Framing Your Life for the Mission of Christ

[0:00] If Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass All right, if you've got your Bible, turn to Acts chapter 26.

[0:46] Acts chapter 26. By the way, if I'd have known you were going to sing like that, we would have moved sooner. So that was awesome. Great, great job singing and wonderful time in worship.

[0:57] And we're learning the new facility. We're figuring some things out. So kind of be patient with everybody. There we go. We're going to have some lights come up.

[1:07] Some of you, I could tell what you were thinking. And so I was trying to walk you along through this. It's going to be okay. It's going to be okay. So our team has done a great job coming in really early today and learning a lot of this stuff.

[1:19] And so I'm thankful for them. It's not an easy job dealing with me and all God's people said. Watch it now. Watch it, watch it, watch it.

[1:31] But anyway, so give us some time. We'll work out some of that stuff. But they're doing a fantastic job. We've been in a series now for, I think this is the 25th sermon. I'm sure you've not been counting.

[1:42] But we've been in the book of Acts for quite some time. And Lord willing, the plan is to do a few more weeks and finish up the book of Acts.

[1:52] And then we're going to break and do a couple of weeks before Easter. Yes, Easter is just about a month or so away. And so we're going to do a short series for Easter and then a brand new series that I'm working on or in the process of working on post-Easter.

[2:08] So a few more weeks in the book of Acts. And tonight we come to Acts chapter 26. And for our scripture reading, we're going to begin reading verse 9 and read down through verse 18.

[2:20] And so we will continue with our standing, if you're able to do so, for the reading of God's Word. I almost said tradition and then I remembered last week's sermon. So it's like, we don't do tradition.

[2:32] Anyways, Acts 26 verse 9. Luke is recording this and writes this under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. This is Paul speaking. I myself was convinced that I ought to do many things in opposing the name of Jesus of Nazareth.

[2:48] And I did so in Jerusalem. I not only locked up many of the saints in prison after receiving authority from the chief priest, but when they were put to death, I cast my vote against them.

[2:59] And I punished them as often in all the synagogues and tried to make them blaspheme. And in raging fury against them, I persecuted them even to foreign cities.

[3:12] In this connection, I journeyed to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priest. At midday, O king, I saw on the way a light from heaven brighter than the sun that shone around me and those who journeyed with me.

[3:27] And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice say to me in the Hebrew language, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.

[3:38] And I said, well, who are you, Lord? And the Lord said to me, I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. But rise and stand upon your feet, for I have appointed you for this purpose, to appoint you as a servant and to the things in which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you, delivering you from your people and from the Gentiles to whom I am sending you, to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light, from the power of Satan to God, and they may receive forgiveness of sins, a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.

[4:25] This is God's word. Pray with me and pray for me as we ask God to talk to us tonight. Lord, we do pray that in these next few moments that you would help us gain biblical perspective about our life and the way in which we live the life that you've called us to.

[4:47] And I pray that we would learn as we continue to look at your servant, our brother, the Apostle Paul, and how his life was used as a witness to impact many for the good news of the gospel.

[5:01] And Lord, that's what we want. We don't have the ministry of the Apostle Paul, but we are still called to be witnesses everywhere we go, all throughout the South Metro and Minnesota and even to the ends of the earth.

[5:15] So God, help us understand our lives correctly tonight as we look to your word. I pray that you would work in such a way that Christ and Christ alone would be exalted in this place this evening.

[5:28] That's our heart's desire. And we pray this in Jesus' name. And God's people shouted, amen. Amen. You can be seated. You can be seated. It was the day they'd anticipated for many years.

[5:41] Everyone was gathered there in their gowns, their tassels was dangling from their caps. All of them had family and friends that were together that couldn't wait to afterwards be able to party.

[5:55] And they were just waiting for one final thing, and that was the commencement address. The occasion of that day was the 2005 Stanford University graduation.

[6:08] And the speaker that gave the main address that day was the late Steve Jobs. You know him as the founder of Apple. And he focused his speech on trying to motivate these graduating students to not waste their life, to live with courage, to have a sense of purpose in their lives.

[6:27] And what he did is he shared a few beliefs that he held that kind of guided him in his life. So, for example, Jobs told the students that you have to trust that the dots of your life will eventually connect in the future.

