WEBVTT 00:00:00.040 --> 00:00:05.179 This morning, we have been, this Advent season, 00:00:05.320 --> 00:00:07.540 which I know many of you haven't because of the 00:00:07.540 --> 00:00:10.990 weather, been out. I hope you took, if you have 00:00:10.990 --> 00:00:13.330 not gotten a devotional, we still have a few 00:00:13.330 --> 00:00:16.829 days left before Advent ends. I did take them 00:00:16.829 --> 00:00:19.250 to the coffee shop so that people could easily 00:00:19.250 --> 00:00:22.289 pick them up there. So those are there if you 00:00:22.289 --> 00:00:26.570 need one to end out your Christmas season. But 00:00:26.570 --> 00:00:29.429 our focus for this Advent has been pilgrimage, 00:00:29.890 --> 00:00:33.189 journeying. Because this is not our home, right? 00:00:33.289 --> 00:00:37.189 We are pilgrimages, pilgrims. And in Psalms it 00:00:37.189 --> 00:00:40.929 says, Blessed is the man whose heart is set on 00:00:40.929 --> 00:00:45.049 pilgrimage. And so our focus for this Advent, 00:00:45.149 --> 00:00:47.729 as you can see the different weeks, we started 00:00:47.729 --> 00:00:52.130 out Advent with hope, with Mary journeying to 00:00:52.130 --> 00:00:55.590 visit Elizabeth, her cousin. And then we moved 00:00:55.590 --> 00:01:00.030 to joy. The Magi, the wise men, had their journey 00:01:00.030 --> 00:01:05.700 of worship. And then the last week was a week 00:01:05.700 --> 00:01:09.719 of peace with Mary and Joseph traveling to Egypt 00:01:09.719 --> 00:01:14.239 to a place of peace and safety. And so today 00:01:14.239 --> 00:01:16.920 we're ending it out with the week of love. And 00:01:16.920 --> 00:01:19.060 we're going to look at another group of people 00:01:19.060 --> 00:01:23.459 that encountered love coming down. And so we've 00:01:23.459 --> 00:01:26.290 been talking and singing today about... Love 00:01:26.290 --> 00:01:29.750 coming down, that was Jesus, right? And we see 00:01:29.750 --> 00:01:34.230 that in 1 John 4 that says, this is how God showed 00:01:34.230 --> 00:01:39.230 his love among us. He sent his one and only son 00:01:39.230 --> 00:01:43.730 into the world that we might live through him. 00:01:44.069 --> 00:01:48.549 This is what love looks like. Love coming down 00:01:48.549 --> 00:01:54.030 in Jesus. And so today... How many of you would 00:01:54.030 --> 00:01:56.890 say, I have been touched by that love come down, 00:01:57.090 --> 00:02:01.530 right? Yes. So I wanted to read you a brief story 00:02:01.530 --> 00:02:07.950 of a missionary in the 1840s. And his name was 00:02:07.950 --> 00:02:12.030 John Getty, and he left the pastorate of a church 00:02:12.030 --> 00:02:16.289 in Canada to take his wife and two small children 00:02:16.289 --> 00:02:20.729 to the South Sea Islands to begin a mission work 00:02:20.729 --> 00:02:25.280 there. After a voyage of more than 20 ,000 miles, 00:02:25.460 --> 00:02:29.180 they arrived in New Hebrides Islands. I know, 00:02:29.259 --> 00:02:31.680 I think that's supposed to be two. Twenty seems 00:02:31.680 --> 00:02:36.840 a lot. The island chain was filled with cannibals. 00:02:38.900 --> 00:02:43.479 More than 20 crew members of a British ship had 00:02:43.479 --> 00:02:46.520 been killed and eaten just months before the 00:02:46.520 --> 00:02:50.039 Gettys arrived on the mission field. Okay, all 00:02:50.039 --> 00:02:54.439 you young parents. With little kids. Can you 00:02:54.439 --> 00:02:58.479 imagine taking your children on the mission field, 00:02:58.580 --> 00:03:01.419 much less a mission field where they are cannibals? 00:03:03.120 --> 00:03:09.719 You got to know that you're called. They faced 00:03:09.719 --> 00:03:13.039 the difficulty of learning a language that had 00:03:13.039 --> 00:03:17.699 no written form and the constant threat of being 00:03:17.699 --> 00:03:23.090 killed. Slowly, at first, a few converts came, 00:03:23.270 --> 00:03:26.729 and then soon many more received the gospel. 00:03:27.750 --> 00:03:31.469 Getty continued his ministry faithfully, including 00:03:31.469 --> 00:03:35.569 translating the entire Bible into the native 00:03:35.569 --> 00:03:38.650 language. Can you imagine not being able to read 00:03:38.650 --> 00:03:41.330 your Bible, not having it in your language? I 00:03:41.330 --> 00:03:43.830 can't even fathom what that would be like. But 00:03:43.830 --> 00:03:46.349 there are, even today, cultures where that is 00:03:46.349 --> 00:03:56.120 the case. He planted 25 churches. For many of 00:03:56.120 --> 00:03:58.919 those years, Getty labored with little help and 00:03:58.919 --> 00:04:01.900 little word from home. But God was faithful, 00:04:02.060 --> 00:04:04.800 and in the pulpit of the church Getty pastored 00:04:04.800 --> 00:04:08.560 for so many years stands a plaque in his honor 00:04:08.560 --> 00:04:13.080 which says, when he landed in 1848, there were 00:04:13.080 --> 00:04:17.100 no Christians here. And when he left in 1872, 00:04:17.360 --> 00:04:24.279 there were no heathen. Isn't that good? Let me 00:04:24.279 --> 00:04:26.939 tell you the story of another group of evangelists, 00:04:26.939 --> 00:04:32.500 the first evangelists. This was a group of shepherds. 