The Danger of ‘Just Like That’: Why Human Effort Cannot Save

• Sudden Divine Intervention 00:10:41 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor defines 'suddenly' as happening quickly and without warning, citing Isaiah 48:3 and Malachi 3 to illustrate God's unexpected actions.
• Evangelism and Salvation 00:01:05 ▶️ 📄
  > The speaker discusses the importance of the upcoming Sunday service for evangelism, referencing Acts 16 and the jailer's conversion to emphasize that salvation is available to all regardless of past sins.
• Scripture Reading 00:03:33 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor reads passages from Acts 16 and 2 Kings 7 to provide biblical context for the sermon's theme of sudden change.
• The Mark of a Good Sermon 00:11:52 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor defines a good sermon by its ability to be remembered in a single sentence that impacts daily life, illustrated by a bread truck driver remembering to love his enemies.
• Bad Things Happening to Good People 00:12:37 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor argues that negative events can occur suddenly to righteous individuals, citing the imprisonment of Paul and Silas despite their good deeds.
• The Atmosphere Can Change 00:15:08 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor explains how circumstances can shift dramatically and unexpectedly, using the examples of the lepers finding food and Paul and Silas's prison breaking open.
• Freedom Can Come 00:23:48 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor introduces the concept that freedom is contagious and can arrive suddenly, linking it to the power of speech and faith.
• The Power of Speech and Faith 00:23:14 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor cites 2 Corinthians 4:13 to argue that speaking faith changes the atmosphere and outcome, contrasting this with fault-finding.
• Contagious Freedom 00:23:55 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor explains that freedom is contagious, using the biblical examples of Paul and Silas and the ten lepers to illustrate how one person's deliverance impacts others.
• Joy Replacing Depression 00:25:57 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor discusses how joy can instantly replace depression, referencing the jailer's sudden shift from suicidal ideation to great joy.
• Cooperation with God 00:29:22 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor emphasizes that believers must actively cooperate with God's program to experience sudden changes, citing the lepers' decision to go to the city.
• The Altar Call and Salvation 00:33:13 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor leads the congregation in a decision for Christ, counting to three to prompt faith, and provides a guided prayer for those who wish to commit their lives to God.
• God's Readiness and Repentance 00:34:13 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor asserts that God is not willing for anyone to perish but desires all to come to repentance, emphasizing that God is close to those who are far from Him.
• Salvation and Faith 00:34:53 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor cites John 1:12 to explain that receiving Christ grants the power to become children of God, leading into a guided prayer of acceptance.
• Prayer of Repentance and Acceptance 00:35:05 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor guides the congregation through a specific prayer to confess sins, accept Jesus Christ, and ask for help to live for God.
• Divine Intervention and Change 00:36:05 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor addresses the need for sudden, unexpected changes in various areas of life (financial, familial, business) and prays for God to turn situations to good.

• Sermon Illustration 00:04:22 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor shares a personal anecdote about receiving a whisper from the Holy Spirit 14 years ago to play Ebenezer Scrooge in a play, which led to him presenting the gospel to over 55,000 people across 12 states.
• Sermon Illustration 00:05:22 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor recounts a story from his wife about how a single night's vision could melt a hardened heart, drawing a parallel to the biblical story of Ebenezer Scrooge and his own spiritual transformation.
• Sermon Illustration 00:11:34 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor tells a story about a retired Navy chaplain who defined a 'good sermon' as one that sticks with a listener, illustrated by a bread truck driver remembering the command to 'love your enemies' while at the grocery store.
• Sermon Illustration 00:11:34 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor recounts a story from his Bible college days about a retired Navy chaplain who defined a good sermon as one that sticks in a believer's mind long enough to influence their actions, such as a bread truck driver remembering to love his enemies.
• Sermon Illustration 00:12:43 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor describes the biblical account of Paul and Silas being beaten and imprisoned in a dungeon for setting a demon-possessed girl free, illustrating how bad things happen to good people.
• Sermon Illustration 00:13:57 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor details the story of four lepers during a siege who, facing starvation, decided to surrender to the Syrians, only to find the enemy camp empty and full of food due to a divine intervention.
• Sermon Illustration 00:17:41 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor shares a personal anecdote about lifting a baby named Tiny Tim to demonstrate how the 'atmosphere' in a church can shift from heavy to light, paralleling the spiritual weight of the gospel.
• Sermon Illustration 00:19:05 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor tells the story of Jennifer Luke, a former choir member who was given two weeks to live by doctors but lived much longer by choosing to 'live' rather than just wait to die, illustrating a change in personal atmosphere.
• Sermon Illustration 00:21:04 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor recounts climbing Mount Rainier with coaches who advised him to use an ax for safety, and later walking the Appalachian Trail where a coach taught him to change his self-talk from complaining to declaring faith.
• Sermon Illustration 00:22:35 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor recounts a personal story of a fundraiser where he used self-talk and scripture ('I can do all things through Christ') to overcome physical pain and change the atmosphere of the event.
• Sermon Illustration 00:24:14 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor references the biblical story of Paul and Silas, noting that when they praised God, an earthquake freed not only them but all the other prisoners in the dungeon.
• Sermon Illustration 00:24:41 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor retells the story of the ten lepers who, after being healed, chose to report the news to the city rather than keep the treasure they found, resulting in the city's salvation from famine.
• Sermon Illustration 00:27:31 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor shares a humorous anecdote about his son buying him tickets to a football game, forcing him to sit with opposing fans, which led to a moment of shared joy despite his team's loss.
• Sermon Illustration 00:30:25 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor tells the story of his friend Michael Allard, a preacher who received a kidney and pancreas transplant from a deceased teenager, leading to his healing and the conversion of the donor's family.
• Sermon Illustration 00:33:08 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor shares a brief anecdote about a Brazilian woman he met on stage who was raised Catholic but found salvation after watching a magician perform tricks.
