Beyond the Comfort Zone: Finding Gospel Power for Obedience

[00:00:00] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[00:00:00] Some American standards, a couple of German tunes, no yeah I didn't really get into any of that. I had to do a cheesy song called Where the Daisies Are or The Daisies, I can't remember the name of it. It's an American standard, it's real short.
[00:00:23] I won the Maryland Distinguished Scholar Award when I was in high school. They pick two people in each category that have band and chorus and everything else.
[00:00:32] and they give you free in-state tuition to any state.
[00:05:02] Keon Bumai, there you go.
[00:05:03] If you're joining us this morning, that means we're snowed in, but we didn't want you to have to be jealous of Pastor Anita's surroundings like you were last week when she was in the sunshine and we were in the cold.
[00:05:14] So if you're hearing this, good morning.
[00:05:17] God bless you.
[00:05:17] We're going to do a little worship online today.

[00:05:20] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]
[00:05:20] And sing from wherever you are.
[00:05:28] It could be your bedroom with your cell phone out.
[00:05:30] It could be your living room.
[00:05:31] You need to be in the bathroom if you're feeling froggy.

[00:06:20] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:06:20] Oh God, you have done and sinned, you're free, awake and alive.
[00:06:30] Oh Jesus, our Savior, your name lifted high.
[00:06:35] Oh God, you have done great, yes and amen.
[00:07:07] You will do great, every day, and as our Savior.
[00:07:38] Sing this part twice.
[00:07:56] You have done great things, of heaven conquered the grave.
[00:08:32] You free every captive, break every chain, oh God, you have done great.
[00:08:41] We dance in your freedom, oh Jesus, I say, your name lifted high, oh, done great.
[00:08:55] Like I said before, good morning, friends. Let's say a prayer together.

[00:09:18] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[00:09:18] Father God, we dance in your freedom, awake and alive, the freedom that you give.
[00:09:22] in this cold weather, help us warm our hearts. Warm us up like only you can. That deep down secure, safe loving kind of warmth that we can only get from you and your love. In the name of Jesus.
[00:09:39] Amen.

[00:10:27] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:10:27] Jesus, the only one who could ever save, worthy of every breath we could ever breathe, we live for you, there is no one beside you that shows, you guys are singing at home, that means you, Jennifer, Jen, Jenny, all of you,
[00:11:19] Worthy of every song we could ever sing. Worthy of all the praise we could ever bring. Worthy of every breath we could ever breathe. Jesus the name above every other name. Jesus the only one who could ever save.
[00:12:00] See of every breath we could ever breathe, we live for you. There is hope, there is hope beside you. Show with your heart and love to those of you.
[00:12:37] all is well, just so nobody is too jealous about the sunny Florida post from last Sunday.

