The Key to a Movement

can be seated. At this time, if there are any families with kids that would like for their kids to go to a class, um you can go ahead and dismiss them and they will head downstairs um at this time. And for the rest of us in the room, good morning everyone. Good is good to see you. We are excited about just our time together this morning. And if you got your Bibles, I want you to go ahead and grab them.

And I want you to open up to Acts chapter 18. Acts chapter 18. And as you're turning there, um I'm a little nervous to even bring this up because I don't want to jinx anything, but the Indiana Pacers are on an historic run right now. Um, the height of their franchise really was back 25 years ago when Reggie Miller led them to the NBA finals only to fall short in game six to the LA Lakers during the the start of the co uh Shaq and Kobe dynasty. And then unfortunately for the next 25 years really they kind of fell into a little bit of mediocrity if you will. Um, and the Pacers have been struck by that until this year.

And at this moment, they are seeing some incredible things going on. And like many professional sports teams that assemble fantastic teams or championship teams, the same thing is true for a church. Every church has a limited window of time on this earth, a moment of influence, a breath of life to fulfill its unique calling as a conduit of God's grace. And the question isn't necessarily how long the church lasts, but what it does with the time that it's been given on this earth. Because every church starts and every church ends at some point. You can't go visit right now any of Paul's churches that he planted and become a member of that church.

But the movement of the gospel continues. And what I want to talk today is over the next 10, 20, maybe 50 years with the window of time that we've been given as the church of Jesus Christ, what do we do with it? What do we do with our moment that God has given us? How do we be faithful? Because if you focus on Jesus, if you focus on making disciples, if you focus on reaching the lost, God might give us longevity. He might give us longevity.

But if you focus on survival, if you focus on kind of just internal, focus on numbers without spiritual depth, we might unfortunately fall into or slip into irrelevancy. I believe something deep down. I believe that every single person in this room, those from the district, those from New Paradigm, I believe every person in this room, you wouldn't be here today if you didn't long to be a part of something more. I know that from our people at the district. We want more. And I know from my conversations with many of you from New Paradigm, we want more.

We want to be a part of God in the movement that he is ultimately accomplishing in the city. And so what I want to do today is I want to talk to you about a movement that we have seen in scripture so that it builds the confidence that we have not in what we can accomplish but what God accomplishes through a people that surrender to him and do things the way that he wants it to ultimately be accomplished. And I want to talk to you about the movement that happened in a city called Ephesus. But to before we get to that, I want to ask the question, what defines a movement? What defines a movement? Well, at its core, a movement is a people compelled by the love of Christ, united around the purposes of God, advancing together for the disciplehip of all nations.

It's a movement. I grew up in Tennessee surrounded by pawns. All right? I mean, there's not big bodies of water necessarily, but there's tons of these little ponds in Tennessee. And the one thing you need to know about Tennessee ponds is you don't swim in them. You don't swim in them.

All right? Because still water that becomes stagnant allows for the opportunity to all kinds of nasty to just grow. So, algae grows, um, all kinds of nasty creatures grow in there. And and there even becomes this thick layer of scum that just kind of surfaces the entire top of the the pond to where oftentimes you don't even know a pond exists there until you accidentally step into it and you fall in and then you're just covered in all of this sludge. It's not a nice thing. It's not a great thing.

But moving water, moving water, that's different. The creeks and the rivers that flow through Tennessee is different than the ponds. Rushing stream, white cap river. Movement brings oxygen. Movement brings life and clarity. Movement purifies.

Movement sustains. Movement grows. And today as we look at this church in Ephesus and the movement that happened there where the Holy Spirit stirred hearts, it turned the city upside down and it made the name of Jesus unavoidable to those that were there and in the surrounding areas. It was a movement that was not stale or stagnant, but they were taking the word of God and they're saying, "We're going to get it to anybody and everybody that is here." And I want to look at that movement with us together because it doesn't matter if we've been around since 1992 or if we've been around since 2016. The question I want to ask is can it happen here?

Can it happen through us and among us? And so let's look at the birth of a movement. And I want to give you the first key moments that started the outpouring of God's grace here in Ephesus. And literally the first three things are the will of God, the willingness of God's people, and the word of God. These are key moments in the birth of this movement. And so in Acts chapter 18, look at verse 19 there with me.

