Transcription
[applause] Phil, I um, I don't know if I am cooler than you. Um, you have hair and I don't. And so you're always going to one-up me. Uh, this, this literally has nothing to do with the sermon, but it is funny. And so I'm just say this because I just made a joke about my hair. Um, a little kid one day approached me and said, "Mr. Rich, Mr. Rich, you don't have any hair. You just got a head." And I was like, "That's very obvious." Another little girl was with him and she said, "Well, what happened to your hair?" And I said, "Well, gravity took over and it went down from my head to my face." And she said, "Well, who is gravity?" "I'mma beat her up and I'mma pull her hair out, too." [laughter] I was like, "See, that, that's the type of person I need with me. She's riding or die."
It's so good to be with y'all this morning. Uh, before we dive in, let me also say thank you, uh, for your gospel partnership. Uh, one of the things that I often say is that, uh, we need the church to be a church. Uh, meaning that we can't do it alone. Uh, we need prayer because we need God. We need people because this is not a single-man mission, you know, to plant a church. Uh, but we also need financial partnerships because your resources help fuel the mission of God.
Um, speaking of mission, our mission at Oasis Church is to multiply a movement of gospel renewal in CLT and around the world. Uh, at Oasis, we believe Jesus is the true and better Oasis, the fountain of living water who satisfies and renews our souls. And we understand gospel renewal to be God's redemptive work through Jesus to reconcile and restore all things back to himself and his design. So when we talk about multiplying a movement of gospel renewal, we want to see people experience that renewal and restoration through the gospel in every single part of their lives as we carry out the Great Commission.
Um, so we want to see people experience a renewed relationship with God through the gospel. We want to see people experience a renewed relationship with themselves and live with a gospel identity. We want to see people experience a renewed relationship with one another marked by unity and reconciliation. We want to see people live a renewed relationship with creation marked by stewardship, um, and everything that God gives for his glory and for the good of others. And lastly, we want to see people live in a renewed relationship with the world as witnesses of Jesus Christ in word and deed. And so we want to see that type of gospel renewal multiply and to cover Charlotte and saturate the earth. And so every dollar that you give, uh, every prayer that you pray, uh, every person that you send is actually helping fulfill that vision. Um, and it means the world to my family and I. So, thank you so much, Redeemer City Church. Uh, you are a generous people committed to the mission of God. And I'm so grateful for you all.
All right. If you have your Bibles in your laps on your apps, you can meet me in Acts chapter 8 verses 1-8. Acts chapter 8 verses 1-8. As you're making your way there, join me in a quick word of prayer.
Father, we thank you so much for the gift we have today to gather as your people, God, to hear the preaching of your word, to pray, to sing, to give, to serve, Lord, all of these corporate means of grace, God, that are meant for our formation and transformation, Lord. And so that's where we asking God that we'd encounter you today, God. That we would walk away different, Father. That we would not merely get more information, Lord, but that information, the word of God would do its work and it would transform our hearts, Lord, uh, to be more like Christ. God, in all of my weakness and all of my frailty as a human being, would you take the fish and loaves of what I've prepared? And would you use it to feed our souls that we see Jesus more clearly, love him more deeply, and follow him more faithfully. We need you this morning. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.
In his letter from a Birmingham jail, Dr. Martin Luther King addressed eight white religious leaders who criticized his nonviolent protests in Birmingham, Alabama. Now, if you know anything about the civil rights movement back then, then you're probably familiar with threats posed by groups like the KKK or the White Citizens Council, two groups that were designed and dedicated to stopping the advancement of African-American people during the civil rights movement. And you might assume that they posed a greater threat. But interestingly, as Dr. King sat behind metal bars surrounded by cemented walls with pen and paper in his hand, he wrote these words: "I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the African-American's great stumbling block in his stride towards freedom is not the white citizens council or the Ku Klux Klan, but the white moderate who constantly says, 'I agree with you in the goal you seek, but cannot agree with your methods of direct action,' who paternalistically believes he can set the timetable for another man's freedom and lives by a mythical concept of time, constantly advising us to wait for a more convenient season. Shallow understanding from people of goodwill is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will. Lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection."
