What makes a good story? And remember, this is
being recorded. Yeah. You don't know for sure
where it's going. Randy, you would get very frustrated
watching a movie with my wife. Because within
10 minutes, my wife can guess the plot of a story
or a show to the point where I'm like, why are
we even watching it? Because you're probably
right. So you don't know until the very end.
Yeah, that makes a good story. Others? Lots of
characters. Absolutely. Meeting lots of characters.
Way in the back. Having a twist. Sorry, twist.
I heard lisp, and that didn't make any sense.
Having a lisp in the story. Okay, Mike Tyson.
But no, having a twist in the story. Got it.
Okay. Others? Yeah. A happy ending. Wow, I got
booed too today, right? I feel it. I see you,
Linda. I do. Yeah, having a happy ending, right?
How many of you have ever seen the movie Little
Big League about the boy that takes over the
Minnesota Twins? How many of you now fully hate
Ken Griffey Jr. because he catches what would
have been the home run that won the game? That
was probably one of the first stories or movies
I watched where it didn't end well, right? Like
Rookie of the Year. There's a baseball theme.
I get it. But, you know, like Rookie of the Year,
he floats it, right? And he strikes the guy out.
All amazing movies. Then you get Little Big League,
and Kenny Griffey Jr. ruins the entire. I'm not
angry over it, right? I'm working through it
clearly in therapy. Anyone else? What makes a
good story? That's it, huh? All right. That's
the whole congregation saying, move on, Jim.
Good. Twelve weeks ago, we began a journey with
that opening chapter in the book of Acts. Acts
chapter 1. We watched a risen Christ now ascend
into glory. We heard a no -nonsense call. Jesus
was not mixing his words. Jesus was not talking
in parable or hyperbole. He gave a call. You
will be my witnesses. You will be my witnesses.
We watch the spirit fall like a rushing wind.
Tongues of fire in Pentecost. We watch the church
find its feet. We watch the church find its courage.
We watch the church find its voice. Over the
last 12 weeks, we learned about the church's
generosity, integrity, discipline, persecution,
its mission, its martyrs, and its miracles. And
through it all, we saw one repeated truth week
after week after week. The church is unstoppable
because the gospel is uncontainable. Think about
that for just five seconds. The church is unstoppable
because the gospel is uncontainable. Jesus and
the gospel is doubled down when he says that
the gates of hell will not prevail against it,
though it tries. We sang through this story,
which to me made it a really good story for us
the last 12 weeks. We sang, Be Thou My Vision,
our firm foundation. All hail the power of Jesus'
name. I love to tell the story. Closer walk with
thee. Talking about the church's one foundation
is Jesus Christ, her Lord. And I think that's
a perfect way to end, right? That in Acts chapter
8 is the moment the church discovers what her
foundation really is. They find out it's strong
enough to stand even when the ground around is
shaky. And this church has gone through shaky
times. 155 years, not everything's always been
great. But the church will go through shaky times.
Stephen has just been killed. Saul is breathing
threats. Persecution breaks out on that day.
And fear scatters the church. Which reminds us
of when else did fear scatter a group of people?
The disciples in the Garden of Gethsemane. But
the scattering becomes... A mission. It becomes
the seedbed of the mission. You see, God's not
done with this story. Not then, not now, not
in Munster, not in your home, and not in your
life. So let's break down chapter 8, the first
25 verses. Okay, we're going to be in chapter
8 of Acts, the first 25 verses. We're going to
start with verse 1 and go 1 through 4. I kind
of entitle this to when the gospel's on the move,
but this first point we're going to look at.
is what looked like defeat becomes divine strategy.
Okay? What looked like defeat becomes divine
strategy. The first four verses. And Saul approved
of his execution, him being Stephen, right? And
there arose on that day a great persecution against
the church in Jerusalem. And they were all scattered
throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria except
the apostles. Devout men buried Stephen and made
great lamentation over him. But Saul was ravaging
the church and entering house after house. He
dragged off men and women and committed them
to prison. Now those who were scattered went
about preaching the word. The church now scatters.
But everywhere they go, they preach Christ. Persecution
becomes a propelling of the gospel. Think about
that for a minute. Where there was persecution,
great persecution, being dragged out of your
house for what you believe, thrown into prison.
