o are at home do the same thing there just take in the truth that that the God we are here to worship his name’s Jesus Christ is truly great in every way and we we as humans have something in common almost without exception we have mountains in the way we have problems that we face every day but we’ve just sung about a God that says I’m great he even heard it come from your lungs from your lips he is a great God and he’s on the

move so would you just close your eyes right now and right now just in your own words in your own way tell them Lord I want to say it again how great are you my God and how that applies to my situation or that of some friend of mine a roommate a family member there’s something big and intense and overwhelming and I can’t fix it but you can Lord and I believe what I sang today that you’re the great God who’s on the move so I

pray that I would go home today and see evidence that you truly are great and truly are on the move and that this morning was part of that I affirmed these things I need these things and so I say them to you with affection in my soul I love you Jesus and I love you that you’re my great God and you’re on the move in my life thank you and holy spirit we invite you to lead the way in every single heart that belongs to you

today in the name of Jesus Christ we pray all God’s people said amen amen and good morning church good morning and before we get too settled in here I have a couple of very personal things one it’s already happening without my prompting kids are leaving I don’t that that came out wrong I don’t want him to leave I love kids but they have something even greater next door and it’ll be a lot of fun we’re going to start carding people and deciding how old is a

kid but anyway I’m just saying so there we go okay hey can you just give me just a quick moment as your pastor and somebody that for quite a while has talked about the Mach 5 that would be the McCracken five myself and Debbie and then we have two daughters that live nearby but you’re you’re good at math and you’ve figured it out that there’s five of us and what does that mean and I’m not talking about the patriarch of the whole program my dad who

makes it six but there is one of us that has been 9210 miles away until now and that would be my son our son Trevor Charles come here for a second just get up here come here man totally hey look at you what do you think huh he had no idea this was going to happen he says nothing fancy Dad no funny stuff but for those of you that are going wow that’s true we we are twins okay it’s true with an age difference what’s an

age difference right but Trev you came home for getting your medical boards done here so you can return in May and we’re excited about that they’re excited because they’ve heard me whine and fuss for four years where’s my boy where’s my boy and I wave at you and do weird and awkward things but you and I know we’re connected in Debbie too and you came for another reason and that happens to be very personal to all of us in the mac5 as well and that is

today is our mom’s birthday yep there we go birthday girl so I love you have a seat don’t leave because you’re ticked that I brought you up here now it’s it’s good and it’s good that we’re together today and I I’m so happy I I knew I would have a hard time kind of finding my place so give me a second on top of that my pad is misbehaving so let me just say what a thrill it is to celebrate little Deb and it really is

and she is she’s someone that is easy to celebrate anytime but today on her birthday we’re gonna we’re gonna have a blast so anyway we’re glad to be together and glad those of you that are in Far Away places could be a part of this as well and anyway so last week we experienced firsthand a truth that when God opens a door that life doesn’t necessarily become a breeze for those who walk through that door you probably can say that firsthand that’s true in your experience

the fact is that’s neither new nor hidden from View it was Jesus who said straight up when people were swarming around him with a great interest of following him and if I could put a motive in their heart it would be simply that they wanted a I mean they knew he had game we would say today they knew he was on to something and the crowds came for a reason and they wanted a part of that they weren’t quite sure the implications of that but they

were definitely in on it and so Jesus seeing crowds come around said in lots of places these words that are kind of framed best by Luke in his gospel chapter 9 verse 23 and you know them well if anyone wants to be my follower Luke put pen to paper recording Jesus words anybody wants to be my follower they must give up their own way which which is probably if you were in the Gathering that day something you would pass over and keep moving they must give

up their own way and then secondly he said you must you must take up your cross daily giving a sense that this wasn’t just an occasional or a moment of emotion but this was going to become an all-encompassing everything’s in play kind of decision and then he finishes his statement in Luke 9 23. And follow me by the way he said that those two words 87 times in the Gospels so there’s something you know you read something once you’re supposed to get it and hold it

read it twice you you get the sense that they mean it I’m having flashbacks to my childhood do not do that Steve and about the second time depending on which parent I was around at that time one that was very Humane and compassionate and one that said I meant it and but you get that when somebody says something 87 times so it’s not a new idea that following Jesus would not be necessarily that breeze every day in our travels up to this point in the book

of Acts where we’ve followed Paul in his missions team one night there was a vision it’s in chapter 16. I want you to open there right now if you can for a moment because chapter 16 it gets us back to that vision and the the interest was great as a result of this mission that they had something they were called to go do and they didn’t wait long to sort of double check triple check cross check whatever it is to figure it out if they heard

