Acts 12

Transcript

This transcript was generated automatically from the audio and may contain small errors.

All right, you can always tell who the new guy is in the house when you have to say is it my time is it me Is this for me right now? I want to thank Drew very much for the opportunity to be here today to join you in worship this morning and to kind of experience what God is doing here at South Burleson Baptist Church apparently I Walked in too quickly. I passed the tables whatever because I didn't get a name tag I see everyone in the place has a name tag on but I don't have a name tag on it Kind of feel like the odd man out so to speak so let me help you out I my name is Scott Charman Scott Charman It'll be easy to remember because I'm the only guy you'll ever meet that has two toilet paper names. Okay, Scott Charman

But the really crazy thing is my mother long before marketing had made its impact she gave me the middle name Northern Northern Not really it's a it's Scott Charman though I live here in Burleson Been a resident Burleson for a long long time and I was the pastor at Alsbury Baptist Church for about 30 years or so And I got some friends in the house today who who came over I put something on Facebook saying if if you're without a church home come and join us tomorrow morning at South Burleson Baptist Church and I would never embarrass anybody but Bobby and Katrina right over here longtime friends, and they're two precious precious children And Bobby reminded me earlier that I officiated your wedding Yeah, you know at my age. We forget those things sometimes You may wish that you could forget those things too. I don't know and then Charlie and Lisa and Lisa's mother right here on this road

It was good to see y'all here Charlie's a plumber and he's been to my house many times because I tend to break things at my house and and then Rose right back there raise your hand rose because people need raise your hand rose There you go People need to know who you are and then it's so great to to see very dear friends Drew and Danny over here now it takes me a while when I see drew from this side because we ride bikes together or we used to a lot we've ridden the

The Multiple score score the MS rides we've ridden those many times together They're a hundred miles in length in but most of the time I don't see drew from this perspective I see his backside as he's kind of up there ahead of me And I'm doing my very best to hang on his back tire for as long as I possibly can And I guess I've known the two of you since about the time you got married, so it's been a few years How long you been married now? Go ahead Drew how many? Yeah, there you go, and they're precious Precious little daughter in the in the nursery I'm assuming or not nursery But with it with the kids here in church again, thanks to Drew for the opportunity to be with you I was supposed to be here about a year ago and I actually was riding my bike between Grandview and alvarado When a dog came out of a parked car and I hit the dog with my bike and I flew off the bike and I

fractured my hip and so I Sent a note to Drew is that I don't know if I can make it this Sunday or not and so we Rescheduled and he gave me a year to kind of get in place for this We're gonna continue what you as a church family have been Following and that's a walk through the book of Acts with the sermon series that Drew has entitled past the edges as we've been dealing with the spread of the gospel From Jerusalem to Judea through Samaria and ultimately to the ends of the earth That kind of includes us, you know, we're a long ways from Jerusalem and the gospel has spread through the generations God has done a work Generation after generation after generation and he's continuing to do that work today That's been the emphasis that I've been listening to I've listened to several sermons online Steve Beckwith I think was here last Sunday correct and I've known Steve for many many many years and

So I listened to his message last week I listened to some from Drew and and the emphasis is that God wants to continue to do this work of spreading the gospel all Over the world. He wants to do it right here at South Burleson Baptist Church He wants to spread it through this congregation and beyond into the community all around us And so we're gonna look actually at acts chapter 11 versus 27 to the end of the chapter And then we'll pick up in acts chapter 12 Verses 1 through 25 And so let's begin with verses 27 through 30 of acts chapter 11 if you have your Bible with you I hope you'll open it if you don't have a you know, a paper Bible old-school Bible I hope you have, you know some electronic version you know years ago I I Was thinking about the Bible being the Word of God, you know and and and the Bible the Word of God is the sword of the Spirit, you know and

The the Bible cuts to the very core of our being it's the sword that the Spirit uses then people started carrying not a full Bible but a Like a New Testament and I realized that's more like a dagger of the Holy Spirit No, not the whole sword but a kind of a dagger they plunges and then people started carrying the electronic versions and it's the the the lightsaber of the Holy Spirit I'm gonna quit using that one. I'll act you know through the years. Okay, we're gonna take a look at This fact that the earliest followers of Jesus Christ were committed to the cause Okay committed to the cause They were committed to take the gospel everywhere that Jesus had commanded them to take it and by taking the gospel and by embracing The cause of Christ it was more than just going and preaching But it was to be the hands and the feet of Jesus to be a physical representation of Jesus wherever they may go

