Go, Not There, But Here - 09.20.26 - Tim Corbin

I can only imagine one day when we are around the throne looking at Jesus and worshiping him from people with people from every nation, every tribe, every tongue.

There is going to be multiple languages singing holy, holy, holy.

I can't wait to hear what the angels are actually, what they actually sound like when they're singing holy, holy, holy.

Because I don't think it's English.

I think it's something else.

Some angelic language that we're going to be moved by.

And it's amazing.

Some of us are going to be woefully unprepared in the dance department.

And that's okay.

Because I think other cultures are going to take over and we're going to celebrate with them, but mostly we're going to be with Jesus.

And we're going to be worshiping him.

And it won't be a labor to do such.

It will be a joy inside of us to do such.

And I'm excited.

I'm so excited about the work that takes place around the world that we get to be a part of, that God invites us into.

How incredible is that! I've never been in Cambodia.

But God invites me and you into such a ministry because He has a love and a heart for a people.

And so as we support all of our missionaries around the world, as we support our missionaries in the U.S., as we support our missionaries that are just across the street, God, how can you use us to just be a part of what you're doing?

And it's such an amazing opportunity.

Hey, these last few weeks, we've been in a vision series called Prepare a Place.

Prepare a place.

If you weren't able to listen to all those messages, I encourage you to go back and listen to those messages.

Because now is a moment that God is leading our church in a very specific direction, a very specific way for us to see him, to be aware of him, to realize that he lives in us.

For those of us who are believers in Christ and followers of Christ, God lives in us.

We host his presence.

And as we think about hosting his presence, we want to be a people that carry his presence wherever we go, right where we are.

We want to be a people that understands and are aware of his presence in our life and we carry his presence.

And then we want to be a people that God works through us and we prepare a place for others to encounter Jesus, for others to encounter his presence, for others to be transformed just like you and I have been transformed and are being transformed.

And so we we took a moment, we took a pause from the book of Acts, and we talked about prepare a place, and now we're jumping back into the book of Acts.

We're gonna look in chapter 15 and 16 if you want to turn with me in your journals or your Bibles to chapter to chapter 15 and 16 of the book of Acts.

What's really cool is we didn't plan it this way, but we knew we were gonna pause the book of Acts.

And as we paused it and talked about prepare a place and shared what was what was on our heart and what God was talking to us and leading us in, now we're stepping back in, and it seems like the Spirit knew what he was up to, even if we didn't.

The Spirit knew we needed some a picture of what this looks like.

The Spirit knew that we needed to see some examples of what it looks like for people to just follow the Spirit of God wherever the Spirit takes them, carrying his presence to wherever he leads them.

And so as we look in the book of Acts, I just want to kind of reframe the book of Acts.

We're jumping back into the book of Acts.

Acts begins with Jesus ascending to heaven and giving his followers a mission.

Empowered by the Holy Spirit, they will be his witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria, and the ends of the earth.

That was all spoken of in Acts chapter 1, verse 8.

Acts 1:8

Then at Pentecost, the Holy Spirit comes upon the believers.

Peter proclaims Jesus, and the church is born.

Thousands come to faith, and a new spirit-filled community begins to form.

That's in Acts chapter 2.

Acts 2 · chapter mention

Then the gospel begins to spread beyond Jerusalem.

Even persecution cannot stop it.

Believers scatter throughout Judea, Samaria, carrying the good news of Jesus with them.

Then Jesus radically transforms Saul, the greatest persecutor of the church, into Paul, one of the gospel's greatest missionaries.

And God makes it unmistakably clear that the gospel is for Gentiles too.

Through Peter and Cornelius, God shows the church that people from every nation are welcome through faith in Jesus.

Then the church at Antioch sends Paul and Barnabas on their first missionary journey.

And they carry the gospel to new cities.

And people come to Jesus, they come to faith, churches are established.

And by Acts 15, the rapidly growing Gentile mission raises a major question for the church.

What exactly is required for these Gentiles to become followers of Jesus?

So then that brings us to Acts chapter 15.

Acts 15 · chapter mention

Because as more and more Gentiles begin to follow Jesus, an enormous question emerges.

What exactly is required for them to become a follower of Jesus?

