Acts 27-28: How to Navigate Life's Challenges

[Music] [Music] thank you very much and welcome to sandals Church my name is Matt Brown and I'm the lead pastor here at sails Church it's good to be back today we're gonna talk about how to navigate life's challenges how many of you guys would say life is challenging where your hands cave hands on up you're dead okay listen life is challenging school is challenging college is challenging dating is challenging not dating is challenging marriage amen challenging right raising kids challenging there's reason to year-olds are cute you'd kill them if they weren't it's challenging it's challenging life is challenging every single one of us is going to be able to adapt and overcome challenges or we're all going to be on xanax that's the reality so we got to deal with this and and one of the things that's happening in modern culture is people are overwhelmed by the challenges of life and many of us feel like that means God doesn't love me I'm having challenges in my marriage God's forgotten me I'm having financial challenges God's abandoned me my kids are crazy God's abandoned me and so we feel this way and we fail to realize there are purposes in God allowing us to experience challenges so no matter what you're going through no matter what you're facing know this God loves you he has a wonderful plan for your life and these challenges are going to help you become who God has called you to be so let's begin with the word of Prayer and let's just ask God to speak to us today and so tend to teach us how to navigate these challenges let's pray Heavenly Father god I pray for all those who are present god I just pray that you would deal with our attitudes as we face these challenges and help us navigate them in a way that helps us to make sense and to give glory to you so blesses father for all of us who are facing challenges we pray this in Jesus name Amen now today I'm excited we are going to wrap up 252 let's give ourselves a hand yay for the last year we've studied two books of the Bible Luke and acts and today is the culmination of our study if you were with us throughout the year you studied the entire life of Jesus Christ his death his burial his resurrection you studied the birth of the church the influential leadership of Peter the transition to Paul and now the gospel has made its way just like in acts 1 from Jerusalem to Judea to the ends of the earth Rome is the ends of the earth according to Jews at that time and the gospel makes its way safely to Rome and Paul preaches the gospel before a crazy Roman Emperor named Nero but today's chapters 27 and 28 the last two chapters are Paul's cruise from Jerusalem to Rome and I just want you to know it's not a Carnival cruise ok he's not on a Princess cruise this isn't a vacation it's a difficult journey and God has some things to teach Paul even in this journey and for those of you are joining us Paul has been beaten he's been left for dead he has been ridiculed he's been called out every town he goes preaching the gospel somebody hates him somebody wants him dead finally he's in the safe protection of the Roman army who's going to get him safely to Rome but he's on this journey and everything that can go wrong does go wrong so in order to navigate life's challenges number 1 write this down you've got to learn to thank God for the little things how many of you guys notice everything that goes wrong anybody noticed that everything that goes wrong we count red lights not green lights amen anybody on the way to church this morning nobody all four corners nobody's there God it's a red light maybe you don't want me go to church today maybe this is God's meeting I'm not supposed to go to church today I am too holy I don't need to be any more holy this is God's will of saying don't go to church we count red lights not green lights we pay attention to the negative things and not the positive things when you're on this journey called life and you go through challenges you got to stop step back and thank God for the little things just the little things instead of counting every person who ignores you at Tyler mall when you're shopping for Christmas and the spirit of Jesus is dead right everywhere notice the people who do say thank you notice the people who do smile at you who are helpful I mean all of us talk about when we go through the drive-thru and they get our order wrong when's the last time you pulled around and went back inside and said thank you for getting it right have you ever done that though right because all of us feel like we're cursed because they never get our order right in the drive-through like like they're MIT students making millions of dollars you know getting our order right look they're working hard anybody worked drive-through it is stressful it's very very stressful you don't enunciate your vowels they can't hear you their speakers people are yelling and it's a mess thank God for the little things acts 20:7 one when the time came we set sail for Italy this is not a cruise liner Paul and several other prisoners were placed in the custody of Roman officers named Julius the captain of the Imperial regiment okay this is Conair remember that movie Paul is on a ship with a bunch of criminals who all deserve to die he is innocent but this is not