Sunday, June 12 - Stuck
2022-06-12
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CrNPhzb3s_Q

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

in his holy name let your steadfast love oh Lord be upon us even as we hope in you this is the word of the Lord let's pray God we thank you for the opportunity to gather here this morning and we thank you for those that are watching online and gathering with us and we thank you so much that we're able to come together and worship you and study your word together and just be reminded of your steadfast love and our hope and all the things you are for us Lord our help and our shield we thank you for the gladness that we can find in you even when things seem hopeless and Lord we just ask that you be with our service today and allow it to glorify you in Jesus name amen all right our first Song we're going to be starting with today is Christ the Lord is risen today

Christ the Lord is risen today, Alleluia. Earth and heaven in chorus say, Alleluia. Raise your joys and triumphs high, Alleluia. Sing ye hands and earth reply, Alleluia.

It's again our glorious King, Alleluia, where all death is now thy sting, Alleluia, once he died our souls to save, Alleluia, Where's thy victory, boasting grave? Alleluia. God's redeeming work is done. Alleluia. For the fight, the battle won. Hallelujah, death in vain forbids him rise. Hallelujah, Christ has opened paradise. Hallelujah.

All right. As we move on with our service, we're going to be doing our prayer and share time. If you're watching online, there'll be a phone number for you to text. If you have any requests or anything you'd like to share with us, please text that number so that we can share that here. And then we'll be muted here during that time. So just give us a few minutes while we have that time here together, and then we'll be back and we'll move into our time of communion and we're going to be singing shout to the Lord

my Jesus my savior for there is none like you all of my days i want to praise the wonders of your Mighty love, my comfort, my shelter, tower of refuge and strength. Let every breath, all that I am, never cease to worship you. Shout to the Lord, all the earth, let us sing Power and majesty, praise to the King Mountains bow down and the seas will roar At the sound of your name I sing for joy at the work of your hands Forever I'll love you, forever I'll stand Nothing compares to the promise I have in you My Jesus, my Savior Lord, there is none like you All of my days I want to praise The wonders of your mighty love Be my comfort, my shelter, tower of refuge and strength. Let every breath, all that I am, never cease to worship you.

Shout to the Lord, all the earth let us sing, power and majesty, praise to the King. The mountains bow down and the seas will roar at the sound of your name. I sing the joy at the work of your hand. Forever I'll love you, forever I'll stand Nothing compares to the promise I have Nothing compares to the promise I have Nothing compares to the promise I have in you We'll be right back. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

We're going to be singing together Man of Sorrows Man of Sorrows Lamb of God By His own Betrayed The sin of man And wrath of God Has been on Jesus' name Silent as He stood accused, beaten, mocked, and scorned, bowing to the Father's will, he took a crown of Oh, that rugged cross, my salvation, where your love poured out over me. Now my soul cries out, Hallelujah, praise and honor unto thee. Send of heaven, God's own Son To purchase and redeem And reconcile the very ones Who nailed Him to that dream Oh, that rugged cross, my salvation, where your love pours over me. Now my soul cries out, Hallelujah, praise and honor run to thee.

Now my debt is paid, it is paid in full, by the precious blood that my Jesus spilled. Now the curse of sin has no hold on me, the sun sets free, oh it's free indeed. Now my debt is paid, it is paid in full, by the precious blood that my Jesus filled. Now the curse of sin Hold on me Who will set free Oh, is free indeed Oh, that rugged cross My salvation Where your love poured out Over me Now my soul cries out Hallelujah, praise and honor unto thee See the stone is rolled away Behold the empty tomb Hallelujah, God be praised He's risen from the grave Oh, that rugged cross, my salvation Where your love poured out over me Now my soul cries out, Hallelujah, praise and honor unto Thee, praise and honor unto Thee.

One of the things about having kids is that they're always doing something that's exciting and sometimes a little bit dangerous. And what I've found is that when our kids, at least, inevitably get hurt, there's several things you can do as a parent. One of the things that sometimes we try to do if we can see that the hurt wasn't that bad, for example, sometimes when you trip and fall, it surprises you more than it hurts you, and so we instantly try to distract, right? You know, and so we try to distract from the fact that you maybe just tripped and fell and hopefully they don't notice that they just fell and they feel better. And then there's times where they get hurt and they require some patching up. They need a band-aid. They need their hands washed.

