I Love to Tell the Story | Earth, Wind, & Fire

What seems like forever ago, but we did sing

a song called, I'd love to tell the story, twill

be my theme in glory. Not 100 % sure what twill

means, but I just think it means, it will be

my theme in glory to tell the old, old story

of Jesus and his love. I don't know about you,

but I hear that and I think about my church in

Oak Lawn, Illinois growing up. We used to sing

that song all the time, both with the organ but

never with drums. So that was a first, or we

have it done in here. Sorry, that was the other

song, Mighty Fortress Our God. That when we stand

and we sing that song, we're actually declaring

something. That that is a song of proclamation.

I love to tell the story. In some ways that assumes

that you are. And that's where I had to start

the sermon today. That not only could it be nostalgic,

not only is that a song maybe like me, you remember

singing growing up all the time, but if we say

we are believers and we are singing that we love

to tell the story, the question really is, are

we doing that? And what story are we telling?

Because the simple truth of the text today is

that we all exist. to proclaim the truth of Jesus'

death and resurrection in every generation that

we are able until Christ comes back. And in Acts

5, the apostles find themselves imprisoned for

doing that same thing. Now I could ask for a

show of hands, how many of you have ended up

in prison because you told the story of your

faith? My guess, there would be two or less.

But maybe you go to somewhere in your life where,

because of your faith, you've lost people in

your life. Relationships, friendships, family

members may say, I don't want anything to do

with you. Or maybe now there's just that tension

at the Thanksgiving table that no one really

talks about because you have people telling the

story of Christ and you have people telling a

story that's very different. And how does that

all work together? But one of the things we're

going to see in Acts chapter 5 is no matter how

Acts 5 · chapter mention

low the lows are, no matter how high the highs

are in our life, the story still needs to be

told. And my hope is we love to tell it. The

same religious leaders who condemned Jesus are

now trying to silence his followers. This is

the third week. Now of this tension going on

that as people are telling the story, as the

movement of the church or the way is moving,

there are people trying to silence this. We should

not be surprised by this. We see it even in the

Gospels, in the end in the Gospel of John. People

trying to silence the story of Christ, of the

risen, resurrected Christ. But God opens. doors.

We talk about that all the time. Today we're

going to see he opens prison doors. He fills

people with courage and sends them back to the

very temple that tried to silence them. Because

one of the things that's going to be called out

today is the worst kind of evangelism I think

we can do. What I call drive -by evangelism,

where you kind of run up to someone with no relationship,

vomit Jesus all over them, and then run away.

More like cowards than anything. God may call

you back. to not only plant the seeds, but maybe

even water some of the seeds. And some of you

are like, I'm just a planter. I don't know how

to water the seeds. Well, guess what? If it's

part of your story, God wants you to do it. So

let's jump into the text. Acts chapter 5. We're

Acts 5 · chapter mention

going to be starting in verse 17. The jealousy

of the leaders. We're going to kind of set the

scene. So we're going to be in verse 17. Again,

we use the ESV here, translation of the Bible.

You use whatever you brought or is on your phone.

So Acts 5, starting with verse 17. But the high

priest rose up, and all who were with him, that

is the party of the Sadducees, and filled with

jealousy, they arrested the apostles and put

them in the public prison. Public. There is a

key part in that because they had in the temple,

right? Listen, this is the religious leaders

arresting people. They had that right. They had

that authority. They had a public prison and

they had a private prison. For a cup of coffee

and a conversation with Pastor Jim, why do you

think they had two different ones in their religious

system? Which doesn't really make sense. Like,

we don't have a prison here that I know of, right?

Sometimes it feels like my office. But it's not,

you know, that we don't do that. But they were

allowed to. Any understanding or reason why they

would have had both? Maybe I should have put

lunch on this. Don't overthink it. Why would

something be in public and why would something

be in private? Think about your sin. Huh? So

they could ridicule a person in public, okay?

So we're there, right? You've ordered, but they've

not brought it to you yet, the coffee, right?