[6:49] That your story is a part of a bigger story. And then he gave an example of that. He talked about how he had dropped out of college. There's a good example of going to college.

[7:01] Steve Jobs dropped out of college. And for some strange reason, he kept attending a calligraphy class. Even though it had absolutely no practical relevance at all in his life, he just thought it was cool.

[7:17] And so he took the class, thought it meant absolutely nothing. And yet, later on in his life, it became significantly important in the development of the first Mac.

[7:30] In other words, his point was the dots eventually connected. I didn't understand it then, but later on I began to see where my life was headed.

[7:42] And this was another conviction of his that he shared with the students. Take a listen. My third story is about death.

[7:52] When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like, If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you'll most certainly be right. It made an impression on me.

[8:07] And since then, for the past 33 years, I've looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself, If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?

[8:19] And whenever the answer has been no for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something. Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life.

[8:32] Now I want you to think about what Steve Jobs is doing there. In other words, he's describing the core beliefs of his life that framed the way he looked at life.

[8:43] In other words, if you believe that the dots will eventually connect, then you can keep going when life doesn't make sense, trusting that eventually it will.

[8:55] Or, if you have the conviction, as you just saw in that video, that death is an inescapable reality, then that's going to motivate you to make the most of every day or opportunity because you don't know when your last day will be.

[9:12] So live with courage and purpose and don't let failure be the end because eventually it's all going to work out and it won't matter when you're dead.

[9:24] That is essentially what Steve Jobs is saying. Now what I want to ask is what was he doing? What was he trying to accomplish with those students that day?

[9:36] He was trying to get them to frame their life with certain convictions or beliefs and here's why.

[9:47] Notice this on the screen. Because the way you frame your life impacts how you live your life. The way you frame your life impacts the way you live your life.

[10:01] Again, his example is if you believe that the dots will eventually connect, you keep going when life doesn't make sense. If you believe that death is inevitable, well then you make the most of every day because you don't know when your last will be.

[10:17] He's trying to get them to frame their life. Faith family, the truth is regardless of whether or not you like Steve Jobs' framework, that's not what I'm here to talk about.

[10:28] What I am here to talk about is this. Every single one of you here tonight does the exact same thing. You frame your life with something.

[10:41] And those convictions and those beliefs that you have about life impact the way you live it. For some of you, you frame your entire life based on your financial situation.

[10:51] And that impacts everything and every decision you make. Some of you, you frame your life based on what other people think about you or what other people are saying about you. And you make all your decisions based on that.

[11:04] Others of you, it might be how successful you are or how successful you want to appear to others. And that impacts the way you approach life. Maybe it's how your children will turn out.

[11:16] And everything is about your kids. And you frame everything about your life based on your children because that's all that ultimately matters. Everybody here frames their life with something.

[11:28] Why? Notice it again. Because the way you frame your life impacts the way you live your life. Now listen to me. If you've zoned out, zone back in.

[11:41] And I don't know how you could zone out this early in the sermon. Listen to me. That is exactly how Christians are called to live.

[11:53] You say, what do I mean? Christians are called to frame their life with the truth of God. Christians are called to frame their life with the promises of God.

[12:08] And so frame our life with the truth of God and the promises of God that it actually impacts the way we live our lives.

[12:19] That is exactly how the Apostle Paul approached the mission of Christ. He had some convictions. He had some beliefs. He had things that framed his life that enabled him to keep pressing on to finish the race and fight the good fight.

[12:36] And I believe that those convictions and those beliefs that framed Paul's life should frame ours as well. What are they?

[12:47] There's only 15. You've got nowhere to go tonight. I'm kidding. There's not 15. There's just a few that I want to point our attention to. And the first one is found here in verse 2. But let's look at verse 1 of chapter 26 and read down.

[13:00] So Agrippa, this is King Agrippa, said to Paul, You have permission to speak for yourself. And Paul stretched out his hand and made his defense. Verse 2, I consider myself fortunate that this is before you, King Agrippa.

[13:14] And I'm going to make that my defense today against all the accusations of the Jews. Here's the first conviction and belief that the Apostle Paul had. He framed his life around God's sovereignty.

[13:27] He framed his life in the reality that God is in control at every single moment and every single circumstance of our lives.

