WEBVTT 00:00:01.559 --> 00:00:08.539 Howdy. You know, when was the last time you wanted 00:00:08.539 --> 00:00:12.619 to be understood, but you couldn't get your message 00:00:12.619 --> 00:00:17.339 across? I had talked once before about a time 00:00:17.339 --> 00:00:20.940 when I was trying to get a train ticket in China, 00:00:21.460 --> 00:00:23.899 and a friend of mine told me about another teacher 00:00:23.899 --> 00:00:29.719 that knew Mandarin fluently. I do not. I have 00:00:29.719 --> 00:00:33.039 to try to learn one phrase at a time and try 00:00:33.039 --> 00:00:34.840 my best to make sure I pronounce it correctly. 00:00:35.479 --> 00:00:38.380 But this other teacher, he went up to the train 00:00:38.380 --> 00:00:42.600 booth and he said, in perfect Mandarin, I would 00:00:42.600 --> 00:00:45.159 need a train ticket to get to this other place. 00:00:45.359 --> 00:00:48.420 And the man behind the counter said to him, sir, 00:00:48.420 --> 00:00:53.399 I do not speak English. And then the man, a little 00:00:53.399 --> 00:00:57.079 confused, spoke again in Mandarin and said, no, 00:00:57.079 --> 00:00:59.670 sir, I'm not speaking English. I need a train 00:00:59.670 --> 00:01:02.070 ticket to get to over here. And the man said 00:01:02.070 --> 00:01:05.569 again to him, Sir, I told you, I don't speak 00:01:05.569 --> 00:01:09.730 English. Until finally, the local Chinese national 00:01:09.730 --> 00:01:12.769 behind the man had to lean around to the teller 00:01:12.769 --> 00:01:16.010 and say, Sir, he is speaking to you in Mandarin. 00:01:16.629 --> 00:01:20.909 It is not English. Please just listen. And then 00:01:20.909 --> 00:01:23.709 finally, the man understood what he was trying 00:01:23.709 --> 00:01:28.510 to say. Now, I find that fascinating because 00:01:28.510 --> 00:01:32.450 that would be a person learning to speak Chinese 00:01:32.450 --> 00:01:35.450 to a community that he wants to be able to communicate 00:01:35.450 --> 00:01:39.750 with. But there I was, a foreigner, in this place, 00:01:40.030 --> 00:01:43.010 trying to stumble my way around without really 00:01:43.010 --> 00:01:45.890 knowing how to communicate. And I wanted to tour 00:01:45.890 --> 00:01:48.370 some places so I got on a bus and I had tracked 00:01:48.370 --> 00:01:50.890 out everywhere I needed to go, all the different 00:01:50.890 --> 00:01:54.829 sites and everything, but the bus stopped and 00:01:54.829 --> 00:01:57.670 changed buses. at a train, at a bus station. 00:01:58.329 --> 00:02:00.349 And I had no idea which other one I was supposed 00:02:00.349 --> 00:02:03.250 to get on. So I'm standing there staring at all 00:02:03.250 --> 00:02:06.390 of these characters, not having any idea what 00:02:06.390 --> 00:02:09.590 to do, and then a man next to me in perfect English 00:02:09.590 --> 00:02:11.710 says, excuse me sir, where are you trying to 00:02:11.710 --> 00:02:16.650 go? And this man, he had studied abroad, he had 00:02:16.650 --> 00:02:19.909 come back, and he basically then spent the whole 00:02:19.909 --> 00:02:22.750 rest of the day wandering around with me, looking 00:02:22.750 --> 00:02:25.569 at the sights, and explaining everything to me. 00:02:25.759 --> 00:02:29.840 in perfect English. See, in many ways that's 00:02:29.840 --> 00:02:32.979 what it's like to be led by the Holy Spirit. 00:02:33.759 --> 00:02:36.259 The Holy Spirit doesn't always make himself heard 00:02:36.259 --> 00:02:38.939 with flashes of lightning or a booming voice 00:02:38.939 --> 00:02:43.199 or something strange, but more often it's subtle. 