Sunday Morning Service 10:30AM- Stay the Course ~ Acts 20:24 ~ Tyler Buchanan

Good morning, church family. Really glad you're here. It's good to see everybody. I want to invite you to stand with us. We'll pray and we'll get started.

Father, we come before you this morning. We thank you for another day. We thank you for allowing us to be here, to be in your house this morning. Lord, we just ask your blessing upon this time. Lord, bless the worship and bless the word as it goes out. Lord God, may we lift praise to you, lavish praise upon you this morning, God, because you are worthy of it all.

Father, we love you, Lord. We praise you. We thank you in Jesus' name. Amen. Have a seat if you like.

Would you guys go ahead and stand with me for the last one? Do you feel the world is broken?

Feel the shadows deepen?

Oh, the dark won't stop the light from getting through. The wisdom you can see is all creation grows.

To create is a good that wells up.

To do blessing and honor must scroll the line of conquer the grave. You're worthy of all honor and glory and praise, Lord. Lord, for what you've done for us, for the work that you've done for us, for the works that you're doing in our lives right now, Lord, for the works that you're going to do. God, we give you praise. We give you honor. We give you glory.

We bless your name this morning. Lord, now as Brother Tyler comes up, Lord, and gives the word, Lord, I just pray that you would overflow him with your Holy Spirit. Move mightily. Give him the words to speak and give us a heart to receive it and an ear to hear it. We love you, Lord God, and we praise you. In Jesus' name, amen. Amen. Let's take some time and greet one another.

All right, if you guys want to start making your way back to your chairs so we can get started. I'm Mason, if you don't know me, Mason Warren, and I'm a deacon here, and we're starting something new. We're getting a few more people up here just so you guys can be familiar with who's on the board. And who's around, so you can talk to me about anything that you want to know about the church.

And I'll probably, we'll just direct you to someone who actually knows what they're doing. But yeah, so we're going to do announcements here. If you look on the left-hand side of your bulletin, that's the stuff that normally goes on this week, and it's back in. Last week, we kind of had an off week because of VBS. But this week, though, all the services are run as normal.

There's Wednesday night church. There's home fellowships listed over there. And if you're not plugged in, you should try to get plugged in, whether that's coming to Wednesday night service, or whether that's coming, going to a home fellowship. You should get plugged in somewhere. And speaking of VBS, we had a great week this week. I had a lot of kids come through.

They really enjoyed it. And to show what we did, I mean, you can get a picture of what's going on. We've got a video.

Yes, praise God. Man, kids' joy and excitement to learn is so fun. And so if you haven't helped with VBS, I know you've got a whole year to prep for yourself. And you can help next year. It's a great time. And if you're a kid who didn't get to go to VBS this year, well, next year's coming too. So let's just, real quick, give a hand to all those who helped. There's a ton of people who did a lot of work.

All right, so outside of the usual stuff this week, there's also, there's a False Creek parent meeting. So if you're a parent of a kid who's going to False Creek, there is a meeting this Friday, June 19th at 6 p.m. at the other end of the hall. And to piggyback off of that, there's also a False Creek sponsors meeting. So if you are an adult, who's going to False Creek with the kids,

there's a meeting at the other end of the hall as well. But that's right after church. Jared will meet you down there at the other end of the hall. Lastly, there is a baptism coming up. This is July 15th. And if you're interested in getting baptized, there is a sign-up sheet in the back. And so you write your name down, you write your number, and Ryan will give you a call and talk to you

and talk you through what needs to happen. And with that, I'm going to introduce Tyler. He's going to come up and he's going to, he's going to open the Word and, well, preach to us. All right. Can you guys hear me all right? Does that sound good? Awesome. All right. Well, I want to open up by saying Jesus loves you. He created you on purpose, for a purpose, and with a purpose.

So as you said, I'm Tyler. I'm not Pastor Ryan, as much as I wish I was. That guy's awesome. I'm a little different. So I'm going to have to minister a little different, but he's doing a wedding today. So pray for him. That all goes well. That's why he asked me to come and fill in. So we're excited to bring the Word. And as we normally do, he's going to ask you to silence your mobile devices.

