ing their things and heading to some place quicker than I got up to the platform this morning because you of course some of you know the challenge of doing that so much fun I I have to tell you I I have a sister that’s I don’t think there’s any point in concealing the fact four years older than me since now it’s public news just how old I am there’s a ring so the the deal is she wrote me in wonderful big sister words and I should

let you know that I I couldn’t want more than a big sister and she said some really wonderful things in a card and then she wrote me a text this morning as she was getting ready for church and after you hear this text you’ll appreciate the fact that she needs to get to church but anyway she says just an FYI today reality sets in it is so fun it is so fun leading up to the 65 moment now it’s all about surviving the moment she said

just saying and you know I I’m married up that’s been a well-known fact forever my father was the first one to say it when he officiated at our wedding and and you know how a couple leaves after they’ve been pronounced and my dad came to the back and his very first words were Steve you today this day April 2nd 1983 you greatly improved the McCracken Jean Pool and he’s he has a lot of reasons for that one of them is Debbie was able to somehow adapt

to a a family that’s full of life and love and laughter we we laugh and sometimes get carried away but I think you’ll agree with me her card to me you the man it just simply says you the man and then you open it up the old man but still the man I just think yeah give it up for Debbie she’s got she’s got Sport and spunk if you want to see me at Cafe I will show you some incredible pictures of the Mac 5 we

went to the the Duck game yesterday duck versus cow which was kind of a Collision of two lives of mine of course Ducks because we have two daughters that went there and we love the Ducks but I grew up going to cow games so Berkeley was a weekly trip for us from San Leandro and we would go to Cal games and they were absolutely horrible the games were fun but they were just talentless it was really really embarrassing kind of like yesterday actually when I think

about it if you know the score it was like 63-9 and the Ducks won in case you’re a beaver fan but but it was really kind of fun to to be there and I I actually got new appreciation for the word Ducks because it was somewhere between a monsoon and a hurricane part of the game and certainly going into the game but I’ve got pictures to show you that we were loving every minute of it any anyway so lots and lots of fun went on there

and we made it to the next day so it’s really good can I tell you one more thing you know that we have changed the way we eat and we we eat very differently since Debbie’s leukemia and we we broke I think every rule possible on our way home from the Duck game yesterday because you know if you know Eugene south of the northernmost In-N-Out Burger in Kaiser and we rolled in there with about 3,500 duck fans but it was okay because we got our double

doubles and double fried french fries yeah just take that in y’all that’s and milkshakes the works I mean we were we’re really in trouble but anyway I enough of the the humor and fun we’re Kelly thank you for your words wherever Kell there Kelly it should stop us in our tracks and I will tell you I love all the fun we have and the cane and the blowup Crown but I actually thought I almost did this but it would it would not have set well I

wanted to put the crown on the table just because I love that Jesus wears the crown and if I ever have a crown or any Jewels I know where I’m going to put them right at his feet where they belong amen and that’s no take away from the incredible humor and I’m going to keep that blowup one but I I want to talk to you about something that you all have just as I have I don’t care your age I don’t care your stage in life

if you’re pre-65 or after 65 if you met Jesus Christ you have a story to tell and and if you haven’t met Jesus I hope that you will meet somebody with a story they cannot keep to themselves and it and it will if it if nothing else it will convince you that another person has sort of blindly believed in Jesus if that’s the cynic heart you carry with you today I I don’t make fun of you either I don’t I don’t believe that’s true I think

most of us are sincerely interested in knowing god some would say if there is a God and I I’m not critical of that even CU when you meet him you’ll be convinced no one has to convince you he will he will persuade you that that is in fact the case but I I want to give you the names of three authors and you tell me what you think when you hear these names CS Lewis Josh mcdal and Lee Strobel what what do they have those three

