How Do You Persevere When Life Gets Tough? | Acts 6-7 | Dave Stone

Hey church, my name's Wendy and I'm so glad that you've come to Crosspoint to join us in worship today. Whether you're joining us in person, online, or at God Behind Bars, we are so grateful that you are here with us today. If you've been with us this summer, you know that this is a singing church, and so we've stripped back the music a bit, and we picked songs that are familiar because we believe that your voice matters and that the Lord wants to hear from each and every one of us. So let's sing together from a place of gratitude because He is good and He is kind. Let's make a joyful noise unto the Lord today. Let's sing together. Praise. Hallelujah. Even though I don't deserve it, You did it. Even though I couldn't earn it, You give it. Come on, lift your voices. Sing holy, holy, there's only one. God, I give You glory for all that You've done. And even though I don't deserve it, You did it. And even though I couldn't earn it, You give it. Sing, who am I? Lord, who am I that You keep me on Your mind? Oh, I'm just grateful for You. God, I'm just grateful for You. See, all my life, You've been right here by my side. God, I'm just grateful for You. God, I'm just grateful for You. Come on, we sing it again. Sing, who am I that You keep me on Your mind? God, I'm just grateful for You. God, I'm just grateful for You. And all my life, You've been right here by my side. God, I'm just grateful for You. God, I'm just grateful for You. For what You've done, for what You will do, Lord, I'm grateful. I'm grateful, God. Sing, I, I'm lifting both of my hands, cause You gave me chance after chance after chance. Sing, I, I'm giving all that I am, cause You gave me chance after chance after chance. Sing, I, I'm lifting both of my hands, cause You gave me chance after chance after chance. And I, I'm giving all that I am, cause You gave me chance after chance after chance. Sing, who am I that You keep me on Your mind? God, I'm just grateful for You. And all my life, You've been right here by my side. God, I'm just grateful for You. God, I'm just grateful for You. Sing, who am I that You keep me on Your mind? God, I'm just grateful for You. Oh, so grateful. Oh, so grateful, God. And all my life, You've been right here by my side. God, I'm just grateful for You. God, I'm just grateful for you Sing, I survive and I'm here to testify God, I'm just grateful for you God, I'm just grateful for you So grateful, grateful So grateful, grateful For who you are, Jesus For who you are, Jesus

So grateful, grateful For who you are, Jesus God, I look to you I won't be overwhelmed Give me vision To see things like you do God, I look to you You're where my help comes from Give me wisdom You know just what to do You know just what to do God, I look to you I won't be overwhelmed Give me vision To see things like you do God, I look to you I won't be overwhelmed Give me wisdom You know just what to do And I will love you, Lord, my shield I will love you, Lord, my shield And I will love you, Lord, my rock Forever all my days I will love you, God Yes, I will love you, Lord, my strength And I will love you, Lord, my shield And I will love you, Lord, my rock Forever all my days I will love you, God Hallelujah, our God Sing it out church Hallelujah, our God, He reigns Hallelujah, our God, He reigns Forever all my days Hallelujah Let's sing that again, Hallelujah Sing Hallelujah, our God reigns Hallelujah, our God reigns Hallelujah, our God reigns Forever all my days Hallelujah We lift up our Hallelujah To the only one who's worthy

To the one who our help comes from We sing Hallelujah Lift your voices church, He's worthy To the only one who our help comes from We sing I will love you, Lord, my strength And I will love you, Lord, my strength And I will love you, Lord, my shield And I will love you, Lord, my rock Forever all my days I will love you, Lord my shield. I will love you, Lord my rock. Forever all my days I will ever love you kind. Hallelujah, our God reigns. Hallelujah, our God reigns. Hallelujah, our God reigns. Forever all my days, Hallelujah. Hallelujah, our God reigns. Hallelujah, our God reigns. Hallelujah, our God reigns. Forever all my days, Hallelujah. I believe that we have something to praise the Lord about. Amen. In the history of time, ages ago, in order for us to be in the house of God, we had to see a priest. We had to present a sacrifice. But because the life, the death, and the sacrifice, and the resurrection of Jesus Christ, we don't have to abide by that process anymore. His death and resurrection gives us instant access into the presence of God as we are in the presence of God right now. So I believe that's something to praise the Lord about. Amen. Yeah. Thank you, Jesus. So heavenly Father, we are a singing church. We are a grateful people. Thank you, God, that your son Jesus is the high priest. Thank you that your son Jesus is the sacrificial lamb who takes away the sins of the world. Who has given us access to be with you, Lord. We have a reason to sing. We have a reason to lift our voices, to lift our hearts, to lift our hands. God, you're worthy of it all. Let me sing these songs to you.

