Mi Historia Favorita, Julio 26, 2026

♪♪ ♪♪ Buenas dias. Good morning. Buenas dias, Fellowship Español. Good morning, Fellowship Español. Mi corazón siempre se llena de gozo cuando tengo la oportunidad de adorar con ustedes y compartir las escuteras juntos. Me encanta que podamos llamar a Fellowship nuestra iglesia. Oro por ustedes y por nuestra familia de la iglesia. Oro para que la gracia de Dios florezca su corazón y su alma, para que la paz de Dios esté con ustedes en toda circunstancia, y para que su Espíritu Santo los llene de gran gozo al confiar en Cristo. Que Dios nos hable hoy mediante el poder de su palabra y por el poder de su Espíritu, para que nuestras vidas sean transformadas hoy y cada día por su gracia y para su gloria. Amén. Amén. Amén. And now I speak in English. Y ahora en inglés. It's so good to be with you this morning. I am so thankful for this church family. You have heard many stories this summer. I hope you've been encouraged and challenged by. And I am happy to share one of my favorite stories in the Bible today. I have been preaching for 37 years. I started when I was four. And trying to pick a favorite story is not easy. But I do want you to know that my favorite story in all of the Bible, without any doubt, is found in Matthew 28, 5 through 6. And it says this. This is absolutely my favorite story. If Jesus Christ did not come to this earth, live a perfect life, die a horrible death on the cross, in our place, for our sins, and then be raised to life by God the Father, then none of this really matters. There's no reason for us to be here today. But it is true.

And it is the reason we are here today. And every story in the Bible whispers the story of Jesus. He is the Savior of the world. Do you trust in Him? Do you believe in Jesus Christ with all your heart? This is my favorite story. But saying that, I want to share another story with you today. And it certainly includes the favorite story. It includes the hope we find in Christ. But if you have a Bible today, I want you to go to Acts chapter 12. And if you don't have a Bible, it's okay. We're going to have the Scripture on the screen for you. So I want us to read Acts chapter 12, and Josue is going to read verses 1 through 5. And the rest of you can read along in English. So let's go. the sword to Jacob, the brother of John. And seeing that this pleased the Jews, he also made Peter be arrested. This happened during the days of the bread without yeast. And having taken him prisoner, he put him in prison, handing him over to four pickets of soldiers to keep him, with the intention of taking him before the people after Easter. So Peter was kept in prison, but the church made a fervent prayer to God for him. So when you read this passage, it starts out by talking about Herod the King. Many of you are familiar with the story of the birth of Jesus. When Jesus was born, there was a man in power

named Herod the Great. This is not the same Herod. This is his grandson. And it says that he laid violent hands on the church. He hated followers of Jesus. He did not want the movement of Jesus to spread. And so he had James beheaded. Many of you know that Jesus had 12 followers. And in those 12 disciples, there were three that were with him maybe the most. We know them as Peter, James, and John. This is the James. He was arrested, and he was killed, because he was preaching the good news of Jesus. Herod was a violent man. He was an evil man. And he saw how much the Jews enjoyed this. Herod was a prideful man. He wanted the approval of people. And when he saw the Jews were pleased with what he did with James, he decided to do the same thing to people. He decided he was going, he decided to do the same thing to Peter. So that's why he arrested Peter. So that he could behead Peter just like he did James. And it says that there were four squads of soldiers. Now a squad is made up of four soldiers. So if you do the multiplication, you understand that there were 16 soldiers

for one man. 16 soldiers for one man. This is how serious Herod was about destroying the church. Persecuting the leaders of the church. But it says that the church began to pray. It says that the church began to pray. The church gathered to pray for God to do something miraculous. And we do serve a miraculous God. Let's continue the story. Let's read verses six through nine. So the night before Herod brings Peter out, he is chained between two guards. And there are other guards that are watching over him. And I think it's interesting that it says Peter was sleeping. What does that say about Peter's faith? He knows that James was killed. He knows that Herod wants to kill him too. And what is he doing? He's sleeping. Because he trusts in the Lord. Can you imagine how the church was praying? Oh Lord, help Peter. Help him to not be scared. Help him to be brave. Help him to be courageous. And what's Peter doing? He's sleeping. He's at rest. But then you see something miraculous happen.