00:02:44.280 --> 00:02:48.240 A conversation with clarity. A question that 00:02:48.240 --> 00:02:51.659 opens a door. A path of openness you didn't expect. 00:02:52.159 --> 00:02:56.000 The day of Pentecost, It looked on the outside 00:02:56.000 --> 00:03:00.680 like chaos at first. Tongues of fire above them, 00:03:01.280 --> 00:03:03.879 rushing wind, a crowd wondering if the disciples 00:03:03.879 --> 00:03:07.439 were drunk. And underneath the spectacle was 00:03:07.439 --> 00:03:11.460 something miraculous. People from every nation 00:03:11.460 --> 00:03:14.740 heard the gospel in their own languages. But 00:03:14.740 --> 00:03:17.879 God wasn't just putting on a show for its own 00:03:17.879 --> 00:03:22.199 sake. He was making Himself understood. And that's 00:03:22.199 --> 00:03:26.319 the thing about Pentecost. Pentecost is for understanding. 00:03:27.860 --> 00:03:31.620 Pentecost is a miracle that is meant for people 00:03:31.620 --> 00:03:34.960 to understand what is happening. I spoke with 00:03:34.960 --> 00:03:37.939 a friend of mine whose spouse had gone through 00:03:37.939 --> 00:03:41.680 a stroke. And after the stroke, the difficulty 00:03:41.680 --> 00:03:45.240 was that while he was speaking and saying what 00:03:45.240 --> 00:03:49.740 was on his mind, what came out was completely 00:03:49.740 --> 00:03:52.780 different. He thought he was saying exactly what 00:03:52.780 --> 00:03:55.500 he meant to say, but the people around him couldn't 00:03:55.500 --> 00:03:59.659 understand. And sometimes we wonder, is this 00:03:59.659 --> 00:04:02.860 what it was like at the time? Is this what tongues 00:04:02.860 --> 00:04:06.139 meant whenever they were sharing them at the 00:04:06.139 --> 00:04:11.539 day of Pentecost? But Peter quotes Joel 2. And 00:04:11.539 --> 00:04:13.180 he says, everyone who calls on the name of the 00:04:13.180 --> 00:04:17.019 Lord will be saved. Joel 2 is saying, In the 00:04:17.019 --> 00:04:20.139 last days, God says, I will pour out My Spirit 00:04:20.139 --> 00:04:23.800 on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. 00:04:24.399 --> 00:04:26.660 Your young men will see visions. Your old men 00:04:26.660 --> 00:04:29.939 will dream dreams. Even on My servants, both 00:04:29.939 --> 00:04:33.139 men and women, I will pour out My Spirit in those 00:04:33.139 --> 00:04:37.500 days and they will prophesy. Peter himself who 00:04:37.500 --> 00:04:40.920 is there is explaining that the point is not 00:04:40.920 --> 00:04:44.060 the tongues. The point is making sure people 00:04:44.060 --> 00:04:47.310 can hear and understand. the Gospel. Because 00:04:47.310 --> 00:04:50.670 who is this audience that was here? These were 00:04:50.670 --> 00:04:52.829 people from the Jewish community that were spread 00:04:52.829 --> 00:04:57.089 out all over the place, the Diaspora. But during 00:04:57.089 --> 00:04:59.750 festivals, they'd come back to Jerusalem. They 00:04:59.750 --> 00:05:02.209 were there to worship, especially on this day 00:05:02.209 --> 00:05:06.649 of Pentecost. But they didn't speak the same 00:05:06.649 --> 00:05:08.990 language normally. They had a common tongue. 