have in Con in in concert I love your answers I can’t hear any of them because I am 65 but I will say this I will say this it tells me your readers some of you and and you’re you’re you’re reading good people those three Mere Christianity by CS Lewis is a GameChanger if you know somebody intellectual that’s kind of stuck or or hindered by something that they can’t get over hand them that book respectfully and say hey this this can make a difference CS Lewis

and then of course there’s evidence that demands a verdict I gave many speeches in universities and among college students all my days prior to coming here and have used many of those things ever since from Josh McDow in it’s actually a two volume set evidence that demands a verdict and more evidence that demands a verdict so kind of really cool and then there’s a more newcomer I would call it at least to those two and that would be Lee Strobel who wrote the case the case

for Christ he was in his previous life a investigative reporter for the Chicago Tribune Lee Strobel was and he decided to take all of those credentials and examine Christ not as a Believer and you’ll get to see what he thinks but you likely if you’ve read one or all of those books have found yourself somewhere between inspired I mean really inspired to intimidated when it comes to the prospects of telling people about Jesus yet the Apostle Peter makes a statement in 1 Peter 3: 15 I

hope you will memorize these words but today I hope you won’t live a day longer thinking they don’t apply to you okay 1 Peter chap 3:1 15 says sanctify Christ as Lord of your heart let me give it to you in another version in your hearts Revere Christ as Lord and then he says this all always being ready to give an answer to everyone who asks of the hope that you have in your heart so he implies lots of things and this isn’t a message about

Peter this is actually going to come from Acts 26 and the Apostle Paul but Peter made a statement that that is worth our consideration when we read Acts 26 okay so sanctify Christ as Lord in other words set Christ apart decide you’re going to Bow the KNE to him today is the day of salvation if that hasn’t happened for you yet trust me and if you’re confused by my words let’s talk about that but here’s the deal to sanctify Christ to set him apart as Lord

of your life means that you’re going to be given moments in some cases many moments some by surprise you didn’t even go looking for it it just happened it was in the grocery store it was in a doctor’s waiting room it was in weird places at a football game I told they celebrated a leukemia Survivor yesterday at the at the at the game and her name believe it or not was Debbie it wasn’t it wasn’t my Debbie story but it was we all got chills and

I thought you know what I turned to the people behind me because they were they were so loud and in favor of the other team I just turned around I told them a little bit of my story hey I grew up not far and they told me where they live they flew up here because the duck or the U the Pack 12 is now pack two it’s disintegrated and they said this might be the last chance we get to watch our team that Cal Bears and

Berkeley play your team here in Oregon and I and it was right after this this profile they told in a Timeout of this Debbie that had survived to keep me so guess what I did I turned around and shared Jesus with them it wasn’t long it wasn’t a big giant alter call it was just a moment to say you know what that story we just all heard and everybody 50,000 people are ooing and on and I said is my Debbie story because of Jesus Christ the

hope that is within so Peter’s words inspired me not just to prepare this message but they inspire me often to say every moment is a chance to give an explanation of the hope I have that gives me gas in my tank to go on now those words I’m going to admit to you are a tall task for Rank and file Believers like us you say well that’s come on you’re being nice us no I believe that because when I read those three books I mentioned to

you I thought I’m a hack I am a rookie I’m a junior varsity compared to those people maybe you’re one of those today that says I can’t do that I can’t I can’t can’t hardly say hello to a stranger okay let’s start there and here’s what I want you to do I want you to consider that those words might actually be for more than just Apostles and theologians or pastors before going any further I I guess it’s time to explain because I said it earlier and

it occurs to me I didn’t explain it what is an apologist okay I didn’t like the word because I I felt like it was a a word that alienated rather than invited conversation so what is an apologist here’s Webster if this is a good start an apologist is someone who speaks or writes defensive of someone in defense of someone or something that is controversial unpopular or subject to criticism Christianity you speak about it you write about it you tell what the people next to you what

