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Probably if they were doing what
they were doing today, they 

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would get cancelled. 
They'd get disqualified. 

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We talked about Peter and how he
caved to fear. 

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Totally relatable because we all
have fears. 

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I pay extra attention anytime 
somebody tells me that I'm not 

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scared of anything. 
I'm like, oh, that bad? 

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00:00:17,320 --> 00:00:19,880
We talked about Thomas. 
The week after that we talked 

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about doubt. 
Any Christian that tells you 

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they have no doubt is probably 
just talking about an early 

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2000s band. 
Took you a second. 

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All Christians have doubt. 
How do you live a life of faith 

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without doubt? 
You have to have some in order 

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for faith to exist, for that to 
be your choice. 

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And then last week we did a 
little bit of a pivot as we 

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talked about Mark. 
And the reason it was a little 

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bit of a pivot is because both 
in the story of Peter and in the

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story of Thomas, we see where 
they failed very publicly, and 

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then Jesus himself reappeared 
and restored them and rebuilt 

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them. 
It's a beautiful moment. 

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But as far as we know, Mark 
doesn't have any interactions 

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with Jesus himself. 
We do think he was probably the 

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right hand for for Peter in a 
lot of his ministry. 

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But we do see how those that are
equipped by Jesus, in other 

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words, the church helped to 
raise up and restore Mark as he 

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had his own struggles. 
Anybody remember what his 

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struggle was with? 
What was it, huh, With Paul? 

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Oh, yeah. 
It was with Paul he quit. 

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Yeah. 
And so he quit Paul. 

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Paul was the first one to be 
like, I don't want that guy on 

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my team anymore until he needed 
him again. 

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That's because Paul learned that
he couldn't be quite so certain.

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And today, as we cap off the 
series, we're going to talk 

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about Paul. 
Paul failed in the real in the 

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realm of certainty. 
And we're going to talk about 

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that in a moment. 
But first, I have something 

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presented that I would like to 
share with you today. 

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Ladies and gentlemen of the 
class of 99, where sunscreen. 

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Anybody remember this? 
If I could offer you only one 

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tip for the future, sunscreen 
would be it. 

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The long term benefits of 
sunscreen have been proved by 

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scientists, whereas the rest of 
my advice has no basis more 

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reliable than my own meandering 
experience. 

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I will dispense this advice now.
OK, How many of you actually 

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remember this from back around 
1999? 

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00:02:28,120 --> 00:02:29,640
Anybody. 
OK, got a few of them. 

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00:02:29,960 --> 00:02:32,760
This was actually something 
recorded by the director, Baz 

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00:02:32,760 --> 00:02:34,360
Luhrmann. 
It was something that was 

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presented to a graduating class.
I think it was originally done 

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00:02:36,840 --> 00:02:39,560
in 97, but by the time I made it
to the radio, it was 99. 

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00:02:40,200 --> 00:02:42,760
And it is spoken word over just 
music. 

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And it was a hit on the radio. 
And it's full of really great 

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pieces of advice. 
But he really double s down and 

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he says, but hey, sunscreen, 
look, just take care of your 

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skin. 
The rest of my advice, I'm going

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to tell you a lot of other 
things and the reason I open 

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with this is this, what makes it
stick is not that it is clever 

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or nostalgic. 
What makes it stick is he says 

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the rest of my of my advice has 
no basis more reliable than my 

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00:03:06,600 --> 00:03:10,320
own meandering experience. 
And that is the same basis that 

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we have for the advice that we 
dispense to others all the time.

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00:03:14,440 --> 00:03:16,800
And it's the same basis that 
they have as they dispense 

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advice to us. 
So we have to be patient as 

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we'll talk about when people do 
give us advice. 

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00:03:22,000 --> 00:03:24,040
But it doesn't mean you need to 
do everything that somebody 

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advises you to do. 
They're going to give you advice

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and it comes out of their own 
filter, out of their own 

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experiences, out of their own 
wounds. 

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00:03:31,960 --> 00:03:34,280
When you go through a breakup, 
they're going to instantly get 

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transported back to their 
breakup and say, oh, well, the 

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only thing that helped me when I
was going through my breakup. 

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But the problem is they're not 
you. 

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And y'all hopefully didn't break
up with the same person. 

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We all want to help. 
But what basis do we have to 

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help somebody with our own life 
other than what we've gone 

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through and experienced on our 
own? 

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00:03:57,040 --> 00:04:00,440
For the most part, when we give 
out our advice, it feels wise. 

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00:04:00,440 --> 00:04:03,040
It feels like a reliable way to 
move forward because you learn 

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00:04:03,040 --> 00:04:06,160
and you adjust and you grow. 
And then over time, you become 

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00:04:06,160 --> 00:04:09,000
more confident in your decisions
because they've been shaped by 

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00:04:09,040 --> 00:04:12,160
your own journey. 
But your journey doesn't 100% 

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00:04:12,160 --> 00:04:13,960
translate to everybody else's 
journey. 

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Let me read a little bit more of
the advice that Baz Luhrmann 

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gave us, because honestly, it'll
all hit you somewhere. 

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Enjoy the power and beauty of 
your youth. 

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00:04:26,600 --> 00:04:30,240
Never mind, you will not 
understand the power and beauty 

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of your youth until they have 
faded. 

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00:04:33,040 --> 00:04:36,920
But trust me, in 20 years you'll
look back at photos of yourself 

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00:04:37,280 --> 00:04:39,520
and recall in a way that you 
can't grasp now how much 

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00:04:39,520 --> 00:04:43,000
possibility lay before you and 
how fabulous you really looked. 

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00:04:44,200 --> 00:04:46,280
You are not as fat as you 
imagine. 

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00:04:49,680 --> 00:04:54,720
Don't worry about the future or 
worry, but know that worrying is

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00:04:54,720 --> 00:04:57,600
as effective as trying to solve 
an algebra equation by chewing 

93
00:04:57,600 --> 00:05:00,720
bubble gum. 
The real troubles in your life 

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00:05:00,720 --> 00:05:03,360
are apartment to be things that 
never crossed your worried mind,

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00:05:03,800 --> 00:05:07,000
the kind that blind side you at 
4:00 PM on some idle Tuesday. 

96
00:05:09,480 --> 00:05:11,840
Do one thing every day that 
scares you. 

97
00:05:13,800 --> 00:05:17,800
Sing sound like y'all are pretty
good on that one. 

98
00:05:19,320 --> 00:05:23,960
Don't be reckless with other 
people's hearts and don't put up

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00:05:23,960 --> 00:05:25,680
with people who are reckless 
with yours. 

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00:05:27,320 --> 00:05:29,520
Floss. 
It's good advice. 

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00:05:32,040 --> 00:05:33,600
Don't waste your time on 
jealousy. 

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00:05:34,400 --> 00:05:36,680
Sometimes you're ahead and 
sometimes you're behind. 

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00:05:37,760 --> 00:05:40,160
The race is long and in the end 
it's only with yourself. 

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00:05:41,880 --> 00:05:43,640
And remember the compliments you
receive. 

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00:05:44,160 --> 00:05:46,720
Forget the insults. 
And if you succeed in doing 

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00:05:46,720 --> 00:05:50,080
this, tell me how. 
I'll give you some more advice 

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00:05:50,080 --> 00:05:51,400
in a little bit. 
But you know what's interesting 

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00:05:51,400 --> 00:05:54,240
right there? 
Sounds like he doesn't even know

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how to do the advice he's 
handing out. 

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00:05:56,840 --> 00:06:01,320
Is that not also us, but we want
to feel useful. 

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00:06:01,560 --> 00:06:02,920
We want to feel like we know the
answers. 

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00:06:02,920 --> 00:06:04,960
We want to feel like we can step
in and help somebody. 

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00:06:05,280 --> 00:06:07,160
So sometimes we'll just give 
them something that somebody 

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else told us. 
We don't even know if it's going

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00:06:08,520 --> 00:06:11,360
to work. 
But seriously, if you do know 

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00:06:11,360 --> 00:06:13,840
how to do that, let me know. 
All right, we're in Acts Chapter

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9. 
We're going to start in the very

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first verse now, just for the 
sake of of making sure 

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everybody's on the same page. 
Paul is also known as Saul in 

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the Scripture. 
His original name is Saul. 

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And as he went on with his 
ministry, he ended up having his

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name changed to Paul. 
And it's very significant 

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because Saul was the name of the
first king of Israel. 

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It means a great one, and Paul 
means small. 

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And so whether he intentionally 
got it or it became a ministry 

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nickname, we don't know if it 
was his choice or he just 

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embraced it. 
He eventually is called Paul. 

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You'll hear these names 
interchangeably today. 

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They're the same guy, all right,
It says. 

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Meanwhile, Saul was uttering 
threats with every breath and 

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eager to kill the Lord's 
followers. 

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This is after Jesus has been 
resurrected from the dead. 

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So we went to the high priest. 
He requested letters addressed 

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to the synagogues in Damascus, 
asking for their cooperation in 

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00:07:02,760 --> 00:07:05,600
the arrest of any followers of 
the way that he found there. 

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He wanted to bring them, both 
men and women, back to Jerusalem

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in chains. 
As he was approaching Damascus 

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on this mission, a light from 
heaven suddenly shone down 

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around him, and he fell to the 
ground and heard a voice saying 

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to him, Saul, Saul, why are you 
persecuting me? 

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00:07:24,320 --> 00:07:27,560
Who are you, Lord? 
Saul asked, and the voice 

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replied, I am Jesus, the one you
are persecuting. 

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00:07:32,360 --> 00:07:36,000
Now get up and go into the city,
and you will be told what you 

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must do. 
The men with Saul stood 

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00:07:39,400 --> 00:07:42,080
speechless. 
They heard the sound of 

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someone's voice, but saw no one.
Saul picked himself up off the 

147
00:07:46,480 --> 00:07:49,160
ground, but when he opened his 
eyes he was blind. 

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So his companions led him by the
hand to Damascus, and he 

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00:07:54,320 --> 00:07:59,960
remained there blind for three 
days and did not eat or drink or

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00:07:59,960 --> 00:08:01,160
drink. 
I mean, that's a hard one. 

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00:08:02,240 --> 00:08:04,680
Now there was a believer in 
Damascus named Ananias. 

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00:08:05,160 --> 00:08:08,200
And the Lord spoke to him in a 
vision, calling Ananias. 

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00:08:08,200 --> 00:08:10,840
Yes, Lord, he replied. 
And the Lord said, go over to 

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Straight St. to the House of 
Judas. 

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00:08:13,360 --> 00:08:15,000
Not, not that one. 
Don't worry. 

156
00:08:16,640 --> 00:08:20,720
When you get there, ask for a 
man from Tarsus named Saul. 

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00:08:21,520 --> 00:08:24,000
He is praying to me right now. 
Isn't that crazy? 

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I every time I read this, I 
think man, while I'm praying to 

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00:08:26,680 --> 00:08:29,640
the Lord, he might be speaking 
to somebody on my behalf in that

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00:08:29,640 --> 00:08:30,760
moment and I wouldn't even know 
it. 

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Just a thought. 
All right, said he is praying to

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me right now. 
I've shown him a vision of a man

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named Ananias coming in and 
laying hands on him so he can 

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see again. 
But Lord, said Ananias, in one 

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00:08:49,000 --> 00:08:51,480
of the most honest and relatable
moments we've ever said in our 

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00:08:51,480 --> 00:08:56,840
prayers, I want you to do this. 
But Lord, and this is fair, he 

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00:08:56,840 --> 00:08:58,960
says, I've heard many people 
talk about the terrible things 

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00:08:58,960 --> 00:09:01,400
this man has done to the 
believers in Jerusalem, and he's

169
00:09:01,400 --> 00:09:04,440
authorized by the leading 
priests to arrest anyone who 

170
00:09:04,440 --> 00:09:07,680
calls upon your name. 
But the Lord said, go. 

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00:09:08,720 --> 00:09:12,360
Saul is my chosen instrument to 
take my message to the Gentiles 

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and to kings as well as the 
people of Israel, and I will 

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show him how much he must suffer
for my name's sake. 

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00:09:20,720 --> 00:09:23,560
So Ananias went, he found Saul 
and he laid his hands on him, 

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and he said, Brother Saul. 
Well, he went from being scared 

176
00:09:26,320 --> 00:09:28,960
to calling him brother. 
I love it, Brother Saul, the 

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Lord Jesus who appeared to you 
on the road has sent me that you

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00:09:32,760 --> 00:09:35,840
might regain your sight and be 
filled with the Holy Spirit. 