Do they have to become Jewish first?

Do the men have to be circumcised?

Do they have to follow the law of Moses?

And the church gathers in Jerusalem to settle the question, and the answer is clear.

We are saved through the grace of Jesus.

Gentiles don't have to become Jewish in order to follow Jesus.

And that's where we left off.

Now at the end of Acts 15, Paul is ready to go back on the road.

And he says to Barnabas, let us return and visit the brothers in every city where we proclaim the word of the Lord and see how they are.

That's the plan.

Let's go back.

Let's visit the churches.

Let's see how everyone is doing.

Pretty simple.

But the journey doesn't even begin before the plan starts changing.

I want you to look in Acts chapter 15, verses 36.

Acts 15:36

Acts chapter 15, verse 36.

Acts 15:36

This is where we left off in the book of Acts, and we began talking about prepare a place.

And now the Spirit is leading us back into this moment.

And after some days, Paul said to Barnabas, Let us return and visit the brothers in every city where we proclaim the word of the Lord and see how they are.

Now Barnabas wanted to take with them John called Mark.

But Paul thought best not to take with them the one who had withdrawn from them in Pamphlia and had not gone with them to the work.

And there arose a sharp disagreement, so that they separated from each other.

Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed away to Cyprus.

But Paul chose Silas and departed, having been commended by the brothers to the grace of the Lord, and he went through Syria and Silicia and strengthening the churches.

Now, if you've been with us in Acts on the first missionary journey, we saw Mark, John Mark, abandon them.

And we talked about that in that moment.

We talked about how this, and now at this moment, we see that this is a sharp disagreement.

This is not a subtle disagreement.

This is a sharp disagreement between Paul and Barnabas.

And Barnabas takes Mark and Paul takes Silas and they go in different directions.

Later we will see that Paul and John Mark reconcile.

In fact, in their relationship, Paul even references how John Mark is now useful to him.

And so Mark, John Mark is this guy that Paul didn't want to take with him, becomes the guy eventually that God that Paul wants with him.

So that's to come later in Scripture.

But here's what we want to see and notice today.

And yet God kept working.

And Barnabas went one direction with Paul, and Paul went another with Silas, and the mission continued.

And sometimes the plan changes, sometimes relationships change, and sometimes the journey doesn't begin the way we thought it would, but God is still at work.

And so Paul and Silas head out.

They're going to strengthen the churches.

Now look in Acts 16, verse 1.

Acts 16:1

Paul came also to Derby and Lystra.

A disciple was there named Timothy.

Man, what an incredible name.

Yeah.

Oh Timothy.

Named Timothy, the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer.

But his father was a Greek.

He was well spoken of by the brothers at Lystra in Iconium.

And Paul wanted Timothy to accompany him.

And he took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in those places.

For they all knew that his father was a Greek.

And as they went on their way through the cities, they delivered to them the observance, the decisions that had been reached by the apostles and elders who were in Jerusalem.

So the churches were strengthened in faith, and they increased in numbers daily.

And again, we've talked about this recently, about how Timothy and Paul took Timothy to be circumcised.

But remember, Timothy wasn't circumcised in order to be saved.

Acts 15 just made that clear.

He did it because he was joining Paul on a mission among Jewish communities, and he was willing to surrender a personal freedom rather than allow it to become an unnecessary obstacle for the gospel.

Timothy was willing to surrender something for the sake of the mission.

And now Paul and Silas and Timothy continue on their way.

And this is where the story takes a fascinating turn.

Paul has a plan, but God starts closing doors.

Okay?

Look at Acts 16, verses 6 through 15.

Acts 16:6–15

And I want you to think about this in your mind.

How can we be a people who carry the presence of God where he leads you?

How can we be a people who carry the presence of God where he leads you?

Now let's look at Acts 16, verse 6.

Acts 16:6

And they went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia.

And when they had come up to Mysia, they attempted to go into Bethynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them.

So passing by Missa, they went down to Troaz, and a vision appeared to Paul in the night.

A man of Macedonia was standing there, urging him and saying, Come over to Macedonia and help us.

And when Paul had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.

Now this church this journey takes a fascinating turn because Paul has a plan, but God starts moving this plan.