Let's take a look at Acts chapter 11 beginning in verse 27 during this time some prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch One of them named Agabus stood up and through the spirit predicted that a severe famine Would spread over the entire Roman world and then parenthetically Luke adds this happened during the reign of Claudius it's a reminder to us that this is written after the fact, you know, and it's looking back and it's verifiable and it's It was seen it's not just something spoken to but it was seen as as having been fulfilled And the disciples listen the disciples as each one was able Decided to provide help for the brothers and sisters living in Judea This they did sending their gift to the elders by Barnabas and by Saul now again these followers of Jesus put their newfound faith into practice It wasn't just I believe in this one named Jesus

It wasn't just I recognized this man named Jesus who died in the cross who was buried who was raised from the dead But that Jesus Christ is my Lord that Jesus Christ guides my actions Jesus Christ Guides my steps day by day and that was just it was beyond just the you know everyday activities But it included what they did with their finances when they heard of a need somewhere else when they heard of a Struggle that other believers were having they stepped up and they out of their blessings met the needs of others They put their faith into practice. They demonstrated their concern for the people of God. We need to remember That the Bible challenges us consistently in this area of financial support of other people in First Corinthians chapter 16 Paul who along with Barnabas took up that money and took it to the believers there in the Antioch area On the first day of every week Paul writes each one of you on the first day of every week each one of you

That's pretty all-inclusive isn't it all of us whenever we gather together Should set aside a sum of money and keeping with your income saving it up so that when I come no collection Will have to be made it's almost like Paul is saying, you know, I don't want you to be in a situation Knowing there's a need in another part of the world and then one day you're you're outside You're working and you see this figure walking along the roadway and you go. Oh, it's it's Paul. He's come to see us Oh my goodness, we were supposed to take up an offering for these people and then you scramble and you get whatever you can it's a it's a strategic it's it's with with persistence as the the get the gathering of resources is brought to the house of the Lord for the purpose of Ministering to people all over the world and just in case we think this is just some Random reference in second Corinthians chapter 9

Paul wrote each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give not reluctantly or under Compulsion for God loves a cheerful giver So these these new believers were allowing their faith to find its way into their Wallets into their pockets into their checkbooks into their debit cards, whatever Source that you would use to to contribute now sadly today We may more likely find people hoarding and stockpiling and prepping for a bad day You know in our day and time when we hear about some problem coming down the road More often than not it's I got to take care of me and mine I got to make sure that my folks are all taken care of and we don't have the concern for others more often than not and that's That's an inconsistent representation of the heart of Jesus Christ when we are concerned about our own rather than all people Everywhere the Bible challenges us to love people everywhere and to see other people

To divide people into groups for instance to see other people as enemies to oppose rather than neighbors to love Is to miss the whole message of Jesus all people people we disagree with people we have differences with there's still people We are to love people We are to care for people that we are to be concerned about and to step forward and help to the best of our ability Whenever we have the opportunity

Unity and truly caring for others is a strong evidence of the truth of the gospel I want to ask you is South Burleson Baptist Church Are you concerned about the well-being of people throughout our community across the state and other parts of the world? Is there a consistency within the people? Okay a consistent Consistency that says we are burdened for people and we will do what we can along with others all over the world To care for people in the name of Jesus when the church is united in purpose It is one of the strongest evidences of the truth of the gospel Now this is especially true in a world as fragmented and as divided as ours Because it's a counter cultural Unity see when people come together It's not like the rest of the world when we focus our hearts together with all of our diversity With everything that makes us different one from another but we come together with this this

Unity to care for people in the name of Jesus it testifies to the transformational nature of the gospel because we live with new priorities and radically different views in the world around us and a steadfast commitment to follow Jesus regardless of the cost or the consequence Unity among followers of Christ Will always have shared mission as its foundation because again, we're as different as night and day all of us here Everything about us. We're all very unique individuals. We have unique interests. We have unique desires We have unique perspectives on things. We look at the same news story for instance, and we may respond to it differently Because there's diversity within the body of Christ, but there is unity of purpose We are together to take the gospel to all people everywhere that all people would know the grace in the goodness of Jesus. I Want to thank David and Caroline as they led and worship a little bit ago

