WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:01.500 We've been going through this series in the book 00:00:01.500 --> 00:00:04.019 of Acts, and we've been watching the church, 00:00:04.240 --> 00:00:07.219 the Jesus church, this first century church in 00:00:07.219 --> 00:00:10.439 the book of Acts, and we've seen this story kind 00:00:10.439 --> 00:00:13.359 of unfold, the story of how God sent his son 00:00:13.359 --> 00:00:16.300 Jesus to the earth to live a sinless life, to 00:00:16.300 --> 00:00:19.420 teach a better way, to exemplify a better way, 00:00:19.480 --> 00:00:22.079 to die on a cross and then to rise from the grave. 00:00:22.300 --> 00:00:24.820 And as Jesus leaves the earth, he gives a job. 00:00:24.960 --> 00:00:28.910 Go tell everybody. Go tell everybody what I did 00:00:28.910 --> 00:00:31.350 for you. Go tell everybody what has been done 00:00:31.350 --> 00:00:34.429 and what will be done. And so they do. They start 00:00:34.429 --> 00:00:37.829 telling anybody that will listen the good news. 00:00:38.189 --> 00:00:41.250 And because they go and tell everybody, the number 00:00:41.250 --> 00:00:44.270 of disciples in the area starts to multiply so 00:00:44.270 --> 00:00:47.030 much so that it begins taking over this entire 00:00:47.030 --> 00:00:50.350 region of the world. And now we, 2 ,000 years 00:00:50.350 --> 00:00:53.770 later, are the beneficiaries of those people 00:00:53.770 --> 00:00:59.100 telling everybody. And so they do what Jesus 00:00:59.100 --> 00:01:02.659 commanded. And because they do what Jesus commanded, 00:01:02.859 --> 00:01:05.879 a revival breaks out. But even in that revival, 00:01:06.099 --> 00:01:11.040 there is opposition because the church wouldn't 00:01:11.040 --> 00:01:14.969 stop. See, they were... They were challenging 00:01:14.969 --> 00:01:17.890 the ways of society. They were living in radical 00:01:17.890 --> 00:01:20.829 community. They were challenging the status quo. 00:01:20.989 --> 00:01:23.329 They were making people rethink how they view 00:01:23.329 --> 00:01:25.989 relationships, how they view wealth, how they 00:01:25.989 --> 00:01:29.629 view health, and how they view their lives. And 00:01:29.629 --> 00:01:32.090 this is a threat. This is a threat to the Roman 00:01:32.090 --> 00:01:35.269 Empire. And so because of this threat, the church 00:01:35.269 --> 00:01:38.549 is hated. Christians are hated. These followers 00:01:38.549 --> 00:01:40.930 of this guy named Jesus who had just been killed, 00:01:41.030 --> 00:01:44.840 they're hated. But they don't. stop preaching. 00:01:46.579 --> 00:01:49.980 The religious establishment hates them. The Roman 00:01:49.980 --> 00:01:52.620 Empire hates them. Anybody who wanted power, 00:01:52.799 --> 00:01:55.400 anybody who wanted control, or just simply wanted 00:01:55.400 --> 00:01:58.379 the world to be content to stay in its sin hates 00:01:58.379 --> 00:02:02.400 the church. And ultimately, what this all boils 00:02:02.400 --> 00:02:05.980 down to is that what the church was doing was 00:02:05.980 --> 00:02:10.759 a direct attack on Satan's empire. And Satan 00:02:10.759 --> 00:02:14.030 felt like he had to put a stop to it. But he 00:02:14.030 --> 00:02:16.990 couldn't. And he couldn't put a stop to it because 00:02:16.990 --> 00:02:19.490 as we've said a few times throughout this series 00:02:19.490 --> 00:02:22.030 and as the whole point of this series has been, 00:02:22.210 --> 00:02:26.090 if something is a movement of God, nothing can 00:02:26.090 --> 00:02:29.969 stop it. No power of hell, no scheme of man, 00:02:30.050 --> 00:02:33.370 there is nothing that can stop what God wants 00:02:33.370 --> 00:02:38.469 to do. His will will be done. Now, we've recapped. 00:02:38.469 --> 00:02:40.270 If you've got all that, I need you to tell me 00:02:40.270 --> 00:02:44.789 you got it. Okay, good. So now today, as we close 00:02:44.789 --> 00:02:47.530 this series, we land in Acts chapter 29. So I 00:02:47.530 --> 00:02:49.550 want you to go ahead and turn there. And while 00:02:49.550 --> 00:02:50.930 you do that, I want to give you a little bit 00:02:50.930 --> 00:02:53.629 of a warning up front. If you've never read the 00:02:53.629 --> 00:02:56.030 end of the book of Acts, and you love a good 00:02:56.030 --> 00:02:58.310 ending, like if you love reading, you love stories, 00:02:58.370 --> 00:03:01.090 and you love a good ending, you might be a little 00:03:01.090 --> 00:03:03.509 frustrated with the ending of the book of Acts. 00:03:04.170 --> 00:03:07.150 Because Acts doesn't really end. It just kind 00:03:07.150 --> 00:03:09.530 of stops. I want you to think about this. Luke, 00:03:09.669 --> 00:03:12.389 he's a doctor. He's a very detail -oriented guy. 00:03:12.569 --> 00:03:15.189 He tells us at the beginning of his gospel account 00:03:15.189 --> 00:03:18.530 that he set out to investigate everything so 00:03:18.530 --> 00:03:21.050 that he could carefully write an orderly account 00:03:21.050 --> 00:03:25.270 of the work of Jesus in this world. And Luke 00:03:25.270 --> 00:03:27.009 is writing this book of Acts, and you've got 00:03:27.009 --> 00:03:29.229 to imagine that the same detail -oriented guy 00:03:29.229 --> 00:03:32.759 is doing the same exact thing. Yet when we get 00:03:32.759 --> 00:03:35.360 to the last page of Acts, there seems to be no 00:03:35.360 --> 00:03:37.979 real ending. There's no verdict. We aren't told 00:03:37.979 --> 00:03:39.919 about Paul's ending. We're not told about what 00:03:39.919 --> 00:03:42.020 happened to the church after that. In fact, by 00:03:42.020 --> 00:03:44.659 now, you've probably realized and you're sitting 00:03:44.659 --> 00:03:50.120 there confused because there is no Acts 29. It 00:03:50.120 --> 00:03:53.379 just ends with verse 31 in Acts 28. You see, 00:03:53.419 --> 00:03:55.939 all of these chapters are building on this incredible 00:03:55.939 --> 00:03:58.800 