I don't know what Paul's plan was for going to Asia, but he he set out to go to Asia.

I don't know if it was because Ephesus was a major city there, it was a major center, and Paul was like, man, if we could go there, the gospel could be preached there, thousands of people could be reached there, but all we know is the Holy Spirit forbid them to go into Asia.

So Paul, he starts moving forward.

And he says, hey, I'll go north toward a region called Mysia.

And then north of Mysia is Bithynia.

Hey, we'll go into Bithynia.

And then the Spirit of Jesus says, nope, nope, not Bithynia.

Now, this is an interesting phrase, the Spirit of Jesus.

Luke is talking about the Holy Spirit, but the phrase reminds us that the risen Jesus is still leading his church.

Jesus has ascended into heaven, but Jesus has not stopped working.

He continues his mission through his spirit, living in his people.

And Paul is learning to follow the Spirit.

He's learning to go.

He has a plan to go to Asia.

The Spirit says no.

He turns north.

He goes to Mysia.

Then he's like, hey, how about Bithynia?

And the Spirit of Jesus says no.

So then he goes down to Troaz.

While in Troaz, Paul receives a vision during the night.

He said, a vision appeared to Paul in the night, a man of Macedonia.

So that's even further west than where they were.

And was standing there, urging him and saying, Come over to Macedonia and help us.

Paul, at the beginning of this journey, was not probably thinking about Macedonia.

He wasn't focused on Macedonia.

But he was listening to the Spirit.

He was listening to the Spirit.

And Luke says immediately we sought to go to Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.

Now some of us may ask the question how exactly did the Spirit prevent Paul from entering Asia?

What did that look like?

Was it a prophetic word?

Was it circumstances?

Was it an inward conviction?

And here's what the Bible tells us.

It doesn't.

Luke doesn't tell us.

Why?

Because then we would create a formula out of it.

Luke doesn't tell us.

The emphasis was not on a formula, the emphasis was on Paul listening.

Paul was following the Spirit.

He was surrendered to the Spirit.

Can you imagine being so surrendered that you set out to a destination and the Spirit says no?

And then you turn to another destination and the Spirit says no.

And then you turn to another destination and you're like, where are we going with this spirit?

And then the spirit says, actually, I want you to come over here.

So go, but not there, but here.

And the focus is on Paul listening.

Success for Paul wasn't about reaching a destination.

Success for Paul was being aware of the Holy Spirit, being led by the Spirit, and following the Holy Spirit wherever he leads.

That is hard for me to hear.

I'm a destination guy.

You know?

Like, I where are we going?

How are we going to get there?

And can I trust you to get us there?

That's where I'm at.

And when we get there, we're going to have success.

And that's not at all what the Spirit is scripting to us in the book of Acts.

The success is being aware of the Holy Spirit, being led by the Spirit, and following the Holy Spirit wherever He leads.

So how do we discern the leading of the Spirit?

Well, one, we worship and pray.

I had a counseling session one time with a guy who was like, man, I haven't heard the Spirit of God in a really long time.

And I said, Man, what does your worship look like in your life?

He's like, well, it doesn't, it really doesn't exist at all.

And I said, Well, you're probably not going to hear the spirit.

That's just kind of a kind of an obvious to me.

I know I'm in a counseling session, I'm not supposed to tell you that directly, but if you're not worshiping and seeing God at work and seeing God around you and standing in awe of who he is in your life, not only who he is, but what he's provided, as you praise him and worship him, you begin to hear his voice.

And as you begin to pray and you pray without ceasing, and you talk to him, not just for five minutes in the morning, not just for a couple of minutes before you eat a meal, but you talk with him throughout the whole day, and you just have this ongoing conversation with God, the voice of God becomes more clear to you.

And then we when we walk in the word and we learn God's ways, it's so important for us to walk in the word.

Not to just study it so that we can be students of the word, but we got to know who is God?

What are his ways?

What does it look like?

How do I, how am I reading scripture in such a way that helps me evaluate what I've always learned?

I'll be honest with you, what Billy said to me on the playground in third grade about God is not true.

Some of y'all are wondering who Billy is, but that's for another, that's for another day, I'll tell you about him.