They need a hug from mom or dad or maybe just to sit with mom and dad for a minute while you try to patch up their hurts. All of us are hurt in one way or another. All of us are hurt by sin. And all of us struggle with those hurts. And the wonderful thing about Jesus is He doesn't try to distract us from our hurts. He doesn't try to patch us up. What He does is He takes those hurts upon Himself. Isaiah 53 says this, He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, and one from whom men hide their faces. He was despised, and we esteemed Him not. Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows, Yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God and afflicted.

He was pierced for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquity. Upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace. And with his wounds we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned every one to his own way. And the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. We're going to go ahead and pray, and then we will partake of the Lord's Supper together. Father in heaven, we thank you that you don't just see our hurts. We're thankful that you don't distract from our hurts. We're thankful that you sent your Son who has taken our hurts and our shame and our fear upon himself. He has paid the price for our sin, and in him there is hope and there is healing. and there is a time coming when you will wipe away all of

our tears. We will sit at your table rejoicing because of the sacrifice of your Son. Thank you for bringing us into your family. Be with us this morning. Encourage our hearts. Strengthen us. Help us to see the good news of the Gospel. Ask that you bless this bread and this cup. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Jesus, When he takes the bread with the disciples, after the Passover meal has been concluded, but it's not quite done, and they're preparing to drink the third cup of Passover, there is a piece of bread that before the meal is hidden, and afterwards it's taken out, and it's broken sort of as a dessert or a palate cleanser, and Jesus will take that bread and he will add into it something wonderful, and so he says this. When he had given thanks, he broke the bread

and he said, this is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me. And then he will take the cup that symbolizes the redemption of God as he redeems his people out of Egypt. And Jesus, about to redeem all of us from sin, will say, this cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me. For as often as you eat this bread and you drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. We're going to maybe bite off a little more than we can chew this morning. We will see. We're in Acts chapter 25 and Acts chapter 26. And it's kind of a difficult section because it's essentially sort of all one account, right? Paul has been in prison now for two years or in custody for two years.

They've been hoping for a bribe, that he'll pay him some money to let him out. That has not happened, and so a new ruler has come to power. And in Acts 25 and 26, you sort of see what happens over the course of a few days as that ruler comes to power and a decision is made about the Apostle Paul's future. So there's a lot of things happening here. And it's sort of difficult to divide this text because you sort of have chapter 25, which sort of lays the groundwork for chapter 26, which is sort of the finale of Paul's imprisonment in the region of Jerusalem and Caesarea. So we're going to give it a try this morning. Unlike what we normally do where we read sort of every verse of a passage, we're going to

kind of move through some of the big ideas, ultimately pointing us to the good news of the gospel, which is Paul's whole purpose. It's why he's in chains, it's why he's going to Rome, and it's what he does when he's in a hearing with the civil officials. So we're going to pray, and we'll jump right into it. Father in heaven, thank you for your word, and we thank you for this account by Dr. Luke of the Apostle Paul. Help us this morning as we look at this lengthy text that you would capture our hearts with your goodness, that you would help us to see your grace poured out through the good news of the gospel. And as we, in life, sometimes feel like we're stuck and we're spinning our wheels and we don't know where we are to go,

I just ask that you would give us guidance, that you would help us, like Paul, to see the mission that you've given us and that when we are in your hands, we are never really stuck. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Most of us have been, at one point or another, stuck. Maybe you were stuck in a car because of the terrain you were on or because of breakdowns or stuck in an airport or stuck in traffic. Sometimes we feel stuck in our jobs or in our relationships or in where we live. And it's never a good feeling. Probably one of the worst times that I was ever stuck, I was in high school. And our church had had like a youth retreat for junior high and high schoolers. And one of the kids that had attended, he needed a ride home.