[00:14:35] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]
[00:14:35] Eight hours after that, I got food poisoning and spent the rest of the week in the bed in sunny Tampa, Florida. So I am really glad to be back in Mooresville, North Carolina with you
[00:14:49] this morning in the cold. It is all good. As we pray together this morning, so much has happened since the last time we were together in person.
[00:15:05] And as I look out over where most of you usually sit, I pray that there has been blessing and joy and great things wherever you've been.
[00:15:22] And I also know that there are challenges, heartaches, struggles.
[00:15:28] So as we go and pray to our Savior this morning, bring all those things, gather them up in your mind and your heart, hold them in your hands, and let's pray together. Gracious God, we love you. We lift your name high and holy and we stand
[00:15:51] in awe that we even have the chance to come before you and say a word. We stand in awe of your beautiful creation, that this morning is still, beautiful, fresh. God, we want that stillness
[00:16:27] and beauty and freshness in our own lives, and we bring to you all of the things that we hold in our hands that are underneath all that, that maybe even look like the leftover dirty snow on the side
[00:16:54] of the road, where there's hurt and heartache and pain, where there's loneliness and anger and uncertainty and doubt and fear deeper than snow in North Carolina will ever be.
[00:17:22] God, come to those places and pour out your Holy Spirit in stillness. Pour out your Holy Spirit and show us mercy and healing and grace.
[00:17:48] Make us fresh in a way that only you can.
[00:17:55] God, we look at our world and we ask, is that even possible?
[00:17:58] With the tragedies we see happen every single day, sometimes at the hands of the ones who are supposed to protect and defend us.
[00:18:18] Forgive us.
[00:18:23] Forgive us when we get it so wrong.
[00:18:25] And God, by your mercy and through your strength and your power, redirect us as a country, as a town, as a family, as a person.
[00:19:00] Redirect us in your way.
[00:19:06] Make us clean like that beautiful blanket of snow.
[00:19:12] And show us footprints in it so that we can follow you.
[00:19:19] God, we want that.
[00:19:22] We say we do.
[00:19:23] so help us help us oh God when we don't know which way to go to look toward you and to trust you with all the stuff to trust that even if all the stuff remains
[00:19:55] you are with us in it and you hold us through it and you are still our God give us hope gracious Lord for these and every day hear our prayers we lift them all to you now in the mighty and holy name of Jesus and all God's people said
[00:20:33] really loud from wherever you are amen now this morning you get a chance to give but you gotta do it online because you can't get to the plate or the box but the plate and the box in this room
[00:20:56] have been empty for two weeks now but the ministries of our church the mission that we carry out to make Jesus central to everyday life in our community carries on, whether there's snow and ice on the ground or not. So I encourage you to click that QR code. It literally takes 15
[00:21:19] seconds. I do it every time I give. Actually, I give automatically, but when I give this way, It takes 15 seconds.
[00:21:29] And know that the gifts that you give will go to spreading God's love to God's people all over this community.
[00:21:42] It makes a difference.
[00:21:44] It matters.
[00:21:45] If you don't do QR codes, that is totally okay.
[00:21:51] You can, well, if you don't do online, that's totally okay too.
[00:21:55] Write a check.
[00:21:57] Drop it in the mail.
[00:21:58] to 214 North Academy Street, Mooresville, 28115.
[00:22:05] And we can't wait to be back together in person, but for now, this is the best we got.
[00:22:12] So thank you so much for the ways you give and know that your giving matters and it makes a difference in this world.
[00:22:19] And most importantly, it draws your spirit closer to Jesus because it reminds you as you give to celebrate the giver and to trust in his grace.
[00:22:32] So thank you so much for giving.
[00:22:42] Now would be a great time to refill the hot chocolate, eat some pancakes, whatever else you're doing there at home.
[00:22:50] Enjoy it.
[00:22:51] And you know, if you don't mind, post some fun snow pictures for us all because we'd love to be able to share in community together even when we can't be physically together.
[00:23:03] So post some good pictures.
[00:23:05] of what's going on in your world today.
[00:23:08] We'd love to see them.
[00:23:10] And it'll give us a chance to celebrate our beautiful creator together.
[00:23:15] Thank you so much for just taking a few minutes to worship with us.
[00:23:20] These last few weeks, we've been talking about living for a God who can.
[00:23:25] And all of a sudden, I realize I have no idea where to look when there's no people in this room.
[00:23:30] I'm sorry.
[00:23:32] So we'll try again.
[00:23:36] and I'll remember that you are with me wherever you are. Know that you are in my heart as we have conversation together this morning. So we've been thinking about living for a God who can, looking at dreams in the Bible and how God uses dreams to reveal himself to us, to encourage
[00:23:58] us, to give us what we need, to show us what he can do and what he does through his people. So as we jump into this week's story, I've got a question for you. And the question is this.
[00:24:15] How many of you read the instructions? I believe there's two kinds of people in the world.
[00:24:23] There are people who read the instructions. I mean, like, really, they study them. They go step by step. They get them out, lay them out, get the pieces in order, refer back to the instructions. That's what I mean by read the instructions. Or there are people who
[00:24:39] do this? I can figure this out. Which one are you? Do you read the instructions or do you just figure it out? What do you do? You're a number two? Yeah, I'm a number two as well. I'll just
[00:24:54] figure it out. I get an idea and I go on about my way. We are very grateful for the people who actually read the instructions when we can't figure it out. But some of the dream stories
[00:25:07] in the Bible, they come with instructions. They come with instructions. Today's story comes with special instructions. At the top of the instructions, it might say, out of your comfort zone instructions. In fact, most dreams come with those kind of instructions,
[00:25:31] don't they? They take us out of our comfort zones. So let's listen into this story. There are two main characters, Saul and Ananias. Now, sometimes I ask you to focus on one, you know, choose which
[00:25:47] character you'd like to focus on and which one speaks to you. You don't get to pick today. I want you to focus on Ananias. Listen to the scripture and try to put yourself in Ananias' place.
[00:26:03] Ananias is a believer a leader in the church in Damascus in the early church not long after Jesus has died and been raised Saul has been in Jerusalem persecuting Christians okay so that's where we are, and this is Acts chapter 9, starting in verse 10. See if you can feel what might be
[00:26:40] going on in Ananias' gut through this story. In Damascus, there was a certain disciple named Ananias. The Lord spoke to him in a vision. Ananias, he answered, yes, Lord. The Lord instructed him, go to Judah's house on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul. He is
[00:27:12] praying. In a vision, he has seen a man named Ananias enter and put his hands on him to restore his sight. Ananias countered, Lord, I have heard many reports about this man. People say he has
[00:27:30] done horrible things to your holy people in Jerusalem. He's here with authority from the chief priest to arrest everyone who calls on your name. The Lord replied, go. This man is the agent I have chosen to carry my name before Gentiles, kings, and Israelites. I will show him how much
[00:27:58] he must suffer for the sake of my name. Ananias went to the house. He placed his hands on Saul and said, Brother Saul, the Lord sent me. Jesus, who appeared to you on the way as you were coming
[00:28:16] here, he sent me to you so that you could see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit.
