. I get just to24:11 die out here. No. No. But you lift it up to him and you pray like you mean it. Verse 7, and the peace of god which surpasses all understanding will guard your heart and mind in Christ Jesus.24:24 So, how do you not be anxious about anything in prayer and supplication? Make your request known to god with thanksgiving and then what happens and the peace of god transcends understanding.24:36 Some of you have experienced this before, haven't you? If you're honest, you were in some kind of circumstance that was ridiculous, crazy. People coming up to you going, are you okay? And you're like, I know. It's kind24:47 of crazy but I'm kind of okay. Well, how does that happen? I don't know. I don't know. Well, what's happening is the truth of the word of god's happening. That the peace of god, not your peace,24:59 your peace is worthless. Your peace is is my peace is dependent on the weather and on my peace is dependent on what, you know, 20 year olds from Georgia do on Saturdays, okay? That peace25:11 is shaky. But the peace of god that transcends understanding. Well, guard what? Guard your heart. Why? Because hope25:22 deferred makes the heart sick but trusting god will guard your heart and mind in Christ Jesus. That might be 1 you want to memorize. Philippians chapter 425:34 verses 6 and 7 or how about Romans chapter 8 because I don't know about you but when I get into or there been times in my life when things are not going my way and and and I'm really struggling that I would begin to25:46 go down this road. Well, if you'd really love me, wouldn't you give me what I wanted? Now, as a dad, I know that's ridiculous. That no good parent gives their kid what they want all the time and many people say, well, if25:57 god's love and he and he loves me, then why would you let me go through this? Well, Romans 5 8 says, that god demonstrated his love for us in this that while we were yet still sinners, when we took the helm of the ship26:07 and we when we drove it right into the worst storm, that while we were yet still sinners, Christ died for us. That I don't have to look at my circumstances to understand if god loves me or26:19 not because I can look to the cross of Jesus Christ and once and for all, it is finished. God demonstrated his love for you in that. That no matter your circumstances, no matter your situation, that he26:31 demonstrated his love for you that while you're still a sinner, he died for you. Now, listen, god has given us this miracle, this miracle in the 21st century called26:43 Bible Gateway. Com. Bible, you should write this down. Bible Gateway. Com. You go online, Bible Gateway. Com and there's a search bar and you put in the word empowered26:55 by the Holy Spirit, every Bible verse that has that word in it will show up And if you just put in hope, and guess what? All these hope verses pop up. Or you might put in, do you see what the 1st27:07 thing the angel said to Paul is? Do not be afraid. In the King James version, 365 times, we are commanded by god in the scriptures to not be27:18 afraid, to fear not, to take courage, don't be afraid. Why? Because the opposite of faith is not doubt. You got a lot of doubts in your life? You make a great disciple.27:30 The opposite of faith is fear because when you trust that god is in control, you might not be able to figure it out but you don't have to be afraid because he's in control.27:42 And when I grew up as a little kid, my brother and I go fishing with my daddy. We get in our 72, 73 Chevrolet and with the little John boat that my dad and some other guys built and we would go to the little PD River27:54 and I'd sit in the front seat and Russ was sitting on a cooler in the middle and then my daddy was sitting in the back and on our way fishing, you know what I worried about? Nothing. You know why? Because my dad was with28:06 me. I didn't worry about if we had a license or not or did we had the right bait or did we know where we were going? Why? Just because I had faith that he could handle it. So, I wasn't afraid.28:18 Did I have doubts? Had all kind of doubts. Are we going catch stuff? I don't know. Was I afraid? Absolutely not. And so the Bible says, do not be afraid. When you walk through the valley of28:30 the shadow of death, let me tell you, what you need is you need some it is written to lean on. You need some it is written so that you can claim with your mouth the truth of the word of god and over time, hopefully,28:42 your feelings will catch up and get in line with what's true. So, when I was 14 years old sitting on that bed, looking at that note from my mom, just my world came crashing down. I looked up on my28:54 shelf and 1 of the camp counselors from the camp that I just become a Christian at, she gave me a Bible and the reason she gave