Review / Intro:
- What is burnout?
- What causes the stress?
- What are the signs?
- Why does it happen to some people and not others?
- How can I keep it from happening to me?
1 Corinthians 2:3 - And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling...
Am I Preventing Burnout in My Own Life?
- Am I nurturing the Relationships God has brought into my life? (Acts 18:1-6)
- Am I recognizing how God is Working in my life? (Acts 18:7-8)
- Am I personally Seeking God? (Acts 18:9-11)
- Am I Trusting God with what I can't control? (Acts 18:12-17)
Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint: Highlight blanks above for answers!
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00:51-00:55
Open your Bibles with me please to the book of Acts, and chapter 18.
00:57-01:01
And this church sits on four pillars.
01:02-01:06
The first one is proclaiming the authority of God's Word without apology.
01:07-01:10
The second one is lifting high the name of Jesus in worship.
01:11-01:13
The third one is believing firmly in the power of prayer.
01:14-01:18
The fourth one is sharing the good news of Jesus with boldness.
01:19-01:22
And let's get into God's Word together.
01:23-01:29
And if you're visiting with us, we've been going through the book of Acts over the past year and a half or so.
01:29-01:46
And our theme this year is "The Unstoppable Church." And the title of today's message is "Unstoppable Over Burnouts." So this morning, we're going to talk about burnout.
01:47-01:54
And I know there's somebody here right now that's like, this is a subject I can really get into.
01:54-01:56
One time we barred my cousin's Camaro.
01:59-02:02
We were doing burnouts all over Zillianopole.
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We're not talking about that kind of burnout.
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We're talking about physical burnouts.
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How many people here would say, by show of hands, and this is a place where we can be honest and transparent, right?
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Right?
02:23-02:24
Right?
02:24-02:25
OK.
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Just checking.
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How many people here would say, at some point in my life-- maybe it's now-- at some point in my life, I have felt either burnout or close to being burnout?
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How many people here?
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Raise your hands.
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That's almost everybody.
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It's in the introduction of the sermon that the pastor is supposed to sell you on why you need to listen to what I'm about to say, but I don't think I need to sell you.
02:55-03:02
Because you've either experienced it, or maybe you're experiencing it right now.
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Somehow, with all the technology that we have to make life easier, We're busier and we are more stressed than ever.
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The truth about burnout is we are all susceptible.
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It can sneak up on you before you know it, before you realize it, and it can wreck your life.
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So what is burnout for the person here that's like, "Wait, wait, wait, you lost me when you said "it's not borrowing your cousin's Camaro." What is burnout?
03:39-04:06
this down for definition. Very simple. Burnout is physical and/or mental collapse caused by excessive and prolonged stress resulting in exhaustion and detachment. I'm going to Say that again.
04:08-04:08
What is burnout?
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Burnout is physical and or mental collapse caused by excessive and prolonged stress resulting in exhaustion and detachment.
04:26-04:31
Okay, so burnout is, it's a physical thing and it's a mental thing.
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And it comes about when the stress is heavy and prolonged.
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You've had a lot of stress for a long time.
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And the result is you are exhausted.
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And I also included the word detachment.
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You're just, you're done.
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Like, look, look, man, I've crashed.
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I am fried.
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I am completely fried.
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And my tank is empty.
05:00-05:01
My tank is empty.
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Well, what causes the stress?
05:05-05:06
What causes the stress?
05:06-05:14
Well, a lot of times it's the pressure of having too much to do and not enough time to do it.
05:15-05:20
The stress can be caused by the weight of expectations that are put on you by others.
05:21-05:25
What I found more often is the weight of the expectations that you put on yourself.
05:27-05:31
You reach a point where you can't do anymore.
05:33-05:38
More specifically, and here's the thing with burnout, you reach the point where you don't want to do anymore, right?
05:40-05:43
Not only do you feel physically worn out, you're mentally worn out.
05:43-05:44
Whether you're like, you know, I'm done.
05:44-05:45
I'm done.
05:45-05:46
I can't do anymore.
05:46-05:47
I'm done.
05:47-05:48
I've had enough.
05:49-06:03
You know, I've been pushing, and I've been pushing, and I've been working, and I'm Alright, I'm done, and I don't care who it bothers, I don't care who's upset about it, I'm done!
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Not my problem anymore, I'm done, I can't do anymore!
06:10-06:11
So what are the signs?
