POWER-FULL - Flip the Script

you may have heard him share in one of our gatherings but grant Partrick leads up our student ministry here passion city church heads up the team that leads to rising every month he and his wife Maggie and he's told many many times the story of his life he was like a lot of us he grew up with a dream and grants dream was to play professional tennis now I'll mention later and I have in time I had that same dream the difference was grant actually was good enough to accomplish that dream he grew up going to the prestigious Stan Smith Academy he had given really his life at the high school era to playing tennis and he was succeeding in that goal and on the way to that mission but like a lot of us in life he had a little bit of a bump on the road he ended up having surgery on his shoulder by the renowned orthopaedic surgeon James Andrews he did the surgery on grant grant did what a lot of us have done he didn't give up he rehabbed he said I'm gonna keep going I've got a goal I'm gonna keep moving forward until he reinsured his shoulder and had another procedure on that shoulder and then that happened again and then that happened again an eventually grant part Rick's dream and all the sweat and all the tears and all the rehab and all the energy and all the investment in being a professional tennis player died and when it died he said I want to stay in the game so he became a coach in one of the great academies here in Atlanta he's coached a lot of young players some of which are now playing collegiate tennis but grant Partrick isn't at the BB&T playing this week he isn't anywhere on the Challenger tour around America he hasn't made it into the ATP no he's leading your middle schoolers and your high schoolers at passion city church today he's going to be teaching in Middle School today and he is the visionary behind the rising which fills this place up with teenagers and he is a leader in this house and by the grace of God is going to be one of the great leaders in our house for a long long time to come so it's easy for me since I didn't have surgery by dr. James Andrews to say thank goodness grant Partrick shoulder gave out on him because we got a good one at passion city church now you I know you're like I don't know if I should clap for that or not I'm clapping for a guy's shoulder injury or you know you're not really clapping for that you're just recognizing that even though we had a compelling dream something even more powerful than maybe some of us have in this room because you're like I'd have been out after the first injury and said hey can I just live with it because I certainly don't want to have the surgery I would have been out after the second one I would to get him given up before the third one or the fourth when he had a compelling and dream in his life but what I love about grant Partrick I said he still has compelling overriding purpose in his life even right here today I think we've all awakened to the reality that life has a lot of twists and turns in it and I used a grants story today because it's an easier story to start with but a lot of you in the room today going look if all I had to worry about in life were three shoulder surgeries compared to what our families walk through I would line up for the first surgery today have another one tomorrow and another one the day after that because what we faced in life has caused some of our dreams to die but it seems like the stakes have been a lot higher and we haven't seen the soft landing on the other side that grant guy and I understand that life is filled with a diagnosis it's filled with disaster it's filled with disappointment life is filled with divorce it's filled with depression I mean all the D words all the horrible D words it's filled with deception some of you have walked into that where life looked like one thing but it turns out it was something completely different and ultimately at times we walk through the valley of the shadow of death and when all of these things come to life what are our options and what are our choices I think one option we have as believers is to create a theology that dismisses suffering from our lives I think a second option for us is to try through pain medication or alcohol or money or having seven houses to insulate ourselves from what we know is out there but a better plan and a plan that's going to be amplified today in the book of Acts is that we could create a purpose for our life that would actually dwarf anything in everything that would come against our life that we could create a purpose for our lives that would dwarf disaster dwarf diagnosis disappointment divorce depression deception death and everything else that comes against us in luck because if your purpose is too small and if my purpose is too small then all those things we're talking about will crash you out they'll crash you out of life they'll crash you out of hope they'll crash you out of faith and many many people are not gathering in the house of God today because of one of those things in their story in fact someone in the city today isn't in the house of God today because their dream did die after three surgeries or after the company folded or when the merger happened and they got shoved to the side or when their partner walked away and said I don't want to live with you anymore and they just looked up to heaven and said hey if this is the way it goes and this is the way you want to deal that the deck and you want to deal the hand and