From Wounds to Purpose: Reframing Pain Through the Gospel

• Suffering and Discipleship [00:24:45 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor reframes pain as a necessary component of discipleship, contrasting 'fans' who avoid suffering with 'disciples' who learn from losses and grow better instead of bitter.
• The Gospel's Expansion [00:26:11 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor connects Acts 28 to the fulfillment of Jesus' promise in Acts 1:8, highlighting the geographical and spiritual journey of the gospel from Jerusalem to the 'ends of the earth' (Malta/Rome).
• Divine Justice vs. Human Perception [00:28:55 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor analyzes the islanders' reaction to Paul being bitten by a viper, explaining their cultural belief that bad things happen only to bad people, which contrasts with the biblical reality of God's sovereignty.
• Divine Justice and Misconceptions [00:28:55 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor explains how the islanders incorrectly assumed Paul was a murderer because bad things happened to him, contrasting their 'poisonous snake' logic with the biblical reality that Paul suffered no ill effects.
• Supernatural Power and Healing [00:30:43 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor asserts that Jesus still heals people today through miracle, medicine, or glory, citing Paul's healing of Publius's father as evidence that God's power is available to believers now, not just in the past.
• The Theology of Pain (General Sin) [00:33:17 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor introduces the first of three causes for pain: 'general sin,' explaining that because Adam sinned, the world is fallen and broken, meaning pain is not necessarily a direct punishment for individual sin but a result of living in a corrupted world.
• Happiness vs. Joy [00:38:33 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor distinguishes between happiness (based on 'happenings' which are unstable) and joy (based on Jesus, who is constant), urging listeners to root their hearts in Christ rather than circumstances.
• Worship and Anchoring in Christ [00:39:50 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor argues for fighting to keep one's heart rooted in Christ rather than worldly 'happenings,' using personal anecdotes about singing hymns in nature to shift perspective from problems to God's greatness.
• Suffering Due to Human Sin [00:42:08 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor explains that pain often results from human sin, either when others sin against the believer (persecution for righteousness) or when the believer sins against themselves, contrasting this with the world's 'follow your heart' mentality.
• Accountability and Community [00:46:28 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor emphasizes the necessity of a 'band of brothers or sisters' who have been given authority to call out sin and bad behavior, warning against defensiveness when corrected.
• Demonic Sin and Suffering [00:47:42 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor introduces a third category of pain: demonic sin, illustrated by Paul's encounter with the viper and the book of Job, explaining that Satan can attack believers with God's permission for greater purposes.
• The Book of Job and Suffering [00:49:37 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor explains that Job's suffering was not due to sin but demonic attack, and that Job received God's presence rather than an explanation for his pain.
• Spiritual Warfare and Identity [00:53:11 ▶️ 📄]
  > A distinction is made between those outside of Christ (vulnerable to Satan) and those in Christ (indwelt by the Holy Spirit and greater than the world).
• Reframing Pain into Purpose [00:55:36 ▶️ 📄]
  > Using the Apostle Paul as an example, the pastor argues that believers should transform pain into platforms for ministry and testimony.
• Faith Through Terminal Illness [00:59:07 ▶️ 📄]
  > A personal story about a church member, Kelly Goudreau, who used his terminal cancer diagnosis to create a ministry ('Hope Bags') to share Christ.
• Faith in Suffering [01:00:05 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor discusses a man named Kelly diagnosed with terminal cancer who maintained faith and sought to share Christ despite his prognosis.
• Ministry from Misery [01:01:03 ▶️ 📄]
  > Kelly transformed his cancer fight into 'Hope Bags,' distributing Bibles with highlighted encouraging verses to other cancer patients.
• Evangelistic Impact [01:02:34 ▶️ 📄]
  > The story highlights how Kelly's steadfastness and joy impacted an oncologist and nursing staff, serving as a testimony to non-church attendees.
• Prayer for Comfort [01:03:40 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor transitions into a corporate prayer asking God to draw near to the brokenhearted and redeem their pains.

• Sermon Illustration [00:21:24 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor uses a '90s Michael Jordan' analogy, comparing '96 Jordan' to 'Acts 28 Paul' to illustrate that Paul represents the pinnacle or 'greatest version' of his discipleship.
• Sermon Illustration [00:22:45 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor recounts a personal story of hearing a sermon at a pastor's conference where the speaker asked three times, 'Do you want to be used greatly by God?' and concluded with the statement, 'Those God uses greatly are first wounded deeply.'
• Sermon Illustration [00:28:27 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor describes the scene in Acts 28 where Paul is bitten by a viper on Malta, and the islanders' rapid shift in opinion from believing he was a murderer to believing he was a god based on his survival.
• Sermon Illustration [00:28:55 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor recounts the biblical story of Paul shaking off a viper on Malta, noting the islanders' expectation that he would die, and contrasts this with Paul's calm response of shaking it off and continuing to preach.
• Sermon Illustration [00:40:28 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor shares a personal anecdote about going for a walk in the country to worship God when going through difficult times, using his iPhone notes to sing hymns like 'To God Be the Glory' where no one can hear him.
• Sermon Illustration [00:40:28 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor shares a personal story of going for walks in the country to sing old hymns (like 'A Mighty Fortress Is Our God') to himself, noting that this practice shifts his perspective so that his God feels big and his problems feel small.
• Sermon Illustration [00:44:46 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor recounts a scenario where a person claims the devil is attacking their relationships, only to reveal they are engaging in promiscuous behavior (dating multiple people, hooking up, causing pregnancy), illustrating that the pain is self-inflicted by sin.
• Sermon Illustration [00:47:51 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor references the biblical account of Paul being bitten by a viper on Malta, interpreting it as a preview of Jesus shaking off the serpent (Satan) into the lake of fire in Revelation.
• Sermon Illustration [00:49:01 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor summarizes the book of Job, describing Job's friends as 'Larry, Moe, and Curly' who incorrectly attributed Job's suffering solely to his own sin, ignoring the reality of demonic attack permitted by God.
• Sermon Illustration [00:49:58 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor humorously describes Job's friends as 'Larry, Moe, and Curly' and translates God's command to 'gird up your loins' as 'strap on your jock strap,' emphasizing God's sovereignty and Job's limited perspective.
• Sermon Illustration [00:51:59 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor uses an analogy of size comparison, stating that if God is the size of the Pacific Ocean and Job is the size of a Coke can, Job should expect things not to fit, illustrating the vast difference between divine and human understanding.
• Sermon Illustration [00:57:10 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor recounts the story of Paul's imprisonment in Rome, where he wrote four New Testament books and converted soldiers from Caesar's household, demonstrating how his 'pain became his platform.'
• Sermon Illustration [00:59:07 ▶️ 📄]
  > A detailed anecdote about Kelly Goudreau, a church member diagnosed with terminal cancer five years prior, who consistently asked for prayer to share Christ and started a ministry called 'Hope Bags' using his highlighted Bible.
• Sermon Illustration [01:00:05 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor tells the story of Kelly Goudreau, who was diagnosed with terminal cancer. Instead of despairing, Kelly created 'Hope Bags' containing Bibles with highlighted encouraging verses and supplies for cancer patients. This ministry grew to send 6,000 bags globally. The story concludes with an anecdote where an oncologist in Dallas confirms that Kelly had the most significant positive impact on her department's patients and staff due to his faith and joy.

• Pastoral Charge [00:46:47 ▶️ 📄]
  > Deputize trusted friends or family members with the authority and permission to confront the believer about specific sins or harmful behaviors.
• Pastoral Charge [00:53:11 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor calls non-believers to recognize their spiritual danger and need for Jesus Christ, urging them to transfer from the domain of darkness to light.
• Pastoral Charge [00:54:50 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor urges believers to overcome fear by remembering that God is greater than Satan and is now indwelling them, empowering them to defeat demonic sin.
• Pastoral Charge [01:03:36 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor invites the congregation to participate in a corporate prayer for healing and divine presence.

