← ArchiveGuest Pastor Robert Smith Jr.DateJanuary 5, 2025SpeakerRobert Smith Jr.TextActsPassages in this sermonActs 122:05Genesis 508:48Psalms 309:02Psalms 349:13John 169:24Romans 69:37Acts 1:1511:21Acts 2:4111:32Acts 4:411:49Acts 811:57Deuteronomy 2312:39Acts 1013:20Mark 10:3514:07Matthew 14:2522:39Matthew 1422:54Psalms 12131:49Psalms 5632:59Matthew 741:15TranscriptClick any line to jump there.0:00Even now, Lord Jesus, even now, even now, for I ask this in your name, amen. God be praised. What a delight it is to be in the Bethel Church. It's wonderful to be in the house of the Lord.0:29It's more wonderful to know that the Lord of the house is in the house. You are Bethel, house of God. It's not just a name, it's a reality. I felt your love instantaneously, tremendously blessed by the seniors' ministry, the profound teaching of the rabbi there. Thanks, Brother Josh, Dr. Josh Burnham, for inviting me.0:55You're in Greece now. To entrust me with the congregation is a signal of honor. Certainly moved by the sweet spirit of Sister First Lady, Casey Burnham, who is beautiful in the spirit,1:10but she's not hard on the optic nerve. Amen. All of you have welcomed me with such grace. I came here for several reasons, but one of the reasons was that I realized I would be meeting people for the first time,1:40and since we're going to spend eternity together, I thought it was about time for us to get to know each other. When we've been there 10,000 years, bright shining as the sun, we've no less days to sing God's praise than when we first begun. Thank you for having me, thank you for having me, the 12th chapter of the book of Acts, Acts chapter 12, turn there with me.2:05I want to read verses 1 through 17. I also want to read verse 24. I want to talk about living beyond the minor chord, which relates to the mission of the church. Living beyond the minor chord.2:34Hear these words from the word. It was about this time that King Herod arrested some who belong to the church, intending to persecute them. He had James, the brother of John, put to death with the sword. When he saw that this met with approval among the Jews, he proceeded to seize Peter also.2:59This happened during the festival of unleavened bread. After arresting him, he put him in prison, handing him over to be guarded by four squads of four soldiers each. Herod intended to bring him out for a public trial after the Passover. So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him. The night before Herod was to bring him to trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers.3:29Bound with two chains, and sentries stood guard at the entrance. Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared, and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him up. Quick, get up, he said. And the chains fell off Peter's wrists. Then the angel said to him, put on your clothes and sandals. And Peter did so. Wrap your cloak around you and follow me, the angel told him.4:00Peter followed him out of the prison, but he had no idea that what the angel was doing was really happening. He thought he was seeing a vision. They passed the first and second guards and came to the iron gate leading to the city. It opened for them by itself, and there they went through it. When he had walked the length of one street, suddenly the angel left him.4:25Then Peter came to himself and said, Now I know without a doubt that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from Herod's clutches and from everything the Jewish people were hoping would happen. When this had dawned on him, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John, also called Mark, where many people had gathered and were praying.4:55Peter knocked at the entrance, and a servant named Rhoda came to answer the door. When she recognized Peter's voice, she was so joyed, she ran back without opening it and exclaimed, Peter's at the door. You're out of your mind, they told her. When she kept insisting that it was so, they said, It must be his angel. But Peter kept on knocking, and when they opened the door and saw him, they were astonished.5:26Peter motioned with his hand for them to be quiet and described how the Lord had brought him out of prison. Tell James and the other brothers and sisters about this, he said. And then he left for another place. In music theory, a minor chord is formed when the third note, the middle note,5:51is equidistantly located between the first note, which is the root note, and the fifth note, the end note.6:16It emits emotions such as doom, gloom, despair. But when the third note is equally, equally located between the first and the fifth note,6:35unlike the minor chord that is just a step different, it emits the emotion of a major chord, hope, happiness, harmony. A minor chord, gloom, doom, despair.7:03Taps, it's the sound of the end, the closing of the day in the military. Major chord, revelé, it's time to get up, it's time to get up, it's time to get up in the morning. Hope, happiness, harmony. But in musical scores, there are both minor chords and major chords across the face of the musical score.7:32Songs like Donnie McClurkin's Stan, minor chord. What do you do when you've done all you can and it seems like it's never enough? Minor chord. What do you say when your friends walk away and leave you alone?8:00Minor chord. Tell