00:05:09.319 --> 00:05:11.500 But that wasn't their normal language that they 00:05:11.500 --> 00:05:14.319 would speak. All of them had their own usual 00:05:14.319 --> 00:05:19.100 dialect and language. But if you're trying to 00:05:19.100 --> 00:05:22.740 explain to someone who God is, and you're trying 00:05:22.740 --> 00:05:25.500 to make sure that they see that this Jesus is 00:05:25.500 --> 00:05:29.000 fulfilling everything you'd been expecting, it 00:05:29.000 --> 00:05:32.319 might be difficult to get it across in the common 00:05:32.319 --> 00:05:35.759 language. But at that moment, as they are speaking 00:05:35.759 --> 00:05:39.310 the normal way that they always would have, It 00:05:39.310 --> 00:05:42.410 turns into the words that made sense in their 00:05:42.410 --> 00:05:46.949 own language. See, it says later in that chapter, 00:05:47.329 --> 00:05:49.670 they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching 00:05:49.670 --> 00:05:52.149 and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and 00:05:52.149 --> 00:05:55.089 to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the 00:05:55.089 --> 00:05:58.310 many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. 00:05:59.129 --> 00:06:02.569 They weren't devoted to the signs and wonders. 00:06:03.449 --> 00:06:06.689 They were devoted to discipleship. The signs 00:06:06.689 --> 00:06:09.199 and wonders were great. But that wasn't what 00:06:09.199 --> 00:06:11.699 they were doing every single time. What were 00:06:11.699 --> 00:06:13.759 they doing every single time they got together? 00:06:14.180 --> 00:06:17.240 Teach, fellowship, care for each other, pray 00:06:17.240 --> 00:06:22.860 together. The crowd wasn't there to hear noise. 00:06:23.339 --> 00:06:27.720 They were there hearing understanding. Peter, 00:06:27.759 --> 00:06:30.879 filled with the Spirit, noticed that he doesn't 00:06:30.879 --> 00:06:35.060 keep going on in the other language. What he 00:06:35.060 --> 00:06:37.949 does... is he goes back to the common language 00:06:37.949 --> 00:06:41.290 and then preaches. Because what was the point? 00:06:41.470 --> 00:06:45.269 He tells them plainly who Jesus is and what he 00:06:45.269 --> 00:06:47.870 has done, but also in a way that all the people 00:06:47.870 --> 00:06:51.310 watching from the outside can understand too. 00:06:53.389 --> 00:06:55.910 Because then 3 ,000 people were baptized that 00:06:55.910 --> 00:07:00.250 day. Not because of the miracle they saw, but 00:07:00.250 --> 00:07:05.620 because the message they understood. That same 00:07:05.620 --> 00:07:09.379 spirit comes back again in Acts 10. Peter speaks 00:07:09.379 --> 00:07:13.379 to Cornelius. And there's this Roman centurion 00:07:13.379 --> 00:07:15.620 that's there. And Peter, he wasn't expecting 00:07:15.620 --> 00:07:18.639 that moment or to have some miraculous revival. 00:07:18.819 --> 00:07:20.959 He goes to share the gospel because he's not 00:07:20.959 --> 00:07:25.459 supposed to. But it tells us in the chapter why 00:07:25.459 --> 00:07:29.399 the tongues were used that day. It was to show 00:07:29.399 --> 00:07:31.660 that the Gentiles were welcomed in as much as 00:07:31.660 --> 00:07:35.060 the Jews. It was to make sure to show that they 00:07:35.060 --> 00:07:38.639 were connected. Can anyone withhold water for 00:07:38.639 --> 00:07:40.920 baptizing these people who have received the 00:07:40.920 --> 00:07:45.300 Holy Spirit, just as we have? Peter asks. God 00:07:45.300 --> 00:07:48.139 had used tongues the first time to make a point 00:07:48.139 --> 00:07:52.199 of understanding. And he used it the second time 00:07:52.199 --> 00:07:57.279 to welcome other peoples. Not for the miracle, 00:07:57.860 --> 00:08:00.970 but for understanding and welcome. See, that's 00:08:00.970 --> 00:08:03.610 the thing, is that as Paul ends up trying to 00:08:03.610 --> 00:08:07.790 explain later the tongues and clarifying what's 00:08:07.790 --> 00:08:11.889 really happening, he distinguishes what might 00:08:11.889 --> 00:08:17.050 be considered glossolalia and xenolalia. No, 00:08:17.069 --> 00:08:19.970 that wasn't a Hercules TV show from the 90s. 00:08:20.189 --> 00:08:24.930 But the two terms are two different ways of looking 00:08:24.930 --> 00:08:30.819 at what tongues might be. In Acts 2, They're 00:08:30.819 --> 00:08:33.840 speaking in languages that people understand, 00:08:34.340 --> 00:08:39.279 Xenolalia. But Paul is trying to explain glossolalia, 00:08:39.840 --> 00:08:43.600 what people thought of as an angel language. 