It says, "When they came to Ephesus, he left them there." And he's referring to Priscilla and Achila. But he himself went into the synagogue and he reasoned with the Jews. And when they asked him to stay for a longer period, he declined, but on taking leave of them, he said,"I will return to you if God wills." And then he set sail from Ephesus. So, we're talking about the Apostle Paul here who's landing in Ephesus with a group of people who are gathered with him and he is now going into kind of the the synagogues and he's reasoning with the people who have these these these beliefs about these different types of gods or who the true God is or who the Christ or the Messiah is going to be.

And as Paul's bringing the word of God, the true gospel there, they want to hear more about this, which honestly is what we all hope for, right? we want people to to ask us, I want to know more about the gospel. I want to know more about the word of God. I want to know more about this. But the first thing Paul responds with is, I need to make sure it's the will of God. I need to make sure that this is where he wants me to be at this proper time, in this proper moment, in order to deliver this word to you.

And so he says basically he's going to leave and if it's the will of God, he'll return at some point. And my question with that is, are we leaning into prayer and dependence upon the spirit of God, or are we surviving based on our own strength and willpower? Once we have conviction that this is the will of God for us, then you've got to be like a ball shot out of a cannon and go. That's when we then shift to the willingness of God's people to engage the will of God that he has for us. And that's the second part. I want you to see this in verses 24- 26 of chapter 18.

The willingness of God's people engage in the movement of God. Now, a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, he came to Ephesus. He was an eloquent man. He was competent in the scriptures. He'd been instructed in the will of the Lord or in the way of the Lord. And being fervent in spirit, he spoke and he taught accurately the things concerning Jesus.

Though he knew only the baptism of John, he began to speak boldly in the synagogue. But when Priscilla and Achilla heard him, they took him aside and they explained to him the way of God more accurately. Listen, if it is the will of God for a city to be reached, God will position people for the sake of gospel growth and church expansion. He's going to bring the people together in order for the word of God to get out. He's going to orchestrate that. And here in Ephesus, God sent a man named Apollos who was a gifted communicator.

He was competent in the scriptures. He was bold to speak it to the people that were around him, but he still needed a bit of clarity and and constructive feedback in his sermons from Priscilla and Achila. And so they're essentially hearing him. They're saying, "Hey, man, this is a this is a this is a great communicator. This he's obviously wellversed in the scriptures of the Lord, but at the same time, he he doesn't he doesn't even know about the Holy Spirit." Like, we need to correct him on this.

We need to provide this feedback because it's not just about who's speaking. It's about what they're speaking. It's about the content. It's about the message. If we really want the city to be reached, then we need to make sure that the power to be able to reach the city is being articulated. And so what I love about this is that you didn't just have these these these people listening to a sermon disengaged from the application and from the actual content of what's being preached.

And so they could have easily said, "Well, this is our leader and he is eloquent in com in his communication. He is competent in the scriptures and so we're just going to listen blindly to whatever it is that he says." But as they were listening, they also knew the way of Jesus. They knew what he taught, they knew what he promised in the Holy Spirit. And because Apollos was missing that faithful lay members of this church are coming to the leader and saying, "We need the complete word of God. Preach that if you want to see power actually begin to happen."

And so both of these things were key moments in the birth of the church in Ephesus that then gave way to a full send of the spread of the word of God. I I say this often, the leaders or the elders of the church, they set the vision for the church, but it's the people of the church with their giving and their engagement that ultimately set the pace of the church. So it takes all of us. It takes the leadership but it takes the congregation as well engaging in the word that is ultimately preached and proclaimed. And that comes to the third key moment of the birth of this movement is that the word of God increased which gave birth to the movement of God. Look at Acts chapter 19.

And I'm going to read a big chunk here. All right? It's going to be 20 verses here in Acts chapter 19 as we see the the the the Apollos planting and then Paul coming in to water it, the congregation, the disciples that were there engaging in the word of God as well. This is the the foundation that you see that then leads to what actually happens in Ephesus, which is just such a beautiful thing. It's what we're all praying for for the city of Indianapolis and beyond. This is what we're praying for.

And it happened that while Apollos was at Corenth, Paul passed through the inland country and he came to Ephesus. There he found some disciples and he said to them, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?" And they said, "No, we we've not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit." And he said, "Into what then were you baptized?" Well, they said, "Into John's baptism." And Paul said to them, "John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is Jesus."

