To Be Continued…

Intro

Welcome

I’m Bruce

Wrapping up our series in the Book of Acts.

Turn the world upside down by valuing the most what the world values the least.

To do that, we have to follow some sort of a blueprint that was laid out for us to follow: the book of Acts.

The disciples started something 2000 years ago that carries on until today and will carry on into eternity.

And we get to participate.

Generation after generation of Christians pass the baton off to the next.

For the next generation to run with.

Think about this for a second: This idea comes from a book called “4,000 Weeks” by Oliver Burkeman.

We talk about Jesus as if He lived in some distant, unreachable ancient world. But if you were to line up the lifespans of ordinary people—just 80 years each—you would need only about twenty-five of them before you’d arrive to dirt roads of Galilee. Imagine, twenty-five people holding hands in a chain… you on one end, and the first person all the way on the other end has their arm around Jesus’ shoulders.

History feels enormous until you measure it in human lives. Only 25 average lifetimes between you and Jesus. Suddenly two thousand years isn’t a vast canyon anymore, it’s a short hallway lined with faithful men and women who keep handing down:

the same story, the same hope, and the same Spirit-filled mission.

THANKSGIVING ILLUSTRATION

I was in the kitchen this Thanksgiving trying to make a recipe that’s been passed down for generations in my family. We call it “Pink Salad.” Cranberries, marshmallows, pineapple, sugar, more sugar, and Cool Whip. It’s the kind of dish that feels like home to me.

Last year, I tried to make it myself for the first time ever. It’s one of those things that you think will just turn out how it always does, taste the same, whatever. I was wrong.

We didn’t have a food processor, so I tried using a blender. That was a mistake. Not what generations before me intended.

This year, I learned from my mistakes, and it was different.

Food processor = right texture.

Same recipe, same heart behind the recipe, but now carried forward by new hands learning what works, what doesn’t, and learning how to honor the people who passed it down.

What’s cool about this too, is that my niece, 9 years old, was helping me. She was learning how to make it herself. As we passed this recipe from my generation to hers.

That’s a picture of what we’ve been studying in Acts. We want to be a people who turn the world upside down. And in order to do that, we must value the most what the world values the least JUST LIKE OUR FOREFATHERS IN THE FAITH DID.

A Christians, you have inherited a way of life handed down by our spiritual mothers and fathers, by the apostles, by Paul himself.

The Gospel doesn’t change. The mission doesn’t change.

But every generation has to learn how to live it out faithfully in their moment, in their neighborhoods, workplaces, families, and friendships.

Acts 28 is not a conclusion; it’s a handoff.

Just because our series in Acts is ending doesn’t mean the story ends.

It’s the beginning of the part we get to play, it’s the start of our voices joining the chorus that will echo on into eternity… singing, “Holy Holy Holy is the Lord God almighty, who was and is and is to come.”

You and I get to step into this story and keep it going. We get to take this “recipe” of the Gospel, unchanged in essence, alive in every generation, and flip the world upside down today, two thousand years later.

Sounds good right? Yeah, until you try living it out, right?

“Bruce… how am I supposed to do that?” “Bruce, I’m tone deaf—how in the world am I supposed to sing this song you’re talking about?” “Bruce, I don’t know what to say. I don’t know what to do. What if I get it wrong?”

And beneath those questions are these:

What if I mess this up? What if I’m not enough? What if I drop the baton?

Some of you haven’t started running yet because you’re terrified of dropping the baton.

Some of you haven’t ever opened your mouth to proclaim the Gospel because you are convinced your voice will ruin the song.

Some of you are content to watch others, who are confident, do the work that you are called to do as a follower of Christ.

Fear has a way of convincing us that faithfulness requires perfection. That God is waiting for flawless performers instead of willing participants.

That’s far from the truth.

God’s perfect Gospel is carried by imperfect feet.

Acts 28 was written about people exactly like that. People who didn’t feel qualified. People who were afraid. People who wondered what obedience should actually look like.

And Paul, a prisoner on his way to Rome, chained but not silenced, shows us how ordinary, imperfect people can take their place in this story without fear.

