WEBVTT 00:00:00.180 --> 00:00:02.960 I'm going to invite you to Acts chapter 12 as we're going to be together today. 00:00:03.160 --> 00:00:04.900 Acts chapter 12. 00:00:05.200 --> 00:00:12.420 And I love how this chapter is poised well, with the with the end of the year, as we look towards a new year and what this means for 00:00:12.420 --> 00:00:19.420 us, because Acts chapter 12 is very much a chapter that should encourage the body of Christ no matter what you're going through, but especially 00:00:19.420 --> 00:00:21.020 in seasons of struggle. 00:00:21.720 --> 00:00:25.950 And when we have to entrust ourselves to anything in this world. 00:00:27.280 --> 00:00:34.520 Depending on the level of the way we're entrusting ourselves to the depth of how far we need to trust determines for us 00:00:34.520 --> 00:00:37.660 really how much we need to vet what we're entrusting ourselves to. 00:00:38.260 --> 00:00:45.260 Meaning, if you were to go in for, let's say, open heart surgery, the last thing you want to hear is your doctor graduated yesterday and you're their first 00:00:45.260 --> 00:00:46.180 patient. 00:00:46.380 --> 00:00:46.500 Right? 00:00:46.540 --> 00:00:54.220 Because the significance of that type of operation, you want a little bit more credibility to the person you're entrusting yourself to. 00:00:54.460 --> 00:01:00.390 But when you can find that individual that carries a certain set of skills. 00:01:00.580 --> 00:01:07.720 We shall say that when you know that they are faithful, they're reliable, and those that entrust themselves to them find 00:01:07.720 --> 00:01:09.720 themselves pleased again and again. 00:01:09.880 --> 00:01:14.480 There's this way in which you can kind of just let go and rest, right? 00:01:14.600 --> 00:01:21.660 But if you doubt what you're entrusting yourself to, there's this need to constantly look over the work again and again, to 00:01:21.660 --> 00:01:24.800 look over your shoulder, to doubt, to question. 00:01:24.860 --> 00:01:32.280 And when it comes to your soul and the well-being of you as a human being, your faith journey 00:01:32.280 --> 00:01:34.660 is a critical part of who you are. 00:01:34.660 --> 00:01:40.300 In fact, I would say it's the most important part of who you are, and it really determines everything about you. 00:01:41.080 --> 00:01:48.520 And so that's not something you just want to step into lightly, but you want to know that the one you entrust yourself to is 00:01:48.520 --> 00:01:49.670 faithful. 00:01:50.380 --> 00:01:57.380 Acts chapter 12 is one of those chapters that reminds us of this, especially in adversity. 00:01:58.340 --> 00:02:02.460 It's easy to say you trust when things in life are going well. 00:02:03.180 --> 00:02:07.900 It's a different story when things in life are getting complicated. 00:02:08.720 --> 00:02:11.890 And in Acts chapter 12, this is what we discover with the early church. 00:02:12.380 --> 00:02:17.560 They've already gone through some adversity, but the adversity continues to ramp up. 00:02:18.360 --> 00:02:25.660 And now learning from this early church helps us gather confidence or to be people 00:02:25.660 --> 00:02:26.460 with faith. 00:02:26.460 --> 00:02:33.700 That's what the word confidence means and how we move forward, especially in the difficulties and complexities of 00:02:33.700 --> 00:02:35.440 life where we might discover ourselves. 00:02:36.520 --> 00:02:37.990 How do we know God's faithful? 00:02:38.540 --> 00:02:45.640 You know when you're checking on the credentials of someone else, finding how maybe a trusted friend has worked with someone and found 00:02:45.640 --> 00:02:51.900 that particular individual working out for them instills in us a certain amount of confidence in using that person for our lives. 00:02:51.900 --> 00:02:54.040 And I would say it's the same in Acts chapter 12. 00:02:54.080 --> 00:03:01.300 In terms of a faith journey, like looking at the evidence of who God is, and the faithfulness of him perpetuated throughout 00:03:01.300 --> 00:03:03.160 history becomes important for us. 00:03:03.240 --> 00:03:05.000 In Acts chapter 12 lays that foundation. 00:03:07.300 --> 00:03:11.120 How do we know that we can entrust ourselves to the Lord? 00:03:12.440 --> 00:03:14.710 How do we know that he'll remain steadfast and faithful? 00:03:14.780 --> 00:03:18.300 And that's what we're going to look at today in Acts chapter 12, wisdom from Life's Challenges. 00:03:18.340 --> 00:03:21.120 And I'm just going to read the opening part of this chapter. 00:03:21.240 --> 00:03:28.200 You're going to see the first five verses, really everything that the church is going through, a perpetuation of some of the things they've experienced up to this point. 00:03:28.260 --> 00:03:35.740 But in verse one, about that time, Herod the king laid violent hands on some who belonged to the church, and 00:03:35.740 --> 00:03:37.770 he killed James, the brother of John, with the sword. 00:03:37.980 --> 00:03:40.360 So likely Herod's killed multiple people. 00:03:40.380 --> 00:03:44.100 But one of the people they've noted here is James, the brother of John with the sword. 00:03:44.240 --> 00:03:48.280 And when he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter also. 00:03:48.580 --> 00:03:55.900 This was during the days of Unleavened Bread, and when he had seized him, he put him in prison, delivering him over to four squads of soldiers to guard 00:03:55.900 --> 00:03:59.320 him, intending after the Passover to bring him out to the people. 00:03:59.680 --> 00:04:05.190 So Peter was kept in prison, but earnest prayer for him was made to God by the church. 00:04:06.040 --> 00:04:10.590 Now, looking at the story, you can certainly see the complexity and the hardship that's facing God's people. 00:04:10.720 --> 00:04:16.779 We know when we read the story approximately when this took place, this is about 44 A.D.. 00:04:16.779 --> 00:04:21.300 So we're more than a decade after the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus. 00:04:21.300 --> 00:04:26.280 And the early church continues to find itself in this place of persecution that's been perpetuated. 00:04:26.840 --> 00:04:33.920 Now, one of the things that's a little bit confusing about this particular chapter, and when you read the New Testament, is sometimes they weren't 00:04:33.920 --> 00:04:35.300 creative with names. 00:04:35.380 --> 00:04:41.090 And what I mean by that is when you read the New Testament, you find the name Herod used multiple times. 00:04:41.460 --> 00:04:45.020 In fact, when Jesus is born, there's a Herod in Acts chapter 12. 00:04:45.020 --> 00:04:45.800 Here's a Herod. 00:04:46.060 --> 00:04:47.420 These are not the same Herod's. 00:04:47.880 --> 00:04:50.060 There's a half dozen Herod's in the New Testament. 