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This morning we are picking back up in our study of the book of Acts.
If you’re new to our church, it would be helpful for you to know that here at MCF, we practice a form of preaching called “Expository Preaching”.
What that means is we believe the Bible is best taught be taking books of the Bible, and then breaking them down from beginning to end, chapter by chapter, verse by verse. Our goal: To better understand what the Bible says and how it applies to our lives today.
With that said, we are currently doing that through the book of Acts. A book written for two primary purposes:
First, to give us a history of how the church started.
Second, to show us how God intends the church to function in order to accomplish the mission of taking the Gospel to the entire world.
So, if you haven’t been with us, I would encourage you to go online to mcf.life where you can listen to all of the messages leading up to today.
As we come back to our study today, we are actually beginning a new section in Acts.
You may recall we just finished . A chapter that represented a turning point in the life of the early church as a man named Stephen became the first Christian martyr as he was killed because of his faith in Jesus.
You may recall it took place as Stephen was confronted by a group of religious leaders who felt threatened by the early church. And it was through this confrontation that Stephen attempted to lead them to Jesus. But, unfortunately, instead of putting their faith in Jesus, these men decided to kill Stephen instead. Listen again to how Luke describes his death.
57 But they cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears and rushed together at him. 58 Then they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul.
Acts 7:
59 And as they were stoning Stephen, he called out, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” 60 And falling to his knees he cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep.
Luke says Stephens faith cost him his life. Something that Jesus said would happen. Something that shouldn’t have surprised anybody, but for some, probably did.
And as a result, the honeymoon for the early church is over, and the early church is about to face its first round of persecution as their world is literally turned upside down.
But before we get to that, I want to begin by setting the stage and building some framework for what we are about to read. And to do that, I want to begin by asking you a question about your life.
Question - Have you ever had a moment or a situation in your life where a person or an event turned your world upside down?
And when I say, “Turned your world upside down”, I’m talking about a moment where something happened that was unexpected, startling, disturbing, and left you feeling like your world was crashing down around you. Have you ever had a moment like that?
For example, maybe you went to work one day, thinking it was just another day, but then the unexpected took place as the end of the day came, your boss called you in, and uttered the words, “We’re letting you go.” And now your world has been turned upside down.
Or maybe you got up one day, thinking it was like any other day. But then the phone rang, and the unthinkable moment came as the voice said, “I’m sorry to tell you this, but so and so has died.” And now your world has been turned upside down.
Example #1
Maybe you went to the doctor, it was supposed to be a routine check up, but then the doctor came in, and he uttered the dreaded statement, “You have cancer, and in that moment, your world was turned upside down.
Or maybe you and your spouse went out for dinner. You thought it was like any other date night. But as the evening came to a close, your spouse looked at you, and without any warning said, “I want a divorce.” And now your world has been turned upside down.
The truth is, if we all think about it, we’ve all had moments like that. Moments when our lives were abruptly interrupted and taken off course. Moments when the unthinkable or unexpected took place. Moments when our world was turned upside down.
Those are hard moments aren’t they? And if we’re honest, they’re moments that leave us with a lot of questions. Questions like, “Why is this happening to me”, “Why didn’t I see this coming”, and maybe even questions like, “Why has God allowed this too happen?”
Why is this happening to me, and maybe even, “Why is God allowing this to happen?”
Let me ask you this, “In your moment, have you ever asked those questions? Have you ever wondered why? And maybe even wondered why God is allowing your world to be turned upside down?”
The reason I ask you to consider this question, is because as we begin today, the early church is facing such a moment. Because with the death of Stephen, the early church is about to have its world turned upside down.
And at first it’s going to shake them. At first, it’s going to raise all kinds of questions. But believe it or not, in the end, it’s going to prove to be the catalyst that launches the early church into its greatest victories.
And so with the time we have this morning, I have three goals.
First, we’re going to read through the passage so we can get some context for their moment.
Second, we’re going to walk back through the passage and discover how and why their world was turned upside down.
Finally, we’re going to learn how this applies to our moments when our world gets turned upside down.