• Sermon Illustration 00:34:17 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor uses the metaphor of being 'a million miles or a hundred feet' away from God to illustrate that God's proximity is not dependent on the believer's perceived distance.
• Sermon Illustration 00:36:31 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor references specific life crises such as a spouse walking out or receiving a pink slip as examples of 'bad suddenly' events that require a 'good suddenly' from God.

• Pastoral Charge 00:02:10 ▶️ 📄
  > Come to Jesus in prayer for forgiveness and salvation, regardless of past sins.
• Pastoral Charge 00:03:29 ▶️ 📄
  > Purchase a book from the resource table to begin reading more.
• Pastoral Charge 00:12:13 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor asks the congregation to internalize and carry the sermon's main thesis with them after the service.
• Pastoral Charge 00:23:33 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor commands the congregation to align their speech with faith and God's will to effect change in their lives.
• Pastoral Charge 00:34:23 ▶️ 📄
  > Raise hand to demonstrate faith
• Pastoral Charge 00:35:02 ▶️ 📄
  > Recite a specific prayer of confession and repentance
• Pastoral Charge 00:36:20 ▶️ 📄
  > Stand to feet for prayer.

[00:00:00] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]:
Oh, I'm so absolutely delighted to be here and I want to commend you for being here at church.
[00:00:09] We start, you can't believe how incredible it is to start the year in prayer.
[00:00:16] You come in here and the place has almost this many people in it for a 6 a.m. prayer meeting.
[00:00:20] It's unbelievable.
[00:00:21] But I think it is to be commended to finish strong as well and the fact that you're here on not such a great day is pretty cool.
[00:00:30] I love this Sunday and I know some churches are kind of canceling this Sunday and I'm so thankful that our pastor Doug Witherup did not cancel this Sunday.
[00:00:39] This is the 14th year in a row that I've been here at this Sunday.
[00:00:43] Preach to, yeah, thank the Lord.
[00:00:46] I preached to 14,141 people and 102 people have given their hearts to the Lord on this weird Sunday of the year.
[00:00:56] So it's important to me and it's always been important and I'm glad it's important to you.
[00:01:00] You're here for God.
[00:01:01] I'm so delighted that Pastor Doug gave us this opportunity.
[00:01:05] Today I'm going to take passages from Acts chapter 16.
[00:01:10] It's a lot of scripture.
[00:01:12] and 2 Kings chapter 7.
[00:01:14] I'll read it in just a moment.
[00:01:17] I looked at my calendar early this morning because I didn't want to speak evangelistically speaking.
[00:01:23] That's Greek for big fat liar.
[00:01:25] And since Rick Ross invited me to come to this church to be staff evangelist conservatively, very conservatively,
[00:01:36] This year, 738 people have started a walk with the Lord Jesus Christ this year.
[00:01:41] 9,873.
[00:01:42] Glory to God.
[00:01:45] And this church supports us like a missionary, better than any church that supports us, and we're very, very indebted.
[00:01:53] And let me just say this.
[00:01:55] If you're away from God a million miles or a hundred feet, He's not far from any of us.
[00:02:02] This will be a good day to go into 2026
[00:02:06] Totally changed.
[00:02:07] This will be a good day for you to give your life to Jesus.
[00:02:10] If you're thinking, preacher, you don't know what I've done, I've got to ask you a question.
[00:02:14] Have you killed a Christian lately?
[00:02:16] I didn't say have you thought about it.
[00:02:18] I'm asking you, have you done it?
[00:02:21] The Apostle Paul used to do that.
[00:02:24] God knocked him off a horse, changed his life, changed the world, and a third of the New Testament is written by... You ain't done nothing so bad, you cannot be forgiven, and it's just a prayer away.
[00:02:35] You ain't got to do anything fancy.
[00:02:36] Thief on the cross didn't even get baptized.
[00:02:39] Couldn't do anything.
[00:02:41] And Jesus said, today you'll be with me in paradise because it's all about belief.
[00:02:46] I have a message that I want to speak for about 30 minutes.
[00:02:48] I want to dedicate it to the people that came
[00:02:51] to this altar for prayer.
[00:02:52] I want this to be prophetic from the Holy Spirit and I ask him to prophesy through me to your need that came to this altar a few moments ago.
[00:03:03] I have a resource table.
[00:03:04] I got a bag with four books in it.
[00:03:06] Good books.
[00:03:07] I want to read more in 2026.
[00:03:09] I'm reading the phone way too much.
[00:03:10] I want to read books like in the olden times.
[00:03:13] Books have helped me, changed my life.
[00:03:15] I have a book on family, one on a devotional book,
[00:03:18] A book on transformation and change and a novel.
[00:03:21] There's a way to get it.
[00:03:23] An audible book out there.
[00:03:25] And make yourself available to that.
[00:03:27] And be with me and let's read more.
[00:03:29] Start by getting one of my books.
[00:03:30] All right.
[00:03:33] Acts chapter 16, 2 Kings chapter 7.
[00:03:36] Father, thank you for this church.
[00:03:37] This is my church.
[00:03:39] This is our home base.
[00:03:41] These are our people.
[00:03:42] I'm not here very often.
[00:03:44] But Lord, when I'm around, it is such a blessing.
[00:03:48] To be with the family of God.
[00:03:49] And always on this Sunday for Pastor Steve and I to team up.
[00:03:53] It's just such a comfort and a grace that I do not take for granted.
[00:03:58] We pray for three things to be real in this room.
[00:04:02] The love of Jesus compels us.
[00:04:04] For anybody, man, woman, boy or girl, that is not walking with you, that God, your love, would compel them to come into the kingdom.
[00:04:13] That the Spirit of God
[00:04:15] Gently and wonderfully convict us and anoint us.
[00:04:18] That's what we pray for
[00:04:19] In Jesus' name.
[00:04:21] Amen.
