Embracing Brokenness: The Path to Greatness
Devotional
Sermon Summary
Bible Study Guide
Sermon Clips
### Quotes for Outreach
1. "You're kicking against the goads. You are resisting him. You are holding him off. Because guess what? He's pursuing you. And for some of you, he's been pursuing you for a long time. I believe he wants you to hear this message today. Because he's saying, look, I want you to surrender to me. I've got something great for you, but you can't just keep running off and doing your own thing. You've got to quit holding me at arm's length. Maybe somebody here, somebody online, you've been coming for a while, you go to church, but you've not... You've not yet surrendered your heart to Jesus." [01:06:20]
2. "Often for God to use us, he first has to break us. That's exactly what Paul did to Saul. He broke him. But he restored him. He does that in our lives. We get knocked down so many times we think, God, where are you? God, why would you do this? Why would you do this to me? God, how could this happen? God doesn't care about me. He doesn't love me. And all the time he's saying, hey, I'm right here. I'm ready to help you pick up the pieces. I'm ready to help put you back together. I want you to see that it's me who takes care of you." [01:04:54]
3. "Saul realizes he's completely missed the heart of God. God to him was distant. He wasn't a personal God who'd come in the flesh and die on the cross for lost people like Jesus did. That could not be God in his mind. But on the road to Damascus, Saul met a God that he never dreamed existed. So he asked him, who are you? Who are you? Who are you? Who are you? That's the question we have to all grapple with in our lives. Who is Jesus? Not just who we believe Jesus is. I mean, that's important, who we believe Jesus is. But here's probably more important. Who is Jesus in your life?" [59:27]
4. "You know what he wants from you. You just don't want to surrender your life to him. For whatever reason, you're just holding him off. You may even have the appearance of being religious. But you don't have a true authentic relationship with God yet. You've not experienced the transformation that comes from a personal relationship with Jesus. And you're not going to until you're broken. Until you're willing to be broken. Because that's the only way. That's the only way we can come to Jesus. We can only come to him as broken people. Because if we're not broken, then we don't think we need a savior." [56:12]
### Quotes for Members
1. "Before Abraham became the father of many nations, he and Sarah were childless. Before Jacob could be blessed, he was wounded in a wrestling match with an angel. Before Joseph ruled Egypt, he was thrown into a pit and sold into slavery and falsely imprisoned. Before Job, Job's estate was doubled, he lost everything he had, including his family, his fortune, and his future. Before Moses, became the great deliverer, he lost his position, his possessions, and his popularity. Before Joshua conquered the promised land, he went through the wilderness. Before Samson crushed the Philistines, he was blinded and bound. Before David became king, he was renounced by his family, ridiculed by his foes, and rejected by his friends. Before Daniel could be used mightily, he had to spend the night in a lion's den." [41:22]
2. "What Jesus means when he says that to Saul is that Saul was resisting what God was doing. God was prodding him. God was poking at him, and he was resisting. He was going against what God was doing. He was going against how God was trying to lead him. Now, this phrase, kicking against the goad, it was a, it was kind of a, an, like a, an expression or a metaphor that was known in that day, and it carried with this idea that, that if you're kicking against the goads, you're, you, you are, you're putting yourself through pain and struggle, but for no reason. You're doing it in vain, just like the cattle, the one doing the prodding is going to win." [49:45]
3. "Saul asks, what do you want me to do? This is a question of a man who is surrendering his will to Jesus Christ. Lord, what do you want me to do? This is a question of lordship. We ask Jesus that when we're ready to make him Lord of our life. It's a willingness to surrender our will to Jesus. It's as if Saul is saying, I've been leading my own life. I've been doing my own thing. I've been going my own way. But now I want to do your will. What do you want me to do? I'm ready to follow you." [01:00:08]
4. "God is saying to Saul, I'm going to take you to the breaking point. My goal is to break you, Saul. And I know you're struggling. There's a good chance that Saul was already struggling. He stood there and watched Stephen be stoned to death, and watched his faith, and heard him. Crying out to the Lord, and seeing, man, maybe there's something to this. We don't read that in the word, but I have a feeling that because he's been being prodded by the Lord, that there are already thoughts like, maybe there's something to this, but he would fight against it. Like, no, I know I'm not giving in to that. I'm not going to think that. I'm going to keep going with my mission. I'm going to keep trying to destroy this church that's being developed." [51:18]
5. "Before God can use a man greatly, he must wound him deeply. Ooh, we don't want to hear that, do we? That's not fun to listen to. Before you can bless, you've got to bleed. Before you can help, you must first hurt. Oswald Chambers said it this way. If we ever are going to be made into wine, we have to be crushed. Because you cannot drink grapes. Grapes only become wine when they are squeezed. God had to do something dramatic to knock Saul off of his feet. God does that sometimes. He does that in our lives sometimes. God tends to knock us down so he can pick us back up and dust us off." [56:53]
