God's Not Done | Earth, Wind, & Fire

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

Acts 1 · chapter mention

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

Acts 8 · chapter mention

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

Acts 8 · chapter mention

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.