How do you remain faithful when life gets hard? | Acts 14:1-20 | Dustin Aagaard

Well, hey, church. Glad to see you all here. Glad you're here. Yes, I invite you to stand. It's time for us to worship the Lord together. My name is Juan. I'm honored to worship with you. If you're watching online, or I got behind bars, God bless you. We love you and glad you're joining us for worship here today as well. Hey, can I encourage you that we come into the house of the Lord today? Because we all are bringing something, but we also want to receive something. Some of us are on mountain tops with celebration, and others are walking through valleys, and that's OK. We can all worship together and praise God together. But can I invite you to do something special with your bodies? Can you raise your hands up? Just say a quick prayer, Lord, have your way. You can say it out loud, Lord, have your way. Go one more time, say, Lord, have your way. Good, good, good, good. Let's raise our expectation that this service can be special, not just a regular Sunday morning service. God can move in this service and meet your need. We're expecting something great. We're waiting for him, but he's also already here to meet our need.

Let's do it. Yes, Lord, have your way in this service today. Jesus name. [MUSIC PLAYING] If faith can move the mountains, let the mountains move. We've come with expectation, waiting here for you, waiting here for you. [MUSIC PLAYING] You're the Lord of all creation. Still you know my heart, the offer of salvation, and love us around the star. [MUSIC PLAYING] I'd like you to raise your hands as we sing this. Come on, waiting here for you, with our hands held high, with our hands lifted high, giving praise. And it's you, we adore, sing, and I'll make the world here. Jesus, oh Jesus, we need you, we need you, we need you. [MUSIC PLAYING] You are everything you toss, if faith for this is true. We're desperate for your trust, all we need is you. Oh, we need you, Lord, waiting here for you. Come on, raise and begin with our hands, with our hands lifted high, giving praise. And it's you, we adore, sing, and I'll make the world here. Oh, oh Jesus, we come to you, with our hands held high. Oh, we want your will to be done. Oh, oh we're singing, I'll make love. Oh, we're singing, I'll make the world here, we're singing, I'll make the world here. ♪ Waiting here for your love ♪ ♪ And it's you, Jesus, we adore ♪

♪ And it's you, Jesus, we adore ♪ ♪ And it's you, Jesus, we adore ♪ ♪ Sing it ♪ ♪ Oh yeah, oh yeah ♪ ♪ Oh yeah, oh yeah ♪ ♪ Waiting here for you, waiting here for you ♪ ♪ Come on, try to sing it ♪ ♪ Oh yeah, oh yeah ♪ ♪ We adore you, Jesus ♪ ♪ We adore you, Jesus ♪ ♪ We adore you, Jesus ♪ ♪ We give you all the praise Jesus ♪ ♪ Sing it out ♪ ♪ Oh yeah, oh yeah ♪ ♪ Sing it out ♪ ♪ Oh yeah, oh yeah ♪ ♪ We sing it out ♪ ♪ Oh yeah, oh yeah ♪ ♪ Oh yeah, oh yeah ♪ ♪ We give you a praise for you ♪ ♪ We give you glory, Jesus ♪ ♪ We adore you, we adore you ♪ ♪ Come on, you're gonna do it ♪ ♪ Yeah ♪ ♪ You're lookin' down there ♪ ♪ Waiting here for you ♪ ♪ With our hands ♪ ♪ Lift it up ♪ ♪ We adore you, we adore you ♪ ♪ We adore you, we adore you ♪

♪ Sing it out ♪ ♪ Oh yeah, oh yeah ♪ ♪ Oh yeah, oh yeah ♪ ♪ We so wanna say hallelujah ♪ ♪ We so wanna say hallelujah ♪ ♪ You can say it a little louder ♪ ♪ Can you say hallelujah ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ We'll let all that is within ♪ ♪ Bless His holy name ♪ ♪ For His love adores for us ♪ ♪ And His mercy's new today ♪ ♪ We will enter with thanksgiving ♪ ♪ Fill this course with praise ♪ ♪ Come on church ♪ ♪ Lift your voice and sing ♪ ♪ Praise the Lord ♪ ♪ Praise the Lord ♪ ♪ Praise the Lord forever ♪ ♪ Come on and bless His name ♪ ♪ Let all within me sing ♪ ♪ Praise the Lord forever ♪ ♪ If your life's been resurrected ♪ ♪ By the Lord Jesus won ♪ ♪ If you wait an expectation ♪ ♪ For a kingdom yet to come ♪