On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them and they began speaking in tongues and prophesying. And there were about 12 men in all. So, we're still a small group of people here that are receiving the Holy Spirit, receiving the completeness of the gospel, about to give birth to this wonderful movement that happens. And so then Paul in verse 8, he entered the synagogue and for three months spoke boldly, reasoning and persuading them about the kingdom of God. But when some became stubborn and continued in unbelief, speaking evil of the way before the congregation, he withdrew from them, and he took the disciples with him, now reasoning daily in the hall of Tyrannus.

This continued for two years, so that I love this, all the residents of Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks. That's our job. That's our job. Convicted by the will of God, we willingly engage our city with the word of God so that all the residents of the Midwest may hear the gospel of Jesus. Like that's why we're here this morning. If we're here for any other reason, we're missing the point of what we are doing in this place.

By doing that, God might spark a movement among us. Look what happens next in verse 11. And God was doing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul. So that even handkerchiefs or aprons that had touched his skin, they were carried away to the sick and their diseases left them and the evil spirits came out of them. Then this is I always love that they include this story in here because it's such a unique situation. Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists, basically just professional exorcists of their day.

That would be an interesting team to create in our churches. You're the you like there's the hospitality team, there's the band, there's, you know, the music ministry, there's the children's ministry, there's the Exorus ministry. That would just be an interesting one. But that's kind of what these guys were. They undertook to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, "I adure you by the name of Jesus, whom Paul proclaims." Well, seven sons of a Jewish high priest named were doing this, but the evil spirit answered them, "Jesus, I know, and Paul I recognize, but who are you?"

And the man in whom was the evil spirit leapt on them, mastered all of them, and overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. Now, I'm not a smart man, but I do know that if you get the clothes beat off of you, I think you lost the fight. Like, I think you lost the fight. Seeing but seeing the power of Paul, these traveling exorcists thought, man, what we do is just tricks and gimmicks. There's something about what he's doing and what he's believing in and the power that he's tapped into that's actually doing the thing that we're faking. So, let's try to do what he's doing by the words that he is saying and see if that elevates our ministry to the next level.

Well, that doesn't work in Christianity. You don't get to be a part of God's movement if you don't know the movement maker. First and foremost, above all else, we need to know Jesus. We need to know Jesus. You can't fake it till you make it. And this is true in this moment.

And I love that what God is doing through the work of Paul as he is proclaiming the word of God and it is increasing and multiplying. I love that there's gossip in the demonic world where they're like Jesus we obviously know. Then there's this Paul guy who's annoying us because of what he is preaching and proclaiming. Like they've heard of Paul. They're talking amongst one another. It's like screw tape letters.

They're saying, "You got to watch out for the Apostle Paul. This guy's doing things that that that's really frustrating and it's and it's hurting our business here." I love that. I would love for the spiritual realm that we can't see that's going on in Indianapolis for them to get so frustrated because of what's going on in the district and new paradigm that they're saying, "You've got to watch out for these churches. They're spreading the word of God effectively. They're taking our people.

I'd love that. I'd love for that to happen. And then look what happens next in verse 17. This became known to all the residents of Ephesus, both Jews and Greeks, and fear fell upon them all. And the name of the Lord Jesus was extolled. Many of those who were now believers came confessing and dulging their practices.

And a number of those who had practiced magic arts brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted the value of them. And they found it came to 50,000 pieces of silver. And so the word of the Lord continued to increase and prevail mightily. Amen. And so if you got the will of God and you've got the willingness of the people of God to spread the word of God that literally transformed the city of Ephesus, it gave birth to a movement of God.

So much so that if you were to continue on reading verses 23-41, you'll see that the primary e economic driver of the city is the making of these idols to the Greek goddess Artemis. It's what it's literally the primary driver of the economic um fabric of the city. And that economic driver was in danger of collapsing because of supply and demand. Nobody's going and buying idols anymore to the Greek goddess Artemis. Instead, they're bringing them and burning them because they now believe in Jesus rather than this false goddess. Amazing.

Like that's what we want to see in our own city. We want to see this type of movement when the people aren't demanding the purchase of idols, but instead burning them for Bibles. Well, that gets the city's attention. It gets the city's attention. Now, this doesn't translate completely, but could you imagine? Could you imagine if the Pacers game was actually this morning?