a pleasure cruise he's going to be below the deck with prisoners who are going to Rome to die a couple years ago Tammy and I were in an airport and we were getting ready to fly a quick flight from one island to another we were visiting family of mine in Hawaii and we were we walked into the airport and everyone in the lounge is wearing orange jumpsuits you know I'm talking about orange jumpsuits they're prisoners okay because in Hawaii they got to fly you from one island to the other in order to transport you to your court hearings and your trial hearings and here's what I thought oh man I feel so bad whoever has to get on the plane with those criminals man I mean here's some hardcore Samoan dudes man they're all tatted up massive guys I mean literally they all look like they play for that you know like the Dallas Cowboys or something there's massive massive dudes and the handcuffs look like tiny aluminum foil on their wrists right and I'm like oh my gosh I feel so bad whoever has to get on the flight with them and then they call our flight and they all got on our plane and I'm like we're gonna die this is Conair we're going down this is gonna be terrible I have never been so stressed in my life I'm like please God let all the police officers have guns let them work shoot them all dead right now because we're all gonna die it's freaking out so Paul is on Conair okay he's on this ship for months at a time in order to travel to Rome to stand trial look what he says the next day we docked in Sidon and Julius remember the captain of the Imperial regiment underlined this was very kind to Paul horrible conditions he's basically in prison and Paul makes this note in Scripture forever the prisoner guard was nice right the prisoner guard was nice pay attention to the little things be thankful for the little upgrades God throws your way because we all take note of the things that go wrong right when we get a flat tire we have that anybody had that day right get a flat tire something goes wrong something doesn't work I mean that's just that's just the way life happens sometimes thank God for the little things a couple of weeks ago Tammy and I would get ready to board a flight from Denver to Kentucky and I was a little worried we weren't gonna make our flight and the window time was you know a little tense a little tight we got off the plane I'm like I'm not sure we're gonna make it we're gonna have to hustle we're gonna have to get there and as we walk off the plane from Ontario Airport to Denver Airport there's two people in black suits like you ever seen men in black like look intimidating guys all black suits sunglasses intimidating in there they have an iPad and it says Matthew Brown and Tamara Brown and I'm like what'd you do babe we're going to jail what did you do did you lie to a TSA agent are you smuggling heroin what is going on like I think we're going to prison right cuz right we're all either a glass half-full person or we're half empty half empty people where are you that's me we're all dying we're sinking this is over is it is finished and so they say no no we're here for you we wanted to escort you to your next flight like are you kidding me no they put us in a black Mercedes Benz and they drive us on the tarmac I felt like Donald Trump like we're driving you know I'm like oh my gosh this is how the other half lives it was so cool and they took us to our flight it was like oh my gosh that was a little upgrade thank God for the upgrades so the next time you're in drive through and you say no onions and their nose onions on your burgers sake jesus loves me jesus loves me this I know because there weren't onions on my hamburger right that's why he loves me this is a little tangible piece of evidence that shows me God loves me thank God for the little things pay attention to the little things because we're all overwhelmed with things that go wrong and that's one of the things that overwhelms us in life in order navigate life's challenges you just have to understand look not everything is gonna go right so thank God for little things next I love this point this is probably my favorite point ever in the history of sandals church you have to deal with your inner princess you know what I'm talking about you know who you are okay your little Disney princess and guys I'm talking to you you have an inner pink dress and your little high heels and you run around and when things don't go right your little impress princess is mad she is very very mad now this point is very personal to me because I have a nickname I've traveled with our church to Vietnam to Africa and most recently to India and I have a nickname this is what they call me when we're in other countries the nickname is princess that's what they call me because I used to believe that I was called to serve God as a missionary and now I realize I'm called to serve him at the Hilton amen that's where I am I am super holy when I met the Hilton when we're out you know I'm not a big risk-taker like if we go to a Rams football game I'm not gonna eat on the little portable cart where they're selling hotdogs I'm not gonna eat that cuz I'm pretty sure they didn't pass health code I'm not eating that and I'm not gonna get sick but you enjoy the hotdogs that's on you that's me I'm just like no no that's