Every Stick Matters

Come on. Let's give them him a round of applause. I know Pastor E. J. and his lovely bride are around. Congratulate them as you see them. And they got married on Saturday. We are in the Sermon series called Stories of the Faith. And today we are going to be diving into a man called Saul. Anybody here of Saul? Anybody? I've got a couple of hands. Anybody here of Ananias? There were more hands for Ananias than Saul. Saul, his name was Saul, but a lot of-- I'm not going to say preachers, but a lot of people say that Saul and Damascus wrote his name was change to Paul. That is erroneous preaching or teaching. His name was Saul, which was his Hebrew name. And also he had another name, Paul, which was his Roman name. So it was-- he had two names. He didn't have-- his name was not. Though it's good for-- it would be good preaching that the Lord changes his name to Paul. It is erroneous. He actually had two names. And so we're going to dive into the book of Acts, the ninth chapter. You could go ahead and open up there. And we're going to begin at chapter one. But before you-- I'm going to go ahead and let you ruffle through the pages

and find Acts. Acts 9, I'm going to go back into Acts 1. Do not turn to Acts 1. Just hear me out. Because I want to lay a little bit of ground where Saul comes in to the picture. Because there's nothing in Scripture that talks about his childhood or anything like that. He just came into the picture and started creating havoc. And so we go back into the book of Acts. And Jesus is talking to the disciples and says, I want you to go to Jerusalem, Judea, and the ends of the earth, Samaria and the ends of the earth. These are the places I want you to go into. This is after Jesus had resurrected He visited with the disciples. And at that moment, Jesus went up into heaven. Pentecost happens. Do we remember Pentecost? 120 are in the upper room, and they are filled with fire. They come out of the room, and they start speaking different languages out on the streets, not in their church, not in their comfort zone. But the Lord pushes them out from the upper room into the streets, and the church blows up from 120 people to 3120, 3120 people. He adds on 3,000 people. It's great. It's amazing. Jerusalem is blowing up.

They are growing. The church were seeing wonders. We're seeing signs and wonders here in Jerusalem. Why leave if everything is going good? Because this is the reason they should leave and go elsewhere is because Jesus told them where to go, but they were still stuck in Jerusalem because everything was going well. And here comes the switching of what happens to what we call the way church. Not the church. It's called the way. Stephen is preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. He is dragged out in the streets by these radicals. The leader of the radicals is going to be Saul. They start stoning Saul why he's-- Stephen, why he's preaching and stoning them to death. While they're stoning him to death, the people that are actually stoning him are putting their clothes or their jackets at the feet of Saul. Saul is the one that wanted the execution to happen. And here comes the switch up. It's a crazy thing for something good to happen like this. And then Saul comes and starts creating havoc. And here is where the way starts scattering. And you know where the way started scattering to? They were in Jerusalem. They started going to Judea, some Mary. God used an absolute evil man to position the church

where God had told him where to go. Think about that. He used an evil man named Saul/Paul to position the church where Jesus told them to go, because they were stuck in the goodness of God, but in the wrong place, and here is where Saul begins creating havoc. Saul had a lot of influence. Saul was well-educated. Saul spoke different languages. Saul was an impressive man when it came to education and academia, like just studying and reading the word and reading actually the law. Not the word, he knew the law, but he never encountered God, the God of the law, amen? And so here we find where Paul is in his conversion in Acts 9. Let's start at the first verse. Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord's disciples. He went to the High Priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus. So if he found any there who belonged to the way, the church, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem. As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him and he fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?" "Who are you, Lord?" Saul asked. "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting," he replied.

Takes me to my first point and very hard point. Blank, blank, the moment. "Why do you blank me?" That this is a hard one that I even had to take in and think about, what do I say? And how do I lead my life? And I put my name, Jose Jose. Why do you persecute me? Or why do you gossip about me? Or why do you hate me? Or why do you attack me? And here God is confronting Saul on the Damascus road, asking a question to him because he had to deal with his heart. And I'm going to ask the same question. Put your name there. "Joe, Joe, why do you blank me?" It's a hard question because if he is the bride of Christ and we're supposed to be taking care of the bride of Christ, why do we talk against the bride of Christ? When things aren't going 100% on how they should go, we start chiming in and this is the way leadership should do things. Or leaders should do things or pastors should do, or other members of the church should do things. And Jesus asks this, "Why are you persecuting me?" He asks, "Who are you?" "I am Jesus who you are persecuting." Is he actually persecuting Jesus at this moment? He's not persecuting Jesus at all. And Jesus knows that, but Jesus is so intentional and is so connected with

