Sunday Message - Pastor Kirk Stickler (September 23, 2018) | Life Bible Church

With us this morning, some very special people.

Pastor Kirk and Diane Stickler from Calvary Open

Bible Church in Springfield. Would you guys just

stand right now that we can just... Would you

just tell them thank you for being here with

us this morning? I'm going to introduce Kirk

in just a little bit, but come on. He's a great

friend. Come on up here. He's a great friend.

Great pastor. We've known him for many years.

Pastor Kirk is part of our MFI fellowship. And

the Bible says, the last shall be first. And

come on, he just joined there about a couple

years ago. But I call him, just so you know,

I mean, because I know I'm going to get beat

up on today, just so you know. Don't, don't let

him take advantage of that. But I'm just telling

you, I call him the pretty boy. The California

pretty boy. Got a perfect smile. Got perfect

hair. Got a great figure. And I have none of

those things. I don't have a smile. I got one

buck tooth. I got no hair. And I don't have a

good figure. But anyways. Would you tell him

that we love him, and let's introduce him. Let

the Spirit of God fall. I was a little bothered

when a lady from our church raised her hand as

a visitor. You're not coming here next week,

just for the record. This is kind of like coming

home in a way, our very first. home group at

Eugene Christian Fellowship a long, long time

ago. We were in it with Andy and Patty and a

whole bunch of people that attend this wonderful

church, have been part of our lives for a long

time. I do want to thank Pastor Brad for the

invitation to speak. You and Jenny have become

great friends of ours and not just of ours, but

also to our church. Your leadership and your

direction and your guidance. Your support, I

don't know where your wife went, I hope she's

coming in here, but you have blessed us deeply.

And I know that you guys know this, but you have

two tremendous pastors in them too. But for all

of his great qualities, he also has a mischievous

side. Right? You know when he gets that twinkle

in his eye and that big toothy grin that he's

going to say something and you're in trouble

and there's not anything you can do to respond

to it? How many have been on the other side of

those comments? He and my own church referred

to me as the pretty boy and Mr. Smooth. I don't

know, the golden boy with the great hair. And

I don't know where he gets that because I grew

up in South Dakota and I started in a trailer

park. And unlike the real Mr. Smooth, I've never

been to Vegas. I don't own any shiny shoes like

that. I don't have any silk shirts. I am sure

that his shoe collection is worth more than my

daily driver. I know that. So I am more Harrisburg

than Brad is, don't you think? I love you, brother.

There's more, I think, but we'll just get on

with it. I do want to share something that's

more important than that. I came across this

in my devotions, I don't know, maybe a month

ago. One of the core values that I had when I

became a pastor about 10 years ago, 9 now, is

I wanted my devotional time to remain my time

with the Lord. I didn't want to preach from that.

I didn't want to teach from that. I value that.

It's got to be me filling up me with the things

the Lord has for Kirk. But once in a while, I'll

share something out of my devotions. And I came

across this. this biographical sketch really

of another ordinary guy like your pastor by the

name of Philip this is not Philip the disciple

but it's Philip the deacon and the reason that

I want to talk about him is because this deacon

is so much like us his story is like ours his

journey with the Lord is like ours he had those

mountaintop experiences those valleys of grief

the examples of obedience to do what you wouldn't

want to do the desert the long season of faithfulness,

and then there was the inheritance at the end.

And that's exactly what our journey with God

is like. And I think it's important for us to

understand that. We all go through those things.

Sometimes people, I think, misrepresent the Christian

journey. They misrepresent the faith that we

have. You know, it's all easy. You know, it all

turns out good all the time. Is that your story?

It's not my experience. And so, you know, it's

not that we have freedom from hardship. It's

that we have victory in hardship. And we see

that in the story of Philip the deacon. So real

quickly, I'm going to just give you five sketches

from his life that I think that we all can relate

to. First, we have to begin with the honeymoon

because that's how his story begins. It started

in Jerusalem after the resurrection of Jesus.

He was at this new church plant. It was exploding

in growth. And then there were all of those miraculous

signs and wonders that were taking place. Just

a couple of verses. Acts 2 .41 says that 3 ,000

people were added in one day, if you can imagine.