count me out so on the contrary from last week of me saying I'm all-in I would actually like to notify you I'm all out I am out the door and if we don't have a compelling purpose I believe we're setting ourselves up for a cash out and a crash out in life and acts we've seen it every single week God is inviting us Jesus is inviting us into the most overwhelming and overriding purpose of all it is not to attend church the goal of Acts is not to show up occasionally and say I belong to such and such or I attend such and such the goal of Acts is really way more of an all-in sort of attitude than that in here it is in a nutshell that if you eyes have been open in Revelation to see the Messiah this man Jesus is the scent one of God he is the Holy One of God he is the Redeemer of mankind he is the promised one and the long-awaited one and he is the only name by which men may be saved if my eyes have been awakened to Messiah and I have been touched by the power of the Holy Spirit then I am all in to making sure everybody on the planet hears that message and hears about Jesus that's a purpose that is a compelling overriding formidable purpose for our lives and that became the purpose of the followers of Jesus when the day of Pentecost came and the Holy Spirit changed the game and I guess the question that's out there for me today is is that just information to me or is that my purpose and I have to wrestle my way through that being a church kid all my life is that just information to me Jesus is alive the Holy Spirit is come there's a dying in lost world without Christ and the only thing that matters in the economy of God right now on planet Earth is that we get busy as the church shining the light of Jesus on our hilltop so that people can see and hear and know that jesus is alive it's not enough for me to get in the door and get a seat and get into heaven and get a place I've got a mission and a purpose for my life with grace here's the story if all he breathed and lived for was becoming a professional athlete then his purpose dies but if his purpose is I want the world to know about Jesus now I do want to succeed it as a tennis player or put it in your terms in whatever it is that you're hoping to do today but my overriding purpose is that people will hear about Jesus guess what the tennis dream died the shoulder gave out but the purpose is very much still alive and not only is the purpose still alive the purpose has got power in it now because when people walk through the door and say man life let me down life threw me a curve life left me in the dust grant Partrick says I know and they go what yeah I hadn't been sitting around in student ministry training class since I was seven I've been grinding on a tennis court since I was seven and it all went up in smoke but you know what I learned I learned that the greatest thing I'm called to in life is still very much alive and I'm learning how to use my scars to proclaim to the world even louder that jesus is alive and he is life itself and when you see those two things you understand that circumstance can't take away from you the purpose that God has called you to it's like someone handing you a script for your life here you go and you're like okay great what's the story and all of a sudden yo don't like that no that's not gonna happen definitely didn't sign up for that don't like that ending don't like any of that and here's the thing when life does that to you and me and hello life's gonna hand you a script the beautiful power of today you don't have to accept the script you don't have to acquiesce to the script you can actually flip the script and say great if that's what you're gonna hand me I'm gonna hand you something back because my purpose can't be stopped by any circumstance that life brings my way and I know that sounds like a big setup and it sounds like a bunch of hot air to somebody who's really struggling today and you're like man it must be nice for you to stand up there and say stuff like that you have no clue what you're talking about but I just want us to look to God's Word today because God's Word is real and I want to invite us today into a calling it's greater a purpose that's greater in our lives I'll say it this way a few times today there's nothing more powerful and that's what this series is all about then having a prevailing purpose that trumps all circumstances so the Holy Spirit is alive but not so that we can be weird and not so that we can have another kumbaya the Holy Spirit is alive so that we can be powerful in the face of whatever comes on this planet so if I'm not powerful that's okay I can say God I'm not powerful but I know you are powerful and Holy Spirit I'm glad you're in me because I need a supernatural source right now to do and be in me something that I cannot do or be on my own and the greatest I think evidence sometimes of that power the greatest evidence of Holy Spirit arriving in a life is when you see a life that has a purpose that is prevailing in their life that just somehow Trump's every circumstance that comes their way I want to drop anchor in a few places in Acts today and see this in real terms I don't know your story but I do know some of the stories in this room today but I pray they just dropped a few places in God's Word that hope will rise up in our hearts today and that faith will be alive in us the first place is in Acts chapter 2 we've looked at this text so many times but I want us to look at it again today maybe through this lens this