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00:09:36,560 --> 00:09:39,520
Instantly, something like scales
fell from Saul's eyes and he 

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00:09:39,520 --> 00:09:42,000
regained his sight. 
And then he got up and was 

181
00:09:42,000 --> 00:09:44,800
baptized. 
Afterward, he ate some food, 

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00:09:45,040 --> 00:09:47,520
regained his strength, and Saul 
stayed with the believers in 

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00:09:47,520 --> 00:09:50,720
Damascus for a few days. 
When you read through this 

184
00:09:50,720 --> 00:09:53,720
story, it sounds dramatic, and 
the reason is because it's 

185
00:09:53,720 --> 00:09:56,080
dramatic. 
I mean, this is crazy. 

186
00:09:56,360 --> 00:09:58,280
I don't know if he was riding a 
horse or walking. 

187
00:09:58,480 --> 00:10:01,120
He literally got knocked off of 
his high horse. 

188
00:10:01,120 --> 00:10:06,040
If he was on it, he got pushed 
down to the ground and blinded. 

189
00:10:06,440 --> 00:10:10,240
How certain, how stubborn must 
Paul have been? 

190
00:10:10,640 --> 00:10:13,720
The God had to have the 
spotlight of heaven blind him to

191
00:10:13,720 --> 00:10:19,320
stop him from moving. 
Because keep in mind, Paul was 

192
00:10:19,320 --> 00:10:22,080
pretty convinced that what he 
was doing was for God. 

193
00:10:23,520 --> 00:10:26,840
I'm doing all of this for God. 
God won't be against me. 

194
00:10:26,920 --> 00:10:30,080
What do we do when we're in 
seasons like that, right? 

195
00:10:30,320 --> 00:10:33,280
If God is for me, who could be 
against me? 

196
00:10:33,280 --> 00:10:39,760
What was the first word? 
If, If, if God is for me, then 

197
00:10:39,760 --> 00:10:42,160
who can be against me? 
I can do all things through 

198
00:10:42,160 --> 00:10:44,480
Christ, who gives me strength. 
Yeah, but it doesn't say you 

199
00:10:44,480 --> 00:10:48,000
will. 
It just says that you can. 

200
00:10:48,480 --> 00:10:50,080
But you don't get to choose what
to do. 

201
00:10:50,600 --> 00:10:54,240
He gets to choose what you do. 
And this is what is going to 

202
00:10:54,240 --> 00:10:57,680
challenge all believers, but 
especially those of us that have

203
00:10:57,680 --> 00:11:02,280
believed for some time. 
When the light breaks into 

204
00:11:02,280 --> 00:11:07,920
Paul's life here on this road to
Damascus, it doesn't say gently,

205
00:11:07,920 --> 00:11:11,600
Hey, Saul, buddy, maybe you've 
been looking at things the wrong

206
00:11:11,600 --> 00:11:14,440
way. 
He wasn't somebody who could be 

207
00:11:14,440 --> 00:11:16,560
reasoned with. 
He wasn't reasonable. 

208
00:11:16,560 --> 00:11:18,840
He wasn't somebody who was 
willing to listen to another 

209
00:11:18,840 --> 00:11:22,760
viewpoint. 
And unfortunately, that's many 

210
00:11:22,760 --> 00:11:26,440
Christians today. 
And this message is not meant to

211
00:11:26,440 --> 00:11:30,080
make you uncertain. 
Be certain in what you believe, 

212
00:11:32,640 --> 00:11:36,720
but also be certain that you are
called to serve other people in 

213
00:11:36,720 --> 00:11:41,040
love and humility. 
From this moment, I want you to 

214
00:11:41,040 --> 00:11:44,760
just imagine what is going 
through Paul's mind as he's on 

215
00:11:44,760 --> 00:11:47,000
the ground. 
Things like scales are 

216
00:11:47,000 --> 00:11:49,040
developing over his eyes. 
He's blinded. 

217
00:11:50,200 --> 00:11:54,440
He has been out there to take 
down the number one enemy of the

218
00:11:54,440 --> 00:12:00,160
Lord in his mind and all of a 
sudden he says, who are you? 

219
00:12:00,560 --> 00:12:02,160
I'm Jesus, the one you're 
persecuting. 

220
00:12:02,680 --> 00:12:06,480
Put yourself in his shoes or his
sandals, whatever. 

221
00:12:07,520 --> 00:12:09,760
What is going through your mind 
right now. 

222
00:12:11,800 --> 00:12:13,600
You might even say an expletive 
in your mind. 

223
00:12:13,600 --> 00:12:21,160
Oh poop. 
And here's why it would be 

224
00:12:21,160 --> 00:12:23,840
better to be safe and sit in his
presence, like I was talking 

225
00:12:23,840 --> 00:12:27,560
about a minute ago. 
But once you put yourself out 

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00:12:27,560 --> 00:12:30,200
there and you realize how wrong 
you are, maybe you get afraid 

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that now there's going to be 
judgement, now there's going to 

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be punishment. 
I got that so wrong. 

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I'm sure God is going to bring 
consequences down on my head. 

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00:12:38,360 --> 00:12:40,360
He doesn't always bring 
consequences down on us. 

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I mean, a lot of times we do 
that on our own. 

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Isn't it kind for God to stop 
him? 

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00:12:48,720 --> 00:12:50,040
He did a lot of damage. 
Yeah. 

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00:12:50,080 --> 00:12:51,760
And he dealt with the 
consequences of that for the 

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00:12:51,760 --> 00:12:53,800
rest of his life. 
Could he not have done even 

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00:12:53,800 --> 00:12:57,320
more? 
But in this moment, everything 

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that Paul thought he understood 
begins to unravel. 

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I want you to imagine that you 
know the scriptures the way that

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Paul knew the scriptures, and 
you were so convinced that you 

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00:13:05,800 --> 00:13:09,680
understood them so clearly that 
you would know if the Messiah 

241
00:13:09,680 --> 00:13:13,280
showed up. 
And all of a sudden, what's 

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00:13:13,280 --> 00:13:15,520
happening over these next three 
days, I bet you all of those 

243
00:13:15,520 --> 00:13:18,320
scriptures are rolling through 
his head and he's now looking at

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00:13:18,320 --> 00:13:20,520
them in a different light. 
He kind of has to, right? 

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00:13:20,520 --> 00:13:21,840
Because he can't look at 
anything else. 

246
00:13:22,240 --> 00:13:25,040
So he's thinking through these 
scriptures and he's starting to 

247
00:13:25,040 --> 00:13:27,320
piece things together. 
Well, I was wrong about this, 

248
00:13:27,320 --> 00:13:30,000
but this must have meant this. 
Oh, and I was really certain 

249
00:13:30,000 --> 00:13:33,200
that this is what this meant, 
but it must have meant this. 

250
00:13:33,200 --> 00:13:37,000
Instead, this whole, this whole 
year has the banner of grace 

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00:13:37,000 --> 00:13:40,480
over it. 
God's grace is sufficient for us

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because His power is made great 
in our weakness. 

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And He would become known as the
apostle of grace. 

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00:13:46,320 --> 00:13:47,960
What we just read is the turning
point. 

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00:13:49,320 --> 00:13:56,600
But the way that Paul persecuted
Christianity on behalf of the 

256
00:13:56,600 --> 00:14:00,160
Jewish people is the way that we
would feel the need to persecute

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00:14:00,160 --> 00:14:03,280
any other religion on the behalf
of Christianity Today. 

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00:14:04,360 --> 00:14:06,440
And I'm not standing up here to 
tell you that all faiths lead to

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00:14:06,600 --> 00:14:09,000
to God, because they don't. 
And anybody that tells you that 

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00:14:09,000 --> 00:14:11,240
is unkind or misinformed or 
both. 

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00:14:11,720 --> 00:14:15,640
But what I am here to tell you 
is that every human being that 

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00:14:15,640 --> 00:14:18,200
you encounter is made in the 
image of the Creator. 

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00:14:19,280 --> 00:14:23,440
And so instead of persecuting 
people as enemies, we pursue 

264
00:14:23,440 --> 00:14:26,920
them with love because that's 
what God did for you when you 

265
00:14:26,920 --> 00:14:30,720
were far from him. 
God looked at the worst moments 

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00:14:30,720 --> 00:14:37,120
that you've done or would do or 
will do and still pursued you. 

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00:14:37,120 --> 00:14:38,880
And then we look at other people
and we're like, yeah, but he 

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00:14:38,880 --> 00:14:41,360
wouldn't want those jokers. 
Yes, he would. 

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00:14:42,560 --> 00:14:45,320
Yes, he would. 
One of the things, if you're 

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00:14:45,320 --> 00:14:47,480
ever looking to go down a rabbit
hole on the Internet that 

271
00:14:47,480 --> 00:14:50,960
actually might be beneficial, 
why don't you take a look at all

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00:14:50,960 --> 00:14:53,080
of the visions that people are 
having of Christ throughout the 

273
00:14:53,080 --> 00:14:55,120
world in areas that are hard to 
evangelize? 

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00:14:55,480 --> 00:14:58,320
I mean, Jesus knows how to do 
his work, but he chooses to 

275
00:14:58,320 --> 00:15:02,240
include you and I, but we've got
to be willing to partner with 

276
00:15:02,240 --> 00:15:07,280
him in this work. 
And so because of that, I would 

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00:15:07,280 --> 00:15:10,760
just tell you that if this 
happened today, if this was 

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00:15:10,760 --> 00:15:15,960
somebody who practiced Islam or 
Scientology or anything out 

279
00:15:15,960 --> 00:15:19,760
there that we don't agree with, 
and then they got radically 

280
00:15:19,760 --> 00:15:21,560
saved. 
We weren't there for that moment

281
00:15:21,560 --> 00:15:23,840
on the road to Damascus. 
And now they start saying, hey, 

282
00:15:24,080 --> 00:15:28,360
I'm for Jesus. 
Now, we would not be quick to 

283
00:15:28,360 --> 00:15:31,480
put them at a pulpit. 
We would not be quick to open 

284
00:15:31,480 --> 00:15:34,360
them up to our house. 
Come on in and stay with us. 

285
00:15:34,360 --> 00:15:37,840
So I'm sure you're trustworthy. 
Now, I know last week you were 

286
00:15:37,840 --> 00:15:40,840
the leader of the the Wicca 
coven, you know, down the road, 

287
00:15:40,840 --> 00:15:42,680
but I'm sure it'll be great 
today. 

288
00:15:43,280 --> 00:15:48,160
We would not be quick, but what 
happened in Paul immediately was

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00:15:48,160 --> 00:15:50,040
something that had to be seen 
over time. 

290
00:15:50,040 --> 00:15:54,520
And what I want to saw have 
today is the cautionary tale 

291
00:15:54,520 --> 00:15:59,920
that sometimes we're so certain 
about things and we might be 

292
00:15:59,920 --> 00:16:02,800
wrong. 
Now I'm pretty certain on who 

293
00:16:02,800 --> 00:16:05,880
God is and talk to him. 
He can't talk me out of knowing 

294
00:16:05,880 --> 00:16:08,560
him. 
Pretty certain that Jesus is the

295
00:16:08,560 --> 00:16:12,040
only way and to heaven when it 
comes to the doctrines that we 

296
00:16:12,040 --> 00:16:14,800
hold dear, the doctrines that we
have on men and women in 

297
00:16:14,800 --> 00:16:17,920
ministry or how we do communion 
or baptism. 

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00:16:18,600 --> 00:16:24,560
At best, I'm about 99% sure. 
I'll just tell you that because 

299
00:16:24,560 --> 00:16:26,920
I'm always open to having my 
theology corrected by the Lord. 

300
00:16:28,720 --> 00:16:31,880
But one thing I like to ask a 
lot of people who have served 

301
00:16:31,880 --> 00:16:34,560
the Lord for a long time, I'll 
go up to them and I'll say, what

302
00:16:34,560 --> 00:16:37,760
is one thing that you were so 
hardcore about when you were 

303
00:16:37,760 --> 00:16:40,800
younger in ministry, but you've 
changed your view on? 

304
00:16:40,800 --> 00:16:43,200
And I'm going to tell you what 
is some of the best advice I've 

305
00:16:43,200 --> 00:16:46,080
ever gotten when people say, 
well, this is what I thought 

306
00:16:46,080 --> 00:16:47,560
mattered. 
What I've learned over time is 

307
00:16:47,560 --> 00:16:49,800
this is what mattered. 
Only one time did I have 

308
00:16:49,800 --> 00:16:51,760
somebody say, I wouldn't change 
anything. 

