Acts chapter 16, while you're turning there, I really enjoyed both the special music, but I enjoyed the Southern-style choir. The last time I was in a service with a Southern-style choir, it was in Coventry, Kentucky, and Brother Joel's right, 95% came up to the front. They didn't sing right away, though, because they bickered for about 40 seconds as to what song they would sing, Brother, but then they did it really well, so. Acts chapter 16, Acts chapter 16. And we're going to begin reading at verse number six. Acts chapter 16, verse number six. Now when they had gone throughout Phrygia and the region of Galatia and were forbidden of the Holy Ghost to preach the word in Asia, After they were come to Mycenae, they assayed to go unto Bithynia. Hmm, just slipped me there. But the spirit suffered them not. And they, passing by Mycenae, came down to Troas. And a vision appeared to Paul in the night. There stood a man at Macedonia and prayed him, saying, come over into Macedonia and help us. And after he had seen the vision, Immediately, we endeavored to go into Macedonia, assuredly gathering that the Lord had called us for to preach the gospel unto them. Therefore, loosing from Troas, we came with a straight course to Samothracia, and the next day to Neapolis. and from thence to Philippi, which is the chief city of that part of Macedonia." We'll pause there. Now we're in the midst of the book of Acts, and let me give you the setting, a little bit of the setting. First, the we would be the missionary team with Paul and Luke and others. the missionary team, they've set out on Paul's second missionary journey. The first journey, you may recall, was with Barnabas, and the effort was to go into Asia Minor. We would call that today Turkey. And if you were familiar with the Book of Acts, they went to places of names like Derbe, and Lystra, and Cilicia, and they planted churches. They went back to their home church in Antioch. They reviewed that missionary journey as missionaries would come here to Central Baptist and review their work and seek prayers and seek to prepare for another journey. This time, Paul had decided that he wanted to go again to Asia, or Asia Minor, or various regions in Turkey, modern day Turkey. But the scripture tells us in the beginning of the passage that I read, that the Holy Ghost came to them and said, came to Paul, spoke to his heart in that still small voice, and said, I don't want you to go there. I don't want you to go there. And then, subsequent to that, in a vision, God gave Paul a vision where a man from Macedonia, Macedonia was across the Aegean Sea in what we would call today Greece. And in that area of Macedonia, there'll be some cities, cities like Colossae, cities like Thessalonica, cities like, let's see, what, Philippi. So there are cities that we're familiar with as a Christian because books were written, Paul, inspired of God, later would write books or epistles, letters, to churches he founded in Macedonia. But this is that point in history where the vision occurs and a man says, come over to Macedonia and help us. And Paul has a choice to make. and the choice is recorded here in the scriptures, and I think there are a lot of lessons that we can learn from Paul's choice, from Paul's response. And so here we have the beginnings of a second missionary journey, and Paul will be on that journey, planting churches, but as a result of being told, don't go to Asia Minor, go to Macedonia. Let's bow for prayer and we'll ask God to prepare our hearts. Father, I ask that you'd prepare hearts by helping us see how this event in Paul's life can correspond to changes, correspond to callings, correspond to missions and work in our own lives, changes that God calls us to embark upon. And I pray, Lord, that the response that Paul and his team had would be our model, and that we would do as he did, that we would respond immediately, that we would respond faithfully, and we would see God open doors in ministries in our life. Thank you, Lord, for the word of God. In Jesus' name, amen. Perhaps this is one of the clearest places in the scripture where a Christian, Paul, a Christian is called upon to make a change. Now, there are lots of times in our lives as Christians that we're called upon to make changes. The first change, of course, was that change that was required to get saved. Not a change in works, not by works of righteousness, which we have done, but according to his mercy, he saved us. So it's not about works, but about exercising faith in the work on the cross that our Savior Jesus has already performed. Exercising faith that his work was sufficient for our salvation. that although we might certainly want to act right and do right and be moral, be helpful to others, help our community, perhaps help a church congregation, that's not what it takes to be saved. Being saved isn't about being a good citizen or about performing good works, it's