Charlie Hughes - Alabanza en Prisión, que hacer si te sientes atrapado.

When I was around seven or eight years old, and after a series of tests were told to my parents by a specialist, that I had a learning disability, which would mean that it would be very difficult for me to graduate from high school, and that probably going to college would not be a possibility for me at all, and that for me to have any kind of education, it would take a miracle. But I'm going to finish that story later. Welcome to the new series here at Church Renderglades, which is called I Need a Miracle. Someone is enjoying this series that started last week. Clap if you enjoyed it. My father, Pastor David, brought a very important message, and if you haven't seen it, go and watch it on YouTube. But here at Church Renderglades, we believe proudly that God is still in the business of doing miracles today. God is still in the business of doing miracles today. The scriptures support this because they tell us that God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. And if God did miracles in the biblical times, and if he is the same today as he was then, this must mean that God is still in the business of doing miracles right here and now. Who knows, maybe before we finish the service in this place, God will do a miracle. Here is someone who is waiting with me here in the front section. To introduce myself, my name is Pastor Charlie Hughes, and I have the honor to lead the Rally movement of this 18 to 30 year old church. It's called Rally. Someone shouted, today. Today is the day that the Lord has made.

And I'm so honored to bring the word of God. And it's been a while since I've had the blessing and the privilege. So I'm going to try to win the lost time, and I'm going to preach with enthusiasm and energy. And if anyone wants to help me, if you want to help the preacher preach, make some noise with me. All right. Keep your promise. Don't leave me hanging here. So in Acts chapter 16, in verse 16, if you're ready for the word, shout like you're ready. Let's read. One time, when we were going to the place of prayer, we found a female slave who had a spirit that foretold the future. She was making a great deal of money from her owners, saying, the future. And she was following Paul and the rest of us, shouting, these men are servants of the God of altruism. And she spent many days saying this. And Paul got so angry that he turned around and said to the spirit, not the woman, in the name of Jesus Christ, I order you to get out of her. And at that moment, the spirit got out of her. And when her owners realized that her hope of making money had ended, they took Paul and Silas and dragged them and took them to the authorities. They told the magistrates, these men are Jews

and they are making a scandal in our city with illegal practices and illegal customs. And they ordered Paul and Silas, they took them, they flagellated them, and they put them in prison. And the jailer was entrusted to take care of them. And he put them in an inner cell and he secured their feet with crutches. It was midnight, and Paul and Silas were praying and singing, singing and crying. And the other prisoners were listening to them when suddenly a violent earthquake, so violent that the foundations of the prison were crushed, took place. And at the same time, all the gates of the prison opened and all the chains were loosened. And here I will tell you that when the alabaster arrives, this breaks the prisons. But there, then the jailer woke up and when he saw the doors of the prison open, he took his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought that the prisoners had escaped. But Paul shouted out loud, don't hurt yourself, we are all here. What? Are you telling me that after all the prayers and all the praises and all the destruction Adoration and all his belief after midnight when the chains were released and the doors of the prison were opened, Pablo and Silas did not take the opportunity to escape and leave the prison? I don't think so. But maybe this is what makes this the perfect passage for us to read on the second Sunday of 2026.

Not that at the sound of the adoration, at the moment of the prayer, that this was heard at midnight, the chains were released and the doors were opened, but that after the clock struck twelve, they were still in the same problem, in the same place where they were before the clock struck twelve. Because it is the experience of many of us, isn't it? You finished 2025 praying, praising and believing in God for a miracle in a certain area of your life, but when the clock struck twelve on December 31st, although the calendar changed, your situation did not change. No, but don't listen to what I'm telling you. I'm not saying or implying that the adoration or the prayer or the praise does not change. No, I know that the adoration and the praise change things. I've seen it. I've seen that the adoration and the praise change. And I have stories. I'm going to share one so you can see how the adoration and the praise have changed things in my life. But all I want you to take into consideration is that when we choose to pray and praise, we don't choose what is going to change this praise and this adoration. God does it. And God cares more about changing you than changing your situation. God cares more about your focus than understanding your frustrations. God cares more about fixing your perspective than fixing your problems. God's thoughts are not our thoughts. God's ways are not our ways. God's plans are better, more wise. But we choose to pray and praise. But God is the one who chooses what are going to change our praise and our adoration. And after all, what good would it have done Paul and Silas to escape from prison? Because they were technically in custody by the Romans. So if they would have taken this opportunity to escape from prison, they would not have been free.