Come on, sing it out. Hallelujah, Lord. And I know it's not much. I've nothing else fit for a king. Except for a heart singing. Hallelujah, Lord. Hallelujah, Lord. I've got one response. I've got just one move. With my arms stretched wide. I will worship you. Come on. So I throw up my hands and praise you again and again. Cause all that I have is a hallelujah. Hallelujah. I know it's not much, but I'm nothing else good for a king, except for a heart singing Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. We sing Hallelujah Jesus. Hallelujah. Sing come on my soul. Oh don't you get shy of me. Lift up. Come on. You've got a lion inside of those clubs. Get up and praise the Lord. That's right church. Come on. Sing it again. Sing come on my soul. Oh don't you get shy of me. Lift up your song. You've got a lion inside of those clubs. So get up and praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Oh come on my soul. Oh don't you get shy of me. Lift up your song. You've got a lion inside of those clubs. So get up and praise the Lord. Oh my soul. We praise the Lord. Sing oh my soul. We praise the Lord. Oh my soul worships you Lord. You are worthy. So I throw up my hands and praise you again and again. Cause all that I have is a heart singing Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Oh and I know it's not much but I'm nothing else good for a king, except for a heart singing Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Well hello. Welcome to all of our campuses. Bellevue, Hendersonville, Dixon, Mount Juliet, Nashville, God Behind Bars. I'm thrilled to get to be back with you all. It's great to be here. Your pastor Kevin has been so kind to have me preach a couple of weeks last year and again this year.

And I have great respect and appreciation for Pastor Kevin and his humility and his integrity and his prayer life. And he has been someone who has spurred me on to love and good works in ministry for a number of years. And I love his family and you all are very blessed. I love the fact that he's been out of the pulpit for a few weeks and just getting a chance to unplug from the never ending demands of ministry. And I know that when he comes back to preach next weekend that it's going to be an awesome sermon. And he'll have a smile on his face as big as Texas. And I can't wait for you to get to hear him. In the meantime, you got to listen to me. All right. And I'm glad to be here because I love this staff. I love the servanthood culture that permeates every single campus. And I'm just honored, honored to be here. Have you ever come across someone who was so convincing or compelling in their presentation or their invitation that you just couldn't say no to them? I mean, any defense that you threw up, they had an answer. I have. I've run across someone like that. About 25 years into my ministry at the same church at Southeast in Louisville, Kentucky, the elders surprised my wife Beth and me with a week long. trip to Hawaii and we had never been and let me tell you it was exciting just planning the trip and about 10 days before we arrived a nice gal named Kathy from the hotel sales office called me and she said Dave and I said yes she said I've got wonderful news you have been selected for a 90-minute timeshare presentation and we're gonna treat you to a free dinner and I'm like wow this is I had been selected I don't want to make a big deal about it you know like I'm all that but I know it's pretty rare so I feel a little awkward even talking to you all about it but so I spoke with my wife Beth and I said hey you know we got this thing we get a free free dinner out of it she said no we don't need a timeshare and you're gonna listen to their talk and then we're just gonna say no so just tell the lady no well the next day Kathy calls me back and she says hey before you answer Dave listen she said I have been approved to throw in a round of golf for you and a free massage there's no lie a free massage for your wife plus the dinner then she said Dave have you ever played golf in