about putting our faith and trust in the blood of Christ that was shed on Calvary. So the first change in many lives is to turn away from those things that perhaps we mistakenly were trusting. Church membership, trusting being good to others, trusting our traditions. trusting what our family has been involved with over the years, trusting those things and hoping, hoping that when we stand before God someday, maybe, if we've done well enough, he might, perhaps, let us enter heaven. Well, it isn't a perhaps and it's not a might, it's an assurity that if we trust Christ as our Savior, then we have been given the gift of eternal life. Later in this very chapter, When Paul comes to Philippi, that first city that he encountered in Macedonia, he's going to have an opportunity to answer the question of a man who said, sirs, what must I do to be saved? And the answer to that question that Paul gives him is, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved and thy household. It's a matter of faith. So the first change that some of us had to make was a change from relying upon ourselves or a change from wondering is there a heaven, is there a hell, or a change from religious habit and a change to faith. That might have been the first change we encountered. Certainly for my wife Lynn and myself, that was true. A change from self-reliance and religious membership in a church to am I trusting Christ as Savior. That changed our life. And that change then causes some others. So the second change might be this, that once we're saved, the Great Commission is to go into all the world and preach the gospel. Matthew says we're to teach all nations, and then what? Baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. So the next change might be baptism, and we encounter that in this chapter later. It won't be part of the message, but that might have been a change in your life. But there are other changes. Changes at home between husbands and wives. Changes at home between children and parents. Changes in the community between employers and employees. Changes between students and teachers. Changes in our attitude and our habits and our amusements. All those maybe changes. And we might not think of them in the same light as well. Paul's ministry was changing. He was told that he needed to go to Greece instead of Turkey, to Macedonia instead of Asia Minor. That was about ministry. Yes, but all of us in living the Christian life All of us are ministers, servants of the Lord, and these changes that God may call for in our lives should have a certain response, and we're gonna see the response that Paul gave. So let's look first in verse number 10. After he had seen the vision. So the vision is, I want you to change your path and go to Macedonia. After he had seen the vision, immediately we endeavored to go. immediately we endeavor to go. There's a sense of priority. There should be a sense of priority about our course, about what God wants us to do, a sense of priority. And isn't that different? than before we're saved where most of our priority is on what we enjoy or what's good for us. It might be on hard work because we want to earn more. It might be on amusement because we want to enjoy more. It might be on some good things like our family. It might be on some bad things. But the priority is set before we're saved for the most part on us. But now, Now that we're saved, the priority should be on the Lord Jesus, on God our Father, on the Holy Ghost, and what God would have us do. What's his plan for our life? And I believe, as others that you've heard in this pulpit, that he has a plan for every single one of us. For some, it's a plan to be married and to serve with our husbands or wives and to raise children. For some, it's to work in a certain kind of ministry. For some, it may be missions overseas or missions here in this country and church planning. For some, it may be teaching or singing in the choir. But God has purpose and ministry for all of us. And when Paul became aware of where the Lord wanted him to go, the scripture says, immediately we endeavored to go. There's a certain priority about the course. The Lord speaks to our heart, and there's an urgency, an urgency. You know, our government, our space exploration, NASA, They have a plan, it's talk right now, it's in the formative stages, there are projects going on, but they'd like to go to Mars, a manned mission to Mars. I was in high school when President John F. Kennedy said that we're going to go to the moon in the decade of the 60s, go to the moon. Now, what if he had said that and no one really did anything about it? Well, then nine years later, we wouldn't have landed men on the moon. Right now, it's talking about Mars. But if we're to do that, work has to begin. And there's a window of opportunity, even should all the work be done, there's a window of opportunity when the rocket eventually, some kind of