He's with you!

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Acts 16:16–28 NIV

Once when we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a female slave who had a spirit by which she predicted the future. She earned a great deal of money for her owners by fortune-telling. She followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved.” She kept this up for many days. Finally Paul became so annoyed that he turned around and said to the spirit, “In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!” At that moment the spirit left her. When her owners realized that their hope of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to face the authorities. They brought them before the magistrates and said, “These men are Jews, and are throwing our city into an uproar by advocating customs unlawful for us Romans to accept or practice.” The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered them to be stripped and beaten with rods. After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison, and the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully. When he received these orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks. About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everyone’s chains came loose. The jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped. But Paul shouted, “Don’t harm yourself! We are all here!”

How many of you love storms? How many of you hate storms? (Story of being trapped at sea on a Kayak.)

I feel like sometimes just like being stuck in a storm, we get stuck in a storm mentally. Maybe we are going through something and it sucks, and it’s causing us to be depressed, feel anxious, or alone.

In our story, Paul and Silas are in the worst possible situation ever, they are both stuck in a storm, they are stuck in prison and feel alone and helpless. But their response changed everything, they worshipped in the midst of their storm.

One and only point: Stop believing the lies of the storm, and start believing the truth of the saviour.

How do we overcome the storm of feeling alone?

1.) Look around, He’s with you.

-Story of feeling alone at college.

-story of how people looked alone in NYC

-The enemy wants nothing more than for you to feel alone and helpless. If he can get you to believe that lie, he’s got you.

-Deuteronomy 31:8 “The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.”

-Jesus in the boat with His disciples. (Retell the story in a dramatic way.)

-Are you facing loniness right now? If so, have you looked around.

2.) Let your praise be the breaker.

-Paul and Silas were singing praises unto God in their most lonely moment.

-I feel like sometimes we feel like the conditions have to be perfect in order to praise God. God usually shows up in the not so ideal situation, because it reveals His power and love.

-story from cultivate of worship.

-invite Callie up to lead us in this chorus.

CHY He’s with you, stop believing the lies of the storm, He has your back, you don’t have to be alone or afraid.

Pray