[00:04:22] Fourteen years ago, I started this.
[00:04:24] There's a picture of Ebenezer Scrooge.
[00:04:26] It started in this church.
[00:04:27] It actually started in 2010.
[00:04:28] Thirteen months into the future, I'm sitting in a church service, just sitting in a seat like you are, and I heard a whisper from the Holy Spirit, Do not travel next December.
[00:04:38] Be in a play.
[00:04:39] I hadn't been in a play since high school.
[00:04:41] I was slim in Oklahoma.
[00:04:43] That character has changed a lot.
[00:04:47] And so, just as an act of obedience,
[00:04:49] I've played Ebenezer Scrooge 14 times.
[00:04:52] I've presented the gospel 152 times in 12 states and 58 cities to 55,000 people.
[00:05:01] 55,538 people and 2,039 people have responded and said, I want to walk with Jesus.
[00:05:13] Praise God for that.
[00:05:15] But there's another picture I want to show you, and that's my ghost who traveled with us for 10 years.
[00:05:20] She can't because of health issues now.
[00:05:22] She said something in a rehearsal, and it was like a lightning bolt in my heart.
[00:05:26] A few years ago, she said on stage, Would you have me believe that one night's vision could melt such a hardened heart?
[00:05:37] And it just struck me.
[00:05:38] That's what happened to Ebenezer Scrooge, but it also happened to me.
[00:05:42] It's happened to a lot of other people that one night's vision could change everything.
[00:05:48] Acts chapter 16.
[00:05:50] Acts chapter 16.
[00:05:51] I'm going to read it fast, listen fast.
[00:05:54] And they brought them to the magistrates and said, These men being Jews exceedingly trouble our city, and they teach customs which are not lawful for us being Romans to receive or observe.
[00:06:02] Then the multitude rose up together against them, and the magistrates tore off their clothes and commanded them to be beaten with rods.
[00:06:09] And when they had laid many stripes on them, they threw them into prison, commanding the jailer to keep them securely.
[00:06:14] Having received such a charge, he put them into the inner gross prison,
[00:06:18] and fastened their feet to the stocks but at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God and the prisoners were listening to them suddenly there was a great earthquake so that the foundation of the prison were shaken and immediately all the doors were were loosed and the keeper of the prison awakening from the sleep and seeing that the prison doors were opening supposing the prisoner had fled drew his sword and was about to kill himself
[00:06:46] But Paul called with a loud voice, saying, Do yourself no harm!
[00:06:49] We're all here!
[00:06:50] Then he called for the light, and then fell down, trembling before Paul and Silas.
[00:06:55] And he brought them out, and the jailer said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved?
[00:06:59] So they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you'll be saved, you and your household.
[00:07:04] Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house.
[00:07:09] And he took them by the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes.
[00:07:12] And immediately he and all his family were baptized.
[00:07:15] Now when he had brought them into his house, the jailer, he set food before them, and rejoiced, having believed in God with his whole household.
[00:07:24] Now 2 Kings chapter 7.
[00:07:25] 2 Kings chapter 7.
[00:07:27] and verse 3 through 8 and then we'll read another one at the end, just a couple of verses.
[00:07:32] Now there were four leprous men at the entrance of the gate and they said to one another, why are we sitting here till we die?
[00:07:39] If we say, we'll enter the city, the famine's in the city and we shall die there.
[00:07:44] And if we sit here, we die also.
[00:07:46] Now therefore, come, let us surrender to the army of the Syrians.
[00:07:50] If they keep us alive, we shall live.
[00:07:52] And if they kill us, we shall only die.
[00:07:55] and they rose at twilight to go to the camp of the Syrians and when they had come out outskirts of the Syrian camp to their surprise there was no one there for the Lord had caused the army of the Syrians to hear the noise of the chariots and the noise of horses and the noise of a great army so that they said to one another look the king of Israel is hired against us the kings of the Hittites and the kings of the Egyptians to attack us and next verse we have another one
[00:08:21] Because if we don't, I'm up here just twisting the wind.
[00:08:23] All right, I've got the scripture in front of me.
[00:08:26] I've got the scripture.
[00:08:27] Therefore they rose at twilight and left the camp intact.
[00:08:32] They're tense, and by the way, media department, you only get talked about when something glitches.
[00:08:37] You guys are awesome, and ladies are awesome.
[00:08:42] Therefore they arose and fled at twilight and left the camp intact, their tents and their horses and their donkeys, and they fled for their lives.
[00:08:51] And when the lepers came to the outskirts of the camp, they went into one of the tents and ate and drank and carried from it silver and gold and clothing and went and hid them.
[00:09:01] Then they came back and entered into another tent and carried some of them there also and went and hid it.
[00:09:10] Now the king had appointed the officer on whose hand he had leaned to have charge over the gate.
[00:09:15] But the people trampled him in the gate, and he died, just as the man of God had said, who spoke when the king came down to him.
[00:09:23] So it happened, just as the man of God had spoken to the king, saying, Two sieves of barley for a shekel,
[00:09:29] and a seed of the fine flower for a shekel shall be sold tomorrow about this time in the gate Samaria.
[00:09:36] Then that officer had answered the man of God and said, Now look, if the Lord would make windows in heaven, could such a thing be?
[00:09:44] And the man of God said, In fact, you're going to see it with your eyes, but you shall not eat it.
[00:09:50] So it happened for him just as the people trampled him in the gate and he died.
[00:09:55] Okay, I have an understanding in life, being elderly like I am, that things happen to us that change us forever, negatively.
[00:10:07] You have that understanding too.
[00:10:09] Maybe some of you were praying about that a while ago.
[00:10:12] You get a pink slip.
[00:10:14] You get a telephone call about a car wreck.
[00:10:17] You get a lab report.
[00:10:18] You get a certified letter from the IRS.
[00:10:22] Divorce papers.
[00:10:23] We measure time often by those horrible things.