Ask a question about this sermon
1. "You're kicking against the goads. You are resisting him. You are holding him off. Because guess what? He's pursuing you. And for some of you, he's been pursuing you for a long time. I believe he wants you to hear this message today. Because he's saying, look, I want you to surrender to me. I've got something great for you, but you can't just keep running off and doing your own thing. You've got to quit holding me at arm's length. Maybe somebody here, somebody online, you've been coming for a while, you go to church, but you've not... You've not yet surrendered your heart to Jesus." [01:06:20]
2. "Often for God to use us, he first has to break us. That's exactly what Paul did to Saul. He broke him. But he restored him. He does that in our lives. We get knocked down so many times we think, God, where are you? God, why would you do this? Why would you do this to me? God, how could this happen? God doesn't care about me. He doesn't love me. And all the time he's saying, hey, I'm right here. I'm ready to help you pick up the pieces. I'm ready to help put you back together. I want you to see that it's me who takes care of you." [01:04:54]
3. "Saul realizes he's completely missed the heart of God. God to him was distant. He wasn't a personal God who'd come in the flesh and die on the cross for lost people like Jesus did. That could not be God in his mind. But on the road to Damascus, Saul met a God that he never dreamed existed. So he asked him, who are you? Who are you? Who are you? Who are you? That's the question we have to all grapple with in our lives. Who is Jesus? Not just who we believe Jesus is. I mean, that's important, who we believe Jesus is. But here's probably more important. Who is Jesus in your life?" [59:27]
4. "You know what he wants from you. You just don't want to surrender your life to him. For whatever reason, you're just holding him off. You may even have the appearance of being religious. But you don't have a true authentic relationship with God yet. You've not experienced the transformation that comes from a personal relationship with Jesus. And you're not going to until you're broken. Until you're willing to be broken. Because that's the only way. That's the only way we can come to Jesus. We can only come to him as broken people. Because if we're not broken, then we don't think we need a savior." [56:12]
### Quotes for Members
1. "Before Abraham became the father of many nations, he and Sarah were childless. Before Jacob could be blessed, he was wounded in a wrestling match with an angel. Before Joseph ruled Egypt, he was thrown into a pit and sold into slavery and falsely imprisoned. Before Job, Job's estate was doubled, he lost everything he had, including his family, his fortune, and his future. Before Moses, became the great deliverer, he lost his position, his possessions, and his popularity. Before Joshua conquered the promised land, he went through the wilderness. Before Samson crushed the Philistines, he was blinded and bound. Before David became king, he was renounced by his family, ridiculed by his foes, and rejected by his friends. Before Daniel could be used mightily, he had to spend the night in a lion's den." [41:22]
2. "What Jesus means when he says that to Saul is that Saul was resisting what God was doing. God was prodding him. God was poking at him, and he was resisting. He was going against what God was doing. He was going against how God was trying to lead him. Now, this phrase, kicking against the goad, it was a, it was kind of a, an, like a, an expression or a metaphor that was known in that day, and it carried with this idea that, that if you're kicking against the goads, you're, you, you are, you're putting yourself through pain and struggle, but for no reason. You're doing it in vain, just like the cattle, the one doing the prodding is going to win." [49:45]
3. "Saul asks, what do you want me to do? This is a question of a man who is surrendering his will to Jesus Christ. Lord, what do you want me to do? This is a question of lordship. We ask Jesus that when we're ready to make him Lord of our life. It's a willingness to surrender our will to Jesus. It's as if Saul is saying, I've been leading my own life. I've been doing my own thing. I've been going my own way. But now I want to do your will. What do you want me to do? I'm ready to follow you." [01:00:08]
4. "God is saying to Saul, I'm going to take you to the breaking point. My goal is to break you, Saul. And I know you're struggling. There's a good chance that Saul was already struggling. He stood there and watched Stephen be stoned to death, and watched his faith, and heard him. Crying out to the Lord, and seeing, man, maybe there's something to this. We don't read that in the word, but I have a feeling that because he's been being prodded by the Lord, that there are already thoughts like, maybe there's something to this, but he would fight against it. Like, no, I know I'm not giving in to that. I'm not going to think that. I'm going to keep going with my mission. I'm going to keep trying to destroy this church that's being developed." [51:18]
5. "Before God can use a man greatly, he must wound him deeply. Ooh, we don't want to hear that, do we? That's not fun to listen to. Before you can bless, you've got to bleed. Before you can help, you must first hurt. Oswald Chambers said it this way. If we ever are going to be made into wine, we have to be crushed. Because you cannot drink grapes. Grapes only become wine when they are squeezed. God had to do something dramatic to knock Saul off of his feet. God does that sometimes. He does that in our lives sometimes. God tends to knock us down so he can pick us back up and dust us off." [56:53]
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