Paul’s life, as recorded in Acts, gives us concrete principles.

A framework to help imperfect people carry the perfect message.

So you wanna know HOW you can do it? Let’s look at the life of Paul.

What you’ll see tonight in Acts 28 is that all Paul did was:

Show up.

Stand firm.

Step with Sensitivity.

Speak Jesus.

Open your Bibles with me to Acts 28

LET’S GO!!!!

And let’s learn some cool things about God.

Body

1. Show Up

Meeting People Where They Are

Acts 28:1–10 ESV

After we were brought safely through, we then learned that the island was called Malta. The native people showed us unusual kindness, for they kindled a fire and welcomed us all, because it had begun to rain and was cold. When Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and put them on the fire, a viper came out because of the heat and fastened on his hand. When the native people saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to one another, “No doubt this man is a murderer. Though he has escaped from the sea, Justice has not allowed him to live.” He, however, shook off the creature into the fire and suffered no harm. They were waiting for him to swell up or suddenly fall down dead. But when they had waited a long time and saw no misfortune come to him, they changed their minds and said that he was a god. Now in the neighborhood of that place were lands belonging to the chief man of the island, named Publius, who received us and entertained us hospitably for three days. It happened that the father of Publius lay sick with fever and dysentery. And Paul visited him and prayed, and putting his hands on him, healed him. And when this had taken place, the rest of the people on the island who had diseases also came and were cured. They also honored us greatly, and when we were about to sail, they put on board whatever we needed.

Paul arrives on Malta exhausted; storm-tossed, shipwrecked, worn down—but his first instinct is to move toward people.

Gets sticks, tends the fire.

He participates in ORDINARY things and is given opportunity to watch God move in EXTRAordinary ways.

What happens isn’t complicated: a man shows up with the love of Christ, and God uses that presence in ways Paul never could have orchestrated.

When we show up, God shows up

Paul didn’t step onto Malta with a plan; he stepped on with a pulse.

The moment he showed up, God started working through him.

God brought the people who kindled a fire; God protected Paul from the snake; God orchestrated a meeting with Publius, so God could be glorified through the healing of Publius’ father. And the healing of everyone else who was sick and came to Paul.

That’s how the kingdom moves: God fills ordinary, exhausted obedience with His Spirit-filled presence.

When you show up—with limits, fatigue, and “I’m doing my best”—God loves to meet people through you.

When you, who has the Holy Spirit living in you, when you show up, God shows up.

People are watching how you respond.

The Maltese watched Paul pick up sticks, get bitten, and not panic, and not die.

That flipped their perspective of justice

They watched him pray for the sick and watched him continue to pray for more as they were healed.

Before they ever listened to Paul, they watched him.

The world still works the same way—unless you already have a platform, people notice your posture before your message.

That’s why that saying is so popular, “Preach the Gospel and use words if necessary.”

Now, don’t live by that saying. To preach the Gospel, you have to use words.

But more often than not, the way you live gives you the opportunity to use words.

Your life opens the door, but its your words that walk through it.

When your life and your words are aligned to the glory of God…

God turns ordinary faithfulness into unexpected ministry.

Paul wasn’t trying to launch a healing ministry; he had no agenda there.

His only agenda was to get to Rome

Simple faithfulness opened the door to meet Publius and pray for his sick father, and then heal countless others on the island.

This is how God loves to work; He takes the small thing you do in love and multiplies it far beyond what you planned.

MISSION TRIP TO TOKYO 2014… I went to help with an established college ministry led by a married couple from Virginia, actually, Mark and Jin Rood. (helping them learn English through Bible conversations) for a couple of months. A few weeks into my time there, I asked a student I was close to, “Why do you keep coming around?” I was confused because he didn’t believe in God; he didn’t think the Bible was anything special; yet, he kept coming back week after week. He answered in his broken English, “I feel something here that I don’t feel anywhere else. Mark and Jin, they don’t expect anything from me. But I know that they love me. And I know that they love everyone else who comes here every week.”

