I Will Not Fear Judgement.

Review / Introduction:



Here is What I Have Found Compelling about Jesus:

  1. He Persues you. (Acts 26:12-14)

  2. He Totally forgives you. (Acts 26:18)

  3. Romans 8:1 - There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

  1. He wants to Use you. (Acts 26:16)

  2. He Changes your life. (Acts 26:20)
  3. What is Obedience About?

    • Authority (Acts 5:29)
    • Trust (Hebrews 11:8)
    • Love (John 14:15)
    • Benefit (Duet 6:24)

  4. He will always Be With you. (Acts 26:22)

Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint:
Highlight blanks above for answers!

  • 00:35-00:38

    Alright, turn in your Bibles to Acts chapter 26.

    00:39-00:41

    Acts chapter 26.

    00:41-00:46

    This is actually our last message in the book of Acts until after Easter.

    00:49-01:04

    So while you're turning there, just to get us all caught up to speed on where we are in the book of Acts, do you remember the apostle Paul was falsely accused, but still in custody, in Caesarea by the Romans.

    01:04-01:06

    He appeals his case to Caesar.

    01:07-01:16

    But before he's sent to Rome, King Agrippa and Bernice, his sister/wife, comes to town.

    01:17-01:27

    So Festus, the governor, has this big event to figure out how to do the paperwork to send with Paul when he goes to the emperor.

    01:31-01:48

    there, Acts 26. Well, before we actually look at the text, you know, we've all heard or read a good review from a satisfied customer and bought something.

    01:50-02:38

    We've all heard someone who tried something, recommended it to us, and we've decided to try it ourselves or maybe a doctor say hey you you've got to check out I I've been going to this new chiropractor and you're gonna you're gonna go check him out I think it's called thrive or something like that right it's a good name I agree doctor anyways we've all been there where you hear a good review from a satisfied customer like I gotta go try that and And since we live in the day of online shopping, we also live in the day of online customer reviews, which I think we can all be thankful for because if you're going to invest in something, don't you want to know it's a good product?

    02:39-02:55

    I mean, it's one thing for the guy that's selling it to tell you it's good, but even better than the guy that's selling it is the person who tried it and is a satisfied customer, them telling you that it's good.

    02:55-02:58

    That's why we love those customer reviews.

    02:59-03:05

    That's why this morning, before we get into the text, I wanna look at a few.

    03:05-03:09

    These are actual customer reviews from Amazon.

    03:11-03:14

    And most of these are going to be movie reviews.

    03:14-03:16

    They bought a movie and reviewed it.

    03:16-03:23

    But this first one here was actually sent to me from a friend of mine and I'm like, even though it's not a movie, I gotta share it.

    03:23-03:28

    This is a review for a commentary on the book of Exodus, saved for God's glory.

    03:28-03:43

    And a Kindle customer writes, "Two star review, opening low enough, "I hurt my ankle simply trying to get "my small feet into these." I'm not sure why you're laughing.

    03:44-03:46

    I don't really, I don't think that's funny.

    03:46-03:47

    I had the same problem.

    03:47-03:56

    got this book on 1 Corinthians. My foot barely fits in that, and they wouldn't take it back.

    03:59-04:15

    Another unsatisfied customer. All right, now these ones are movies. These are customer reviews about movies. The first one is Mission Impossible Ghost Protocol. Asa Walker says, One star, the mission was not impossible.

    04:18-04:19

    And that's false advertising.

    04:19-04:22

    The movie probably didn't actually have real ghosts in it either.

    04:23-04:33

    But here's a review for "The Passion of the Christ." How many of you have seen "The Passion of the Christ?" Okay, Leslie Clark gives it one star.

    04:33-04:39

    She says, "I did not know it was in Spanish." All right, science fiction.

    04:40-04:42

    How many people have seen Jurassic World?

    04:43-04:45

    The sort of reboot of Jurassic Park?

    04:45-04:48

    Well, Eric Miles saw it and he was not impressed.