00:04:32.819 --> 00:04:35.839 Because you might say, well, I could never do 00:04:35.839 --> 00:04:40.399 that. I could never be a missionary like that. 00:04:42.779 --> 00:04:46.629 This is why I like the shepherds. The shepherds 00:04:46.629 --> 00:04:51.189 are a little more relatable for me, right? The 00:04:51.189 --> 00:04:53.470 shepherds were a bit of a nomadic people because 00:04:53.470 --> 00:04:55.790 they had to travel with their sheep from place 00:04:55.790 --> 00:05:00.089 to place to find food. And in Israel, in Bible 00:05:00.089 --> 00:05:04.649 times, this was such a huge part of their economy. 00:05:04.990 --> 00:05:08.649 Just for a reference point, have any of you raised 00:05:08.649 --> 00:05:10.790 sheep in here? We had one person for a while. 00:05:11.170 --> 00:05:14.740 Yeah, they're noisy, aren't they? They're noisy 00:05:14.740 --> 00:05:19.839 sheep. In Israel, Job, how many of you love the 00:05:19.839 --> 00:05:23.079 book of Job? I think I had one new believer that 00:05:23.079 --> 00:05:25.779 started in the book of Job. I was like, no, let's 00:05:25.779 --> 00:05:29.300 move you off of the book of Job. But Job at the 00:05:29.300 --> 00:05:34.279 end had 14 ,000 sheep. How many did you have, 00:05:34.339 --> 00:05:43.060 Catherine? Highest was 27? Yeah. 14 ,000 Job 00:05:43.060 --> 00:05:46.459 had. I'm just imagining the noise of 14 ,000 00:05:46.459 --> 00:05:50.980 sheep. King Solomon, at the temple's dedication, 00:05:51.560 --> 00:06:00.500 he sacrificed 120 ,000. Can you imagine the smell, 00:06:00.560 --> 00:06:05.620 the flies? You think that God's aroma that he 00:06:05.620 --> 00:06:08.100 receives has got to be this beautiful, sweet 00:06:08.100 --> 00:06:12.779 smelling. That would be a stinky smell. But it 00:06:12.779 --> 00:06:15.779 was a sacrifice. And so God's not afraid of what 00:06:15.779 --> 00:06:21.759 comes out of you. Right? He received the sacrifice 00:06:21.759 --> 00:06:27.779 of 120 ,000 sheep. So shepherds were essential 00:06:27.779 --> 00:06:30.480 to the economy of Israel, but they were considered 00:06:30.480 --> 00:06:36.540 lower on that social platform. I love, how many 00:06:36.540 --> 00:06:38.779 of you like Bear Grylls? You guys follow Bear 00:06:38.779 --> 00:06:42.759 Grylls? Oh my goodness. Do you guys know who 00:06:42.759 --> 00:06:53.350 Bear Grylls is? Okay, so this week you need to 00:06:53.350 --> 00:06:57.170 go and watch Bear Grylls. He's an outdoor, he 00:06:57.170 --> 00:07:02.689 was a British special unit guy, like hardcore. 00:07:02.949 --> 00:07:05.689 Like the stuff he does, he teaches you how to 00:07:05.689 --> 00:07:09.129 survive in the wilderness. So he did a series, 00:07:09.209 --> 00:07:12.029 he's a Christian, on diving into the Holy Land. 00:07:12.350 --> 00:07:16.529 And so he walks you through the Holy Land. And 00:07:16.529 --> 00:07:19.550 so in that series, he interviews a shepherd. 00:07:20.350 --> 00:07:23.050 And, you know, shepherds are unique individuals. 00:07:23.329 --> 00:07:25.910 I just don't think anybody could go be a shepherd. 00:07:26.250 --> 00:07:30.389 It's a very isolating job. It's you and some 00:07:30.389 --> 00:07:34.449 sheep. You're living on goat's milk and dried 00:07:34.449 --> 00:07:37.629 meat. They're kind of, in my mind, like lighthouse 00:07:37.629 --> 00:07:41.930 keepers. If you visited a lighthouse, I feel 00:07:41.930 --> 00:07:44.410 like more of you have done that. Lighthouse, 00:07:44.470 --> 00:07:48.769 yes? Yeah. We visited a lighthouse in Maine. 00:07:49.600 --> 00:07:54.560 And they are a unique breed. They are assigned 00:07:54.560 --> 00:07:59.759 that job. It is on the end, right, into the ocean. 00:07:59.779 --> 00:08:02.699 The wind, like you could like lie on the wind. 00:08:02.759 --> 00:08:06.319 It would hold you up. And in that kind of weather, 00:08:06.540 --> 00:08:10.019 that constant wind and cold, they had to garden 00:08:10.019 --> 00:08:13.180 to grow their food. They had to be a self -sustaining 00:08:13.180 --> 00:08:16.620 people. And it's interesting to me because It 00:08:16.620 --> 00:08:20.120 is very common amongst light keepers that for 00:08:20.120 --> 00:08:22.579 generations, their sons and their sons and their 00:08:22.579 --> 00:08:26.399 sons, they all will take up the cause of being 00:08:26.399 --> 00:08:29.519 a lighthouse keeper. And so I find them to be 00:08:29.519 --> 00:08:32.759 a unique breed of people. And I think shepherds 00:08:32.759 --> 00:08:36.899 are like that as well. But I feel like we can 00:08:36.899 --> 00:08:41.100 relate to shepherds, and Jesus often brings that 00:08:41.100 --> 00:08:44.320 comparison to the good shepherd, right? And us 00:08:44.320 --> 00:08:47.820 as the sheep. And so I feel like their account 00:08:47.820 --> 00:08:51.440 of evangelizing will be a little easier for us 00:08:51.440 --> 00:08:55.919 to identify with. And so let's look, Lila already 00:08:55.919 --> 00:08:59.220 read part of it, but let's read in Luke chapter 00:08:59.220 --> 00:09:04.000 2, starting in verse 8, the account of the shepherds. 00:09:04.649 --> 00:09:07.110 And there were shepherds living out in the fields 00:09:07.110 --> 00:09:10.950 nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 00:09:11.649 --> 00:09:14.730 An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the 00:09:14.730 --> 00:09:18.909 glory of the Lord shone around them, and they 00:09:18.909 --> 00:09:23.029 were terrified. Well, wouldn't you be? If suddenly 00:09:23.029 --> 00:09:27.350 the angels of heaven were surrounding you, you 00:09:27.350 --> 00:09:30.679 might be a little terrified. But the angel said 00:09:30.679 --> 00:09:34.500 to them, Do not be afraid. I bring you good news 00:09:34.500 --> 00:09:38.320 that will cause great joy for all the people. 