WEBVTT 00:52.073 --> 00:53.226 [SPEAKER_01]: Well, good morning, everybody. 00:53.287 --> 00:55.755 [SPEAKER_01]: How are you doing today? 00:56.613 --> 00:58.595 [SPEAKER_01]: Good, it is good to see everybody here. 00:58.635 --> 01:05.923 [SPEAKER_01]: All ages, we love doing these worship together services because we get everybody together, hopefully from both services. 01:05.943 --> 01:16.716 [SPEAKER_01]: I know some people drop off on either end, but as much as possible, we like to get everybody in the same room together just to worship God together every now and then we think it's so good for all the generations to come together and do this. 01:17.056 --> 01:20.560 [SPEAKER_01]: So we are excited to have all of the kids in here with us. 01:20.580 --> 01:26.046 [SPEAKER_01]: And I know you've already been recognized and forced to stand on all that stuff, 01:26.026 --> 01:28.850 [SPEAKER_01]: you got handouts when you came in for the kids. 01:29.230 --> 01:30.632 [SPEAKER_01]: And there are fillings on there. 01:30.912 --> 01:33.876 [SPEAKER_01]: You are welcome to fill that in during this message. 01:34.317 --> 01:36.079 [SPEAKER_01]: I'm not going to make it all super obvious. 01:36.500 --> 01:38.983 [SPEAKER_01]: Sometimes it's going to be clear, and it'll be obvious. 01:39.003 --> 01:42.167 [SPEAKER_01]: It'll be underlined on the screen and you'll go, okay, that's what I'm supposed to write in there. 01:42.548 --> 01:45.732 [SPEAKER_01]: Other times you're just going to kind of have to figure it out and pay attention, okay? 01:45.792 --> 01:45.992 [SPEAKER_01]: So, 01:45.972 --> 02:04.065 [SPEAKER_01]: that's actually to kind of help you if you're younger pay attention to the message we're going to try to make this fun for everybody have some cool activities along the way and even that handout you have is going to be helpful after this service for the family craft activity that's going to go on at our Thanksgiving right across the hallway over there. 02:04.687 --> 02:05.989 [SPEAKER_01]: Now the message today 02:06.475 --> 02:07.936 [SPEAKER_01]: is meant to be for everybody. 02:07.976 --> 02:11.720 [SPEAKER_01]: It's not just for kids, but it's not just for adults, but it's a message. 02:12.060 --> 02:18.526 [SPEAKER_01]: We're gonna dig in the God's Word, and I want all of you to get to experience the story of a little girl in the city of Philippi. 02:19.007 --> 02:22.650 [SPEAKER_01]: To set the scene for you, four men are traveling through the country of Greece. 02:22.710 --> 02:31.919 [SPEAKER_01]: Now, the country of Greece, by the way, is one of the countries that we are partnering with right now, some missionaries in Greece, to bring the gospel back to Greece to the people there. 02:32.379 --> 02:34.742 [SPEAKER_01]: And that is part of our Thanksgiving offering right now. 02:34.782 --> 02:36.263 [SPEAKER_01]: So you've heard about that already. 02:36.243 --> 02:39.787 [SPEAKER_01]: and that is one of the areas that we are working through our Thanksgiving offering. 02:40.167 --> 02:45.313 [SPEAKER_01]: But these four guys that were traveling through Greece, their names are Paul, Silas, Timothy, and Luke. 02:45.433 --> 02:53.222 [SPEAKER_01]: And Luke had just joined this team and started writing down all the things that were happening, which is why we know about this story. 02:53.262 --> 02:55.004 [SPEAKER_01]: It's a story, but it's true. 02:55.124 --> 02:55.945 [SPEAKER_01]: It's from the Bible. 02:55.985 --> 02:56.685 [SPEAKER_01]: It really happened. 02:57.266 --> 03:05.355 [SPEAKER_01]: And as they went through a city called Philippi, they stayed there for a while and they went around teaching people about Jesus. 03:05.335 --> 03:10.330 [SPEAKER_01]: But one day they got into some really big trouble and that's what our story is about today. 03:10.370 --> 03:11.995 [SPEAKER_01]: So we're going to be an Acts chapter 16. 03:12.416 --> 03:16.167 [SPEAKER_01]: You can go ahead and turn there in your Bibles, but we'll put up on the screen as well. 03:16.588 --> 03:19.918 [SPEAKER_01]: And here is what Luke wrote down. 03:20.168 --> 03:29.700 [SPEAKER_01]: He said one day, as we were going down to the place of prayer, we met a slave girl who had a spirit that enabled her to tell the future. 03:30.561 --> 03:34.886 [SPEAKER_01]: She earned a lot of money for her masters by telling fortunes. 03:34.906 --> 03:39.632 [SPEAKER_01]: Now, you might be wondering, wait a minute, how could anyone but God tell the future? 03:39.932 --> 03:43.256 [SPEAKER_01]: And you'd be right, only God does know the future. 03:43.276 --> 03:49.163 [SPEAKER_01]: But here's the thing, very, very smart people can sometimes make really good predictions. 03:49.683 --> 03:53.670 [SPEAKER_01]: demons are very, very smart, and they can talk to each other. 03:53.890 --> 03:57.236 [SPEAKER_01]: And so they can make it seem like they can know the future. 03:57.256 --> 04:13.345 [SPEAKER_01]: So if, for instance, if the owner of a company told one of his managers that he was going to give someone a promotion and the demon overheard that they could actually tell that to this girl, and if someone in that company were to ask them a question, she could tell them that information, and it would seem like she knows the future. 04:13.325 --> 04:33.088 [SPEAKER_01]: It would seem like the powers she's connected to know the future and people would pay a lot of money to her masters to ask this little girl questions and she would give them answers based on what the demon inside of her would tell her is this investment a good one for me to buy this company or is buying that piece of land a good investment? 04:33.068 --> 04:34.630 [SPEAKER_01]: Or is it good for you to marry this person? 04:34.830 --> 04:36.553 [SPEAKER_01]: Or is my business partner stealing from me? 04:36.773 --> 04:44.303 [SPEAKER_01]: And a lot of times the demons would know things that they could communicate through this girl and make it seem like she could tell the future. 04:44.363 --> 04:48.549 [SPEAKER_01]: She had a real connection with demonic powers to do this. 04:48.569 --> 04:57.220 [SPEAKER_01]: So even though demons can't know the future, they're very smart and they're very observant and they can talk with each other and so they could make it seem like they could tell the future. 04:57.200 --> 04:59.444 [SPEAKER_01]: You may also be wondering, why would they do this? 04:59.545 --> 05:09.464 [SPEAKER_01]: Well, it's because demons are perfectly happy for people to believe in spiritual things and supernatural things as long as they don't believe in the one true God. 05:10.045 --> 05:11.367 [SPEAKER_01]: And so they're okay with that. 05:11.828 --> 05:15.816 [SPEAKER_01]: Now, verse 17 says, she, this little girl, 05:15.796 --> 05:24.505 [SPEAKER_01]: followed Paul in the rest of us shouting, these men are servants of the most high God, and they have come to tell you how to be saved. 