idea of flipping the script Peters preaching the very first sermon after the arrival of the Holy Spirit he says men of Israel verse 22 listen to this that's a great way to open a talk Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles wonders and signs which God did among you through him as you yourselves know now that's an amazing message right there it's like hello you are all there you all saw it you were there when he walked on water you were there when he fed the 5,000 you were there when Lazarus was raised from the dead you heard him teach you all saw the power that was in Jesus verse 23 this man Jesus was handed over to you by God set purpose and foreknowledge and you this is where they got a little uncomfortable with the help of wicked men put him to death by nailing him to the cross so there's your stripped Jesus thank you very much for coming to Planet Earth thank you for caring about the poor thank you for caring about the marginalized thank you for caring about people who were untouchable to those who were the religious leaders of the day thank you for doing miracle power teaching kingdom truth thank you for being a justice seeker thank you so much for being a great humanitarian and a great leader here's the script for you now you're gonna get handed over to people who are going to take your life you're going to get beat up by a bunch of thugs who are wearing robes claiming to be the religious elite you are going to be left alone hung on a tree and left out in it the open air to die under the noonday Sun there's your script and Jesus would have said or could have said thank you for that script I came here with a purpose I didn't just come down to earth to hang around and see how life was gonna turn out I didn't just show up on the planet hoping the days were gonna be good I showed up on planet earth with a prevailing purpose and that purpose was to glorify my father by making a way the way for everybody on the planet to come from death to life in him and I'm gonna do that no matter what so what what's the plan again oh they're gonna arrest me in the garden okay that's good to know oh they're gonna take me and humiliate me and make fun of me and poke me and oh they're gonna rip my beard out guys gonna grab my beard and rip hair out of my face they're gonna smash the crown of thorns on my head I'm gonna get traded out for a known criminal in a that I'm gonna stumble my way up to Calvary and a man's gonna have to come and carry my own beam for me they're gonna nail nails in my hands and feet they're gonna mock me while I'm dying for the sins of the world one thief who's right next to me is gonna ridicule me while I'm suffering and striving for every breath the sky is gonna turn dark and I'm gonna die okay well watch this boom I'm gonna flip that script there's a sovereign God on the planet people and he does not crumble under the circumstances of a broken world and so the text goes on there is no big Amen after put him to death by nailing him to the cross the Amen is gonna come a little bit later because it continues verse 24 but God raised him from the dead hello that's a great flip I died on page 78 but I get alive again on page 81 gotta keep reading people freeing him from the agony of death because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on Jesus now Peter digresses for the sake of his audience but we don't need to do that in this moment you could just pick back up with verse 36 which is the end of this thought therefore let all of Israel be assured of this God has made this Jesus whom you crucified both Lord and Christ God flipped this script and he's still doing that even to this day the takeaway from us is simply that God flips the script of death and writes a story of life and the good news about that is every one of us has got death in our script so we're starting our starting point the first place we drop anchor is with a God who flips the script of death and instead writes the script and the story of blood the second place we're going to drop anchor and we could drop 50 anchors easily in Acts and see all manner of stories like these but we've just picked a few is in chapter seven verse 54 we speed the timeline up a little bit in the followers of Jesus emboldened and empowered by the holy spirit of proclaiming the resurrection of Jesus from the dead Stephen is preaching and because they want to silence him and shut him down and they want to close off this chapter of Resurrection and they accuse him falsely of teaching heresy about Moses and this gets everybody up in a roar and they decide man if you're gonna come against our leader and the one who gave us and brought us the law then we're gonna have to shut you down so not the outsiders with the religious insiders they make a plan to take the life of Stephen and we see it happen beginning in verse 54 of chapter 7 when they heard this they were furious and gnashed their teeth at him but Stephen full of the holy spirit Stephen who got spirit power he's full of power and he's got a purpose which we're about to say which is a prevailing purpose Stephen full of power and full the Holy Spirit looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God and we talked about that a lot at passion city church but what a great message Jesus is always seated always seated seated at the right hand enthroned at the right hand but now Stephen looks up and Jesus has now stood up from the throne at the right hand of God why because of what is about to transpire in these