Your Way To Escape

Acts chapter 27 is going to be our key verse today and looking to the word of the Lord and appreciate all of you that are here in the presence of power of God. Acts chapter 27 going to begin reading at verse number 22. You may stand together as we read. Give honor once again to Pastor Sister Dong and Bishop and Sister Willifer for a great church. You're blessed with great leadership and we appreciate them so very much. Acts chap 27 and verse number 22. And the Bible says, "And now I exhort you to be of good cheer, for there shall be no loss of any man's life among you but of the ship.

For here stood by me this night the angel of God whose I am and whom I serve, saying, Fear not Paul, thou must be brought before Caesar, and lo God had given thee all them that sail with thee. Verse number 30. And as the shipmen were about to flee out of the ship, when they had led down the boat into the sea under color, as though they would have had anchors out of the foreship, Paul said to the centurion and to the soldiers, "Except these abiding the ship, you cannot be saved." Then the soldiers cut off the ropes of the boat and let her fall off.

Verse number 42. And the soldiers council was to kill the prisoners, lest any of them shall swim out and escape. But the centurion willing to save Paul, kept them from their purpose, and commanded that they which should swim should cast themselves first into the sea and get to land. And the rest of boards and some broken piece of the ship. And so it came to pass that they escaped all safe to land. And for a few moments today, I'm going to preach on the topic of your way to escape.

Heavenly Father, we come to you right now. Help us Lord to receive your word today. You have a way and a plan for our life, every situation, every trial, every circumstance. Let your will be done. We pray. Put your hands together one more time. Give God the praise as due to him. Let's praise him today. We thank him for his presence. You may be seated. Imagine yourself. All you're trying to do is to preach the gospel. All you want to do is to preach the gospel and see souls saved for the kingdom of God.

But yet once again you found yourself being arrested. You find yourself being cast into prison with the common criminals and the only crime that you commit. Amen. Was preaching the gospel. And not like prison in America where you get three meals a day and a TV and a nice bed to sleep in, but like around the world when you're resting in so many countries today for being a Christian, uh the end thereof a certain death. And that's where the Apostle Paul found himself once again in prison.

And his life was in jeopardy. His ministry could come to an end. Uh, and the only way that he thought perhaps that he could save his life was to make an appeal to Caesar to to go to Rome and be able to plead for his life and to not be killed. And and sometimes in life, you find yourself like the Apostle Paul. Uh, all you want to do is live for God. Uh, all you want to do is make a difference. uh but the cares of this life uh situations out of your control.

Trials, tribulation, and storms get in your way. So Paul saved his life in that prison. He saved his head for being cut off from his body in that prison by appealing to Caesar. But now in the boat on the way to a place that we can get to Rome that he will be safe. The boat got caught in a horrible storm. This was a storm that easily had the potential to not just destroy the boat, but everybody on that boat would die. And the Lord spoke to Paul and said, "Paul, I got good news and bad news.

The boat you're in is about to be destroyed. That's the bad news. You're going to lose it all. All the possessions, all the goods, everything in this boat's going to be gone. Uh but there's going to be no loss of life in the storm that you're in. Uh but Paul was still in the midst of the struggle. And I tell you, you know, I've been through a lot of storms in life. Uh living in Florida, been through several hurricanes. and the hurricane, those winds come and you wonder, will your house even still be standing?

Will your windows hold up? Uh, I've been in California and I've been there when they have earthquakes where the very ground beneath your feet begins to shake and horrible wildfires that can sweep through an area there and it can burn entire communities and entire cities and towns are destroyed. And here in Missouri, you guys like to have tornadoes, you know. Amen. That those sounds go off. And I have no idea what it all means. Uh how close it is is it's very threatening when they go off.