missile, some kind of rocket, will be launched. If we're ever to do this, it'll be launched and it will head toward Mars. But it's not going to head toward Mars by a laser beam shooting straight out because, as you know, all our planets, by God's wonderful creation, by his wonderful balance, they all move in their own orbits. And Mars is gonna be somewhere out there. But when the rocket gets there, it's gonna be somewhere different because it's moved. So what's the plan? The plan is, that mathematically and with elaborate, I'm sure, and detailed applications of physics, someone's going to say, we're going to shoot the rocket right out there, and those astronauts are going to go right out there, and they're going to intersect with that planet Mars six months later at just the right time. But there's something else to that. There's the window of opportunity of when they have to launch. there's only a small variableness there. If they're going to reach there, when Mars is at the closest to Earth, in its orbit, there's only a small window of opportunity. You know, God is eternal, and he's not so concerned about timetables and calendars, would you say that's probably true? For himself, I mean, he, has always been and always will be. And I don't think that he's nervously anxious and sitting on the throne in heaven and saying, oh, oh, oh, we've gotta do this right now for my sake. No, it's not for God's sake. But the immediacy is because of us. How many of you plan to live to 150? Okay. Well, I plan to live to 150, but there's gonna be a threshold somewhere, and the latter part of that, and past 150, is gonna be in heaven, right? We're gonna be alive in heaven. But we have a window of opportunity to serve. And whether we're a youngster, whether we're someone in their teen years, or whether we're someone in the senior years, the window of opportunity is finite. The window of opportunity is really brief. The scripture themselves says, whereas you know not what shall be on the morrow, for what is your life? It is even as a vapor that appeareth for a little time and vanisheth away. So the urgency, the priority should be immediate. Immediately we endeavor to go because our life is short. And if we fail to go, if we fail to respond, if we delay, then all the time in which we've delayed following God's plan is a time lost that can't be recaptured. So for our sake, we need to be immediate. For our sakes, we need to be available. For our sakes, we need to respond without delay, without delay. There may be someone here this evening and you've been coming to services, and we're so grateful you do that, and it's wonderful to shake your hand and see you, but I don't know all the hearts, certainly, without a doubt, no one can except the Lord. Maybe you've been coming, and you enjoy the fellowship, and the preaching's been touching your heart, and in that heart of hearts, you've already decided, not because of me, or not because of this message, but you've already decided that yes, I need to get saved. Now, I knew I needed to be saved, before I went forward in a service. Not very long before, I'd been hearing the gospel, and the Lord had convinced me that I was a sinner and I needed salvation. The Lord had convinced me that needed to be done. I needed to put my faith in Him. So I knew I needed to be saved, but I hadn't yet. actually follow through to express my faith to him. That's why sometimes we pray and say, Lord, I know I'm a sinner. I'd like you to come into my heart and save me. Forgive my sin. I'm trusting you as my savior. It's because we need to express that faith to God. It's a decision point in life. I hadn't made the decision. I knew I needed to, but I hadn't made the decision. You know, there might be even someone in the auditorium tonight that's sitting right smack on that bubble. You know you need to, you know it's true. You've accepted all the truths of the Bible about yourself, about God, about eternal life, about heaven, about hell. You've accepted all that as truth, but you haven't yet responded and asked Christ to save you. Immediately, immediately we endeavored to go. Be a wise thing not to put it off. Why spend one more day lost? Why spend one more day in jeopardy? Why spend one more day wondering if something happened to me, if the flu came, if an accident came, if a disaster came, and I should suddenly lose my life? What is your life? It is even a vapor. Where would I be? Tonight would be the night. Paul's example of change is respond immediately. And then he said this in that phrase, immediately we endeavored to go. It takes some effort on our part. It takes some effort on our part. I'm not talking about salvation taking effort. I'm saying it takes an effort for the flesh to get underway. How many of you find it easy to get ready for church on Sunday morning? Most of us, most of us, to honor the Lord, we may dress in a way, something a little nicer than we might