We're All in this Together with Jesus

Paul vs Saul

Acts 21:37–22:24 NLT

As Paul was about to be taken inside, he said to the commander, “May I have a word with you?” “Do you know Greek?” the commander asked, surprised. “Aren’t you the Egyptian who led a rebellion some time ago and took 4,000 members of the Assassins out into the desert?” “No,” Paul replied, “I am a Jew and a citizen of Tarsus in Cilicia, which is an important city. Please, let me talk to these people.” The commander agreed, so Paul stood on the stairs and motioned to the people to be quiet. Soon a deep silence enveloped the crowd, and he addressed them in their own language, Aramaic. “Brothers and esteemed fathers,” Paul said, “listen to me as I offer my defense.” When they heard him speaking in their own language, the silence was even greater. Then Paul said, “I am a Jew, born in Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, and I was brought up and educated here in Jerusalem under Gamaliel. As his student, I was carefully trained in our Jewish laws and customs. I became very zealous to honor God in everything I did, just like all of you today. And I persecuted the followers of the Way, hounding some to death, arresting both men and women and throwing them in prison. The high priest and the whole council of elders can testify that this is so. For I received letters from them to our Jewish brothers in Damascus, authorizing me to bring the followers of the Way from there to Jerusalem, in chains, to be punished. “As I was on the road, approaching Damascus about noon, a very bright light from heaven suddenly shone down around me. I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?’ “ ‘Who are you, lord?’ I asked. “And the voice replied, ‘I am Jesus the Nazarene, the one you are persecuting.’ The people with me saw the light but didn’t understand the voice speaking to me. “I asked, ‘What should I do, Lord?’ “And the Lord told me, ‘Get up and go into Damascus, and there you will be told everything you are to do.’ “I was blinded by the intense light and had to be led by the hand to Damascus by my companions. A man named Ananias lived there. He was a godly man, deeply devoted to the law, and well regarded by all the Jews of Damascus. He came and stood beside me and said, ‘Brother Saul, regain your sight.’ And that very moment I could see him! “Then he told me, ‘The God of our ancestors has chosen you to know his will and to see the Righteous One and hear him speak. For you are to be his witness, telling everyone what you have seen and heard. What are you waiting for? Get up and be baptized. Have your sins washed away by calling on the name of the Lord.’ “After I returned to Jerusalem, I was praying in the Temple and fell into a trance. I saw a vision of Jesus saying to me, ‘Hurry! Leave Jerusalem, for the people here won’t accept your testimony about me.’ “ ‘But Lord,’ I argued, ‘they certainly know that in every synagogue I imprisoned and beat those who believed in you. And I was in complete agreement when your witness Stephen was killed. I stood by and kept the coats they took off when they stoned him.’ “But the Lord said to me, ‘Go, for I will send you far away to the Gentiles!’ ” The crowd listened until Paul said that word. Then they all began to shout, “Away with such a fellow! He isn’t fit to live!” They yelled, threw off their coats, and tossed handfuls of dust into the air. The commander brought Paul inside and ordered him lashed with whips to make him confess his crime. He wanted to find out why the crowd had become so furious.

Acts 21:37-

There are a few very important things here that Paul is trying to communicate to his fellow Jews.

He is using his own story to explain the transition in his life from where he was to where he is now.

By his own example, he's hoping people will understand that they are now where he once was.

The Apostle Paul was completely sold out and zealous in his desire to please God. But the same could also be said for the Pharisee Saul

--Slow Down--

There is a big difference between...

Self-Directed zeal

and

Christ-Directed zeal

-- Kenai vs Togo --

My nephew and niece went out and got a dog a while back. A Siberian Husky. They named him Kenai

Kenai is a bit of a loose cannon in the backyard which Laura and I share with their family.

This is Togo

Now, full disclosure, I haven't had the opportunity to watch the movie yet, but I know the story well.

When my dad was growing up, he spent a couple years living and working with Joe Reddington who was one of the originators of the Ididarod race which memorialized the Great Race of Mercy from Seward to Nome, Alaska.

In 1924, diphtheria was running rampant through Nome, Alaska and the only way to get the antitoxin through was 674 miles by sled dog. Togo was the lead dog for 261 miles of that trip.

You might also remember Balto, who finished the journey. But he only did the last 55 miles. A normal sled dog could do about 70 miles per day.

The thing was, though when Togo was a puppy, he was very much like Kenai. He was energetic and self-directed. He broke out of a house after being sold and ran back to his family.

It was only through the direction of his trainer that he became the dog we all remember today

This reminds me of another person...

Gideon

I'm going to paraphrase and condense the story because we don't really have time for me to nerd my way through the whole thing. There's the thing about threshing in the winepress and then later laying the fleece in the open threshing floor, UGH!

In we come upon Israel in utter distress and a man named Gideon threshing wheat in a hole so that it wouldn't get stolen by Midianites, Amalekites or anyone else.

