WEBVTT 00:00:14.570 --> 00:00:16.829 So Mike and Sharon Dutra, would you come? And 00:00:16.829 --> 00:00:18.370 congregation, would you welcome them as they 00:00:18.370 --> 00:00:20.350 come and just bring the word of the Lord this 00:00:20.350 --> 00:00:30.750 morning? Thank you. Wow. I just wanted to thank 00:00:30.750 --> 00:00:33.229 Pastor Brad and Jennifer so much for allowing 00:00:33.229 --> 00:00:37.009 us to come and be here. And, you know, we came 00:00:37.009 --> 00:00:40.909 to this church a year ago, September, on a ministry 00:00:40.909 --> 00:00:45.700 trip. And your worship wrecked us. And we knew, 00:00:45.840 --> 00:00:49.020 we were just thinking, if they have worship like 00:00:49.020 --> 00:00:51.840 that, how are we going to speak after that? And 00:00:51.840 --> 00:00:55.820 I've got a pocket full of wet Kleenex. I hope 00:00:55.820 --> 00:01:00.740 you realize how special, how special this place 00:01:00.740 --> 00:01:08.640 is. And the worship. We have been to so many 00:01:08.640 --> 00:01:12.099 different churches. And there was only one church 00:01:12.099 --> 00:01:15.739 that compared to the worship in this place. And 00:01:15.739 --> 00:01:19.579 let me tell you, that worship was that of 50 00:01:19.579 --> 00:01:23.540 Iranian expats in the Persian church in Beverly 00:01:23.540 --> 00:01:26.900 Hills where we were privileged to talk. And let 00:01:26.900 --> 00:01:29.500 me tell you, when you are worshiping with people 00:01:29.500 --> 00:01:33.239 that have lost family members and pastors and 00:01:33.239 --> 00:01:37.019 friends who were killed for proclaiming Jesus. 00:01:37.760 --> 00:01:40.079 and for saying that they would not deny their 00:01:40.079 --> 00:01:43.459 Lord. That is some. We didn't understand a word 00:01:43.459 --> 00:01:45.719 that they sang, but let me tell you, it was like 00:01:45.719 --> 00:01:49.879 this. It was so close to God. So let's start 00:01:49.879 --> 00:01:52.140 out. Of course, you know, I'm Mike, and this 00:01:52.140 --> 00:01:55.060 is my beautiful bride, Sharon. Hi. And we are 00:01:55.060 --> 00:02:00.319 Be Transformed Ministries. And we never dreamed 00:02:00.319 --> 00:02:02.379 that we would be coming and speaking in places 00:02:02.379 --> 00:02:06.989 like this, but God has purpose. when he recreates 00:02:06.989 --> 00:02:09.770 someone anew. And you're going to hear some of 00:02:09.770 --> 00:02:13.189 that today. I'd like to start out with prayer, 00:02:13.250 --> 00:02:16.569 if we may. Lord, we just thank you so much for 00:02:16.569 --> 00:02:20.210 this privilege. Lord, we are honored. And, Lord, 00:02:20.270 --> 00:02:24.569 we are so thankful that you love us all so much 00:02:24.569 --> 00:02:27.889 that you will not leave us as we are. You will 00:02:27.889 --> 00:02:30.949 help us grow and change. And, Lord, help us find 00:02:30.949 --> 00:02:34.129 the purpose in our lives that you have already 00:02:34.129 --> 00:02:38.250 set aside for us to learn and to grow into. Lord, 00:02:38.330 --> 00:02:41.729 may we all find our place in your army, Lord, 00:02:41.830 --> 00:02:44.789 to be able to serve in your kingdom's sake. In 00:02:44.789 --> 00:02:51.270 Jesus' name, amen. I wanted to start out with, 00:02:51.330 --> 00:02:55.069 I have to use notes. About 10 years ago, I was 00:02:55.069 --> 00:02:58.509 on my 29th year working for AT &T as a splicing 00:02:58.509 --> 00:03:02.150 technician, splicing copper and fiber optic. 00:03:02.250 --> 00:03:04.810 The fiber optic got to me for the chemicals we 00:03:04.810 --> 00:03:09.389 used. It started cluster chronic migraines, and 00:03:09.389 --> 00:03:12.610 I continue to get them to this day. But praise 00:03:12.610 --> 00:03:14.710 God, I call them paydays because they pay me 00:03:14.710 --> 00:03:18.169 now Social Security to have them. facilitated 00:03:18.169 --> 00:03:20.629 us getting more into the ministry and it's a 00:03:20.629 --> 00:03:25.150 miracle he lets me do these things. But we've 00:03:25.150 --> 00:03:27.949 been married for almost 28 years and we've been 00:03:27.949 --> 00:03:31.430 in some sort of fashion of ministry ever since. 00:03:32.710 --> 00:03:36.129 And you'll understand a little bit better after 00:03:36.129 --> 00:03:39.939 we tell you these stories. Our ministry that 00:03:39.939 --> 00:03:42.439 we're currently doing, Be Transformed Ministry, 00:03:42.819 --> 00:03:46.520 was started after Sharon wrote the book, Be Transformed 00:03:46.520 --> 00:03:50.340 by the Spirit of the Living God. And it was written 00:03:50.340 --> 00:03:52.379 for the church. It wasn't written for prisons, 00:03:52.500 --> 00:03:56.259 jails, or rehabs. And we started to use it in 00:03:56.259 --> 00:03:58.340 our local church, and then it started to spread. 00:03:58.539 --> 00:04:01.340 And it was amazing what God was doing with these 00:04:01.340 --> 00:04:05.240 books. And we're like, what? It was just... Phenomenal. 00:04:05.240 --> 00:04:08.419 He continues to do that. So as we started sending 00:04:08.419 --> 00:04:11.199 these books into prisons, jails, and rehabs for 00:04:11.199 --> 00:04:13.719 free, along with any Bibles that were requested, 00:04:14.419 --> 00:04:17.740 my thought was, how can we afford this? But he 00:04:17.740 --> 00:04:22.360 keeps providing for us to do this. And after 00:04:22.360 --> 00:04:26.040 eight years, we're now in 62 different prisons, 00:04:26.180 --> 00:04:31.199 jails, and rehabs across the USA. Thank you. 00:04:31.259 --> 00:04:36.839 That's Tim. And we get so many different stories 00:04:36.839 --> 00:04:40.360 from inmates and from chaplains and from church 00:04:40.360 --> 00:04:43.120 members of the various denominations. There's 00:04:43.120 --> 00:04:46.240 two pages of testimonies on our website of how 00:04:46.240 --> 00:04:50.899 these books have impacted people's lives. We, 00:04:51.060 --> 00:04:54.540 in the last five years, six years, we sent over... 00:04:55.269 --> 00:04:59.029 1 ,800 of our books into the L .A. County Jail 00:04:59.029 --> 00:05:02.269 alone. And there's been a mini revival in that 00:05:02.269 --> 00:05:05.610 jail in one of the hardest pods that no one ever 00:05:05.610 --> 00:05:08.410 thought would a revival begin in. And it started 00:05:08.410 --> 00:05:13.589 by him reading Be Transformed. About a year ago, 00:05:13.750 --> 00:05:16.850 2017, Sharon wrote her second book and published 00:05:16.850 --> 00:05:21.170 it, and it was called New Beginnings, The Basic 00:05:21.170 --> 00:05:24.879 Principles of the Christian Faith. And it, too, 00:05:25.019 --> 00:05:29.579 has just taken off. Both books have been translated 00:05:29.579 --> 00:05:34.120 into Spanish by an inmate. And he did a phenomenal 00:05:34.120 --> 00:05:38.639 job. Those aren't the inmates. Yeah, those aren't 00:05:38.639 --> 00:05:42.560 the inmates. That's Africa. That's Africa. So, 00:05:42.680 --> 00:05:45.579 again, we started out as a prison ministry, but 00:05:45.579 --> 00:05:50.680 the books started to hit Mexico. They went into 00:05:50.680 --> 00:05:55.519 Africa. And they've even landed in the Jim Elliot 00:05:55.519 --> 00:05:58.819 tribe, if you've ever heard of that, missionary 00:05:58.819 --> 00:06:01.459 Jim Elliot who went into Ecuador and was killed 00:06:01.459 --> 00:06:06.019 trying to share the gospel to them. New Beginnings 00:06:06.019 --> 00:06:08.980 is there now too in Spanish. So we're no longer 00:06:08.980 --> 00:06:11.300 a prison ministry. We still are definitely a 00:06:11.300 --> 00:06:13.279 prison ministry, but we're doing so much more 00:06:13.279 --> 00:06:17.939 than prisons. Last year alone, we sent out just 00:06:17.939 --> 00:06:23.610 under 2 ,500 books. And believe it or not, we 00:06:23.610 --> 00:06:27.769 can't. It's all God. This year already we've 00:06:27.769 --> 00:06:33.069 sent out more than that. And please don't get 00:06:33.069 --> 00:06:35.569 us wrong. This is not about a Mike and Sharon 00:06:35.569 --> 00:06:39.730 boast competition or what the books are. This 00:06:39.730 --> 00:06:43.550 is about what God can do with any of us that 00:06:43.550 --> 00:06:46.610 find our purpose in his kingdom that he has set 00:06:46.610 --> 00:06:51.259 aside for you. And I mean, we could never dream 00:06:51.259 --> 00:06:54.019 of doing what we're doing today or what he's 00:06:54.019 --> 00:06:56.040 doing with these books. It's all him and it's 00:06:56.040 --> 00:07:02.060 all to his glory. So the last thing is New Beginnings. 