[00:10:27] Before the terrible thing and after the terrible thing.
[00:10:29] But I have a contention that just like things happen horribly that change our lives just like that, they can also happen positively just like that to influence us for good.
[00:10:41] The Bible speaks of suddenly.
[00:10:44] Isaiah 48, 3, Suddenly, that means quickly and without warning, unexpectedly, I foretold the former things long ago by my mouth, announced them, then suddenly I acted and it came to pass.
[00:10:55] Malachi 3 says, Then suddenly, quickly, without warning, unexpectedly, then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple.
[00:11:02] Joseph was in the prison and the Bible says Pharaoh sent for him quickly to come suddenly quickly without warning without expectation and he'd been in prison for years and Pharaoh quickly sent for him and it changed everything he said now you're in charge of the whole country we just celebrated Christmas the Bible says in Luke 2 that the angels suddenly
[00:11:23] A great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angels praising God.
[00:11:28] In Bible college, there's a class called homiletics, how to preach, and we had an old retired Navy chaplain.
[00:11:34] Love that guy, Billy Wilson.
[00:11:35] He was a bald-headed guy, talked out of the corner of his mouth like this right here.
[00:11:39] Love that guy, he was great.
[00:11:41] And he'd say, almost every class, it's the Word and the Holy Ghost, boys and girls, it's the Word and the Holy Ghost.
[00:11:46] And he told us one day, he said, now here's the mark of a good sermon.
[00:11:50] Here's the mark of a good sermon, preachers.
[00:11:52] You got a guy, you got an old boy in your church, and he drives a bread truck.
[00:11:56] On Thursday afternoon, he's pulled up to the Piggly Wiggly, and he gets one of them trays out of the truck, and he remembers, my preacher said that I'm supposed to love my enemies.
[00:12:05] That's the mark of a good sermon.
[00:12:07] They'll remember it in a sentence.
[00:12:09] It's the proposition.
[00:12:10] It is the objective.
[00:12:11] It is the sermon in a sentence.
[00:12:13] So my sermon in a sentence in the next few moments that I have, I want you to leave with this.
[00:12:18] And the sermon is,
[00:12:20] As things happen negatively just like that, they can also happen positively just like that that will affect us forever in a powerful way.
[00:12:29] That's the sermon in a sentence.
[00:12:31] I want to just tell you three or four things at the risk of being redundant.
[00:12:35] The first point is a little redundant.
[00:12:37] Just like that, bad things can happen to good people.
[00:12:40] Just like that, bad things can happen to good people.
[00:12:43] Paul and Silas, there are six men in these two stories, Old and New Testament.
[00:12:48] Paul and Silas are in prison because they did something good.
[00:12:52] Paul turned around and looked at a demon-possessed girl, young girl being trafficked by the occult pimps,
[00:12:58] She's full of a pythona, the Bible says.
[00:13:01] It's a demon that was so powerful.
[00:13:04] Doesn't read minds but can predict human behavior based on long history.
[00:13:10] And the Spirit would speak through this teenage girl and it would say things that resonated with people and they would pay money.
[00:13:16] And this girl was bugging Paul and Silas for many, many days.
[00:13:20] He finally had enough.
[00:13:22] and turned and said come out in Jesus name and suddenly quickly without warning that that girl was delivered but the but the money dried up and they got Paul and Silas those occult pimps and they and they beat them the Jews had a limit on how many lashes you could have not so with the Romans they beat them and beat them and beat them
[00:13:44] and Beatum and threw them into a toilet cistern of a dungeon and shackled their hands and their feet just because they set a kid free.
[00:13:54] Stuff like that happens.
[00:13:56] It's crazy.
[00:13:57] What were these four lepers?
[00:13:59] First of all, they're lepers.
[00:14:01] They really don't belong anywhere.
[00:14:02] They're kind of outside the camp.
[00:14:05] They're considered the dregs.
[00:14:06] You don't sign up for leprosy.
[00:14:09] They may have just gotten it for no...
[00:14:11] They weren't around lepers.
[00:14:12] They just got leprosy.
[00:14:14] Not only do they have leprosy, they have it in one of the worst times of history.
[00:14:19] The Syrian army is surrounding King Assad.
[00:14:22] He got everybody in the army to surround God's people, the whole army.
[00:14:29] and then cut off the supply lines.
[00:14:31] And there was such a drought and there was such a famine that the Bible says, and I punched it into the AI calculator and just to try to figure out what it is in contemporary terms.
[00:14:42] We don't know what a Sia is and all that.
[00:14:44] A donkey's head inside the walls was going for $600 US.
[00:14:50] You can't even eat a donkey's head.
[00:14:52] But that's what they were selling for.
[00:14:55] And a handful of dung from a dove was selling for 40 US dollars.
[00:15:01] So not only were they lepers, they were in dire straits.
[00:15:06] Sometimes bad things happen.
[00:15:08] Number two, just like that, the atmosphere can change.
[00:15:11] Just like that, the atmosphere can change.
[00:15:17] These guys, these old lepers, they out there,
[00:15:20] We're going to die.
[00:15:21] We're going to die right here.
[00:15:23] We can go in the city.
[00:15:24] I don't have 600 bucks for a donkey head, do you?
[00:15:28] We can die in there or we can go to the Syrians and throw ourselves at their mercy and say, you know, don't kill us.
[00:15:35] Just give us a piece of bread and water.
[00:15:38] Can you imagine the atmosphere in their own hearts that changed when they walked all the way to the front lines
[00:15:47] And as they're walking, there are weapons, the Bible says, all over the road.
[00:15:52] Because what happened was God put some of those little JBL Bluetooth speakers all over the place.
[00:15:59] And the Syrians, the enemy, they heard.
[00:16:03] You ever heard that expression?
[00:16:04] You're hearing things.
[00:16:05] They were hearing things.
[00:16:07] The noise of a great army and war.