Could you imagine the watch party that is sold out, Jerry can confirm it for us, the watch party that is sold out downtown at Gamebridge Fieldhouse. Could you imagine if at the same time the Pacers game is going on and the same time that the people are coming together to worship Jesus, the watch party is empty because people care more about hearing the word of God, growing in Jesus, worshiping him rather than their city's team winning a championship. That's what's happening in this moment. Their team that they worship is the Greek goddess Artemis. That's what this city is all about. Literally, the temple to Diana, which is like a nickname for the Greek goddess Artemis, that temple is one of the seven ancient wonders of the world.

It's a big deal. and for the fact that the city is shifting and now all of the businessmen who are making these idols are now concerned and worried because their livelihood is at stake because they're turning away from what they believe in as a culture to now believing this Jesus. Well, it ends up creating a riot in the city. And this is a riot I'd be okay with. I'd be okay with the word of God won. It increased and it prevailed mightily.

And just so you know that that wasn't like a last minute Tyrese Hallebertton. This is my last pacers analogy. But this wasn't like a last minute Tyresese Hallebertton, you know, game clenching win with a shot. When it says prevailed mightily, Jesus came into this city and blew it out. like it wasn't even a close match. He dominated this city.

The movement of God dominated and it gave birth to this so that as it said in verse 10 that all of the residents of Asia heard the word of the Lord. So that's the key moments within the birth of a movement. What about the key characteristics of this movement that then sustained it from that point on? And the three things that I want you to see here are strong leadership, strong theology, and strong culture. And the reason why we know this is because of the letter that Paul later writes to this church that is planted in this city. It tells us some things about the church that is planted there and about the people of God, about the congregation that we can learn from in order to emulate ourselves.

And so I want you to see that a movement of God requires strong leadership. Paul returns to Ephesus after this whole movement happens in chapter 20. You can turn over there verses 17-38. and he speaks with the leadership that is there. And this is one thing that he tells them in verse 28. Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all of the flock in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood.

And so Paul is coming and he's talking to these the the leadership of this church and he's telling them, you have a great responsibility and not only watching over yourselves and making sure that you are watching over the flock, but you're doing it in such a way that you are caring for those who have been purchased by Jesus Christ with the blood that he offered at the cross. Like if if Jesus is coming to me and saying this is what I've done for the church and I now want you to care for them, the leadership of the church has to be strong because that is a great responsibility. That would be like me going away for a long time and then entrusting the care of my family to somebody. Well, I'm going to make sure that that person is qualified and and able to be able to do that in such a way that while I'm gone, I can trust that they are going to be cared for and loved in such a way. In addition to an already mature and robust group of elders and overseers for the church in Ephesus that's marked by leadership, maturity, humility, Paul later also sends Timothy and even the Apostle John to come and pastor this church that is in Ephesus.

I mean, if you're looking at a church that has a leadership, this church has a strong leadership. It's amazing. This church was not short of strong leadership. But in order for leadership to be strong, it needs to have theology. In other words, a warrior is only as strong as his weapons. A movement of God requires knowing the word of God.

After the movement of God in Acts 18 and 19, Paul commending and encouraging the leadership in Acts 20, about 5 to seven years go by and when Paul finds himself imprisoned in Rome, he writes a letter back to this church in Ephesus. And it is for us the book of Ephesians. And when you look at the book of Ephesians, this is not a light and easy read, which allows us to understand the depth of spiritual theology and strong theology and strong maturity of the people that were in Ephesus. In other words, with the church in Ephesus, Paul assumes maturity and dives deep into doctrine, identity, and mission. Literally, the first three chapters of the book of Ephesians are Paul reminding the church of their deep identity that they have in Christ. And then he spends the last three chapters talking about and reminding the church of their wide activity that they have for Christ.

And so he's reminding them of who they are in Christ and then reminding them of what to do based on who you are in Christ, how you impact the city, how your home is shaped, how your leadership in the church is shaped, how you engage the community outside of you as well. Just cross reference the book of Ephesians with how Paul addresses some of the other churches that he writes letters to. When you look at the church in Corenth, Paul has to correct everything. He's got to correct everything. Immorality, division, abuse of spiritual gifts, pride. With the church in Galatia, Paul begins by saying, "You fools."

Like, if if he's writing a letter to the district or new paradigm, I hope it doesn't start off with how foolish you've been. That's not what I want to hear. It's not the greeting you want from the apostle. A great catchphrase would be this. Not everything is about theology, but everything is theological. Not everything's about theology, but everything is theological.

