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Walk out these doors. Your people are seeking an encounter with you that'll be fruitful in their lives forever. So we submit ourselves to your plan, asking that you destroy the very yolks of the enemy through the power of your anointing. Whether they're tuning in online or are in the room, I pray that you do so. Something right now, God, in the midst of this worship experience, that your people can testify that this is your doing and it's marvelous in our sight. We pray and ask these things in the mighty name of Jesus the Christ. Come on and say amen. Change church. Come on. Say amen. Change church. We often HEAR Our pastor, Dr. Darius Daniels, say this. We often hear him say that your greatest gift does not come rolling in on four wheels, but your greatest gifts in your life will come walking in on two legs. Now, he often gets the chance to extend this when he's honoring somebody else. But I want to say that if you believe that Pastor Darius Daniels is one of the greatest gifts to the body of Christ. I need you to make some noise in the absence of our senior leader, Dr. Darius Moran Daniels. And watch this. Y'all watch this. We like to say, behind every great man is a great woman. But I. I got some theology to disprove that. Cuz when Adam was created, Eve wasn't taken from his spine, she was taken from his rib. So I want to say, next to every great man is a great woman. Can we make some noise for Pastor Shamika Daniels? Praise the Lord our God. Listen, for those that don't know me, I'm Pastor desean Robinson. I have the privilege. All right, y'all sat down. I have the privilege of serving you in this season as your campus pastor here at our Gwinnett location. And I'm excited to bring the Word of God. I feel like preaching today. Y'all ready for the Word? To God be the glory. I want to draw your attention to the Book of Acts, chapter 28. Book of Acts, chapter 28. The Word of God reads. Once safely on shore, we found out that the island was called Malta. The islanders showed us unusual kindness. They built a fire, welcomed us all because it was raining and cold. Paul gathered a pile of brushwood, and as he put it on fire, a viper driven out by the heat fastened itself on his hand. When the islanders saw the snake hanging from his hand, they said to each other, this man must be a murderer. For though he escaped from the sea, the goddess justice has not allowed him to live. But Paul shook the snake off into the fire and suffered no ill effects. The people expected him to swell up or suddenly fall dead. I think. Okay. The people expected him to swell up or suddenly fall dead. Okay, I got some amens over here. Hold on, because some of y'all are missing it. The people expected him to swell up or suddenly fall dead. Now, I'm gonna read it one more time. Pastor Kylie. I only want y'all to respond. If the enemy had plans for you that were not successful because God had another plan, expected him to swell up or fall dead. But after waiting a long time and seeing nothing unusual happened to him, they changed their minds and said he was a God. The people expected him to swell up or suddenly fall dead. I want to talk from this subject with the 26 minutes I have left. This wasn't part of the plan. This. This wasn't part of the plan. Drop some fire in the chat. Change global. This wasn't part of the plan. I'm the son of a pastor, y'all. I'm a PK. My dad pastored the same church in Brooklyn, New York, for 32 years. I am a byproduct of the rich traditions of the Second St. John Mission Baptist Church. Yes, sir. Now, this. This. This ain't. This ain't your new age type of Baptist church, y'all. This is this old school type of Baptist. I need to see who's with me. I'm talking about the type of. The type of church that had Sunday school before morning service. Okay, I got. I got a few. I'm talking about the type of church we didn't have praise and worship. There was no rehearsed sets or in ears. We had devotional. There was no Tim, no Todd, no Taylor, no Charles, no Melinda. Anybody could pop up and sing for devotional. Whether you could sing or not, the musicians just had to catch whatever song you started. I'm talking. I grew up in the type of church. I grew up in the type of church where in the middle of devotional, someone can stand up and give a testimony, and they could testify of the goodness of God. And most of the testimonies would start like this. First, giving honor to God. It sound like y'all been the second St. John, but. But. But Pastor Christian, one of the richest traditions that I personally appreciate. The context of the church I grew up in is the wisdom of the seasoned saints. I don't know if we got church mothers like we used to that'll pull you aside and give you a word from the Lord that was burning on their heart. I appreciate it so much. Because they would say things that may not always have been grammatically correct. You may not find it in the Bible verbatim, but. But you know when they spoke that they were speaking from an experience with God, that you knew it was the truth of his word coming out. They would say stuff like. They would say stuff like, baby, you can't beat God's given no matter how hard you try. Is that verbatim in the Bible? No, but what they were articulating, that is a theological truth, is if we as messed up, jacked up people can give good gifts to our, our children and to people we love, how much more can the Father in heaven do for his? They would say stuff like. Like what PD preached last week when they saw you acting up. They say now God don't like ugly. Is it in the Bible? No, but in principle, what they were articulating was you cannot say you love God, but yet treat people any old kind of way. Nasty, mean, got an attitude all the time, and they are God's creat. But of all the sayings, of all the sayings that used to encourage me the most, the statements of the seasoned saints, they would say something like, now I don't know what