[00:16:11] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
Ah!

[00:16:11] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]:
And they're terrified and they left all their food.
[00:16:14] They just ran with what was ever on their back.
[00:16:18] And here come these lepers stepping over swords.
[00:16:21] What is all this?
[00:16:23] They walk in that first tent, there's fried chicken.
[00:16:28] What happened in the atmosphere of their heart?
[00:16:31] They went from $600 for a donkey head to we got butter beans for days.
[00:16:38] Just like that.
[00:16:41] Just like that.
[00:16:42] That man of God said it's going to happen just like that.
[00:16:46] by Paul and Silas in that toilet dungeon at midnight, listening to the groans of the demon-possessed prisoners and the quiet, muffled cries of those who were innocent in prison.
[00:16:58] And all that stuff.
[00:17:00] He doesn't know what to do.
[00:17:02] And at midnight, they prayed.
[00:17:05] Hallelujah.
[00:17:10] That was the darkest place on earth in that moment, but how the atmosphere changed.
[00:17:15] and the Bible says the prisoners listened to them.
[00:17:18] Well, what else are they gonna do?
[00:17:19] They're a captive audience.
[00:17:20] You ever been around some, you ever been around prisoners?
[00:17:23] It could have gone like this.
[00:17:24] Hallelujah, shut up!
[00:17:28] Now there was something about the atmosphere that changed that compelled them to listen.
[00:17:34] They felt it.
[00:17:36] When I do the end of the show, I grab Tiny Tim and I pick him up and say, you're as light as a feather.
[00:17:41] Sometimes the churches,
[00:17:43] Brian, sometimes the church is giving me a 19-year-old just stomping out a cigarette, and I pick him up and say, you're as light as a feather.
[00:17:51] We had one kid in diapers this year.
[00:17:52] It was wild.
[00:17:54] And I squeezed the kid's knee.
[00:17:56] I said, we will have a Merry Christmas to him for this year and for many years to come and make God bless us.
[00:18:00] I squeezed his knee and the kids started saying, God bless us everyone.
[00:18:03] She went and put him down.
[00:18:04] And then I said, that's what happened to me one night in London, England.
[00:18:08] And then I take a bow and that's very kind of you.
[00:18:11] You may be seated.
[00:18:12] They don't always stand, but sometimes they do.
[00:18:15] But then when I transition to the next seven minutes and say, there is a God in heaven.
[00:18:24] And he has a son named Jesus.
[00:18:27] Jesus volunteered to come to this pit called the earth.
[00:18:30] and he lived a perfect life without a bad thought, bad word, without ever failing to do the right thing.
[00:18:37] Could have called legions of angels but instead went to the cross and on the cross God made him who had no sin to become sin on our behalf that we might become.
[00:18:48] You can feel the atmosphere change in the room from enjoying art which was bait to now enjoying the presence of God.
[00:18:59] I've got a picture here of a girl that used to sing in the choir of this church.
[00:19:05] If you'll put that up there, it's Jennifer Luke.
[00:19:09] Any of you old-timers, you may remember many, many years ago, back in the 90s, early 2000s, she was a great singer.
[00:19:15] On August the 20th, 2025, Marcus called me and he said,
[00:19:21] He said they gave her two weeks to live, Joe.
[00:19:24] She'd battled lymphoma for about four years.
[00:19:27] They told her she would die.
[00:19:28] She would plow through that deadline.
[00:19:30] They told her she'd never be alive to see her son.
[00:19:33] She plowed through that death notification.
[00:19:37] And now on August, they say, no, this is it.
[00:19:39] It's two weeks.
[00:19:41] My wife and I would go and visit over in the mountains where they live.
[00:19:46] I'll show this next picture.
[00:19:47] The day after they told her two weeks,
[00:19:50] This is a picture of her.
[00:19:51] I asked a crowd in Dayton, Ohio.
[00:19:53] I showed this picture right after it happened.
[00:19:56] I preached her funeral, by the way, on November 1st of 2025.
[00:20:01] She made it a lot longer than two weeks.
[00:20:04] I said, what do you think that girl's doing?
[00:20:05] And some guy yelled out, she's praying.
[00:20:07] I said, no, she's not praying, which is a fine thing to do.
[00:20:11] She's taking exercise.
[00:20:14] She's doing calisthenics.
[00:20:15] She's doing what the doctor gave her as an exercise.
[00:20:18] In other words, they say, I'm gonna die in two weeks.
[00:20:21] You know what I think I'm gonna do when I wake up?
[00:20:23] I'm gonna live.
[00:20:24] That's an atmospheric change.
[00:20:27] Next picture.
[00:20:28] This is how she lived her life.
[00:20:30] She worshiped the living God.
[00:20:32] There's something about you and I cooperating with God to change the atmosphere of our situation.
[00:20:42] Jesus calmed the storm.
[00:20:43] It was a storm.
[00:20:44] And then he said, be still.
[00:20:45] And suddenly, without warning, unexpectedly, it got really calm.
[00:20:49] And I know that I have told some of these stories last year.
[00:20:52] I said to the other crowd, when you hear it, don't say, Joe's getting senile.
[00:20:57] I know what I'm doing.
[00:20:58] I told this story last time, and I'm going to tell it this time.
[00:21:01] Now, I do repeat other times when I don't know what I'm doing.
[00:21:04] All right, this is a picture of my coaches.
[00:21:09] They told me I should climb a mountain.
[00:21:10] I said, look at me.
[00:21:11] I'm not climbing a mountain.
[00:21:13] They said, oh, no, man, you can do it.
[00:21:14] You can do it.
[00:21:15] You'd have to really try hard to die on that mountain.
[00:21:20] Then they gave me an ax and said, now, if you fall, put your ax in the mountain so you don't hit terminal velocity is what they said.
[00:21:27] I do not recommend this activity for any 60-year-old person in this room, but I did it.