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What are the signs of burnout?
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Well, here's where it gets a little tricky, because it's not just one thing.
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You realize, church, that we are body, mind, and spirit, And each one of those things affects the other two.
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True or false?
06:30-06:30
True.
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You are body minus spirit.
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When your body is worn out, does that affect your mind and your spirit?
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All the time.
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Or when you're spiritually in a bad place, does that affect your mind and your body?
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Absolutely.
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So these things are all interconnected, and you see signs of burnouts in all three.
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for example, physical, your body.
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You know you're burning out when you experience a lot of fatigue.
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Or insomnia.
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Or an increased appetite or a decreased appetite, or to just put it under a couple of headings.
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When you find that your sleep and your eating are off, That can be a sign.
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Mental.
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Mental signs of burnout. Impaired concentration.
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You're angry. You're irritable.
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You don't seem to be enjoying anything in life.
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You feel alone and you feel sort of detached.
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Those are mental signs. There are spiritual signs too.
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Spiritual signs. Anxiety.
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Depression. No passion for church. Disinterest in personal time with God.
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The funny thing about burnout is it's not a sudden thing. It's not like you're going along one day and everything's great in the neighborhood and boom the balloon pops. You're like, "Oh I'm done!" See it happens over time.
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It's like the slow leak in the balloon, not the pop of the balloon. And that is slowly sucking the life out of you, sucking the life out of you, to the point that the balloon's flat, and you're just like, "I'm done. How did I get here?" "I was so optimistic when I started this job." "I was so happy when I started this marriage." "I was so overjoyed when I joined this church." "Now I'm not really into any of it anymore." The air has come out of the balloon.
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It results in exhaustion and cynicism.
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Again, detachments.
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Being burnt out, you feel helpless and hopeless.
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I'm done.
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I can't do anymore.
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I can't go anymore.
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And I don't care.
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It's destructive.
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People get burnt out on their marriage and just walk out.
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I just walk out.
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I know I made a commitment to the Lord.
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I don't care.
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I don't care!
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I am super not with you!
09:25-09:25
I'm done.
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People walk out on their job.
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What are you going to do for a paycheck?
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I don't care.
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But I'll tell you one thing I'm not doing.
09:34-09:36
That job, I'm done.
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And sadly, I've seen this a lot over the 20 plus years I've been in ministry, People walk out on their ministry.
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People that have been serving the Lord, serving the Lord, serving the Lord, making disciples, teaching the Word, loving people, serving people, all of a sudden they're like, "I'm done.
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I don't want anything to do with church, period.
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Not just this church, any church. I'm done." Another question I had walking through this stuff this week, thinking through, Why does burnout happen to some people and not to others?
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That's food for thought.
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But here's the question that we're going to answer this morning.
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How can I keep it from happening to me?
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Look at Acts chapter 18.
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In Acts chapter 18, Paul is continuing his missionary journey that we've been studying.
10:32-10:48
In Acts 18 it says, "After this, Paul left Athens and went to Corinth." And at this point, I can tell you confidently that Paul is approaching burnout at this point in his ministry.
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You're like, "Well, how in the world did you come up with that?" Well, there's a couple clues.
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I'm going to sort of give you this backdrop, and you're going to see it as we go through the text.
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Here's the first clue.
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Corinthians 2, verse 3 says this.
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Paul said, "And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling." He's telling the Corinthians, this is the state that I was in when I first met you.
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You can go back and read the whole context.
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But notice how he describes himself.
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I think we think of Paul as a super preacher, right?
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He just took on all these naysayers in Athens and we think he just walks through town with his chest out.
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I'm here to tell you about Jesus and you're gonna listen and we just we think well, that's Paul That's that's just a day in the life of Paul. He said I was with you said a weakness and In fear and much trembling. Can you see that you see this broken-down man walking into town just Burn out burn out. Here's another clue We're going to see in this passage here in just a few minutes in a verse 9 Acts chapter 18 verse 9 Look at what God says to Paul. This is the Lord speaking to Paul Verse 9 the Lord said to Paul one night in a vision Do not be afraid but go on speaking and do not be silent. Now, why would God say that?
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There's only one reason God would say that is because Paul was considering what?
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He's considering quitting Right if Paul was going strong and the Lord shows up again Paul I want you to keep preaching and I was like yeah, I kind of am Paul don't be silent Not no intention Obviously, that's not the case. God wouldn't have said that unless Comparing notes with first Corinthians 2 3 and x 89 I think it's pretty obvious Paul was Afraid I'm done. I am so done with this.