me, how do you handle the guilt of your past? Tell me, how do you make it through? Minor chord. Major chord. You just stand when there's nothing left to do. Stand, watch the Lord see you through. After you've done all you can, you just stand. Because musical scores embody the interpenetration of the minor chord into the major chord.8:26But the Bible is filled with minor and major chords throughout its pages. Genesis 50, 20. And Joseph says, what you meant unto me for evil, minor chord. God meant unto me for good, major chord.8:57To save many people a lie. Psalm 30, verse 5. Weeping may endure for a night. Minor chord. But joy comes in the morning. Major chord. Psalm 34, verse 19. Many are the afflictions of the righteous. Minor chord. But the Lord delivers them from them all. Major chord. John 16, 33. In this world, you will have tribulation.9:26Minor chord. But be of good cheer. I have overcome the world. Major chords. That wonderful text in Romans 6, 33. The wages of sin is death. Minor chord. I'm so glad there's a major chord that follows that. But the gift of God is eternal life. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. And one Friday, the loudest minor chord was heard throughout three worlds.9:55Heaven, earth, and hell. On Friday, he died. On Friday, all hopes seemed to be gone. For the disciples had gone back to fishing. And two anonymous disciples were going to Emmaus. Saying, we had trusted that he would be the one who would deliver Israel. But it's the third day and he's still dead.10:23He was dead Friday. Minor chord on Saturday. But Sunday morning, a great while before day, he got up from the grave with all power in his hand. And we can sing, he lives. He lives. Christ Jesus lives today. He walks with me. He talks with me. A long life's never away. He lives.10:53He lives. He lives. Salvation to impart. You ask me how I know he lives? He lives within my heart. And in this text, there is the interpenetration and the integration of both major and minor chords. Verse 1, we see the church has been growing. 12 disciples, according to Acts chapter 1, verse 15, grew into 120 in the upper room where they were waiting on the spirit of God to come.11:2112 to 120, Acts chapter 2, verse 41, the Pentecostal sermon is preached. And about 3,000 are saved. 12 to 120, to 2,000, 3,120. And then Acts chapter 4, verse 4, says the church has grown up to over 5,000 people.11:49Then the Bible says in Acts chapter 8, that as the church is persecuted and scatters, they scatter the word, Acts 8, 4. They scatter it not only in Judea, they scatter it in Samaria. And Philip goes down to Samaria and preaches Christ and people get saved.12:15And even an Ethiopian eunuch who has come from Cush in Africa, who cannot attend the Pentecostal revival in terms of going into the temple because he is one who has been castrated. And no castrated person, according to Genesis chapter, Deuteronomy 23, verse 1, says, can ever enter into the temple.12:39But he hears the gospel on that Gaza road delivered by Philip and goes back to Ethiopia and plants the seed for the gospels to grow. And we are told by people like Justin Martyr and other church fathers that he planted the seed for the first Christian church, namely the Coptic church, to grow in Africa.13:02The church keeps growing and growing and growing. And then in Acts chapter 10, Peter goes to Cornelius' house and preaches the gospel. And the Holy Spirit interrupts this sermon. He never finishes it. The Spirit falls.13:31Folks are saved. And he baptizes them. The church is growing and developing. But now the minor chord comes. The Bible says that James, the brother of John, is killed with a sword. Gloom, doom, agony, despair, hopelessness. James is killed. Well, James and John had asked a request of Jesus.14:01In Mark chapter 10, verse 35 and following, we want you to do what we want you to do is what they're asking. And Jesus says, what is that? That you let us have the chief seats in the kingdom. One will sit on your left and the other will sit on your right. And Jesus asked them, are you able to drink of the cup that I'm going to drink of and to be baptized for the baptism I'm going to be baptized with?14:27If you said, yes, yes, yes, then you will. And part of that was death. In fact, all of the disciples, aside from John, would die as a martyr. And James is killed when this apparently pleased the Jews. This king, Herod Agrippa I, who wanted to stay on the good side of Caesar, arrested Peter and put him in prison, intending to have him killed when there was not a holy day.14:56This was the feast of the unleavened bread, which would end with the feast of the Passover. As soon as the Passover would be over, Herod Agrippa I was planning on having Peter killed.15:26Peter was just as good as dead. That's two thirds of the inner circle. Peter, James. Peter, James, and John went with Jesus on three occasions that the other nine disciples didn't go. Jesus allowed them to come into the ruler of the synagogue's house, Caiaphas. Not Caiaphas, I'm sorry. Jairus.15:56Jairus. And Jesus raised this little girl from the dead. Peter, James, and John saw that. He allowed them to go up to the top of Mount's Transfiguration, where he was transfigured and had heavenly visitors, namely Elijah, who represented the prophets, and Moses, who