tomorrow holds, but I know who holds. What they were trying to express was a limited awareness of all of God's plans, but full conviction that he was in control. What they were trying to express was that. Watch this, y'all, for my note takers that our schedule is subject to God's sovereignty. I'm gonna say that again to this side. What they were trying to help us to see was that our schedule is subject to God's sovereignty. In other words, I might have an agenda, but my agenda must be aligned with God's assignment for my life. Every detour and delay in my life is only divine direction to his destined place for me. So even in seasons when God is making audacious requests that I either feel too old for or too inexperienced for, I came to encourage you that God is right on time. Isaiah said it like this in chapter 46. He says, Only God knows the beginning from the end. We must be reminded that. That the hands on our clock are. Are controlled by the hands of God. Watch this. Today I got messed up with that daylight savings. It too. It threw me off. But what it showed me was that man can change a clock, but only God can alter destiny. Therefore, even in seasons when. When it seems like I'm either too early or too late or I'm not ready, I just want to let you know that you are on time in God's eyes. I know you thought you'd be married by now, but. But, but you're right on time. Don't make no silly decisions out of desperation. You're right on on time. I know you thought you would have kids by now. God said they that wait on the Lord. He'll renew your strength, your right on time. I know you thought you'd pass the bar or the nclex by now, but God said to let you know that whatever may not look like it's working in your favor, it's because you are comparing it to man made expectations. Ah, somebody say he's on time. We often are too consumed with measuring ourselves against timelines that the culture or oh our family has established. But we must get to a place. We must get to a place where when we're going through something, we're not seeking God just about the when he's going to end it, but we're seeking God about the what he wants us to know or do while we're in it. We get caught in the, the demonic snare of comparison. So the only reason you feel like you're out of alignment is because you're not looking at God's vision for your life. You're looking at somebody else's. You're looking at where they are and saying I'm behind. You're looking at where they are and say I should be there. You're looking at their place and letting it dictate your pace. Y'all don't want a church today. We are looking at other people's place and letting it dictate our pace. But I'm on God's timing. I'm not a slave to man's expectations. Watch this. Because man's expectations can keep you from destiny. We see a scriptural sample of this in Matthew 16. In Matthew 16, look what it says. It says from that time on, Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things. What is he explaining? He's explaining to them that I gotta go to the cross. I have to die for humanity to reconcile generations back unto God. But look what Peter says. Peter says he took him aside and Peter rebukes Jesus. He says, never Lord, this shall never happen to you. Jesus turned to Peter, said get behind me Satan. You are a stumbling block to me. You do not. Here's the important part. You do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns. Here's what Jesus is saying. He's saying you don't even have the insight to assess whether I'm out of place. All right, all right. You got people who are telling you where you should be and where you should go who don't have enough insight into the designer's plan. Peter's response is based out of a poor interpretation of Jesus's conditions. Peter thinks because it sounds bad, you going to the cross, you got to suffer. He thinks because it sounds bad, it is bad. He thinks because it sounds bad that it is bad. So he looks at what's going to happen on Calvary and doesn't understand the glory that will come three days later. Last I checked, Romans 8:28 told me that all things work together for the good of them that are the called who love the Lord and are the called according to his purpose. That means all my stuff works for the good. The good is the CEO of my circumstances. The good is the shift supervisor of my circumstances. When bad comes into work, it's working for the good. When storms come into work, it's working for the good. When sickness comes into work, it's working for the good. When brokenness comes into work, its boss is the good. All works together for the good. The good is the the CEO of my conditions. We must trust the timing of God. We even see a concrete example of this need for trust in Luke, chapter one. In Luke, chapter one, this Gospel of Luke, there are two cousins by the name of Elizabeth and Mary. Mary is an older lady, she's up in age, and she has a husband named Zechariah. She has a little cousin who's a teenager named Mary. Look what verse seven says. Verse seven says that they were childless because Elizabeth was not able to conceive and they both were very old. Then the text says that the angel Gabriel comes to Zechariah, who's Elizabeth's husband. He lets him know that they will have a baby. And look what happens. In verse 34, the same angel now goes to Mary, tells Mary she gonna have a baby named Jesus, she'll be impregnated by the Holy Spirit. And Mary says, how will this happen since I am a virgin? Some translations say since I have not been with a man. So here it is, the same angel coming to two different ladies. One feels it's too late, the other thinks it's too early. But for both of them, God is right on time. Y'all missed it. Y'all missed it. Y'all missed it. For one, it's too late. For the other, it's too early. But for Both of them. God is right on time. I don't know about you, but I feel prophetic in this house. And I decree that in the last quarter of this year, you will not be a slave to