The God of the Comma, Part 1

I will let you know that we have an awesome calling on our lives. You have the responsibility of sharing with the world we got a let people know that Jesus is alive and well, because they are leaving here and we can't afford to let him leave here without Christ hello and thanks for stopping by for today's destined for victory with pastor Paul Sheppard wherever you are. Maybe listening.

Thanks for spending part of your day with us. Well first century Corinth was not much different than certain today's America rebellious crave, haters of God, and lovers of themselves, who indulge in every form of immorality, and yet God called the apostle Paul to preach the gospel in court because even their he knew that many would come to faith in Christ today. Pastor Paul reminds us that we have the same calling right here at home. Stay with us now or stop by Pastor Paul.net to listen on demand.

That's Pastor Paul.net here is Pastor Paul. Today's destined for victory message God, you are leaders of the Bible you know that this is Paul's second letter to the church at Corinth, a church that he burst through his spiritual loins so to speak on missionary journey that he was involved in. When you read acts chapter 18 you'll see that for the second time Paul has gone out and is doing a missionary journey, raising up churches preaching the gospel and soul. During this journey.

He goes to the city of Corinth. It's talked about in acts chapter 18 and he preaches the gospel of Jesus Christ to a hostile group of people, the Jews rejected him and that city and made life so bad for him that he ended up having to go next door and preach in a Gentile context, but he didn't mind the context he just wanted to give the Lord a full return on his investment in his life and he kept on preaching.

You know sometimes you gotta stand for righteousness, and you have to just do whatever you have to do to make it happen. We cannot afford to expect church expect life expect serving God expect witnessing to unbelievers to be a pleasant experience all the time. We have to get used to the fact that sometimes it gets tough when you're doing the right thing and Paul trying to dig out this church went through all kinds.

Rachel so much hello.

In fact, that you see him when you read acts 18. There comes a time is been persecuted there threatening him with bodily harm, and he's thinking about leaving town we know anything about it because the Lord sends an angel to him and the Lord says to him, I want your Paul to stay right here."

And I know you think about leaving, but stay here and be faithful and true to me. He said I will give you a promise. No one will harm you in this city because I have merely people here God said to him I want you to stay here. I want to preach because I have many people here. Now that's a very interesting statement when Paul looked at the city of Corinth. This is a city that not only is not Christianized at all. He's the first one really coming through there with the gospel. Not only are they not walking with God.

But the city has a reputation for being while Carl was a city people would use a form of the name) as an adjective to describe wild living and wild partying. They would talk about doing the career from other cities. All we don't correct the night city is jacked up with from somewhere else are describing why living loud acting by talking about your city. That's what was going on there. And God said to him, stay here. Although the city looks that way through the natural high God said to another, and I have many people in that city. You know why we keep on preaching even now in 21st-century America when our nation is going to even imitation because God says no. America is messed up going in the wrong direction very quickly. God looks at us though and says, as a nation still have many people and he's not talking about the folk already saved, already in church already serving the Lord God looks at the Bay Area as why is it can be God's see it all go right now back to him like they don't know Jesus and have no interest in knowing them. But he says when I get through it. You will be bold when I get through will be singing praises came to tell you the reason why we are here in this area is because God says many people and you gotta be faithful and preach the word to save automatically they going to say that you and I witness to them as you and I share our faith as we let them know that Jesus is alive and well that he died for every one of their sins as we stand for right and righteousness are people who will Paul said, I'm not ashamed of the gospel. Why because it's the power of God on the salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew. He said, but also to the Greek and I will let you know that we have an awesome calling on our lives. You have the responsibility of sharing life with a dying world. We got a let people know that Jesus is alive and well, because they are leaving here and we can't afford to let him leave here without Christ, we got rediscovered. As we got so casual in our generation even about witnessing.

We got to understand if people don't know Jesus that's the gospel message. That's why we're doing all we can use it. But how is God will judge them if they didn't fully hear the gospel fully know that I can't tell you how we can only tell you the commission report on me on you, he said, and preach the gospel to them is gotta be a partner if he wouldn't send this out there be separate gospel preacher. You can find on the earth and tell them about Jesus and I'm still not getting fired up all over again about soul winning. I'm getting fired up all over again about reaching the lost at any cost.

I'm getting fired up all over again.

We gotta stop in the stop letting people in our lives feel like it's okay to not have the Lord we need to start asking do you know Jesus, you need the Lord in your life you need to be say make me feel ashamed will be a Christian know I can relate all these bigots and all these hateful people carry inside Christianity that theism Christianity is about a relationship with Jesus. Do you know Jesus.

It is time for us to tell folks shake shake the trees and and and let everybody know Jesus saves. We gotta get into our jobs and let people know my job will let me talking about they can control you on your lunch break and control you say whatever you want while you eaten your baloney sandwich. They can tell you what to talk about you at lunch afterward before work. Let people know that Jesus saves gunfire that we gotta get tired of seeing people going to eternity without the Lord we gotta get to that and you know what I'm finding discovering more and more people had to be old.it'll have to be chronically sick to chat this week I learned that my personal physician died.