Your iced vanilla capa mochaccino, whatever you

drink, Henry. Why do you think they have a private

one? Ooh, church matters for secret? Combine

those. Who was that? Oh, man, it's Henry. Sorry,

Colin stole the coffee from you. And so... When

they thought they could be wrong, when they were

falsely accusing someone, or when the truth of

the matter would make them look bad, they kept

it all in private. They put them in the public,

right? I'll still give you coffee because the

ridicule, Henry, was fine, but you're an elder,

so it doesn't count. So understand that they

put them in the public prison for a reason, the

jealousy of the leaders. The high priests and

the Sadducees are filled with jealousy. They

oppose miracles. They oppose the message behind

the miracles. In short, they oppose who? Don't

whisper. I hear a whisper. It's Jesus, right?

That's the right answer. They're opposing Jesus.

Jealousy is often the fruit of pride. When others

receive attention that we crave, we don't like

that. And what Jesus is doing, he's binding even

the Pharisees, the Sadducees, to the truth of

Christ. And he's going to blow it up in a really

big way. So they're in the public prison. What

they used, as Henry really got to us, they're

doing it to publicly ridicule them. They're doing

that because they think they got them. The gotcha

journalism, the gotcha church authority, they

got them. They're going to publicly do it. You

look at our church order, if there's church discipline,

everything is done confidentially until it shouldn't

be. More on that in another sermon that's going

to be super fun to preach on church discipline.

They think they got it in the bag. And what Jesus

is going to do, what the Spirit's going to do,

he's going to blow it up for them with what I

call the divine jailbreak. So the divine jailbreak,

we're going to be in verse 19. But during the

night, an angel of the Lord opened the prison

doors and brought them out and said, Go and stand

in the temple and speak to the people all the

words of this life. And when they heard this,

they entered the temple at daybreak and began

to teach. Now, when the high priest came and

those who were with him, they called together

the council, all the senate of the people of

Israel, and sent to the prison to... and sent

to the prison to have them brought. So what we

have is we have this jailbreak. The angel of

the Lord comes. He opens the prison doors and

commands, go and stand in the temple and speak

to the people all the words of life. These are

the apostles. What I think is hilarious is how

many of us would be in awe at this moment. You're

a bunch of liars. You are in prison. You are

locked, chained in a prison. An angel comes,

opens the door, and then directs you to go do

something. We all should be wowed. These are

the people that walk with Jesus. I wonder if

they were wowed or not. Or if they're just like,

well, this makes sense. We've seen this movie

before, a little different, but okay, we're going

to go. They don't even question it. This life

is shorthand for the gospel. The life in Christ

that death cannot destroy, that prison cannot

contain. They are literally walking this out.

That's why I call it the divine jailbreak. Now,

if... Normal people are in prison and they do

a jailbreak. What do they do? They probably go

and hide, right? Rarely do you see Andy Dufresne

in the Shawshank Redemption when he goes all

through the muck and the mire and he leaves and

he breaks free from the jail. He doesn't go right

back to the warden's office. Where does he go?

Mexico, right? Goes to Mexico. No, they're going

to go right back to the people that put him in

there. Belgian Confession, Article 27, reminds

us that God continually preserves his church.

Even though it sometimes appears very small,

the imprisoned apostles are proof of that preservation.

Just because man put them in prison, God didn't

go, man, I can't use them anymore. They're out

of the game. I got to go with somebody else.

And let me say a word about this. For us here

that have fallen, that have sinned and thought

word and deed of what we prayed for a couple

minutes ago, right? God doesn't look at that

and go, man, I can't use you anymore. If we repent,

there's the thing. If we just feel bad that we

did it, okay, I sinned, right? Got caught, whatever,

you know, fessed up. Eh, friend, that's not.

That's not repentance, right? If we mourn over

our sin, if we try to die and work towards a

faithful life of obedience, we will continue

to see the Lord at work. He will shape our eyes

to see all of that. But it's going to bring confusion

to people's lives, right? That's what we see

here, the leader's confusion in verse 22. So

now all of a sudden they wake up, they come there,

and the people they just put in jail are now

out, okay? And we're going to see in verse 22.