[00:00:02] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:00:02] Well, hey, Lake Point family. Welcome, welcome, welcome to Lake Point Church Online.
[00:00:07] Hey, we're so excited that you're here joining us this weekend.
[00:00:11] If we haven't met, my name is Carlos Arazo, and I get to serve as pastor of digital discipleship here at Lake Point.
[00:00:16] And right now, we literally have hundreds and hundreds of people joining us as we speak from all the different platforms.
[00:00:22] You could be joining us from across the street, across Texas, or across the globe, from couch, car, office, hotel rooms, surrounded by friends and family.
[00:00:29] no matter how you're joining us or where you are right now whether it's through Live Free maybe that you heard about Lake Point Social Media an invite or just scrolling and we believe that this right here
[00:00:39] this is not an accident we believe that you are here on purpose and for a purpose and so right now would you let us know in the comment section where you are joining us from
[00:00:48] like in this moment we would love to hear about that go ahead and drop your city state or country in the chat let us know if you're joining from maybe if you came because of Live Free
[00:00:58] or social media or how you also heard about Lake Point, we'd love to know.
[00:01:02] Hey, if you are local to this area, to the DFW area, we want to encourage you to come hang out.
[00:01:08] We'd love to help you connect you to one of our eight physical locations, eight campuses here, an experienced church in person.
[00:01:15] If you're joining from elsewhere in Texas, across the US or internationally, again, welcome, welcome.
[00:01:20] We're so glad that we are able to connect as a church and come together and joining as we worship and dive into the word of God.
[00:01:25] We're honored that you're here.
[00:01:26] We believe that God can meet you wherever you are.
[00:01:29] We have chat hosts right now that are live in the chat and our prayer team is ready as well.
[00:01:34] And Pastor Arthur Sal and his team and the Church Online team are excited and looking forward to connect with you as well.
[00:01:39] So go ahead and jump in, introduce yourself in the chat, engage and get ready.
[00:01:44] We're about to jump in.
[00:01:45] I wanna encourage you to raise your expectations.
[00:01:48] We believe that right now you have an opportunity to invite the presence of God wherever you are and change your house into a house of worship.
[00:01:57] And so no matter where you are watching from right now, let's lean in, lift high the name of Jesus.
[00:02:01] And right now, Lapron family, would you prepare your heart as we get ready to worship together.

[00:02:08] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_14]
[00:02:08] To be in the house of the Lord today, come on.
[00:03:00] Whether in person or online, today is the day that the Lord has made.
[00:03:04] And in the presence of the Lord, there is fullness of joy and there is freedom.
[00:03:09] We are free to sing, free to lift our hands and free to dance.
[00:03:12] come on let's celebrate together come on oh i'm i'm dancing out of my regrets i'm throwing caution to the wind you praise like this some would say it's foolishness but i say it's worth the risk
[00:03:37] no i can't forget what jesus did no no no i am not ashamed to praise like we say come on

[00:03:46] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]
[00:03:46] Where are those chains that once held me?
[00:03:50] I'm free, I'm free, I'm free

[00:03:54] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]
[00:03:54] My sins could last an inch You took the cross and you broke your body

[00:05:14] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_14]
[00:05:14] You shed your blood, now the sinner can't see My debt is paid and my record is clean

[00:05:20] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]
[00:05:20] I couldn't do it, so you did it for me You took the cross and you broke your body You shed your blood, now the sinner can't see My debt is paid and my record is sold
[00:05:38] You shed your blood, not a sin to catch It's paid and my record is sold I couldn't do it, so you Jesus' name, the power of His name

[00:07:08] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]
[00:07:08] And so listen, there's only one that we look to And it's Jesus Only one that we put our faith in, our hope in Because there is power in His name There is authority in His name
[00:07:18] So we speak it now, let's go

[00:07:21] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[00:07:21] And I just wanna speak the name of Jesus Every heart and every mind There is peace within your presence I speak Jesus I just wanna speak the name of Jesus Every dark addiction starts to break
[00:07:58] There is hope and I speak Jesus

[00:08:08] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]
[00:08:08] Cause your name is

[00:08:14] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_18]
[00:08:14] Darkness over it

[00:10:07] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]
[00:10:07] God you say Get to celebrate on display right now

[00:15:18] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_13]
[00:15:18] family what an honor to celebrate these who have come to be baptized today and hear a dad singing how great is our god to the top of his lungs over his daughter what a blessing stella have you
[00:15:33] trusted in jesus to be the lord and the savior of your life yes sir then it is your dad's honor to baptize you in the name of the father the son and the holy spirit the lake point family this is
[00:15:53] connor connor have you trusted in jesus to be the lord and the savior of your life yes sir then it It's my honor to baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
[00:16:13] And church family, this is Doreen.
[00:16:15] Doreen, have you trusted in Jesus to be the Lord and the Savior for your life?

[00:16:18] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_17]
[00:16:18] Yes.

[00:16:19] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_13]
[00:16:19] Then it's your mentor's honor to baptize you in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

[00:16:30] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:16:30] Well, hey, Lakewood family and everybody joining right now.
[00:16:32] Hey, we're so thankful that you're joining us today.
[00:16:35] Can I encourage you right now in this moment?
[00:16:37] Psalm 92 reminds us that those who are planted in the house of the Lord will flourish.
[00:16:41] real lasting spiritual growth doesn't just happen by accident it happens when your faith is deeply rooted in God's presence and is lived out in an authentic biblical community here's what you need to know God designed you not just to believe but to belong and when you stay connected to his people
[00:17:00] your faith grows stronger over time and so here's my point church online has been an incredible blessing and we don't take it for granted in fact it gives us an opportunity to reach people across
[00:17:10] cities, states, and countries, literally all over the world with the gospel. But while digital ministry is powerful, it's not meant to replace the deeper flourishing that happens when believers are planted in an authentic Bible-believing church. And so God calls us not just to consume
[00:17:25] church, but to belong, grow, and be discipled. And so today, no matter where you are, we want to help you get planted. And so if you're local to DFW, we would love for you to visit one of our Lake
[00:17:36] Point campuses. Go to lakepoint.church slash locations to find the nearest one and take your next step into an in-person community. And we would love to meet you. Go ahead and do that.
[00:17:46] If you live outside the DFW area, our heart is still to see you rooted in a healthy church community near you. And so we want to help you find a place where your faith can flourish through
[00:17:55] worship, discipleship, and meaningful relationships as well. And if you're joining us internationally, thank you so much for being here. Man, it's incredible to see God reach so many different nations and we're so thankful that you're part of this community we want to continue walking
[00:18:10] alongside you however we can and if you have not yet connected with us in the chat this is your time right now go ahead and drop your city state or country let us know where you're watching from
[00:18:20] hey we are passionate about reaching people everywhere and at the same time we care deeply about your personal faith journey as well so don't just tune in lean in and take a meaningful next step today another thing lakewood family by the grace of god we are seeing god do amazing things
[00:18:35] through our digital ministries and here's what you need to know because we are able to hear life change after life change is a reason we are able to do our online ministry is because of your
[00:18:45] generosity and so one we want to say thank you for your giving and two we would say to give text the word give to 20411 again lakeland family let's continue to do this together thank you thank you
[00:18:58] thank you for being a part of this movement as well and now there is more happening in the life

[00:19:04] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]
[00:19:04] of our church. So check this out. Hey, Lake Point, Gear Drop is next weekend, June 6th and 7th.
[00:19:15] Our brand new line of hats, shirts, tumblers, and more is designed to help you rep your faith while supporting mission efforts around the world. All items are available in person only, and they'll go fast. So if you attend Rockwall, Forney, or Firewheel, make plans to shop early
[00:19:30] at Saturday Services. Check out the full collection now at lp.events. Parents, Summer Blast is a few weeks away on June 16th through the 18th. If your child just completed kinder through fourth grade, they don't want to miss this. It's three
[00:19:45] days of games, worship, and Bible lessons to help them grow closer to God. Secure your spot and register now by texting BLAST to 20411. And we're so excited to launch our college night starting this Tuesday, June 2nd. If you're
[00:20:01] between the ages of 18 and 22, this is for you. Every Tuesday this summer will include worship, teaching, and a few fun outings along the way.
[00:20:10] It's a great opportunity to find community, grow in your faith, and make the most of your summer.
[00:20:16] Doors open at 6 30 p.m. at the Rockwall campus. To see everything happening this summer, text college to 20411. Now let's dive back into our series, There Is More Endgame.