00:04:50.460 --> 00:04:52.380 It's definitely a family name. 00:04:52.380 --> 00:04:54.170 They ruled in this general region. 00:04:54.200 --> 00:04:55.890 But there are multiple herods in the Bible. 00:04:56.440 --> 00:04:57.700 Same is true with James. 00:04:58.400 --> 00:05:00.340 There's multiple James in the Bible. 00:05:00.340 --> 00:05:01.870 We'll talk about a couple in just a second. 00:05:02.020 --> 00:05:04.000 And when you read this chapter, you're going to find the name Mary. 00:05:04.880 --> 00:05:08.360 And you discover when you read the New Testament there are multiple Mary's. 00:05:08.360 --> 00:05:15.440 So and when you want to get into the particulars of characters, learning who's who's being talked about as it relates to Mary, just to assume 00:05:15.440 --> 00:05:21.840 there's only one Mary is to assume wrong, one herods to assume wrong, and one James is to assume wrong. 00:05:22.000 --> 00:05:29.500 But when you read about this story of James, one of the things I want you to recognize is this particular James is the first apostle 00:05:29.500 --> 00:05:31.660 who was martyred for his faith. 00:05:31.800 --> 00:05:32.860 This is not the first martyr. 00:05:33.300 --> 00:05:37.370 The first martyr we read about was Stephen in the book of Acts, chapter six and seven. 00:05:37.640 --> 00:05:40.180 But the first apostle that's martyred is James. 00:05:40.260 --> 00:05:43.840 What's ironic is the last living apostle is John. 00:05:43.900 --> 00:05:47.820 So James and John are brothers, and this is what we're talking about in this story. 00:05:47.840 --> 00:05:49.180 There's James and there's John. 00:05:49.580 --> 00:05:51.600 Both of them are followers of Jesus. 00:05:51.600 --> 00:05:52.400 Both of them were apostles. 00:05:52.660 --> 00:05:56.240 In fact, they are considered the inner circle in Jesus's life. 00:05:56.440 --> 00:06:02.750 When you look at Jesus's ministry, he had three of his disciples that were closest to him Peter, James, and John. 00:06:03.120 --> 00:06:05.980 James now in these moments is being martyred. 00:06:06.200 --> 00:06:12.320 John will go on to be the oldest living apostle, and he is the only apostle that was not martyred for his faith. 00:06:12.400 --> 00:06:15.380 In fact, he writes the last book of the New Testament, which is the Book of Revelation. 00:06:16.460 --> 00:06:23.540 Now, what makes this even more confusing is that when James is martyred, someone takes over leadership of the Church 00:06:23.540 --> 00:06:28.230 of Jerusalem, and his name is also James. 00:06:29.260 --> 00:06:35.270 But the James that takes over for leadership in Jerusalem happens to be the half brother of Jesus. 00:06:35.660 --> 00:06:38.780 So as this church faces persecution, James is martyred. 00:06:38.940 --> 00:06:40.840 Another James steps in. 00:06:40.980 --> 00:06:43.090 And this James is a half brother of Jesus. 00:06:43.500 --> 00:06:46.380 Now, I don't like sometimes I say things up here. 00:06:46.460 --> 00:06:49.300 People take things from me and they just run wild with them. 00:06:49.300 --> 00:06:52.000 Sometimes people assume things that I mean, that I don't. 00:06:52.080 --> 00:06:55.240 I don't really say or never intended to say. 00:06:55.420 --> 00:06:57.490 And sometimes people hear me say things. 00:06:57.760 --> 00:06:59.470 And I did intend them to say. 00:06:59.680 --> 00:07:01.610 And then this I intend to say. 00:07:01.840 --> 00:07:06.710 Jesus had siblings, half siblings because he came from an earthly mother. 00:07:06.880 --> 00:07:09.240 But a but he was born of a virgin. 00:07:09.240 --> 00:07:09.460 Right. 00:07:09.460 --> 00:07:14.930 So Joseph was his I guess, stepfather in that sense. 00:07:15.240 --> 00:07:18.740 But Mary had children after Jesus. 00:07:18.980 --> 00:07:21.220 I don't know why that's a trigger for so many people. 00:07:21.700 --> 00:07:24.030 I about once a year, I feel like I say that. 00:07:24.420 --> 00:07:31.480 And about once a year, some someone comes up to me in one of the services and they are, like, severely frustrated that I would say that 00:07:31.480 --> 00:07:38.540 I think people have in their mind that and Mary, because she gave birth to Jesus, she remained a virgin for the rest of her life, like a married 00:07:38.540 --> 00:07:40.600 woman, remains a virgin for the rest of her life. 00:07:41.220 --> 00:07:45.860 And just if you're if you believe that, I just want you to know that is not true, okay? 00:07:45.880 --> 00:07:48.300 And let me just tell you it's not true because I said it. 00:07:48.400 --> 00:07:52.460 It's true because the Bible says that over and over again, okay? 00:07:52.640 --> 00:07:54.240 Like, you don't have to take my word for it. 00:07:54.260 --> 00:07:55.320 Just read the Bible. 00:07:55.420 --> 00:08:02.400 Every time someone comes to me mad about this, I think to myself, this person has never read the Bible, and here they are fighting with me, right? 00:08:02.420 --> 00:08:07.420 Because there are several places in the Bible that talk about Jesus having Jesus, having siblings. 00:08:07.580 --> 00:08:10.740 And if you just want a few of them there, here, Mark. 00:08:10.740 --> 00:08:14.300 Mark even says that his siblings thought he was crazy. 00:08:14.560 --> 00:08:16.960 Like, as you can imagine, a brother claiming to be God. 00:08:16.960 --> 00:08:20.440 And if you don't accept that, you're going to think there's something wrong with him. 00:08:20.640 --> 00:08:25.790 So Mark talks about his family wanting to get him because he's out of his mind. 00:08:26.120 --> 00:08:28.420 John seven his brothers didn't even believe him. 00:08:28.520 --> 00:08:35.559 In Matthew 13 lists for you not only that, he has brothers and sisters, but it actually names some of his brothers, one of which 00:08:35.559 --> 00:08:36.289 is James. 00:08:37.200 --> 00:08:44.460 So when you read the Gospels, what you find out is his family didn't believe in what he who he claimed to be. 00:08:44.960 --> 00:08:52.540 And then when you read in, for example, first Corinthians chapter 15, verse seven, You find James embracing 00:08:52.540 --> 00:08:59.980 Jesus as the Messiah, and the reason he does this is because of one thing he encounters Jesus 00:08:59.980 --> 00:09:04.540 after the resurrection at the resurrection of Christ. 00:09:04.680 --> 00:09:08.280 This is where the early followers of Jesus ran away. 00:09:08.340 --> 00:09:14.800 But all of a sudden, when they see this dead man now walking again, they realize Jesus and all he claimed to be. 00:09:15.780 --> 00:09:22.230 The resurrection changed everything, and so his brothers then walk in faith. 