That moment in Tokyo taught me something I will never forget: God doesn’t wait for your brilliance. He doesn’t need your airtight strategy. He moves through presence long before He moves through persuasion.

Those students didn’t keep showing up because the arguments were ironclad or because the ministry was flashy. They kept showing up because they felt something—loved, welcomed, seen, heard, and known.

Mark and Jin weren’t trying to start a revival. They were just tending a fire—just like Paul on Malta. Just picking up sticks, week after week. Loving whoever God put in front of them.

And God took that small, ordinary faithfulness and lit an entire group of young men on fire for Christ. A whole community shifted because Mark and Jin decided to show up with love in their hands and Christ in their hearts.

That’s what happens when you show up.

Show up and trust that God delights in blessing humanity through ordinary, faithful people.

You don’t have to be impressive, just be available. God will handle the rest.

So how do you flip the world upside down? You SHOW UP!

2. Stand Firm

Persevering Through Every Trial

Acts 28:11–16 ESV

After three months we set sail in a ship that had wintered in the island, a ship of Alexandria, with the twin gods as a figurehead. Putting in at Syracuse, we stayed there for three days. And from there we made a circuit and arrived at Rhegium. And after one day a south wind sprang up, and on the second day we came to Puteoli. There we found brothers and were invited to stay with them for seven days. And so we came to Rome. And the brothers there, when they heard about us, came as far as the Forum of Appius and Three Taverns to meet us. On seeing them, Paul thanked God and took courage. And when we came into Rome, Paul was allowed to stay by himself, with the soldier who guarded him.

Paul’s journey toward Rome carries the weight of storms, shipwreck, false accusations, and uncertainty; he’s worn down.

He needs to stand firm, he needs to keep going

Yet on the long road, we see that Paul stands firm through the encouragement of others.

Paul sets foot on the road to Rome, and believers come out to him. They meet him at the Forum of Appius and Three Taverns, which were miles outside the city.

And when Paul sees them—Luke says this—Paul thanked God and took courage.

The presence of fellow believers brings the presence of God, which brings strength and encouragement to continue on the road upon which God has placed you.

I’m going to ask you a very blunt question right now: If even the great apostle Paul needed people, what makes you think that you don’t?

What makes you think:

you don’t need anyone?

you can handle this on your own?

you’re the one Christian on Earth who doesn’t need someone else praying for you?

What makes you think:

you don’t need to confess your sins to others?

you’ll be fine if you don’t plant deeper roots in the local church?

What makes you think:

your relationship with Jesus is personal and therefore exclusively private and nobody else needs to be involved in it?

Standing firm isn’t gritting your teeth and squeezing your fists so tightly that your knuckles turn white just so you can prove that you can do this on your own.

No! Standing firm is to receive God’s strength through God’s people.

You stand firm by standing together.

God designed us to stand firm by standing together.

Our weaknesses are covered by others’ strengths, and our strengths cover others’ weaknesses, and we’re all covered by the blood of Jesus Christ.

It’s those very weaknesses that God uses to advance His Kingdom. It’s UPSIDE DOWN.

You have to stand firm by trusting that God turns weakness into victory.

Paul enters Rome in chains

What’s triumphant about that? It’s not. It’s humiliating.

It’s the exact opposite of what you would expect from someone proclaiming that the Kingdom of God is at hand.

What looks like a setback becomes the very stage for the Gospel to reach the heart of the Roman Empire.

Paul is with the Praetorian Guard, and he’s sharing the Gospel, they’re being converted.

The most elite Roman guards are being exposed to the Gospel of Jesus Christ all because of what looks like a setback for the Gospel.

In God’s upside-down kingdom, what looks like loss becomes the pathway to lasting victory.

When you have that mindset, that perspective that God turns weakness into victory, and when you have an army of Brothers and Sisters to lift you up in encouragement with the presence and power of God…

YOU. WILL. FLIP THE WORLD. UPSIDE DOWN.

So Show Up and Stand Firm.