05:24.525 --> 05:28.990 [SPEAKER_01]: Now, isn't it amazing that the demons through this little girl were shouting something that was true? 05:30.151 --> 05:31.433 [SPEAKER_01]: That was actually a true statement. 05:31.953 --> 05:34.216 [SPEAKER_01]: She said, these men are servants of the most high God. 05:34.276 --> 05:34.957 [SPEAKER_01]: True or not true? 05:35.998 --> 05:36.218 [SPEAKER_01]: True. 05:37.079 --> 05:38.721 [SPEAKER_01]: And they have come to tell you how to be saved. 05:38.741 --> 05:40.082 [SPEAKER_01]: True or not true? 05:40.450 --> 05:44.636 [SPEAKER_01]: True, it was a true thing, but she was yelling it. 05:44.917 --> 05:47.040 [SPEAKER_01]: And it was actually causing a distraction. 05:47.060 --> 05:52.408 [SPEAKER_01]: It was distracting people from the message that Paul and Silas were trying to communicate. 05:53.289 --> 05:57.075 [SPEAKER_01]: Maybe that was done intentionally. 05:57.055 --> 06:00.823 [SPEAKER_01]: to not give away the fact that it was a demon that was causing it. 06:00.903 --> 06:08.599 [SPEAKER_01]: Maybe they wanted her to yell true things, but not let Paul and Silas and the others know that there was any evil force behind this. 06:08.680 --> 06:11.826 [SPEAKER_01]: And so she yelled out true things that were not helpful. 06:12.107 --> 06:13.790 [SPEAKER_01]: And here's what happened next for say teen. 06:14.191 --> 06:16.937 [SPEAKER_01]: This went on day after day. 06:16.917 --> 06:31.178 [SPEAKER_01]: For multiple days, she fouled them around yelling until, Paul got so exasperated that he turned and said to the demon within her, I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her, and it instantly left her. 06:31.939 --> 06:36.546 [SPEAKER_01]: At some point, Paul realized that this little girl was not alone. 06:36.914 --> 06:47.005 [SPEAKER_01]: that she was not following them around and yelling this because she was supporting their message like it might have originally seen, but she was following around and yelling something that was true, but not helpful to distract from their message. 06:47.185 --> 06:53.092 [SPEAKER_01]: And it wasn't because she just felt like doing this, this little girl had a demon that was influencing her and causing her to do these things. 06:53.372 --> 06:56.175 [SPEAKER_01]: And so Paul commanded that demon to come out. 06:56.195 --> 06:58.558 [SPEAKER_01]: Now, 20 years ago, more than 20 years ago, actually. 06:58.598 --> 07:00.800 [SPEAKER_01]: More like 25 years ago now. 07:01.001 --> 07:02.382 [SPEAKER_01]: Ooh, that's hard to think about. 07:03.256 --> 07:08.742 [SPEAKER_01]: I was doing some evangelism, sharing the good news about Jesus with people at a festival with a friend of mine. 07:09.363 --> 07:21.778 [SPEAKER_01]: And we had a wonderful time going around talking to anybody that was willing to talk about spiritual things and the Bible and the good news about Jesus, and we were sharing the gospel with them, and many people were trusted and Christ that day was awesome. 07:21.958 --> 07:29.567 [SPEAKER_01]: And then this older lady came over to us and she pulled us aside and said, I think what you were doing is wonderful, and we thought, fantastic. 07:29.547 --> 07:33.452 [SPEAKER_01]: And I love that you're talking with people and you're praying with people that is just wonderful. 07:33.473 --> 07:34.294 [SPEAKER_01]: We said, thank you so much. 07:34.334 --> 07:35.415 [SPEAKER_01]: We appreciate that support. 07:35.435 --> 07:35.716 [SPEAKER_01]: Thank you. 07:35.916 --> 07:36.697 [SPEAKER_01]: And we started to go. 07:36.717 --> 07:38.039 [SPEAKER_01]: And she kept talking. 07:38.460 --> 07:39.741 [SPEAKER_01]: And so we wanted to be polite. 07:39.761 --> 07:40.803 [SPEAKER_01]: We stayed and we listened to her. 07:41.284 --> 07:44.628 [SPEAKER_01]: And she told us a bunch of weird stories about herself and different things. 07:44.668 --> 07:45.690 [SPEAKER_01]: And we said, thank you. 07:45.910 --> 07:46.751 [SPEAKER_01]: Very nice to see. 07:46.851 --> 07:47.773 [SPEAKER_01]: Okay, we got to go now. 07:47.953 --> 07:48.954 [SPEAKER_01]: And we started to walk away. 07:49.275 --> 07:50.897 [SPEAKER_01]: And then she kept talking. 07:50.877 --> 07:53.223 [SPEAKER_01]: And we started to walk away again, and she kept talking. 07:53.243 --> 07:55.648 [SPEAKER_01]: We kept trying to excuse ourselves, probably 10 times. 07:55.909 --> 07:57.814 [SPEAKER_01]: We tried to excuse ourselves and get away. 07:58.114 --> 08:05.913 [SPEAKER_01]: And then when we finally thought we were going to be able to end this conversation and move on and go talk to more people, she said, you know, I can heal people that have like broken limbs. 08:06.013 --> 08:07.637 [SPEAKER_01]: I can heal broken legs. 08:07.870 --> 08:09.896 [SPEAKER_01]: Wow, that's pretty fascinating. 08:09.916 --> 08:15.372 [SPEAKER_01]: Can you give me an example of that and she told me some stories, none of which ended in her healing a broken limb. 08:15.392 --> 08:17.840 [SPEAKER_01]: And then we decided, okay, thank you very much. 08:17.860 --> 08:18.522 [SPEAKER_01]: We have to go now. 08:18.582 --> 08:19.926 [SPEAKER_01]: And so we turned to walk away again. 08:20.146 --> 08:22.032 [SPEAKER_01]: And she said, you know, I can raise people from the dead. 08:23.294 --> 08:24.495 [SPEAKER_01]: Well, that peaked my interest. 08:25.337 --> 08:27.039 [SPEAKER_01]: Okay, tell me about that. 08:27.319 --> 08:30.803 [SPEAKER_01]: And she told us some stories, none of which resulted her raising people from the dead. 08:31.044 --> 08:33.066 [SPEAKER_01]: And finally, I said, really, really we have to go. 08:33.286 --> 08:34.568 [SPEAKER_01]: And we turned to walk away. 08:34.868 --> 08:45.201 [SPEAKER_01]: And I'm telling you, she reached out like snatched with her right hand, grabbed by arm, pulled me back into her and started talking some more. 08:45.923 --> 08:49.527 [SPEAKER_01]: And I looked at her face, and I saw crazy eyes. 08:50.308 --> 08:51.550 [SPEAKER_01]: And I went, we are out of here. 08:51.750 --> 08:52.771 [SPEAKER_01]: I said, we're done. 08:52.892 --> 08:56.236 [SPEAKER_01]: And I reached over, I grabbed her, I'm and I pride it off of my arm. 08:56.476 --> 08:59.159 [SPEAKER_01]: And we just walked away, and she kept trying to talk to us and we were done. 08:59.199 --> 08:59.820 [SPEAKER_01]: We were out of there. 09:00.421 --> 09:01.842 [SPEAKER_01]: We got far enough away in my friend. 09:01.863 --> 09:02.663 [SPEAKER_01]: And I turned to each other. 09:02.724 --> 09:03.244 [SPEAKER_01]: We were stunned. 09:03.264 --> 09:04.366 [SPEAKER_01]: We said, what just happened? 09:05.347 --> 09:07.189 [SPEAKER_01]: And the only thing we could think of. 09:07.490 --> 09:09.913 [SPEAKER_01]: is that maybe this woman was being influenced by a demon. 