00:07:02.660 --> 00:07:05.279 I mentioned the Persian -Iranian church that 00:07:05.279 --> 00:07:08.259 we visited. One of the members there translated 00:07:08.259 --> 00:07:10.959 our New Beginnings book and now be transformed 00:07:10.959 --> 00:07:15.100 also into the Farsi language. So it is now in 00:07:15.100 --> 00:07:18.810 the Iranian language. And we had a slide of that. 00:07:18.910 --> 00:07:23.170 Oh, there it is. Good. It's not quite published 00:07:23.170 --> 00:07:26.589 yet, but it's on its way. And we've been so connected 00:07:26.589 --> 00:07:29.370 with different ministries. It's going to go, 00:07:29.389 --> 00:07:33.250 I mean, to the Netherlands and to Turkey. And 00:07:33.250 --> 00:07:36.209 we hope to get it on a website so anyone in Iran 00:07:36.209 --> 00:07:40.589 can read it. There is a huge... Underground church 00:07:40.589 --> 00:07:45.029 growth in Iran right now is just growing in multitudes. 00:07:45.050 --> 00:07:47.990 So let's send them Jesus instead of bombs and 00:07:47.990 --> 00:07:52.470 missiles. Sharon, would you like to describe 00:07:52.470 --> 00:07:54.949 a little bit more about your books? Hi, I'm Sharon. 00:07:55.069 --> 00:07:57.230 I'm just going to quickly finish up on our ministry 00:07:57.230 --> 00:07:59.569 information so that you're aware of why we have 00:07:59.569 --> 00:08:03.519 books and DVDs in the back. Be transformed is 00:08:03.519 --> 00:08:07.560 a 14 -chapter Bible study, and it's on such subjects 00:08:07.560 --> 00:08:11.220 as anxiety, commitment, faith, holiness, self 00:08:11.220 --> 00:08:15.480 -esteem, forgiveness, and guilt. New beginnings 00:08:15.480 --> 00:08:17.959 is for new believers or those who have not been 00:08:17.959 --> 00:08:20.860 discipled in the faith. We've found that so many 00:08:20.860 --> 00:08:23.019 people come to faith in Christ, but they're never 00:08:23.019 --> 00:08:26.120 taught what they believe, and therefore they 00:08:26.120 --> 00:08:28.560 can't go out and spread the gospel because they 00:08:28.560 --> 00:08:30.139 don't even know what they believe. And so this 00:08:30.139 --> 00:08:32.320 is a really perfect book to hand out to anyone 00:08:32.320 --> 00:08:37.500 who is searching or seeking, you know, God. These 00:08:37.500 --> 00:08:40.399 books are perfect for men and women, old and 00:08:40.399 --> 00:08:42.759 young. They can be used in an individual setting 00:08:42.759 --> 00:08:45.909 or in a group setting. And if you'd like to use 00:08:45.909 --> 00:08:48.309 our books for your church, they're available. 00:08:48.470 --> 00:08:51.350 You can contact Pastor Brad and we can talk about 00:08:51.350 --> 00:08:53.889 that. And if you'd like to use New Beginnings 00:08:53.889 --> 00:08:56.269 as an outreach tool, just let us know and we 00:08:56.269 --> 00:08:58.710 can give you a discount on the books. If this 00:08:58.710 --> 00:09:01.570 is for a prison, jail, or rehab, we can send 00:09:01.570 --> 00:09:03.889 the books for free. We have a sign -up sheet 00:09:03.889 --> 00:09:06.590 on the back table. If you just want to give us 00:09:06.590 --> 00:09:09.529 the person's name and the state they're in and 00:09:09.529 --> 00:09:12.269 the facility, we can send those books out for 00:09:12.269 --> 00:09:15.779 free, including Bibles. Our contact information 00:09:15.779 --> 00:09:18.740 is on the brochures that are at the back table. 00:09:18.860 --> 00:09:21.840 We also have DVDs of my testimony, which is very 00:09:21.840 --> 00:09:24.960 powerful. It's the one Pastor Brad cried on, 00:09:25.080 --> 00:09:27.159 so you might want to take a look at that. And 00:09:27.159 --> 00:09:29.019 we also have books for purchase in the back. 00:09:30.000 --> 00:09:33.419 So our mission at Be Transformed Ministries is 00:09:33.419 --> 00:09:37.200 really, it began to minister to people who were 00:09:37.200 --> 00:09:40.919 lost, for sinners. We do street -level ministry. 00:09:41.720 --> 00:09:43.820 We want to reach people who don't know Jesus. 00:09:43.919 --> 00:09:46.240 But over the last couple of years, God has been 00:09:46.240 --> 00:09:50.460 giving us a new vision for the church as well. 00:09:50.639 --> 00:09:53.820 And so we're kind of doing a dual personality 00:09:53.820 --> 00:09:57.659 thing here where we believe that we have to get 00:09:57.659 --> 00:10:01.580 ready for Jesus. We believe that his return, 00:10:01.820 --> 00:10:04.899 at least if we, we may die first because we're 00:10:04.899 --> 00:10:08.279 getting old, but at the same time, he may come 00:10:08.279 --> 00:10:10.639 for us any minute now with all the prophetic 00:10:10.639 --> 00:10:13.220 things that are lining up and we just don't have 00:10:13.220 --> 00:10:16.559 time to mess around anymore. And so we like to 00:10:16.559 --> 00:10:19.840 equip the church. We want to excite people and 00:10:19.840 --> 00:10:22.980 invite people to start sharing the gospel. And 00:10:22.980 --> 00:10:25.519 if you don't know how, find out how, because 00:10:25.519 --> 00:10:28.899 that's the only answer in this world. Jesus. 00:10:31.620 --> 00:10:35.200 So a lot of people have heard Sharon's story 00:10:35.200 --> 00:10:37.159 and they always ask, you know, where was I at 00:10:37.159 --> 00:10:40.080 and how did I get into the position of bumping 00:10:40.080 --> 00:10:43.639 into her? So I'm going to start out with a brief 00:10:43.639 --> 00:10:47.759 story about... I was raised in a Lutheran home 00:10:47.759 --> 00:10:51.259 by a CHP father. That's a California Highway 00:10:51.259 --> 00:10:55.039 Patrol. It was a very black and white environment 00:10:55.039 --> 00:10:58.139 with very little gray. And you didn't cross my 00:10:58.139 --> 00:11:05.059 dad. He carried a gun. When I was a sophomore 00:11:05.059 --> 00:11:10.539 in high school, I was invited to Mount Hermon 00:11:10.539 --> 00:11:12.720 Christian Conference Center down in the Santa 00:11:12.720 --> 00:11:16.200 Cruz Mountains. And I was going through a real 00:11:16.200 --> 00:11:20.259 rough time in high school. And I landed there 00:11:20.259 --> 00:11:22.539 and I learned something completely different. 00:11:22.620 --> 00:11:26.200 God opened my eyes to a relationship with Jesus. 00:11:26.639 --> 00:11:30.980 And he gave me a life verse. Have you ever had 00:11:30.980 --> 00:11:33.659 him just give you a verse that impacts you so 00:11:33.659 --> 00:11:36.970 amazingly? Well, that's what he did for me, and 00:11:36.970 --> 00:11:40.450 it impacts me to this day. This is an older version 00:11:40.450 --> 00:11:44.029 of NIV, and the newer versions actually might 00:11:44.029 --> 00:11:46.730 be a little better, but it's Galatians 1 .10. 00:11:47.690 --> 00:11:50.649 And the verse reads, Am I now trying to win the 00:11:50.649 --> 00:11:55.090 approval of men or of God? Or am I trying to 00:11:55.090 --> 00:11:58.090 please men? If I were still trying to please 00:11:58.090 --> 00:12:02.399 men, I would not be a servant of Christ. So it 00:12:02.399 --> 00:12:06.120 had me asking, who am I trying to please? The 00:12:06.120 --> 00:12:10.879 guys at school, you know. And I ask myself today, 00:12:11.120 --> 00:12:14.179 who am I trying to please? Am I just trying to 00:12:14.179 --> 00:12:17.299 please myself? Am I trying to please my spouse? 