    04:48-04:59

    He said, "What happened to the pterodactyl that flew away?" Now look, I'm not goofing on the guy because he misspelled pterodactyl because I have no idea how to spell pterodactyl.

    05:00-05:00

    I'd have to look it up.

    05:01-05:03

    Here's what I thought was funny about that.

    05:04-05:11

    Despite the acting, directing, music score, That ruined his whole movie.

    05:12-05:35

    He sat through that whole multi-million dollar production and he went home, or he bought it and watched it at home or whatever, and somebody said, "Hey, Eric, what did you think of Jurassic World?" He goes, "The movie stunk because I don't know what happened to that pterodactyl that flew away." The next movie is Monster Zinc for those Disney Pixar cartoon.

    05:35-05:38

    Monsters Inc. Joe Gonzales, not a fan, one star.

    05:38-05:47

    He said, "Too many monsters." If you're going to have monsters in the movie, I think you need a title that reflects that.

    05:48-05:52

    None of these subliminal, ambiguous titles like Monsters Inc.

    05:53-05:54

    Right?

    05:57-05:58

    And our final review for the day.

    05:59-06:00

    This is Titanic.

    06:00-06:03

    Mike Watson, he was not a fan, one star.

    06:04-06:05

    He said, "This could never happen.

    06:05-06:08

    Oh yeah, a boat this big could really sink.

    06:11-06:13

    Well reviews can be helpful.

    06:19-06:27

    Unless they come from someone who doesn't understand what they are reviewing.

    06:30-06:35

    These people obviously didn't know what they were reviewing.

    06:35-06:38

    So you can't really trust their reviews.

    06:41-06:42

    Like where are you going with this?

    06:42-06:46

    Well, there are a lot of reviews out there about Jesus.

    06:49-06:50

    So how do you know who to trust?

    06:52-06:59

    Today I'm going to show you, here's one person you can definitely trust regarding his review of Jesus, and his name is Paul.

    07:01-07:06

    Because his review of Jesus changed from one star to five stars.

    07:09-07:19

    And like all of these reviewers from Amazon, at first he was looking at Jesus all wrong.

    07:22-07:26

    Even when he really experienced Jesus for who He is, everything changed for Paul.

    07:30-07:37

    The best witnesses for Christ are the ones who are motivated to witness because of real life change.

    07:37-07:46

    In other words, the best witnesses for Christ - pardon the secular term, but you understand what I mean - the best witnesses for Christ are satisfied customers.

    07:48-07:54

    I found Jesus Christ to be everything that He promised and more.

    07:57-08:06

    So Acts chapter 26, Paul, he's not technically in court, but he's defending himself again.

    08:07-08:12

    And we're going to see here that his goal was to witness to Agrippa, the king.

    08:13-08:17

    So Paul was the satisfied customer that had audience with the king.

    08:18-08:18

    Could you imagine?

    08:21-08:28

    Paul has one shot to sell him on a serious look at Jesus Christ.

    08:31-08:33

    We are going to read the entire chapter.

    08:35-08:43

    I heard some people gasp and a couple of groans, "We're going to get through this together." But the reason we're doing this is it all goes together, right?

    08:44-08:49

    So let's look at Acts chapter 26.

    08:51-09:08

    So Agrippa said to Paul, and remember the scene, they have this big prom, this big event, you know, pomp and circumstance and all of that to write up the paperwork, and Festus sort of makes his opening comments, chapter 26.

    09:09-09:16

    So Agrippa says to Paul, "You have permission to speak for yourself." And Paul stretched out his hand and made his defense.

    09:17-09:31

    "I consider myself fortunate that it is before you, King Agrippa, I'm going to make my defense today against all the accusations of the Jews, especially because you are familiar with all the customs and controversies of the Jews.

    09:33-09:37

    Therefore I beg you to listen to me patiently." He wasn't flattering him, okay?

    09:37-09:38

    Paul wasn't buttering him up.