Now here's what she was so shocking to me. This is a man in his 30s like the picture of health is young married man young children physician obviously making a good living. Great reputation as an internal medicine physician. I saw him the last week of July. I needed a physical and saw him the last week of July I had not seen him for probably was more than a year. I was supposed to see him earlier than that, not just didn't do it, but earlier this year as we were launching the theme moving forward. And as I was challenging you to begin to move forward in various areas of your life this year and and well-being. The number of government in Scripture and this is a life. This is the time for us to get our lives and get our church governed in order and get things lined up for where God is taking all of us and doing all that challenging. As I was doing that as my wife and I would don't own personal assessing one of the things I said to her, early in the year is you know I'm I'm tired of being out of balance in terms of my physical body and I need to get back.

I know what it's like to get in shape. I know how to do that done it before and I just been too lazy and too preoccupied with other things and it's time for me to do, and I began to launch that as a campaign that I'm still on.

To this day. And if you have noticed that you don't know how many pounds but I'm down 30 pounds from where I was 1 January 30, 30.

Guess what, by accident only by accident. Do you know about panels they don't go away by accident.

You will just wait don't know that only leave when you may and you can just talk to the way you got a drink of water them away that sugary soda away. I mean, I had to do it all and I said them on several of the year was Wimbledon for summer move forward get my self together Charles Barkley who are not even sure knows the Lord if he could lose his.

I know I can lose my and sold 30 down and I want to knock off another set of pounds. I see how much farther down I can go but I'm serious about this and I was I lost that campaign, then I so when I came to see my doctor again in July he hadn't seen me since well before this new result in the last time he saw me he was not happy with my weight. He was not happy with my numbers don't know what I'm saying on the speaking in tongues you don't know exactly what I'm saying is not happy with my weight. He was not happy with my numbers, no cholesterol, blood pressure in all those numbers will be right back with more of today's destined for Victor message from Pastor Paul Sheppard to listen any of Pastor Paul's recent broadcast. Be sure to stop by Pastor Paul.net and you can listen on demand. That's Pastor Paul.net, you know, the apostle Paul was once a murderer of Christians lost because you became one of the greatest heroes of the Christian faith know the second half of today's message, the God of the, your dentist Pastor Paul and so I walked in in July.

Nice to see the first that the nurse first, and she weighed me in on she's not a nurse who had a history with Mrs. you know she just wrote down what have you, and she took my blood pressure, wrote that down and if she's all right.

The doctor will be in soon. Well, she took that to him.

So when he came in.

He's already looking at my weight and looking at my blood pressure and he walked in with the biggest grin on his face. He walked in he said I don't believe what I'm looking and I said yes sir. Early in the year I decided that it's time to pull together.

You challenge me to do that well over a year ago, I was ready. Then I was tripping. Then I just going through trials and tribulations and let myself get distracted by other things and what have you tested now I'm focused on in the game dock. I'm ready to do this and he said I just can't. He's just I don't get to see this.

I have to faucet people for years and it will get to see this. I'm just so old.

He said you've added. He said you have added to your life by the changes you made in the past several months as what he said to me, so I know all yes yes you have a talk some specific things or not he was just thrilled. He gave me my mind my my full checkup and all and what have you and so we shook hands and he was just please want to see you again in January and not just the school. I told him some glue some more.

I'll know how much more, but I'm on track. Nor can lose several more. And he's all right well just I won't see until till January and I just look see. We are at that point, but your numbers.

He took all he had all the blood work that had done before the for the test.

He said all your numbers are way I want them to be in just just keep this in. He was just happy 30 in his 30s healthy little thin good looking man less than two weeks after I walked out of his office.

He's in eternity of sudden I still don't know the details, but we got a letter saying it was a sudden, unexpected illness took him right out here you have to be old to die, you will have to be chronically sick to die.

You don't have to see it coming and going to a bus test drove everybody around us. You know what that means, that means we got we got to read.

So we gotta say Lord use may cause I don't know the people in my life my coworkers my relative. Don't know when we're checking out here.

We gotta make sure he is ready to meet the Lord in so Paul had that mentality. God said stay here because there are many people in this city who belong to me. I see it, he said, but they will not come without you preaching you got a stay here and preach the gospel. So Paul stayed and Karen and he stayed. I think another year and 1/2. The text tells you in acts 18 beyond what the time he already spent there. Another 18 months. He stayed there and dug in and fought off his enemies and pray than an end and lived under the covering of that promise that he wouldn't be harmed in that city and he preached the gospel and when he left town. They had raised up the beginnings of the church at Corinth. Well now when you get to this tax.