[00:21:34] That's me on the right there looking at Mount Rainier over my right shoulder.
[00:21:39] Those two guys helped me a lot.
[00:21:42] And one of them, three years earlier on the Appalachian Trail, we're walking 100 miles for a fundraiser.
[00:21:50] And he said, Joe, how you doing, buddy?
[00:21:51] And that West Virginia broke.
[00:21:53] And I hate that question when I'm doing bad.
[00:21:58] Because I hate liars and poor mouths, and those two things collide.
[00:22:01] So I'm just going to let it.
[00:22:02] How you doing, buddy?
[00:22:03] Well, my knees are starting to click.
[00:22:05] That's a new thing.
[00:22:05] I don't know what that's about.
[00:22:09] 30 minutes later, Joe, how you doing, buddy?
[00:22:11] You know, I got plantar fasciitis, Steve.
[00:22:13] Every step's like walking on glass.
[00:22:17] 30 minutes later, Joe, how you doing, buddy?
[00:22:19] My toenails just ripped off my left foot.
[00:22:21] I can feel it.
[00:22:24] He said, I think you need to change the way you talk.
[00:22:27] I said, I think you need to shut up.
[00:22:31] You don't want to ask me.
[00:22:33] But if you're going to have a coach, you got to be coachable.
[00:22:35] He gave me a little lecture on self-talk.
[00:22:39] So about an hour later, cautiously, he said, Joe, how you doing, buddy?
[00:22:43] I said, every step I take in this fundraiser is another soul for Jesus.
[00:22:49] Joe, how you doing, buddy?
[00:22:51] I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength, Steve.
[00:22:56] Hey, Joe, how you doing, buddy?
[00:22:57] I tell you, Steve, it's amazing.
[00:22:59] I'm a lot tougher than I thought I was.
[00:23:02] Now, I'm going to tell you right now, it really didn't change the pain that much, but it changed the atmosphere.
[00:23:09] It changed the event.
[00:23:11] It changed the outcome.
[00:23:12] and you have the power.
[00:23:14] The Bible says life and death is in the power of the tongue.
[00:23:17] And I know there are hyperfaith things that's gotten way out on the fringes and maybe into excess, but I'd rather be around a hyperfaith person than a no-faith person.
[00:23:26] And I want you to know that fault finding is not a gift of the Spirit.
[00:23:29] So whatever needs to change in your life, let your mouth cooperate.
[00:23:33] 2 Corinthians 4, 13, having that same spirit of faith, we believe, therefore we speak.
[00:23:39] Speak to the situation.
[00:23:40] The atmosphere can change just like that.
[00:23:45] Number three.
[00:23:48] Just like that, freedom can come.
[00:23:50] Just like that, freedom can come.
[00:23:53] Now here's the thing about freedom.
[00:23:55] It's contagious.
[00:23:58] When I give the altar call with Scrooge, I tell the people, if you don't want to give your heart to the Lord for your sake so that you will have your name written in heaven so that your last breath here, the next breath would be in heaven, can you do it for everybody whose life will be improved because of your decision?
[00:24:14] And these two stories, these six men,
[00:24:17] When Paul and Silas said hallelujah and the earthquake came and everybody got free, every chain fell off of every other person besides Paul and Silas in that room, in that dungeon got freed in that moment.
[00:24:33] Maybe some for the first time in years they didn't feel those shackles on their feet and on their arm.
[00:24:39] What about the lepers?
[00:24:41] They walk in, fried chicken, fried chicken, butter beans, butter beans, and they got that silver, and they run that silver, and they bury it.
[00:24:46] Whoo, we gotta go to another tent.
[00:24:47] There's treasure everywhere from the Syrian army where they had raided, and they go, and they bury that, and they say, wait a minute, what we're doing isn't right.
[00:24:55] Well, you know, they make fun of us lepers.
[00:24:57] We don't need to go tell them, no, what we're doing is not right.
[00:25:01] And so they go, and they tell the city where they're selling donkey heads for $600.
[00:25:08] And they say, we got treasure and we got groceries.
[00:25:14] They said, we don't believe it.
[00:25:15] We know what's happening.
[00:25:16] The Syrians are lying in wait.
[00:25:17] They're going to kill us and come into the city.
[00:25:19] and they only had like five horses left the Bible said they probably eaten the rest of them they were eating they were they were resorting to cannibalism according to 2nd Kings chapter 7 and chapter 6 cannibalism so they said take one of the horses and the chariots and they came out and they said it's true it's true and and everybody got paid and everybody ate how do you think they felt about those leopards they may not have gone to hug them but they might have seen it from a distance what's up yeah we got to eat because everybody got free
[00:25:49] It's contagious.
[00:25:50] And it can happen just like that.
[00:25:53] Just like that.
[00:25:53] I've seen it.
[00:25:54] Just like that.
[00:25:56] Finally this.
[00:25:57] Just like that, joy can replace depression.
[00:26:01] Joy can replace depression.
[00:26:03] My wife and I had a healthy debate driving down the road the other day about this passage.
[00:26:07] She is usually right.
[00:26:10] And I'll give her credit for this.
[00:26:12] She's possibly right.
[00:26:14] She heard me preach about the jailer and how he's going to kill himself.
[00:26:18] He sees the prisoners maybe escaping and he knew the Romans would kill him.
[00:26:22] So he grabs a sword to kill himself.
[00:26:24] And I have said, he probably had suicidal ideations.
[00:26:28] He probably had a proclivity to suicide because he beat people for a living.
[00:26:32] Imagine that's your job.
[00:26:34] How was your day, dear?
[00:26:35] Beat 25 today.
[00:26:37] You know, that's his job.
[00:26:38] But my wife had a very good point.
[00:26:41] She said, he may not have been suicidal at all.
[00:26:43] It might have been like 9-11 when the planes hit the tower.