♪ Or you sit a sense of heaven ♪ ♪ Sometimes daughters of the King ♪ ♪ Come on church ♪ ♪ Lift your voice and sing ♪ ♪ Come on sing it out ♪ ♪ We will praise the Lord ♪ ♪ Praise the Lord ♪ ♪ Praise the Lord forever ♪ ♪ We will rise to His name ♪ ♪ Let all within me sing ♪ ♪ Praise the Lord forever ♪ ♪ For the one who's broken heart ♪ ♪ And it's hard to sing this song ♪ ♪ 'Cause you've been walking through the valley ♪ Lift your arms up when you pay and join the choir of creation with the strong and the redent Come on, church! Get your voices! Come on, church, sing it! We will praise the Lord. Come on! Praise the Lord for praise the Lord forever. We will praise the Lord. Come on, church, sing it out! We will praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord forever. Praise the Lord forever. Come on, church, sing it out! Praise the Lord forever. Come on, church, sing it out! Praise the Lord forever. Praise the Lord forever. Church is good to praise the Lord. And I know there's different situations in the room right now That may be trying to convince you that this is not a good time to praise him. Maybe you're walking through a hard season or a hard morning. But I want to encourage you that we can bless the Lord at all times and in every season because there's always a reason to give him praise. So I'm going to give you a few reasons and after I give you a reason, I invite you to say with your mouth praise the Lord. Even if you don't match that reason right now, you can praise him for the things he's doing in the room for someone else. So when I say one thing, you're going to say praise the Lord. Let's try it. He woke us up this morning. I think we're in Britain now. I say he woke us up this morning. He gave us breath in our bodies. He gave us food to eat. He gave us amazing grace. He gave us a church to worship in. And we can worship the Lord freely. He gave us friends and family. He gave us healing in our bodies. We may not have the money that we want, but we have the money that we need. Are not ready to praise the Lord. Come on, praise the Lord. Let me see you one more time. Come on, come on. ♪ Whoa, we will pray ♪ ♪ Praise the Lord ♪ ♪ Praise the Lord ♪ ♪ Praise the Lord ♪ ♪ Praise the Lord ♪ ♪ Praise the Lord ♪ ♪ Praise His name ♪ ♪ That are with His name ♪

♪ Yeah, come on ♪ ♪ Praise the Lord ♪ ♪ Forever oh ♪ ♪ We will praise our Lord forever ♪ ♪ Come on and praise our Lord forever ♪ ♪ Praise the Lord, somebody ♪ ♪ Praise the Lord, everybody ♪ ♪ Praise the Lord, somebody ♪ ♪ Forever oh ♪ (upbeat music) (water splashing) (water splashing) (water splashing) (water splashing) (water splashing) (water splashing) (water splashing) (water splashing) (water splashing) (water splashing) (water splashing) - Well, good morning, Cross Point. My name is Dustin Agard. I serve as one of the pastors here, and we are honored that you are here if this is your first time. Just wanna welcome you on behalf of our staff, volunteers, our church. We are grateful that you are here, and we don't take that for granted.

