1 New Beginnings - Acts 16:23-34 Good morning and welcome to our celebration of New Beginnings! We are so glad you are here today. We have been preparing for you to share your Easter experience with us and we are excited to welcome you! This is Easter and it is a great time of year for most folks. There are all the new clothes, the egg hunts, and joy of being with family and friends. Of course there is the religious celebration of the resurrection of Jesus from the grave. However, for some it is just another day or worse, just another day of misery. Maybe life has not turned out the way you had planned. Maybe life has really been derailed for you. Maybe it looks nothing like you had hoped. We all struggle. We all fall and fail. But we don t have to stay down. Today can be your New Beginning. Every member of this church has experienced a New Beginning, and we are pleased to share with you how that happened to us. But before we do, I want us to begin with a story from the Bible. It comes from Acts 16. Now if you don t have a Bible with you, don t worry. This passage will be on the screen for us all to read. However, if you have your bible, turn with me to Acts chapter 16. We will begin reading with verse 23. READ and PRAY. Today we read about a man who had a good job, a good family, and a bright future. He was the head jailer in a growing city of Philippi. He was respected by most and feared by many, especially those in the confines of his dungeons. Being the head jailer carried with it not only a certain prestige but also great responsibility. When someone was given to his charge, he pledged with his life to keep that prisoner incarcerated. It was Roman law that if a guard lost a prisoner, he was given the same punishment the prisoner would have received. There must have been some men in the prison who had committed capital crimes who were awaiting execution. That would explain the jailer s reaction. He would rather take his own life than have his life taken from him. That also explains why Paul was so quick and anxious to cry out to him not to do himself and harm because everyone was present and accounted for. We find Paul and Silas singing hymns at midnight. You might find that strange, but they did not base their theology on their feelings or circumstances. Instead, they evaluated those feelings and circumstances in light of what they knew to be true about God. Their songs expressed confident trust that God would use their circumstances for their good and His glory. They did not have long to wait until He did. Suddenly a great earthquake interrupted their choruses of praise, as God intervened on behalf of His saints. So powerful was the earthquake that the foundations of the prison house were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone's chains were unfastened from the walls. The earthquake also rocked the jailer's house, probably located next to or on top of the prison. Having been roused out of his sleep, and seeing that the prison doors had been opened, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, naturally supposing that the prisoners had escaped. He knew all too well that a Roman soldier who allowed a prisoner to escape paid with his own life (cf. Acts 12:19; 27:42). Rather than anticipate facing the humiliating and painful execution that would surely follow, the jailer chose to kill himself immediately. Before he could do that, a voice out of the darkness stopped him. From inside the prison, Paul cried out with a loud voice, saying, "Do yourself no harm, for we are all here!" Not only were Paul and Silas, still accounted for, but all the rest of the prisoners also had remained (they were probably all in the same dungeon).
Why the other prisoners did not attempt to escape is not noted. Perhaps they were still stunned by the earthquake and fearful of aftershocks. Possibly they feared the consequences if they tried to escape and were recaptured. Or it may have been that their respect for Paul and Silas allowed the two missionaries to restrain them. Whatever the case, they remained inside the prison. Astonished at this unbelievable turn of events, the jailer called for lights and rushed in and, trembling with fear. He found all as Paul said it was. So he fell down on his knees before Paul and Silas. The tables were turned, and the jailer fell to his knees before his prisoners. He was no doubt aware of the message Paul and Silas had preached, and he regarded the earthquake as supernatural confirmation that they spoke the truth. That supernatural confirmation of the preachers and their message led the jailer to view them as speaking divine truth and to seek the salvation they offered. As in the case of Paul (cf. Acts 9:1ff.), it took a striking manifestation of God's power to bring the jailer to his knees. His defenses had been stripped away, and his heart was now open to respond to the preaching of the gospel. Now I want us to turn to focus on a couple of verses that set the stage for our Easter message. and after he brought them out, he said, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" And they said, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you shall be saved, you and your household." And they spoke the word of the Lord to him together with all who were in his house. (16:30-32) No doubt having first made sure the other prisoners were secure, the jailer brought Paul and Silas out into the courtyard. There he asked the question that was burning in his heart, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" The jailer's question expressed the deep longing of his heart to be right with God. Having undoubtedly heard the testimony of the demon-possessed girl that caused the arrest of Paul and Silas (v. 17), either in person or from others, he believed Paul and Silas had the answer. To the jailer's simple and direct question the missionaries gave an equally simple and direct answer: "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you shall be saved." This morning I want us to unpack the jailer s question and the answer the missionaries gave. I would like to do that using a diagram. How many times a day do you have a conversation with someone in which they tell you about their problems or challenges? Once? Twice? Six? A dozen or more? Depending on the day or who you associate