00:12:17.679 --> 00:12:22.220 Am I trying to please my children? Or am I trying 00:12:22.220 --> 00:12:27.549 to please Jesus? It's just an amazing verse when 00:12:27.549 --> 00:12:30.450 you really think of how deep that goes. So back 00:12:30.450 --> 00:12:32.990 then in high school, I met this girl, don't we 00:12:32.990 --> 00:12:36.269 all? And she was my high school sweetheart, Judy. 00:12:36.649 --> 00:12:39.889 I wanted to marry her when I was a senior in 00:12:39.889 --> 00:12:41.490 high school, and I'm thinking, how can I afford 00:12:41.490 --> 00:12:44.190 to do that? So I decided to join the Navy because 00:12:44.190 --> 00:12:45.970 I knew it would give me an income, and my dad 00:12:45.970 --> 00:12:48.490 did that, and it paid for him to be able to get 00:12:48.490 --> 00:12:51.830 married young. So Navy messed me up pretty bad. 00:12:52.159 --> 00:12:54.539 because I was walking with the Lord very closely, 00:12:54.679 --> 00:12:57.559 and then I got into boot camp, and I learned, 00:12:57.639 --> 00:13:00.500 because I went from St. Helena High School in 00:13:00.500 --> 00:13:03.539 the Napa Valley, graduated with 96 students in 00:13:03.539 --> 00:13:06.720 my class, into the big bad world of the U .S. 00:13:06.720 --> 00:13:09.700 Navy, and I learned that there was a huge gray 00:13:09.700 --> 00:13:11.960 world out there. It wasn't all black and white 00:13:11.960 --> 00:13:16.580 like I thought. We did end up, I married my high 00:13:16.580 --> 00:13:19.539 school sweetheart, Judy. And we were married 00:13:19.539 --> 00:13:21.960 for 10 years and had two wonderful children. 00:13:22.600 --> 00:13:28.440 We got stuck into the big quest of bigger is 00:13:28.440 --> 00:13:33.620 better. And so many people today... are into 00:13:33.620 --> 00:13:36.000 the materialistic things of this world. Yes, 00:13:36.080 --> 00:13:39.299 there's a lot of nice things out there, but we 00:13:39.299 --> 00:13:42.480 really, I really started striving for it. We 00:13:42.480 --> 00:13:46.059 bought one small house in Napa, went to another 00:13:46.059 --> 00:13:49.779 new house in Napa, and then moved into our third 00:13:49.779 --> 00:13:53.279 house in Napa, and it was a four -bedroom, three 00:13:53.279 --> 00:13:56.340 -bath, tri -level, black -bottom pool, quarter 00:13:56.340 --> 00:14:00.009 -acre lot, north Napa. And at the same time, 00:14:00.049 --> 00:14:02.669 I had gotten involved in the city politics. I 00:14:02.669 --> 00:14:04.809 had become a planning commissioner for the city 00:14:04.809 --> 00:14:09.090 of Napa. I was working 10 hours a day, six days 00:14:09.090 --> 00:14:11.830 a week, trying to afford to pay for all of this 00:14:11.830 --> 00:14:15.889 stuff that I thought we really needed. And my 00:14:15.889 --> 00:14:21.049 priorities were wrecked. God was not anywhere 00:14:21.049 --> 00:14:25.210 near first. The priority list that I had written 00:14:25.210 --> 00:14:29.080 down for the time that... It was horrible. It 00:14:29.080 --> 00:14:32.960 was me first. Second was the planning commission 00:14:32.960 --> 00:14:35.960 because I had designs on becoming a commissioner. 00:14:37.659 --> 00:14:40.980 Third was my job because that paid all the bills. 00:14:41.860 --> 00:14:47.860 Yeah. Fourth was my children. Fifth was my wife. 00:14:48.279 --> 00:14:52.679 And last was God. And let me tell you, that doesn't 00:14:52.679 --> 00:14:58.330 work long. I was so focused on building my kingdom 00:14:58.330 --> 00:15:01.509 here and now, and I wasn't looking at what's 00:15:01.509 --> 00:15:04.509 going to come. I wasn't looking that this little 00:15:04.509 --> 00:15:08.990 life of 80 to 100 years is a speck on the timeline 00:15:08.990 --> 00:15:16.409 of eternity that goes on forever. Uh -oh. So 00:15:16.409 --> 00:15:23.580 the hardship really began. When I neglected my 00:15:23.580 --> 00:15:25.820 wife to the point where she fell in love with 00:15:25.820 --> 00:15:29.620 her boss. I didn't know this at the time. She 00:15:29.620 --> 00:15:32.539 had a secret affair for about four months that 00:15:32.539 --> 00:15:36.139 I later found out after she had come to me. She 00:15:36.139 --> 00:15:38.539 worked up enough courage to say, Mike, I don't 00:15:38.539 --> 00:15:41.600 love you anymore. I want a divorce. And I was 00:15:41.600 --> 00:15:43.639 just lamb blasted because I was so busy thinking 00:15:43.639 --> 00:15:46.299 of other things. And she was last on the list 00:15:46.299 --> 00:15:50.870 almost. Everybody knows what that's like. There 00:15:50.870 --> 00:15:52.570 are so many people that have been through divorce 00:15:52.570 --> 00:15:54.730 now. It's like throwing a rock into a pond and 00:15:54.730 --> 00:16:00.570 the ripples affect everyone around you. So I 00:16:00.570 --> 00:16:03.450 went through the forest fire of divorce. I begged 00:16:03.450 --> 00:16:06.450 and waited and prayed, ran back to Jesus immediately, 00:16:06.730 --> 00:16:10.429 got right with him, but tried to keep that marriage 00:16:10.429 --> 00:16:13.370 together and not lose my two children because 00:16:13.370 --> 00:16:15.769 I knew what a divorce puts children through. 00:16:17.029 --> 00:16:20.559 But, you know, What's amazing with God is that 00:16:20.559 --> 00:16:24.259 he can use the worst forest fires in our lives 00:16:24.259 --> 00:16:29.100 to break us, to mold us, and to recreate us. 00:16:29.200 --> 00:16:33.120 He heals us from the inside out if we let him. 00:16:33.539 --> 00:16:38.549 And that's what God began to do with me. Literally, 00:16:38.549 --> 00:16:40.629 there's a book that I ran into then that we're 00:16:40.629 --> 00:16:42.549 still giving out today to people. It's called 00:16:42.549 --> 00:16:46.730 Love Life by Ed Wheat. Fantastic marriage book. 00:16:46.929 --> 00:16:49.529 And the last chapter is How Do You Save Your 00:16:49.529 --> 00:16:52.289 Marriage by Yourself? And I went through that, 00:16:52.470 --> 00:16:55.909 and unfortunately, it didn't work, but God had 00:16:55.909 --> 00:17:03.570 a better plan for me. I had ran back to Mount 00:17:03.570 --> 00:17:05.930 Hermon when I was beginning this divorce, and 00:17:05.930 --> 00:17:09.089 they had a singles conference. And I went through 00:17:09.089 --> 00:17:14.210 three of those. And by the third quarter that 00:17:14.210 --> 00:17:16.349 I had gone to a singles conference at Mount Hermon, 00:17:16.369 --> 00:17:19.990 I was asking God, who can I help that is back 00:17:19.990 --> 00:17:22.329 in the stage that I was when I first showed up 00:17:22.329 --> 00:17:24.869 here, a miserable wreck walking through the forest 00:17:24.869 --> 00:17:28.299 fire of divorce. And he was actually saying that 00:17:28.299 --> 00:17:31.660 person might use some help. And it was such a 00:17:31.660 --> 00:17:34.420 joy. When you're going through hardships, someone 00:17:34.420 --> 00:17:36.579 will come along your side. But then as you go 00:17:36.579 --> 00:17:39.480 out of it and through it, you can go back and 00:17:39.480 --> 00:17:43.279 help others that are back in that spot. So anyway, 00:17:43.500 --> 00:17:46.339 I'm at Mount Hermon for my fourth singles conference. 00:17:46.500 --> 00:17:50.019 The divorce is done. And I'm asking the Lord, 00:17:50.099 --> 00:17:52.059 who can I help? And I see this woman standing 00:17:52.059 --> 00:17:55.529 out on the deck. And literally the Holy Spirit 00:17:55.529 --> 00:17:58.210 said, maybe she could use someone to talk to. 00:17:59.150 --> 00:18:02.549 So I go walking over to Sharon and didn't know 00:18:02.549 --> 00:18:06.710 her. And I said, hello, I'm Mike. And how are 00:18:06.710 --> 00:18:11.930 you? And literally in the first 15 minutes of 00:18:11.930 --> 00:18:15.490 us talking, she tells me the story that she's 00:18:15.490 --> 00:18:19.069 going to tell you about her past. And again, 00:18:19.089 --> 00:18:21.230 I was raised in a black and white environment. 