3. Step with Sensitivity

Practicing Cultural Sensitivity

Acts 28:17–24 ESV

After three days he called together the local leaders of the Jews, and when they had gathered, he said to them, “Brothers, though I had done nothing against our people or the customs of our fathers, yet I was delivered as a prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans. When they had examined me, they wished to set me at liberty, because there was no reason for the death penalty in my case. But because the Jews objected, I was compelled to appeal to Caesar—though I had no charge to bring against my nation. For this reason, therefore, I have asked to see you and speak with you, since it is because of the hope of Israel that I am wearing this chain.” And they said to him, “We have received no letters from Judea about you, and none of the brothers coming here has reported or spoken any evil about you. But we desire to hear from you what your views are, for with regard to this sect we know that everywhere it is spoken against.” When they had appointed a day for him, they came to him at his lodging in greater numbers. From morning till evening he expounded to them, testifying to the kingdom of God and trying to convince them about Jesus both from the Law of Moses and from the Prophets. And some were convinced by what he said, but others disbelieved.

Paul doesn’t just invade Rome swinging—he leads with respect, with sensitivity.

He approaches the Jewish leaders with humility, clarity, and care.

He takes the first step toward people, and he tells the truth without tearing anyone down.

Sensitivity isn’t softness.

It’s taking people seriously.

It’s learning to inject truth without injecting venom.

That posture opened doors for Paul to preach the Gospel.

Remember, Your life opens the door, but its your words that walk through it.

Paul’s humility presented the opportunity for him to preach with clarity.

And what you see is that some heard and believed what Paul taught, and others heard and rejected it.

Paul stepped into their shoes with Sensitivity, showed respect and humility, and then spoke the Gospel with clarity in ways they would understand it.

By appealing to the Law of Moses and the Prophets, just like Jesus did with those two Jewish men on the Road to Emmaus in Luke chapter 24.

To flip the world upside down, you have to value the most what the world values the least.

To know what the world values the least, you have to show up, stand firm, and step with sensitivity toward the world (with compassion and a heart that attempts to understand).

And through that understanding, you might be able to offer Jesus those who are caught up in the things of this world, because Jesus is the only alternative that could truly flip their lives upside down.

And that would flip their eternities upside down.

Which leads us to our final point.

4. Speak Jesus

To flip the world upside down, you have to Proclaim Christ Boldly

Acts 28:25–31 ESV

And disagreeing among themselves, they departed after Paul had made one statement: “The Holy Spirit was right in saying to your fathers through Isaiah the prophet: “ ‘Go to this people, and say, “You will indeed hear but never understand, and you will indeed see but never perceive.” For this people’s heart has grown dull, and with their ears they can barely hear, and their eyes they have closed; lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them.’ Therefore let it be known to you that this salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles; they will listen.” He lived there two whole years at his own expense, and welcomed all who came to him, proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness and without hindrance.

As we read this section, Paul keeps doing what he’s always done; he’s putting Jesus in front of anyone willing to hear.

Speak Jesus even when people walk away.

The room splits after Paul quotes Isaiah; some believe and some refuse.

Paul doesn’t let that division shut him down.

It actually is the mechanism that carries the Gospel forward even more.

Rejection of the Gospel from some Jews becomes the very doorway for the Gospel to reach the Gentiles.

When one group closes the door, God opens another wide open.

So that 2000 years later, we, a room full of Gentiles, know and experience the loving mercies of our Lord Jesus Christ today.

What may have seemed like a failure, many Jews rejecting the Gospel, actually turned into the victory of many Gentiles coming to faith.

The progress of the Gospel never stalls; it never gets stuck in traffic, it just changes lanes and continues under God’s sovereign hand in the exact direction He wants it to go.

The Gospel is unstoppable.

Speak Jesus with confidence because God’s word is unstoppable.

Nothing can slow it down.

Paul’s chains never silenced the message.

By the power of God, your chains cannot stop the message from being proclaimed through you, either.

Your baggage, failures, regrets, and the parts of your story you’d rewrite, none of that can shut down the gospel.