when you attack another member. When you feel a certain type of way, you may not say it, but you're thinking about that person and you want to say it. The Lord is asking, "Blank, blank, why are you feeling like this towards the church?" Tatiana and E.J. just got married and they walked down the aisle. E.J. is waiting for his bride because it's her moments, not really his moment, and all the men say amen. Could you imagine, just picture this, could you imagine her walking into the church of God or wherever they're at, outside, and she's going to walk down the aisle. And instead of being in a pure white dress, her dress is shredded. Can you imagine her walking down and E.J. looking back and seeing that Tatiana as she walks down, she's a little beat-up. Can you imagine how E.J. is going to feel? That's how Jesus, our God, our Savior feels as the bride of Christ comes down the aisle way and they've been talked about or mistreated. That's exactly why are you persecuting me. And we continue to read. Jesus says, "Now get up, go into the city, and you will be told what you must do." The men traveling with Saul stood with speechless, and they were speechless, so they were just standing around, they couldn't see Jesus. Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened up his eyes, he couldn't see nothing. So they led him by the hand into Damascus. For three days, he was blind and did not eat or drink anything. In Damascus, there was a disciple named Ananias. The Lord called to him in a vision, Ananias. "Yes, Lord," he answered. The Lord told him, "Go to the house of Judas on straight street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying." Nowhere in Scripture here, nowhere before this moment here, do we ever read that Saul is praying? Nowhere in Scripture, do we ever read that Saul is fasting?

It wasn't until he became blind. It wasn't until Jesus or God took something away from him that he started praying. It wasn't until he removed something from his life. The power, the authority that he had, the self-righteousness that he had. He removed it, blinded him, and now all of a sudden, he is praying and fasting, sitting in the room for three days, encountering God. I wonder with point two, what must he take away from us? So we get closer to him. I can't answer that question for anybody. He was a passionate man. He was a smart man. He knew the law. He had a lot of influence, and the tragedy with influence, it's not that you do have influence or you don't have influence, it's that you have the influence and you're actually heading people to the wrong direction. And here he is, sitting in a room encountering God, my question to you is, what must he take a way for you to get close, for you to get closer to God. Some idols in our life. The TV, our friends, what is it? It's a hard question, but he's calling you near to him. He wants you to pursue him. He wants you to have a life, but he wants to go deeper with you. And he is waiting upon us. A platform without God's purpose is just a state for itself. And here we are, he's in the room talking with God now. He's fasting and praying now. God aligned his heart to be with him, aligned. He was misaligned. He had right influence, but misalignment to continue to read. Verse 10.

In Damascus, there was a disciple named Ananias. The Lord called to him in a vision, Ananias, "Yes, Lord," he answered. The Lord told him to go to the house of Judas on straight street and ask for a man from Tarsa's name, "Saw," for he is praying. In a vision, he has seen a man called Ananias come and place his hands on him to restore his sight. Lord Ananias answered, "I have heard many reports about this man and all the harm he has done to your holy people in Jerusalem. And he has come here with authority from the chief priests to arrest all who call on your name." Here's Ananias from where? Where's Ananias from? He's a disciple from Damascus. Where did Saw get the decree from the high priests to go kill the disciples? Damascus. God has a sense of humor that he will take a man that has a decree to go kill all the disciples in Damascus but uses a man from Damascus that is a disciple to come and minister to him. He's on a three-way call, God's on a three-way call with Ananias and Paul and shows them both the vision, not division, not two visions, but one vision under God. He gives them one vision on what to do. Paul had the revelation that Ananias had the confirmation. He was going to go confirm what Jesus or God had told them just because you're called. God will always use somebody in the flesh to confirm that you're called. He will confirm what God has spoken to you on what to do. Can I hear a name, Ananias had one job and that was to go pray for Paul. That was the only thing that Ananias is known for in the scripture was to go pray for Paul. And once the scales, let's keep reading and I want to get ahead of myself. Verse 15, "But the Lord said to Ananias, 'Go this man is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel.