with, it may be few or many. How often do you tell someone else about your troubles? Once a day? More? It s amazing how often people share their heartaches regarding their marriages, children, finances, addictions, depression you name it! People are hurting and in need of hope. It is natural for them to share their woes. Most all of us do it too! One thing that is true about life is we all have problems. We all have difficulties. We all go through times of brokenness. We live in a broken world, surrounded by broken lives, broken relationships, and broken dreams. We see this brokenness in suffering, violence, poverty, pain and death. It s all around us. This brokenness pushes us to find a way to make sense of life to try to make life work. But even then we seem fraught with disappointment. Nothing seems to work! Nothing seems to fix what is fractured in our lives. Would it surprise you to learn that God never intended us to go through this kind of pain and suffering? God s design was never about brokenness. Brokenness is something man has caused. It was not God s plan at all! It is the natural outcome of mankind not following God s plan. 2
The Bible tells us that God originally created a world that worked perfectly: no sickness, no infidelity, no senseless killing and murder. Everyone and everything fit together in harmony. Each person had a purpose in life, and found their greatest joy in pursuing that purpose. The Bible says: God saw all that He had made, and it was very good. (Gen. 1:31) On a piece of paper, draw a circle with the words God s Design in it. So God s plan from the very beginning was for His world and all who dwelt in it to be fulfilled, full of joy and purpose. But mankind has always thought they had a better plan than God. From the very first man and woman, people have been forsaking God s purpose for their lives and seeking their own. Soon mankind found out that life doesn t work very well when we ignore God and His design for our lives. We selfishly insist on doing things our own way. The Bible calls that sin. (Draw an arrow from God s Design toward the right.) Simply put, sin is what happens when we say to God, I know what You want but I want what I want, and I m going to do it my way! That rebellious spirit is sin, and that attitude is the source of the evil we find in our world today. We all sin and distort God s original design for the world and for our lives. The consequence of our sin is separation from God in this life and for all eternity. The Bible says: All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. (Rom. 3:23) For the wages of sin is death. (Rom. 6:23) Sin is what is behind all brokenness. It may be our own sin, or it may be the sins of others that have impacted our lives. Wherever God s design for life is ignored, wherever mankind insists on doing life his own way, brokenness will inevitably follow. We see this all around us and in our own lives as well. On a piece of paper, draw a circle with the word brokenness in it. Your story is probably not much different than mine. My brokenness began because of the sinful decisions and actions of others, but I am not without my own guilt in this story. How I responded to the evil done to me was just as wicked. My life spiraled out of control. I was heading in a very selfdestructive direction. But that awareness just made me more angry and violent. I hated not being able to fix what was wrong with me. Little did I know that feeling is universal. There is nothing any of us can do to fix what is wrong, what has caused our brokenness. Out of my brokenness, I came to realize that life was not working out as I had hoped. When that happened, I naturally began to search diligently for a way out. I wanted someone to blame, and I had plenty of folks to point at. Naturally I put most of that blame on God. If He is all loving and all-powerful, He could have kept that tragedy from my life. Right? Out of our pain and brokenness, we look for relief. We go in all kinds of directions seeking relief from our pain. We try to figure life out on our own, and on the surface our ways make sense to us. The Bible says, There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death. (Draw wavy arrows out from the circle.) However, without exception we find that none of our great plans to repair our brokenness work in the long run nothing keeps the pain away. We can dull it for a season with alcohol, or drugs, or one relationship after another, or seeking power and position. But all these different efforts come up far short. Now you may say that you are not the cause of your brokenness someone or something else is. That may be true, just as it was with me. We are not always in control of things that happen in our lives. But we are in control of how we respond to those things. I don t know about you, but how I responded was out of my rebellious heart and selfish nature. So I may not have started the sin cycle that resulted in my greatest pain, but I was in control of how I responded to it. Our brokenness leads us to a place we have to admit a need for something more, something greater, and something to make sense out of what is happening in our lives. 3
What we need, what our soul longs for, is not a temporary fix for our troubles we need a cure! We need a remedy! And that is where we have Good News for you. That Good News is called the Gospel. (Draw a circle with the word Gospel in it.) Because of His love, God did not leave us in our brokenness. Jesus, God in human flesh, came to earth and lived perfectly according to God s original design. Jesus came to rescue us from ourselves! He came to do for us what we could not do for ourselves. We were guilty and deserving of punishment. The Bible says, The soul that sins will surely die! It also says, The wages of sin is death. But God loved you and me so much that He provided a means of healing our brokenness. Actually, He provided a Healer Jesus Christ. When Jesus was crucified, He took our sin and shame upon Himself, paying the penalty of our sin by His death. Jesus was then raised from the dead to provide the only way for us to be rescued and restored to a right relationship with God. The Bible says: For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Hi should not perish but have everlasting life. (John 3:16) He erased