But I don't know that until I open up scripture and realize, oh wow, that's whack, actually, what he said.

This is God's ways.

These are the ways of God.

This is the person of God that I relate to.

We learn to discern the Spirit when we pay attention to the Spirit's prompting.

And we test what we sense against Scripture.

The Scripture, Spirit is not gonna show us something differently than what he wrote in Scripture.

So if you feel like the Spirit is telling you to go exploit a group of people, that is not the Holy Spirit.

That's an unholy spirit, but that's not the Holy Spirit.

Because Spirit is not gonna tell us something different, contrary to what he has written in Scripture.

We listen to mature believers that speak into our lives, that have walked with God, that have heard the voice of the Spirit, and then we step forward in faith, humbly, and willing for God to redirect us.

That's what it means to be spirit-led.

That's what it means to live surrendered.

You see, carrying the presence of God means being aware of the Spirit's leading and surrendering to wherever the Spirit leads.

So we ask the question, Holy Spirit, what are you doing?

What are you saying?

Where are you leading?

And sometimes his leading is go.

Sometimes his leading is, but not there.

Sometimes his leading is, but not yet.

You see, eventually Paul will minister in Asia.

In fact, he winds up in Ephesus, and it becomes a pretty significant part of his ministry, but in this passage, it's a not yet.

Let's look at Acts 16, verse 11.

Acts 16:11

So setting sail from Troaz, we made a direct voyage to Samathras, and following day to Neapolis, and from there to Philippi, which is a leading city of the district of Macedonia, and a Roman colony.

We remained in this city some days, and on the Sabbath day we went outside the gate to the riverside, where we supposed there was a place of prayer.

And we sat down and spoke to the women who had come together.

One who heard us was a woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyratara, a seller of purple goods, who is a worshiper of God.

And the Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul.

And after she was baptized, and her household as well, she urged us, saying, If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay.

And she prevailed upon us.

They crossed the Aegean Sea and eventually arrived at Philippi.

And Luke tells us that Philippi is a Roman colony.

You see, Philippi was intensely Roman.

Roman veterans had settled there.

The people were proud of their Roman identity.

And in Philippi, Paul goes out.

The city out to outside the city to a place of prayer and meets a woman named Lydia.

She's from Thyrotira.

Okay?

Everybody say Thyrotira.

Yeah, you can't say it either.

Ironically, it's a city in the very province of Asia where the spirit had just prevented Paul from going.

Now she's a businesswoman as a seller of purple goods and possibly a woman of some means.

And Luke calls her a worshiper of God, which likely means she's a Gentile who has been drawn to God, the God of Israel, but doesn't know Jesus yet.

And then Luke says something incredibly important.

The Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul.

You see, Paul spoke, and God opened.

That's how ministry works.

We can't change anyone's heart.

We can't change anyone's heart.

We try.

My goodness, we got impressive abilities in trying.

But we can't change anybody's heart.

We faithfully proclaim Jesus.

We love people, we carry the presence of God with us.

We prepare places for people to encounter God, but God opens hearts.

If we're leading a surrendered life, then are we surrendered to God being the one who opens hearts rather than us?

Are we surrendered to playing our role of sharing the truth of Jesus and grace, but sharing it in a way that trusts God to open hearts rather than us?

And then something beautiful happens.

God opens Lydia's heart, and Lydia opens her home.

She says, If you had judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay.

Don't miss this picture.

God used Paul to prepare a place for Lydia.

And then Lydia prepared a place for others.

What began with a closed door in Asia eventually leads Paul to a riverbank outside of Philippi where one woman's heart is opened and eventually a church is born.

Now listen, you don't always know where God is taking you.

You don't always know why one door closes.

You don't always know why the plan changes.

But if you are carrying the presence of God, your responsibility isn't to know everything.

Your responsibility is to follow.

We carry his presence wherever he leads us.

The second thing I want us to think about is as we prepare a place for God to work through us.

Prepare a place for God to work through you.

Now let's look at Acts 16, verse 16.

Acts 16:16

Acts 16, verse 16.

Acts 16:16

As we're going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl who had a spirit of divination and brought our her owners much gain by fortune telling.

She followed Paul and us, crying out, These men are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to you the way of salvation.