represented the law. And both of them, of course, were there to turn in their documents, because Jesus was the fulfillment of law and prophets. But also, he would take them into the innermost sanctuary of the garden of Gethsemane, Peter, James, and John.16:26Now, James is dead, and Peter is on death row. And what is the church going to do with two-thirds of its leadership, just as good as dead? We must always remember, the church is not built on us. The church's one foundation is Jesus Christ, our Lord.16:54When I became a preacher, the Trinity did not become a quartet. It was not Father, Son, Holy Spirit, and Robert Smith. I'm expendable, I'm dispensable, I'm dust. Unless we think that we are so important that the church can't get along without us.17:18All we have to do is just, well, you've got one right here, cemetery. Just look over there. We are dust. We are graveyard travelers. God has blessed us to represent him, to present him, to walk for him. When we come into the church, we ought not feel like heaven should give us a standing ovation because we showed up.17:43When we serve the Lord, we're not doing anything special. We're only doing that which is expected. We are reciprocating, not trying to pay him back because we can't pay him back because all we have is his anyway. We ought to come into the church every Sunday saying, I'm glad to be in the service one more time. He didn't have to let me live.18:13I'm glad to be in the service one more time. We used to have a clerk at our church, I pastored. She was in her mid-80s. She'd get up and read the announcements. And every now and then, she'd start shouting. She never got through the announcements. And we found out why she started shouting. She said, when I came to the sick list, my name wasn't on there. And when I came to obituary, notice, my name wasn't there.18:39And the fact that you were here today, and you are not sleeping in a grave, and I'm not sleeping in a grave, I don't come here as a spectator. I come here as a participator. I come to give him praise. I come to thank his name. I come to raise my hand and to shout. And maybe you don't move, but something ought to be moving in you saying, thank you, Lord, for one more day. I don't think all the excitement ought to be at the football game.19:10I don't think all the excitement ought to be doing the electric slide at the reception. I think God deserves holistic praise, not just from the neck up, but from the neck down, from the head to the heart, and gets into the hands where we serve him. Two-thirds of the leadership is as good as dead.19:38And the Bible says in verse 5, when Peter is arrested and put in jail, and is on death row, and having the grip of the first is waiting until the Passover is over so that he can have a quick trial and have Peter killed, that the church made earnest prayer in regards to Peter.20:03They did not collect 100 signatures to try to impress the mayor to get Peter out. They didn't try to bail him out. They didn't get him an attorney. They didn't try to break him out. They prayed 2,000 years ago.20:32They prayed. Because prayer is not overcoming God's reluctance. It's laying hold to God's willingness. God's willingness. It's not a question is, is he able? The question is, am I willing to get under the load and pray until God speaks and says yes, says no, says wait.20:54I will pray and persevere until I hear God speak. It's in his hands, and they pray. No wonder George Matheson could say, Lord, make me a captive, and I shall be free. I'm only free when I'm in captivity to you. Take away my sword, and I shall conqueror be.21:24I only conquer when I don't have a weapon. So if there's a victory, there's no question about who's the victor. If I have no weapon, how did I win? All glory and honor be to God. They are depending upon God to release Peter. And the Bible says, verse 7, That's a key phrase.21:54In other words, the night before Peter would be let out in the morning, God sent an angel to deliver Peter the night before. It's kind of like God. He's never early. He's never too late. He's always on time. The Jews had four watches of the night. From 6 to 9 p.m., that's the first watch.22:22From 9 p.m. to 12 midnight, that's the second watch. From 12 midnight to 3 a.m., that's the third watch. The fourth watch of the night, which I believe is the time of which God sends this angel, is from 3 a.m. to 6 a.m. You see this in Matthew chapter 14, verse 25. The disciples are on the Sea of Galilee trying to keep the boat afloat. Water came in. They dipped it out, but more water came in. And they're beginning to sink.22:52And the Bible says in Matthew 14, verse 25, at the fourth watch of the night, Jesus came walking on the water. The fourth watch. He walked on the water like it was a moving sidewalk, but he waited until 3 a.m. to 6 a.m. When he had given up hope. Do you know what it's like for him to show up the fourth watch of the night? When you hear those words, we've done all that we can do.23:21Do you know what it's like for him to show up the fourth watch of the night? When the relationship is over and the note has been placed on the bed stand, I don't love you anymore and I won't be back. Do you know what it's like the fourth watch of the night? When you get a call from the police precinct, your son is being held here for.23:49He