[13:41] And to feel the weight of this, I take it from the phrase, Because I consider myself fortunate to be before you. That is, I'm thankful, Paul is saying, for this opportunity.

[13:52] Which is a bit crazy. If you think about or understand everything that the Apostle Paul has been through up to Acts chapter 26. You see, if you go back to Acts chapter 20, when he originally said he was going to set out for Rome, His ultimate goal was to set sail to Jerusalem.

[14:10] He was going to stop there for just a very short amount of time and deliver some money to the Jerusalem church. And then he was going to continue on to Rome. And we all know, because we've read the book of Acts, that's exactly how it works out.

[14:22] Wrong! That's not how it worked out at all. What happens is this. When Paul gets to Jerusalem, he gets arrested. There's a plot that tries to kill him.

[14:34] You remember that from last week where the Jews said, we're going to make an oath together. We're not going to eat. We're not going to drink. We're not going to sleep. We're not going to do anything until what? Paul's dead. So Paul is having persecution.

[14:47] He's been thrown into prison. And then he has to stand before the governor of Caesarea, a man by the name of Felix. Well, Felix doesn't want to deal with Paul. So do you know what he does?

[14:57] He throws him in prison for two years. Then there's a new governor, a man by the name of Festus, which sounds like a really southern, like Uncle Festus name or something like that.

[15:10] So now he's got to stand before Uncle Festus. He's just going to be Uncle Festus from now on, okay? He's got to stand before Uncle Festus. And Uncle Festus doesn't want to deal with him. So what does he do?

[15:21] He hands him off to King Agrippa. And so now Paul is standing before this king. And the point I'm trying to make is this. Rather than getting to Rome when Paul planned to get to Rome.

[15:34] And stop me if you've heard this story before. He has a two-year detour. Almost gets killed. And according to verse 2. You ready?

[15:48] Is grateful for the opportunity. Who does this? Who lives this way? Listen, look at Acts 20, verse 24.

[15:59] This is what Paul told the Ephesian leaders. I don't account my life of any value or as precious to myself. Here's the only thing I want to do. Finish my course in the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.

[16:15] Paul learned throughout the mission over and over again what the book of Acts teaches. And not just what the book of Acts teaches, but what all of the biblical story teaches. And it's this.

[16:25] Notice it on the screen. The mission of God is guided by the hand of God. The mission of God is guided by the hand of God.

[16:37] Not Paul's calendar. Not, sorry Steve Jobs, Siri. The mission of God is guided by the hand of God.

[16:49] And what that means is if you're going to take this mission seriously, you're going to have to leave your personal plans at the door. You might get where you want to get and you might not.

[17:01] You might get to Rome when you think you're going to get to Rome. Or you might have a two-year detour in Jerusalem you didn't see coming. But make no mistake about it. The mission of God is guided by the hand of God.

[17:13] And we have seen this throughout the book of Acts. Philip in Acts chapter 8 is experiencing a revival in Samaria. Even the pro-council comes to faith in Christ.

[17:23] There are men and women everywhere putting their faith in Jesus and being baptized. And do you know what God says to Philip? Stay and enjoy all the fruit of the revival.

[17:33] No. Go down a dirt road. Where nobody goes. Go to the boondocks of Tennessee. Because there is one man searching.

[17:45] He's the Ethiopian eunuch. And I have a divine appointment for you. And Philip's like, why would I leave this successful ministry to go down a dirt road where nobody is?

[17:58] That's because the mission of God is guided by the hand of God, Philip. Not your plans. Or what about Peter in Acts chapter 10? When he's minding his own business and he just goes up to the rooftop to pray.

[18:10] And the next thing he knows, he's eating foods he never thought he'd eat. Bacon. Can all God's people say amen to bacon? And not only eating foods that he never thought he'd eat, he's receiving people he never thought he would receive like Gentiles named Cornelius.

[18:28] This is something Peter never thought he'd do. But the mission of God is guided by the hand of God, not Peter. Or what about Paul and Silas in Acts chapter 16?

[18:40] They're certain that they're going to go to Asia. They end up being redirected to Macedonia. And what happens in Macedonia? Lydia comes to faith. A slave girl comes to faith.

