Sent Part 11 | Handling Transitions in Life | Pastor Bryan Carter | Acts 20:13–38 |

Time out. We spent enough time trying to run out to other people and please other people and keep up with other people and we say, you know what? Time out for all that because you can have all that and they still won't like you. You can you can accomplish all that and still not get the recognition. But at some point in your life, you ought to declare Jesus is my goal. He he's the one that wakes me up in the morning. He he's the one that keeps me going at work. He's the one that helps me manage my money. He's the one that has given my days a little while longer. Oh lord, teach us to number our days. He he's the one that's given me health and strength. [00:28:42] (42 seconds)  #JesusMyGoal

One of the ways you can get confidence to know that God is gonna help you through this next season is by reminding yourself of the faithfulness of God in the past season. This is not the first transition or the first change you've gone through. And remember, the last time you had change, God saw you through that one, and the same God that saw you through that chain is the same God that'll see you through this change. [00:04:44] (30 seconds)  #RememberGodsFaithfulness

Yes. Paul says, I I gave up trying to please people a long time ago. Amen. Says, I I stopped living my life for my cousin, my mother, my family, and everybody else. I stopped trying to please everybody and make them like me, I decided I'm gonna do this for Jesus. I decided I'm gonna run my race. Because I'm not trying to run nobody else's race. I ain't trying to keep up with him or keep up with them or somebody else's social. I'm not I ain't trying to run nobody else's race. I I got enough race in my own life to deal with. [00:26:27] (39 seconds)  #RunMyRaceForJesus

It's it's a reality that if we're not careful in a world that we live in, we can we can be tempted or preachers can be tempted to try to hesitate and not tell you all of the word of God. We can we can be tempted to to try to not be offensive or or or not to be unpopular or to try to search for sound bites or clips that'll make you viral. But Paul says, listen, when you are declaring the word of God, you've got to be unbothered by what people think, unbothered by your own reputation, unbothered of whether it makes you popular or not, but the truth is the truth. And and so Paul says, I didn't hesitate to tell you the truth. [00:10:45] (42 seconds)  #SpeakTruthUnbothered

He said, gave you everything. Matter of fact, he gets down to that last section around verse 30, and he says these words. He said he said, I gave them this truth in verse 21, that that that that they must turn to God in repentance and have faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. So what he said? He said, they gotta turn to God in repentance, that we cannot come to God and think that we can remain the same way. There must be a repentance that happens. There must be a turning that happens in our lives. [00:14:49] (34 seconds)  #RepentAndBelieve

And Paul, I love Paul because Paul says, there's not some certain group that needs the word of God. Paul says, Jews need it, Gentiles need it, the educated need it, the uneducated need it, The the married need it. The single need it. The black, brown, white. Everybody needs the word. The republicans need it, and the democrats need it. They and the independents need it. They all need the word of God. The straight needed. The LGBTQ needed. They all everybody needs the word of God. [00:14:05] (33 seconds)  #WordForEveryone

What's gonna happen on the other side? You you have been there, you felt the Lord moving you, but there was some uncertainty on the other side. I mean, you you knew you had to make a move. You knew this was the moment, but but but it was it was so comfortable over here. And over there, there's some unanswered questions. Over there, there's some unknowns. Over there, you don't quite know how everything's gonna work out. Even if it was dysfunctional over here, at least you knew where the dysfunction was over here. You don't quite know where it is. [00:19:39] (36 seconds)  #SteppingIntoTheUnknown

And so Paul takes a moment now to talk about how God has been at work. You see it right there around verses seven. He says, listen, I want you to know that I've been with you now for three years. In verse 19, he talks about his posture. He says, served the Lord with great humility and with tears. That word service serve is the Greek word doulos, which means slave. And Paul is saying, I've been a servant for God these past three years. [00:05:14] (30 seconds)  #HumbleServantLife

Not only does he has his posture, but he also says I went through some pressure. He says, want you to know that in the midst of severe testing, that word testing, it speaks to pressure. And Paul is describing that while he was there for three years, he went through some pressure. Now the the narrative doesn't describe the specific pressure that he faced each time, but typically as the text says, it was his Jewish opponents. Every time he was trying to do the work of God, there was always some challenges that he had to face. And as a reminder to you and me that serving God will not come without challenges. Serving God will not come without opposition, and the enemy is always busy. [00:07:13] (48 seconds)  #FaithUnderPressure

Or or maybe your kids have moved out your house, but maybe they moved back in your house. Or maybe you've moved in with them. Or maybe you've had to learn how to parent your parents. Or maybe you've had to manage through while raising your kids while also caring for an aging parent. Life is full of changing. If that's not enough, just the aging process alone is something you have to navigate through. Life is full of changes [00:01:11] (32 seconds)  #LifeIsFullOfChange

Whether it is moving to a new city or whether it's a career change where you now are either moving up or maybe even losing your job Or or maybe you've retired or what some would say, semi retired. Or or maybe you know what it's like to to have to end up going back to school or or possibly you know what it's like to deal with the change of financial gain or financial loss, paying off debts or dealing with inflation, or sometimes the loss of a loved one, a loss of a spouse or a brother or a parent or having a baby. [00:00:33] (38 seconds)  #NavigateLifeTransitions

It is to make sure you understand that we are all depraved and except for the grace of God, we would not have what we have, be able to do what we do nor have accomplished what we have. Humility means to walk with a limp and not a strut. [00:05:57] (17 seconds)  #WalkInHumility

And Paul says, I didn't care who it was. I wanna tell them that they need him in their lives. That that that we must turn to God and put our faith in Jesus Christ. Our faith not in our education, our faith not in our accomplishments, our faith not in our government, but our faith in Jesus Christ. [00:16:20] (19 seconds)  #FaithInJesusNotInSelf

And so there you are. He said, I've been compelled. Look at verse 23. Look at what verse 23 said. He says he says, I I in verse 22 says, I'm going to Jerusalem not knowing what will happen to me there. The spirit is moving me there, but I don't know what's gonna happen when I get there. I'm being compelled, but there's some uncertainty on the other side of this transition. [00:19:11] (28 seconds)  #LedByTheSpiritIntoUnknown