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Text of the page (random words):
n told but we must run aground on some island acts 27 21 26 esv unlike before when paul gave his assessment and counsel concerning the storm the word of god brought true comfort isaiah 40 hope in the midst of the storm does not mean there will not be suffering or that salvation will come quickly cf genesis 18 14 habakkuk 2 3 romans 5 6 however the word of god works two fold in revealing the truth about sin and suffering while also reminding the hearer of god s faithfulness to bring redemption and reconciliation despite these present afflictions cf 2 corinthians 5 11 21 does your suffering or storms draw you nearer to the savior god sovereignly ordains all things for his glory and the good of his people romans 8 18 30 11 36 since the lord is kind even to the ungrateful and the evil he always warns us before in the midst of and at the end of each storm concerning who he is and the purpose of our storms cf 2 chronicles 36 15 jeremiah 7 25 11 7 8 25 3 luke 6 35 36 therefore apart from the grace and mercy of god we are hopeless broken and in need of salvation and our storms are the means by which god shows us our need of him cf job 40 1 9 42 1 6 listen to this week s full sermon for free share this share on facebook opens in new window facebook email a link to a friend opens in new window email print opens in new window print share on x opens in new window x like loading leave a comment from uncategorized suffering for being a christian acts 26 1 32 september 23 2015 by jmmathis reflecting on the passage here at east point church we have begun a new sermon series entitled acts the spirit and the church in the world this week s sermon testifies to the significance of understanding the gospel pastor carter walks us through why loving and living for jesus christ is worthwhile despite any false accusations sufferings and hardships the focus of this sermon is on the how paul while suffering on trial for being a christian answers charges for the undeniably transformative unmistakably transparent and unavoidably confrontational life of the christian being a christian the undeniably transformative life so agrippa said to paul you have permission to speak for yourself then paul stretched out his hand and made his defense i consider myself fortunate that it is before you king agrippa i am going to make my defense today against all the accusations of the jews especially because you are familiar with all the customs and controversies of the jews therefore i beg you to listen to me patiently my manner of life from my youth spent from the beginning among my own nation and in jerusalem is known by all the jews they have known for a long time if they are willing to testify that according to the strictest party of our religion i have lived as a pharisee and now i stand here on trial because of my hope in the promise made by god to our fathers to which our twelve tribes hope to attain as they earnestly worship night and day and for this hope i am accused by jews o king why is it thought incredible by any of you that god raises the dead i myself was convinced that i ought to do many things in opposing the name of jesus of nazareth and i did so in jerusalem i not only locked up many of the saints in prison i cast my vote against them i punished them often and tried to make them blaspheme in raging fury against them i persecuted them even to foreign cities in this connection i journeyed to damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests at midday o king i saw on the way a light from heaven brighter than the sun that shone around me and those who journeyed with me therefore o king agrippa i was not disobedient to the heavenly vision but declared first to those in damascus then in jerusalem and throughout all the region of judea and also to the gentiles that they should repent and turn to god performing deeds in keeping with their repentance acts 26 1 13 19 20 esv the first order of business for paul in his defense was to give a faithful account to his life apart and in direct opposition to jesus christ paul wanted these men to rightly understand that he was very sincere zealous and religious before his devastating and dramatic encounter with the living christ on the road to damascus ironically according to the world s standards saul seems to have everything the world so explicitly craves such as education money reputation and power however without a saving knowledge of christ all these things were misappropriated and meaningless at best cf matthew 16 25 28 mark 8 36 38 philippians 3 being a christian the unmistakably transparent life for this reason the jews seized me in the temple and tried to kill me to this day i have had the help that comes from god and so i stand here testifying both to small and great saying nothing but what the prophets and moses said would come to pass that the christ must suffer and that by being the first to rise from the dead he would proclaim light both to our people and to the gentiles and as he was saying these things in his defense festus said with a loud voice paul you are out of your mind your great learning is driving you out of your mind but paul said i am not out of my mind most excellent festus but i am speaking true and rational words for the king knows about these things and to him i speak boldly for i am persuaded that none of these things has escaped his notice for this has not been done in a corner acts 26 21 26 esv next paul was able to speak boldly before these men because his life provided not only a proper defense to his case but it also provided a powerful testimony to the gospel of jesus christ essentially he tells them to evaluate his life presently against his former one and then continue to evaluate his life as god continues to make him more like jesus jesus taught in synagogues healed and feed multitudes was crucified under pontius pilate and raised from the dead openly john 18 19 21 being a christian the unavoidably confrontational life king agrippa do you believe the prophets i know that you believe and agrippa said to paul in a short time would you persuade me to be a christian and paul said whether short or long i would to god that not only you but also all who hear me this day might become such as i am except for these chains acts 26 27 29 esv lastly paul leaves king agrippa with only one of two options either follow christ or not pastor carter emphatically declares that there is no almost in the christian life because an almost christian is no christian at all therefore paul confronts fetus those present and especially king agrippa with the gospel that transforms exposes and convicts sinners considering this is the only means by which the dead could alive in christ to live life pleasing unto god cf romans 12 1 2 14 18 ephesians 2 5 colossians 1 10 what does your life look like before christ paul was religious zealous and sincere but he was wrong once paul realized jesus was indeed raised as the scriptures promised his life could not remain the same he began to understand more clearly the error and futility of trying to live apart from the grace and mercy found