too risky for me I'm not gonna eat there and everyone's like lighten up princess it's okay I'm your spiritual leader you listen to me but we all have an inner princess and here's what the inner princess says does not everyone understand Who I am we all have these moments for example this week I was driving to work and I got cut off by some knucklehead driving to work don't you know that I'm a pastor of Santa's church that I'm preparing the way for the salvation of the souls of those who live in the Inland Empire person cut me off my inner princess is like sow foul I kid you not this is the honest-to-god truth as they cut me off they had two stickers on the back of their car one said sandals Church [Applause] the other one said men's advance that's what it said - stickers on the back of their car my inner princess wanted to chase them down and write him a princess ticket you just cut me off right you got to deal with it this is why we have marriage problems ladies this is why you hate your husband he doesn't treat you like a pretty don't be treating like a princess we'll go watch a Disney movie okay is this insane you know why we have such marriage problems because when we get married what do we act like let's pretend we both have kingdoms you'll be the princess and you will come in on horse and carriage I will come in riding on a horse with my gallant sword My Kingdom and your kingdom we will come together and pretend that we actually have money and then six months later when we were paying off our debt because this was all the fabrication we will all wonder why we're stressed listen life is not a fairy tale that's not the way that it is men are men women are women and oftentimes we get frustrated because the our spouse or our friends or our work you know we all act like this don't you understand Who I am that's your inner princess Luke 9:23 one of the most important verses we've studied this year says this if any man or woman would come after me let them deny themselves pick up their cross and follow me listen to me princesses don't carry crosses she doesn't want to carry the cross but you have to make her and here's why God allows you to experience challenges so that your inner princess will be exposed see Jesus Christ has called you to be a servant not a princess and every single one of us have to deal with this so look at this the Apostle Paul sailing starts out kind of nice everybody's nice to him verse seven we had several days of slow sailing after great difficulty we neared Snider's but the wind was against us do you hear all these negative things that Paul's experiencing slow sailing great difficulty the wind was against us so we sailed across to Crete and along the sheltered coast of an island the Cape of Salome we struggled do you see these words we struggled along the coast with great difficulty that word again and finally realized at fair havens near the town of Lucia we had lost lots of time I mean this is what your kids do right when they're in the car when we gonna get there when we gonna get there what are we gonna get there it's like we haven't pulled out of the driveway yet okay or you're like me you lose your mind you're you know what when I was in the car as a kid we suffered we didn't have an entertainment system deal with it right that's how we are we're not God why is this taking so long God why am i why am i single this long God why didn't I get that promotion God why didn't I get that Ray's God why didn't I get that house God why didn't this happen and all of us get frustrated why because time allows our inner princess to come forward and Jesus says oh there she is that's who I want to deal with that's who needs to change so you need to deal with your inner princess next here's the best way to navigate challenges marriage challenges financial challenges personal challenges is listen to wise counsel here's the thing that I've discovered as Americans we spend more time thinking about our choice at in-n-out burger is it a one czar - or is it a three we spend more time calculating the decision at in and out burger than we do when we buy a house or we do when we decide to register for college or we do when we apply for a job or we quit a job I mean think about some of you have spent more time and in and out burger thinking about whether you should get a double-double or or a double single than you did when you decided to quit you just had an emotional outburst I quit who needs this job you did you needed it and you quit it and then you wonder why God is doing what he's doing you blew it you lost your mind you lost your temper you gotta listen to wise counsel listen the bigger the decision the more input you need to receive the bigger the decision the more input don't ever buy a house just with your thoughts ask people's opinions who bought houses don't ever buy car simply with the input from the salesman right don't ever apply for a visa with the input you know from the person at the mall trying to give you credit ask people's advice who have no gain in the situation who have wisdom maybe try this if you're struggling in your marriage talk to a couple who's been married like longer than a week because a lot of times you know who we ask for advice the fellow idiots we hang around with so if you're a young couple and you've