00:09:38.940 --> 00:09:43.080 Today in the town of David, a Savior has been 00:09:43.080 --> 00:09:49.720 born to you. He is the Messiah, the Lord. This 00:09:49.720 --> 00:09:54.179 will be a sign to you. You will find a baby wrapped 00:09:54.179 --> 00:09:58.519 in cloths and lying in a manger. And then suddenly 00:09:58.519 --> 00:10:01.899 a great company of the heavenly host appeared 00:10:01.899 --> 00:10:06.360 with the angel, praising God and saying, Glory 00:10:06.360 --> 00:10:10.340 to God in the highest, and on earth peace to 00:10:10.340 --> 00:10:14.450 those on whom his favor rests. When the angels 00:10:14.450 --> 00:10:17.809 had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds 00:10:17.809 --> 00:10:21.490 said to one another, let's go to Bethlehem and 00:10:21.490 --> 00:10:25.669 see this thing that has happened, which the Lord 00:10:25.669 --> 00:10:29.730 has told us about. They're kind of like, you 00:10:29.730 --> 00:10:31.250 know, on the side of the road when there's an 00:10:31.250 --> 00:10:33.409 accident and everybody pulls out their phone 00:10:33.409 --> 00:10:36.009 to record it, right? I'm just like, why? What 00:10:36.009 --> 00:10:37.850 are you going to do with that video? I don't 00:10:37.850 --> 00:10:40.970 understand, but there they are videoing things. 00:10:42.000 --> 00:10:44.620 And so, you know, I feel like the shepherds would 00:10:44.620 --> 00:10:47.679 be pulling out their phones to video this occurrence. 00:10:48.220 --> 00:10:51.059 So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph 00:10:51.059 --> 00:10:54.899 and the baby who was lying in the manger. And 00:10:54.899 --> 00:10:58.419 when they had seen him, they spread the word. 00:10:58.620 --> 00:11:03.519 Everybody say that. Spread the word. They spread 00:11:03.519 --> 00:11:07.580 the word. What were they doing? They were testifying. 00:11:08.399 --> 00:11:17.269 They were sharing their story. All who heard 00:11:17.269 --> 00:11:20.570 it were amazed at what the shepherds said to 00:11:20.570 --> 00:11:23.830 them. But Mary treasured up all these things 00:11:23.830 --> 00:11:26.889 and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds 00:11:26.889 --> 00:11:31.429 returned glorifying and praising God for all 00:11:31.429 --> 00:11:35.429 the things that they had heard and seen, which 00:11:35.429 --> 00:11:37.970 were just as they had been told by the angel. 00:11:39.110 --> 00:11:44.470 So when the shepherds saw the Messiah, the Lord, 00:11:45.389 --> 00:11:49.590 Their immediate response is we need to go and 00:11:49.590 --> 00:11:55.090 tell someone. This is not news to keep to ourselves. 00:11:56.769 --> 00:12:02.450 Love has come down. We must tell someone. Now 00:12:02.450 --> 00:12:05.470 listen, all of us in here have said we have been 00:12:05.470 --> 00:12:10.009 touched by love coming down. And so my question 00:12:10.009 --> 00:12:14.830 for us today is what is our response? Is our 00:12:14.830 --> 00:12:19.549 response to hide it under a bowl, like in Matthew 00:12:19.549 --> 00:12:23.629 5, it says, do people with a light hide it under 00:12:23.629 --> 00:12:32.950 a bowl? No. The response is to tell, to let the 00:12:32.950 --> 00:12:39.389 light shine, to let the love shine. And so today, 00:12:39.590 --> 00:12:42.470 I have just two directives that I want to share. 00:12:43.340 --> 00:12:47.240 And the first directive is this, tell your story. 00:12:48.279 --> 00:12:52.620 It's as easy as that. You don't have to be a 00:12:52.620 --> 00:12:55.639 missionary called to go to an island full of 00:12:55.639 --> 00:12:59.139 cannibals. I'm not saying he won't call you. 00:12:59.960 --> 00:13:02.919 It would give me no greater joy than to send 00:13:02.919 --> 00:13:06.200 some of you off to the mission field. As much 00:13:06.200 --> 00:13:11.720 as we love you. You don't have to be a missionary. 00:13:12.279 --> 00:13:16.539 going off to an island full of cannibals. You 00:13:16.539 --> 00:13:20.820 just have to tell your story. It's as simple 00:13:20.820 --> 00:13:25.679 as that. A few weeks back, for our Thanksgiving 00:13:25.679 --> 00:13:32.600 service, we walked through Psalm 107. And at 00:13:32.600 --> 00:13:35.539 the very beginning of that chapter, we touched 00:13:35.539 --> 00:13:40.049 on it briefly. But this is the source of our 00:13:40.049 --> 00:13:46.429 first directive. Psalm 107, verse 2. Let the 00:13:46.429 --> 00:13:49.090 redeemed of the Lord. How many of you have been 00:13:49.090 --> 00:13:52.090 redeemed by the Lord, right? Let the redeemed 00:13:52.090 --> 00:13:57.690 of the Lord tell their story. I know, the New 00:13:57.690 --> 00:14:01.269 King James says, say so. But I like the NIV because 00:14:01.269 --> 00:14:05.350 it says, let the redeemed of the Lord tell their 00:14:05.350 --> 00:14:13.039 story. Tell your story. Those he redeemed from 00:14:13.039 --> 00:14:15.740 the hand of the foe. Have you been redeemed from 00:14:15.740 --> 00:14:20.539 the hand of the enemy? Yes. And so let the redeemed 00:14:20.539 --> 00:14:25.720 of the Lord tell their story. You have a story 00:14:25.720 --> 00:14:33.480 to tell. You have a story. You have encountered 00:14:33.480 --> 00:14:40.549 love coming down. You have a story. I love that 00:14:40.549 --> 00:14:44.230 this word tell, it has all kinds of different 00:14:44.230 --> 00:14:50.110 levels of telling. You can speak it, you can 00:14:50.110 --> 00:14:56.490 shout it, you can declare it. But what you get 00:14:56.490 --> 00:15:02.149 from that is that it's definitive. Listen, you 00:15:02.149 --> 00:15:07.029 may not be able to debate theology with the smartest 00:15:07.029 --> 00:15:11.879 people. You may not understand everything that's 00:15:11.879 --> 00:15:13.779 in the, you may not have even read all of the 00:15:13.779 --> 00:15:17.080 Bible yet. You may be so new on your journey. 