00:09:22.380 --> 00:09:29.230 And Jesus had multiple brothers and even Jude, who wrote the book of Jude, follows after Jesus, his half brother. 00:09:30.240 --> 00:09:37.600 And so here you find Jesus's family leading and James, who takes over the church in Jerusalem, gets get this. 00:09:37.880 --> 00:09:40.220 He writes the letter called James. 00:09:40.880 --> 00:09:48.180 In fact, when you read the New Testament, it's important to remember that the New Testament wasn't 00:09:48.180 --> 00:09:49.920 put together in chronological order. 00:09:49.920 --> 00:09:53.260 Meaning if you're if you're a new believer and you're like, well, I want to read the Bible, I'm going to start from the beginning. 00:09:53.840 --> 00:09:59.620 If you just pick up from the very beginning of the New Testament and assume the Bible is put together in chronological order, you assume wrong. 00:10:00.260 --> 00:10:04.490 The first book that was actually written in the New Testament is the Book of James. 00:10:05.340 --> 00:10:12.460 And in fact, I would encourage you when you when you see how the New Testament unfolds, it's important to understand the to 00:10:12.930 --> 00:10:14.510 understand the beauty of Scripture. 00:10:15.300 --> 00:10:20.880 You've got to understand the backdrop as to what was happening when books of the Bible were written. 00:10:21.200 --> 00:10:28.380 Because one of the things that we do as people that is mistaken and abusing the Bible is that we immediately jump 00:10:28.380 --> 00:10:29.940 to application of Scripture. 00:10:29.960 --> 00:10:34.090 We'll read the Bible, and we'll just want to immediately ask the question, what does this mean to me in the here and now? 00:10:34.300 --> 00:10:41.820 That is an important question to ask, but it's more important to begin with what did it mean to them there and then, because 00:10:41.820 --> 00:10:48.460 books of the Bible were always written first to a particular group of people in a particular place, going through a particular circumstance. 00:10:49.960 --> 00:10:57.180 And the more you can understand about that circumstance which led to that book being written, the better you can make the application to 00:10:57.180 --> 00:10:57.820 your own life. 00:10:57.900 --> 00:11:03.260 The Bible was always written to the there and then before we can make it apply to the here and now. 00:11:03.360 --> 00:11:06.640 Now, one of the beautiful things about the Bible is that it's true and truth is timeless. 00:11:07.340 --> 00:11:08.910 So we can always apply it to our lives. 00:11:09.820 --> 00:11:17.060 But when you understand the backdrop of, say, the book of James, when it's written, which is about this time period Acts chapter 12, it 00:11:17.060 --> 00:11:23.840 then begins to help you understand what the early church was going through and what led James to write this book of the Bible. 00:11:23.960 --> 00:11:28.660 And in fact, when you get to the very beginning of the book of James, you find James starting off this way. 00:11:28.740 --> 00:11:33.070 He's writing to the scattering of God's people around the world because of the persecution. 00:11:33.620 --> 00:11:34.400 And he says, like this. 00:11:35.100 --> 00:11:42.160 Consider it all joy, my brothers, when you face various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance and let endurance have its 00:11:42.160 --> 00:11:43.600 perfect work. 00:11:43.740 --> 00:11:50.740 And he goes on to explain how God does an incredible work in your life in the midst of adversity and how to live that life regardless of 00:11:50.740 --> 00:11:51.760 what other people do. 00:11:52.480 --> 00:11:56.960 I mean, when you understand the context, the book of James is Acts chapter 12. 00:11:57.040 --> 00:12:04.400 It brings to life the beauty of Scripture, and then it helps you begin to understand and think in terms of your own life, how you apply it. 00:12:04.580 --> 00:12:11.600 So here you have the martyrdom of James, but not not just not just James the Apostle. 00:12:12.100 --> 00:12:19.300 But then we also read about the life of Peter, that when Herod sees that the death of James pleases 00:12:19.300 --> 00:12:22.920 the crowd, that's the Jewish people that have turned against these Christians. 00:12:23.600 --> 00:12:31.620 He then wants to make a, a political statement that gains his popularity in this region by now, throwing Peter in prison and 00:12:31.620 --> 00:12:38.960 knowing the fate of James, and how many soldiers Herod put in charge of Peter, which was 16. 00:12:39.960 --> 00:12:43.720 The reality of what Peter is facing is crystal clear. 00:12:45.080 --> 00:12:52.280 This is an ominous moment for the church, a very difficult moment for them to face, one in which any 00:12:52.280 --> 00:12:56.560 normal human being would look at this circumstance and begin to question God. 00:12:57.700 --> 00:13:00.080 Can you really do a great work here? 00:13:00.840 --> 00:13:08.000 Is it even possible, God, for your church to move forward, knowing that the persecution we are facing continues to grow? 00:13:08.980 --> 00:13:16.520 God, what can you possibly do through a group of people like us in the midst of a circumstance like this, where the people are against us, 00:13:16.720 --> 00:13:18.300 the rulers are against us. 00:13:18.400 --> 00:13:19.960 A very challenging moment. 00:13:20.160 --> 00:13:25.500 And it tells you at the at the end of verse five, that the church begins to pray earnestly. 00:13:28.560 --> 00:13:32.400 Because this is a significant moment for us to think about. 00:13:34.820 --> 00:13:39.000 The church and realizing things are beyond them, begin to pray. 00:13:39.060 --> 00:13:41.930 But can I tell you to see a move of God in this world? 00:13:43.360 --> 00:13:47.480 It's always beyond us because it takes the Spirit of God to do it. 00:13:48.740 --> 00:13:56.200 And so therefore, no matter if the situation looks easy or difficult, it's always a move of the spirit to work in 00:13:56.200 --> 00:13:57.820 the lives of people. 00:13:57.840 --> 00:14:02.960 And so we as God's people, should always be a people who seek the Lord in prayer. 00:14:04.420 --> 00:14:07.920 Hudson Taylor used to say it like this dream, a dream so big. 00:14:07.920 --> 00:14:10.220 Unless God shows up, it will fail. 00:14:11.700 --> 00:14:18.780 And this is one of the beautiful things that we're seeing the early church really teach us is that when you look at the impossibility 00:14:18.780 --> 00:14:24.040 and you begin to dream, the only way that that's really going to happen is by the hands of the Lord. 00:14:24.820 --> 00:14:29.660 But God has this way of continuing to move in impossible circumstances. 00:14:30.820 --> 00:14:38.080 And so the early church prays, and I think in terms of our own life, thinking about the significance of prayer 00:14:38.080 --> 00:14:39.680 is critical. 