He lived a really long ways away and kind of up in the mountains. And so my cousin and I took him. We took my cousin's car, which was not really suited for the mountains in the wintertime in Vermont. I think it was like a Ford Thunderbird, but not like a cool one, like an early 90s one. that had like that air suspension that was broken in the car, so it was kind of, you know, it kind of was a little sideways, but we were teenagers, right, so we go out, but we get done with, you know, everything at church, and it was pretty late at night, and he directed us to his house, we got him to his house, neither of us had paid attention to how to get there or how to get back, right, we just said, turn left here, turn right there, and

so we're lost, and we're driving around, trying to find our way back to the main road, and And what happened is we went down this road, turned out to be a dead end. It's a little farm. And we decided to turn around in this guy's driveway, which he had nicely enough not plowed for us in the morning. And so the fantastic Thunderbird gets stuck in a farmer's driveway at like 1 in the morning. And we're like, oh, we're men. We've got this. And so we get out, and we all stand there like you have to do if you're a man and you get a car stuck. We sort of stand there, and you look at it. And then what happened is, well, we'll try to push it out, right? And so we're there, and we will not push out because it weighs 9,000 pounds.

Well, maybe we can dig it out. Unfortunately, we don't even have a snow brush in the car, so we're using our feet. None of us have gloves. None of us have winter coats, right? Because we're just going to sit in the car for an hour and a half, and we drive this guy home. And so finally, like an hour later, the farmer notices that there's a car just sitting there spinning its tires in his front yard and he very grudgingly goes and gets his tractor and gets us out of the ditch and tells us where the main road is and probably mutters about young people these days and we get home. And it's funny because when you're stuck, right, you go through different emotions. At first it was optimism, right? We can deal with this situation. We can fix it. We can

take care of this on our own. And then there's kind of this dawning realization that maybe the problem is bigger than what we can handle. And then we go to, at least in our case, like frustration that moves into anger, right? Here we are trying to do something good and we're stuck and this guy couldn't even be bothered to plow his driveway like it's his fault we got lost and turned around in his driveway, right? And there's this whole range of emotions. And all of us, I think, have felt those kind of things. Maybe not with a car in a snowbank in Vermont in the middle of the night, but in life there are times it just feels like we're stuck. And if anyone felt like they were stuck, it had to be the Apostle Paul as we come into

Acts chapter 25, right? There's a whole bunch of reasons why he should feel like he's stuck and he has no way out. The first you find actually in the end of chapter 24, as he's had these hearings before the Roman ruler, and you hear this, at the same time he hoped that money would be given to him by Paul. So he sent for him often and conversed with him. When two years elapsed, Felix was seceded by Portius Festus and seeking and desiring to do the Jews a favor, Felix left Paul in prison. So Paul has been arrested, he's brought to Caesarea, he's defended himself, The charges are proved to be false. But here he is. He's still in custody. Why? Because the guy is dishonest, wants the bride. And he comes to the end of his term in office,

not because he got voted out, but because he got recalled to Rome, which does not go well for you if you're a Roman ruler. He says, well, I can do one good thing when I leave. I'll keep the Jews happy by leaving Paul in prison. And his replacement comes. And here's what happens in the beginning of Acts chapter 25. After three days, after Festus, this is the new ruler, had arrived in the province, he went up to Jerusalem from Caesarea, and the chief priests and the principal men of the Jews laid out their case against Paul, and they urged him, asking as a favor against Paul, that he summon him to Jerusalem. Now here's why they want him summoned to Jerusalem, because they were planning an ambush to kill him on the way. So a new leader comes, and he's in Jerusalem,

sort of meeting everybody, getting familiar with his constituents, and a bunch of Jewish leaders, this is years later, they're like, hey, you got this guy in custody in Caesarea, his name is Paul, terrible human being, if you could just summon him back to Jerusalem, in the back of their minds, going as soon as he's on the road, we're going to kill him, and we'll be done with the apostle Paul, right? And so he comes, and this leader, you know, he begins to hear and sort of figure out what is happening, And they're asking him specifically to bring him back to Jerusalem. But what happens is that Festus will say, well, we need to have a hearing before we can transfer the case to Jerusalem. And here's what happens, picking up in verse 7. He comes to Caesarea.