[18:51] And a Philippian jailer along with his entire household comes to faith. Here's the point. Notice it on the screen, Faith Family. Listen, if you don't frame your life with the reality that God is sovereign over your life, you won't endure this mission.

[19:08] It's a great place for an amen. What's going to happen is you're going to get frustrated that you're not getting your way. And life's not going as you planned.

[19:22] And you were already supposed to be in Rome by now. Why are you still in Jerusalem? Why aren't you where you thought you would be?

[19:33] And the answer is because the mission of God is guided by the hand of God, not you. And not your plans. I'm curious if anybody here tonight has ever had a detour in life.

[19:45] Oh, amen. Come on, just let it out. Let it out. It's good. Just let it out. All of us have had it. Detours in life where you ended up somewhere you didn't plan to be.

[19:57] You didn't get in the college you thought you'd go to. You didn't retire on the terms you thought you would. Your career path changed. The marriage didn't work out. The church from Honolulu never called. I'm still waiting on that call.

[20:12] Any day now, right? I'm kidding. I love it here with you all. That actually wasn't sarcasm, but I actually think you took it that way. But it wasn't.

[20:24] But you get it. You get it. You get it. You get it. And my point is you've got to frame, and I have to constantly remind myself of this. You've got to frame your life that God is sovereign. And when you do, when you frame your life with the fact that the mission of God is guided by the hand of God, not my personal plans, then you can say with the Apostle Paul in Acts 26 this.

[20:45] This is beautiful. Look at it on the screen. This is not what I planned. But I'm grateful for the opportunity. King Agrippa, my plans were not to stand before you.

[21:00] But I'm grateful. I consider myself fortunate to have this opportunity. Remember what the book of Hebrews teaches us, faith family.

[21:12] Hebrews 11, 6. And without faith, it is impossible to please Him. For whoever would draw near to God must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who seek Him.

[21:25] Without faith, without trusting God, you can't please God. And I don't say very many things that are memorable. And you can amen that. It won't hurt my feelings. I don't say that many things that are memorable.

[21:37] Occasionally, there's an illustration that I use that just sticks. You know, one of those is that worship is not your party. People will continue to mention that. But another one is this. It's the idea that we view life from the dreaded seat of 23B.

[21:53] Right? People continue to mention this all the time. This is life for us. That middle seat of 23B. And it's the dreaded middle seat. And here's what you see from the middle seat of 23B.

[22:06] You see bald heads, crying babies, and people in first class that have it better than you. That's a pretty good analogy on life. Amen? You look up ahead and all you see is bald heads, crying babies, and people that have a better life than you.

[22:21] And the seat you really want, as do I, is actually not the first class seat. It's the one in the air traffic control. That's the seat we want because then we could understand it all.

[22:33] Then we would see how it all works together. But I'm here to declare to you tonight this, and then we will move on. We must frame our life with the sovereignty of God if we are to endure the mission of God.

[22:50] Because there will be many detours along the way. Here's the second conviction and belief that I think Paul framed his life with. It's the passage we read at the beginning.

[23:02] Let's read it again. I know it's a fairly lengthy passage, but let's look at verse 9. This is where Paul is now into his conversion story. He says, I myself was convinced that I ought to do many things in opposing the name of Jesus of Nazareth.

[23:17] And I did so in Jerusalem. I not only locked up many of the saints in prison after receiving authority from the chief priest, but when they were put to death, I cast my vote against them. I punished them often in all the synagogues and tried to make them blaspheme and in raging fury against them.

[23:33] I persecuted them even in foreign cities. And in connection, I journeyed to Damascus. And with the authority and commission of the chief priest, at midday, O king, I saw this light from heaven.

[23:43] It was brighter than the sun. It shone around me and those that journeyed with me. And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew language, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?

[23:54] It is hard for you to kick against the goads. And I said, Who are you, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But rise and stand upon your feet.

[24:06] For I have appointed you for this purpose, to appoint you as a servant and witness to the things in which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you, delivering you from the people and from the Gentiles to whom I'm sending you, to open their eyes, that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.

[24:32] Here's the second thing that Paul framed his life with, and that's the salvation of God. Paul framed his life with God's salvation. In verses 9 through 18 that we just read, Paul is once again giving his conversion story, and I say once again, because if you were here last week, he gave it then as well.

