WEBVTT

00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:16.780
 Hi, my name is George Sinclair. I'm the lead pastor of Church of the Messiah. It is wonderful

00:00:16.780 --> 00:00:20.780
 that you would like to check out some of the sermons done by Church of the Messiah, either

00:00:20.780 --> 00:00:25.179
 by myself or some of the others. Listen, just a couple of things. First of all, would you pray for

00:00:25.179 --> 00:00:31.519
 us that we will open God's Word well to His glory and for the good of people like yourself?

00:00:32.079 --> 00:00:37.939
 The second thing is, if you aren't connected to a church and if you are a Christian, we really,

00:00:38.179 --> 00:00:42.579
 I would really like to encourage you to find a good local church where they believe the Bible,

00:00:43.239 --> 00:00:48.760
 they preach the gospel, and if you have some trouble finding that, send us an email. We will

00:00:48.760 --> 00:00:54.560
 do what we can to help connect you with a good local church wherever you are. And if you're a

00:00:54.560 --> 00:00:59.340
 non-Christian checking us out, we're really, really, really glad you're doing that. Don't

00:00:59.340 --> 00:01:04.219
 hesitate to send us questions. It helps me, actually, to know, as I'm preaching, how to

00:01:04.219 --> 00:01:07.760
 deal with the types of things that you're really struggling with. So God bless.

00:01:12.760 --> 00:01:16.620
 We are privileged to have Bishop Dan preach. Welcome.

00:01:17.520 --> 00:01:23.099
 Thank you, George. As we stand, let's pray together. Father, we thank you for the gift of

00:01:23.099 --> 00:01:28.859
 your living Word, and we pray that as we are gathering under your Word, that you will speak

00:01:28.859 --> 00:01:36.500
 to our minds and our hearts, that you will shape us so that we more and more show Jesus to the world

00:01:36.500 --> 00:01:43.939
 that is around us. Strengthen us for this blessed mission that you give to each of us through the

00:01:43.939 --> 00:01:48.319
 grace of our Lord Jesus. In his name we pray. Amen. Please be seated.

00:01:48.319 --> 00:01:58.159
 Well, first of all, I want to congratulate you for being here today on a very snowy, snowstorm

00:01:58.159 --> 00:02:05.599
 kind of day. You are the true Christians of Messiah Church. No, I don't believe that, but I just think

00:02:05.599 --> 00:02:10.620
 it's fantastic that you came here and you're able to hear God's Word and be here for this great

00:02:10.620 --> 00:02:18.539
 celebration of a confirmation as well. We're together praying for the Holy Spirit to come upon

00:02:18.539 --> 00:02:26.599
 Isabella and Ariana, that they would be faithful in serving him all of their lives and as they publicly

00:02:26.599 --> 00:02:32.680
 stand for the Lord Jesus. So it's a very encouraging and very special time to be together.

00:02:32.680 --> 00:02:40.080
 I do feel a little bit overdressed when I'm standing next to George over here, but it is a special

00:02:40.080 --> 00:02:48.000
 occasion with the confirmation and I'm very, very glad to be part of it. I want to look at Acts 22.

00:02:48.540 --> 00:02:55.200
 So if you can turn in your Bibles or in your phones or whatever you use to see God's Word,

00:02:55.520 --> 00:03:01.000
 it will be helpful. You are all going through the book of Acts right now.

00:03:01.000 --> 00:03:12.879
 And the book of Acts is a gift to us because what we see right at the very beginning is that Luke,

00:03:13.000 --> 00:03:20.379
 who wrote the Gospel of Luke and Acts, says that he's writing this to actually give an account of what

00:03:20.379 --> 00:03:29.920
 Jesus began to do and say in Luke. And what he implies there is that Jesus continues to do his

00:03:29.919 --> 00:03:36.039
 ministry in the book of Acts. That's how the whole thing starts. So the book of Acts is about Jesus'

00:03:36.379 --> 00:03:45.599
 ministry through his people. And that means all of you are on the hook, in a sense. You are all ministers

