The Heart of the Gospel

0:00chan. Hello again. Good morning. Happy rainy Sunday. This is our time for call to worship to come in and sit down and take a breath and remember why we came to church or to realize that the Lord brought us to church because he has a purpose for bringing us to church this morning. So our call to worship is an invitation and I thought I would find a nice verse about invitation in the Bible this week so I got out my concordance and looked up the word invitation.

1:06It's only the word invited three times in the Old Testament in story mode. So I had to skip that. So I was just thinking about invitations though. This is a time to invitation. The Lord does invite us. God does invite us so much into his presence and invites us to do so much but we have to. I realized I have to put more conscious effort than just looking up the word. I have to think about it. I have to watch for the words of invitation from the Lord. So that's my prayer for us this morning is that our hearts will be tuned to watching for invitation from the Lord. And I just have a Psalm to share as we start our worship service. So it's Psalm 100. Assam for giving thanks. Make a joyful noise to the Lord all the earth. Serve the Lord with gladness come into his presence with singing. Know that the Lord he is God. It is he who made us and we are his.

2:06We are his people and the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with Thanksgiving and his courts with praise. Give thanks to him. Bless his name for the Lord is good. His steadfast love endures forever and his faithfulness to all generations. Good morning, church. If you all would like to stand with us, we're going to begin the service with singing. Thank you.

3:07Who freaks the power of sin and tired Lord his mother's glory who prays The heart is in the wind. The sheets of water with holy fire and with leaves as wet as and all in wonder the king of the world the king of the heart is in the wind. This is amazing race. This is a fairly long that you would take my place that you would live my life you'd live your life that would be to me oh Jesus I sing for all that is done for me

4:24who brings our chaos back into war who makes the earthen a sun and a dawn the king of the world the king of the world the king of the world the nation the truth and justice the shine-tongue shining all of this brilliant the king of glory the king of the whole kingdom this is a amazing race this is a fairly long that you would take my place that you would live my life you'd live your life that would be to me

5:26oh Jesus I sing for all that is done for me oh oh oh oh oh who is the level of stake who is the king of conquerability who is the level of stake who is the king of conquerability who is the level of restraint who is the king of conquerability who is the level of stake

6:27This is amazing grace. This is a fairly cool, that you would shake my face. How you would bear my cross, you would never be alive. That I would be afraid of you. Oh, where are you from, where are you from? Oh, spirit of the Lord, here is freedom.

7:32Oh, spirit of the Lord, here is freedom. Oh, where are you from, where are you from? Oh, where are you from, where are you from? Oh, spirit of the Lord, here is freedom. Lift your eyes to heaven, oh, where are you from, where are you from? Lead our brains and lift them. Showers of mercy and praise. Holy God, everything, oh, where is freedom.

8:34Oh, spirit of the Lord, here is freedom. Oh, spirit of the Lord, here is freedom. Holy God, everything, oh, where is freedom. If you tie to your other speed, oh, where is freedom. Inside of you, what is freedom. Oh, where is freedom. Oh, where are you from, where is freedom.

9:38Oh, bring it all to Jesus. Oh, there is freedom. Lead our brains and lift them. Showers of mercy and praise. Holy God, everything, oh, where is freedom. Lead our brains and lift them. Showers of mercy and praise. Holy God, everything, oh, where is freedom.

10:42Oh, Jesus reigns and lift them. Showers of mercy and praise. Holy God, everything, oh, where is freedom. Oh, Jesus reigns and lift them. Showers of mercy and praise. Holy God, everything, oh, where is freedom. Jesus reigns in this place. Showers of mercy and praise.

11:47Holy God, everything, oh, where is freedom. Oh, oh, where is freedom. Oh, oh, where is freedom. Oh, oh, where is freedom.

12:47Oh, oh, where is freedom. We've come to join us all. So long before our lives, to raise our voice along. Heaven and earth are alive. We've seen your faithful hand. You're mercy without it. The King who bled and died.

13:47A God who sacrificed. Being thrown upon the praises of the thousand generations you are worthy. Lord of all, and unto you displayed in praise and King. We lived our voice with Heavens, thinking worthy. Lord of all, all through this life we lead. Known through eternity, or in this praise we cry. Let's be glorified. Jesus be glorified and thrown.

14:52Being thrown upon the praises of the thousand generations you are worthy. Lord of all, and unto you displayed in praise and King. We lived our voice with Heavens, thinking worthy. Lord of all, and unto you displayed in praise. Being thrown upon the praises of the thousand generations you are worthy. Lord of all, and unto you displayed in praise and King. We lived our voice with Heavens, thinking worthy. Lord of all, and unto you displayed in praise. I am the highest praises.

16:20Lord of all, and unto you displayed in praise. Lay that before us. I am the highest praises. Lord of all, and unto you displayed in praise. I am the highest praises. Lord of all, and unto you displayed in praise. I am the highest praises. Lord of all, and unto you displayed in praise. I am the highest praises. Lord of all, and unto you displayed in praise.

17:32I am thrown upon the praises of the thousand generations you are worthy. Lord of all, and unto you displayed in praise and King. We lived our voice with Heavens, thinking worthy. Lord of all, and unto you displayed in praise. Lord of all, and unto you displayed in praise. Lord of all, and unto you displayed in praise and King. I am the highest praises. Lord of all, and unto you displayed in praise. I am the highest praises.

18:38Still in your hands, this is my confidence. You'll never fail me. I thought by now the late night, but you have never failed me.