09:10.514 --> 09:16.601 [SPEAKER_01]: And at first, seeming to be supportive was actually trying to keep us from going and talking with more people. 09:17.221 --> 09:25.411 [SPEAKER_01]: We were having great success that today, sharing the gospel with people, and she took up probably 30 minutes of our time because we didn't understand what was going on at first. 09:25.791 --> 09:31.438 [SPEAKER_01]: And we think that probably she was under the influence of a demon to keep us to go and share the good news with more people. 09:31.879 --> 09:35.623 [SPEAKER_01]: This is exactly what happened with Paul and Silas. 09:35.603 --> 09:40.851 [SPEAKER_01]: With this little girl, this little girl, as they are going, she's yelling things that are true, but they're not helpful. 09:40.871 --> 09:53.509 [SPEAKER_01]: They're distracting from the message and eventually Paul realizes, okay, this is a demon that is causing her to do this, and he says, I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her, and instantly it left her. 09:53.749 --> 09:54.731 [SPEAKER_01]: Now look at verse 19. 09:55.732 --> 10:00.379 [SPEAKER_01]: Her master's hopes of wealth were now shattered. 10:00.578 --> 10:01.639 [SPEAKER_01]: This is how they made their money. 10:02.200 --> 10:06.505 [SPEAKER_01]: So they grabbed Paul and Silas and dragged them before the authorities at the marketplace. 10:06.825 --> 10:10.870 [SPEAKER_01]: The whole city is in an upward because of these Jews, they shouted to the city officials. 10:11.170 --> 10:18.018 [SPEAKER_01]: They are teaching customs that are illegal for us Romans to practice whatever happened to that little girl. 10:18.779 --> 10:22.063 [SPEAKER_01]: It was clear she did not have this power anymore. 10:22.162 --> 10:23.685 [SPEAKER_01]: Maybe she talked normally now. 10:24.126 --> 10:26.150 [SPEAKER_01]: She couldn't answer grown-up questions anymore. 10:26.370 --> 10:35.749 [SPEAKER_01]: And so her owners knew that they lost their ability to make money with this little girl, and they dragged Paul and Silas in front of the city leaders, and they lied about them. 10:35.948 --> 10:41.155 [SPEAKER_01]: They said these men are Jews that are pushing Jewish customs on people that are illegal for the Romans. 10:41.416 --> 10:43.659 [SPEAKER_01]: They made these false accusations against them. 10:43.679 --> 10:46.983 [SPEAKER_01]: They claimed a lot of people were upset with them, which we don't know if that was true or not. 10:47.224 --> 10:47.905 [SPEAKER_01]: Probably not. 10:48.446 --> 10:56.317 [SPEAKER_01]: But in the marketplace, all of the people listened to these business owners who they believed to be telling the truth and they probably knew them. 10:56.337 --> 10:58.800 [SPEAKER_01]: They had been in the community for a long time. 10:58.780 --> 11:03.087 [SPEAKER_01]: and their words turned all of the people against Paul and Silas. 11:03.107 --> 11:04.208 [SPEAKER_01]: Here's what happens, verse 22. 11:04.429 --> 11:17.970 [SPEAKER_01]: A mob quickly formed against Paul and Silas, and the city officials ordered them stripped, and beaten with wooden rods, they were severely beaten, and then they were thrown into prison. 11:18.743 --> 11:31.774 [SPEAKER_01]: The jailer was ordered to make sure they didn't escape so, the jailer put them into the inner dungeon, that's the worst sell in the prison, and clamped their feet in the stocks. 11:32.294 --> 11:35.841 [SPEAKER_01]: This was a pretty bad day for Paul and Silas, if you think about it. 11:36.302 --> 11:42.474 [SPEAKER_01]: Let's try to think of all the things that happened on this day that were pretty negative, at least would give me a pretty bad attitude. 11:42.494 --> 11:43.095 [SPEAKER_01]: I don't know about you. 11:43.536 --> 11:48.305 [SPEAKER_01]: First of all, a demon possessed girl was yelling and distracting from their teaching. 11:48.646 --> 11:49.347 [SPEAKER_01]: That's not nice. 11:49.949 --> 11:53.796 [SPEAKER_01]: Then they were grabbed and dragged to the marketplace. 11:53.776 --> 11:56.280 [SPEAKER_01]: They were lied about by the owners. 11:56.880 --> 11:58.322 [SPEAKER_01]: They were stripped naked. 11:58.943 --> 12:07.095 [SPEAKER_01]: They were beaten with wooden rods, and they were thrown into the worst part of the prison, the interdungeon, and their feet were put in stocks. 12:07.115 --> 12:11.561 [SPEAKER_01]: And these stocks, by the way, weren't just shackles designed to keep them in a certain place. 12:11.821 --> 12:13.143 [SPEAKER_01]: The bars would keep them there. 12:13.484 --> 12:20.914 [SPEAKER_01]: These were actually bars of metal that were designed to clamp down on your legs and make it extremely uncomfortable. 12:20.894 --> 12:24.058 [SPEAKER_01]: you could not lie down flat, you could not sit up normally. 12:24.279 --> 12:26.582 [SPEAKER_01]: You were just in a great amount of discomfort. 12:26.822 --> 12:29.165 [SPEAKER_01]: It was a torture device that they were put into. 12:29.946 --> 12:32.310 [SPEAKER_01]: Quick question, what was your worst day like this year? 12:33.651 --> 12:35.814 [SPEAKER_01]: Anything like Paul and Silas, probably not. 12:36.535 --> 12:38.438 [SPEAKER_01]: But this is a very bad day. 12:38.678 --> 12:41.442 [SPEAKER_01]: And here's the question that I have after going through all of these things. 12:41.963 --> 12:44.286 [SPEAKER_01]: In one day, what is their response going to be? 12:44.857 --> 12:46.019 [SPEAKER_01]: What are they going to do after all? 12:46.240 --> 12:47.121 [SPEAKER_01]: Are they going to complain? 12:47.742 --> 12:48.644 [SPEAKER_01]: Are they going to be upset? 12:49.045 --> 12:50.247 [SPEAKER_01]: Are they going to be discouraged? 12:50.688 --> 12:51.890 [SPEAKER_01]: Are they going to whine about it? 12:52.191 --> 12:54.235 [SPEAKER_01]: Let's find out in verse 25. 12:54.976 --> 13:01.328 [SPEAKER_01]: Around midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God. 13:01.989 --> 13:04.013 [SPEAKER_01]: And the other prisoners were listening. 13:04.195 --> 13:08.160 [SPEAKER_01]: Now, at this time, the kind of hymns that they were singing would have been the Psalms. 13:08.601 --> 13:13.407 [SPEAKER_01]: This was a favorite for the early Christians to sing the Jewish people saying the Psalms as well. 13:13.427 --> 13:16.231 [SPEAKER_01]: The early Christians picked up on that and also sang hymns to God. 13:16.251 --> 13:21.939 [SPEAKER_01]: They loved to sing Psalms like Psalm 34, which says, I will praise the Lord at all times. 13:22.319 --> 13:24.202 [SPEAKER_01]: I will constantly speak His praises. 13:24.522 --> 13:28.588 [SPEAKER_01]: I will boast only in the Lord, let all who are helpless take heart. 13:29.148 --> 13:34.135 [SPEAKER_01]: Come, let us tell of the Lord's greatness, let us exalt His name together. 13:34.115 --> 13:36.118 [SPEAKER_01]: I prayed to the Lord and He answered me. 13:36.418 --> 13:44.368 [SPEAKER_01]: He freed me from all my fears, to those who looked to Him for help will be radiant with joy, no shadow of shame will darken their faces. 