00:15:18.919 --> 00:15:23.899 That's okay. That's not what the verse tells 00:15:23.899 --> 00:15:29.899 us to do. Debate doctrine, does it? It just says, 00:15:30.080 --> 00:15:36.039 redeemed of the Lord, tell your story. It's that 00:15:36.039 --> 00:15:39.419 easy. It's that simple. It's that uncomplicated. 00:15:40.740 --> 00:15:44.519 Now, I have a little rhyme for you. Okay, are 00:15:44.519 --> 00:15:50.059 you ready? We're going to see if you can figure 00:15:50.059 --> 00:16:10.000 out this rhyme. Loftily poised in the ether capacious, 00:16:10.120 --> 00:16:17.799 strongly resembling a gem carbonaceous. Did you 00:16:17.799 --> 00:16:19.740 get it? You need me to read it one more time? 00:16:21.059 --> 00:16:27.159 Scintillate, scintillate, globule vivific. Fain 00:16:27.159 --> 00:16:32.419 would I fathom thy nature specific. Loftily poised 00:16:32.419 --> 00:16:37.779 in the ether capacious. strongly resembling a 00:16:37.779 --> 00:16:42.740 gem carbonaceous. Anybody have the interpretation? 00:16:46.279 --> 00:16:53.860 What? We got star? Twinkle, twinkle, little star, 00:16:54.139 --> 00:16:59.240 how I wonder what you are, up above the world 00:16:59.240 --> 00:17:04.279 so high, like a diamond in the sky. Do you see 00:17:04.279 --> 00:17:07.380 how we can overcomplicate something? I felt that 00:17:07.380 --> 00:17:09.880 way when I first started working on my master's 00:17:09.880 --> 00:17:11.839 degree because I didn't have an undergraduate 00:17:11.839 --> 00:17:15.420 degree. The first, like, article or book that 00:17:15.420 --> 00:17:19.420 I had read, I had my phone next to me so I could 00:17:19.420 --> 00:17:22.359 look up what these words meant. And I would read 00:17:22.359 --> 00:17:24.359 the word and I would be like, right, Derek? Like, 00:17:24.440 --> 00:17:27.299 why can't you just say that? Why does it have 00:17:27.299 --> 00:17:29.799 to be so complicated? I get it if you would just 00:17:29.799 --> 00:17:33.299 say it, but they use all these lofty terms, right? 00:17:33.940 --> 00:17:37.839 Listen, this sometimes we overcomplicate telling 00:17:37.839 --> 00:17:41.640 people about Jesus when all he's really looking 00:17:41.640 --> 00:17:47.140 for is us to tell your story. Tell your story. 00:17:47.279 --> 00:17:48.740 So here's what we're going to do. We're going 00:17:48.740 --> 00:17:50.980 to have a little training 101 right now from 00:17:50.980 --> 00:17:54.740 the Apostle Paul in Acts 22. Okay, so go to Acts 00:17:54.740 --> 00:18:00.119 22, starting at the end of verse 2. There are 00:18:00.119 --> 00:18:03.819 three things that Paul includes when he's telling 00:18:03.819 --> 00:18:07.759 his story. Okay, now if you've done any reading 00:18:07.759 --> 00:18:11.099 of Paul, you know Paul can be very long -winded. 00:18:11.400 --> 00:18:15.299 Paul has so many run -on sentences. It's like 00:18:15.299 --> 00:18:19.500 a whole paragraph that's one sentence. Paul is 00:18:19.500 --> 00:18:22.900 a wordy guy. But when it comes to sharing his 00:18:22.900 --> 00:18:27.059 story, it's pretty simple. The first thing he 00:18:27.059 --> 00:18:32.440 does, he tells who he was. All right? And so 00:18:32.440 --> 00:18:37.079 we find in verse 3, I am a Jew born in Tarsus 00:18:37.079 --> 00:18:42.619 of Cilicia, but brought up in this city. I studied 00:18:42.619 --> 00:18:47.220 under Gamaliel and was thoroughly trained in 00:18:47.220 --> 00:18:51.279 the law of our ancestors. I was just as zealous 00:18:51.279 --> 00:18:55.559 for God as any of you are today. I persecuted 00:18:55.559 --> 00:19:00.259 the followers of this way to their death, arresting 00:19:00.259 --> 00:19:03.000 both men and women and throwing them into prison, 00:19:03.059 --> 00:19:06.599 as the high priest and all the councils can themselves 00:19:06.599 --> 00:19:11.460 testify. They can tell you how I killed Christians, 00:19:11.640 --> 00:19:15.789 he's saying. I even obtained letters from them 00:19:15.789 --> 00:19:19.349 to their associates in Damascus and went there 00:19:19.349 --> 00:19:22.450 to bring these people as prisoners to Jerusalem 00:19:22.450 --> 00:19:26.430 to be punished. This is who the apostle Paul 00:19:26.430 --> 00:19:30.789 used to be. It's who he was. He was a murderer 00:19:30.789 --> 00:19:36.779 of Christians. Dragging them out of their homes. 