they hear from your lips it’s all it’s all good it all fits and that makes you an a apologist turns out by that definition that you speak or write about something that’s controversial or unpopular the this it’s exceedingly unpopular in our world today it is and you know that and I know that and and it’s subject to criticism but it turns out that by that definition I’m an apologist and so are you so are you how many went to Seminary one two three how many went

to Bible College few more maybe 15 how many went to uo or Oregon State or some secular Bastion of secularism y’all y’all fit these words fit they fit you just like they fit me if in fact in our hearts we rever Christ as Peter said in 1 Peter 3:15 okay but how do we speak and how do we write about Christ it seems that like most things if you ask the how do we question the best place to turn is the Bible and look for an

example of somebody that did it well or poorly because the Bible doesn’t hide either one of them and that’s why my Bible’s open to Acts 26 if you want to turn there and have it already there’s a very succinct example that we can point to as someone who conveyed the plain truth about who Jesus is and about how Jesus changes everything and everyone who turns to him it’s succinct his name is the Apostle Paul and of course we’ve known this name well for quite some time

in our study of Acts which is coming to a close so we come to a wonderful moment here and it’s where Paul’s argument comes out into the open as he’s standing in in a place that he’s soon to leave and head for Rome and he’s been there for over 2 years in cesaria on the coast of the Mediterranean looking West from that point as 40 of us did a few years back I had people Imagine by pointing a finger there that place over there you can

squint and almost see it to the West yeah it’s Rome that’s you couldn’t see it really it’s thousands of miles away but I was having people imagine the Apostle Paul in this scene standing on that Shore about to to board a ship it turns out and we’ll get to that next week and head West to Rome okay so that’s what’s going on here but last time in our study of Acts a couple of weeks ago we we could sense really there was this growing Cadence that

after a 2year pause in due process Paul that means for you legal non-legal people it means Paul was stuck his case had not been adjudicated he just basically was left in jail to rot if you want to put it in those terms two plus years charges would be dropped in this country in most cases for that kind of delay but it was the Apostle Paul who now was about to get his chance long awaited two Christmases in jail to explain in Greater detail this time before

King Agrippa what he had already made clear to governor fesus in fact on the way to 26 look at verse 8 of chapter 25 he’s saying this to fesus then Paul made his defense I’ve done nothing wrong against the Jewish law or against the temple or even against the Roman law the you Caesar I’ve done nothing I’m clean he said earlier so here’s how Paul began his answer of explaining what Peter calls that hope Within chapter 26 now verse one then Agrippa said to Paul you

have permission to speak for yourself so Paul motioned with his hands and began his defense king of grippa I consider myself fortunate to stand before you as I make my defense against all the accusations of the Jews and especially so because you’re so well acquainted with all the Jewish customs and controversies therefore I beg you to listen to me patiently the Jewish people all know the way I have lived ever since I was a child that’s a way of saying nothing in my life has been

hidden from the beginning of my life in my own country and also in Jerusalem they know it all verse five they have known me for a long time and contest testify if they are willing that I conform to the strictest sect of our religion living as a Pharisee verse 6 and now it is because of my hope in what God has promised our ancestors that I am on trial today this is the promise our 12 tribes are hoping to see fulfilled as they earnestly serve God

day and night in other words The Hope was still alive they were still hoping this would happen he turns to the King again King agria it’s because of this hope that these Jews are actually accusing me why should any of you consider it incredible that God raises the dead interesting passing comment verse N I too was convinced that I ought to do all that I that was possible to oppose the name of Jesus of Nazareth and that is just what I did in Jerusalem on the

authority of the chief priests I put many of the Lord’s people in prison and when they were put to death I cast my vote against them many a times I went from one synagogue to another that’s where Jews gather for worship I went from one to the next to have them punished and I tried to force them to blaspheme I was so obsessed with persecuting them that in that I even Hunted them down in foreign lands and of course that’s going to take us to the

