Gospel on the Ground | Divine Interruptions

We are so glad that you are here today!

Lilac

Online

Introduction

In part one - we talked about the power of the Holy Spirit and the birth of the church. The ekklesia - the vehicle that God used and continues to use to advance His Kingdom. The local church is the most power change agent in the world.

In part two - we talked about persecution and addressing the question of what is “God’s Kingdom”. I gave four ways for us to deal with those that insult us or make accusations against us.

Today - we continue our journey through the book of Acts.

Part-three | “Gospel on the Ground”

Central Idea for today’s sermon: "Empowering the ordinary, advancing the extraordinary – The kingdom thrives in divine interruptions."

Prayer Sermon Introduction

Let’s pick up where we left off last week. At the close of Acts 7, Stephen becomes the first Christian martyr. Before this, the church had experienced persecution through threats, being arrested, and spending some nights in jail. However, now that Stephen was martyred, the level of oppression begins to rise.

Acts 8:1–3 (NLT) informs us, “Saul was one of the witnesses, and he agreed completely with the killing of Stephen. A great wave of persecution began that day, sweeping over the church in Jerusalem; and all the believers except the apostles were scattered through the regions of Judea and Samaria. 2 Some devout men came and buried Stephen with great mourning. 3 But Saul was going everywhere to destroy the church. He went from house to house, dragging out both men and women to throw them into prison.”

I don’t know about you but the idea of being threatened, placed in jail, or even killed for my belief in Jesus puts a whole new level of commitment to the forefront of my mind. Nearly 80% of the world is facing persecution. Often times as Americans - this is hard to wrap our minds around. This should give us great pause to pray for our brothers and sisters who are a part of the persecuted church.

Pray for the persecuted church

Think about it this way - As quickly as people where becoming Christians in the book of Acts, they were facing some of the most difficult and challenging moments of their lives shortly after saying yes to Jesus.

These were just ordinary people about to hop onto the most extraordinary journey.

Q - How would you respond if one Sunday you said “YES” to Jesus and the next Sunday you were facing persecution for that decision? It would be super tough.

Spreading of the gospel:

Up to this point, Jerusalem had been the center of the church. That is not to say, that the kingdom of God had not already infiltrated other cities.

Paul’s later testifies, Acts 26:11 (NLT) Many times I had them punished in the synagogues to get them to curse Jesus. I was so violently opposed to them that I even chased them down in foreign cities.

However, after the stoning of Stephen, the kingdom begins to spread rapidly—not because of strategic planning sessions and not because of really cool church growth models by the apostles, but because of persecution.

“Persecution does to the church what wind does to seed: it scatters it and only produces a greater harvest.” Warren Wiersbe

God used this interruption in the church for the purpose of reaching the harvest.

The word translated ‘scattered’ (diaspeiro, Acts 8:1, 4) means ‘to scatter seed.’

In Acts we see God "Empowering the ordinary [people], advancing the extraordinary [God’s Kingdom]...”

Illustration:

Growing up the farm - we tried to develop creative ways to make it easier to accomplish big tasks. That is another way of saying - “making shortcuts”. One of my “shortcuts” to a big job was the scattering of seed. I was tasked with the job during the fall/spring was to plant seed in certain sections on the farm. I thought to myself, “why do I have to do this on my own, when I have natural seed-spreaders.” I am referring to the cattle that roam those fields. I took it upon myself to mix seed in the grain and have them naturally “deposit” the seed all over the field. Well…this only kinda worked out. My intentions were good but my execution was a bit faulty. It is a good thing that God had a great plan from the beginning. God’s sovereign reign was over the persecuted church and used the extreme difficulty of this situation for good.

The believers in Jerusalem were God’s seed, and the persecution was used of God to plant them in new soil so they could bear fruit

Matthew 13:37–38 (NLT) 37 Jesus replied, “The Son of Man is the farmer who plants the good seed. 38 The field is the world, and the good seed represents the people of the Kingdom. The weeds are the people who belong to the evil one.

Some went throughout Judea and Samaria (see Acts 1:8), and others went to more distant fields (Acts 11:19–21)

The gospel of Jesus life, death, and resurrection were spreading!