19:48Waiting for change to come, knowing about us, for you have never failed me. I am the highest praises. Still in your hands, this is my confidence. You'll never fail me. I know the night won't last.

21:00Lord, word will come to you. My heart will sing your praise again. Yes, it will. Oh Jesus, Jesus, you're still in love. You'll never fail me. I know the night won't last. I know the night won't last. Lord, word will come to you. I know the night won't last.

22:00I am the highest praises. Still in your hands, this is my confidence. You'll never fail me. You'll never fail me. I know the night won't last. I know the night won't last.

23:07I know the night won't last. I feel going away. Where there was no way I could be. I'll see you doing again. You're moving around today. I'll see you doing again. You're moving away. Where there was no way I could be. I'll see you doing again. I'll see you doing again. I'll see you doing again.

24:13I'll see you doing again. Your promise still stands. Great is your faithfulness. I'm still in your hands. This is my confidence. You'll never fail me.

25:15A word from God's Scripture. That set off a terrific persecution of the church in Jerusalem. The believers were all scattered throughout Judea and Samaria. All that is but the apostles. Good and brave men buried Stephen, giving him a solemn funeral. Not many dry eyes that day. Saul just went wild, devastating the church, entering house after house after house, dragging men and women off to jail. Forced to leave home base, the followers of Jesus all became missionaries. Wherever they were scattered, they preached the message about Jesus. Going down to a Samaritan city, Philip proclaimed the message of the Messiah. When the people heard what he had to say and saw the miracles, the clear signs of God's end, they hung on his every word.

26:16Many who could neither stand nor walk were healed that day. The evil spirits protested loudly as they were sent on their way and what joy in the city. Previous to Philip's arrival, a certain Simon had practiced magic in the city, posing as a famous man and dazzling all the Samaritans with his wizardry. He had them all, from little children to old men, eating out of his hand. They all thought he had supernatural powers and called him the Great Wizard. He had been around a long time and everyone was more or less in awe of him. But when Philip came to town announcing the news of God's kingdom and proclaiming the name of Jesus Christ, they forgot Simon and were baptized, becoming believers right and left, even Simon himself believed and was baptized. From that moment, he was like Philip's shadow, so fascinated with all the God signs and miracles that he wouldn't leave Philip's side.

27:23When the apostles in Jerusalem received the report the Samaria had accepted God's message, they sent Peter and John down to pray for them to receive the Holy Spirit. Up to this point, they had only been baptized in the name of the Master Jesus. The Holy Spirit hadn't yet fallen on them. Then the apostles laid their hands on them and they did receive the Holy Spirit. When Simon saw that the apostles by merely laying on hands conferred the Spirit, he pulled out his money, excited, and said, sell me your secret. Show me how you did that, how much do you want? Name your price. Peter said, to hell with your money and you along with it, why that's unthinkable, trying to buy God's gift, you'll never be part of what God is doing by striking bargains and offering bribes. Change your ways and now ask the Master to forgive you for trying to use God to make money.

28:30I can see this as an old habit with you, you wreak with money lust. Oh, said Simon, pray for me, pray to the Master that nothing like that will ever happen to me. And with that, the apostles were on their way, continuing to witness and spread the message of God's salvation, preaching in every Samaritan town they passed through on their return to Jerusalem. This is the Word of the Lord. Thanks to the Lord our God and King is loving doors forever. He is good, he is above all things, loving doors forever.

29:32Sing great, sing great, my hand and I'll stretch down his loving doors forever. For the life that's been reborn, his loving doors forever, sing great, sing great, sing great, sing great, sing great. Forever God is faithful, forever God is strong, forever God is with us forever.

30:40Losing to the setting sun, his loving doors forever, by the grace of God we will carry on. His loving doors forever, sing great, sing great, sing great, sing great. Forever God is faithful, forever God is strong, forever God is with us forever, forever, forever. Thanks to the Lord our God and King is loving doors forever.

31:48He is good, he is above all things, loving doors forever, sing great, sing great, my hand and I'll stretch down his loving doors forever. For the life that's been reborn, his loving doors forever, sing great, sing great, sing great, sing great, sing great, sing great, sing great. Forever God is faithful, forever God is strong, forever God is with us forever, forever.

33:00Forever God is faithful, forever God is strong. Forever God is with us, forever, forever, forever. Colossians says, let the word of Christ dwell richly, and you're teaching it and monitoring one another, and always them seeing songs and hymns and spiritual songs. What a wonderful thing it is to worship together and to have people that lead us to love and serve Jesus so faithfully. So thank you. Kids, you can gather, and we will get you over there with Mr. Chote. We will pray for them as they exit.

34:01Father, we thank you so much for your children. We thank you that they are here with us today, Lord, that they get to see the works of your people, the works of your glory. I pray that you would just anoint. David and his helpers today, Lord, that they would just speak your truth to them, that those children would just be washed in your word, and they would be raised up to be men and women after your own heart. Thank you. Keep them in your precious name, amen. My name is Kelly. I am not a pastor here either. I just finished a one-year anniversary being an elder. As Brandon talked about last week, Kenner's on vacation. Thank you. Thank you. So you kind of are getting to the end of the rope here in teachers, and then Kenner's come back. Kenner comes back next week. The one thing that I did ask Kenner when he left, I said, as long as I don't follow Brandon, we're fine. Because that's like getting called up from the miners

35:02and then hitting after Otani. It's like, it's just, it's not fair to anybody. Brandon did a wonderful job last week, leading us through Acts 7, and talking a little bit about the stoning of Steven and the death of that, and then where that goes. Before we jump into this, there's a couple of family business things that we need to take care of. First off, we as a leadership team, sought and heard, deciphered, and we really, really, really want to stay at one service. Labor Day weekend today is not super reflective of that, but we're still bursting at the seams and ways. And so we acknowledge that, and one of the things that we were able to do was expand the backyard and knock out that stage. And your guys' faithful gifts have been a blessing to that to make that happen. The one last thing that we need to do is on the south end, we have a classroom. And the classroom is really chopped up into three storage rooms in a classroom, and it's really undersized for the youth, because as Kenner has been preaching here for the last 20 years, it's to be fruitful and multiply, and we're starting to see that.

