Addicted

INTRO: My testimony

1. Moved out at the age of 16, dropped out of high school

2. Alcohol, drugs/pcp, parties, Mexico, guns, girls, football, mosh pits

3. Many of my friends are either dead or severely messed up.

I WAS ADDICTED TO PARTYING

1. Revival with visiting evangelist

I BECAME ADDICTED TO GOD

2. Went to bible school, began to pray (youth prayer), fast (30-40 days), slept with bible. Spark heated debates at work about 1 God.

-Did you know that 1 out of 5 deaths are contributed to tobacco products?

- Every 8 seconds someone in the world dies of tobacco.

- Cigarette smoke contains 69 chemicals that are known to cause cancer.

- 1 out of 3 smokers will die from a tobacco related disease.

- 400,040 smokers die each year from smoking.

- 70% of smokers want to quit and only 5% succeed each year.

- 95% of people that want to quit are NOT successful!

- In the US alone smoking causes 445 new cases of lung cancer every day!

- Tobacco kills more Americans than AIDS, drugs, homicides, fire and accidents combined! So why is it that only 5% of smokers succeed on quitting when they already know the horrible outcome? Knowing that your hair, your home, your car, your clothes are going to stink. That your hair, your nails and teeth are going to become discolored.

Because they are addicted!

SETTING:

• Paul was an addict

• His name was originally Saul of Tarsus. He was the leader of the first world wide church persecution. He was a highly educated Jew that hated Christians.

Saul was even a murderer of Christians; he was there on the day Stephen was stoned.

Acts 8: 1-3

But Saul was on his was to Damascus was the Lord temporarily blinds him and commands him to seek out the house of Ananias. And as Saul approaches the house of Ananias fear comes over them because hey know who he is and what he has done but the Lord spake

“Go thy way for he is a chosen vessel ….for I will show him how great of things he must suffer for my names sake” And Ananias brings Saul in and layed his hands on him and he was filled with the Holy Ghost and Baptized in Jesus name! The bible says immediately there fell from his eyes as it had been scales….his sight was restored!

• God takes an addict named Saul and changes his name to Paul and makes him an addict for the Kingdom.

• And Paul goes on to become one of the most powerful Apostles this world has ever known! He goes on to write 13 books in the New Testament. That’s ,

Romans

1 Corinthians

2 Corinthians

Galatians

Ephesians

Philippians

Colossians

1 Thessalonians

2 Thessalonians

1 Timothy

2 Timothy

Titus

Philemon

And some say he possibly wrote Hebrews. If that is true then make it 14!

Paul truly became an addict. He traveled the world teaching and preaching the gospel. He escaped death several times. He was stoned and left for dead but he got up and kept preaching the gospel louder than ever. While he was in prison he sang until an angel of the Lord broke him and Silas out! Men we’re healed under his watch. Men we’re converted under his watch. Lives we’re changed under his watch. Paul finally was persecuted himself and beheaded by Nero. Paul truly was an addict for God!

Don’t say God can ever use you because you think you have sinned too much or your not good enough. Yes you are good enough.

“All have sinned and come short of the glory of God”

BUT

“While we we’re yet sinners Christ died for us”

SUPPORT:

Like Paul addicted him self to the cause of the ministry it’s time to sow a Harvest in this church!

Luk 5:2 And (Jesus) saw two ships standing by the lake: but the fishermen were gone out of them, and were washing their nets.

Luk 5:3 And he entered into one of the ships, which was Simon’s, and prayed him that he would thrust out a little from the land. And he sat down, and taught the people out of the ship.

Luk 5:4 Now when he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught.

• It is Impossible to sow a seed and not reach a harvest…as long as you obey biblical principles.

• God is no respecter of persons but he is a respecter of principles

For Example…

Duet 28:38 “Thou shalt carry much seed out into the field but shall gather little”

How frustrating….God is listing out all of the curses that come with disobedience and in one of the curses one is gathering much seed and gathering little.