the agendas of humans. God is saying over your life, I don't care if it looks too late to you. It's right on time to me. I don't care if it looks too early to go back to school. I don't care if you feel too inexperienced to start the business. God said that what I have decreed, I have declared. I will watch over my word. I speak a season of angelic assistance over your life that you will have angels visit you to reveal the agendas of the living God. I prophesy holy hunches. I prophesy divine downloads. I prophesy prophetic promptings. I prophesy angelic aid to reveal his achievement. Mojo. We're so engrossed with the win. Something is going to happen that we miss the win in. What's happening? We're so engrossed with the WHN when you gonna bring me out? When he gonna come? When my husband come in? When the money coming? When you gonna end it? When is it over? But we miss the win. W I n and God is saying, you caught up on the wind, something gonna happen but you missing the win in the season that you are in. I dare somebody who wants a shift in perspective to begin to praise God and say, lord, I'm cover the scales off my eyes, that I will not wait, I will not beg for the win. I am seeking you for the win. How do you want me to win in this season? Who do you want me to minister to in this season? What do you want to happen? We worried about the WHN and I can prove in scripture how God revealing his timing to us is not a priority. Keisha. They don't believe me. In the four Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, Jesus asks over 300 questions. Within those four books, most of the questions that we ask have a framework. A framework of who, what, when, where, when, why? How? Jesus asks, who questions. Matthew 6. 27. Who of you worrying can add an hour to your life? He asks what questions. He says, what credit is it to you to love those who love you? It's only credit if you love those who hate you. He asked why questions. He said, why do you look at the sawdust in your brother's eye and ignore the plank in your own? He asked where questions in John 6. He says, where are we to buy bread that people May eat. He asked how questions. He asked his disciples, how long should I be with you? But out of all 300 questions, not one of them is a win question. Tim. He's teaching us that if we are submitted to the sovereignty of God, then the win is up to him. I'm not worried about the time. I need you to show me what I need to do, how I need to do it, who it needs to be for where you want me to go. It don't matter about the win. We're slaves to clocks. We're slaves to calendars. We're slaves to clocks. We're slaves to calendars. And overlook that we're supposed to be servants of Christ. He wouldn't even reveal when the Son of Man will return. When they asked him, he said, not even the Son of Man knows. In other words, I don't want you making decisions based on when, because if we all knew when stuff would happen, we'd act different and we wouldn't actually engage in the season that he has us in. If I knew my death date, then I would act like a little different. When is not his priority to reveal to us. I got 10 minutes left. Watch this. I didn't even get to the text. Now, foundational text, Lexi. Acts 28 is a powerful pericope that highlights how our timing may not always be God's. God will use what we think. Our agendas, our schedules, our plans to pull out his will. Here in the text in Acts 28. This is the follow up from Acts 27. In Acts 27, there are over 270 prisoners traveling with the Apostle Paul to Rome. They're headed there because Paul was arrested unjustly. And Paul is saying, I need to go state my case so I could get out of jail. And as they're heading there in Acts 27, the Bible says that a violent storm comes, a storm so bad that it wrecks the ship that they are on. And now watch this. They get deserted on this island called Malta. Some translations say, melita, it's not a. It's not a fantasy place. It's a real place, historically, about 58 miles south of Sicily. So here Paul is with an intention to get to a place that's going to serve him. But a shipwreck happens that detours him from his plan to get before the king because God needs something else done. Their plan was to go straight to Rome, but much to their disappointment, they are now stranded on this Unknown Island. Verse 1 of this chapter says, and they made it safely for some of you Y'all would just read over that. But the celebration in Acts 28:1 only happens when you understand the devastation in Acts 27, when a ship almost takes your life, making it safely means a lot. And some of you may not be on a ship, but you've been in some metaphoric proverbial ships called relationships, and they broke apart. You had some friendships, and they broke apart. You had some old fellowships, and they broke apart. You've been through some hardships that tried to break you apart. But in the midst of it all, I just want to take some preacher prerogative to give you 20 seconds to thank God for every ship that. That you survived. Even when it broke, you still made it. Even when it didn't work out, you still made it. Even when it didn't go the way you wanted it to. I can't lean there. I can't lean there. We gotta go. We gotta go. We gotta go. But every ship that fell apart in your life is a testimony that God is worthy of your praise. Every ship that fell apart in your life is a testimony that God is worthy of your praise. That no weapon formed against you shall be able. Watch this. The text says. The text says. It says this. The natives welcomed them on the island. It says they started a fire because it was raining and cold. Wait a minute. P. A fire because it's cold makes sense. But kindling a fire while it's raining? Does it? Now, some would argue no, they were brought under a tent or brought into a place. But nowhere in the text does it say they were brought under a roof. It's not until verse seven that it says a leader in the community named Publius brings him