But when the officers came, they did not find

them in the prison. So they returned and reported,

we found the prison securely locked and the guards

standing at the doors. But when we opened them,

we found no one inside. Now when the captain

of the temple and the chief priest heard these

words, they were greatly perplexed about them,

wondering what this would come to. So the sting,

right, the covering up of all of this, it's now

unraveling. Their plan, their story that they

wanted to write is now unraveling. The guards

return to find the jail locked and empty. Proof

that no human system can contain the purposes

of God. The Sanhedrin is bewildered. God is at

work. And we see the obedience. This could have

been it. They could have fled. They could have

gone somewhere and we would have been done with

the story, but that's not what the angel tells

them to do. Even when we're called to do things

that don't make sense to us in the way we want

to write our story, we have to remember we submit

all of the words of our story to God. Let the

conviction set in there. The stories we want

to write in life are good, are bad, are uglies.

We have to submit that to the one who's writing

the actual story of our life, and that is God.

We see the obedience in verse 25. And someone

came and told them, look, the men whom you put

in prison are standing in the temple and teaching

the people. Then the captain with the officers

went and brought them, but not by force, for

they were afraid of being stoned by the people.

Interesting, the story's starting to change.

Authority and power have shifted. What they thought

they could publicly ridicule, they are now needing

to publicly submit to. They can't just go in

with force and knock them out. And I'm sure some

of them wanted to, because the best way to snuff

out a story is to snuff it out. And I'm sure

they wanted to do it. Instead of fleeing, they

go right back to the preaching in the temple,

the very place they were arrested. But how many

times have you had that awkward moment with a

family member or a friend about religion, right,

politics, things going on in life? How often

have you stood up for your faith in the midst

of ridicule from family members or friends, and

you go, Oop, and we're not going to have dinner

with them anymore. And we go, nope. Or you come

up with every other excuse, right? Like, nope,

can't go. You know, I got to give more blood

or my kid's sick again or whatever. And you come

up with all these excuses. God's going, no, no,

no, your job's not done yet. You got to go back

and preach to the people. The very place they

were arrested, they're going back to teach. True

obedience. True obedience isn't cautious, my

friends. True obedience is courageous. When you've

been freed by God, we don't hide. We don't hide

about it. We testify about it. And that means

more than just putting something on the internet,

hashtag blessed. Sometimes that's done in a ridiculous

way. But when we've been freed by God about something,

we want to give testimony to it. When we've been

struggling and we're now not struggling because

of the strength of the Lord, we want to tell

the story. Hopefully you see where I'm going

with this. The confrontation. Verse 27. There's

going to be conflict. And when they had brought

them, they set them before the council, and the

high priest questioned them, saying, We strictly

charged you not to teach in this name, yet here

you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching,

and you intend to bring this man's blood upon

us. Notice, what's an actual question you and

I would have asked? How did you get out? We had

you locked up. They're not worried about that.

They're going to kind of gloss over that, and

they're going to ask. We told you to stop doing

this, yet you're doing this. And they're feeling

the conviction. You intend to bring this man.

Who's this man? Jesus' blood upon us. There's

a little bind of conviction there, isn't there?

The Sadducees, the Pharisees, they're being bound

to this truth. The high priest accuses them.

We gave you strict orders not to teach in his

name. Yet you have filled Jerusalem with your

teaching. I wrote in here, what a beautiful accusation.

They filled the city with Jesus. Church, may

the same be said of us today as we leave this

place. May the city be filled with Jesus. And

may we have a part in that. And I love that Peter's

declaration comes in verse 29. But Peter and

the apostles answered, we must obey God rather

than man. The God of our fathers raised Jesus,

whom you killed by hanging him on a tree. God

exalted him at his right hand as leader and savior

to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness

of sins. And we are witnesses to these truths.

So this is the Holy Spirit whom God has given

to us who obey him. who have given to those who

obey him. Peter's response captures the heart

of all of our obedience. We must obey God rather

than men. Now, don't dive into here about government

and submitting to the government. That's a whole

separate conversation. This echoes the reformers.

Luther, Zwigli, John Calvin, the Reformers' conviction

that Scripture alone governs our conscience,

not what the papacy, the Catholic Church, was

doing in that time. We must obey God rather than

man. This echoes Belgian Confession, Article

7. We believe that the Holy Scripture fully contains

the will of God and that all people are bound

to live according to it. Our story is bound,

friends. Part of that is helpful for when we're

out of bounds. We know where the bounds are.