309
00:16:51,840 --> 00:16:53,520
And I thought, all right, well, 
I don't have anything to write 

310
00:16:53,520 --> 00:16:56,800
down from this one, but we're 
talking about Paul. 

311
00:16:56,800 --> 00:16:59,600
How does this correlate to us? 
Because most of us, most of us 

312
00:16:59,600 --> 00:17:02,000
are not looking to go and drag 
somebody out of their house and,

313
00:17:02,160 --> 00:17:05,839
and, and take them to jail. 
I'll just tell you that 

314
00:17:05,839 --> 00:17:08,319
sometimes the people that we 
would be quickest to disqualify 

315
00:17:08,319 --> 00:17:10,680
or cancel are the very people 
that God is pursuing. 

316
00:17:10,680 --> 00:17:13,960
And so we do the same thing when
we assume our perspective is the

317
00:17:13,960 --> 00:17:16,240
only reasonable one and we 
dismiss anyone who sees 

318
00:17:16,240 --> 00:17:18,640
something differently. 
We do it when we speak with 

319
00:17:18,640 --> 00:17:21,400
confidence about situations that
we have not fully understood. 

320
00:17:22,960 --> 00:17:25,520
We do it when we label people 
quickly instead of listening 

321
00:17:25,520 --> 00:17:27,760
carefully. 
And we do it when we decide that

322
00:17:27,760 --> 00:17:30,400
someone is wrong before we've 
even taken the time to truly see

323
00:17:30,400 --> 00:17:33,240
them. 
You might be right, and I pray 

324
00:17:33,240 --> 00:17:34,920
you are right in all of your 
viewpoints. 

325
00:17:35,200 --> 00:17:37,880
I pray to God that I'm right in 
the things that I believe, but 

326
00:17:37,880 --> 00:17:41,160
I've just been corrected one too
many times to believe that I 

327
00:17:41,160 --> 00:17:42,960
always know exactly the right 
thing. 

328
00:17:45,160 --> 00:17:47,640
So we can become certain about 
people's motives, about their 

329
00:17:47,640 --> 00:17:50,000
character, certain about what 
they meant or the action they 

330
00:17:50,000 --> 00:17:51,160
did. 
And we can carry that into 

331
00:17:51,160 --> 00:17:54,360
conversations and relationships.
Here are a couple ways We do it 

332
00:17:54,360 --> 00:17:57,000
in families when assumptions 
turn into stress. 

333
00:17:58,000 --> 00:18:00,960
We do this in friendships when 
misunderstandings turn into 

334
00:18:00,960 --> 00:18:04,120
distance. 
We do it in leadership when 

335
00:18:04,120 --> 00:18:06,880
confidence turns into control 
instead of caring for people. 

336
00:18:07,680 --> 00:18:09,920
And we even do it spiritually 
when we become committed to 

337
00:18:09,920 --> 00:18:11,600
being right rather than being 
loving. 

338
00:18:12,560 --> 00:18:14,840
What I want you to take away 
from this is this. 

339
00:18:15,320 --> 00:18:17,240
The danger is not that we care 
about truth. 

340
00:18:17,360 --> 00:18:19,200
You should care a great deal 
about truth. 

341
00:18:20,160 --> 00:18:22,920
The danger is that you can feel 
completely justified in the way 

342
00:18:22,920 --> 00:18:26,000
you carry it, and that will make
all the difference. 

343
00:18:26,360 --> 00:18:28,600
Well, in the same pattern that 
we've been doing the last few 

344
00:18:28,600 --> 00:18:30,560
weeks, what is it that certainty
reveals we'll get? 

345
00:18:30,600 --> 00:18:33,240
We're going to go back in time a
little bit to Acts Chapter 7, 

346
00:18:33,600 --> 00:18:35,160
because as we begin to 
understand what certainty 

347
00:18:35,160 --> 00:18:38,600
reveals, we need to step back 
from the road to Damascus and 

348
00:18:38,600 --> 00:18:40,480
look at Saul before everything 
changed. 

349
00:18:40,760 --> 00:18:44,600
What got him so hyped up and so,
so jazzed to go out there and, 

350
00:18:44,600 --> 00:18:46,440
and try and drag people out of 
their homes? 

351
00:18:47,720 --> 00:18:51,560
What we just read in Acts 9 only
makes sense if you can see who 

352
00:18:51,640 --> 00:18:53,480
he was leading up until that 
moment. 

353
00:18:54,560 --> 00:18:56,920
So in Acts Chapter 7, we'll 
start in verse 54. 

354
00:18:56,920 --> 00:18:59,920
We'll go crossover into chapter 
8, into verse 3. 

355
00:18:59,920 --> 00:19:01,800
It's all together. 
And it says this. 

356
00:19:01,800 --> 00:19:04,520
The Jewish leaders were 
infuriated by Stephen's 

357
00:19:04,520 --> 00:19:06,680
accusation. 
Now Stephen is known as the 

358
00:19:06,680 --> 00:19:09,560
first Christian martyr, the 
first person who was killed for 

359
00:19:09,560 --> 00:19:12,400
the Christian faith. 
And so they shook their fists at

360
00:19:12,400 --> 00:19:15,680
him in rage. 
But Stephen, full of the Holy 

361
00:19:15,680 --> 00:19:19,440
Spirit, gazed steadily into 
heaven and saw the glory of God.

362
00:19:19,840 --> 00:19:22,960
And he saw Jesus standing in the
place of honor at God's right 

363
00:19:22,960 --> 00:19:26,240
hand. 
And he told them, look, I see 

364
00:19:26,240 --> 00:19:28,800
the heavens opened, and the Son 
of Man standing in the place of 

365
00:19:28,800 --> 00:19:31,720
honor at God's right hand. 
Then they put their hands over 

366
00:19:31,720 --> 00:19:34,960
his ears and began shouting. 
They rushed at him and dragged 

367
00:19:34,960 --> 00:19:37,080
him out of the city and began to
stone him. 

368
00:19:37,800 --> 00:19:40,840
His accusers took off their 
coats and laid them at the feet 

369
00:19:41,160 --> 00:19:45,480
of a young man named Saul. 
As they stoned him, Stephen 

370
00:19:45,480 --> 00:19:48,040
prayed, Lord Jesus, receive my 
spirit. 

371
00:19:48,680 --> 00:19:51,960
And he fell to his knees 
shouting, Lord, don't charge 

372
00:19:51,960 --> 00:19:55,800
them with this sin. 
And with that, he died. 

373
00:19:57,240 --> 00:19:58,840
You know, we're all called to be
like Jesus, right? 

374
00:19:58,840 --> 00:20:02,600
Does that sound familiar? 
Jesus up on the cross. 

375
00:20:02,600 --> 00:20:05,160
Father, forgive them. 
They don't know what they're 

376
00:20:05,160 --> 00:20:08,000
doing. 
Chapter 8. 

377
00:20:08,000 --> 00:20:10,960
Saul was one of the witnesses, 
and he agreed completely with 

378
00:20:10,960 --> 00:20:14,480
the killing of Stephen. 
A great wave of persecution 

379
00:20:14,480 --> 00:20:16,880
began that day, sweeping over 
the church in Jerusalem. 

380
00:20:17,040 --> 00:20:19,960
And all the believers except the
apostles were scattered through 

381
00:20:19,960 --> 00:20:21,840
the regions of Judea and 
Samaria. 

382
00:20:22,400 --> 00:20:25,200
Some devout men came and buried 
Steven with great mourning. 

383
00:20:26,000 --> 00:20:28,160
Assault was going everywhere to 
destroy the church. 

384
00:20:28,160 --> 00:20:31,360
He went from house to house, 
dragging out both men and women 

385
00:20:31,360 --> 00:20:34,560
to throw them into prison. 
So as this scene unfolds, I want

386
00:20:34,560 --> 00:20:36,920
you to picture this. 
I mean, you can tell how intense

387
00:20:36,920 --> 00:20:38,760
this is. 
He's already in agreement that 

388
00:20:38,760 --> 00:20:41,400
he's against this movement that 
we call Christianity. 

389
00:20:41,440 --> 00:20:44,760
They called the way He already 
knows he's against it, but he 

390
00:20:44,760 --> 00:20:46,880
doesn't know exactly how many 
people are against it. 

391
00:20:47,280 --> 00:20:50,320
And once he sees how much these 
people are eager to stone and 

392
00:20:50,320 --> 00:20:53,760
kill somebody who's publicly 
preaching Jesus, he decides, I'm

393
00:20:53,760 --> 00:20:55,040
going to take this and run with 
it. 

394
00:20:55,240 --> 00:20:57,360
I'm not the only one. 
I know I've got support. 

395
00:20:57,520 --> 00:21:00,960
And since everybody else 
believes it, I must be right. 

396
00:21:03,000 --> 00:21:05,440
The crowd reached a breaking 
point where anger turned into 

397
00:21:05,440 --> 00:21:09,000
physical violence. 
And I think the thing that is 

398
00:21:09,000 --> 00:21:12,920
scariest for me is how unmoved 
it seems like Saul is here. 

399
00:21:14,560 --> 00:21:17,600
I mean, we might be mad at 
people, but most of us at least 

400
00:21:17,600 --> 00:21:20,200
I like to think if we got angry 
at somebody who was 

401
00:21:20,200 --> 00:21:22,840
demonstrating publicly and then 
we saw people throwing rocks at 

402
00:21:22,840 --> 00:21:26,240
them, bruising them and making 
them bleed until they until they

403
00:21:26,240 --> 00:21:28,440
died, I like to think that we 
would be uncomfortable standing 

404
00:21:28,440 --> 00:21:33,640
there watching it. 
Saul is unmoved in his mind, one

405
00:21:33,640 --> 00:21:38,760
more enemy of Jehovah gone good,
good riddance. 

406
00:21:38,760 --> 00:21:43,520
Better that way. 
It's uncomfortable, but that's 

407
00:21:43,520 --> 00:21:45,600
what happens when you cave to a 
mob mentality. 

408
00:21:46,120 --> 00:21:48,600
What's so crazy about this is 
not the salt witnesses the 

409
00:21:48,600 --> 00:21:50,280
moment. 
It's just that nothing in him 

410
00:21:50,280 --> 00:21:54,720
seems to be unsettled or 
uncomfortable by a public mob 

411
00:21:54,720 --> 00:21:59,680
execution. 
If anything, what he watches 

412
00:21:59,680 --> 00:22:03,640
doesn't make him think again. 
It strengthens his resolve. 

413
00:22:04,120 --> 00:22:06,400
By watching this, he says, I 
must be right. 

414
00:22:06,760 --> 00:22:09,280
Surely nobody would commit this 
kind of violence unless they 

415
00:22:09,280 --> 00:22:11,600
were certain. 
And now his certainty is built 

416
00:22:11,600 --> 00:22:14,160
up because other people's 
certainty is built up. 

417
00:22:15,400 --> 00:22:17,080
Does that sound familiar? 
Because we deal with this 

418
00:22:17,080 --> 00:22:18,720
struggle in a lot of ways all 
the time. 

419
00:22:19,640 --> 00:22:22,280
From this point on, the story 
that's happening does not slow 

420
00:22:22,280 --> 00:22:23,360
down. 
It expands. 

421
00:22:23,360 --> 00:22:25,280
The violence that began with 
Steven doesn't stay there. 

422
00:22:25,280 --> 00:22:27,240
It spreads into bigger waves of 
persecution. 

423
00:22:27,240 --> 00:22:29,400
It scatters believers. 
They have to be secret 

424
00:22:29,400 --> 00:22:30,640
believers. 
They're meeting in homes. 

425
00:22:30,640 --> 00:22:33,760
They can't be praying in public.
And he starts entering into 

426
00:22:33,760 --> 00:22:36,600
spaces that honestly, I mean, 
would have felt safe, their 

427
00:22:36,600 --> 00:22:38,120
homes. 
He would go into their homes and

428
00:22:38,120 --> 00:22:40,200
say, I've heard that you follow 
the way and he would drag them 

429
00:22:40,200 --> 00:22:44,440
out. 
So Saul or Paul is acting out of

430
00:22:44,440 --> 00:22:46,680
certainty. 
He believes he's protecting the 

431
00:22:46,680 --> 00:22:48,360
truth and preserving what's 
right. 

432
00:22:49,760 --> 00:22:52,280
His confidence gives him 
momentum, but that momentum 

433
00:22:52,280 --> 00:22:55,520
carries him deeper than his 
actions could really catch up 

434
00:22:55,520 --> 00:22:57,680
to. 
And so this is what certainty 

435
00:22:57,680 --> 00:22:59,440
can reveal. 
It shows how deeply we can 

436
00:22:59,440 --> 00:23:02,040
believe something and still miss
what God is actually doing. 