it right it comes up in verse 9 and we’ve read it before but during the night Paul had this vision of a man from Macedonia standing and I picture him motioning like this motioning and begging come over to Macedonia he was on the west side of the Aegean Sea in this Vision Paul was on the East Side in troas okay we’ve got our bearings straight and he says come over here and help us the very next words tell you that they didn’t take a lot of

time to ponder or contemplate they simply moved into gear Paul had after seeing this Vision we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia without delay concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them so they did that day in fact look on at verse 11 from true as we put out to sea and sailed straight for samoth race and the next day we went on to neapolis which is just 10 miles from Philippi so they booked and I’m caught by the words

that sailed straight so they get on this boat and for 150 miles if you look at a map today the distance between troas and neopolis 150 miles it says on a sailboat they sailed straight now I don’t have a long career sailing one time we tried it in the San Francisco Bay and the Coast Guard had to rescue us but anyway we were little children I think I was four and my brother was no not not exactly but we were not seaworthy and one thing I

know though is to go from point A to point B you usually have to zigzag there’s another word for it some of you sailors attacked that’s right you go this way catch wind go this way and it’s a much longer and arduous effort to get from troas to neapolis the Bible didn’t miss a word here when it said they sailed however straight which is another way of saying remember the Irish prayer from last week May the wind always be at your back well in this case

if you’re on that boat you’d go holy smokes listen silent if you’ve been on a sailboat like that and I have not when I was young but as an adult and we went from Long Beach to Catalina foreign it’s so cool that’s what they were in they they’re like this is good and if they are like us in any way they are likely to say this this Jesus thing what a deal look at us go and they did for 150 miles but no sooner had they

arrived in Philippi by the way I have to tell you this this week I Was preparing my message on Tuesday as I always do the formal prep and write of my message and I get a call from my dad and my dad says hey Steve how’s it going we’re just having a little chat I think you remember this Dad we have this little chat he said what’s coming up next and I told him about this coming sermon the one I’m delivering now and he said great

and I mentioned you know we’re going to talk a little bit about Philippi but then we’re going to move on to thessalonica and then Berea and then finally the passage we’ll finish with today is down in Athens southern part on the east side of of Greece and he goes oh that sounds terrific man that’s just going to be awesome and he said these very words don’t forget to mention the first Baker in Acts I said huh is it lunchtime is he hungry what’s he thinking here

huh who any any and he says you’re kidding me you don’t know fill a pie let’s give it up for him that was huge Philippi I’m not kidding you guys that is I I didn’t know the punch line and I had to look at it again because it’s different definitely Philippi so in Philippi no Baker by the way Dad but they they met a woman you remember her name Lydia Lydia and she ended up giving her heart through this missions team to Jesus and a short

time later after their they just got there it’s so smooth it’s so good this is great look at she wins they she they Jesus wins this woman’s heart and her household and she’s going to be a a an influencer for the gospel that’s the mission of a missionary is it not however a serious storm was about to hit we read about it last week Paul and Silas were arrested severely beaten and jailed on a cooked up charge of causing a riot I don’t just want to

tell you about it you got to read it again with me drop down to verse 20 same chapter they brought them Paul and Silas before the magistrates there’s more than one crooked judge in the bunch and said these men are Jews who are throwing our city into an uproar by advocating Customs unlawful for Romans to accept or practice crowd gathered to hear all this joined in the attack against Paul and Silas and the magistrates ordered them to be stripped and beaten with rods and after they

had been severely beaten or flogged they were thrown into prison and the Jailer was commanded to guard them carefully which he did by putting them deep into seclusion solitary whatever you want to call it the safest place in the jail to make sure these rioters as they were charged with stayed put and didn’t get away folks that is wrong that should bother us now I know it’s a history lesson right but anytime we see somebody in power doing something that’s stinking wrong it should stir in

US and and indeed that night behind the bars the Holy Spirit said look let’s not forget even though this is wrong I’m in charge I got this these things seem out of control fact is they’re not I’m in control and I’ve got this and he Springs them from jail and sent them to share the message of Salvation to who a very shaken jailer who had a job at risk for his own life to keep them captive well now they’re loose and they came to him for

a reason because God wanted to make a move like we sang about and not only his heart if he wasn’t standing by the way he was on his feet in front of them and he and and he says you know he’s hairing out we would say today and he meets Jesus and then it says his entire household did and it was a glorious moment the next morning the magistrates and we we’re not sure why at all it’s not in the text and I haven’t heard a

good explanation but somehow they decided to let them go not so fast said Paul so let’s not let’s not hurry ahead while we’re going to be in chapter 17 in a second let’s not hurry ahead without watching with pleasure as the magistrates eat crow okay you’re with me so you’re ready for how chapter 16 ends verse 35 is where we left off when it was Daylight the magistrates sent their officers to the Jailer with the Order release those men again why don’t know the Jailer told