He is writing that church for the second time when you read his first letter to the church at Corinth and reads very differently than the second letter the first letter is very instructive in nature because the first letter was really born of his spiritual babies All Saints and Karen asking a number of questions he has heard from either the church's leaders are some of the members themselves. He has heard that there are number of unanswered questions. Things that they really want their spiritual father to address and so when you read first Corinthians. It is really a letter that is the response to several questions at Paul wants to address. There's a lot of discord and disunity in the church. So when the first part of first Corinthians.

He's talking about the importance of unity. We can't stress that enough in our day churches of. Gotta quit all this fighting and bickering and we gotta learn to get on one accord when I'm supposed to be dysfunctional as a way to deal with our differences with one another and we gotta do it. The Bible way because God cannot give power where there is broken fellowship. I said God cannot give power where there is broken fellowship so we have to get on one accord. If you got a difference if you got a beef with one of the saints talk to them about it, get together and say here's where I am. Let's talk this through doing with humility don't come strong don't come out.

Don't come wrong doing with humility be completely humble and gentle. Paul said in the letter to the church at Ephesus be completely humble and gentle say, here's where I am. Here's what you said or did. That really hurt me. But I want us to get on one accord and we gotta do what we gotta do to stay all one accord passed I heard you say there are times when you just can't have fellowship with somebody there.

That's absolutely true, but that's only because you have done everything the word tells you to do and then this person refuses to reciprocate better to have fellowship with you if you want to trip God, right, that's just sold you and at that point I have to love you from afar, but even when you do that you do that would open heart say Lord if they ever turn around if they ever come to themselves I'll be ready to embrace them and fellowship because God is looking on our hearts, and so he wrote about the need for unity in the early part of the letter.

Then he talks about some legal trouble some of them a fight and fussing so bad that they taken one another to court and balls. It is not the way we do it in the kingdom of God.

You'll take saints to court you get it done. The Bible way, there's relational patterns in the word of God that'll help you get a straight you only some heathen judge to tell you what to do as a child of God as it relates to another child he got to say No business talking to a sinner about getting their lives together preaching type when I'm preaching right. Together, so that when the world sees us. They see us acting right toward one another because you know it does make a difference.

John said they will know your Christians. John John quoted Jesus and Jesus said they will know you are my disciples.

Watch this by the way you love one another about what you love them, they'll know you say when they see you acting right toward the safe will when they see you settling your differences in and walking in unity and and all of that and they will be impressed. The church. The world can't be impressed with the dysfunctional church. Anytime you see whirly. Thank you Stephen people are `were still us say that I wish I would go up and then the people were still us. Please wait now when I say that's to our discredit when they look at us they want to see us living right and the right toward one another, and the only people we don't get along with the folk get along with us because we have love in our hearts. Whatever. Thanks so much for being here for today's destined for victory message, the God of the, now I'm pleased to welcome Pastor Paul from his studio in California and pastor I want everyone to know that you've written a great booklet that we want to provide for those were able to give a generous gift this month is called turning your test into a testimony. Now most of us don't go through life thinking that tests are great way to have a testimony.

But God specializes in taking the tough times and turning them into something good as any to tell us about this offer. This booklet you've written.

Absolutely Jabez is a guy who, as I mentioned in times past. You only have two verses in the entire Bible that tell you about the guy to verses, yet those two verses teach us a lot if we read between the lines and just let the Lord because us to get the truth the revelation if you will yeah these are not just words in a pager that God wants us to know this.

That's right. And here's a guy who started coming talk about starting out behind the eight ball. His mama named him after the pain of childbirth, like in the world was she thinking she and her husband gave this boy the main causes pain.

Yeah, that's what happened and he had to live all of his early life he had to go to school first day of school and the teacher is calling him names and she said to cause pain where you because they raise your hand is a ridiculous fact is God help this boy grow up and understand I may not be able to change what they labeled me, but I can change whether I continue to live up to the label and so this booklet is my way of helping people understand you might not like where you are. You might not like what you had to go through but God can help you to be overcome or and at the end of the day. We are told in those two verses.

This young man became more honorable than all of his brothers who were not so named and so we've got to learn that God can get you from where you are to a much much better place if you just walk with him. This booklet will encourage people and give them some practical handles on how to do just that. Again, the booklet is called turning your test into a testimony is our gift to you this month by request for your generous gift to Destin for victory. Call 855-339-5500 or visit Pastor Paul.net to make a safe and secure donation online. You can also mail your gift to Destin for victory PO Box 1767, Fremont, CA 94538. Again, our address is Destin for victory. Box 1767, Fremont, CA 94538, half a truth is sometimes worse than a full-blown line is Pastor Paul.

They said Paul was not the real deal. He persecuted the church he's done too much. He doesn't deserve your loyalty can be a real apostle with Jesus when he was on the they had a half-truth you always got a watch half-truth that's tomorrow and pastor Paul Shepard's message that God of the, until then they'll remember he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion in Christ, you are destined for victory