I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.'" He said, "Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit." So Ananias goes and prays and lays hands on him and the scales that were, "Well, let's go to 18. I'm getting ahead of myself again." And he says, "Immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, Saul's eyes." And he could see again. He got up and was baptized. And after taking some food, he regained his strength. There was only one job that Ananias had and that was to go pray for a man that was blind in a room that had a hit list. And Ananias's name was on that hit list. Ananias goes to the room, lays hands on him. He is delivered and the scales come off of his eyes and he could see again. Ananias disappears from the scene. Never do you hear Ananias's name again. Ananias' job was just to set Paul free because of who Paul was going to be in the church. And so he prays for him, scales come off. Ananias' disappears. He doesn't look for no glory. He doesn't want no glory. He disappears. You ever see the space shuttle go up into orbit? You ever see what's attached to the space shuttle? Anybody know the name of it? No? The rocket booster sends the space shuttle into orbit. The rocket booster comes off of the space shuttle. We don't know where it lands. We don't know where it goes. It goes into the ocean. It goes into a field. We have no idea the rocket booster never gets glory for where the space shuttle went. Ever the rocket booster's job is to get it to orbit and let it get to space. That's the only job of the rocket booster. That is just like Ananias. Ananias is the rocket booster to us. My question to you who's your Ananias in this season? Who's the Ananias in your life that's pushing you forward to get to where God wants you to go? And I don't want to hear the biggest lie that we could ever say is if I just had King Jesus in me, that's all I ever need. It's just King Jesus. That's a lie. God doesn't even believe that lie. He actually gave Paul Ananias to get him where he needed to go. It is not just you and King Jesus. Yes, you're gonna have moments alone with King Jesus. Yes, you will have time alone with him. But with what God has for you, what God has for

journey church, where he is taking us in the next season, isolation is not a part of that. Isolation is not from God. Isolation is the devil's playground. Isolation will get you discouraged. And Paul, what a conversion with Paul. Amazing conversion with Paul, hated the church. But God used him to position the church where they were supposed to be. Finds him on the Damascus road. Blinds him to stop him in his tracks. Takes him to a room and now because he has encountered God on the Damascus road. Now he has some spiritual discipline. And now he is waiting for God to do something on straight street. You know what Greek stands for? It's for straight street in Greek immediately. And he's sitting there waiting in an immediate place. And until he would had an encounter with Ananias, immediately something happened to him. And the scales came off of his eyes. You have an Ananias, sorry. You might be an Ananias to somebody else that somebody is waiting for you to tell, for you to tell them your testimony so they could be set free. You have a story. I know the enemy wants to shut your mouth. He wants to close your mouth, but you actually have a testimony. You have a story. You are an Ananias, so you need an Ananias today. And immediately something like scales fell from Saul's eyes and he could see again. I love that. Where the scales come from?

Like Jesus took his vision, that's it. It's not like he blasted with fire and he burned his eyes. I love it because it's an analogy of what happened to Saul's heart when he encountered God encountered Ananias. It wasn't so much the scales came off of his eyes, but the scales actually came off of his heart. And that's what happens. He confronts you on Damascus and real lines you. He connects you with an Ananias, but here he's going to commission Paul because now he is in alignment and he is ready now to do the work of the Lord, and he was called to do. Right now he wants to align hearts that are sitting in this room right now for this next season that we're about to go into. I could see signs and wonders coming to the capital C church, not just journey church. This is not a brand, this is not a brand, journey church is part of a bride. Capital C church. Oh, you're from King's church or you're from this church. Oh, now we're from journey church. Oh, we do it, we do it different here. No, no, no, no, no, no, no. It's a capital C bride of Christ when they cut, the bride comes down the aisle. She is pure in pure white,

untouched, unblemished. Is that me? I'm a rookie at this thing, sorry. And here he is commissioned and he does great works in the body of Christ. I can't go through all of them, but he plants so many churches stuck in prisons, suffers for God's kingdom. And here we're gonna fast forward 25 years later where he's headed to a place called Rome. Do we remember this story? But he became Shikbrecht and he was stuck on an island called Malta. Anybody remember that story? Man, y'all should be raising your hands. Pastor Phil preaches a story. I see your hand. He's a prisoner with 275 other people in a boat, in a safe place. And he's headed to Rome to meet with Caesar and here comes this storm, Shikbrecht's a storm. And there's some people that could swim, there's some people that can't swim and the Lord provided pieces of the ship for the people could go that they could be safe and go to the shore. Not one person died because that was the Lord's promise. And here they go. And when Paul comes to the island of Malta,

you know the first thing that he sees? A fire in the middle of rain. Now, if you're a Cub Scout, you know this, any Cub Scouters? Nobody, wow, okay, anybody in royal rangers? Okay, thank you. Thank you, I feel old, but it's all good. Royal rangers is like Cub Scouts for the church. That's what it is. It's difficult to start a fire when there's rain happening. It's difficult to get warm when it's cold and rainy, but they showed up to the island and there was a fire. There were people sitting around the fire. Paul joins them and is sitting around the fire. And what happens, we all know, if you don't keep adding fire or wood to the fire, what happens to the fire? Oh, y'all failed, can you say it again? What happens to the fire if you don't add wood? Goes out. And here we have 276 people, prisoners stuck on the island looking at a fire in comfort now because they're nice and warm around this fire. But the fire starts going out, it starts dimming, it starts dwindling, and Paul decides he makes an executive decision to get up and start gathering sticks. He decides I'm going to do something, if we're stuck on this island, we might as well do something.