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How did he get there?
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Well, when you look at what we've been studying this year in Acts, just this year, we saw in Thessalonica the jealous Jews who incited a mob to a riot and pawn company go to Berea.
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But the troublemakers from Thessalonica chased them down, right?
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and they chased Paul out. Paul's escorted alone all the way to Athens.
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As we said, that's where he preached to the pagans.
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A passionate servant, one of my favorites in the Bible, and they were mostly like, "Eh, interesting." Some believed, praise the Lord, but a lot of them were like, "Eh, maybe we'll hear you again on this." Paul was going full speed for too long, and in this chapter in Acts, it was by himself.
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It's obvious he's a prime candidate for burnout.
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Good news.
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Good news today.
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That's why we're here.
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Good news.
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Burnout can be prevented.
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We're going to see in this passage what prevented Paul from crashing and what's going to prevent you from crashing.
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So in your outline, I want you to jot some things down.
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Am I preventing burnout in my own life?
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Okay. This is one of those you have to give yourself a test, right?
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2 Corinthians 13.5 says examine yourself.
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Okay? I don't examine you, you examine you, I examine me, right?
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So self-test, self-test.
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Am I preventing burnout in my own life?
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I'm going to give you a hint on this test.
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We're not supposed to do this, but I'm going to give you a hint on the front end.
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If you answer negatively to these questions, then you're heading for burnout.
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Okay? I'm telling you that right now.
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Honest look at yourself, but if you're saying no to these questions, you're heading for a burnout in your own life.
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First question, number one, am I nurturing the relationships God has brought into my life?
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Am I nurturing the relationships God has brought into my life?
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Pick up again, after this, Paul left Athens, Acts 18, and went to Corinth.
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And he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla.
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Because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to leave Rome, and he went to see them.
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Because he was of the same trade, he stayed with them and worked, for they were tent makers by trade.
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And he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath in trying to persuade Jews and Greeks." So it says that Paul ended up in Corinth.
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A lot can be said about Corinth, but I just want to give you an overview.
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was an extremely sinful city, known for its huge temple to the pagan goddess Aphrodite, whose priestesses were prostitutes.
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In fact, in this day, Corinth was such a sinful city, it was actually an insult to call somebody by that name.
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Like, you're nothing but a Corinthian.
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That was, as we said in Isaiah, them's fighting words. Right?
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That tells you what kind of a place this was that Paul was walking into.
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It was a cesspool of sin.
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And in this place he meets Aquila and Priscilla, a husband and wife who become very close friends of Paul's.
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Look at verse 5.
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It says, "When Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedonia, Paul was occupied with the Word." to the Jews that the Christ was Jesus.
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When they opposed and reviled him, he shook out his garments and said to them, "What's going on here?" He shakes out his garments.
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Maybe you're familiar with the passage in the Bible where Jesus talks about shaking the dust off your shoes.
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This is the same thing.
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It was just this idea of, "You know what? I'm leaving, I don't want any of your germs or cooties on me because you have rejected Jesus Christ." That's the problem here.
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He says, "I've showed you from the Bible that the Christ, the promised Messiah, is Jesus of Nazareth.
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You want nothing to do?
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You want to mock? You want to insult?
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I'm shaking?
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Whatever particles of you are on me as I walk out of here." Look at what he says.
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"Your blood be on your own heads.
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I'm innocent.
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From now on, I will go to the Gentiles." Paul's like, "You know what?
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I've been preaching to you Jews every time I roll into town.
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I'm going to the Gentiles.
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I'm going to find somebody that wants to hear this message." But notice in this passage, not only did he meet Aquila and Priscilla, but finally, Silas and Timothy catch up.
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I think we're seeing here in God's Word this is exactly what Paul needed, He's been on a long stretch of being alone.
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And the Lord surrounded him with friends.
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Some new ones and some old ones.
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But the Lord surrounded him with people.
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In churches, this is absolutely true, people that are heading to burnouts.
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They isolate themselves.
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They're alone.
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I can do it myself.
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I don't need anyone's help.
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You know people like that?
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Are you like that?
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I don't need help.
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You don't work these done, and I can't count on anybody.
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I'm going to take care of it.
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Just put it all on my back, man.