So if you haven't done that, please do so. And we're going to get reading for a responsive reading. So if you have a Bible, look in the rows around you. There should be one in the chair somewhere. But we will be in honor of VBS kind of going along with the theme, Psalm 23. So look for that in your Bible somewhere around Psalm 23. Pastor Allen's going to come up.

And if you're able, please stand to honor the reading of God's Word, Psalm 23. I will be reading the odd verses. If you can join along with Pastor Allen reading the even verses. Psalm 23, a Psalm of David, verse one. The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures. He leads me besides quiet waters. He restores my soul. He guides me in the path of righteousness for his name's sake.

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil. For you are with me, your rod and your staff. They comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You have anointed my head with oil. My cup overflows. Surely goodness and loving kindness will follow me all the days of my life. And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

Amen. Yes, Lord, you are a good shepherd. And we thank you for that. God, we thank you that you lead us. Lord, help us to trust you in the doing so. Father, you lead us beside still waters, Lord, and green pastures. So Lord, help us to just be willing to go where you want us to go, Lord. And as we're about to go through your word, Lord, we ask that you speak through

your word, that you fill me with your Holy Spirit, Lord, rid me of myself. So it's only you speaking, Lord, and help us to learn how you want us to live. Father, we thank you and praise you in Jesus name. Amen. All right. You guys can be seated. So when Pastor Ryan asked me to, if I was willing to teach, I said, sure. What do you want me to teach? And he's like, well, whatever the Lord ministers to you.

Like, sweet. It doesn't leave me a lot to work with, but we'll start coming up with some stuff. So we were going to do a sermon called Faithful Philemon, but we're not doing that. We were going to do one on Psalm 23. But since I just did it in VBS, we're not going to do that today. We're going to be doing a sermon called Stay the Course. It's called Stay the Course, and we'll be going through Acts chapter 20.

So if you have your Bible, open it up to Acts chapter 20. And I like to kind of start off how Chuck Smith and Greg Laurie during the Jesus Revolution had hoped the Bible and say, this is truth, this is life, this is God's word. Let's open it together. So if you have your Bible, open up to Acts chapter 20. We will be having five points. So little housekeeping things I heard last service.

I was pretty nervous. I went pretty fast. So if I'm going a little fast, just go ahead and do a little of these in the crowd. So I know, OK, I can slow down and not have to rush through things. Also, I'll try to restate my points. That way, if you miss it and you want to write it down, you'll be able to. So we're going through Stay the Course is the title. And we're going from Acts chapter 20,

starting in verse 17 and going to the end of the chapter. And we'll be splitting it up into five different points. So. Acts chapter 20, Stay the Course, verse 17. But before we get into it, I want to give some context. So while you're turning there, many things in life have a course. So I like to watch like American Ninja Warrior. I'm a dirt bike guy. So like motocross, there's a course there.

There's like military boot camps. So all those people that sign up for those things. They aren't expecting them to be easy. No one shows up to it and says something must be wrong when there's obstacles in the way. Bumps don't mean you're off the track. Obstacles don't mean you failed. Challenges don't mean you've gone the wrong direction. They're simply just part of the course.

And I think sometimes as Christians, we forget that life gets hard. Trials come. Disappointment comes. Plans change. People we love go home to be with the Lord. And sometimes we begin to wonder, did I do something wrong? Or has God forgotten me? But difficulties do not necessarily mean you've left the will of God. You'll hear me say that a lot this message.

Difficulties do not necessarily mean you've left the will of God. Sometimes difficulties are evidence that you're still following him. Obstacles are often part of the course. This morning, I want to encourage us with a simple message of stay the course. So context, we're jumping into Acts, right? Right in the middle, like chapter 20, what's going on? Well, Jesus already died, rose again.

Pentecost happened where the Holy Spirit gets sent. Now the commission has been given to go and preach the gospel to all nations, people and tongue through Judea, Samaria, and Jerusalem to the ends of the earth. And Paul's doing so. So he spent years preaching the gospel, planting churches, strengthening believers. And now he's making his way towards Jerusalem.