Hawaii I said only on my laptop she said you know tell me what you think I said well you know as the man of the house I stood strong and I said first let me get my wife's permission so I talked to Beth again and she said no no it's not not in our budget she said besides after the presentation all I'm gonna be saying is thanks and where's my massage where is that again where am I supposed to be so I politely declined the offer from Kathy the next day again and I thought that was it but two days before we flew out Kathy calls she's kind of out of breath all right she kind of says in a hurried voice hey Dave hey I just I just had to call you this never happens but I was able to get two rounds of free golf and a couple's massage plus the dinner you gotta sign up there's no pressure but just come to the 90-minute presentation so Kathy says I'll call you tomorrow so I talked to Beth and Beth grabbed my face and she said focus focus we do not need a timeshare we don't have it in our family budget you just have to say no so the next day when Kathy called I broke it off with Kathy I gave her the it's not you it's me speech and I was so afraid that I might cave in that I actually wrote out what I was supposed to say so I wouldn't blow it this is what I said to her when she called I said thank you Kathy for your generous offer but Beth and I don't need your vacation club we've got each other and every day is a vacation the whole time we were in Maui Beth had one rule I was not allowed to get within 20 feet of Kathy well today in acts six and seven however you do that we're going to I know I did it wrong probably somehow but okay six and seven something like that we're going to look at somebody coach me before next hour all right my son is watching this in Louisville right now and he is shaking his head saying oh my gosh dad just blew it we're gonna take a look at a first century Kathy okay in acts six and seven his name is Steven and he was a bold communicator he was persuasive he was convincing just like Kathy he was great at making people consider the compelling facts and to spur them to make a decision either to accept the truth of the gospel or to reject it there was no middle ground last week we learned about the deacons and why that role exists within the church this week we pick it up in x6 and

were introduced to one of the first seven deacons who was appointed now acts the book of Acts is a book of history it records how the church began and since the river is pierced at its source there's so much we can learn from these these first believers and today we're going to cover a lot of territory more than more than normal I hope you got a chance to read over acts six and seven this week or you checked out the scripture reading videos that were texted out because it helps to kind of have the background but here's how the Bible describes Stephen in Acts chapter 6 verse 8 it says now Stephen a man full of God's grace and power performed great wonders and signs among the people now that would It'd be a pretty cool epitaph to have, right? That type of description of you. How would people describe you? Would they say, oh, she is full of God's grace? Or, he's so spirit-filled. Well, rest assured, God can do a mighty work in your life. It's not too late, change is possible. Maybe you heard about the middle-aged woman who had a heart attack and she was taken to the hospital and while she's in the emergency room there, she's on the table, they're working on her, and they lose her right there. She has a near-death experience and all of a sudden, she's seeing God and she says to God, is my time up? And God says, well, no, actually, you have another 23 years, eight months, and seven days to live. She said, okay. Next thing she knows, they're in the room with her going,

yes, we got her back, we got her back. Yes, we got a heartbeat. Well, upon her recovery with this new insider information that she had received, the woman decided to stay in the hospital. She had a facelift, she had liposuction, she had a tummy tuck, she had a few other things done as well. And since she had so much more time to live, she feared she might as well make the most of it. She even brought someone in to cut and to color her hair. And after her last procedure, she was released from the hospital and while leaving, as she's crossing the street, she gets hit by an ambulance and dies. She finds herself right before God. Says, I thought you told me that I had another 23 years, eight months, and seven days. He says, I'm sorry, I didn't recognize you. Well, for some of you, because it's not a true story, okay, don't worry. Some of you are fact checking right now on Google, is that real? I don't know. For some of you, because of the spiritual journey you've been on, you bear very little resemblance to who you were years ago. And you have been growing in some of the qualities that Stephen possessed.

And more importantly, through the power of the Holy Spirit, you are conforming more and more to the image of Jesus Christ. And your friends from your fraternity or sorority would say, I didn't recognize you, you're a different person. I think about people watching this message, God Behind Bars. And there would be some people in their lives that would say to them when they visit them, you know what, you look like my mom, but you don't talk like my mom. Because they've changed. Because Jesus Christ has done a work in their life. And although Stephen's life was exemplary, the next verses go on to say that the Jewish leaders took issue with some of his teaching. But verse 10 says that the Holy Spirit gave Stephen wisdom and the Jewish leaders could not refute whatever he would say. So secretly, they stirred up some people to make some false accusations against Stephen, saying that he had blasphemed Moses and God. And they lined up some other people to say he'd verbally trashed the temple and the law of Moses. Acts chapter six, verse 12 says it like this. So they stirred up the people and the elders and the teachers of the law. They seized Stephen and brought him before the Sanhedrin. Now this is not a slap on the wrist.