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I'm going to take it." You're going to burn yourself out because you were never meant to do it alone.
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Remember the passage that Mark just read up here talking about how in the church, we all have different gifts?
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Why is that?
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We're to use them to serve one another.
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We are here to take care of each other.
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The idea of, "Well, I love Jesus, but not the church, and I don't need to be part of a church body," that is completely foreign to the New Testament.
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We are called to be a part of a body.
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Part of that is so we can bear one another's burdens and share the load together.
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The idea of being detached from other people, we sort of wear it as a badge of pride, don't we?
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"I don't need anybody.
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I can do it all myself." That's why over and over at Harvest Bible Chapel, we stress small group involvement.
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It's not a fad. It's not a gimmick.
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In fact, it could be a lifesaver.
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In small groups, you encounter mutual encouragement.
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In small groups, you have mutual prayer.
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In small groups, you have mutual accountability.
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In small groups, you have a focus on the Lord.
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on other people. In small groups you share the load. You realize that none of those things that I just mentioned can be done by yourself. You can't do any of those things by yourself.
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That's why we encourage you, if you're not part of a small group, get to be part of one.
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How do I do that? Smallgroups@harvestpittsburgnorth.org. Send that Ryan up here that was giving the announcements, he coordinates our small group ministry, say, "Hey, I want to be part of I love our small group.
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And the more I talk to people that are involved in small groups in this church, the more I see how the Lord is using people.
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The question you have to ask yourself, "Am I nurturing the relationships God has brought into my life?" Imagine if Paul meets Aquila and Priscilla, "I don't need anybody.
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It's just me and the Lord." And Silas and Timothy show up, "I don't need you guys now.
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I've been doing fine without you.
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We're going to see in just a few verses that he wouldn't have made it.
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He would not have made it.
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And you're no apostle, Paul, and neither am I.
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We're not going to make it without people.
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So I'm not asking you, do you have relationships in your life?
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I'm asking you, are you nurturing them?
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Are you intentionally spending time with fellow believers?
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If you're not, you're heading for a bad place.
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Second question, am I recognizing how God is working in my life?
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Am I recognizing how God is working in my life?
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Quickly, look at verses 7 and 8.
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It says, "And he left there and went to the house of a man named Tidius Justice." Can we just pause for a second and acknowledge what an awesome name that is?
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Can we?
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"How did I not read this before naming my children?" He went to the house of a man named Titus Justus, a worshiper of God.
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His house was next door to the synagogue.
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Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, believed in the Lord together with his entire household, and many of the Corinthians, hearing Paul, believed and were baptized.
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Boom.
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The question here, am I recognizing God is working in my life.
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See, this question, church, this is a matter of focus.
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All could have lamented all that's happened before.
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Every time I preach to the Jews, every time I'm rebutted, I'm insulted, I'm harassed, I've been stoned, I've been beaten, I've been imprisoned.
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Every time I roll into town, I want to tell somebody about Jesus and they chase me out.
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It's so easy to focus on the negative, and Paul had much negative in his life from our perspective.
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But you see how the focus in this passage turns to the good things that God was doing.
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Not focusing on the hardships that he was experiencing.
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That's going to be a key to keep you from burning out.
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Because let's be honest, it's easy to do.
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It's easy to do.
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I want you to think of your workplace home right now, okay? Like, I don't do that on Sunday. Come on, do it. Think of your workplace in your home, if you work in the home, okay? Or if you work outside the home, I want you to think of your workplace. I want you to think about your workplace, and let's say in a week's time, you've received a hundred compliments for the job that you've done.
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Great work. I appreciate you. You're doing a great job. Thank you. But also, during the over the course of that week, you get one complaint.
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I don't think you know what you're doing here.
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Let me ask you.
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Which sticks with you?
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The 100 compliments?
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Or the one complaint?
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Which one? Go ahead, shout it out.
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The complaint. So it's not just me.
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It's not just me.
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Over the course of ministry, I get people - Pastor Jeff, the Lord really used that sermon.
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Pastor Jeff, thank you so much for being at the hospital.
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whatever it is, and I appreciate that, that's encouraging, but I'll tell you what, that person that sends the insult, like, I don't know, I don't even know if you have a relationship with God or some like obvious insulting thing, and Aaron can be like, "Well, you know that that person doesn't know you, and that person has no idea what you're doing, and that's the thing that'll bother me. I don't even know this guy and he's... But we have a tendency to focus on the negative and I just want to encourage you and in turn encourage myself that is going to burn us out when we work so hard and so long and feeling so ineffective because we're only focusing on the negative. I encourage you look around what is happening in your life right now that are obvious signs that God is at work.