An angel appears in the cell. The light shines bright. How did the angel get there? We don't know. We don't know. It's a miracle. And he pokes Peter in the side. And he wakes him up. And he says, get up. Put your sandals on. Put your clothes on. Put your coat on. And follow me. And the chains fell off his hands. That's a miracle. How did the chains fall off his hands? Let me give you my best theological answer. I don't know. God did it. Because he can do whatever he wants. So whether they found the keys to unlock it, or whether they just fell off, we know he's free. Let's read verse 10. Well, actually, before we say that, let me say this. Peter thought he was having a dream. Did you hear that in the scriptures? He thought he was having the best dream of his life. He was being set free from prison. His life was being spared. He didn't know that it was actually real.

Let's read verses 10 and 11. Now, this is another miracle. It says that they passed the first guard and the second guard. Now you read that, and you may not think much about it. But this really is a miracle. Do you know what happened to guards in biblical times? If someone escaped on their watch, if you were a soldier, if you were a guard, and someone escaped while you were guarding them, do you know what happened? You didn't get fired. They didn't tell you to try harder next time. No, you died. That's how serious this was. So the fact that he passed by one set of guards and another set of guards, that's a miracle. And sometimes when I think about these stories, my mind kind of runs with imagination. I don't know if you've ever seen the movie or the series Star Wars. It's a fairly worldwide movie. But they have Jedis. And when I see this, they pass by the first guard and the second guard. And sometimes in my mind, I wonder if it was like a Jedi mind trick, you know? You don't see us, you don't see us, you know? I don't know. But it was a miracle. And then they get to the gate. This is not a little garden gate. This is not a little nice picket fence around someone's yard. This is a city gate. It's meant for security. It's meant for safety. This thing...

is massive, it's huge, and the scripture says it opens by itself. That's a miracle. I need to tell you this. When I drive to my house, sometimes I push a button and it opens my garage. But that's not what this was. This is God opening the gate. It's a miracle. Peter gets one block from the prison, and the angel leaves him. And now he's trying to figure out what to do next. So let's read verse 12. So he begins to think, where can I go? And immediately he says, I'm going to go to Mary's house. Because I know what they're doing at Mary's house. They're praying. He thinks, it's a safe place for me to go. He probably can get something to eat while he's there. He can experience the encouragement of the family of God. They can continue to pray. I want to ask you this question today. Are you that kind of person? When someone is in need. When someone needs prayer. When someone needs encouragement in the Scriptures. When someone needs a safe place, do people think of you? Do they know that you're a safe place? Do they know that you will listen? Do they know that you will encourage them from the Scriptures? Do they know that you will pray for them? I can tell you this. My prayer for all of fellowship is that we are filled with these kinds of people.

People who will pray. People who encourage. People who will listen. People who will show hospitality. That we are that kind of people. Let's keep reading. Let's read verse 13 through 17. Let's do that. So, this is a funny part of the story. Peter comes to this house. It has a door and a gate. It may be at nighttime. And there's a girl named Rhoda. And she is, you know, she's attending the gate. And I can't wait to meet Rhoda someday. She sounds like a fun, joyful person. And she recognizes Peter's voice. So Peter's knocking. And maybe he's saying, it's me, Peter. Maybe he's saying, I've been rescued. He wants to come into the house. And what does the Bible say? She was so happy that it was Peter that she forgot to open the gate. And she runs into the house. She's so excited that she doesn't open the gate. And she runs into the house. And she says to everyone, Peter's at the gate. you're crazy. I think that's funny. Because it says the church is praying. I'm sorry? Because it says the church is praying. Can you, let's think about that for a minute. What are they praying? We don't know exactly for sure, but maybe something like this. Lord

rescue Peter. Lord would you push back the enemy and the evil that's happening. We know that you can do anything God. We know that you can rescue Peter. We know that nothing's too difficult for you. Can you imagine them praying that prayer? Nothing's too difficult for you. And Rhoda runs in. And she says, Peter's been rescued. He's at the gate. And they don't say, Amen, we believed it. They say, you're crazy. And they have a conversation. She says, he's out there. They say, no, he's not. Yes, he is. No, he's not. Is it because they didn't have faith? I think they had faith. I just don't think they thought God was going to answer that fast. Or maybe in that miraculous way. Let's look at verse 16. Actually, I'm sorry. Let's look at, yeah, you already read that. Peter kept knocking. He was waiting. And then he proclaims to them how God performed a miracle. And he says, tell James and the other brothers what the Lord has done. Now, this is not the James that was killed. This is actually James, the half-brother of Jesus. He's the leader of the church of Jerusalem. He said, tell them what God has done. Let's read 18 through the rest of 24. Let's do that. I was telling you the truth earlier, that if someone escapes on your watch, you die. So, the next morning, Herod is asking the guards, and they cannot explain where Peter is. And so, they lose their lives. And then you hear the rest of this story. The people hear Herod speak. And they say, the voice of a God, and not a man. And in that moment, Herod has an opportunity to give praise to God. And he does not. And God kills him. And then it says in the very next verse, the word of God increased and multiplied. So, this is one of my favorite stories. And I think there's something for us to learn today. So, I'm going to give us four things we can learn from this story, and four things that we can take when we walk out these doors this morning. Here's the first thing we learn from this story. Persecution is real. Every believer in Jesus Christ, every person who follows Jesus will be persecuted. It's going to happen. If we love Jesus and if we are faithful to share Jesus with others,