Paul the magistrates have ordered the you and Silas be released so so now you can leave and and go in peace but Paul said to the officers hold on a sec they beat us publicly without a trial even though we are Roman citizens and they threw us into prison and now they want us to go away quietly no way tell them to come themselves and escort us out who this might be sinful pleasure in my heart right now but I just love it when a powerful

crooked leader is about to go down you ever felt that way please don’t say names out loud okay don’t just don’t say them okay so here we go the officers report this to the magistrates and when they heard that Paul and Silas were Roman citizens and we’re all alarmed so they came to appease them and escort them from the prison requesting them to leave this do you hear the tone change please to leave the city and after Paul and Silas came out of the prison they

went down to Lydia’s house where they met with the brothers and sisters and encouraged them and then they left but hold on we need to take this in I I don’t I I’m not sure if I’ve got a Bible verse for how I feel right now but I’m smiling for a real good reason I I let myself when I was studying this deeply as I do each week I let myself listen to to this exchange going on and the words that finally stood out to me

after sitting here for a while are words that I think explain some things let me they’re not these two words aren’t there but when they said verse 37 and 38 what’s recorded there they had to say what damn what Roman did you just say Roman citizens and the Apostle said yep that’s exactly right we are and yep you’re busted Punk okay this is going on when you’re a leader and you make a mistake and don’t fess up as you should as these magistrates didn’t there’s a

moment here then you’ve got to celebrate notice verse 38 says they were alarmed it’s a really strong word I’ll say there’s videotape of a of a crime committed by judges against hold on a sec Roman citizens we would say today I’m American you can’t do that to me in this country so they were told verse 39 they appeased them you know what appease means give them whatever they need or want help them to feel differently and warmer towards you after what they put you through so

it kind of went like this they came to him it’s not recorded here but it’s in the Greek someplace that well which good morning fellas would you would you fellas care for fresh baked scones with your morning coffee that’s appeasing and they’re just like hearts are beating fast palms are sweaty they’re they’re this is bad and they do this they they placate the disciples in the presence of everyone we are so so sorry and you should be the likely reason Paul didn’t go away quietly was

to send a message you’re probably guessing that to to send a message that we’re not just going to roll over he was putting them on notice that the next time the next time you turkeys pull something like this on us we’re going straight to Rome there’s blowback here y’all that’s why I’m spending enough time on this there’s a place as a believer in Jesus to stand up and press forward and not blink I know we hear all the other side but we need to start looking

at how Jesus handled bad leaders ah so they eventually leave and they stop off to say goodbye we mentioned that verse 40. To Lydia and then they head Southwest from where they are they’re in Philippi remember and they head south west to from Philippi to thessal and Nike and that’s where chapter 17 opens it’s about a hundred mile trip if you were to look at a map today with a couple of pit stops along the way it probably took them about three days to get there

look at verse one when Paul and his companions had passed through and phippolus which was one of the stops and Apollonia they came then to thessalonica it’s a Port City we’re not told how long the trip took but like I said it was it was fairly quick but two realities we know for certain and one of them and they these two realities are present in these people the missionaries the first reality was very positive the second was painful both came at them from Philippi where we

just spent some time the first the positive they were exonerated I mean they they stood up they spoke out and they were exonerated by the people that needed to exonerate them the officials in Philippi were glad to see them go and and if you walk that in your mind a little bit further you find new energy you’re like all right and I’ll move on with boldness and with commitment and conviction and so that’s a positive but the painful let’s not forget that only days earlier they

were beaten senseless they were that means when it says flogged severely we read that it it means they were bloodied and a mess remember I said they traveled a hundred miles I can’t imagine doing that without a car you know that’s Eugene from here y’all I mean that’s a long ways but to do it on foot after you got not senseless and you and you’re torn up not just from the walk but from what happened to you before you took the law that’s what’s going on

here so then they arrive in thessalonica and that’s a big deal thessalonica stands out today it always has been it’s a very very impressive place in a desirable place for people to live or see there on the shore of the Aegean in South Greece a Roman province in that day and they stop and for a bit and are filled with possibilities in their mind immediately they’re in this brand new place they have a message that is absolutely life-changing and it’s a great God story and it