it to me is because the only thing I had was the King James version and it had a zipper29:04 cover and the zipper got stuck, you know, like in 78 or something. I couldn't get it open and I also couldn't understand it. I didn't know the thee before thine except after thou. You know, I didn't, what are you talking29:12 about? Beseech you therefore, brethren and suffer not the little children. I was like, who's beating up the kids? I didn't know what that meant. So she gave me a bible that I could read and it made sense. And I'm gonna29:24 tell you, when I got home after being saved, I was on fire for Jesus. I probably read that thing 3 days in a row. And then it'd been sitting on the shelf for a couple months now. And29:36 I didn't know what else to do. And I looked over and saw it. Just went and grabbed it and opened it up. She put a bookmark in there. And it was some kind of ridiculous bookmark like the bread of life never grows stale or29:48 something real cheesy Christian like that. So, I threw that away. But you know what? She had marked. She had Jeremiah 2911 marked. Opened it up.30:00 It's highlighted underline. Jeremiah 2911 says, for I know the plans I have for you, declare the lord. Plans to prosper you, to give you30:11 hope, not to harm you. And I said, I looked up at heaven. Okay, lord. You get 1 shot. You get 1 shot. You ever let me down. If this is not true30:23 for my life, then I'm out. And he's been nothing but faithful. So, when you go through some kind of storm, when you get to the place where you feel hopeless, you better have some it is written30:35 in your life. You better, you better have the word of god saturating your circumstances so that you can see through the clutter of this world and you can see as god sees. He goes on. Verse 27.30:47 It says, when the 14th night had come, as we were being driven across the Adriatic Sea. By the way, this was supposed to be a 42 mile boat ride. At this point, they are 500 miles off course. About30:59 midnight, the darkest part of the night, the sailors suspected that they were nearing land, and so they took a sounding and they found 20 fathoms. A little farther on, they took a sounding again and found 15 fathoms.31:10 And fearing that we might run on the rocks, they let down 4 anchors from the stern and they prayed for day to come. And as the sailors were seeking to escape from the ship and had lowered the ship's boat into31:22 the sea under the pretense of laying out anchors from the bow. Paul said to to the centurion and to the soldiers, unless these men stay in the ship, you cannot be saved. You see what's happening here?31:35 You see, it happened 2000 years ago and it happened this weekend. That when you run into the storm, the 1st thing you better trust god that he's in control even if your life looks out of control, you better31:46 lean into god's word and the 3rd thing that you better do is there better be some patient obedience. You better patiently obey because I don't know if you figured out this or not but god's31:58 timing is not necessarily our timing and he's never late but he ain't often early, is he? You ever be praying, god, I need a breakthrough. Bam. Look at there. Thank you, god. No.32:10 He's just on his own timing. Why? I don't know. You could take it up with him yourself 1 day. Maybe because he's god and he knows what he's doing. I mean, so many times, what happens especially32:21 here. Alright, you come to the service, you feel hopeless, you've raised your hand, you trust Jesus, you've sing the songs, you close your eyes. At the end of the service, you come down to the altar. You say, lord, Imma32:32 take all this stuff that I've been worried about, that I've been anxious about. I memorized the verse. I'm bringing it to you. You lay it down on the altar. God, I'm trusting you with it all. Later on the week, you'll32:42 like, you know what? It is Tuesday and nothing's happened yet. How about I pick that back up and we just take that thing back and carry that load again. We gotta32:53 patiently obey. God's timing is not our timing but it'll never be late. You know, sometimes god doesn't answer our prayers because his answer could be the thing that drives a wedge33:05 between us and him. Do you know that? Do you know how easy it is as a child of god to get confused, to confuse the blessings of god with god himself? And maybe if he gave us everything we ask for, we wouldn't even33:17 want him anymore. We just want his stuff. You know how I know this? Because I have little kids. I've been gone for a couple weeks and I come home and you know what? The 2nd question is, they're like, dad, you're home.33:26 What'd you bring us? Nothing. I'd got him something but I didn't give it to him at 1st. You know why? Because I felt used. You ain't going to use