437
00:23:02,800 --> 00:23:05,680
It shows us how easily we can 
attach the name of God to an 

438
00:23:05,680 --> 00:23:08,720
action that doesn't reflect his 
character and feel like it's OK.

439
00:23:10,040 --> 00:23:12,120
It shows how confidence, when 
it's not partnered with 

440
00:23:12,120 --> 00:23:14,880
humility, can actually become 
the kind of blindness that keeps

441
00:23:14,880 --> 00:23:19,120
us from seeing clearly. 
So by the time we arrive back on

442
00:23:19,120 --> 00:23:21,480
the road to Damascus, Saul's not
asking for direction. 

443
00:23:21,680 --> 00:23:24,320
He's not even asking for God's 
will, let alone God himself. 

444
00:23:24,520 --> 00:23:27,600
He's moving forward with full 
conviction, convinced that he is

445
00:23:27,600 --> 00:23:30,440
exactly where he needs to be. 
And that's what made that 

446
00:23:30,440 --> 00:23:35,720
encounter so necessary. 
Let's take a little break. 

447
00:23:39,400 --> 00:23:43,440
Let me return back to the 
sunscreen, give you another 

448
00:23:43,640 --> 00:23:45,880
piece of good advice just so you
can walk out of here with good 

449
00:23:45,880 --> 00:23:48,760
life tips. 
Keep your old love letters. 

450
00:23:50,080 --> 00:23:53,640
Throw away your old bank 
statements, Stretch. 

451
00:23:54,120 --> 00:23:56,000
Actually, I didn't realize how 
important that was until I 

452
00:23:56,000 --> 00:24:02,200
turned 40. 
Don't feel guilty if you don't 

453
00:24:02,200 --> 00:24:03,560
know what you want to do with 
your life. 

454
00:24:04,040 --> 00:24:06,680
The most interesting people I 
know didn't know at 22 what they

455
00:24:06,680 --> 00:24:09,760
wanted to do with their lives. 
Some of the most interesting 40 

456
00:24:09,760 --> 00:24:13,880
year olds I know still don't get
plenty of calcium. 

457
00:24:15,520 --> 00:24:17,920
Be kind to your knees. 
You'll miss them when they're 

458
00:24:17,920 --> 00:24:25,320
gone. 
Maybe you'll marry and maybe you

459
00:24:25,320 --> 00:24:28,400
won't. 
Maybe you'll have children and 

460
00:24:28,400 --> 00:24:31,560
maybe you won't. 
Maybe you'll divorce at 40. 

461
00:24:32,320 --> 00:24:35,120
Maybe you'll dance the funky 
chicken on your 75th wedding 

462
00:24:35,120 --> 00:24:38,440
anniversary. 
Whatever you do, don't 

463
00:24:38,440 --> 00:24:41,600
congratulate yourself too much 
or berate yourself either. 

464
00:24:41,880 --> 00:24:45,640
Your choices are half chance and
so are everybody else's. 

465
00:24:47,680 --> 00:24:49,960
We'll come back to sunscreen 
later without the Lord. 

466
00:24:50,640 --> 00:24:54,720
Your chances. 
They're 5050 and so are 

467
00:24:54,720 --> 00:24:56,760
everybody else's. 
Sometimes you'll look at 

468
00:24:56,760 --> 00:24:58,680
somebody who's successful in an 
area that you wanted to be 

469
00:24:58,680 --> 00:25:00,800
successful. 
Flip a coin. 

470
00:25:00,800 --> 00:25:02,000
Could have been you could have 
been them. 

471
00:25:02,000 --> 00:25:04,960
It's just the way that it went. 
It's not really a reflection on 

472
00:25:04,960 --> 00:25:07,360
you. 
But if you don't believe me that

473
00:25:07,360 --> 00:25:09,840
all of our choices are half 
chance, there's a story from the

474
00:25:09,840 --> 00:25:12,760
business world that really 
captures this idea in a way 

475
00:25:12,760 --> 00:25:15,120
that's kind of hard for me to 
believe, to be honest with you. 

476
00:25:16,080 --> 00:25:17,280
I'll age myself a little bit 
here. 

477
00:25:17,280 --> 00:25:21,040
Does anybody remember a really 
old series of commercials for 

478
00:25:21,200 --> 00:25:22,920
for cameras? 
And when there was a special 

479
00:25:22,920 --> 00:25:24,480
moment, we would call that a 
what moment? 

480
00:25:25,440 --> 00:25:27,640
A Kodak moment. 
Oh, it's a Kodak moment. 

481
00:25:28,160 --> 00:25:30,000
How many of you all like, what 
is a Kodak moment? 

482
00:25:30,440 --> 00:25:34,640
OK, anybody seriously like, OK, 
these were the commercials. 

483
00:25:34,640 --> 00:25:38,240
Because Kodak became synonymous 
with taking good pictures and 

484
00:25:38,240 --> 00:25:39,920
preserving your moments for the 
future. 

485
00:25:40,520 --> 00:25:43,040
It's brilliant in the way that 
facial tissues get called 

486
00:25:43,040 --> 00:25:45,440
Kleenex. 
Kleenex is actually a brand, but

487
00:25:45,440 --> 00:25:48,480
they all get called Kleenex 
because they branded themselves 

488
00:25:48,480 --> 00:25:50,520
so well. 
Well, Kodak was the same way. 

489
00:25:50,520 --> 00:25:54,760
And in 1975, there was an 
engineer working for Kodak and 

490
00:25:54,760 --> 00:25:56,800
they built the very first 
digital camera. 

491
00:25:58,240 --> 00:26:00,320
It was not very impressive by 
today's standards. 

492
00:26:00,320 --> 00:26:03,360
It was bulky and had really low 
quality images, but it worked 

493
00:26:03,680 --> 00:26:05,360
right. 
And so it proved that something 

494
00:26:05,640 --> 00:26:08,280
was about to change. 
Photography was going to shift. 

495
00:26:08,560 --> 00:26:11,400
So this engineer brought it to 
Kodak's leadership, the company 

496
00:26:11,400 --> 00:26:13,880
that was dominating photography 
for decades. 

497
00:26:15,040 --> 00:26:16,880
And Kodak was not struggling at 
the time. 

498
00:26:17,360 --> 00:26:21,080
They were the industry. 
Film was their foundation. 

499
00:26:21,080 --> 00:26:24,000
So when they saw the digital 
camera, they didn't celebrate 

500
00:26:24,000 --> 00:26:24,800
it. 
They hesitated. 

501
00:26:24,800 --> 00:26:26,280
Why? 
Because it was different than 

502
00:26:26,280 --> 00:26:29,440
what they had known. 
So embracing digital photography

503
00:26:29,440 --> 00:26:32,320
meant disrupting their own 
model, and it meant letting go 

504
00:26:32,320 --> 00:26:34,200
of what had made them successful
in the past. 

505
00:26:34,200 --> 00:26:36,360
And it meant admitting that the 
future might look different than

506
00:26:36,360 --> 00:26:38,640
the past that had given them the
confidence that they had. 

507
00:26:38,960 --> 00:26:42,120
So in that moment, their 
certainty made their decision. 

508
00:26:42,440 --> 00:26:44,520
We're not going to pursue this 
down the digital Rd. 

509
00:26:45,200 --> 00:26:46,720
We're going to double down on 
film. 

510
00:26:47,280 --> 00:26:49,840
And over the next few decades, 
digital photography grew. 

511
00:26:50,120 --> 00:26:52,880
Cameras improved. 
Technology advanced. 

512
00:26:53,240 --> 00:26:55,160
Eventually the world moved away 
from film. 

513
00:26:55,560 --> 00:26:57,720
Most people have a phone that 
takes a better picture than a 

514
00:26:57,720 --> 00:26:59,440
Kodak camera did back in that 
day. 

515
00:27:01,240 --> 00:27:04,560
And Kodak, the company that once
defined photography, filed for 

516
00:27:04,560 --> 00:27:06,920
bankruptcy. 
They didn't lack the 

517
00:27:06,920 --> 00:27:09,000
intelligence. 
They weren't even unaware of the

518
00:27:09,000 --> 00:27:10,120
change. 
They knew about it. 

519
00:27:10,120 --> 00:27:12,600
It was birthed right there 
within their own company. 

520
00:27:13,320 --> 00:27:15,640
They saw it before the other 
companies ever saw it. 

521
00:27:16,440 --> 00:27:18,680
They just didn't believe it 
because they were certain that 

522
00:27:18,680 --> 00:27:23,800
they were right. 
Now, to me, that lines up with 

523
00:27:23,800 --> 00:27:26,080
Paul. 
Paul had something similar in 

524
00:27:26,080 --> 00:27:28,080
his hands. 
He knew the Scriptures. 

525
00:27:28,160 --> 00:27:31,200
He understood the law. 
He studied everything about the 

526
00:27:31,200 --> 00:27:33,480
coming Messiah. 
If anybody was somebody you were

527
00:27:33,480 --> 00:27:35,960
going to go to and ask for 
advice on the Messiah, it would 

528
00:27:35,960 --> 00:27:39,040
have been him. 
And then the truth was in front 

529
00:27:39,040 --> 00:27:40,800
of him. 
But a certainty about how it 

530
00:27:40,800 --> 00:27:44,280
should look kept him from 
recognizing how Jesus actually 

531
00:27:44,280 --> 00:27:47,160
looked. 
He was not lost because he 

532
00:27:47,160 --> 00:27:49,320
didn't know enough. 
He was lost because he was 

533
00:27:49,320 --> 00:27:53,080
convinced he already did. 
And for many Christians today, 

534
00:27:53,080 --> 00:27:55,520
that's, that's the struggle. 
So what do we do? 

535
00:27:55,520 --> 00:27:57,920
How do we, how do we take our 
certainty and then try to 

536
00:27:57,920 --> 00:28:00,240
overcome it? 
Well, think about this. 

537
00:28:00,240 --> 00:28:02,280
The question isn't whether or 
not you have convictions. 

538
00:28:02,680 --> 00:28:04,920
A Christian without convictions 
is not much of A Christian at 

539
00:28:04,920 --> 00:28:06,520
all. 
You have to have convictions. 

540
00:28:06,840 --> 00:28:09,040
The question is if your 
convictions are so rigid that 

541
00:28:09,040 --> 00:28:11,080
they can no longer be challenged
or examined. 

542
00:28:11,560 --> 00:28:13,560
I'm never afraid to talk about 
the things that I believe, 

543
00:28:13,560 --> 00:28:16,560
whether it's political or faith 
or things like that, because I'm

544
00:28:16,560 --> 00:28:18,960
confident in what I believe. 
But I also know this. 

545
00:28:18,960 --> 00:28:21,600
If I believe something that's 
not true, I'd rather not. 

546
00:28:22,280 --> 00:28:25,200
I'd rather learn what is true. 
So I have no problem having 

547
00:28:25,200 --> 00:28:27,440
conversations with people that 
believe different things. 

548
00:28:27,800 --> 00:28:30,240
I feel like real truth is never 
afraid to be chased down and 

549
00:28:30,240 --> 00:28:34,520
found out. 
So if I find myself more 

550
00:28:34,520 --> 00:28:36,880
interested in defending my 
position than understanding the 

551
00:28:36,880 --> 00:28:39,640
other person, or if I feel the 
need to win conversations 

552
00:28:39,640 --> 00:28:41,680
instead of growing through them,
these are flags. 

553
00:28:41,880 --> 00:28:43,600
Here's a couple things we can 
take a look at. 

554
00:28:44,320 --> 00:28:46,240
First of all, pay attention to 
your reaction when you're 

555
00:28:46,240 --> 00:28:48,360
challenged. 
If you're wondering if certainty

556
00:28:48,360 --> 00:28:52,600
is an issue for you, what is 
your reaction when people are 

557
00:28:52,600 --> 00:28:55,000
challenged? 
When you're When your beliefs 

558
00:28:55,000 --> 00:28:57,600
are challenged, do you 
immediately become defensive? 

559
00:28:58,160 --> 00:29:00,400
Do you try to dismiss them 
immediately or shut down the 

560
00:29:00,400 --> 00:29:03,240
conversation because that may be
more revealing than whatever the

561
00:29:03,240 --> 00:29:06,320
issue itself is? 
Healthy conviction can withstand

562
00:29:06,320 --> 00:29:08,840
questions, but unhealthy 
certainty always resists 

563
00:29:08,840 --> 00:29:15,120
questions #2 examine whether 
your assumptions have become 

564
00:29:15,120 --> 00:29:17,680
your God. 
And that's an uncomfortable way 

565
00:29:17,680 --> 00:29:20,840
to put it, but that's 
intentional. 