00:03:45.599 --> 00:03:54.179
 of the Lord Jesus if you are a believer in him. And Jesus is calling you, if you are not a believer in

00:03:54.180 --> 00:04:02.200
 him, to consider him very carefully. Because there is a work that the God who created all things is doing in the

00:04:02.200 --> 00:04:12.379
 world. And it has to do with bringing the knowledge of Jesus, the living Lord Jesus, into people's lives so that

00:04:12.379 --> 00:04:22.060
 they are blessed forever by knowing him. And if you all, if you are a Christian here, it is because you

00:04:22.060 --> 00:04:29.899
 encountered the living Lord Jesus. Through reading the Bible or through talking to somebody who knows

00:04:29.899 --> 00:04:38.160
 Jesus and believes that he is alive, risen from the dead, and forgives our sins. And so all of you

00:04:38.160 --> 00:04:47.660
 have a testimony. We had a very small number at 8 a.m. and I was very tempted to ask everybody for

00:04:47.660 --> 00:04:53.460
 their testimony of how they came to know Jesus. But we didn't do those. A few too many. I could

00:04:53.460 --> 00:05:02.140
 almost do it here, too. And the reason I say that is because this reading that we have from Acts 22

00:05:02.140 --> 00:05:10.420
 is all about testimony. The whole thing is about Paul's testimony of Jesus in his life.

00:05:10.420 --> 00:05:19.060
 And Luke spends a lot of time giving that testimony. And he only does it, he doesn't only do it once,

00:05:19.140 --> 00:05:23.060
 he does it three times throughout the book of Acts. This is the second time that we hear it.

00:05:23.660 --> 00:05:27.400
 And in a few weeks, George is going to preach from Acts 26, you're going to hear it again.

00:05:27.399 --> 00:05:38.639
 But that is because the nature of the Christian faith is a living relationship with God. And you

00:05:38.639 --> 00:05:47.179
 and I have a story about that living relationship with God. If you do not know God yet, you are on a

00:05:47.179 --> 00:05:53.739
 journey. You're here because you're thinking about, well, is this true? Is there a living God? Perhaps.

00:05:53.740 --> 00:06:02.819
 You are on a journey. There's a story that you have. And we are, we understand more about what the

00:06:02.819 --> 00:06:12.340
 gospel is about through testimony. And we are actually going to probably hear a bit of testimony from

00:06:12.340 --> 00:06:20.259
 Arianna and from Isabella before they are confirmed as well. Because God, for all of you,

00:06:20.259 --> 00:06:27.379
 has come into your life in some way. And this is what we pray for those of our friends and our dear

00:06:27.379 --> 00:06:33.860
 ones, the people that we meet who do not know God yet as well. We pray that they come to that

00:06:33.860 --> 00:06:42.259
 understanding that Jesus is alive. So the context of this, Paul is, as you heard last week from George,

00:06:42.639 --> 00:06:46.860
 he's in a rough situation. You think it was bad coming here through a snowstorm?

00:06:46.860 --> 00:06:56.600
 He comes to this place of our passage today by being beaten up. He is hurting. He has almost been

00:06:56.600 --> 00:07:02.780
 killed. He's just been saved because he got arrested, basically. And so it's in that context that he

00:07:02.780 --> 00:07:08.980
 says to the tribe, you, and he says, can I say a word here to this mob who has just tried to kill me?

00:07:08.980 --> 00:07:16.340
 Can I say a word to them? And he convinces them to do it. So Paul stands up. He's allowed to. And for

00:07:16.340 --> 00:07:21.879
 some reason, the crowd gets quiet when he stands up. And they must have been very curious. What's this

00:07:21.879 --> 00:07:26.759
 guy going to say? He's all beat up. And they get even quieter when he starts talking to them in

00:07:26.759 --> 00:07:34.240
 Aramaic, in Hebrew, it says in your Bible. You can see there. And what he says, he says, look,

00:07:34.240 --> 00:07:40.620
 you tried to kill me, basically, because you thought I brought a Gentile into the temple,

00:07:40.620 --> 00:07:48.199
 and you didn't respect what it means to be a Jew? He says, I'm telling you, I am the most qualified