verses it's possible that you could live the kind of life that causes Jesus to stand up on the day of your greatest pressure and your greatest persecution that is a stunning reality look he said I see heaven open and the son of man standing at the right hand of God at this they covered their ears and yelling at the top of their voices they all rushed at him dragged him out of the city and began to stone him meanwhile the witnesses laid their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul while they were stoning him Stephen prayed Lord Jesus receive my spirit then he fell to his knees and he cried out Lord do not hold this sin against them I wonder where he learned that and when he had said this he fell asleep and Saul was there giving approval to his death on that day a great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria godly men buried Stephen and mourned deeply for him so that is a very empowered and important verse in this message today as Stephens death people then go oh man you know what God's gonna flip the script oh don't you worry about it God's gonna flip this great oh that's amazing no they buried Stephen and they wept and they mourn and they were broken and they went through the sorrow and the suffering that this world brings right in the middle of God's amazing redemption story is humanity so we're not selling a brand of Christianity today that says man we're just not going to aknowledge humanity we're not going to deal with pain or loss or suffering or tears or heartache or grief or mourning no we're gonna live in humanity but we're gonna sandwich the humanity with the powerful mission of God and the powerful work of the holy spirit versus sandwich God's story and power by the humanity that is crushing in from every angle godly men buried Stephen and mourned deeply for him but Saul began to destroy the church there's one of those D words going from house to house he dragged off men and women and put them in prison but look at verse 4 those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went and so once again what is the message well the message here is you can execute the messenger but you can't stop the power of the gospel and so it's like okay we got to get rid of this guy we got to shut him down how are we gonna shut him out always full of grace he's full of the holy spirit everybody knows it he's one of the most likable guys you've ever met he can't find a bad witness for Stephen okay here's what we're gonna do then we're gonna concoct a story we're gonna we're gonna tell everybody that he's coming against Moses that'll get everybody like in a full throttled roar and then we're gonna just pummel him with big boulders until he's unconscious and dead and we're gonna shut down here it is message of resurrection stops today no keep reading ya persecute the church souls gonna go house to house everybody's gonna run for their lives Jerusalem's gonna be in pandemonium people are gonna scatter all over Judea they're now running all through Samaria what and everywhere they're going they're telling more people about the resurrection less people is what we were hoping for but now more people are actually hearing the story of Jesus and God said yeah that's right because we're flipping the script on this you're not ending the story you're just being the catalyst for spreading the story thank you very much Stephen has an honor and an esteemed position in heaven because yes he is a martyr of the gospel of Jesus Christ like there are hundreds and thousands like him on this day that we're proclaiming this word today but he hasn't esteemed a place in the kingdom of God because Stephen was a catalyst for the explosion of the gospel and when you see him in heaven he'll say yeah the thing and all that the deal and the blah blah blah and all that it was rough man I got to tell you it was rough but man I'm glad I had a purpose it was bigger than that circumstance because when that circumstance came the purpose that I really was living for just exploded more than I could have ever dreamed I never thought Stephens going to Samaria Stephens going all over Judea Stephens gonna make it a passion City Church Stephen is gonna make it everywhere the gospel story goes of Jesus Christ I had no idea I was just trying to be faithful right here and preach the message that God had given me to preach drop anchor one more place if you will in Acts chapter 9 this same Saul who was giving permission for Stephens life to end it says meanwhile verse when Saul was breathing out murderous threats against the Lord's disciples he went to the high priest and asked for letters to the synagogue in Damascus so that if he found any there who belonged to the way whether men or women he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem as he neared Damascus on his journey suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him he fell to the ground he heard a voice say to him Saul Saul why do you persecute me who are you Lord I am Jesus whom you are persecuting now get up go to the city and you'll be told what you must do now the story quickly shifts Paul now blinded by this vision of Jesus on his way to kill Christians and stifle the church he now is in Damascus he's holed up at this guy's house trying to recover sight a man is sent to him with a word from God and that man doesn't want to go he said I'm not going to Damascus and I'm not going to pray for Saul of Tarsus if that's what you're asking me to do but eventually God prevails and the