[24:55] This is actually a story that gets repeated in the book of Acts, and you know that when the Bible repeats something, it's doing it on purpose. Luke is trying to emphasize something, and here's what it is.

[25:07] Listen, listen. Paul took every opportunity he could to share the testimony of God's saving work in his life.

[25:22] Any opportunity he had, everywhere he went, whoever he was before, whether it was a king or a common man, he shared the story of God's salvation in his life.

[25:34] Here's why. And you know I've preached this before, and I will keep preaching it until I have no breath left in me. Here it is. Paul never got over grace.

[25:46] He never got over the fact that God saved him. Me. I don't deserve God's grace.

[26:00] I don't deserve the salvation of God, but I have it, and I won't shut up about it. Everywhere I go, to whoever I talk to, there's one story that frames my life, and it's the story of God's salvation.

[26:18] Oh, Paul couldn't get over grace. You can clap, right? You can clap. I mean, to me, it's either clap or don't, all right?

[26:29] None of this, like, sissy stuff, okay? We're not, like, on the 18th hole or something like that, all right? And it's everywhere in Paul's writings. I am what I am, but by the grace of God.

[26:42] I labored more than them all, but not I, the grace of God. Every letter practically starts with grace and peace to you.

[26:52] He never got over grace. He writes this to young Timothy. This is another shortened version of Paul's testimony and conversion. 1 Timothy 1, verse 12.

[27:05] I thank Him who has given me strength, Christ Jesus our Lord, because He's judged me faithful, appointing me to His service. Though formerly I was a blasphemer, a persecutor, an insolent opponent, but I received mercy.

[27:20] Can you believe it? Because I acted ignorantly in unbelief, and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.

[27:31] He never got over the story of God's salvation in his life. Many of you know I grew up on hymns. I love hymns.

[27:42] I love singing hymns. And I remember as I study this, I think about the hymn I used to sing growing up. I love to tell the story. Tis pleasant to repeat.

[27:54] What seems each time I tell it more wonderfully sweet. I love to tell the story, for some have never heard, the message of salvation from God's own holy word.

[28:10] I would finish that song, but I'll let Alan Jackson finish it. I love to tell the story It will be my fame and glory To tell the old, old story Of Jesus and his love To tell the old, old story Of Jesus and his love Amen.

[28:49] Amen. Hey, if you don't like that version of the song, you are not welcome back on Saturday night. All right? I'm just kidding.

[28:59] I'm just kidding. Right? I love to tell the story. Do you? Have you so framed your life With the grace of God that saved you That any opportunity you have To tell the old, old story Of Jesus and his love You jump at the opportunity Because your life has been framed By God's grace.

[29:32] This passage that we just read Verse 9 through 18 And really it begins before verse 9 It's where we get the idea Of a Christian testimony.

[29:43] Are you familiar with that terminology? Many of you are But don't feel intimidated if you're not. I've actually had dear friends That have asked me People keep asking me To share my testimony.

[29:54] What's a testimony? And that's a perfectly fine question To ask And he lays out his testimony. Let me just give it to you very quickly. First of all In every single occasion Though the words may be a little different Or details may be changed a little bit He always talks about his former life Before Christ.

[30:14] He talks about being a Pharisee. How he lived in opposition to Christ. How he even was violent. Paul wanted to wipe Christians out. And so And even with Timothy He talks about I was a blasphemer.

[30:29] I was a persecutor. And so When Paul shares his testimony The story of God's salvation In his life He always goes back to His life before he knew Jesus.

[30:41] What was your life like Before you knew Jesus? I don't necessarily want you To just start confessing right now. Okay. But I do want you to think internally Like What was your life like Before you knew Christ?

[30:54] What were some of the specific sins That you struggled with? And they might be religious. You might have been the type of person like me That I grew up And I was trying to be the good little Baptist.

[31:06] If there is such a thing. Right? I was trying to be the good Baptist. And so My sins were very religious Because I was just trying to follow all the rules. And that was just as wayward As irreligious sins.

[31:19] Maybe yours was going out And just living it up And you were in total Like unashamed rebellion to God. But I want you to think tonight About your life Before you encountered Jesus.

[31:33] Here's the second part of Paul's testimony Was when he encountered Christ. In every single example In the book of Acts It's not mentioned in Timothy When Paul writes to Timothy But in every single example In the book of Acts Paul mentions what?