[00:28:24] Instantly, flakes fell from Saul's eyes, and he could see again.
[00:28:29] He got up and was baptized.
[00:28:33] After eating, he regained his strength.
[00:28:37] He stayed with the disciples in Damascus for several days.
[00:28:41] Right away, he began to preach about Jesus in the synagogues.
[00:28:45] He is God's Son, he declared.
[00:28:51] This is God's Word for God's people.
[00:28:54] Thanks be to God.
[00:28:56] This story, it's often called Paul's conversion or Paul's Damascus Road experience.
[00:29:07] And that's true.
[00:29:08] It is a dramatic story of one who persecuted Christians becoming their chief spokesperson.
[00:29:15] That's a big deal.
[00:29:17] But I think this story could have a different title too.
[00:29:21] It could have the title Ananias' Dream.
[00:29:25] Ananias' Comfort Zone Explosion.
[00:29:28] because without Ananias' encounter with the living God and his obedient response to God's instructions, Saul might still be a blind persecutor of Christians rather than Paul the apostle who is responsible for a chunk of Scripture
[00:29:49] that we now call the New Testament.
[00:29:55] Ananias had a dream.
[00:30:03] God has revealed to him through this dream that gives him these really, really difficult and out-of-the-box instructions.
[00:30:15] So what did Ananias do?
[00:30:18] Let's just look through and see.
[00:30:20] What did Ananias do when he got this incredible revelation?
[00:30:28] Well, first of all, he answered when God called.
[00:30:33] That may seem so elementary, and we might even just skip right over it because it's two little words.
[00:30:41] yes, Lord. God called. Ananias, he says, yes, Lord. It's very anticlimactic in the scripture story.
[00:30:51] I'm sure there was maybe a little more to it when it actually happened. But Ananias answers when God calls. Answering when somebody calls you matters. If you've ever tried to get a child to listen to
[00:31:08] you. You know what I'm talking about. Anybody get annoyed when you call somebody and they don't answer? Mama, mama, mama, mama, or whatever. Or on the phone. Anybody get annoyed when you call somebody and they don't answer? Well, unless you're older than me, probably not. It probably
[00:31:38] doesn't annoy you at all. Because today, you know, answering the phone is optional. Probably 80% of the time, we ignore it. And even so, we know who it is before we say hello. But there was a time,
[00:31:59] way long time ago, back in the last century, when I was little, there was a time when answering the phone was required. And we had no clue who was calling. It was expected. And if there were kids
[00:32:20] in the house, when the phone rang, a foot race ensued to that little box on the wall with the really long cord to see who could get there and answer it first. See, now we have this culture of
[00:32:35] not answering people. We don't answer emails. We don't answer texts. We sure don't answer phone calls we're just oblivious but there was a time when answering someone was expected and answering when God calls still matters it matters that we say yes Lord yes Lord and then we come with the
[00:33:13] question well well how do I know it's God calling it's not like God's face pops up on my on my phone so I know who it is, how do we know it's God calling?
[00:33:27] Well, people you spend time with, you know them by voice, don't you?
[00:33:32] You cannot be looking anywhere close and somebody you love walks in the room or somebody you really don't love walks in the room and you hear their voice and you know they're there.
[00:33:47] Spending time with God helps you understand God's voice and how God shows up for you.
[00:33:55] It helps you understand the difference between when it's God's voice and when it's something else.
[00:34:05] But that nudge, that nudge to make a call or pay a visit or help a stranger or heal a broken relationship or write a thank you card, that nudge, that's a call to answer.
[00:34:25] That nudge to stand up for the one who's in trouble.
[00:34:29] that nudge to stand up and work for justice even though it's unpopular that's a call to answer I think a lot of times we tend to use not knowing if it's God or not as a cop-out
[00:34:49] because we are afraid to get out of that comfort zone and do the thing that we're being nudged to do so Ananias answers that's the first thing that's out of the box sometimes answering the
[00:35:11] phone, even now, takes us out of our comfort zone. But we've got to answer when God calls.
[00:35:22] And then he listens to God's instructions. God says, get up and go. But he doesn't automatically get up and go, does he? He tries to negotiate the terms. One translation I read said, God, you can't be serious. I don't know how many times I've told God that. You can't be serious.
[00:35:44] do you know who this you know who this Saul person is he's over there in Jerusalem persecuting Christians and he's gotten all the proper government paperwork to come over here to Damascus and do the same thing to us what do you think he's going to do to me when I go over
[00:36:03] there and lay hands on him you can't be serious and God says get up and go and Ananias listens God's instructions didn't change after Ananias' negotiations.
[00:36:36] The instructions were the same and a little bit further out of the comfort zone.
[00:36:42] Get up and go.
[00:36:43] Isn't getting up and going sometimes the hardest thing in the world to do?
[00:36:51] Insert going to the gym.
[00:36:53] Oh, my goodness.
[00:36:54] after I get up and go and I get to work and I feel so much better and my body feels better and I'm ready for the day and I'm so glad I did but boy when that alarm goes off I'm like oh I just
[00:37:11] don't wanna and that's easy that's not going to lay hands on an enemy getting up and going is Sometimes the hardest part, the listening and the doing, the obedience comes next.
[00:37:37] And Ananias answers, he listens, and then he obeys.
[00:37:40] He actually goes to the enemy.
[00:37:49] He is risking his life here.
[00:37:52] Not every call from God asks us to risk our lives.
[00:37:57] This one particularly does.
[00:37:59] But every call from God will call us further than we probably want to go.
[00:38:05] And he obeys. He went to the enemy. He went to see Saul like God had revealed to him in his dream.
[00:38:16] And he put his hands on him, not knowing if he would live or die after Saul could see.
[00:38:27] I wonder if he wanted to just say, God sent me here so you could see, and then run for his life.
[00:38:33] I don't know. But he didn't. He put his hands on him, and he said, God sent me here so that you could see. And then God heals Saul. Saul becomes Paul and immediately begins to preach the good
[00:38:57] news of Jesus. This man who had been persecuting Christians on Thursday is now proclaiming Christ on Friday. And the agent of grace that made that transformation possible was named Ananias.
[00:39:21] You see, we cannot forget that answering God's call in our own lives is very likely part of answering God's dream in somebody else's life. Sometimes we know who that is.
[00:39:42] Sometimes we don't.
[00:39:47] God's dream always, always calls us out of our comfort zones.
[00:39:55] But the instructions are pretty clear.
[00:40:01] So we probably shouldn't just take them and glance at them and toss them to the side.
[00:40:07] We probably should be those number one folks on the list with these instructions.
[00:40:14] Answer, listen, obey.
[00:40:18] God says, get up and go into places you've never been, among people that make you uncomfortable, doing things that you're not sure about, speaking truth about who I am with your life, your actions, your words. Get up and go and fulfill my dream in somebody else.
[00:40:57] What a gift that is. What a frightening, terrifying, overwhelming, grace-filled gift that is. Thanks be to God. Amen. Now maybe, you know, today's not a get up and go kind of day.
[00:41:21] Let's just be honest. We're all going to hunker down and be still. So maybe today is the day you think about. What is it that the God of heaven and earth might be laying upon my heart to get
[00:41:41] up and go be part of in his name, in his world, for his good and his glory? Listen, he'll give you something. Don't be afraid to get up and go.