13:44.969 --> 13:46.511 [SPEAKER_01]: In my desperation, I prayed. 13:46.791 --> 13:49.435 [SPEAKER_01]: And the Lord listened, He saved me from all my troubles. 13:49.735 --> 13:51.417 [SPEAKER_01]: For the angel of the Lord is a guard. 13:51.698 --> 13:53.600 [SPEAKER_01]: He surrounds and defends all who fear Him. 13:53.840 --> 13:56.764 [SPEAKER_01]: Doesn't that sound like a song that they probably sang to God? 13:56.744 --> 13:57.465 [SPEAKER_01]: Here's another one. 13:57.485 --> 13:58.766 [SPEAKER_01]: The early Christians love to sing. 13:58.806 --> 13:59.527 [SPEAKER_01]: It's Psalm 100. 13:59.567 --> 14:01.950 [SPEAKER_01]: It says, shout with joy to the Lord, all the earth. 14:02.410 --> 14:08.658 [SPEAKER_01]: Worship the Lord with gladness, come before Him singing with joy, acknowledge that the Lord is God. 14:08.998 --> 14:11.040 [SPEAKER_01]: He made us and we are His. 14:11.481 --> 14:12.502 [SPEAKER_01]: We are His people. 14:12.842 --> 14:14.184 [SPEAKER_01]: The sheep of His pasture. 14:14.584 --> 14:16.166 [SPEAKER_01]: Enter His gates with thanksgiving. 14:16.206 --> 14:17.708 [SPEAKER_01]: Go into His courts with praise. 14:18.249 --> 14:22.093 [SPEAKER_01]: Give thanks to Him and praise His name for the Lord is good. 14:22.478 --> 14:28.064 [SPEAKER_01]: His unfailing love continues forever and His faithfulness continues to each generation. 14:29.005 --> 14:36.133 [SPEAKER_01]: Even with the awful day that Paul and Silas had, they were singing hymns to God. 14:36.513 --> 14:39.136 [SPEAKER_01]: They were praising their God in the middle of all of that. 14:39.156 --> 14:44.722 [SPEAKER_01]: They were living out what Paul would later tell the Christians in Colossi to do. 14:45.323 --> 14:50.308 [SPEAKER_01]: Paul said in Colossians 316, let the message about Christ, 14:50.288 --> 15:01.075 [SPEAKER_01]: in all its richness, fill your lives, teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom he gives, sings, songs, and hymns, and spiritual songs to God with what? 15:02.438 --> 15:04.483 [SPEAKER_01]: Thankful hearts. 15:04.700 --> 15:05.561 [SPEAKER_01]: That's what they were doing. 15:06.302 --> 15:07.464 [SPEAKER_01]: That's what they were doing in prison. 15:07.925 --> 15:14.374 [SPEAKER_01]: In the worst cell with the stocks clamped down on their ankles, they were praising God with thankful hearts. 15:15.215 --> 15:17.598 [SPEAKER_01]: Now we all have bad stuff that happens in our lives. 15:18.139 --> 15:18.980 [SPEAKER_01]: All kinds of things. 15:19.301 --> 15:26.050 [SPEAKER_01]: Big things, small things, discouraging things, things that cause us to question God, why is this happening and we, things that cause us to go, 15:26.030 --> 15:26.951 [SPEAKER_01]: what's going on? 15:27.452 --> 15:28.875 [SPEAKER_01]: What can I do to make this any better? 15:29.115 --> 15:34.323 [SPEAKER_01]: Things that make us feel like we have no hope, even simple things that just are discouraging throughout the day. 15:34.804 --> 15:39.011 [SPEAKER_01]: There are lots of bad things, bad situations that we find ourselves in in life. 15:39.291 --> 15:43.037 [SPEAKER_01]: Some we can think of for the kids, some for the teens, some for the adults, all sorts of different things. 15:43.638 --> 15:49.067 [SPEAKER_01]: When those things happen, how can we show gratitude? 15:49.351 --> 16:11.976 [SPEAKER_01]: How can we, like Paul and Silas, actually have thankful hearts, even be able to sing to God in the middle of some of the bad things that happen to us, because usually when those bad things happen, we get discouraged, we get upset, we get frustrated, we get angry, we might be the ones yelling at people, but I wanna give you some examples of how you can have gratitude, even in some difficult scenarios. 16:12.016 --> 16:15.780 [SPEAKER_01]: Now these examples are going to apply specifically to the kids. 16:16.064 --> 16:19.648 [SPEAKER_01]: I'm going to need the adults to think of their own examples that apply to them. 16:19.708 --> 16:20.629 [SPEAKER_01]: I know you can do that. 16:20.709 --> 16:22.131 [SPEAKER_01]: You're capable of that. 16:22.151 --> 16:26.556 [SPEAKER_01]: But for the kids, I'm going to need some help to illustrate some of these examples. 16:26.576 --> 16:32.863 [SPEAKER_01]: So I'm going to need to find five kids in our auditorium right now. 16:33.104 --> 16:34.325 [SPEAKER_01]: All the hands are going up already. 16:36.107 --> 16:36.928 [SPEAKER_01]: Who can read? 16:36.988 --> 16:37.809 [SPEAKER_01]: Okay. 16:37.849 --> 16:39.491 [SPEAKER_01]: I need five kids who can read. 16:39.591 --> 16:41.734 [SPEAKER_01]: So I'm going to see, I've got one right here. 16:41.794 --> 16:42.915 [SPEAKER_01]: Come on up here. 16:43.402 --> 16:47.529 [SPEAKER_01]: I've got one in the back with a hand raise, yes, Gilman of you two, okay, good. 16:47.949 --> 16:49.832 [SPEAKER_01]: I can't all do it from this section, I'm sorry. 16:49.933 --> 16:54.320 [SPEAKER_01]: So we're gonna have to, let's go over to this section, see who wants to come up over here, okay. 16:55.201 --> 16:58.006 [SPEAKER_01]: We've got one, oh man, I can't even pick. 16:58.126 --> 16:59.869 [SPEAKER_01]: All right, I'm not gonna pick my own daughter, sorry. 17:00.750 --> 17:02.473 [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, you can put your hand down. 17:02.453 --> 17:05.097 [SPEAKER_01]: I can't do that, I can't do that. 17:05.397 --> 17:08.081 [SPEAKER_01]: Delane, you've been up here before, so I'm gonna give you a rest. 17:08.361 --> 17:11.726 [SPEAKER_01]: Okay, you were instrumental the last time, and we put the stones together. 17:11.986 --> 17:12.507 [SPEAKER_01]: So that was good. 17:12.527 --> 17:14.049 [SPEAKER_01]: Oh, I've got one way in the back over there. 17:14.069 --> 17:18.496 [SPEAKER_01]: Yes, you come up, you raise your hand, and let's get one more right here at the end of the row. 17:18.516 --> 17:22.121 [SPEAKER_01]: Yes, come on up, yes, you, you're good, come on up here, and who else? 17:22.181 --> 17:25.185 [SPEAKER_01]: We've got, okay, let's tell you. 17:25.205 --> 17:27.589 [SPEAKER_01]: We, which you guys can play rock paper scissors for it, okay? 17:28.029 --> 17:28.950 [SPEAKER_01]: Levi and Elon go ahead. 17:29.311 --> 17:30.773 [SPEAKER_01]: Go ahead, rock paper scissors right now. 17:33.048 --> 17:35.171 [SPEAKER_01]: Oh, paper, piece of rock, okay, sorry. 17:35.211 --> 17:37.154 [SPEAKER_01]: You can leave, I got, don't worry, your time will come. 17:37.474 --> 17:40.098 [SPEAKER_01]: So you guys, come on over here, come on up here. 17:40.138 --> 17:41.701 [SPEAKER_01]: Oh, how did you guys are already get those? 17:43.103 --> 17:45.025 [SPEAKER_01]: Oh, hold on, hold on, hold on, give me those for a second. 