And my hope is, after studying this passage, that you and I will have a greater understanding of why God might allow such moments, and how these moments could actually lead to greater victory in our lives.
And so, to get us started, let’s pick back up in chapter 8 as the death of Stephen turns the early church upside down. Beginning in verse 1 we read:
1 And Saul approved of his execution.
And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. 2 Devout men buried Stephen and made great lamentation over him. 3 But Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison.
Doesn’t sound good, does it? Sounds like life has gone from good too bad for the early church. Which leads us to three important questions, “Why is this happening, who is behind it, and why would God allow it to happen to His church?”
Thankfully, Luke actually gives us quite a bit of information to answer these questions. So, to get started, let’s start with the first question, “Why this is happening”.
Let me show you hSo, before we get to far, there are couple of things I want you to notice:
Well, Luke says, along with the hatred of the church, it’s happening as a result of Stephen’s death. In other words, Stephen’s death is the catalyst for the persecution. It’s what opens the doors. Listen again to what Luke tells us:
“And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem.” (ESV)
Think of it like this. Imagine you were to go to a Chiefs and Broncos game, and during the middle of the game, as tensions are running high because the Broncos are beating the Chiefs, one of the Chiefs players takes a cheap shot at the Bronco quarterback, which is what we would expect to happen, and in the process severely injures the quarterback.
Let me ask you this, “In a situation like that, what typically happens after the cheap shot?” Well, it usually results in some sort of fight between the players as players go after one another.
You see, in that moment, because the tension was already there, the cheap shot is the catalyst for the greater conflict. All it took was the cheap shot to trigger an all out brawl to take place.
Same thing here. For weeks the tension between the religious leaders and the church has been building. All it took for all out persecution to begin was for one person to deliver a cheap shot, and in this case a stone. And from there, the bench is cleared as a great persecution erupts against the church.
d “megas”. Bet you can’t guess what that implies. It means an intense action that is considerably above average.
The word translated “great” here comes from the Greek word “megas”. Bet you can’t guess what that implies. It means an intense action that is considerably above average.
So, not only is it
So, that’s the why. The persecution is the result of mounting tension and a stone being throne.
This leads us to the who.
Luke says there is a key individual involved in the persecution. He says it’s a man named Saul. Luke writes, “And Saul approved of his execution.” (ESV)
So, to get us started, I want to begin by pointing out key individual in this moment of crisis. An individual who at this particular point in church history is the churches greatest enemy, but in the end will become the churches greatest ally. A man named Saul.
The word for “ravaging” here comes from the Greek word “lymaino”. It’s to imperil the health of someone. It’s the same word used to describe a wild animal tearing meat of the bones of its prey.
Well, to answer that, we need to I want to begin by pointing out key individual in this moment of crisis. An individual who at this particular point in church history is the churches greatest enemy, but in the end will become the churches greatest ally. A man named Saul.
So, what this is saying is, “Saul was turning the church upside down”. He was killing, pillaging, and imprisoning Christians.
Now, at this point in the story, we’re not going to get into the details of Saul
So, a good question might be, “Who is Saul?”
Well, we’ll get more into who Saul was as we move further into Acts, but for now, all you need to know is, at this point in church history, Saul is a religious leader who hates the church. In fact, he hates it more than most, and according to Luke is the one who provoked the stoning and death of Stephen. We know based on two clues:
Clue #1 - back in chapter 7 we are told that as the people begin to stone Stephen, they laid there cloaks at the feet of a man named Saul. Listen again to what Luke tells us:
58 Then they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul.
What Luke is implying here is as the people led Stephen out to be stoned, somebody was leading the way, and apparently his name was Saul. Because Luke says, as the people get ready to stone Stephen, in order to make it easier to throw the stones, they take off their jackets, and they set them at the feet of Saul. Which implies that Saul is at the center of the stoning.
This is then further backed up by a second clue that Luke gives us beginning in chapter 8. Listen again to what Luke says:
“And Saul approved of his execution.” (ESV)
1 And Saul approved of his execution.
And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles.