Verse Acts 8:4 “But the believers who were scattered preached the Good News about Jesus wherever they went.” The apostles remained in Jerusalem. These witnesses were merely ordinary, spirit-led followers of Jesus Christ.

What is important is that these tasks and the empowerment of the Holy Spirit were not just for the apostle or the primary church leaders.

Every follower of Jesus has the:

privilege,

opportunity,

and responsibility to be a witness of Jesus.

The task is not just reserved for church leaders. Nor is the power of God only upon pastors. God uses everyone to extend his kingdom on the earth!

Really? Everyone? Even the person who doesn’t have a theology degree, or knows the sinner’s prayer, maybe isn’t a great communicator, or has their life together…yes, everyone!

“The entrance fee into the kingdom of God is nothing; the annual subscription is all we possess.” Henry Drummond

"Empowering the ordinary, advancing the extraordinary – The kingdom thrives in divine interruptions."

God brings divine interruptions into people’s lives, so that the Kingdom of God grows…continues to advance.

(Me) Struggle with interruptions.

Q - How many of you have done a personality test? I have taken a number of different of personality tests over the years. DISC, Myer-Briggs, Enneagram, and Personalysis. Most of the tests reveal the same thing: I like people. I like having fun. I like when a plan comes together. This depiction of me is fairly accurate.

One of the main things that I like is - putting plans together - often times I can have multiple projects going at one time and I like to schedule time to work on those projects and what my schedule doesn’t reflect is scheduling “interruptions”. In my earlier days of ministry, I found interruptions to be annoying and distracting. Do you know what the Lord did? He brought an interruption and not just a simple interruption…a huge, significant, gigantic interruption into my life.

Personal story

Many years ago the “interruption” called and mentioned that their wife had just past. Both of these people were intellectually disabled. I showed up at their home and it was a seen from hoarders. Many smells and interesting piles of discarded materials and items. This man quickly became dependent upon me and another wonderful person in our church. What I thought would be a short season of caring - became several months of weekly and daily phone calls, meetings, hospital visits, medication care and financial oversight. I became quickly overwhelmed and frustrated. In a lamenting prayer time with God - telling Him my problems about this person. The Lord revealed to me in this process of my prayer time - I sent this man to you, not that you can “just help him” or treat him as a “project” but “that I want you to learn to be and to do what I have called and purposed you with”. That He possessed all of me. My schedule ultimately belonged to Him.

(We) Struggle with interruptions.

Q - Does this relate to any of you? Do you have a task, project, errand or appointment to keep? Have you bypassed opportunities (knowing that they were a God opportunity) because you had a schedule to keep?

Tension - Have we foregone Kingdom moments for the sake of earthly gain?

In the hustle and bustle of our daily lives, we often find ourselves caught up in our routines, expecting everything to go as planned. But what if I told you that God works out His plans, often interrupting our lives in the most unexpected moments?

Biblical Story

I want to share with about a man in Acts that experienced significant interruption. Who was a part of the scattering. A man who planted the gospel in parts of the world that needed to hear the Gospel of Jesus.

(God) The Story of Philip:

Philip is first mentioned in:

Acts 6:5 (NLT) Everyone liked this idea, and they chose the following: Stephen (a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit), Philip, Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas of Antioch (an earlier convert to the Jewish faith).

Philip was an ordinary man - a deacon (a servant). He wasn’t one of the twelve disciples, he wasn’t considered an apostle. “Philip the Evangelist” was what he became known as. We do know that he was a dad of four unmarried daughters who all had the gift of prophesy. I can totally relate to Philip in this regard.

Here are a few theories that I have concerning Philip’s unmarried daughters:

The daughters may have been hideous and that’s why they were unmarried.

If they kept their mouths shut long enough (prophetic gift)…maybe they would have attracted a young Jewish boy.

If they had the gift of cooking....they would have been married long ago.

These are just some of my theories. I would love to hear your theories. Please email [e-mail]

God is in the business of “empowering the ordinary, to help advance His extraordinary Kingdom.

Move into the scriptural text of Acts 8.