17:45.065 --> 17:46.928 [SPEAKER_01]: All right, all right, we're messing up already here. 17:47.269 --> 17:54.419 [SPEAKER_01]: Okay, now I am going to show you an example of something that could happen that would give you kind of a bad day. 17:54.439 --> 17:57.984 [SPEAKER_01]: And I want you to describe how this person's feeling for me, okay? 17:58.144 --> 17:59.967 [SPEAKER_01]: So we're going to put it up on the screen right now. 18:01.111 --> 18:01.953 [SPEAKER_01]: OK, what's going on? 18:01.993 --> 18:02.674 [SPEAKER_01]: Somebody tell me. 18:03.276 --> 18:04.238 [SPEAKER_01]: I got a microphone for you. 18:05.761 --> 18:15.702 [SPEAKER_00]: It looks like somebody is, like, as I, it looks like that they're going to have a hard time taking the test. 18:15.982 --> 18:17.205 [SPEAKER_00]: And they probably look like that. 18:17.225 --> 18:18.327 [SPEAKER_00]: They're going to get an F. 18:18.577 --> 18:21.000 [SPEAKER_01]: They look like they're gonna get enough, okay, very good. 18:21.020 --> 18:23.863 [SPEAKER_01]: Yes, yes, how do you think this person feels right now? 18:24.223 --> 18:26.045 [SPEAKER_01]: We'll turn face to audience, there you go. 18:26.065 --> 18:27.307 [SPEAKER_00]: Probably discouraged. 18:27.467 --> 18:29.149 [SPEAKER_01]: Probably a little bit discouraged, you're right. 18:29.229 --> 18:30.971 [SPEAKER_01]: Maybe upset, maybe a little scared, even? 18:31.531 --> 18:35.496 [SPEAKER_01]: Probably, okay, so for all of you now, take some glasses. 18:35.556 --> 18:39.120 [SPEAKER_01]: This is a special invention called gratitude glasses, okay? 18:39.740 --> 18:45.647 [SPEAKER_01]: I want you to look at this image with the gratitude glasses, and who can tell me what you see. 18:50.251 --> 18:50.873 [SPEAKER_01]: What do you see? 18:51.174 --> 18:57.312 [SPEAKER_00]: It says, I can be thankful that God and my family loved me and even if I get a bad grade. 18:58.075 --> 19:01.425 [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, that's a totally different way of looking at the situation isn't it? 19:01.746 --> 19:03.130 [SPEAKER_01]: You guys could all see that, right? 19:04.223 --> 19:06.226 [SPEAKER_01]: These guys have these special, do you see it too? 19:07.188 --> 19:08.169 [SPEAKER_01]: Do you see the message too? 19:08.550 --> 19:09.651 [SPEAKER_01]: Yes, you can see it too. 19:10.132 --> 19:15.801 [SPEAKER_01]: Okay, now, if you look at it through the gratitude glasses, you're gonna get a completely different message, aren't you? 19:16.181 --> 19:18.745 [SPEAKER_01]: You're looking at it in a different way in a different perspective. 19:18.865 --> 19:22.291 [SPEAKER_01]: I wonder if there are any other kids out there that would like to try one of these on. 19:22.331 --> 19:23.593 [SPEAKER_01]: Anybody else want to try one of these? 19:23.933 --> 19:27.058 [SPEAKER_01]: Tell you what, you guys walked out of the front of the steps here. 19:27.038 --> 19:32.124 [SPEAKER_01]: and any kid that wants to get a pair of these, just come up to the front of the steps and we're gonna give you a pair of these, too, okay? 19:32.604 --> 19:37.070 [SPEAKER_01]: So all the kids, if you wanna come up, I don't care if you can read or not, we've got enough for everybody. 19:38.271 --> 19:40.133 [SPEAKER_01]: And we've got gratitude glasses for you. 19:52.547 --> 19:53.929 [SPEAKER_01]: Silas, can I give this to you? 19:54.730 --> 19:54.830 [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah. 19:54.850 --> 19:55.611 [SPEAKER_01]: Thank you, sir. 20:11.504 --> 20:14.126 [SPEAKER_01]: Oh, we got to give time for all the balcony kids to come down, too. 20:14.166 --> 20:20.372 [SPEAKER_01]: All right, guys, you've got your gratitude glasses. 20:21.233 --> 20:23.255 [SPEAKER_01]: I'm going to show you another scenario. 20:23.755 --> 20:26.538 [SPEAKER_01]: And let me know if you can see the hidden message. 20:26.658 --> 20:27.799 [SPEAKER_01]: Okay, here we go. 20:27.839 --> 20:28.860 [SPEAKER_01]: This one's about soccer. 20:30.402 --> 20:31.082 [SPEAKER_01]: What happened here? 20:32.063 --> 20:33.645 [SPEAKER_01]: She missed the winning shot, right? 20:34.285 --> 20:37.648 [SPEAKER_01]: She lost the game or at least they tied if she missed the winning shot. 20:38.409 --> 20:39.490 [SPEAKER_01]: Do you see the hidden message? 20:39.530 --> 20:40.431 [SPEAKER_01]: What's it say? 20:42.470 --> 20:52.039 [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, good job. 20:52.079 --> 20:54.061 [SPEAKER_01]: You guys read it perfectly, okay? 20:54.081 --> 20:55.743 [SPEAKER_01]: Hopefully all of you kids down there can see it. 20:55.763 --> 20:58.505 [SPEAKER_01]: I know some of you are still getting your glasses and figuring it out. 20:58.766 --> 20:59.446 [SPEAKER_01]: Here's what we're going to do. 20:59.887 --> 21:02.889 [SPEAKER_01]: I'm going to have all of you guys now go back to your seats. 21:03.230 --> 21:04.931 [SPEAKER_01]: You can keep your glasses, though, okay? 21:05.352 --> 21:11.818 [SPEAKER_01]: So hold on to those and now we're going to let everybody else in on it. 21:12.001 --> 21:13.925 [SPEAKER_01]: So you can see it too, because I know you're all curious. 21:13.985 --> 21:14.727 [SPEAKER_01]: What is going on? 21:14.767 --> 21:16.250 [SPEAKER_01]: What are they seeing up there? 21:16.311 --> 21:17.894 [SPEAKER_01]: All right, so let me show you the first one. 21:17.914 --> 21:20.119 [SPEAKER_01]: Here's the first one again about taking a test. 21:20.179 --> 21:22.805 [SPEAKER_01]: All right, test, I forgot to study bad situation. 21:23.226 --> 21:25.070 [SPEAKER_01]: Here's what the kids see through their glasses. 21:25.090 --> 21:28.137 [SPEAKER_01]: And if you want to steal some glasses from some kids, you go right ahead and do that. 21:29.433 --> 21:31.517 [SPEAKER_01]: But here's what the kids see through their glasses. 21:31.537 --> 21:38.611 [SPEAKER_01]: There's a hidden message at the bottom that says, I can be thankful that God and my family love me, even if I get a bad grade. 21:38.631 --> 21:39.453 [SPEAKER_01]: Here's the second one. 21:39.493 --> 21:41.297 [SPEAKER_01]: This is the soccer game. 21:41.818 --> 21:46.868 [SPEAKER_01]: I missed the game winning shot, but if we look through the gratitude glasses, what did the kids see? 21:47.995 --> 21:53.963 [SPEAKER_01]: I can be thankful that I got to play a fun game with my friends and that God gives me the ability to run and play. 21:54.023 --> 21:58.709 [SPEAKER_01]: Okay, so now that you're back in your seats now and everybody knows what's going on, let me show you another one. 21:59.030 --> 22:00.392 [SPEAKER_01]: This one is about vegetables. 22:01.052 --> 22:01.373 [SPEAKER_01]: Okay? 22:02.334 --> 22:04.177 [SPEAKER_01]: Mom says I have to eat my vegetables. 22:04.217 --> 22:05.639 [SPEAKER_01]: How many of you do not like vegetables? 22:05.819 --> 22:06.460 [SPEAKER_01]: Anybody out there? 22:06.540 --> 22:06.820 [SPEAKER_01]: Okay. 22:06.860 --> 22:08.923 [SPEAKER_01]: Some adult raiser hands, I get it. 22:08.903 --> 22:11.467 [SPEAKER_01]: All right, what's the hidden gratitude message? 