do if we're out, you know, raking the leaves in the fall or, you know, we get ready. And we look nice because we want to, we're going, we're gonna meet with our Savior, we're gonna meet with God, and we look nice, we try to look nice, our best, because of that. So it takes some effort. Takes some effort to get up. I don't know about you, but on a chilly morning, that alarm goes off. My body says, it's warm under this blanket. It's cold out in that room. Then my brain says, let Lynn get up first and turn the thermostat up, but that's a different issue. No, we don't like to do things that are new. And our flesh resists that. Sometimes we're fearful of what it might mean, what that change might do. Sometimes we just wanna delay. I'm not ready, I'm not ready, I'm not ready. And just like coming to church on Sunday means a little extra effort, changes may mean extra effort. Surrendering to be a helper in Sunday school may mean extra effort during the week to work on the memory verse. or to cut out some of the project materials for the kids in the class, or to study a lesson, or it's extra effort. We endeavored, immediately we endeavored to go. Making a change involves effort. But I would say to you that nothing, nothing that has great satisfaction to us has ever happened without some input. If it's something we accomplish, we can do for the Lord, we can be a servant, we can be His hand, His fingers, His voice, His eyes. To help someone else, that satisfaction of knowing I followed the Lord, I went where He told me, I did what He said, I handed out that track for the cashier, I made that phone call, I stopped by with that meal, doesn't happen without effort. And Paul immediately, began to make that effort to go, to go. Immediately we endeavored to go. We can't stay in our familiar comfort cave with our comfort food and our comfort friends and follow God's course to Macedonia. We always have to step out, to step out. You came out tonight, you stepped out. Those of you who work and serve the Lord by serving in RU, you step out on Friday nights and other times. Those of you who sing in the choir, you step out and you go to practice. Those with special music, those three young men didn't sing here without practice. They stepped out, they took time, they went, they got together. When we're going to do what God asks us to do, we need to do it right away. Start it right away. It'll take effort, but nothing will be satisfying if we're unwilling to go past what we're already doing, past what's already a part of our life. Someone has once said, when should I, when should I go? And as we think about it, as we think about it, should a man become pastor only after he's memorized the New Testament? Boy, that would be difficult. I wouldn't have ever been pastor for 24 years. Because I've never memorized the New Testament. But I've known folks that had goals like that. When will you learn all God's ways? Once I know all of God's ways, of course, that's a foolish, a facetious answer. What I molded in the image of Christ will never be there. And all those answers are superficial. And no one really says that. Over the many years, the four and a half decades I've been in ministry, I've heard a lot of reasons that folks have said not now, later. And some of them seem just, just as superficial, just as shallow. You remember in the Bible, There were folks that were asked to do something in one of Jesus' parables. One said, oh, I've got a team of oxen, I've gotta prove them. And another one said, oh, I've got some land, I've gotta go look at it. Oh, I've got, that's our flesh. Paul had learned to overcome that. Immediately, we endeavored to go. Immediately, we endeavored to go. Staying at home, and home I don't mean just the residence in which you live, I mean, that home territory, that comfort zone, that place that we feel that we can handle it. Staying in that comfort zone, when we're asked to step out on faith, to do more for God than we've ever done, to do something different, to do something that we're unsure of, until we're ready to say, I'm taking the first step. We won't get there. We won't have that satisfaction. We won't look back on five years of working in the nursery and watching those little babies up now in kindergarten. We won't look back on it if we never started. We won't have that satisfaction of a card from someone saying thank you for answering my questions. I sure appreciate that. I count you as my friend if we've never approached them and shaken their hand and said hi, my name is. Paul, the second thing is this. In that same verse number 10, it said, assuredly gathering that the Lord had called us for to preach the gospel unto them. Assuredly gathering. So first, I noticed that Paul responded immediately, and second, Paul relived and restated for himself. I said, what? while assuredly gathering that the Lord had called us to preach the gospel unto them. That says, I