They would have been fugitives. Some of you, if God answers your prayer the way you want him to answer it, and if it comes the way you want it, and if he wants the miracle you're asking for, maybe you'd have an illusion of freedom, instead of waiting for the authentic freedom that you really need. Because the possibilities are the ones that you're looking for. Freedom from your circumstances, but also freedom from your character. Because I'm not sure if you know this, but you're the person that you take everywhere you go. So if God takes you there, but he doesn't change you, he doesn't change you, he doesn't change you, he doesn't change you, he doesn't change you, he doesn't change you. He takes you there, but he doesn't change you to be the angry, depressed, disappointed person that you are. So you're going to be the same person when you get there. But if God can set you free, and fix your anxiety, your depression, your disappointment, even here, when you get there, then you're going to believe that everything is possible. You're going to believe that anything is possible. You're going to believe that anything is possible. And I think that this praise led to the release of this story. I think the reason that the chains fell off in this prison, and that Paul and Silas remained where they were,

it wasn't because they were praying that God would take them out. It was because they were praying that God would bring them in. Because sometimes we're so quick to look for an escape. We use social media as an escape. We use drugs as an escape. We use sex as an escape. We use work as an escape. We use relationships as an escape. But liberation, adoration, doesn't have to be seen as an escape. Because when you see adoration as an escape, then it stops being adoration. Because when you see adoration as an escape, then it stops being adoration. but it's not about you, but it's about being close to God. That's why I love what a preacher friend of mine says. He says that worship is not our escape, but it's God's entrance. Worship is God's entrance into our problems, worship is God's entrance into our traumas, problems, worship is God's entrance into our stress, worship is God's entrance into our disaster. Worship is not how we get out of our problems, but how we bring God into our problems. So, what a good thing it would have done for Pablo Yacilas to come out after God showed up, to receive whatever miracle you need, for the mess that you have in 2025, and he's just going to take you to 2026. He's not going to take you from where you are, or when you leave where you are,

but he's going to take you from where you are, and God's going to find you where you are. A few years ago, I was driving, and I was in a red light waiting to cross to the left, and when I was here waiting to cross to the left, there was another car crossing to the left on the other side, on the opposite side of the intersection, but they didn't make it wide enough, and instead of passing by my side, they hit me while I was waiting at this red light, and then he says, to whom is this happening to? Only me, I was amazed, that was something I couldn't believe, but the people who hit me were very kind, they were there at the intersection, they were in the traffic, so I said, well, let's go out to the service station, and we wait for the police, and when the police arrived to take the report for the insurance, they told me, Mr. Hughes, you are lucky that this man was the one who hit you, and I said, excuse me, and he said, yes, you are very lucky, because this person, Mr. Hughes, is a good and honest person, and he told me the same story you told me, because when you have an accident, when you get into a problem, when you get into a disaster, you are supposed to stay where you are, if this man had told a different story than the one you told,