He's towards the end of his life. He knows suffering is coming and he knows difficulties are ahead. Yet before he's about to leave, he's going to give one of the most personal and heartfelt messages he ever has. These are Paul's final words to the men in Ephesus. To the elders in the church, he loves them. He cares for them. So he wants to encourage them. So look down verse 17, section one is going to be from verses 17 to 21.

Let's read it. From Miletus, he sailed to Ephesus and called to him the elders of the church. And when they had come to him, he said to them, you yourselves know from the first day that I set foot in Asia, how I was with you the whole time serving the Lord with all humility and with tears and with trials, which came upon me through the plots of the Jews, how I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable and teaching you publicly from house to house, solemnly testifying to both Jews and Greeks of repentance towards God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. All right.

So as Paul's beginning his speaking, he's starting by reminded of how he lived among them. He takes them backwards before he's going to point them forward. He reminds them, you know, you know how I lived, you know how I served. You saw my life. Paul wasn't perfect, but he was faithful. Verse 19 says that he served the Lord with humility, not pride, not self-promotion, not seeking recognition.

He simply wanted to serve Jesus. And church, that's still the goal today, right? That's exactly what we want to do. Not building our kingdom, not making our name great, but simply serving the Lord. So humility has always marked godly men and women. And notice something else. Paul mentions tears. All right. We're thinking Paul's going to have this last encouraging message.

There's Ephesian leaders, the elders in Ephesus, and he's mentioning tears. Why is he doing that? It seems counterintuitive. Well, he doesn't say, I serve the Lord with strength. He's not talking about how strong he was serving the Lord. He wasn't saying, I serve the Lord with success. I serve the Lord with ease. He says, I serve the Lord with tears. In other words,

ministry isn't always easy. I'm sure some of you guys sitting here know that. Following Jesus isn't always easy. There's burdens, heartbreaks, difficulties. And yet Paul stayed the course. And I personally think that's encouraging. I don't know if you guys do, too, but because sometimes we think that mature Christians should never struggle. Man, if I'm just following Jesus,

it's going to be sunshine and roses. But no, Paul struggled. Paul hurt. Paul cried. He was a real person. Sometimes we think the Bible can be like such a glorified fairy tale. It's like, no, these are real people with real problems, real hurt. And we're seeing Paul express this here. Church, tears do not disqualify you from following Jesus. Doesn't mean that you're doing something wrong.

Sometimes tears are evidence that you're following him faithfully. Paul also speaks about trials. He talks about how opposition came. People resisted. Life was difficult, yet it continued. And then Paul says something beautiful, that he did not shrink back from declaring he was unprofitable publicly and from house to house. Paul taught the word faithfully. But not just from the pulpit.

I get to share God's word with you guys here today. But my life shouldn't only be representing God when I'm standing here. It should also be day to day, throughout the week. We shouldn't just be Christians when we come to church on Sunday. It should be every day. So Christianity is always more than just Sunday mornings. It's life together. It's discipleship.

It's encouraging one another. It's praying for one another. Bearing one another's burdens. And finally, Paul summarizes his message. It's repentance towards God. Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. This has always been the message. Not try harder. Not become a better person. Not clean yourself up by repentance and faith. Turning from sin and trusting in Christ.

The goal hasn't changed and it never will. So I want you guys to take a second. Look around the room. We got to have time of fellowship. Got to say hi to each other, shake each other's hands. I was looking around. Younger people look around too. What's awesome is, we can think of people that God has used in our lives to encourage us. Paul is doing the same thing to the Ephesian leaders.

We come to church, shouldn't just come to church to listen, but to act as a body, to encourage each other. So because faithful people have a way of reminding us that the Christian life really is worth living. And some of you guys have been those examples. You've endured hardships. You've remained faithful and younger believers are watching. We just saw VBS. It was such a sweet time.

But why was that able to happen? All those kids got to hear about their good shepherd. A God who loves them and cares for them. Because people like you guys are willing to take time out of your day to share Jesus with them. So this shouldn't just be something that we do in our passing time. It should be our focus, our mindset. OK, so before Paul talks about the future, he reminds them of the past.