story. There's these character arcs and there's 00:03:58.800 --> 00:04:00.860 this development of the church and you see the 00:04:00.860 --> 00:04:04.259 mission progress. And then Luke just kind of 00:04:04.259 --> 00:04:06.419 walks away from the typewriter or whatever they 00:04:06.419 --> 00:04:09.939 wrote with back then. And it just ends. Now, 00:04:09.979 --> 00:04:11.740 some people might read that and say, well, maybe 00:04:11.740 --> 00:04:13.439 he wrote everything that he felt he needed to 00:04:13.439 --> 00:04:16.040 write. Maybe he wrote all that his brain had 00:04:16.040 --> 00:04:18.519 held of information. Maybe he wrote everything 00:04:18.519 --> 00:04:21.680 he knew and then he stopped. Well, this morning 00:04:21.680 --> 00:04:24.319 I want us to consider it another way. I want 00:04:24.319 --> 00:04:28.160 us to look at it like maybe Luke ended this book 00:04:28.160 --> 00:04:31.339 exactly the way the Holy Spirit wanted it to 00:04:31.339 --> 00:04:34.279 end. And by the end of today's lesson, I want 00:04:34.279 --> 00:04:37.819 you to hopefully you'll see why that comma -like 00:04:37.819 --> 00:04:40.060 ending, like this run -on sentence, might be 00:04:40.060 --> 00:04:42.459 more important than we've given it credit for. 00:04:42.720 --> 00:04:45.639 But first, I want to set the stage. So at this 00:04:45.639 --> 00:04:48.040 point, Paul has been on his missionary journey 00:04:48.040 --> 00:04:51.480 somewhere between 25 and 30 years. He's been 00:04:51.480 --> 00:04:53.600 all over the map. He's taught thousands of people. 00:04:53.660 --> 00:04:55.660 He's planted hundreds of churches all over the 00:04:55.660 --> 00:04:58.579 known world. And like the church, Paul has been 00:04:58.579 --> 00:05:01.620 persecuted this entire time. He went from persecutor 00:05:01.620 --> 00:05:05.860 to persecuted. And he's in this spot now in Acts 00:05:05.860 --> 00:05:08.829 28 where he's under house arrest in Rome. And 00:05:08.829 --> 00:05:11.170 I want you to look what he does while on house 00:05:11.170 --> 00:05:15.189 arrest in verses 16 through 20. If it's underlined, 00:05:15.269 --> 00:05:17.629 I would love for you to read along with me. And 00:05:17.629 --> 00:05:20.689 when we came into Rome, Paul was allowed to stay 00:05:20.689 --> 00:05:23.029 by himself with the soldier who guarded him. 00:05:23.529 --> 00:05:26.170 After three days, he called together the local 00:05:26.170 --> 00:05:28.430 leaders of the Jews, and when they had gathered, 00:05:28.550 --> 00:05:30.930 he said to them, Brothers, though I had done 00:05:30.930 --> 00:05:33.310 nothing against our people or the customs of 00:05:33.310 --> 00:05:36.209 our fathers, yet I was delivered as a prisoner 00:05:36.209 --> 00:05:38.790 from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans. 00:05:39.209 --> 00:05:42.050 When they had examined me, they wished to set 00:05:42.050 --> 00:05:44.769 me at liberty because there was no reason for 00:05:44.769 --> 00:05:47.519 the death penalty in my case. But because the 00:05:47.519 --> 00:05:50.699 Jews objected, I was compelled to appeal to Caesar, 00:05:50.920 --> 00:05:53.800 though I had no charge to bring against my nation. 00:05:54.459 --> 00:05:57.759 For this reason, therefore, I have asked to see 00:05:57.759 --> 00:06:00.439 you and speak with you, since it is because of 00:06:00.439 --> 00:06:03.519 the hope of Israel that I am wearing this chain. 00:06:04.360 --> 00:06:07.560 So Paul, under house arrest, calls a meeting 00:06:07.560 --> 00:06:10.019 with the Jewish leaders because the Jewish leaders 00:06:10.019 --> 00:06:12.000 in Jerusalem were the ones that wanted to kill 00:06:12.000 --> 00:06:14.540 him. Just like they did with Jesus, they make 00:06:14.540 --> 00:06:16.879 him stand trial. They're trying to trump up the 00:06:16.879 --> 00:06:19.360 charges against him so that there is no question 00:06:19.360 --> 00:06:22.860 he is going to die. But the government, they're 00:06:22.860 --> 00:06:25.079 like, well, we can't really kill him. And if 00:06:25.079 --> 00:06:27.819 you remember the story of Jesus' crucifixion, 00:06:27.819 --> 00:06:30.199 the government didn't see any reason to kill 00:06:30.199 --> 00:06:31.779 him. I mean, Pilate looks at it and he's like, 00:06:31.800 --> 00:06:34.759 I don't have any reason to kill this man. And 00:06:34.759 --> 00:06:36.620 this is the same thing that happens to Paul. 00:06:36.819 --> 00:06:39.240 They can't find a reason to kill him, but they 00:06:39.240 --> 00:06:42.019 can put him in chains. And so they put Paul in 00:06:42.019 --> 00:06:44.459 chains. He ends up on a ship. He goes to Rome 00:06:44.459 --> 00:06:46.459 after a shipwreck. There's a whole story there. 00:06:46.620 --> 00:06:48.959 I would love for you to go read that. But I want 00:06:48.959 --> 00:06:51.759 you to notice when Paul calls these Jewish leaders 00:06:51.759 --> 00:06:54.759 together, he isn't calling them together to testify 00:06:54.759 --> 00:06:57.399 about his own innocence. Paul's not calling them 00:06:57.399 --> 00:07:00.040 together to say, let me tell you why I shouldn't 00:07:00.040 --> 00:07:03.040 be in chains. Let me tell you why what they were 00:07:03.040 --> 00:07:04.920 trying to do to me was inaccurate. Let me tell 00:07:04.920 --> 00:07:07.379 you why there is some injustice going on here 00:07:07.379 --> 00:07:10.199 and I'm not being treated fairly. No, Paul doesn't 00:07:10.199 --> 00:07:12.839 do that. What he calls them together to do is 00:07:12.839 --> 00:07:16.019 not testify about his own innocence, but to testify 00:07:16.019 --> 00:07:19.069 about the goodness of Christ. I want you to look 00:07:19.069 --> 00:07:21.589 at verse 20 again. It is because of the hope 00:07:21.589 --> 00:07:25.569 of Israel that I'm wearing this chain. What Paul 00:07:25.569 --> 00:07:28.550 says is, it's not by anything that I have really 