So, according to Luke, Saul is not only the one leading the charge, he’s the one giving the people permission to stone Stephen to death. And it doesn’t end there. Because Luke says following the death of Stephen, Saul goes on an all out rampage against the church. Luke tells it like this:
3 But Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison.
The word for ravaging here comes from the Greek Word “lymaino”. It’s the idea of causing severe harm or damage. In fact, it’s the same word that’s used to describe a lion tearing the meat from the bone of its prey.
The implication then is, Saul was doing everything he could to tear the church apart. He was literally going into homes and turning them upside down as he killed, pillaged, and threw Christians in prison.
So, that’s the who.
This now leads us to the third question, “Why is God allowing this to happen?”
To be honest, the answer might surprise you. Listen again to what Luke tells us, first in verse 1:
“And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles.” (ESV)
Luke says the persecution resulted in a “scattering” of the Jerusalem church throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria…
The word for “scattered” here comes from the Greek word “diaspeiro”. It’s the idea of seeds being sown or scattered into a field.
So, what Luke is saying is, when the persecution took place, it caused the Christians to be scattered like seeds throughout the regions outside of Jersualem.
So, why is this wording and detail important?
It’s important, because what I want to suggest to you, is that the reason the persecution came, is so that the church would engage in the mission Jesus had originally called it too.
Let me show you what I’m talking about. Back in , right before Jesus ascends into heaven, Jesus gives the disciples specific instructions. Listen to what He says in :8:
8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
Notice what Jesus tells them to do. Jesus tells them after they are filled with the empowerment of the Holy Spirit, that they are to take the Gospel first to Jerusalem, and then from there to Judea, Samaria, and to the rest of the world.
The problem though is, up until this point, the church in Jerusalem hasn’t done that. In fact, there doesn’t seem to be any indication that this is even on their radar.
How do we know? We know because instead of looking to take the gospel outside of Jersualem, they’re focused on building a utopian kingdom within Jerusalem. We see the evidence of that back in chapter 4 as the early church begins to grow and prosper. Listen to how Luke describes it:
32 Now the full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common. 33 And with great power the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all. 34 There was not a needy person among them, for as many as were owners of lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold 35 and laid it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need.
You see, what I’d like to suggest to you, is in the midst of the growth and the excitement of the early church, they’ve grown comfortable and lost sight of the mission. And as a result, God has to apply some pressure in order to push them back on mission.
You see, what I’d like to suggest to you, is in the midst of the growth and the excitement of the early church, they’ve grown comfortable and lost sight of their mission focus. And as a result, God has to apply some pressure in order to push them back into focus.
You see, the scattering had to take place to help the early Christians get back on mission. To push them into the regions that Jesus had originally instructed them to go. And this is further supported by what Luke tells us in verse 4. Because in verse 4 Luke tells us what the scattering produced. Listen to what he says:
So, what that means is, when the persecution took place, it caused the Christians to be scattered like seeds throughout the regions outside of Jersualem. Into the regions that Jesus had originally instructed them to go. And this is further supported by what Luke tells us in verse 4. Because in verse 4 Luke tells us what the scattering produced. Listen to what he says:
4 Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word.
Luke says for the Christians who were forced out of Jerusalem, like seeds they were scattered throughout the region, and they began to preach the word. In other words, they started planting the seeds of the gospel in other places. And now, the gospel has gone out from Jerusalem, too Judea, and into Samaria.
Let me put it like this, the church needed to get back on mission, so God allowed a great persecution to take place. A persecution that would force the early Christians out of their Christian comfort zones and into the mission field that God had called them too.
Because had the persecution not taken place, had Saul not sought to kill and imprison the Jersualem church, there’s a good chance they would have stayed in the comfortable Christian lifestyle they had created in Jerusalem.
And so, in order to get them out of their comfort, God allowed their world to be turned upside down. God put them in an uncomfortable position that forced them out of their comfort zone and back into the mission.
Now, a good question at this point would be, “While this is all very interesting, how does this apply to us? How does God turning their world upside down relate to the moments in our life when our world is turned upside down?”
What I want to suggest to you is it applies in much the same way. What I want to suggest to you, is if your a Christian, in the moments where your world gets turned upside down, that there’s a reason God has allowed it, and maybe, just maybe, it has a kingdom purpose.