00:07:48.199 --> 00:07:54.040
 Jew that there is. In fact, I persecuted the Christian church. I did everything I could to tear

00:07:54.040 --> 00:08:01.620
 down anybody who said they believed that Jesus was alive, that he rose from the dead. And he said,

00:08:01.620 --> 00:08:08.939
 but what happened one day when I was going to Damascus is that I was going to go round up some

00:08:08.939 --> 00:08:15.079
 Christians and destroy their lives and bring them back to Jerusalem. And around noon, a bright,

00:08:15.439 --> 00:08:26.639
 blinding light came onto me, and I heard a voice. And that voice said two words to start out,

00:08:26.639 --> 00:08:36.860
 which ended up changing his life. Those two words were Saul, Saul, his name. And he said, Saul, Saul,

00:08:37.279 --> 00:08:46.240
 it is the Lord Jesus, the living God, who is speaking to you. And the thing that we see from this,

00:08:46.319 --> 00:08:53.659
 which is so important for us, is that the living God who created all things is also the God who speaks

00:08:53.659 --> 00:09:01.419
 to you very, very personally. We see it throughout the Bible. Moses in the Bernie Bush, named by God.

00:09:01.819 --> 00:09:04.699
 And I'm going to do something in your life here, Moses, that will change everything.

00:09:05.399 --> 00:09:12.939
 Mary didn't know who Jesus was. He says her name, the risen Lord Jesus, right after the resurrection,

00:09:13.199 --> 00:09:22.339
 she's crying. It turned her life completely upside down. My Lord, you are alive. And Peter,

00:09:22.340 --> 00:09:28.899
 Peter, Peter, who denies Jesus. Three times, Jesus, after he rose from the dead, said to Peter,

00:09:29.300 --> 00:09:38.540
 Peter, Peter, feed my sheep. Peter, feed my lambs. Peter, feed my sheep. You see, God's word

00:09:38.540 --> 00:09:47.840
 is for the world, and it is very personal as well. And what I'm amazed by here is that

00:09:47.840 --> 00:09:56.540
 that God speaks to Saul, who became Paul, very, very personally and directly. And here is a guy

00:09:56.540 --> 00:10:03.899
 who is the most opposed to Jesus Christ of anybody in the world. He is the most hardened to the Lord

00:10:03.899 --> 00:10:11.300
 Jesus Christ. He assumes Jesus is dead, and he wants to kill anybody who says otherwise. And yet,

00:10:11.299 --> 00:10:19.019
 here he is encountering the living Lord Jesus in the grace of God, in the most unmistakable way that

00:10:19.019 --> 00:10:25.939
 you can imagine. And I want you to be encouraged by this, because if you are a Christian this morning,

00:10:26.079 --> 00:10:33.799
 you have people in your life that you know that you wish desperately would know that God is alive,

00:10:33.799 --> 00:10:40.240
 and that he forgives our sins, that he brings us into a restored relationship with him. You have

00:10:40.240 --> 00:10:46.159
 people in your life that you are praying for. And I want you to know that there were people praying

00:10:46.159 --> 00:10:54.079
 for Paul. That's why Paul would say afterwards, pray for those who persecute you. Love them.

00:10:54.879 --> 00:11:02.699
 And there were people praying for Paul to know the Lord Jesus. There is nobody outside the grace of God.

00:11:02.700 --> 00:11:09.200
 God, continue to pray for those people who are in your lives. Pray that God will personally speak to

00:11:09.200 --> 00:11:16.220
 them and reveal that Jesus is alive as they hear a testimony, as they read God's word.

00:11:17.440 --> 00:11:26.060
 Jesus asked Paul a question. And when Jesus asked people questions, it's very searching. It's always

00:11:26.060 --> 00:11:31.259
 searching in the Bible. You can think of, you know, Peter being asked those questions, do you love me?