    09:39-10:04

    Paul was just like, "Look, I've been dealing with the Romans," and sort of read between the lines here, "Festus was kind of clueless." Remember he was like, "I don't know what to do with this guy, Agrippa, can you help the brother out?" And Paul's like, "I'm glad somebody who knows what's going on, I'm going to be able to tell you my story." My manner of life for my youth spent from the beginning among my own nation and in Jerusalem is known by all the Jews.

    10:06-10:14

    They've known for a long time, if they're willing to testify, that according to the strictest party of our religion, I have lived as a Pharisee.

    10:16-10:27

    And now I stand here on trial because of my hope and the promise made by God to our fathers, to which our 12 tribes hope to attain as they earnestly worship night and day.

    10:27-10:32

    And for this hope, I am accused by Jews, O King.

    10:33-10:39

    Why is it thought incredible by any of you that God raises the dead?" I love that question.

    10:39-10:40

    Paul's like, "Here's the issue.

    10:41-10:43

    I'm talking about Jesus resurrecting from the dead.

    10:43-10:52

    As soon as I say resurrection, everybody just throws a fit." Paul's like, "Why is this so crazy to you that God raises the dead?

    10:53-11:08

    How do you not get that as devout Jews?" He said, "I myself was convinced that I ought to do many things in opposition to the name of Jesus of Nazareth, and I did so in Jerusalem.

    11:08-11:17

    I not only locked up many of the saints in prison after receiving authority from the chief priests, but when they were put to death, I cast my vote against them.

    11:18-11:24

    And I punished them often in all the synagogues and tried to make them blaspheme.

    11:26-11:31

    and raging fury against them, I persecuted them even to foreign cities.

    11:33-11:40

    And this connection, I journeyed to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priest.

    11:41-11:52

    At midday, O King, I saw on the way a light from heaven brighter than the sun that shone around me and those who journeyed with me.

    11:54-12:04

    when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew language, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?

    12:05-12:56

    It is hard for you to kick against the goads." And I said, "Who are you, Lord?" And the Lord said, "I am Jesus whom you are persecuting, but rise and stand upon your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you as a servant and witness to the things in which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you, delivering you from your people and from the Gentiles, whom I am sending you to open their eyes, that they may turn from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.

    12:58-13:16

    Therefore, O King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, but declared first to those in Damascus, then in Jerusalem, and throughout all the region of Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds in keeping with repentance.

    13:18-13:22

    For this reason, the Jews seized me in the temple and tried to kill me.

    13:24-13:28

    To this day, I have had the help that comes from God.

    13:29-13:50

    And so I stand here testifying, both to small and great, saying nothing but what the prophets and Moses said would come to pass, that the Christ must suffer, and that by being the first to rise from the dead, he would proclaim light both to our people and to the Gentiles." There again he circled back to that Jewish mindset.

    13:50-13:57

    He goes, "Look, anything I've ever said has been promised in the Scriptures, in the law.

    13:57-13:58

    It's all written there.

    13:59-14:07

    And the people that say they believe what's written in the law are persecuting me because I preach that Jesus fulfilled what is written," where?

    14:08-14:08

    In the law.

    14:10-14:18

    And as he was saying these things in his defense, Festus said with a loud voice, "Paul, you are out of your mind.

    14:20-15:08

    Your great learning is driving you out of your mind." But Paul said, "I am not out of my mind, most excellent Festus, but I am speaking true and rational words, for the king knows about these things, and to him I speak boldly, for I am persuaded that none of these things has escaped his notice, for this has not been done in a corner. King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know that you believe. I love that question. It's snake-like. Remember we talked about the snake and the dove? This was snake-like. So Paul here, you get the whole scene in your mind, the big pageantry and the big shows going on here and Paul's like, "Do you believe the prophets?" Because I know that you do.

    15:09-15:18

    Because see, if Agrippus says, "Well, yeah, I believe the prophets," now all of a sudden it looks like he's agreeing with Paul.

    15:19-15:21

    And that was going to make the Jewish leaders angry.