I really don't know really what I'm supposed to do. Especially where we work at where the whole building is made of glass. Amen. But I've been through amen storms and situations. And in the midst of that storm, it's a horrible place to be cuz you wonder, will I make it? Uh will my family make it? Will my homemaker? Will I survive this storm? Uh, but one thing I have learned in life uh that sometimes once you survive the storm, the aftermath of the storm, some good things begin to happen.

And after a hurricane, neighbors that have never spoken to each other, they come out from that devastation. And guess what? They talk and they share. And for the first time, a community becomes a community. If one person has food, they say, "Guess what? I'm going to grill for the whole neighborhood. Before my meat spoils, y'all come and just eat." One person has power, they say, "Bring your extension cord. You don't have power. I have power. I will share my power with you." There is something about coming through some of the most difficult times in life that you go through.

Uh in the midst of the storm, there's devastation. There could be fear and there's great concern, but when you come out on the other side, uh, God has a way to bring victory. God has a way to bring his bill. And I've learned in life that storms will make you better or storms that make you bitter. It's up to you how you will respect respond to the storms that come. You can't control the storms. You can't control the tornadoes. You can't control the hurricanes. You can't control what happens.

But I'm here to tell you, when you got your faith in God when you got a mind made up that says, "I'm going through, no matter what comes my way, God has a way. And God has a plan to bring you through each and every situation." I don't know most of you here today. I don't know what you're going through. I'm talking about storms. I'm not talking about a few raindrops that inconvenience you as on your way to the car. I'm talking about earth shaking, faith shaking, LIFETHREATENING STORMS WHERE YOU REALLY WONDER, am I going to make it?

Will my marriage make it? Will my MIND MAKE IT? WILL MY LIFE MAKE IT? Will my ministry make it? where you're so full of fear in the midst of the storm. I'm here to tell you, we serve a God that can make a way. Uh we serve a God that can open doors. We serve a God who has done it before and can do it again. It's your response in the midst of a storm that shows other people your faith in God. Because Paul with a death sentence on his head in a boat that was about to go under had four words of advice.

Be of good cheer. Now, when you're going through a storm and someone outside the storm says, "Be of good cheer." That don't mean much to you. It's easy for you to say, "Cuz you're not going through what I'm going through." BUT PAUL WAS IN THE SAME STORM. Paul was facing THE SAME SITUATION. PAUL'S LIFE WAS ALSO IN JEOPARDY. But when you are a child of God, there's something inside you that says, uh, I don't know how. I don't know when. I don't know what's going to happen, but I'm here TO TELL YOU, I can be of good cheer.

I can keep my faith. I CAN KEEP my hands in God's hand. And the God that we serve is going to make a way. You know, one thing I've learned about storms, Amen. You don't get to pick who you go through the storms with. I know airlines have a lot of issues and problems right now, but if I were to be in charge of the FAA, one recommendation I would have, can we pick who gets to sit in the exit row? Because sometimes I'm on a plane and I think if this plane does go down, that's not the person I want in charge of that door.

I like to look around the plane and pick the most qualified person to help me get out of here if and should come to that. But I've learned that storms you don't get to pick many time who you get to go through the storms with. Hurricanes, tornadoes, fires. I told you people come through the storm and become neighbors sometimes, but it's not the people you would choose. And Paul was here in this storm. And the boat that he was on had five groups of people on the boat with he had to pick his compions for this storm.

And I believe this boat and the groups on this boat, it's an example and a and and a microcosm of our world today. And and because what happens in our world today, people tend to group together in certain groups. Uh but we as a church uh we're not a part of any group but the kingdom of God. Uh our job is to reach everybody. That's why in North America mission, we want a church in every town. Uh we want a church in every city. We want a church in every part of town because we have to reach everybody.

Uh but it's so easy for people to get grouped together, but it's not our job. So on this boat in this storm that Paul was in, the first group were the criminals. There were people on this boat being guarded by soldiers who had broken the laws of the land. Now Paul himself was grouped in with the criminals. Paul himself was in handcuffs and leg irons. Now Paul, we know for sure, was innocent. Paul's only crime was preaching the gospel. Now, most these other criminals would tell you they were innocent also.