Why? Because remembering God's past faithfulness gives us confidence for what's ahead. Let me say that again. Remembering God's past faithfulness reminds us and gives us confidence for what's ahead. So when we forget his faithfulness, when we forget his provision, his goodness, sometimes we need to stop and remember. We'll all remember that God saved us. How? Death on the cross.

Remember that he carried us, that he provided, that he brought us through previous trials. When I'm saying these things, I want you to think in your life. Has God done these things for you guys? Have you seen his hand over your life throughout the seasons? God told the Israelites when they crossed through the Jordan to stack stones. Why? To make stones of remembrance.

To remember after they passed through the Jordan or after they did a hard thing, to look back and say, man, God did that. God did it in my life so I can trust him for the next thing that God has ahead. So this is going to bring us to our next section. Point number one, if I forgot to mention it, it's remember how you started. Point number one is remember how you started.

We're moving on to point number two. We're going to see that remembering the past is important because we all must face the future. Paul knows that suffering is coming. He knows that change is coming. But point number two says, don't let difficulties move you. Number two. Don't let difficulties move you. So Acts 22 to 24. Acts 22 to 24. Now, behold, bound by the Spirit, I am on my way to Jerusalem,

not knowing what will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit solemnly testifies to me in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions await me. Wow, that sounds exciting. Verse 24. But I do not consider my life of any account as dear to myself so that I may finish my course and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus to testify solemnly of the grace of the gospel of God.

Wow. OK, I'm excited to share this message as well, because actually, verse 24 is my life verse. It's one that I desire to try to live by. So these verses become the heartbeat of Paul's message. He went back, told him about how he lived his life. You saw how I lived. You saw how I cared. You saw what I did. Now, Paul says that he's heading toward Jerusalem.

And he doesn't exactly know what's waiting for him there. Boy, is that exciting. I'm one of those people who likes to have, like, my plan made out super good, right? Like, try to map my day out by hour. And it never seems to usually work out that way. There's always a bump in the road or some sort of hiccup. And Paul's saying, yeah, I have no clue what I'm going there for.

But what I do know is that chains and tribulations await me. Oh, boy. So can you imagine that? If that was what was to be said, I'd be like, yeah, I'm going the other way. No, thanks, God. Or it'd be, no, I'm actually going to turn around. And we see people like that in the Bible, like Jonah. He was resisting what God had. But Paul doesn't. He keeps moving forward.

Why? Because Paul understood something very important. I'll say it again. Difficulties do not necessarily mean you're outside the will of God. Sometimes difficulty exactly where God has called you to be. Guys, we often want God to show us the entire plan. But really, he's just like, nope, walk with me. Step by step. Put one foot in front of the other. I just moved to Kansas.

I'm from California. Met my wife, Grace, at Bible College. And now, like, we got our first place and we just recently moved all my stuff out. Drove a truck across the country with bed loaded full. It's like, all right, now I'm getting settled. Let me get a good job. I want to start putting in my 401k so I can look forward to retirement. It's like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.

Hold up. Like, that's so far out. Why are you starting to always freak out about things you can't even control? Just do what's right in front of you. It's the next thing. So, many times, God asks us to trust him just in the next step. Paul didn't know everything, but he knew who was leading him. Do you know who's leading you? Do you know your good shepherd?

Does he lead you beside still waters? And sometimes that's enough. So look back down in verse 24. Verse 24 reads, but I do not consider my life of any account as dear to myself so that I may finish my course and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus to testify solemnly of the gospel of the grace of God. All right, I want to kind of play this game.

Notice what Paul doesn't say. He doesn't say I don't care about my life. He doesn't say I enjoy suffering. He doesn't say I'm fearless. Instead, Paul simply says my life is not about me anymore. God, I'm not going to try to plan my life, not going to be in control of my life. I'm going to surrender my life to you and see what you have. So his greatest desire was not comfort.

Man, that's hard. We live in a day and age where comfort is everything. His greatest desire was faithfulness. His goal wasn't self preservation. It's finishing well. Stay your course. And I think that's something we desperately need today. Because what does our culture say? Our culture says protect yourself, put yourself first, pursue comfort, avoid difficulty.