A movement requires strong theology. If the primary fuel for a movement of God is the word of God, then we need to make sure we know what it says. And that's every single one of us individually. We need to know what the word says because I'm gonna tell you this right now. I have uh errors in my theology. Gasp.

Thank you. You gasped. Thank you. And that's even coming from my father-in-law. Like I've talked to Jerry. I know he's got errors.

I'm just kidding. But we have errors. And there are times that the way that those errors get drawn out is because of your love for the word of God and knowing what he has revealed to us that when we say something like the Apollos, you're like, I don't know. I don't know. As a church, we want to be about preaching and proclaiming the accurate word of God because that's the power that gives birth to a movement. That's the only thing that changes the city.

Not Jerry, not myself, not the fact that we're eloquent um speakers or communicators or that we do this every single week, but it's what we say that gives an opportunity for those in this city and community to be able to come to know Jesus. Because what does the word of God testify to? Jesus. Not us. Jesus. And so, we need to make sure we know it.

We want you so devoted to studying the word of God that you're outstudying us. That'd be fantastic. We would ask for nothing more than that alone. That you so care about it that when we say something out of line, you're not coming with pitchforks, but you're coming with saying, "Hey, you said this and I'm just curious. Are you sure? Can we look at it together and dive deep in this together and make sure that we're accurate?"

So that as we are all hearing it and under the word of God that we have the best opportunity to receive the accurate word of God. And so help us in that. We need it. And then that also gives rise to the fact that it creates a strong culture, a strong culture. And the reason why we know Ephesians had a strong culture is because in Ephesians chapter 1 15-16, this is what Paul says to them. For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and your love toward all the saints, I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers.

Listen up, church. Great churches that are a part of a movement of God have to at the very least have a culture where they are faithful to Jesus and they are faithful to one another. Jesus is our greatest love and then we are our second greatest love. You get that? When when either one of those are out of step then you will have vision and mission drift. If Jesus is not your greatest love and then you will literally crucify one another if you don't have love for one another.

You will start looking at each other's errors. You will start looking at each other's sins. You will start looking and that's where division comes in. I can't believe so and so did this. I can't believe so and so thought this. I can't believe so and so made this decision.

Because if we don't have love for one another, we become judge, jury, executioner over those people. We no longer look at them like Jesus looks at them or how God looks at us and how God deals with us with grace and with mercy and with charity. We ought to view one another in that way because it's the way God designed for this to function. Because of that, the church in Ephesus was known for two things. Growing and going. That's what they were known for.

Growing and going. Acts 19:26 shows us that they had a culture of growing and going. It says this, "You see, and here that not only in Ephesus, but in almost all of Asia, this Paul had persuaded and turned away a great many people, saying that gods made with hands are not gods." What's that mean? A great many people means that they reached a great many people. They turned them away from the worship of idols and turned them to the worship of Jesus.

And it wasn't just in Ephesus that a great many people were turned, but that in all of Asia, a great many people were turned to Jesus. Can you just imagine a movement of God among us where you see and hear that not only in Indianapolis, but in almost all of America, this church had persuaded and turned away a great many people, saying that the gods of this secular age are not gods. I'd love that. I'd love that. That's why I'm here. That's what we want to see.

That's what we're about. But here's the thing. You can have strong leadership. You can have strong theology. You can have strong culture. But if you forget what gave birth to a movement of God in the first place, the movement ends.

It ends. Turn with me to Revelation chapter 2. I'm going to start landing the plane with the end of a movement. In Revelation 2, Jesus sends a letter to this church in Ephesus. And it actually begins with a commendation, an honoring for the church in Ephesus, speaking highly of their high their their their um hard work, their perseverance, speaking highly of their sound doctrine, all of the things we already know about them. These are great things.

If Paul's going to write us a letter, I would love for it to say, "Man, dude, you are you are bluecollar, hardworking people. You persevere when times get hard and difficult. You pull up your bootstraps. You're amazing in that, man. You know your word. Like, you have sound doctrine and you don't allow false doctrine in.

You don't allow false prophets in, false like wolves coming in. You don't allow for that." Like, that's amazing. If Jesus was talking to our church, I would love for him to be able to say that. But this is the danger of the church in the West. We often have a bluecollar mindset to simply roll up our sleeves and work harder.

