It Began With An Earthquake.James Woodley and The Upper Room Church

God, hallelujah. Through it all, we learned to depend upon

His word. Praise God. Thank God for being back into

the House of the Lord again today. Amen. Praise God.

Hallah. Miss seeing the people of God. Amen. Praise God, hallelujah.

But I'm so glad Praise God that God brought us

back together again.

Amen.

Thank you Jesus. I say that's something that praise God for. Amen, hallelujah.

Thank you Jesus.

As a song saying, we say sometimes say he didn't

have to do it, but he did pray God, and

since he did, I want to give him praise.

I want to give him thanks.

Praise God, hallelujah.

Amen.

This morning, I want to talk with which he just

so briefly Praise God, hallelujah, about the power of God. See,

I'd like to talk about Jesus and live up the

name of Jesus.

Heymen, and what he's doing, what God is doing.

And so we're gonna be talking about in a few minutes.

We're gonna talk about it began with an earthquake. It

began with an earthquake. But you know, I was in

Walmart I believe it was yesterday or the day before

and I ran into a gentleman that I worked with

at uh at A at the at AT and T

call center, and uh he saw me say, mister James,

you still You're still around here?

And I said, I said, yeah, this is my home.

And so we shook hands and left, And as I

was walking down an aisle, it dawned on me what

he was saying.

He was surprised that I'm still.

Hallelujah, Glory to God. I'm so glad that God saw

fit Praise God for me to still be here. Praise God, hallelujah.

And I want to give it praise hallelujah. Ella Honse

was testified this morning about the birthday that she just had.

Praise God, how God bless her. Praise God.

I got a.

Birthday coming up next month. Praise God, hallelujah. Amen, and

ours I realized, Praise God. With the number of years

that you have, you and I have, is a number

of times we've gone.

Around the sun. Amen.

So praise God, hallelujah. And so when I think about

what is transparent. In the past few weeks, different people

have left this place, left this planet, have gone on

to be with the Lord. But God is blessed you

and I to still be here, Thank you Jesus. And

it's something to give God praise for him, hallelujah.

Thank you Jesus.

So every day that the Lord sin, every time you

wear open your eyes, you can see the bright sunshine. Amen.

You ought to have a praise. Praise God, hallelujah. And

at night when you lay down to sleep, praise God.

You ought to have a praise because He brought you

through another day. Thank you Jesus, hallelujah. And I know

we got challenges, and I know we got things.

Praise God. Going on to life, Pray God and life.

Whatell of sudden be said to me, preg God won't

be talking about a different things. Praise God. What's that

staatement you say? Brother, something that he said? Praise God.

But lets me know that you're still you, still moving,

You're still here.

Even with the child, is in things that you have

to face. Pray God, you still alive.

Amen. Praise God. This morning, I just want to briefly

talk with you. Praise God. From Acts chapter sixteen. I

want to start reading that the twenty fifth verse. Once again,

we wanted to thank those that are on the prayer

on the phone line listening in today with praise God

for you, and we appreciate you. Praise God, holding that

phone up to your ear for this length of time. Amen,

and I pray that you will be blessed by the

word of God. In the Act, chapter sixteen, verse twenty five,

it says at midnight, Paul and Silence prayed in saying

praises unto God, and the prisoners heard them. Now, why

would they in jail? Were they want in jail because

they were shot liters. They won't in jail because there

was bat robbers. They won't in jail because they broke

the law. But they were in jail because they were testifying.

And preaching about Jesus.

And this young girl kept following them praise God and

telling the people, say, these men are giving or telling

us the way to God and all of that. And

she did this several days. Paul did hammer the first day.

This went on for several days. So after a while

Paul got tired of it. I guess through the power

of Holigos, and he turned around and to rebuke that

spirit out of that girl, and she lost her ability

to be having the fauntune tail Praise God and be

a southlsiter, Praise God, hallelu And the guys that financed

her was mad because they lost their sawce of income.

And you know, praise God when you start dealing with

people's income, you start dealing with people's money, Praise God

that brings them out a change. So they had Paul

and Silas fear put in jail. Hallelujah. But said Paul

and Salas going to jail and say, all lonsome me,

whyre me polled me? Praise God. I don't know why

they're treating me like that. I ain't done nothing to nobody. No,

But the scripture says that midnight Paul and Salas prayed

and sang praises unto God, and the prisoners heard them

praise God. And I want you to take a note

praise God, because I believe that's in there for a reason.

The prisoners heard them praising God and sanging to God.

And then the next verse says, suddenly there was a

great earthquake so that the foundations of the prisoners prisoners

was shaken, and immediately all the doors were opened and

everyone's bend were loose.

Now I want to stop right here. It won't just.

Paul and silas men is loose. But everybody Ben was loose. Hallelujah,

Thank you Gie, because God sending an earthquake to release

his people. And say every man Ben would loose, all

the prisoners, Praise God.

The handcuffs was loose.