We are praying that God would do something fresh and new in you. But before we dive into today's message, I just wanna share something awesome and what I think is just incredible, mega Wednesday. It's called mega Wednesday. Come on. Y'all know it's called mega Wednesday because it was mega. And what it is is a gathering of our student ministries. All six campuses come together over 700 students and leaders and it was incredible. If you are a teenager, I just want to say thank you. The way that you hunger and thirst for God is sharpening and challenging us as a church. I've heard someone say that the wave starts in the student section. The spiritual wave starts with you. And so we just want to say thank you and let you know that we are with you and we are for you and we believe in you. I don't think that teenagers are the problem. I think they are the solution. Amen church. And so we are so grateful. It was an incredible, powerful night. It was a night that I wish the whole church could see because the way they hunger and thirst for more Jesus was incredible. On top of all that, we saw 31 people say yes to Jesus for the first time. Come on. Now let's go. Doesn't get better than that, man. It is good to be here with you and just grateful for everybody that serves in our student ministry. Let me just ask a question. I'm going to need a little bit of crowd participation. All campuses, everybody in every room, how many of you you work out? Just raise your hand. How many of you you work out? All hands go up. A lot of people work out. Okay. All right. Right on. All right. Now there are two different kinds of people that work out. They work out because they need to because of health reasons. And then there are people that work out because they like to, which I don't think is very honest. Like I don't understand those people that say they they work. How many of you work out because you say you like working out? Yeah, I don't trust y'all. Okay. Like when I got in trouble in sports, the coach would say, run. And some of you are like, I love to run. And I just cannot understand that. I can't fathom that. So I want to walk through. If you're here today, you're like, I do not like working out. I've got great news for you. I got two truths that are going to show you that you don't ever have to work out again. Okay. This is a resistance band. Okay. Now it's called a resistance band because you're you're

supposed to work out with it. And when you pull on it, you stretch it, it gives you resistance. And then somehow that that makes you healthier and bigger. And so truth number one is this, resistant bands are from the devil. Just telling you, these are from the devil. And truth number two, when it comes to working out is working out is not part of God's will for your life. I could prove it. Some of y'all are skeptical. I could prove it. Here's why I know that because resistance and working out causes resistance. It's not easy. It will it will stretch you. And as we know, if something in life causes resistance, then it must not be from God. Because following Jesus is meant to be easy. And if it's hard, then it's not God. Now some of y'all think that that's crazy. And I would agree with you. There is nothing true about what I just said. But that is how so many people believe and behave when it comes to following Jesus. That that life is meant to be easy and following Jesus is meant to be easy. And if it has resistance, then it's not God's will. That's why I love what John Maxwell said. He said everything worthwhile is uphill. Everything worthwhile is uphill. Have you ever done exactly what you thought you were supposed to do? Exactly what God was calling you to do and somehow things got harder? You took the high road in a conflict with somebody and they still threw you under the bus. You left the relationship that you knew wasn't honoring God. And now you feel lonely. You started tithing, giving 10% of your income to the local church. And then your car broke down. You see obedience is easy when I agree with God. But faith is revealed when I don't. Obedience is easy when we agree with God. Faith is revealed when we don't. And Acts 14 confronts us with this great question. Will my obedience outlast my comfort? Will my obedience outlast my comfort? And that's what we're going to dive into today and Acts chapter 14. But before we do, let me pray for us. God, we love you. God, there are days that seem easier when it comes to following you. And then there are days that seem harder. And we just right now, we just surrender at the altar every day. the answer is yes. We did not sign up for easy road. We signed up for the Jesus road. And so God, we'll go wherever you take us. We'll do whatever you call us to do. But we cannot do it apart from your Holy Spirit.

And so would you come, lead and guide us. We need you. We love you in Jesus' name. We pray. And everybody said, amen, amen. We are in Acts chapter 14. And if you have a Bible, you go ahead and turn to Acts chapter 14. We're gonna be in verses one through 20. If you don't have a Bible, it's okay. We'll have it on the screen. And in these 20 verses, there's three different scenes. And so we're gonna walk through three different scenarios, three different scenes for you, unpack that. And then we'll have a point for each one. So this is just a recap. This is where we're looking at Paul and Barnabas. And they are going on the first ever missionary journey. Like not their first one, like the first one ever. First mission trip ever is happening right here in Acts chapter 14. Now here's the thing, I don't know, I'd love to ask them. I don't know, are they the ones that decided when they go on a mission trip to where matching shirts, did it start with them? I don't know. I don't know. Paul and Barnabas go from Antioch to Iconium. Now it's a little bit tricky if you look on the map because there's two different Antiochs,