I bet you right now, you go down to the nearest jail and ask those people who are locked up, "Are you innocent or guilty?" You're going to hear a lot of claims of being innocent, and all of them are not really innocent, but they still will tell you that they're innocent. Uh, but Paul found himself, uh, amen surrounded by these criminals. Uh but I'm here to tell you today uh that when you are a child of God uh we don't look down on nobody uh because the Bible says that such were some of you uh if not for the grace of God no telling where you would be or what you would be doing.

NOT AT ALL OF THE FIVE groups of people on the boat. The Bible tells us how these people responded, but the criminals say, "Amen." The Bible don't tell us how they responded. They had no choice to respond. I mean, they got handcuffs on. They're tied together. They had no control over their destiny. They were in this boat. They were in this group. Uh, but they were just there. Amen. because they were in a position where they could not take care of themselves. Uh I mentioned this morning, amen, in our leadership class about Jesus saying one day, I must need go to Samaria because Jesus said there's a lady in Samaria that cannot come to me, so I must go to her.

I'm here to tell APC today, there are people in our community that are not going to show up on a Sunday morning. I'm not saying all of them are criminals. I'm just saying there are people that are bound. There are people that are addicted. There are people that have no hope. And if we think they are going to come to us, they don't even know how to get to this building. We got to be like Jesus and say there are people that cannot come to us.

Uh so we as a body of Christ, we have to go to them. The second group of people on this boat were the shipmen. Now, these were the sailors. These were the ones that were in charge of the boat. These were the ones that knew the most about the boat. These were the professionals. Uh, amen. These were the ones in the storm that had the most knowledge. Uh, they had been through storms before. They had had some level of training and expertise. And so, in a storm, Amen.

It is natural to look to the professionals. Uh it's natural to look to the ones uh that are supposed to know what to do. Uh and let's look at how these shipmen responded, amen, to the storm. Uh the Bible says that the shipment told the centurion and the soldiers, they said, "Listen, because there's a storm, we need to go to the four part of the ship and cast the anchors into the sea." That sounded like a reasonable explanation for what they were about to do because they said we're in a storm and to stabilize ourselves.

Uh we must cast the anchors into the sea. Uh but in reality that was not their plan. Uh their plan was to get the little lifeboat because they knew this big ship is about to sink. Uh this big ship is about to be destroyed. But if we can get out this big ship and get in the little lifeboats, we see a way through the rocks. We see a way through the storm that we can survive. Everybody else is about to die. But that goes against every maritime law that exists because the shipmen are supposed to be the last people off the boat.

But Paul told a centurion, he said, "Sir, these shipmen are lying to you. Uh they are not going to let down the boats. They're going to get in the boats and leave us. But I come to tell you, Paul said, that we're all going to be alive, but we all got to stay together. Uh if these men were going to leave and get in these little boats, Amen. We're all going to be destroyed. Uh and so the soldiers heard the words of Paul and they cut off the little boats and said, "You know what?

We're not going to let you do what you say you're going to do. You're supposed to be the professionals. You're lying to us. You got your own agenda." And today and on we got the professionals, the media, the politicians, the economists. These are the ones that tell us WHERE THE PROFESSIONALS. THERE'S A STORM IN THE COUNTRY. AND WE have the answer. But let me tell you, people of God, your answer won't be found on Fox News. Uh your answer won't be found on CNN. Uh your answer is not going to be found in a Google search.

Uh your answer is not coming from Wall Street. Uh your answer is not coming from the latest labor report from the state of Missouri. It's time for the church to stop trusting the professionals. Uh the professionals in the storm, they have their own agenda. They have their own playbook. The politicians are not here to serve us. They're here to serve themselves. I don't care who they are. I don't care where they serve. I'm telling you, it's time for the church to stop trusting the professionals. Uh the professionals have their own agenda where they're going to preserve themselves in the storm.