In other words, what Dr. King began to progressively conclude is that the greatest obstacle to forward progress during the civil rights movement were not the groups that outright rejected the movement. Rather, it was the moderates, those who said, "I sympathize with you, but failed to play their part in it." On the one hand, they say, "We are for you," but on the other hand, didn't do anything to help. Lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection.
I'm just going to go out on a limb and say that I think if we were honest about lukewarm, nominal Christianity, a very similar indictment could be made. That is to say, what if the greatest threat to the kingdom of God impacting a people and a place as deeply, as broadly, and as quickly as it could, weren't Christian hate groups, but the professing Christian who sympathizes with Christianity, yet fails to play their part in the mission of God?
In fact, one of the reasons why we were so burdened to plant a church in Charlotte is because when we survey the spiritual landscape of the city, two things stand out. On the one hand, it's littered with lostness. There was one study that showed nearly 50% of the population would identify as religious nones, meaning they don't identify with any religion whatsoever. But on the other hand, there are a lot of nominal Christians there who would say, in profession, "I believe in Jesus," but in practice, they don't actually follow him. Like the two people I met several weeks ago who looked me in the face and said, "Yeah, us, we identify as Christian, but no, we don't, we don't go around telling other people about our faith. That's not what we do." And as far as all that church stuff, man, we're kind of done with that. Like, could you imagine if people like that who profess faith in the King actually oriented their lives around the kingdom? The type of gospel impact we could see in Charlotte, in Greenville, and around the world. Listen. Never underestimate the gospel joy and transformation that can saturate a city like an oasis when we are fully committed to playing our part in the mission of God. Or, said another way, ordinary Christians can produce extraordinary change when we are committed to proclaiming the good news and practicing good deeds, which is what I want to show you in our text this morning.
[snorts] Starting in verse one, here's what Luke writes: "On that day, a severe persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout the land of Judea and Samaria. Devout men buried Stephen and mourned deeply over him. Saul, however, was ravaging the church. He would enter house after house, drag off men and women, and put them in prison. So those who were scattered went on their way preaching the word. And Philip went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the Messiah to them. The crowds were all paying attention to what Philip said as they listened and saw the signs he was performing. For unclean spirits, crying out with a loud voice, came out of many who were possessed, and many who were paralyzed and lame were healed. So there was great joy in that city."
Now, in the events leading up to this mass persecution against the church, there was actually conflict within the church. That's right. The early church had issues, too. The Greek-speaking Jews, known as the Hellenists, said that their widows were being overlooked by the Hebraic Jews in the daily distribution of food. And to address this, the apostles appointed seven deacons to ensure that everyone was being cared for, which actually resolved the issue and allowed the word of God to continue spreading in Jerusalem. Then Stephen, one of these deacons, began performing miracles among the people. But it angered the religious leaders so much so that they seized him and they challenged him to a debate. But when they realized he couldn't win, they couldn't win, they began to spread lies about him in front of a council of people, which eventually led to his death.
Now, it's off the heels of his murder that things began to go mayhem. People are lamenting and wailing over the loss of their dear brother. A mass arrest has been sanctioned against the church in Jerusalem. Men, women, and children are literally running for their lives and having to flee their homes. It was an [snorts] absolute tragedy. But ironically, what was meant to stop the gospel from going forward actually propelled the gospel forward.
Let me pause here and just offer you a small dose of vitamin A, that is application, that I think the Lord is reminding us of here in this text specifically. We may not be living in situations as hard and as horrendous as the early church was. Here in the West, but we may be lamenting the state of our society, and we may be lamenting the future of the church. Acts 8 seems to suggest that external opposition against the church and the flourishing of the church are not a dichotomy. They go hand in hand. The way I like to say it is that the church is kind of like a piñata. The more you hit us, the more the gospel is going to spill out. Or, in the words of an older church father, "The blood of the martyr is the seed of the church." So it doesn't matter if the world is in disarray. The gates of hell, through kings and queens, governments and groups, ain't going to stop the church. And I know that's bad English, but it's good theology. The kingdom of God is going to prevail, just as it did in our text in the early church.