[31:49] Anybody want to shout it out? He mentions where he was going. He was on the road to Damascus. In every example of Paul's conversion He mentions Damascus.

[32:00] Why? Because that's where he met Jesus. In a big bright light And he goes blind And he gets called of God.

[32:11] And so Paul in every occasion Talks about This was the moment On the road to Damascus When I was going to persecute Christians That Jesus interrupted my life.

[32:24] And so here's my question. When did he interrupt yours? When did he interrupt yours? And then the stop, stop, stop, stop. Here's where some of you are going. Well I don't have a Damascus road experience. I mean I wouldn't like Walking to Farmington To persecute chickens.

[32:43] I mean that's all that's in Farmington That I can think of. And boom! Big bright light! Met Jesus. Like yeah it's not about Do you have all the details That Paul had?

[32:54] It's not even about Do you have all the details That the person seated next to you has? It simply is this. Did you encounter Jesus? And you may not remember The exact night.

[33:06] You may not remember the exact. There are some of you that can say It was a Wednesday night In the cold of February At 7 o'clock And that is fantastic If you know that. But don't feel guilty If you don't.

[33:18] The big question is Have you ever encountered The Lord Jesus Christ In a saving way? And you may be able to say You know there was a season in college Or there was a time in my life But you know this In that moment You were forever changed.

[33:37] That who you were Would no longer be Who you would be forever. And that's the third part Of Paul's testimony now Is his new life in Christ.

[33:48] He talks about how his life Has been changed Because of his encounter with Jesus. And Paul had quite the transformation. He went from hating Christians To being one of them.

[33:59] That's a pretty big transformation. He goes from despising the truth To loving the truth of the gospel. He goes from someone Who hated Gentiles Be careful what you say You'll never do To now being sent For the rest of his life To Gentiles.

[34:17] And here's my question for you Is this How has Jesus Made a difference in your life? That's your testimony. This is how I used to be.

[34:29] And then there was a moment When I It was your Damascus Road experience And it's very different For people But you encountered Jesus And his saving grace And you've never been The same since.

[34:44] That's your testimony. And that testimony And that testimony Ought to frame Your life. Notice this on the screen Faith family Jesus has not made you perfect That is in your behavior Regardless of what your mama thinks.

[35:00] Okay? Jesus has not made you perfect In your behavior But he has made you different. He hasn't made you perfect. He's going to complete the work That he began in you But he has made you different Because no one experiences The grace of God And remains the same.

[35:18] Nobody. What is your testimony? Everywhere Paul went And every opportunity he had He gave the testimony Of God's salvation In his life.

[35:29] It defined everything about him. Grace framed everything. Just a very quick story And then we'll move on To the last point. And that's Many of you have heard me Reference Brendan Manning. He's since passed.

[35:40] Don't agree with everything He believes theologically But then again Who do we believe Entirely the same with? But he wrote a great book I've referenced it many times Called The Ragamuffin Gospel I can't recommend it Highly enough.

[35:52] But in that book He talks about a story Where he was Teaching in Louisiana And after he got done teaching Someone from the group Came up to him And just handed him A $6,000 check.

[36:07] And he was trying to think Of what he should do with it And he remembered The week before He'd met a man With 10 children Three of whom Had died Because they lived In a trash heap In Juarez, Mexico.

[36:20] Brendan sent him All $6,000 That that man Had given him And he said Within two days Within two days That man In Juarez Had sent him Nine letters Explaining to him How the money That he'd been given Was being used To impact his family And his surrounding neighbors.

[36:44] He couldn't say Thank you enough For the grace Of that gift. And from that Brendan Manning Writes this Quote When a man Receives a gift Of grace He first Experiences Then expresses Genuine gratitude Having nothing He appreciates The slightest gift As Christians The deeper we go In Christ The more we realize That everything in life Is a gift The song of our lives Becomes one of Humble and joyful Thanksgiving Awareness of our poverty Causes us to rejoice In the gift Of being called Out of darkness And into wondrous light And transferred To the kingdom Of God's Beloved Son Do you know The gift You've been given When God Saved you When God

[37:46] Redeemed you And poured Out on you His saving Grace And transferred You from darkness To light And to the kingdom Of God's Beloved Son That's Your story Love Telling it Love Telling The story Of God's grace In your life Be Framed By God's grace That you Can't help But ooze The story Of his grace In your life The apostle Paul Lived passionately In this mission Why?