Those aren’t disqualifiers; they’re the very things Jesus came to deal with, to redeem, and to use.

Jesus didn’t come for the “put-together” version of you.

He came for the real you—the one who limps, hides, the one that whimpers, the one that’s too scared to move forward.

On the cross, He took the full weight of your sin, shame, and separation from God.

He carried what you cannot carry, He died carrying it, and then He rose to give you the life you could never earn.

Before you can proclaim the Gospel with confidence, you must believe it with confidence.

Believe His grace actually covers you.

Believe His death actually paid for you.

Believe His resurrection actually secures you.

Believe His Spirit actually empowers you.

Paul spoke boldly because he trusted the gospel deeply.

He knew the message was stronger than his past.

He knew his chains weren’t stronger than Christ’s mercy.

He knew God’s power wasn’t limited by his situation.

And the same is true for you.

Whatever chains you carried in—sin, guilt, fear, addiction, anger, apathy, disbelief, Jesus will not just break them; He will use them.

The Gospel says that Jesus has broken those chains, and the Gospel promises that Jesus will not let the pain of those chains go to waste.

Believe the gospel.

Stand on the gospel.

Then proclaim the gospel with confidence.

Conclusion

Acts 28 ends with Paul on house arrest, limited, and yet at the same time completely unstoppable.

His impact doesn’t come from being impressive or even being free; it comes from the power of the gospel.

Romans 1:16 ESV

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

When you truly believe that same gospel, you can step into the world the same way: as an ordinary person with an EXTRAordinary Savior.

The world chases platform, influence, image, and comfort—but the kingdom of God operates on an entirely different set of circumstances.

Paul shows us the upside-down way of Jesus.

Paul doesn’t rely on his spiritual prowess or his familial pedigree to advance the kingdom.

he shows up in simple faithfulness,

stands firm with the help of God’s people,

steps with sensitivity toward others,

and speaks the Gospel of Jesus with confidence.

This whole series in Acts has been pressing this same truth into us:

following Jesus means embracing a way of life that turns the world upside down.

Not through force or noise, but through quiet, steady faithfulness that looks small to the world but significant to God.

In this upside down world:

You don’t have to be impressive to be impactful.

You don’t need a platform to be an influencer in the kingdom.

You just need to follow Jesus into the places He already has you—home, work, neighborhood, friendships—and be present with courage and compassion.

Show up. Stand firm. Step with sensitivity. Speak Jesus.

Trust that in God’s upside-down kingdom, those simple steps are the very things He uses to change the world.

Trust that in God’s upside-down kingdom, the simple steps you take really do matter.

Believe it.

Believe that He can use you.

Remember where we started this evening

How shockingly short the distance is between us and the first believers. Just a handful of lifetimes. A couple dozen ordinary people, whose lifetimes, stacked end-to-end, link you to the book of Acts.

The same Spirit that fell upon the disciples at Pentecost, He’s the same Spirit who moved in their kitchens, marketplaces, prisons, synagogues, and streets; and HE is also moving in yours.

The same Gospel they handed down is the one now sitting in your hands.

And the same upside-down way of life that turned the world on its head back then is the way God intends to move through you right now.

We are the next verse in their song. We are the next hands stirring the recipe. We are the next link in the chain of ordinary people through whom an extraordinary God keeps changing the world.

So believe it. Believe that your faithfulness today echoes farther than you can see. Believe that your small steps today carry the same weight theirs did back then. Believe that when you show up where God leads you, God shows up in His power.

And two thousand years from now (if the Lord hasn’t come back by then, “Please God, come sooner than that!”) someone else will look back and realize that the world WAS turned upside down because believers like you quietly lived the Gospel in your generation while boldly proclaiming it into the world.

That’s the story we’ve inherited. And that’s the story we now get to continue.

Discussion Questions

In what ways can you personally 'show up' in your school or community to reflect Christ's love?

How can you find encouragement within your community to help you stand firm in your faith?

How can you find encouragement within your community to help you stand firm in your faith?

From whom are you being given “the baton” and to whom are you passing it?