been married you know like a year or two most of your friends are young couples they don't know the answers either they're just as ignorant as you are find somebody who's been through it find somebody who's raised a toddler who's been to elementary school who's raised a junior high kid who's dealt with the high school you know attitudes and all of those things find out somebody who's been through an economic crisis find out somebody and say hey what do you think verse 9 the weather was becoming dangerous for sea travel because it was late in the fall listen in the ancient world you don't travel in the winter you don't do it the sea was the scariest thing in the ancient world a lot of people get confused when you read revelation John says this on the new heaven and the new earth he says there is no sea people like oh my gosh God hates flipper no that's not what it means here's what that was way funnier than that it's too late thought about that joke all week okay listen it's not it's not that there's not an ocean here's what John is saying there's nothing to be afraid of any new earth it's safe in the ancient world you know what you lost on the sea your family your friends your possessions your wealth you lost everything people died all the time on the ocean you never travel ever ever ever traveled in the winter weather was becoming dangerous for sea travel because it was late in the fall and Paul spoke to the ship's officers about it he said men I believe there is trouble ahead if we go on shipwreck loss of cargo and danger to our lives as well listen if you ever have somebody who says to you hey Fred I love you I'm concerned about the direction of your life I fear for you that there is shipwreck loss of cargo and death for your family if you continue along this road you see every single one of us is on a path we are on a path that leads to good things or we are on a road that leads to destruction and we need people in our lives who will speak truth to us everybody needs a Paul in their life verse 11 but the officer in charge of the prisoners listened more to the ship's captain and to the owner of the ship than to Paul how sad is it and why is that when we are blessed with an Apostle Paul in our life that we choose to listen to the idiots and a lot of us don't know how do you tell the idiot from the wise person here's what I've learned idiots always give advice right when you're right when you're around the Christmas table next weekend with your family who's that who's the family member that's going to be given relational advice the one that's on their eighth marriage you know what I've always thought right who's the one gonna be in it giving it you know health advice the one having the third helping of Pi you know and as on their third jar of Jack Daniels or whatever right yeah well I've just you know Fitness is is what I you know come on dude right you're Hamilton uncle Jack just shut up is it amazing fools dispense advice constantly you know what I've noticed it's the quiet person that's wise and here's the thing that I've learned you have to ask wise people for wisdom wise people don't just dispense it you have to ask what do you think so Paul speaks wisdom and everybody else is chiming in and so the captain goes with everybody else he goes with what everybody else says why fair havens was an exposed Harbor a poor place to spend the winter most of the crew wanted to go on to Phoenix farther up the coast to spend the winter there Phoenix was a good Harbor with only South and Northwest exposure verse 13 when a light wind began blowing from the south the sailors thought they could make it so they pulled up and and sailed close to the shore of Crete but then the weather changed abruptly and a wind of typhoon strength called a northeaster burst across the island and blew us out to sea now some of you that this verse means nothing I've been on the ocean during storms I've been on the ocean during a storm only literally a couple hundred yards from Catalina Island and I thought we were gonna die I'm not kidding you when the ocean starts raging and it starts moving it is terrifying absolutely terrifying I mean one of the ways to figure out you are not that powerful is to get in the ocean when it moves one of my good friends who went to our church grandpa Jack served in World War two I asked him I said what was the scariest part of World War two you know what he said it wasn't Japanese it was the weather that's we told me he said without a doubt the scariest thing in World War two was the weather he told me for days on ends ships would literally just be tossed - and for every man for himself every ship for himself and literally the only thing the ships could do to try to help each other was get as far apart from each other as they could you know why because you know what storms do throw you together and that's the worst thing that could happen he told me it was the most terrifying experience of World War two was weather on the ocean and that's what happens and if you have a Study Bible I want to encourage you to to find a map and look on your Bibles and look at how far the Apostle Paul is blown in this storm he's basically blown from Greece all the way to Italy just below Sicily thousands of miles for weeks on end the Bible says with no Sun no moon