and if we are faithful to live by Jesus's commands, we will be persecuted. People are against the gospel. People are resistant to Jesus. People are hostile towards followers of Jesus. It's happening all over the world. In some of your native countries. In other countries around the world. People who love Jesus are being beaten for their faith. They're being rejected by their families. Being rejected by their villages. Some of them are even losing their lives because they are loving Jesus and sharing Jesus. Sometimes here in America, people forget that. But just because we forget it doesn't mean it's not happening. Persecution is real. John 15, 20. Jesus says this. Remember the word that I said to you. A servant is not greater than his master. If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. Jesus says, if they did this to me, they're gonna do it to you. So all of us who are believers in Jesus Christ this morning need to understand that persecution is real. Second Timothy 3.12 says this. Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life

in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. All. Everyone. Everyone who believes in Jesus Christ will be persecuted. First Peter 4, 12 and 19. Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you as though something strange were happening to you, but rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. Therefore, let those who suffer according to God's will entrust their souls to a faithful creator while doing good. It says, do not be surprised. No follower of Jesus this morning should walk out these doors and be surprised if persecution is coming your way. We have to know the truth. We don't need to fear the persecution. We need to be aware that it's coming and we don't know to what degree it's gonna happen. Some may face more persecution, others may face less persecution. But we should not be surprised by it. And then it says, and rejoice. It doesn't say complain about it. It doesn't say worry about it.

It says rejoice. Because Christ will carry us. He will strengthen us. He will help us. In the midst of our suffering. So persecution is real. Second thing is this, prayer is powerful. We learn from this story that prayer is powerful. It says the church prayed earnestly, fervently, passionately, and prayer is powerful. James 5.16 says this, confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and it produces wonderful results. The earnest prayer of a righteous person, that doesn't mean we're perfect people. It means that we're people who want to live like Jesus commands us to live. And when we seek God and we're trusting God, and we're praying and we're believing, it says there's great power in that. Are we a praying church? Are we a praying church? Only if you're a praying person. Because a church is made of people and if you're a praying person then that makes us a praying people. Pastor Charles Spurgeon said this years ago. He said, let us not say what can prayer do, but what cannot it do. For all things are possible for him that believes. When they began to pray for Peter, they weren't trying to think of creative ways to get him out of prison. They weren't thinking of bribing the guards or bringing some kind of petition before Herod. They prayed. It looked as if they could do nothing. But they felt that they could do everything by prayer.

So prayer is powerful. Here's the third thing. Pride is fatal. Pride is fatal. It destroys the soul. I'm not going to make you raise your hands, but who in this room has sinned this week? That's all of us. And if you don't think you did, you're lying. And that's a sin. We've all sinned. And pride is at the root of every sin we commit. Seeking our own glory over God's glory is destructive to our soul. It's not how God designed us to live, but it's how sin directs us to live. Proverbs 16, 18 says this. Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall. There may be someone here this morning who's not a believer in Jesus Christ. And if that's you, we're glad you're here. Thank you for being here. We need to let you know this, that pride will keep you from trusting in Christ. And it will destroy your soul. Herod had an opportunity to give God glory, and he did not. And his pride cost him his life. Now, some of you are believers in here. And pride is wrecking your life right now. It's not going to keep you from heaven because you do believe in Jesus. But it's possible that pride is quenching the spirit in your life, that pride is grieving the spirit in your life, that pride is robbing you of the joy in your relationships and in your relationship with God. Pride is destructive. Here's a fourth thing I want you to know from this story.

God's purposes will prevail. No one can stop the plans of God. The Word of God increased and multiplied. The Word of God was taking root in their own heart and it was spreading to others. So Herod dies, but the Word of God spreads. Nothing is going to stop the Gospel. Nothing is going to stop the good news of Jesus from spreading around the world. Countries can shut down churches. They can keep Bibles from coming into their country. They can imprison people. They can kill people. But no one will ever stop the good news of Jesus from spreading. And no one can stop us from praying. We can pray anywhere. You can pray with your eyes open. Preferably when you're driving that you pray with your eyes open. We can pray anywhere. Nothing is going to stop the Gospel. Job 42.2. I know that you can do all things and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted. Job was a man who was persecuted for his faith in God. The enemy came after him. At the end of it all, he simply says to God, you can do anything you want to do. No one can stop your plans. His purposes prevail. So what is our response today? In the last few minutes that we have together, as we get ready to leave out those doors, what do we take with us? Here's the first thing. Be prepared.