[00:42:26] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:42:26] of the unknown, where Jesus is, and he's holding out his hand. But the waves are calling out my name, and they laugh at me, reminding me of all the times I tried before and failed. Waves that keep on telling me, time and time again, boy, you'll never win, you'll never win.
[00:42:57] The voice of truth tells me a different story. The voice of truth says do not be afraid. And the voice of truth says this is for my glory. Out of all the voices calling out to me.
[00:43:22] I was used to listening to the text, I stand before a giant and a stone. Surrounded by the sound of a thousand warriors, shaking in their armor, I had the strength to stand.
[00:44:04] But the giant's calling out my name and he laughs at me Of all the times I tried before it failed The giant keeps on telling me Time and time again, boy, you'll never win But the voice of truth tells me a different story
[00:44:36] The voice of truth says do not be afraid The voice of truth says this is for my glory. The voice is calling out to me. I will choose to listen and hear the voice of truth. The voice of truth tells me a different story. The voice of truth says do not be afraid.
[00:45:18] And the voice of truth says this is for my glory.
[00:45:25] Out of all the voices calling out to me is to listen and believe.

[00:45:46] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]
[00:45:46] So thank you so much for joining us, friends.
[00:45:49] And as you go through this week, out of all the voices that call out your name, choose and listen to and believe and follow the voice of truth.
[00:46:03] And as you do, may the Lord bless you and keep you.
[00:46:06] May the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you.
[00:46:10] May the Lord turn his face toward you and give you his peace, now and forevermore.
[00:46:17] Amen.
[00:46:18] Have a great week. Stay warm.