We have a no quit mentality and we label it perseverance. We keep our heads buried in the word of God under the guise of sound doctrine, but we neglect to share the word of God with others. In doing so, Jesus is warning the church in Ephesus and by osmosis us as well that the movement is coming to an end unless you get back to the secret sauce. You got to get back to the secret sauce. Remembering your first love, remembering the works you did at first, remembering what gave birth to the movement of God among you. Look at this in Revelation two.

I'm going to start in verse one. To the angel of the church in Ephesus, write the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand, who walks among the seven golden lampstands. Talking about Jesus here. I know your works, your toil, and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false. I know you are enduring patiently and you are bearing up for my name's sake and you have not grown weary. I think both of our churches would be able to look at that list and say I feel like that really does exemplify a lot of us except for maybe that last one growing weary.

I think both of our churches at the same time are saying no I feel a little tired. Just going to be honest I'm a little tired. But in verse four, he says this. I have this against you. You've abandoned the love you had at first. Remember, therefore, from where you have fallen.

Repent and do the works you did at first. Because if not, I will come to you and I will remove your lampstand from its place unless you repent. That's him removing his transforming presence through us for those who are not among us. Yet this you have you hate the works of the niclatians and which I also hate. He who has an ear, let him hear what the spirit says to the churches. And to the one who conquers, I will grant to eat of the tree of life which is in the paradise of God.

And so three things as kind of a call for us, a call to action. The same call to action that he gives this church that has strong leadership, that has strong theology, that has strong culture, but is missing something. He still gives them an opportunity to keep the transforming presence of Jesus for the sake of this movement that he has established there to continue on. Remember what is the will of God? What is the will of God? Remember it and then repent.

Is there a willingness of the people of God to engage in the purposes of God? If we are not engaged in the purposes of God in our church and outside of our church, then we need to repent and come back to engaging in the purposes of God, what he is actually about. Not just managing and running a church, but advancing the mission and word of God that the church is proclaiming. We've got to get there and then return. Are we spreading the word of God? Do our neighbors that have lived next door to us for decades, do they know what we know?

our co-workers who we've lived or or worked beside and have grumbled about the same organization for so long. Do they know what we know about Jesus? The cashier, the coffee barista, when we walk in in that split moment when we get to have a conversation and we ask, "How are you good? How are you good?" Are we able in that little moment just to say, "Hey, I I don't want to like bombard and say I'm a Christian and beat you over the head with the Bible, but I am a Christian. I love Jesus.

Is there something that I can pray for you about?" Because I can tell you this right now. It doesn't matter if they're in church or not in church. Everyone is going through a situation that is difficult. Everyone. everyone.

And if they pretend that they're not, you can pray for that because that's just a false pride and a false I've got things together that's going to crash on itself at some point. Everyone's either coming into a season of suffering, in a season of suffering, or coming out of a season of suffering only to wait to come back into one again. because of the brokenness of humanity, the fact that sin is a real thing. And so the call to the church in Ephesus is to get back to the main thing, keeping the main thing, the main thing. And what was that? Well, again, as Acts 19:10 said, this continued for two years so that all the residents of Asia heard the word of the Lord.

And they didn't pick and choose who they wanted to share it with. It says both Jews and Greeks, which is a Bible's way of saying everyone. Everyone. We showed no partiality. The word of the Lord, we took it to everybody. Acts 19:17 and 18 says, "And then fear fell upon them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was extolled."

What do we want in our city? We want the name of Jesus extolled more than and I'm telling you we're having a watch party tonight. I hope the Pacers win. But I hope more than the celebration I'm just going to name it and claim it. When they win tonight, I hope that our cheers and our celebration for our city are great and wonderful. But I hope the name of Jesus is greater.

in our celebration of what he has accomplished for us that is greater than what the Pacers are going to accomplish for us. In Acts 19:20, the word of the Lord continue to increase and prevail mightily, mightily. With the window of time on this earth and the moment of influence, I'm going to go and have the band come on up. with the window of time on this earth. This moment of influence, this breath of life where it capitalizes on its unique opportunity to be a conduit of grace. What might God do with us in our 10, 20, 50 years we've been given by Jesus to spread the word of God in our city and beyond?

What might he do if we take seriously getting into the word of God and knowing the word of God that tells us everything we need to know about Jesus Christ and our relationship with him and what he has accomplished for us and sharing that word of God with those who don't know it. Praying that the spirit of God as that goes forth lives are changed. What might he do among us? What might God do if we committed to being serious about a movement of God? I want to get after that. And let's get after that together.

Let's pray. Father, we thank you.