So, with our time remaining, I want to leave you with three suggestions concerning your life, God’s plan, and why at times God may allow your world to be turned upside down. Here’s the first suggestion:
Here’s the first suggestion:
Suggestion #1 - If you’re a Christian, God has a divine plan, purpose, and mission for your life.
The fact of the matter is, when you put your faith in Jesus, you entered into a pre-ordained plan that God has for your life. The prophet Jeremiah puts it like this:
5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
and before you were born I consecrated you;
I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”
Jeremiah
11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.
Jeremiah 29:111
Jeremiah says God has a plan for your life. God has a purpose for your life. You are here for a reason and God has a divine purpose for your life.
And contrary to what western Christianity has often taught, it’s not a plan for self indulgence or a plan to live your best life now. In other words, you weren’t put on this planet to just eat, watch Netflix, browse Facebook and try and keep up with the Jones’s. No. God has a plan for you that involves glorifying Him and leading as many people as you can to faith in Jesus. Because after all, that’s what Jesus says God ordained you to do.
Jesus puts it like this:
16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you.
Jesus says he chose and appointed you for a purpose, a purpose that involves producing fruit. Fruit that comes as you scatter the seed of the good news of the gospel along the path of your life. A path that has been pre-ordained and designed by God. The prophet Jeremiah says it like this:
5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
and before you were born I consecrated you;
I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”
Jeremiah
And the amazing thing about God,
For some, your path
Jeremiah says before you were even born, God had a plan for your life. A plan for you to be a spokesman of hope to a lost and dying world.
That’s amazing, isn’t it?
Now, does that mean that everybody has been called to full time ministry?
I would say yes and no.
9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
No in that sense that not everybody is called to occupational ministry. For example, not everybody is called to be a pastor like me Jacob, or Jackie.
But yes in the sense that every Christian has been ordained by God to communicate the gospel.
In other words, on a daily basis, God wants to use you to share the gospel with specific people in specific places. Meaning, God has a Judea for you to share the gospel in. God has a Samaria for you to share the gospel in.
And for each of us, our Judea’s and Samaria’s have different names. For some, your Judea is called Landoll Corporation. For others, your Judea is called Walmart, or Valley Vet, or Subway, or Sonic. And the list goes on for the multiple places that God has placed each of us.
But it’s not just limited to Judea. God has also called you to reach Samaria as well. He’s called you to reach people not only in Marysville, but in Waterville, Blue Rapids, Frankfort, Home City, Hanover, Bettie, and the list goes on of people you interact with from different communities within our region.
You see, whether you realize it or not, you are the ministers God has placed to reach the people of this area.
The challenge though, is many Christians would rather stay in Jersualem. They’d rather stay in the comfort of their own little world. The comfort of their religious heritage. The comfort of not offending someone by remaining politically correct. The comfort of attending church without making any contributions of time, service, or resources. The comfort of following Jesus for their own pleasure and benefit.
To communicate the gospel in their social interactions.
And to be honest, that’s easy to do. Unfortunately, it’s easy to want to be comfortable. It’s easy to stay in Jerusalem. The problem though is, when you make comfort the priority of your life, you miss out on the plan and purpose God has for you.
To communicate the gospel through serving others.
This leads us to a second suggestion I’d like to make when it comes to God’s plan and purpose for your life.
To communicate the gospel through their giving.
Suggestion #2 - One of the greatest deterrents for accomplishing God’s plan and purpose in your life will be the love of comfort.
To communicate the gospel
In his letter to Timothy, Paul encourages Timothy not to fall victim to this trap. Listen to what he tells Timothy:
9 But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction.
The word translated “rich” here comes from the Greek word “plouteo”. It’s the idea of having considerably more than what would be regarded as the norm in a society.
Here’s another way to say it. To be rich in this context is to be overly and considerably comfortable.
Now, before I get too far into this, let me begin by saying I don’t think there’s anything wrong with having money or even having a lot of money. The fact is, the Bible is full of great men and women of God who had a lot of money. The problem comes when money and comfort become the little gods we live for. And that’s the trap many American Christians have fallen into.