man goes in God prevails with this argument he says this to Ananias in verse 15 go this man is my chosen instrument to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and before the people of Israel I will show him how much he must suffer for my sake imagine that that while Stephen was being stoned and Paul it says in another place was holding everybody's coat God was saying see that coat holder right there see that guy Saul of Tarsus right there see the one who's got the permission the letters to destroy the church in Damascus that guy's gonna be my guy people at the stoning would have said this whole thing is off the rails everything about this is off the rails dudes getting crushed to death brother holding the coats is God's chosen man oh don't think so I think this is a implosion of God's sovereign plan on planet earth right here and right now and Stephen on the other hand saw Jesus stood up and went straight up to meet him and soul on the other hand went off to Damascus convinced of his plans for his life until God said get ready saw because I'm about to flip your script upside down you are gonna become the biggest proponent anyone's ever seen of the very way that you were trying to end and I just wondered you know today if anybody sees that that there's times in life when when you know exactly what you intend to do but on your way to do it Jesus appears and says hello and you think oh I know who he is I know what that's about I'll just talk to him when he pops into the road and say blah blah blah blah blah this is why I died and this is why I'm gonna go to Damascus and I got the letters and I got the thing and I'm all upset and I've got a lot of power and blah blah blah know you're on your way and then Jesus appears in your life I can't see I don't know what just happened something really bright just flashed into my plan something just flipped the script in my world and it could be that you're on your way to do something bad and God wants to flip your script today who knows what plans are in this house today and God brought you here to say no you are not going to go and wreck your life in the life of a bunch of other people you are actually going to get your flip your script flipped today and you're gonna start moving towards building up your life in the lives of other people or it may be that you're just on your way to do something really good but the purpose in it all is so small that it the wrong crater is in your path it's gonna take you out of the game and God saying you gotta have bigger purpose than that and I want to flip the story today I want to flip the store in side you everywhere we go in Acts this is the case in acts 16 we won't look at it Paul wants to go one way he's praying God this is the way we're gonna go the Holy Spirit x16 says no you can't go that way have you ever wondered where is God when my plans change when we thought we were going to Cleveland but we ended up going to Columbus instead when we thought we were going to California we ended up going to Columbia South America when we thought it was gonna be today but it ended up being four years from now we're like what's happening all the plans are changing Paul said we're gonna go this way and the Holy Spirit said no you can't go this way and Paul didn't go oh well there isn't a god oh well all my plans have crashed oh well everything's changing what am I gonna do how are we gonna respond no Paul said okay well we got a purpose which is to tell people about the resurrection of Jesus and if we can't go that way I guess we'll go this way he got a vision of the night come to Macedonia started moving down that way ended up meeting a woman that woman entered a be very influential she invited him and his followers back to her home and Lydia ended up being the person where the church and Philip I started it was born and nurtured in her home all because this road is closed this way now is open in this Roman colony called Philippi comes alive and burst in to life in the person and by the work of Jesus Christ I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me was written to the church in the home of Lydia who came to know Jesus because the way was closed to go into option a do you see what I'm saying today we are living with small purpose so when the roads closed or we don't get accepted or it doesn't work out we're like well I just don't know what I'm gonna do and God say well why don't you do the thing that you were put on earth to do which is go to a different school which one can you get in well this one I can go to that one great go there and when you get there be a light on a hill well they didn't work out the promotion we're not moving to California after all we're moving to Phoenix awesome when you get to Phoenix put a light on the hill and see if somebody in Phoenix doesn't come to know Jesus and thank you later that you didn't move to California well I'm not gonna be a professional tennis player awesome what can you do and whatever you can do put a light on the hill and see if Sony doesn't come along later and say man I hate I hope you don't take this the wrong way really glad your shoulder gave out on you and sir my high school kids that come to the rising that's what you couldn't have done both and that's kind of what I was hoping for I want to be a professional tennis player I went to Georgia State with that intention I wanted to be famous and rich and I wanted to sign all my autographs with a scripture verse that was my plan come on I mean what's