We don't know if any were killed. It doesn't
say that. My guess is they probably were, right?
They killed Stephen. So, I mean, they already
crossed that line. But where persecution is,
there is a kind of a propelling of the gospel.
The enemies of God become unwitting missionaries
in this sense. They are pushing the gospel forward.
Why? Because God doesn't waste anything. God's
not wasting this movement. God's not going, oh,
shucks, I didn't see that coming. God is using
this. So let's see where this movement is starting
to go in verse 5, where Philip brings the gospel
not to just another church, not to just another
people like him. No, he brings it into enemy
territory, starting with verse 5. Philip went
down to the city of Samaria and proclaimed to
them the Christ. And the crowds, with no one
accord, paid attention to what was being said
by Philip when they heard him and saw the signs
that he did. For unclean spirits, crying out
with a loud voice, came out of many who had them.
And many who were paralyzed or lame were healed.
So there was much joy in the city. Little rabbit
trail side note, you can follow where all of
the disciples and the apostles are scattered
to. You can find them online as well. And once
you find one, it'll be in your algorithm and
you'll probably get all the other ones. It's
fascinating what happens when they go to those
cities. Some are still intact and most of them
still have some kind of monument to that individual
for the work that was done in those cities. But
here we have Samaria, a place that Jews avoided.
If I asked all of you to think of three places
that you avoid in your life, location -wise,
my guess is it doesn't take that long to think
of them. A place of hostility, a place of heresy,
a place of hurt, and yet what happens? A great
joy enters the city because of Christ. Where
the world sees barriers, God sees a harvest.
So even in enemy territory. So, if I'm going
to look at the, I don't know, 250 people that
are here today, when you are scattered around
for the gospel, when you take the seeds of Jesus
out, we're not all going to go to the same places.
Right? We're not all going to go to the same
locations. We're not going to talk to the same
people. The gospel gets spread out. That's how
it should go. You will be my witnesses to the
ends of the earth. Simon. We have a pretty interesting
one in verses 9 to 13. Simon the magician shows
the danger of believing for wrong reasons. So
the gospel isn't always just going to be healing
and teaching. It may be debate. It may be, not
arguments, but it may be kind of proving or disproving
of things, starting with verse 9. But there was
a man named Simon who had previously practiced
magic in the city and amazed the people of Samaria,
saying that he himself was somebody great. They
all paid attention to him. the least to the greatest,
saying, this man is the power of God that is
called great. And they paid attention to him
because for a long time he had amazed them with
his magic. But when they believed Philip as he
preached good news about the kingdom of God and
the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized,
both men and women. Even Simon himself believed.
And after being baptized, he continued with Philip.
And seeing signs and great miracles performed,
he was amazed. Simon the magician. Now the word
magician here, right, in the Greek is a little
strange, right? Because when you think of magician,
right, in nowadays, it's probably pretty weird.
It was more demonic and dark back then, right?
It was more magicians and the occult were kind
of a thing, right? The dark arts, if you will.
But at the end, what happens? He loves... He
loved power more than Jesus. He wants the Spirit's
gifts without the Spirit's lordship. He wanted
to show signs and wonders that really meant nothing.
It was all trickery. It was all false. So what
happens? Peter's rebuke reveals the heart of
discipleship. Why? Because you can't buy the
gospel. You can only surrender to it. People
that did all of these things without falling.
in submission to Christ, it wasn't the gospel.
That was all darkness. People that live in darkness
have seen a great light. Where does that come
from? We're going to talk about it in the season
of Advent. That the light is starting to change
lives. It's starting to drop scales, if you will.
That's a foreshadow to Saul and Paul, but we
won't get there in this sermon series. It's coming,
though. Don't worry. You can't buy the gospel.
You can only surrender to it. So in verse 14,
we see that the Spirit falls through the apostles.
So the Spirit, in verses 14, we're going to see
that the Spirit is going to continue to work.
The Spirit falls through the apostles, where
we see, starting with verse 14. Now when the
apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had
received the word of God, they sent them to Peter
and John who came down and prayed for them that
they might receive the Holy Spirit. For he had
not yet fallen on them, but they had only been
baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then
they laid their hands on them and they received
the Holy Spirit. Friends, this is an important
part of mission work for all of those that have
gone on mission trips. Right? You probably have
planted some kind of seed. But guess what? The
mission trip week is over and you go back home.
