Scripture Ephesians
5:15-20
Be very careful, then, how you live —
not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the
days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will
is. Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled
with the Spirit. Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs.
Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God
the Father ‘for’ (“over”) everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
1 Thessalonians
5:16-18
Be joyful always; pray continually; give
thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ
Jesus.
INTRO TO MY STORY
James 3:9-10
With the tongue we praise our Lord
and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God's
likeness. Out of the same mouth come
praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be.
Mouthing off to T.W. Cable (2 1/2 hours 7 different numbers to call)
PAUL AND SILAS’S STORY
Acts 16:1-12
He
came to Derbe and then to Lystra, where a disciple named Timothy lived, whose
mother was a Jewess and a believer, but whose father was a Greek. The brothers at Lystra and Iconium spoke well
of him. Paul wanted to take him along on
the journey, so he circumcised him because of the Jews who lived in that area,
for they all knew that his father was a Greek.
As they traveled from town to town, they delivered the decisions reached
by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem for the people to obey. So the churches were strengthened in the
faith and grew daily in numbers.
Paul
and his companions traveled throughout the region of Phrygia and Galatia,
having been kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of
Asia. When they came to the border of
Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not allow
them to. So they passed by Mysia and
went down to Troas. During the night
Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him, "Come
over to Macedonia and help us." After Paul had seen the vision, we got
ready at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to
preach the gospel to them.
From
Troas we put out to sea and sailed straight for Samothrace, and the next day on
to Neapolis. From there we traveled to Philippi, a Roman colony and the leading
city of that district of Macedonia. And we stayed there several days.
Acts 16:11-40
From
Troas we put out to sea and sailed straight for Samothrace, and the next day on
to Neapolis. From there we traveled to Philippi, a Roman colony and the leading
city of that district of Macedonia. And we stayed there several days.
On
the Sabbath we went outside the city gate to the river, where we expected to
find a place of prayer. We sat down and began to speak to the women who had
gathered there. One of those listening was a woman named Lydia, a dealer in
purple cloth from the city of Thyatira, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord
opened her heart to respond to Paul's message. When she and the members of her
household were baptized, she invited us to her home. "If you consider me a believer in the Lord,"
she said, "come and stay at my house."
And she persuaded us.
Once
when we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl who had
a spirit by which she predicted the future. She earned a great deal of money
for her owners by fortune-telling. This girl followed Paul and the rest of us,
shouting, "These men are servants of the Most
High God, who are telling you the way to be saved." She kept this
up for many days. Finally Paul became so troubled that he turned around and
said to the spirit, "In the name of Jesus
Christ I command you to come out of her!" At that moment the spirit
left her.
When
the owners of the slave girl realized that their hope of making money was gone,
they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to face the
authorities. They brought them before the magistrates and said, "These men are Jews, and are
throwing our city into an uproar by advocating customs unlawful for us Romans
to accept or practice."
The
crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered
them to be stripped and beaten. After they had been severely flogged,
they were thrown into prison, and the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully. Upon receiving such
orders, he put them in the inner cell
and fastened their feet in the stocks.
About midnight Paul and Silas were
praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to
them. Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At
once all the prison doors flew open,
and everybody's chains came loose. The
jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and
was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped. But
Paul shouted, "Don't harm yourself! We are all
here!"
The
jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas.
He then brought them out and asked, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?"
They replied, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved — you
and your household." Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him
and to all the others in his house. At that hour of the night the jailer took
them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his family were
baptized. The jailer brought them into his house and set a meal before them; he
was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God — he and his whole
family.
When
it was daylight, the magistrates sent their officers to the jailer with the
order: "Release those men." The
jailer told Paul, "The
magistrates have ordered that you and Silas be released. Now you can leave. Go
in peace."
But
Paul said to the officers: "They beat us
publicly without a trial, even though we are Roman citizens, and threw us into
prison. And now do they want to get rid of us quietly? No! Let them come
themselves and escort us out."
The
officers reported this to the magistrates, and when they heard that Paul and
Silas were Roman citizens, they were alarmed.
They came to appease them and escorted them from the prison, requesting
them to leave the city. After Paul and Silas came out of the prison, they went
to Lydia's house, where they met with the brothers and encouraged them. Then they
left.
CONCLUSION
The time I got it right
I was 16 and in
apparently in tune with Jesus on this particular day.
Tell STORY: The day I got hit in my PINTO – it was unchained
praise.
The time I was in that
same car in Peoria Illinois and the Spirit of Jesus kept me from slamming into
a concrete wall.
The many times in a
tough/dark situation and I chose to praise.
Sometimes I get it right – sometimes I don’t but we all need to increase
those times we get it right – better for us and for those around us and all for
the glory of God.
James
3:9-10
With the tongue we praise our Lord
and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God's
likeness. Out of the same mouth come
praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be.
1
Thessalonians 5:16
Be joyful always; pray continually; give
thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ
Jesus
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