into their house. So before then, it's safe to assume they're outside. And yet it rains, it's cold, and they start a fire. The fire represents many things in this text, but one of the things it represents is something that God is igniting in you that the conditions outside of you can't put out. God is saying, build it even while it's raining. Start it even while it's raining. Start it even while it's storming. Build it even while it's breaking down. God said the rain cannot stop the fire that I put on the inside of you. Just like Jeremiah said, it's just like fire. Shut up in my bones. There's something God is doing on the inside of you that the conditions around you cannot stop. Look at. Somebody said, the rain won't stop us. The rain won't stop us. I gotta go. I Gotta go. I gotta go. I gotta go. I gotta go. I gotta go. Here we go. Here we go. Here we go. If we're going to be able to properly hand detours and untimely stuff in our life, we need some tools for our toolkit and some weapons in our arsenal. All right? The first thing we need to know, the first thing we need to know is how to endure foreign places. Malta, historically is a real place, but it's also a metaphor in the text for a detour in your life that has unfamiliar terrain, unfamiliar people, and unrevealed plans of God. Malta is a metaphor for a place or a detour in your life that has unfamiliar terrain, unfamiliar people and unrevealed plans of God. It's the place that you end up in because of a storm, not a strategy. You didn't get here because your five year plan worked out. You got here because it fell apart, and this is how you ended up here. Okay? You didn't get here because the marriage worked. You got here because it fell apart and that's how you ended up here. Malta represents a place that fell apart, that's receiving you after a storm, but you don't know why you're there. So many of us are in seasons. Watch this. We're in assignments that we can't articulate. People ask, why'd you move to a different state? I'm not sure. I felt assigned. I don't know why you stop hanging with us. I don't know. I felt unassigned. I don't. Malta. Malta. But God says if you're going to be able to properly steward the detour in your life and know what my plan is for you in that season, you gotta endure a foreign place. It's uncomfortable. I don't know the people. I don't speak the language. I don't got no friends. I ain't got no social status. I'm living in my car. I don't know what's going on. And yet God is saying, you're still on time. Here's the second thing. The second thing we have to be able to endure fire. Fire in this case is the thing that is keeping you safe. But exposing the sn, that's the good stuff. The Bible says the fire starts to go down a little bit. Cousin Christine and Paul goes to get brushwood to add more to the fire. The viper that comes out to bite him, the Bible says, is driven out by the heat. Fire only exposes what's not real. The reason he couldn't see the viper is because the viper looks like the twigs. So the twigs is what he needed to build fire. But there was a snake stuck in the thing he needed that he was building. Fire only comes in your life to reveal what's not real. It exposes what looks like the business plan, what looks like the next level, what looks like the next stage. God said, I fire, but it won't destroy you. It will expose the viper. My relationship is with Jesus is exposed under fire. How committed I am to his work is exposed under fire. How committed people are to my life is exposed under fire. They was there when I could pay for the bill, but when I stopped being able to foot the bill. So for some reason they don't want to hang out. No. Fuck. Here's the last thing. The last thing I want you to be able to endure, Christian. You got to be able to endure false narratives. Verse 4. They called him a murderer. Then after seeing what he survived, their perspectives changed and they called him a God. Those that cannot describe our affliction demonize our affliction when they can't get a grip. To understand why God is putting me through a thing, they make up their own stories. I gotta rush through this. I gotta rush through this. But watch this, watch this. What we learn from Paul is that nowhere in the text does Paul attempt to change their mind about him. He spends no mental, real estate or emotional energy trying to change their mind. He allows their perspective of him to shift based on what he survives. See, some of us are underselling our testimonies. We have a cheap version of our testimony. We think we've been brought through just so we can shout and dance. And God is saying, I helped you survive because you're going to be a blessing to others. I helped you overcome because you're going to be a blessing to others. You ain't got to change their mind about you. Because when they see what you survive, they're going to say, how is he still standing paying the bills with all that's going on? How is she taking care of those kids when he walked out her life? How is he keeping that business afloat amidst all of the turmoil? It's what you survive that helps people don't give a cheap version of your testimony. If all you get out of your survival is a shout, you're selling God's plans too short. Your survival is attached to souls. Your overcoming is attached to others. I gotta get out of here. So even though snakes were not part of the plan, shipwrecks weren't part of the plan. Storms weren't part of the plan. My survival was. It was part of God's plan. It wasn't part of the enemy's plan. What you're going through is not part of your schedule, but it's part of God's sovereignty. And here's another thing that that snake represents. That snake is also a metaphor to represent the serpent in Genesis. The serpent that stung humanity with his cunning tongue to try to poison us from reconciliation with God. Paul now stands as a Christ type and says, I'll take the bite of the snake with no ill effect so that your life can be saved.