The Sanhedrin was a powerful group of religious leaders. But Stephen is going to take advantage of this to refute their false claims about him, to speak the truth, and most importantly, to point people to Jesus. Now let me prepare you. Acts seven is the longest sermon recorded in the entire book of Acts. And Stephen's message is going to rub the religious leaders the wrong way. They saw Stephen's message as an attack against three untouchables. Very quickly, let me tell you what the three untouchables were. Here's what they were holding onto. Number one, Mosaic law was God's highest revelation. Number two, the temple was God's permanent residence on earth. Number three, Israel was God's sole place for earthly blessing. Now, please don't misunderstand me. You could have thought some of those things until Jesus came on the scene. You see, when Jesus came on the scene in the flesh through his perfection, he became the fulfillment of the law. There's something better than the law. And that's the guy who comes along and fulfills it all and is perfect. And through his perfection, he fulfilled it.

And while the temple is a place of worship, well, when the Holy Spirit comes in Acts chapter two, as we studied a few weeks ago, there will be worship now taking place in a variety. of places until Jesus returns. And as you will learn in Acts 10, it's not just relegated to a place in Israel. God's grace and Christ's resurrection have implications for people in the Middle East and in Middle Tennessee and the uttermost parts of the world, even in Lebanon. And Stephen has a single focus and he has one goal, to preach Christ. Stephen is going to remind these leaders and recount for them how God has worked throughout history outside of those three untouchables. And so today what I wanna do is I just wanna give you three ways that Stephen was sold out for Christ. And I wanna encourage you to be sold out for Christ. First, Stephen was rooted in God's word. He knew the scriptures. So he is going to walk through some well-known biblical examples and stories of people who God used outside of the norm and outside of the temple. And these religious leaders would know every one of these stories. And so Stephen begins with the father of the Jewish nation, the patriarch, Abraham. Look in your Bible at Acts 7, verses two and three. To this he replied, this is Stephen speaking now,

"'Brothers and fathers,' "'cause it was only men "'in that room,' "'brothers and fathers, listen to me. "'The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham "'while he was still in Mesopotamia "'before he lived in Haran. "'Leave your country and your people,' God said, "'and go to the land that I will show you.'" What's Stephen doing? Stephen is reminding them that God met Abraham in a pagan land long before there was Israel or Jerusalem or the temple and the law. God isn't limited by geography or buildings. He pursues people wherever they are. And Stephen begins with Abraham because God met him before there was a temple, proving God's presence isn't confined to a place. Then he moves on to his second patriarch, Joseph. He talks about Joseph. Look at verses eight through 10. He says, later Isaac became the father of Jacob and Jacob became the father of the 12 patriarchs because the patriarchs were jealous of their brother Joseph. They sold him as a slave into Egypt, but God was with him and rescued him from all his troubles. He gave Joseph wisdom and enabled him to gain the goodwill of Pharaoh, king of Egypt. So Pharaoh made him ruler over Egypt and all his palace. Why would Stephen talk about Joseph? Lot of Old Testament people he could have picked from.

Why would he choose Joseph? Because Joseph was rejected by his brothers, yet God exalted him to become their deliverer. He provides food for his family during a famine. And Stephen is setting up the premise that the Jewish people rejected their brother. A lot of different brothers, a lot of different prophets that God sent to them. Even Jesus, their Jewish brother, who God sent to be their deliverer. Man, he is like Kathy, masterfully building his case. The question is, will they accept this or will they reject what it is that he has to say? And then he moves on to his third patriarch, and that's Moses. In three different times he talks about how the people rejected Moses. First, in Acts chapter seven, verse 25, it says Moses thought his own people would realize that God was using him to rescue them, but they did not. And then he speaks of the Jewish people rejecting Moses again in verse 35. And also in verse 39, Stephen is intentionally driving home the point that the Jewish leaders rejected all the prophets that God sent to rescue them. Why would Stephen talk about Moses? Because Israel originally rejected Moses before eventually following him.