And then in Acts 2 .46 and 47, it says, Every

day the believers attended the temple together,

all 3 ,000 of them, and broke bread in their

homes, praising God and having favor with all

the people. And the Lord added to their number

daily even more. Acts 5 .14 says, More than ever,

believers were added to the Lord, multitudes

of both men and women. So do the math. You start

with 120 in Acts 1, and then you add 3 ,000,

and then you add more every day, and the more

every day is defined by multitudes of men and

women. That church was exploding. It had to be

4 or 5 or 6 or 10 ,000 people by the time we

get to the introduction of Philip. And then we

see how he comes on the scene in Acts 6, 1 through

7. I think we have these verses up on the screen

if you'll follow along. It says, Now in those

days when the disciples were increasing in number,

so it's still growing, a complaint by the Hellenists

arose against the Hebrews because their widows

were being neglected in the daily distribution.

And the twelve apostles summoned the full number

of the disciples, or the followers of Jesus,

all of them. And they said, it's not right that

we should give up preaching the word to serve

tables. Therefore, brothers, would you pick out

from among you seven men of good repute, full

of the spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint

to this duty. But we will devote ourselves to

prayer and to the ministry of the word. And what

they had said pleased the whole gathering. And

they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of

the Holy Spirit, and Philip, and Prochorus, and

Nicanor, and Timon, and... Parmenas and Nicholas,

a proselyte of Antioch. These they set before

the twelve, and they prayed and laid their hands

on them. And the word of God continued to increase,

and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly

in Jerusalem, and a great many of priests became

obedient to the faith. Man, that's a honeymoon,

isn't it? Think about the atmosphere and the

method by which those seven deacons, including

Philip, were chosen. Think about the method first.

Acts as they were picked from among the people

by the people. So the 10 ,000 members of the

first church of Jerusalem had this meeting. And

I don't know where they met, but as they were

getting together and they were congregating that

day, they began to pick from among the 10 ,000

seven men. How do you? How do you narrow it down

to seven? Did they have a strategic planning

session? Did they have whiteboards? How do you

narrow it down to seven guys to manage the affairs

of the church in order that the apostles might

dedicate themselves to prayer and teaching? Can

you imagine the honor associated with being one

of those seven who were picked? I'm not suggesting

that Philip wasn't contrite or that he wasn't

humble. But it would have been a big deal to

be chosen from 10 ,000. And he would have been

a big deal in that church. They were the go -to

guys. That's how they would have been perceived.

They were the magnificent seven. And without

a doubt, that whole thing would have been a mountaintop

experience. And then think about how awesome

it would have been to serve in that atmosphere.

Acts tells us that people were selling their

possessions and bringing them to the church all

of the time. We read that they went to the church

and ate together every day. Where'd Kelly go?

Kelly Jeunesse. I mean, how would you like to

cook for 10 ,000 people every day? But that's

what they were doing. Yeah, no thanks. And most

importantly, every day it says that multitudes

of new people were coming to the Lord. That alone

would be awesome. And the seven had to invent

a structure to accommodate all of those things.

Maybe one was the real estate representative.

You know, Ann Marie, you've got all those people

that are giving the land. And then there's Brian

Matthews. He's taking care of all of the automobiles,

right? And then there's the meals and those that

are giving personal gifts, jewelry, furniture,

equipment. Others are over the kitchen and the

daily menu. There's others. Another would have

had to be over the requests that came in for

people's needs. And we don't know how they divided

up all those responsibilities. But remember,

this is ground zero in this church. There's no

structure. And these are the seven that have

given the responsibility to do it. It would have

been incredible. Think of their morning meetings,

you know, every day getting together, talking

about, you know, how to go about it, coordinating,

celebrating, laughing, praying, debriefing, rejoicing,

and telling of all of the remarkable things that

were occurring. And I'm sure that... Stephen

and Philip and Prochorus and Nicanor and Timon

and Parmenas and Nicholas shared an inseparable

bond. And don't forget that these guys weren't

just administrators. Acts 6 tells us that Stephen

was ministering to people doing all kinds of

signs and wonders in his spare time. I don't

know when he did that. You know, he's up in the

middle of the night out in the streets of Jerusalem

just preaching the gospel. Lord knows he had

to be busy. And I believe that the other six

were the same. So they were Edmina pastors, Edmina

evangelists. That's my word. So it would have

been a honeymoon experience for sure. And for

the rest of his life, Philip would have talked

about those experiences in the church in Jerusalem.