566
00:29:22,400 --> 00:29:24,560
Examine whether or not they've 
become your authority, the 

567
00:29:24,560 --> 00:29:25,920
things that you assume to be 
true. 

568
00:29:26,240 --> 00:29:28,560
Another way that shows up is the
way that we look at the 

569
00:29:28,560 --> 00:29:30,480
difference between what we 
expected and what God is 

570
00:29:30,480 --> 00:29:32,320
actually doing. 
Has anybody ever been surprised 

571
00:29:32,320 --> 00:29:34,200
in the way that God came through
because it wasn't how you 

572
00:29:34,200 --> 00:29:35,440
thought it was going to be? 
Anybody? 

573
00:29:35,640 --> 00:29:37,680
OK, So why don't you think he 
won't do it again? 

574
00:29:38,720 --> 00:29:42,160
OK, when we're filtering 
everything through what we 

575
00:29:42,160 --> 00:29:44,760
already believe instead of 
allowing scripture in the spirit

576
00:29:44,760 --> 00:29:49,240
to grow us, it's a problem. 
It's a book recommendation. 

577
00:29:49,240 --> 00:29:51,920
Sorry guys, but I've mentioned 
it before. 

578
00:29:51,920 --> 00:29:54,680
Peter Ends writes a book called 
The Sin of Certainty and listen 

579
00:29:54,680 --> 00:29:57,560
to this quote from it. 
The Bible does not offer us 

580
00:29:57,560 --> 00:30:00,320
certainty. 
It offers us God. 

581
00:30:01,800 --> 00:30:05,280
Which would you rather have? 
So that idea really does 

582
00:30:05,280 --> 00:30:07,520
confront us in a healthy way 
because it reminds us that faith

583
00:30:07,520 --> 00:30:10,760
is not about mastering all the 
information of the scriptures or

584
00:30:10,760 --> 00:30:12,160
locking in a perfect 
understanding. 

585
00:30:12,160 --> 00:30:15,160
It's about walking with a living
God who continues to grow. 

586
00:30:15,160 --> 00:30:20,960
You #3 Try to look for the 
voices that challenge you when 

587
00:30:20,960 --> 00:30:22,680
they're healthy. 
I'm not saying look for the 

588
00:30:22,680 --> 00:30:27,480
people that love an argument. 
And if you love an argument, I 

589
00:30:27,480 --> 00:30:29,400
got something for you in the 
next the next part of the 

590
00:30:29,400 --> 00:30:31,840
sermon. 
Look for the voices that 

591
00:30:31,840 --> 00:30:36,200
challenge you in a healthy way. 
A lot of kids grew up learning. 

592
00:30:36,200 --> 00:30:37,760
You don't ask mom or dad 
questions. 

593
00:30:37,760 --> 00:30:40,400
This is just the way that it is.
Do as I say, not as I do. 

594
00:30:42,560 --> 00:30:45,920
OK, So what do they learn? 
I'll bide my time until I'm out 

595
00:30:45,920 --> 00:30:48,280
of the house, and then I'll 
figure out what I want to do and

596
00:30:48,280 --> 00:30:50,640
I'll live how I want to, which 
is sort of like the book of 

597
00:30:50,640 --> 00:30:53,080
judges. 
I'll just do what's right in my 

598
00:30:53,080 --> 00:30:55,760
own eyes. 
Tell them why things are the way

599
00:30:55,760 --> 00:30:57,600
that they are. 
Help them understand and 

600
00:30:57,600 --> 00:31:01,200
certainly with faith, the kind 
of humility that comes with your

601
00:31:01,200 --> 00:31:04,040
desire to know truth will never 
happen in isolation. 

602
00:31:04,640 --> 00:31:08,520
One of the the saddest things 
for me, sorry if, if, if you're 

603
00:31:08,520 --> 00:31:10,200
watching today on the live 
stream, if you are, I'm glad you

604
00:31:10,200 --> 00:31:11,160
are. 
But one of the saddest things 

605
00:31:11,160 --> 00:31:13,480
for me is when there's somebody 
who's a believer, but they have 

606
00:31:13,480 --> 00:31:15,480
no fellowship with other 
believers whatsoever. 

607
00:31:17,080 --> 00:31:19,240
I mean, like none at all. 
I'm not saying you have to go to

608
00:31:19,240 --> 00:31:20,960
church to be a Christian. 
I'm just saying you kind of have

609
00:31:20,960 --> 00:31:26,560
to to be a good one. 
I know that's not popular 

610
00:31:26,560 --> 00:31:28,000
either, but we're made for 
fellowship. 

611
00:31:28,000 --> 00:31:30,320
And how do you impact people for
the gospel when you're a hermit?

612
00:31:30,800 --> 00:31:34,440
So it's very difficult, right? 
So we are meant to be out there 

613
00:31:34,440 --> 00:31:36,520
and to build relationships. 
Whether you're extroverted or 

614
00:31:36,520 --> 00:31:38,400
introverted, it looks 
differently, but it's the same 

615
00:31:38,400 --> 00:31:40,600
mission, OK, Different 
speciality. 

616
00:31:41,000 --> 00:31:43,680
So you have to find voices that 
are going to challenge you. 

617
00:31:43,680 --> 00:31:46,920
But when you're alone, you're 
not going to have those voices, 

618
00:31:46,960 --> 00:31:49,080
nor will you be a voice that 
helps challenge and grow 

619
00:31:49,080 --> 00:31:51,320
somebody else. 
And we've got to get over 

620
00:31:51,320 --> 00:31:55,000
ourselves. 
Again, busy season y'all. 

621
00:31:55,000 --> 00:31:57,040
We're about to have AVBS meeting
after church today. 

622
00:31:57,040 --> 00:31:58,320
You think I don't know about 
tired? 

623
00:31:58,320 --> 00:32:03,520
There's no tired like VBS tired.
But if you've ever seen a kid 

624
00:32:03,520 --> 00:32:07,520
give their life to the Lord, 
I'll just leave it there. 

625
00:32:08,160 --> 00:32:10,520
Here's another quote from the 
sin of certainty. 

626
00:32:11,040 --> 00:32:14,000
Certainty can be an idol when it
keeps us from trusting God. 

627
00:32:14,920 --> 00:32:16,760
See, if you know all the 
answers, you don't have to lean 

628
00:32:16,760 --> 00:32:18,400
on Him for anything. 
We talked about that a little 

629
00:32:18,400 --> 00:32:19,840
bit earlier. 
And the last thing I would do is

630
00:32:19,840 --> 00:32:22,520
this. 
I'd say return to Scripture to 

631
00:32:22,520 --> 00:32:24,720
be challenged. 
This time read through the 

632
00:32:24,720 --> 00:32:27,520
scripture to be challenged. 
Something we've been saying at 

633
00:32:27,520 --> 00:32:29,720
the Bible studies on Wednesday 
night is a lot of times we read 

634
00:32:29,720 --> 00:32:31,720
through the scripture and we try
to look through it like a 

635
00:32:31,720 --> 00:32:34,320
picture frame or like a window 
so we can view other people 

636
00:32:34,320 --> 00:32:36,440
through it. 
Like, Oh yeah, that's why that 

637
00:32:36,440 --> 00:32:39,960
person struggles with anger. 
No, no, no, it's better when you

638
00:32:39,960 --> 00:32:43,320
look at it like it's a mirror. 
Let it speak to you. 

639
00:32:43,320 --> 00:32:46,320
Let God grow your character so 
that you can become the man or 

640
00:32:46,320 --> 00:32:48,400
the woman that God desires from 
the jump. 

641
00:32:50,400 --> 00:32:52,720
Jesus himself points us into 
this direction in John chapter 

642
00:32:52,720 --> 00:32:54,720
5. 
Scriptures up there if you want 

643
00:32:54,720 --> 00:32:58,240
to write it down. 
He said this to people who knew 

644
00:32:58,240 --> 00:32:59,120
the scriptures. 
Well. 

645
00:33:00,440 --> 00:33:02,520
You search the scriptures 
because you think that they give

646
00:33:02,520 --> 00:33:06,440
you eternal life, but the 
scriptures point to me, yet you 

647
00:33:06,440 --> 00:33:08,400
refuse to come to me to receive 
this life. 

648
00:33:10,040 --> 00:33:13,280
I believe the Bible with all my 
heart, but if I memorize this 

649
00:33:13,280 --> 00:33:16,320
book and I don't have a 
relationship with the Lord, it 

650
00:33:16,320 --> 00:33:19,840
won't save me. 
This book matters. 

651
00:33:19,960 --> 00:33:22,760
Don't hear what I'm not saying, 
but it matters because I know 

652
00:33:22,760 --> 00:33:24,720
that the God it speaks of is 
real. 

653
00:33:25,040 --> 00:33:27,680
I know that He made sure that 
these scriptures were available 

654
00:33:27,960 --> 00:33:31,640
to help me grow. 
This is His voice, and I know 

655
00:33:31,640 --> 00:33:34,480
it's His voice because I know 
His voice. 

656
00:33:34,480 --> 00:33:38,520
Does that make sense? 
All right, the goal is not to 

657
00:33:38,520 --> 00:33:39,840
become uncertain about 
everything. 

658
00:33:39,840 --> 00:33:41,560
I don't want you to walk through
life saying, well, I guess I 

659
00:33:41,560 --> 00:33:43,720
don't know anything. 
No, you do know some things. 

660
00:33:44,080 --> 00:33:45,920
Just be open to God teaching you
more. 

661
00:33:46,560 --> 00:33:48,800
The goal is to become 
surrendered in our certainty. 

662
00:33:50,080 --> 00:33:52,120
We've got to learn to hold on to
what we believe with conviction 

663
00:33:52,120 --> 00:33:54,560
while remaining teachable enough
for God to grow us. 

664
00:33:54,920 --> 00:33:57,600
If Paul was not too good for 
this, what makes us think that 

665
00:33:57,600 --> 00:34:00,560
we can never grow or have new 
revelation? 

666
00:34:01,120 --> 00:34:03,280
I'm not willing to say that I'm 
better than Paul. 

667
00:34:03,880 --> 00:34:06,400
I can't speak for you, but 
hopefully we're on the same 

668
00:34:06,400 --> 00:34:08,560
page. 
It's not just about what 

669
00:34:08,560 --> 00:34:10,840
certainty reveals, but what did 
the resurrection do? 

670
00:34:10,840 --> 00:34:13,400
Well, the resurrected Jesus 
obviously stopped him on his 

671
00:34:13,400 --> 00:34:17,080
travel to Damascus, but the 
resurrection redeemed him, 

672
00:34:18,120 --> 00:34:20,800
redeemed him, And I'm not saying
just got him into heaven, which 

673
00:34:20,800 --> 00:34:22,679
is already great. 
So what is resurrection 

674
00:34:22,679 --> 00:34:24,639
redeemed? 
Now we're back in Chapter 9. 

675
00:34:26,480 --> 00:34:29,199
So after all of this happens, 
we're going to read through this

676
00:34:29,199 --> 00:34:33,199
in Chapter 9 of Acts. 
Verse 20 is where we'll start. 

677
00:34:34,120 --> 00:34:36,719
And I want you to know that he 
is so excited once God heals 

678
00:34:36,719 --> 00:34:38,920
him, not only does he now have 
fresh revelation. 

679
00:34:39,760 --> 00:34:41,600
And if you've ever been excited 
about something that the Lord 

680
00:34:41,600 --> 00:34:43,600
told you and you're so excited 
to tell somebody and then 

681
00:34:43,600 --> 00:34:47,679
they're like, oh, that's cool, 
It's OK, that happens. 

682
00:34:47,679 --> 00:34:49,520
But it was a fresh word to your 
spirit. 

683
00:34:49,800 --> 00:34:51,840
They're not going to be as 
jazzed about something that was 

684
00:34:51,840 --> 00:34:54,560
fresh for you, but still share 
it because it's helpful. 

685
00:34:54,840 --> 00:34:57,240
But don't be disheartened if 
they're not quite as excited. 

686
00:34:57,240 --> 00:34:59,280
That's what I'm saying. 
All right, so now that he can 

687
00:34:59,280 --> 00:35:02,960
see again, he's experienced a 
miracle and he's ready to go. 

688
00:35:03,320 --> 00:35:05,960
So it says, it says this in 
verse 20. 