assuredly brought together that vision and my ministry and our team. I assuredly brought all that together and reminded myself that our purpose is to preach the gospel to them. I remember the day I was saved. How many remember the day you were saved? Now, I understand that there are those that are saved and might say, well, I know it was a summer camp, I don't remember every detail, or I know it was at my grandparents' house, and I know what I did, but I can't tell you the date, and I've got that. But in my case, I walked forward in church service, and Leroy Jordan took a Bible and opened it and went over some verses with me, verses that I'd already heard several times from another soul winner. They were familiar to me, and I responded quickly, and in fact, I was simply exercising that desire to receive Christ as Savior. That was already solid, I understood it. But it seems to me that I remember those details. I remember my knuckles, white. I remember a conversation I had with the Lord, where in holding that pew during the invitation, I said, Lord, if Lynn gets saved, I'll get saved. I don't wanna go to heaven without her. And the Holy Spirit spoke in that still, small voice and said, when you stand before God someday, you'll be alone, son. And whether or not she's saved will not make a difference for your soul. You need to get saved. And stepping out, I remember the conversation After I prayed and received Christ and came back with the couples that recently had been saved and had been a great influence on me, Lynn was there with them and I came back and shared the fact that I had received Christ. I remember telling the people I worked with the next day, say, well, so you've got a good memory. No, I remember it because I've rehearsed it over and over and over and over again for 47 years. Why would you do that? Because it's a joy. Because I want to remember it. Because I want to rejoice in my salvation. There are other times in my life as well, and I won't go through every one of them, but I'm just saying, we go back, and I deal with folks from time to time in ministry that are uncertain as to whether they're saved. And one thing may be that they don't know the Bible verses upon which their salvation is based. I think every person, no matter how long you've been saved, you should have some anchors in the Bible that say, that's why I know I am saved, that's because the Bible says I'm saved. Not me, not my memory, that's what the Bible says I'm saved. And I can tell you all the verses that Leroy Jordan talked to me that day, and the ones that I'd been over, the ones on which my faith is hung. But the scriptures, knowing and reviewing it helps us to realize that if God brought me that far, then if he asked me to do something else, as Paul was asked, then I have an assuredness, okay, he's brought me that far, I'm one of his children, along with many, if not everyone here, I don't know. And so I can trust him when he called me. And we go back and we review. Paul and his group were going back and reviewing, okay, why are we going to Macedonia? Because of a vision of a man speaking to our leader, Paul. What are we supposed to do there? We're supposed to preach the gospel. But what if they have other needs? What if, you know, so often things get in the way of the real purpose? What's the purpose of teaching a Sunday school class? To grow those children in the grace of God. to help them to become more Christ-like in their walk. It's not babysitting. Any teacher knows that. I hope every parent knows that. But any teacher knows it's not babysitting, it's not taking up time, it's to help kids grow in the likeness of Christ. But even a burned out teacher from time to time can think it's to get through that 45 minutes or 50 minutes without being scarred, okay? It's to get through there without losing control too badly. It's to get, no, no, no, no. Our purpose, our purpose is to transform, be the instrument through which God can transform lives. We need a purpose. What's the purpose of the bus ministry? What's the purpose of singing in the choir? What's the purpose? It would be wise for you tonight, if you're unsure of that purpose, to go back and review and say, when I surrendered to sing in the choir, what was on my heart and mind? What did I think the purpose would be? Because I guarantee it's gonna be something to do with serving God and pleasing Him. and you wanted to use your talent and your abilities? Because when we surrender to serve God, when we surrender to go to Macedonia, we know why we're going. But over the years, over the years, we may forget. It may change a little. There may be other influences. Sometimes we have to go back and review, what is the reason I'm doing this? It's the Lord and His calling. It's the Lord and His urging. Here's why I'm doing this. Because that gives us the assurity part. Being sure, being sure. And what were they supposed to do? What