He's sneaking home with his wheat and happens upon a man sitting under a tree. The Angel of the Lord. This is understood to be a Christophany. The pre-incarnate Christ, second person of the Trinity speaking to Gideon. (We did a 22 week series in our middle school Sunday school class on the Christophanies through the Old Testament last year. )

"Mighty hero! The LORD is with you! Go and deliver Israel!"

Gideon was the worst of his family, of the lowest family of the least tribe. Worst of the least of the lowest.

Gideon, son of Joash, tribe of Abiezer

I hope you all know this story 22,000 men came out to fight against 135,000 warriors but God narrowed it down to 10,000 and then down to 300. 300 Israelites fought against 135,000 warriors and had absolute victory.

When Gideon was self-directed he was sneaky and self serving

He operated solely for keeping himself alive.

-- Next Slide --

but then when Christ came along and directed him, he became self surrendered

-- Next Slide --

But it was not an optional thing for Gideon to use the power of God rather than his own strength, we need to pay attention to that.

The power of God in us is Not Optional

How do we get there?

How do we go from self-directed to Christ-Directed?

That's the million dollar question!

We need God to hear us, forgive us and heal us

I wrote my book on this verse... but you don't need to buy the book because this is it.

2 Chronicles 7:14

Humble

++Humble

Not me, but God

++Pray

++Seek

Pray

Acknowledge my situation and God's sovereignty over it

++Repent

Seek

++All of these things are works of _Surrender_ not _Strength_

Ask for His will

Repent

Ask for forgiveness for wherever we did things without Him

Notting Hill Carnival

Several months ago Laura and I went to London and spent a few weeks at the YWAM base where she did her DTS.

I wrote my book on this verse... but you don't need to buy the book because this is it.

Humble

Every year this group does an outreach in the Notting Hill Carnival.

I had no frame of reference before going to this "Carnival" but I assumed it had some sort of posh British carousel or Ferris wheel... nope.

Not me, but God

Pray

The three largest carnivals in the world are, Carnivale in Rio, Notting Hill Carnival and then Mardi Gras... in that order. Imagine Mardi Gras but without all the organization...

Acknowledge my situation and God's sovereignty over it

2 million people all smashed into about 10 square blocks. A constant stream of semi trucks loaded with insanely dressed people and subwoofers the size of the average sedan.

Laura and I were helping with the outreach but mostly we got to photograph and document what God was doing.

Seek

Ask for His will

In the days leading up to the Carnival, all of the houses and shops in the neighborhood get boarded up and barricades are placed all the way around so vehicles can't get in.

We have a few pictures...

Repent

Ask for forgiveness for wherever we did things without Him

Some of the statistics are...

The pubs in the neighborhood would board up everything but a small window, through which they would, over two days, sell enough alcohol to pay their rent for the entire year.

There were 37 stabbings while we were there and just under 400 arrests.

Our team was comprised of more than 80 people from 12 different countries with one singular goal. To celebrate the name of Jesus joyfully in a dark place.

We had flags, drums, stilts, a 25 foot tall cross on wheels with the names of Jesus spray painted on it. We threw out confetti with promises from God written on each one. We had a quarter million of them that we had cut by hand in shifts for two weeks. We had signs with words from Jesus on them. We had invitations to church.

You would see people drunk, stumbling through the street and then reach down, grab a handful of promises off the ground and shove them in their pockets.

The ground was completely covered in promises..

People literally walking on the promises of God.

This gets me to my story...

We had night outreaches in this were they sent small groups out to hand out invitations to church and talk to people. The leader of the base pointed at me and made me a leader of one of these groups.

Now, I had never actually done any kind of street outreach and here I was doing this thing I had never done in one of the most dangerous places I have ever been. So as we are walking out under the street lamps into these crowds I'm having a serious conversation with God.

"Well, God, what are you going to do with this? You're going to have to do this because I'm instantly and completely out of my depth."

"Good!"

So then I'm asking Him where to go and he directs me to this empty side street where all the street lights were out... Not my favorite place.

I realized later that this dark, empty side street was the transition space between two crowds and everyone we talked to in there was in some kind of transition. A group of Filipino kids who just moved to London, a man from South Carolina and his nephew, in town for his Father's funeral... the list goes on. We got to talk to people, invite them to church and pray with a few of them. It was amazing and not because of our strength or zeal... it was all because we were surrendered to God's will in that moment.

Summary

Philippians 2:13 NLT

For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him.

2 Peter 1:3 NLT

By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence.

Romans 8:11 NLT

The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living within you.

Romans 12:2 NLT

Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.

The list goes on!

In all of these we see God as the active participant in giving and empowering, encouraging and transforming and us in the receiving position through surrender.

The difference between Self-Directed and Christ-Directed is this

When we are self-directed, we act out of fear and selfishness

When we are Christ-directed, we act out of surrender to God and the Holy Spirit at work within us.

We are not alone in this, left to come up with whatever it is that pleases God by ourselves...

That's why the title of this message is We're All in This Together... With Jesus

**everybody cheers!**

Let's PRAY