And this and this she kept saying, she kept doing for many days.

Paul, having become greatly annoyed, turned and said to the Spirit, I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.

And it came out that very hour.

And when her owners saw that their hope of gain was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace before the rulers.

And when they had brought them to the magistrates, they said, These men are Jews.

They are disturbing our city.

They advocate for customs that are not lawful for us as Romans to accept or practice.

And the crowd joined in attacking them.

And the master magistrates tore the garments off of them and gave orders to beat them with rods.

And when they had inflicted many blows upon them, they threw them into prison, ordering the jailer to keep them safely.

Having received this order, he put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks.

Let's go back to the enslaved girl.

Beginning in verse 16, Paul and Silas encounter another woman, but her story couldn't be much more different than Lydia's.

You see, Lydia appears to be a successful businesswoman.

This girl is a slave.

Lydia has a home that she can open to others.

This girl doesn't even control her own life.

And Luke tells us she has a spirit of divination and that she brought her owners much gain by fortune telling.

So this girl is living under multiple layers of bondage.

She is in spiritual bondage.

There is a spirit oppressing her.

She is in human bondage.

Other people own her.

And she is being exploited.

The people who should care about her see her bondage as an opportunity to make money.

Then she encounters Paul.

Or should we say that she encounters the presence of God that Paul and Silas were carrying with them?

And Paul does something her owners could never do or would never do.

He sees beyond what she can do for them.

He sees a person who needs to be free.

And in the name of Jesus Christ, he commands the spirit to come out of her.

And the presence and power of Jesus confronts what has been holding her in bondage.

Now her bondage is dramatic.

Our bondage may look very different.

How many of you know someone in bondage?

How many of you know someone who needs to be set free from their bondage?

How many of you also know that there may be layers in your own life that you need to be set free from?

Fill in this blank for me.

Time heals all.

Yeah.

Is that true?

It might be, okay?

Like there's a piece of there's a piece of time that sure has helped me in my time.

I I don't know if if it was true for this slave girl.

I wonder if the real answer is Jesus heals all wounds.

And it's one thing to say that.

It's another thing to believe it.

Jesus heals.

If you are in Christ, Jesus has set you free from the power of sin.

You belong to him.

But that doesn't mean there aren't still things in our lives that can entangle us and weigh us down and distract us and deceive us or keep us from walking in the freedom Jesus has given us.

For some of us, it's fear.

Fear controls decisions.

We should be surrendering to God.

For some, it's shame.

Something from our past continues telling us who we are, even though Jesus has given us a new identity.

For some, it's bitterness or unforgiveness.

We've been hurt.

And that would continue, and that wound continues shaping how we see people and how we respond to them.

For some, it's sin we've learned to accommodate.

We've stopped fighting it.

We made room for it.

For some, it's the approval of others.

We are so concerned what everyone else thinks that we have difficulty hearing and obeying what God is saying.

For some, it's control.

We say we trust God, but we are terrified of surrendering the outcome to Him.

Maybe it's an addiction, a destructive habit, a lie we've believed, a wound we've never allowed God into, or a pattern of thinking that continually pulls us away from truth.

And here's why that matters when we're talking about being a people who prepare a place, because all of these things can dull our awareness of the presence of God in us.

You see, God hasn't left.

If you believe, if you belong to Jesus, his spirit still lives within you.

But we can become so consumed with fear that we're not attentive to his voice, so controlled by bitterness that we're not responding to his leading, so buried under the shame that we're not living from the identity that he has given us.

So preoccupied with ourselves that we don't notice the person right in front of us whom God wants to love through us.

And that's why Jesus doesn't just want to use us, Jesus wants to free us.

He wants to expose the lies in us, heal the wounds, break the patterns, bring sin into the light, teach us to forgive, teach us to surrender.

In order to prepare a place for God to work through us, we need to first prepare a place for God to work in us.

Because the more freely we walk with Jesus, the more freely we carry his presence into the lives of other people.

And look what happens here.

Paul and Silas are simply going to prayer.

They didn't schedule a moment of deliverance.

They didn't have a meeting with this young lady.

This girl wasn't on Paul's itinerary.

She was simply someone they encountered along the way, someone who encountered the presence of God in them.