[00:26:47] A lot of those people that jumped, they never thought about suicide, but they were faced with a tough decision.
[00:26:51] And in a moment they reacted.
[00:26:53] That could be the truth.
[00:26:54] Either way, all I can tell you factually is from the time he grabs his sword until the time he sits down and the NIV says there was great joy in that house and the message says everyone was in on the celebration, it was only 123 words
[00:27:13] In between suicide and great joy.
[00:27:17] And it can happen just like that.
[00:27:22] And it happened for the people in the leper story.
[00:27:26] I want to show you a painful 20-second video.
[00:27:29] Let me set it up.
[00:27:31] My son Joseph said, Dad, I know you're an Alabama fan.
[00:27:34] I just bought you two tickets, me and you, to go to the national championship game in Indianapolis.
[00:27:39] He's an Ohio State fan.
[00:27:41] I've had the exorcists come out and the therapists and holy water.
[00:27:46] I said, even Auburn, I mean, no.
[00:27:49] I'm kidding, I'm kidding about it.
[00:27:51] But he said, I got these tickets.
[00:27:53] But we have to sit with the Georgia people.
[00:27:55] Now show that video.
[00:27:55] So we're sitting behind, we're sitting behind the family.
[00:28:00] These are families of the Georgia players in front of us.
[00:28:04] And there's a bunch of us that would slip down and stand behind them.
[00:28:06] When Bryce threw that pick-sit and Brooke, those guys don't know each other.
[00:28:10] They're loving each other.
[00:28:12] and they're invoking the memory of their dead grandfather.
[00:28:15] If my grandpa was here, he'd go and they're loving one another.
[00:28:18] You can turn that terrible thing off.
[00:28:22] I caught myself in that moment high-fiving three people before I said, what am I doing?
[00:28:27] I'm an Alabama fan.
[00:28:31] But joy is contagious and it can happen just like that.
[00:28:36] Suddenly, quickly, without warning and unexpectedly.
[00:28:39] In conclusion, they said to the man of God, said, now I know that you're paying 600 bucks for a donkey head and $40 for a handful of dove droppings, but tomorrow at this time, 15 pounds of flour will be sold for $10 US.
[00:28:57] And the man said, oh yeah?
[00:29:01] The guy standing by the king, even if God opened up the windows, would it happen?
[00:29:07] And the man of God said, yeah.
[00:29:09] Your eyeballs are gonna see it, but you ain't gonna taste it.
[00:29:13] And he was trampled at the gate, just like the man of God said.
[00:29:16] There's something about cooperating with God's program to change things.
[00:29:22] Just like that.
[00:29:23] What if the jailer would have said, What must I do to be saved?
[00:29:26] Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
[00:29:28] You'll be saved in your house.

[00:29:30] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]:
Nah, is there a silver package or a bronze?

[00:29:33] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]:
I don't want to... No, you've got to cooperate with God.
[00:29:37] Just like those lepers.
[00:29:39] We've got to do something.
[00:29:40] We can't just sit here.
[00:29:41] You've got to cooperate with God.
[00:29:44] There's another suddenly.
[00:29:47] The Bible says in Acts 2 when the day of Pentecost had fully come they were all in one accord in one place and suddenly quickly without warning unexpectedly there was a sound from heaven and everyone was filled with the Holy Spirit and it changed the world suddenly all of you that came for prayer can we believe God together that just like that what you're asking God for is going to happen suddenly quickly without warning and unexpectedly
[00:30:13] As the band comes, I want to just close this message before I give you an opportunity, if you're away from God, not to be away from God.
[00:30:21] I think I shared this last year at this service.
[00:30:25] My friend Michael Allard.
[00:30:27] Michael Allard is a preacher, associate pastor at a significant church called Crossroads Fellowship in Houston, Texas.
[00:30:34] Michael Allard at the age of 10 was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes.
[00:30:38] He was in stage 5 renal failure at the age of 38 and his kidney function was 4%.
[00:30:45] He was on the on-ramp of dialysis.
[00:30:50] It crippled his ministry.
[00:30:52] He got a call one day and the caller said, we have horrible news Reverend Allard and we have wonderful news.
[00:30:59] The horrible news is
[00:31:01] That there's a family in Houston, Texas grieving severely.
[00:31:04] We found out later it was a girl named Haven, 13 years old, was hit by a car.
[00:31:09] She had no really external damage.
[00:31:12] It was an internal thing.
[00:31:14] She looked beautiful at her funeral, but she stayed on life support for eight days.
[00:31:18] Six people received her organs and improved their lives.
[00:31:22] They said, Mr. Allard, Reverend Allard, if you can get down here, we have your pancreas and we have your kidney.
[00:31:29] He said, I'm there.
[00:31:30] I'm on the way.
[00:31:32] And he told me, he said, Joe, I went from stage 5 renal failure, 4% kidney function, to just a few hours later sitting in the corner of a room with a hospital gown, drinking a Dr. Pepper and eating a Snicker bar.
[00:31:51] I got this package.
[00:31:54] You know what's really cool about that story is some of Haven's family that gave the kidney and the pancreas went to hear the guy preach and they gave their hearts to God.
[00:32:06] And they were changed just like that.
[00:32:11] His mama said, Joe, sorry, this is handwritten.
[00:32:15] Michael handed me this yesterday to give to you.
[00:32:18] We've been moved by the way you're using his story.
[00:32:21] This is his insulin pump.
[00:32:23] It still has insulin in it.
[00:32:24] And what they wanted me to do was to tell people that just like that, God can change the whole thing.
[00:32:33] And He did that for me in a nightclub when the Holy Ghost said, Joe, I love you.
[00:32:38] I got something better for you than this.
[00:32:41] And I walked out of darkness into the light 43 years ago, and I've been walking in the light ever since.
[00:32:49] Without a single regret.
[00:32:52] This could be your day.