second piece of his presentation of the Hope in just a moment Paul’s defense is what we sometimes refer to as a testimony it’s what he’s giving here think of it as a unique story it it is a story that belongs to the Storyteller all right you’re not making up someone’s story you’re telling your testimony or your story it’s highly personal Story by definition by definition now your story is different than mine so we can pretend a person that doesn’t know Jesus walked up here and took

a seat in this stool and I told them about Jes Jesus and one of you came up here it would be really embarrassing and not something I would do but you came up here and you told them about Jesus yourself 100% of your words or nearly would be different than mine that’s what’s the idea behind a testimony Paul models in his testimony some takeaways as I like to call them a couple of principles for us to follow if we get a turn to sit with somebody

and tell them our stories the first is this write this down he told about his past we just read this this is where we talk about our BC before Christ there was a you before Christ I actually met with some people this last week and I asked them that question and they said oh I’ve been a Christian all my life and I didn’t jump in and go no you haven’t I just knew that that was a euphemism that’s often used but it’s not accurate not not

a single person was born Christian somebody told me years ago with a little bit of a jolt God has no grandkids all right you say well that’s silly I’ve heard you say that before here’s the truth I thought I was good enough to get in of my dad okay he was darn near the pope he had it going so it was a it was a needed correction for me but I had a BC my parents if they were both alive today on this Earth would say

can I have the mic let me tell you about BC and this boy all right so in most cases no one knows the details better than the one that lived them that’s really true however in Paul’s case we just read that his BC story was actually widely known that’s what verse four and five are telling us hey they’ve known me from my childhood from the beginning of my life my own country they’ve known me for a long time and can testify that what I’m saying is

true I adhered to the strictest sect of our belief system which is the Pharisees I got it right you want more proof of that it’s at the bottom of your outline look at Philippians 3 he he says the same thing but in much more detail in other words these aren’t Idle Words these are convincing facts notice also Paul did not attempt to beautify his past at all what we just read indeed verses 9 to1 are disturbing to read much less admit if you’re you’re the guy

telling this about yourself yet he held nothing back you you and I don’t comfortably share our version of verses 9 10 and 11 we actually stood by and voted against people who were being put to death for believing in the way you can’t give approval without a smile on your face which is ex actly the scene if you go back to acts chap 8 or Acts chapter 7 when Steven breathed his last the very next picture the camera shoots toward is this young Pharisee named Saul

who would become the Apostle Paul giving his hearty endorsement of these people that just murdered him by throwing stones at him but Paul doesn’t hide that so I I have to ask this are you are you that comfortable with with your own story and now I want to be sensitive because I know some of your stories are so fresh you’re thinking I can’t I can’t lead with that I can’t tell about that I I admit to you it’s easier to tell you I got kicked out

of high school than if it happened last week it’s a long distance in my room interview mirror but it’s true and can you can I tell you something I’ve had more people say you know your raw honesty is what made me believe it or parents that have said to me on that point you know I was about to give up on my child my teenager this is ridiculous they’re in trouble all the time all the time and I’m like is your name Nancy or Larry McCracken

because you sure sound like them cuz I was and I wasn’t a criminal because they didn’t catch me but I some of you are going to ask questions later I know so all right I’m asking you though the question now are you comfortable are you comfortable in your story your story might be a real hot mess it might be and and even notorious like Paul’s everybody knows it why aren’t you comfortable with it but have you considered if your past was a well let’s let’s pretend

you were a different person and this this person that most people wouldn’t believe you ever sinned if your if your past wasn’t a train wreck in some form what are the chances you would have ever cried out to God for mercy good people are hard to convince they’re not so good I’m avoiding names and labels right now and I don’t I would never call somebody’s name out but I know people that think well no I’m good I go to the right church and we’re full of

good people my lip bleeds at that moment but I’m pretty sure most of us would have to admit practically speaking we would have never cried out to Jesus if we were so good and you know if you want to picture this just go to Luke 18 and there is a Pharisee who’s good enough they thought and a tax collector who was disgustingly bad at every point in every cell of their body they were the quintessential post office picture of a bad person in that culture Tax