And because they were carrying the presence of God wherever he led them, someone in bondage encountered the freedom of Jesus.

And that's what we want.

We want to be so aware of God's presence, so attentive to his spirit, and increasingly free ourselves that wherever we go, we're preparing a place for someone else to encounter Jesus.

Now there's another side to this story.

Not everybody is celebrating this God's freedom, this girl's freedom.

Verse 19 says, but when her owners saw their hope of gain was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace before the rulers.

You would think her owners would celebrate, but they don't.

Because they were profiting from her bondage.

And sometimes when Jesus sets people free, the people who benefited from their bondage aren't happy about it.

So the owner sees Paul and Silas, they're beaten, thrown into prison.

Now think about this.

Paul was following the Spirit, right?

Paul obeyed God.

Paul went where God told him to go.

And where did obedience lead him?

Prison.

How many of you, when you think about this next year and following God and yielding to the Spirit, have on your bingo card prison?

And I'm not talking about visiting.

And I'm not talking about being there because you actually did something and deserved to be there or are convicted of something.

I'm saying like even challenge in our life.

What about heartache?

What about suffering or even persecution?

You see, we have to get rid of the idea that following God means everything will go smoothly.

Sometimes we think if I'm really hearing God, everything should work out.

And Acts 16 says something different.

Paul isn't in prison because he wasn't living surrender to God.

He's in prison because he was.

Obedience doesn't guarantee comfort.

Being spirit-led doesn't guarantee easy circumstances.

Sometimes following Jesus leads us directly into difficult places.

But the question is, what do we carry with us when we get there?

It's midnight.

Acts 16, verse 25.

Acts 16:25

About midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them.

And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken, and immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone's bonds were unfastened.

And when the jailer woke, he saw the prison doors were opened.

He drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped.

But Paul cried with a loud voice, Do not harm yourself, for we are all here.

And the jailer called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear, he fell down before Paul and Silas.

And then he brought them out and said, Sir, what must I do to be saved?

And they said, Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved.

You and your whole household.

And they spurked spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house, and he took them the same hour of the night and washed their wounds, and he was baptized at once, he and all his family.

Then he brought them up into his house and set food before them, and he rejoiced along with his entire household that he had believed in God.

Now when it was day, the magistrates sent the police, saying, Let those men go.

And the jailer reported these words to Paul, saying, The magistrates have said, have sent to let you go.

Therefore come out now and go in peace.

And Paul said to them, Uh, they have beaten us publicly, uncondemned men, and do they now throw us out secretly?

No.

Let them come themselves and take us out.

The police reported these words to the magistrates, and they were afraid when they heard that they were Roman citizens.

So they came and apologized to them, and they took them and asked them to leave the city.

So they went out of the prison and visited Lydia.

And when they had seen the brothers, they encouraged them and departed.

All right, we're back at midnight.

Paul and Silas are praying and singing hymns to God.

I love that because they're bruised, they're beaten, they're beaten, they're bleeding, their feet are in stocks, they're worshiping.

And Luke adds, and the prisoners were listening to them.

They're carrying the presence of God into the prison.

You see, the prison becomes a place of prayer.

The prison becomes a place of worship.

The prison becomes a place of witness because people carrying the presence of God have entered the prison.

What if that's what God wants from us?

Not simply to experience his presence when we gather here, but to carry his presence wherever we go, right where we are, into our homes, into our workplaces, into our schools, into our neighborhoods, into our difficult relationships, even into places we never planned to be.

We carry his presence.

And sometimes other people are listening.

Now an earthquake hits, the doors fly open, the chains fall off, the jailers see the doors and assume everyone has escaped.

He's about to take his own life when Paul cries out, don't harm yourself.

We're all here.

Think about that.

Paul is free to leave.

Some of us are fast.

Some of us would have jumped at that.

And I'm saying us.

I'm in that.

But Paul stays.

Why?

Because there's something more important to Paul than getting out of prison.

There's a person in front of him who needs Jesus.

Earlier, Timothy surrendered a freedom for the sake of reaching people.

And now Paul is literally surrendering his freedom to stay for the sake of reaching a person.

And the jailer comes trembling before Paul and Silas and says, Sirs, what must I do to become saved?