The next sketch comes from Acts 6, verse 9 through

Acts 6:9

chapter 7, verse 60. And it's where there was

this heartbreak and sorrow. It's the biographical

sketch of a deacon. It's the account where Stephen,

Philip's close friend, who shared all of those

glorious moments serving with him, was killed

because of his testimony about Christ. And it

must have shaken them deeply. I mean, this was

one of their own. You might have expected that

the first martyr would be an apostle, not...

Not one of the deacons. Not one of the guys that

was running the church. You know, the apostles

were the ones who dedicated themselves to preaching

and teaching. But this was one of their own.

And so Philip's loss hit too close to home. And

I'm guessing that he went from the mountaintop

to the valley of the shadow of death. And isn't

that so like us sometimes? That's what I love

about this story. It's so us. We see us in these

sketches all along the way. How many times have

you, You've come off of those incredible breakthroughs.

God has just met you in a powerful way. And then

you're encountered with something that just knocks

the wind out of your sails. You think, where

did that come from? It causes you to forget the

victory that you just had. It's like, God, that's

a flagrant foul. I don't know what's going on

here, but where did that come from? It's so us.

The heartbreak has a way of just wiping out those

things. And that's how it was with the death

of Stephen. Acts 1 through 5 tells us that the

persecution that broke out against the church

as a result of that resulted in everyone fleeing

except for the apostles. So, man, the honeymoon

was over now, wasn't it? So how would our deacon

respond? The third sketch we see is in Acts 8,

and it tells us that as the people were scattered,

that Philip went to Samaria. In that decision,

we see his obedience to do what he wouldn't have

wanted to do. You guys know how the Jews viewed

the Samaritans. They hated them. In fact, they

would go several miles out of their way just

to avoid traveling through their land. In those

days... There was this highway that just connected

Galilee to Jerusalem that was up on the ridge.

There's really two roads that run parallel, 99

and I -5. And one of them was up on the top of

this ridge. And it just followed the mountains

all the way from one area to the other. And the

other followed the Jordan River. And if a Jew

was up on top of that ridge and he got to the

border of Samaria, he would walk several miles

down to the Jordan River. And then he would continue

to go south and back up the hill he would go.

just so we didn't have to step foot in Samaria.

We were there in November, and just to see those

mountains, you know, it'd be like walking off

of the Coburg Hills down to I -5 and then back

up just to avoid something that you didn't want

to see. That's how much they disliked this place.

That little detour would take several hours to

accomplish and add several miles to their trip.

You know this, Jerusalem was the epicenter of

all that was God for the Jews. When you read

your Bible, it always says they went up to Jerusalem.

Whether north, south, east, or west, they went

up to Jerusalem. It's not because of an elevation

thing. Their phone apps didn't say they were

higher in Jerusalem. No, it was because it was

their high place. And Samaria was at the bottom

of the conference. Man, it was OSU for sure.

It was the last place that they would want to

be. For the record, I have one student there

now, and we put another one through there. So

I do root for him. But aren't they at the bottom?

Well, that's where Philip was. Think about that.

That's where this Jewish deacon chose to go as

a result of the persecution. It's almost inconceivable

that he would have went there except that he

was following the leading of the Holy Spirit.

We're talking about the honeymoon. We're talking

about the brokenness. And now we're talking about

his obedience. But even when he got there, he

must have wondered, how can this be the leading

of God? To go from Jerusalem to losing my friend

to Samaria. It's so us, isn't it? We've all been

there. You could understand if all Philip wanted

to do was just hole up in a safe place until

it was time to leave. Like, I'm not here to minister

to anyone. I don't want to talk to anyone. I

don't like you guys. I'm going to leave as soon

as it's safe. I'm going to get my paycheck and

I'm out of here, right? That's how we would respond

sometimes when we get stuck in those awful places

that God puts us. But notice what Philip did.