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Just keep a little list.
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What's happening in your life right now that you're saying, "I see where God's at work.
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I see where God's at work in my kids.
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I see where God's at work.
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I've been witnessing to this guy at work, and I see how God's sort of opening the door for that.
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And I can see, you know, this illness I've been praying for, whether myself or somebody else, I see how God's been bringing healing in a way He's been revealing Himself through this." Focus on the things you see that God is doing.
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we're reminded right here, even amidst all the garbage that Paul had to deal with, I have this verse underlined in red in my Bible.
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Many of the Corinthians hearing Paul believed were baptized.
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Focus on the good, all right?
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Look at what God's doing in your life.
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Take time to celebrate that stuff.
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Third question.
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This is huge.
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Again, intentional wording here, but the third question is, am I personally seeking God?
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I don't mean that I do my daily devotions, which certainly you should do.
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I'm talking about personally seeking God.
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I don't mean just punching the clock.
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OK, I read my three Bible chapters today.
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I said my God bless grandma prayers.
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I mean, you are personally seeking the Lord with your whole heart.
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Am I personally seeking God?
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Because nothing, church, listen to me, nothing can replace your personal walk with Christ.
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Not trying harder.
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Not medicine.
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Not therapy.
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All of those things have their place.
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But none can replace your walk with Christ.
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I'm going to say that again.
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Not trying harder, not medicine, not therapy.
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These things have their place, but they can't replace your walk with Christ.
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If you have a physical problem, see a doctor.
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Absolutely.
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Anybody that comes to me for counseling, it's one of the first questions I ask them.
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Have you been to a doctor lately?
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Because we are body, mind, and spirit, and we're all tied together.
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But let's look at the other end of that, shall we?
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If you're having a spiritual problem, your PCP's not gonna be able to handle that.
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Only Jesus Christ can handle that.
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If you have a headache, take an aspirin.
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If you're having a spiritual problem, you need to go to Christ for that.
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Is everybody with me on that?
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You're like, "Seek the Lord, can you be more specific?" Well, certainly.
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Look at verses 9 and 10.
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I want you to see how the Lord met Paul.
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And the Lord said to Paul one night in a vision, "Do not be afraid, but go on speaking, and do not be silent, for I am with you, and no one will attack you to harm you." "For I have many in this city who are My people." You see how the Lord met Paul.
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Two things.
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With commands and promises.
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Did you see it?
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Verse 9 is commands.
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Three of them.
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Three commands.
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One, "Do not be afraid." Paul, I know you're scared right now, but listen, I'm telling you right now, don't be afraid.
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Command number one.
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What's the second command?
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Shout it out if you saw it.
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Go on speaking. Go on speaking.
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The third command is what? "Shout it out." "Do not be silent." Okay? "Keep preaching the gospel." Basically, he was saying, "Don't quit. Don't quit, Paul." Those are the commands.
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And then, okay, so look at the next verse.
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We see three promises.
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What's the first one? Verse 10. What's the first promise?
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Shout it out, come on.
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Is there a more beautiful promise that anybody can be given than for God to say, "Hey, I'm with you." You're going through some rough stuff right now, but listen.
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I'm with you.
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Those words change everything, don't they? I'm with you.
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To know that the God of the universe is with you, what a beautiful promise.
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Look at the next one. Do you see it?
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Verse 10, shout it out.
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Yeah, no one will harm you.
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I put in my notes, the promise here is I will protect you.
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Right? God says I'll protect you.
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But God, there's like all these people asking me.
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I'm with you, and I'm going to protect you, man.
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I'm going to protect you.
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Okay, what's the last one? Verse 10.
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I have many in this city who are my people.
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What's the promise?
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The promise is you're not alone.
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You're not alone.
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Because Paul was obviously feeling that at this point.
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Like all burnout people do.
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Nobody understands.
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I just feel so alone.
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No, no, no, you're not alone.
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You're not alone.
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Commands and promises.
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Listen, when we're at our lowest, those are the things that the Lord's going to use to comfort you.
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Commands and promises.
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Right now you're reading this with me, and you're like, "Pastor Jeff, I hear what you're saying, but Paul, man...
