Sunday, May 31, 2015

Highs, Lows & Everywhere in Between – Part 2


Acts 5:19-33 But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors and brought them out, and said, “Go and stand in the temple and speak to the people all the words of this Life.” And when they heard this, they entered the temple at daybreak and began to teach. Now when the high priest came, and those who were with him, they called together the council, all the senate of the people of Israel, and sent to the prison to have them brought. But when the officers came, they did not find them in the prison, so they returned and reported, “We found the prison securely locked and the guards standing at the doors, but when we opened them we found no one inside.” Now when the captain of the temple and the chief priests heard these words, they were greatly perplexed about them, wondering what this would come to. And someone came and told them, “Look! The men whom you put in prison are standing in the temple and teaching the people.” Then the captain with the officers went and brought them, but not by force, for they were afraid of being stoned by the people. And when they had brought them, they set them before the council. And the high priest questioned them, saying, “We strictly charged you not to teach in this name, yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and you intend to bring this man's blood upon us.” But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men. The God of our fathers raised Jesus, whom you killed by hanging him on a tree. God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.” When they heard this, they were enraged and wanted to kill them.

Continuing from yesterday, Pastor Kyle states that there are five things that we need to know and remember to rejoice in every season of life (the highs, lows and everywhere in between). (1) that “unrealistic expectations” equals disappointment with God. The only thing that counts comes from God’s Word, Will and Way. Where in the world did we ever get the idea that it was going to be easy? We hear that Jesus came that we may have life and have it to the full (John 10:10), that God loves us and has a wonderful plans for us (Jeremiah 29:11), but it is eternal. The ultimate plan is to follow the Lord Jesus, the Good Shepherd, God, then Ecclesiastes 3:1-22 makes sense. We are not to reinterpret God’s plans for our life for our own desires, but to align our will with His will as every detail of His plan unfolds and is revealed. (2) Know that the battle is real and dangerous, but the battle is the Lord’s – 1 Samuel 17:47. All of the Apostles (except) John died a horrible death for their faith. But, when they went down, they went up! Why are we afraid to talk to our family, friends and neighbors about the gospel of salvation in Christ? What are we not believing? “Lord, I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!” - Mark 9:24


(3) God’s power shows up on God’s time table, not ours. Don’t ever deal with the devil; stand firm and fight with the “full armor of God’ – Ephesians 6:10-18 and run away from the deceiver’s temptations. Fight or flee, but always walking in the Spirit. The Enemy come to sell, kill and destroy our life in mind – John 10:1, 10. God is at work in the world all the time, but we don’t get to point to how, when or where God is going to work. In God We Trust. So trust in God.

Part 3 of my notes and comments from Pastor Kyle’s Sermon tomorrow.

In Christ , Brian

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