I love this. Acts 8, 6 -8 says, He proclaimed

Jesus, he prayed for people's healings and deliverance,

and many believed, and there was great joy in

the city. That's his response to this, really

what would be the worst appointment that he could

have ever received. And I can assure you in the

natural, Philip wouldn't have found any joy in

that assignment. It was the last place in the

world he would have wanted to minister in the

natural. But as he obeyed the leading of God,

his natural thinking changed and his worst became

a place of joy. And that is so us. I know that's

what God wants to do with us when we're in those

places we wouldn't choose. Just for a moment,

think of your worst assignment. Think of the

most difficult person that God has asked you

to serve. That person at work, your neighbor,

whatever it is, the worst situation that you

found yourself in. I don't know your story, but

maybe your Jerusalem is long gone and now you're

living in Deadwood. How would you like to live

there? What if in that place, out of obedience,

you proclaimed Jesus and the Holy Spirit met

you there and it became a place of joy? That's

Philip. This biographical sketch of a deacon.

I love this story. Next came the desert. Acts

8, 26 through 30 tells us that Philip was instructed

to go to the road that led to Gaza. And then

the Bible adds that it was a desert place. And

it's one thing to find yourself in a desert.

It's another to be sent there by the Spirit of

God on purpose. You know, I've read about those

desert experiences in the Bible. Moses spent

40 years there. David had his 20 -year run literally

running in the desert. Jesus met the devil in

the desert. I don't want anything to do with

the desert. But we've been there. Once again,

that's why I like the story. It's so us. Like

Philip, so many of you have had these glorious

seasons of growth. You've served where you didn't

want to. And then it got worse. God puts you

in the desert. And look what Philip encountered

when he gets there. Acts says that he sees this

chariot. In those days, a chariot was a sign

of influence. This was somebody that was important.

And the Lord tells Philip to go join the person

who's in the chariot. So from Philip's perspective,

things are finally looking up. It's like seeing

a bright red Tesla out in the middle of nowhere.

It's a roadster, like right on, you know. Or

maybe for you Harrisburgites, it's like a 2018

Dodge Cummins turbo diesel, you know, dually

thing. Yeah, right? Thank you, Jesus. I knew

you'd come through, right? Go join the ride.

This is going to be good. Read it in your Bible.

Go get in the chariot. Really? Yeah. Do I have

permission? Yeah, get in the chariot. But here's

where the story takes another one of those unsuspecting

turns. It's who's in the chariot? Has God ever

done that to you? Like, hey, I want you to go

over and do this. And you're thinking, yes, this

is going to be good. And you get there and it's

like, oh, man, this is awful. Who was in the

chariot? Who was the Holy Spirit sending Philip

to go minister to? A eunuch. You know what a

eunuch is, don't you? Somebody who's been eunuch.

They've literally been emasculated, which is

the wrong word. It should be demasculated if

you ask me. In the case of those who were the

officials for kings and queens in antiquity,

they were eunuchs so they wouldn't be tempted

to mess around with the booty, right? Literally,

not the, you know. But I'm just guessing. I'm

just guessing that. If you were eunuched and

your job was to be the interior decorator for

the queen, you might be a bit odd. Might be a

bit different. Might be a bit unique. So you

see where things are going. Philip goes from

running the church in Jerusalem. It's a true

story. I'm just reading it right out of Acts.

He goes from running the church in Jerusalem.

He ran the church in Jerusalem. You know, he

was Kenny and Dave and all. He ran the place.

And then to Samaria and losing his friend, and

now he's in the desert with these weirdos. I

mean, he's like from South Dakota, really. That's

the truth, yeah. Have you ever felt like him?

You've been obedient to do the right things,

but you can't seem to catch a break. All the

good stuff happens to everyone else. You get

the third, fourth, and fifth grade boys, and

Joe gets the home group with all the big shots.