Philip encounters an Ethiopian eunuch. This passage illustrates some powerful applications for our participation in the mission of God, in verses:

Acts 8:26–40 (NLT)

As for Philip, an angel of the Lord said to him, “Go south down the desert road that runs from Jerusalem to Gaza.” So he started out, and he met the treasurer of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under the Kandake, the queen of Ethiopia.

First, God took the initiative directing Phillip by an angel to take a certain journey. Philip obeyed and came across the Ethiopian eunuch. Next, the Holy Spirit directed him,

The eunuch had gone to Jerusalem to worship, and he was now returning. Seated in his carriage, he was reading aloud from the book of the prophet Isaiah. The Holy Spirit said to Philip, “Go over and walk along beside the carriage.” Philip ran over and heard the man reading from the prophet Isaiah. Philip asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?” The man replied, “How can I, unless someone instructs me?” And he urged Philip to come up into the carriage and sit with him.

Philip obeyed and heard a man reading from Isaiah. Philip saw this as a divine moment and seized it, which led him to have a divine conversation. You and I may never have an angel give us direction, but we have the Holy Spirit in us. If we pray for God’s guidance and seek to live filled with the Holy Spirit, he will guide and direct us.

Remember what I talked about last week in regards to God’s Kingdom - we are God’s people and God does his work through his people. God did not send the angel to help the Ethiopian but instead sent the angel to direct Philip to help him.

The Ethiopian testified to his need to have someone explain to him what he was reading (v. 31). God invites us to partner with him in extending his kingdom in the earth.

The passage of Scripture he had been reading was this: “He was led like a sheep to the slaughter. And as a lamb is silent before the shearers, he did not open his mouth. He was humiliated and received no justice. Who can speak of his descendants? For his life was taken from the earth.” The eunuch asked Philip, “Tell me, was the prophet talking about himself or someone else?” So beginning with this same Scripture, Philip told him the Good News about Jesus. As they rode along, they came to some water, and the eunuch said, “Look! There’s some water! Why can’t I be baptized?” He ordered the carriage to stop, and they went down into the water, and Philip baptized him. When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away. The eunuch never saw him again but went on his way rejoicing. Meanwhile, Philip found himself farther north at the town of Azotus. He preached the Good News there and in every town along the way until he came to Caesarea.

God was already at work. God prepared the heart of the Ethiopian to receive the testimony of Phillip. The Ethiopian was reading Isaiah 53 before Philip arrived (v. 27). As we cross the path of people every day, know that God is already actively working in their lives.

(You) Our Response:

God uses unqualified, inexperienced, under-resourced people to extend His kingdom on the earth. “As the story of Acts unfolds, we see that ordinary people were the key players in the spread of the gospel. Through them, the good news spread to families, friends, and neighbors”

God uses people through divine interruptions.

As followers of Jesus, let us embrace the truth that God often works through ordinary individuals like us. Our lives might seem mundane, but God has a way of interrupting our routines with divine opportunities. In these moments, instead of feeling overwhelmed, let us recognize them as God’s invitations to participate in his extraordinary kingdom work.

Potential avenues towards greater impact.

Philippines 2:1-4 (MSG) If you’ve gotten anything at all out of following Christ, if his love has made any difference in your life, if being in a community of the Spirit means anything to you, if you have a heart, if you care—then do me a favor: Agree with each other, love each other, be deep-spirited friends. Don’t push your way to the front; don’t sweet-talk your way to the top. Put yourself aside, and help others get ahead. Don’t be obsessed with getting your own advantage. Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand.

Everyday interruptions are potential avenues for us to show love, kindness, and grace to others. Let's be open to divine interruptions, seeing them not as disturbances but as God’s way of involving us in something greater than ourselves. Whether it's lending a helping hand to a neighbor, sharing a word of encouragement, or standing up for justice, our willingness to be interrupted can lead to meaningful impacts in people’s lives.

Assignment: Pray a very simple prayer each day - “God use me to be a blessing to others today!”

Remember that God is all about

"Empowering the ordinary, advancing the extraordinary – The kingdom thrives in divine interruptions."

Let’s pray