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Paul had God give him specific commands and promises.
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I wish...
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Oh, I wish I had commands and promises from God." Is there somebody here saying that?
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I just wish that God gave me some commands and promises.
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And some of you have a knowing smile right now.
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Did God give you commands and promises?
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Did God give you commands?
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Okay, if you have commands and promises from God, hold them up.
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Hold them up.
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Do you have?
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Oh, okay.
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Okay, so we do.
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We do have commands and promises from God.
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He wrote them down in here.
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We have a whole book of them.
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So, do what God calls and empowers you to do, because there's a promise attached to it.
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See, God says to love others, even my enemies.
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That's the command.
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Why?
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Because it makes me like Him.
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Makes me more like God.
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Here's a command, God says to share the gospel.
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Why?
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Because He takes care of the results.
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Here's a command, God says to give cheerfully.
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Why?
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Here's the promise, because He gives back to me.
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Here's a command God says to persevere.
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Why?
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Because there's a crown at the finish line.
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See?
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I could go on.
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All through God's Word, commands and promises, commands and promises.
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And for the person that says, "I don't like God's commands." Well, I've got to tell you, you're not in good biblical company, because the psalmist said, I love the commandments and the statutes of the Lord.
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Not seeing them as burdensome or restricted, but saying, "I love the communication that God has given.
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I love the fact that there's a God who cares so much about me that He's giving me instruction for my life." "Well, Pastor Jeff, keeping God's commandments doesn't save you." I know, but that doesn't mean that we don't love the commands of God.
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Because through the commands of God, He's revealed His heart.
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He's attached a promise to them. Right?
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Does that make sense?
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I can start over.
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This encounter was refreshing. Look at verse 11.
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"He stayed a year and six months teaching the Word of God among them." Apparently it had some effect because Paul kept going.
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The total time there was a year and a half.
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And you're going to find, like Paul, when you let the Lord be your strength, when you let the Lord be your strength, you can't be stopped.
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You cannot be stopped.
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I promise you, based on the authority of God's Word, if you're trusting in your own strength, you're going to burn out.
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But if you're leaning on the strength only God can give you.
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You cannot be stopped.
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Am I personally seeking God?
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Last question.
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Last question.
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Am I trusting God with what I can't control?
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Look at verses 12 and 13.
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It's a familiar scene.
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But when Galileo was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews made a united attack on Paul He was brought in before the tribunal.
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It was the court.
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It was in the marketplace on a big stone pavement.
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It was like this open public courthouse thing.
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He was the authority.
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Like the mayor, the judge, all of it rolled into one.
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The official title was pro-counsel.
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And the Jews attacked Paul, dragged him to court, so to speak.
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Verse 13, saying, "This man is persuading people to worship God contrary to the law." We've seen this so many times, right?
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So Paul's dragged into court, and he's accused.
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But there's not a familiar outcome.
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Even though the scene's familiar, the outcome is really different this time around.
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Look at verse 14.
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So when Paul was about to open his mouth, Galio said to the Jews, "If it were a matter of wrongdoing or vicious crime, O Jews, I would have reason to accept your complaint.
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But since it is a matter of questions about words and names and your own law, see to it yourselves.
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I refuse to be a judge of these things.
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And he drove them from the tribunal.
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I'll be honest with you, I wasn't expecting that.
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Not how these cases typically end up in the Bible.
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Verse 17, "And they all see Sostenes, the ruler of the synagogue." Like, wait, I thought Christmas was.
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Christmas came to Christ.
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He and his household, and he had to be replaced, right?
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So the replacement was a man named Sostenes.
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They all see Sostenes, ruler of the synagogue, and beat him in front of the tribunal.
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What?
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Anybody else with me on that?
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What's going on there?
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They dragged Paul to court.
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We don't like what he's doing, and the judge says, "I don't care." grab their leader and they kick his teeth in like out in the marketplace like Galeo paid no attention to any of this he's like guess what I still don't care his attitude was look no real harm is being done it's not my business I don't care um why was Sostenese beaten I don't know I don't know why but eventually The same man came to Christ because in 1 Corinthians 1, verse 1, he's mentioned specifically.
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And I have to wonder, I don't know, but I have to wonder, was it because of this?
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Was it because of what he saw from Paul and what he was seeing from his own people?
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I don't know.
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The burnout people often carry this sense of, "I'm trying so hard, why isn't it working?