I taught him at our church. I taught him at ECF.

I love the third, fourth, and fifth grade boys,

but sometimes you look around and you wonder,

your buddy Brad has a $10 million church on the

banks of the river with an RV park. I think this

stage is 100 foot wide. I think these screens

are 75 foot wide. We still use an opaque projector

at Calvary Open Bible. And have you been in the

bathrooms? I mean, for crying out loud, I got

my shoes shined and my hair done. I've never

been anything like this place. You look around

and you wonder. God's put you in felony flats

in a 60 -year -old building, but not Brad, right?

For the record, God has given us an awesome church,

and I wouldn't trade it for anything. But sometimes

we look around at others, and we look at our

circumstances, and we wonder, what gives, God?

Are you mad at me? Where did I go wrong? Why

am I in this desert? The desert is a place of

isolation. It's where you feel dry. Nothing is

growing. It feels like a sentence, really. You're

sure that you're never going to get out of there.

You're sure you'll never see that fruitfulness

from Jerusalem again. It's harsh. It's where

everything seems to be challenged. I remember

a long time ago, we were at ECF, and I was going

through a desert. It had nothing to do with ECF.

It had everything to do with me. All of my life,

all of my Christian life, I had tithes. It was

easy for me. It was easy because I had a Nazi

mom who just drilled it into you. You know, if

you got five bucks for your birthday, 50 cents

went in the offering when I was in grade school.

I mean, she just drilled it into me. Thank you,

Jesus, for moms and dads like that. But it was

easy for me. And then I started going through

this desert, and even that was challenged. I

remember sitting at church one Sunday and they

were passing the envelopes. I was just, you know,

working. And I was getting ready to put my tithe

in the bucket. And I thought, why am I doing

this? What's the use of that? And it scared me.

It's like, you know, that's the power of the

desert, isn't it? I've been there. I'm not just

talking. I've been there. It's experience that

I'm speaking from. And that's where you find

Philip. For the record, I love the story of the

Ethiopian eunuch because he finds faith. They're

in the desert. They find water. They baptize

him. He returns to his country, never to be heard

from again, but he returns a believer. And through

that, the gospel is once again spread into places

that wouldn't have been reached. But the thing

I've never liked is those hard, dry, isolated,

challenging deserts. And if that is where you

are today, it's one more reason why I love this

story. Because this account of Philip is far

from over. Now to this last sketch, which is

the season of anonymity. After his encounter

with the eunuch, Philip was picked up by air

Holy Spirit and he was transported 20 miles away

in an instant to Azotus. And from there, the

Bible gives us this story. He's picked up himself.

There's no one else. And he begins to preach

in all the towns along the way until he gets

to the Caesarea Maritime, which was on the shores

of the Mediterranean Sea. There were two Caesareas,

you know that. But this one was on the shore

of the Mediterranean Sea. And it's the place

where King Herod built one of his four opulent

vacation resorts. We were there again in November.

We saw it. And it is an amazing place. But here's

the most interesting part of the story of Philip

to me. After he gets to Caesarea, nothing is

heard from him for 35 years until you get to

the 21st chapter of the book of Acts. In chapters

6, 7, and 8, 7 is the message of Stephen. But

in 6 through 8, he's like a key figure in the

New Testament church in Jerusalem. And then there's

the events that we just described. But when you

get to 9 and 10 and 11 and 12 and 13 and 14 and

15 and 16 and 17 and 18 and 19 and 20, nothing.

He fell off the map. There's nothing to hear

from him. So for 35 years, this guy who was once

on the cover of Charisma magazine now served

in anonymity in Caesarea. Not because he did

something wrong. But because he was doing exactly

what God had led him to do all along. We don't

really know what Philip did during that time.

We know some things about the church there in

Caesarea. We know that Peter went there twice.

We know that Paul came and went from there several

times on his missionary journeys. We know that

by Acts 21 that Philip was some kind of leader,

a key leader there as well. But to go from where

he was in Jerusalem to spending 35 years being

so far removed from the narrative must have been

difficult in some ways. If they had those Where

Are They Now shows in those days, I'm sure that

Philip and the other seven would have been featured.