And as we were singing a song that I had never heard before but I will run to the father Again and again and again and again. I just found myself so thankful that my father our father Welcomes us to run to him and and doesn't put Obstacles in the way and then my mind went a little bit deeper I began to think of the parable of Jesus when he spoke about the prodigal son And not only does God welcome us running to him, but he runs to us He runs to meet us on the road and and the love of God made made personal through the person of Jesus Christ Does that make sense that is available and it should be known by all people? Everywhere and we have this shared Mission of taking the gospel to our neighbors whether they be across the street or around the world this shared mission of being a body of believers that will impact the world for the cause of Christ and that's what unites a

Highly diversified group of people that common mission that we share. All right, let's take a look at Acts chapter 12 beginning in verse 1 because when you have a commitment to the cause it will prompt Opposition from the enemy make no mistake about it When when we as the followers of Jesus are committed to the cause of taking the name of Jesus to all people everywhere We will face opposition Opposition verses 1 through 4 of chapter 12 It was about this time that King Herod arrested some who belonged to the church intending to persecute them He had James the brother of John Put to death with the sword and then one of the most Troubling verses in the Bible verse 3 when he saw that this met with approval among the Jews He proceeded to seize Peter also. Do you understand what Luke is telling us? He puts James to death and people liked it. And so it kind of kind of gave him

Confidence. Well, I'm gonna do this again The people like that I put this man to death So I'm gonna put another one to death and he has Peter arrested and that's his intention to execute him as well This happened during the festival of unleavened bread After arresting him, he put him in prison Handing him over to be guarded by four squads of four soldiers each Herod intended to bring him out for public trial and you can read into that and an execution that was followed after the Passover Again, make no mistake about it our resolve to follow Jesus will prompt opposition You will find opposition when you say I'm gonna stand For Jesus and I'm gonna impact the world around me in the name of Jesus It was it was James not the one who was executed But James the half brother of Jesus who wrote consider it pure joy my brothers and sisters whenever you face trials of many kinds

For you know Because you've experienced it you know because you've seen it you know because you've seen others experience it You know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete not lacking Anything yes persecution will come but God is going to use that Persecution to change our lives in the journey and then Peter writes in first Peter chapter 4 Dear friends do not be surprised

Don't be caught off guard Don't look at the situations and saying why in the world is this happening? Do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you as though something Strange were happening something odd and out of place But rejoice in as much as you participate in the sufferings of Christ so that you may be Overjoyed when his glory is revealed if you're insulted because of the name of Christ you are blessed For the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you if you suffer It shouldn't be as a murderer or thief or any other kind of criminal or even as a meddler However, if you suffer as a Christian do not be ashamed But praise God that you bear that name and of course in second Timothy chapter 3 Paul says Anyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted Not this generation when Paul's writing not for a few years

but anybody of any generation in any season who wants to has the desire for a Godly life in Christ Jesus that person will face persecution and opposition So if you make a commitment as an individual or if you make a commitment as a church family To represent Jesus well in this community To be his hands and feet to minister to people to make the name of Jesus famous You will face opposition No question about him. Did you know that it's estimated that 70 to 80 percent of American churches have either plateaued Or they are declining 70 to 80 percent. So if you drove here today from some distance and you passed You know 10 churches eight of those churches are either plateaued Experiencing no growth or they are declining they are fading away over time and Many of the churches that are actually growing in our community or around the world Many of the churches that say look at look at us how we're growing

Their growth is really in transfer growth more often than not, you know, it's estimated that Churches in America evangelical churches in America are growing by about 1% per year Okay, 1% per year, which is not very much And a lot of these churches that are blowing and going to the latest thing in town to the most, you know Wonderful attraction to drawing all kinds of people. They're really drawing people from other churches and that's not growth I've spoken to friends who say, you know, our church has really really grown and then I asked the question Well, how many people are you baptized and the response is well, not that many Well, then you're not growing All right, you're just shuffling the deck. You're just moving people around you're not growing Yes, your little piece of real estate your little spot in the world might be adding more people, but that's not kingdom growth