00:08:45.000 --> 00:08:48.679 This idea was that, well, are you going to speak 00:08:48.679 --> 00:08:51.720 in these other languages that people don't necessarily 00:08:51.720 --> 00:08:55.080 understand when you are in the middle of worship? 00:08:55.360 --> 00:08:57.580 We know that there are many people who see that 00:08:57.580 --> 00:09:00.559 as an important part of their worship. But Paul 00:09:00.559 --> 00:09:04.360 says that the tongues were meant as a sign for 00:09:04.360 --> 00:09:08.940 the unbelievers. It wasn't what you do when you're 00:09:08.940 --> 00:09:11.200 in the midst of believers making sure that everyone 00:09:11.200 --> 00:09:13.720 is praising together and understanding the word 00:09:13.720 --> 00:09:17.759 being explained. It was to make sure that people 00:09:17.759 --> 00:09:20.860 in other languages could understand what was 00:09:20.860 --> 00:09:25.279 being said. He says, he insists that in worship, 00:09:25.500 --> 00:09:29.159 clarity matters more than charisma. understanding 00:09:29.159 --> 00:09:33.220 matters more than the miracle. He says, I would 00:09:33.220 --> 00:09:35.720 rather speak five intelligible words to instruct 00:09:35.720 --> 00:09:40.419 others than 10 ,000 words in a tongue. But what 00:09:40.419 --> 00:09:44.639 about the people who in worship are moved by 00:09:44.639 --> 00:09:50.120 the Spirit to speak in tongues of angels? Is 00:09:50.120 --> 00:09:56.629 that fake? I would say no, it's not. That seems 00:09:56.629 --> 00:09:58.309 kind of contradictory to where you were going 00:09:58.309 --> 00:10:02.330 with that one there, pastor. Well, there's a 00:10:02.330 --> 00:10:06.250 real sense of being connected to the spirit, 00:10:06.529 --> 00:10:08.889 but it might be something different than what 00:10:08.889 --> 00:10:12.169 we're expecting. There are studies on the brain 00:10:12.169 --> 00:10:15.570 that show that when a person is speaking in tongues, 00:10:15.909 --> 00:10:18.330 it uses a different part of the brain than what 00:10:18.330 --> 00:10:21.090 you would normally use for speech. It's not using 00:10:21.090 --> 00:10:23.389 the frontal lobe in the same way that you would 00:10:23.389 --> 00:10:27.250 normally talk. But it's also not being in a trance. 00:10:28.210 --> 00:10:32.210 So something is happening. We can't explain it. 00:10:33.029 --> 00:10:35.950 And when a person is in their own personal devotion 00:10:35.950 --> 00:10:38.970 time, where they're just talking to God and listening, 00:10:39.889 --> 00:10:42.289 this can be an amazing experience for a person. 00:10:43.029 --> 00:10:45.669 To have this where they're saying something that 00:10:45.669 --> 00:10:48.529 nobody else gets, but they do. It can be beautiful. 