They're going to make the most money they can. They're going to keep us divided. They're going to keep us at each other's throat. But in a storm, I'm here to tell you that we're not going to trust the professionals. Uh we can't listen TO THE SHIPMENT. THEY DON'T HAVE the answer. The answer is found in the word of God. The answer is found here in the church of God. It's time for the church to know. PAUL SAID, "I KNOW WHAT THE PROFESSIONALS SAY, BUT I GOT A WORD from God." And the word FROM GOD SAID, "NOBODY IS GOING TO DIE, BUT WE ALL GOT TO STICK TOGETHER." SO, WE CAN'T LET PEOPLE GET OFF IN THEIR own agenda in little boats to do what they want to do.

Paul said, "We're in this together." It's a storm. We're in this together, though. And Paul says, "Stop trusting the shipment. Stop trusting the professionals. They have their own agenda and it's not about the kingdom of God. It's not about bringing through the storm together. It's not about reaching the loss. They got their own agenda, their own little boats of what they're trying to do. So, we have to be smart enough to say, "I put my trust in the word of God. I put my trust in the things of God.

I put my trust in the house of God. I don't put my trust in what others say. The third group on the boat were the soldiers. They were there to represent law and order. This was the military force. Their first goal was to make sure all the prisoners were delivered safely to Rome. The second goal was to keep law and order on the ship. And the ship, these soldiers, they made a heroic decision when Paul made the declaration to say the shipmen are lying to you.

They're going to get in the little boats and they're going to escape and get out of the storm so we can die. Now, the soldiers made a courageous choice. They said, "Let's get our swords. Let's cut off the little boats. Let's cut off the little boats. Let's let's cut them off." AND AND AND FOLLOW WHAT GOD SAYS AND STAY IN the ship together. Now, I'll be honest with you. If I was one of the soldiers, I might have said, "You know what? These little boats going to get us out of here." Let me let me get this right.

Paul, you say we get in these little boats, we can get out OF HERE SAFE. WE got the swords. We got the spears. Y'ALL CAN'T STOP US. GUESS WHAT? WE GOING TO GET LITTLE BOATS and we going to LEAVE THE REST OF Y'ALL BEHIND. Have a nice day. But the soldier said, "No, no, no. If the word of God, for the man of God says, uh, we have to stay in this boat. We have to stay together." Amen. I'm going to listen to what the word of God says.

I'm going to make a commitment. We're going to cut off every other avenue. We're going to cut off every other source. We don't care what the professionals say. We don't care what man says. We're going to put our trust in the things of God. We're going TO MAKE A FULL AND TOTAL COMMITMENT and say if this is the way that God says it's going to take to get out the storm. I'm going to take out every option. I'm going to remove every avenue. I'm going to MAKE UP MY MIND.

I'M GOING TO BE GOD'S way or no way at all. Sometime life gets you in a place where there's nothing left but God. Uh, you know, sometimes we like God to be our best option. But we like having other options JUST IN CASE GOD DON'T DO WHAT WE WANT God to do. But honey, you got to get to a place WHERE YOU SAY IF GOD DON'T MAKE IT, it ain't going to happen. If God don't do it, it won't be done. See, I was raised in Liberia, West Africa, very povertystricken country.

My father was a missionary. And I can give you stories of revival in the midst of persecution. I give you stories of healings. There have been document things in Liberia with the dead being raised, blind eyes open, deaf ears open. But you know why? They live a life of total dependence upon God. Because if God don't feed them, they don't heat. If God don't heal them, they're going to die. And I seen when YOU LIVE A LIFE THAT SAYS, "I AM COMPLETELY sold out to God.

Let the storm come every month. Let the rain fall AS IF IT MUST, BUT I GOT MY MIND MADE UP. AS FOR ME AND MY HOUSE, we're going to serve the Lord. That's a commitment. So, the soldiers made that ultimate commitment to God in his world. But unfortunately, a few verses later, they backslid after they made the commitment and Paul said, "If we don't stick together, we're all going to die." In verse 42, they gave counsel. Said, "Let's kill the prisoners." Because if we don't kill the prisoners, they may assume a way escape.