00:11:31.259 --> 00:11:37.899
 Three times, do you love me? And to Mary, he said, you know, who are you seeking? And here,

00:11:38.559 --> 00:11:47.019
 Paul is being asked this question, why are you persecuting me? That question completely

00:11:47.019 --> 00:11:57.919
 turned Paul's life upside down. Because it's at that point he realized that there was something

00:11:57.919 --> 00:12:03.879
 completely wrong about his life. So he asked this follow-up question to Jesus in this question.

00:12:04.379 --> 00:12:10.719
 He says, who are you, Lord, that you're saying I'm persecuting you? And the voice said, I am Jesus,

00:12:11.159 --> 00:12:20.319
 whom you are persecuting. And that turned his life upside down. You know, the one, he had thought Jesus

00:12:20.319 --> 00:12:26.419
 as a blasphemer of somebody who was a liar, who had led people away from the law and the true worship of God.

00:12:26.419 --> 00:12:37.559
 And all of a sudden, he sees the fact that, oh, he is the living God. He is the one who has truly risen

00:12:37.559 --> 00:12:44.979
 from the dead. And not only that, but this Jesus personally identifies with the people that Paul was

00:12:44.979 --> 00:12:50.259
 trying to destroy. And you can imagine what was happening in his mind. This can't be happening.

00:12:50.259 --> 00:12:58.939
 My life's work is completely wrong. I've been blind to God all my life and what he was doing in the Lord

00:12:58.939 --> 00:13:06.559
 Jesus. I thought I was doing great good, but I was attacking God himself. And you know, that was the

00:13:06.559 --> 00:13:13.519
 defining moment for Paul in his life. Because what happened when he's blinded by that light? It's a sign

00:13:13.519 --> 00:13:20.220
 of what his spiritual life was before that, that it was blind. And he comes out of that by God's grace

00:13:20.220 --> 00:13:28.500
 into the light of Jesus. And it changed everything for him. In fact, he describes his ministry in 2nd

00:13:28.500 --> 00:13:34.600
 Corinthians 4, 6. This is how he says, this is my ministry that God has given me. He said, for God,

00:13:34.600 --> 00:13:41.720
 who said, let light shine out of darkness, has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge

00:13:41.720 --> 00:13:49.120
 of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. That's what Paul's life was all about. He knew

00:13:49.120 --> 00:13:56.740
 that God had brought him from darkness, spiritually, into light. And that light is all about the knowledge

00:13:56.740 --> 00:14:04.000
 of God in Jesus Christ, in the face of Jesus Christ. Seeing the goodness and the glory of God

00:14:04.000 --> 00:14:15.679
 in Jesus. In the city of Ottawa, we, our city here, and the city I'm from in Toronto, has many, many people

00:14:15.679 --> 00:14:23.659
 who are blind to God. And that blindness takes different forms. Sometimes that blindness is,

00:14:24.259 --> 00:14:31.340
 I don't know why God is even relevant. I don't need Jesus. I'm able to live a life that's just fine

00:14:31.340 --> 00:14:38.940
 without him. Sometimes it is simply that I've never even really thought of God being somebody that I

00:14:38.940 --> 00:14:48.740
 would consider. Others are, I would say, probably like Paul, sincerely opposing God, seeing that this

00:14:48.740 --> 00:14:54.320
 is actually not a good thing in our culture to have people who are Christians. And then there are others

00:14:54.320 --> 00:15:01.160
 where God is slowly lifting away, like a cataract, the blindness, the spiritual blindness that's happening

00:15:01.160 --> 00:15:08.060
 for them. And these are all forms of being blind to God. But Paul's testimony shows that in a very

00:15:08.060 --> 00:15:17.920
 personal way, God is all about, in every person's unique situation, opening minds and hearts to the knowledge

00:15:17.919 --> 00:15:24.599
 of God in the light of God in the light of Jesus, in the glorious light of Jesus. And that is God's love for us.

00:15:25.319 --> 00:15:34.679
 That he would be all about his great work in the world, working in people personally, to bring them to know

00:15:34.679 --> 00:15:41.740
 his great forgiveness, his reconciliation with himself, with even people who are enemies of God.

00:15:41.740 --> 00:15:48.500
 That he is all about bringing the light of God into the spiritual darkness that people experience.