tells people whatever you’re going through God will go through it with you he’s on the move like we talked about today and they spend not a day or two but actually three weeks there and here’s how it went down verse two as was his custom Paul went into the synagogue and on three Sabbath days reasoned with them from the scriptures explaining and proving that the Messiah had to suffer and raise from the dead this Jesus I’m proclaiming to you is the Messiah Paul said some of

the Jews were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas as did a fairly large number of God-fearing Greeks and quite a few prominent women reading on verse 5 but other Jews not so much they were jealous so they rounded up some bad characters from The Marketplace and they formed a mob and started a riot in the city of thessalonica they rushed to Jason’s house in search of Paul and Silas in order to bring them out to the crowd you can assume what they wanted to do with

them but when they did not find them they instead turned on Jason the owner of this house and we really don’t know anything else about him but they turn on Jason and some other believers from the city officials shouting these men who’ve caused troubled from all over the world have now come to our city and Jason one of our own has welcomed them into his home they are defying Caesar’s decrees saying that there is another king one called Jesus when they heard this the crowd blew

up the city was thrown into turmoil and they made Jason post bond before letting them go we’re told that Paul did something in verse 2. Right away after first day in the synagogue of three so three Saturdays in a row on Sabbath they went he went there and he in the synagogue which was his custom he reasoned with them from the scriptures so he’s explaining to the Jews watch this now this is the reasoning because that’s his audience he’s explaining to them that Jesus was in

fact the Messiah prophesied from long ago in the Old Testament all of a sudden Jewish listeners perk up because that’s that’s like their native tongue the Old Testament if you will that’s where they get their facts and informations and they as soon as you say Isaiah they know who you’re talking about and that is largely Paul’s approach to a mostly Jewish audience and it would have great attractiveness to Jews in the synagogue here in thessalonica schooled in the Old Testament but there’s a problem with that

and it comes up when they explained that Isaiah who was talking about the suffering Messiah was actually talking about Jesus now they’re putting a connection together that was just not oh it wasn’t probably a person in the crowd that went oh why didn’t you say so how come I didn’t know that no there was great profound resistance verse three he’s explaining and proving Messiah had to suffer and rise from the dead so I’m going to let you decide something right now okay I’m going to read

you words from Isaiah 53 you don’t have to turn there unless you want to just put that in your notes it’s in the notes already that you received when you came in but these notes describe what Paul likely preached on in the synagogue those three Sundays in thessalonica and he’s reading from Isaiah 53. He grew up Isaiah 53 verse 2 says like a tender shoot and like a root out of dry ground he had no beauty or Majesty to attract us to him nothing in his

appearance that we should desire him he was despised and rejected by mankind a man of suffering and familiar with pain like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised and we held him in low esteem still quoting from Isaiah 53 surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering yet we considered him punished by God that was their conclusion must have been a bad guy had it coming we considered it punished by God stricken by God afflicted by God but he was pierced

for our transgressions he was crushed for our iniquities the punishment that brought us peace was on him end quote who was he talking about I think most Gentiles would say well that’s an easy answer but it wasn’t easy to that audience and what was the impact some of the Jews which is really saying a lot in verse 4 we just read it some of the Jews were persuaded and many which is a larger number of Gentiles were persuaded as well other Jews this is a more

expected response we’re jealous and and sought to inflict harm on Paul verse 5 tells us for saying such things so they gather a group of troublemakers we’re told and whip whip the crowd into a mob and start a riot and and they go to the house of Jason where they had heard that these guys were staying and they cased the place in presumably searched it and found no evidence of them there so they’re they’re not there but the one that was there is the owner of

the house named Jason and they decided they’re going to hold him responsible so here’s the deal I want you to think of irony for a minute here as we as we’re capturing this idea the the story of the mob the story that the mob was telling you ready for this was true it was true in two ways it was true these disciples missionaries we’ve called them in our journey in Acts these people were telling traveling around telling people that in fact there is another king besides