Collectors they both came in to church Jesus told this story not real people a parable in other words Jesus is controlling the narrative he’s telling the story and he tells of the Pharisee that was so puffed up let him talk let him let him tell how good he is and how little he needs of God’s mercy and redemption and forgiveness but the other man spoke seven words of Salvation and the posture in which he spoke them has never gotten out of my he didn’t stand there

front like this God I he bowed his face it says he he was crestfallen likely heard everything the fat cat had just shared Crest fallen and broken and it’s it adds this he was beating his chest when these seven words came out God have mercy on me the sinner seven words that resulted in that man’s salvation if you’ve not prayed those words I beg of you pray them and mean them and the change will begin to happen almost immediately so having established his BC days Paul

proceeds secondly to tell the dramatic truth of how he met Jesus verse 12 on one of these Journeys I was going to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests he had the credentials to cross borders North and East of Israel is Damascus or Syria as we know it today about noon King Agrippa I was on that road and I saw a light from Heaven brighter than the sun blazing around me and my companions we all fell to the ground I only thought Paul

did but that but these are his words looking back on that moment when he was traveling with with his team we all fell to the ground and I heard a voice saying to me in Aramaic Saul Saul why do you persecute me it is hard for you to kick against the goats then I asked who are you Lord I am Jesus whom you are persecuting the Lord replied now get up and stand on your feet I have appeared to you to appoint you as a servant

and as a witness of what you have seen and will see of me read testimony verse 17 I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles I’m sending you to them to actually open their eyes and turn them from Darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are Sanctified by faith in me this piece he just captured most of it’s in red ink in my Bible a

lot of words from Jesus he’s retelling this is the section of his story that was vividly described all the way back you can do it online you could do it any way you wish go back to chapter 9 we talked deeply about it at as it was actually unfolding okay so as it was being told in real time this is Paul looking back years later on that very scene in Acts chapter n he saw a light and he heard a voice from heaven and it I

was surprised to learn it leveled him and his posy they were all flattened to the ground here is his testimony and and in this is he gives detail that intensifies his conversion kind of gives you a like an inside view if you will of of what it felt like to be cruising to Damascus prepared to claim more scalps if you will of of these crazy people that are calling out on Jesus and saying they belong to him was that was nonsense to him and and he

actually quotes Jesus rebuke some some blow right by that but verse 14h do you persecute me it’s hard for you to kick against the goats it’s an expression that was well known in that world among sheep herders it was it was the idea of kicking an expression of kicking in resistance to a shepherd’s staff it’s it’s the same today as resisting God when he pursues you it’s not unlike I’d do it but it’d be weird banging your head against the wall you know when you do

that two things happen it’s it’s frustrating if you’re the headbanger and it’s feudal who wins the wall that’s good answer you will not win with that but with great clarity Paul tells how Jesus in that moment it’s you could correctly call this a 180 it was a 180 on the way there to to get more people and eliminate them and it all changed up for him he was appointed verse 16 says as a servant and as a witness he hears that in that moment this is

what you’re going to do and then he was sent by Jesus I love Verse 18 and I hope you’ll hold on to verse 18 because it’s it’s it’s a view of what happens when somebody is born again John 3 tells about born again it’s going look at his words I will rescue you from your own people I’m sending you to them to open their eyes and turn them from Darkness to light before we knew Jesus we were in the dark there’s no exception to that we

were darkest darkness and we’ve been the blinders have been removed and then he goes a step further from the power of Satan to God can you call this a tug ofar or what before I met Jesus there was a powerful operator in charge of me as though I wasn’t enough of a problem but the power of Satan had to be broken and the only one that could break it is Jesus that’s that’s great stuff Ron pricer musician and worship leader in our church wrote a song