36:02There's so many kids here. It's a gift, but we're out of space. And so we are venturing down the road of updating that. We've got to knock out some walls. We have to move some electrical and make that more usable for the kids. Also, with that, it's going to be a usable space for a lot more than just kids. So we have got some bids. We're excited about it. We're moving forward. Projects always cost more than we think, and we anticipate. So we do our best. We do our due diligence. So far, we have raised about $60,000. $65,000 for that project, which is amazing. We've had a couple of large gifts. We've had some other ones, so thank you. We still need about $30,000. I would just encourage you to pray about that. Think about that. We are going down the road. We are headed down the way of actually starting construction very soon. But that's just where we're at. We're just paying the picture for you guys, so you are in the know of where we're at as a church to kind of finish this remodel project as we continue to serve the Lord here in this space,

37:04and with one service. So, yeah, that's where that's at. Billy Hague. Welcome back. Kristen and Billy. They've been on Syvallicle for a few months. And, man, we missed you guys. It's such a blessing to have you guys. And, yeah, we just pray that your time was good, and that the Lord spoke to you, and that there was some rest in recovery, and we're just excited to have you back. Yeah, I almost called you yesterday to have you be here instead of me. But it didn't happen. Let's pray real quick, and we'll jump into the text. Father, we thank you for the souls that are in this building. Thank you that you sent your son to die for each and every one of us, and that we get to live because of that. I pray this morning, Lord, that your spirit would just come down in this building that hearts would be softened, that hearts would be in tune with you, Lord,

38:04and we would be on mission for you and all that we do. I pray for, yeah, just every person in here, God, that you would hear the words that you have for us, that you would speak through me, and that you were faithful, presidents, and prophetic witness, Lord, would go out to the neighborhoods and to the local communities that we serve in love. And your precious name, amen. Okay, Acts chapter 8. I asked Paul to read from the message. That's not something that I'm teaching from. If you have a problem with that email, Billy, he's back now. That's great. Billy at RVF. I understand some of the emotion of what was going on. Some of the actual transpiring events in Acts chapter 8. Paul's smiling at me because I kind of had to talk him into it, to be honest with you. But I wanted that some of that emotion to be captured of what was actually happening in this early church. Saul, who we all know what happens later in the road, Damascus is literally dragging people out of their homes and taking into prison.

39:04And as Brandon talked about last week that we had Stephen on mission, and Saul on mission, both thinking they were right, but very, very, very different and contradicting kingdoms. And so we see that story transpire, and we see what happens, and we see Stephen's death, and Saul continues to ravage the church, as we talked about. So we're going to look at a couple things. And some of the lens that I want you guys to operate with today is we have scattered, surrendered, and transformed. So the church was scattered, people surrendered, and they stayed faithful, and then we see transformation. So scattered, surrendered, and transformed. That's the central idea of what we're going to operate off today. The more the scattering, the more the gathering, and the more death, the more resurrection. Those things are very contradictory to what we believe as humans typically. We see death, and we think that's the end of the road. That's not what this story paints. It's not what the gospel shares. Acts 8 begins looking like a disaster. Stephen is killed.

40:05He's the first martyr. Saul's attacking the church, and the believers say we're out. We're going to Jerusalem. So the church in Jerusalem, small growing, is scattered, and it's gone. Samaria is about 50 miles away, which doesn't seem like much for us, but on foot, that probably took five to six days for them to get there. So they didn't really know what was going on per se in Jerusalem, but they were there, and they got scattered, and that's kind of the first place that we see where the church went to. What looks like destruction actually becomes distribution. And so the question that we see in this is, do I want Jesus himself, or do I want what Jesus can do for me? So the first three verses we're going to jump into, persecution and scattering, 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. They stayed in Jerusalem. The devout men buried Stephen, and they made great lamentation over him.

41:08But Saul was ravaging the church and entering house after house. He drug off men and women and committed them to prison. So we see Stephen's death. When Stephen is being stoned, he has two things he can choose. He can seek the hand of God, or he can seek the face of God. Just like he had seen Jesus on the cross say, Father, forgive them, they not know what they do, Stephen said, Lord, do not hold this against them. So he could respond like Stephen, or he could respond like Jesus, and then this leads into this persecution. And so one of the things that Stephen, that we see in this transition, is we seek the hand of God, and we need to seek the face of God. And what I mean by that is when adversity comes, we often want out of that. We want God to fix this. We want God to provide for this. We want God to heal us from this, or get me out of this situation. Those are human responses, and those are natural.