he could have been found guilty of the accident. Excuse me, I don't know who this is for, but to be honest, I don't even know exactly what I want to say here, because I don't know the complexities of what is happening to you in detail, but I do believe that this is for someone, and I want you to listen as if it were you. Remaining where you are, even when the place where you are may not be the result of something you did wrong, may be the result of something that someone did wrong to you, can still prove to be key and crucial for you to receive the liberation you seek, and the relief you desire more than anything else, that I know that only God can give you completely in his perfect time. I don't know who that was for, but there are people I know that it wasn't for them. What I just said, let me be clear, it wasn't for anyone who is currently in a place or in an unsafe or abusive relationship. If you are currently in an abusive relationship, you don't have to stay where you are, you have to get out of where you are and seek help to be safe. But sure, apart from being in an unsafe or abusive place, what I say is, for you it can be very relevant,

because very often people, especially Christians, are very quick to escape and leave, and abandon difficult situations. When something is difficult, and because it is difficult, it does not mean that it is not divine, and because something is difficult, it does not mean that it is not divine, and because it causes pain, it does not mean that it has no purpose, and it does not mean that your Savior is not in it, because God can do surprising things for you, but frequently, through the struggle of life, you can let God do an important job for you. So, if in your workplace it is difficult, but it is not toxic, and God told you to get out of that work... I think that this title has been more difficult than you expected, but God told you to give up because if you haven't done it, I think the right move for you is to take a little bit of the example of Pablo and Silas and stay where you are, because God wants to find you where you are, not to do something surprising through you, but to do something beautiful in you. Because Pablo and Silas stayed where they were because they didn't run, they were eventually released and they were proven not guilty and they were seen as good people by everyone involved. So I have a line of dialogue that I think was catalytic for Pablo and Silas, because when the jailer was going to kill himself because he thought they had escaped from prison, Pablo told him, don't kill yourself, we're all here. And I'm sure that for many who are listening this morning, I'm still here, it's probably the last thing you want to say in 2026. But if I can encourage you for a moment, when you choose to worship, even when life turns to the worst, and when you choose to remain in prayer and praise, even when you have problems that have lasted longer than you would like, this will allow you to see old things with new eyes. And in the most crazy way, if the enemy, what the enemy proposed to discourage you, it can be the same thing that God uses to make you wake up once again, because if what the enemy wants to deny you, it can still be something for God to tell you, because the Bible tells us that the devil comes to steal, to kill, to destroy, but that Jesus came to give us life. And life in abundance. So the fact that you are still here, after everything you went through in 2025, after all the tears you shed, after all the problems you went through, the headaches and all the broken hearts, and your heart is still beating and your lungs are expanding, means that the devil failed and that God has not finished with you. So the devil wants you to be here to be discouraged and to give up, but God wants you to be here to be inspired and to give him control, so I want to take that into consideration. Many of you think, maybe you, maybe you, being here is not a reason to cry, or to complain, or to be sad, maybe it's a reason to raise your hands in praise, because maybe the fact that you're still here means that God still has more things for you. There are people who believe it like that. God has not finished with you yet. You're still here. It was Paul, who's in this story, who wrote in another letter later, that where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And this is so helpful. It helps me understand why Paul and Silas did not escape from prison when they had the opportunity to do so. Because this tells me that Paul and Silas, because they believed that where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom, and where two or three people gather in the name of the Lord, the Lord is there, and because when they began to pray and praise in that prison, they were there in the name of the Lord.