00:10:49.419 --> 00:10:53.460 But Paul says in 1 Corinthians 13 one if I speak 00:10:53.460 --> 00:10:57.000 in the tongues of men or of angels But do not 00:10:57.000 --> 00:11:00.639 have love. I am just a clanging gong or a banging 00:11:00.639 --> 00:11:05.019 symbol He reminds us that the goal is not the 00:11:05.019 --> 00:11:09.279 ecstasy of the language The experience the goal 00:11:09.279 --> 00:11:15.399 is that in love we want to communicate Love is 00:11:15.399 --> 00:11:18.610 meant to reach others Love is meant to build 00:11:18.610 --> 00:11:22.669 up the body. So while we can honor those who 00:11:22.669 --> 00:11:26.570 have the experience of the glossolalia, the words 00:11:26.570 --> 00:11:30.169 that sound like holy mumbles of speaking in languages 00:11:30.169 --> 00:11:34.269 of angels, and even looking at the Azusa Street 00:11:34.269 --> 00:11:37.889 revival and the Pentecostal movement, we also 00:11:37.889 --> 00:11:42.090 want to ask, is it helping others to understand? 00:11:42.889 --> 00:11:47.559 Because whatever we do, it must always be connecting 00:11:47.559 --> 00:11:50.100 people to Christ. Because that's what the Holy 00:11:50.100 --> 00:11:53.840 Spirit came to do. Not just to move in us, but 00:11:53.840 --> 00:11:59.500 to speak through us. Public worship is meant 00:11:59.500 --> 00:12:05.379 to be clear. But are we ready for that Spirit? 00:12:07.080 --> 00:12:11.179 Jesus said in John 14 -26 that the Spirit will 00:12:11.179 --> 00:12:13.929 teach you all things and bring to your remembrance 00:12:13.929 --> 00:12:16.309 all that I have said to you. It's not about the 00:12:16.309 --> 00:12:20.889 performance. It's about presence. The Spirit 00:12:20.889 --> 00:12:23.950 helps us to say the right thing, in the right 00:12:23.950 --> 00:12:26.789 moment, to the right person, not because it's 00:12:26.789 --> 00:12:32.070 rehearsed, but because we were ready. Our hearts, 00:12:32.769 --> 00:12:37.149 our minds, we have the Gospel ready to be shared. 00:12:38.269 --> 00:12:41.860 I was hanging out at a discussion event. It was 00:12:41.860 --> 00:12:44.220 a panel discussion, the theology by the pint 00:12:44.220 --> 00:12:46.639 group that we'll oftentimes go to. I don't remember 00:12:46.639 --> 00:12:48.879 the topic because I wasn't on the panel, so it 00:12:48.879 --> 00:12:54.299 probably wasn't as interesting. But during the 00:12:54.299 --> 00:12:57.399 break, there was a person who came up and said, 00:12:57.500 --> 00:13:00.240 hey, I hear you're a Lutheran pastor. Can you 00:13:00.240 --> 00:13:02.919 explain communion to me? Now, you don't normally 00:13:02.919 --> 00:13:05.580 get easy questions like that. Why, yes, I am 00:13:05.580 --> 00:13:09.179 a Lutheran pastor. I'd be happy to. But the funny 00:13:09.179 --> 00:13:11.740 part, though, was that It wasn't someone who 00:13:11.740 --> 00:13:14.399 needed me to read the catechism. It was someone 00:13:14.399 --> 00:13:17.299 who needed to be able to explain it to a Baptist. 00:13:18.639 --> 00:13:21.299 Which, being someone who grew up outside of the 00:13:21.299 --> 00:13:24.299 Lutheran Church, I've had to do a number of times. 00:13:25.000 --> 00:13:27.000 Because she was going to be marrying someone 00:13:27.000 --> 00:13:29.200 who needed to understand what they were doing 00:13:29.200 --> 00:13:32.740 together as a couple. And at that moment, I didn't 00:13:32.740 --> 00:13:34.860 have anything planned or prepared, but I was 00:13:34.860 --> 00:13:39.070 ready. Because I'd been in the Word. and God 00:13:39.070 --> 00:13:42.690 was speaking at that point. Nothing flashing, 00:13:42.809 --> 00:13:45.210 no thunder, no fire, just a real conversation, 00:13:45.269 --> 00:13:48.870 but it opened a door, it built trust, and ended 00:13:48.870 --> 00:13:51.250 up allowing me the opportunity to officiate their 00:13:51.250 --> 00:13:55.190 wedding this weekend, and through it, to share 00:13:55.190 --> 00:13:58.929 the gospel with many people who were there. There 00:13:58.929 --> 00:14:01.850 was a time someone came up and asked me, what 00:14:01.850 --> 00:14:08.279 if I told you that I had seen an angel? He expected 00:14:08.279 --> 00:14:11.720 me to laugh in his face to shut down the conversation. 