Response time

Jordie Skinner

Messengers • Sermon • Submitted 5 years ago

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Last week, we started a series called messengers, and we talked about how we, as Christ-followers, are called to be God’s witnesses.

This week, we’re going to talk about how every Christ-follower, every messenger of the good news of Jesus, has a moment in their life when they put their faith in Jesus. That one moment prepares us for a lifetime of responding to whatever God calls us to.

Opening questions

How do you respond when somebody scares you?

Out of all your family and friends, who do you respond to the quickest? (text, call, social media, etc)

bible says

we are, by nature, responsive beings. We squint in response to bright light, flinch in response to pain, and get hungry just thinking about our favorite foods. Even our emotions are responses to whatever may be happening in our lives.

All of us respond, but we don’t all respond in the same ways. For example, a lot of us watch “fail” videos and laugh hysterically, and others of us cringe or feel bad for the people that this terrible stuff is happening to. I like to watch bad “America’s Got Talent” videos and I die laughing every time, and some people just feel bad. On a more serious note, some of us respond to injustice or bad things with righteous anger while some of us, if we’re honest, respond with apathy because it doesn’t impact us directly.

We read about a lot of responses in the Bible. When we read about the apostle Paul, some people responded to his Gospel preaching by giving their lives to Jesus, and others plotted to have Paul killed.

In the passage we’re about to read, he cast a demon out of a slave girl who had been making her owners money by fortune-telling. Her owners realized she would no longer bring them a profit, so they had Paul and Silas arrested.

These men were so concerned about losing money that they missed the fact that they had just witnessed the power of heaven healing a broken world. How we respond to the Gospel is critical. We’ll see a better example of how to react in the passage we’re about to read. We pick up this story right after Paul and Silas’ arrest.

scripture

Acts 16:22-34

English Standard Version Chapter 16

The crowd joined in attacking them, and the magistrates tore the garments off them and gave orders to beat them with rods. 23 And when they had inflicted many blows upon them, they threw them into prison, ordering the jailer to keep them safely. 24 Having received this order, he put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks.

The Philippian Jailer Converted

25 About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them, 26 and suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken. And immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone’s bonds were unfastened. 27 When the jailer woke and saw that the prison doors were open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped. 28 But Paul cried with a loud voice, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here.” 29 And the jailer called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas. 30 Then he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” 31 And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.” 32 And they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. 33 And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their wounds; and he was baptized at once, he and all his family. 34 Then he brought them up into his house and set food before them. And he rejoiced along with his entire household that he had believed in God.

discussion

if you were getting beat up, what would your response be? (to fight back)

how did paul and silas respond after being beaten and shackled? (prayer, singing, worship)

then paul and silas shared the gospel with the jailer. And he responded with such excitement and joy that he was baptized and went and told all his family and they were all baptized too.

i just want you to think about this- when y’all come to church and hear the Bible taught or learn something that you’ve never thought about before, do you just run to your car after hyp and tell your mom and dad what you just learned? Do you call your friends right away and share it with them? Probably not. Last week we talked about being Christ’s witnesses. Are we actually doing that? I would say most of the time, no.

So what’s standing in our way? Maybe we’re scared. Or maybe we’ve never truly responded to the gospel for ourselves and understood how great the good news is and that’s why we don’t share it with others. We’ll talk about this a little more in small groups, but first we have an activity.

activity

give every student 10 pieces of paper

bidding against each other for prizes; i have the final say whether a bid is high enough. If i tell you that i want a higher price, you can either accept it or you can wait and bid on a different prize.

only accept all 10 for every prize

when did you catch on that only a bid of all ten papers would receive a prize?

how did that change the way you played the game?

In your small groups, you’re going to talk about how responding to Jesus can be kinda similar. You either have to go all in or not at all. You can’t hesitate to bid everything on your relationship with Jesus.

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