But even after his leadership, they continued to rebel and drift toward idolatry. There's this, you probably know this already, but throughout the Old Testament, there is this repeated pattern of repentance and then straying and then rejecting and then coming back to God and repenting again, and the whole cycle just continues. And Stephen has talked about Abraham, Joseph, and Moses. And then in his discourse, Stephen shifts from patriarchs to places. And he is going to continue by. by dismantling their obsession with sacred places becoming more important than the son of God himself. And this is where we see the second way that we can be sold out for Christ. And that is Stephen was connected to God's heart. Sometimes like the first century religious leaders, we can put more of an emphasis on walking into a church building. But then after the service, we just kinda exit our way out and we just kinda check that box, well, went to church. And then we never bother to read his word or to talk to God or talk about God for the next six days. We come here to get spiritually recharged and to serve and to use our gifts to build the body of Christ, but that's not where it ends. In Jesus' day, the temple, the temple was a very special place. The temple was a gift, but God,

an infinite all-powerful God cannot be contained in a building made by imperfect people. And Stephen is going to quote Isaiah, one of the most respected prophets. Listen to what he says in Acts 7, verses 48 and 49. However, the Most High does not live in houses made by human hands. As the prophet, Isaiah, says, "'Heaven is my throne and the earth is my footstool. "'What kind of a house will you build for me?' "'Says the Lord.'" Stephen is saying when Jesus left heaven and came to earth and died an atoning death, a perfect sacrifice on the cross, it changed everything because we could then converse with God, we could then connect with God in a different and deeper way. And the Sanhedrin, the religious leaders of the Jewish people didn't understand that. They just didn't, they wouldn't allow themselves to understand it, that Jesus totally changed everything. Years ago, I took my daughters with me when I was preaching in San Antonio, Texas. And as always, there are things which stand out to children on a trip that are quite different than what we adults remember. Unfortunately, our time did not allow for us to visit any historical sites. But when we returned home to Kentucky, my daughter, who was eight at the time, was excitedly telling her uncle Paul all about the trip.

And being a history buff, Paul was quick to ask, "'Did you get to see the Alamo?' And my daughter's eyes lit up and she said, "'Yeah, we rented our car from there.'" And... She was honest, she thought that was it. But no, somehow she'd missed out on the history. And if we're not careful, we'll be just like the Sanhedrin and we will miss out on the historical and spiritual implications that take place when Jesus died on the cross. The Bible tells us that when Jesus took his last breath, that something happened in the temple. You remember? The temple veil was torn at that exact moment from top to bottom. And get this, this wasn't some thin tissue paper, this was a thick, four-inch thick curtain. It separated the worshipers in the temple from the holy of holies where God resided. But when Jesus died, the temple veil was torn from top to bottom, signifying that it was done by God, not by man. And meaning that God had made a way for you. For you to have a personal relationship, personal interaction with him. You no longer have to go through a priest or through a pastor or a person to talk to God. Jesus' sacrificial death on the cross removed that barrier.

This is a new relationship. But just like some of Jesus' teachings, the religious leaders, they just misunderstood. And Stephen's point isn't that the temple was bad. Here was the problem. They had begun worshiping the temple instead of the God of the temple. But God is too great to be confined to a building. His presence has always gone with his people. Is the building that you're sitting in right now, is it God's house? Yes. But we also remember that we read in the Bible that Jesus says wherever two or three are gathered in my name, I'm right there in the midst of them. And also, we remember that if you have accepted the message of Jesus Christ, then this is God's house, too. Jesus could live wherever he wants, but he chose to take up residency in your heart. Is that incredible? The Holy Spirit lives inside of you. Religious activity is no substitute for the connection you have with God. He's transformed your heart. The religious leaders reduced faith down to rigid rituals, to spiritual locations, and they missed the relationship entirely. Hey, I hope you worship weekly. I hope you give generously. I hope you pray daily. I hope you serve consistently. It's important that we do those things, but hear me when I say activity for Christ does not equal a connection with Christ. You can do, but first he wants you to be, and that is where so many legalistic Christians and self-righteous leaders get it wrong, and so will we if we aren't careful. Spiritual superiority and empty rule-keeping push people away from the gospel, and they reveal a misplaced confidence in ourselves instead of on Christ. He went to the cross for you, and when you realize that, you stop seeing faith as confining, and you start experiencing it as freeing, and