were they sure they were supposed to do to preach the gospel? For them it was simple. Go into Macedonia and preach the gospel and God will do the rest. God will do the rest. The third phrase, therefore loosing from Troas, therefore loosing from Troas, Troas is on the coast of Asia Minor, it's on the eastern coast of the Aegean Sea, and they were gonna go directly across the Aegean Sea at one of the narrowest places, and they were gonna end up in a city named Philippi in Macedonia. But they couldn't get to Philippi and Macedonia till they loosed from Troas. Loosed from Troas. Well, we're gonna go over there. Good, when are you going? Sometime. We're gonna set sail soon. When? Soon. We know we're gonna travel and we're gonna go over there to that town. We're getting all ready, we're packing stuff. When will you be packed? Soon. That wasn't their reaction, was it? but it's our reaction sometimes. So the Lord worked in your heart and said he'd like you to work in the bus ministry, yes, yes. So when are you gonna do that? Well, it's winter right now. I think I'd rather do it in the spring. So would you go visiting this week? I'm not sure I'm ready for that. My schedule doesn't allow it yet, but I'm sure I can work it out for later. So I heard you volunteered to sing in a special music group. Yes I did, I really enjoy music, I'm gonna do that. So what group are you in? Well I haven't decided yet, but I'm sure I'll find something after a while. After a while. And we have to loose. We have to loose from the schedule we've already got. I went forward to become a bus worker. I was called to ministry from the bus ministry. I went forward to become a bus worker. There was a confusion. There was a problem. There was a misunderstanding. I went forward in a service that was a special service that had to do with bus ministry and serving. Our church was beginning this, an expansion of bus ministry. We had a special speaker came in, and the Lord really gripped my heart. And I went forward, and I said, I'm here to surrender to the bus ministry. And I actually said, I need to surrender to the bus ministry. And my pastor, who took my hand, said, wonderful. I said, well, I have to work Saturdays, so I'm not sure how I'll do this. But I know I need to surrender to the bus ministry. My pastor ignored that completely. He announced to the entire congregation, Brother Brown has come forward today to volunteer to be a bus captain. I didn't say that. I didn't say that, I just said bus ministry. I might call every other week or something, what's going on? And then he said to me, Brother Brown, you'll be at the bus meeting next Sunday morning, eight o'clock breakfast, nine o'clock meeting. Okay. I was a bus captain in February in Michigan. I don't suggest you start a bus route in February in Michigan. It's really, really cold. But that's what happened, and that's how the Lord did it. And he did it because my pastor understood that if you don't loose from your present schedule, your present commitments, your present mindset, you'll not do anything for God. A year from now it'll be the same. Yes, I need to do that, but I haven't. I need to do that, I haven't. I go back to point one, immediately we endeavor to go. But here we are, loosing from Troas. What are you loosing from? Do you have to loose from the prison of conformity to the secular world? Well, I don't know what the neighbors would think. I don't know what my family would think. To commit? I mean, I'm already going to church Sunday morning and Sunday night. My family already thinks I'm some sort of a religious fanatic for coming out twice in a week. And three times? Wednesday too? Sunday school? And now, rehearsals, now practices, now youth events, now what is it? The world says I'm doing enough already. What is it? You know, I didn't write this down because I hadn't thought about it. But I just realized, when I was pastoring in Stratford, I had a gentleman come to me, and he said, I'm confused. And I said, why is that? Tell me about that. And he said, well, I have a CPA do my taxes. Okay. And he said, I gave him all my receipts and I gave him my checkbook and I gave him all the stuff, and my CPA told me, stop tithing, you can't afford it. I said, well, your CPA is wrong. Is he saved? I don't know. I said, well. Do you really think that you can't afford it? Because I'm gonna ask you, did God meet your needs last year? Well, yes, he did. In fact, abundantly. And you tithed, yes. Isn't that a testimony to your CPA? I hadn't thought of it that way. I hadn't thought of it that way. But I remembered, I remembered when I first tithed and how hard that was to do. And I remembered you had to loose from Troas, you had to say, wait a minute, the world says, you need to put this into savings. The world says, you can't afford this. The world says, how are you going to buy this, that, or the other thing if you give this money away? The world says, now