00:15:48.960 --> 00:15:53.440
 To know the healing of our relationship with God that then extends to our healing with other people.

00:15:53.879 --> 00:15:59.600
 The healing within ourselves, the brokenness that is all around us. One of the great difficult questions

00:15:59.600 --> 00:16:05.019
 that people have is, why is there evil in the world? We can't fully answer that, but we can say

00:16:05.019 --> 00:16:11.799
 the gospel is all about Jesus coming into our brokenness, coming into the darkness, invading

00:16:11.799 --> 00:16:19.139
 it with his grace and his goodness and his mercy. That is what is happening in Paul's life. And this is

00:16:19.139 --> 00:16:25.319
 something that shaped Paul's life forever. He knew that whatever he was going through, snowstorms,

00:16:25.639 --> 00:16:33.579
 shipwrecks, beatings, stonings, that all of the things that happened to him, he experienced the joy

00:16:33.580 --> 00:16:39.759
 of God. He's known as the joyful apostle. He speaks about joy all the time. And it doesn't seem like

00:16:39.759 --> 00:16:47.320
 he's got a lot to be joyful about. But he sincerely is, powerfully is. And it's because he knows that

00:16:47.320 --> 00:16:55.220
 nothing can separate him from the love of God in the Lord Jesus Christ. Not even death. And that is the

00:16:55.220 --> 00:17:02.320
 gift of Jesus' gospel. This is the light that Paul experienced. And that news that we have of Jesus

00:17:02.320 --> 00:17:09.480
 Christ in our life is the one great gift for the world. It's the one thing the church has that the

00:17:09.480 --> 00:17:16.340
 world cannot offer. And it's the greatest thing that people need as well. And this is what we are

00:17:16.340 --> 00:17:24.019
 about as a church, carrying this precious gift of the light of Jesus Christ into the world around us.

00:17:24.799 --> 00:17:30.700
 And that leads us to, you know, it's not just that Paul encountered the living Lord Jesus,

00:17:30.700 --> 00:17:39.700
 and it just completely turned his life around. God also sent Paul. God sent Paul in this reading.

00:17:40.660 --> 00:17:46.140
 And so his testimony is, not only does God open my eyes, but he sends me to bring that light that I

00:17:46.140 --> 00:17:52.980
 was open to, to other people. What George will preach on chapter 26 is a great, I like that testimony

00:17:52.980 --> 00:18:00.880
 because he also kind of fleshes out a little bit more what that sending was like, what God told him.

00:18:01.140 --> 00:18:10.240
 And here's what he said. Chapter 26, verse 17. He said, Jesus said, I am sending you, this is what he

00:18:10.240 --> 00:18:15.519
 said to Paul personally, I'm sending you to open the eyes of the nations so that they may turn from

00:18:15.519 --> 00:18:21.440
 darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins

00:18:21.440 --> 00:18:30.880
 and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me. You see, people from all stripes,

00:18:31.759 --> 00:18:39.900
 all cultures, all nations will have the same place as the chosen people of God, the Jewish people,

00:18:40.340 --> 00:18:48.279
 those who are loved and who are close to God, who are at peace with God. And that gospel goes far

00:18:48.279 --> 00:18:55.799
 into the world. I love how Paul responded to that and how Ananias told him. He said, Jesus said to him,

00:18:55.940 --> 00:19:02.980
 rise now, you know, you've been stuck on the, on the road here, fallen off your horse, go to Damascus,

00:19:03.019 --> 00:19:08.559
 you're going to be told all that you're going to do. And when he gets there immediately, a few days later,

00:19:08.599 --> 00:19:15.619
 he gets baptized. And, and Ananias said, what are you waiting for? Get going. He starts preaching the

00:19:15.619 --> 00:19:23.279
 synagogues and then goes to Jerusalem. So that's his, that's his testimony. And he ends his testimony

00:19:23.279 --> 00:19:30.459
 with all of these people who tried to kill him, listening to him. And he ends the testimony in a

00:19:30.459 --> 00:19:38.859
 way that probably from a safety standpoint was not the smartest thing to do. He said this, look at verse 21.