They believed that the Lord was with them, which meant that God was with them, and they were praying and praising, not for freedom, but for a place of freedom. They were able to experience freedom, even when they were still in prison, because they believed that if God, who cannot be bound by time or space, was already with them in their confinement, then they were free. I don't know where you are currently going. What is the situation that you're stuck in? Maybe it's your finances. Maybe it's your debt. Maybe it's your career. Maybe you can't move. Maybe you're stuck in your loneliness. I don't know what you're stuck in. I don't know what you're trapped in. I don't know what prison you're trying to navigate. But I want you to think and believe this, that freedom is not a place, that freedom is not a promotion, that freedom is not a place. It's the absence of problems, it's freedom, it's the presence of a person, and the name of this person is spelled J-E-S-U-S-C-R-I-S-T-O Jesus Christ, even if you don't feel that way, and if you have Jesus, you have freedom, and if you have Jesus, you have reasons to praise. And I think that's why, even if Paul and Silas had been beaten up and abandoned in a prison, they knew that when they worshiped God, God would be with them. And then these Jewish men who were there knew Psalm 22, and they knew that God lives in praise, and that wherever God is, there is freedom. This means that when you worship, there is freedom available for you to experience. It's your worship that works as the door for the divine to come and live your daily life. It's your worship that makes God do what has to be done within you. It's your worship that silences fear. And something that's been bothering me for a long time, and I'm going to tell you now, and I need to tell you today, is that worship is not whistling. It's not whistling. And here's what I mean. I feel that there is a universal understanding in all people that whistling, or whistling is an activity reserved only for happy people. I don't know about you guys, but I've never seen somebody whistling on the street like that. You won't see it. Only happy people whistle. Whistling is only for happy people. But Church by the Glades, worship is not whistling. Worship is not just for happy people. Worship is for angry people. Worship is for sad people. Worship is for excited people. Worship is for exhausted people. Worship is for delighted people. Worship is for depressed people. Worship is for depressed people. Worship is for disappointed people.

Worship is for all people. That's why the Bible says that everything that breathes, praise the Lord. The only prerequisite for your praise is that you have a pulse. And if you have a pulse, you have reasons to praise. If you regulate your worship to a certain state of spirit, then you allow the enemy to trap you in the sadness or in your situation, and nothing makes you happier. But when you allow your praise to determine, that you tell the enemy that your emotions are not your Lord, but Jesus is. And that's the way you'll worship when you don't feel like worshiping. And not to pretend, but because it's going to be for your faith, and for your praise, and for your prayer, and for your worship that you make it. And the devil always goes to try to get you out of your worship, because he knows that if he takes your worship away, he's going to take your testimony away. Remember when we read that while Paul and Silas worshipped, all the other prisoners were listening, watching. And when Paul and Silas fell into chains, so did everyone else. Do you see what I'm telling you? I'm telling you today that your worship does not only have the power to give you freedom. Your worship has the power to give freedom to everyone around you as well. And I'm telling you this from a place of authority, from a place of experience. I think I'm frequently on the side, at the extreme of receiving, a feeling of freedom to worship, to see others that I know worship. And I tell them, here I have my friend Benjamin in the front row. Benjamin, how old are you? You're nine years old. Benjamin, during the worship today, was singing with all his heart, his veins were visible, and his hands were up, giving it all. And based on his worship, you have no idea that right now, his mother is at home, paralyzed from her chest down. Nothing gives me a feeling of freedom to worship other than to see Benjamin.

I'm proud of you. Right now, my friend, Ms. Allison, who is sitting in the front row, she comes to church every week. She sits in the same row every week. She shows up faithfully. You never know, seeing her worship, that she lost her husband unexpectedly a couple of years ago with a heart attack. I'm inspired by your worship, Ms. Allison. Your worship gives me the freedom to worship. I see Ms. Snowden over there. She also lost her husband. And after praying and begging God, I'm inspired by your worship. Your worship gives me the freedom to worship. Your worship has set me free to worship. It's not just a matter of comparison. When I compare my problems with what they have, and they still have reason to worship. It's not just a matter of comparison. Because when I see them worship, they remind me that worship is medicine. All the worshipers here can tell me that when we worship, it's almost impossible to worship and be worried at the same time. Because when you worship, it gives you a kind of tunnel vision of the most beautiful. It focuses you on the most beautiful and the best, which is Jesus. And you only need a vision when you're trapped in a prison. And that was a vision, paradoxically,