And so he decides to serve the 275 people that are there. Not complain about it, serving is not below him. I've planted churches, you guys go gather sticks. You'd never hear that from Paul. Paul gets up and starts gathering sticks from wherever. It doesn't even say, not important. And he starts putting sticks in the fire. Sticks that probably didn't look like this. Yo, these are Amazon sticks, you know what I mean? (soft music) They were sticks of different sizes, wet sticks, maybe some dry sticks. None of the sticks ever looked the same. Different shades, different weights, different lengths. (soft music) They gather sticks because there was a fire that was going out. It sounds like sometimes how we are at church. There used to be a fire at church. Did you bring my lighter or no? Okay, let's give it. There used to be a fire within me to read the word. There used to be a fire within me to pray. There used to be a fire for me to do discipleship with others. There used to be a fire here at journey in different ways. And God is asking us today, will we gather sticks or will we complain? Where we get out of our comfort zone. I know you wanna sit around the fire,

but that fire is eventually gonna go out if you don't put no sticks in it. In this season that we're going into, we don't need no watchmen. Yes, there's some people that still need to be on the wall when Nehemiah and building the wall and having a sword in one hand. And I get it, but in this season that we're going into, serving is not below you. Serving is not beneath you. I know you're an executive at your work, but here at the church, we're all the same and we're all in the kingdom of God and we're all trying to get this thing together. Or will you just sit there and watch the fire go out? (applause) Scholars say that some of the sticks were actually parts of the ship. That's a testimony of where God saved you from and where He's brought you to. That's your testimony. That's a stick. I almost lost my mind. But look at me now. I couldn't talk to people, but I encountered Jesus and I cannot stop talking about what He did. I'm not talking about just coming on Sunday and serving this local church. I'm talking about outside of these four walls somebody needs to hear of what God did for you.

Will you release your stick or will you keep your stick hidden? Here's a big stick. I wish I had a big log I could put in here. The church hurt me. (soft music) What do I do with that? Put your stick in. Let the fire consume it. You know what this represents? Every stick is one of you. This is about 2,000 sticks. That God is saying, I want your stick. I know it's insignificant. This little stick is insignificant to you. But if we put 2,000 sticks together, the fire can't even contain it. (audience applauding) I had a stick for a long time, called unforgiveness. Then I held onto for a long time and I left the church for 10 years because I had hatred in my heart. (soft music) So 10 years I stuck my stick in my pocket and other things would happen. I would stick sticks in my pocket. I don't care if the fire is going out. That's up to them. That's their problem, not mine. It wasn't until I started serving on a cold, snowy day, showed up with my dress shoes,

thinking I was gonna go teach a class and Pastor Phil's like, no, you're gonna put parking signs up. Thanks, Pastor Phil. But I never said, but you said I was going to teach a class. If you want me to put parking lot signs up, I'll throw my sticks in because those sticks for 10 years have done nothing for me. The incredible thing about this story is like, Paul was putting sticks in the fire and here comes this Viper that attaches himself to Paul. Paul doesn't complain. (soft music) Paul doesn't spaz out. Paul shakes it off and he keeps throwing sticks in the fire and keeps serving. That Viper should have just attached and released. Venom and see you later. I'm gonna kill you and I'm out of here. It's not a coil snake. It's not a python that they attach themselves. No, no, no, no, this Viper attached itself and wouldn't let go. I wonder how many people in the room have Vipers on their arms and are being poisoned with the lies at the enemy and they won't shake off the fliper in the fire. You're sitting in the room. (audience clapping) I'm not, the Lord is not asking you to pick up this whole container of sticks. He's telling you to bring your stick.

Your testimony, your life. Oh my God, the church, I want to see a firey pace. I want to see the Lord just be in that place when I walk in. I want it to be like Code Red every week. I want it. You can have Code Red at home, you know that, right? That Code Red is just a name. But you can actually have Code Red at home, and turn off your TV, and turn off your Instagram, and turn off your Facebook, and turn off your friends, and just say, "Lord, have your way with me right here in this living room." He's asking for your stick this morning. (somber music) It says, "Abide in me, and I in you, as a branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine. It has to stay connected. Neither can you, unless you abide in me. With every eye closed in this place." By the way, my title of my sermon is, "Every Stick Matters." (laughs) (somber music) [MUSIC PLAYING]