but the Antioch that they start at and where they go, it's anywhere from seven to 800 miles. Seven to 800 miles. And they didn't just go there on foot. The first three to 400 would have been by sea. And then the second leg of that would have been by land. So it'd be like this, if you are in Nashville and you go all the way to Orlando, it's about the same distance. But I want you to imagine from Nashville to Atlanta, you are going by sea, but there's no motors. You're the row, row, row in your boat or you're sailing somehow. And then once you get into Atlanta, you get out of the boat and then you start walking, but it's not on this beautiful paved sidewalk. It is tough terrain from Atlanta all the way to Orlando. And this is how long it will take. It would take at least a minimum of six weeks to make this journey, this mission trip, at least six weeks. I say at least 'cause we don't know if they stopped at Bucky's. If they stopped at Bucky's, it's like three months. I don't know. We don't know, but so here's the point. Before they even landed to their destination, their obedience already cost them time, money, energy, comfort and convenience. Their obedience had already come out of cost

and it hasn't even started. Verse one, when they got there, it says there they spoke so effectively that a great number of Jews and Greeks believed. Meaning this, things are working. God is moving lives, are being changed. This is exciting! But can I tell you, not everybody gets fired up about a move of God? And so what they do is they start gossiping. They start being negative. They start spreading poison. Start stirring up trouble. Verse two, says, "But the Jews who refuse to believe "stirt up the other Gentiles and poison their minds "against the brothers." So, everybody say so. So, Paul and Barnabas spent considerable time there, speaking boldly for the Lord, who confirmed the message of his grace by enabling them to perform signs and wonders. That word so is so important. It says they were facing opposition so they stuck around. That they were being gossiped about so they spoke louder. They're so didn't mean that they retreated. They're so meant that they stayed strong, which brings me to point number one, when people are against you, stay bold. When people are against you, stay bold. Listen, these weren't just people

that were just casually gossiping. The gossip became so toxic that there was a plan to persecute and stone them. Listen, church, we need to be careful when you don't like something and you start gossiping about it 'cause you don't know where that's gonna go. It started with one negative person and it ended up with someone saying, yeah, I agree, let's stone them, let's persecute them. Don't let resistance determine your obedience. Some people have a theology of the open door theology, which I don't agree with. And the open door theology, I've heard at least a hundred times as a pastor, that if there is an open door, then it must be God's will. And if there is a closed door, then it must not be God's will. And that's that idea of like, we don't want resistance. We don't think God's in this. It's like, no, no, no, no, no. Sometimes the door is closed and God wants you to knock louder. Sometimes the door is closed. He wants you to knock longer. on the front porch. It's not that if the door is closed, it's automatically not God's will. And if it's open, it's automatically God's will. I remember years ago, I was at the beach with my family and I was surfing with my kids and I looked over

and there was this young boy, he was surfing real, real young and he was by himself. And it caught my attention 'cause the waves were big, the waves were a little bit rougher. And he's just, he's just surfing doing his thing and I was like, man, I'm like nervous for this boy. But I noticed that every now and then he'd look up and he looked to the shore and he just waved. And then I noticed on the shore what must have been his dad who could have been a stunt double for the incredible Hulk. You see, his dad was watching him and because he knew that his dad was watching him from shore, he appeared fearless in the waves. Listen, Paul and Barnabas appeared fearless because they knew the heavenly father was watching over them. There is security and knowing that when you are bold for the Lord, your heavenly father is watching you from the shoreline. Paul wasn't fearless or didn't appear fearless because the waves weren't big, that wasn't the deal. He appeared fearless because our God is big. And there's a difference. Spirit-filled people aren't fearless. They just refuse to be led by fear. This is important, folks. Sometimes we look at people and think, man, they don't have any fear, no, no, no, no. They just choose not to be led by fear. Spirit-filled people aren't fearless. They just refuse to be led by their fear.