    15:21-15:30

    "Oh, wait a second, the king's on Paul's side." So he couldn't say that, but he couldn't say, "No, I don't believe in the prophets.

    15:31-15:32

    You're the king of the Jews.

    15:32-15:37

    You can't exactly get up and say, "I don't believe the Jewish prophets." So what did he say?

    15:38-15:42

    Notice how he kind of dances around the issue.

    15:42-15:43

    Good politician here, right?

    15:44-15:47

    No offense to any politicians listening to this.

    15:48-16:34

    And Agrippa said to Paul, "In a short time, would you persuade me to be a Christian?" And Paul said, "Whether short or long, I would to God that not only you, but also to all who hear me this day might become such as I am, except for these chains." Then the king rose and the governor and Bernice and those who were sitting with them, and when they had withdrawn, they said to one another, "This man is doing nothing to deserve death or imprisonment." And Agrippa said to Festus, "This man could have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar." Now that last statement, it wasn't exactly a law.

    16:36-16:50

    It was more of an unwritten law in those days that if someone appealed to Caesar, stopping that process could be detrimental to your political career.

    16:52-16:54

    So that's what Agrippa was getting at.

    16:55-17:17

    He goes, "You know, we could have let him go, but we certainly can't do it now that he appealed to Caesar." So, on your outline today, like Paul, to sum up his experience as a satisfied customer, I would say that I too give Jesus a five-star review.

    17:20-17:28

    Like Paul, I would want to sell you based on my experience with Jesus Christ.

    17:29-17:32

    So we're just going to pull a few of these principles out of this passage.

    17:33-17:38

    But on your outline, here is what I have found compelling about Jesus.

    17:41-17:46

    We see from the passage that Paul was trying to persuade Agrippa to come to Christ.

    17:46-17:48

    Not just Agrippa, but everyone who heard.

    17:51-17:55

    And again, carrying the analogy, this was a sales pitch for Jesus.

    17:56-18:00

    And Paul was saying, "Here's why. Here's why I'm convinced.

    18:01-18:07

    That following Christ is the way." I would echo these sentiments today.

    18:11-18:14

    And if I may, I'd like to use this as my own sales pitch.

    18:14-18:21

    If you're listening to this, and you don't know Jesus Christ, you think, "Why should I be a follower of Christ?

    18:22-18:23

    Why should I be a Christian?

    18:23-18:30

    Why should I get serious about this?" I would say, "Well, here's what I found compelling about Jesus, just like Paul.

    18:33-18:35

    Number one, He pursues you.

    18:37-18:38

    He pursues you.

    18:43-18:45

    That is something so awesome about Jesus.

    18:47-18:49

    You see, we've rebelled against Him in our sin.

    18:51-19:00

    And He would have every right to literally say, "To hell with you." But what does He do instead?

    19:02-19:03

    He pursues us.

    19:05-19:11

    And Paul knew that he came to Christ because Christ was after Paul.

    19:11-19:12

    Right?

    19:13-19:23

    We didn't see Paul on his face saying, "Jesus, I just want to know who you are." We see Paul on the way to arrest, imprison, kill Christians when Jesus intervenes.

    19:26-19:28

    You know, that's how the Bible portrays God.

    19:31-19:33

    He's the shepherd looking for a lost sheep.

    19:35-19:39

    He's a father running to a lost son.

    19:42-19:48

    And I would say like Paul, I was at my worst when God chased me down.

    19:50-19:55

    But to me, that's one of the most compelling things about the Lord is the fact that He's after you.

    19:57-20:08

    He's not like, "I'm hidden, try to find me, see if you can figure it out." If Christmas teaches us anything, it teaches us that God is after us.

    20:10-20:12

    That's what I find compelling about Jesus.

    20:12-20:15

    Number two, He will totally forgive you.

    20:17-20:19

    He will totally forgive you.

    20:22-20:26

    You know, we've seen a few times here in the book of Acts that Paul has shared his testimony.

    20:29-20:33

    Do you ever think that that must have grieved Paul to recount that past life?