When he arrived, the Jews that come down from Jerusalem stood around him, bringing many serious charges, many and serious charges against him that they could not prove. Paul argued in his defense, neither against the law of the Jews, nor against the temple, nor against Caesar, have I committed any offense. But Festus, wishing to do the Jews a favor, said to Paul, do you wish to go to Jerusalem and there be tried on these charges before me? But Paul said, I am standing before Caesar's tribunal where I ought to be tried. To the Jews, I have done no wrong, as you yourself know very well. So he had these false charges, And Luke describes them like this, many and weighty. And the idea of many here is not just like a handful. Like this is a pile of charges, right?

They have a lot of charges. And the idea of weighty is that this is something that is very, very heavy. These are not like, well, he was doing 26 in a 25, right? Or he shoplifted a candy bar from the 7-Eleven. These are charges that would have had the death penalty. And so they don't just have one or two, but they have a whole bunch. And you have to imagine Paul is beginning to feel like he's trapped, right? He's been in custody specifically because he won't pay a bribe. Now the new guy shows up. It's obvious they're trying to get him to go to Jerusalem. The last time they tried to get him on the road, they tried to kill him. What's going to happen this time? And here the judge that he's standing before seems to think that it's a good idea that Paul go to Jerusalem, right?

Festus tries to change the venue, not because there's merit in doing that, but because he's trying to keep the side happy. It's like the judge has already chosen a side. And so Paul doesn't just have to defend himself from the charges of his accusers, he has to defend himself from the judge as well. So what will happen is Paul will say, we need to stay here, and it's Roman law, they couldn't be accused, or accused couldn't be transferred to a different jurisdiction to be tried without his consent. Paul does not consent. Now, in some days in the past, Agrippa, the king, Herod Agrippa, and Bernice arrived at Caesarea and greeted Thastis. And so when you have a legal proceeding, what always helps it to go more smoothly is that when you add a bunch more people to the situation.

And so you don't just have the Roman ruler, you have now the Herodian king of that territory, and he's showing up with Bernice. We'll talk about them in just a minute. And he's showing up sort of to meet the new boss over this area to see if there's anything that he can help with, right? And so this is Herod Agrippa II. And what you see historically is that the Herod family has opposed God and Christianity and Jesus since the very beginning. Herod the Great is the one who kills all the babies in Bethlehem. Herod kills John the Baptist. Herod kills the Apostle James. And so here comes Herod Agrippa II and Bernice. And this is a family that is deeply immoral. In fact, you're going to see just in these characters that their family tree at this point has ceased to be a tree,

and has sort of become a vine. So in chapter 24, remember Felix and his wife, Drusilla? So Drusilla is Herod, Agrippa's sister. The interesting thing is she's also the sister of this lady, Bernice, right? We hear over and over in chapter 24 and chapter 25, Agrippa and Bernice. Agrippa and Bernice, that's his sister. And if you say, they seem a little weird, the answer would be they are, right? It's an immoral situation that is deeply attested to by the historians and the scholars who wrote at that time. They wrote about Herod, Agrippa, and Bernice, and they have no say about them or their relationship. And it's interesting, they're never mentioned in this account without one another. And they're here, sort of the new ruler, to meet the new ruler and get acquainted, wants to help sort of the boss, he would be over Herod Agrippa. And so here's what happens.

Paul tells them, or Festus tells them about Paul, and they say, we'll hear the accusations. He says, can I have your help? Listen to what he says. So on the next day, Agrippa and Bernice came with great pomp, and they entered the audience hall with the military tribunes and the prominent men of the city. Then at the command of Festus, Paul was brought in. And so they have this big display where sort of the regional governor, King Agrippa, is brought in to the local territory ruler, which is Festus, but he makes a big deal of himself. And so he comes in sort of with all this pomp and circumstance. And as he stands before Herod Agrippa and Festus, I want us to think a little bit about Paul's response and our response. Because Festus will tell Agrippa this.