Okay, and we see that in the church in great numbers where many churches are declining and other churches are growing But it's not really growth. But if you go to closed majority Muslim countries Countries like Iraq and Iran and Afghanistan Okay, you go to those countries and you look at the church there the church is there are growing on average by 20% per year 20% per year every year and these are people who are coming into the church with all kinds of costs and there's no buildings Okay, there's no budgets. There's very little staff people. It's very unlike the Western Church But there's the message of Jesus and the message of hope and the message of salvation Being preached and people are finding Christ and finding the life that Jesus brings They're finding what we sang about as we worship together and their lives are being radically changed In places where the the true gospel is being preached and where people understand the cost of following Jesus

there is substantial growth remember that as we Strive to grow our churches as we strive to reach our community and to make a difference in the world around us now Folks you're gonna face opposition. All right, just buckle in Get ready because if you're committed to reaching this community with the gospel of Jesus Christ You're gonna face opposition the first opposition I think of three primary areas one is the world around us Okay, the world around us does not accept the message we preach the world around us does not accept the Bible We preach from and that's just the reality the world pushes against us and the world, you know challenges us in the message that we proclaim the world will will be antagonistic towards us it's kind of like a fish okay a fish swimming upstream Against the current and we swim against the current of the culture around us and it's challenging and there'll be opposition

But the reward is worth it You just keep on swimming you keep on pressing forward in the name of Jesus. The second area is very personal It's the area of the flesh because to walk with Jesus and to understand the cost of walking with Jesus It'll challenge you to say hey, I don't know that I want to do this I don't know that I'm ready to pay the price I don't know that I embraced this discomfort and this challenge and the opposition that is coming So we have the challenge within ourselves We have this challenge in ourselves. Do I really want to follow Jesus with all of my heart? Or do I just you know kind of want to hang with Jesus until that day? I breathe my last and slip into the presence of the saints in heaven, you know Do I want the reward or do I want the journey? Taking me to the reward and so I Mean I experience it You'll experience too as we make commitments to follow Jesus

There's this pushback even from within ourselves But the third area is really the the real area of opposition and that's the devil himself Your commitment to the cause will not escape his notice Now do you understand as a church family? If you just get the latest bells and whistles and you do everything you can to attract a big crowd But it's not leading to people coming out of their sins into fellowship with Jesus Christ being born again finding salvation Do you understand if you're just moving people around the devil says knock yourself out? Go ahead keep doing it But if you're serious about reaching the lost with the gospel of Jesus Christ, he'll be serious in coming against you To hinder the work you're doing it's why the Apostle Paul wrote put on the full armor of God So that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes for our struggle is not against flesh and blood

But against rulers against the authorities against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms Therefore put on the full armor of God so that when the day of evil comes not if not in the unlikely case that the day of evil comes but when that day comes you may be able to stand your ground and After you have done everything to continue to stand our success in the cause depends upon our unified acceptance of the cost You understand that this church's success in fulfilling what you've been called to fulfill Called by Jesus it is completely dependent upon this unified

willingness to pay the price this willingness to suffer the cost because The goal is worth it because the goal is greater than any pain we experience Along the pathway now we've cheapened the call in Western culture I mean, let's just be honest. We've cheapened the call of Christ What we teach so often is hey just pray this prayer Just bow your head Just just pray the prayer here. I'll even help you just say Lord Jesus. I know I'm a sinner I know I've fallen short of your glory But I give you my life and I want you to forgive me my sins and come live in my heart Amen, and then we just kind of dunk them. You know, we baptized them real quick so we Put another notch on the baptist tree And then we just kind of send them off their way and we're hoping to find somebody else and we're not we're not Challenging people to live this total in all sold out Commitment to Jesus Christ regardless of the cost regardless of the opposition regardless of the struggles

You Know I saw on Facebook just this last week It was and I tried to find it again so I could actually read the specifics of it But it was a it was an application for baptism in an Asian country Okay, I don't know which one but somewhere in the Far East It was an application that people in the church fill out if they want to be baptized Okay, if this church is like the church I pastored for so many years if someone says I want to be baptized we say well Let me put it on the calendar that kind of an idea But these folks when they fill out the application it has questions like this. Are you prepared to lose your job? by identifying with Jesus Christ Are you prepared to be cut off from your family because you've committed your life to Jesus Christ It continues with those kind of questions, but the end of it it says are you prepared to lose your life? For the sake of Jesus