    20:35-20:39

    How many times do you think when Paul was sharing his testimony he could see Stephen's face in his head?

    20:40-20:40

    Remember Stephen?

    20:41-20:54

    Paul's like, "Here, let me hold your coats so you can pelt him with rocks until he's dead." I helped kill that kid.

    20:58-21:08

    He was the religious nut. He imprisoned Christians, he killed Christians, and the reality is look we all have a past. We've all done things we're not proud of, right?

    21:10-21:18

    Let's have open mic day. Everybody come up, step into the microphone, and list the things that you've done that you're not proud of?

    21:20-21:21

    You're like, now?

    21:21-21:23

    Yeah, now, let's line up.

    21:25-21:25

    Are you serious?

    21:25-21:26

    No, I'm not serious.

    21:27-21:28

    But could you imagine?

    21:29-21:30

    Could you imagine?

    21:30-21:31

    How would you feel about that?

    21:32-21:34

    How would you feel if I said, okay, you're up.

    21:35-21:37

    Tell me all the things you've done in your past that you're ashamed of.

    21:39-21:47

    And understand here, Paul, basically he's standing in the middle of Congress doing that very thing.

    21:48-21:49

    He goes, "Look, here's what I've done.

    21:52-22:00

    "I've done some horrible things." But you see, the reality is it doesn't matter what you've done.

    22:01-22:07

    Jesus Christ is ready to totally forgive you if you turn to Him.

    22:10-22:12

    I find that so compelling about Jesus.

    22:14-22:16

    He offers total forgiveness.

    22:17-22:21

    As far as the East is from the West, He removes our iniquity from us.

    22:21-22:24

    He casts our sins into the depths of the sea.

    22:24-22:33

    Jesus promises, and this is really important because He puts it in both Testaments, to Jeremiah and Hebrews, I will remember their sins no more.

    22:33-22:36

    He is willing to completely forget your sin.

    22:39-22:40

    You know, we're talking about no fear this year.

    22:40-22:41

    I will not fear.

    22:42-22:48

    And someday, someday you are going to die and you are going to stand before God.

    22:51-22:56

    And there is, Romans 8.1, now therefore, what?

    22:57-23:00

    No condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

    23:01-23:06

    You have nothing to fear regarding judgment from God when you're in Christ.

    23:07-23:09

    Like, well, how do I get this?

    23:09-23:11

    I want you to look back at verse 18.

    23:14-23:21

    He says that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in Me.

    23:24-23:26

    I find this totally compelling about Jesus.

    23:28-23:31

    It's the salvation He offers isn't based on what I do.

    23:34-23:35

    It's based on what He's done.

    23:38-23:40

    Notice he talks about sanctification here.

    23:40-23:43

    My salvation isn't sustained by my works either.

    23:45-23:45

    Right?

    23:45-23:51

    Some people are like, well, you're saved by grace, but then you sort of stay afloat by your good works.

    23:51-23:51

    No.

    23:53-23:54

    Hey, good works are important.

    23:54-23:56

    We're going to be talking about that.

    23:56-24:02

    But, your good works don't give you any merit towards Jesus Christ.

    24:04-24:13

    Understand that Jesus Christ loves you the same on your absolute best day as He does on your absolute worst day.

    24:14-24:27

    The day that you're neck deep in sin and the day that you spent 18 hours of the day sitting in church, He loves you the same because it's based on what He's done for you.

    24:28-24:30

    It's not based on what you can do for Him.

    24:31-24:32

    By faith.

    24:33-24:34

    I find that totally compelling.

    24:38-24:44

    Number three, like Paul, what I find compelling about Christ is He wants to use you.

    24:45-24:46

    He wants to use you.

    24:47-24:50

    And like Paul, God is going to use you as two things.

    24:51-24:53

    Look at it again in verse 16.

    24:54-25:04

    He says, "I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you as a servant and witness." It's really what God calls all of His people to.

    25:04-25:05

    We're to be servants and witnesses.

    25:07-25:12

    And when you know Christ, you know there's no greater joy than serving Him.