But how it prevails is actually through the church. I want you to notice in verse four, it says, "So those who were scattered went on their way preaching the word. And Philip went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the Messiah to them." This is such a significant turning point in the history of the early church because it marks the beginning that the gospel began to spread outside of Jerusalem's walls, which is in fulfillment of Acts 1:8, where Jesus said, "You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." And notice that it doesn't say that the gospel spread outside of Jerusalem's walls because of the apostles. It doesn't say that the gospel spread outside of Jerusalem's walls because of the pastors. It doesn't say that the gospel spread outside of Jerusalem's walls because of higher professional staff. Nope. The gospel spread outside of Jerusalem's walls because of ordinary Christians who were committed to proclaiming good news and practicing good deeds wherever they went.
Let me, let me unpack that statement for you for a moment here. The, the word "ordinary" actually means that which is common and doesn't have any distinct features about it. And though the text doesn't actually use that word to describe the believers here that were scattered, we know from context that they were not an elite group of Christians that Jesus commissioned to go and carry out the Great Commission. They were regular old folk who encountered the saving grace of Jesus Christ and were empowered by the resurrection power of the Holy Spirit.
How will Greenville be saturated with the gospel of Jesus Christ? How will Charlotte experience a gospel awakening? How will the Great Commission be fulfilled and go forward? It won't primarily be because of weekend sermons done by Pastor Phil. It won't primarily be because of well-resourced events that churches put on. It won't primarily be because we have outsourced ministry to hired professional staff. It will be because ordinary Christians like you and I are committed to proclaiming the good news and practicing good deeds wherever we go.
It's also important for you to understand that when I talk about proclaiming the good news, I am talking about storytelling. In Greek, the word used to describe what these scattered believers are doing is called *euangelion*, which is where we get the word gospel from. And it literally means "good news" or "good announcement." Historians note that the word *euangelion*, or gospel, wasn't only used by Christians. It was also used in the Roman Empire. Apparently, following a bloody civil war, the Roman Emperor Augustus was crowned as the bringer of peace or savior in gratitude for rescuing Rome from civil strife and their enemies. Well, throughout the ancient world and the Roman Empire, this message was proclaimed on statutes and in poetry and in songs, and this announcement could be seen as the *euangelion*, or the gospel. And so what the church is actually seen doing here in Acts chapter 8 is repurposing that word to tell an even better story. Namely, that God himself would put on the wardrobe of flesh in the person of Jesus Christ to come and dwell among us. But he didn't simply come to take a tour of Earth. He came to live the life that we could not live. He came to obey every, every righteous requirement necessary for us to be reconciled to God. But it wasn't enough for him to simply live the perfect life that we couldn't live. Someone had to pay the penalty for sin. Someone had to die. And so Jesus would take it a step further and he would offer up himself as the substitutionary atonement for our sin on the cross. It was there that he would be beaten, bullied, bruised, bloodied, battered, and worst of all, he would be condemned by his own Father because he was laying on the sinless, the sin of the world in our place. But the story gets even better. This Jesus who lived and died, he lived again, but this time death died. He, he put a nail in the coffin of death because of his resurrection. And he ascended to the right hand of the Father. And one day he is going to return. One day he is coming to right every single wrong that has been done. One day he is coming to gather his precious and beautiful bride. One day he is coming to judge every single one of his enemies. And it is because of that good news that you and I are forgiven. It is because of that good news that you and I are free. It is because of that good news that you and I are declared faultless before the throne of God. It is because of that good news that you and I are adopted into the family of God. And it is because of that good news that you and I are fortified against the enemy. That is the story that they were telling enthusiastically and passionately everywhere they went. They literally leveraged their persecution to gossip about the gospel. How are you leveraging your life to do the same?