The verse twinter seven said, and the keeper of the

prisoners awaken out of his sleep and seeing the prisoner

doors wide open, he drew out his sword and would

have killed himself, supposing that the prisoners had it fled,

because he knew his job was on the line.

Praise God.

If the prisoner had escaped, he would be responsible. So

he was gonna kill himself because he knew that the

king was gonna have him killed, so he said he

would do it himself.

Praise God. But Paul cried out with a loud voice.

In verse twenty eight, it says, do thyself no harm,

for we are all here. I want you, I want

you to see the scene now, because these are prisoners.

There's some bad guys in prisoner with Paul in.

Silace, and the man's fell off, the handcuffs fall off.

The door is wide open, but the all stunt in

places stayed there, not like the guys last week in

Warrant County. Whoever it was, God broke out and ran out.

Praise God. That's still looking for I think, praise God.

But you would think, praise God, that the prisoner would

have broke for the door, But that didn't. And so

Verse twenty nine says he called for light and sprang

it and came trembling and fell down before Paul and Silas.

And he brought them out and says, sirs, what must

I do to be saved?

Now? Praise God? What this tell tells me? Praise God.

He heard the gospel somehow or another. I don't know

whether it was in there saying or whether it was

in there Praise God. But one thing he wanted to know.

After they got loose, He said, what must I do

to be saved? And it begin with an earthquake? It

begins with an earthquake. Praise God. An earthquake. Praise God.

In that particular situation, bought off of deliverance. Praise God, Hallelujah.

At that moment of desperation, because he thought the prisoners

willing to escape, he discovered it, like we all find out,

that praise God with our own strength is never enough

to do the job or to get things done, not

in our own self and our own strength.

Praise God.

His question was what must I do to be saved?

And that was a powerful question that he asked in

the midst of all of that going on. Praise God.

And so he wanted to know he heard about the

salvation that Paul and then with preaching praise God, because

most people on the job would have said, when you

guys get back in that jail, y'all going back in

there because I'm responsible for you guys. But that wasn't

what was on his mind. He wanted to know about

the salvation. Praise God. Praise God. You know, he was

asking for salvation, and you know, religion has made religion

salvation complicated. Amen, they come out with a whole lot

of rules and regulations that you got to do.

Praise God.

And they come and they tell you got to do

a whole lot of hard stribing.

Praise God. Hallelujah, Praise God.

And you never can feel that you can measure up

to the rules and regulations that they put in place.

But that night, in that prison of all places, Praise God, Hallelujah,

Praise God.

The answer came back. When he said what must I

do to be saved? The answer came back.

He says, believe on the Lord Jesus. Do you believe

on the Lord Jesus this morning? Hallelujah. See, Paul didn't

tell him say you know, you got to get better first,

all right. Paul didn say you got to prove yourself worthy.

Paul didn't say you got to try harder. Paul didn't

say you got to do more. What Paul told him said,

just believe. Praise God. If we just believe this morning,

there's no telling what God will do in your life.

Hallelujah.

He says, believe on the Lord Jesus. And that same

invitation that Paul gave him is available to us today.

Praise God, Believe on the Lord Jesus, and let Grace

do what it needs to do in our life in

order praise God.

Hallow you to receive from God. Halloween. Some of us

need healing in our body.

Some of us need praise God delivers in our life,

in our situation and in our homes.

Praise God.

But I'm coming to tell you this morning, praise God

has started with an earthquake. Praise God in what you're

going through may be your earthquake. Hollow what you're facing

this morning may be your earthquake. Praise God. But where

you turn to Jesus, say what must I do? Praise

God to be saved from this calamity? What must I

do to be saved from this devastation? What must I do,

prays God, to be saved from this sickness? What must

I do to be saved? Praise God for my sins?

And the answer is believe on the Lord Jesus. See

when the prison doors of life shuts behind you and I,

we'll find ourselves locked down, tight and shackled by pain

and problems. And everybody got problems. Even the wealth is

people got problems. Elon Musk, with all his money, one

of the richest men in the world, he got problems.

And somebody might say, well, I like to have his

problems rather than mine. But if you don't know, praise God.

You're right here. You don't know, prays God, what his

problem is. Praise God.

But you may feel that there's no reason this morning

praise God in yourself to praise God. And I don't

think that that's the way we feel. This wonder because

of how saw y'all praising God? But you may sometimes

you get yourself in a situation to have a certain problems.

You may not feel like praising him. But praise God.

If you and I would turn our heart toward Heaven,

he will hear us. He will help us. Prays God

to lift our voice and praise to him. Praise God.

The scripture in the song says God inhabit the praises

of his saves, hallelujah. If you want God in your situation,

start praising him, hallelujah. You want God to get down

to it in that muck and marry that you find

yourself in, start praising God, praising him.

Praise God.

One of the things that would take place when you

start praising God and giving God praise, he will give

you a peace that passes understanding amens.

Matter of fact, that's when you know, praise God that

your prayer