Rejoice Together

1. Review of the last sermon

Hello, guys! It’s so lovely to see you again this week. I’m Pastor Hwang, for those who don’t know who I am. Do you remember what we talked about last week? Yes. Do you remember the Title? Rejoice Always! Yes, that’s right! And I told you about how I did when I was in sixth grade in China. All alone and got bullied, and cried for 30 min at the corner of the school gym. Right? But how did Paul and Silas do? Yes, unlike me, they prayed to God and sang hymns to him. They literally worshipped in the most disgusting place, the Roman jail. Right? Do you remember how they could do that? Because they believed our God is a great god and a good god. So they find their joy in God so that nothing can stop them from rejoicing!

2. Bible reading

Today, we are going to look at the story after that night. It’s even more exciting to see the next half part of the story. Let ’s go and read. It’s . It’s a little bit longer, but we are going to read it slowly together. And please try to picture what happened that night in prison, alright?

Today, we are going to look at the story after that night. It’s even more exciting to see the next half part of the story. let’s go and read. it’s . It’s a little bit longer, but we are going to read it slowly together. And please try to picture what happened that night in the prison, alright?

Acts 16:26–34 NIV

26 Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everyone’s chains came loose. 27 The jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped. 28 But Paul shouted, “Don’t harm yourself! We are all here!” 29 The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. 30 He then brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” 31 They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.” 32 Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house. 33 At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his household were baptized. 34 The jailer brought them into his house and set a meal before them; he was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God—he and his whole household.

3. Earthquake

Suddenly there was a big earthquake, and the foundation of the prison was shaken. Have you ever experienced an earthquake? I did. When I was in China, there was a big earthquake occurred in a city which was quite close to where I lived. It was scale 6.5 earthquake, and our apartment - I think it was six-story building - started to shake really bad. IT IS frightening, you know. So it happened that night. And what? At once all the doors in prison flew open, and everyone’s chains came loose.

4. They did not run!

What do you think the prisoners would do, if all of a sudden the doors of the cells flew open? Of course, they would run away, right? So, the guard was so surprised to see all the doors were open and he tried to kill himself, because if all the prisoners escaped he will be hanged anyway. However, surprisingly enough, there was a voice came out of the prison, saying: “Stop! Don’t kill yourself! We are all here! We didn’t escape! We are still here!” It was Paul shouting.

What do you think the prisoners would do, if all of a sudden the doors of the cells flew open? Of course, they would run away, right? So, the guard was so surprised to see all the doors were open and he tried to kill himself, because if all the prisoners escaped he will be hanged anyway. However, surprisingly enough, there was a voice came out of the prison, saying: “Stop! Don’t kill yourself! We are all here! We didn’t escape! We are still here!” It was Paul shouting.

5. The Guard was shocked and asked Paul and Silas about Salvation

Imagine how the guard was amazed to see his prisoners are still there. He was shocked. These guys are crazy indeed. They were singing hymns and praying all night, which already make them look crazy enough, now they did not escape even the doors opened! The behavior of these two people showed the guard was nothing like other people’s. So he asked Paul and Silas, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” He, who was a scary big prison guard, is now kneeling down in front of Paul and Silas, and asking them how can he be saved. Isn’t it amazing?

Guys, you know what? This is how we Christians shock other friends. We impress our friends, teachers, families, and relatives by always rejoicing even in the midst of bad situations. We sing hymns to God and pray to God even in our lowest moment, even in our worst times! When we rejoice, they will come to us, and will ask me ‘how come you are still happy in those bad situation? When you don’t have any friend? When your computer is broken? When your grade is not as high? When your parents are fighting? Even when you are bullied by some bad friends’ Because we have our heavenly Father, who is great and who is good always, and who loves us! That’s why we can always rejoice, right? When we rejoice even in the worst moments, our friends will be shocked.

6. Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved

Imagine how the guard was amazed to see his prisoners are still there. He was shocked. These guys are crazy indeed. They were singing hymns and praying all night, which already make them look crazy enough, now they did not escape even the doors opened! The behavior of these two people showed the guard was nothing like other people’s. So he asked Paul and Silas, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” He, who was a scary big prison guard, is now kneeling down in front of Paul and Silas, and asking them how can he be saved. Isn’t it amazing?

What do you think the prisoners would do, if all of a sudden the doors of the cells flew open? Of course, they would run away, right? So, the guard was so surpriesd to see all the doors were open and he tried to kill himself, because if all the prisoners escaped he will be hanged anyways. However, surprisingly enough, there was a voice came out of the prison, saying: “Stop! don’t kill yourself! We are all here! We didn’t escape! We are still here!” It was Paul shouting.