00:14:12.299 --> 00:14:15.840 But I know that God can do miraculous things 00:14:15.840 --> 00:14:19.480 whenever he wants. That's fine. Just not in contradiction 00:14:19.480 --> 00:14:22.000 to Scripture. And so I said, well, I would just 00:14:22.000 --> 00:14:26.700 ask you to tell me more about it. And he was 00:14:26.700 --> 00:14:31.860 just stunned. Because the openness shocked him. 00:14:32.490 --> 00:14:35.450 I told them, knowing Christ has made me more 00:14:35.450 --> 00:14:40.210 open to people, not less. More open to letting 00:14:40.210 --> 00:14:43.309 God work without assuming anything. See, that's 00:14:43.309 --> 00:14:47.429 the Spirit at work. Not in grand speeches, not 00:14:47.429 --> 00:14:51.049 in graceful responses. The Holy Spirit creates 00:14:51.049 --> 00:14:55.509 the space for relationship, for connection, for 00:14:55.509 --> 00:14:58.330 understanding. Not just trying to get every word 00:14:58.330 --> 00:15:02.000 right, but rather, that the gospel is accessible 00:15:02.000 --> 00:15:06.080 to everybody. And only by being ready with scripture 00:15:06.080 --> 00:15:10.159 and an open heart can we share the gospel at 00:15:10.159 --> 00:15:13.679 those times. Still not quite good enough to speak 00:15:13.679 --> 00:15:17.799 millennialese, but can even millennials understand 00:15:17.799 --> 00:15:20.460 each other? I don't quite get it. Don't even 00:15:20.460 --> 00:15:23.039 get me started on Gen Z. That's not even English. 00:15:25.039 --> 00:15:31.620 But to be ready, but let God speak. We must be 00:15:31.620 --> 00:15:34.940 ready, but let God speak because we're not called 00:15:34.940 --> 00:15:39.379 to force the gospel into every moment We are 00:15:39.379 --> 00:15:43.340 called to be ready at every moment See first 00:15:43.340 --> 00:15:45.960 Peter 315 says always be prepared to give an 00:15:45.960 --> 00:15:48.620 answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason 00:15:48.620 --> 00:15:52.059 for the hope that you have But do this with gentleness 00:15:52.059 --> 00:15:56.759 and respect so we prepare reading praying asking 00:15:56.759 --> 00:15:59.259 God what He's saying to us, talking with one 00:15:59.259 --> 00:16:02.799 another, but not to control the Spirit, to say 00:16:02.799 --> 00:16:07.299 things when and how we want, but rather to cooperate 00:16:07.299 --> 00:16:09.879 with what the Spirit's already doing. Because 00:16:09.879 --> 00:16:12.740 we're not about making the miracle happen, rather 00:16:12.740 --> 00:16:15.899 we make ourselves available for when it does. 00:16:16.700 --> 00:16:19.299 Because that's not actually even the true miracle. 00:16:20.679 --> 00:16:24.679 What is the true miracle of Pentecost? It's not 00:16:24.679 --> 00:16:28.440 the tongues. The true miracle of Pentecost is 00:16:28.440 --> 00:16:33.159 not sounding like an angel, but rather 3 ,000 00:16:33.159 --> 00:16:40.860 people came out of the grave into new life. 3 00:16:40.860 --> 00:16:45.759 ,000 people left sin, death, and the devil. Their 00:16:45.759 --> 00:16:48.820 hearts, their spirits walled off against Jesus 00:16:48.820 --> 00:16:53.580 were broken to let the spirit in. The true miracle 00:16:53.840 --> 00:16:57.460 is that you had 3 ,000 people alive in Christ 00:16:57.460 --> 00:17:00.879 that day and following Him. Because the world 00:17:00.879 --> 00:17:03.679 around us, we know how hard their hearts can 00:17:03.679 --> 00:17:07.319 be. We know how stubborn -minded they are. But 00:17:07.319 --> 00:17:10.460 the Spirit changes hearts and minds when people 00:17:10.460 --> 00:17:13.460 hear the Gospel. They're not converted because 00:17:13.460 --> 00:17:16.259 of a tongue that sounds strange or something 00:17:16.259 --> 00:17:18.420 that we would use in our own personal devotion. 