You say, "But Pastor Rich, you don't really understand how busy I am. You, you don't really understand how how much I have to do at work. You don't really know what it's like to stay at home with four kids. You, you don't really know how much school demands of me. I, I don't really have time to kind of live this life you're talking about." Can I just say, I get that? Like, I, I resonate deeply with you there. I, I, I think in a, in a very similar way, I could give you so many reasons that even make that makes it even difficult for me to proclaim the good news and to practice good deeds wherever I go. And I don't get a pass during the week because I preach sermons on the weekend. It's not how that works. And so I get it. I, I resonate with you. But at the same time, when I read about a group of Christians who are literally running for their lives, figuring out where they're going to live, where they're going to sleep, how they're going to eat, all the while committed to sharing the gospel, committed to proclaiming the good news, practicing good deeds, I'm convinced that the issue for us really isn't time. The issue is priority.
Can we just be real for a moment here? Let's have a little family gathering. I've preached here two times. We're family now. If some of you in here were to be honest with yourself about yourself, like, what's really happening internally? For, for, for some of you, you, you really don't care to prioritize this part of your discipleship. And you have a really clever way of justifying why God uniquely allows you to opt out of this part of following him. I, I, I think if you would put yourself in that category and, and you are not convicted of that, your conscience is not bothered by that, that, like, that doesn't bother you at all, then I think Jesus would even say that you're neither hot nor cold, but, but you are lukewarm. And what's ironic about your silence is that even in your silence, you're telling a story about Jesus. You see, by identifying as a Christian, yet refusing to tell the world about Jesus Christ, you are effectively saying Jesus is worthy enough to claim in private, but he is not worthy enough to proclaim in public. If that is you, then you are implicitly positioning yourself as a threat to the mission of God because you are simply not playing your part as a disciple. And you can either make excuses or get engaged, but you cannot do both of those things.
But for some of you, that's not the issue. You wouldn't say that this isn't something I don't care to do. That's not the issue for you. It is a priority for you. And so the issue is more so, "How do I prioritize this?" Yes, life is busy. There are a lot of different things going on. How do I prioritize living out this part of my faith? If that is your posture, trust me, that is fundamentally different than someone who says, "I just don't care to prioritize this." And if that is you, I, I just want to offer you a few practical things here that, that aren't exhaustive, but could be a good start for you.
Number one, one of the things that I'd encourage you to do is to start name-storming and identifying people in your life that are far from God, but close to you. I think a great way to do this is to ask the question, "Who's your Frank?" Who's your Frank? It's an acronym for friends, relatives, acquaintances, neighbors, classmates, and co-workers. I would encourage you to spend time identifying two to three people in each of those categories. And when you identify who those people are, spend time praying and asking God to open up a door for you to serve them. Open up a door for you to share the gospel with them. Here's the thing. The Apostle Paul, when he was on his missionary journey, when he was planting all these churches, when he was going out proclaiming the gospel in the book of Colossians, he actually asked that the Lord and prayed that the Lord would open up a door for the gospel to go forward. Jesus Christ, speaking to his disciples, prayed that more laborers would go out because the harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. So it's not a harvest issue, it's a laborer issue. And what you are doing when you say, "Okay, here's my Frank, here are my friends, here are my relatives, here are my acquaintances, here are my neighbors, here are my classmates and co-workers." What you are saying when you identify that and you then begin to pray that God opens up a door, you are essentially saying, "God, there's the harvest in my life, and here's your labor. Open up a door. Open up a door." And here's the thing, I really do believe God delights to open those type of doors. It's just a matter of us walking into them.