00:07:28.550 --> 00:07:32.569 done that was wrong. It's because of Jesus, the 00:07:32.569 --> 00:07:35.009 good news that the Messiah has come, the hope 00:07:35.009 --> 00:07:37.589 of Israel. That's Jesus. The Messiah has come. 00:07:38.410 --> 00:07:43.050 And Israel, the Jews, they felt if we can't kill 00:07:43.050 --> 00:07:46.310 him, we can at least have him in chains. But 00:07:46.310 --> 00:07:49.519 I need to ask you a question. What does Paul 00:07:49.519 --> 00:07:53.800 do with his chains? And maybe a question for 00:07:53.800 --> 00:07:56.660 you is what do you do with your chains? When 00:07:56.660 --> 00:07:59.759 the world is trying to pin charges against you, 00:07:59.800 --> 00:08:02.160 when you feel injustice, when you feel like things 00:08:02.160 --> 00:08:04.319 aren't going right, when you feel the schemes 00:08:04.319 --> 00:08:07.399 of Satan attacking your life. And let me just 00:08:07.399 --> 00:08:11.000 clarify, every difficulty, every pain, every 00:08:11.000 --> 00:08:14.379 sorrow we face in this life is a scheme of Satan. 00:08:14.519 --> 00:08:18.420 And so I ask you, what do you do? when Satan 00:08:18.420 --> 00:08:22.240 attacks. Because Paul doesn't just sit in his 00:08:22.240 --> 00:08:26.019 chains in sorrow. What Paul does is he turns 00:08:26.019 --> 00:08:31.100 his chains into a pulpit. Or as it says on the 00:08:31.100 --> 00:08:33.960 screen, he turns his prison into a pulpit. He 00:08:33.960 --> 00:08:37.899 starts... He uses this inconvenience. He uses 00:08:37.899 --> 00:08:40.960 this injustice. He uses this pain as a platform 00:08:40.960 --> 00:08:44.879 to proclaim the good news. And I'm just curious, 00:08:44.960 --> 00:08:47.279 how many of us would keep preaching the same 00:08:47.279 --> 00:08:50.320 gospel that got us put into chains? How many 00:08:50.320 --> 00:08:52.820 of us would keep preaching the same message that 00:08:52.820 --> 00:08:55.940 is getting our lives put in danger over and over 00:08:55.940 --> 00:08:58.240 and over again? Paul, he faces this persecution. 00:08:58.279 --> 00:09:00.799 The church faces this persecution over and over 00:09:00.799 --> 00:09:04.110 and over again, but they keep preaching. They 00:09:04.110 --> 00:09:07.210 keep doing the same thing. You know, we call 00:09:07.210 --> 00:09:09.269 that insanity when you do the same thing over 00:09:09.269 --> 00:09:11.190 and over again and get the same results. So I 00:09:11.190 --> 00:09:13.529 guess you could say Paul was kind of crazy about 00:09:13.529 --> 00:09:19.210 Jesus. That was a joke. Insanity, crazy, I knew 00:09:19.210 --> 00:09:20.929 that one wasn't going to land, but I'm glad you 00:09:20.929 --> 00:09:23.690 laughed anyways. Paul was crazy about Jesus and 00:09:23.690 --> 00:09:25.610 I'm not, like that's not, like that's serious. 00:09:25.730 --> 00:09:28.029 It's a joke, but it's serious. He's crazy about 00:09:28.029 --> 00:09:30.830 this good news message so much so that he has 00:09:30.830 --> 00:09:34.159 to keep talking about it. He has no choice but 00:09:34.159 --> 00:09:37.240 to proclaim what Jesus has done for him because 00:09:37.240 --> 00:09:42.559 it is so powerful. And so he keeps preaching 00:09:42.559 --> 00:09:47.240 regardless of circumstances. And this piques 00:09:47.240 --> 00:09:50.450 the curiosity of the Jewish leaders. And so they 00:09:50.450 --> 00:09:53.169 set up a time to come back and hear Paul out. 00:09:53.269 --> 00:09:56.990 And so now we look at verses 23 through 24. When 00:09:56.990 --> 00:09:59.389 they had appointed a day for him, they came to 00:09:59.389 --> 00:10:02.210 him at his lodging in greater numbers from morning 00:10:02.210 --> 00:10:05.269 till evening. He expounded to them, testifying 00:10:05.269 --> 00:10:07.830 to the kingdom of God and trying to convince 00:10:07.830 --> 00:10:10.509 them about Jesus, both from the law of Moses 00:10:10.509 --> 00:10:13.269 and from the prophets. And some were convinced 00:10:13.269 --> 00:10:17.019 by what he said, but others disbelieved. I just 00:10:17.019 --> 00:10:20.379 love this image I have in my head of Paul chained 00:10:20.379 --> 00:10:23.120 to a prison guard, walking these Jewish leaders 00:10:23.120 --> 00:10:24.899 through the scriptures that they would have known 00:10:24.899 --> 00:10:27.600 better than we know our Bibles. Like there is 00:10:27.600 --> 00:10:29.919 nobody in this room except maybe Truman that 00:10:29.919 --> 00:10:32.899 knows their Bible as good as these Jewish leaders. 00:10:33.379 --> 00:10:36.240 And so they know the scriptures. And Paul is 00:10:36.240 --> 00:10:38.600 saying, hey, you remember that time? Well, that 00:10:38.600 --> 00:10:40.779 was pointing to Jesus. Hey, do you remember when 00:10:40.779 --> 00:10:43.379 God said that was pointing to Jesus? Do you remember 00:10:43.379 --> 00:10:46.120 when the prophecies told us this would happen? 00:10:46.059 --> 00:10:50.139 happened. That was pointing to Jesus. From morning 00:10:50.139 --> 00:10:52.600 till evening. See, y 'all would have me thrown 00:10:52.600 --> 00:10:55.059 in a real prison if I got up here and started 00:10:55.059 --> 00:10:57.200 preaching from morning until evening. You would 00:10:57.200 --> 00:10:58.980 start getting stuff to throw at me or you would 00:10:58.980 --> 00:11:01.460 drag me off the stage. But what Paul does is 00:11:01.460 --> 00:11:04.320 he takes his time and he walks them through the 00:11:04.320 --> 00:11:07.120 scriptures telling them about every promise, 00:11:07.240 --> 00:11:09.639 every prophecy, every moment of Israel's story, 00:11:09.720 --> 00:11:12.019 every moment where God stepped in, how it was 00:11:12.019 --> 00:11:15.600 leading to the cross and an empty tomb. And some 00:11:15.600 --> 00:11:20.070 believed because how could you not? But as the 00:11:20.070 --> 00:11:22.230 scripture tells us, some didn't. And that's just 00:11:22.230 --> 00:11:23.909 how it goes. We're not going to convince everybody. 