[38:30] Because he framed His life With the sovereignty Of God Hey I'm supposed To be in Rome By now But I'm grateful For this opportunity This isn't where I thought I'd be But God's in control And this is where He wants me To be And number Two I'm not Ever going To be able To get over What God Did that moment On the road To Damascus My life Will forever Be framed By his grace And here's the last One And I won't Spend much time Here because I just preached The whole sermon On it In Acts 20 Look at 26 Verse 16 26 verse 16 Says This is Jesus Says to Paul But rise And stand Upon your feet For I have Appeared to you For this purpose To appoint you As a servant And witness To the things In which you Have seen me And to those In which you Will I will appear To you So here's that Last thing I'll Mention just very Briefly and that Is that Paul Framed his life Around God's Sending God's sending

[39:30] He framed his Life around God's Sovereignty That is he knew That God was Sovereign even When his plans Weren't going The way he Wanted them to He framed his Life around God's salvation He never got Over grace And he framed His life around The fact that God had called Him to do Something And every day I got purpose Every day I got purpose If I'm not Dead I still got Purpose Every day The apostle Paul knew That God had A calling On his life And he not Only repeats The story Of salvation Frequently He repeats The story Of God Sending I mean How many Times in His conversion Does he not Just talk about The Damascus road He talks about Being sent To Gentiles And so Paul understood That God Had placed a Calling on His life And so He was a Man on A mission He had One all Consuming Passion And that Was to make Christ known Everywhere Where he

[40:31] Could And I have Made it clear Throughout the Book of Acts That listen Most of you Are not called To be preachers Okay This one's loud Enough Amen Alright Most of you Are not called To be preachers Though you know What I would Love for people To surrender To the preaching Ministry Here at Faith Family I would love Nothing more To see that Most of you Are not called To be church Planters Most of you Are not going To be Vocational Missionaries In the sense Of packing up Everything And moving You know Overseas Or wherever But this Is what God has Called Every one Of us To be Right here Right here Right here Right here Witnesses Witnesses You may be A banker You may be A sports Broadcaster You may go To college You may be A single Mom You may Own your Own business You might

[41:32] Be a Hold your Nose A preacher But whatever You are Do it in Such a way That you're A witness For the Lord Jesus Christ Because he Has called You To make Him known And I Have tried So much Throughout This series In the book Of Acts To get Us To buy Into that That it's All mission Your job Is your Mission Your children Are your Mission Your money Is your Mission Your influence Is part of The mission Your social Network Is it's All mission All of it Aaron Coe writes In his Life On Mission The following Quote Many People Believe That mission And ministry Are carried Out by a Few select Professional Clergy Or an Elite Number of Mission Agencies And non Profit Organizations But here's The reality God's Mission Was given To every Member Of his Church We're all Called to be

[42:32] Everyday Missionaries Everyday Missionaries Are those Who practice Life on Mission Where God Has placed Them Whether that Be at an Office complex A developing Country Or a college Campus It's important For everyone To believe It's important For every Believer To have an All hands On deck Mentality In order For the Mission To reach It's Fullest Potential That's how We must Frame Our lives Not just That God Is sovereign Not just His salvation But that He has a Purpose For every Single one Of us And that Purpose Is to be A witness For him And can I Just encourage You Because some Of you Some of You're like Listen Pastor I've tried To be a Witness And I Just feel Like I Do a Better job Running Straight into That wall Over there Then I Do think I'd be A witness Like I Just don't See a Lot of Fruit I don't See a Lot of Results I get More negativity Than I

[43:32] Get positive How many Of you Would say That the Apostle Paul Was a Pretty Good Missionary That'd Be a Pretty Good Answer To say Yeah Yeah Probably One of The best We'll Look at Chapter 26 And Verse 24 And we'll Close With this Chapter 26 And Verse 24 Listen To what is Said of Paul And as He was Saying these Things That is Sharing all His Testimony Uncle Festus Said With a Loud Voice Paul Paul You Are Out Of Your Mind Your Great Learning Is Driving You Out Of Your Mind And do You Remember What they Said of Paul In Athens They Said Paul You Bring Strange Things To Our Ears!