    25:16-25:17

    I find that compelling about Jesus.

    25:19-25:25

    That God wants to use regular old people like us to preach the Gospel.

    25:27-25:32

    God wants to use regular people like us to love people.

    25:33-25:35

    God wants to love the world through you.

    25:36-25:38

    And I find that so compelling about Jesus.

    25:41-25:46

    Number four, what I find compelling about Jesus is this, He changes your life.

    25:48-25:49

    He changes your life.

    25:52-26:00

    Paul talked in verse 20 about preaching that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds in keeping with repentance.

    26:02-26:09

    If you think following Christ is about rules, then you're just like the guy who was reviewing the Titanic movie.

    26:10-26:13

    You completely missed everything that was happening.

    26:14-26:24

    You're like, "Okay, so if following Christ isn't about keeping the rules and doing the actions, then why does the Bible say to repent?" I'll tell you why.

    26:26-26:30

    Repentance is your acknowledgment that your thing ain't working.

    26:31-26:35

    That's the person who knows that he needs what God offers.

    26:36-26:44

    My sin, my selfishness, living for myself, my way, it's done nothing but make myself a mess.

    26:45-26:47

    And repentance is changing your mind.

    26:48-26:51

    And when your mind changes, your actions change.

    26:51-26:54

    And when your actions change, Your life changes.

    26:57-27:06

    So when we talk about obedience, when the Bible talks about obedience, understand obedience to Christ is not about keeping the rules to make God happy.

    27:07-27:11

    God is quote unquote happy with you on the basis of what Jesus has done.

    27:12-27:16

    God's not happy with you or unhappy with you based on your conduct.

    27:17-27:18

    Like so what place is obedience?

    27:19-27:21

    I want you to jot these four things down.

    27:21-27:22

    What is obedience about?

    27:23-27:25

    Why do we say, "Obey the Lord, obey the Lord"?

    27:25-27:26

    Why do we say that?

    27:26-27:28

    It's not a salvation issue.

    27:29-27:30

    What kind of issue is it?

    27:30-27:31

    It's four things.

    27:31-27:32

    Write these down.

    27:32-27:33

    First of all, authority.

    27:35-27:37

    Obedience is acknowledging God's authority.

    27:38-27:42

    Obedience is our way of saying, "He is God and I am not.

    27:43-27:47

    He is God and I am not." Acts 5.29.

    27:49-28:01

    is saying, "I'm just a part of creation and you're the almighty, holy, wise God, so yeah, I should bow to your authority." Obedience secondly is about, write this down, trust.

    28:02-28:03

    It's about trust.

    28:05-28:06

    Hebrews 11.8.

    28:08-28:11

    What you're saying is, "I don't understand God, but I'm going to do it your way.

    28:12-28:18

    Here's how I want to handle this situation, but your word says I should handle the situation in a different way.

    28:18-28:24

    So I'm gonna tell you what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna do it your way, and I'm gonna trust your results.

    28:25-28:29

    We talk about that with money, right? Financial Peace University, right? It's getting... that's repentance.

    28:30-28:36

    Here's how I thought about handling money. Here's how God says, and maybe I don't understand it, but I'm going to trust it.

    28:38-28:42

    And when I trust, that's obedience.

    28:45-28:47

    Third reason for obedience is love.

    28:49-28:49

    There's love.

    28:49-28:50

    John 14, 15.

    28:51-28:55

    Jesus said, "If you love me, you'll keep my commandments." It's that simple.

    28:55-28:56

    How can you show Jesus that you love Him?

    28:58-29:00

    Send Him a Christmas/birthday card?

    29:03-29:05

    Because we celebrate His birthday on Christmas.

    29:07-29:07

    Too late.

    29:07-29:08

    Don't laugh now.

    29:09-29:11

    How can you show Jesus you love Him?

    29:12-29:12

    Give Him a hug?

    29:12-29:13

    Not yet.

    29:14-29:15

    How?

    29:16-29:19

    Jesus said we show our love by obeying His commandments.