But Jesus teaches us something very different. Life is not. Ultimately about preserving ourselves. Life is about following him. And I love the phrase Paul uses, he says, finish my course. Not someone else's course, his curse. And God had given Paul specific calling. And I want you guys to think God has given each of you a specific calling. As I open up the message, God made you on purpose, for a purpose and with a purpose.

So some of you are raising children, some of you are paying parents, some of you are caring for aging parents, some dealing with health struggles, grieving, facing difficult situations at work, walking through uncertainty. All those things become a part of the plan, the story, the course that God has for you. Don't neglect the trials, don't neglect the things that God has you going through. They're all part of your story.

Not everyone has the same course, but every believer has a course. Um, if you have your bibles, flip over to Hebrews chapter 12. real quick. And when you're there, say church. Hebrews chapter 12, verses 1 and 2. Oh, that goes pretty fast. Nice. Hebrews chapter 12, verses 1 and 2. All right, good. All right, here we go. Hebrews chapter 12, verses 1 and 2 read, therefore, since we have so great

a cloud of witnesses, all right, therefore, what's the therefore, therefore? Chapter 11 is about the hall of faith, all these people throughout scripture that live lives of faith, that honored God. Now it's saying, therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses, previous people who live lives of faith, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and sin which so easily entangles us. And let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus. How do we run the race? Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author

and perfecter of faith for the joy. Wow. Joy set before him endured the cross. That's not easy. Despising shame and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. He's our example, Jesus. Notice he says the race set before us, not the race before, set before someone else. Here's something I want you guys to think about. It's not the race that we wish we had, not the race that we wish

we had chosen, but the race set before us. One of the dangers we face is spending too much time. We're not going to be able to do that. We're not going to be able to do that. We're not looking at someone else's race and not focusing on racing your own. Comparison is a dangerous thing. Comparison is the thief of all joy. Why? Well, because comparison does two things.

One, it either promotes pride. You think, man, my race is so much better than that guy's over there. Like, wow, I'm running so fast. Or it promotes discouragement. You start comparing and being like, man, why isn't my race like that person's? They have a way cooler race than me. And God has set a specific race before you. He made you on purpose, for a purpose, and with a purpose. Find what that is and stick

to it. He's asked us to run our race faithfully. And I think some of us need to hear that. Difficulties on the course do not mean we've left the will of God. They simply mean you're still running the race. Maybe you've experienced loss. Maybe you're weary. Maybe you're discouraged. Maybe you've been asking, Lord, why is this so hard? Well, I'm here to tell you that doesn't

mean you're necessarily doing something wrong. Hard doesn't equal wrong. Paul was right in the center of God's will and change were waiting for him. Jesus was perfectly in the Father's will and the cross was waiting for him. Difficulty is not proof of God's absence. Sometimes it's the very place where his grace becomes most visible. I'm going to say that again.

Difficulty is not proof of God's absence. Sometimes it's the very place where his grace becomes most evident. I don't know if you guys have been able to watch other people in the body move on to really hard things, but they still have the joy of the Lord. It's like, this doesn't make sense. How are you still smiling and greeting me when I should be the one greeting you? You've gone through such a hard

thing, but you're still serving. You're still loving. Sometimes it's the place where his grace becomes most visible. Paul understood that. All right, flip over to 2 Corinthians chapter 4. When you're there, say, got it. 2 Corinthians chapter 4. Awesome. 2 Corinthians chapter 4, and we'll be starting in verse 16. 2 Corinthians chapter 4, verses 16 to 18. Reading, therefore, we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying,

yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. For momentary light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison. While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal. I didn't put this in my notes, but this also brings to mind Ephesians chapter 6, verse 11, where it says we do not

fight against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against evil forces. And that's why we need to take up the full arm of God, the shield of faith, the breastplate of righteousness, right? Kid songs that like pop into your head. But yeah, what does it say? We do not lose heart, though our outer man is decaying. Man, there's hard things going on, but we're being renewed

day by day. But what can we know? That this light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory. Guys, the finish line is so much better. I don't know, like what pops in my mind. I said American Ninja Warrior, right? When they go through the obstacle course, like the last obstacle is like the warped wall, right? It's a super long thing. They have to like climb up. When they