I have to send him to Rome. And I have to include a list of charges. And here's what it'll say in verse 26. I have nothing definite to write my Lord about. Therefore, I have brought him before you, and especially before you, King Agrippa, so that after we examine him, I may have something to write. For it seems to me unreasonable in sending a prisoner not to indicate the charges against him. He goes, Paul's innocent, but I've got to write some charges down to send to Rome, right? So Paul has now faced two dishonest judges, one who keeps him in custody because he wants a bribe, one who is bending the rules to help the accuser, dishonest accusers seeking to ambush and kill you. You got fancy pants Agrippa, who comes in with all this pomp and circumstances

above his station, and the people can't even agree on what charges to bring against Paul, right? I've seen enough police shows where, you know, the guy's sitting in the room and the lawyer comes and goes, charge him or let him go, right? They haven't charged Paul. They can't even think of charges to write, but here he is still in prison. Think about how frustrating that would be, right? If it was me, I might be angry, right? I've done no wrong. In fact, if you open your eyes, they've tried to kill me. They've lied. They've brought charges with no foundation. The government illegally held me trying to get a bribe. You've tried to illegally change the venue on my trial. You now have no basis for holding me. And now you bring in some sleazy king to try to drum up some charges against me.

I would be livid over the injustice of the situation. Maybe you wouldn't be livid, but maybe you'd just be discouraged. You go, how can I find truth in this? Every judge I've stood before has been dishonest. Everything I've tried to do, they've tried to turn around. They've been death threats. They've tried to kill me. They've tried to change the venue. I just, I can't find any hope in this. I would feel stuck. Paul likely may have felt stuck, but look at how he responds. He doesn't respond with anger or despair. He doesn't lash out. In 2410, when he makes his first defense, he'll say this, Knowing that for many years you've been judged over this nation, I cheerfully make my defense. But then in the verses we mentioned a little bit earlier, chapter 25, 10, and 11, Paul says,

I am standing before Caesar's tribunal where I ought to be tried. To the Jews, I have done no wrong. You yourselves know. If I am a wrongdoer and have committed anything for which I deserve to die, I do not seek to escape death. But if there is nothing to their charges against me, no one can give me up to them. I appeal to Caesar, right? And so he says, I'm not here because I'm trying to avoid punishment, right? If I'm guilty, I understand what I deserve. I'm not trying to avoid consequences. I believe I'm innocent. And then in 26, 2 and 3, I consider myself fortunate that it is before you, King Agrippa, that I'm going to make myself my defense today against all the accusations of the Jews, especially because you are familiar with all the customs and controversies of Jews.

Therefore, I beg you to listen to me patiently. So Paul, as he stands before King Agrippa, this immoral king, whose family has a history of killing followers of Jesus. He says this, I consider myself fortunate. Did you know that word fortunate? Everywhere else in the New Testament is translated blessed. When Jesus does the Beatitudes, blessed are the meek. Blessed are the poor in spirit. Blessed are the same word that he uses. Paul isn't saying, I got lucky here today by standing before you, you immoral king. He says, I'm blessed to stand in this courtroom in front of me. It's very different than I think my reaction would have been. I don't know that I would have seen this as a blessing, something to be joyful about. But look at what Paul will do. He's going to share the gospel.

And he's going to sort of follow this outline, and we've seen it before, and we've heard Paul's story a couple of times in the book of Acts. And what he'll do is he'll share where he was before Christ. He'll share what Jesus did to get his attention and then he's going to share the mission that Jesus gave him. And Paul, as he tells people about Jesus, he simply tells the good that God has done for him. That he took me, an enemy of Christ, and he stopped me in my tracks, showed me the good news, and now I can't help but tell everybody about the goodness of Jesus. And one of the things that we ask ourselves is how do I tell someone about Jesus? is simply tell them the good that Jesus has done in your life.