00:11:24.250 --> 00:11:27.529 But again, regardless of the circumstances, regardless 00:11:27.529 --> 00:11:31.090 of the fruit that comes from it, Paul never stopped 00:11:31.090 --> 00:11:35.570 preaching. Nor did he ever soften the message 00:11:35.570 --> 00:11:37.309 so that it could be a little more accessible. 00:11:37.610 --> 00:11:39.950 He didn't do what he felt like he needed to do 00:11:39.950 --> 00:11:41.850 to make it more appealing or decide that the 00:11:41.850 --> 00:11:44.789 gospel needed a rebrand or a marketing team. 00:11:44.889 --> 00:11:48.490 He just kept preaching the word. Which brings 00:11:48.490 --> 00:11:51.370 us to the last two verses of the chapter, verses 00:11:51.370 --> 00:11:55.250 30 and 31. He lived there two whole years at 00:11:55.250 --> 00:11:58.049 his own expense and welcomed all who came to 00:11:58.049 --> 00:12:00.789 him, proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching 00:12:00.789 --> 00:12:03.509 about the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness 00:12:03.509 --> 00:12:07.690 and without hindrance. And that's it. That's 00:12:07.690 --> 00:12:10.250 the end of the book of Acts. That's the end of 00:12:10.250 --> 00:12:13.330 Luke's recording of the history, the movement 00:12:13.330 --> 00:12:15.789 of God through these first century Christians. 00:12:17.679 --> 00:12:21.139 The ending is just Paul welcoming everybody who 00:12:21.139 --> 00:12:23.019 would come to his door, welcoming anybody that 00:12:23.019 --> 00:12:24.639 would sit on his porch, sit in his living room 00:12:24.639 --> 00:12:27.159 and listen to the word, welcoming them to preach 00:12:27.159 --> 00:12:30.940 the kingdom with all boldness and without hindrance. 00:12:31.360 --> 00:12:33.559 I'm no Greek scholar, but I love learning the 00:12:33.559 --> 00:12:35.620 meaning of words, and so I wanted to do some 00:12:35.620 --> 00:12:38.019 digging. Do you know what the Greek for that 00:12:38.019 --> 00:12:40.799 last phrase, without hindrance, translates to? 00:12:40.840 --> 00:12:43.659 Anybody know? Anybody? No Greek scholars in the 00:12:43.659 --> 00:12:46.179 room? Okay, I'm going to blow your mind with 00:12:46.179 --> 00:12:50.679 this one. Without hindrance simply means without 00:12:50.679 --> 00:12:54.259 hindrance. It just means nothing could stop it. 00:12:54.340 --> 00:12:57.039 Nothing could keep it from going forward. Nothing 00:12:57.039 --> 00:13:00.039 could put it on hold. Nothing could put it down. 00:13:00.259 --> 00:13:06.500 It just kept going without being hindered. The 00:13:06.500 --> 00:13:09.399 word Luke chose to close 28 chapters of church 00:13:09.399 --> 00:13:12.639 history is simply unhindered. Now, if you've 00:13:12.639 --> 00:13:17.139 got that, can you say unhindered? Nothing blocking 00:13:17.139 --> 00:13:19.960 it, nothing stopping it, nothing killing it because 00:13:19.960 --> 00:13:23.940 you can't. And now think about everything we've 00:13:23.940 --> 00:13:27.500 seen in the book of Acts. Apostles arrested and 00:13:27.500 --> 00:13:32.639 beaten, but the word spreads unhindered. Deacons 00:13:32.639 --> 00:13:34.700 like Stephen stoned to death, but the gospel 00:13:34.700 --> 00:13:39.519 spreads. Riots, beatings, a shipwreck, prisons. 00:13:40.970 --> 00:13:43.990 And now Paul sits in chains in the capital city 00:13:43.990 --> 00:13:46.789 of the most powerful empire on earth, and the 00:13:46.789 --> 00:13:52.110 last word of the story is, it just kept going. 00:13:52.809 --> 00:13:56.929 Here's the truth. They can chain the preacher, 00:13:57.110 --> 00:14:00.909 but they cannot chain the word. There's a song 00:14:00.909 --> 00:14:04.490 by this band called Unspoken, and the song is 00:14:04.490 --> 00:14:07.809 called Bury the Workman. And in it, the lines 00:14:07.809 --> 00:14:11.440 go, they can... silence the voices, but they 00:14:11.440 --> 00:14:14.100 can't stop the song. They can bury the workmen, 00:14:14.139 --> 00:14:17.200 but the work will go on. When the spirit is moving 00:14:17.200 --> 00:14:20.200 and there is work to be done, you can bury the 00:14:20.200 --> 00:14:24.399 workmen, but the work will go on. And see what 00:14:24.399 --> 00:14:27.580 we see with Paul is that though he is in chains, 00:14:27.759 --> 00:14:31.419 though he is in prison, the proclaiming of the 00:14:31.419 --> 00:14:36.519 gospel will go on. As Paul says himself in 2 00:14:36.519 --> 00:14:39.740 Timothy, I am suffering, bound with chains as 00:14:39.740 --> 00:14:43.440 a criminal, but the word of God is not bound. 00:14:43.740 --> 00:14:50.639 It goes on. Rome, the Jews, Satan, through everything 00:14:50.639 --> 00:14:53.679 it had at this movement, and after all of it, 00:14:53.840 --> 00:14:56.559 Luke picks up his pen and he writes his final 00:14:56.559 --> 00:15:01.960 word over the whole story, unhindered. In 28 00:15:01.960 --> 00:15:05.279 chapters, over 30 plus years, nothing on the 00:15:05.279 --> 00:15:08.220 outside ever stopped it. Not prisons, politics, 00:15:08.500 --> 00:15:11.519 or persecution. And y 'all, nothing on the outside 00:15:11.519 --> 00:15:15.259 can stop it now. 2 ,000 years later, the empire 00:15:15.259 --> 00:15:18.299 that chained Paul is a pile of rubble, a pile 00:15:18.299 --> 00:15:21.139 of ruins that people pay to go see. But think 00:15:21.139 --> 00:15:23.779 about where we are now. We are not a history 00:15:23.779 --> 00:15:26.039 of what was. We are a history of what God is 00:15:26.039 --> 00:15:29.220 continuing to do. In fact, it seems like in this 00:15:29.220 --> 00:15:31.039 nation that's been here for 200 years, and 50 00:15:31.039 --> 00:15:34.240 years, every 50 years, God decides to just explode 00:15:34.240 --> 00:15:36.860 this movement and a revival breaks out. Well, 00:15:36.879 --> 00:15:39.139 can you guess what year