reach the top, they hit the buzz and they're like, yeah, let's go. We made it, right? It's like, man, all that training I did, all the exercise, obstacles I had to go through, I finally reached the end. And it's so exciting. The end is so much better. When you see that checkered flag at the end of the race, it's like, man, we did it. Stay the course. The end is so much better. So I love this passage in 2 Corinthians because Paul isn't

denying affliction. He acknowledges it. He says it's real. We all go through it. He doesn't pretend suffering isn't real, but he reminds us that suffering is not the end of the story. Made for more, right? There's that song that we sing. There's glory ahead. There's eternity ahead. There's Christ ahead. And because of that, we do not lose heart. And maybe that's exactly what

someone needs to hear this morning. Not an explanation. Not all the answers. Just a reminder. Don't lose heart. Keep walking. Keep trusting. Keep praying. Keep serving. Keep loving Jesus. Stay the course. Now, here's the opposite side. You ready? If we're honest, sometimes temptation isn't suffering. Sometimes temptation is becoming comfortable, becoming complacent. Sometimes we drift. Sometimes we become spiritually sleepy.

Sometimes we become distracted. Sometimes we settle for surviving rather than pursuing Christ. Maybe today the Lord is gently calling some of us back. Not with condemnation. Not with shame. Like, hey, you better come back here. No. With love. Calling us back to himself. Calling us back to first things. Calling us back to the joy of simply walking with Jesus. All those kids doing their

kids' songs, right? It's like, man, they're having so much fun. That's what Jesus wants us to do. Just walk with him. Because the goal is not merely to start well. The goal is to finish well. Paul would later write in the end of his life, this is the last one I'll have you turn to, 2 Timothy chapter 4. 2 Timothy chapter 4. When you're there, say, found it. And we'll be reading verse 7. 2 Timothy

chapter 4 verse 7. 2 Timothy is right after 1 Timothy. All right. 2 Timothy chapter 4 verse 7. This is Paul talking to his disciple Timothy. And it reads, I have fought the good fight. I have finished the course. I have kept the faith. Wow. What an awesome statement to be able to say. Like, I want to be able to say that at the end of my life. Right? I have, where is it? I have fought the good fight. I have finished the course. I have kept the

faith. Paul is able to declare that in the end of his life. That's what he's saying. And I guess what I want to hear when I see my Savior. Well done, good and faithful servant. Man, if you can hear those words, you finished the course well. What a statement. He finished not perfectly, but faithfully. Right? What's Paul's story? He's a persecutor of Christians. Right? And now he's able to say, I fought the good fight. I

finished well. Not fame, not recognition, not comfort, just faithfulness. Lord, help us to finish well. Amen. All right. We're going on to point three. So point one was remember how you started. Point two was don't let difficulties move you. Point three is protect the people around you. And as we're going there, we'll start in verse 25. And go down to 31. But Paul turns his attention from himself and begins focusing on the people

around him. We're all in church today. We're gathering as a body of believers. And because faithful Christians don't merely run their own race, they help others run their race well. So verse 25, 31. Let's read it. Acts chapter 20. And now, behold, I know that all of you among whom I went about preaching the kingdom will no longer see my face. Therefore, I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all men.

Wow. For I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole purpose of God. Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers to shepherd the church of God, which he purchased with his own blood. I know that after my departure, savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock, but not sparing the flock.

And from among your own selves, men will arise, speaking perverse things to draw away the disciples after them. Therefore, be on alert, remembering that night and day for a period of three years, I did not cease to admonish each one with tears. All right. Remember, this is Paul taking his farewell address to the elders in Ephesus. And he continues speaking to them and

his focus is shifting. Up to this point, he's been talking about his own ministry, but now he turns towards the elders. What do we see? Paul cares about people. He warns them. He prepares them. He shepherds them. He tells them that difficult days are coming. He tells them that false teachers will arise. He tells them that wolves are wise. Why? Well, because love warns. Love protects.

Love prepares. And I think that's one of the ways we stay the course. By helping others stay the course as well. Christianity was never meant to be lived in isolation. We need one another. We need encouragement. We need accountability. We need fellowship. We need prayer. Galatians 6 chapter 2 says, Bear one another's burdens and thereby fulfill the law of Christ.