Wait a minute, soldiers. You just got a word that said, "We all got to stick together." together. You just got a word that said, "If anybody, you know, leaves, Amen. We're all going to die." If you kill the prisoners, you jeopardize your own victory, your own success. You jeopardize yourself because the Bible says, "We were in this together." Paul said, "We're all going to get through this together." But there's something about human nature that always wants to kill the prisoners in a storm. Throughout history, every culture has had a scapegoat.

Every culture has had a group. Every culture has had someone that they blame for the cause of the storm in their society. And human nature is let's kill the prisoners. Uh let's kill the culprit. Uh let's kill the ones I'm in a storm. But instead of saying can we all work together, the word of God say can we all stick together? Doesn't matter if we're criminals. Doesn't matter if we're soldiers. Doesn't matter if we're shipmen. Doesn't matter who we are. We're in a storm here together.

We're just trying to get through this together. But in the midst of the storm, it is human nature to kill the prisoners. Now, we have a history in the US. You go back few hundred years of slavery and we know the racial history in the US. But I'm telling you, you have not seen anything until you see tribal warfare in Africa. They're all the same color, but it's human nature. It's not just about black and white and Spanish and black and white. It's just human nature.

You go to a continent where everybody has the same skin tone and you have tribal warfare. You have prejudice. You have segregation. You have persecution. You have people being killed just because what tribe they're from. I'm telling you, it's just that's just human nature. There's something about human nature. when there's a storm, they want to find one group, one person to blame and say, "Let's kill them. Let's get rid of them. Let's blame them for all that's wrong in our society." I'm here to tell you in 2025 at APC, let's stop killing the prisoners.

Let's stop killing the outcast. Let's not get caught up in the storm. Everybody else around us, they turn on one race. They turn on one group. They turn on one type of people. And every culture has it. And it changes from culture to culture and time to time. But we're in a storm. Uh and we're all in this together. And God wants to bring us through. IT DON'T MATTER WHERE you're from. It don't matter what language you speak. IT DON'T MATTER WHO YOU ARE. I'VE COME TO TELL YOU, LET'S STOP KILLING the prisoners.

Let's stop killing the outcast. Let's stop PUTTING CERTAIN PEOPLE DOWN AND SAY, "WE'RE ALL GOD'S CHILDREN." AND YOU COME and I love you. You love me. I don't care what language you speak. I don't care where you're from. WE'RE IN A STORM. WE'RE NOT GOING TO BE DIVIDED BY THE PROFESSIONALS ANYMORE. We're in this together. We're in this together. We need each other. One family, one blood. We all serve the same God. The fourth was a centurion. He was the highest ranking person on the boat.

He recommended the political elite. He actually recommended the people that were had an agenda to kill the Apostle Paul. He was the highest ranking person on the boat. He was one of the professionals, uh, the political elite, the ruling class. But guess what? God gave Paul favor in a place that Paul would not expect to receive favor. Because verse 43 said, "The centurion willing to save Paul kept them from their purpose." I'm telling you, when the church is the church, uh when the church makes up their mind to be the church, uh it don't matter what the politicians say.

It don't matter what the professionals say, I don't care what the attorneys say. I don't care what people say about us. We serve a God and God is going to give us favor. God is going to open doors. God can create revival. God can create growth. And God can do great things. Uh there are people that shouldn't even like you on your job. And God will give you favor and promotion and a raise. I'm telling you, when you decide that I'm going to follow God, I'm going to live for Jesus.

It don't matter who you from, where you're from, or who you are. We serve a God that door is a blessing for you. The whole country could be against you. The centurion should have been against Paul. But guess what? Paul had favor. And the fifth group was Apostle Paul. He was a believer. An innocent man lumped in with the criminals. I'm here to tell you, sometimes you can find yourself lumped in with a group you don't belong to. But when you are a child of God, God has a way to elevate you.