we are on right now? 00:15:39.360 --> 00:15:42.919 Year 50 since the Jesus movement, which tells 00:15:42.919 --> 00:15:45.679 me we've got some proclaiming to do because God 00:15:45.679 --> 00:15:51.039 wants to do something special right now. The 00:15:51.039 --> 00:15:54.440 movement cannot be stopped if it is a movement 00:15:54.440 --> 00:15:58.580 of God. But now I have to ask another hard question, 00:15:58.639 --> 00:15:59.980 the question we've been getting at throughout 00:15:59.980 --> 00:16:01.740 this whole series, and I promise this isn't a 00:16:01.740 --> 00:16:05.620 joke. What's stopping us? If there is no external 00:16:05.620 --> 00:16:08.860 power that could ever hinder the gospel, if there 00:16:08.860 --> 00:16:11.639 is nothing out there that could stop the gospel 00:16:11.639 --> 00:16:14.039 from being proclaimed, then what is hindering 00:16:14.039 --> 00:16:17.559 it now? What is stopping us from exploding these 00:16:17.559 --> 00:16:19.899 church buildings to where they're at capacity 00:16:19.899 --> 00:16:22.100 every Sunday where people are having to stand 00:16:22.100 --> 00:16:24.379 out in the parking lot just hoping to hear the 00:16:24.379 --> 00:16:29.129 word of God? Because none of us in this room 00:16:29.129 --> 00:16:30.909 are going to be arrested for proclaiming the 00:16:30.909 --> 00:16:33.350 good news. None of us are going to be dragged 00:16:33.350 --> 00:16:36.110 before a council, lose our home, or be run out 00:16:36.110 --> 00:16:38.590 of town for hosting a Bible study. There is no 00:16:38.590 --> 00:16:42.009 external factors that should be keeping us from 00:16:42.009 --> 00:16:44.250 proclaiming the word of God. So what is stopping 00:16:44.250 --> 00:16:47.730 us? If Paul can preach with chains on his wrist, 00:16:47.990 --> 00:16:50.649 meanwhile we have complete freedom, yet sometimes 00:16:50.649 --> 00:16:53.629 it seems like the gospel, it kind of moves through 00:16:53.629 --> 00:16:56.370 our lives slower than it moves through his prison. 00:16:56.879 --> 00:16:59.519 How does that happen? How does a people that 00:16:59.519 --> 00:17:02.299 have the freedom that we have, that we talk about, 00:17:02.360 --> 00:17:04.500 that we celebrate, we have the freedom that we 00:17:04.500 --> 00:17:07.579 have to proclaim the gospel without fear of persecution, 00:17:07.880 --> 00:17:12.039 how is it then that our churches, and I'm not 00:17:12.039 --> 00:17:13.980 just talking about this church, but any church 00:17:13.980 --> 00:17:16.339 that professes the good news of Christ, how is 00:17:16.339 --> 00:17:20.640 it that we are not exploding? I think it happens 00:17:20.640 --> 00:17:23.680 because what Rome couldn't do from the outside, 00:17:23.819 --> 00:17:30.029 we can do on the inside. To put it simply, comfort 00:17:30.029 --> 00:17:33.569 can hinder us in ways that chains never could. 00:17:35.109 --> 00:17:38.009 Drifting... can hinder us in ways that dungeons 00:17:38.009 --> 00:17:41.890 never could. Distractions can hinder us in ways 00:17:41.890 --> 00:17:44.910 that death threats never could. I think Satan 00:17:44.910 --> 00:17:46.869 learned this along the way. I think he realized 00:17:46.869 --> 00:17:49.369 when he saw that persecution in the Roman Empire 00:17:49.369 --> 00:17:51.410 didn't work, when he saw that putting people 00:17:51.410 --> 00:17:53.150 in prison and dragging them out in the streets 00:17:53.150 --> 00:17:55.130 and murdering them in front of their followers 00:17:55.130 --> 00:17:58.789 didn't work, he saw the American Empire and said, 00:17:58.829 --> 00:18:01.630 oh, let me change strategies. I don't need to 00:18:01.630 --> 00:18:04.069 throw physical chains on you. I just need to 00:18:04.069 --> 00:18:06.210 make you comfortable. I don't need to threaten 00:18:06.210 --> 00:18:08.849 you into silence. I just need to keep you busy 00:18:08.849 --> 00:18:11.289 enough, entertained enough, distracted enough 00:18:11.289 --> 00:18:13.730 that you will never open your mouth and think 00:18:13.730 --> 00:18:17.109 about proclaiming the good news. See, Satan realized 00:18:17.109 --> 00:18:19.250 he doesn't need to burn our Bibles or tear down 00:18:19.250 --> 00:18:22.230 our churches. He just needs our Bibles to stay 00:18:22.230 --> 00:18:24.930 closed on the nightstand, and he just needs our 00:18:24.930 --> 00:18:30.029 churches to stay in these four walls. The question 00:18:30.029 --> 00:18:32.390 this morning isn't whether anything out there 00:18:32.390 --> 00:18:36.109 can stop the gospel. We know nothing can. The 00:18:36.109 --> 00:18:39.690 question is whether the gospel will move through 00:18:39.690 --> 00:18:44.289 us or around us. Because one thing I know to 00:18:44.289 --> 00:18:46.789 be true is when God wants the gospel to spread, 00:18:46.910 --> 00:18:49.109 when he wants revival to happen, it is going 00:18:49.109 --> 00:18:52.470 to happen. We just have to ask, are we going 00:18:52.470 --> 00:18:54.789 to be a part of it? Are we going to be the people 00:18:54.789 --> 00:18:57.000 that look at it and say, They're probably doing 00:18:57.000 --> 00:18:58.759 something wrong. You ever think about that? Like 00:18:58.759 --> 00:19:01.099 when churches are growing like crazy, like there's 00:19:01.099 --> 00:19:02.619 a church in Atlanta, I've mentioned it before, 00:19:02.720 --> 00:19:06.539 that is growing like crazy. Like they are at 00:19:06.539 --> 00:19:08.819 the point now where they are filling out, like 00:19:08.819 --> 00:19:11.200 there's a line out the door, down the sidewalk, 00:19:11.339 --> 00:19:14.099 because people just can't wait to get in and 00:19:14.099 --> 00:19:16.400 listen to the word be preached to worship with 00:19:16.400 --> 00:19:18.500 these people. And we look at it and we're like, 00:19:18.680 --> 00:19:20.519 well, they've got to be doing something wrong. 