00:19:36.980 --> 00:19:41.140 In the first account that we see of Stephen, 00:19:41.380 --> 00:19:45.920 the first martyr, who was overseeing that? The 00:19:45.920 --> 00:19:51.119 Apostle Paul. And so this is very simple. Number 00:19:51.119 --> 00:19:57.140 one, he says, this is who I was. Here's number 00:19:57.140 --> 00:20:01.930 two, part two of his testimony. This is the part 00:20:01.930 --> 00:20:04.750 where it's his conversion account, his conversion 00:20:04.750 --> 00:20:09.069 story, his turning point. Damascus Road. Yeah, 00:20:09.130 --> 00:20:11.509 some of us like to lead Jesus on a chase too, 00:20:11.630 --> 00:20:14.730 don't we? Why don't you give him one of those 00:20:14.730 --> 00:20:17.250 little cutout cookies off of the tree in there 00:20:17.250 --> 00:20:20.910 that Alexandra made? He'll enjoy that. Some of 00:20:20.910 --> 00:20:25.509 you adults might enjoy it. Okay, so who he was. 00:20:26.220 --> 00:20:30.000 And now his conversion experience, his turning 00:20:30.000 --> 00:20:35.779 point. About noon, in verse 6, as I came near 00:20:35.779 --> 00:20:40.519 Damascus, suddenly a bright light from heaven 00:20:40.519 --> 00:20:45.539 flashed around me. I fell to the ground and heard 00:20:45.539 --> 00:20:50.039 a voice say to me, Saul, Saul, why do you persecute 00:20:50.039 --> 00:20:55.339 me? Who are you, Lord? I asked. I am Jesus of 00:20:55.339 --> 00:20:59.359 Nazareth, whom you are persecuting, he replied. 00:21:00.119 --> 00:21:04.180 My companions saw the light, but they did not 00:21:04.180 --> 00:21:07.039 understand the voice of him who was speaking 00:21:07.039 --> 00:21:11.700 to me. What shall I do, Lord? I asked. Get up, 00:21:11.799 --> 00:21:14.619 the Lord said, and go into Damascus, and there 00:21:14.619 --> 00:21:17.259 you will be told all that you have been assigned 00:21:17.259 --> 00:21:20.920 to do. My companions led me by the hand into 00:21:20.920 --> 00:21:24.200 Damascus because the brilliance of the light 00:21:24.200 --> 00:21:28.660 had blinded me. A man named Ananias came to see 00:21:28.660 --> 00:21:32.700 me. He was a devout observer of the law and highly 00:21:32.700 --> 00:21:36.190 respected by all the Jews living there. He stood 00:21:36.190 --> 00:21:39.970 beside me and said, Brother Saul, receive your 00:21:39.970 --> 00:21:42.750 sight. And at that moment, I was able to see 00:21:42.750 --> 00:21:48.250 him. This was Paul's conversion experience, right? 00:21:48.430 --> 00:21:53.829 He went into that experience as Saul and then 00:21:53.829 --> 00:21:58.470 fell to the ground because the light of Jesus 00:21:58.470 --> 00:22:04.720 was in front of him. And suddenly, Suddenly, 00:22:04.720 --> 00:22:09.119 he became a new man. Now listen, your turning 00:22:09.119 --> 00:22:13.119 point with Jesus, your conversion experience 00:22:13.119 --> 00:22:17.920 may not have been as dramatic as a Damascus Road 00:22:17.920 --> 00:22:22.140 experience. It may have been. For a lot of years, 00:22:22.339 --> 00:22:26.819 I kind of was timid about sharing my story because 00:22:26.819 --> 00:22:30.619 I didn't have a dramatic turning point like that. 00:22:31.470 --> 00:22:36.869 I wasn't freed from drugs or alcohol. I didn't 00:22:36.869 --> 00:22:40.230 have anything great like awe -inspiring like 00:22:40.230 --> 00:22:42.849 everybody was like, oh, yeah. I didn't have that. 00:22:44.069 --> 00:22:49.390 I had who I was, a young Catholic girl that even 00:22:49.390 --> 00:22:53.230 in my limited understanding had a heart toward 00:22:53.230 --> 00:22:56.609 God to the point that I, as a young child, was 00:22:56.609 --> 00:23:01.670 considering becoming a nun. And then my dad had 00:23:01.670 --> 00:23:06.369 that radical turning point experience. And we 00:23:06.369 --> 00:23:11.230 came into an Assembly of God church. And I didn't 00:23:11.230 --> 00:23:14.670 have, in fact, I remember being at camp one year, 00:23:14.769 --> 00:23:18.230 and it was Salvation Night. They have, like, 00:23:18.269 --> 00:23:20.890 Salvation Night, Holy Spirit Night, you know. 00:23:21.009 --> 00:23:24.069 And so first night's Salvation Night. We got 00:23:24.069 --> 00:23:25.849 to get all these kids saved at the beginning 00:23:25.849 --> 00:23:29.039 of camp. And I remembered them saying, you need 00:23:29.039 --> 00:23:31.700 to come up and say the sinner's prayer. And as 00:23:31.700 --> 00:23:33.799 a young Catholic, I'm sitting back there saying, 00:23:33.980 --> 00:23:38.359 I don't know the sinner's prayer. I know an awful 00:23:38.359 --> 00:23:41.559 lot of other prayers I memorized for grade at 00:23:41.559 --> 00:23:45.740 school, but I don't know this prayer. How am 00:23:45.740 --> 00:23:47.519 I supposed to pray this prayer? I don't know 00:23:47.519 --> 00:23:50.240 this prayer. You know, I never, and even now, 00:23:50.279 --> 00:23:52.599 people will look back and say, on this date, 00:23:52.720 --> 00:23:55.299 I gave my life to Christ. I had no date. I have 00:23:55.299 --> 00:23:58.250 no date like that. We just kind of started going 00:23:58.250 --> 00:24:01.930 to the church, and I flowed right into, got filled 00:24:01.930 --> 00:24:04.910 with the Holy Spirit, loving Jesus. It was just 00:24:04.910 --> 00:24:09.109 like this smooth transition for me. But I've 00:24:09.109 --> 00:24:12.630 been following Jesus ever since. Never once have 00:24:12.630 --> 00:24:17.289 I walked away from him. And so your conversion 00:24:17.289 --> 00:24:21.750 experience, your turning point may be very dramatic, 00:24:21.869 --> 00:24:26.130 but it also may be very simple. It doesn't matter. 