That's not the cost that we experience is it now I Tend to say if we ever got really really serious about representing Jesus really really well and Making a difference in the world around us. We might see that kind of opposition The story is told about many years ago that a group of Chinese pastors came to Texas Touring churches and things like that and these Chinese pastors arrived here in a group of well-meaning Texas Pastors met them at the airport and one of those well-meaning pastors It could have been a guy like me walked up to one and you know with good intentions said we're so glad you're here We've been praying for you that the persecution would end And the Chinese pastor is said to look at the pastor and say that's odd Because we've been praying that the persecution would begin for you Because the gospel is spreading through places where it's illegal

To be a follower of Jesus the gospel is spreading where there's a high Cost to be a follower of Jesus and the gospel is spreading with great great numbers For many many years. I've worked with the church in Germany and under knock Germany It's called Sydney Church and a few years ago a young man was baptized. He was a professional soccer player, okay Handsome fella athletic fella had everything going for him And when I spoke to my friend Mike Blanche when I spoke to my friend about this fellow being baptized He said oh he made his decision to follow Jesus a year ago, but he's been a secret follower for a year This baptism is coming out day and I said, what do you mean a secret followers? Oh, well He's from Morocco and His family is Muslim and he knows that if he gives his life to Jesus He will no longer have a family and for the last year even though he prayed to receive Christ for a year

He had to pray about do I want to take the next step of obedience to follow Jesus? And he knew the cost he knew the expense He knew what it would what it would bring into his life and yet he did it Anyway, I followed that young man for the last several years and he is a dynamic voice for the kingdom of God There in the Rhine region of Germany. Yes. Amen. Amen

Have we counted the cost Okay, have I counted the cost? This is something I wrestle with all the time. Okay, have I counted the cost of what it is to follow Jesus? And am I willing to pay the price are we as a church family? Are we and I consider myself a part of this church family because you understand we have churches on every corner, right? But we're all one family you understand that right? You know, we just happen to gather here. Okay, you're a part of a much larger family We just happen to be in this building on this particular day and that's fine. It's great. It's wonderful I like that we have many churches in town each one a little different and each church kind of reaching people In a little different way and each place providing fellowship in a little bit different Manner, but all of us are part of a very large family. There is no church in this community that it is your competition

Okay, they're all friends and family. They're our brothers and sisters And so are we as a church family? Prepared to pay the price of what it means to fully follow Jesus Christ with all of our lives Okay, let's let's kind of wrap it up with Acts chapter 12 beginning in verse 5 And you're gonna see six essentials and we'll do them quickly. Okay Now I am a Baptist preacher and I can stay here all afternoon and just tell you everything I know Okay But we're gonna be fairly quick about this six essentials as we live our commitment to the cause and we'll take them in bits and pieces because God shows up for Peter. Remember he's arrested Herod's gonna have him put to death and let's take a look at verse 5 through 7 of Acts chapter 12 So Peter was kept in prison but the church The church was earnestly praying to God for him understand in this context The church is not a building the church is people and the context is the same today

You didn't go to the church today. You are the church That chose to gather together in this place on this day We are the church and the church was praying earnestly for him The night before Herod was to bring him to trial Peter was sleeping between two soldiers bound with two chains and sentry stood guard at the entrance Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell He struck Peter on the side and woke him up quick get up He said and the chains fell off Peter's wrists you and I need to commit ourselves to join others in praying fervently and faithfully I Want to challenge you? Are you a church that prays? I mean, are you a church that prays for the work that God has called you to fulfill? Are you a church that prays for one another and for others who are sharing the gospel in other parts of the world? Let me get very focused if your personal prayer life is the standard of

Measurement by which we measure the commitment to prayer of this church if your personal prayer life is the standard How committed is this church to prayer? I mean if you're the one that we used to measure it How committed are you I would ask the question How prominent a place? Do we give to prayer upon our congregational calendar? Now as a pastor for many many years and since retiring I have been challenged with this area I was so busy trying to build a church That I kind of lost sight of what it means to build the kingdom So busy doing all the activities of church that I forgot the call of God to Earnestly pray for those who are doing the work on the front lines of the battle Whether that's across the world or whether it's down the street where people are stepping into the devil's very backyard and Facing opposition that was fierce and harsh And was I praying for them? Well, the church was praying for Peter as Peter finds himself