That's scene one. We move on to scene two versus eight through 18 to completely different scene. They stroll on and they arrive into Lystra and they come into this new town and everything's different, everything changes. They start teaching and preaching and Paul notices somebody, this man that has been unable to walk from the time that he was born. And Paul sees him as he's preaching and realizes this man has a lot of faith. And so he tells him in the middle of the sermon, stand up and walk and the man jumps to his feet. Miracle right in front of everybody. The crowd is going crazy. The crowd is like, oh my goodness, I can't believe that these guys just come into town and they start healing somebody. And so they immediately start doing like connecting. That's like this must be God and human form. So literally they call Barnabas Zeus and Paul Hermes. They think these are gods that have taken flesh form. The gods that they believed in to the point where the priests for Zeus brought bulls and wreaths to sacrifice. Now here's the point. Listen, if you are trying to get fame and if you are trying to get success, it doesn't get any better than this right here. They are all-time high.

The crowd thinks they're gods. Like this is amazing. But that wasn't their agenda. And instead of celebrating it, they just freak out with frustration. They tear their clothes. And they say, how can you do this to us? We are humans just like you were. We're not asking you to worship us, but the God that we are talking about, His name is Jesus, which brings us to the second point. The first point is when people are against you, stay bold, the second point is when people are for you, stay humble, stay humble. They could have easily taken the credit and the glory that was deserved for God, but they rejected it. What do you do when God gives you favor and success? In ancient Roman times, there was a practice by some when the general would be marched through the streets of Rome, there was one person that was appointed to follow just behind the general. And every so often, whisper in his ear, remember, you're merely a man. And the idea wasn't no matter how big the success got to remember that we are all human. You see, pride looks in the mirror and says, look what I did. Humility looks through the window and says, look what God did. And there's a difference.

I remember reading a story years ago about this church that wanted to honor volunteers. And so they decided to have a banquet of sorts for the volunteers of the church. And as everybody came in, they got a name tag. And the name tag would have their first and last name. And then how many years they served in the church. And so people would get their name tag and it would say this, and their name, and they would say four years, they would say three years, 10 years. And there was a group of people that they came in feeling good 'cause they were confident that they had served And so instead of enjoying the night, what they did is they went around mingling with every single person to see if they were, in fact, the person that's been serving the longest. Only us Christians can take humility and turn it into a competition. No, no, no, I'm more humble. I've served longer than you. No, no, no, no, I'm more humble. I've served longer than you. And that's what's taken place. And we gotta be careful of this because James 4-6 says this, says, "God opposes the proud, "but He shows favor to the humble." God opposes the proud, but shows favor to the humble.

Let me illustrate it by bringing up a friend of mine. Brandon, can you go ahead and come on up here? This is Brandon Floyd, ladies and gentlemen. Y'all give a big round of applause for Brandon. (audience applauds) Brandon works at Vanderbilt in the Athletic Department. And I've had the pleasure of getting to know Brandon and an incredible man of God, incredible leaders. Matter of fact, your boss, I don't know if she's watching, Alison, Alison, I was just talking to Mr. Vanderbilt last week, he said to double his pay. And so you don't need to ask anybody. We just talked about it. And so just next paycheck, that would be nice. Alison, we thank you. I will say what's interesting, I don't know about you, Brandon. I get so many people call me Brandon. They get us confused all the time. You probably get that a lot too. And so people confuse us all the time. And so here, I wanna illustrate James 4, because some of us think that no matter what we do, God is on our side. And in this illustration, Brandon is God, okay? He's God. And right now, we are on the same side. God and I are on the same side. But the moment that I have pride in my life, he is no longer on my side.