00:18:22.809 --> 00:18:26.809 She was one of those people that you stay far, 00:18:26.970 --> 00:18:31.869 far away from. They're trouble. They're broken. 00:18:32.230 --> 00:18:36.130 But God said to me, Mike, you've been broken. 00:18:36.750 --> 00:18:41.009 You were an ash heap laying on the ground over 00:18:41.009 --> 00:18:44.200 there from the forest fire of your divorce. The 00:18:44.200 --> 00:18:46.460 10 years that you worked to build that house 00:18:46.460 --> 00:18:49.299 and everything, I walked away from that thing 00:18:49.299 --> 00:18:51.660 with three grand in my pocket, and that was it. 00:18:51.759 --> 00:18:54.019 And the first car I ever owned was this little 00:18:54.019 --> 00:18:56.839 Datsun that was not a really good running car, 00:18:56.980 --> 00:19:00.240 but hey, she took everything else. She lied, 00:19:00.279 --> 00:19:02.779 she cheated, she did everything she could to 00:19:02.779 --> 00:19:06.720 destroy me. The opposite of love is hate, and 00:19:06.720 --> 00:19:08.700 it can get really ugly, as some people have known. 00:19:08.960 --> 00:19:11.039 I want to say to you, if you're going through 00:19:11.039 --> 00:19:15.279 that divorce process, And that highway of tears, 00:19:15.500 --> 00:19:18.099 there's hope. There's purpose for your life. 00:19:18.539 --> 00:19:25.099 God has a design for you to grow into. And reach 00:19:25.099 --> 00:19:30.160 out to him, and he will take you on that path. 00:19:30.380 --> 00:19:33.099 He will dodge the falling trees, and he will 00:19:33.099 --> 00:19:36.119 show you the way through. And in time, I mean, 00:19:36.140 --> 00:19:40.460 he'll bring you through. So anyway, I start talking 00:19:40.460 --> 00:19:42.799 to Sharon. She tells me this story, and I'm just 00:19:42.799 --> 00:19:48.319 like, what? And then literally the Holy Spirit 00:19:48.319 --> 00:19:52.059 said to me, Mike, I brought you out of that mess. 00:19:52.259 --> 00:19:55.460 I redeemed you by the blood of the Lamb. I made 00:19:55.460 --> 00:19:58.059 you a new man. I created you into a new being. 00:19:58.220 --> 00:20:03.190 Who are you to say I can't do that for her? She 00:20:03.190 --> 00:20:06.250 had the most knowledge of the Bible that I had 00:20:06.250 --> 00:20:08.769 ever met. She had lots of time to read it, and 00:20:08.769 --> 00:20:13.869 she was extremely versed in it. And she was redeemed 00:20:13.869 --> 00:20:17.549 by the blood of the Lamb. And she was so exciting 00:20:17.549 --> 00:20:19.970 to me because I'd been through this horrible 00:20:19.970 --> 00:20:22.690 lying and cheating, and here was a woman that 00:20:22.690 --> 00:20:24.970 was so honest that she presented this worst -case 00:20:24.970 --> 00:20:28.450 scenario on the first day we met. So with that, 00:20:28.490 --> 00:20:30.089 I'll turn it over to Sharon, and she'll tell 00:20:30.089 --> 00:20:45.849 you. What a guy. So my story is that I was born 00:20:45.849 --> 00:20:48.650 in Glendale, California, and my father was an 00:20:48.650 --> 00:20:50.990 alcoholic and a womanizer, and he was married 00:20:50.990 --> 00:20:55.019 four times by the time I was 17 years old. When 00:20:55.019 --> 00:20:57.160 I was four years old, my real mother left me 00:20:57.160 --> 00:20:59.200 on the doorstep of my grandfather's house and 00:20:59.200 --> 00:21:02.019 rang the bell, and I never saw her again. My 00:21:02.019 --> 00:21:04.559 dad remarried when I was six years old, and they 00:21:04.559 --> 00:21:06.859 had a child together, but they divorced a year 00:21:06.859 --> 00:21:09.140 after that, and I went back into a foster home. 00:21:09.759 --> 00:21:12.680 He remarried when I was eight years old, and 00:21:12.680 --> 00:21:16.259 that marriage lasted six years, and then I had 00:21:16.259 --> 00:21:19.490 run away from home when I was 15. Because I just 00:21:19.490 --> 00:21:22.490 couldn't handle it anymore. I started using drugs 00:21:22.490 --> 00:21:25.009 when I was 13. And I think it was at that time 00:21:25.009 --> 00:21:28.490 that I realized how much I hated myself. Because 00:21:28.490 --> 00:21:31.230 I had internalized all of this rejection and 00:21:31.230 --> 00:21:36.470 abandonment and verbal and mental abuse that 00:21:36.470 --> 00:21:39.109 I thought that I was unworthy of anyone's love. 00:21:39.170 --> 00:21:43.480 I wasn't worth sticking around for. When I ran 00:21:43.480 --> 00:21:45.579 away from home when I was 15, I lived on the 00:21:45.579 --> 00:21:48.259 street for a month until they arrested me, and 00:21:48.259 --> 00:21:51.279 I ended up in East Lake Juvenile Hall in central 00:21:51.279 --> 00:21:54.779 Los Angeles. That was quite the experience for 00:21:54.779 --> 00:21:57.579 me because I was the minority there, and I learned 00:21:57.579 --> 00:22:02.119 a lot about gangs, gay activity. racial tension 00:22:02.119 --> 00:22:05.779 and I was, like I said, the minority and it took 00:22:05.779 --> 00:22:09.480 a lot for me to gain trust in that place. I would 00:22:09.480 --> 00:22:12.180 end up going back to Juvenile Hall several times 00:22:12.180 --> 00:22:15.420 before I was through there and unfortunately 00:22:15.420 --> 00:22:18.299 I ended up making friends there so I was welcomed 00:22:18.299 --> 00:22:21.200 back about the third time they actually accepted 00:22:21.200 --> 00:22:26.450 me. I was transferred to a girl's home in East 00:22:26.450 --> 00:22:29.150 Los Angeles, which if you've ever been in East 00:22:29.150 --> 00:22:31.670 Los Angeles, you just don't go walking on the 00:22:31.670 --> 00:22:34.549 street there, especially at night. But I was 00:22:34.549 --> 00:22:37.410 transferring buses from West Los Angeles to Central 00:22:37.410 --> 00:22:41.190 Los Angeles to East Los Angeles at night. And 00:22:41.190 --> 00:22:44.150 I had no idea the trouble that I could have been 00:22:44.150 --> 00:22:47.009 in. But God had his hand on my life, even at 00:22:47.009 --> 00:22:51.210 that young age. I ran away from the girls' home, 00:22:51.309 --> 00:22:54.109 Florence Crittenden, three times, and I was considered 00:22:54.109 --> 00:22:57.490 incorrigible. And so they put me in the convent 00:22:57.490 --> 00:22:59.369 of the Good Shepherd, which is in central Los 00:22:59.369 --> 00:23:01.670 Angeles, and we had to move our beds away from 00:23:01.670 --> 00:23:04.910 the walls on holidays because they would try 00:23:04.910 --> 00:23:07.269 shooting through the windows in the convent. 00:23:07.650 --> 00:23:10.890 And so, again, I was in a very dangerous location, 00:23:10.950 --> 00:23:13.670 but we were locked in. Well, guess what? Sharon 00:23:13.670 --> 00:23:17.970 decided to climb up on the laundry. and climb 00:23:17.970 --> 00:23:23.950 over the ivy and climb down 12 feet. And I hitchhiked 00:23:23.950 --> 00:23:27.069 into Santa Monica, and unfortunately I was arrested 00:23:27.069 --> 00:23:29.990 that night, and the nuns had to come down to 00:23:29.990 --> 00:23:32.349 the jail and pick me up in their full habit. 