You see, one of the main dangers in being rich or comfortable in our Christianity is that over time, comfort tends to begin to feel like something we deserve, have earned, and that God owes us; and what we once called "luxury" is now called "need."
And once we start down that road, it becomes like a drug as we want more and more things, more and more securities, and more and more comforts.
In addition to that, some American Christians have unfortunately adopted the American dream as part of its theology. It’s called the prosperity gospel. It’s the idea that your health and wealth are tied to your faith. And so what the prosperity gospel teaches is the more faith you have, the more God will bless you and bring security into your life. But if you don’t have the faith you should have, then bad things are going to happen.
I’m going to tell you right now, the prosperity gospel is a false gospel. Because the fact is, bad things happen
And what happens is, over time our conversations with people begin drifting away from spiritual and eternal matters to worldly and temporal matters. As our focus shifts to material possessions and the new things that we have just bought or need. And guess what, that’s not kingdom language. That’s not what Jesus wants us to focus on and be concerned with. In fact, listen to what Jesus has to say about our needs and comfort:
31 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
Jesus says, "Don’t be anxious about your comfort.” Jesus says, “Don’t live your life walking around focused on what your going to eat, or 'what your going to drink or what you’re going to wear?'
Jesus says that’s how worldly people operate and live. That’s what their focus is. But not you. You focus on Kingdom issues. You focus on what God has called you to do. And if you’ll do that, God promises to provide all the other stuff, because He knows what you need.
You see, Jesus was pleading for us to not get caught up in the desire for comfort. But instead, too give oursevles to Kingdom issues, and let food and clothing and drink take care of themselves." But unfortunately, we get it backwards.
So, instead of talking about what Jesus is doing or wants to do in our lives, we talk about our possessions, the toys we’ve bought, the houses we live in, the cars we drive, and only now and then does the topic of our faith or Jesus come into the conversation. In fact, most times it doesn’t, because the truth is, we like our Jerusalem. We like the world of comfort we’ve built and constructed around ourselves.
And please hear me, I’m not saying you can’t live in a certain level of comfort. I’m not saying you can’t have money or be wealthy. The truth is, I live n a nice house and I drive a nice car. And the fact is, we all need a place too live. We all need vehicles to drive. We live in a day and age where it would be difficult to interact with people and do business without a smartphone or a computer. There are certain conveniences and comforts that are necessary for us to do life. The problem comes when those things become the things we live for. And unfortunately, many Christians live for those things.
Talk about Christ, and missions, and ministry, and making an impact for Jesus. Oh yes, you need a place to stay. Sure, you need a way to get around. Sure, you probably need a computer these days, so that you can communicate by email. But let your conversation and your energy flow mainly with Kingdom vision and Kingdom issues.
But what if instead of focusing on our comfort, we focused on Jesus, and missions, and ministry, and making an impact for Jesus. What if we focused on the mission He’s given us. What if instead of making comfort a priority, we made reaching people for Jesus a priority. Do you think that would make a difference?
What I’m saying is, comfort isn’t the problem. The problem is when we make comfort the main priority.
What I’m saying is, comfort isn’t the problem. The problem is when we make comfort the main priority.
But what if instead of making our comfort the priority, we let our conversation and our energy flow mainly with Kingdom vision and Kingdom issues. What if instead of worrying about our level of comfort, we started worrying about how uncomfortable it’s going to be for people who die without knowing Jesus. What if, instead of making our comfort the main priority, we started making Jesus and His mission to reach the lost the main priority.
You see, one of the greatest deterrents for you accomplishing God’s plan in your life will be your love of comfort. Your desire to keep up with the Jones’s. Your obsession with having to have the latest and greatest model or gadgets. Your desire to fulfill the American dream, instead of fulfilling the Great Commission. The mission of taking the Gospel from Jerusalem, to Judea, too Samaria, and into the rest of the world.
This leads us to one final suggestion I’d like to make to you when it comes to our love or desire of comfort.