00:14:39.680 --> 00:14:46.740 I mean, you think about what Hebrews chapter four verse 14 tells us that in any moment of need, you can come straight to God 00:14:46.740 --> 00:14:50.160 in prayer and you have access to his throne. 00:14:51.560 --> 00:14:54.460 Like if you really believed what those verses say. 00:14:56.420 --> 00:15:03.380 How would it change your prayer life that at any moment you can come straight before the presence of God? 00:15:04.300 --> 00:15:11.400 I mean, what if it was determined like this that really the only things you accomplish in your life, spiritually speaking, was always driven 00:15:11.400 --> 00:15:12.160 by prayer? 00:15:12.540 --> 00:15:18.080 That the only thing you're going to receive in this world, truly, by the Lord, was always first determined by prayer. 00:15:18.700 --> 00:15:22.040 And that would demand us as people to seek his face. 00:15:22.040 --> 00:15:29.080 And first John chapter five, verse 14 and 15, the Bible tells it like this, that when we should, when we seek God in prayer, 00:15:29.080 --> 00:15:30.970 we should pray according to his will. 00:15:31.420 --> 00:15:34.080 And then we know we have the confidence he will hear us. 00:15:35.120 --> 00:15:38.620 So praying according to God's will, we have the confidence that God hears us. 00:15:38.620 --> 00:15:43.810 So this not only encourages us in the thought of prayer, but also to consider the way in which we pray. 00:15:44.640 --> 00:15:47.820 And this becomes important in how we're seeking God's face, because. 00:15:48.060 --> 00:15:54.340 Oftentimes when people pray, the motivation behind their prayers is really not about seeking after the Lord. 00:15:54.380 --> 00:15:58.400 It's more about seeking after what they want and just using God as a tool to achieve that. 00:15:59.520 --> 00:16:02.920 But the Bible says, look, if you want confidence in the way you pray, here's what you need to do. 00:16:02.980 --> 00:16:04.260 You need to pray according to God's will. 00:16:05.040 --> 00:16:07.460 Which begs the question, well, how do I pray according to God's will? 00:16:08.440 --> 00:16:15.720 Will you pray according to God's will by learning who God is, you learn about the heart of God and 00:16:15.720 --> 00:16:17.040 the way you learn about God's will. 00:16:17.080 --> 00:16:19.840 The way you learn about the heart of God is through the Word of God. 00:16:20.620 --> 00:16:27.700 And as you learn about who God is, your heart starts to align with his heart so that when you're praying, you're praying in a way that's 00:16:27.700 --> 00:16:28.900 aligned with God's will. 00:16:30.200 --> 00:16:31.440 And so here's the early church. 00:16:32.880 --> 00:16:33.920 They're praying. 00:16:34.390 --> 00:16:36.940 They're seeking after the Lord in a difficult moment. 00:16:36.980 --> 00:16:44.000 So let me give you point number one in your notes is this God works in weakness, so seek 00:16:44.000 --> 00:16:44.740 him in prayer. 00:16:46.640 --> 00:16:50.080 God works in weakness, so seek him in prayer. 00:16:51.440 --> 00:16:53.180 And this typical situation. 00:16:53.180 --> 00:16:57.800 This is a moment where people might just throw their hands up and say, what am I even doing this for? 00:16:57.800 --> 00:16:58.500 What's it worth? 00:16:59.180 --> 00:17:00.620 The people around us hate us. 00:17:00.620 --> 00:17:02.160 The political leaders hate us. 00:17:02.840 --> 00:17:05.410 I mean, if we continue down this path, it could lead to our death. 00:17:06.380 --> 00:17:07.760 What's what's this worth? 00:17:08.859 --> 00:17:11.579 And again, the early church is teaching us. 00:17:11.579 --> 00:17:17.040 It's in those moments of desperation God does some of his most incredible work. 00:17:18.619 --> 00:17:20.500 God works in weakness. 00:17:21.300 --> 00:17:24.099 God does big things in our weakness. 00:17:24.099 --> 00:17:25.599 So don't lose hope. 00:17:25.640 --> 00:17:33.500 In fact, this is one of the one of the reasons that Luke is identifying for us this Feast of Unleavened Bread and this feast 00:17:33.500 --> 00:17:34.480 of Passover. 00:17:34.480 --> 00:17:36.240 These two feasts run into one another. 00:17:36.900 --> 00:17:42.080 But if you remember the story of why these celebrations began in Israel. 00:17:42.080 --> 00:17:45.720 It's because of the slavery they were experiencing in Egypt. 00:17:46.580 --> 00:17:49.900 And in the midst of that slavery, God brought them freedom. 00:17:51.020 --> 00:17:57.450 And when Jesus was crucified, Jesus, they thought they were putting an end to him, but he was crucified on. 00:17:57.920 --> 00:18:04.840 Get this, the Passover mankind thought they had the power to stop what God desired to do. 00:18:05.740 --> 00:18:07.180 And so they stepped in. 00:18:07.180 --> 00:18:09.040 Under the rule of Pilate. 00:18:09.040 --> 00:18:11.840 They executed Christ, they crucified him. 00:18:11.900 --> 00:18:19.170 But what became what they what we thought was the darkest day in history becomes the anthem of our celebration as God's people. 00:18:19.660 --> 00:18:26.480 And so by identifying these particular moments, it's to remind us exactly who this God is that we follow. 00:18:26.680 --> 00:18:29.270 How do I know that I can entrust myself to him? 00:18:29.900 --> 00:18:31.820 How do I know he's going to care for me? 00:18:32.400 --> 00:18:39.620 And again and again, the idea of Passover and unleavened bread throughout history has demonstrated the faithfulness of God 00:18:39.620 --> 00:18:40.920 towards his people. 00:18:40.920 --> 00:18:43.880 That no matter the circumstance that we find ourselves in. 00:18:44.260 --> 00:18:46.500 For you, it's always going to work out. 00:18:46.600 --> 00:18:53.600 If you're in, Jesus may not work out immediately the way that you want, but in Christ, inevitably it 00:18:53.600 --> 00:18:54.940 will work itself out. 00:18:55.840 --> 00:18:58.500 And so, as God's people, we always have this tremendous hope. 00:18:58.500 --> 00:19:00.320 So we don't have to look over our shoulder. 00:19:00.320 --> 00:19:00.800 We don't have to. 00:19:00.960 --> 00:19:05.680 We don't have to question, but rather we get to entrust ourselves to him. 00:19:05.780 --> 00:19:12.590 It's one of the things in ministry and serving the Lord that I started off with this frustration towards. 00:19:12.760 --> 00:19:20.600 But then I learned to love that the greatest work that God does is not what God does through me, but 00:19:20.600 --> 00:19:22.340 rather what God does in me. 00:19:23.620 --> 00:19:25.410 When it comes to the idea of doing ministry. 