[44:18] We We Were Not Sure About In Fact Many Of Them Rejected Him And A Few Were Willing To Listen Here's The Point I Have No Doubt That Some Of You Will Have People In Your Life That Think You're Crazy Okay And It's Not Because You're Actually Crazy It's Because The Gospel Is Foolishness!

[44:36] To Those Who Don't Believe! I Mean It's What The Scripture Says The Gospel Is Foolishness To The Wisdom Of The World 1 Corinthians 1 When Light Comes In People Are Going To Reject It Because They Love The Dark John Chapter 3 The Natural Man Cannot Understand The Things Of God 1 Corinthians 2 Listen Notice This On The Screen Our Motivation In The Mission Is Not The Response Of People Our Motivation In The Mission Is The Call If You're Basing Your Motivation To Be A Witness On How People Will Respond You'll Stop After A Couple But If Your Motivation Is Based On The Fact That God Called You Into This He Didn't Need You He's The Sovereign God Of The Universe He Made It All By Just Saying Let It Be And

[45:36] By His Grace Has Called You Into! This Mission So Your Motivation Isn't How Will People Respond And What If They Think I'm Crazy Well Get In Line Sister Because They Thought Jesus Was So Crazy They Crucified Him But He Was And He Is The Wisdom Of God Be Motivated To Just Sow Seeds Not Worry About The Harvest You Let God Do That You Be Faithful To Do What God Has Called You To Do And Leave The Results Up To Him So I'm Asking You Tonight What Are The Beliefs That Frame Your Life What Are The Convictions That Guide You And Carry You Through Life It's Important For You To Identify Them Why Because I'll End The Way I Started Look At It Because The Way You Frame Your Life Is Going To Impact The Way You Live Your Life If

[46:36] You Think You're In Control That's Going To Impact The Way You Live If You Believe God Is In Control That's Going To Impact The Way! How You Frame Your Life Impacts The Way You Live Your Life And That Is What Enabled The Apostle Paul To Finish His Race It's Why He Fought The Good Fight It's Why He Got To The End But More Importantly It's What Enabled Jesus To Carry The Cross You See The Things That Paul Framed His Life With In Acts 26 Are Actually The Same Things Jesus Framed His Life With As Well You See Jesus Knew And Trusted That The Father Had A Plan Even When That Plan Didn't Make Any Sense At All But He Framed His Life The Fact That The Father Had A Perfect Will It Was Jesus Who Laid Down His Life Not For His Own Salvation But For Yours All Because Jesus Knew That He Was Sent To Earth For A Purpose And One Purpose

[47:36] Only And That And That Is Precisely Faith Family What Our Lord And Savior Accomplished For Us And The Bible Says He Did It With Joy He Did It With Joy In Other Words When It Came To Your Salvation He Was Thankful For The Opportunity And All God's People Said Amen Let's Pray So Help Us Lord Help Us Help Us Frame Our Life With Biblical Truth Because What We Frame Our Life With Impacts How We Live Our Life And We're So Blessed To Have Examples Like

[48:37] The Apostle Paul To Study And Others That We've Seen In The Book Of Acts But To Look Into Their Life Not Not Flawless We Have Seen Our Dear Brother Struggle On Many Occasions And Yet You Used This Man In Incredible Ways Because He Was Surrendered He He He Left His Calendar!

[48:55] Behind And He Went Wherever The Spirit Took Him And If That Was A Two Year Detour In Places He Never Thought He'd Be He Was Grateful For The Opportunity To Tell The Old Old Story Of Jesus And His Love A Love That Changed Him On The Road!

[49:13] To Damascus And He Woke Up Every Day Knowing That He Had Purpose In Life So Just Take These Things Lord And Help Them Settle In Us This Even Help Us Frame Our Lives Not With The Wisdom Of The World But The Wisdom Of Your Word Help Us Now In These Next Few Moments As We're Going To Take Some Time And Just Reflect And Remember What Christ Did For Us As We Partake Of Communion!

[49:47] Lord I Pray That This Would Be A Reflective And Special Time To Commune With You In Jesus Name We Pray Amen