00:23:32.710 --> 00:23:35.210 So I really wasn't the criminal that I thought 00:23:35.210 --> 00:23:41.450 I was. I joined the Conservation Corps in... 00:23:42.299 --> 00:23:45.680 when I was 18 years old. And one of our responsibilities 00:23:45.680 --> 00:23:49.319 was feeding firefighters on the big fires. Well, 00:23:49.359 --> 00:23:51.680 I met this man who I really couldn't talk to, 00:23:51.759 --> 00:23:54.200 but he had a convict hat on, and his name was 00:23:54.200 --> 00:23:56.940 Bill. And we started, you know, looking at each 00:23:56.940 --> 00:23:59.140 other, and then I found out his address, and 00:23:59.140 --> 00:24:01.720 we started writing letters. When he was released, 00:24:02.000 --> 00:24:04.720 we ended up living together, and we ended up 00:24:04.720 --> 00:24:07.400 having two small children. I had already been 00:24:07.400 --> 00:24:10.619 using every known drug to man by then. I was 00:24:10.619 --> 00:24:14.180 drinking heavily. I was smoking marijuana. And 00:24:14.180 --> 00:24:16.519 I was really just trying to deaden my pain. It 00:24:16.519 --> 00:24:18.319 wasn't because I wanted, you know, I woke up 00:24:18.319 --> 00:24:20.220 one day and I wanted to be a drug addict. It 00:24:20.220 --> 00:24:22.660 was more because I just wanted to be blotted 00:24:22.660 --> 00:24:27.740 out. And little did I know that Bill was using 00:24:27.740 --> 00:24:32.079 IV cocaine and speed. for a year before I found 00:24:32.079 --> 00:24:34.240 out. You know, I'd find syringes in the house, 00:24:34.299 --> 00:24:37.039 and I'd say, what is this? And he would give 00:24:37.039 --> 00:24:39.259 me some story, and I was so naive about that 00:24:39.259 --> 00:24:42.220 that I didn't really understand what he was doing. 00:24:42.259 --> 00:24:47.119 But it ended up that I found his gear one night, 00:24:47.200 --> 00:24:49.900 and I put out my arm, and I said, I want to try 00:24:49.900 --> 00:24:54.039 that too. And I was 23 years old. And I had no 00:24:54.039 --> 00:24:56.500 idea that I was going to be an IV drug user on 00:24:56.500 --> 00:24:59.420 almost a daily basis for the next six and a half 00:24:59.420 --> 00:25:03.400 years. I almost OD'd. The ambulance was called. 00:25:03.480 --> 00:25:06.480 I did OD four times. The ambulance was called 00:25:06.480 --> 00:25:11.670 once. And, again, God had a plan for my life. 00:25:11.789 --> 00:25:15.190 I could not see it at the time. I was oblivious 00:25:15.190 --> 00:25:18.630 to God and his purposes for me. I always believed 00:25:18.630 --> 00:25:21.829 there was a God, and I always believed in Jesus, 00:25:22.109 --> 00:25:26.230 but I never submitted to him. I never had the 00:25:26.230 --> 00:25:29.210 personal relationship with him. I was probably 00:25:29.210 --> 00:25:32.650 too afraid of my own pain to open up and submit 00:25:32.650 --> 00:25:38.480 to anyone else. I ended up being arrested for 00:25:38.480 --> 00:25:42.680 the 13th time when I was 31 years old, and I 00:25:42.680 --> 00:25:46.900 ended up in prison in the California Institution 00:25:46.900 --> 00:25:49.660 for Women in Southern California. And they have 00:25:49.660 --> 00:25:52.079 it set up so that there's a receiving unit that 00:25:52.079 --> 00:25:54.680 all inmates go to before they go to the general 00:25:54.680 --> 00:25:58.059 population. And in this receiving unit, there's 00:25:58.059 --> 00:26:01.930 a 7x10. You're locked in there with someone you've 00:26:01.930 --> 00:26:03.869 never met in your life, and you're in there for 00:26:03.869 --> 00:26:08.049 23 hours a day for six weeks. Thank goodness 00:26:08.049 --> 00:26:10.930 my cellmate one day was working in the kitchen, 00:26:11.009 --> 00:26:14.269 and I had just finished a book called Devil's 00:26:14.269 --> 00:26:16.890 Driver, and it was about Al Capone, the guy in 00:26:16.890 --> 00:26:21.119 the Mafia guy in the 1940s. His chauffeur had 00:26:21.119 --> 00:26:23.519 killed people, had had people killed, and he 00:26:23.519 --> 00:26:26.660 ended up in prison. Well, he accepted Jesus in 00:26:26.660 --> 00:26:29.359 prison, and he had a radical transformation in 00:26:29.359 --> 00:26:32.380 his life. He began ministering to the other prisoners 00:26:32.380 --> 00:26:35.720 in the jail, in the prison, and he ended up writing 00:26:35.720 --> 00:26:39.019 a book called Devil's Driver. Well, I'll tell 00:26:39.019 --> 00:26:41.500 you, I was not looking for God at the time. I 00:26:41.500 --> 00:26:45.180 was in a God forsaken place. I was, I didn't 00:26:45.180 --> 00:26:47.880 think I had the potential for redemption at all. 00:26:48.059 --> 00:26:50.359 I was really at a place in my life where I was 00:26:50.359 --> 00:26:52.880 going to choose life or choose death. I had no 00:26:52.880 --> 00:26:56.259 other option. This middle of the road thing just 00:26:56.259 --> 00:26:59.859 wasn't working for me. And I had left a wake 00:26:59.859 --> 00:27:03.859 of people in my life, my children, my ex -husband, 00:27:03.880 --> 00:27:08.930 my family. All in my wake of all of my pain and 00:27:08.930 --> 00:27:12.750 suffering and anger and rage and self -hatred. 00:27:13.990 --> 00:27:17.549 I finished the book and little did I know that 00:27:17.549 --> 00:27:19.369 there was the sinner's prayer at the end of the 00:27:19.369 --> 00:27:22.049 book and I got down on my knees and I wept for 00:27:22.049 --> 00:27:25.750 an hour. I just wept and wept and wept for all 00:27:25.750 --> 00:27:27.869 the things that I had done to people, for all 00:27:27.869 --> 00:27:30.470 the things that had been done to me, for all 00:27:30.470 --> 00:27:33.920 the people that I had hurt. And when I got up 00:27:33.920 --> 00:27:37.480 off the floor, it was like a brand -new person. 00:27:37.519 --> 00:27:44.599 It was like a ray of hope, like God, wow, God 00:27:44.599 --> 00:27:49.000 is real, and he's talking to me, and he has something 00:27:49.000 --> 00:27:53.119 planned for my life. And it was a profound idea 00:27:53.119 --> 00:27:58.019 for me that I had something to do for God. I 00:27:58.019 --> 00:28:00.099 ended up going on into the general population 00:28:00.099 --> 00:28:02.640 and I started teaching Bible studies after a 00:28:02.640 --> 00:28:04.539 couple of months because again, like Michael 00:28:04.539 --> 00:28:06.759 said, I was reading the book. The chaplain there 00:28:06.759 --> 00:28:10.319 got me my own Bible with his own money. And I 00:28:10.319 --> 00:28:12.859 just read that book every day for hours and hours. 00:28:12.980 --> 00:28:16.099 I was so used to the lies that I believed about 00:28:16.099 --> 00:28:19.140 myself that when I first started reading the 00:28:19.140 --> 00:28:21.759 Bible, I'm thinking, oh, this, I don't know. 00:28:21.859 --> 00:28:24.880 This doesn't really seem like truth to me. But 00:28:24.880 --> 00:28:28.740 as I continue to read it, The Holy Spirit was 00:28:28.740 --> 00:28:32.099 imparting to me that this is the truth. You can 00:28:32.099 --> 00:28:34.720 stand on it. And what you've believed all your 00:28:34.720 --> 00:28:39.779 life is a pack of cards of lies. That's a hard 00:28:39.779 --> 00:28:42.960 one. It's like waking up when you're about 16, 00:28:43.079 --> 00:28:45.480 17 and realizing that your parents aren't perfect, 00:28:45.680 --> 00:28:49.400 something like that. It was like my whole life 00:28:49.400 --> 00:28:51.920 had been built on all these lies. Now what was 00:28:51.920 --> 00:28:55.450 I going to do? But God continued step by step 00:28:55.450 --> 00:28:58.950 to redeem my life. I was released from prison 00:28:58.950 --> 00:29:02.349 after 10 months for good behavior, and I went 00:29:02.349 --> 00:29:04.650 back to the county where I had done all my drugs. 00:29:04.930 --> 00:29:07.710 I had lived on the street for two years. I was 00:29:07.710 --> 00:29:10.789 homeless. I was the bag lady that you see on 00:29:10.789 --> 00:29:15.049 the street. I was emaciated. I was 118 pounds 00:29:15.049 --> 00:29:19.029 when I got arrested for the last time, and I'm 00:29:19.029 --> 00:29:23.200 5 '8". I was emaciated, and I just didn't even 00:29:23.200 --> 00:29:26.519 know how close to death I was. So when I went 00:29:26.519 --> 00:29:30.140 back to Santa Cruz, all I knew was drug addicts, 00:29:30.140 --> 00:29:33.839 prostitutes, and addicts. And I said to God, 00:29:33.940 --> 00:29:37.230 how could you send me back to this place? And 00:29:37.230 --> 00:29:40.369 when I got off the bus, I had $50 left in my 00:29:40.369 --> 00:29:44.250 pocket. I had no family, no place to go, no job, 00:29:44.329 --> 00:29:47.529 no prospects. And it was like the angel devil 00:29:47.529 --> 00:29:49.950 thing. It's like, go down to the flats and spend 00:29:49.950 --> 00:29:53.269 your $50 on drugs. And God said, call the church. 