    29:22-29:26

    And then fourthly, this kind of ties to the trust thing, but just write down benefit.

    29:28-29:33

    Deuteronomy 6.24, interesting statement God makes often through the law.

    29:33-29:36

    He says we should obey God for our own good.

    29:37-29:37

    It's for our own good.

    29:39-29:40

    Try it your way.

    29:41-29:44

    Keep a journal, make notes, let me know how that works out.

    29:44-29:48

    do everything your way, and then try to do everything God's way.

    29:49-29:51

    Keep a journal, make notes, tell me how that works out.

    29:51-29:57

    And you're going to find 100 times out of 100, doing it God's way always gets the better result for you.

    29:58-29:58

    For you.

    30:01-30:02

    It'll change your life.

    30:05-30:06

    I find that compelling about Jesus.

    30:07-30:09

    Jesus isn't like, hey, you know what I'm about?

    30:09-30:18

    Come to church for an hour to an hour and a half on Sunday and sing some songs and listen to, try to stay awake to your message or whatever, and see you next week.

    30:19-30:23

    He changes your life from the inside out.

    30:26-30:31

    And finally, number five, what I find so compelling about Jesus is He will always be with you.

    30:33-30:34

    He will always be with you.

    30:35-30:36

    Do you notice that from Paul?

    30:37-30:44

    Verse 22, he says, "To this day, "I've had the help that comes from God." He will always be with you.

    30:47-30:53

    Several years ago when I used to have to travel out of town, I would have to take my dog to this kennel.

    30:54-31:04

    And this kennel was run by these people that had a house at the top of the hill, but the actual building where they kenneled the dogs was at the bottom of an extremely steep hill.

    31:07-31:24

    And the one time I went to pick up my dog, It was in January and it had just like snowed/freezing rain and this hill was a solid sheet of white ice.

    31:25-31:31

    And I remember walking down to the kennel and literally slipping and falling a few times on my way down to get the dog.

    31:32-31:34

    And when I finally made it, it was a long hill.

    31:34-31:38

    It was like, in my mind, it was like a mile long.

    31:38-31:40

    It wasn't that long, like literally I didn't measure it.

    31:41-31:43

    But in my mind, it was like a really long, steep hill.

    31:43-31:45

    And especially when you're falling a lot, it seems longer.

    31:46-31:47

    So I finally make it down to the kennel.

    31:49-31:53

    And the lady that ran the business was sitting down there in her wheelchair.

    31:56-31:59

    Did you think of the same question that I had?

    31:59-32:03

    I'm like, how did you get down here?

    32:05-32:06

    I didn't ask that though.

    32:07-32:09

    I had an even bigger question.

    32:09-32:10

    Go ahead, what is it?

    32:12-32:13

    How are you gonna get back up?

    32:14-32:17

    I said, what are you doing down here?

    32:17-32:20

    She's like, well, I can't remember the whole story.

    32:20-32:23

    Somehow she got down there and wasn't able to get back up.

    32:23-32:27

    And she said, you know, I said, what are you gonna do?

    32:27-32:32

    And she said, well, my son-in-law, he's gonna be coming and he'll help me get back up.

    32:32-32:33

    I'm like, when's he gonna come?

    32:33-32:35

    She said, oh, he'll be here after supper.

    32:36-32:39

    I'm like, after supper is like seven hours from now.

    32:40-32:45

    Is that your plan to sit down here in the blizzard in your wheelchair and your house coat for seven hours?

    32:45-32:46

    Like, is that your plan?

    32:46-32:48

    She's like, I don't know what else to do.

    32:48-32:50

    I said, I'll take you up.

    32:52-32:54

    She goes, all right.

    32:55-32:57

    So get this picture in your head.

    32:58-33:11

    I'm pulling this woman in her wheelchair up this steep hill in the snow backwards, slipping and sliding the whole way, 'cause it was so,

    33:11-33:11

    (mimics sliding)

    33:12-33:23

    and in my mind, I'm just thinking, "God, please do not let me lose grip or lose my footing," because she literally would have died if I would have fallen and she would have gone down in her wheelchair.