[00:20:57] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_10]
[00:20:57] All right. Hey, Lake Point family. It's really good to gather with you. If you got your Bibles, head over to Acts chapter 28 because ladies and gentlemen here's what's happening today we are finishing 40-ish weeks through the book of Acts today come on man here we go we're finishing
[00:21:15] up man verse by verse in the book of Acts it's been awesome let me tell you what's going on right here I'm really excited about this so I grew up watching I'm an 80s baby the 90s made me I grew
[00:21:24] up watching the greatest basketball player who has ever lived and if you thought of anybody besides Michael Jordan, hold up five fingers, make a fist, punch yourself in the face. You are wrong.
[00:21:35] It was Michael Jordan. Okay. That's who I got watching. Now check this out. Jordan was always a goat. Jordan was always great, but 1996 Jordan was another level. Jordan was always great, but 96 Jordan was another level. The apostle Paul, listen, was the greatest disciple of Jesus Christ
[00:21:53] who ever lived the greatest disciple Jesus Christ who ever lived Paul Acts 28 Paul is the greatest version of Paul we ever get exposed to so just go with me on the weird 90s analogy 96 Jordan Acts
[00:22:10] 28 Paul just go with me okay now what's going to happen in this chapter let me set it up like this because it is Paul's pinnacle message it is the quintessential moment in Paul's life where he
[00:22:21] draws on 30 years of discipleship, supernatural experiences, being discipled by people, seeing Jesus face to face in incarnational appearances, all these things. And in this chapter, it's his quintessential message. And let me set it up like this. In my opinion,
[00:22:39] the greatest sermon I've ever heard was 10, 15 years ago. And it was at a pastor's conference.
[00:22:45] I won't say what conference, there's some details to protect the innocent and the guilty.
[00:22:50] And there was this guy that walked out and there's like five or 6,000 pastors in a room like this, thing was jammed.
[00:22:55] And this guy walked out and for the next 40 minutes, it felt like John the Baptist was standing right in front of us.
[00:23:02] And this dude started his sermon.
[00:23:03] He walked out and he looked at all these pastors.
[00:23:05] He was real quiet and he was real intense.
[00:23:07] And he started out by saying this.
[00:23:08] He said, do you want to be used greatly by God?
[00:23:15] And the room burst into applause.