00:29:53.710 --> 00:29:56.470 And I did. And I probably wouldn't be here today 00:29:56.470 --> 00:30:02.730 if I hadn't had that happen in my life. I met 00:30:02.730 --> 00:30:06.180 Michael 10 months after I was released. And he 00:30:06.180 --> 00:30:08.359 is, I always say he's the second best thing that's 00:30:08.359 --> 00:30:10.539 ever happened to me because Jesus is the first. 00:30:12.059 --> 00:30:15.259 And I went back to school after several years 00:30:15.259 --> 00:30:18.099 and I got my registered nursing degree and I 00:30:18.099 --> 00:30:21.519 graduated with honors. I was able to see my children 00:30:21.519 --> 00:30:24.640 again after nine years of weeping and begging 00:30:24.640 --> 00:30:27.920 God to restore our relationship. My daughter 00:30:27.920 --> 00:30:30.519 is now a born again Christian. She has six kids. 00:30:30.579 --> 00:30:32.799 She homeschools them and their family is serving 00:30:32.799 --> 00:30:36.240 God with all of their hearts. And my son also 00:30:36.240 --> 00:30:42.400 knows the Lord. So I only give my testimony. 00:30:42.440 --> 00:30:44.759 I think that, you know, there's a reason why 00:30:44.759 --> 00:30:47.680 the Bible says that we overcome by the blood 00:30:47.680 --> 00:30:50.259 of the lamb and by the word of our testimony. 00:30:50.519 --> 00:30:54.359 And I think it's because when we share our testimony 00:30:54.359 --> 00:30:57.339 with people, no one can refute your own story. 00:30:57.940 --> 00:31:02.000 Right? It's your story. And it's a way for people 00:31:02.000 --> 00:31:05.299 to connect with us. We should be sharing. If 00:31:05.299 --> 00:31:08.920 God hasn't done something as radical as he has 00:31:08.920 --> 00:31:11.299 in my life, well, maybe he did something for 00:31:11.299 --> 00:31:13.839 you at the market this week. Go ahead and share 00:31:13.839 --> 00:31:18.359 that with someone. So that leads into the message 00:31:18.359 --> 00:31:21.480 that I'd like to give this morning. It won't 00:31:21.480 --> 00:31:24.099 be a long message, but it's the scripture that 00:31:24.099 --> 00:31:27.900 God gave me. And the title of the message is, 00:31:29.019 --> 00:31:34.299 How do they know you've been with Jesus? And 00:31:34.299 --> 00:31:42.480 the scripture comes from Acts 4, 13. And I love 00:31:42.480 --> 00:31:45.559 this scripture. It says, the members of the council, 00:31:45.920 --> 00:31:47.980 of course, these were the high priests and all 00:31:47.980 --> 00:31:50.900 the people who hated Jesus. They were amazed 00:31:50.900 --> 00:31:53.700 when they saw the boldness of Peter and John. 00:31:54.299 --> 00:31:56.700 for they could see that they were ordinary men 00:31:56.700 --> 00:32:01.220 with no special training in the scriptures. They 00:32:01.220 --> 00:32:04.119 also recognized them as men who had been with 00:32:04.119 --> 00:32:08.079 Jesus. And I think just that one scripture is 00:32:08.079 --> 00:32:10.380 so powerful because sometimes we feel like we've 00:32:10.380 --> 00:32:11.980 got to know the Bible backwards and forwards. 00:32:12.099 --> 00:32:14.940 We've got to, you know, be perfect and all this. 00:32:14.980 --> 00:32:17.720 No, we don't. We just have to share our lives, 00:32:17.759 --> 00:32:20.000 share what God is doing in our lives with other 00:32:20.000 --> 00:32:25.420 people. So how many people here, with a raise 00:32:25.420 --> 00:32:28.680 of your hands, how many of you have been in love 00:32:28.680 --> 00:32:37.640 before? Oh, wow. Not Pastor Brad? Really? Wow. 00:32:38.240 --> 00:32:45.519 Are you going to put up with that? So how did 00:32:45.519 --> 00:32:47.920 it make you feel when you were in love? If you 00:32:47.920 --> 00:32:50.140 can think back, maybe it was 50 years ago. Maybe 00:32:50.140 --> 00:32:52.660 you're in love, like, you know, new love right 00:32:52.660 --> 00:32:56.059 now. How does it make you feel? I know when I 00:32:56.059 --> 00:32:59.980 met Michael, I was a disaster. It was like, I'm 00:32:59.980 --> 00:33:02.440 surprised that I was able to keep my job. I am 00:33:02.440 --> 00:33:05.259 that serious. I would, you know, a pack bell 00:33:05.259 --> 00:33:07.779 truck would go by and I would croon out the window. 00:33:07.799 --> 00:33:11.769 Oh my. And my coworkers had to put up with me. 00:33:11.809 --> 00:33:14.450 I talked about him incessantly. I would drive 00:33:14.450 --> 00:33:16.789 two and a half hours to see him on a work night. 00:33:16.950 --> 00:33:19.210 We'd spend two hours together. I'd drive back 00:33:19.210 --> 00:33:21.569 home and go to work the next day. Gosh, it makes 00:33:21.569 --> 00:33:25.269 me tired thinking about it now. But at the time, 00:33:25.349 --> 00:33:29.569 I was so, and still am, so crazy about this guy 00:33:29.569 --> 00:33:34.730 that I would have done anything, spent any amount 00:33:34.730 --> 00:33:38.329 of time, any amount of money, talk about him, 00:33:38.619 --> 00:33:44.599 all the time. And I want to ask you, does that 00:33:44.599 --> 00:33:52.019 describe your relationship with Jesus? Are you 00:33:52.019 --> 00:33:56.059 in love with him? Is he just something you tack 00:33:56.059 --> 00:33:58.460 on to your daily life and you say, oh, I'm a 00:33:58.460 --> 00:34:00.480 Christian and I'm going to church on Sunday, 00:34:00.559 --> 00:34:04.160 but where is that? encompassing passion, the 00:34:04.160 --> 00:34:07.000 desire to get into the word every day and to 00:34:07.000 --> 00:34:10.440 meet with him and to ask his opinion on your 00:34:10.440 --> 00:34:13.820 life and everything in it. Where's the desire 00:34:13.820 --> 00:34:18.960 to tell people about your God? Where's that passion 00:34:18.960 --> 00:34:22.980 for the people who are going to hell in your 00:34:22.980 --> 00:34:29.539 midst? Have we lost our passion for Jesus? The 00:34:29.539 --> 00:34:34.079 scripture the Lord gave me is Isaiah 12. And, 00:34:34.099 --> 00:34:36.579 you know, it's really neat because God, you know, 00:34:36.599 --> 00:34:38.480 you'll be in your daily devotions and all of 00:34:38.480 --> 00:34:41.880 a sudden, boing. I've read that before. Wait 00:34:41.880 --> 00:34:43.900 a minute. This is a whole new thing. This is 00:34:43.900 --> 00:34:46.780 a whole new meaning. So I'd like you to read 00:34:46.780 --> 00:34:50.940 aloud with me, please. Hold on one second. Let 00:34:50.940 --> 00:34:58.309 me get there. In that day, you will sing. I will 00:34:58.309 --> 00:35:03.170 praise you, O Lord. You were angry with me, but 00:35:03.170 --> 00:35:09.110 not anymore. Now you comfort me. See, God has 00:35:09.110 --> 00:35:13.630 come to save me. I will trust in him and not 00:35:13.630 --> 00:35:18.690 be afraid. The Lord God is my strength and my 00:35:18.690 --> 00:35:24.570 song. He has given me victory. With joy, you 00:35:24.570 --> 00:35:28.239 will drink deeply. From the fountain of salvation. 00:35:28.800 --> 00:35:32.960 In that wonderful day you will sing. Thank the 00:35:32.960 --> 00:35:37.800 Lord. Praise his name. Tell the nations what 00:35:37.800 --> 00:35:42.219 he has done. Let them know how mighty he is. 00:35:42.599 --> 00:35:46.880 Sing to the Lord for all he has done wonderful 00:35:46.880 --> 00:35:51.340 things. Excuse me. Make known his praise around 00:35:51.340 --> 00:35:56.280 the world. Let all the people of Jerusalem shout 00:35:56.280 --> 00:36:01.440 his praise with joy, for great is the Holy One 00:36:01.440 --> 00:36:06.699 of Israel who lives among you. Thank you, Lord, 00:36:06.800 --> 00:36:11.739 for your word. That is so true. So I'd like to 00:36:11.739 --> 00:36:15.739 condense this scripture into three prongs, and 00:36:15.739 --> 00:36:18.159 I believe there are many things that make up 00:36:18.159 --> 00:36:21.670 the Christian life. learn about those every Sunday. 