me. Charge you rent. Get out of33:38 here. Why? Because I don't want them for my little cheap army men or whatever else I get em. I want them to just love me as their33:50 dad. God is the same way and so, you know what these men do? These sailors go, okay, listen. We gave you 14 days on this trust god thing but it ain't working out.34:01 So, we're going to take matters into our own hands. Who got em in trouble? They did. You think they can get themselves out of trouble? Absolutely not. And again, it34:13 happened 2000 years ago. It happened this weekend. There's so many times when you say you trust god, you pray about it. I'm giving it all to you lord for a minute and then I'll take it right back if it's not on your34:23 timing. Be patient and listen, this is going sting a little too especially in our culture. That your obedience to god is more important than the outcome. Your obedience34:34 to god is more important than the outcome. The business may fail. The investment may go under. The relationship may end but your obedience to god. In fact, what else can34:46 we bring him? You wanna worship god? Be obedient to him. Instead of just trying to use him to get what you want and so, Paul says, hey, listen. These guys are get about to get outside of the the34:58 promise of god and if they hop off the boat, we're all in trouble and so here's what happens. Verse 32. Says, then the soldiers cut away the ropes of the ship's boat and let it go. Verse 33 and as the day was about to35:10 dawn, Paul urged them all to take some food. Today is the 14th day that you have continued in suspense without food, having taken nothing. Let me just admit to you. That you might come and pray and trust35:22 god and get a Bible verse and do the whole thing. It doesn't mean immediately it gets better. And I bet I've said this 100 times here but we don't follow Jesus because he makes life better. We follow him because he's35:31 better than life. And even if the circumstances never change and you get Jesus, he's more than enough. He's more than enough. I talked with a wife this morning after the 9 o'clock35:43 service and she her she lost her husband this week and she said, but I think through what I see as a tragedy, there are doctors and nurses and their very own children that are going to begin to attend35:54 church because of what this faithful man of god was proclaiming to this dying day and then she says, and isn't that worth it? Does it hurt now? Oh, man. I can't imagine the pain she's going36:06 through. But is it worth it? In 100 years? Absolutely, yes and amen. So, it didn't always get better immediately. Verse 34, therefore, I urge you to take some food36:18 for it will give you strength for not a hair is to perish from the head of any of you. I think I'd be okay on that 1. Verse 35. And when he had said these things, he36:30 took bread and giving thanks to god in the presence of all he broke it and he began to eat. When you find yourself in that place of hopelessness, you know what36:42 Paul did? So, Paul trusted god. Paul preached the word to others and to himself but 1 of the biggest things Paul did is Paul was grateful for what he did36:53 have instead of focusing on what he didn't. And then look at the result. I mean look at the result. So Paul, imagine being on the boat with him and Paul's going, God thank you so much that we have bread to eat.37:05 And people look at him like, this man must be crazy. No, he just he just lives. He just lives differently. The things that are important to him are different than the things of this world. In verse 36 and then they were37:15 they were all encouraged and they ate some food for themselves. Have you ever been around somebody and the and and and it looks like the circumstances of their life is just is37:27 just ridiculous and you begin to look at them and say, I don't know how I would handle it if I were in your case and yet somehow, they have, they've learned the secret of being content in every situation.37:39 I mean, it's amazing. See, as a pastor of this church, I've been in the hospital rooms and I've been at the graveside and I've been there where people are signing37:51 papers that change the their financial future forever and I've been there when they're going through that and when you look deep in their soul and you go, how you doing? You know, it's going be okay38:03 I mean, it's not okay right now but it's going to be okay because I know I know that my god is bigger than whatever this child that I'm going through is. I know that he was not38:14 surprised by this thing that I'm going through and then people around those people begin to begin to kind of catch the attitude of that person. You know your attitude is contagious.Show more
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