[00:23:17] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]
[00:23:17] Bunch of pastors like, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[00:23:20] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_10]
[00:23:20] and he waited for the applause to die down and he said it a second time real intense he was like I said do you want to be used greatly by God and a little louder yeah people applaud and then a
[00:23:38] third time and everybody's like what's he doing a third time he almost screamed he said do you want to be used greatly by God and people stood up standing ovation yeah they're roaring and he waited for the applause to die down and he said then you must be wounded deeply
[00:23:57] because those God uses greatly are first wounded deeply and the room that was thunderous applause sounded like this, pin drop.
[00:24:11] What the apostle Paul does in Acts chapter 28 is he shows the message of his life.
[00:24:18] I'm gonna tell you where the end of the sermon goes, that his pain became his platform, his trial became his testimony, and Paul's greatest ministry came from his deepest misery.
[00:24:30] Now, what you need to know is that if the apostle Paul, the greatest disciple who ever lived, was constantly subjected to pain, opposition, suffering.
[00:24:40] Can I give you a heads up?
[00:24:41] That's probably gonna happen to you too if you follow Jesus.
[00:24:45] So let me say it to you like this because what I wanna do today is reframe the hard things that are going on in your life.
[00:24:50] What you need to know is that everyone everywhere experiences pain, everybody.
[00:24:56] You're going, this is gonna happen to you.
[00:24:58] But what happens is most people in life, they, just go with me, they squander their suffering.
[00:25:05] It's like they've never learned how to profit from their problems.
[00:25:09] They don't know how to harvest their hurts.
[00:25:11] But watch this, believers that are like actually disciples of Jesus Christ.
[00:25:16] And remember this, we're not fans who cheer him on and we like him, but we don't wanna be like him.
[00:25:20] No, we're disciples of Jesus Christ.
[00:25:23] Disciples that grow, they are always people that they learn from their losses.
[00:25:30] That they figure out how to gain from every pain in their life And because of that, they spend the rest of their lives just constantly getting better, being transformed into the glory of Christ from one degree to another, like the book
[00:25:43] of second Corinthians says, and they get better instead of bitter their entire Christian life.
[00:25:49] This is what you see in Acts chapter 28 in the pinnacle moment of the apostle Paul's life.
[00:25:55] So if you've got your Bibles, let's jump right into it.
[00:25:59] And I got to do this.
[00:26:00] I got to get a run and start into it.
[00:26:02] This is like previously on Yellowstone.
[00:26:03] What Acts chapter 28 is, Acts 28 is the fulfillment of a promise Jesus made decades ago in Acts 1-8.
[00:26:11] If you were here for the very first week of this series, 40 sermons ago, what I preached is that Jesus stood in front of his disciples and he made a promise. And Jesus fulfills his promises. And
[00:26:22] his promise was, you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you. And you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria and the ends of the earth. And those were concentric
[00:26:33] circles by which the gospel would go out by dudes that came out preaching sermons, swinging haymakers for the glory of God. And the rest of the book of Acts is that story. Now, decades later, we are
[00:26:44] here in Acts chapter 28. And whereas decades earlier, Jesus said the gospel will go to the ends of the earth. Now we're in Acts chapter 28. The apostle Paul's been converted, been filled with the spirit. He's gone all around planting all these house churches all over the different
[00:26:58] places and two, three different continents. And we're here and we are, check this out, 2,997.4 miles from where Jesus made that promise in Acts 1.8 that the gospel would go out to the ends of
[00:27:11] the earth. This is where we are. Now, I want to show you what happens and let's close the book of Acts. Here's how it starts. It says, once safely on shore, we found it. We did the whole
[00:27:19] shipwreck thing last week, JP crushed. Once safely on shore, we found out that the island was called Malta and the Islanders, by the way, when it says Islanders, that's a little PC translation. It's actually the Greek word is Barbaroi from which we get the English word barbarians. So the barbarians
[00:27:35] showed, and it says unusual kindness. The reason it says unusual kindness is when you shipwrecked on a, like an Island with people like this, they run out and they're a little Jack Sparrow painted faces and they come out. What they would have expected is either to be in, uh, to be killed or
[00:27:51] enslaved. So this is what they're expecting. But what happens is they show Paul, it says unusual kindness. Now I want to show you where Malta is. So here's where we were. We were just over in this
[00:28:03] region. This is where we just were a few chapters ago. Paul sailed all the way over here. Remember, he's going to Rome. Here we are in Malta. Now, if you read Acts 28, here's your homework later.
[00:28:14] You're going to see two other places mentioned. You're going to see Regium mentioned and a place called Pudioli. That's my best pronunciation up there. And then it goes to Rome. So Paul right here, he's on Malta. Now watch what happens. Go to this next verse. This is what happens here in
[00:28:27] Malta. So Paul gathers a pile of brushwood and as he put it in the fire, a viper, it's very intense, driven out by the heat, fastened itself. So not just a bite, it's like literally dangling from
[00:28:39] Paul's arm on his hand, poisonous snake. When the Islanders saw the snake hanging from his hand, they said to each other this man must be a murderer now that's gonna be important bookmark that for though he escaped from the sea the goddess justice has not allowed him to live now here's
[00:28:55] what they're doing in their minds this is gonna be important for the rest of the sermon in their minds justice worked like this anything that bad bad that happened to you you must have done to
[00:29:06] somebody else so they're like a poisonous snake just bit this dude he's gonna die because he's going to die he must have killed somebody so the math is that he was a murderer this is what they
[00:29:16] thought but no to go back I didn't finish but it says go back to the last verse yeah but Paul shook the snake off into the fire and he suffered no ill effects now this is good let's keep going we
[00:29:30] got it we got it we're gonna do it it's gonna be great so that now the people when they see it here's what they expected they expected him to swell up or suddenly fall dead this is what they
[00:29:40] expected. I just kind of find this a little hilarious. That's not what happened. Here's what ended up happening. But after waiting a long time and seeing nothing unusual happen to him, they changed their minds and said he was a God. You know, quick, quick mind change. What happens to
[00:29:51] him? Now, right after this, God uses this miracle to confirm the supernatural power on Paul's life to these islanders who don't know Jesus yet. So what they do is there's a chief of the island,
[00:30:05] a guy named Publius. If you're looking for baby names, Publius is available. They take him to Publius that's the uh the chief of the whole island and Publius has a dad this dying of a disease okay
[00:30:17] we're going to come back to that and it says his father was sick in bed suffering from fever and dysentery Paul went in to see him and after listen and after prayer placed his hands on him and he
[00:30:29] healed him and when this had happened the rest of the sick on the island came and they were cured Now, pause. I just need to say this. Listen, man, Jesus heals people. We began the very first week
[00:30:43] of the book of Acts. And Jesus said to every disciple, you will receive supernatural power when the Holy spirit comes on you in order to do what? To be my witnesses throughout the rest of
[00:30:54] the world. And that wasn't just for them. That's for you. The reason we called this series, there is more because listen to me, no matter how much of God you've experienced, no matter how much of
[00:31:04] power you've seen, no matter how much of his character you've known, I can make you a promise.
[00:31:09] There is more. There's more. And Paul does this. Now check this out, man. I am, listen, man, I am not a faith healer. That ain't my thing. I ain't a faith healer, but I am a Bible believer.
[00:31:21] And what my Bible tells me is that God is going to heal every Christian in one of three ways, immediately through miracle, gradually through medicine, or eventually in glory. But listen to he still does number one because Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever and if
[00:31:36] he healed people then he still does it now I'm just telling you he still does it so this is what happens Paul now because of that there's this big outpouring of the Holy Spirit tons of people start
[00:31:46] getting saved and joining team Jesus on Malta side note because this is kind of awesome if you go to Malta to this day the island is more than 80 percent Christian to this day the church is on
[00:31:58] the island of Malta trace their spiritual lineage back to Paul's shipwreck in Acts chapter 27.
[00:32:05] And every year on the island of Malta on February 10th, they celebrate the shipwreck of St. Paul day when the gospel touched down on their island. Listen, bro, that's amazing. I love it so much,
[00:32:17] man. The same yesterday, today, and forever. So this is what happens. Now the verses we're getting ready to read are the final recorded Acts of the Apostle Paul in the book of Acts. Here's how the whole story ends. It says here, when we got to Rome, Paul was allowed to live by himself
[00:32:34] with a soldier to guard him for two whole years. Paul stayed and welcomed all who came to see him.
[00:32:42] Now here's what I'm gonna do in the next few minutes. I gotta move fast. What this chapter does is it shows us three things. There are, we're gonna theology nerd out here for a second,
[00:32:51] just second. I'm assuming you came to learn the Bible. It shows us there are three causes for all the pain in your life. And you have to have the wisdom to know which one might be the cause so
[00:33:04] that you can respond. And then it shows us what we do with the pain that God gives us. Okay. So here we go. Here we go. Three causes for pain in the Bible, three different causes. Okay. Now, number
[00:33:17] one, let me read this verse. This is from Acts 27, just before this. It mentions a hurricane and it mentions a shipwreck. Hurricane and shipwreck. Bible category number one. Sometimes you're experiencing pain, check this out, because of something theologians just call general sin.
[00:33:36] Sometimes you're experiencing pain because of something theologians just call general sin. Now, I'm going to read you a verse and when I read it, you might not understand it. So let me read it let me explain it. This is in the book of Romans that Paul wrote to the church in Rome before he
[00:33:52] got there. Okay. And this way says in Romans five, he says, therefore, just as sin entered the world through one guy, through one man, he's talking about Adam. Now here's the, just track with me,
[00:34:02] be a theology nerd with me here for a second. Okay. What the Bible teaches is that Adam was what theologians call the federal head of mankind. We actually have this concept like all over the
[00:34:14] place. So for instance, the president of the United States, no matter who that is, acts as the federal head of the nation in that when he makes a decision, that decision is, watch this, it's imputed to
[00:34:25] everybody that's under his leadership and his decisions have ramifications for people who are under his leadership. The Bible says that God created Adam and Eve as quote, this is a theological term, the vice regents of all creation, the federal head of all mankind in such a way that that's what
[00:34:43] this verse means, in such a way that when Adam sinned, his decision to rebel against God had ramifications that were imputed to everything that was under his leadership, all of his progeny, all of his lineage, that's you and me, and all of creation that he was put on earth to steward and
[00:35:01] lead. So when the Bible says sin entered the world through one man, it's going, hey, the federal had sinned and that had ramifications for everything after it. Watch this. And death came through sin.
[00:35:12] so because he sinned death entered the world is what it's saying and in this way death came to all people because all sinned now here's what you got to understand this is a really realistic man
[00:35:23] this is so important this will really trip people up okay you do not live in a perfect world where everything works as God wants it you right now live in a fallen world where nothing works as
[00:35:39] God designed it and he wanted it. So God made everything good and he gave life, but then sin came in and it made everything bad and it brought death. Now, here's why that matters. Sometimes
[00:35:48] people will grab me. This is a very common question. And they'll be like, man, with bitterness in their heart. And I honestly, I actually kind of get it. With bitterness in their heart, they'll be like, man, Josh, why would God create a world where kids get cancer, mental illness ravages
[00:36:02] people, you know, parents die, you know, hurricanes happen, shipwrecks. Why would God do that? Listen, listen, this is really important. The answer to that is he didn't. He didn't create that kind of world. God created a world where everything was good and wonderful. Sin corrupted that world.
[00:36:21] So the world as you're experiencing it now, check this out, is not as God created it. This world is as sin has corrupted it. Now let's go a layer deeper and talk about what that means for the
[00:36:32] pain that you experience in your life. Now check this out. I just want you to zoom out and think about the apostle Paul in Acts 28. So here's what he just did. In the last three chapters, he survived
[00:36:41] a mob that wanted to kill him, a group of like little special ops Jewish ninjas that made a blood oath to assassinate him, a death sentence trial before a homicidal maniac with the emotional stability of a Kardashian sister, a hurricane, a shipwreck, barbarians. Now in Acts 28, he's like
[00:36:59] finally for the first time sitting in front of a fire warm somebody else made him a fire he's getting to warm his hands for the first time in at least two weeks after a shipwreck I think he's
[00:37:12] finally singing I can see clearly now because the rain is gone he's like finally everything's great and the second he tries to warm his hands a viper attaches itself to his hand now if I was Paul I
[00:37:22] would have been like come on that's what I would have done okay not Paul here's all he does all Paul does, shakes it off, keeps telling people about Jesus. Shakes it off, keeps telling people
[00:37:33] about Jesus. Now, here's why Paul is different than you and me, okay? There's a secret to Paul being able to be happy no matter what was going on. Let me show it to you. Paul says this in