00:19:38.859 --> 00:19:46.279
 He said that, you know, when I went to Jerusalem back then, God said, Jerusalem's not going to accept

00:19:46.279 --> 00:19:55.879
 you. You need to do something now. Verse 21, go for I will send you far away to the Gentiles.

00:19:56.659 --> 00:20:02.839
 Well, that was like lighting a match where there were gas fumes. They became enraged and there was a

00:20:02.839 --> 00:20:08.779
 riot so that the Romans had to take Paul to the barracks. And the reason there was an explosion

00:20:08.779 --> 00:20:15.899
 was because he was saying, God's own people are going to reject this great gift from God. And

00:20:15.899 --> 00:20:21.939
 Paul's going to go to the Gentiles, to the people who are separated from God, and he's going to share

00:20:21.939 --> 00:20:30.759
 that gift with them. And they didn't like it. Now, I want to close this sermon by saying to you and I,

00:20:30.759 --> 00:20:36.839
 you know, how does this apply to us? How does that testimony that we've just heard from thousands

00:20:36.839 --> 00:20:44.799
 of years ago, how does it affect us? Well, very simply, it shows us that God's agenda in the world

00:20:44.799 --> 00:20:51.079
 is to open the hearts and minds of people to the glory of God in Jesus, to open our minds to the

00:20:51.079 --> 00:20:58.980
 gospel. And that process is called conversion. If you have come to believe in Jesus, you have been

00:20:58.980 --> 00:21:10.880
 converted. Paul's conversion was very dramatic. Mine wasn't so much. Mine was probably similar to what

00:21:10.880 --> 00:21:17.259
 Isabella and Ariana have, where they grow up with Christian family in a Christian home. And you know

00:21:17.259 --> 00:21:23.559
 about Jesus from the beginning of their life. But I want you to know that in this little testimony,

00:21:23.559 --> 00:21:32.000
 you see a threefold way pattern of the Christian life, of conversion, that all of us experience if

00:21:32.000 --> 00:21:37.879
 you become a Christian. And the first thing is, is that God causes people to encounter the living

00:21:37.879 --> 00:21:46.559
 Jesus. In some way, you encounter the living Jesus, and he speaks to you personally. If you're a follower

00:21:46.559 --> 00:21:54.139
 of Jesus today, God did speak to you through the Bible or through a friend, and God, by his spirit,

00:21:54.259 --> 00:22:01.259
 made you understand that Jesus loves you, that he has died for the forgiveness of your sins to bring

00:22:01.259 --> 00:22:08.559
 you at peace with God, and that he lives as Lord because he rose from the dead, and he is with you

00:22:08.559 --> 00:22:17.879
 every day. He is your shepherd every single day. God, by his spirit, adopts you by that forgiveness so that

00:22:17.879 --> 00:22:24.859
 you belong to him forever. Your eyes are open to that. And secondly, God brings repentance into your life.

00:22:25.379 --> 00:22:33.240
 Paul was undone. His life was turned upside down by meeting the living Lord Jesus. And in every

00:22:33.240 --> 00:22:41.799
 life that comes to know God, God unravels our lives so that he makes us new, so that the thing that is

00:22:41.799 --> 00:22:48.160
 central in our life is Jesus Christ himself, the living Jesus. And that changes everything about you.

00:22:49.039 --> 00:22:55.539
 And a lot of times it means a complete about-face in things that are most important in your life.

00:22:55.859 --> 00:23:00.160
 There's a conviction in us that says there are ways that I have rebelled against God,

00:23:00.160 --> 00:23:07.880
 and my life needs complete reorientation. I need the new life that God gives. And then thirdly,

00:23:08.779 --> 00:23:16.700
 and finally, God, in this process of conversion, sends you out into the world. And some of you,

00:23:16.740 --> 00:23:21.140
 as I'm looking out in this congregation here, I know that's literally been to the ends of the earth

00:23:21.140 --> 00:23:28.660
 for some of you. But for most of us, it's in our neighborhoods. It's in our families. It's in the