shows up just when you need him most. He shows up when hope is almost gone. But he's not a God of emergency. He doesn't have the word emergency in his vocabulary.24:16He's such a God that you can't hear of him. You just have to wait on him. The Greek has two words for time. Kronos. That's what you write on your calendar. That's what I write on my calendar. But then there's the word Kairos. That's God's time. I had a couple.24:46They were having their first baby. And the wife, my friend, called her husband, my friend, and said, look, you need to get home now. My water is broken and I'm going to be having this baby soon. He was at work. He said, no. He said, according to the calendar, the doctor said that the baby would be born in April and is only May the 16th. The doctor said, Kronos.25:14She said, well, whatever the doctor said, I'm telling you what has happened. You better get here. And he got there and the baby was born in the car. We can schedule what we want. That's Kronos. But Kairos, God who in Sunday times and diverse places spoke to us by the prophets. But in these last days, he has spoken to us by his dear son. When God is speaking about your calling, about your purpose, about a decision that you've got to make, grasp the time.25:45Papa diem. Seize the time. Know when that time has come. Don't run ahead of him. Don't run behind him. Ask him to order your steps. The night before, the Bible says that the church has gathered at Sister Mary's house to pray.26:10They choose to pray. You never know, Robert Smith, what you believe until it's time to believe it. And I want to say to Bethel, you don't know what you really believe until it's time to believe it.26:36Oh, you can make profound statements all you want. This Saturday, one of my students has asked me to give a eulogy for their two-week-old baby. He's struggling. Why? You never know what you believe until it's time to believe it.27:05Quote scripture all you want. You never know what you believe until it's time to believe it. I want to tell you, and I quote from Dr. William Hull, tragedy is not redeemed by explanation. Tragedy is only redeemed by change and transformation.27:34If you want to turn tragedy into triumph, you don't redeem it by explanation. Because there's some things you're never going to understand in this life. I still don't understand why I could be held up at a convenience store. Twenty years before my son, Tony, was held up in a convenience store and he was killed and I'm surviving. Why me?28:04Why me? I would have given my life that he could live. Was it because I was better than he is? Was I a preacher and he wasn't? Why? Why? Tragedy is not redeemed by explanation. Tragedy is redeemed by change and transformation. What is it going to do to you? How will you respond? Are you a fair brother of Christians? We just got finished singing.28:32Let me be singing when the evening comes. It's easy to sing during the morning, but can you sing during the evening? The nightingale does better than the other birds because it knows how to render a concert at night. And when it gives night in your life, you will need help in order to sing at night because people who've been watching you and hearing you talk and preach and so forth, they want to know how do you handle life when the bottom of life drops out?28:54Is God still faithful? Is God still good? Oh, yes, we agree. And we struggle. And we don't have an explanation. But we do know that God can change us so the circumstances don't change, but he enables us to deal with circumstances, weep and still give him praise for who he is and for what he has done.29:21When faith is stripped to the bone and all your props and crutches are gone, nothing else to lean on, your health is gone, relationships gone, jobs gone, all your props and crutches are gone. Your knowledge of God that he is good and that he is still on the throne is the only thing that will keep you going.29:52Carolyn James says in her book, when life and beliefs collide, the angel shows up. And the Bible says Peter is in an impossible situation in terms of escape. He is being guarded by four squads of soldiers, chained to, two in front, and even to the end gates.30:17They have different shifts, no way to get out, which is what God likes to get us in. Put you in a position where you don't have a degree that'll get you out. Your health won't get you out. Your money won't get you out. And people who love you, as much as they love you, they can't deliver you.30:46He wants to put you in a position where you can say to him, put your able. And there he is. And the angel takes him, strikes him. Peter asleep on death row. How do you sleep on death row? I mean, he is so asleep that he has to be stricken.31:14Wake up. I think Peter was saying, the reason why I can sleep with such tranquility and not be disturbed by the turbulence that's around me is because before I slept at the wrong time. When I was in the garden of Gethsemane, our Lord said three times, watch while I pray. And every time he came back, I went.31:43I slept at the wrong time. I slept at the wrong time. But now, I'm going to sleep at the right time because according to Psalm 121 verse 4, he neither slumbers nor sleeps. So if he's going to stay up, there's no sense of both of us losing sleep. I'm just as well asleep because he's in