00:36:21.710 --> 00:36:23.429 We learn about them as we're reading the word 00:36:23.429 --> 00:36:27.070 every day. But the three prongs in this scripture 00:36:27.070 --> 00:36:33.949 are praise, worship, and witness. It says that 00:36:33.949 --> 00:36:37.809 here that in the scripture that we praise him. 00:36:38.170 --> 00:36:41.849 Praise is a way of adoring someone. It's a way 00:36:41.849 --> 00:36:45.050 of showing off on someone. It's telling other 00:36:45.050 --> 00:36:49.099 people how great this other person is. It's a 00:36:49.099 --> 00:36:53.780 thank you to God for what he's done for us. When 00:36:53.780 --> 00:36:57.219 we praise, we have praise on our lips. And guess 00:36:57.219 --> 00:37:00.139 what? All the negative connotations that come 00:37:00.139 --> 00:37:06.500 with Paul's Galatians 5, all of the characteristics 00:37:06.500 --> 00:37:10.429 like gossip, complaining. looking down on people, 00:37:10.610 --> 00:37:13.909 coveting. All of those things disappear in the 00:37:13.909 --> 00:37:16.550 light of praise because our hearts are turned 00:37:16.550 --> 00:37:20.670 now towards the Lord, and we are praising him. 00:37:20.829 --> 00:37:23.429 We can't say two things at one time, so either 00:37:23.429 --> 00:37:26.429 we're praising like James says, or we have something 00:37:26.429 --> 00:37:29.010 bitter coming out of our mouth, and we all do 00:37:29.010 --> 00:37:32.590 it. We're all guilty of it. But if you praise 00:37:32.590 --> 00:37:35.090 the Lord on a regular basis, your heart becomes 00:37:35.090 --> 00:37:39.519 grateful. That's one prong. Another prong is 00:37:39.519 --> 00:37:42.219 worship. A lot of people put the words praise 00:37:42.219 --> 00:37:45.840 and worship together, and they are both exalting 00:37:45.840 --> 00:37:50.380 the Lord. But I think worship is deeper than 00:37:50.380 --> 00:37:54.300 praise. Praise is how God affects us. It's what 00:37:54.300 --> 00:37:57.659 he's done for us. It's his characteristics and 00:37:57.659 --> 00:38:01.420 praising him with our lips and our heart. But 00:38:01.420 --> 00:38:05.059 worship is really about getting to the feet of 00:38:05.059 --> 00:38:10.579 Jesus. It's about Thinking of him as he really 00:38:10.579 --> 00:38:15.760 is. He is majestic. He is enthroned. He is riding 00:38:15.760 --> 00:38:19.920 across the heavens to help us. He created the 00:38:19.920 --> 00:38:23.039 world and the heavens and everything within it. 00:38:23.440 --> 00:38:28.280 Majestic. He is holy. He is beautiful. Lord, 00:38:28.420 --> 00:38:32.840 we are not God. I can't run my show. You can't 00:38:32.840 --> 00:38:35.780 run your show. But God can run your show. And 00:38:35.780 --> 00:38:40.110 that's worship. knowing who God is and knowing 00:38:40.110 --> 00:38:43.869 who we are and not putting ourselves in God's 00:38:43.869 --> 00:38:48.730 place as we love to do. But how does that work 00:38:48.730 --> 00:38:51.269 for you? I know it doesn't work very good for 00:38:51.269 --> 00:38:54.670 me when I try to play God and Michael can attest 00:38:54.670 --> 00:38:58.829 to that. The last part is the part I really want 00:38:58.829 --> 00:39:04.320 to focus on and it's witness. I think that in 00:39:04.320 --> 00:39:09.139 our culture, we have gotten so embarrassed, so 00:39:09.139 --> 00:39:15.940 shy, so afraid, so timid, so backed into a corner 00:39:15.940 --> 00:39:18.980 to share our faith. We can't share it at school 00:39:18.980 --> 00:39:21.159 without being reprimanded. We can't share it 00:39:21.159 --> 00:39:23.940 at our workplace. You can't have a cross on your 00:39:23.940 --> 00:39:28.420 desk. Okay, I'm just going to say it, people. 00:39:28.500 --> 00:39:34.650 We are being shoved into a corner. And in my 00:39:34.650 --> 00:39:38.929 opinion, are we going to let that happen? We're 00:39:38.929 --> 00:39:42.010 not militant. We don't have to fight back with 00:39:42.010 --> 00:39:45.550 bad words and rude comments. How are we going 00:39:45.550 --> 00:39:47.369 to do it? We're going to do it through prayer 00:39:47.369 --> 00:39:52.630 and through our witness. Are we really kind to 00:39:52.630 --> 00:39:56.769 the lady at the bank? Are we in a hurry? Are 00:39:56.769 --> 00:40:00.090 we rude? Are we frustrated? Are we missing those 00:40:00.090 --> 00:40:03.420 opportunities that God is giving us? to share. 00:40:03.579 --> 00:40:05.960 We were at dinner last night and the waitress 00:40:05.960 --> 00:40:08.619 came up to us and said, are you a group of people 00:40:08.619 --> 00:40:11.940 who go to church? And we're like, yes. And it 00:40:11.940 --> 00:40:15.099 was like, wow, she's asking us instead of us 00:40:15.099 --> 00:40:18.699 asking her. And we gave her the information for 00:40:18.699 --> 00:40:21.760 Life Bible Church and the address and the time 00:40:21.760 --> 00:40:24.820 that church was starting. And if we had been, 00:40:24.820 --> 00:40:28.210 you know, just like, oh, well, yeah. you know, 00:40:28.210 --> 00:40:30.429 have a nice night, then we would have lost an 00:40:30.429 --> 00:40:34.829 opportunity to share with her this beautiful 00:40:34.829 --> 00:40:39.389 church. And we do that constantly. We're so busy 00:40:39.389 --> 00:40:42.269 with our own agendas and our own structures, 00:40:42.449 --> 00:40:45.530 our own jobs, families, blah, blah, blah, that 00:40:45.530 --> 00:40:50.070 we're missing these sweet opportunities to share 00:40:50.070 --> 00:40:52.269 God with others. You don't have to go around 00:40:52.269 --> 00:40:53.929 with your Bible and hit people over the head 00:40:53.929 --> 00:40:55.449 and go, you're going to hell in a handbasket. 00:40:56.809 --> 00:41:00.190 In fact, that's not the way to do it. The way 00:41:00.190 --> 00:41:03.369 to do it is to cultivate relationships. I have 00:41:03.369 --> 00:41:05.690 a hairdresser. I've had her for 15 years. She's 00:41:05.690 --> 00:41:07.530 not a Christian. I talk to her about the Lord 00:41:07.530 --> 00:41:11.469 every single chance I can get. And she asked 00:41:11.469 --> 00:41:13.769 me about a month ago, she texted me and she said, 00:41:13.789 --> 00:41:18.139 will you pray for me? I'm sick. And that just 00:41:18.139 --> 00:41:21.440 goes to tell that you never know. Don't be embarrassed. 00:41:21.559 --> 00:41:25.460 Don't be shy. Tell people about Jesus. They will 00:41:25.460 --> 00:41:29.079 come to you in their time of need because they 00:41:29.079 --> 00:41:32.239 know that you know the living God. And it may 00:41:32.239 --> 00:41:35.280 even be an opportunity for you to bring them 00:41:35.280 --> 00:41:41.300 to Jesus. Don't miss the opportunity. It's a 00:41:41.300 --> 00:41:46.719 lot of fun, too. It's really, really fun. So 00:41:46.719 --> 00:41:49.480 this scripture again in Isaiah says, tell the 00:41:49.480 --> 00:41:52.159 nations what he's done. Let them know how mighty 00:41:52.159 --> 00:41:56.179 he is and make known his praise around the world. 