689
00:35:05,960 --> 00:35:08,600
He immediately began preaching 
about Jesus in the synagogue 

690
00:35:08,600 --> 00:35:10,560
saying he is indeed the Son of 
God. 

691
00:35:12,760 --> 00:35:17,480
Now we're at this place where a 
lifetime for our incident, for a

692
00:35:17,480 --> 00:35:21,240
lifetime a follower of Islam or 
a lifetime follower of Wicca is 

693
00:35:21,240 --> 00:35:23,200
now up here. 
And they're like, hey, Jesus is 

694
00:35:23,200 --> 00:35:25,040
the Lord. 
I just need y'all to hear me. 

695
00:35:25,600 --> 00:35:27,600
And for a lot of us, we'd say 
you don't really have the 

696
00:35:27,600 --> 00:35:30,400
credibility to teach us. 
Although they had a one-on-one 

697
00:35:30,400 --> 00:35:33,880
encounter with the Lord, right? 
So listen, all who heard him 

698
00:35:33,880 --> 00:35:36,360
were amazed. 
Isn't this the same man who 

699
00:35:36,360 --> 00:35:39,480
caused such devastation among 
Jesus's followers in Jerusalem? 

700
00:35:39,960 --> 00:35:42,080
And didn't he come here to 
arrest them and take them in 

701
00:35:42,080 --> 00:35:46,200
chains to the leading priests? 
Saul's preaching became more and

702
00:35:46,200 --> 00:35:48,960
more powerful, and the Jews in 
Damascus couldn't refute his 

703
00:35:48,960 --> 00:35:51,080
proofs that Jesus was indeed the
Messiah. 

704
00:35:51,320 --> 00:35:53,880
And so after a while, some of 
the Jews plotted together to 

705
00:35:53,880 --> 00:35:55,960
kill him. 
That makes sense. 

706
00:35:57,720 --> 00:36:00,280
We think he's right, which makes
us wrong. 

707
00:36:00,960 --> 00:36:05,400
So he's got to go. 
They were watching for him day 

708
00:36:05,400 --> 00:36:07,720
and night at the city gate so 
that they could murder him. 

709
00:36:07,960 --> 00:36:10,920
But Saul was told about their 
plot, and so during the night, 

710
00:36:11,000 --> 00:36:13,360
some of the other believers 
lowered him in a large basket 

711
00:36:13,360 --> 00:36:14,880
through an opening in the city 
wall. 

712
00:36:15,640 --> 00:36:18,440
When Saul arrived in Jerusalem, 
he tried to meet up with the 

713
00:36:18,440 --> 00:36:20,400
believers, but they were all 
afraid of him. 

714
00:36:21,640 --> 00:36:25,400
Can you blame them? 
They did not believe he had 

715
00:36:25,400 --> 00:36:27,560
truly become a believer. 
Like he's a spy. 

716
00:36:29,080 --> 00:36:32,600
Then Barnabas brought him to the
apostles and told them how Saul 

717
00:36:32,600 --> 00:36:35,800
had seen the Lord on his way to 
Damascus and how the Lord had 

718
00:36:35,800 --> 00:36:38,200
spoken to Saul. 
He also told them that Saul had 

719
00:36:38,200 --> 00:36:40,640
preached boldly in the name of 
Jesus in Damascus. 

720
00:36:41,000 --> 00:36:43,320
Now, how important this is. 
We just talked about this two 

721
00:36:43,320 --> 00:36:47,840
weeks ago or, or last week. 
We talked about how Saul or Paul

722
00:36:47,840 --> 00:36:51,000
and Barnabas, they were partners
in ministry and they separated 

723
00:36:51,000 --> 00:36:53,200
over Mark. 
Paul wouldn't have even had the 

724
00:36:53,200 --> 00:36:55,400
ministry developed the way that 
it did if it wasn't for the 

725
00:36:55,400 --> 00:36:58,080
endorsement of Barnabas. 
Barnabas was the one that said, 

726
00:36:58,080 --> 00:37:00,880
guys, I'll vouch for him. 
I know why you don't trust him 

727
00:37:00,880 --> 00:37:02,120
and you have every reason not 
to. 

728
00:37:02,360 --> 00:37:04,200
But I've talked to him. 
The Lord's confirmed it in me 

729
00:37:04,200 --> 00:37:06,320
and you can trust him. 
I'd stake my name on it. 

730
00:37:06,480 --> 00:37:08,360
The other disciple said, well 
that's good enough for us. 

731
00:37:08,800 --> 00:37:10,680
And because of Barnabas, he 
opened the door here. 

732
00:37:10,680 --> 00:37:14,120
Now listen to this verse 28. 
So Saul stayed with the apostles

733
00:37:14,120 --> 00:37:16,920
and went all around Jerusalem 
with them, preaching boldly in 

734
00:37:16,920 --> 00:37:19,160
the name of the Lord. 
He debated with some Greek 

735
00:37:19,160 --> 00:37:21,760
speaking Jews, but they tried to
murder him. 

736
00:37:22,560 --> 00:37:26,360
Man, when the believers heard 
about this, they took him down 

737
00:37:26,360 --> 00:37:28,720
to Caesarea and sent him away to
Tarsus, his hometown. 

738
00:37:29,200 --> 00:37:32,400
In other words, they said this, 
your preaching is powerful, your

739
00:37:32,400 --> 00:37:35,760
belief is genuine, and you are 
causing more of a distraction 

740
00:37:35,760 --> 00:37:37,760
for the faith right now then 
you're helping it. 

741
00:37:38,400 --> 00:37:40,000
So they sent him to his 
hometown. 

742
00:37:40,000 --> 00:37:43,080
This was not a punishment. 
We're going to talk about what 

743
00:37:43,080 --> 00:37:45,200
happened here. 
They sent him back to his 

744
00:37:45,200 --> 00:37:46,960
hometown. 
They said you have a lot of 

745
00:37:46,960 --> 00:37:49,720
energy, a lot of zeal. 
The way you used to minister as 

746
00:37:49,720 --> 00:37:51,520
a Pharisee ain't going to fly 
here. 

747
00:37:52,160 --> 00:37:55,480
This is not working. 
So what we see in the story is 

748
00:37:55,480 --> 00:38:00,120
not a hesitant transition. 
Just as sure as Paul was before 

749
00:38:00,480 --> 00:38:02,520
he was blinded. 
He was just as certain, if not 

750
00:38:02,520 --> 00:38:05,920
more certain afterwards. 
And so that change was immediate

751
00:38:05,920 --> 00:38:07,360
and visible to anybody who knew 
him. 

752
00:38:08,800 --> 00:38:12,520
What resurrection does is it 
transforms us. 

753
00:38:12,520 --> 00:38:14,680
It didn't slow down Saul, it 
transformed him. 

754
00:38:14,680 --> 00:38:18,240
And so God doesn't look at 
Saul's intensity and decide that

755
00:38:18,240 --> 00:38:20,720
it's too dangerous to use. 
And This is why this matters for

756
00:38:20,720 --> 00:38:22,320
us. 
A lot of us believe once we get 

757
00:38:22,320 --> 00:38:25,320
saved or once we really start to
live for the Lord, God's going 

758
00:38:25,320 --> 00:38:28,560
to change everything about us. 
He's probably not going to. 

759
00:38:29,280 --> 00:38:30,720
He's going to refine your 
character. 

760
00:38:30,880 --> 00:38:33,000
He's going to overtime, show you
things to change. 

761
00:38:33,680 --> 00:38:35,560
But if you're extroverted, he's 
probably going to let you be 

762
00:38:35,560 --> 00:38:37,520
extroverted. 
If you're introverted, he's 

763
00:38:37,520 --> 00:38:39,120
probably going to let you be 
introverted. 

764
00:38:39,760 --> 00:38:44,400
If you're sarcastic, praise be. 
Guess what? 

765
00:38:44,520 --> 00:38:46,200
Now it's time to use your powers
for good. 

766
00:38:46,440 --> 00:38:54,560
OK, who you are doesn't change, 
but whose you are does. 

767
00:38:55,160 --> 00:38:58,400
And because of that you look at 
the lordship of Jesus and you 

768
00:38:58,400 --> 00:39:00,960
say I will change anything about
my life that you want to. 

769
00:39:00,960 --> 00:39:04,480
And if you ever noticed, most of
what he changes are character 

770
00:39:04,480 --> 00:39:07,920
things, not personality things. 
Don't get them mixed up. 

771
00:39:08,440 --> 00:39:10,400
You are still free to be who you
are. 

772
00:39:10,680 --> 00:39:14,200
This is what makes Christianity 
so applicable to like regardless

773
00:39:14,200 --> 00:39:16,240
of your culture. 
There are a lot of religions 

774
00:39:16,240 --> 00:39:18,480
that if you were to adopt them, 
you have to completely change 

775
00:39:18,480 --> 00:39:20,160
how you live, how you dress, and
all of this. 

776
00:39:20,360 --> 00:39:24,520
Christianity works seamlessly in
any human culture on the earth 

777
00:39:25,520 --> 00:39:27,640
because it's designed for those 
that were made in the image of 

778
00:39:27,640 --> 00:39:32,680
God. 
Now all of that being said, God 

779
00:39:32,680 --> 00:39:35,200
doesn't look at Saul's intensity
and change it and the same for 

780
00:39:35,200 --> 00:39:38,400
us, but He will redeem it. 
Whatever you did for yourself 

781
00:39:38,400 --> 00:39:40,560
before, now you're going to do 
for him. 

782
00:39:40,840 --> 00:39:44,920
The traits that once caused 
damage now 'cause the gospel to 

783
00:39:44,920 --> 00:39:46,800
be advanced. 
And the man who once moved from 

784
00:39:46,800 --> 00:39:49,720
house to house dragging people 
out in chains is now the guy 

785
00:39:49,720 --> 00:39:52,920
moving from city to city 
proclaiming that Jesus is Lord. 

786
00:39:54,120 --> 00:39:56,320
He couldn't have done that if 
God changed everything about 

787
00:39:56,320 --> 00:39:58,440
him. 
So God took what was already 

788
00:39:58,440 --> 00:40:01,040
within him, what He had done 
when he knit Saul together in 

789
00:40:01,040 --> 00:40:04,160
his mother's womb. 
And now redeemed it and gave it 

790
00:40:04,160 --> 00:40:07,160
a new life. 
I want you to know that whoever 

791
00:40:07,160 --> 00:40:10,080
you are, how God created you, it
will not be wasted in the 

792
00:40:10,080 --> 00:40:14,800
Kingdom of God. 
He'll just transform it. 

793
00:40:15,040 --> 00:40:18,240
Forgiveness in the Gospels huge,
should never be forgotten. 

794
00:40:18,240 --> 00:40:20,920
To be forgiven means that you're
ushered into a relationship with

795
00:40:20,920 --> 00:40:23,400
Him that ultimately will result 
in you being with him for 

796
00:40:23,400 --> 00:40:25,560
eternity. 
That forgiveness is incredible. 

797
00:40:26,000 --> 00:40:28,040
But all of your gifts, all of 
your skills, all of your 

798
00:40:28,040 --> 00:40:30,320
personality, that gets redeemed 
too. 

799
00:40:31,520 --> 00:40:33,760
And so that means that all the 
parts of Saul's life that once 

800
00:40:33,760 --> 00:40:37,360
made him dangerous to the 
Kingdom now make him dangerous 

801
00:40:37,720 --> 00:40:40,840
for the Kingdom. 
Y'all want to be dangerous for 

802
00:40:40,840 --> 00:40:43,040
the Kingdom? 
That's a cool thing to be. 

803
00:40:43,600 --> 00:40:45,720
God gets to reassign who you're 
becoming. 

804
00:40:47,520 --> 00:40:50,760
OK, let's take a break. 
Let's go back to the sunscreen. 

805
00:40:53,720 --> 00:40:55,680
Hey, you can't deny there's some
good advice in this. 

806
00:40:58,280 --> 00:41:01,600
Enjoy your body, use it every 
way you can. 

807
00:41:01,600 --> 00:41:03,880
Don't be afraid of it or what 
other people think of it. 

808
00:41:04,120 --> 00:41:06,200
It is the greatest instrument 
you'll ever own. 

809
00:41:07,680 --> 00:41:11,680
Dance. 
It's any Baptists here? 

810
00:41:12,400 --> 00:41:15,520
Just checking real quick. 
All right, dance, even if you 

811
00:41:15,520 --> 00:41:17,320
have nowhere to do it but in 
your own living room. 

812
00:41:18,680 --> 00:41:24,280
Read the directions, even if you
don't follow them. 