when that relationship becomes real, something shifts. You don't have to go to church. You want to. You get to. Religion is rituals, restrictions, and rules, but a relationship, a relationship is totally different. It's about freedom and fulfillment. This isn't a life of duty. It's a life of devotion. A few years ago, on a November day, Beth and I went to Sedona. It's a couple of hours outside of Phoenix. We hiked up Devil's Bridge. I know it doesn't sound like a real spiritual location for a pastor to visit, but it was quite an experience. Beautiful red rocks, gorgeous weather, about a three-mile climb. Along the way, people coming down would encourage us, you can do it, you can do it, just a little bit farther, and there was a family who had been walking up around the same time as us, two parents and three young kids, and they'd pass us, and then we'd pass them, and they'd pass us, and we'd pass them, and we went back and forth, but then at the very end, near the top, we came to a really steep stretch, and one of their kids was a little girl about five, and it appeared she just couldn't take another step, and she looked at that intimidating incline, and she was just overwhelmed, and her eyes met my eyes, and she went like this, and I'm telling you, I didn't even think. Instinctively, I just scooped her up and put her on my back, and I carried her the rest of the way to the top, and I'm telling you, you would have done the same thing. You know why? She's my granddaughter. Her name's Vera, and there's already this relationship. We're family. I love her. She loves me, and the relationship allows you that freedom. Now, you can't do that with a total stranger. I know, I tried. Halfway up, I went like that, and some dude just said, hey, no, that's not me, okay? Apparently, grown men asking to be carried hits differently, but when there's a close relationship, there isn't fear, there's trust, and together, Vera and I tackled that mountain, and when she lifted her arms up to me, from her perspective, there's no fear, no trembling, no anxiety over whether or not I would be willing to help her out. There's just total trust, because to her, I'm not a preacher, I'm not a leader, I'm not a professional mountain climber. To her, I'm Papa D, and because of our relationship, yeah, we got this together. I think that's the relationship that Stephen had with the

Spirit of God. I think he listened and relied on the Holy Spirit. I think he depended upon that Holy Spirit that lived in his heart. It was more of a relationship than a religion. And Stephen points out that all of these prophets were all initially rejected by God's people, yet God used them to accomplish his purposes. And Stephen warns that the Jewish leaders are continuing that tragic pattern by rejecting and betraying Jesus, the righteous one whom God sent as a promised Messiah. Well, here's the third and final way to be sold out for Christ. Rooted in God's word, connected to God's heart, and finally, Stephen was trusting in God's timing. His heart's desire is for them to understand the sufficiency of Christ, for them to embrace that their peace and forgiveness isn't found in a place like a temple or a location like Israel or in a law like the Ten Commandments. Our freedom and forgiveness is found in a person, and his name is Jesus Christ. He's just established that the people of God have a history of rejecting the servants of God, and Stephen says, now you've rejected the Son of God. And when he says that, it's that assessment that ultimately is gonna cost Stephen. The truth hit too close to home to this crowd. They were so infuriated and they feel so guilty from Stephen's message

that they chose to silence the messenger for good. They were convicted by his words, but not enough to change. The Sanhedrin reject Stephen's message. They're filled with rage. Watch how fast their anger unfolds. Look at verse 55. But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. Look, he said, I see heaven opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God. At this, they covered their ears and yelling at the top of their voices, they all rushed at him. They dragged him out of the city and they began to stone him. And meanwhile, the witnesses laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul. That's foreshadowing. While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. Then he fell on his knees and cried out, Lord, do not hold this sin against them. And when he had said this, he fell asleep. That means he died. And Stephen will be stoned and it will be the pastors and priests who are throwing the rocks. Think about this tragedy as Acts chapter seven ends. It seems to have every extreme.