charge. Why should I feel discouraged?32:12Why should the shadows come? Why should my heart be lonely and lone for heaven and home? If Jesus is my portion, my constant friend, his eye is on the sparrow. And I know he watches me. I sing because I'm happy. There's the major chord. I sing because I'm free. His eye is on the sparrow and I know he watches me. Don't you think in your mind that he's taking a break and he doesn't know what's happening in your life?32:43Every time you lose a hair, he deducts the hair count. Every tear you shed, the Bible says in Psalm 56 verse 8, he puts it in a bottle so that he can remember it. There's nothing that goes on in your life that he is not aware of it. Whether you hear him or see him, he is aware and he is vigilantly watching over you.33:13Wake up, Peter. Get up. Now I can wake you up so that the chains fell off. That's amazing. The ones who were chained to him didn't say anything about their chains falling off. It didn't say anything about them waking up.33:43But since there is an intimate relationship between the angel and Peter, Peter is the only one affected because he's the only one that's connected. Worship really is like that. I know we're sitting in this congregation. But it's very possible for you to be in touch with the Spirit of God and to sense the Spirit of God and to feel the Spirit of God and people around you have no idea what's going on. It's very possible for you to be spiritually alive and for other people to act like they've been chewing on concrete and baptized in vinegar.34:13And I don't mean that as a joke. I'm serious. I'm saying when you're so connected with the Savior, God can reach you and touch you in ways that others are on the way of. Wake up. Get up. I'm not going to do this for you now.34:43If I can wake you up, then you can get up. Put your shoes on. If I can wake you up, then you can get up and put your shoes on. Put your garb on. In other words, divine human instrumentality. I'll wake you up. Human instrumentality. You get up, put on your shoes, and put on your garb and tie your belt around you. In other words, God is not going to. Don't worry about me. I'm not going to fall.35:13God is not going to do everything for you. It's divine human instrumentality. Joshua, have the people march around the walls one time for six days. And on the seventh day, let them march around seven times. Now, you do that. And after you do that, then shout. And then I'll pull the walls down. Roll back the stone of Lazarus in Bethany Cemetery.35:41Take off his grave clothes. Loose him. Then he calls him from the grave. Lazarus, come forth. No wine at the wedding of Cana of Galilee? Fill up the water pots. You can do that. Then I'll look at the water, and the water will blush into wine.36:09God is not going to do everything for you. You know what he's called you to do. You do what he's called you to do, and he will do the rest. I know I'm on the clock, so let me move on. Peter woke up. He thought he was seeing a vision, because it was too good to be true.36:38And yet it was too good not to be true. He gets up. His chains have fallen off. The guard's asleep. The gate in front of him opens. They're not aware of what's going on, no doubt. They're asleep. He comes to the very end gates. And the Bible says when he gets right to it, the gates open up themselves without batteries37:06or without an electric eye light 2,000 years ago. I mean, we think we're doing something. You walk into these doors, and all of a sudden, the Lord was doing that back in Peter's day. In fact, the Lord was doing that in Moses' day at the Red Sea. And if God can open gates and doors, why can't he open them for you? I don't care how close they are.37:36Have you any rivers that you think are uncrossable? Do you have any mountains that you can't tunnel through? God specializes in things that seem to be impossible. And he will do what no other power can do. Have you ever been on your bed of affliction, and the doctors have done all that they can do? God specializes in healing all manner of diseases. And he will do what no other doctor can do. You're waiting on the benediction, the end of life.38:04God wants you to get ready for the invocation, a new beginning. Stop looking at the end. Stop looking at the epilogue. Cast your eyes upon the prologue, a new beginning. Not just a new year, but a new beginning, a new purpose. A new direction in life.38:34And Peter comes now. And when God has done all he chose to do with the angel, the angel leaves Peter. And Peter stands alone. Thinking that he had seen a vision. This was too beautiful. One moment he's on death row. The next moment he's totally free. This reminds me of Dr. Isaac Watts' hymn.39:00Long my imprisoned spirit lay, fast bound in sin in nature's night. That I diffused a crimson ray. I woke the dungeon flame with light. My chains fell off. My heart was free. I rose, went forth, and followed thee. Amazing love.39:29Amazing love. How can it be that thou, my God, should die for me? And Peter goes to Sister Mary's house. Prayer meeting. Could have gone shopping. Could have gone to the football game. But he's thinking spiritually. And he gets, he knows where the prayer meeting is being held.39:58He gets there and knocks on the door. They're praying for Peter's release. A little slave girl by the name of