We know what grace and forgiveness are going

to bring us to. Peter then preaches the gospel

again. Jesus was killed, but God exalted him

as a leader and a savior. He uses argios in the

Greek, the word leader, that he is the head.

Who is he talking to? People that thought they

were the head of the church or of the temple.

Talk about the story changing. The Spirit, Peter

says, is given to those who obey him. Obedience

isn't a condition for salvation. It is a fruit

of grace. I get to be obedient. Yet for a lot

of us, it's, I have to be obedient. Friends,

we get to be obedient. We know that there is

something better that we're living for. Because

that is part of our story. So the central parts

of our story, there are five. As I land the plane,

as the landing gears come out, right, as you

bring all of your trash to the center aisle,

the gospel cannot be silenced. When God opens

doors, no one can shut them. If that doesn't

punk you out, I don't know what will. The church

must trust his power more than it fears the world's

opposition. Obedience sometimes means defiance.

And friends, don't dance in this word defiance

because there is a reformed understanding of

this. Peter and the apostles don't rebel for

rebellion's sake. There it is. They obey a higher

authority. When human law contradicts divine

command, we need to stand with God. I understand

that that is a charged sentence right now in

2025. Almost 2026. Because we all are going to

look at this differently. But if you can center

on Christ, you will find we are more alike than

we are different. If you can center it on Christ.

Peter and the apostles don't rebel for rebellion's

sake. They obey a higher authority. Why? Because

third, the church's story is one of rescue and

courage. I remember the first day of seminary,

the provost of our seminary stood up and said,

if any of you feel at all called to go do something

else, go do it. And I always thought that was

weird. Like, wow, that's really like welcoming

for those running to get MDivs and become pastors

and live the life of the ordained. Over the four

years it took me for seminary, I understood why.

That the gospel story, the church's story, is

one of rescue and courage. The same God that

freed the apostles from prison still frees hearts

bound by sin. If you say that you are changed,

yet your heart is bound by sin, you are not.

Well, I'm struggling for the faith. Are you?

Because the struggle is handing it over, bringing

accountability around you. Four. Jealousy destroys,

but joy multiplies. The leaders were jealous.

The apostles rejoiced. Grace cures comparison

and fuels mission. It is by grace Katie has been

called to sit with those going through a dark

time in their lives of infertility or infant

loss or miscarriage. We've seen three different

missionaries this month have the grace to go

and be obedient into different areas of the world

where maybe missionaries aren't allowed, but

educators or doctors are. And for us, that really

should put in perspective whether or not we should

drive nicely in traffic or talk to that person

we can't stand in the cubicle next to us. And

fifth, obedience and witness go hand in hand.

And the plane's going to hit the skids here.

We must obey God rather than man isn't just about

defiance. It's about devotion. For all of us

that plan to come to the table next week, those

that have joined the body of Christ, we'll talk

about that next week. It means you've denied

yourself. You've said no to sin and yes to God.

That is your story. Yet for some of us, people

may see the sin more because that's all you're

still doing. What does that say about your story?

For some of us, that means our story is found

in the fiction section of that bookstore. And

if that hurts, If that offends, I'm sorry, I

don't mean it that way. But for some of you,

you may be faking your story, faking your Christianity.

Because the conclusion that we land to today

together is we should love to tell the story.

The apostles were jailed, threatened, warned.

Yet when God opens doors, they went right back

to telling the story. That's the power of the

gospel. It's not a story that we tell to impress

people, to puff our spiritual chest out, or to

stand more over people. It's a story of transformation.

When grace grips our heart, we cannot help but

speak of the grace giver. Munster Church, may

it be said of us as the apostles, you have filled

the city with his teachings. May our homes, our

schools, our workplaces have the story of Jesus'

life, death, resurrection, his love. And may

we be the ones telling that story. Because when

we love the storyteller, And we will love to

tell his story. Please stand if you are able.

And let's pray this closing prayer together.

Lord Jesus, you are the author of life and the

savior of our souls. Thank you for freeing us

from sin and fear. Give us courage to speak your

name boldly. Wisdom to share your love clearly.

and joy to tell your story faithfully. When opposition

comes, help us to obey you rather than men. Fill

Munster Church with your spirit until our community

is full of your grace and truth. Amen.