Start this new year off right –– don’t let your past control your future.
and and what I wanted to challenge you
to do with this year that we’re leaving
and we’re going into a new year but be
very careful that you remember it right
your memory is a mess you know that
you’ve been memorizing all the wrong
stuff you’ve been memorizing all the
things that went wrong that’s why you’re
miserable because of your memory I’m
gonna come to this side see if I can
find anybody anybody at all at the Praise
Party at Elevation Church if you would
start recalling to your mind all of the
ways he’s made all of the promises he’s
kept all of the things he’s carried you
through all of the valleys that he walked
you out of if you would remember you
would rejoice if you would remember you
would open your mouth and praise God I
recall it to my mind I call it I call it
master your memory
don’t let your memory master you Paul
said I’m not chained to this floor I’m
chained to the faithfulness of God he
was faithful this morning and he’s faithful at
midnight I’m not memorizing my pain this
year
so I wanna get you in the right
atmosphere tonight cuz you’re sitting
there at Rock Hill you’re sitting there
at Lake Norman and you’re going over and
over and over and over again I saw
something on my phone it was called a
memory movie did you know that you can
do that now if you have an iPhone you
can go on and set all the memories that
you want and make a video out of it well
I’m gonna make a movie about this year
but I’m gonna skip some scenes and it’s
not that they didn’t happen
it’s just that I’m not putting them on
my plot line
it’s my memory and I’ve been remembering
it wrong that’s why I keep messing up
relationships
you only remember the one time that they
said that rude thing to you
twenty-seven thousand nine hundred
forty-two times they were nice to you
you remember the one manage your memory
edit your movie Paul had mastered his
memory here’s how I know not only did he
sing the hymn at midnight which indicates the fact that he knew that God was going
to deliver him because maybe God had
done it before maybe once you beat a
lion beat a bear Goliath ain’t so bad
maybe it’s not so scary to go through
the Jordan when you’ve been across the
Red Sea its memorize memorize memorize
memorize memorize muscle memory muscle
memory did you know that the same way
you can develop muscle memory in the
weight room you can develop miracle
memory in your spiritual life I got all
night I got all night I got all night so
so so Paul 10 years later is writing to
the Philippian church remember I told
you that he wrote a letter to the
Philippians and he’s talking to them and
he says uh this Philippians 1 verse 3 I
don’t have it memorized so I need it on the
screen
he’s writing to the church that was
founded when he went to a woman named
Lydia and he ended up going to prison
and yet when he goes to speak to them a
decade later about what happened what he
has to say about it in his memory he
says you know what I thank my God every
time I remember you some of us have
we’re writing this we said every time I
remember you I think that that night I
spent when they beat my back every time
I everytime Paul said no no when I
remember you I remember the outcome not
the opposition the way I respond has to
do with the way I remember I thank my God every time I remember you in all my
prayers with you I thank my God
I remember you with joy when I remember
I don’t remember the pain I remember the
purpose he doesn’t even mention the
prison because by this time the purpose
is so big that that night in prison
seems small it’s just one night
memorize I was talking to Eric this
morning I said do you remember what
happened when they when they sang
praises to God he said yeah the prison
doors open and everyone’s chains came
off cuz I preached that before now I
mean any preacher can preach that you’re
trying to preach the Bible and you can’t
preach on this passage you should
definitely sharpen your other skills
resume out there but he said um ya
and the prison doors flew open right and
I asked him I said and then what he didn’t
know he didn’t remember he remembers his
fantasy football lineup but he didn’t
remember come on that’s my best friend
I’m just having a good time we’ve been friends since high school but
that’s that’s that’s you know what I
want to happen next in the story and I
know I don’t get to write the Bible and
Luke is writing this right he’s
recording it under the inspiration of
the Holy Spirit what happened here and
it would be great though in the sermon
on what happened at midnight cuz they
praised him at midnight chains came loose which represents freedom doors flew open which
represents escape but what happens next
well I know what I do if I’m Paul it’s
not hard
first you gotta memorize and then you
got to mobilize so I’m out because God
answered my prayer and that’s what the
earthquake was for and there’s the doors
open and look isn’t the Lord good I’m out
how many of you are with me you’re out
but remember how you always had that one
kid in your class that would raise their
hand at the end of class and the teacher
forgot to take up the homework
assignment but that one kid that one kid
would raise his hand and say um Miss Smith are you gonna take our math homework
cuz I totally do it Miss Smith
look watch this I love finding the church people
who aren’t used to having fun in church
Paul is that kid cuz the doors fly open
right this is amazing we’re out God is good praise the Lord Hallelujah great is thy faithfulness
but watch watch Paul is that kid huh
the jailer woke up verse 27 and when he
saw the prison doors open
he said oh crap tried to kill himself
he said it in Greek
because he thought the prisoners had
escaped well of course he did because
that’s what you do
but apparently Paul is better at
preaching then he is at prison breaks up Paul messes up the whole thing cause what I
want to see next either want Shawshank Redemption Andy
Dufresne crawling through the sewer
coming out like this in the rain on TBS
or I want Paul with his chains maybe I
watched went to many Quinn Tarantino
movies I shouldn’t confess that on the
stage but I want to see some action the
doors are open earthquake boom this is
anticlimactic
I’m just warning you because we always
preach about what happened at midnight
but the miracle isn’t what happened at
midnight the miracle is what happened
after midnight it was what Paul had put
in his heart before midnight that gave
them to him to sing when midnight hit
and the way that he went through the
midnight is what gave him the credence
and the validity to have a message to
share the way that you go through your
trials the way that you go through your
dark seasons the way that you go through
the confusing times and the crucible of
the trial a testing of your faith but
Paul Paul baffles me man because the
doors fly open and instead of running
Paul shouted
look what he shouted don’t harm yourself
we
Miss Smith this anticlimactic right why
were you singing and praying if you were
just gonna stand in the same place with
the doors open but maybe Paul had the
kind of faith that doesn’t only give you
the way of escape because that’s what a
lot of us really want when we talk about
a new year a new beginning what we
really want is a new situation I want
out
I want out God get me out get me get me
out of this debt but what what if God
wants to get in your budget I’m just
trying to preach something helpful
because I don’t want you to watch the
dot disappear go home wake up with a
headache and think nothing happened no
it’s not what happens at midnight it’s
what happened after midnight when Paul
said I know you were expecting me to get
out but I didn’t come to Philippi to get
out I came to Philippi to get the gospel
in Paul wasn’t trying to get out he was
trying to bring the word of God in
high-five three people tell them to bring it in bring it in bring it in bring it in bring it in
I’m not just trying to get out of a sad
situation I’m bringing in my joy I’m not just trying to get out of a hard situation I’m bringing in God’s strength
bring it bring it in bring it in bring
it in I’m bringing it in I’m not getting
out I came to Philippi to preach and now
I’ve got a captive audience don’t kill
yourself mr. prison guard I know you
were supposed to be guarding me but what happens when the one who was a hostage
becomes the host and Paul turns around
and says don’t worry about it I got good
news for you Paul saw an opportunity
Paul didn’t see an open prison door he
saw an open door for the gospel I want
to declare over your life there is an
open door of opportunity
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