00:19:25.580 --> 00:19:32.740 Everything about ministry I found as a young kid when I came to Christ, it was it was intimidating and honestly, still 00:19:32.740 --> 00:19:38.480 can be right where you realize where God's leading you and you kind of question about taking that leap. 00:19:39.660 --> 00:19:44.590 And you think to yourself, you try to you try to ask the questions like, how do I know this is going to work out right? 00:19:44.680 --> 00:19:47.590 How do I know this is going to go in the direction that it should? 00:19:47.600 --> 00:19:50.860 And you start growing all these concerns and worries. 00:19:51.120 --> 00:19:55.980 But then but then you begin to discover again and again as you take those steps that God is faithful. 00:19:57.840 --> 00:20:04.940 And now in ministry, it's one of the things I look forward to that moment of uncertainty, because I recognize that in those moments, 00:20:05.000 --> 00:20:09.100 that's where God does this beautiful work of growing my own relationship with him. 00:20:11.380 --> 00:20:13.660 God does incredible work in weakness. 00:20:15.260 --> 00:20:16.980 And so seek him in prayer. 00:20:18.340 --> 00:20:24.140 Number two is this don't complicate Jesus's invitation. 00:20:26.440 --> 00:20:28.900 Don't complicate Jesus's invitation. 00:20:28.980 --> 00:20:32.080 We all have the tendency to do this by playing that what if game. 00:20:33.160 --> 00:20:36.220 But here's what happens for Peter that night that he's in prison now. 00:20:36.220 --> 00:20:43.280 When Herod was about to bring him out on that very night, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers bound with two chains 00:20:43.280 --> 00:20:47.960 and sentries before the door were guarding the prison. 00:20:48.020 --> 00:20:55.100 So this Peter, you can imagine, he's got two guards on either side of him he's chained to and two guards out front. 00:20:55.280 --> 00:20:58.100 And there's 16 guards total that's watching over him. 00:20:58.180 --> 00:20:58.980 And so they're on this rotation. 00:21:00.440 --> 00:21:04.980 And verse seven, and behold, an angel of the Lord stood next to him, and a light shone in the cell. 00:21:05.380 --> 00:21:08.330 He struck Peter on the side and woke him, saying, get up quickly. 00:21:08.820 --> 00:21:12.460 And the chains fell off his hands, and he went out and followed him. 00:21:12.820 --> 00:21:18.320 He did not know that what was being done by the angel was real, but that he was seeing a vision. 00:21:18.320 --> 00:21:25.540 When Peter came to himself, he said, now I am sure that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from the hand of Herod, and from all 00:21:25.540 --> 00:21:27.620 that the Jewish people were expecting him. 00:21:29.640 --> 00:21:36.820 Or excuse me, we're expecting so here's the interesting thing is, Peter is really not completely cognizant of everything that's 00:21:36.820 --> 00:21:37.380 happening. 00:21:38.220 --> 00:21:41.830 But the one thing he knows in this moment is God has asked him to do something. 00:21:42.720 --> 00:21:49.360 And so he just immediately follows that, and he follows this angel, wherever this angel is going to lead him. 00:21:49.620 --> 00:21:51.070 And so as he begins to follow. 00:21:51.560 --> 00:21:55.820 It's not until he's free that he's able to look back and to see all this. 00:21:55.900 --> 00:21:58.340 This really was God and directed me for a moment. 00:21:58.340 --> 00:21:59.380 He thought he was in a dream. 00:22:00.940 --> 00:22:00.980 But. 00:22:01.060 --> 00:22:05.720 But now that he's gone on this journey, he's seen how God's hand has directed him. 00:22:05.840 --> 00:22:09.880 Now, for Peter, this happened in just the midst of a moment, right? 00:22:10.080 --> 00:22:14.710 But for us, this very much encapsulates what this faith journey and the Lord is all about. 00:22:15.920 --> 00:22:17.660 That to follow Jesus. 00:22:17.660 --> 00:22:20.580 I mean, the call of Scripture is very simplistic. 00:22:21.400 --> 00:22:22.380 Follow me. 00:22:22.380 --> 00:22:25.820 Jesus says, follow me in Matthew chapter four. 00:22:26.820 --> 00:22:30.620 We tend to be people that like to complicate it beyond that. 00:22:31.400 --> 00:22:38.890 And some of the reasons we like to complicate it is because we like to throw out all these challenges of possibilities that haven't even come to fruition yet. 00:22:39.120 --> 00:22:44.200 We just start projecting on what the future could be, and we forget who's going to walk with us in it. 00:22:44.920 --> 00:22:52.200 And we start to throw out all of these what ifs, and it convolutes the simplicity of what it means to just simply 00:22:52.200 --> 00:22:53.240 follow Jesus. 00:22:54.900 --> 00:22:59.600 You know, I know in our faith journey we recognize there might be some challenges in front of us. 00:22:59.680 --> 00:23:05.600 But that's why, as a church, I constantly try to remind us that man, the foundation for us as God's people. 00:23:05.600 --> 00:23:10.000 If we can just get a couple things clear, we can let the rest of it work itself out. 00:23:10.060 --> 00:23:12.260 And we talk about two things as a church. 00:23:12.280 --> 00:23:14.900 One is Jesus said, sanctify them through truth. 00:23:14.900 --> 00:23:16.080 Your word is truth. 00:23:16.580 --> 00:23:16.680 So. 00:23:16.740 --> 00:23:21.590 So if the Bible can be entrusted, if the Bible can be believed, it provides for us a foundation. 00:23:21.860 --> 00:23:24.260 The other is Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. 00:23:25.100 --> 00:23:25.280 Right. 00:23:25.280 --> 00:23:29.920 It's Jesus himself, and more specifically, the resurrection of Christ, right? 00:23:29.920 --> 00:23:32.860 If the resurrection of Christ is true. 00:23:32.920 --> 00:23:36.080 If that can be believed, then Christianity can be followed. 00:23:37.020 --> 00:23:44.080 And all of the details related to the what ifs and the projections you can put on your future, you can walk with God through that 00:23:44.080 --> 00:23:47.840 to figure those things out, because he's faithful to be with you. 00:23:47.880 --> 00:23:52.750 That's what the story of this early church in Acts chapter 12 is reminding us of. 00:23:52.940 --> 00:23:54.990 I can even think about my own faith journey. 00:23:56.020 --> 00:24:03.600 When I first became a Christian I can tell you I came to this place in life where I thought, man, if there is a God and 00:24:03.600 --> 00:24:05.320 he wants to be known, he's got to. 00:24:05.400 --> 00:24:08.530 He's got to be a part of an ancient religion like nothing new. 00:24:09.240 --> 00:24:11.020 But if he really wanted to be known, he had to. 00:24:11.160 --> 00:24:14.800 Had to be part of an ancient religion that has been proclaimed through history. 00:24:14.820 --> 00:24:16.970 So I started to investigate the ancient religions. 