[00:37:44] Philippians. Check this out. He says, I've learned to be content. That's another word for constantly happy. Just, I'm cool with what's going on. Whatever the circumstances, that's another word for happenings. I'm coming back to that. I can be happy no matter the happenings. I know what it is
[00:37:59] to be a need. I know what it is to have plenty. I'm good either way. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation. That's another word for happenings, whether well
[00:38:10] fed or hungry. Now I'm getting ready to read a verse that you've seen at like every gym for the last 30 years that taken out of context, whether living in plenty or in want, I can do all this
[00:38:18] through who? Through Christ who gives me strength. That's not about benching 250. That's not what that's about. Now check this out. What Paul, here's what you got to understand. What Paul is saying here, listen, he's saying there's a difference between happiness and joy. Those are two different
[00:38:33] things. Happiness and joy. Happiness is based, it comes from a root word. The root word is happenings.
[00:38:41] Happiness comes from happenings. When what you want to have happen to you, happens to you, then you can be happy. But when what you don't want to have happen to you, happens to you, you can't be happy. Now, newsflash, big problem. What you want to have happen to you doesn't
[00:38:57] usually happen to you. So if you're doing your thing on happiness, then it's going to go up with the stock market and down with the stock market. Kids are awesome one day and crazy the next day.
[00:39:07] Everybody's applauding you one day. One day, listen, I've learned this real fast. One day you're a hero. The next day you're a zero. If you are basing your joy, the baseline of your heart on happenings, good luck to you. Good luck to you because you live in a fallen world where
[00:39:22] stuff is not going to go like you wish. Go back to that verse. But what Paul does here is he goes, hey man, I'm not doing happiness. I'm doing joy. Watch this. Happiness is based on happenings,
[00:39:32] but joy is based on Jesus. And here's the big idea is that happiness goes up and down with happenings. But listen to me, Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. On Christ, the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand. He's the same yesterday, today,
[00:39:50] and forever. So Paul goes, hey man, if I'm shipwrecked, I'm good. If I'm in prison, I'm good.
[00:39:56] If I'm out, I'm good. If I'm worn by a fire, I'm good. If there's a viper on my hand, I'm good.
[00:40:01] I'm gonna be okay. Now let me make an application and move on to this next one. Listen, what I'm trying to do right now, if you're not on team Jesus yet, I'm discipling my people. So when you
[00:40:10] hear this, you may be like, ah, just go with me. As a disciple of Jesus Christ, what you got to do is you got to fight for your heart to be rooted, not in the happenings of this world, but have a
[00:40:20] heart that's hid with Christ on high. Like the word says, you got to fight for that. I'm gonna tell you what I do. Cause I'm just like you, man, stuff didn't always go good for me. What I got to
[00:40:28] do is when I'm going through it and stuff's not good, I'm just going to tell you what I do. I get out, I get out in the country a little bit. I take a few miles walk and on my iPhone, I got a little
[00:40:38] iPhone note with a bunch of lyrics of hymns. And I get out in a country and I just walk around where nobody can hear me sing in Jesus name to God be the glory. Nobody can hear me sing.
[00:40:48] I just get out there and man, I just worship my way back into it. And I'm not talking about like prom songs for Jesus. Like, oh my gosh, Jesus, you're so great. And I just want to lay my head
[00:40:56] on your chest and look in your eyes. It's like floppy white kiss. That's not my thing. I hate those songs. Our team doesn't sing those songs. We kill those songs fast. Our team doesn't sing
[00:41:03] that stuff. I hate that stuff. I'm talking about like, a mighty fortress is our God. I'm talking about old rugged cross. I'm talking about like amazing grace. I'm talking about come now fount stuff. And I'm just going to tell you, man, if I get out of the country and I start singing that
[00:41:21] stuff, it does something to me. And here's what happens. When I start, my problems feel real big and my God feels real small. But worship, worship, worship, worship, worship, worship, worship, worship, worship, worship, worship, worship, worship. And by the time I'm done, my God feels
[00:41:35] real big and my problems feel real small. So you got to fight for that, man. By the way, that's why this thing matters. This is not a game. We get up here and we do all the things. We sing the songs
[00:41:46] and we pray the prayers and we read the book, all that stuff. You're rooting your heart in Christ on high. So that's number one. Let me do the other two fast. Number two, there's a second reason
[00:41:54] you'll experience pain in this life. Check this out. It says this, Paul said to them, my brothers, watch this. Although I've done nothing against our people or against the customers of our ancestors. Another, watch this, Paul's going, I'm innocent. I didn't do nothing wrong, okay? I was
[00:42:08] arrested in Jerusalem and handed over to the Romans. Then he says this, they replied, we know that people everywhere are talking against this sect. Now, Bible nerd note for a second here.
[00:42:18] It says sect right here in Acts 28, because for the first hundred years of Christianity, they didn't view Judaism and Christianity as separate religions. They just viewed Christianity as a sect of Judaism. Oh, those are the Jewish people who believe that Jesus fulfilled the
[00:42:35] messianic promises and that the Messiah already came. So for the first hundred years, they were just like, ah, it's like a denomination of Judaism. And what they're saying here is, hey man, everybody's throwing shade at this little denomination or this sect of Judaism. Okay.
[00:42:51] Now category number two, sometimes you are experiencing pain in life, not because of general sin, watch this, but because of human sin. Somebody sinned against you, or watch this, you did something dumb and you sinned against you. Sometimes you're experiencing pain because
[00:43:11] of human sin. Now, sometimes it's other people. Now you saw this, Paul didn't do anything wrong.
[00:43:17] He was innocent and they hated him. Newsflash. Sometimes you're not suffering because you did something wrong. You're suffering because you did something right. You had a backbone, you had courage, you stood for righteousness, you didn't come off your convictions,
[00:43:30] you didn't flinch when the moment came.
[00:43:32] And listen, when that happens and you are firm in your faith and you're reverse engineering your life from the only thing that matters, listen, you are going to have moments where the world will hate you.
[00:43:43] They will hate you.
[00:43:45] So let me just say this, do not be surprised when this world hates you, my Christian friends, do not be surprised.
[00:43:53] You're like, oh, Josh, why not?
[00:43:54] Why wouldn't we be?
[00:43:56] Why shouldn't we be surprised when people hate us?
[00:43:59] Because we literally have a verse that says, do not be surprised, my brothers and sisters in the world hate you.
[00:44:04] There's literally a verse that says this right here, okay?
[00:44:07] So I just wanna point this out.
[00:44:09] If you think that you're gonna worship a guy who got crucified by the world, but you're gonna worship that guy and you're gonna be applauded and commended by the world, bless your heart, as my grandma would say.
[00:44:21] Bless your heart that you think that.
[00:44:22] So sometimes it's other people.
[00:44:24] Here's the other one though.
[00:44:24] sometimes it's not other people's sin. Let me just shoot you straight, man. I love you. Sometimes it's because of your own sin. You, you, you screwed yourself over is what you did. I don't know if
[00:44:34] I'm allowed to say that. I'll change that next service. It was your fault. Okay. So here's what I mean. Like sometimes me and Jana, like we're praying with people in the lobby and somebody will run up and they'll, they'll say something like this. They'll say, Oh, Pastor Josh, would
[00:44:46] you pray for us? The devil's attacking my relationships. Devil's attacking my relationships.
[00:44:52] And we'll be at a campus and we'll be like, oh man, hey, tell us what's going on so we know how to, what's going on in your relationships?
[00:44:58] You know, well, man, you know, I just, I'm in this habit, I'm going to the club like every single night.
[00:45:03] And, you know, when I'm going to the club like every single week or whatever it is, I hooked up, you know, I'm dating like three guys and I hooked up with one of them.
[00:45:09] And, you know, we got pregnant and now I don't know who the dad is and all the other ones are mad at me and it's just gone terrible and the devil's attacked my relationships.
[00:45:19] You know, it's the second time I want to be like, I would never say this, but I'm thinking is hold up five fingers, make a fist, punch yourself in the face. It's you. It's the only thing that Taylor Swift ever got right. Hi, it's me. I'm
[00:45:29] the problem. It's me. It's you. You're the problem. Okay. That's it. So sometimes it's not other people. It's your own sin that's causing all this stuff. And what you got to understand, listen, listen, man, what this world will disciple you into is this world's going to say, Hey man,
[00:45:43] you do you affirm every desire. You got any inclination. You got every emotion you have.
[00:45:49] You need all your, yes, girl, go queen.
[00:45:51] You need everybody around you cheering on every little feeling you got in your life.
[00:45:55] And if they don't do that and they're bad for you, that's what this world is gonna disciple you into.
[00:45:58] Follow your heart, cheer every emotion and feeling you have.
[00:46:01] What the word says instead of the world is the exact opposite.
[00:46:05] Your heart is deceitful above all things who can know it.
[00:46:08] So what this means, listen, man, I'll just point this out.
[00:46:11] Nobody has ever hurt you more than you.
[00:46:14] Nobody has ever lied to you more than you.
[00:46:16] Nobody has ever let you down more than you.
[00:46:18] Nobody has ever broken more promises to you than you.
[00:46:22] This is why what we gotta have, and listen, I say this all the time and I don't think you ever believe me and someday you're gonna believe me.
[00:46:28] This is why you gotta have a band of brothers around you or a band of sisters around you, dudes or ladies that they love Jesus and they love you and they actually have beliefs and convictions
[00:46:39] that are formed that they can be around you that you have, watch this, you've deputized in your life.
[00:46:45] You have given permission and authority in your life.
[00:46:47] Hey, bro, if you see something off in me, I need you to get in my life and say, hey, man, something's off.
[00:46:52] You're drinking too much and you need to quit.
[00:46:54] You need somebody in your life who can say that stuff to you.
[00:46:56] Hey, man, how you're talking to your wife is not good.
[00:46:59] It's going to hurt you, man.
[00:47:00] And you're going to pass it down to your kids.
[00:47:02] You need somebody in your life that you put a badge on in their life who can say that to you.
[00:47:07] And listen, watch this.
[00:47:08] Whenever they do it, if you get defensive when they do it, in the words of the great theologian Ice Cube, if you get defensive when they do it you better check yourself before you wreck yourself
[00:47:21] because that's exactly what you're going to do you got to have some people in your life who will call you out when the worst comes out okay now last one third category of there's a
[00:47:31] third reason that people don't think of that's a reason some people experience pain in their life and when I read it you're gonna be like you are really weird I'm not really weird I'm I really
[00:47:42] want to be into the word and this is what the word says okay let me read it we already read this verse, but let me point something out. So Paul gathers the brushwood, puts it on the fire.
[00:47:51] A viper, a poisonous snake driven out by the heat, fastens itself on his hand. Now, almost every Bible scholar you will come across thinks that it is not a coincidence. Listen real close to my language. That right before Paul testifies to Christ in Rome, a serpent, are you
[00:48:09] seeing this? A serpent attacks Paul. Side note, because this is real awesome. A serpent attacks Paul. He is unharmed by the attack of the serpent. He shakes off the serpent into the fire. Side note,
[00:48:23] because this is real, real awesome for you Bible nerds. That is a preview of coming attractions of exactly what Jesus is going to do to the serpent in the book of Revelation. The serpent will attack Jesus. He's going to be like, bro, that didn't even do nothing. Shake it off into
[00:48:36] the lake of fire and that burns forever. And Jesus is good. That's a little preview coming extractions. Now, what you got right here is third, third reason you may be experiencing pain in your life. It's not general sin or human sin. It's demonic sin. It's demonic sin. Okay. Now let me
[00:48:51] do this. Let me do this fast and then land it. Okay. So this is, if you're like, ah, sounds weird, sounds weird. Okay. It sounds a little weird to me too, but go with me. If you go read the book
[00:49:01] of Job. Here's the, listen, this is the entire point of the book of Job. Job chapter one, Satan comes to God. Very interesting. Satan has to ask God for permission to attack Job. Very interesting.
[00:49:15] God grants Satan permission to, for a greater purpose. I'm coming back to that. And then Satan comes and he essentially takes everything from Job's life, except his wife. That's always been very interesting to me. He's like, I think something was going on with her. And Satan was
[00:49:29] like, I think she's on my team. I'm leaving her. That's what I think was going on. And I will, listen, I will just point this out. She's the only one that's like, curse God and die. That's
[00:49:37] what I think you should do. So I think Satan was like, she's on my team. I'm leaving her.
[00:49:41] So he takes everything except Job's wife. And then for 40 chapters, 40 chapters, Job's got these idiot friends, Larry, Moe, and Curly. If you don't know who that is, that was a boy band in the eighties and Larry, Moe, and Curly. And they're all sitting there. And because these guys
[00:49:58] go back to the three categories. I didn't tell you I was going to do this. Go back to the three categories because Job's buddies, they only had this category and this category. They didn't understand that this category existed. So because they only understood general sin and human sin
[00:50:12] for 40 chapters, Job's buddies are like, Hey bro, if you're suffering, it must be because you did something wrong. No other reason you could be suffering. That's the only reason if you're in pain is because you committed a problem or a sin. So for 40 chapters, they do this. Finally,
[00:50:28] at the end of Job, Job finally speaks up and he shakes his fist in heaven, proverbially.
[00:50:34] And he goes, essentially he's going, God, I got some questions. And listen, man, what I'm about to say, some of you are in a spot right now where you're going, God, I got some questions.
[00:50:42] Let me just gently step into something that's got a bit of an edge to it. I love you. Let me pass to you for a second. Job goes, God, I got some questions. As soon as Job goes, God, I got