Be prepared. Understand that we're living in a battle. That we're in a war. There is an enemy who hates you, who hates your family, who hates your marriage. He hates everything about the things that are going on in your life. And he wants to destroy your joy. We have to understand that we're living in a battle. Here's what it says in 1 Peter 5, 8 through 11. Actually Josué, why don't you just read that? It says to be sober minded. To be watchful, to be prepared. Because the enemy is coming after us. The enemy is not your spouse. The enemy is not your parents. The enemy is not your kids. The enemy is not the culture, and even if we might believe this, the enemy is not the government. The ultimate enemy is the devil, and he hates you, and he's out to destroy you. He doesn't care if you're young or if you're old. He doesn't care if your health is good or if it's bad. He doesn't care. He's out to destroy us. But the scripture reminds us that God is greater. We need to be prepared. This beautiful scripture says, after we've suffered for a little while, let me speak to that for just a minute. Only God defines the amount of time we suffer, and when it says that we suffer for a little while, that could be two weeks, two months, two years, 20 years, 80 years. People could suffer their whole life, and I want to say this with love and grace. Someone could suffer their whole life in following Jesus, but that still is only a little while

compared to all eternity. And then it says God himself, he's not letting someone else do this. God himself will restore us, confirm us, strengthen us, establish us. It's a beautiful picture. It's a beautiful promise. Okay, I need to hurry. We need to be prayerful. We need to be people who pray. And let me just say this, let's be a pray now people. Pray right now. When someone is with you and they need prayer, pray for them in that moment. Sometimes what we say is, I'll pray for you, and then we leave. Let's not be that kind of people. Let's pray for them right in that moment. If you're on the phone, pray for them right now. If you're texting with them, text a prayer right then. If you're standing in the grocery store, pray right there. Just pray in the moment. And let's pray Scripture-saturated prayers. Let's use the Scriptures to pray for one another. Sometimes people think, I don't know what to pray. Well God has given us a cheat sheet, the book of Psalms. It helps us pray. There's other verses in the Scriptures that help us pray for one another. Sometimes when we pray for people, we say, God be with them. And that's okay, because God knows what we mean. But wouldn't you rather pray a stronger prayer than God be with them? How about this? You have a friend that is filled with worry and anxiety. And you could pray, God be with them.

Or you could pray something like this. God, would you help her not to worry about anything? Would you help her pray about everything? Would you help her bring her requests to you? And would you give her peace that will guard her heart and her mind in Jesus? A peace that goes beyond all comprehension. Do you hear the difference? Let's pray Scripture-saturated prayers. Ephesians 6, 18. Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere. The last two things are this. Give God glory. Seek no praise of your own. Seek to praise the Lord. Quit living for your own glory and live for the glory of God. The last thing is this. Be encouraged. I want you to leave here today encouraged. Philippians 1, 6. Josue, you want to read that? God is still working in your life and as you leave today, I want you to be encouraged. Today's story is a story about persecution. It's about the pride of man. It's about prayer. It's about the power of the Gospel. And I want you to hear this as we close. We know that there was one who suffered for our sake. Who was persecuted for you and me. He took our sins upon himself.

He was prayerful in all his actions. He gave glory to God in word and deed. And there was another miraculous rescue. Just like the rescue in this story of Peter from prison. There's a greater miraculous rescue. The day that Jesus saved me from my sins woke me up from my slumber. Released the chains that were holding me prisoner. Opened the gate to set me free. There is one who did this for us. His name is Jesus. Do you trust and believe in him? Let's pray together. As you have your eyes closed in this moment, what is God saying to you? Do you believe in him? Do you trust him? Are you a prayerful person? Do you understand that persecution is real? Are you preparing for that? Are you giving God glory in your life right now? What is God saying to you today? I would encourage you to respond to what he is saying. If you need prayer after the service, Alfredo, myself, we'll be down here to pray with you. Father God, thank you for your love to us. As we prepare to sing this next song, we sing the words, Christ be magnified in our life. Would you make that true in our lives? Jesus, thank you for dying in our place, for our sins, and giving us life. We love you. Would you have your way in us this morning? Jesus, then we pray. Amen.