And when he opens that door, get curious about people. Like, when is the last time you just asked someone, "Hey, how can I pray for you? How can I pray for you?" And someone shared their, the burdens on their heart, and you right then and there said, "You know what? I want to do that right now." And you prayed for their prayer requests to be answered, and you prayed the hope of the gospel over them. One, one of the things that I've tried is, I, I've actually asked people before, like, "Hey, what, what do you think the greatest issue is that we're facing right now in our culture and society?" I, I think we all would relate and say, "Man, that the world is a mess. It's broken." But for you, what, what would you say the greatest issue is? And what solution would you propose? You're going to get some interesting answers. And most people are not going to point back to Jesus. But guess what? You can, you can offer an alternative hope that the world doesn't know. Another question I've asked is, "Hey, what do you believe the predominant religious belief is here in this city?" Someone might say, "Oh, you know, I, I think it's, I think it's Christianity." "Oh, great. Well, what are you?" "Me? I'm a Muslim." "Oh, okay. Interesting. What is that? Tell me more. How long have you been a Muslim? Why are you a Muslim? How has that affected your life? What do you believe? How is that different from all the other religions?" Right? It's just a natural way to have conversation with people that could lead to a gospel opportunity. And here's the thing, if you never land at the gospel, it's okay. It's okay because this is about obedience, right? This is about God. I'm putting myself out there in faith. Open up a door. And sometimes that door is shut immediately because people are just not interested. But my God, when it opens, it is an awesome opportunity. And you can never walk through a door that God has opened if you just don't step out and attempt.
The list of ideas could go on and on. But here's the bigger point. The bigger point is this: Instead of viewing your circumstances as a barrier to sharing the gospel, I want to encourage you to start seeing your circumstances as a bridge to sharing the gospel. In the same way that God used their persecution as a bridge for the gospel to go forward.
Furthermore, not only did the good news of the kingdom spread, good deeds of the kingdom spread. In verse six, it says, "The crowds were still paying attention to what Philip said as they listened and saw the signs he was performing. For unclean spirits, crying out with a loud voice, came out of many who were possessed, and many who were paralyzed and lame were healed. So there was great joy in that city." So Philip's ministry was one of both word and deed. It was vertical and horizontal. On the one hand, he told people about the King, but on the other hand, he showed them the kingdom, which the text calls signs. Signs that I would say were primarily done to validate the authenticity of the gospel and to prove that God's redemptive kingdom was breaking through. But I also want you to notice something else about the signs. They were miraculous. Real people with real issues were getting really healed. Real people with real demonic oppression and warfare were getting set free. Why? Because where the gospel of Jesus Christ is preached with authenticity and preached faithfully, the kingdom of darkness is confronted and the people are set free from its bondage.
But I also want you to notice something else about these signs. These signs are being done in the context of vulnerable, oppressed people. Why is that? It's because God deeply cares about suffering people. God deeply cares about the vulnerable. God deeply cares about the oppressed. And sometimes God demonstrates his care by intervening in miraculous ways, as he did in our text. But more often than not, God intervenes through us. He intervenes through the church as we live out his heart, his hands, his feet, his conviction to serve vulnerable and oppressed people.
I actually think a great example of this is a lady named Tabitha, who in the next chapter is described as a disciple who was full of good works and charity. And Tabitha died. And when she died, you want to know who surrounded her bed? Widows. Widows who were vulnerable and oppressed and suffering. And they were surrounding her bedside crying and weeping over her death. Why? Because through her service, through her acts of charity, she ministered to them. And she did what 1 Peter would say: she adorned the gospel of Jesus Christ. So much so that her loss, right? Her loss was a burden and a heartbreak to other people that she had impacted. And I believe that what she was seen doing individually, we as the church are commissioned to do collectively.
One of the things I really, really love doing is watching animal documentaries. And I know that feels like a hard left turn, but there's a point to this. One day, while watching an animal documentary on hippos, I learned that hippos were ecosystem engineers because through their movement, they create water channels on land that can spread up to 10,000 square kilometers. Interestingly, these water channels function as release valves, releasing water and nutrients into the desert, transforming a desert into an oasis. So, it's the movement of the hippos that creates channels for the water that leads to life in the desert. What I've just given you from the life of hippos is a missional metaphor for the church. In the same way that hippos are on the move, creating channels for water and nutrients to spread into dry and barren places, transforming a desert into an oasis. The church should be a movement of people who create channels for the life-giving nutrients of the gospel to spread into spiritually and socially dry and barren places so that dying cities like Charlotte and dying cities like Greenville would be transformed into a thriving oasis.