813
00:41:25,640 --> 00:41:28,600
Do not read beauty magazines. 
They will only make you feel 

814
00:41:28,600 --> 00:41:34,200
ugly. 
Get to know your parents, you 

815
00:41:34,200 --> 00:41:35,520
never know when they'll be gone 
for good. 

816
00:41:37,120 --> 00:41:40,000
Be nice to your siblings. 
They are the best link to your 

817
00:41:40,000 --> 00:41:42,800
past and the people most likely 
to stick with you in the future.

818
00:41:44,160 --> 00:41:47,520
Understand that friends come and
go, but for the precious few, 

819
00:41:47,520 --> 00:41:51,400
you should hold on. 
Work hard to bridge the gaps in 

820
00:41:51,400 --> 00:41:54,800
geography and lifestyle because 
the older you get, the more you 

821
00:41:54,800 --> 00:41:59,040
need people that you knew when 
you were young, he says. 

822
00:41:59,040 --> 00:42:01,840
Live in New York City once, but 
leave before it makes you hard. 

823
00:42:03,560 --> 00:42:06,080
Live in Northern California 
once, but leave before it makes 

824
00:42:06,080 --> 00:42:09,400
you soft. 
It says travel. 

825
00:42:09,760 --> 00:42:12,480
All right. 
There's something about the 

826
00:42:12,480 --> 00:42:15,560
story of a different musician 
that I think more people will 

827
00:42:15,560 --> 00:42:17,000
know than the director, Baz 
Luhrmann. 

828
00:42:17,360 --> 00:42:20,680
Johnny Cash. 
Was his music not so honest? 

829
00:42:20,760 --> 00:42:24,520
No matter what stage of life he 
was in, it was always so honest.

830
00:42:24,880 --> 00:42:26,960
And his voice is so familiar. 
It was deep. 

831
00:42:26,960 --> 00:42:28,960
It was filled with the kind of 
weight that let you knew. 

832
00:42:28,960 --> 00:42:30,400
Like, nobody wrote that song for
him. 

833
00:42:30,400 --> 00:42:32,360
And he tried to channel what it 
would have been like. 

834
00:42:32,520 --> 00:42:35,720
He's singing things that he went
through because his voice was so

835
00:42:35,720 --> 00:42:39,520
unique that he was elevated and 
made famous so quickly. 

836
00:42:39,520 --> 00:42:42,640
And so behind that voice was a 
life that for a long season was 

837
00:42:42,640 --> 00:42:44,760
unraveling. 
He had addictions, broken 

838
00:42:44,760 --> 00:42:47,600
relationships, and choices that 
cost him almost everything. 

839
00:42:48,360 --> 00:42:51,120
And then he found the Lord. 
And when he began to turn, the 

840
00:42:51,120 --> 00:42:53,560
things that made him who he was 
didn't disappear. 

841
00:42:53,560 --> 00:42:57,200
His voice was the same, His 
style of music was the same. 

842
00:42:57,200 --> 00:43:00,160
But if you notice the music that
he recorded early on versus the 

843
00:43:00,160 --> 00:43:03,360
ones that he did later on, 
they're totally different. 

844
00:43:04,880 --> 00:43:07,840
What changed was his direction. 
So his intensity, his skill set,

845
00:43:07,840 --> 00:43:11,160
his personality didn't go away. 
As his life was changed, his 

846
00:43:11,160 --> 00:43:13,160
music began to carry something 
different. 

847
00:43:13,160 --> 00:43:15,960
There was still honesty and 
still weight to it, but it was 

848
00:43:15,960 --> 00:43:19,440
the same voice that now had 
reflection and humility and 

849
00:43:19,440 --> 00:43:22,600
themes of redemption throughout 
Johnny Cash's music. 

850
00:43:22,600 --> 00:43:25,200
It wasn't a new voice, it was 
just a redeemed one. 

851
00:43:26,040 --> 00:43:27,920
My prayer is that as we go 
through this resurrection 

852
00:43:27,920 --> 00:43:29,640
season, we'll all have our voice
redeemed. 

853
00:43:31,320 --> 00:43:34,120
So as we apply this part of 
Paul's story to our life, one of

854
00:43:34,120 --> 00:43:36,520
the most important details is 
something that Scripture doesn't

855
00:43:36,520 --> 00:43:38,040
highlight. 
Obviously, even though it is 

856
00:43:38,040 --> 00:43:40,080
laid out in front of us, it's 
hard to pick up unless you're 

857
00:43:40,080 --> 00:43:42,120
looking for it. 
And it is this. 

858
00:43:42,760 --> 00:43:45,920
It happens over time. 
After his encounter with Jesus, 

859
00:43:45,920 --> 00:43:48,200
Paul did not immediately step 
into the full weight of his 

860
00:43:48,200 --> 00:43:50,640
calling. 
There was a hidden season in his

861
00:43:50,640 --> 00:43:53,800
life. 
In Galatians 1, Paul explains 

862
00:43:53,800 --> 00:43:56,800
that after his conversion, he 
went away into Arabia and then 

863
00:43:56,800 --> 00:43:59,440
returned to Damascus. 
So when you piece together the 

864
00:43:59,440 --> 00:44:02,600
timeline, it was probably nearly
three years that had passed 

865
00:44:02,600 --> 00:44:05,160
before he even went to Jerusalem
to meet the other apostles. 

866
00:44:06,360 --> 00:44:09,360
And later, when we see that Acts
shows us that after early 

867
00:44:09,360 --> 00:44:11,680
ministry in opposition, he was 
sent back to Tarsus. 

868
00:44:11,680 --> 00:44:14,480
He spent additional years there 
before Barnabas came back to 

869
00:44:14,480 --> 00:44:17,320
find him and bring him on these 
missionary journeys. 

870
00:44:17,800 --> 00:44:19,720
And I'm not saying that every 
time you get corrected, you have

871
00:44:19,720 --> 00:44:22,280
to basically disappear into 
obscurity, but you have to get 

872
00:44:22,280 --> 00:44:23,880
rid of the things that are 
distracting you. 

873
00:44:24,160 --> 00:44:27,680
He became so excited at his new 
revelation, he didn't even sit 

874
00:44:27,680 --> 00:44:30,520
there to be quiet enough to get 
all of the revelation. 

875
00:44:31,360 --> 00:44:34,400
And so we had to wait until the 
Lord was able to impart the rest

876
00:44:34,400 --> 00:44:36,840
of what he had to him. 
And because of that, he was a 

877
00:44:36,840 --> 00:44:40,080
powerhouse for the gospel unlike
anybody else. 

878
00:44:41,080 --> 00:44:43,280
But he went from certainty to 
silence. 

879
00:44:43,320 --> 00:44:46,120
And that makes us uncomfortable 
because when we're in the 

880
00:44:46,120 --> 00:44:48,080
silence, that's where we start 
to feel like we've been 

881
00:44:48,080 --> 00:44:51,040
cancelled. 
Well, I used to be so sure about

882
00:44:51,040 --> 00:44:52,160
this. 
Now I'm not going to do it 

883
00:44:52,160 --> 00:44:55,440
anymore. 
I'll still love God. 

884
00:44:55,480 --> 00:44:58,960
I'll still up at heaven, but my 
time is done. 

885
00:44:59,840 --> 00:45:04,880
Your time ain't done. 
Why the Lord leave you on the 

886
00:45:04,880 --> 00:45:10,560
earth if your time is done? 
When you read Paul's letters 

887
00:45:10,560 --> 00:45:13,120
later on, you start to see the 
evidence of that transformation.

888
00:45:13,400 --> 00:45:16,200
This is the same guy that once 
stood confidently approving of a

889
00:45:16,200 --> 00:45:19,320
murder in public, and now he 
writes things like calling 

890
00:45:19,320 --> 00:45:22,120
himself the least of the 
apostles, the worst of sinners. 

891
00:45:22,280 --> 00:45:25,440
His language changes, but his 
word play doesn't. 

892
00:45:26,720 --> 00:45:29,280
His certainty is also still 
there, but now it's been 

893
00:45:29,280 --> 00:45:33,440
softened by the grace of God. 
That's the kind of certainty 

894
00:45:33,440 --> 00:45:34,720
that all believers need to 
carry. 

895
00:45:34,880 --> 00:45:38,040
Know what you believe, but have 
it be softened by the grace of 

896
00:45:38,040 --> 00:45:39,720
God. 
And the question really then 

897
00:45:39,720 --> 00:45:42,040
becomes, how do you actually 
change when you've been stuck in

898
00:45:42,040 --> 00:45:45,720
your ways for so long? 
Well, the first one is to slow 

899
00:45:45,720 --> 00:45:51,160
down. 
Hear me, weary Christians, Slow 

900
00:45:51,160 --> 00:45:52,960
down. 
Slow down. 

901
00:45:53,000 --> 00:45:54,400
We're in the age of 
productivity. 

902
00:45:55,120 --> 00:45:58,280
I get it. 24 hour news cycles, 
push notifications. 

903
00:45:58,280 --> 00:46:01,280
You know what's really cool? 
In case I don't hear my watch, 

904
00:46:01,360 --> 00:46:04,000
my phone, my watch will tell me 
that's what I need. 

905
00:46:04,840 --> 00:46:07,520
Still to this day, I can be in a
conversation with somebody and 

906
00:46:07,880 --> 00:46:09,880
and I'll get it. 
I'll get a notification and I'll

907
00:46:09,880 --> 00:46:11,800
just look to see what it is and 
somebody's like, I'm so sorry. 

908
00:46:11,800 --> 00:46:14,840
Am I holding you up? 
No, I actually use my watch to 

909
00:46:14,840 --> 00:46:17,600
check the time the least out of 
anything I do with my watch 

910
00:46:17,600 --> 00:46:22,200
these days. 
Slow down, put your phone in the

911
00:46:22,200 --> 00:46:25,360
other room. 
Sit with your word, sit with the

912
00:46:25,360 --> 00:46:29,080
Spirit, sit with a believer, 
lock eyes with them, yes, 

913
00:46:29,080 --> 00:46:32,600
dreaded eye contact, and have a 
conversation. 

914
00:46:33,480 --> 00:46:35,360
Ask them questions about their 
life. 

915
00:46:35,680 --> 00:46:37,640
Ask them about the things that 
they love to do. 

916
00:46:37,640 --> 00:46:40,440
Ask them why, especially when 
you don't get it. 

917
00:46:41,640 --> 00:46:44,000
A lot of us say stuck because we
never slow down long enough to 

918
00:46:44,000 --> 00:46:45,560
examine what's really driving 
us. 

919
00:46:45,960 --> 00:46:48,440
And change will start when you 
createspace for God to interrupt

920
00:46:48,440 --> 00:46:51,360
what has already become 
automatic for you #2 rebuild 

921
00:46:51,360 --> 00:46:54,800
your identity. 
Paul had to do it, rebuild it, 

922
00:46:54,920 --> 00:46:57,520
maybe not from the ground up, 
but before you start doing 

923
00:46:57,520 --> 00:47:00,720
things again. 
Let God reshape and redefine who

924
00:47:00,720 --> 00:47:03,280
you are. 
A lot of people try to change 

925
00:47:03,280 --> 00:47:05,920
their behavior without allowing 
God to change their character, 

926
00:47:06,120 --> 00:47:08,520
and they fail. 
And so in Christianity, a lot of

927
00:47:08,520 --> 00:47:11,440
times, we'll say this, well, now
that I'm saved, I guess I won't 

928
00:47:11,440 --> 00:47:12,960
listen to the old music that I 
used to. 

929
00:47:12,960 --> 00:47:15,520
I guess I won't go to the bar. 
I guess I won't, you know, fill 

930
00:47:15,520 --> 00:47:17,640
in the blank, whatever it is 
you, you, you used to do or 

931
00:47:17,640 --> 00:47:19,240
still do that you think is 
destructive. 

932
00:47:19,600 --> 00:47:21,400
And we say, well, I'll just try 
to live better. 

933
00:47:21,560 --> 00:47:24,080
I'll try harder. 
Trying harder is not going to do

934
00:47:24,080 --> 00:47:30,440
a thing for you. 
Instead, allow God to change 

935
00:47:30,440 --> 00:47:32,080
your character. 
Who are you going to be now? 

936
00:47:32,520 --> 00:47:35,320
If you're not going to go to the
bar anymore, what's your why? 

937
00:47:36,000 --> 00:47:38,880
If you're not going to use the 
same language anymore, why? 

938
00:47:40,240 --> 00:47:42,560
And you better give me something
better than the VBS answer 

939
00:47:42,560 --> 00:47:45,960
because Jesus, God doesn't want 
me to. 