[00:50:52] some questions God himself steps forward he said oh you called and what God says to Job is he says who is this who darkens my counsel with words without knowledge and in the Hebrew what it
[00:51:07] literally says is this is I'm quoting the verse he says gird up your loins like a man and sit down because I'm going to demand some answers of you I'm going to translate that in a 2026 English
[00:51:18] that's hey man strap on your jock strap you're fighting with your maker today that's literally a little bit of what God's saying. Gird up your loins like a man, sit down, I'm going to ask some
[00:51:25] questions of you. And Job sits down and God just starts asking him questions. Honestly, he gets a little sassy. He starts asking Job questions. He's like, hey, Job, where were you when I scooped out
[00:51:35] the Pacific Ocean? Do you know? Hey, Job, where were you when I pulled the Himalayas out of the ground? Hey, Job, where were you when I twisted a double helix and I created a language more
[00:51:45] complex than any computer programmer has ever messed with? And that's what's in every cell of your body. Essentially what he's doing is going, hey, Job, if I'm as big as the Pacific Ocean and you're the size of a Coke can, you better expect there to be some things that don't fit, brother.
[00:51:59] What he's going is going, hey, you can't even, he's saying, Job, you can't even lick your own elbow and you think you're going to understand everything that's going on? Who are you? Who do you think you are? And listen, watch this. Job never gets an answer to his question of why he
[00:52:15] was suffering, but he gets the presence of God. And the presence of God was better than an answer to his question. That's the story of the book of Job. Now watch this. What that means is it was
[00:52:28] never revealed to Job that he didn't suffer because of his sin or anybody else's. The only reason Job suffered was because of demonic attack and sin against Job. Now that sounds weird. Here's why this is really important. It really matters how you frame in your mind pain when it comes
[00:52:49] in your life. Because if when pain comes into your life, you think God must be punishing me, then you'll blame God and run from him. But if when pain comes in your life, you think
[00:52:59] Satan must be attacking me, then you'll trust your heavenly father and you'll run to him.
[00:53:05] See, this is really, really important. Now, let me just say this and then let me land it here.
[00:53:10] I need to talk to you for a second.
[00:53:11] If you're not a Christian, you're not on Team Jesus yet, you have never been in your need of the Lordship of Jesus Christ.
[00:53:17] I love you enough to tell you the truth.
[00:53:19] So let me tell you the truth real quick.
[00:53:20] Man, here's reality.
[00:53:22] If that's you and you've never been transferred from the domain of darkness into the domain of light, that's what the Bible says, then listen, you need to know that you live in a world, the Bible says that Satan is the little g God of this world.
[00:53:33] He is the quote, prince of the powers of the air, the New Testament says.
[00:53:36] And if you are outside of Christ, you're not full of the spirit, You haven't been adopted by the father.
[00:53:41] What you need to know is that the little G, God of this world, Satan, he is indescribably more powerful than you.
[00:53:51] Unimaginably more intelligent than you.
[00:53:53] He's been studying you like an NFL coordinator studies the defense for thousands of years.
[00:53:58] He is more full of malice and hatred than you will ever understand.
[00:54:04] The book of John says, the enemy comes to steal, kill, and destroy.
[00:54:07] He looks at you every single day and the only thing that he wants is he wants you dead.
[00:54:12] He wants everything good in your life gone.
[00:54:14] He wants you, your life and your lineage destroyed.
[00:54:17] And the thing that he's coming after more than anything else in your life is he wants to take away your faith or keep you from ever coming to faith in Jesus Christ because listen, it's got an edge to it.
[00:54:25] I'm just telling you reality because the thought of you and your children and your children's children burning in hell for eternity is a gleeful thought to him that he rejoices in.
[00:54:36] so if you're not in Jesus listen man you should be scared you should be terrified you should think of nothing else day and night it should bother you every single second because the reality is
[00:54:50] that he that is in the world Satan is greater than you he's greater than you but and that's a big but that I like and I cannot lie but but if you have been listen if you've bent your knee to Jesus
[00:55:04] you have been redeemed by the blood of the lamb adopted by the heavenly father sealed by the holy spirit then what the bible says is that yes the one that's in the world is greater than you
[00:55:13] but he is now in you and greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world you got nothing of fear man you ain't got nothing of fear nothing of fear okay this is what you got this is how you
[00:55:26] defeat demonic sin okay now here's the question here's where we're gonna land it what do you do with it? What do you do with pain? Watch what Paul did. Here's how I'm going to land it. Watch what
[00:55:36] Paul did. What Paul did is he reframed every pain he experienced into serving the purpose of his life. And here's a little side note, okay? The happiest people you'll ever meet, they're not people who have fewer problems than you. Everybody's got problems. They're not people with fewer
[00:55:53] problems than you. The happiest people you'll ever meet are people who have a purpose in their life that's greater than their problems that make all their problems worth it.
[00:56:03] This is what Paul says here.
[00:56:04] He goes, and we know that in all things, actually, I want you to say it out loud.
[00:56:08] Those two words, say all things.
[00:56:09] One, two, three, all things.
[00:56:11] In all things, God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to, what's that word, called according to his purpose.
[00:56:19] This is what Paul does, is he transforms all these pains into purposes.
[00:56:24] Now, here's what I mean, okay?
[00:56:27] People will do little theological debates.
[00:56:28] say, here's the theological debate we had in college. We sit in dorm rooms and argue about dumb things. Does God cause pain or does God allow pain? You can debate that all day you want. I got,
[00:56:40] I got a theory. You can debate that all day you want. Here's what no Christian can debate.
[00:56:44] The debate is not whether God causes pain or allows pain. Here's what we know. God always uses your pain. He uses it. And this is the, this is like the little Easter egg of Acts 28. Okay. So
[00:56:56] let me show you something I didn't show you before. So we read this earlier that Paul gets to Rome and watch this. He stays, there's soldiers guarding him. It's like military vets are guarding him. For two years, he stays there. We don't know a ton about what Paul did in those
[00:57:10] two years, but this is really cool. What we do know is that whatever he did, he proclaimed Christ with boldness. He was a man of courage and without hindrance. Nobody's going to stop. Stop. This is
[00:57:21] all we know. Now, what we also know is that while Paul was in prison, bookmark this in your head, in Caesar's household.
[00:57:30] While Paul was in prison for those two years, he wrote four books of your New Testament that you got in your lap.
[00:57:35] He wrote Ephesians, Colossians, Philemon, and a book called Philippians.
[00:57:42] Now, let's go a layer deeper.
[00:57:45] There's this little verse in Philippians you read a million times, and when you read it, you didn't know why it was cool, but it's really, really cool.
[00:57:51] So remember, Paul's in Rome, bunch of soldiers guarding him from Caesar's household.
[00:57:55] He's telling him about Jesus.
[00:57:56] When Paul writes Philippians, when you get to chapter four, Philippians four says this, Paul just kind of throws this in to this letter.
[00:58:03] He goes, hey, church at Philippi, all God's people here where I'm at, they send greetings, especially, and remember he's talking about Christians, especially those that belong to Caesar's household.
[00:58:17] What that means is that Paul was looking at all these soldiers guarding him and the soldiers were going, you're chained to me.
[00:58:24] And Paul was going, uh-uh, bro, you're chained to me.
[00:58:27] you gotta listen to me tell you about Jesus Christ every second that you're chained to me.
[00:58:33] And so many of those dudes got saved that when he wrote Philippians, he was like, hey, hey guys, there's a whole bunch of Christians over here in Caesar's household.
[00:58:42] And they want me to tell you, keep going, good job.
[00:58:46] We're on team Jesus with you.
[00:58:47] That's what that is.
[00:58:49] Watch, watch, watch.
[00:58:50] Paul's pain became his platform.
[00:58:53] His trial became his testimony and his greatest ministry came from his deepest misery.
[00:59:03] God will do that for you.
[00:59:06] Now, here's where I wanna land it.
[00:59:07] Here at the Rockwall campus, we just had one of my favorite church members go to be with the Lord by two, two and a half weeks ago.
[00:59:15] Dude sat right over there from my vantage point to the left of the sound booth.
[00:59:21] This guy in the aqua shirt over here is where he was sitting.
[00:59:24] This guy's name, man, he was one of the good ones.
[00:59:27] This guy's name was Kelly Goudreau.
[00:59:30] Any of y'all know Kelly?
[00:59:32] Kelly Goudreau.
[00:59:32] Kelly Goudreau is a good man.
[00:59:35] Kelly Goudreau served on a security team, served in student ministry for a long time.
[00:59:39] I got a picture of me and Kelly.
[00:59:41] That's a few pounds ago for me.
[00:59:42] That's me and Kelly.
[00:59:44] And please take that down.
[00:59:46] And Kelly was sitting right over there every week.
[00:59:49] He'd come in an hour before services and he'd just sit here and worship as the worship team was warming up.
[00:59:55] about five years ago, Kelly grabbed me and Jana in a lobby and he was like, Hey pastor, will you pray for me? I've just, and he big smile on his face. I've just been diagnosed
[01:00:05] with terminal cancer and they're just telling me I've only got a few months to live. And for the next five years, he told us nearly every time we saw him, Hey, will you pray for me? I've been
[01:00:18] diagnosed with terminal cancer. They tell me I only have a few months to live. And we prayed for that for five years. And he always asked the same thing. Would you pray for me that I'd have
[01:00:26] faith through it to share Christ with everybody I can. And dude, I'll be honest as a pastor, sometimes you look at that stuff and you're like, man, I don't understand what you're doing.
[01:00:36] And you're like, why do you got to take one of the good ones? I would have taken one of the bad ones. You know, I was like, you know, I just, I, you know, I wish it'd be like, you know,
[01:00:44] Jihad lightning bolt, you know, whatever it is. Take, take the rough ones. It was like, man, Kelly. And Kelly, a few years ago, here's what he did. He started asking the question, huh, I wonder if God put me in this spot so that I could turn it into ministry. Kelly started a
[01:01:03] ministry that a lot of you are familiar with called Hope Bags. And what Kelly did is he took a Bible. He was a Bible guy. One of those dudes just read the Bible every day, prayed every day,
[01:01:13] and he acted like it. He took his Bible where he had highlighted all the verses that encouraged him during his cancer fight and he had hundreds of verses highlighted and he uh he got a whole
[01:01:25] bunch of lake pointers together and they took those bibles and they highlighted all the verses in those bibles that encouraged kelly in his fight with cancer and they put him in these bags that said hope bags with a whole bunch of little equipment supplies that people who are fighting
[01:01:42] cancer need. And they started mailing them to people fighting terminal cancer all over at DFW to share the love of Christ with people who were in it in the middle of the fight.
[01:01:55] Well, this thing, it took off. And over the last few years, they have mailed 6,000 hope bags to people in 40 states, in eight countries, in two languages. And just last week, they started mailing for the first time, their first pediatric hope bag, sharing the love of Jesus with children
[01:02:17] fighting cancer, children fighting cancer. There was this dude there, make your eyes sweat. There was this guy that literally this week walked into an oncologist's office in Dallas and told him that he went to Lake Point. The oncologist was like, Oh, I don't know a lot about your church, but I
[01:02:34] know a lot about one guy from your church. And she was like, but HIPAA laws, I can't say who.
[01:02:38] And he was like, can I guess?
[01:02:40] She was like, sure.
[01:02:41] He said, was it Kelly Goudreau?
[01:02:42] And she was, you know, did this little thing.
[01:02:44] Yeah, ding, ding, ding.
[01:02:46] And here's what the oncologist said.
[01:02:47] I don't think she was a church person, but the oncologist said, here's all I know.
[01:02:51] No one in history has had more effect on the patients in this oncologist department than that man, Kelly Goudreau.
[01:03:00] And no one has had a bigger impact on my nursing staff ever than Kelly Goudreau because of his faith, his steadfastness, and his joy through the midst of his fight.
[01:03:12] Listen, man, three cheers for Kelly Goudreau.
[01:03:16] Well done, my friend.
[01:03:18] Well done.
[01:03:23] And here's the deal, man.
[01:03:25] I don't know what you got going on.
[01:03:28] I don't know which thing is going on.
[01:03:29] What I do know is God wants to turn your pain into a platform, a trial into a testimony, and your misery into ministry.
[01:03:36] So can I do that right now and just pray for you?
[01:03:38] I want to pray for you right now.
[01:03:40] Heavenly Father, thank you for Jesus Christ, friend of sinners.
[01:03:44] Father, thank you like your word says that you are near to the brokenhearted and you saved the crushed in spirit.
[01:03:48] So Father, I pray that your presence would draw real near to people.
[01:03:52] If they just, like your word says, draw near to God, he'll draw near to you.
[01:03:55] I pray that they just wiggle a little pinky toe in your direction and you just come running, you just come running and they would feel the presence of their loving Heavenly Father.
[01:04:02] I pray for our people that they would press their head real tight up against the chest of their Heavenly Father.
[01:04:06] that every day they'd just be going, all right, Lord, I'm yours.
[01:04:09] What do you got for me?
[01:04:11] And Lord, I pray that you would raise up disciples at Lake Point, that what we do is we leverage every second of our lives, everything that we're entrusted with, whether in plenty or in want,
[01:04:22] that you would make us people who are like, man, how can I use this to throw a haymaker for the kingdom of God and share the love of Christ with everybody everywhere?
[01:04:29] Father, would you do it?
[01:04:30] I pray that you redeem all those pains and comfort your people in the midst of trouble.
[01:04:33] And I pray it in the crucified, resurrected name of Jesus Christ. And all God's people said, amen. Amen, amen. Amen. Thank you, Pastor Josh. What a