I want to point your attention to verses 16 to 18, specifically verse 18. Because Paul says here, says something wonderful. As he talks about what Jesus has done and the mission Jesus gives him, and he'll say this, Rise, stand upon your feet. For I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you as a servant and a witness to the things which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you, delivering you from your people and from the Gentiles to whom I am sending you, to open their eyes, so they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God. And they may receive forgiveness of sins in a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me. Before we look at the four things

that Paul proclaims here in the Gospel, I want you to understand in that Paul is not proclaiming his ideas or plan, right? So just about everywhere you go, in any hobby or interest or self-improvement you try to get into, there's somebody out there trying to sell you a plan. So if you say, you know what? I want to eat better, right? You go out and find somebody who will sell you their plan and their way of eating that's going to transform your life. You say, I want to get in shape, right? You go out and begin to do some research, and you can find some fitness guy who's going to get in shape, and he'll usually name it after himself. You get into business and you're seeking to grow your business. Maybe you're selling something and your sales are here and you want them here.

You'll find a guy and he goes, I've got a plan for you. And I'll show you how I do this and how you can do it too. Same for marriage. Here's my plan to make your marriage better. Here's my plan to raise your children better. Here's a plan for just about everything we do. We can find somebody who can sell us a plan. Now I want you to notice very carefully that when Paul begins to preach the gospel, he's not preaching Paul's plan. Paul's not showing up and saying, I've got something that I came up with that is for you. But Paul definitively points toward Jesus, right? In verse 16, he says, Jesus told me I'm going to be his witness and his servant. And I'm going to witness about him, not about myself. Verse 17, Paul is told by Jesus that Jesus is the one who delivers

and Jesus is the one who sends. And in verse 18, Paul is told, he tells us the things that he proclaims. They're all about what Jesus has done. And so as we begin to see these things, these are not about Paul, but about Jesus. So the first thing that Paul proclaims to these judges that sit in judgment over him and the crowd that I imagine is gathered to watch the drama unfold, Paul, first of all, proclaims Jesus is the way that we may be turned from darkness into light. So darkness can cause us to be uncertain and can cause us to be afraid. I think it was 11 or 12 years ago, Brent and I were camping in Pennsylvania. It was 4th of July weekend and we decided we wanted to see some fireworks. And we looked at the trail map of the place that we were camping at

And we found a hill that sort of overlooked the lake, that overlooked the town, that was having fireworks. And so we, in the group we were camping with, we said, you know, let's hike to the top of this mountain, and we can watch the fireworks and hike back down. So we had our little trusty trail map, which was not so much a trail map as it was a brochure that we stole from the park office. And so we go down there, we try to find the trail, we start seeing blazes. And it turns out this trail, maybe at one point in its history, had been a trail. But in this day, it was just basically woods with some blaze marks, right? There's trees you've got to go over and under. We get to the top.

The trail map had described it as, you know, stand at the top of this mountain, and you get a beautiful view of the surrounding lake. Turns out that must have been written about 25 years ago, because all the trees were 20, 30 feet tall. You couldn't even see the lake. And about that time, it gets dark, which we're like, oh, firework time. Well, we're not going to see any of those. And then it starts pouring down rain. And so instead of going back the way we came, we said, well, this trail map, you know, if we keep going down the other side, the trail will loop us around. And so before you know it, we're in the dark completely, in the pouring rain, and we have no idea where the trail actually is. And Brent, the pessimist, was like, all right, we're here to die.

And about that time, I think we stumbled over a bear. Nobody can be for sure, but when you stumble over a deer in the woods, they go crashing off really fast. This, whatever it was, either a deer or a bear or maybe Sasquatch, it kind of lumbered off the trail very, very slowly, and we're like, all right, and Brent's like singing some marching songs to keep the bear away. You know, it just, it was dark, and you're wet, and you're hopeless, and you're like, we're just never going to find our way back, right? We're lost in the woods. This is the end. And then we finally found our way back. We went down the mountain far enough, found a logging road that led to the campground, and we made it back home safely. But there's something in the dark, right?

Every noise seems bigger. Every fear seems to expand. And the darkness can leave us struggling and hopeless. But there's another thing the darkness does, especially the spiritual darkness. we use it oftentimes to hide our sins. And Paul here is proclaiming two things. One, that the darkness you're in can be turned into light. Your hopelessness can be turned into hope. Your fear can be turned into courage and joy. But also those sins that you've been hiding in the dark, they can get dragged out of the light and they can be taken care of. And you don't have to hide or run from your sin anymore because you can be in the light and Jesus can care for your sins. And then he will say this, Paul proclaims that through Jesus we will not be under the power of Satan.