00:17:18.680 --> 00:17:22.180 They come... to know Christ when the Gospel connects 00:17:22.180 --> 00:17:25.940 with them in their language, in their way, even 00:17:25.940 --> 00:17:29.539 understanding how they think, and being willing 00:17:29.539 --> 00:17:34.880 to communicate in ways that they will get. That's 00:17:34.880 --> 00:17:39.319 the thing about this, is that the Gospel is meant 00:17:39.319 --> 00:17:42.720 for us to find ways for people to understand. 00:17:43.740 --> 00:17:48.140 But will you be ready to let God speak when it's 00:17:48.140 --> 00:17:51.970 His time? Because the Holy Spirit speaks through 00:17:51.970 --> 00:17:57.769 you. The Holy Spirit says what the Holy Spirit 00:17:57.769 --> 00:18:04.950 will. I got a text message from somebody a few 00:18:04.950 --> 00:18:11.789 days ago, and it was hurtful. And I was livid, 00:18:12.410 --> 00:18:15.769 staring at my phone, wrote three, four different 00:18:15.769 --> 00:18:19.029 texts back to it. And every single one of them, 00:18:19.130 --> 00:18:21.509 it was this moment of saying, God, is this actually 00:18:21.509 --> 00:18:27.250 something that you think would speak your word 00:18:27.250 --> 00:18:32.930 to them? And I kept deleting them until finally 00:18:32.930 --> 00:18:36.809 sitting down, and I felt like I knew what mercy 00:18:36.809 --> 00:18:39.089 and love and forgiveness were laying on my heart. 00:18:39.809 --> 00:18:45.009 So I did. And then because of that message, The 00:18:45.009 --> 00:18:47.029 friend called up and explained what was really 00:18:47.029 --> 00:18:51.490 going on, and I realized this person was hurting 00:18:51.490 --> 00:18:55.349 much more than I ever was. And it not only communicated 00:18:55.349 --> 00:18:58.089 what we both needed to hear, but strengthened 00:18:58.089 --> 00:19:01.170 the friendship. Because it wasn't about my words. 00:19:02.210 --> 00:19:04.150 It was about letting God speak when it was God's 00:19:04.150 --> 00:19:08.049 time. So the question is, will you let God speak 00:19:08.049 --> 00:19:12.009 the way He chooses? Even if it's unfamiliar, 00:19:12.460 --> 00:19:15.380 even if it's not your comfort zone, even if you're 00:19:15.380 --> 00:19:17.880 an introvert talking to an extrovert, even if 00:19:17.880 --> 00:19:20.500 that's not what you imagined having to do, and 00:19:20.500 --> 00:19:22.440 the pastor makes you greet everybody at the beginning 00:19:22.440 --> 00:19:28.039 of worship. But will your heart be ready for 00:19:28.039 --> 00:19:33.140 God? Because if you are, then you'll find yourself 00:19:33.140 --> 00:19:35.299 saying the right thing at the right time and 00:19:35.299 --> 00:19:38.680 in the right way, and you'll know it wasn't from 00:19:38.680 --> 00:19:43.359 you. You'll know the Spirit speaking. When he's 00:19:43.359 --> 00:19:46.759 ready because that's the miracle and that's the 00:19:46.759 --> 00:19:52.059 mission is God raising people from the dead Speaking 00:19:52.059 --> 00:19:57.779 when he will and we just get to spectate Thanks 00:19:57.779 --> 00:19:58.359 be to God