[01:04:42] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_09]
[01:04:42] powerful word today. Hey, if maybe you're sitting here and you're going, man, that is me, that I'm walking through something and I got some pain that I need to see how God can use my misery for
[01:04:52] ministry. There's going to be a team right after our service is over underneath each of these crosses. They're there to work with you through whatever God may be priming on your soul. Or if you just need somebody to pray with you, those teams are there every single weekend. So don't
[01:05:03] miss that right after our service is over to get some prayer under the crosses. Now, we love to celebrate here the things that God is doing. Thanks in part to your generosity. And you may or may not
[01:05:12] know this, but Lake Point has a church planning network called the Strategic Launch Network that's planted over 90 churches in some of the most hard-to-reach areas of North America. Think places like Boston, New York City, San Francisco. And we want you to get an update from one of our
[01:05:27] church plants that planted in a hard-to-reach area of Texas, this little place we call Austin, Texas.
[01:05:31] All my Aggies are like, you better believe that place is hard to reach.
[01:05:34] Hey, so I want you to hear a little bit of an update as they say thanks for your generosity.
[01:05:37] So check out this video.

[01:05:42] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_12]
[01:05:42] What's up, Lake Point family?
[01:05:43] My name is Jessica.
[01:05:44] This is Josiah.
[01:05:45] We are the Weeses, and we launched Axiom Church in Austin, Texas on October 5th, 2025.