And a couple of verses down, Galatians 6.10 says, So then, while we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, and especially to those who have the household of faith. That's us. A body is supposed to work together, care for one another. There's people around us today who are tired. People around us who are grieving. People around us who are discouraged. People around us who are barely hanging on.

And sometimes the greatest ministry is coming along someone and saying, and reminding them, keep going. Jesus is faithful. You're not alone. Stay the course. Sometimes ministry looks like preaching. Or they get to do today. But that's not the only way. Sometimes ministry looks like bringing a meal. Sometimes it looks like sitting beside someone and crying with them.

Sometimes it looks like praying with someone after service. All those things matter. There's not one that's greater than or less than. They're all a part of doing ministry. And because faithful Christians don't merely think about themselves, they care for the flock around them. This is what we see Paul doing. That naturally leads us to what I believe is one of the sweetest verses in this chapter.

Moving on to point number four. Trust the grace of God. That's what I'm calling it. Trust the grace of God. Because after warning these men, Paul doesn't leave them with fear. He leaves them with grace. So, moving on to point number four. We're going from verses 32 to 35. Hope you guys are staying with me. Verse 32 to 35. Let's read it. And now, I commend you to God and to the word of his grace,

which is able to build you up and give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified. How's that happening? By his grace. Verse 33. I have coveted no one's silver or gold or clothes. You yourselves know that these hands ministered to my own needs and to the men who are with me. Verse 35. In everything I showed you, that by working hard, I am able to give to you.

I am able to give to you. I am able to give to you. I am able to give to you. I am able to give to you. I am able to give to you. Remember the words of the Lord Jesus that he himself said is more blessed to give than to receive. All right. Personally, I think verse 32 is one of the most comforting verses in this chapter. So, Paul says, I commend you to God and to the word of his grace.

I want you to think about that. He doesn't say, I commend you to my leadership. He doesn't say, I commend you to this program. You should go sign up for it. He doesn't say, I commend you to this program. He doesn't say, I commend you to your own strength. He points them to God. And he points them to God's grace. Because grace is what builds weary people. Grace is what strengthens tired people.

Grace is what carries broken people. Grace is what sustains us. Okay. Verse 24 told us to run. Verse 32 tells us where the strength to run comes from. It comes from God. It comes from his word. It comes from his grace. And I think that's important because here's the danger with this sermon. It can easily be communicated with try harder. You know, put your bootstraps on, be stronger.

Pull yourself up by your bootstraps. No, that's the last thing I want to communicate. No, what I'm trying to say today is stay close to Jesus. Stay in his word. Depend on his grace and keep walking. Because God is faithful. And the same grace that saved you is the same grace that sustains you. I'm going to say that again. The same grace that saved you is the same grace that sustains you.

If we couldn't do anything for our salvation before, what makes us think we can do anything for Jesus after? It's all by him and the power of his grace. Okay. Point number five is finish together. So point one was remember how you started. Point two was don't let difficulties move you. Point three is protect the people you love. Point four was trust the grace of God.

Point five is finish together. We're going to finish out Acts chapter 20, verse 36 to 38. When he had said these things, he knelt down and prayed with them all. And they began to weep aloud and embrace Paul and repeatedly kissed him. Okay. That's kind of interesting, but we'll keep going. Grieving, especially over the word, which he had spoken. And they would not see his face again.

And they were accompanying him to the ship. All right. I love how this chapter ends. It's Paul kneeling down. They're praying together. They're weeping together. They're embracing one another. Once again, real people, real emotions. They spent time. They invested time together. If someone's the part in your church family, it's like, oh man, like we're going to miss you.

Lord bless you. Lord, keep you. Make his face shine upon you. Right? The picture we are left with is not one of independence. It's one of family. These believers. Cared for each other. They loved one another. They shared life together. And honestly, I think that's one of the beautiful things about church. I came here as an outsider and I instantly felt super welcomed here.

It's a beautiful thing. Thank you guys. And we also get to rejoice together, more together, pray together and carry one another's burdens. When one member hurts, we all hurt. Nobody was meant to run alone. And if you're trying to carry everything by yourself, don't, God has given you brothers and sisters in Christ, lean into the body, allow people to pray for you, allow people to encourage you because we were never run to run this course alone.

