When Life Hands You. . . (Acts 16:6-16)
Gary McManus, 05/10/2020Part of the Sermons for a Pandemic series, preached at a Sunday Morning service
May 10, 2020 Mother’s Day in a Pandemic
Acts 16:6-16
In Acts we read of the continuing mission
of the Apostle Paul to go where no evangelist
or church planter had gone before.
Notice the leading of the Holy Spirit for the
mission of Jesus to reach people with the Gospel.
It is not smooth but stops and starts.
There is redirection.
Paul had a vision.
(Also notice the change from a report to
a diary!)
(See introduction to Luke’s two volume
work; Luke 1:1-4, Acts 1:1)
Paul was given a vision of a man calling them.
When they got there, Paul found only women.
Stop? Change direction? Keep looking?
Go with what you’re given?
Christian life is test.
Paul’s response: go with what is put in
front of us—we go with what we’ve got.
(Acts 16:13)
Paul’s decision to go with what was placed
in front of them bore fruit for the mission of Jesus.
Jesus’ instructions to the disciples, Luke 10:3-12.
It included: if you are not welcome, don’t make a
big deal of it. Don’t convince them to let you stay.
Eat what you are given to eat.
Rick Warren: The Purpose Driven Life.
Acts 27: Paul literally shakes off a serpent.
[Because of some Pastors in media, Pastor has
to mention that when any Christian believer in the
New Testament is arrested, they don’t fight it.]
Let’s look at today’s message this way:
“When life hands you lemons you make lemonade."
David Letterman: “if life hands you alligators,
you make Gatorade.”
Does DCC have a recipe? Any gator-wranglers here?
Any gator experience? DCC will have to work together.
DCC has to go from swamp to table.
Gator is actually quite delicious!
So, DCC is going to go with what
we’ve got. We have been handed a pandemic.
Don’t let earth get in the way of heaven.
Life has handed us lemons, we are going to
make lemonade. If life hands you gators,
make Gatorade. Go with what you’ve got.
The Apostle did. Amen.
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