940
00:47:46,320 --> 00:47:47,760
That's a good enough reason, by 
the way. 

941
00:47:50,040 --> 00:47:52,840
But there's something different 
then I think that makes God mad.

942
00:47:54,400 --> 00:47:57,520
Or when you say I love the Lord 
and I think when I talk like 

943
00:47:57,520 --> 00:48:00,440
that, it doesn't please him, I 
love the Lord. 

944
00:48:00,440 --> 00:48:03,000
When I treat my spouse that way,
I don't feel like it honors him.

945
00:48:03,560 --> 00:48:06,000
I love the Lord and these kids 
are the greatest gift that I've 

946
00:48:06,000 --> 00:48:08,960
been given to Stewart and so I 
should honor them, right Mom? 

947
00:48:09,920 --> 00:48:17,240
Right. 
OK #3 stay close to those people

948
00:48:17,240 --> 00:48:19,920
who will reinforce your 
transformation and not just let 

949
00:48:19,920 --> 00:48:24,120
you go into old patterns. 
Paul didn't rebuild his life in 

950
00:48:24,120 --> 00:48:26,440
isolation. 
I've heard people say that, you 

951
00:48:26,440 --> 00:48:28,760
know, in order for him to preach
the gospel, he had a fall back 

952
00:48:28,760 --> 00:48:30,560
career. 
Well, he had a fall back career 

953
00:48:30,800 --> 00:48:35,840
because his career fell away. 
He was all in on being a 

954
00:48:35,840 --> 00:48:37,440
Pharisee. 
He was not planning on making 

955
00:48:37,440 --> 00:48:40,680
tents, but once he went back 
home, he probably picked up his 

956
00:48:40,680 --> 00:48:43,480
parents trade and learned how to
do something in the meantime. 

957
00:48:43,880 --> 00:48:46,400
But he was around people that 
loved him and he allowed people 

958
00:48:46,400 --> 00:48:48,840
like Barnabas and the other 
disciples to speak into his life

959
00:48:49,760 --> 00:48:53,400
and help grow him. 
I'm just telling you, you can't 

960
00:48:53,400 --> 00:48:55,480
do it successfully alone. 
You can't. 

961
00:48:56,400 --> 00:48:58,680
If there was a way to do it, I 
would have already found it. 

962
00:48:59,520 --> 00:49:03,680
But here we are. 
So start to wrap up this 

963
00:49:03,680 --> 00:49:04,840
morning. 
I'll just tell you this, what 

964
00:49:04,840 --> 00:49:07,640
makes Paul's story so powerful 
is not just what happened on the

965
00:49:07,640 --> 00:49:09,800
road to Damascus. 
I pray we all have an encounter 

966
00:49:09,800 --> 00:49:13,600
on our own road to Damascus, but
I want you to take a look at how

967
00:49:13,600 --> 00:49:16,480
Paul himself understood this 
moment years later. 

968
00:49:17,440 --> 00:49:20,040
Over time, Paul didn't just 
become a preacher or a 

969
00:49:20,040 --> 00:49:23,080
missionary or church planner. 
He became a man who could look 

970
00:49:23,080 --> 00:49:27,240
at his own life with clarity and
not be carried away with shame. 

971
00:49:27,600 --> 00:49:29,960
I'll let Paul tell you himself. 
He writes to his spiritual son 

972
00:49:29,960 --> 00:49:33,920
Timothy in First Timothy chapter
1, verses 12 through 16. 

973
00:49:33,920 --> 00:49:36,960
He says, I thank Christ Jesus 
our Lord, who has given me 

974
00:49:36,960 --> 00:49:40,040
strength to do his work. 
He considered me trustworthy and

975
00:49:40,040 --> 00:49:43,760
appointed me to serve Him, even 
though I used to blasphemy the 

976
00:49:43,760 --> 00:49:46,560
name of Christ. 
In my insolence. 

977
00:49:46,640 --> 00:49:53,640
I persecuted His people, but God
had mercy on me because I did it

978
00:49:53,640 --> 00:49:58,680
in ignorance and unbelief. 
Oh, how generous and gracious 

979
00:49:58,680 --> 00:50:01,840
our Lord was. 
He filled me with the faith and 

980
00:50:01,840 --> 00:50:03,640
love that came from Jesus 
himself. 

981
00:50:04,320 --> 00:50:07,520
And this is a trustworthy saying
and everyone should accept it. 

982
00:50:08,040 --> 00:50:10,600
Christ Jesus came into the world
to save sinners. 

983
00:50:11,440 --> 00:50:13,560
That's the same. 
Christ Jesus came into the world

984
00:50:13,560 --> 00:50:15,920
to save sinners. 
And you can't think of a single 

985
00:50:15,920 --> 00:50:17,400
person doesn't fit that 
category. 

986
00:50:19,240 --> 00:50:23,120
He says, And I am the worst of 
them all, but God had mercy on 

987
00:50:23,120 --> 00:50:25,600
me. 
There it is again, so that 

988
00:50:25,600 --> 00:50:28,680
Christ Jesus could use me as a 
prime example of His great 

989
00:50:28,680 --> 00:50:30,960
patience with even the worst 
sinners. 

990
00:50:31,840 --> 00:50:34,360
Then others will realize that 
they too can believe in him and 

991
00:50:34,360 --> 00:50:37,560
receive eternal life. 
If Paul was preaching the gospel

992
00:50:37,560 --> 00:50:40,520
to people and he never talked 
about the ugliness of his past, 

993
00:50:40,720 --> 00:50:43,200
then the people dealing with 
their current ugliness wouldn't 

994
00:50:43,200 --> 00:50:45,360
think that they had a chance to 
be saved because their life 

995
00:50:45,360 --> 00:50:47,760
looks so different than his. 
And he was willing to put it on 

996
00:50:47,760 --> 00:50:50,640
display. 
He doesn't minimize what he did.

997
00:50:50,760 --> 00:50:53,480
He names it clearly, and he says
something that's so powerful. 

998
00:50:53,480 --> 00:50:56,960
Twice. 
God had mercy on me. 

999
00:50:58,360 --> 00:51:01,760
God had mercy on me. 
Look what grace did. 

1000
00:51:02,880 --> 00:51:04,480
He understands both sides of the
story. 

1001
00:51:04,480 --> 00:51:06,800
He knows what it's like to be 
completely certain and 

1002
00:51:06,800 --> 00:51:09,560
completely wrong, and he knows 
what it's like to be confronted 

1003
00:51:09,560 --> 00:51:12,800
by Jesus and challenged and 
changed by his own grace. 

1004
00:51:14,200 --> 00:51:16,280
And so some believers today have
been living with a kind of 

1005
00:51:16,280 --> 00:51:18,960
certainty that has changed the 
way they see people and the way 

1006
00:51:18,960 --> 00:51:21,400
that they respond to situations 
and the way that they carry out 

1007
00:51:21,400 --> 00:51:23,520
their faith. 
Others of us have been carrying 

1008
00:51:23,520 --> 00:51:25,640
the weight of decisions we made 
when we were convinced we were 

1009
00:51:25,640 --> 00:51:28,760
right, only to realize later how
much we missed. 

1010
00:51:31,360 --> 00:51:34,560
Paul's story would tell you that
neither of those places is 

1011
00:51:34,560 --> 00:51:38,600
beyond the reach of God. 
The same Jesus who stopped Saul 

1012
00:51:38,600 --> 00:51:42,120
on the road is still able to 
interrupt us and confront us and

1013
00:51:42,120 --> 00:51:44,080
redirect us and, yeah, change 
us. 

1014
00:51:45,520 --> 00:51:48,000
My hope is if you take some of 
our invite cards for 

1015
00:51:48,000 --> 00:51:52,800
Resurrection Sunday, in two 
weeks we'll have two services on

1016
00:51:52,800 --> 00:51:57,120
8:30 and 10:30 that morning. 
Here's my personal request. 

1017
00:51:57,120 --> 00:51:58,160
Yeah, I want you to hand them 
out. 

1018
00:51:59,640 --> 00:52:02,280
But if you hand it out to 
somebody, you know, be a part of

1019
00:52:02,280 --> 00:52:06,200
the mission, they'll be like, 
handed them that card. 

1020
00:52:06,600 --> 00:52:09,360
Praise to you, Father. 
I handed that piece of cardboard

1021
00:52:09,400 --> 00:52:11,840
efficiently. 
Follow up with them, if you know

1022
00:52:11,840 --> 00:52:16,680
them after Resurrection Sunday, 
after they've come here and 

1023
00:52:16,680 --> 00:52:19,640
heard the gospel offered to 
their lives, help them lock it 

1024
00:52:19,640 --> 00:52:21,240
out. 
Help them see how it fits within

1025
00:52:21,240 --> 00:52:24,360
their life. 
You may say that's a lot of 

1026
00:52:24,360 --> 00:52:25,720
extra work. 
Yeah, it is. 

1027
00:52:26,040 --> 00:52:27,640
We talked about this not long 
ago though. 

1028
00:52:28,600 --> 00:52:33,960
The harvest is plentiful, but 
the workers, the workers are 

1029
00:52:33,960 --> 00:52:39,240
few. 
As we continue this next week, 

1030
00:52:40,280 --> 00:52:42,560
Jared's going to have a message 
for y'all on Palm Sunday, and 

1031
00:52:42,560 --> 00:52:43,960
I'm excited to hear Jared share 
this. 

1032
00:52:43,960 --> 00:52:45,600
He was telling me what he's 
going to be preaching, and I'm 

1033
00:52:45,600 --> 00:52:50,400
pretty excited about it, but I 
would feel irresponsible if I 

1034
00:52:50,400 --> 00:52:53,240
ended this morning without the 
end of Everybody's Free to Wear 

1035
00:52:53,240 --> 00:52:58,800
sunscreen. 
Accept certain inalienable 

1036
00:52:58,800 --> 00:53:02,680
truths. 
Prices will rise, politicians 

1037
00:53:02,680 --> 00:53:06,040
will philander, and you, too 
will get old. 

1038
00:53:07,360 --> 00:53:10,080
And when you do, you'll 
fantasize that when you were 

1039
00:53:10,080 --> 00:53:13,720
young, prices were reasonable, 
politicians were noble, and 

1040
00:53:13,720 --> 00:53:18,840
children respected their elders.
Respect your elders. 

1041
00:53:20,160 --> 00:53:21,920
Don't expect anyone else to 
support you. 

1042
00:53:22,920 --> 00:53:26,120
Maybe you have a trust fund. 
Maybe you have a wealthy spouse,

1043
00:53:26,560 --> 00:53:28,440
but you never know when either 
one might run out. 

1044
00:53:30,080 --> 00:53:32,480
Don't mess too much with your 
hair or by the time you're 40, 

1045
00:53:32,480 --> 00:53:36,840
it will look 85. 
Sorry, Mark, I didn't. 

1046
00:53:38,080 --> 00:53:43,200
I wasn't targeting you. 
Be careful. 

1047
00:53:44,000 --> 00:53:47,960
Be careful whose advice you buy,
but be patient with those who 

1048
00:53:47,960 --> 00:53:51,280
supply it. 
Advice is a form of nostalgia, 

1049
00:53:51,680 --> 00:53:54,600
and dispensing it is a way of 
fishing the past from the 

1050
00:53:54,600 --> 00:53:58,360
disposal, wiping it off, 
painting over the ugly parts, 

1051
00:53:58,760 --> 00:54:01,040
and recycling it for more than 
it's worth. 

1052
00:54:03,040 --> 00:54:08,680
But trust me, on the sunscreen, 
there's a lot of good advice out

1053
00:54:08,680 --> 00:54:12,480
there. 
What can you be certain is true?

1054
00:54:14,080 --> 00:54:17,120
What do you know is true? 
And if you believe in your heart

1055
00:54:17,120 --> 00:54:20,960
that what you know about Jesus 
is true, that's what you share 

1056
00:54:20,960 --> 00:54:24,440
with 100% certainty. 
The side issues will shake 

1057
00:54:24,440 --> 00:54:27,240
themselves out. 
Your job is to get them to be 

1058
00:54:27,240 --> 00:54:29,480
the Lord. 
You don't have to be to to the 

1059
00:54:29,480 --> 00:54:30,440
Lord. 
You don't have to be the 

1060
00:54:30,440 --> 00:54:32,520
mouthpiece of the Lord for the 
rest of it. 

1061
00:54:32,840 --> 00:54:35,400
Get them into a relationship 
with the Lord and let the Holy 

1062
00:54:35,400 --> 00:54:36,480
Spirit do his work. 
Amen.