Like, what happened to those seven guys that

used to run the church? They were gone. To be

in those places where you feel like you don't

matter anymore. Or you don't have a contribution.

You're not part of the action. No one notices

you. There's a new group of people doing what

you used to do. And now they're talking and writing

about someone else. You've been banned to Caesarea.

That can be difficult, can't it? But here's the

cool part of the story of Philip. If they had

Facebook in those days and you were able to search

for Philip the deacon, this is what would pop

up in his photos. As Acts 21 .8 describes, we

would see him living in Caesarea with four daughters

who prophesied. And I love that. In part, that's

what he was doing for 35 years. This guy who

was... used mightily by God, and it was full

of wisdom and power in the Spirit, was raising

four kids to be full of the Spirit. I love that

story. Every part of the journey was part of

the heritage that he gave those girls. The mountaintops,

the pain, the obedience, the desert, the long

season of anonymity, all of it. And I believe

that Philip's greatest contribution to the kingdom

of God wasn't what happened in Jerusalem, but

it's what was birthed in his daughters. Yes,

we have our mountaintops, we have our pain, we

have our obedience, we have our deserts, we have

all those seasons. But during all of it, something

important is occurring. God is birthing something

in us. That will be our lasting inheritance.

And it's really not about the four daughters

who prophesied. I mean, what are you going to

say if you don't have four daughters? What if

you just have two boys? What if you don't have

any kids, right? It's not about the four daughters.

It's about what God is birthing in you. He birthed

a nation greater than the sands of the sea through

the only son of Abraham and Sarah. And I believe

that he's... Birthing something through every

one of us as we're faithful in our dry and broken

and isolated and unwanted assignments. I'd like

to ask some volunteers to come up. How many would

say, you know, I've been in the desert and I've

been in the place of brokenness and I've had

those unwanted assignments. And I've been in

those places of anonymity. I've served in difficult

situations. But I'm here to tell you that God

has birthed something powerful in my life. How

many could say that this morning? You're on the

other side of that. If you're known to this church,

this is your home church, you're part of this

place. What I would like to do is, wouldn't you

like to pray for people that are on the other

side of that story? people that are struggling.

Let me just tell you my story. You know, that's

what Revelation says, that we overcame by the

blood of the Lamb, by the word of our testimony.

Let me tell you my testimony. I've been where

you stand, ma 'am or sir. I know what that's

like. And I want to just pray over you. I want

to encourage you to keep on. Keep being faithful.

Keep serving. Would you be willing to do that

if you're on that side of it? If that's you,

would you just stand and come on up here? I'd

like the worship team just to play something,

or Jenny, if you would. Come on up. If you're

on that side of it, God has done something supernatural

in your life. Come now. Come on. Because I want

you to pray for people that are on the other

side. You can just line these altars. Man, if

you've walked with Jesus for any length of time

at all, that's our story, isn't it? Now, the

rest of you, could you bow your heads and close

your eyes just for people's privacy? How many

would say, man, I'm in a place of brokenness.

I'm in a place of desperation. I'm in a difficult

situation this morning. I'm in a place that's

awfully hard to serve. I'm in this place where

I don't even know if I count anymore. I feel

like, you know, like things have passed me by.

My greatest moments are behind me and I'm not

sure what's ahead. You're just in place of struggling

this morning. How many would say that's me? Would

you just raise your hand? Come on, just raise

them up. We're just family today, right? That's

where I am today. Could we pray for you? These

people know how you feel. They've walked in your

shoes. Would you come forward and go ahead and

stand? If you've raised your hand, just would

you stand and come forward? We want to pray for

you. Come on. We know how you feel. We've walked

in your shoes. Come on. Come on up here. Just

get in front of somebody that's up here. Pastor

Brad, if you'd come on up. Come on up. Yeah,

just come up to somebody. Others. Come on, church.

Be praying for those. Others that raised their

hand. Anyone else? Would you come now? If you

are interested in hearing other podcasts or contacting

Life Bible Church, go to www .lifebiblechurch

.org or call us at 541 -995 -8282.