00:19:20.660 --> 00:19:22.680 There's no way a church can grow like that and 00:19:22.680 --> 00:19:25.200 still be teaching the truth. But what we see 00:19:25.200 --> 00:19:28.730 throughout, history is that that absolutely can 00:19:28.730 --> 00:19:32.210 happen. And it does happen that the word of God 00:19:32.210 --> 00:19:35.029 revival will happen, whether we want it to or 00:19:35.029 --> 00:19:37.289 not. And it doesn't always have to be scandalous. 00:19:37.789 --> 00:19:40.230 And so again, I ask, are we going to be a part 00:19:40.230 --> 00:19:42.289 of the revival? Are we going to stand on the 00:19:42.289 --> 00:19:45.549 outside and say, Hmm, something suspect about 00:19:45.549 --> 00:19:49.250 that because God's mission is not in danger. 00:19:49.269 --> 00:19:52.950 It is going to advance either way. We just have 00:19:52.950 --> 00:19:54.769 to ask, is the Blairsville Church of Christ going 00:19:54.769 --> 00:19:57.569 to be a part of it? Which brings me to a point, 00:19:57.609 --> 00:19:59.730 the point that we started this morning with, 00:19:59.809 --> 00:20:03.369 of why does Acts just seem to stop? Well, history 00:20:03.369 --> 00:20:06.009 says Paul was eventually executed under Nero. 00:20:06.809 --> 00:20:09.710 And Luke certainly could have told us how the 00:20:09.710 --> 00:20:13.349 story for Paul ends, but he didn't. Could it 00:20:13.349 --> 00:20:15.930 be because Acts wasn't supposed to be Paul's 00:20:15.930 --> 00:20:19.799 biography? The book wasn't about him. Could it 00:20:19.799 --> 00:20:22.180 be that it's not about Peter? It's not about 00:20:22.180 --> 00:20:25.059 these first disciples? I want you to go back 00:20:25.059 --> 00:20:27.720 to the very first verse of the book of Acts where 00:20:27.720 --> 00:20:30.000 Luke says in the first book of Theophilus, he's 00:20:30.000 --> 00:20:31.880 referring to his gospel, the gospel of Luke, 00:20:32.000 --> 00:20:34.720 I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do 00:20:34.720 --> 00:20:39.720 and teach. Key words, Jesus began. Acts is not 00:20:39.720 --> 00:20:43.039 the story of these people. Acts is the story 00:20:43.039 --> 00:20:46.420 of what Jesus began to do and is continuing to 00:20:46.420 --> 00:20:49.740 do through his spirit, through his church. Not 00:20:49.740 --> 00:20:52.339 only is it not about Paul, it's not about any 00:20:52.339 --> 00:20:55.180 of them. It doesn't say all that the apostles 00:20:55.180 --> 00:21:02.109 began. It says Jesus began. And also... I believe 00:21:02.109 --> 00:21:05.369 there is no ending, no real good ending to this 00:21:05.369 --> 00:21:08.950 story because you cannot write an ending to a 00:21:08.950 --> 00:21:13.660 story that is not finished. It's not over. God 00:21:13.660 --> 00:21:16.380 didn't stop working in the first century. God 00:21:16.380 --> 00:21:18.940 didn't stop moving through people way back then. 00:21:18.980 --> 00:21:22.339 He is still moving. Luke didn't run out of ink. 00:21:22.460 --> 00:21:25.779 The story just isn't finished. Acts 29 doesn't 00:21:25.779 --> 00:21:28.140 exist on paper because it's written in lives. 00:21:28.319 --> 00:21:30.940 It's written in communities, states, nations 00:21:30.940 --> 00:21:35.279 being transformed. And we, the church, have the 00:21:35.279 --> 00:21:38.339 chance to live out the next chapter of what Jesus 00:21:38.339 --> 00:21:44.609 began to do 2 ,000 years ago. We are, at least 00:21:44.609 --> 00:21:49.789 we can be, the 29th chapter of Jesus' work. And 00:21:49.789 --> 00:21:52.029 that's why we've been studying Acts, so that 00:21:52.029 --> 00:21:54.869 we can see what the church has been and what 00:21:54.869 --> 00:21:58.099 it can be. Like you can think about your prime, 00:21:58.299 --> 00:22:00.019 right? You can think about, you know, when you 00:22:00.019 --> 00:22:01.839 were in high school and you were good looking 00:22:01.839 --> 00:22:03.720 and you had everything going for you. Maybe you 00:22:03.720 --> 00:22:06.259 had a nice fast car. You were the captain of 00:22:06.259 --> 00:22:08.000 whatever sports team you were on. You had all 00:22:08.000 --> 00:22:10.559 A's and now you just work like a normal nine 00:22:10.559 --> 00:22:12.339 to five and you're just kind of out and about 00:22:12.339 --> 00:22:14.619 and you've got back pain and it doesn't feel 00:22:14.619 --> 00:22:16.380 like you've got anything hot going on. You're 00:22:16.380 --> 00:22:19.359 just kind of going. We can think about what has 00:22:19.359 --> 00:22:22.539 been, but guess what? Like for us in these physical 00:22:22.539 --> 00:22:25.059 bodies, there's not a whole lot of upside. Like 00:22:25.059 --> 00:22:27.779 we have peaked. Okay, well, maybe some of you, 00:22:27.799 --> 00:22:30.819 you're aging like fine wine, but me, I have peaked. 00:22:31.960 --> 00:22:35.720 There's no up from here. But for the church, 00:22:35.799 --> 00:22:37.619 we don't look at what has been and say, well, 00:22:37.640 --> 00:22:40.440 the church peaked. No, no, no. The church is 00:22:40.440 --> 00:22:43.599 just getting started. The movement of God is 00:22:43.599 --> 00:22:45.339 just getting started because there are billions 00:22:45.339 --> 00:22:47.819 of people out there that still need to have the 00:22:47.819 --> 00:22:50.400 gospel proclaimed to them. They still need to 00:22:50.400 --> 00:22:54.029 have their lives transformed. Let me tell you 00:22:54.029 --> 00:22:55.930 about something that happened just last month 00:22:55.930 --> 00:22:57.829 that was kind of interesting that I found. In 00:22:57.829 --> 00:23:01.930 1882, in Barcelona, Spain, construction began 00:23:01.930 --> 00:23:05.369 on a church building called the Sagrada Familia. 