no stars and say well that's not a big deal well what that means is they didn't know where they were for weeks on end they had no idea where they were they lost all hope they all thought they were gonna die why because they didn't listen to Paul's advice listen to me some of you guys are going be confronted with some decisions and you're gonna get pastoral counseling a minister is gonna come alongside you a more mature Christian our church is gonna say hey there's danger ahead and if you don't listen you may very well wreck your family financially emotionally it may result in the end of your family unit as a married household pay very close attention to wise counsel listen when somebody speaks into your life next if you find yourself in a storm that's raging you got to do this toss what won't help you survive every single one of us hold on to things that don't matter we all have stuff in our life that doesn't matter let me tell you something when your family's on the line when your health is on the line when your life is on the line houses don't matter cars don't matter your great-grandma whatever family heirloom that's been handed down for six generations none of that stuff matters let go of things it's so sad to me as I watch married couples young couples even older couples hold onto stuff and lose relationships nothing is as important in my house as my wife and my kids my house is important pictures are important wedding rings aren't important none of that none of that stuff matters none of that stuff is important what matters is my family staying together what matters is my relationship with God everything else can go everything else can go and some of you hold on to things and sync your families and some of you you're mad at God god I don't understand I understand why are you taking this house away from me maybe you need to lose it I don't understand God why I can't make this car payment maybe you need to let it go god I don't understand this job is killing me maybe it's time for a new career you see sometimes one of the things we do in life when we face storms is we hang on to the very thing that will sink us it's just a house it's just a car it's just money and what you see in this instance when they realize their lives are at stake you know what they do they throw all the stuff away we're not as smart as these sailors it says the next day gale force winds continued to batter the ship the crew began throwing cargo overboard the following day they even took some of the ship's gear and threw it overboard the terrible storage rained raged for many days blotting out the Sun and the stars underlying this verse until at last all hope was gone man there are some storms in life they're gonna bring you to what you believe is your very end do you know who's on this ship Luke who wrote the book of Luke in the book of Acts and Paul writer of half the New Testament they lost all hope that's how bad this storm was even as Christians even as an apostle we can go think through things in life which make us lose hope that's how bad storms can be next you got to learn from your mistakes how many guys seen the movie Groundhog Day anybody seen that movie okay if you haven't seen that movie you gotta watch it and here's what the movie is it's the same day over and over and over again how many of you guys made a mistake raise your hands Cape hands on up your liar we've all made mistakes anybody in here made the same mistake more than once that's like the worst the only thing worse than making a mistake is making it again some of you guys have made the same mistake over and over and over again so if you're on your eleventh marriage let's talk let's get together let's have a conversation what is the common denominator in your 11 marriages if you have been broke since the 80s let's talk let's get together let's talk don't make the same mistake over and over go here's madness some of you guys keep doing the same things over and over and you expect different results what are you doing change your life make it change I love the Apostle Paul here cuz he's so real we all want to be like Paul here I mean this this he's not being christ-like here but he's a human verse 21 finally Paul called the crew together he's just guys guys he says I told you so don't we all want to say that I mean you can't say that but you want to say that I told you not to marry him I told you I told you I was at the wedding shaking my head I was like I told you finally Paul called the crew together he said men you should have listened to me even that great should have she listened to me in the first place and not left Crete you would have avoided all this damage and loss so don't make the same mistake over and over again what's he saying the next time there's a debate about what we should do what should they do listen to Paul he's a wise dude we should listen next point don't lose your faith in the storm last week I was working out le fitness and I ran into a young mom in our church and this past year she buried her two-year-old daughter who died of cancer and I said how are you doing you know what she told me she said I'm doing better than ever she said my faith is stronger she said I'm a better mom to my kids who are alive I'm a better wife to my husband and I'm a better friend she said losing