God doesn't go, well, they had their shot. That
seed's going to expire. No, God's going to bring
other people to come and help cultivate that.
We see that in churches all the time. We see
it in ministries all the time. Someone may receive
the gospel here on a Sunday morning, but then
throughout the week someone else may cultivate
it. Because God can do that. We don't always
get to cultivate the seeds that we drop. But
God calls us to drop those seeds. God calls us
to bring the gospel. This is not a second tier
Christianity. This is a God officially welcoming
the Samaritans into the one church. They've been
baptized. Now what? Get into a church. Get into
a fellowship. Start working together. Jerusalem,
Judea, Samaria. God is building a people from
every place, every background, and every story.
But then we're also going to see some things
not go the way they're supposed to go. Right?
In verse 18, Simon's misguided request. So we're
going to see this kind of lived out in verse
18. How does this play out in reality? Now when
Simon saw that the Spirit was given... Through
the laying on the apostles' hands, he offered
them money, saying, Give me this power also,
so that anyone on whom I lay my hands may receive
the Holy Spirit. But Peter said to him, May your
silver perish with you, because you thought you
could obtain the gift of God with money. You
have neither part nor lot in this matter, for
your heart is not right before God. Repent therefore
of this wickedness of yours and pray to the Lord
that if possible the intent of your heart may
be forgiven you. For I see that you are in the
gall of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity.
And Simon answered, pray for me to the Lord that
nothing of what you have said may come upon me.
So you got things going on. Right? And I hear
this. I've experienced this on mission trips
in my life where people see the work of the Lord
and they want to manufacture it themselves. That's
not how it works. Right? It's another reason
why we don't see what God's doing in other areas
of northwest Indiana or southwest suburbs and
go, we've got to create our own version of that.
No. If the kingdom is inbreaking over here or
over there or over there or over there, let's
go get involved in it. It doesn't all have to
happen at 214 Ridge Road. But we see, what does
Simon want? What is his request? He wants to
use God rather than be used by God. Think about
that one. He wants to be used by God, right?
Or he wants to use God rather than be used by
God. He wants to take credit for something that
God is doing. Maybe you know people like that
in your life. Maybe just, maybe you can get there
in your life. But friends, let's call a spade
a spade this morning. We can't handle that. Because
we're not sovereign. We're not almighty. We are
not holy. God is. He's the one doing it. Peter's
reply is pastoral and prophetic. Your heart is
not right before God. Okay? Repentance, not power,
is the gateway to life. You see how quickly people
want to manufacture the movement? but they don't
want to surrender their soul. How many of you,
you don't have to raise your hands, I just want
you to think about it. How many of you growing
up ever went to a camp or a mission trip or some
kind of experience and you got that spiritual
high? I know I did it all the time. I didn't
say raise your hand. But it's one of those things
that we do that. In youth ministry, we see it
all the time. We go on retreats, we go on that,
and those are good things. They're impactful.
It means that the week made a difference. Maybe
eyes are open. Maybe we give our life to the
Lord. Maybe we rededicate our life. of the Lord.
Whatever vernacular you use, then all of a sudden,
two weeks later, it's like nothing's different.
There is movement going on, but it's the surrendering
to a life forever changed is the mark of the
believer. Now, in Reformed tradition, you know,
we don't baptize people more than once, okay?
And we're not going to dive too deep into this,
because some of you may have been baptized more
than once, right? That doesn't mean you're not
getting into heaven, but in Reformed theology,
we believe that when you are baptized, that the
Holy Spirit is all over, that God is present
in that, and he doesn't make a mistake. We believe
in Romans 10, 9, if you confess Jesus is Lord,
believe in your heart God raised him from the
dead, you will be saved. But the mark of a saved
person, is a changed life and friends it's not
just for two weeks it's not just for the weekend
you get back from a trip it's not from maybe
you're feeling the holy spirit on a sunday morning
and that rest of that sunday is great even better
if the bears win but then on monday everything
just seems to fall back You're trying to ride
the high of the Holy Spirit. That's not how it
works. A life completely surrendered to God is
going to fight against that roller coaster every
day to be that steady, changed believer. Repentance,
not power, is the gateway to life. Because the
gospel's moving. The gospel keeps moving on and
on. Notice how it doesn't just stop and go, we've
done enough. Here it is. No, because the gospel
is going to go to the end of the earth. We're
not quite there yet. Verse 25. Now, when they
had testified and spoken the word of the Lord,
they returned to Jerusalem, preaching the gospel
to many villages of the Samaritans. You see,
the story doesn't stall out. The word spreads.