Someone said, we are most like beasts when we kill, we are most like humans when we judge, but we are most like God when we forgive. And in this closing scene of Stephen's life, it has all three, a crowd that turns into a mob of bloodthirsty animals who kill humans, who try to play judge and jury, and the first Christian martyr whose last act on earth is the same as his Lord and Savior's prior to his death, to offer forgiveness to those who are ending his life. I want you just to think for just a minute. I want you to think about the last time that you were beaten for Christ or arrested for Christ. Well, okay, maybe the last time you lost a promotion. Because you were a Christian or a close relationship because of Christ. Well, or maybe you were ostracized by a friend or maybe somebody one time ridiculed you because you went to church. The truth is for most of us, the only thing that Stephen experienced that we can relate to is being stoned and it's not from rocks. It's easy to fade into a casual, comfortable, and convenient Christianity where we say and act the right way at the temple, but we have a way of leaving our faith there until we return the next Sunday. And yet eternity hangs in the balance

for those that don't know Christ. And if we never, ever mention him to anyone for fear of ruffling their feathers or receiving a raised eyebrow or rolled eyes from Uncle Bill at the family reunion, if we never say anything, have we really, truly exemplified that Christ is number one in our life? I mean, Stephen was willing to die for his faith. Are you willing to live for yours? You ever gone to watch a track meet? My daughter, Sadie, ran track in high school. She ran track at Lipscomb. And somehow in high school, it seemed like she was always in the first event and she was always in the last event, all right? And it seemed every week that the meet was a marathon. And the other parents and their kids would be leaving after an hour, and they'd say, hey, Dave, some of us are heading over for pizza. You wanna join us? And I'd look back and say, will you still be there in four hours? You know, because that's how long these things went. Now, my point is, I saw a lot of races in my time there, all right, and you observe and you learn patterns of behavior with the fans and the families. And for instance, whether it was the 200 meter or the 400 meters or the 800 meters or the mile run,

the same thing always happened without fail at the end of every single race. When the runners are way over on the other side of the track, there's not much cheering going on in the bleachers, you're just trying to figure out which one is your kid, right? But when they come into that final 100 meters, something happens, everyone on those bleachers, everybody gets up to their feet, and everyone is screaming at the top of their lungs at their son or daughter, come on, come on, you've got this, you've got this, don't give up, don't give up, push, push. In that last 25 meters, you're yelling, everything you've got. And your kid may be first or your kid may be last, but you cheer all the way until they cross the line. Now with that in mind, I want you to think of Stephen's story that we just read. Boldly preaching the truth of Jesus and the gospel in the face of opposition, and what's his reward? Death. But while he's preaching, Stephen looks up and the Bible says what it is that he sees. Look again at Acts chapter seven, verse 56. Look, I see heaven open and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. Well Dave, you've already read that. Why read that verse a second time? Why is that so significant?

I'll tell you why. In your New Testament, there are 16 references to Jesus seated at the right hand of God. This is the only time that Jesus is standing at the right hand of God. Why is Jesus standing? I think it's because in a matter of seconds, this angry mob is going to start stoning Stephen to death and Jesus knows it's the end of the race for Stephen. He's in the homestretch and Jesus is standing and he's just encouraging Stephen to finish the race. It's not gonna get any easier for you and for me to be a Christian in the years to come. It will be more difficult as the world becomes more hostile to Jesus' words. I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. And at first glance, you feel that Stephen's life was unfairly taken long before his time, but God used his bold example to deepen the church in spite of persecution. It was a Christian apologist, Tertullian, who said in 197 A.D., the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church. How might God use the adversity that you are going through right now to bring someone else to Christ as they watched the way you handled that adversity? Can you trust his timing? You see, persecution didn't squelch evangelism, it actually sparked it.

So this can't be just a place that you come, it must be a mission that you're on, that you embrace here at Crosspoint. We need to be sold out to Christ like Stephen. We'll need to be rooted in God's word, connected to God's heart, and trusting in God's timing, because I think we're nearing the home stretch. I actually think that we're in the final 100 meters. And if you could somehow see it, I believe that Jesus is standing and he is shouting encouragement to you and to me, and he's saying, you've got this. Don't give up. Everything you've got. The return of Christ is near. Either he's coming or you're going. So you better finish strong. Let's pray together. Lord, will you forgive us when our Christianity is more of a social experience rather than a meaningful relationship? Would you forgive us when it's more of a networking opportunity than a discipleship journey? Will you call us into a deeper relationship with you, something that's more than rules, more than religion, more than tabernacles and temples and sanctuaries, more than do's and don'ts? Would you help us to be like Stephen, a bold example of Jesus, in whose name we pray and all God's people said.