00:24:26.750 --> 00:24:29.549 One moment I didn't have Jesus, the next I did, 00:24:29.750 --> 00:24:35.529 right? Tell my story. And then the Lord really 00:24:35.529 --> 00:24:38.210 later showed me that my conversion experience 00:24:38.210 --> 00:24:41.009 was the freedom from the law into relationship 00:24:41.009 --> 00:24:45.069 with Jesus. And I'm convinced that it is the 00:24:45.069 --> 00:24:49.470 greatest testimony because it's the most deceitful 00:24:49.470 --> 00:24:55.220 thing, the law, when you are... It's all about 00:24:55.220 --> 00:24:58.619 the outward, right? And I was saved from the 00:24:58.619 --> 00:25:02.579 burden of that. That was powerful when I realized 00:25:02.579 --> 00:25:07.220 this is my testimony. And so who you were, your 00:25:07.220 --> 00:25:10.019 conversion, your turning point experience, and 00:25:10.019 --> 00:25:13.559 the third part of the testimony was who he is 00:25:13.559 --> 00:25:18.059 now. And in verse 14, he said, the God of our 00:25:18.059 --> 00:25:23.009 ancestors has chosen you to know his will. So 00:25:23.009 --> 00:25:27.109 this is God speaking to him. Actually, it was 00:25:27.109 --> 00:25:31.569 Ananias and then God speaking to him. The God 00:25:31.569 --> 00:25:34.690 of our ancestors has chosen you to know his will 00:25:34.690 --> 00:25:38.930 and see the righteous one, Jesus, and to hear 00:25:38.930 --> 00:25:42.769 words from his mouth. Isn't that good? You, Paul, 00:25:43.069 --> 00:25:46.230 have been set apart to see the righteous one 00:25:46.230 --> 00:25:50.000 and hear his words. You will be his witness to 00:25:50.000 --> 00:25:54.900 all people of what you have seen and heard. And 00:25:54.900 --> 00:25:59.279 now what are you waiting for, Paul? Get up, be 00:25:59.279 --> 00:26:02.519 baptized, and wash your sins away, calling on 00:26:02.519 --> 00:26:06.119 his name. And then the Lord said to Paul, Go, 00:26:06.299 --> 00:26:11.460 I will send you far away to the Gentiles. This 00:26:11.460 --> 00:26:15.900 is who he is now, a missionary evangelist. And 00:26:15.900 --> 00:26:19.400 so it is very simple, your story, who you were, 00:26:19.579 --> 00:26:23.839 what Jesus did, and what you are now, who you 00:26:23.839 --> 00:26:30.420 are now. This is your story. If we think about 00:26:30.420 --> 00:26:34.059 Paul, who he is now, who he was after Jesus, 00:26:34.200 --> 00:26:38.720 he himself wrote this, that he was flogged by 00:26:38.720 --> 00:26:43.559 the Jews five times with 39 lashes. He was beaten 00:26:43.559 --> 00:26:46.960 by Roman rods three times, pummeled with rocks, 00:26:47.279 --> 00:26:50.660 shipwrecked three times, adrift on the open sea 00:26:50.660 --> 00:26:53.720 for a night and day, traveled hard year in and 00:26:53.720 --> 00:26:56.779 year out, forded rivers, fought off robbers, 00:26:56.980 --> 00:27:00.099 struggled with friends and enemies, endured risky 00:27:00.099 --> 00:27:03.279 conditions in the city, wilderness, and storms 00:27:03.279 --> 00:27:06.259 at sea. Betrayed by people he thought were dear 00:27:06.259 --> 00:27:10.000 friends, served hard labor, was often lonely, 00:27:10.140 --> 00:27:13.200 sleepless, hungry, and freezing cold. felt the 00:27:13.200 --> 00:27:16.400 constant weight of responsibility for supporting, 00:27:16.640 --> 00:27:19.779 training, and encouraging all the churches. That's 00:27:19.779 --> 00:27:22.759 weight. And he experienced deep desperation. 00:27:24.339 --> 00:27:30.339 I list all of that because what Paul endured 00:27:30.339 --> 00:27:35.799 after his conversion is what gives his testimony 00:27:35.799 --> 00:27:41.299 the weight of truth. Would he have endured all 00:27:41.299 --> 00:27:45.259 of this? If he wasn't positive that the one who 00:27:45.259 --> 00:27:48.359 stopped him on the road to Damascus was Jesus 00:27:48.359 --> 00:27:53.059 himself. Who would endure that? Nobody. Why? 00:27:53.220 --> 00:27:56.980 Why would you endure all of that? If you weren't 00:27:56.980 --> 00:28:02.779 convinced that Jesus had changed everything for 00:28:02.779 --> 00:28:07.200 you. And when you're convinced of that, nobody 00:28:07.200 --> 00:28:13.980 can debate you out of anything. I know the one 00:28:13.980 --> 00:28:18.319 who has saved me. And you can talk about all 00:28:18.319 --> 00:28:22.640 kinds of things, but I know him. I've seen him, 00:28:22.720 --> 00:28:26.460 and I know him. And that's my story, and I'm 00:28:26.460 --> 00:28:30.700 sticking to it, right? And so Paul knew this 00:28:30.700 --> 00:28:34.319 is no fictional story. So my question is, how 00:28:34.319 --> 00:28:39.460 convinced are you of your story? How convinced 00:28:39.460 --> 00:28:42.200 are you? You might say, I am not a missionary. 00:28:42.460 --> 00:28:46.799 I am not Paul. But can you be a simple shepherd 00:28:46.799 --> 00:28:52.220 who tells what they saw, who tells what they 00:28:52.220 --> 00:28:56.180 experienced? Can you tell your story? Let the 00:28:56.180 --> 00:29:00.920 redeemed of the Lord tell their story. The angel 00:29:00.920 --> 00:29:04.119 declared, I bring you good news that will cause 00:29:04.119 --> 00:29:08.480 great joy for all the people. This is why your 00:29:08.480 --> 00:29:12.099 testimony is needed, why your story is needed. 