The witnesses keep going. The witnesses keep
witnessing. The power is still working. There's
more witnesses. Even when this chapter ends,
God keeps writing. Friends, I so want to continue
on. I know a lot of you do too in the book of
Acts. And we'll get there. I'm currently writing
one that we're going to continue. But we've got
to get to Advent. Because the reason for the
witness is coming. He comes as a baby born in
a manger, but we're going to get there. Why?
Because God writes the best chapters after the
worst moments. So going back to the beginning
of chapter 8, Stephen just died, just murdered,
just martyred. I'm sure Stephen's death felt
like the end. But Acts 8 proves to be more of
a beginning, doesn't it? A rebirth. Persecution
becomes mission. Brokenness becomes breakthrough.
It is God's way. And it's the way he's always
done it. Resurrection always follows death. So
what does that mean for us today? Maybe there's
a sin that keeps just active in your life. Maybe
you've kind of died to it every once in a while.
but you've never resurrected from it. Remember,
in order to fully resurrect, you have to fully
die. We have to kill those things in our life.
We have to put to death those things that are
taking us away from the mission of God. And it's
only through God's help we can do that. Resurrection
will always follow death. Another point that
we can pull from this section of Acts chapter
8 is that there's nowhere the gospel cannot go.
Hear that for you and for me. You may actually
think about that in life. I can't bring the gospel
to insert wherever here. Friend, that's wrong.
There's nowhere the gospel cannot go. Not Samaria,
not hostile hearts, not wounded places, not broken
families, not in our schools, not in Northwest
Indiana. The church's one foundation guarantees
the church's unstoppable mission. So as you are
being called to go, stop throwing up roadblocks
thinking, oh, the gospel's not going to work
over there. Guess what? It's not for you to work
it out. It's for you to drop the seeds. It's
for you to bring the message. Why? Because we're
called. Our calling is not to control outcomes,
but to be faithful witnesses. And this is a little
sermon for all of my type A's. We cannot control
the outcomes. As a fellow type A at times, I
bind when I hear this. I like to think that I
can. I like to think that I have the data. I
have the analysis. I have the skill set. I have
the this. I have the that. Guess what? You don't.
The gospel has you. You don't have the gospel.
The gospel is controlling your life if you are
a believer. Those scattered believers didn't
have a strategy plan. They didn't have buildings
or budgets. They had Jesus. And I just said that
two weeks before we may be voting on a building
project. And they had enough to turn their cities
upside down. They didn't have a strategy plan,
but they had Jesus, and that was enough. Now,
there's nothing wrong with strategy. There's
nothing wrong with having a plan. But for too
many of us, when God brings us into something,
God puts something on our heart, on our minds,
we sit. We sit at our desk, we sit in our car,
we sit in wherever. Our kids are probably not
because we can't concentrate. And we write that
plan. And really what we're doing is we're just
writing reasons why I can't do it. I'm just writing
reasons why I can't do what you're asking, God,
because of this, that, or the other thing. I
just can't do it. If God is calling you, guess
what? You can. And we should. Because that is
the church. Because the real power, friend, it's
nothing we can craft with our hands. It's nothing
we can build. It's nothing that comes out of
us. It's what comes into us first. The real power
of the gospel is not magic. It's not manipulation
or spectacle, but transformation. And we are
not the ones doing it. God is working through
us. Philip preaches, the Spirit moves, lives
change. Joy comes. The world cannot explain it.
Friends, this wasn't a show. This was salvation.