42:08It is a natural thing when we get uncomfortable, or we are in discomfort, or in fear danger, to want to flee or get out. And God's calling us to more. Stephen doesn't get rescued from the stones. He calls Jesus into the middle of the stones. As he's dying, his brutal death, he says, Jesus, don't hold this against them. God love them. They don't know what they're doing. Our goal, as believers, should be to get there. And it's okay if we're not right now. That is A. Okay. But our goal is to be that no matter what happens in life, that the love of Christ is enough. That everything could be stripped. Everything could be taken. And we say, no, the love of God is enough for me. That's it. That's all I need. Nothing else. We see death preceding resurrection. As we just read, Saul's ravaging the church, and we're going to call that death. The church is literally in shambles. People are fleeing. People are being put in jail. People are being killed.

43:08And we see death before resurrection. We saw this on the cross as well. Stephen dies. The church is scattered from the outside. It looks like defeat. Satan's mission is working. One of the church's great early leaders was just stoned. And everybody knows that. They were aware of what happened. But this introduces or reintroduces another pattern that we see throughout the gospel. Death before resurrection. We believe that about Jesus physically. Most of us, we acknowledge that that happened. But do we believe that about our lives spiritually? Because oftentimes we live in this death spiritually. And we play this victim. And we think, God, you've abandoned me. God, you've forsaken me. God, you don't see me. God, I don't know you're there. He's there all the time. We have to seek that. We have to wait. Waiting brings forth a lot.

44:09The waiting room is the hardest place. Following Jesus requires us to continually die to ourselves. Death to our selfish desires. Death to our need for control. Death to controlling our finances. Controlling our logistics in every detail of our life. Death to our own will. It's a constant regeneration of death in our lives as a spiritual growth. That doesn't make us feel warm and fuzzy, I get it. But that is reality. As we grow in Christ, more of us has to die. We might have good dreams, but they might be our dreams. They might not be the dreams that God has for us in our life. We want the resurrection without the death. We want the growth without the surrender. And we want new life without letting the old life die. All in all, we want the blessing without the submission.

45:09And that's very American, right? That's not just American. That's human nature. But we always want the blessing without the submission. We don't want the pain. We don't want the discomfort. We don't want to grow with the pain. Oftentimes, something must die before something can live. He protected me this week and said, how's the prep going for your message? I dropped it, man. I went to John 15. It's a little easier. He didn't respond. John 15 talks about for growth to happen, trimming, or death must take place. That hurts. And that's okay. We can acknowledge pain. We can acknowledge discomfort. We can acknowledge distance or gaps in relationships. But that's not where the story ends. Often the beginning or the pivotal part of those changes. That part isn't fun and that's okay. We can acknowledge that. Like I said, the waiting room is the hardest place.

46:09It's counterculture in every way and it reminds us that we are not in control. Which also sucks. We like control. It's easy to predict, but it's a perceived control. It's not real. What needs to die in your life? What do you think about that today? Where can God increase so you must decrease? Where do you need to decrease so God can increase? Let's say it like that. Who do you need to forgive or reconcile with? What do you need to let go of in your life and let those boundaries of God expand and let the boundaries of your self decrease? We all struggle with it. I think that oftentimes people talk on passages and they emphasize certain things because that's where they're at in life. And I'm in the same place. What needs to die in me so that God can grow and that God can use me in ways that I'm not aware of? What needs to die in me?

47:09Finishing up in the verse 2 and 3, Saul ravages the church. House to house. They're being drug out. I literally use the message there because it painted a picture of Saul. If I use the word Paul, I'm sorry. He becomes Paul in a little bit. But if Saul is literally coming into homes, ravaging people, pulling them from their dining room table, taking the jail for preaching the gospel, that's not something that's inviting and warm. But that's the reality of what was happened. And this is the guy that wrote most of the New Testament. So transformation takes place. Right? He calls himself the chief of sinners and we probably wouldn't disagree with a lot of that. He was killing people. We see that at the beginning he approved of the execution. He's got blood on his hands. He's dragging people from their homes that are serving Jesus. They're scared for their life. And from Satan's perspective, this strategy's obvious. We're going to kill Stephen. We're going to scatter the believers in silence the church.

48:09And Satan's perspective is working. His plan's working. And you know what? From the believers' perspective, it's working too. Right? They're scared. They're running. They left Jerusalem. They're not saying like, oh, we're going to stay... This is the grand plan. No, they left. They fled. I don't blame them. Right? Neither do you. But they fled. The plan is working for a bit. And it backfires. It completely backfires. It brings us to God's plan was to send them. There was some disobedience there. So we brought Saul in to do that. Did God use something bad to bring forth good? More the scattering, the more the gathering. Where death occurs, life is coming. And it's so hard to see in the middle of that. I agree. It's so hard to see the forest through the trees or think, God, how can you be good in this moment? Let's jump into verse four.

49:10Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word. Think about that. Their pastor just got stoned. They leave. And they said, no, no, we're going to keep preaching. That's amazing. They could have stayed and denied it all. They could have gone somewhere else and just acted like they wanted to fit in. But no. They keep preaching the word. Philip went down to the city of Samaria and proclaimed Christ. The crowds with one accord and paid attention and what was being said by Philip when they heard him and saw the signs that he did. Unclean spirits came out and many who were possessed, crying with the loud voice and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed. There was much joy in that city. A couple of things. One of the theological differences is in verse six it talks about one accord. Some people say it was a camera. Some people say it was a sedan nonetheless. So it was a sedan.

