WorshipWorthship Acts 16:940

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WorshipWorthshipActs 169-40

• Last weekIt All Started With Vision
• Philip, Paul, Ananias, Cornelius, Peter and the
  Church all had vision
• We made the statement
• It is safe to say that the church was founded on
  VISION and OBEDIENCE to VISION
• We said that Obedience moved them forward
• And that only after Paul was obedient did God
  give him a new vision

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• We concluded that GodFather, Son and Holy
  Spirithave a vision for the church
• 2 Corinthians 519 that God was reconciling the
  world to himself in Christ, not counting men's
  sins against them. And he has committed to us
  the message of reconciliation.
• We asked, Will we/you be obedient to Gods
  vision in our/your life?

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• Today
• We will look at Pauls new vision
• How God uses vision
• How obedience to Him will still change the world

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• Pauls new visionv 9-10
• Preach the good news in Macedonia
• They went at once
• Because they obeyed
• Lydia and others of her householdsaved, baptized
• Demon possessed girl saved
• Jailer and household saved

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• How?
• God opened the wayv6-12
• Paul visited the churches he had startedHis
  vision
• Paul wanted to claim new territory
• God closed the doors
• Paul listened for Gods leading
• Still going forwardhe didnt stop ministering
• God gave Paul a new vision
• God opened the doors to Macedonia
• God still needs to open the waywe still need
• to be obedient to His leading

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• How?
• God opened Lydias heartv13-15
• Paul went first to believers
• Encourage the body, get prayer support
• We are not islands but a part of the body
• Met with the women assembled to pray
• 10 men formed a synagoguethis suggests that
  there werent 10 Jewish male God-worshipers
• Paul, like Jesus, stepped outside of cultural
  prejudice to reach the lost
• Lydias searchingled her to prayer, Paul and
  Jesus!
• Pauls obedience led him to Lydia!

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• How?
• What will/did it take to bring you to Jesus?
• Somebody obedient to Gods vision
• Somebody not afraid to step out of their comfort
  zone
• Your willingness to search
• A heart open to the Good News of the Gospel
• Are you obedient?
• Are you willing?
• Are you open?

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• How?
• God opened the prison doors
• Satan is a master of the counterfeit
• False representationthe demon in the girl
• Tell truth first then tell a lie, whos to tell
  which to buy?
• Paul cast out the demon
• NoteHe didnt judge the girl but freed her
• Satan is a slave trader
• Income gonegirl is useless to them
• We are only as good to Satan as our ability or
  willingness to serve him

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• How?
• God opened the prison doors
• Satan will try to destroy the evidence
• Whippeddestroy our credibility/witness
• Imprisonedget us into bondage
• Inner dungeonstrip us of our joy
• Satan still uses the same tactics today!
• Paul and Silas worshipped and therefore sang
  hymns
• Freed by the power of the living Christ

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• That Power
• Kept the prisoners from running
• Freed the jailer
• Caused him to search
• Brought him to Jesus
• Saved his household
• Washed their woundsrestitution, restoration
• Restored their witness
• Cleared publicly as Roman citizens

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• How God uses vision
• He provides us with a vision
• His vision hasnt changed
• We are still called to reconcile people to Jesus
• People are still calling to us to help
• What must I do to be saved is still ringing
  throughout our community
• There is no shortage of people in need of Jesus
• There is a shortage of people obedient to Him

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• How obedience to Him will still change the world
• Paul and Silas didnt use their get out of jail
  free cardRoman citizenship
• They were willing to suffer until God said
  otherwise
• Are we?
• They didnt allow suffering to enslave them or
  keep them from worship
• Circumstance didnt dictate joy, praise, worship
• Prayer and praise didnt hinge on events but was
  their lifethey worshippedtheir life wasnt
  their own
• Do we?
• Therefore, Satan wasnt able to destroy their
  testimony
• How stable is our testimony?

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• I hear the tumult of the raging seas as your
  waves and surging tides sweep over me. But each
  day the Lord pours his unfailing love upon me,
  and through each night I sing his songs, praying
  to God who gives me life.Psalm 427-8
• Any fool can sing in the day. It is easy to
  sing when we can read the notes by daylight but
  the skillful singer is he who can sing when there
  is not a ray of light to read by.... Songs in the
  night come only from God they are not in the
  power of men.Charles Haddon Spurgeon.

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• As you review this chapter, you can see that the
  work of the Lord progresses through difficulties
  and challenges.
• Sometimes the workers have problems with each
  other, and sometimes the problems come from the
  outside.
• It is also worth noting that not every sinner
  comes to Christ in exactly the same manner.

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• Timothy was saved partly through the influence
  of a godly mother and grandmother.
• Lydia was converted through a quiet conversation
  with Paul at a Jewish prayer meeting,
• while the jailers conversion was dramatic. One
  minute he was a potential suicide, and the next
  minute he was a child of God!

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• Different people with different experiences, and
  yet all of them changed by the grace of God.
• Others just like them are waiting to be told
  Gods simple plan of salvation.
• Will you help them hear?
• In your own witness for Christ, will you be
  daring?Warren W Wiersbe.

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• Living Jesus, Living Hopein our families,
  church and community
• Seeing Gods vision for S.T.U.B
• Being obedient to His vision
• Will you still worship Him when things arent
  going your way?

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• WorshipWorthship
• Knowing that God is worthy of my life
• Giving my life to Him
• Living my life completely in Him
• He is my life
• Trusting that He knows what He is doing
• Following His call for you
• Praising Him when it doesnt feel good
• Because He is still worthy
• Taking your worship to a new level
• Where it is about Him, not me

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• WorshipWorthship
• Why Paul and Silas were obedient
• Why Lydia, the little girl, jailer got saved
• Why the church grew
• Why the church was powerful
• Unstoppable!
• Does this describe us at STUB?
• Does this describe you?

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• God is the sameyesterday, today and forever!