00:29:12.220 --> 00:29:16.700 What you have received should be cause for great 00:29:16.700 --> 00:29:20.819 joy for all people. But how can it be joyful 00:29:20.819 --> 00:29:23.720 for other people if we don't tell our story, 00:29:23.900 --> 00:29:30.170 right? And so here's altar call number one. This 00:29:30.170 --> 00:29:35.269 week, part of your end of your Advent time, if 00:29:35.269 --> 00:29:39.670 you have never sat and thought out your story, 00:29:39.869 --> 00:29:43.029 I want to encourage you to take a few moments, 00:29:43.089 --> 00:29:47.509 15 minutes this week, and write your story down. 00:29:48.650 --> 00:29:51.369 Just to, if there's something that happens in 00:29:51.369 --> 00:29:54.369 your mind, it'll make it easier for the telling 00:29:54.369 --> 00:29:57.490 if you just write your story down, who you were, 00:29:57.670 --> 00:30:01.750 how Jesus changed you, and who you are now. Write 00:30:01.750 --> 00:30:06.430 it down. Look at how simple it is so you're ready 00:30:06.430 --> 00:30:09.589 to tell somebody, okay? So that's, your altar 00:30:09.589 --> 00:30:13.230 call is at home this week doing that. Okay, so 00:30:13.230 --> 00:30:18.890 directive one was what? Tell your story. Directive 00:30:18.890 --> 00:30:24.690 number two is live your story. Don't tell your 00:30:24.690 --> 00:30:29.230 story if you're not living your story. Nobody 00:30:29.230 --> 00:30:32.309 wants to hear your story if you're not living 00:30:32.309 --> 00:30:35.069 your story. That will do more damage for the 00:30:35.069 --> 00:30:38.150 kingdom than if you just would not say anything. 00:30:39.430 --> 00:30:44.230 And so 1 John 4 says it pretty straightforward 00:30:44.230 --> 00:30:50.420 in verse 20. Whoever claims to love God yet hates 00:30:50.420 --> 00:30:55.539 a brother or sister is a liar. This is a person, 00:30:55.700 --> 00:30:59.680 this is just an example of a person that is not 00:30:59.680 --> 00:31:04.920 living their story. They claim they love God, 00:31:04.920 --> 00:31:08.480 but to love God is to love people because God 00:31:08.480 --> 00:31:14.140 loves people. Here's an account of a woman that 00:31:14.140 --> 00:31:17.259 has lived her story that I found fascinating. 00:31:17.420 --> 00:31:23.539 I love reading about the war and what happened 00:31:23.539 --> 00:31:27.019 with Jewish people. And so this is an account 00:31:27.019 --> 00:31:31.940 of a Hebrew lady who once told how seeing another 00:31:31.940 --> 00:31:36.220 Christian's faith converted her. She was fleeing 00:31:36.220 --> 00:31:39.619 the German Gestapo in France during World War 00:31:39.619 --> 00:31:43.710 II. She knew she was close to being caught and 00:31:43.710 --> 00:31:47.670 she wanted to give up. She came to the home of 00:31:47.670 --> 00:31:52.410 a French Huguenot. A widow lady met her and said 00:31:52.410 --> 00:31:57.170 that it was time to flee to a new place. This 00:31:57.170 --> 00:32:00.630 Jewish lady said, it's no use. They will find 00:32:00.630 --> 00:32:07.109 me anyway. They are so close behind. The Christian 00:32:07.109 --> 00:32:11.019 widow said yes. They will find someone here, 00:32:11.200 --> 00:32:16.119 but it's time for you to leave. Go with these 00:32:16.119 --> 00:32:19.299 people to safety. I will take your identification 00:32:19.299 --> 00:32:24.839 and wait here. The Jewish lady then understood 00:32:24.839 --> 00:32:28.579 the plan. The Gestapo would come and find this 00:32:28.579 --> 00:32:31.500 Christian widow and think she was the fleeing 00:32:31.500 --> 00:32:36.309 Jew. The Hebrew lady said, I asked her why she 00:32:36.309 --> 00:32:39.950 was doing that, and the widow responded, it's 00:32:39.950 --> 00:32:44.549 the least I can do. Christ has already done that 00:32:44.549 --> 00:32:49.529 and more for me. The widow was caught and imprisoned 00:32:49.529 --> 00:32:52.710 in the Jewish lady's place, allowing time for 00:32:52.710 --> 00:32:56.630 her to escape. Within six months, the Christian 00:32:56.630 --> 00:33:00.740 widow was dead in the concentration camp. Later, 00:33:00.779 --> 00:33:04.240 this Hebrew lady accepted Christ as her Savior. 00:33:06.680 --> 00:33:09.779 This lady wasn't just telling her story. She 00:33:09.779 --> 00:33:15.039 was living it. Love had come down to her, and 00:33:15.039 --> 00:33:20.160 she was giving out that love. When you know where 00:33:20.160 --> 00:33:23.660 your eternal home is, you can do things like 00:33:23.660 --> 00:33:28.059 that. She was more concerned with this woman's 00:33:28.059 --> 00:33:31.059 eternal destiny because she knew her eternal 00:33:31.059 --> 00:33:38.460 destiny, right? This is living your story. She 00:33:38.460 --> 00:33:42.200 believed her story. She lived her story in the 00:33:42.200 --> 00:33:46.160 same way that Christ did. He came down to a crucifixion, 00:33:46.160 --> 00:33:50.119 bringing us into eternal life. I was in a Bible 00:33:50.119 --> 00:33:52.500 study with one of the ladies this week, and we 00:33:52.500 --> 00:33:57.210 were talking about baptism. And as we were working 00:33:57.210 --> 00:33:59.930 through the verses, our conclusion that we came 00:33:59.930 --> 00:34:04.829 to is that more important than the act of baptism 00:34:04.829 --> 00:34:08.110 itself, because what is baptism but to declare 00:34:08.110 --> 00:34:13.409 to everyone, I'm a follower of Jesus. I'm a disciple 00:34:13.409 --> 00:34:17.269 of Jesus. But we concluded that even more important, 00:34:17.309 --> 00:34:19.969 because a lot of people get baptized and then 00:34:19.969 --> 00:34:23.840 walk away. We