I didn't put that in my outline, so Nancy, sorry about that, it's nowhere out there. But, she's interpreting for the deaf. But, I remember how hard that was. Some of you, may know that God wants you to be responsible and do what responsible Christians do, and to tithe your income. You know it, I'm not telling you, you know it because the Holy Spirit told you, but you've said, well, sometime, sometime, sometime. You gotta loose from the ideas of the world that say you can't. That's foolish, you can't afford it. You have to set yourself loose from that and start the straight course, which is the last thing. Therefore, loosing from Troas, we came with a straight course to Samothracia, and the next day to Neapolis, and from thence to Philippi. Philippi was Macedonia. Philippi was the city that they began to to evangelize. Philippi is the place where they met Lydia. Philippi is the place where they were jailed. Philippi was the place where the Philippian jailer gets saved in his house. Philippi is the fruitful goal of the vision we read of earlier. Wouldn't have happened had they not endeavored immediately endeavored to go. Wouldn't have happened if they hadn't assuredly reminded themselves of the purpose of their ministry. And the purpose of our life is to please God. And you'll never have more satisfaction, more joy, more peace, than knowing that you're doing what God wants you to do. At that moment, at that month, at that day, at that year, doing what God wants you to do. That is the highest, the highest sense of peace and joy that a human being can have. I'm in the middle of God's will. My family's in the middle of God's will. We're serving our church in the middle of God's will. And casting off from Troas, and heading for the place that God has called you to go. And that place may be a ministry, that place may be a personal devotion, that place may be the tithing that I just mentioned, that place could be baptism now that you're saved, and that place, remind you again, could be just stepping across the threshold of faith and trusting Christ. But wherever God has called you, And I think in a group this large, this is a large group, that there are probably some people, maybe just a small handful, but some people that actually know God has spoken to my heart about a change, a change to please him, a change to obey him, a change which will revolutionize my Christian walk, a change that will alter my pattern, a change that will bring me closer to him and his goals for me, but I haven't done it yet. The message was intended by me, the message was intended to urge you to make that change, to urge you to cast off and go. Not to go from the church, please don't misunderstand. Kids listening may say, Pastor Brown's asking us to leave. No, to go from the pleasant presence status you have with God to another level, to another level of discipleship, another level of service to him, another level of satisfaction, another level of obedience. To go from where you are to another place where God's waiting to bless you, just like Lydia and the Philippian jailer were waiting in Philippi for Paul to arrive. The first time, the first week that Lynn and I went soul winning in Stratford, Connecticut, came in 1980 to plant a church. Been saved eight years, served on a staff for five. Came to Stratford, Connecticut to plant a church. The first week we were going soul winning. We had settled into our apartment. So we planned the route and had materials and began knocking on doors. And within that first week, I don't remember which day, but within that first week, we knocked on a door, and a lady came to the door. Her name was Pauline Bednar. She came to the door. She was glued on the end of a 25-foot cord. You know, we didn't have cell phones in those days. You didn't have cordless. You had a big, long cord that went all through your ranch house. You could go outside and mow the lawn with that cord, but I mean, it was long. She had it at extension like this. She said, yes. I said, hi, my name's Barry Brown, and I'm a new pastor. We're planning a church, or starting a church here in Stratford. And I said, White Oak Baptist Church. Barbara, Barbara, Barbara, I'll call you back. Barbara, I'll call you back. She ran in, hung up the phone, ran back out. She said, tell me that again. I did. She said, I got saved two years ago and I have been praying regularly. I've been to every church in this town and I've been praying regularly that God would send somebody to start a church that would preach the gospel. She was my Lydia, my Philippian jailer. She was the one that said, assuredly, you're in the right place. But if I hadn't cast off from Troas, it wouldn't have happened. It's with joy. It's with satisfaction. It's with assurance that those that need to cast off and do what God wants them to do immediately, that it's to your benefit, not mine, to your benefit, I'm convinced of it, Don't wait.