the certificate of debt and has taken it out of the way by nailing it to the cross. (Col. 2:14) That is Good News indeed! But simply knowing this fact is not enough. We must experience a heart change a transformation. We must admit our sins that have led to our brokenness, and stop trusting in our own ability to fix ourselves. What I came to realize is that we don t have the power to escape this brokenness on our own. We need to be rescued. So how does that happen? We must accept Jesus gift of taking our sinfulness on Himself. We must ask God to forgive us on the basis of Jesus taking our sin away. We must turn from our sin and trust only in Jesus to save us. This is what it means, to repent and believe. (Draw an arrow from Brokenness to Gospel. Write repent and believe. ) Once we put our trust in Jesus to rescue us from our sin, we receive new life through Jesus and God turns our lives in a whole new direction. The Bible says: Repent and believe in the good news. (Mark 1:15) For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God s gift not fro works, so that no one can boast. (Eph. 2:8-9) If you confess with your mouth, Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. (Rom. 10:9) This is how God restores our relationship with Him, and enables us to discover meaning and purpose in our broken world. Now you might say, Well, that doesn t change my brokenness right now! I am still in this mess! Yes and No! Your circumstances may not have changed immediately, but you have changed in the midst of your circumstances. You are no longer alone in life. You have a Forever Friend Who is able to lead you through and out of the brokenness you are experiencing. I want you to know that when you come to Jesus as your Lord and Savior, His life becomes your life. The old you supernaturally dies, and you are spiritually born again a new person. The life of Jesus Christ flows through you. The Apostle Paul wrote, I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. (Gal. 2:20) The Bible says: For it is God who is working in you, enabling you both to desire and to work out His good purpose. (Phil 2:13) Let me show you just one way benefit of experiencing the life of Christ in you. One of the most common tragedies of our brokenness is a loss of self worth. Jesus restores that to us. We find our acceptance and worth in Him. We can walk in the light of who we are now in Jesus. It s tremendous! 4
5 For we are His creation, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time so that we should walk in them. (Eph. 2:10) So what should you do? I suggest you ask the same question the jailer asked. Sirs, what must I do to be saved? Now that you have heard this Good News of God s love and grace, God wants you to respond to Him. You can talk to Him just as we are talking right now. Maybe these words express you heart right now. Jesus, my life is broken. I recognize that it is because of my sin and the sins of others. I need you in my life. I believe that you came to live, die, and be raised from the dead to rescue me from my sin. Forgive me. I turn from my selfish ways and put my trust in you to save me. Jesus, I know that you are Lord of all, and I want to follow You. I want You to be the Boss, the Controller of my life. The Bible says: For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. (Rom. 10:13) Right now I am wondering if there is anyone here today that has found this message specifically helpful to you. Maybe you are here today because you are hurting. You find yourself broken and in a broken world. Maybe you really want the peace and hope I have been talking about today. If that is true, then right now I want you to pray with me and allow Jesus to come into your life and begin to heal your hurts. Jesus, my life is broken. I recognize that it is because of my sin and the sins of others. I need you in my life. I believe that you came to live, die, and be raised from the dead to rescue me from my sin. Forgive me. I turn from my selfish ways and put my trust in you to save me. Jesus, I know that you are Lord of all, and I want to follow You. I want You to be the Boss, the Controller of my life. I hope you have made that commitment to Christ today. Many of us in this room have done so. Really, that is why we are here today! We are celebrating what God has done for us. Chris Patterson is coming now to sing a song that embodies the joy we feel for what Jesus has done in our lives. I hope it blesses your heart as it has mine. CHRIS SINGS I m Amazed Now I want you to do something for me. If you have prayed with me to ask Jesus to come into your life, to forgive you and begin the healing process, I want you to let me know. On the card you tore off the bulletin earlier, I want you to check the box that says, I prayed with the pastor. Will you do that now? Or maybe you would like to have this conversation in person with me or one of our ministers. Please check that box for me. Or maybe there is a matter you would like for us to pray with you about. Please leave us that comment. Then please bring that card with you as you leave and give it to our Ushers at every door. Our members will be bringing their cards with prayer concerns as well. Please let us know how God has what has been said and done today in your life. *** Each day is a new journey as you grow in your relationship with Jesus. The Bible tells us how to follow Jesus. He has a design in His Word for healthy relationships. Here at FBC, we help folks grow in their new faith all the time. Here are four simple but profound ways we can grow. ~ Prayer God wants you to talk tot Him about everything that matters to you.
~ Church The local church is God s family to help you walk with Him. Because we all have our brokenness, we are all in the same situation. Oh, the details are different, but our condition is the same. We are all helpless, broken men and women in need of rescue. The church is your new family. They are your brothers and sisters. They are your companions on this journey to wholeness. They are there for you to help you and pray for you. ~ Bible The Bible reveals God s design and shows you how to pursue Him. ~ Share Now that you have experienced this Good News, He wants you to tell others. The Bible says: But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you. (Matt. 6:33) 6