Caesar and his name is Jesus that is true there’s a second piece of irony here though and this news would be troubling if you didn’t believe that Jesus was in fact another king think about that they’re forbidden Caesar’s the king and these people are traveling around saying no there’s another king and that is insurrectionist talk that’s destabilizing stuff stuff and Peter was one of Jesus we’ve focused a lot on him at the beginning of Acts he spent time in his own letter First Peter chapter 2

talking about the impact of learning there’s another king besides Caesar the impact of of discovering that that Isaiah was talking about a messiah that is Jesus there’s impact there there’s there’s a there’s a a an impact to The Listener his words these are Peter’s words now from first Peter 2. In the Scripture it says see I lay in Zion a stone in Zion a Chosen and precious Cornerstone and the one who trusts in that stone Jesus will never be put to shame now to you who

believe this stone is precious but to those who do not believe the stone the builders rejected has in fact become the most important Stone the Cornerstone and listen to this a stone that causes people to stumble and a rock that makes them fall indeed that was happening in synagogues along the way so we come to a place in this story where there was no closure or conclusion to this matter the city leaders simply make Jason post bond and say look we’re going to confiscate your home

if if we can’t you know you’ll lose your property unless the peace remains so perhaps sensing I’m speculating now that the matter could more quickly into something much worse the Believers made a move remember they had been there three weeks they make a move to send Silas and Paul from thessalonica under the cover of Darkness to a city further south named Berea and that’s what verses 10 and 12 10-12 actually describe to us look with me as soon as it was night time the Believers went

well we gotta we got to do something here there’s probably an air a a feel in the air that is going to go bad it’s going to turn into riots and they’re going to get beat maybe killed this time so the Believers sent Paul and Silas away to Berea and on arriving there they went to the Jewish synagogue now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in thessalonica for they received the message with great eagerness and examine the scriptures every day to see

if what Paul was saying what he was saying was true as a result many of them believed as did also a number of prominent Greek women and many Greek men do you see what these Jews now in Berea what what they’re doing differently than thessalonica and other places they’re more noble we’re told they have this certain Spirit about what they’re hearing and they’re they’re hearing the same message it’s the message of Salvation through Jesus the one Isaiah talked about so instead of rejecting it or or

reacting in a sort of an emotional charged way they they hear it they take it in and they’re we’re told they’re open-minded and may I use the word teachable they’re saying hold on a sec there’s something here when they heard Paul’s message there can I use the Expression today they’re connecting the dots because really that’s Jesus and we’re told in verse 11 they listened with great care to the message of Salvation through Jesus presented by Paul why wouldn’t you want to do that maybe for some

hearing me today even in other places maybe you need to hear it again that Jesus is the message of salvation when he said I am the way the truth and the life he was excluding all other ways all other truth and all other sources of life was he not we’re pluralistic to the court today what I’m saying right now is offending some remember Stone of stumbling Rock of offense first Peter 2 I get that but that doesn’t keep me from saying it nor does it hopefully

keep people from going well wait a second he’s not some rookie hack he must know what he’s talking about a little bit not everybody says that about me but and maybe you go hold on what could Isaiah be talking about he that’s not a laugh it’s talking about somebody who was despised and rejected who died on the cross for things he didn’t do and who died on that cross saying I did it for you they did something I wanted a firm in our Grace Point Family

I’ve always loved the bereans every church has a Berean class right and it’s a Sunday school class we had one at the church I came from it was like three or four hundred five hundred I think and a lot of people wanted to be in that class and what’s made them Stand Out is they were people that were serious students of the word they wanted to go deeper in God I should tell you this most of them had been alive for like 100 or 110 years

they were they were people that knew this stuff for a long long time but they came at it with hearts of interest and hunger saying I want to go deeper I want to know more I want to see how that works in my life and so they did that and that’s what we’re just what we’re hearing the scriptures point out in these bereans they were more noble or open-minded and they were teachable this is both a tribute to the bereans those people and it was also

a tribute to the teachers Paul Silas got Luke and Timothy here too but the two were mentioned Paul and Silas here’s what I want to say to us there’s some really great bereans at Grace Point it’s really cool you you not cruel it’s cool you listen really well and you you hear and and you leave here sometimes you accidentally leave a note sheet and I go wow they actually took notes and they go and you go home and I know this because you tell me about

this this is what God Said at a deeper level I went further we have go further notes right and you and you did that and you looked up these other scriptures some of you in a life group you’re being Berean like and then you cross-check what I’m saying it’s no offense to me at all if I’m wrong I want to hear about it I want to correct it but but it’s really a good thing a quality that you have and you’re doing it because you want

to make sure you heard it correctly what a great spirit to have I want to thank you for that and and here’s the deal if you’re not in the practice of Examining the Scriptures on your own as they did you know how I’m going to finish the sentence started today just grab that little sheet I got mine in my Bible always and it’s laminated so if I spill coffee it’s not a problem and it has every day’s reading for the whole year I’m going to have