called Darkness to light it’s got a great chorus that captures the truth of Verse 18 which I’m having you kind of focus on for a second here this chorus reads this way for I have called you to call them from Darkness to light and I have saved you to save them from Eternal Night I have opened your eyes and given them sight so go in my power and turn their Darkness to light isn’t that great it’s are great words and I appreciate Ron’s writing them and

composing them do you understand how those words apply to more more than the Apostle Paul because they do they apply to everyone who’s gone from Darkness to light from Death to life from controlled by Satan to submitted and led by the Living God Amen oh man those are those are words and let me give the right pronoun they are your words to share the greater the grip that the devil Verse 18 says the greater the grip that the devil has has on you or had on

you which has now been broken the greater the impact of your story and mine so and and I’ve said it a lot God wants to leverage your story for his glory so so why would we ever want to expunge dark details it’s your story to tell can you hear those two words from Jesus tell it go to a duck game and tell it you know what I mean go wherever I had my first Medicare doctor appointment this week I didn’t know I was that sick I

mean really it was she’s looking all kinds of places and and then and then they took a test and I and I just struck up the conversation with the I think they’re called image person or Imaging or something and I I just talked to her about my story and she just Jesus thank you Jesus this is beautiful there were words as I left the I almost said operating room I’m not that far yet but the exam room as I’m Le leaving the room there’s words this

is not a Christian Hospital that I went to there’s words from Earl rodocker the former president of Western Seminary on the wall and I stopped the nurse I said did did you know do you know this person no no but those are great words GE I wish the door would open for me to share something about Jesus right now you see what I mean it’s just a moment that comes all right quickly the last piece of Paul’s testimony he never wavered from telling his story you

got to see verse 19 so then King AG grippa entering into the quote again king of grippa I was not disobedient to the vision that I’ve just told you about from Heaven first to those in Damascus he continued on then to those in Jerusalem and all of the surrounding area of Judea and then to the Gentiles in other places I preach that they should repent and turn to God and demonstrate their repentance by their deeds that’s a great statement of the gospel and its change effect

this is why some Jews seized me in the temple court and tried to kill me but God has helped me to this very day so I stand here and I testify remember King Ag grippa and fesus was still there these are Big Shots these are neck ties we would call them he says I’m I’ve stand here and testify to small and great I don’t care who it is alike I’m saying nothing beyond what the prophets and Moses said would happen that the Messiah would come and

suffer and as the first to rise from the dead would bring the message of light to his people and to all the world’s people the Gentiles notice at this point fesus interrupted Paul’s defense you’re out of your mind Paul he shouted your great learning is driving you crazy you’re going insane I’m not insane most ex excellent fesus Paul replied what I am saying is true and reason reasonable the king referring to AG gria now who was standing there the king is familiar with these things and

I can speak freely to him I’m I’m convinced that none of this has escaped his notice because it it was not done in a corner in secret verse 27 King grippa do you believe the prophets I know you do isn’t that a great he didn’t wait for an answer he goes do you believe the prophets I know you do then Agrippa says to Paul do do you really think that that in such a short time you can persuade me to be a Christian I love this

Paul didn’t chuckle and laugh there’s no record of that record of that it goes on verse 29 short time or long I pray to God that not only you but all of the rest of these folks listening here today may become as I am except minus the chains remember he’s been in incarcerated then the king arose and with him the governor fesus and Bernice and the those sitting with them and after they left the room they kabut and began saying to one another this man’s not

doing anything that deserves death or imprisonment AG grippa said to fesus this man could have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar despite the fact that he often shared his testimony with those who had the power to permanently silence him he kept telling it that’s a point don’t ever let go of that you don’t get to a place nor do I where it’s not time to tell so don’t Embrace this morning please don’t do this here or in someplace else listening to this

don’t embrace the inaccurate truth of believing that well okay pastor that was really impressive stuff that Paul told about his story but you know what the truth is he had the gift like you said a couple of weeks ago he had The Moxy I mean he he had the training he was well trained and if you conclude that way this morning we have spent 35 minutes on an adventure of wasted time because this is not about that at all this is not about finding a single