00:24:17.440 --> 00:24:24.020 And I want you to know the one one religion that I wanted to avoid more than any other was Christianity. 00:24:25.320 --> 00:24:31.590 And the reason I wanted to avoid it is because I had met some Christians and I didn't like them, and so I didn't want to belong to that. 00:24:32.260 --> 00:24:39.380 But I started to investigate Christianity and I realized, man well, let me just say, I started to investigate other religions. 00:24:39.400 --> 00:24:41.520 I started to realize how easy it was to discredit them. 00:24:41.520 --> 00:24:48.520 Then I got to Christianity and I realized, really, in every belief system, people can sometimes be a bad representation 00:24:48.520 --> 00:24:49.180 of it. 00:24:50.140 --> 00:24:57.420 But then looking at Jesus, I began to recognize I could not deny the truthfulness of who he was. 00:24:58.460 --> 00:25:00.920 And then it became a question of integrity, what I was going to follow. 00:25:01.940 --> 00:25:06.500 And as I was wrestling with that, I started to project those what ifs. 00:25:07.040 --> 00:25:08.420 What if, what if this happened? 00:25:08.420 --> 00:25:14.840 Or what if that took place, and you start to look back at what you're going to leave behind in order to follow Jesus and you play all these games. 00:25:16.120 --> 00:25:20.310 But it really comes down to this, am I going to trust what's true? 00:25:22.340 --> 00:25:24.200 Am I going to believe him in what he's done? 00:25:25.900 --> 00:25:27.310 And am I going to accept that he's enough? 00:25:29.060 --> 00:25:31.560 And for the early church in these moments. 00:25:31.580 --> 00:25:32.980 This is what Peter is doing. 00:25:33.540 --> 00:25:35.000 He's taking that step. 00:25:35.000 --> 00:25:37.880 He doesn't know exactly where the angel's taking him. 00:25:37.880 --> 00:25:40.780 He he's not even sure everything is really taking place in this moment. 00:25:40.820 --> 00:25:43.080 He's just simply obeying what God says. 00:25:44.600 --> 00:25:49.380 Because can I tell you for the for the early church, this was the wisdom they imparted to us. 00:25:49.400 --> 00:25:51.140 This is what God desires for us to know. 00:25:51.140 --> 00:25:54.900 Don't complicate Jesus's invitation to pursue him. 00:25:55.060 --> 00:26:02.020 And number three in your notes is this rejoicing is fuel for moving forward. 00:26:03.100 --> 00:26:06.260 Rejoicing is fuel for moving forward. 00:26:06.440 --> 00:26:10.460 We see that once Peter escapes, this is what he discovers in verse 12. 00:26:10.540 --> 00:26:12.120 When he realized this, he went out. 00:26:12.220 --> 00:26:15.320 He went to the house of Mary, the mother of John. 00:26:15.320 --> 00:26:20.960 So not not Mary Jesus's mother, but Mary the mother of John, whose other name was Mark. 00:26:21.380 --> 00:26:24.580 Where many were gathered together and were praying. 00:26:24.580 --> 00:26:31.300 So, John, Mark, we're going to read about later in Scripture, by the way, this particular location you can still Google and find today. 00:26:31.580 --> 00:26:38.790 They think that the home that exists there was actually built on the remnant of the previous home that Mary lived in, but you can still find the location. 00:26:39.100 --> 00:26:40.080 Verse 13. 00:26:40.080 --> 00:26:47.340 And when he knocked at the door of the gateway, a servant girl named Rhoda, which is translated, Rose came to answer, 00:26:47.800 --> 00:26:50.080 recognizing Peter's voice in her joy. 00:26:50.100 --> 00:26:56.860 She did not open the gate, but ran in and reported that Peter was standing at the gate, and they said to her, you are out of your mind. 00:26:57.240 --> 00:27:04.420 But Peter continued knocking, and when they opened they saw him and were amazed, but motioning to them with his hands to be silent, 00:27:04.420 --> 00:27:07.910 he described to them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. 00:27:08.160 --> 00:27:11.530 And he said, tell these things to James and to the brothers. 00:27:11.820 --> 00:27:14.200 Then he departed and went to another place. 00:27:15.460 --> 00:27:22.640 It is an interesting moment that Rhoda is so excited about what's happening that she just forgets to let the best 00:27:22.640 --> 00:27:23.300 guest in. 00:27:23.320 --> 00:27:23.420 Right? 00:27:23.480 --> 00:27:24.820 She just she's excited. 00:27:24.820 --> 00:27:25.720 She runs and tells. 00:27:25.720 --> 00:27:32.740 It's such an unbelievable moment that no one else is even accepting what she's saying, until they all see Peter physically present in 00:27:32.740 --> 00:27:33.680 front of them. 00:27:33.780 --> 00:27:36.570 And you could imagine just the rejoicing of this moment. 00:27:37.240 --> 00:27:43.380 And in the midst of that joy, I want you to know that the early church just doesn't hang their hat there like Peter's safe. 00:27:43.380 --> 00:27:44.640 Now, let's just play it safe. 00:27:44.640 --> 00:27:45.480 Everyone pack up. 00:27:45.480 --> 00:27:46.180 Let's move. 00:27:46.180 --> 00:27:46.300 Right. 00:27:46.300 --> 00:27:47.380 We got Peter back. 00:27:47.460 --> 00:27:49.180 That's not what they do at all, right? 00:27:49.280 --> 00:27:55.350 Out of the rejoicing of the situation, Peter in that moment looks at the circumstances and says, I've got to go. 00:27:55.480 --> 00:27:55.740 Right. 00:27:55.820 --> 00:27:57.160 We can't just hang our hat here. 00:27:57.160 --> 00:27:58.660 We there's more work to be done. 00:27:58.660 --> 00:28:00.890 God is on the move, and we want to be a part of this. 00:28:01.560 --> 00:28:05.020 And so rejoicing becomes this beautiful place of the church. 00:28:05.020 --> 00:28:08.360 Being able to see the hand of God move again and again. 00:28:08.360 --> 00:28:11.920 In the midst of that rejoicing, it becomes fuel for them to move forward. 00:28:11.940 --> 00:28:15.620 And that's why it says at the very end that Peter departed and he went to another place. 00:28:15.700 --> 00:28:22.300 He's saying, we can't sit on this, but rather God desires to share this because it's the same for us as a church. 00:28:22.820 --> 00:28:25.880 Like it's a wonderful thing to look back at what God's done. 00:28:25.920 --> 00:28:32.140 In fact, I think it's a biblical thing to do that to rejoice over the faithful hand of God in our lives. 00:28:33.040 --> 00:28:34.980 Even when I think about ABC. 00:28:34.980 --> 00:28:41.980 Like to see the number of people who've come to know Christ that have followed after him and being baptized that are growing in him, a part of our 00:28:41.980 --> 00:28:43.880 community, serving him. 00:28:43.880 --> 00:28:44.780 It's wonderful. 00:28:44.780 --> 00:28:47.260 We love to take time to rejoice in that. 00:28:47.260 --> 00:28:49.360 What you celebrate, you replicate, right? 