00:23:28.660 --> 00:23:35.220
 people that we love and care for, or it might be somebody, a stranger that you meet. Sometimes it's

00:23:35.220 --> 00:23:42.019
 easiest to share the gospel with somebody you've never met before. But God is one who is sending you

00:23:42.019 --> 00:23:50.380
 into the world as his representative, as his minister in the world. Our job, George and my job

00:23:50.380 --> 00:23:58.560
 as ordained ministers, is simply to equip you as ministers of the gospel to do the work God's given

00:23:58.560 --> 00:24:09.720
 you to do. Because in your conversion, he sends you out. In my own life, I experienced that,

00:24:09.720 --> 00:24:20.240
 all three of those things in my life. Jesus called me by name. When I was very, very little, I knew that

00:24:20.240 --> 00:24:27.880
 God knew me personally. From as far back as I can remember, I knew that Jesus was alive. And I also knew

00:24:27.880 --> 00:24:36.279
 that he was one who forgives sins, as I understood at the time. I knew that God was always, always loving

00:24:36.279 --> 00:24:46.259
 me. And that I, it was good for me to pray to him, and to turn to him. That's what, that's what it means

00:24:46.259 --> 00:24:54.379
 to encounter the Lord Jesus Christ. And I also knew that I needed to repent as I grew up in my life.

00:24:56.660 --> 00:25:04.519
 I think that for me, one of the most important parts of my conversion was at age 16 of realizing

00:25:04.519 --> 00:25:13.579
 is what my parents believe, what I believe, simply because they're my parents? Or do I need to take

00:25:13.579 --> 00:25:19.539
 that on for myself? Do I need to stand up and say, yes, I actually believe this. I want to live my life

00:25:19.539 --> 00:25:24.259
 for this. This is what we're going to be doing in confirmation. And that was incredibly important for me.

00:25:24.599 --> 00:25:31.660
 But for me, the most dramatic part of my conversion in, in my thinking was that third aspect of being

00:25:31.660 --> 00:25:38.259
 sent up. Because at age 19, the penny dropped, and I realized, you know, Jesus is calling me to serve

00:25:38.259 --> 00:25:46.040
 him in this world. That I, I really had been a very passive person in church, taking things in.

00:25:46.779 --> 00:25:52.700
 And that was kind of it. But I realized by God's grace that I need to live the Christian life more

00:25:52.700 --> 00:26:00.700
 fully. I had to be much more active in following him. And I'll tell you, that was the most rewarding

00:26:00.700 --> 00:26:07.779
 thing, I think, change that happened for me is to see life in that way, of being one who would serve

00:26:07.779 --> 00:26:13.059
 him in whatever situation. And it was then that I joined a Bible study. I became involved in the life

00:26:13.059 --> 00:26:19.220
 of the church. I became involved in campus ministry, in reaching out to refugees in the area. It was,

00:26:19.299 --> 00:26:28.240
 it was actually exercising the faith that God had given to me. And you got to be careful when you do

00:26:28.240 --> 00:26:33.920
 that thing. It can lead you to strange things that led to my ordination one day as well, and being

00:26:33.920 --> 00:26:39.539
 where I am today. But, you know, this is what, this is what God is doing in each of our lives with,

00:26:39.640 --> 00:26:47.539
 with conversion. He is showing you the living Jesus. He is calling you to repentance, the joy of repentance,

00:26:47.700 --> 00:26:54.079
 of turning to him. And he's, he's giving to each of us the joy of being sent out ones, being sent out.