22:11.487 --> 22:15.173 [SPEAKER_01]: Some of you can see it now, and if you put on the glasses, what will you see? 22:15.613 --> 22:20.741 [SPEAKER_01]: I can be thankful that I have food to eat and that God provides for me. 22:21.102 --> 22:21.843 [SPEAKER_01]: I'll give you another one. 22:21.863 --> 22:24.247 [SPEAKER_01]: This one's about video games, okay? 22:24.767 --> 22:27.031 [SPEAKER_01]: My parents took away my video games. 22:28.373 --> 22:29.535 [SPEAKER_01]: That's a bad situation. 22:29.575 --> 22:30.777 [SPEAKER_01]: That would make me upset too. 22:31.378 --> 22:34.843 [SPEAKER_01]: If my parents came into my house and took away my video games, especially at this age. 22:35.161 --> 22:40.168 [SPEAKER_01]: But there is a hidden message if we look through the gratitude glasses, what do we see? 22:40.188 --> 22:48.400 [SPEAKER_01]: I can be thankful that I have parents that care about me enough to set the rules and help me learn. 22:49.702 --> 22:50.383 [SPEAKER_01]: Let's do one more. 22:50.423 --> 22:51.284 [SPEAKER_01]: This one's about candy. 22:51.304 --> 22:52.886 [SPEAKER_01]: This is a real-life scenario for my house. 22:53.928 --> 22:57.032 [SPEAKER_01]: My parents won't let me eat as much Halloween candy as I want. 22:57.373 --> 22:58.334 [SPEAKER_01]: That can be frustrating. 22:58.554 --> 22:59.596 [SPEAKER_01]: That can be discouraging. 22:59.736 --> 23:03.902 [SPEAKER_01]: I know, but through the gratitude glasses, what are we going to see? 23:06.835 --> 23:13.704 [SPEAKER_01]: I can be thankful that my parents care about my health, and that God gives us all sorts of foods to enjoy. 23:14.165 --> 23:14.926 [SPEAKER_01]: Look, here's the point. 23:15.947 --> 23:21.715 [SPEAKER_01]: No matter what the circumstance is, no matter what the scenario is, and I just gave you five circumstances that are specific for the kids. 23:22.115 --> 23:28.624 [SPEAKER_01]: It's easy for them to get a hold of, but this applies to all of us, no matter how old we are, no matter what the situation is, 23:29.077 --> 23:32.820 [SPEAKER_01]: We can always find something to be thankful about. 23:33.260 --> 23:43.049 [SPEAKER_01]: Our normal reaction might to be to get upset, to get worried, to get discouraged, to feel hopeless, but the Bible tells us that we should always and every circumstance have gratitude. 23:43.409 --> 23:48.053 [SPEAKER_01]: Here is what the Apostle Paul told the Christians in Thessalonica when he wrote a letter to them. 23:48.153 --> 23:51.776 [SPEAKER_01]: He said, be thankful in all circumstances. 23:52.216 --> 23:58.982 [SPEAKER_01]: For this is God's will for you who belong to Christ Jesus. 23:59.840 --> 24:02.143 [SPEAKER_01]: Oh, every single thing. 24:02.724 --> 24:05.428 [SPEAKER_01]: And there are some rough circumstances that we find ourselves in. 24:06.029 --> 24:09.254 [SPEAKER_01]: Probably very few that would be rougher than the day Paul and Silas had. 24:09.774 --> 24:11.337 [SPEAKER_01]: But this isn't just a suggestion. 24:11.757 --> 24:18.607 [SPEAKER_01]: This is a command from God for all of us that in every circumstance, we are supposed to find something to have gratitude for. 24:18.908 --> 24:29.543 [SPEAKER_01]: When bad things happen, even when you mess up, when you've done something wrong, we might get discouraged or frustrated, but there's always something we can be thankful for. 24:29.523 --> 24:36.317 [SPEAKER_01]: the air that you breathe, the hope of a better future, the good news about Jesus, about God's Word, your family, your friends, the Holy Spirit. 24:36.337 --> 24:38.942 [SPEAKER_01]: There's always something that we can be thankful for. 24:39.363 --> 24:50.907 [SPEAKER_01]: Even when you're the one that has done something wrong and you feel bad about that, I've had people come and ask me about that and I say, good, you should feel bad about that and you should be encouraged and be thankful that you feel bad about that. 24:50.887 --> 24:55.392 [SPEAKER_01]: Because that's the evidence of God working in your life to correct you and guide you into something better. 24:55.452 --> 24:58.875 [SPEAKER_01]: You can even be thankful in those circumstances. 24:59.396 --> 25:01.238 [SPEAKER_01]: Something bad happens this week. 25:01.258 --> 25:05.222 [SPEAKER_01]: I want to encourage you to put on the gratitude glasses. 25:05.802 --> 25:18.936 [SPEAKER_01]: Not those that you have in your hands, but the ones in your mind, look at the situation differently and think about how can I see this from a different perspective where the good things that I can be thankful for that I can thank God for. 25:19.523 --> 25:34.760 [SPEAKER_01]: Now, in our friends giving activity after this service, there is an opportunity for you to use the handout that's in front of you, kids, if you got that, there are two leaves on the bottom of that handout, and those leaves are part of the craft we'll work on later. 25:35.221 --> 25:40.867 [SPEAKER_01]: So what you can do right now, if you've got something to write with, is you can think about something that you are thankful for. 25:41.528 --> 25:43.871 [SPEAKER_01]: Something that you can have gratitude for. 25:43.911 --> 25:44.571 [SPEAKER_01]: That's what that means. 25:44.631 --> 25:45.853 [SPEAKER_01]: Gratitude means thankfulness. 25:46.173 --> 25:47.775 [SPEAKER_01]: I am grateful, I am thankful. 25:47.755 --> 25:48.597 [SPEAKER_01]: for this thing. 25:48.797 --> 25:50.200 [SPEAKER_01]: It could be your friends, your family. 25:50.220 --> 25:53.347 [SPEAKER_01]: It could be something very specific, just something that you're thankful for. 25:53.387 --> 25:55.331 [SPEAKER_01]: You can write that on your handout. 25:55.351 --> 26:03.368 [SPEAKER_01]: And then later on, when we put a craft together, it's actually going to use those things from your handout and we'll have more available next door as well. 26:03.348 --> 26:07.053 [SPEAKER_01]: Well, we should probably check in on our Buds Paul and Silas and see what's going on with them. 26:07.073 --> 26:10.397 [SPEAKER_01]: Because we actually left them in the stocks in the worst part of the prison. 26:10.457 --> 26:11.438 [SPEAKER_01]: But they're singing. 26:11.799 --> 26:12.700 [SPEAKER_01]: They're having a good time. 26:13.060 --> 26:14.562 [SPEAKER_01]: But it's not the best of times. 26:14.923 --> 26:16.365 [SPEAKER_01]: What is going to happen to them? 26:16.405 --> 26:17.426 [SPEAKER_01]: Look at verse 26. 26:18.247 --> 26:21.191 [SPEAKER_01]: Suddenly, there was a massive earthquake. 26:21.431 --> 26:24.055 [SPEAKER_01]: And the prison was shaken to its foundations. 26:24.075 --> 26:29.862 [SPEAKER_01]: All the doors immediately flew open and the chains of every prisoner fell off. 26:29.842 --> 26:33.868 [SPEAKER_01]: The jailer woke up to see the prison doors wide open. 26:34.288 --> 26:35.850 [SPEAKER_01]: He assumed the prisoners had escaped. 