50:11My grandfather always joked about that as a kid. I had to talk about that. You see the first eight verses and there nothing but fear and death and pain. And then he says there was great joy in that city. What does that mean? It means the spirit of God was moving. They were being obedient and faithful in their neighborhoods. Now these people didn't go down and just build big churches. They were living their day-to-day lives. One of the most important verses is four here where it says those who were scattered went about preaching the word. Do you remember who was scattered? The ordinary people. They used in the Mies. Okay? It wasn't the pastors. It wasn't the televanjulists. It was the ordinary people living their life and ordinary life with an extraordinary gospel. We as believers can do that right now. We can be faithful where God has us.

51:11I promise you right now that God has you where you're at for a reason. It's not a mistake. It's easy to believe it. It's easy to think that I wish I would have done that or God you said this and it didn't happen. Or your will comes out instead of his. God doesn't make mistakes and he uses things. Be faithful where you're at. It's probably not that glamorous. It isn't for any of us here. But God calls you to be faithful. God calls you to preach and share the gospel in your business, in your school, right? In your hospital, wherever you're at. These are the difference. This is what people see in their lives. The neighborhoods that you live in beat Jesus. It's not just about a pulpit and a big church or a stage. It's being faithful. That's what God uses here in Acts. He uses the body of Christ to do things. And that's where work starts happening and lives start being transformed. They didn't stop because of fear or displacement. They continued to live for Christ.

52:12The persecution intended to silence them mobilizes them. Okay? The persecution meant to silence them. It's scattered and mobilized them. And we see the gospel start to get some more traction in another way and in another city. And we start to see this grow. I often think about the scattering of seeds. I don't know why. But birds. You'll see like, you know, they talk about how different trees and plants grow in different areas. And oftentimes it's birds that carry seeds, right? And they drop them. And you think about over time hundreds of years. And you think about the fact that you have these forests, these things that probably weren't there. But because of these birds just dropping seeds. And all of a sudden you have this infiltration. The analogy of us, as believers, we're scattered. We move. We're in places. We drive. We get in our cars. We go to work every day. We're in our homes. We're discipling our kids. We're discipling our grandkids. Or whoever God has for us. But we're called to be faithful and spread the gospel wherever we go.

53:15This wasn't just for the apostles and the teaching. This was the people that were being faithful. And the church didn't stop when they left Jerusalem. The church doesn't stop when we leave here today. It begins. Tomorrow at work or at school or in life, that begins. Be the gospel. Be the truth. Be the hope. Ordinary Christians carrying the gospel into ordinary places is what we see here. And that's what my call to you guys. Ordinary people. Right? And they take this gospel and they take it into their daily lives. The calling on our lives is that. To be faithful. To preach the gospel of truth and the gospel of hope wherever we go and whatever we do. And sometimes it's going to be awkward. Right? It can be. Let God work. You might be the water or you might be the ray of sunshine. You might be some soil. You might not ever see the end.

54:16But God calls us to be faithful. And I beg you to be faithful in those things and those opportunities. In our society, one of the things that we struggle with is like small talk. And people say, hey, what do you do? Right? And you tell them what you do. I would encourage you to say, I'm a child of God. And just let it sit. Right? Let it sit. You are defined by that, not by what you do. You are not defined by your work or your vocation. That's something that you need. It's necessary and God has you there. But you are defined because of the love that Christ poured out on Calvary for you. Share that. Let me know how those conversations go. Verses 5, moving on. I'm sorry, I read 5 through 7. There was much joy in the city. So Philip enters Samaria. He's proclaiming the gospel.

55:16Like we talked about 50 miles away. What happens there? People respond. They were used to different wizardry and magic. They were used to different things. People listen. These unclean, these satanic spirits start to flee. People are healed in ways that they didn't know and never have experienced before in their lives. And the kingdom of God is breaking into a place that the gospel hadn't previously taken root. So they are on mission. God is using that. Unclean spirits are leaving. And the spirit of the Lord is coming in. It's starting to take root in these places. When Satan intended for destruction, God uses for mission. We start to see these themes in this. Scattered. We start to see growth. The paradox in this is that persecution produces proclamation and scattering produces gathering. And the ultimate theme is death produces life.

56:19We don't always see the life that comes from death. I'm not going to tell you that that's going to happen and you're going to just see all this. And it's going to be Rambo's and butterflies. You might just experience death for a long time. And it might feel like 40 years in the desert. It might feel like Lazarus's sister saying, Jesus, your three days late, he's dead now. Jesus wasn't worried about that. He wasn't worried about the desert. He knows your life. We know the ending. We just need to be faithful in that. There was joy brought to that city. Joy brought to that city. I implore you to bring joy to your city. Enjoy only comes from Jesus. To emphasize the first eight chapters, we see death, mourning, persecution, and scattering. And then joy. We see the death and the life. We have the advantage of reading the scripture after things happen.

57:19We get to see the narrative story. We know the end. In those moments, there wasn't a lot of joy at the beginning. Stephen's killed. Everything's dispersed. You leave your home. You leave everything. You go start a new city. Or you start a new life in a new city. And all of a sudden there's joy. That's not normal. That comes from Jesus. They understood the gospel. They understood their mission. Resurrection language is all over this passage. The suffering in Jerusalem becomes the joy in Samaria. Everything was falling apart. God moving his people outward. There's things in your life that are happening. You don't understand. There's things that are being trimmed. There's things that are dying. There's things that need to be transformed. I would encourage you to embrace it and not resist it. Seek the face of God in those moments. That looks like God, what do you have in this season? Because I don't get it. I don't see it. Don't just reach your hand up and say, God, get me out of here.