That was never the purpose. Never what God intended. That's why we have fellow believers. So I want to wrap this up. Ultimately, this message isn't about Paul. Might seem kind of confusing. It's like we've been talking about Paul the whole time. How is this not about Paul? Well, actually, it's about Jesus. As wonderful as an example that Paul is. Acts 20 isn't about Paul.

In Luke 4, Jesus faced temptation. Yet he stayed the course. In his earthly ministry, he faced opposition. Yet he stayed the course. People misunderstood him, rejected him, mocked him. Yet he stayed the course. Luke 9, 51 tells us that Jesus set his face toward Jerusalem. He knew the suffering. He knew the cross was ahead. He knew the cross was ahead. Yet he continued.

And like verse 12 said, Jesus was the author and perfecter of our faith. He's our example. He's the one that we look to. He's the one that Paul looked to. He's the one who began the work and he's the one who's going to complete it. When Jesus hung on the cross, John 19, 30 told us, and he declared it is finished. He finished his course. When he was a kid, when he went to the temple and they're like, Jesus, why did you not come back with us with the family?

He said, don't you know? I'm about my family. I'm about my father's business. Jesus knew his purpose. And then when he died on the cross, he said, it is finished. My purpose has been completed. I stayed the course. Because Jesus stayed his course for us, we can faithfully stay our course for him. All right. Let's wrap this up. Point one was remember how you started.

Point two was don't let difficulties move you. Point three is protect the people around you. Four is trust the grace of God. And five is finish together. And we talked. We talked about Acts chapter 20. Why did I say this? Because maybe today you're weary. I don't encourage you. Stay the course. Maybe today you're grieving. I want to say, stay the course. Maybe today you're discouraged.

I want to communicate. Stay the course. Maybe you've stumbled. Get back up and stay the course. Maybe you become distracted. Come back to Jesus and stay the course. God never promised a smooth course. But he did promise his presence on the course. I'll say that again. God never promised a smooth course. But he did promise his presence on the course. It's the best thing we could ever have.

Difficulties on the course do not necessarily mean you've left the will of God. They may simply mean you're still running the race. So keep your eyes on Jesus. Keep trusting his grace. Keep loving his people. And by his strength, stay the course. Amen? All right. Before you leave this morning, we talked about bearing one another's burdens. If any of you guys are wondering or needing prayer, look around.

Find someone close to you. Ask for prayer. Anyone on the leadership team, I'm sure, would be honored and happy to pray with you. But, yeah, we're family. And none of us could run the race alone. So I'll pray us out. The worship team can get ready to come on up. And then, yeah, I pray you guys have a blessed week. So, Father, I thank you for your word. Lord, I thank you for the opportunity to minister from your word.

Lord, I know you ministered to me. I needed it this week. It was crazy. God, but I just pray that as we've learned how to stay the course, what it looks like to stay the course, Lord, that you help us. Lord, it's not by our own power, not by our own strength, not by our own might, but by your grace alone that we can stay the course. Lord, so I pray that we ask any of our fellow believers to help us.

Lord, that we come and fix our eyes on you, the author and perfecter of our faith. Lord, I pray for Pastor Ryan as he's doing a wedding today, that you give him safe travels. Back and forth and everyone involved in the wedding. Lord, so help us to really just sing out our worship unto you with this last song. Lord, and respond as you lead us. Thank you for this opportunity and go before the rest of the week.

In Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Amen.

Thank you for the works that you're doing in our lives, Lord God. And it sounds strange saying this, but thank you for the obstacles that you put in our paths sometimes. Lord God, we know that you have a plan and a purpose for those. Lord, like Tyler said, you never promised that it'll be easy, but that you'll be with us. Lord, we know that you have a plan and a purpose for those.

Lord, that they're there for your glory and our good. Father God, we know that you have good things in store for us. So, Lord God, we just thank you. We thank you for what you have in store. Thank you for what you've done for us. Thank you for the works that you're doing in our lives, Lord God. We love you. We praise you. In Jesus' name, amen. Love you guys.

Have a great week.