26:36.191 --> 26:39.556 [SPEAKER_01]: So, he drew his sword to kill himself. 26:39.676 --> 26:41.418 [SPEAKER_01]: Now, you got to understand why he would do this. 26:41.979 --> 26:49.690 [SPEAKER_01]: Roman law said that if you were watching prisoners and they escaped, you had to take all of their punishments on yourself. 26:49.670 --> 26:50.892 [SPEAKER_01]: It was a big deal. 26:51.212 --> 26:54.576 [SPEAKER_01]: And this was a prison full of prisoners that had all sorts of horrible punishments. 26:54.897 --> 27:04.169 [SPEAKER_01]: And so he expected to be tortured and probably crucified, and he would rather kill himself than face that kind of horrible, shameful, painful end. 27:05.250 --> 27:09.736 [SPEAKER_01]: But, look at verse 28, Paul shouted to him, stop. 27:11.058 --> 27:11.999 [SPEAKER_01]: Don't kill yourself. 27:12.680 --> 27:14.783 [SPEAKER_01]: We are all here. 27:15.421 --> 27:26.837 [SPEAKER_01]: the jailer called for lights, and ran to the dungeon, and fell down trembling before Paul and Silas, then he brought them out and asked serves, what must I do to be saved? 27:27.859 --> 27:29.741 [SPEAKER_01]: Why did he ask that question? 27:29.761 --> 27:31.103 [SPEAKER_01]: What must I do to be saved? 27:31.384 --> 27:37.913 [SPEAKER_01]: He wasn't talking about being saved from the punishment of Rome for letting prisoners escape, none of them actually escaped. 27:38.414 --> 27:39.295 [SPEAKER_01]: They were all still there. 27:39.315 --> 27:41.118 [SPEAKER_01]: They had not run out when they had the chance. 27:41.138 --> 27:43.521 [SPEAKER_01]: And so what is it that he wants to be saved from? 27:44.210 --> 27:45.472 [SPEAKER_01]: Here's what this Jailer knew. 27:45.512 --> 27:47.856 [SPEAKER_01]: He knew the case against these men. 27:48.216 --> 27:49.719 [SPEAKER_01]: He was a part of the city of Philippi. 27:49.979 --> 27:54.005 [SPEAKER_01]: He understood that for the last several days, they had been walking around telling people about Jesus. 27:54.326 --> 28:05.503 [SPEAKER_01]: He probably knew that the reason their imprisonment has something new with this little girl that was following the around and yelling these men are servants of the most high God and they have come to tell you how to be. 28:05.543 --> 28:05.944 [SPEAKER_01]: What? 28:07.086 --> 28:08.007 [SPEAKER_01]: Saved. 28:08.459 --> 28:09.842 [SPEAKER_01]: So he knew something about this. 28:09.882 --> 28:13.129 [SPEAKER_01]: He probably understood a bit about the message of what they were saying. 28:13.369 --> 28:17.137 [SPEAKER_01]: He heard them singing and he must have thought to himself, wow, these guys are different. 28:17.477 --> 28:27.598 [SPEAKER_01]: No one else has ever been beaten and put in the worst selling of prison and their legs clamped in the stocks and yet their singing phrases to their God, there's something special about these guys. 28:27.781 --> 28:31.306 [SPEAKER_01]: He witnessed an earthquake that woke him up from his sleep. 28:31.967 --> 28:37.995 [SPEAKER_01]: An earthquake that send all the doors open, broke all the chains, and yet none of the prisoners ran away. 28:38.055 --> 28:41.961 [SPEAKER_01]: And he saw men who had every reason to hate him. 28:42.521 --> 28:43.923 [SPEAKER_01]: Every reason to want him dead. 28:44.204 --> 28:47.308 [SPEAKER_01]: Usually the prisoners don't love the people who keep them in prison. 28:47.525 --> 28:58.716 [SPEAKER_01]: And yet he saw those men not only not run out, but even stop him from killing himself and reassure him and comfort him in his time of great distress. 28:58.756 --> 29:04.302 [SPEAKER_01]: And so he realized the message these men have been preaching all over my city must be right. 29:05.043 --> 29:06.464 [SPEAKER_01]: What was that message that they were preaching? 29:06.984 --> 29:08.346 [SPEAKER_01]: It was the good news about Jesus. 29:08.786 --> 29:12.570 [SPEAKER_01]: It was the news that every single person in this world is sinful. 29:12.719 --> 29:13.782 [SPEAKER_01]: We all do bad things. 29:14.484 --> 29:17.714 [SPEAKER_01]: Things that God can't have in His family, that God can't have in heaven. 29:17.954 --> 29:27.201 [SPEAKER_01]: And yet He sent His Son Jesus Christ to die on a cross for us to pay the penalty for our sin so that if we believe in Him, we can be what? 29:27.586 --> 29:34.396 [SPEAKER_01]: saved, saved from what, saved from our sin, saved from the penalty that our sin deserves. 29:34.456 --> 29:41.706 [SPEAKER_01]: And so that's what he meant when he said, what must I do to be saved, what must I do to be saved? 29:41.927 --> 29:43.729 [SPEAKER_01]: See, this is the way his religion worked. 29:43.749 --> 29:46.253 [SPEAKER_01]: You had to do things to get right with the gods. 29:46.773 --> 29:56.059 [SPEAKER_01]: You had to do good things, you had to sacrifice, you had to do the things they commanded, do what they wanted, and then you would earn favor from the gods, and so naturally that's this question, what do I need to do? 29:56.380 --> 29:57.584 [SPEAKER_01]: And what do they tell him? 29:57.604 --> 29:58.326 [SPEAKER_01]: It's in verse 31. 29:58.587 --> 30:00.833 [SPEAKER_01]: They replied, believe. 30:01.707 --> 30:02.388 [SPEAKER_01]: What do you need to do? 30:03.009 --> 30:12.305 [SPEAKER_01]: Believe, believe or trust, believe in our, in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved along with everyone in your household. 30:12.325 --> 30:19.397 [SPEAKER_01]: See the way to be saved from your sin, the way to be freed from the penalty of your sin, the way to be made right with God and part of his family. 30:19.617 --> 30:21.420 [SPEAKER_01]: It's not through the things that we can do. 30:21.400 --> 30:29.436 [SPEAKER_01]: It's through who we trust, it's through who we believe and we trust and believe and the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross for us. 30:29.857 --> 30:41.620 [SPEAKER_01]: What he did for us when we believe and trust in him, he wipes away our sin and takes away the future penalty for our sin and allows us to be part of God's family. 30:41.954 --> 30:43.617 [SPEAKER_01]: So here's what happened, verse 32. 30:44.358 --> 30:49.766 [SPEAKER_01]: And they shared the word of the Lord with Him, and with all who lived in His household. 30:49.786 --> 30:50.908 [SPEAKER_01]: This wasn't just for the jailer. 30:51.128 --> 30:52.490 [SPEAKER_01]: This is for everybody in the house. 30:52.650 --> 30:54.533 [SPEAKER_01]: Everybody was taught the message about Jesus. 30:54.774 --> 31:06.291 [SPEAKER_01]: And then verse 33 says, even at that hour of the night, so it was pretty early in the morning, the jailer cared for them and washed their wounds, then he and everyone in His household were immediately baptized. 