58:20God, I need this. God, I want this. Seek the face of God and say, God, how can I be transformed in this season? This is a desert. And I don't know what's next. But I trust your leading. And I want the calling on my life to bring forth fruit. Life is hard. God is good. We might not feel it all the time. And that's okay. You can share that with him. He can handle that. We see a little bit of shift here in the narrative. We see the death at the end of seven. The church is ravaged and scattered. And then we get into Simon, the magician. I'm like, what is this about? There was a man named Simon who had previously practiced magic in the city and he had maize the people of Samaria, saying that he himself was somebody great. They all paid attention to him from the least to the great.

59:20They said, this man has the power of God. They paid attention to him for a long time. He had amazed them with his magic. When they believed Philip, sorry, but when they believed Philip as he preached good news about the kingdom of God in the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized both men and women. Even Simon himself believed, and after being baptized, he continued with Philip and seeing signs and great miracles performed. He was amazed. So this guy, this devil deed-doing man practicing witchcraft and sorcery starts to come around. He was revered in the city for what he did. He was not just doing kid tricks with slight of hand and cards. He was practicing witchcraft and sorcery, spiritual things. He was on Team Satan. When the apostles of Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent to them Peter and John, who came down, they prayed for them, and they might receive the Holy Spirit. He had not yet fallen on any of them.

1:00:20But they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus, and when they laid their hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit, now when Simon saw that the Spirit was given to the laying on the apostles' hands, he offered them money, saying, give me this power also so that anyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Spirit. And Peter said to hell with your money, no, he didn't say that. He said, may your silver perish with you of God with money. I used the message in that because I think it paints the picture of what was going on. Simon was building the kingdom of Simon, not the kingdom of Jesus. May your silver perish with you because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money. You have neither part nor lot in this matter for your heart is not right before God repent. Therefore of this weakness of yours and pray to the Lord that if possible, the intent of your heart may be forgiven. If possible, he says to them, this wasn't like a gentle rebuke.

1:01:24Like, hey, dude, you should probably do it this way. That's not what he said. You're on the path to hell and destruction still. Change your heart, change your mind, change your ways. For I see that you were in the gall of bitterness in the bond of iniquity and Simon answered, pray for me to the Lord that nothing of what you have said may come upon me. And when they had testified and spoken the word of the Lord, they returned to Jerusalem preaching the gospel to many villages. We're going to jump into this a little bit about Simon. There's a few ways that scholars say this can go. And I'm just going to go from what we can read in the text. We see in 9-25 the kingdom of self meets the kingdom of God. I'm guilty of that. The kingdom of self meets the kingdom of God. It's a painful experience. It's a surgery you don't want undergo. No anesthesia. Maybe some infection. Right? It's a death to ourselves.

1:02:25A death to our will. Our desires. No one might be good, but it might not be what God has for you. It might not be where God has you. So Luke introduces a completely different danger. The first danger was an external factor, saw ravaging the church, persecution, spreading, the gospel being decreased first before life. Now we see an encounter or a danger that can exist from someone that was in the church. He was baptized. He was following. Internal and external. A heart that wants the things of God without being surrendered to God is what we see. Simon had done a really good job building his own kingdom. He was well known in the city. He'd been there a lot of years. He did a lot of magic and sorcery. He did things that the average person couldn't do. And like I said, he wasn't doing card tricks. This guy was a satanist. He was doing witchcraft in the city that odd people brought.

1:03:26I don't speak professionally clearly. He performed spiritual acts to the maze people. He was in the business of spiritual work, but he was on the wrong team. He was in opposition of the spirit of Christ. Like I said earlier, he was a satan, not a team Jesus. They said this man is the power of God that he is called great. This is what the people revered him as. I'm just trying to paint the picture that this guy wasn't just an average Joe. He was well known. He was revered. He was respected and he was probably feared because of what he could do. Philip arrives and suddenly Simon says I'm outmatched. I want to be a part of that. Now his heart might have been in a good place there. I'm not going to argue that. There's whole sermons on him not being saved. I'm not going to get into that. The textur explicitly says that.

1:04:27At least in my understanding of the English language. What we do know is that Simon believed. He was baptized. He followed Philip. But we also know that his heart was not right before God. We can do the things and look to part. But God knows our hearts. Sometimes that comes out like it did in Simon. He said, hey, I want that power. What do I pay you for that? How do I annoy people like that? In that day and age, in the sorcery world, the trade of sorcery. Oftentimes they would trade their spiritual talents, if you call it that. And they would pay money sometimes. Sometimes they would trade goods. But it was not uncommon for them to say, hey, I'll pay you for that power. So his paradigm was that. But it reveals that he did not have the heart of God. His mind had not been transformed yet. He was early on in his walk in his relationship.

1:05:28But he was still building the kingdom of Simon. Your heart is not right before God is what they say. That's the issue. He can walk the walk. He can say the right things. He was baptized. On the outside, things look good. He associated with Philip. But his heart desperately needed transformation. Maybe you heard today, and your heart needs transformation. That's great. Welcome to the club. You're not alone. And it's not too late. Tomorrow might be too late. But it's not today. It's not right now. So I encourage you to think about what needs to die in your life. What do you need to surrender so that the gospel can further transform in your life and in your heart? In 4 to 17, Simon witnesses the Holy Spirit, right? Peter and John arrive in Samaria. They come down for the new believers. They lay their hands on them. And the Holy Spirit comes upon them in a visible way.