And they answer, Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved.

They share the word of the Lord with him and everyone in his house.

And then Luke gives us another beautiful picture.

He took them the same hour of that night and washed their wounds.

The jailer, who was part of a system that created a place of beating and imprisonment, encounters the presence of God through Paul and Silas, was saved, and now is preparing a place of healing and hospitality.

He washed their wounds.

And Paul and Silas baptized him and his whole household, and the presence of God has entered another home.

And then Acts 16 ends like this So they went out to the prison and visited Lydia.

And when they had seen the brothers, they encouraged them and departed.

You see, when Paul entered Philippi, there wasn't a church.

And now he goes to Lydia's house, and there are brothers and sisters in Christ.

There's a church.

Look at this.

Go back to the beginning.

Paul tells Barnabas, let us return and visit the brothers in every city where we proclaim the word of the Lord.

That's it.

Let's go check on the churches.

But look at what actually happened when Paul surrendered and followed the Spirit.

Paul planned to go with Barnabas.

That relationship changed.

Silas joined him.

Then Timothy joined him.

Paul wanted to go to Asia.

The Spirit said no.

Paul tried Bithynia.

The Spirit said no.

God called him to Macedonia.

He crossed the sea.

He arrived in Philippi.

He found a group of women praying beside a river.

God opened Lydia's heart.

A slave girl was set free.

Paul and Silas were beaten.

They were thrown into prison.

They worshiped at midnight.

An earthquake opened the doors.

Paul stayed.

A jailer encountered Jesus.

A household was baptized.

And when Paul finally walked out of Philippi, there was a church with the presence of God where there hadn't been a church before.

A church with a successful businesswoman and her family.

A church possibly with an unnamed former enslaved girl.

A church with a Roman jailer and his family, all with different backgrounds.

All different social positions, all different economic circumstances, different spiritual stories, but all three were confronted with the presence of God.

Now, Paul couldn't have planned that.

He couldn't have predicted that.

He simply surrendered to the presence of God.

And maybe that's the invitation for us.

How can we prepare a place for God to work in us?

Give him access, your plans, your relationships, your disappointments, your freedoms, your desires, your wounds, your future.

Is there something holding you in bondage?

And let the Holy Spirit continue forming you.

Do we carry the presence of God wherever he leads us?

Pay attention.

Listen, follow.

Trust him with closed doors.

Trust him when the plan changes.

Trust him when you don't understand where he's taking you.

And do we prepare a place for God to work through us?

Because you never know who's listening.

You never know whose heart God is preparing.

You never know who is sitting beside the river seeking him.

You never know who is trapped in bondage.

You never know who is standing in the prison with you.

You never know when the place you never wanted to be may become the place where someone else encounters Jesus.

Because we are the dwelling place of God.

Church, let's live surrendered.

Prepare a place for God in your life.

Carry His presence wherever he leads you.

And wherever you go, prepare a place for someone else to encounter Jesus.

Let's pray.

Spirit, I believe that you are at work.

I believe that you're at work speaking and communing with everyone in this room.

Everyone who's listening to this message.

God, you are saying something to them.

God, use your word.

That is a firm foundation for us to stand on and understand you and your ways.

To say something to each person.

To say something to us as a church.

God, are we listening?

Do we hear?

Are we living surrendered?

Are we willing to open some doors in our life that we've held shut for a while?

Wondering if time heals all wounds?

When we know for a fact that Jesus heals all wounds.

God, what are you saying to us?

What are you saying to us?

Spirit, I pray that you will have your way with us.

God, would you demonstrate your power and do a transforming work in us?

I want to invite the prayer team to come forward.

And if this morning you need prayer for something in your life or prayer for someone else, don't miss an opportunity to have someone pray for you, to pray with you.

If you need to tell someone, this is what God is telling me.

And I just need to tell someone, then come and speak to one of these prayer team members.

But whatever God is saying to you and laying on your heart now, follow him.

I don't even know what that means for everyone in this room.

I don't need to know what it means for everyone in this room.

You do.

Surrender.

Live surrendered.

Father, have your way in this moment.

It's in Jesus Christ we pray.

Amen.

Won't you stand with us to worship?