And one of the most practical ways that we can actually create channels for the good news to go forward is actually through practicing good deeds. When we help the orphan find a home, when we help the immigrant find community, when we help the prisoner find friendship, when we help our poor neighbors find stability, those type of good deeds open the door for good news. And that's the type of church we want to be at Oasis Church. We don't want to simply be a, a gathering of people here on a Sunday. God commissions us during the week to go out and to proclaim the good news and to practice good deeds so that we see restoration and renewal.
You, you want to see in Greenville as it is in heaven. You got to own this. You got to, you got to wear this as if this is your responsibility because it is. We want to see transformation. We want to see cities be transformed. We, we want to have the type of impact that if we were to ever close our doors, that the city would mourn in the same way that they mourned Tabitha's death. But I think in order for that type of impact to actually happen through you, through us, we have to be willing to do what we wouldn't naturally do. We have to be willing to go where we wouldn't naturally go. Which is actually what strikes me most about this entire story.
You see, you have to understand that this is happening in the context of a city called Samaria. And if you know anything about the, the history of Samaria and their relationship to the Jews and the, the racial tension that existed, then you know that a Jew would never dare go to Samaria. But Philip, a Jew, he did because the gospel transformed him. Because he was following in the footsteps of his Savior Jesus Christ, who also ministered to Samaritans. I, I think those accounts remind us that we are not called and commissioned to proclaim the good news and practice good deeds to one homogeneous group of people, but we are called and commissioned to go to all people everywhere. And sometimes that means doing things we wouldn't naturally do and going places that we wouldn't naturally go, but we do it anyway because Jesus did in our place.
I can tell you right now that for us, we were in Durham for 12 years. That's where my wife is from. And life was good there. Great church, great friends, great family, parks, playgrounds, stores, restaurants, all the things that made life good and comfortable was there. And naturally, we wanted to stay. But the gospel compelled us to go anywhere. To leave family, to leave friends, to go to a people in a place that we've never been and don't know or feel burdened to reach. For some of you, naturally, you may want to live in isolation. Perhaps Sunday is the only time you're around gospel community. And the gospel compels us to live in community with other brothers and sisters. For some of you, naturally, everything that you have, you see, is yours to own. So you hold on tightly to it. But the gospel calls us to stewardship with our time, with our talent, and with our treasure. Calls us to a posture to say, "God, it is not mine. It is yours. And whatever you want to do with it, that is what I'll do." Naturally, some of you, do you want to stay? Very similar to us in Durham, life is just good here in Greenville. There are billions of people around the world who don't know the gospel. Perhaps the Spirit is leading and compelling and convicting you to consider putting your "yes" on the table. Go people and places that a lot of people are unwilling to go. The gospel compels it. It's all of Jesus.
Listen, my prayer for us, my prayer for our church, for your church, is that when it comes to proclaiming good news and practicing good deeds, [snorts] that it wouldn't be something that is simply rhetoric, but it would be reality in our lives and that we would see the fruit of transformation in Greenville and Charlotte and around the world because we own, because we live this out in obedience to our calling as disciples of Jesus Christ. That is my hope. That is our prayer.
Let me pray for us. Father, we thank you so much that you sent your Son Jesus [snorts] to do first what you now are calling us to do. God, we won't do it apart from being compelled by the beauty and the awe of what Jesus has done for us. And we can't do it apart from your Spirit. And so, give us more of Christ. Show us more of Christ. Give us more of your Spirit. Empower us more, God. And here we are, God, saying, "Send us, and we will go. Have your way in our lives, God. We need you." In Jesus name we pray. Amen.