What does scripture say? It says he opposes the proud. And so when I begin to have pride in my marriage, we go from being on the same side to now, the God of the universe is opposing me. When I have pride in my work, God opposes me. When I have pride with my friends or neighbors, God opposes me. I can't think of anything worse than the God of the universe opposing me. So worst thing I can do is bring pride to cross point, to the church, hire prideful people. And it says God opposes the proud, but he gives favor to the humble. And so when we are humble, God is on our side. He gives favor, he gives grace to the humble. And so when you and I, we are tempted to have pride, we come here and God opposes us. So what do we do with for here? Because a lot of us, we can struggle with this from time to time, we're not perfect. What do we do? Simple, same thing we do with anything. We just repent, what is repent? It's showing humility and that gets us in right standing with God and then we get that favor back. Hey, can we give a big round of applause for Brandon? (audience applauding) Thank you, Brandon. Don't let criticisms crush you or compliments crown you.

When you start getting wins in your life, don't let criticism crush you or compliments crown you. Let's move to scene three, verse 19 and 20. Verse 19, it says, then some Jews came from Antioch in Iconium and won the crowd over. Do you remember those places you may have seen them on the map, this wasn't, they were down the street. These people traveled anywhere from 20 to 100 miles to troll, Paul and Barnabas. These people that were negative, that were gossiping, they didn't just leave it alone, they followed them. They didn't just leave them alone, they started posting things on social media. They started camping out in the front yard, started going to their job site. And the opposition is growing, these aren't just critics, these are people that are forming a mob. You traveled that far and that long, you're gonna wanna see some results. And so they get worked up, it's one of the biggest reversals in scripture. Literally in one minute, they think that they are gods and they start trying to worship them. In the next minute, they are trying to persecute them because the gossipers won the crowd over. And it says that they literally tried to stone Paul to death, that they literally stoned him. I mean, they knew what they were doing. This was a practice to kill people. This was a tempted murder.

And they looked at Paul and they assumed he was dead and they dragged them outside the city. Now, I want you to think how bad does somebody have to be beaten, bloody, I mean, Paul is he's looking bad and they drag him outside of the city and leave him to die. And verse 20, "But after the disciples had gathered around him, he got up and went back into the city. He was down, but he's not alone. I love what pastor Kevin said a couple weeks ago. He said following Jesus doesn't mean you won't suffer, it means you don't have to suffer alone." And that's what's happening here in verse 20. That's why I love groups so much because we don't want anybody that comes across points to suffer alone. We don't want anybody feeling alone. We don't want anybody walking alone. And as the disciples gather around him, what does he do? He gets up. He doesn't just get up. He gets up and he goes back into the city. Now, at that point, if I'm one of the disciples, I'm like, hey, Paul, maybe you had a concussion because I don't think we should go back into the city. Like, I don't know if you're in your right mind. Why are we going to go back into the city? Like, the entire town just came together to kill you. And if it's me, I'm not going back in the city. I'm leaving a really negative review on Yelp. It's going to look like this. It's going to say beautiful town. People were nice until they tried to murder me. One star. Like, I'm not going back in the town, but that's what Paul did. You see, when people are against you, stay bold. When people are for you, stay humble. Point number three, when people hurt you, get back up. When people hurt you, get back up. You see, the stones hurt Paul, but they didn't stop him. The pain affected Paul. It didn't define him. They knocked him down, but he got back up. Listen, I am not talking to you today as someone that has not experienced pain. And some of you, you have real pain. And I'm not saying it's not real. I'm just saying, you're calling to Jesus Christ is greater than the pain in your past. Do not let that define you. Later on, Paul would go to write 2 Corinthians 4, 8, and 9. It says this, we are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed, perplexed, but not despair, persecuted, but not abandoned, struck down, but not destroyed. This is in 2 Corinthians 4. I could only imagine that as he's writing this, he's got to be thinking about Lystra. I got to imagine he's thinking like, yes, this is just one of the firsts of many times that he's faced the persecution, but I wonder if