Man may not elevate you. Man may look at you and man may put you down. Uh but Paul made a bold stand. Uh you say, "How could the Apostle Paul going through the same storm with everybody else keep his faith?" It's easy to live for God until your spouse walks out. Till your kids are on drugs, till your spouse says, "I don't love you anymore." Till you lose your job, until you get a repossession notice, an eviction notice, till the doctor says there's nothing else I can do for you.

WHEN YOU FIND YOURSELF FACING THE SAME STORM THAT OTHERS AROUND YOU ARE FACING, UNBELIEVING SITUATIONS YOU NEVER THOUGHT YOU WOULD GO THROUGH, your family would face. AND YOU SAY, "HOW COULD THIS BE HAPPENING to me as a believer that I'm going through this storm I never thought that I would face?" But in verse 23, after Paul said, "Be of good cheer." Paul gave two reasons why in the midst of a lifethreatening storm, how he could be of good cheer. He says, "I know two things. Who's I am who I serve.

I'm here to tell you today, I don't know what your storm may be. I don't know what the doctor told you. I don't know what your family told you. I don't know what your loved one yelled at you. I'm here to tell you when you know who's I am uh who you belong to as a child of God and who I serve. Uh the miracle working God that we serve. Uh the God that says peace be still. And it will still I'm telling you as long as you remember who you belong to.

As long AS YOU REMEMBER THE POWER THAT GOD STILL HAS THAT can raise the dead, that can change a situation. Let the storm be what it NEEDS TO BE. BUT I KNOW WHO I BELONG TO. I KNOW THE POWER OF THE GOD I SERVE. AND I MIGHT BE GOING THROUGH A STORM RIGHT NOW. I MIGHT BE FACING A LIFETHREATENING SITUATION. But I know who I am. And I know who I serve. And when I know those two things, let the storm come if it must. But I serve a God who's going to bring me through.

So we got these five groups on the boat. We got the criminals, got the shipman, we got the soldiers, centurion, we got believers, all in the same storm. And let's not rush through verse 43 and 44. Can you put it back on the screen for me? Because I came here to talk about your way to escape. Everybody doesn't come out the storm the same way. Some of our problems sometimes we want to tell God how to bring us out the storm. But God's way and God's thoughts are so much higher than your ways and your thoughts.

Sometime you can miss an open door that God has opened because you're looking at the closed door that God don't plan to open. God has already made a way for you to escape. But because God didn't open the door you want, you could miss what God has because look what happened here. The Bible says that they all escaped safe to land in verse 44. But they got to land three different ways. So Tyrion STOOD UP. OKAY, WE'RE HERE TOGETHER, BOYS. CRIMINALS, SHIPMENTS, SAILORS. WE WE'RE NOT KILLING NOBODY.

WE'RE NOT CUTTING OFF LIFEBOATS. We're in this together. First group, raise your hand. Do you know how to swim? And they're like, why do you know how to swim? I do. I do. If you know how to swim, jump overboard and swim the shore. Wait a minute, Centurion. Look at all the rocks out there. Look at the waves out there. Look, look, LOOK, LOOK HOW DANGEROUS IT IS. THIS IS NOT SWIMMING weather here. I I swim, but I swim in a pool in my backyard. Sharks out there.

What are you talking about? What? Wait a minute, Centurion. Because my parents taught me how to swim. Cuz I grew up with a pool. See, people that grow up in the struggle, they don't know how to swim. They're looking for water to drink. They got no water to swim in. They're trying to survive. Swimming is a luxury for them. They had learned how to swim. And so, wait a minute. You're telling me because I, me, myself, and I was responsible enough to teach myself how TO SWIM.