my daughter was the hardest thing I've ever gone through in my life but it has cemented my faith she said I have new focus and I have new direction interesting you see storms can produce two things one it can cement your faith in God or two it can kill your faith in God don't lose your faith because your faith is your internal anchor that will steady you in no matter what storm you face the song that we sing from time to time at Santos Church it's one of the most popular songs ever written for Christians it is well with my soul is written by an individual who lost his son and all of his daughters as a father and you know what he said in words to his wife it is well with my soul even listen to the words when sorrow like sea billows roll what is he saying we are getting hit by wave after wave after wave for those of you who know his story he lost almost everything in the Great Chicago Fire and he sent his family to Europe for a vacation and his wife sent back note the ship has sunk and all is lost and he wrote one of the greatest Christian songs that has ever been written why because he lost everything but not his faith don't lose your faith in God underline verse 22 paul says take courage listen to me some of you are going through financial crisis a marriage crisis or relational crisis I don't know what's going some of you have been told you have weeks and months to live courage is something that must be taken it is never given courage is an act of faith Paul says take courage none of you will lose your lives even the ship will go down he says for last night an angel of God to whom I belong and whom I serve stood beside me we've been in the dark for weeks those of you who read through acts 27 this week will know they didn't eat food for weeks do you know why they were all sick the boat's being tossed in turn the last thing you want to do when you're seasick is eat nobody ate any food everybody thought they were gonna die Paul says take courage because last night an angel of God to whom I serve to whom I belong remember there's no light there's no Sun there's no moon there's no stars there's no hope but he says the god to whom I serve stood beside me and he said don't be afraid why would the Angels say that to Paul because Paul was afraid Paul was terrified and so too you and I can be scared to death when we face challenges don't be afraid for you will surely stand trial before Caesar what's more God in His goodness has granted safety to everyone who is sailing with you so take courage and that powerful take it listen what Paul says for I believe God and it will be just as he said here is the promise of God he has promised that your soul will arrive safely in heaven your soul Jesus says is the most important thing you have your body will die but your soul will live forever and Jesus has promised that even if heaven and earth has passed away he will be with you and your soul will make it safely to heaven he has not promised this he has not promised a smooth flight he has not promised no waves he has not promised no wind and he has not promised no struggle he has promised you will arrive safely in heaven that is the promise and the reason we lose hope the reason we lose our face our faith is because we confuse God's promise with safe arrival with heaven with a safe life with a blessed life with no loss of life no loss of friends no loss of marriage no loss of finances and it's because we confuse the blessing that we lose our faith take courage God will protect your soul to the very end even if you lose your life he'll protect you sometimes we find ourselves in situations where we have to make the best decision you can look man they're gonna be think they're gonna be things that happen in life where you don't know what to do you got to make the best decision you can the soldiers wanted to kill the prisoners to make sure they didn't swim ashore and escape but the commanding officer wanted to spare Paul so he didn't let them carry out their plan so here we are again the commanding officer has to make a decision what does he do and then he ordered all who could swim to jump overboard first and to make for land remember they're in a huge storm the others who couldn't swim held on the planks or debris from the broken ship and so everyone escaped safely to shore look here's what the captain says here's my advice here's my decision jump every man for himself try to make it this shore it's not the best decision but it's the best decision he could make sometimes life is so messy life is so ugly when we try to figure out well what's the biblical answer it's almost impossible to arrive at because there's so much sin so much destruction there's such a mess we have to make the best decision we can sometimes you just got to make a decision say god I don't know what to do here's here's the best thing that I can come up with and you make the decision you jump and you live with the consequences that's what you do last point if you want to navigate the storms of life you got to shake off the crazy things that don't make sense look I don't know why some things happen I don't know some things happen that don't make any sense I don't I don't understand why a woman who would make an amazing mother can't get pregnant and why a woman who should not even own pets gets