1:06:29So in this early church, we saw some of these things that maybe aren't as normal today. And when we look at Scripture, we've got 1,500 years of a story. And so we see some of these supernatural things, right? We see these things stand out. There are pivotal moments in God's redemptive story where it works in extraordinary and unmistakable ways. As the gospel moves from Jerusalem to Samaria, God publicly confirms that these believers are fully included in his family. They're anointed publicly, right? God did that on purpose. He's showing them things for a reason that we will see later on. Now, if you have the Holy Spirit here, you probably have the Holy Spirit. You'll need to be anointed with hands right now. But in this time, in the context of it, that's how they worked. And that was some of the miracles that took place to continue to revitalize and make sure that people understood the gospel. We often look for miracles. You don't see them all the time. That's fair. But I think the greatest miracle in this room, for most of us,

1:07:32it's not that we see something supernatural. The greatest miracle that you as sinners are loved. You've been forgiven and adopted, and you're called a child of God. You were made new in Christ. We hear that all the time. But that's a miracle. That is miraculous, right? That we as sinners are broken and separated from God, and he says, no. No, no, no, no, no. That's not the end of the story. There's redemption coming. There's growth coming. And we get to live that miracle out every day. So praise the Lord for that. We become so fascinated by the spectacular work that we overlook, the mundane miracles that work every day in our lives, and that's the saving grace of the gospel poured out. So you and I have the Spirit that we can commune with Christ. I'll just echo that. The greatest evidence of the Holy Spirit

1:08:32isn't something happening through you. It's the transforming work that he has already done in you. We don't have to have external miracles. They can be internal. And we're here by the grace of God. So Simon witnesses the work of the Holy Spirit. Simon's old worldview collides with the gospel. He was building the kingdom of Simon. He's called it the kingdom of Jesus, and it doesn't align. There's friction. He doesn't understand it. He understands power, but he's built his life around that power that he attains that he wants to buy for himself to further his mission. But he's encountering something beyond him. He acknowledges it's greater than him. Whoa. This God does something that I can't do. How do I get that? His old mindset is the paradigm that he's working off of. So think about that for a second. He interprets what he's seeing through the old categories of his mindset.

1:09:34In our lives, oftentimes we miss things because of how our operating system or our mind sees them. Brandon talked about the affinity principle. He says it's so good. You're looking for a red car. All of a sudden you see red cars everywhere. That's how our brain works. Oftentimes we miss what's in front of us because we're operating off an old antiquated operating system. I promise you, you start seeking Jesus in all things and miracles and the way that Christ works. You're going to start seeing it. You will be exposed to those things. Your eyes will be open to things that you did not see before. Scripture is very clear on this. Seek first the kingdom of God. You will be transformed by the renewing of your mind. You're going to start seeing these things. Simon builds his life around spiritual power. He's encountering this greater power. He has to have a paradigm shift. His heart is not there.

1:10:36His heart still wants power. What lens are we looking through? Are we working through the old operating system? Are we still seeing those people as broken or are we seeing these people as redeemed? God sees this as redeemed. His operating system says, hey, look at you're redeemed. I see you as perfect. I know you're broken right now. I know you're hurt, but I see you as perfect. Simon's actions reveal his heart. He doesn't merely want God to work. He wants the ability for God to work through Simon. He's still mixed up in that. He doesn't understand it. He wants to be the man laying hands on people. He wants the power. He wants influence. He wants the status in the city. He probably wants that back. He got dethroned. We have to surrender to further the gospel.

1:11:36I bet you some of you are battling something right now. Right? I'm not the only one. There are things in this world that are happening. It's heavy. Seek the face of God in those things, not the hand of God. Bring God into those things and expose them. God, I don't see how you're going to work in this situation, but I ask you to do it. Transform my heart to see what you're doing. Or just give me the patience and the wisdom to wait. Those are hard things to ask. But relinquish that and seek the face of God rather than the hand. See, Simon misunderstands the Holy Spirit. He treats the Spirit like another power that he can acquire. But the Holy Spirit isn't just a power we possess. Right? We don't possess the Spirit. He indwells in us. He is God and he possesses us. We surrender our lives to God, the triune God, right, so that we can do their work. Not vice versa.

1:12:39Simon says, power is something I want to acquire and the gospel says your life is something that you surrender. Simon wants more power. Jesus wants his heart. And friends, Jesus wants your heart. And not just parts of it. He wants the dark. He wants the light. He wants all of it. Every bit of it. Okay? Peter gets to that. Kind of was a knife with his words. He wasn't kind. He wasn't gentle. And sometimes that's what it takes. He didn't say, hey, Simon, you need a better technique in how this works. Right? The gloves came off. And he said, your heart is in the wrong place. And that leads to hell. That leads to destruction. He says, repent. Your heart is not right before God. And that's the center of Simon's story. His heart is not right before God. So think about that today. How is your heart before God?

1:13:40We must align our heart with Jesus and what that looks like is spending time with him, communing with him, getting to know him. Relationships don't grow by just happenstance. Intentional time with Jesus is where your heart starts to change. Surrendering the things in your life that are hard, that you want control of is where change happens. And it's not going to just happen overnight and it's not going to be easy and pain-free. But it's where the truth is, it's where good is, and it's where your eternal life exists. This life is going to pass. It's fleeting. We all know that. Very fleeting. So we see two men. We see Stephen and we see Simon. Stephen seeks the face of God, Simon seeks the hand of God. Stephen wants power. Sorry. Back there. Scratch that. For both of you listening online, we're going to rewind that a little bit. Stephen seeks the face of God, and Simon seeks the hand of God. Stephen wants Jesus, Simon wants power.

