SERMON SUMMARY
Sunday, February
17, 2008
The Year of Visitation : The Passion and Joy of Your Salvation
Sermon given by Senior Pastor, Dan Tabolt
“The Passion and Joy
of Your Salvation.”
Your relationship
with God is not part of your life; it is your life.
To have an eternal
impact, God must be the most important person in your life. Your
relationship with God is not part of your life; it is your life. This
study will help you see how you can be driven and powered by the Holy
Spirit in your relationship with Jesus Christ, so that he becomes your
passion and joy.
Tim the Tool-Man
Taylor. One program that I have enjoyed watching on TV has been Home
Improvement. In the story, Tim Taylor, the main character, is portrayed as
a man that is passionate about his tools. He lives for the trips to the
hardware store or to Sears to look at or to buy some new tool. He boasts
about all the tools he has. The show plays off the obsession and the
passion that this man has for his tools.
I. Jesus
Christ needs to be our passion.
If we are going to have an eternal impact, we have to be consumed by
the Eternal One.
The more you love
something, the more you become like it. For example, if I have a friend
that loves tennis. He would wears tennis clothes, carry a racket and talk
tennis. He would read tennis magazines and his hair would look like a
tennis ball.
I know of a
backwoodsman who really does not seem to get that exited about many things
except ice-skating. He and his wife live deep in the woods outside of
Croghan. But in the winter they drive all the way to Watertown every day
of the week just to ice skate. He doesn’t watch much on TV, but loves to
watch ice-skating, why, because everyone has something that ignites their
passion and is a source of joy to them. In his case, it is ice skating.
What is yours?
That’s why the Bible
says the greatest commandment of all is to love the Lord your God with all
your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your
strength. That is the greatest….
Why? Because the
power to change is given in relationship, and what you love you become
like.
Only when we
become passionate in our relationship with the Lord God will we become in
tune with his mission for our lives. Passion shows itself as we
consistently celebrate the goodness of God and stay in close contact with
him through worship, Bible reading, prayer, meditation, journaling, etc.
We will experience a Spirit-led velocity that gives our lives direction
and keeps us moving at the pace of the Holy Spirit no matter what life’s
circumstances may bring.
Read Acts
16:16–34
Paul and Silas
Imprisoned
Now it happened, as we went to prayer, that a certain slave girl
possessed with a spirit of divination met us, who brought her masters much
profit by fortune-telling. 17 This girl followed Paul and us, and cried
out, saying, "These men are the servants of the Most High God, who
proclaim to us the way of salvation." 18 And this she did for many days.
But Paul, greatly
annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, "I command you in the name of
Jesus Christ to come out of her." And he came out that very hour. 19 But
when her masters saw that their hope of profit was gone, they seized Paul
and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to the authorities.
20 And they
brought them to the magistrates, and said, "These men, being Jews,
exceedingly trouble our city; 21 and they teach customs which are not
lawful for us, being Romans, to receive or observe." 22 Then the multitude
rose up together against them; and the magistrates tore off their clothes
and commanded them to be beaten with rods. 23 And when they had laid many
stripes on them, they threw them into prison, commanding the jailer to
keep them securely. 24 Having received such a charge, he put them into the
inner prison and fastened their feet into stocks.
1. How do you
think the apostles felt about this slave girl’s shouting (v. 17)?
2. Why do you suppose Paul waited for several days before he finally
commanded the spirit to leave the slave girl (v.18)?
3. Why were Paul and Silas stripped, beaten, and thrown into prison? How
did they respond?
25 But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God,
and the prisoners were listening to them. 26 Suddenly there was a great
earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and
immediately all the doors were opened and everyone's chains were loosed.
27 And the keeper of the prison, awaking from sleep and seeing the prison
doors open, supposing the prisoners had fled, drew his sword and was about
to kill himself.
28 But Paul called with a loud voice, saying, "Do yourself no harm, for we
are all here." 29 Then he called for a light, ran in, and fell down
trembling before Paul and Silas. 30 And he brought them out and said,"Sirs,
what must I do to be saved?"
31 So they said,"Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved,
you and your household." 32 Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him
and to all who were in his house.
II. Our passion for Christ must exceed our fear of unpleasant
circumstances.
Look again at Acts 16:24. Since the Romans didn’t Have the Jewish law
that limited the severity of beatings, Paul and Silas were probably barely
able to move from loss of blood and shredded muscles. Adding to their
agony, their feet were fastened in stocks so they could hardly move or
roll over.
1. Have you ever
been falsely accused? How did you feel? What was your response?
2. How would you react if you were falsely accused, severely beaten, and
thrown into a dark jail (Acts 16:23–30)? Do you think you would be in the
mood to sing praise to God?
3. What do you think gave Paul and Silas the ability to maintain their
perspective in the midst of such horrible circumstances?
Notice verse 34 says the jailer was filled with joy. What is the
difference between happiness and joy? How do the actions of Paul, Silas,
and the jailer help us understand the difference between happiness and
joy?
In the Light of the story and Bible teaching, let us consider these two
scriptures.
Heb 12:2 looking
unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was
set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at
the right hand of the throne of God. NKJV
"Believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household." Acts
16:31
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Ministry
Abundant Life Fellowship
P.O. Box 22
Boonville, NY 13309-0022
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Please note that all
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reproduced for the purpose of profit or to be edited. Please understand
that these are here for the purpose of you bettering your own personal
understanding of what scriptures may mean, and we encourage you to read
the Bible for yourself as well and to pray for the Holy Spirit to give you
discernment of their meaning. All of the above sermons are available on
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