00:23:05.390 --> 00:23:07.049 And I hope I said that right. If there's anybody 00:23:07.049 --> 00:23:09.509 in here that speaks Spanish, correct me. The 00:23:09.509 --> 00:23:13.589 architect, Antoni Gaudi, devoted his life to 00:23:13.589 --> 00:23:15.910 it, knowing from the very beginning that he would 00:23:15.910 --> 00:23:19.259 never live to see it finished. And somebody once 00:23:19.259 --> 00:23:21.559 asked him about the timeline of this, and Gotti 00:23:21.559 --> 00:23:25.259 reportedly answered, my client is not in a hurry. 00:23:26.799 --> 00:23:30.460 His client was God. You see, Gotti worked on 00:23:30.460 --> 00:23:32.500 the building for over 40 years before he died 00:23:32.500 --> 00:23:36.259 in 1926. And he had only lived long enough and 00:23:36.259 --> 00:23:39.759 worked long enough to see one of the 18 towers 00:23:39.759 --> 00:23:43.200 of this church completed. But the work didn't 00:23:43.200 --> 00:23:45.640 stop. See, generation after generation of architects 00:23:45.640 --> 00:23:48.079 and builders, they picked up where Gaudi left 00:23:48.079 --> 00:23:50.720 off, and they kept building. They built through 00:23:50.720 --> 00:23:52.900 a civil war. They built through a world war. 00:23:53.000 --> 00:23:55.160 They built through funding collapses and a pandemic. 00:23:55.299 --> 00:23:58.059 And through all of that, the work continued. 00:23:59.240 --> 00:24:05.240 144 years later, the church was completed. Just 00:24:05.240 --> 00:24:07.980 last month, this church was completed, standing 00:24:07.980 --> 00:24:11.730 as the world's tallest church building. And one 00:24:11.730 --> 00:24:13.710 more detail that I don't want to leave out is 00:24:13.710 --> 00:24:16.369 that Gaudi deliberately designed that tower to 00:24:16.369 --> 00:24:19.910 stand one meter shorter than the mountain beside 00:24:19.910 --> 00:24:24.450 Barcelona because he did not want this church 00:24:24.450 --> 00:24:29.009 to rise above what God had created. As he would 00:24:29.009 --> 00:24:31.789 have said, the work of man should never rise 00:24:31.789 --> 00:24:34.490 higher than the work of God. And I just think 00:24:34.490 --> 00:24:36.869 that is a beautiful thing, that we never get 00:24:36.869 --> 00:24:38.730 so full of ourselves that we think we can do 00:24:38.730 --> 00:24:41.470 something bigger than God. But our story is even 00:24:41.470 --> 00:24:43.690 better than the one of this church because the 00:24:43.690 --> 00:24:46.309 church that Jesus is building isn't made out 00:24:46.309 --> 00:24:48.650 of wood. It's not made out of stone. No man designed 00:24:48.650 --> 00:24:51.329 it. The magnificent building in Spain is beautiful, 00:24:51.509 --> 00:24:54.509 but one day it will crumble. And one day it will 00:24:54.509 --> 00:24:57.470 be nothing but dust. Everything made by human 00:24:57.470 --> 00:25:00.789 hands is going to end up as ruins. Like I said, 00:25:00.890 --> 00:25:04.430 the very empire that imprisoned Paul is now... 00:25:04.569 --> 00:25:07.490 And this empire that we live in today and we 00:25:07.490 --> 00:25:09.609 celebrate the freedoms and the goodness that 00:25:09.609 --> 00:25:12.589 it is, this will all end one day. This will all 00:25:12.589 --> 00:25:16.509 be in ruins one day. But the kingdom of God will 00:25:16.509 --> 00:25:20.049 stand. As Jesus said, I will build my church 00:25:20.049 --> 00:25:23.009 and the gates of hell shall not prevail against 00:25:23.009 --> 00:25:26.069 it. There is nothing, no Rome, no hell itself, 00:25:26.150 --> 00:25:29.529 nothing that can bring the kingdom of God to 00:25:29.529 --> 00:25:33.329 ruins. Because the church isn't built out of 00:25:33.329 --> 00:25:36.269 stones that man stacks together. It is built 00:25:36.269 --> 00:25:39.789 out of souls that only God can save. And souls 00:25:39.789 --> 00:25:42.650 are the only material in this world that will 00:25:42.650 --> 00:25:47.509 last into eternity. Which means every sentence 00:25:47.509 --> 00:25:50.849 that we write in Acts 29, every person you share 00:25:50.849 --> 00:25:53.230 the gospel with, every kid you teach in a Bible 00:25:53.230 --> 00:25:55.670 class, every neighbor you love towards Jesus, 00:25:55.789 --> 00:25:58.630 every prayer, every act of faithfulness, everything 00:25:58.630 --> 00:26:02.789 we do, none of it will ever crumble. In fact, 00:26:02.789 --> 00:26:06.789 it will have an eternal impact. Paul says it 00:26:06.789 --> 00:26:10.029 plainly in 1 Corinthians 15, verse 58. Therefore, 00:26:10.170 --> 00:26:13.109 my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, 00:26:13.309 --> 00:26:16.450 always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing 00:26:16.450 --> 00:26:21.109 that in the Lord your labor is not in vain. It's 00:26:21.109 --> 00:26:24.490 not in vain. The stonemasons in Barcelona, they 00:26:24.490 --> 00:26:27.529 laid stone for a tower that they would never 00:26:27.529 --> 00:26:30.269 see finished. that they would never get to experience 00:26:30.269 --> 00:26:33.589 all of its beauty. And you and I are laying living 00:26:33.589 --> 00:26:37.269 stones into a temple that we will get to see 00:26:37.269 --> 00:26:39.349 finished. Maybe not on this side of eternity, 00:26:39.670 --> 00:26:45.750 but on the other side. So what do we do? Over 00:26:45.750 --> 00:26:47.809 the last few weeks, I feel like God has been 00:26:47.809 --> 00:26:50.829 exposing who we are and who he's calling us to 00:26:50.829 --> 00:26:54.250 be. And so what I'm asking us as a family is 00:26:54.250 --> 00:26:57.599 what would it look like if... Every single one 00:26:57.599 --> 00:27:00.579 of us, individually and communally, if we all 00:27:00.579 --> 00:27:03.660 responded to this series in a way that reflects 00:27:03.660 --> 00:27:05.660 what we've learned from the book of Acts, in 00:27:05.660 --> 00:27:09.099 a way that did show radical community, in a way 00:27:09.099 --> 00:27:11.720 that did show radical generosity and charity, 00:27:11.880 --> 00:27:14.779 a way that was ultra -inclusive, in a way that 00:27:14.779 --> 00:27:18.220 was so different that the world looks at us and 00:27:18.220 --> 00:27:20.740 says there is something supernatural among those 00:27:20.740 --> 00:27:23.339 people. There is something divine about them. 00:27:23.440 --> 00:27:27.000 This does not make sense. but we want some of 00:27:27.000 --> 00:27:29.480 it. What if we responded to the book of Acts 00:27:29.480 --> 00:27:34.359 in that way? Because that's who the early church 00:27:34.359 --> 00:27:39.839 was, and that's our spiritual bloodline. The 00:27:39.839 --> 00:27:42.450 question is, are we going to act like it? See, 00:27:42.509 --> 00:27:44.349 I don't want us to be a church that just studies 00:27:44.349 --> 00:27:47.009 Acts. Churches study Scripture. They read Scripture. 