BLESS GOD. MY OWN BOOTSTRAPS. I pull myself up by all the stuff I I KNOW HOW YOU'RE GOING to punish me and throw me into the water. Bible said whom much is given, much is required. And the first group was if you know how to swim, jump in. You know that seems so unfair. And sometimes some of you are resentful. You take pride in your self-reliance. You take pride in your abilities, your career, your job. And look at others and say, "Why they don't swim like me?

Why they don't do like I do. I made it. They can make it too. Like let's say you see a turtle on a fence post. It didn't get there by itself. There's advantages and tools and things in some of your background that other people never had. They never had that opportunity. They never had that chance. You know, you don't know what they've been through to get to where they are today. And they don't know how to swim. You think they should know. You think they should be just like you and know how to and they don't.

They don't know how to swim. They haven't learned. They don't know. But if YOU KNOW HOW TO SWIM, jump overboard. So they jump overboard. Got nothing but their two hands in the midst of a storm. Looking back at the boat, they met other people there who can't swim. And sometimes you can be resentful when you think the weight of the world's on your shoulders. You reward. You know, you think sometime you're the responsible one in your family. You know, you take care of everybody. Nobody take care of.

I understand that's a tough place to be. But thank God you're able to do what God has equipped you to do. Thank God you got financial means. Thank God you got resource. Thank God you got health to be able to do things that other people sometimes cannot do. SO THEY SAY YOU KNOW HOW to swim jump in. So the first group jumps in because they knew how to swim. The second group it says there some just have boards. Now keep in mind these are nonswmers. These are people that don't want to be in the water and all they got is a 2x4.

Can you imagine? You're in this storm. You're in this water. All I got is a piece of board. I'm wrap my hands around the board. I can't swim. Got no life vest on. Better keep my head above the water. I could go under at any moment. And but they got this piece of board and they're holding on and looking around jealous of the swimmers. The swimmers are jealous of them. Swimmers are like, I don't have a piece of board. I might have my own two hands.

And but all I got is a 2x4. And got their head barely above the water. Then the third group, the Bible says, were on broken pieces of the ship. As the ship begin to fall apart, centurion said, "You get that piece of the ship." So let me see this guy here. He's got a 10 foot by 20 foot piece of the boat. I'm so jealous of him. He's just floating. He's got this big got a whole big He's not swimming. He's not hanging on. He just floating.

But guess what the Bible say? They all made it safe to land. DO YOU THINK WHEN THEY GOT TO LAND, swimmers complained about how much their arms hurt? Do you think when they got to land, the hangar runons complained about how small of a piece of board? Do you think when they got to land, those that were on that piece of floating by that piece of board, you know, worried about how big? No. When they got to land, everybody was just happy to get to the other side.

Uh when we all get to heaven. Uh what a day that's going to be. Uh I don't care if I had to swim. Uh I don't care if I had to hang on. I'm here to tell you that sometimes in life, you got to swim your way out. Just me, myself, and I. And Jesus. Me and my two bare hands. Barely making it through the sea, but I'm swimming the best I can. Sometimes in life, you're hanging on for dear life. Uh hanging on by a thread.

You're barely making it Sunday to Sunday to Wednesday. Barely got your financially, you're drowning. Your marriages are in trouble. Your kids ain't listening. Everything that can't. You're just hanging on by a thread. But guess what? God said you're still going to make it. Sometimes you get to float. Oh, it's nice. Those floating seasons are sure not. I love those floating season, man. There's times I feel like the smartest businessman in the world, the best pastor, and everything is just smooth. I'm making great decisions. There's money in the bank and my wife finally realizes how smart and funny I am, you know.

Just everything is going good. My jokes are funny, you know, life is going well. I'm just floating. Every people, there's still storms out there. People struggling, BUT FOR THAT SEASON, I get to float in a big old piece of the boat and I'm just floating on top of the water and life is good and others are swimming. Others are hanging on. But I get to float for this. I thank God for those like, but I'm telling you, it don't matter if you're swimming. It don't matter if you're hanging on.