arrested and facing execution And then the second thing I would say is verses 8 through 9 We need to obey the Lord and whatever he reveals through Scripture in prayer verses 8 and 9 Then the angel said to him put on your clothes and sandal and Peter said man I was napping pretty good here angel. I mean I was I was just in the middle of a good dream You kind of you kind of broke into my my wife last night woke me up and she said hey Smoke detectors going off. I said I'll fix it in the morning. What a ridiculous response, right? I'll figure I was in the middle of this dream And I have some crazy dreams and I was really enjoying this one and I was in this dream And she woke me up and then I realized all I need to do is go take the battery out of the thing We'll be okay. Okay, it was chirping. You know what I mean? It wasn't going off like it was a fire in the house

Anyway, Peter didn't respond that way at all He was obedient when the angel said put on your cloak and and your sandals Follow me and and Peter did just that Peter followed him out of the prison, but he had no idea that what the angel was doing is really happening He thought he was seeing a vision Folks, I want to challenge you to respond to what God tells you to do whether it's through the scripture or whether it's through His response to you as you pray as a congregation You've got to be obedient to whatever God calls you to do You know, we talk about that as being faith Live your life of faith faith is not this positive mental attitude faith is not I believe it I believe it. I believe it no matter what the circumstances are. That's not what faith is faith is. Listen faith is confident obedience to the word of God Regardless of the cost or the consequence that you say yes to Jesus when he calls you to serve him

Are you willing to do whatever God calls this congregation to do? I Love that Bob and Katrina are here because it was several years ago as I was pastoring Alsbury We were experiencing just a tremendous season a Daryl Oven shine was our worship pastor He was also our missions pastor. We were birthing churches We were sending teams all over the world We were doing wonderful things and then Daryl began to wrestle with a call from God Because he sensed the Lord was telling him Resign at Alsbury and go start a new church in the inner city part of Fort Worth And I said to Daryl Dude, you don't have to do that Because again, I'm looking at my little turf here, you know, I'm looking at my little experience and it was good It was really good and people loved Daryl's leadership of worship and I said no no you can continue to be a part of our family and you can continue to be our

Missions pastor and you can go birth that church. It will help you birth that church and Daryl looked at me said but that's not what God's asking me to do And I was a hindrance to him during that season Okay, and and finally I yes Daryl I'm with you and I'm for you and and Daryl and Katrina and Bobby and Several others went and planted a new church Ministering first and foremost to homeless people who were HIV positive. I think that's the devil's backyard How many people do you know how many churches do you know that say we want to? Reach out to those who are HIV positive and I don't mean reach out and you know Lead them to Jesus pray a prayer and they say God bless you. We'll see you next Tuesday. No, come and sit at our table Come and share the meal with us tonight. Come and worship with us You are our family and he began to minister to folks that the church overlooks left and right

And I was so deeply challenged in my heart and soul about what this thing is that we call the church What this thing is that we call the mission of Jesus Christ? Well folks you've got to be obedient as Peter was thirdly Expect God to do the unexpected in response to your prayer and your obedience Verses 10 11 they passed the first and the second guard now they is Peter in the angel They passed the first and the second guards and came to the iron gate leading to the city It opened for them by itself and they went through it When they had walked the length of one street suddenly the angel left him Then Peter came to himself and said now I know without a doubt that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from Herod's clutches and from everything the Jewish people were hoping would happen Folks you need to expect God to do the unexpected in response to your prayers and obedience

Because you and I don't have the insight. We don't have the power We don't have the skill set to reach this city much less the rest of the world But our God does and he chooses to use people like us to do it And you need to expect God to work in ways that you wouldn't know to ask for or to expect Trust God to do what only God can do as you as a church family are committed to taking this gospel to the ends of the earth And then fourthly never forget the value of a community United in prayer and obedience look at verses 12 through 17 When this had dawned on Peter he went to the house of Mary the mother of John also called mark Where many people had gathered and were praying? Peter knocked at the outer entrance and a servant named Rhoda came to answer the door when she recognized Peter's voice She was so overjoyed that she ran back without opening the door and exclaimed Peter is at the door and