in that moment he was thinking about the time that he got stoned and dragged out this city, persecuted, but not abandoned, struck down, but not destroyed. Paul was so faithful in every mission that God called him to, faithfulness after faithfulness after faithfulness. Why? Why? Because his pain did not cancel his calling. Listen, Paul's pain did not cancel his calling. Whatever pain that you have gone through does not cancel the calling that God has put on your life. Your pain doesn't get to dictate what God is calling you to do. Proverbs 24-16, it says this, though the righteous fall seven times, they rise again. It's one of my favorite verses. Another translation says that the righteous fall seven times, but they get up eight. Though the righteous fall seven times, it's not saying that the righteous don't fall. What's it saying? It says the righteous just keep getting back up. It's not that they don't fall. We think the righteous means it doesn't fall. No, they just keep getting back up time after time after time. Some of you, you showed up today and it feels like your marriage has been beat down and broken and dragged outside the city left for dead. Can I just tell you that the story's not over? Some of you, you came and it feels like your dreams have been bruised and beat up and dragged outside the city gates left to die. Some of you, you came in and you got a prodigal son or daughter and you feel like you've tried everything and you just keep getting shut down and beat down and dragged outside the city gates, but can I tell you that we worship a God that loves to bring dead things to life? A God that loves to raise people, marriages. He loves to restore dreams. He loves, loves, loves to bring prodigal sons and daughters back home. He did it with me. He's done it with so many of you. just keep getting up. Just keep getting up. Have this illustration here. Come on, now look at this. I wanna just thank Pastor Kevin, he keeps this in his office. Thanks for letting me borrow it, Pastor Kevin, I appreciate it. I was thinking about Proverse 24 or 16, I was thinking about this. Y'all remember these, these punching bags? I love 'em. Matter of fact, I was practicing with this, and I just have too much fun.

What you got, what? Boom, what happens? Every time you punch it, it just comes right back up. Every time somebody gossip about you, you just get up. Somebody slanders you, you just get up. Somebody takes advantage of you, you just get up. You find out a supportive friend is no longer supportive, you just get back up. Every time you get punched and knocked down, you just bounce back up, it's spiritual rocky. It's spiritual rocky. Listen, rocky wasn't the biggest or the best, you know what made rocky rocky? He just kept getting back up. Nothing kept rocky down. The righteous fall seven times. But they keep getting up. They keep getting up, so I don't know what knocked you down this year. I don't know what knocked you down this month. I don't know what knocked you down this decade, but it does not have to define you. That Christ is telling you to get back up. That whatever is knocked you down doesn't define you, it's not over. Never let anything or anyone stop you from getting back up and following Jesus. Never let anything or anyone stop you from getting back up and following Jesus. Listen, pain doesn't get to cancel your calling. Pain does not get to cancel your calling. And neither does your ex.

Your ex does not get to cancel your calling no matter what he or she said. Your old coach doesn't get to cancel your calling. Your old boss doesn't get to cancel your calling. Your unsupportive friend doesn't get to cancel your calling. Your pain does not get to cancel your calling. When people are against you, stay bold. When people are for you, stay humble. And when people hurt you, get back up. You see, Paul was dragged outside the city and left for dad. Jesus was crucified outside the city. Paul gets up, Jesus rose up. Jesus was falsely accused, he was beaten. He was tortured, he was stripped naked, he was mocked, he was laughed at. And his pain didn't cancel his calling because his calling was to endure his pain for you. And he was willing to endure any pain because of what the father had called him to do. And so we have a God that is telling us not just what to do but has shown us how to walk this life. You see, we don't get back up because of grit. grit says pull your sleeves up and try harder. We don't get back up because of grit. We get back up because of grace. Because a bloody cross and an empty tomb changed everything. Isaiah 50 verse seven says, "Because the sovereign Lord helps me. "I will not be disgraced.