This was salvation at work. So where do we find
ourselves? Where have you found yourself in the
last 12 weeks? I don't know about you, but every
week there was something like, ooh, that one
was for me. Ooh, that one was for me. Not out
of a selfishness, but... Though I'm pastoring
this church, I'm called to a mission and a vision
just like you are. We're called to bring the
story. Because guess what? The story doesn't
end with us. It just continues through us. It
doesn't stop with you. I love you enough to say
we're not that big of deals. Right? If it stopped
with our story. Right? If you leave the ministry
you're in, I leave this church, and everything
stops, guess who it wasn't about? It wasn't about
Jesus. It was about me. It was about you. The
story doesn't end with us. It just continues
through us. The title of this sermon is not the
summary of Acts. It's a declaration for Munster
Church. It's a declaration for me. God's not
done with this story. He's not done with your
life. He's not done with this church. He's not
done with our neighborhood. He's not done with
this moment in history. He's not done with the
mission of our world. I don't know about you,
but there's hope in that, right? That every day,
if I can find that hope of the gospel, that hope
of what God is doing. That maybe, just maybe,
I'm a little more comfortable, I'm a little more
ready, I'm a little more understanding of what
God is doing and I want to step in. But for those
moments I'm not, where that hope is zero, God's
still going to call you. God doesn't call you
when you're ready or when you think you're ready.
God calls you when he knows you're ready. There's
a difference. You see, Acts ends this series.
With the gospel moving outward to unexpected
places. And I know, and this isn't even a statistic
I'm going to make up. I bet 80 % of us hate that.
We would love to know. Where God's going to call
us. We'd love to be able to expect this is where
God's going to go. Because I can put it on my
calendar. I can plan and prepare for it. I can
call my elder or my deacon or my friend. They
can go with me. We can have this all set up in
a nice box and we're going to go. That's not
how it happens. Why? Because it didn't in the
book of Acts. We can't expect it to be for us.
That gospel is moving outward to unexpected places
carried by ordinary scattered believers. Well,
I don't know about you, but isn't that the same
as the season of Advent? Advent begins with the
prophets. The same thing. Voices crying out in
dark places, bringing hope where hope is thin.
In the Old Testament, where we're going to be
for the next month, it's the people searching
for the Messiah, looking forward to the Messiah.
Acts is going, this is the Messiah. This is what
he's done. There's a connection here. That Acts
begins waiting for the promise. Advent begins
waiting for the Messiah. Acts shows the gospel
breaking into Samaria. And Advent shows hope
breaking into Bethlehem. Acts reminds us the
story isn't over. And Advent reminds us the story
is heading towards fulfillment. The Greek word,
Elpis, means hope. That rests on a certainty.
It's not wishful thinking. It's not a genie in
the lamp. It's actual hope. And that's where
we're going to go starting next Sunday. Advent's
not just nostalgia. It's a confident proclamation
that God is not done with his story. He is still
fulfilling his promises. So friends, we end this
series with a confidence that the same God who
built his church, He built it with fire and wind
in the book of Acts. He is the God who sends
his son as the hope of the nations. And he is
the God who will lead Munster Church, you and
me, our businesses, our towns, our families,
our schools, in mission, in unity, and in joy.
A declaration we can sing in the season of Advent.
It's the same that we sung in this series. The
church's one foundation truly is Jesus Christ
the Lord. They were looking for it. We are standing
on it. And friends, he will finish what he started.
In Acts, in the world, in this church, in us.
God's not done with this story. He's calling
us to tell it. He's calling us to live it out.
And he's calling us to carry it with a hope,
with an elpis. Into this season of Advent. Through
the taste and see soup supper. Through the candlelight
service that evening. Through the relationships.
The Christmas parties. The get togethers that
you're going to have in this upcoming season.
As we look back on a year that was. As we toll
the bells for those that we have lost. And celebrate
those that have come. We're not looking towards
something we don't understand. We're standing
on someone that gives us life and life to the
fullest. And we do it with hope. Please stand
if you are able. Let us pray our final closing
prayer in unison together. This week it's two
slides. So we pray together. Lord Jesus Christ,
our foundation and our hope, you began a good
work in your church and you will carry it to
completion. Give us courage like the believers
in Acts, joy like the Samaritans, clarity like
Philip, and faithfulness like Stephen. As we
enter Advent, fill us with true elipis, hope
grounded in your promise. Use us as witnesses
in this community for your glory and your mission.