00:41:56.900 --> 00:42:00.039 We need to, if we're shy, we need to get over 00:42:00.039 --> 00:42:04.420 it. If we're embarrassed, we need to kneel at 00:42:04.420 --> 00:42:07.239 Jesus' feet and say, Lord, I know your word says 00:42:07.239 --> 00:42:10.099 that if I am ashamed of you before men, you will 00:42:10.099 --> 00:42:12.400 be ashamed of me before your angels and father 00:42:12.400 --> 00:42:18.250 in heaven. We need to get serious about our faith 00:42:18.250 --> 00:42:23.429 and not serious as in mean and ugly, but serious 00:42:23.429 --> 00:42:27.989 about there's a bad place called hell. I don't 00:42:27.989 --> 00:42:29.989 know if you believe in it or not, but I do, and 00:42:29.989 --> 00:42:32.769 it's in the Bible, and Jesus said it, and I know 00:42:32.769 --> 00:42:34.769 people are going there, and I do not want to 00:42:34.769 --> 00:42:38.670 see the anguish. I don't want to see the suffering 00:42:38.670 --> 00:42:42.619 forever. Because I was too shy or embarrassed 00:42:42.619 --> 00:42:49.579 or weak or incapacitated to tell them about my 00:42:49.579 --> 00:42:52.239 Savior. God's going to put people in your life 00:42:52.239 --> 00:42:54.699 that only you can reach. He's going to do it 00:42:54.699 --> 00:42:57.760 in the perfect setup, the perfect timing, the 00:42:57.760 --> 00:43:00.000 perfect way. And you're going to open your mouth 00:43:00.000 --> 00:43:03.070 and that person's going to go, wow. And it's 00:43:03.070 --> 00:43:06.230 happened, Michael and I, a bazillion times. And 00:43:06.230 --> 00:43:08.750 we know it's true. We're evangelists. You don't 00:43:08.750 --> 00:43:10.409 have to be an evangelist. All you have to do 00:43:10.409 --> 00:43:13.429 is have a mouth and a tongue and a voice and 00:43:13.429 --> 00:43:15.510 go blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. It's really, 00:43:15.590 --> 00:43:25.269 really easy. So I love the analogy of the rivers 00:43:25.269 --> 00:43:29.389 of flowing water into the lake. And it reminds 00:43:29.389 --> 00:43:32.929 me of our relationship with Christ. Do we have 00:43:32.929 --> 00:43:35.769 rivers of flowing water coming into our life 00:43:35.769 --> 00:43:37.750 because of the Spirit of God, because of the 00:43:37.750 --> 00:43:40.530 Word of God, because of His presence, because 00:43:40.530 --> 00:43:43.090 we're rubbing shoulders with other people who 00:43:43.090 --> 00:43:46.409 love Him and they're passionate about Him? Do 00:43:46.409 --> 00:43:49.849 we have those rivers of flowing water coming 00:43:49.849 --> 00:43:54.400 down on a daily basis? If we don't, it's not 00:43:54.400 --> 00:43:57.739 his fault, it's our fault. We need to find out 00:43:57.739 --> 00:44:01.039 how we can get that water into our lives. And 00:44:01.039 --> 00:44:03.400 then there's the lake. The lake is a place of 00:44:03.400 --> 00:44:07.019 sustenance. It's a place of reflection. It's 00:44:07.019 --> 00:44:11.320 a place of beauty. But what happens in our lives 00:44:11.320 --> 00:44:14.360 when we are the lakes, we receive the rivers 00:44:14.360 --> 00:44:18.539 of flowing water. Now we have a lake and there's 00:44:18.539 --> 00:44:21.929 no spillway. There's no way for the water to 00:44:21.929 --> 00:44:24.250 be released. Well, what happens? Does anybody 00:44:24.250 --> 00:44:29.090 know? It dies, it dries up, gets algae, it stinks. 00:44:30.409 --> 00:44:36.110 It's not a place of living water anymore. The 00:44:36.110 --> 00:44:41.719 witness in our lives is the spillway. And if 00:44:41.719 --> 00:44:44.280 we're not spilling over, if we're not being filled, 00:44:44.480 --> 00:44:48.000 if we're not being overflowed so that we are 00:44:48.000 --> 00:44:51.099 spilling out onto our friends, our family, our 00:44:51.099 --> 00:44:54.619 community, our coworkers, then we have to find 00:44:54.619 --> 00:45:00.739 out why. We have to be serious. So one last scripture. 00:45:00.860 --> 00:45:08.300 It's Romans 10, 13 through 15. And it says... 00:45:11.469 --> 00:45:14.289 For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord 00:45:14.289 --> 00:45:18.969 will be saved. But how can they call on him to 00:45:18.969 --> 00:45:22.309 save them unless they believe in him? And how 00:45:22.309 --> 00:45:25.429 can they believe in him if they've never heard 00:45:25.429 --> 00:45:30.070 about him? And how can they hear about him unless 00:45:30.070 --> 00:45:34.150 someone tells them? And how will anyone go and 00:45:34.150 --> 00:45:38.300 tell them without being sent? That is why the 00:45:38.300 --> 00:45:40.800 scriptures say, how beautiful are the feet of 00:45:40.800 --> 00:45:46.699 messengers who bring the good news. How beautiful 00:45:46.699 --> 00:45:50.639 are your feet when you share the good news. I 00:45:50.639 --> 00:45:53.659 would like to close with one. Oswald Chambers 00:45:53.659 --> 00:45:58.000 is my favorite guy as far as devotionals are 00:45:58.000 --> 00:46:00.440 concerned. I'm not a real devotional type girl. 00:46:01.159 --> 00:46:03.500 But Oswald, Michael, and I have been reading 00:46:03.500 --> 00:46:06.829 for almost 28 years since we... Began dating. 00:46:08.150 --> 00:46:11.809 And it's from February 23rd, and it says, The 00:46:11.809 --> 00:46:15.829 determination to serve. The Son of Man did not 00:46:15.829 --> 00:46:22.610 come to serve, to be served, but to serve. Jesus 00:46:22.610 --> 00:46:26.269 also said, Yes, I am among you as the one who 00:46:26.269 --> 00:46:31.530 serves. Paul's idea of service was the same as 00:46:31.530 --> 00:46:35.139 our Lord's. Ourselves are... bond servants for 00:46:35.139 --> 00:46:38.659 Jesus' sake. We somehow have the idea that a 00:46:38.659 --> 00:46:41.800 person called into ministry is called to be different 00:46:41.800 --> 00:46:44.980 and above other people. But according to Jesus 00:46:44.980 --> 00:46:48.119 Christ, he is called to be a doormat for others. 00:46:48.699 --> 00:46:52.179 Called to be their spiritual leader, yes, but 00:46:52.179 --> 00:46:55.760 never their superior. Paul said, I know what 00:46:55.760 --> 00:46:59.440 it's like to be abased. Paul's idea of service 00:46:59.440 --> 00:47:02.780 was to pour out his life to the last drop for 00:47:02.780 --> 00:47:06.119 people. And whenever he received praise or blame, 00:47:06.320 --> 00:47:09.619 it made no difference. As long as there was one 00:47:09.619 --> 00:47:13.559 human being who did not know Jesus, Paul felt 00:47:13.559 --> 00:47:16.440 a debt of service to that person until he did 00:47:16.440 --> 00:47:20.539 come to know him. But the chief motivation behind 00:47:20.539 --> 00:47:24.960 Paul's service was not love for others, but love 00:47:24.960 --> 00:47:29.159 for his Lord. If our devotion is to the cause 00:47:29.159 --> 00:47:32.119 of humanity, we will quickly be defeated and 00:47:32.119 --> 00:47:35.079 brokenhearted since we will often be confronted 00:47:35.079 --> 00:47:38.059 with a great deal of ingratitude from other people. 00:47:38.199 --> 00:47:41.159 But if we are motivated by our love for God, 00:47:41.380 --> 00:47:45.000 no amount of ingratitude will be able to hinder 00:47:45.000 --> 00:47:48.550 us from serving one another. Paul's understanding 00:47:48.550 --> 00:47:50.909 of how Christ had dealt with him is the secret 00:47:50.909 --> 00:47:55.050 behind his determination to serve others. I was 00:47:55.050 --> 00:48:00.489 formerly a blasphemer. I hated God. I was a persecutor 00:48:00.489 --> 00:48:04.289 and an insolent man. In other words, no matter 00:48:04.289 --> 00:48:07.809 how badly others had treated Paul, they could 00:48:07.809 --> 00:48:11.389 never have treated with him the same degree of 00:48:11.389 --> 00:48:14.570 spite and hatred with which he had treated his 00:48:14.570 --> 00:48:18.519 Lord Jesus Christ. Once we realize that Jesus 00:48:18.519 --> 00:48:21.760 has served us even to the depths of our meagerness, 00:48:22.039 --> 00:48:26.920 our selfishness, and our sin, nothing we encounter 00:48:26.920 --> 00:48:30.420 from others will be able to exhaust our determination 00:48:30.420 --> 00:48:36.420 to serve others for his sake. Thank you so much 00:48:36.420 --> 00:48:40.719 for allowing us to come. And we just pray that 00:48:40.719 --> 00:48:43.619 this would have reached your heart and motivated 00:48:43.619 --> 00:48:46.079 you to begin sharing your faith with others. 00:48:46.559 --> 00:49:00.199 Thank you. If you are interested in hearing other 00:49:00.199 --> 00:49:03.139 podcasts or contacting Life Bible Church, go 00:49:03.139 --> 00:49:07.760 to www .lifebiblechurch .org or call us at 541 00:49:07.760 --> 00:49:10.239 -995 -8282.