00:28:49.360 --> 00:28:51.730 Like, that's what we want to be a part of our lives. 00:28:52.260 --> 00:28:56.280 And so rejoicing becomes a critical part of the life of the believer. 00:28:57.680 --> 00:29:00.410 Not so that we just hang our hat there and say, look at that work. 00:29:00.420 --> 00:29:01.320 Wasn't that great? 00:29:01.520 --> 00:29:09.140 We just talk about the glory years, but rather we use that for the for fuel to be able to look forward and 00:29:09.140 --> 00:29:11.120 to say, and God wants to continue to move. 00:29:12.240 --> 00:29:13.160 We've seen him do it. 00:29:14.000 --> 00:29:18.040 He's been faithful to do it, and God desires to continue to do it. 00:29:18.280 --> 00:29:22.970 And this is exactly why Peter continues to move on. 00:29:23.960 --> 00:29:28.620 Rejoicing is a critical part of our lives to remind us of the good hand of God. 00:29:30.300 --> 00:29:37.360 If we're bad at rejoicing, it's important to look at this as seeing as a healthy part of the life 00:29:37.360 --> 00:29:38.240 of the believer. 00:29:38.920 --> 00:29:46.180 In fact, can I just tell you, if you find rejoicing as a challenging thing in your life one of the greatest joy stealers 00:29:46.660 --> 00:29:52.440 or rejoicing stealers in the life of any person is the comparison game. 00:29:53.640 --> 00:29:59.420 Meaning oftentimes we start looking at other people and what they have, and we compare ourselves to what they have. 00:29:59.480 --> 00:30:06.720 And all of a sudden, rather than be a person that's thankful, rejoicing, we become a person that's jealous, full of envy, and we start wondering 00:30:06.720 --> 00:30:08.880 why we don't have what they have. 00:30:09.480 --> 00:30:16.340 And in comparing ourselves, comparison is the greatest way to rob your joy to be a person that doesn't rejoice. 00:30:16.500 --> 00:30:21.010 Even this morning, you might be asking yourself, well, what reason do I have to rejoice? 00:30:21.200 --> 00:30:23.540 You know, I might have some difficult circumstances in our life. 00:30:23.560 --> 00:30:28.600 But here's the early church going through difficult circumstances, and yet they're finding reason to rejoice. 00:30:28.600 --> 00:30:31.580 So for you, maybe maybe you've had some challenging times. 00:30:31.580 --> 00:30:34.000 You might ask yourself, what reason do you have to rejoice? 00:30:34.160 --> 00:30:34.760 What can I just tell you? 00:30:34.840 --> 00:30:41.980 If you compare yourself to someone else, you're not going to find reasons to rejoice, at least in an earthly sense, because you're going to you're going to eventually find 00:30:41.980 --> 00:30:45.880 someone that has something that you desire or crave in a worldly sense. 00:30:46.560 --> 00:30:52.560 But the Bible is very clear in telling you that you have ample reason to rejoice if you want to. 00:30:52.680 --> 00:30:59.720 If you want a Bible verse that I think is critical for those of us that might struggle and rejoicing, and in some ways should be all 00:30:59.720 --> 00:31:06.820 of us in some capacity, Ephesians chapter one verse three says it like this blessed be the God and Father 00:31:06.820 --> 00:31:08.480 of our Lord Jesus Christ. 00:31:08.500 --> 00:31:17.120 Look at this, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, every 00:31:17.120 --> 00:31:21.160 spiritual blessing you have in Jesus right now. 00:31:23.040 --> 00:31:25.130 Now we could ask the question, well, what are those? 00:31:25.260 --> 00:31:26.100 Right, because I want to rejoice. 00:31:26.260 --> 00:31:28.880 And I will tell you, that's the reason I didn't give you the next verses. 00:31:28.960 --> 00:31:29.740 Go look it up. 00:31:29.800 --> 00:31:30.380 Right. 00:31:30.440 --> 00:31:32.720 You want to find reason to rejoice, is it? 00:31:32.880 --> 00:31:33.900 Sit down and understand. 00:31:33.900 --> 00:31:37.140 What does it mean to have every spiritual blessing in Christ? 00:31:37.140 --> 00:31:39.000 This is what God has given me. 00:31:39.760 --> 00:31:43.080 I have reason to rejoice because of who I am in Jesus. 00:31:43.600 --> 00:31:45.210 Regardless of the things of this world. 00:31:46.080 --> 00:31:47.890 God is faithful to me. 00:31:47.940 --> 00:31:49.400 God walks with me. 00:31:49.720 --> 00:31:53.270 I have a relationship with the Lord which he didn't owe me. 00:31:54.340 --> 00:31:56.500 And so rejoicing becomes this. 00:31:56.620 --> 00:31:58.420 This fuel for being able to move forward. 00:31:58.420 --> 00:32:04.540 And not only that, in Acts chapter 12 verse 18, there's something interesting that they dialog in over here. 00:32:04.540 --> 00:32:12.180 It's kind of like this caveat point for a moment, but it gives us more fuel for rejoicing when it was found out in verse 18. 00:32:12.280 --> 00:32:16.870 Now when the day came, there was no little disturbance among the soldiers over what had become of Peter. 00:32:17.520 --> 00:32:18.880 Verse 19. 00:32:18.880 --> 00:32:21.130 And after Herod searched for him, and did not find him. 00:32:21.320 --> 00:32:24.330 He examined the centuries and ordered that they should be put to death. 00:32:25.100 --> 00:32:32.960 Now, this was a common law practice in Rome that when someone's in charge of a prisoner, if that prisoner escaped, 00:32:33.040 --> 00:32:36.170 the fate of that prisoner was put on the person that was in charge of that prisoner. 00:32:37.240 --> 00:32:42.300 And so it became important that if you were responsible for a prisoner, that you guarded that prisoner. 00:32:42.740 --> 00:32:47.560 And Peter being guarded by 16 people speaks to how important he was as a prisoner. 00:32:48.160 --> 00:32:51.480 And now Herod is putting all of those individuals to death. 00:32:52.080 --> 00:32:55.840 I mean, this really speaks to the importance of the resurrection of Jesus. 00:32:56.120 --> 00:33:02.790 Like, that's a situation that those soldiers that are guarding outside the tomb are not going to lie about because their life is on the line regarding this. 00:33:02.820 --> 00:33:09.820 And in Matthew chapter 28, you find in verse 11 to 15 how the Jewish leaders work with these soldiers to concoct a story because 00:33:09.820 --> 00:33:12.920 they understand the significance of Jesus's resurrection. 00:33:12.980 --> 00:33:20.300 So if you want another reason to just rejoice as an individual over the resurrection of Jesus, because he lives, 00:33:20.300 --> 00:33:21.200 you can live too. 00:33:21.740 --> 00:33:24.960 And so that no matter what happens to you always have hope. 00:33:25.220 --> 00:33:27.340 Like all of us in this world will expire. 00:33:28.440 --> 00:33:28.500 But. 00:33:28.580 --> 00:33:31.060 But if your life is in Christ, you endure forever. 