the whole Bible that whole puppy will be read this year do this so many how many are doing this right now so cool amen give yourself a hand okay that’s a good thing all right and I know some of you online are doing the same thing so keep it up keep keep being that kind of people and you know the result of listening well in God’s word is verse 12. I mean what’s what’s not to love about the fact that their lives were changed great numbers

of people believed that means they came to Salvation in Jesus and may that continue in your life and in other lives that you care about so quickly here at the end if you’ve been involved in something special where where God used you and through you you look back and say you know what those people were touched and some of them transformed and I was humbled enough to be part of that part of the delivery system if you will where that occurred in people’s lives if you’ve

ever had that experience raise your hand whereas God used you somehow and you you know they somebody told you that it’s a good thing and and if you’ve had that happen you have this thing inside you that wants it to keep going you just wanted to keep happening I had that experience at tadmore many many years ago a camp that our church is associated with and I went there mostly to be near my dad because he was gone all summer and really busy with the camp

and I went there just to kind of hang out with that and I remember the first summer I went there it was like I was just planning to kind of hang out and eat good food and you know and and he said don’t go why don’t you go connect with one of the counselors and I did and I and I liked it and then the next summer I came back again and I and I was there the whole summer and I had my own cabin the

Santiam cabinets named after the river and all these campers hundreds of them during the summer they came into my cabin were known as the Santiam slobs it was a perfect thing it’s perfect and every week you got kids coming to Jesus they’re going wow and they look at you know what they’re doing they’re saying if it made that difference in your life I wanted to make that difference in my life and I went home at the end of Camp I needed therapy I could not leave

I did not want to go back to the world I wanted to be here where people were hungry and alive I think that’s how the disciples are feeling here the missionaries they’re like this is so cool so that makes the words we’re going to finish with so sad verse 13. So sad when the Jews in thessalonica learned that Paul was preaching the word of God at Berea what is wrong with that some of them went there too and agitated the crowds and stirred them up so

you’re getting this they came from thessalonica they hunted them down 10 miles away in Berea and they got there and they stirred up the crowd and agitated the crowd and the Believers In This Moment immediately sent Paul to the coast but Silas and Timothy stayed in Berea and those who escorted Paul brought him to Athens and then left with instructions for Silas and Timothy to join him as soon as possible the troublemakers had arrived they must have heard somewhere that Paul’s down there and in Berea

and he got he’s got his preach on and he’s probably going to stir things up there too and convert people or something so local Believers in Berea move quickly and send them away and by the way they sent him 140 miles south so keep following this on a map and you come to Athens which is where verse 15 ends and he sends back news listen as soon as possible send the others here we need them to come remember the man chapter 16 verse 9. The man

that said come come to Greece come to Macedonia with the gospel and that caused team Paul to come remember that start of this whole thing we’ve covered it again this morning aren’t you glad that Paul and Silas then Timothy and even Luke all went there concluding where we started here today that God must be calling us there and I want to join in that I was at tadmor three years my third summer was altogether different the fruit was slow the impact was less and it had

a very different effect on me and I remember my wife’s dad because I was like oh I’ve lost it I’ve lost it it’s not working anymore I don’t have a preach and my dad said son he basically preached this sermon there I admitted it okay I’m preaching your stuff dad so but but he did he said you know Steve sometimes it’s smooth sailing sometimes it’s hard you meet resistance there’s pushback who knew it was going to be smooth sailing one day and hard beatings the next

fact is that’s how Ministry is that’s how life is and that’s exactly why Jesus said what he said if you want to come after me let’s go to Disneyland dude no it’s going to take a lot for you to do that as as we’ve seen some of the sailing can actually not be smooth at all it could be rough really rough if you want stories of rough somebody to email me this week and let’s talk so I want you to see it’s both I can say

that and I think mean it after 30 years but here’s the takeaway it may get rough and even really rough but God’s with you God is with you seems to me that that’s an accurate ongoing view of everything about walking with God close your Bibles would you now and would you keep your ears open but your eyes closed as you bow your heads and I want you to imagine this I think this is how it’s going to go for your life and mine the lights are

going to come down for you to just have some time to contemplate and sort of put some things together in your heart so God comes and knocks on your door and he knocks you get up and you go to the door and you open the door you answer his knock and he says let’s go and I’ll show you where and you quickly put some things together and put them in a bag and you’re out the door at once he came it was Jesus clearly and he

knocked and you answered and yo

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