Rhoda comes. She hears the voice. She knows it's Peter's voice. His accent. He's a Galilean. She knows it. She's so overwhelmed and astonished that the person they've been praying for is knocking on the door.40:26She leaves the door shut and goes and tells the prayer partner. You don't have to pray anymore. The answer is at the door. You're out of your mind. But they're praying. She goes back. And she keeps saying, it's Peter. It could be his angel.40:56But Peter, the Bible says. He kept on knocking. Because that's really what perseverance is about. It's about this. Some doors will never be open if you don't keep on. That's really the sense in the Greek. In Matthew 7 and 7. Ask and it shall be given. It's keep on asking and it shall be given. Keep on seeking and you'll find. Keep on knocking and the door shall be open.41:24Some of us are just one prayer away. One knock away from deliverance. Don't lose heart. You've got a child that you've raised up. You put the right stuff in him. And he went out to the far country. Gave up his faith. Be like the prodigal son's father who stayed at home and kept on looking down the road and kept on keeping the calf fattened.41:53Because the Bible says when the boy came back home and the father hugged him and kissed him and put a robe on him and put a ring on his finger and shoes on his feet and said to the servant, go and kill the fattened calf. Not go and fatten the calf. No. Go and kill the fattened calf. That is the calf that we kept on fattening in anticipation of our son coming back home. I know what it's like to have children42:23step out of what they had been brought into. And we had to stay at home and keep the calf fattening and look down the road and wait for them to come home. And they came home because God has a way of bringing them back. They may get out of the way of the word but they can't get the word of the way out of them.42:51They may get out of the way of the word what the word says but they can't get the word of the way out of them because the word is in them. It's like a time release capsule. It's like my mama who finished the seventh grade and was the best pharmacist I've ever known. Everything that ailed us she had one medication for. If you broke your leg, castorol. If you had the flu, castorol.43:21Chicken bar, castorol. And I remember that day she gave us orange juice. We were sick. Gave us orange juice. We didn't get orange juice often. We were poor. Not poor but poor. We drunk. We You like that? Yeah. Want some more? Yeah. What she had done was to pour castor oil in the orange juice. Stirred it up43:51and we would drink it. Now it had a time release effect. It didn't work right away. We went out and played basketball, baseball. No problem. Went to bed tonight. No problem. But by and by before the morning came something happened. That's how the word is. You may get out of it.44:20Have a fling. Going to college. Do your own thing. Sow your wild oats. But the word has a time release effect and some of us got reconnected 20 years after we got saved. 30 years, 40. Don't give up on young people. Don't give up on your children. Don't give up on your friends. I don't care how deep in the dirt and the dirhams they are in. The word has a way44:48of releasing itself on them so that it does not return void but it will accomplish that for which we are set. I'm so glad for the long reaching effect of the word. And Peter kept on knocking. The answer is at the door. And the people are still praying for Peter. It was more easier for Peter45:16to get out of jail than to get into a prayer meeting. And we say we pray, we believe.45:32And God wants to give you a breakthrough. Finally they opened the door. And Peter walked in and there's commotion and Peter stops them and says, the Lord has sent his angel to deliver me. In other words, I'm giving God praise. Not luck. Not happenstance. You Christians often talk about luck. I'm lucky. You're not lucky. You're blessed.46:03You're blessed. Now go tell James. James was killed probably beheaded in the first verse of this chapter. No, not James the brother of John but another James. James the brother of our Lord. Because there's always another James and there's always another Robert and there's always another Jared and there's always another Josh and there's always another and another and another. And God always has a voice.46:32Don't think that you're irreplaceable or indispensable. I leave you with this because life, missions have to be done beyond the minor chord. Oh, thank God for the major chord. Thank God for hope. Thank God for happiness. Thank God for harmony. But the gloom, the doom, the despair, the agony of the minor chord is going to come. And it came with Jesus47:02on Friday. But on Sunday morning he rose from the dead with all power in his hand. God sent his son. They called him Jesus. He came to love, heal and forgive. He came to die to buy my pardon. And if the grave is there to prove my Savior lives because he lives, I can face tomorrow because he lives,47:30all fear is gone because I know he holds the future. Life is worth living because he lives. And one of these days we will gather together around the throne of God and give him praise throughout ceaseless ages. Will you live beyond the minor chord?47:58Our Father, we thank you today forMore sermons on Acts →