31:06.271 --> 31:14.981 [SPEAKER_01]: He brought them into his house and set a meal before them, and he and his entire household rejoiced because they all believed in God. 31:15.582 --> 31:20.829 [SPEAKER_01]: They heard the message about how to be saved, and they believed in God, and they rejoice to was such a good thing. 31:20.849 --> 31:28.718 [SPEAKER_01]: A terrible day that he thought was gonna be his doom turned into a wonderful day, and you know the amazing thing about this story. 31:28.698 --> 31:33.584 [SPEAKER_01]: is that the same thing that happened to the jailer and his family can happen for you. 31:34.225 --> 31:46.361 [SPEAKER_01]: If you believe in Jesus and what he did for you by dying on the cross and pain for your sins, if you trust in that to save you and make you right with God, then he will wipe away your sin and make you a part of God's family. 31:46.381 --> 31:47.803 [SPEAKER_01]: We have to admit that we're sinners. 31:47.783 --> 32:00.979 [SPEAKER_01]: that we do bad things, we disobey God's commands, we have to believe in Jesus and trust in His death on the cross and that He rose again from the dead, which is why He can save us and then God makes us a part of His family. 32:00.999 --> 32:05.124 [SPEAKER_01]: We become God's children and we know we get to spend eternity with Him. 32:05.564 --> 32:16.137 [SPEAKER_01]: And so if you've trusted in Jesus and if you're a follower of Jesus, you have an even more special pair of gratitude glasses. 32:17.028 --> 32:36.003 [SPEAKER_01]: Because no matter what happens in your life, no matter how bad things get, you can always choose to look and see the situation through the lens or the glasses of gratitude, not just things to be thankful for, but things to be thankful for that relate to the good news about Jesus. 32:37.165 --> 32:38.007 [SPEAKER_01]: Kids? 32:38.611 --> 32:49.352 [SPEAKER_01]: teens, adults, how can you see that difficult thing that is hitting you right now in your life from the perspective of the good news about Jesus? 32:49.873 --> 32:51.156 [SPEAKER_01]: Let me give you some examples. 32:51.677 --> 32:54.883 [SPEAKER_01]: Even if I've messed up, and that's what's bothering me right now. 32:54.903 --> 32:58.290 [SPEAKER_01]: Even if I messed up, I know that I'm forgiven. 32:59.047 --> 33:00.229 [SPEAKER_01]: And that gives me hope. 33:00.249 --> 33:05.798 [SPEAKER_01]: Even if I feel lonely, and especially around the holidays, Thanksgiving Christmas, we can feel especially lonely. 33:05.878 --> 33:10.065 [SPEAKER_01]: Even if I feel only, I know that I'm not alone, because God is with me. 33:10.585 --> 33:17.336 [SPEAKER_01]: Even if I feel worthless, I know that I'm a child of God, and God places great value in me. 33:17.657 --> 33:24.227 [SPEAKER_01]: Even if this problem in front of me seems to have one right now, I know that God can turn it around and use it for good. 33:24.207 --> 33:25.430 [SPEAKER_01]: even if I'm scared. 33:26.051 --> 33:29.318 [SPEAKER_01]: I know that my future in heaven is secure with God. 33:29.979 --> 33:37.935 [SPEAKER_01]: Even if this is the worst day of my life, I know that this is not the end of my story because God has a different ending in mind for me. 33:38.677 --> 33:43.026 [SPEAKER_01]: I want all of us, especially as we look forward to the Thanksgiving holiday to remember 33:43.192 --> 33:52.385 [SPEAKER_01]: to use the gratitude glasses and not just these and not just thinking of happy thoughts about the situation but because of what Jesus did for me. 33:53.267 --> 33:54.408 [SPEAKER_01]: What can I be thankful for? 33:54.789 --> 34:01.599 [SPEAKER_01]: What can I have gratitude for even in the middle of some really, really, difficult, tough choices? 34:02.179 --> 34:04.643 [SPEAKER_01]: Well, you remember that lesson this Thanksgiving? 34:04.623 --> 34:05.524 [SPEAKER_01]: I hope you will. 34:06.125 --> 34:10.989 [SPEAKER_01]: We have an awesome time planned for us after this service over in the Activity Center. 34:11.490 --> 34:17.576 [SPEAKER_01]: And so kids, I want you to remember to take your handouts with you over there because you're gonna use part of that for the craft that you're gonna do. 34:17.896 --> 34:19.618 [SPEAKER_01]: There's pie over there for everybody. 34:19.858 --> 34:22.741 [SPEAKER_01]: I know some people brought lunches to just hang out and eat over there today. 34:22.801 --> 34:24.143 [SPEAKER_01]: It's gonna be an awesome time. 34:24.503 --> 34:29.348 [SPEAKER_01]: But don't forget the message today that whatever happens this week, 34:29.328 --> 34:46.014 [SPEAKER_01]: even though it may feel discouraging, frustrating, annoying, making you want to scream, make you want to yell, you can choose to look at the situation through gratitude, glasses, through the perspective of the good news about Jesus, and say no matter what this is, I can show thankfulness. 34:46.074 --> 34:51.482 [SPEAKER_01]: Just as God has commanded us to do, and have gratitude in all circumstances. 34:51.843 --> 34:53.706 [SPEAKER_01]: Would you pause and pray with me right now for that? 34:53.746 --> 34:55.048 [SPEAKER_01]: Let's all pray together. 34:55.450 --> 34:58.895 [SPEAKER_01]: Father, thank you so much for this family of faith right here. 34:59.496 --> 35:04.283 [SPEAKER_01]: Thank you for those who have trusted in you, and now have this incredible gift of salvation. 35:04.844 --> 35:17.543 [SPEAKER_01]: Where we know no matter what happens in our life, we can be thankful and grateful for what you've done for us, what you're going to do for us, what you're going to do in the future, for our eternity that we will have with you, Lord, I know that sometimes in the day-to-day of life, 35:17.523 --> 35:23.152 [SPEAKER_01]: We have circumstances that just emotionally grip us and wreck us, and it's okay to cry for those things. 35:23.472 --> 35:32.466 [SPEAKER_01]: It's okay to show disappointment and be discouraged, and none of that is necessarily wrong, but in the middle of all that God, please help us to have gratitude. 35:32.746 --> 35:44.104 [SPEAKER_01]: Please bring to our minds those things that we need to remember to be thankful for, things that you've done for us, things that you are doing for us, things that you will do for us Lord, I pray for everybody here, kids through adults. 35:44.287 --> 36:01.712 [SPEAKER_01]: that whatever happens this week or over the next couple of months that causes us to just question and doubt and be discouraged that you'd bring to mind the gratitude glasses that that would be a reminder to us that we need to look at that situation a little bit differently and see the things that we can be thankful for God. 36:02.553 --> 36:09.724 [SPEAKER_01]: I pray that it would change the way we think, the way we live, the way we treat other people, even in the middle of our discouragement or worry or fear. 36:10.966 --> 36:12.528 [SPEAKER_01]: We pray this in the name of Jesus. 36:13.329 --> 36:13.990 [SPEAKER_01]: Amen.