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Why aren't people on board? Why is there so much opposition?
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If you are banking on your control of things, on your control of things, if you're banking on your control of people, you're heading for burnout.
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I want you to take a hard inventory right now. The hard inventory right now of the things that are stressing you.
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Okay. This is a little test within a test.
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The thing stressing you right now, I'm going to ask you some questions, and these are yes or no questions.
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How much of these things that are stressing you are actually outside of your control in the first place?
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So, I'm going to ask you a question, and you're going to write down yes or no answering this.
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Is it in my control?
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Is it in my control?
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You ready?
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Doing my job.
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Is that in your control?
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Yes or no?
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Write it down, doing your job.
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Yes or no, is that in your control?
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Alright, let's check our answers.
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What did you put?
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Yes, yes that's in your control.
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Keeping a good attitude.
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Is that in your control, yes or no?
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Go ahead. Yes.
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Good. All right.
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Other people's attitudes.
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Is that in your control?
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Yes or no?
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No. And we're stressing about that again.
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Why? Other people complaining.
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Is that in your control?
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No. Other people criticizing the work that you're doing.
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Is that in your control?
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Now, I just want to encourage you, the things that you can't control, easy prayer.
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God, I'm trusting you to deal with them.
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Paul, he was once again thrust into a situation beyond his control, thrust into court.
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But God in His sovereignty, you know God's not just sovereign over the church, He's also sovereign over the secular realm.
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And God in His sovereignty took care of Paul.
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God and His sovereignty is going to take care of you too.
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Do what God has called you to do, but trust Him for what you can't control.
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Okay?
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Now look at your answers on your outline.
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Look at your answers.
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Am I nurturing the relationship God has brought into my life?
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Am I recognizing how God is working in my life?
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Am I personally seeking God and am I trusting God for what I can't control?
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Look at your answers.
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If you answered "no" to these questions, to any of these questions, you are heading for a devastating burnout.
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Because it means you've isolated yourself, number one.
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It means you're focusing on the negative, number two.
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It means, number three, you're not spending time with God.
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Number four, it means you're trying to control everything.
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You're stressing about the things that you can't.
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You're heading for a bad place.
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But I want to encourage you, by God's grace, if you've answered yes to these questions, or if you will seek the Lord on turning the no's into yes's, you are going to cross the finish line strong.
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If you will nurture your relationships, if you will focus on what God is accomplishing in your life, if you will be diligent to spend time alone with the Lord, obedient to His calling and claiming His promises, through it all trusting God for things that you can't control, there's going to be at least another 30,000 miles on your tires.
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Let's pray.
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We are all susceptible, like Paul, to burning out.
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God, I pray for my brothers and sisters here.
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We saw the hands up earlier.
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They've either experienced it, and there might be some experiencing it right now.
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God, we try to wage fleshly and mental and spiritual wars all in the flesh.
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We want to try harder.
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We want to spend longer hours.
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There's certainly nothing wrong with hard work.
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There is certainly something wrong when the hard work replaces the spiritual work that only you are able to accomplish.
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Father, I pray that today is a self-checkpoint for all of us.
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that if we see ourselves heading in the wrong direction, and we're heading towards burnout, I pray that your Holy Spirit would empower a U-turn today.
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We don't want to be people who quit on our jobs.
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Much more, we don't want to be people who quit on our ministry.
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And so much more, we don't want to be people who quit on our families.
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By your grace, Lift these people up to you today, Father.
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Let us wait upon the Lord.
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Be renewed in the strength that you've promised.
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Pray in Jesus' name, amen.
Small Group Questions (Whole Group):
Read Acts 18:1-17
Have you ever felt burnout, or felt like you were close? Describe how that felt. What did you do?
How do we know Paul was experiencing burnout in this part of his ministry? (Hint: Acts 18:9)
How do healthy relationships prevent burnout?
How do God's commands and promises bring encouragement? (See Psalm 119:35)
Breakout Questions:
Go around the group (or breakout group), take turns answering the 4 sermon point questions with a YES or NO.
Am I Nurturing the Relationships God Has Brought Into My Life? (Acts 18:1-6)
Am I Recognizing How God is Working in My Life? (Acts 18:7-8)
Am I Personally Seeking God? (Acts 18:9-11)
Am I Trusting God with What I Can’t Control? (Acts 18:12-17)
Do you feel on the way to burnout? How can you use these principles to prevent burnout in your own life?