You see, there's two choices in this world where to follow. We can either follow God or we can follow Satan. And even if we say, well, we're not following either of those, ultimately our life moves in its trajectory toward one or the other. I don't know if you've ever had a bad boss. In college I worked nine months at a Sonic fast food restaurant. Probably the worst boss I ever had. I showed up the very first day, and he's just like, go make some fries. I was like, well, I have no idea how to make some fries. He's like, not that hard. Figure it out. Never trained anybody in the restaurant, but sure liked to yell at you if you didn't do it right. In fact, that was his primary managerial style, was just screaming at everybody how they were doing things wrong.

And that nine months, I was so happy when I got done, and I said, all right, I'm leaving for the summer. He's like, well, come back when you get back. I was like, no, thank you. I'm done, right? I'm out, right? What you find is that when we live with evil over our life, it takes us where we don't want to be. It breaks us down. It leaves us hopeless. But then there's Jesus who says, come to me, all you who are weary and are heavy laden. And Paul says, Jesus brings you out of the darkness and in the light. He changes who it is you follow. He gives you hope and peace and a future. And then he says this, that through Jesus we may receive forgiveness of our sins, sanctification, and a new family, right?

So our sins are, first of all, forgiven. They're taken away. And our tendency since the very beginning is that when we sin, either we try to hide, maybe we try to fix it, maybe we make excuses, or maybe we blame others. But it never takes away our sin, but Jesus comes. And as we read this morning in Isaiah 53, He takes all of our sin, our brokenness, and through His wounds we are healed. He takes our sin away. But He doesn't just say, all right, good, your sin is fixed, you're on your own. And a few years ago, down at the stop sign right here in the corner, we had a little bit of ice and a little bit of snow, and some guy was driving along, and for whatever reason, his car stopped at the stop sign

at this perfect spot where all the wheels were under sort of ice and snow, And he was just sitting there, and he was spinning the tires. And so after listening to that for a little bit, I walked down, and I said, Hey, you need some help getting out? He's like, I don't know what to do. Everything I do, it just sits in the same place. And it's a hard spot because there's not really a hill. It's sort of flat. There was no traction to be had. And I said, all right, well, instead of spinning your tires, let's all just get out and push. And so we kind of just slid the car to a place where it had traction. And then I went back inside and said, Good luck. Hope you don't get stuck at the next stop sign, right?

Jesus doesn't do that to us, right? He doesn't get us unstuck from our sin and then go, alright, you're all set, see you later. What does He do? It says He sanctifies us. He doesn't just take our brokenness away, but He gives us His righteousness. Sanctified means made holy. That Jesus doesn't just take away our bad, but He gives us all of the good. And then, right, there's a spot for you. A new family is what Paul talks about. It's a company of those who are sanctified. It's a part of those who are sanctified. It's a place among them, right? And not as an afterthought. Rachel's birthday was the beginning of April, or the second week of April, I guess. And we were going out to eat with some friends, and I made a reservation.

We all get to the restaurant, and we're standing there, and they go, oh, you have a name for the reservation? And I was like, yeah, Brandon Merrill, and they kind of flipped through their list. And they go, oh, we don't see a reservation there for you. Well, we'll try to squeeze you in somewhere. That's not a very good feeling to get somewhere and not have a place for you. Thankfully, he didn't realize there was a second page of the list. And so when somebody pointed out to him there was, and he scrolled over, there was our reservation. And it was all set. But it's not a very good feeling when someone says, yeah, we weren't really expecting you, but we'll try to fit you in somewhere in the back corner next to the kitchen or the bathroom.