wrong with that yes I'm on my way to my house in Monaco yes I'd love to take time to sign a deal for you and there's my scripture verse and God said well the house in Monaco is not gonna happen being a famous tennis player is not in the cards for you because you're not good enough but you can tell people about the scripture and all of a sudden the kid who had spent almost every day of his life for high school on a tennis court me it's a freshman at Georgia State is on my knees all of a sudden saying yes to Jesus to do the very thing I'm doing right here and right now and so I don't know I don't know what's in your path right now but I just want to end with this mindset here's what Paul said Saul Paul enemy proclaimer Church destroyer church builder killing people for the faith getting killed for the faith talk about flipping the script here's the guy spends the last years of his life chained up to the wall or to a Roman guard or to another guard in the houses of power in Judea and he never once anywhere in the gospel says I cannot stand the fact that I'm chained to this dude one more day you just don't read it Larry so sick of this guy been chained up to him for nine months dude is an ogre never it's not there Paul wasn't too worried about who he was chained up to he was just real glad that whoever that was was chained up to him guess what Larry you're getting a lot of the gospel bro welcome to church right Timothy amen oh I'm gonna pray for the next two hours feel free to join in or just hang out I got a lot of churches and a lot of people and a lot of stuff going so I'm gonna pray for a little while but you just feel free do what you want to do Oh Lord our Lord how majestic is your name in all the earth you ruined power and authority I pray for my brothers and sisters in Ephesus and those in Philippi and those in Colossae and those in Corinth and I lift him up in the mighty name and the power the authority of Jesus Christ lord help them rescue them come to their aid lift them up out of temptation and deception and build them up to be strong men and women of faith God will you impart to them the power of your Holy Spirit God so that they can do things that are powerful in your kingdom and Larry's like what's wrong with you you're not doing anything you're chained up in here next day he's like hmm next day he's like hmm dude comes with a letter from the church he's like huh hmm hmm hmm well what am i doing then what am i doing in life I got this powerhouse chained to me I've never seen anything like it I just encourage you today whatever you're walking through and there's a lot of people walking through a lot of hard times in this place today it can either just be the funnel and the weight that just crushes you down to nothing or I promise you it can be the megaphone that God uses to tell the whole world about Jesus that he is alive that he is alive our dear friends the summary is we'll be in church two years ago their daughter whose birthday is this weekend died as an 18 year old in a car crash in Athens Georgia but I'm telling you Kristina Samaria had a prevailing purpose and it wasn't to make it through the semester it was to tell the world about Jesus and it has been amazing to watch both pain and sorrow mix and to watch two people her parents particularly who didn't see themselves as evangelists did not see themselves as preachers and speakers in churches and in gatherings and at Greek assembly things at Georgia and an all manner of things around the southeast didn't see themself on podcast they didn't see themselves discovering songs that their daughter had written and then publishing those and making them available to the world they didn't see themselves in that role but because of her purpose it was easy for them to be pulled into that role and they have preached she has preached in the two years that she has been gone to tens of thousands if not hundreds of thousands of people and if you had said to her on that day can you see yourself preaching to people all over the world can you see yourself proclaiming Jesus all over the world she would've gone I don't know I don't know if I can see that or not but in a moment as she went to heaven they were handed a megaphone either a funnel to crush them or a megaphone by which they could say we're brokenhearted we can't even explain the pain of losing a daughter we never imagined a life like this and we still don't know what to do God has given us grace to make it every day but we know this our daughter is alive and her message is alive and we are her messengers telling the world about the Jesus that teeny loved and her death is their key to open doors that no one else could open her death is their passport to cross borders that no one else could cross her death is their platform to stand upon and proclaim to the masses and her death has become their megaphone so that the story of Jesus didn't die in that car crash that day the story of Jesus actually has been amplified by that car crash that day and stunning in amazing ways teenies life ended but her purpose couldn't be stopped because she had a purpose that dwarfed death [Music] and so do you and so do I let's take hold of it unless shove all we've got in for it and in doing so let's a sure that nothing in this life will stop us come on church [Applause] [Music]

Channel: Passion City Church

Views: 19,173

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Id: cNYXNTRYWEo

Length: 43min 16sec (2596 seconds)

Published: Tue Jul 31 2018