    33:23-33:26

    And I'm pulling her up, pulling her up, pulling her up.

    33:26-33:31

    Every muscle in my body just like on alert, right?

    33:31-33:31

    don't slip.

    33:34-33:41

    And the whole time I was pulling her up the hill, the whole time I'm pulling her up the hill, she was berating me.

    33:43-33:48

    She was saying, if my son-in-law were here, he would have had me up by now.

    33:48-33:50

    My son-in-law is a big, strong guy.

    33:50-33:52

    You should see the size of my son-in-law.

    33:52-33:53

    He's got some big arms.

    33:53-33:55

    He would have had me up there by now.

    33:55-33:56

    And I'm pulling her up.

    33:56-34:01

    And she's like, yeah, if he was here, If he was here, he wouldn't be struggling like you are.

    34:01-34:05

    And I'm like, "Ugh!" No, I didn't do that.

    34:05-34:08

    I didn't do that, Mike.

    34:10-34:12

    The whole way up, I'm pulling her up.

    34:12-34:35

    And the whole, she's, "Yeah, oh, I just wish he was here "because, well, he wouldn't be struggling like you are." And then finally, I said to the woman, "You know, there's a big difference "between me and your son-in-law." And she's like, "What's that?" And I said, "He ain't here." Here's the point.

    34:38-34:42

    Power means nothing if it isn't present.

    34:45-34:50

    And God, the possessor of all power, promises to always be present.

    34:52-34:54

    I find that so compelling about Jesus.

    34:57-35:00

    You don't have to sit and wait for Him to show up after supper maybe sometime.

    35:02-35:04

    He's there all the time.

    35:06-35:18

    So, like Paul and his chains, there are some things in my life that I wouldn't wish upon you.

    35:20-35:33

    But like Paul, I would wish for you to discover what I have - Who pursued me when I was at my worst, and forgave me of all my sin.

    35:33-35:35

    Who accepted me just as I was.

    35:37-35:42

    Who totally changed my life, and He's with me forever, and He will do the same for you.

    35:44-35:46

    So take it from a satisfied customer.

    35:48-35:49

    I give Jesus five stars.

    35:51-35:51

    Let's pray.

    35:52-35:59

    Father in heaven, we thank you so much for the faithful testimony that you've preserved in your Word.

    36:02-36:10

    What a testimony of a man who didn't understand Jesus and hated Him, and then when he met Him, he gave his life for Him.

    36:12-36:18

    He spent his life pursued preaching and planting churches and enduring much.

    36:21-36:28

    So Father, I pray that we would sort of reevaluate in our own lives what place Christ has.

    36:31-36:46

    Not as duty or obligation, Father, but I pray that we would get back to the place where we are drawn to Christ because of what was so compelling about Christ that moment we first believed.

    36:49-37:10

    Father, I pray especially for anyone here, either in this room or going to be listening to this online, I pray that if there's someone who hasn't received Christ, that yes, certainly Jesus calls us to count the cost, but we also must count the cost of not following Christ.

    37:10-37:26

    But I pray, Father, that they would come to know this loving God who pursues us, this loving God who forgives us and who changes us, this loving God who is with us every step of every moment of every day.

    37:28-37:32

    To your glory and honor, Father, we pray in Jesus' name, amen.

Small Group Questions (Whole Group):
Read Acts 26 (share the reading load)

  1. If you were persuading someone to follow Christ (Acts 26:28), what are the top 3 reasons / benefits you would list?

  2. What prompted Paul to share his testimony to Agrippa? Why do you think Agrippa responded as he did?

  3. "Share the Gospel not like a salesman but like a satisfied customer." What does that mean? Does this explain why more Christians don’t witness? How can you get there in your own walk?

  4. What is your "big take-a-way" from this passage / message?
     

Breakout Questions:

Pray for area churches as the Gospel is proclaimed this Christmas.