And do you know what happened after that? Let’s see the rest of the story here. After the guard asked Paul and Silas about the way to be saved, Paul told him “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved - you and your household.” Then, the guard took them to his house and gave them things to eat, water to drink, and even washed their wounds, and he and all his household were baptized that day.

7. He was filled with joy

Guys, you know what? This is how we christians shock other friends. We impress our friends, teachers, families and relatives by rejoicing always even in the midst of bad situations. We sing hymns to God and pray to God even in our lowest moment, even in our worst times! When we rejoice, they will come to us, and will ask me ‘how come you are still be happy in those bad situation? when you don’t have any friend? when your computer is broken? when your grade is not as high? when your parents are fighting? even when you are bullied by some of bad friends’ Because we have our heavenly Father, who is great and who is good always, and who loves us! That’s why we can rejoice always, right? When we rejoice even in the worst moments, our friends will be shocked.

And what happened? Let us read the verse 34 altogether, alright?

And you know what could happen after that? Let’s see the rest of the story here. After the guard asked Paul and Silas about the way to be saved, Paul told them “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved - you and your household.” Then, the guard took them to his house and gave them things to eat, water to drink, and even washed their wounds, and he and all his household were baptized that day. And what happened? let us read the verse 34 all together, alright?

Acts 16:34 NIV

34 The jailer brought them into his house and set a meal before them; he was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God—he and his whole household.

They were filled with what? Filled with joy! Because he had come to believe in God, he and his whole household! Now we see a very important thing here. When we always rejoice, that joy we experienced never just stays in us and does nothing. It will jump out of our heart and will contaminate others! Our joy in God, everlasting, unchanging love in ourselves, will make others happy as well!

8. Application

Guys, This is how we Christians shock other friends, how we impress our friends, teachers, families, and relatives. We do so by always rejoicing even in the midst of bad situations. We sing hymns to God and pray to God even in our lowest moment, even in our worst times! When we rejoice, they will come to us, and will ask us ‘how come you are still happy in those bad situation? When you don’t have any friend? When your computer is broken? When your grade is not as high? When your parents are fighting? Even when you are bullied by some bad friends?’ Then, we will answer like this. ‘Because I have our heavenly Father, who is great and who is good always, and most of all, who loves us! That’s why I can always rejoice. So come to Jesus. You can be like me as well!’ That’s how we are gonna respond to our friends when they come to us and ask us about our joy. That is how we spread our gospels to the world. If you are joyful in God, it will affect your mom and dad who might be sad recently. If you are joyful in God always, it will make your friends and teachers happy who might be going through some tough situations recently. If you connect yourself always to Jesus, who is our fountain of joy, you can be a happy hose which makes others happy by connecting them to Jesus!

See this picture? Here is you, a lovely green hose which brings fresh water to this cute little baby. This little hose is you. All of you, who rejoice always in God. And this water is Joy. So joy can flow out to our lovely mom and dad and friends and teachers through us. Then they will be happy as we do! They will be joyful as we are! But don’t forget rejoice always in God is the first step. We should be connected to God always, because he is the endless fountain of joy, like this Naiagara Falls. No where else we can find joy like this. Go to Jesus, if your not happy! if no more joy left in you. It’s okay! go to Jesus and find Joy there! His joy is endless!

Remeber. When we rejoice even in the worst moments, our friends will be shocked. And they will come to us and ask us about the reason why we are so happy all the time. Do you have a friend in school you want them to come to Jesus? You can do that first by rejoicing in God always. They will come to you and ask you about God. And you can tell them that. And if they come to believe in Jesus Christ as we do, they will become happy as well! That is how we spread our gospels to the world. If you are joyful in God, it will affect your mom and dad who might be sad recently. If you are joyful in God always, it will make your friends and teachers happy who might be going through some tough situations recently. If you connect yourself always to Jesus, who is our fountain of joy, you can be a happy hose which makes others happy by connecting them to Jesus!

So, let’s try to connect the sermon last week with today’s sermon. If we rejoice always, we can rejoice together. Let’s end the sermon by shouting out this together. If we rejoice always, we can rejoice together! once agiain! If we rejoice always, we can rejoice together!

So, let’s try to connect the sermon last week with today’s sermon. If we rejoice always, we can rejoice together. Let’s end the sermon by shouting out this together. If we rejoice always, we can rejoice together! once again! If we rejoice always, we can rejoice together!

Imagine how the guard was amazed to see his prisoners are still there. He was shocked. This guys are crazy indeed. They were singing hymns and praying all night, which already make them look crazy enough, now they did not escape even the doors opened! The behavior these two people show the guard was nothing like other people’s.