The men of the church said you are out of your mind When she kept insisting that it was so they said it must be his angel He must be dead But Peter kept on knocking when they opened the door and saw him they were astonished And Peter motion with his hand for them to be quiet so in my mind There's this big crowd just rejoicing and he said wait wait I've got something to tell you be quiet be still listen to what I have to say He described how the Lord had brought him out of the prison Tell James and the other brothers and sisters about this he said and then he left for another place Did you notice the first part when he went to the house of Mary the mother of John? There were many people gathered and praying and he he provides names, okay? Never lose sight of the value of a community That prays for one another as we do this work Jesus has called us to do

Guard your unity Protect your unity Fight for your unity don't fight with each other fight with the you fight for the unity that God has placed within the hearts and minds of Your brothers and sisters that call this church home and then fifthly we only have six let God handle the opposition verses 43 through 48 Did I read that right? No, no, it's 18 and 19 that makes sense in the morning There was no small commotion among the soldiers as to what had become a Peter I bet that's the understatement of the year no small commotion They wake up the chains that had them attached to Peter. They're open the gate is open Peter's gone, and they're what has happened to Peter

After Herod Had a thorough search made for Peter and did not find them he cross examined the guards in Order that they be executed Then Herod went from Judea to Caesarea, and he stayed there folks you will have opposition But you're not big enough to handle all the opposition so let God handle your opposition in Matthew chapter 5 Jesus tells us You know we're to we're to love our enemies Okay We are not to overwhelm our enemies We're to love our enemies you let God take care of those who come against you you let God take care of the problems with Other people because love for other people is a supreme evidence of a life lived for Jesus. Do you understand that? Jesus said love one another as I have loved you So you must love one another and then for me the most convicting part of that is Jesus saying by this

People will know that you are my disciples by loving others See they don't know where his disciples by standing on a corner in downtown down Fort Worth Yelling at people going into a movie theater you ever seen that down there you ever gone down to that area and you see people Screaming at other folks going in and out of a movie theater telling they're going to hell that never Does anything for the kingdom of God it simply affirms what people think we're a bunch of angry judgmental folks But love for one another Genuine love unlike what is found in the world genuine love is what people say what makes these folks so different? Well, it's Jesus Jesus who lives in us and so let God handle the enemies Let God handle the people who come against you Yes, people will be ugly and people will push again. Let God deal with it. It's his not ours Just say God it's your I'm gonna love these folks and then you take care of any consequences that need to come and then finally

Never ever ever forget who you are and who you serve verses 19 through 24 of chapter 12 Then Herod went from Judea to accessory and stayed there He had been quarreling with the people of Tyre and Sidon They now joined together and sought an audience with him after securing the support of blast us a trusted Personal servant of the king they asked for peace because they depended on the King's country for their food supply on One appointed a Herod wearing his royal robes sat on his throne and delivered a public address to the people They shouted this is the voice of a god not of a man Immediately because Herod did not give praise to God an angel of the Lord struck him down He was eaten by worms and he died But the word of God continued to spread and flourish folks You are the body of Christ You are the people of God You are his chosen people his chosen possession the building that he is

Constructing you are the sheep of his pasture. You are his beloved Never forget who you are and who you belong to and when you look at the people around you They have the same identity and so there may be things that you see differently in life Never forget that the person that you may feel like arguing with is also Also a precious child of the living God Never forget who you are and never forget who you serve Never forget that you are the people of the Almighty God and God will use you To reach this community God will use you to make a difference in the world around us God is not looking for a bigger church. God is not looking for more talented people God is not looking for some new church growth model God is looking for people who are totally devoted to him And I'm telling you the world has yet to see what God can do through one person one family one

congregation totally sold out to him Let's pray together Father I want to thank you for this church. I have been aware of South Burleson Baptist Church for well over 30 years Lord I've seen things happen. I've seen high times. I've seen low times I've seen challenging seasons for this congregation But it makes absolutely no difference what rests in the past This is a brand new day and how exciting it is for a congregation to to look at how you began the church there in Jerusalem and it spread to Judea and then to Samaria and we see how it begins to spread throughout the world and that work has not come to an end You desire to use this group of people right here these people you desire to use them in ways The world has never seen And father we pray today that we would be obedient to you that we would Embrace the vision that you placed upon our hearts that you would help us to overcome our own

reservations our own Insecurities Lord and that we would embrace you and you fully serving you with all that we are And it's in your name. We pray Amen