Suggestion #3 - Sometimes, in order to get us refocused, God has to disrupt our comfort by turning our world upside down.
Suggestion #2 - One of the greatest deterrents for accomplishing God’s work in your life isn’t the devil, it’s your love of comfort.
As I said earlier, the early church needed a wake up call. A reminder that Jesus didn’t come so they could just live in the comfort of a Christian community. But that He came to reach a world that desperately needs to hear the gospel. And so, using a man named Saul, God reminded them by turning their world upside down.
Now, you might be thinking, “Pastor, are you saying God allowed this to happen? Are you saying the persecution came from God?’
Suggestion #3 - Sometimes, in order to get us refocused, God has to disrupt our comfort by turning our world upside down.
I’m saying God allowed it because it was the only way to get the early church out of its comfort zone.
I mean think about it. The day before Stephen is killed, the early church is living the Jersualem Christian dream. They’re meeting in their weekly Life Groups. They’re BBQ steaks. They’re watching a new DVD series the Apostle Peter has just put out. They’re enjoying the fellowship and comfort of their Jerusalem Christian community. All the while people are dying without Jesus in Judea and Samaria.
So, God sends a wake up call, and then over night it all changes. Over night, their world is turned upside down as their friend Stephen is killed and a man named Saul begins to tear the church apart, forcing them to flee their homes, their possessions, their comforts and everything they knew.
And now they have to depend on God in a way that weren’t before. And now with their comforts gone, the mission is back in focus.
Here’s what I want to suggest to you. That if you’re a Christian, it’s possible, those moments when your world gets turned upside down, are God initiated moments.
Moments when God is trying to get your attention. Moments when God is trying to refocus you. Moments when God is trying to teach you something. Moments when God is reminding you of where your true source of comfort should be coming from. Moments when God is trying to get you back on track and back on the path He has called you too. Or maybe even a moment when God is trying to set you on a new path.
Let me give you a few examples of what I’m talking about.
When it comes to the death of a loved one, for most people, that is a turn your world upside down moment. A moment when somebody you love and were doing life with is suddenly gone. It’s not a fun moment.
But it is a moment that tends to refocus us. A moment when we are reminded of what’s really important in life. A moment when we are reminded of how fragile and temporary this life is. A moment where all of a sudden, our possessions and our comfort don’t really matter as much. A moment when seek God in a way we weren’t or haven’t before.
The same is true when you unexpectedly lose a job. That’s a turn your world upside down moment as you go from employed to unemployed. As you go from stable income to no income. It’s not a fun moment.
But it is a moment that refocuses us. A moment when we are reminded of who our true source of income is. A moment when we must depend on God in a way we haven’t or weren’t before. A moment where God may even want to get our attention as he redirect s and refocuses our path.
And the list goes on of moments where our world gets turned upside down and all of a sudden our focus on comforts diminishes as we are forced to deal with the pain and seek God in a way we’ve possibly neglected or weren’t before.
And let me say this, I’m not saying every bad thing in your life is a result of God
I know I’ve faced moments like that in my life.
Story of Leaving James River -
I was comfortable living in Springfield.
I loved my house and subdivision. I lived in a subdivision where people had no weeds in their yards. I had a sprinkler system that watered my grass everyday.
I loved the schools my kids attended. They were ranked the highest in the state.
I loved the conveniences Springfield provided. I had an Andy’s right down the road from me.
I loved the church I worked at. The church had a fitness center in it that was open to me 24 hours a day. We had a Starbucks in our lobby. It was like Christian Disney Land.
I loved our friendships. Everybody we knew loved Jesus. We spent time in other Christians homes. We fellowshipped and did life together.
I was comfortable living in my Jerusalem.
But the truth is, I had grown to comfortable and in my love of my comfort, I had lost site of what God had called and purposed me to do.
But the truth is, I had grown too comfortable and in my love of my comfort, I had lost site of what God had called and purposed me to do.
In fact, at one point my wife Denise mentioned to me that she felt like God might have something different for us. I didn’t agree, in fact I told her I didn’t ever want to hear words like that come out of her mouth again. I wasn’t going to leave Jerusalem.