1:14:41Stephen surrenders himself. Simon wants to elevate himself. Simon is trying to build his kingdom and Stephen dies looking like Jesus. Simon wants Jesus as power to make himself greater. Here's the question. Am I trying to build the kingdom of Jesus or the kingdom of me, the kingdom of self? Where are you at today? And where are you going to be tomorrow? Moving to verse 24, we see Simon's final response. Repent and pray. And Simon says, pray for me to the Lord. It's an interesting ending, because we don't see what happens. We don't know. We know what's heart is in a rough place. That's clear. We know he was baptized. But Luke leaves us there going. Where's the ending? But we don't have to know. The uncomfortable picture

1:15:41is that Peter tells Simon to pray and Simon asks Peter to pray for him. The question of Simon's heart is left hanging. And so I would beg you to question, where is your heart at today? What needs to die inside of you so that Christ can live fully? It's a hard thing to ask, and it's a dangerous thing to ask. But it's what God calls us to. It's where true freedom and joy actually live and reside. When we relinquish ourselves and we submit to Christ. So as we wrap up, chapter 8 in all of its verses that we covered, we see the kingdom of Jesus and the kingdom of self. Entering Jesus' kingdom requires the death of our kingdom. The more death, the more resurrection, the more life. Maybe Simon didn't need another spiritual experience.

1:16:42Maybe he didn't need power. Maybe he didn't need influence. I would argue that simply, not easily, but simply, the kingdom of Simon needed to die. The kingdom of Kelly needs to die. Our plans, our control, our reputation, our money, our dreams, our comfort, our desire to be noticed for power, our desire to control what happens next to know what God is doing or what needs to happen. That needs to die. And that's tough. Maybe the day you've realized that you've been around this Christian circle for a while. And you're looking at it, you're thinking about it, and you look the role, but you haven't really surrendered to Christ. You've worn the jersey. You've learned the language. You've shown up the church. But if you're honest with yourself, in a dark room, you realize that maybe you really don't belong to Jesus and your heart isn't aligned with that.

1:17:44I invite you, I don't invite you, I beg you to change that today. There's people that will pray with you. There's people that will talk with you. Really examine your heart before Christ and say, no, no, no, no, no, no, I'm done. The kingdom of self is dead. I want the kingdom of Christ to live. Don't leave this room without making that right. You're here by accident. Okay? That's not an accident. Jesus lived the life that you couldn't live. He died the death that you deserve and he rose again so that anyone who repents and believes can be forgiven. Nothing is too far for his reach. You've been adopted into God's family and made new. Okay? Don't settle for looking like a Christian if you'd never become one. It's no way to live your life. Surrender your life. For those of you that belong to Christ, let's take a different route on that and think, who has my heart and what has my heart right now today?

1:18:45Where is my treasure at today? Because we're all going to stand before God and that question is going to be answered. And there's one way, there's one truth, and there's one life. The kingdom of self must die so that Christ can live through me. So are you going to be more like Sid even, or more like Simon? Where does your heart belong? Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank You so much for Your Word. We thank You that it is living and active and we thank You that we know the end to the story. That You win, Lord, and You're inviting us to be on that team. Not for our own gain, not for our own power, but for Your glory, God. And so I just ask for hearts today to be soft and transformed. I pray that we would seek You and we would seek the places that don't have You ruling them, Lord, and we would give those and surrender those to You.

1:19:45We are flawed and broken humans. We need grace and we need forgiveness. Some of us with one another, some of us within life, I pray that we would seek those things out and we would find them, Lord, we would surrender them to You. We would forgive the person that we need to forgive, that we would love the person we need to love, and our communities would be a light to Jesus. In our workplaces, Lord, we would be a light to Jesus. As we close in this song, Lord, I just pray, that You would bless these people as they go this week, anoint them, Father, that they might go and bring Your joy to their city. Your precious name, amen. I pray that You would bless these people as they go this week. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.

1:20:47Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Ay or my own field Friends may come in Friends may come out Friends may come out You never let it go

1:21:50Uh Our fellow, He did it I would be Yourller Your hand enseñcame Your will be by my side there is a 무�vein Prophet Long live a living one, two, three. Wenn in the river

1:22:56go and become やって me on transmitting light I feel like I'm in heaven I feel like I'm in heaven I feel like I'm in heaven I feel like I'm in heaven I feel like I'm in heaven I feel like I'm in heaven

1:24:05I feel like I'm in heaven I feel like I'm in heaven I feel like I'm in heaven I feel like I'm in heaven I feel like I'm in heaven I feel like I'm in heaven I feel like I'm in heaven I feel like I'm in heaven

1:25:06I feel like I'm in heaven For your is the King of God. Is the power of God. Is the glory forever of God. Is the King of God. Is the power of God. Is the glory forever of God. Please receive this benediction as you go. Go now, scattered like seed on the wind.

1:26:06A persecution meant to destroy God used to plant. Samaria heard what Jerusalem almost kept to itself. Philip preached and joy broke out in a city that had never known it. So may the spirit fall on you the way it fell there. Not for sale, not for show, but as a gift laid open in your hands. May Simon's mistake never be yours. Don't chase the power and miss the presence. Go carrying good news you didn't earn into places you didn't plan to go. As a faithful presence and a prophetic witness to your neighbors and the world. Amen. Amen. Go in peace. Amen.