"Therefore I have set my face like a stone "determined to do his will. "And I know that I will not be put to shame." Because of a bloody cross and an empty tomb, what knocked you down doesn't get the final word. And before Jesus got knocked down, he gathered the disciples, his closest friends. And he instituted something called communion or the Lord's Supper. And he said, "Every time that you eat the bread "or drink that you say, I want you to remember me. "I want you to remember the pain that I was willing to do "or because I'm crazy about you." Because my pain doesn't cancel my calling. You see, he instituted communion. And then he said, If you have put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ, then there is a seed at the table as we take communion. And it's to remember the sacrifice of Jesus. And in a moment, I'm gonna pray and then I'm gonna walk us through communion together. Let me pray for us. - Amen. - God, we, I try so hard to understand how or why you would endure so much for me, for us. And I just can't, my ways are so less than your ways that my only response to such love and sacrifices that throw my hands up and worship and to surrender everything.

And so right now, right here, individually and corporately, we say thank you for the blood that you shed, for our sins. We say thank you for the body that you sacrifice for us. And as we partake in communion, would you receive this sacrifice of praise? - Of repentance, from us to you. And Jesus, holy and precious name we pray, amen. So Jesus, the night before he was betrayed, he took the bread, he told the disciples, said every time you eat this, remember me. Remember how much I love you. Remember how much I sacrifice for you. Remember, I'm crazy about you and don't ever forget. You may eat the bread. (somber music) (somber music) And then Jesus took the juice. Representing the blood that was shed for you and for me. (somber music) And he said every time you drink of it, I want you to remember me. I want you to remember how much I love you. You may drink the juice. (somber music) (somber music) If you are here today and you're unaware of how much Jesus loves you, if you're unaware and have not embraced, accepted, the love that was displayed on a bloody cross

and empty tomb, we would love to help walk you through what a relationship with Jesus looks like. And if you don't have a relationship with Jesus, do not leave here, do not leave here without finding out more. We'd love to be able to help you with that. Let me pray for you. God, we come before you. And God, if it were me, I would have an easy street all day, every day, but I'm not God. You see, it's in the resistance. It's in the stretching that you strengthen us. And so God, would you help us to right-size our theology that every time we see a closed door or a challenge or an uphill battle that we don't just scoff it as not your will, but we explore, we discern what it is you're calling us to do and that we will go after it no matter the cost. (gentle music) Sometimes following you costs us a reputation, a promotion, an opportunity, a relationship. And God, I just pray that individually, collectively, we just say, God, whatever the cost, nothing is gonna get us off track from following your will. We will make our face like Flint, as Isaiah says, determined to do your will. (gentle music) Our pain does not cancel our calling. Our faith is in you and in you alone. We love you, we thank you, in Jesus' name we pray. [MUSIC]

[MUSIC] I could say your name for all my life and still find more to love each time. Jesus be the name ever on mine, sweeter every time that I call along. There's just something about your name, there's just something about your name. It's me crying, there is no other name, there is no other name, there is no other name. Jesus your world, you have been a friend who never had. I won't forget your faithfulness. Jesus be the name ever on mine. I could say your name ever on mine. Jesus be the name ever on mine. Jesus be the name ever on mine. Jesus be the name ever on mine. Jesus be the name ever on mine. Jesus be the name ever on mine. Jesus be the name ever on mine. Jesus be the name ever on mine. Jesus be the name ever on mine. Jesus be the name ever on mine. Jesus be the name ever on mine. Jesus be the name ever on mine. Jesus be the name ever on mine. Jesus be the name ever on mine. Jesus be the name ever on mine. Jesus be the name ever on mine. Jesus be the name ever on mine. Jesus be the name ever on mine. Jesus be the name ever on mine. Jesus be the name ever on mine. Jesus be the name ever on mine. Jesus be the name ever on mine.

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(upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) ♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ Jesus ♪ ♪ Jesus ♪ ♪ Jesus ♪ ♪ Jesus ♪ ♪ Jesus ♪ ♪ Jesus ♪ ♪ Jesus ♪ ♪ Jesus ♪ ♪ Jesus ♪ ♪ Jesus ♪ ♪ Jesus ♪ [MUSIC PLAYING]