concluded it's more important to 00:34:23.840 --> 00:34:28.960 live a baptized life, right? What is a baptized 00:34:28.960 --> 00:34:32.219 life? The life that continually dies with Christ 00:34:32.219 --> 00:34:36.519 and is resurrected with him. That is the life 00:34:36.519 --> 00:34:40.400 we want people to see. We want people to see 00:34:40.400 --> 00:34:44.539 us tell our story and live our story. So you're 00:34:44.539 --> 00:34:46.599 going to tell it and you're going to live it. 00:34:47.530 --> 00:34:50.849 And so the team's going to come back up here, 00:34:50.969 --> 00:34:54.710 but in Matthew 5, verse 16, we referred to this 00:34:54.710 --> 00:34:57.550 earlier, and I want to circle back around to 00:34:57.550 --> 00:35:05.050 it. Verse 16, let your light shine before others, 00:35:05.309 --> 00:35:09.949 that they may see your good deeds and glorify 00:35:09.949 --> 00:35:15.980 your Father in heaven. Listen. Let your light 00:35:15.980 --> 00:35:20.659 shine, tell it, and then let them see your good 00:35:20.659 --> 00:35:25.480 deeds, live it. Tell it and live it. This is 00:35:25.480 --> 00:35:29.579 the goal. This is what the shepherds were doing. 00:35:29.639 --> 00:35:32.599 They saw it, and it changed them, and they went 00:35:32.599 --> 00:35:36.340 and they told. And so we're in a week where many 00:35:36.340 --> 00:35:39.739 of you are going to be with family members, and 00:35:39.739 --> 00:35:41.980 some of that will be really great, and some of 00:35:41.980 --> 00:35:48.119 that might be really hard. Don't just tell them. 00:35:48.119 --> 00:35:52.099 You got to live it in front of them. This is 00:35:52.099 --> 00:35:54.860 the week. You may not be with them for another 00:35:54.860 --> 00:35:59.440 six months or so. And so in this time that you 00:35:59.440 --> 00:36:02.960 have this week, this Christmas week, I want to 00:36:02.960 --> 00:36:06.900 encourage you to tell your story and to live 00:36:06.900 --> 00:36:09.739 your story before your family, before your friends. 00:36:11.159 --> 00:36:14.610 We're going to take up the declaration of Psalm 00:36:14.610 --> 00:36:18.889 107, and the spirit of the shepherd. And we're 00:36:18.889 --> 00:36:22.130 going to tell our story this week. Love came 00:36:22.130 --> 00:36:26.590 down so that we could give love out, right? The 00:36:26.590 --> 00:36:29.309 only way that the love that came down can give 00:36:29.309 --> 00:36:31.730 it out is through you and I. We are the hands, 00:36:31.789 --> 00:36:34.590 we are the feet, we are the body of Christ. And 00:36:34.590 --> 00:36:39.190 love goes out through you and through me. Amen? 00:36:40.070 --> 00:36:46.179 And so, My goal for 2026, we're coming up to 00:36:46.179 --> 00:36:51.880 that very quickly. And my goal in 2026 is to 00:36:51.880 --> 00:36:57.000 tell my story as often as I can. I love this 00:36:57.000 --> 00:37:01.179 phrase, each one win one. What would it look 00:37:01.179 --> 00:37:05.019 like if each one of us won one person to Jesus? 00:37:06.559 --> 00:37:10.480 Let's be a people that... tells the story, and 00:37:10.480 --> 00:37:14.340 lives the story. Amen? And so this morning, here's 00:37:14.340 --> 00:37:17.440 what we're going to do. We're going to go out 00:37:17.440 --> 00:37:20.380 as we came in, and the team is going to lead 00:37:20.380 --> 00:37:23.079 us one more time and go tell it on the mountain. 00:37:23.460 --> 00:37:26.280 And as we sing that, let it just be a moment 00:37:26.280 --> 00:37:29.840 of declaration for you that, God, I maybe have 00:37:29.840 --> 00:37:32.400 been putting my light behind a little bit of 00:37:32.400 --> 00:37:36.460 a bowl, but I'm going to be like that lighthouse 00:37:36.460 --> 00:37:39.639 keeper, and I'm going to buff the windows. I'm 00:37:39.639 --> 00:37:41.900 going to buff the light and make sure there's 00:37:41.900 --> 00:37:46.019 nothing to block the light, right? Anything that 00:37:46.019 --> 00:37:49.739 I've been hiding behind. Listen, we are a Pentecostal 00:37:49.739 --> 00:37:52.420 people. That isn't so weak as much as we love 00:37:52.420 --> 00:37:54.840 to get touched by the Lord, and many of you were 00:37:54.840 --> 00:37:59.340 being touched by him today. We have been filled 00:37:59.340 --> 00:38:02.920 with his spirit that we might be a people that 00:38:02.920 --> 00:38:06.340 tell it and live it. This was why he gave the 00:38:06.340 --> 00:38:10.679 Holy Spirit, that we would have boldness to tell 00:38:10.679 --> 00:38:14.280 and live it. And so as we stand this morning, 00:38:14.460 --> 00:38:17.360 let's just, as we sing this, let's make it our 00:38:17.360 --> 00:38:21.239 declaration before the Lord. Lord, listen, it 00:38:21.239 --> 00:38:23.860 was never the intention that the church, us, 00:38:23.980 --> 00:38:28.079 whatever that is, be the ones to do it. Our job 00:38:28.079 --> 00:38:32.300 is to equip you to do it. Right? And part of 00:38:32.300 --> 00:38:35.239 that is evangelist. Part of that is telling people. 00:38:35.619 --> 00:38:38.579 And so let's, you know, loosen up and just shine 00:38:38.579 --> 00:38:42.179 the light and be the light and live it and tell 00:38:42.179 --> 00:38:44.679 it for people that need the good news that we've 00:38:44.679 --> 00:38:48.420 received. And so Candice and Ben, let's declare 00:38:48.420 --> 00:38:50.260 it as we finish up this morning.