that led Pablo to this prison. The story we read today begins in verse 16, but if you go to some verses before, you can see it in 16.9, that while Pablo was in another place, he had a vision of a man who was in Macedonia, asking for help. And so Pablo traveled from where he was to Macedonia, where he found this woman who had the demonic spirit with her. And he chose to free this woman from the spirit. And as a result, he found himself in prison in Macedonia. In a weird way, this vision that he had in another place was the reason why he was in prison in Macedonia. But because Pablo chose to worship even in prison, it makes me wonder. I wonder if Pablo chose to worship in prison, because in prison he recognized the man of the vision. Because the story ends with the jailer, the one who was ready to kill himself, to find new life and freedom in Christ. He and all his family put their faith in Jesus Christ and decided to be baptized. And I wonder if this jailer in prison was the man that Pablo saw in the vision. So without feeling that Pablo chose to worship, because he knew that the opportunity that his worship would give to introduce this jailer to his creator. When you choose to worship in moments where it seems unexpected for those around you, that's going to cause that at this point,

they're going to see you and they're going to see your God in a completely different way. Because when they see that you are able to say that this man has been very good, when life has been bad with you, this is going to say, if there is a God, he must be a God. Who cares? If there is a God, he must be a God who comforts. He must be a God who is able to bring peace to those who are anxious, joy to those who are depressed, somehow freedom even to the frustrated. And so for this reason, I don't think Pablo and Silas were worshiping to receive something. I think Pablo and Silas chose to worship in prison because they were worshiping to prove something. I think Pablo and Silas wanted to prove through their worship that even though they were in jail, they hadn't lost their joy. I think they wanted to prove through their worship that even though they were there in a cell, they hadn't lost their inner peace. They wanted to prove that even though they had been shaken, they could still shake things. And that true peace is not found by running away from your problems, but by staying in the middle of your problems. I think Pablo and Silas wanted to prove that worship is not based on the absence of problems, but on the presence of a man called Jesus.

Before this time, I started this, this time with you telling you that when I was like 7 years old, I was diagnosed with a disability to learn. And because of my learning disability, my parents received the news that I would luckily graduate from high school and it would probably be impossible for me to go to college. And that probably that would require a miracle of any kind. And I want to tell you that God did not perform the miracle that I wanted. Because to this day, I still have my learning disability. I deal with it every day. God did not perform the miracle that I would have preferred, but he performed the miracle that I needed to become the person that he called me to be. Here's what I mean. Even as a young boy like Benjamin, God would give me the strength to fight. God gave me the patience I needed to persevere. And when it came to my disability, God did not take it away from me. But in time, I started to observe God move it for my good and for his glory. That diagnosis that the devil wanted me to believe that certain things like preaching the word of God and writing sermons were impossible for me, it is now my evidence from experience to encourage you to know that I know, I know, I know that there is a God who with all things, with all things, with him, all things are possible. So today, even when I still have a diagnosis in one hand, not only do I have a diploma in the other hand, but a degree. And about a month ago, now I have a master's degree. And what God did for me, he can do it for you. My God did not get rid of my disability, but he gave me a testimony. And I think he wants to do it for you too. But he's not going to leave what you're doing where you are. So even if you're frustrated, you can still raise your hands, open your mouth and say, God, you don't have to do the miracle I want, but the miracle I need. Because you may be crying at night, but you will have joy in the morning. And I know that God keeps his promises all the time. And if you believe, then praise God now. Praise God before he does it. Praise God before he takes it. Give God the best praise you have. So Jesus, with our hands raised, our prayer at this moment is this. We want a relationship with the one who does miracles.

Even more than we want the miracle itself. God, we have our prayer list. We have our hopes and our dreams. But what we choose to do at this moment is to believe that you can do something better. And that you know better than anyone. So you know exactly what we want you to do. But we trust in your path, Lord. At this moment, gold, that you provide freedom around those who have their hands raised. May God give them freedom and give them the strength they need to fight well. The patience to persevere. The resilience to remain. And God, gold, that as a result of not going where they are, may they find you where they are and may you give them a testimony for your glory. And it is in the name of Jesus that we pray together. Amen.