pregnant every other year I I don't understand these things I don't understand why you know drug addicts can live to be a hundred and you're vegetarian uncle died at 36 I I don't understand I don't have those answers you know there's just some things in life that you're just like you ever been to a funeral and you just walk away and you're like God I I don't understand I remember years ago when I was asked by the family to take off the shawl the grandmother had given to a four-year-old girl at our church named Tiffany and to take off her jewelry she was 4 years old and I was asked as the minister to go up and take all those things off her before we closed the casket on her forever and I remember walking away and I said God I don't understand such a beautiful little girl there are some things you just got to shake off and you know what you don't understand sometimes life is just crazy and things just don't make sense and acts 28 is just one of those things it's just one of those things where you're just like oh my gosh what on earth is this so let me summarize Paul's life for you Paul gives his life to Christ wants to tell everyone in the world about Jesus every town he goes to he's beaten up left for dead stoned whipped beaten literally hated by his own people rejected lied about gossiped about slandered he's on trial he's been set free but now he's on a boat gonna go to Rome he shipwrecked right they think they're gonna die for three weeks God keeps him alive he jumps off the boat literally swims to shore vomiting salt water they're all freezing they all have hypothermia they decide to make a fire so they can be safe the Apostle Paul wanting to help because he's a servant grabs a a bundle of sticks takes it over the fire and when he does that oh by the way there's a poisonous Viper in the bundle of sticks that he grabbed to help people and let me just tell you this they're on the island of Malta and do you know that Malta doesn't have poisonous snakes right if I'm Paul I my god what the heck what the heck hey monster does not have poisonous snakes so why God Almighty is it hanging from my hand anybody ever felt like that you ever had a moment all right God what the heck that's not what you say right Yuri what you say is way worse listen to the text is Paul gathered in our arm full of sticks and was laying them on the fire a poisonous snake driven out by the heat bit him on the hand verse four the people of the island saw it hanging from his hand and said to each other a murderer no doubt though he escaped the sea justice will not permit him to live let me translate it Paul's life is so jacked they think he's cursed you ever felt that way God cannot get a break can I get a break verse 5 but Paul what does he do he's a Taylor Swift moment he shakes it off Paul shook off the snake into the fire Paul's like not just a Viper I would have needed like a month of counseling right look I love this verse six the people waited for him to swell up and drop dead key imagine you go to ER like we got it we got nothing why are you guys all staring at me we just want to see what happens that's Paul's life but when they had waited a long time and saw that he wasn't harmed they changed their minds and decided he was a god listen you're not cursed you're not cursed see here's one of the challenges this is why you need to read your Bibles the Bible says don't judge God's love for you based upon your circumstances around you judge God's love for you based upon Jesus you're not cursed you're blessed God loves you and he has a wonderful plan for your life and you know what sometimes some things are gonna happen you got no answer for there's some things in life that just don't make sense and here's the truth some of you are mad at God because God won't tell you why and you know why I believe God won't tell you why because I don't think his answer would help you he just wouldn't I mean how many of you guys when we get in heaven want to ask God really a snake really like you just we're looking for an exclamation point on the story and you're like ah vipers it makes no sense to me but you know what Paul says yeah that's kind of weird but I'm going to Rome because God said listen God loves you he has a plan for your life and no matter what you go through know this he's gonna get you safely to heaven because Jesus has said nothing can snatch you out of his hands nothing and he will save that which you have given to him and if you have given him your heart the repentance and faith in Jesus you arrived safely in heaven and that is the hope that is the anchor that will help us to navigate any storm that we face let's pray Heavenly Father God thank you for this amazing church and these amazing people god I pray for every single person right now who's going through a hard time I pray that their faith would be so large right now in this moment god I pray that they would deal with their inner princess and all their inner struggles and that they would grow as a Christian and God I pray these circumstances would enlarge your faith God and would diminish their doubt and I pray that they would mature as Christians I pray this in Christ's name Amen

Channel: Sandals Church

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Length: 42min 25sec (2545 seconds)

Published: Mon Dec 19 2016