reason why you’re the exception to what we just read Paul told his story and he knew it well and he told it often but he also fully admitted that he did it with knees knocking pre frequently so this is not him being cavaliere going no no none of that this is not that 1 Corinthians chapter 2 veres 1 to5 I read I quote this to myself every Sunday in 40 for 43 years when I came to you I did not come with cleverness of speech these

are Paul’s words to the Corinthian think tank when I came to you I did not come with superiority of speech or wisdom when I proclaimed to you the testimony of God but I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling and my preaching and my teaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom so that your Fai should not rest on the wisdom of this man but on God the Apostle Paul I came to you you in weakness and in fear and in much

trembling who we’ve taken those words out of Paul he wrote him of himself he also openly expressed his need for prayer he said this in Ephesians and he see says it here Ephesians chapter 6 and Colossians listen to this pray that I may proclaim the gospel clearly as I should and then he turns to us who are taking notes on his words Colossians 44-6 he says be wise in the way you act toward people at the Duck game toward Outsiders make the most of every opportunity

let your conversation be full of grace seasoned with salt so that you may know how you should resp respond to each person when you encounter moments as I do where we’re asked to explain the hope within us like Paul you have a story I have a story it’s our story it’s real and it’s true and it’s you don’t stutter I have two recent developments in my life that have made their way into my story when I share it one is the loss of my mother two

years ago the other same month two years later my father they both turned for home and the last moment in which they breathe their final breath in this life on this Earth they open their eyes and breathed their first breath in heaven now face to face with Jesus Christ and because of what Jesus did on a cross for people who will turn to him and say God have mercy on me The Sinner because of what he did forgive them birthed in them a new life a

new heart saved them the Bible says and because Jesus rose again three days later guess what there’s this glorious reunion promise to those of us that haven’t yet gone home to be with him I tell a version of that all the time and I tell it not randomly with no context I tell it to people who learn that piece of our story or my story and I say they they always say I’m so sorry I’m so sorry and I appreciate that and then I get to

tell them I did this week and it’s it’s too personal yet to tell you but it was very powerful very powerful moment very funny moment actually the second part of the story I tell today is what happened on June 10th 2021 to my Debbie and and how she was stricken with leukemia AML and it was a hurricane Force hit and yet she’s in full remission today we tell why we point to Jesus we say without hesitation not a big parade just a simple conversation that goes

how come you didn’t just fold your cards and lose it Jesus him I I have a story to tell and I plan to keep telling it and I want to encourage you to do the same would you bow your heads with me as servers come to join us right now because really at the heart of the story that any of us have to tell is a truth about Jesus Christ died for our sins according to the scripture then he was buried and rose again the third

day according to the scripture all of that is truth that represents the gospel Paul said and said often I deliver to you of first importance this is really important important this is not a ceremony this is not a sort of a a spiritual icon it’s meant to portray something that’s profoundly deep and it represents the person that hung from a tree and became a curse for me that’s how I approach communion I hold in my hand the bread as you will in a moment and then

I hold a cup of juice and it and it represents his body and his blood that were both poured out and shed given for me if you don’t know Jesus that’s that’s something you need to hold back on because God knows hearts and he says that would make it artificial for you it becomes profoundly very very personal and real when you go back to your BC days I’m going to encourage you to do that as we sing and as the servers bring these things to to

us that you would go back and say Jesus take me back to my journey to Damascus to do things that I’m actually have been ashamed of ever since but in that moment don’t forget to stop and say but I met you I was like that man that Jesus told about I was I guess daring enough or desperate enough and I said God have mercy on me The Sinner would you do that this morning let’s just all do that and and when you come to that place

take the bread and the cup let’s share communion and worship the one that made life possible for [Music

Transcript machine-generated from the sermon audio, so it may contain errors. 7,129 words.