[01:05:51] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_11]
[01:05:51] And our grand opening was so much fun.
[01:05:53] We had 385 people.
[01:05:55] Several of those were people we'd been praying for all year that had never been to church before.
[01:05:59] But one of our favorite stories was back in March, we had a Lake Point team come out, and we had them go invite people from the park to our church.
[01:06:07] And what's crazy is one of the people they invited now leads our cafe team at Axiom Church.

[01:06:12] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_12]
[01:06:12] We love you guys.
[01:06:14] We are so thankful for your support.
[01:06:15] We could not do this without you.

[01:06:17] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_09]
[01:06:17] Man, can we celebrate that lake point?
[01:06:20] That God is changing lives all across the world and he's using you to do it.
[01:06:24] So thanks for being a part of the giving here that happens every week that's allowing churches like that to exist in some of the hardest to reach areas in North America.
[01:06:32] To give today, you can do it in a couple of ways.
[01:06:33] you can drop your offering off in the buckets or the boxes on your way out.
[01:06:37] Or the easiest way is to text the word give to the number 20411 and you can set up your giving there online.
[01:06:44] But let's do this.
[01:06:45] Let's go ahead and stand to our feet and let's continue to worship both as we give and as we sing.

[01:06:55] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_16]
[01:06:55] As we get ready to end today's service,

[01:08:45] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[01:08:45] hey, here's one important reminder.
[01:08:47] If you are here and after today's service and you need prayer, don't hesitate to reach out But wherever you're joining us from, whether it's here in the local area, in the DFW area, somewhere across Texas, or maybe another state, or even internationally, we want you to know that you are not alone.
[01:09:03] Hey, we would love for you to reach out.
[01:09:05] Go ahead.
[01:09:05] If you're inside the U.S., you can grab your phones right now and text the word prayer to the number 20411, and our team will be standing with you in prayer this week.
[01:09:14] Also, if you're outside of the U.S., or maybe you got your phone with you or your laptop, you can just go ahead and drop prayer in the chat section as well, wherever you are.
[01:09:22] Hey, we believe that God sees your situation, and I just want to remind you that God cares about your heart.
[01:09:28] And as a church family, hey, we care too, and we are here to serve you as well.
[01:09:31] Hey, thank you so much for joining us today.
[01:09:34] We hope you have a great weekend, and we will see you next time.