00:26:54.079 --> 00:27:02.399
 Do you know, in our liturgy that we hear today, God says, God calls us to that conversion every day,

00:27:02.500 --> 00:27:08.299
 in a sense. Because in the service, we hear God speak to us. Like the living, we encounter the Lord,

00:27:08.579 --> 00:27:14.339
 the living Lord Jesus Christ. And you do it through the week when you read, and when you pray, and when

00:27:14.339 --> 00:27:21.079
 you receive communion. We encounter him. We, we are called to repentance as well. Every time we meet

00:27:21.079 --> 00:27:26.639
 together, we repent of our sins. It's one of the great things of the Anglican liturgy. And we ask God

00:27:26.639 --> 00:27:32.960
 to strengthen us in the new life of Jesus. And then at the end of the service, you will notice that you

00:27:32.960 --> 00:27:39.759
 are being sent out to do the works that God has given you to do, and to be a living sacrifice for,

00:27:39.759 --> 00:27:47.679
 for him. Our souls and bodies, a living sacrifice. That's the pattern of the Christian life. That's the

00:27:47.680 --> 00:27:56.039
 testimony that we have to the Lord Jesus. May God fill you personally with his Holy Spirit,

00:27:56.360 --> 00:28:04.620
 to be faithful to him as sent out ones, but also to know the joy of the Lord Jesus as you encounter him

00:28:04.620 --> 00:28:13.000
 in his word, and as you turn to him over and over again for that new life that only he can give,

00:28:13.000 --> 00:28:21.180
 so that you will be a glorious light for the Lord Jesus in this city of Ottawa and far beyond.

00:28:21.779 --> 00:28:29.359
 May God's Spirit strengthen you so that you can serve him in your home, in your work, at your school,

00:28:29.900 --> 00:28:37.779
 with your friends, so that Jesus and his glorious light is made known. To him belong all praise,

00:28:37.779 --> 00:28:41.480
 glory, and honor forever and ever. Amen.

00:28:43.000 --> 00:28:44.460
 Amen.

00:28:44.460 --> 00:28:44.460


00:28:44.460 --> 00:28:44.460


00:28:44.460 --> 00:28:44.460


00:28:44.460 --> 00:28:44.460


00:28:44.460 --> 00:28:44.460


00:28:44.460 --> 00:28:44.460


00:28:44.460 --> 00:28:44.460


00:28:44.460 --> 00:28:44.460


00:28:44.460 --> 00:28:44.460


00:28:44.460 --> 00:28:44.460


00:28:44.460 --> 00:28:44.460


00:28:44.460 --> 00:28:44.460


00:28:44.460 --> 00:28:44.460


00:28:44.460 --> 00:28:44.460


00:28:44.460 --> 00:28:44.460


00:28:44.460 --> 00:28:44.460


00:28:44.460 --> 00:28:44.460


00:28:44.460 --> 00:28:44.460


00:28:44.460 --> 00:28:44.460


00:28:44.460 --> 00:28:44.460


00:28:44.460 --> 00:28:44.460


00:28:44.460 --> 00:28:44.460


00:28:44.460 --> 00:28:44.460


00:28:44.460 --> 00:28:44.460


00:28:44.460 --> 00:28:44.460


00:28:44.460 --> 00:28:44.460


00:28:44.460 --> 00:28:44.460


00:28:44.460 --> 00:28:44.460


00:28:44.460 --> 00:28:44.460


00:28:44.460 --> 00:28:44.460


00:28:44.460 --> 00:28:44.460


00:28:44.460 --> 00:28:44.460


00:28:44.460 --> 00:28:44.460


00:28:44.460 --> 00:28:44.460


00:28:44.460 --> 00:28:44.460


00:28:44.460 --> 00:28:44.460


00:28:44.460 --> 00:28:44.460


00:28:44.460 --> 00:28:44.460


00:28:44.460 --> 00:28:44.460


00:28:44.460 --> 00:28:44.460


00:28:44.460 --> 00:28:44.460


00:28:44.460 --> 00:28:44.460


00:28:44.460 --> 00:28:44.460


00:28:44.460 --> 00:28:44.460


00:28:44.460 --> 00:28:44.460


00:28:44.460 --> 00:28:44.460


00:28:44.460 --> 00:28:44.460


00:28:44.460 --> 00:28:44.460


00:28:44.460 --> 00:28:44.460


00:28:44.460 --> 00:28:44.460


00:28:44.460 --> 00:28:44.460


00:28:44.460 --> 00:28:44.460


00:28:44.460 --> 00:28:44.460


00:28:44.460 --> 00:28:44.460


00:28:44.460 --> 00:28:44.460