only in jesus christ and this informed the way he lived and spoke in light of the truth cf matthew 3 8 luke 3 8 john 1 17 3 21 4 23 24 8 32 14 6 acts 4 12 christ makes the difference listen to this week s full sermon for free share this share on facebook opens in new window facebook email a link to a friend opens in new window email print opens in new window print share on x opens in new window x like loading leave a comment from uncategorized paul appeals to caesar acts 25 1 27 september 16 2015 by jmmathis reflecting on the passage here at east point church we have begun a new sermon series entitled acts the spirit and the church in the world this week s sermon reminds the christian to preserve in the midst of trouble by understanding that christ will prove himself victorious over all his enemies in the end pastor duncanson provided a vivid portrait of god s providential care for his people while they wait on him to fulfill his precious promises the focus of this sermon is on the active hand of god working while paul was waiting on him to prepare the way for rome god the protector he protects his people now three days after festus 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 because they were planning an ambush to kill him on the way festus replied that paul was being kept at caesarea and that he himself intended to go there shortly so said he let the men of authority among you go down with me and if there is anything wrong about the man let them bring charges against him after he stayed among them not more than eight or ten days he went down to caesarea and the next day he took his seat on the tribunal and ordered paul to be brought when he had arrived the jews who had come down from jerusalem stood around him bringing many and serious charges against him that they could not prove acts 25 1 6 esv the jews had a new plan with a new tribunal after their first attempt to ambush paul about two years prior however what they failed to realize is the god whom paul testified about was the one who was actively working to keep them from harming paul cf daniel 3 acts 4 1 22 in other words what these men failed to understand is when god makes a promise to his people he protects and secures them from any danger or anything that would seek to stop his purposes and plans cf exodus 13 17 22 14 1 31 god the promise keeper he provides for his people 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 up 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 if then 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 acts 25 8 11 esv although the promises of god do not necessarily lessen the stresses hardships and difficulties faced in this life they do strengthen those who trust in him as they wait on god to continually show himself faithful in fact pastor duncanson credits god s promises to the reason paul was able to give such a bold defense to fetus and the new tribunal considering paul was more concerned with defending or guarding the gospel entrusted to him by god than he was about self preservation cf 1 peter 3 13 17 paul was able to give a faithful defense about christ because he was convinced about the faithfulness of god in christ jesus what does your self defense look like in the midst of waiting god protects his people from harm more importantly his protection is rooted in his promises towards his people to never leave them nor forsake them despite any opposition suffering or affliction caused by those who oppose god cf psalm 121 romans 8 31 39 the people of god can rest securely in the promises of god because they are the foundation by which we stand or fall and no one or nothing can frustrate what the lord has determined to do cf genesis 3 15 50 19 21 psalm 135 listen to this week s full sermon for free share this share on facebook opens in new window facebook email a link to a friend opens in new window email print opens in new window print share on x opens in new window x like loading leave a comment from uncategorized paul s defense to felix acts 24 1 27 september 9 2015 by jmmathis reflecting on the passage here at east point church we have begun a new sermon series entitled acts the spirit and the church in the world this week s sermon calls for a reevaluation of god s promises opposed to the notions of the world or the good life apart from jesus christ pastor carter admonishes and encourages both believers and unbelievers to carefully consider the dual nature of the gospel which is comprised of god s grace to forgive sinners and grant them power to walk faithfully before him the focus of this sermon is on the irony of paul s defense to felix where he preached the righteousness of god restraint in god and retribution by god the righteousness of god and when the governor had nodded to him to speak paul replied knowing that for many years you have been a judge over this nation i cheerfully make my defense you can verify that it is not more than twelve days since i went up to worship in jerusalem and they did not find me disputing with anyone or stirring up a crowd either in the temple or in the synagogues or in the city neither can they prove to you what they now bring up against me but this i confess to you that according to the way which they call a sect i worship the god of our fathers believing everything laid down by the law and written in the prophets having a hope in god which these men themselves accept that there will be a resurrection of both the just and the unjust so i always take pains to have a clear conscience toward both god and man now after several years i came to bring alms to my nation and to present offerings while i was doing this they found me purified in the temple without any crowd or tumult but some jews from asia they ought to be here before you and to make an accusation should they have anything against me or else let these men themselves say what wrongdoing they found when i stood before the council other than this one thing that i cried out while standing among them it is with respect to the resurrection of the dead that i am on trial before you this day acts 24 10 21 esv tertullus spoke with flattery and falsely accused paul but paul responded with a good conscious before both god and man pastor carter describes the righteousness of god as doing and being right in other words one must understand that there is a standard way of living thinking and speaking in a right way particularly according to the word of god and god s way the restraint in god after some days felix came with his wife drusilla who was jewish and he sent for paul and heard him speak about faith in christ jesus and as he reasoned about righteousness and self control and the coming judgment felix was alarmed and said go away for the present when i get an opportunity i will summon you at the same time he hoped that money would be given him by paul so he sent for him often and conversed with him acts 24 24 26 esv not only was the righteousness of god foreign to felix and his wife drusilla but they were also ignorant of god s restraint in patiently enduring their sin and the spiritual fruit of self control or spirit filled restraint paul rightly understood the great danger in lackin...