00:27:47.130 --> 00:27:48.950 Guys like me get up and talk about Scripture. 00:27:49.190 --> 00:27:51.670 But churches all over the place just don't live 00:27:51.670 --> 00:27:54.630 Scripture. I want us to be a church that looks 00:27:54.630 --> 00:27:58.029 like the church in the book of Acts. And I do 00:27:58.029 --> 00:28:00.210 need to say something just to be clear. If we 00:28:00.210 --> 00:28:02.150 do that, people are going to think we're weird. 00:28:02.849 --> 00:28:05.210 And if we do that, it may make some of us uncomfortable. 00:28:05.549 --> 00:28:07.750 If we do that, people will look at us and say, 00:28:07.869 --> 00:28:11.089 there's something wrong with those people. Guess 00:28:11.089 --> 00:28:13.789 what? I'm okay if the world thinks I'm crazy. 00:28:14.890 --> 00:28:18.170 My wife thinks I'm crazy. People think we're 00:28:18.170 --> 00:28:20.630 crazy just because we gather here on Sunday mornings. 00:28:20.829 --> 00:28:24.329 We got more work to do. And we should be okay 00:28:24.329 --> 00:28:28.210 if they think we are insane for Jesus. And so 00:28:28.210 --> 00:28:29.910 now as we close this series, I want to bring 00:28:29.910 --> 00:28:32.410 you back to Paul's living room in Rome one last 00:28:32.410 --> 00:28:36.109 time. In verse 30, it says, Paul welcomed all 00:28:36.109 --> 00:28:39.369 who came to him. All. I don't know if you know 00:28:39.369 --> 00:28:43.769 this, but all means all. Skeptics, seekers, Jews, 00:28:44.190 --> 00:28:48.309 Gentiles, soldiers, slaves, nobodies, somebodies, 00:28:48.309 --> 00:28:54.789 elites, wealthy, poor, all who came. And this 00:28:54.789 --> 00:28:58.230 morning, anyone who walks through the doors of 00:28:58.230 --> 00:29:00.730 this church building should be welcome to hear 00:29:00.730 --> 00:29:03.869 the gospel proclaimed and have their lives transformed 00:29:03.869 --> 00:29:08.130 by Jesus Christ. And I believe that welcome does 00:29:08.130 --> 00:29:11.119 stand in this church family. And so maybe you're 00:29:11.119 --> 00:29:13.240 here today and you've never obeyed the gospel. 00:29:13.359 --> 00:29:15.440 Maybe you've been watching the story from the 00:29:15.440 --> 00:29:18.079 outside. You've heard about this Jesus who lived 00:29:18.079 --> 00:29:20.660 this life that you could never live, that I could 00:29:20.660 --> 00:29:23.160 never live, that died the death that our sins 00:29:23.160 --> 00:29:26.000 deserved. And then he rose from a grave to prove 00:29:26.000 --> 00:29:28.759 that he can raise you from the grave too. The 00:29:28.759 --> 00:29:32.079 good news that was unhindered in Rome is unhindered 00:29:32.079 --> 00:29:34.740 in this room right now. The only thing standing 00:29:34.740 --> 00:29:39.299 between it and you is you. And the response today 00:29:39.299 --> 00:29:41.880 is the same one that Peter gave on the very first 00:29:41.880 --> 00:29:46.700 day of this story in Acts 2 .38. Repent and be 00:29:46.700 --> 00:29:49.259 baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus 00:29:49.259 --> 00:29:52.779 Christ for the forgiveness of your sins and you 00:29:52.779 --> 00:29:55.859 will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. That's 00:29:55.859 --> 00:29:58.710 how you step into the story. That's how you put 00:29:58.710 --> 00:30:01.210 your name on the page. The story that started 00:30:01.210 --> 00:30:04.450 back in Acts 2 with 3 ,000 people in the waters 00:30:04.450 --> 00:30:07.470 of baptism. And maybe you're here today and you've 00:30:07.470 --> 00:30:10.250 already been baptized. You're already a Christian, 00:30:10.309 --> 00:30:12.450 but somewhere along the way you did start to 00:30:12.450 --> 00:30:14.950 drift. You got off course. Somehow you allowed 00:30:14.950 --> 00:30:18.250 the good news to be hindered in you. Well, I 00:30:18.250 --> 00:30:21.230 need you to hear me when I say that the God who 00:30:21.230 --> 00:30:24.829 was constantly working in Acts is ready to work 00:30:24.829 --> 00:30:30.779 on... in and through you too today. And so today, 00:30:30.900 --> 00:30:32.819 whether you need to step into the story for the 00:30:32.819 --> 00:30:34.859 first time, or you need to make sure that you're 00:30:34.859 --> 00:30:36.980 part of the story is what God intends for it 00:30:36.980 --> 00:30:39.720 to be, whatever you need, whether it's to repent, 00:30:40.000 --> 00:30:42.700 to be renewed, to ask this family to pray over 00:30:42.700 --> 00:30:45.480 you, because let me tell you, our story, this 00:30:45.480 --> 00:30:49.190 story is not finished yet. It is just a question 00:30:49.190 --> 00:30:51.730 of what does our part of it look like? But the 00:30:51.730 --> 00:30:55.130 story is not finished. So for all of us, I ask, 00:30:55.230 --> 00:30:59.569 what's next in Acts 29? What's next in the story 00:30:59.569 --> 00:31:04.470 of the church? The story that Jesus began. So 00:31:04.470 --> 00:31:06.650 this morning, if you need to respond, whether 00:31:06.650 --> 00:31:09.609 it's for baptism, whether it's for restoration, 00:31:09.990 --> 00:31:12.430 whether it's for prayer, whatever it is that 00:31:12.430 --> 00:31:14.369 you need, we invite you to come now.