[00:32:54] I was on stage 17 shows in November with a Brazilian woman who was raised in Brazil as a Catholic, got saved in a country Smith station Alabama Baptist Church after looking at a magician do some kind of magic tricks.
[00:33:08] God can do anything, I'm telling you.
[00:33:10] This could be your day.
[00:33:11] She's changing the world.
[00:33:13] You bow your heads.
[00:33:14] I'm going to count to three.
[00:33:16] Joe, is that a preacher thing?
[00:33:18] Yeah, probably.
[00:33:19] But here's why I do it.
[00:33:20] When I say the number three, I see your faith.
[00:33:23] The Bible says Jesus saw their faith.
[00:33:25] I'm not Jesus, but when I see your hand go up, I see your faith.
[00:33:29] And I want to pray with you right where you sit, but I want to see your faith.
[00:33:33] It's an on-ramp of a beautiful companionship with God you will never regret.
[00:33:37] Here we go.
[00:33:38] 1.
[00:33:39] Joe, I didn't need you to tell me that I've been a sinner.
[00:33:42] I woke up knowing it, walked in knowing it.
[00:33:44] Bad thoughts, bad words, whole thing.
[00:33:46] I know it.
[00:33:47] 2.
[00:33:48] I don't want to go to bed tonight the way I did last night.
[00:33:50] I want to know that I know that I know when I put my head on the pillow, absent from the body, like the Bible says, present with the Lord.
[00:33:56] I want to know it.
[00:33:58] You might be thinking, nobody can know that.
[00:34:00] Well, the Bible says these things are written that you might know.
[00:34:02] You have eternal life.
[00:34:04] You can know it tonight when you put your head on the pillow.
[00:34:07] Relationship with God.
[00:34:09] It's awesome.
[00:34:10] It's incredible.
[00:34:12] You ready?
[00:34:12] I promise you God is ready.
[00:34:13] He is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
[00:34:17] When I say this number, if you're away from God a million miles or a hundred feet, He's not far from you.
[00:34:22] He's not far from any of us.
[00:34:23] I want you to slip your hand up, hold it up for a beat or two, and I'm going to pray with you right where you sit, but I want to see your faith.
[00:34:29] Here it comes.
[00:34:30] Three.
[00:34:31] Yeah.
[00:34:31] Raise your hand.
[00:34:32] Leave it up for a beat or two.
[00:34:33] One, two, three, four.
[00:34:36] Hallelujah.
[00:34:37] Hallelujah.
[00:34:38] Hallelujah.
[00:34:38] Five, six.
[00:34:40] Praise God.
[00:34:41] Seven, eight, nine, ten.
[00:34:43] Ten or eleven people.
[00:34:45] Thank God.
[00:34:45] If you were the only one, He would have gone to the cross just for you.
[00:34:49] I want you to pray something not too fancy, just like a kid.
[00:34:53] John 1.12 says, To as many as received him, he gave the power to become the children of God.
[00:34:57] You 11 people or more, I couldn't see everybody.
[00:35:00] I want you to pray something like this.
[00:35:02] Fill in the blanks as I stutter through this.
[00:35:05] Say this to God.
[00:35:05] Dear God, here I am.
[00:35:07] Here I am, God, right here in Concord, North Carolina.
[00:35:10] And I'm sorry for my bad thoughts.
[00:35:13] And I'm sorry for my wrong words.
[00:35:15] And I'm sorry for the things I should have done and didn't do.
[00:35:19] I pray that you'll forgive me.
[00:35:21] This morning, I receive and accept the Lord Jesus Christ.
[00:35:25] Tell him that.
[00:35:26] I receive and accept the Lord Jesus Christ.
[00:35:30] I believe.
[00:35:31] I believe, Lord.
[00:35:33] I believe in Jesus.
[00:35:36] Come into my life and help me to live for you all the days of my life.
[00:35:39] Now, Lord, I pray with Pastor Doug, Pastor Steve, and the great ministry team here, Pastor Gwen, all of them, that you will help everybody who prayed that simple prayer understand what they need to understand, that they will
[00:35:52] Repent, make a U-turn, go the other direction of the thing that grieves the Holy Spirit, but more than anything, they'll trust Jesus and Jesus alone for their eternal life, for the glory of God.
[00:36:03] I got one more prayer.
[00:36:05] If you need a suddenly in your life, quickly, without warning, unexpectedly, financially, in the atmosphere of your home, in your business, something in 2026 has to change.
[00:36:17] And you have faith to believe that God can change it just like that.
[00:36:20] Would you stand to your feet for this last prayer?
[00:36:23] Yeah.
[00:36:24] Something's got to change.
[00:36:27] For some of you, it was a bad suddenly.
[00:36:31] A spouse walked out on you.
[00:36:34] Pink slip.
[00:36:35] It was a bad suddenly.
[00:36:36] You need a good suddenly.
[00:36:41] God, just like that,
[00:36:47] For your glory, by your Spirit, and in the name of your Son, Jesus, turn their situation to good just like that.
[00:37:00] Would everyone stand now?

[00:37:05] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]:
Well, I hope today's service made a real difference in your life.
[00:37:08] Hi, I'm Noemi, the new online ministry director here at Multiple Concord, and I just want to thank you for joining us today.
[00:37:15] It truly means so much that you chose to worship with us online.
[00:37:19] If you made a decision to follow Jesus, we are celebrating with you.
[00:37:23] It's the greatest decision you could ever make, and we would love to walk alongside you as you take your next steps.
[00:37:28] Simply download the Multiply Concord app and tap Next Steps.
[00:37:32] There you'll find resources, encouragement, and a team ready to support you as you begin this new journey with Him.
[00:37:38] And as we step into a brand new year, from our Multiply family to yours, Happy New Years!
[00:37:44] We're believing this year will be a year of growth and God's favor over your life.
[00:37:48] Thanks again for being part of today's service.
[00:37:51] We can't wait to see you in 2026.