It don't matter if you get to float. I'm here to tell you that there's your way to escape. God's got a plan for you. God's got his hand on you. There's a reason you're going through what you're going through. Swim if you got to swim. Hang on. You got to hang on. Float if you get to float. But I'm here to tell you, God has promised that no temptation has come on you, but such as is common to man. And with every temptation, there will be a way to escape.

So in life, we have the same storms. I don't care what nation you're from. I don't care what skin color you have. We got the same storms. We face the same situations in our marriage, in our health, in our life, in our ministry, in our church. We're in the same storm. You just got to be together. Stay in the house of God together. But the way out, the storm is different. Because sometime God wants to teach you a lesson. Sometime God let you float last time and you right back in it.

He said, "Okay, you going to swim this time. You don't get to float out this time. I floated you last time, you know, but you you got to you got to fight for it this time. I'm here to tell you that THERE'S DIFFERENT WAYS OUT of the storm. Uh but you will never be alone. Uh you will never be destroyed. Uh God has a plan. When you get to the other side, God will be faithful and God will hold your hand. Uh and God will not let you go under.

But this year, that's why we need more money for Christmas for Christ. There's more people out there need a way to escape. More people out there need a church in their community. Unsaved people are not going to drive an hour to the nearest UPC church. Saved people may do that. Unsaved people looking for something. They're drowning, something that's close by. We got to be in their neighborhoods. We got to be in their apartment complexes. We got to be right there next to where they live to let them know that God has a way to escape for them.

As we stand together today, I've come to tell somebody, there's a way to escape for you. Stop looking at other people. You know, I was raised in the church. I was jealous of people that had a testimony. I was like, "Oh, I wish I was on drugs." Dumb thing to say. I wish I've been alcoholic so I can come to church, but let's God, I was a, you know, gang banging drug dealer. God saved me. I feel like I can have a testimony. And those that are raised the streets, they came like, "I wish I had a godly family.

I wish I I wish my dad was a pastor. I I wish I could have had known my parents. We're all looking and the Bible said those that compare themselves among themselves are not wise. You have your own testimony. You You have your own storm. You've been through a lot to get here today, but there's your way to escape is here. If you're not repent of your sins, today is the day. Now you've been baptized in water in his name, today is the day. Now you've been filled with the Holy Ghost, today is the day.

But I'm here to tell you, let's make up our mind, APC. We're going to stay together. All of us together. We're going to stay in the boat. Nobody's taking lifeboats to get off. Nobody's killing anybody. Nobody's being distracted by the professional shipment with their agenda. We're here to stand on the word of God. We're here to follow the word of God. And we're here to say, "IF I GOT TO SWIM, I'M GOING TO SWIM. IF I'M BARELY HANGING ON, I'M NOT LETTING GO. IF I GET TO FLOAT, THANK GOD.

BUT THERE'S A WAY TO ESCAPE FOR YOU. And God has a plan for your life. Right now, this altar is open. We're going to pray. I want you to come forward right now. Lift up holy hand. Say, "Lord, it's me. Show me that way. It's me, Lord." Touch me today, Lord. Direct whatever you need from him. Whatever Whatever you need, I'm It's me, Lord. That way, Lord. Whatever I got to swim, I'll swim. I got to hang on. I'm I ain't letting go. I come too far to turn back now.

I'm I'm hanging on. If I get to float, I'm thankful for that. But I don't take it for granted for others still going through the storm. Heavenly Father, help us today. Let us receive and let us be mold, shaped to be like you. Stop feeling sorry for yourself. God didn't put it on you if you couldn't bear it. God knew you could bear it before he put up in the name of Jesus. You're being delivered. You're being shown your way to escape. God's opening doors of blessing for you.

Help us today, Father, in the name of Jesus. Let your will be done. Let your power be. Help us, Lord, today to know you're going to bring us through whatever it takes in Jesus name.