00:33:31.060 --> 00:33:34.320 So there's always the brightest days in front of you because of Jesus. 00:33:35.080 --> 00:33:37.810 So we all have reason to rejoice. 00:33:38.740 --> 00:33:40.040 Let me give you this last point here. 00:33:41.020 --> 00:33:43.260 Last is this wisdom from the early church. 00:33:43.560 --> 00:33:44.480 God works in weakness. 00:33:45.380 --> 00:33:46.580 Don't complicate it. 00:33:46.580 --> 00:33:47.720 Rejoice last. 00:33:48.260 --> 00:33:52.580 Be intentional about whose glory and voice you seek. 00:33:54.780 --> 00:34:01.200 Be intentional about whose glory and voice you seek. 00:34:03.220 --> 00:34:06.160 Now here we see the great power of Herod on display. 00:34:08.600 --> 00:34:13.340 But what we discover is the chains of man can never thwart the plans of God. 00:34:15.020 --> 00:34:19.500 Herod becomes the extent of this message. 00:34:19.540 --> 00:34:20.280 But in verse 20. 00:34:20.280 --> 00:34:24.679 Now Herod was angry with the people of Tire and Sidon, and they came to him with one accord. 00:34:24.860 --> 00:34:32.159 And having persuaded Blastus, the king's chamberlain, they asked for peace, because their country depended on the king's country 00:34:32.159 --> 00:34:33.179 for food. 00:34:33.760 --> 00:34:40.320 On an appointed day, Herod put on his royal robes, took his seat upon the throne, and delivered an oration to them. 00:34:40.960 --> 00:34:44.719 And the people were shouting, the voice of a god, and not of a man. 00:34:45.639 --> 00:34:52.080 Immediately an angel of the Lord struck him down, because he did not give God the glory. 00:34:52.739 --> 00:34:55.719 And he was eaten by worms and breathed his last. 00:34:56.480 --> 00:34:59.460 But the word of God increased and multiplied. 00:35:00.420 --> 00:35:07.900 And when you read this particular chapter, you find all sorts of irony in the story that the soldiers that 00:35:07.900 --> 00:35:11.840 Herod puts in place couldn't stop what an angel desired to do. 00:35:11.840 --> 00:35:13.480 Couldn't stop the hand of God. 00:35:13.620 --> 00:35:17.100 Peter's captors end up with Peter's sentence. 00:35:17.140 --> 00:35:21.100 Peter is struck by struck by an angel and lives. 00:35:21.100 --> 00:35:23.730 Herod struck by an angel and dies. 00:35:24.480 --> 00:35:30.680 Herod, who's supposed to give food to the people in this passage, ends up becoming a meal to the worms. 00:35:30.820 --> 00:35:32.900 All sorts of irony in this moment. 00:35:33.860 --> 00:35:41.060 But the most important thing that I think we see in really this whole chapter is verse 24, and the Word of God increased and 00:35:41.060 --> 00:35:41.560 multiplied. 00:35:43.140 --> 00:35:50.360 You could not stop what God desired to do in a situation to a naked 00:35:50.360 --> 00:35:50.880 eye. 00:35:51.780 --> 00:35:55.560 James killed Peter, about to be martyred. 00:35:56.180 --> 00:36:00.750 The church being heavily persecuted there, cowered together and just praying. 00:36:01.060 --> 00:36:03.760 As Peter is going through this difficult situation. 00:36:04.740 --> 00:36:07.220 This looks like a dire moment for God's people. 00:36:08.940 --> 00:36:15.480 But that moment of weakness became an incredibly powerful moment for God's glory to be made known and the gospel multiplied. 00:36:17.200 --> 00:36:24.480 Because when you think about the challenges that we face today, looking at the example of the early church, it becomes this place for 00:36:24.480 --> 00:36:30.140 us as people in their wisdom to say, and God can surely continue to do a great work. 00:36:31.300 --> 00:36:35.560 In fact, it's the anthem of who we are as God's people. 00:36:36.680 --> 00:36:43.760 When you think about the root of our redemption story in Jesus, it's a story of God's glory in the midst 00:36:43.760 --> 00:36:44.240 of weakness. 00:36:45.360 --> 00:36:51.240 I mean, if we were just to tell the story, we would say, it works like this God ransomed the world. 00:36:51.240 --> 00:36:52.200 He changed the world. 00:36:52.200 --> 00:36:53.720 And if someone asks, well, how did he do that? 00:36:54.500 --> 00:36:55.580 Well, he'd say it like this. 00:36:56.120 --> 00:37:03.240 Well, it actually began with a very young lady who was pregnant who was from an obscure town who really 00:37:03.240 --> 00:37:06.260 didn't have much of anything, who had a baby in a barn. 00:37:07.600 --> 00:37:12.940 And then someone would hear that story and think, and God's going to change the world that way. 00:37:12.960 --> 00:37:13.860 Are you kidding me? 00:37:14.560 --> 00:37:16.920 Surely the story gets better after that. 00:37:16.960 --> 00:37:22.270 Like, that's a that's the most humblest beginning you would ever expect for someone that's going to change the world. 00:37:22.540 --> 00:37:24.660 And you could say, not really. 00:37:24.660 --> 00:37:32.060 I mean, when you think about it, Jesus performed some miracles, but he only he only did his ministry for three years. 00:37:32.080 --> 00:37:34.960 And when he died, he didn't even own a house. 00:37:34.960 --> 00:37:40.430 And they gambled for the only clothing he possessed and the only followers that he had, which were but a few. 00:37:40.680 --> 00:37:45.160 They all abandoned him at his greatest hour of need, and he was actually executed on a cross. 00:37:47.800 --> 00:37:54.160 What we thought, though, was the darkest day of history, became the anthem of God's people to celebrate. 00:37:55.720 --> 00:38:02.840 Our whole story as God's people, as rooted in the humblest of beginnings, to see how God 00:38:02.840 --> 00:38:09.440 does an incredible work because it's not about us, but rather it's about him. 00:38:10.800 --> 00:38:15.700 When I think about the coming of this year, whatever last year was. 00:38:15.700 --> 00:38:18.850 Maybe it's a place where we can think of spots to rejoice. 00:38:19.060 --> 00:38:21.910 Or maybe it's things we can't wait to put behind us. 00:38:21.960 --> 00:38:22.060 But. 00:38:22.200 --> 00:38:25.620 But as God's people, we know God can do incredible things. 00:38:25.640 --> 00:38:28.280 And the reason we know that is because he's done it again and again. 00:38:28.500 --> 00:38:35.620 And the reason Acts chapter 12, we find in Scripture, is to encourage God's people in thinking about all the ways 00:38:35.620 --> 00:38:38.980 God can work in your life because he's been faithful. 00:38:41.180 --> 00:38:46.820 Wisdom from Life's challenges God works in weakness, so seek him prayerfully. 00:38:47.900 --> 00:38:49.740 Don't complicate his invitation. 00:38:51.660 --> 00:38:59.080 Rejoice in the fuel that it is to help you move forward and be intentional about whose glory and voice you 00:38:59.080 --> 00:38:59.400 seek.