That's not what happens when you're a Christian. The picture here is that you're wanted. That Jesus takes away your sin, He makes you righteous, and He brings you into a family where there is a place for you at the table. This is wonderful. But I want you to see in these two chapters is that we serve a God who turns things upside down. From our perspective, it seems like Paul is stuck. But in reality, God has placed Paul there for a purpose. And that purpose is the proclamation of the Gospel from darkness into light, from Satan to Jesus, from sin to holiness, from being alone to being brought into part of a family, all through the power of Jesus and what He's done. In fact, that's what Paul says is, this is for those who believe in Jesus.

And God has put Paul into place. Paul's not stuck. The funny thing is, the people who are stuck are the people that Paul is speaking to. God has turned the tables. No longer, as Paul proclaims the gospel, is he standing before a court. But rather, this court is standing before him, hearing him preach. And we know that they see it that way. Because Agrippa will say this. In a short time, you would persuade me to be a Christian. And Paul says, whether short or long, I would to God that not only you, but also all you who hear me this day might become as I am except for the change. And people have argued back and forth about what Agrippa says when he said, in a short time, you would persuade me to become a Christian.

Is he saying to Paul, do you think you can make me a Christian in these 20 minutes you've been talking? Or is his words more hopeful? Paul, it's not going to take very much more for me to be a Christian. Either way, he acknowledges that Paul is not defending himself here. He's proclaiming the Gospel. And Paul, by way of invitation, simply says, this isn't just for you, King. It's for you who are listening over there. You are listening over there. And Festus, who is listening over there, I would that you be as I am, a servant of Jesus Christ, except not in chains. what i love is that for God's people God takes our stuckness and he turns it into an opportunity for the gospel he takes all of these things that Paul has experienced and turns it to an

opportunity for Paul to preach the good news about Jesus from darkness into light from sin into sanctification from loneliness in the family all through the power of Jesus God turns things upside down who turns our struggles on their heads like Joseph says to his brothers what you intended for evil God used for good so one of the things that I would say to us as Christians is that when we feel like we're stuck one of the questions that I think we should ask is why has God put me here and how can I use this as a witness for the Gospel. It's what Paul does. In the middle of his stuckness, he says God has a purpose and that purpose is this. And to understand that as Christians, God can take the most hopeless situation

and He can turn it on His head. If He is with us, He does not leave us. He encourages us. He equips us. And He helps us. Not always out of the bad situation, but always through the bad situation. that God takes care of us. And if we're not a Christian this morning, I want you to hear Paul's message. That through Jesus, that you don't have to hide in the darkness. You don't have to be a slave to those sins that you've been fighting. That there is forgiveness. That there is change. And it comes through Jesus. Let's pray. Father in Heaven, thank You for grace. Thank You for hope. Thank You that You turn our brokenness upside down. Thank You that You take our stuckness and You use it for Your glory. Help us, like Paul,

to make the most of the opportunities You give us, even when it seems like it's easier for us to maybe be frustrated, discouraged, or hopeless, to understand that even in those dark moments, You're working and You're doing something wonderful. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. We're going to stand and sing about our need for Jesus. We're going to sing, I Need Thee Every Hour.

A voice like Thine can peace afford. I need Thee, oh, I need Thee. Every hour I need Thee. Oh, bless me now, my Savior, I come to Thee.

I need Thee every hour Stay Thou, live I Temptations lose their power When Thou art nigh I need Thee, oh, I need Thee Every hour I need Thee, O bless me now, my Savior, I come to Thee.

I need Thee every hour, teach me Thy will, and Thy rich promises in me fulfill. I need Thee. Oh, I need Thee. Every hour I need Thee. Oh, bless me now, my Savior. I come to Thee.

I want to thank you for being here this morning. We'll be back this Wednesday night in 2 Thessalonians, Chapter 3. Also, ladies meet on Thursday at 1 p.m. So we are thankful that you are here with us this morning. We're going to pray, read a verse of Scripture, and then we'll sing the doxology. Father in heaven, thank you that you are with us. And if you save us, you help us. Just be with us through this week. Help us to keep our focus on you. And help us to make the most of the opportunities that you give us through your strength and by your spirit. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Paul, writing to the church in Rome, will say this in Romans 12, 12. Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, and be constant in prayer. Let's sing it off. Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.