And so, because God loves me and has a divine plan for my life, overnight God turned my world upside down.
In fact, I can tell you exactly when it happened. It was a Wednesday in July of 2010. I had just gone to Chick-fil-A, another one of my comforts, and I’d ordered two #1 entries. After eating I decided to stop by the mall so I could grab a new pair of shorts, because the next day I was going to Kid’s camp with my son David.
But as I pulled into my parking spot, my phone rang, and on the caller ID I could see it was one of the other pastors at our church. I thought about sending it to voicemail, but then I thought, “It’s odd that he would call me, I better answer it.”
And so I answered, and he began to talk, and my stomach sank.
I’m not going to go into the details of what the conversation was about. I will tell you it wasn’t about anything illegal, unethical or immoral that I had done. But by the time our conversation was over, I knew my time at James River was over. I knew my world was about to be turned upside down.
And it was. Because over the course of the next two months God moved us out of Springfield and into Judea. He moved us to the Poconos. And it was a hard move for our family. It was hard to leave the comforts of Jerusalem.
And within the
I
And for two years we would live in the Poconos, outside of the comforts we had known. Struggling to understand what God was doing. In fact, there were nights I would cry myself to sleep as I thought about the loss of my comfort.
But during those two years we were forced to trust God in ways we hadn’t been trusting Him. During those two years, while it was painful, God refined and reshaped us for a greater purpose.
And after two years, God opened up a door of opportunity and sent us to Samaria. To a little place He had prepared for us. A place called Marysville, KS. To a place He had called us to.
And if I’m being honest, while Marysville is no Springfield, I know for a fact if I would have stayed in Springfield, I would have never developed and become the pastor God has called me to be. I would have never gotten to experience the joy of what God is doing at MCF. I would have missed out on God’s plan and purpose for my life.
Because like it or not, when comfort becomes our focus, it diminishes God’s ability to use us.
Now, at this point some of you might be thinking, “So pastor, are you saying that every time my world gets turned upside down. Every-time somebody dies, whenever I lose a job, when those things happen, that God is trying to teach me something?”
Now,
What I’m saying is those are moments that God may be using to speak to you.
Moments where you are motivated too trust God more. Moments where new opportunities may open up. Moments when you are forced out of a slumber. Moments where what’s really important are brought back into focus. Moments that refocus and redirect our lives Moments that move us out of Jerusalem and into a place God has called us to go.
Listen, all I’m suggesting is maybe when your world gets turned upside down, it’s a great opportunity for you to ask God, “God what are you trying to show me? God, what are you trying to teach me? God, what do you want me to see in this moment?”
And if you’ll do that, it’s possible God may show you and lead you to something He wants for your life. Something that would have never happened if your world would have never changed. It could be, that when your world gets turned upside down that it’s not the worst thing that could have happened, but the best.
And I want to be careful when I say that, because for some in this room, you’re still dealing with the pain of your world getting turned upside down. And you have a lot of questions. And you’re maybe even angry. And I understand that. And the fact is, we need to mourn what we’ve lost. The early church did. We know this because after the death of Stephen, listen to what they did:
2 Devout men buried Stephen and made great lamentation over him.
Acts 8
Luke says after Stephen was killed, they buried and had great sorrow over his loss. As they should have. But they couldn’t live in that. That had to keep moving forward. In fact they didn’t have much of a choice, because in the next verse it says:
3 But Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison.
Here’s what I’m saying. When your world gets turned upside down, take time to lament and deal with the pain. But don’t live in it. Instead, ask God what the pain was meant to do. Where it’s meant to lead you. And how God is going to use it to accomplish his plan and purpose for your life.
Because while it may not appear to be the case, God can use our greatest pain to produce the greatest growth in our life. And he does it by scattering us. He does it by sometimes forcing us out of our comfort and back into His perfect will for our lives.
Let’s Pray
And now the honeymoon for the early church is over. Because with the death of Stephen the flood doors of persecution have now been opened. Following the death of Stephen, listen to what happens next. Picking up in chapter 8 we read:
Acts 8:1
1 And Saul approved of his execution.
And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles.