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"Here as in Heaven."
For more information visit : garden.church
You're listening to the Garden Church podcast. We're in a series called church on fire, Fire, a journey through the book of acts. This is the story of ordinary people filled with the spirit, carrying the presence of Jesus into every corner of the world. The same spirit that raised Jesus from the dead is alive and in us today. Join us as we step into the call to be people set on fire for his mission.
Darren Rouanzoin:11:15. How are we doing? There's a lot of energy here. Lot lot of chatter going on. There's excitement.
Darren Rouanzoin:Is it about what's happening after this? Just curious. Like Super Bowl? You're like, aye, you got me. Let me see your Bibles.
Darren Rouanzoin:We're gonna get to Acts five. Yeah. Let's go eleven fifteen. Bringing it back, know. Does anyone have like a homemade cover of a bible?
Darren Rouanzoin:Just let me see. Like you've made like a carrier. I wanna bring it out there. That's what I'm talking about. Right there.
Darren Rouanzoin:Look at that. There we go. Just wanna like see like just the giant carriers. You know, like those zippers around it. I'm bringing it back from my childhood.
Darren Rouanzoin:I wanna talk today about his presence that transforms lives. God, let me say it again. God's presence transforms lives. And we are gonna get there in a moment but I wanna do a long introduction because I wanna build up to what the text kinda demonstrates. And it's hard, you know, week over week to like to keep keep the the the energy, the momentum of what Luke is building as a literary device in the book of Acts without like bringing it all back together.
Darren Rouanzoin:A few years ago I got to go on this epic off road wilderness trip. We we went from Saint George, Utah by Can Ams off roading. Yeah, you know what those are? Those are like the most intense off road vehicles you can have. From St.
Darren Rouanzoin:George all the way to the Grand Canyon. And it was four nights led by an organization called the Wilderness Collective. And it was a bunch of dads and sons. It was like a father son trip. And I had never experienced anything like this.
Darren Rouanzoin:First of all, off roading going like 80 miles an hour sometimes. Just ripping around the corners. Like it was, you know, and you got, you just get caked on dirt. You're just eating dirt for ten hours. And there's nothing like a father son ten hours of dirt in the mouth.
Darren Rouanzoin:It was so rad. And, and, and you know we got to Saint George and we get into this like hangar. And there's like 16 Can Ams. He's like, Offer. They're clean as can be.
Darren Rouanzoin:They, like, they give you a pack of stuff. You load up your stuff on top and like you're gonna live in this thing for four days. And then we just take off. And they are like, they gave us a little bit of tutorial and they are like, alright, when we stop, you go this way and look for the signs. And there were signs along the way.
Darren Rouanzoin:And it was like, Grand Canyon, a 120 miles. And then they they took our phones. So they confiscated our phones. They're like, we want you to be in wilderness and you're gonna be on the most epic adventure of your life. Don't be looking at a screen.
Darren Rouanzoin:And it was amazing. After the first eight hours, you're like, it's getting dark and we finally stopped somewhere and they they set up camp for us. We had to set up our little tent. But they like set up lights and they have drinks and they had they had like a bunch of chefs cooking five course meals at times. It was so awesome.
Darren Rouanzoin:Yeah. Right? Like, you're like, I wanna set up for that kind of wilderness adventure. That's not camping. It was so amazing.
Darren Rouanzoin:And and I loved it because along the way, there were these signs that were helping us, remind us where we were going. Right? And eventually you didn't get the signs. Eventually the signs kind of stopped and you're like, you're realizing you're getting close. And then we showed up through this forest area and we get to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon.
Darren Rouanzoin:Right at sunset. And I would say biblical words are appropriate here. Awesome. Glory. Glorious.
Darren Rouanzoin:It was glorious. It was majestic. And this was the first time where I was like, I wish I had my phone. Not because I was addicted to checking in because I wanted to just capture the the glory of the Grand Canyon. Like I've seen pictures but nothing, nothing will do justice like the private northern rim that we had.
Darren Rouanzoin:No tourists, no gift shops. Just this majestic sun painted canyon formed over a lifetime with water and God's beauty. I thought to myself, I never once took a picture by the sign. I never once thought I should take a picture of the sign that says Grand Canyon 120 miles. Because that was never the point.
Darren Rouanzoin:And what I like to suggest, Luke today is gonna reveal something in Luke five that has something to do with what signs represent. They're always pointing to something greater. But the problem is for most of us, we are comfortable taking photos with the Christians today have settled with this sign Christianity rather than recognizing it's the the sign points to the glory. The pine the sign points to something more. And I think that's the best way I can frame what's gonna happen when we get to Acts chapter five verse 12.
Darren Rouanzoin:The image is the best way to understand what Luke means when he summarizes what is happening in the book of Acts. Because the signs are not the destinations. They are not trophies. They are not the point. They point.
Darren Rouanzoin:And they point to a reality greater than themselves. And this is why we have to understand Acts five with that lens. Because it is a very impressive sign. But I would like to suggest it is not history. It is an invitation.
Darren Rouanzoin:It is not a once in a lifetime experience that the church had. It is actually what Jesus has had in mind all along. So before I can get to Acts five I need to do a really long introduction. You with me? You are going need your Bibles.
Darren Rouanzoin:Here we go. Go to Acts chapter one verse one. You ready? Let's see who gets there first. I know where I going.
Darren Rouanzoin:I am there. I won. We're gonna have a test today. I need to, there we go. Just raise your Bibles when you're there.
Darren Rouanzoin:Acts five, here we go. No, Acts one verse one. Here we go. Remember the beginning. We talked about this, I don't know, twenty two weeks ago.
Darren Rouanzoin:It says this. If you haven't been with us for twenty two weeks, this is the beginning. Go. In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach. Okay.
Darren Rouanzoin:Right here this sentence quietly dismantles every reduced version of Christianity. This one sentence gets rid of consumer Christianity. It gets rid of this escapist Christianity and it it just creates a landscape for what Luke is going to record for the rest of the 28 chapters in the book of Acts. The word began is not literary filler. It is theological dynamite.
Darren Rouanzoin:The Gospels are not the full story. The Gospels are not the full story of Jesus' activity. They are the beginning of Jesus' activity and story. To understand why Acts five matters so much, we have to see the build up. We have to see that this is not escalation.
Darren Rouanzoin:This fulfillment of Jesus' heart and ministry all along. Because the church is not getting better at religion. It's heaven pressing into a people. So let's go to Mark one. I want to frame this.
Darren Rouanzoin:Mark chapter one. Let's see who gets there first. I got there. I have been practicing all morning. This is my third time so there we go.
Darren Rouanzoin:Acts one. I love, I want to start here because I am sorry Mark one thank you for correcting me. Appreciate you clearly know how to push back against authority. I love it. Love it.
Darren Rouanzoin:Just like my 12 year old. No he is, he is the real deal. He's the real deal. I'm the problem right now. I'm real.
Darren Rouanzoin:I was just talking to Matt was driving me here. Was like, How are your kids? And he's like, They're all great. And I was like, I'm I'm learning stuff right now. I'm learning that I like when my kids listen the first time.
Darren Rouanzoin:You know, it's like it's like, really? Like, you are gonna say that to me right now? After all of this, you are gonna push back on why you shouldn't be quiet when the rest of the house is waking up. Okay, tell me more. No, I'm just kidding.
Darren Rouanzoin:That was my morning today. And I had to repent to my little boy. No, it wasn't bad. It wasn't bad. He's pushing back.
Darren Rouanzoin:This is what 12 year olds, 13 year olds have to do. They have to find out where they go and you give them a backstop. That's what dads do. Yeah? That's what good people are like, hey, this is, no, you don't get to talk this way to me.
Darren Rouanzoin:I love you but my problem is I'm not talking like Jesus when I say that. That's what God's doing. He's like, you're right in all the wrong ways. Anyone wanna help me out? Amen?
Darren Rouanzoin:Any dads in this room? Any moms? Like, yeah, okay, speaking my language. Okay, good. Totally normal.
Darren Rouanzoin:This is a safe place. I'm not gonna judge anyone. Although, if it goes online, I'm totally judged. I'm screwed. Here we go.
Darren Rouanzoin:Mark chapter one. Here's what I love about this passage. Mark, he kinda, he's like the graphic novel of the gospels. Like he's like fast action, quick to the point, to the point no faking. I'm in it today.
Darren Rouanzoin:Cooking MC is like a pound of bacon, yes. If you don't know, that's okay. I dated myself. But Mark, Mark is very quick to the point. He's fast moving and he summarizes all of the teaching of Jesus in one verse.
Darren Rouanzoin:So if you are like, what is the message of Jesus? He has got these parables. He has got the sermon on the mount. Well, Mark is like, this is his message. You ready?
Darren Rouanzoin:Mark chapter one verse 15 is he says, Jesus says, the time has come. The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news. This is the the the to summarize all of the message of Jesus. This is it.
Darren Rouanzoin:He is announcing to the world good news. God's kingdom, the way life was intended to be lived in the first place. The the the in the beginning, Genesis one and two, Shalom life, where your life is is in right relationship with God, right relationship with yourself, relationship with everyone else and creation. That Shalom that God intended you to live. A life marked by healing and wholeness and peace and joy and freedom is available now.
Darren Rouanzoin:It is not, hey, believe in me, Jesus, so that you go to heaven when you die. That reduced Christianity, that transaction gospel was never in Jesus' intention. His intention is that he comes ushering in a way of life now, today. So some of you are new to the faith. And you have heard a version of Christianity is like, I have got to have this relationship with God so that I go to heaven when I die.
Darren Rouanzoin:That is part of it. But but the majority of the Bible is God saying, I want to bring heaven to earth. And so Mark's gospel is like this announcement that that reality is here. And he says, repent and believe the good news which is, it's not, these are not spiritual words. This is Okay.
Darren Rouanzoin:You think the world is going this way. Stop thinking what you think and follow me. Realign your life agenda. Submit your plans. Follow me and you'll experience the life that you were intended to have in the first place.
Darren Rouanzoin:That's the Gospel of Mark. Luke frames it even further. I'm gonna go one degree lower. Can we go? Luke chapter four.
Darren Rouanzoin:Let's see who gets there first. Oh I am already there. I had it. I had it bookmarked. Luke chapter four.
Darren Rouanzoin:So remember if you are new to this the book of Acts is season two of a two season series. And season one is the Gospel of Luke. You good? So season one is the life ministry message, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Season two is the continuation of the life and ministry of Jesus through the church by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Darren Rouanzoin:But when we get to Luke four, it's the beginning of Jesus' ministry on earth. Okay? He's baptized. The, the, the father says this is my boy who, who, with whom I'm well pleased. He led into the wilderness.
Darren Rouanzoin:He comes back from the wilderness after being tested. And he goes to a synagogue, which would be a Jewish gathering place. He opens the scroll that's handed to him from Isaiah. And he begins his public ministry with this announcement. Mark is, the kingdom of God has come near.
Darren Rouanzoin:Luke is, the spirit of the Lord is on me because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. This is verse 18. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight of the blind. Sorry. Luke four eighteen.
Darren Rouanzoin:Let me read it again. This because you, I, for all of us that just went there. Luke four eighteen. We should read it lots of times. The spirit of the Lord is on me because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor and recovery of, and he has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, and proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.
Darren Rouanzoin:Then he rolls up the scroll, puts it back, sits down and says, today this has been fulfilled in your hearing. Oh my goodness. And they're gonna crucify him for this. They try to stone him. I mean, it's so riveting what he's saying because it's in the Jewish consciousness.
Darren Rouanzoin:This is not just God's kingdom the way it was supposed to be. This is this is a moment Jesus begins. But what Luke is saying, this isn't the beginning of Jesus' ministry. This is the culmination of history. This is the fulfillment of all of the Old Testament in a moment being fulfilled in the person of Jesus.
Darren Rouanzoin:What do I mean? Well, Isaiah writes Isaiah 61 and Isaiah 58. Those passages are are linked together in this passage Luke chapter four. Okay? So if you are reading the New Testament and you are like, oh, says Isaiah sixty one and sixty eight.
Darren Rouanzoin:Go back to Isaiah 60, Isaiah fifty eight and sixty one and recognize these are prophecies about a future coming of a messenger of God. And it comes at a time when Israel did not obey the commands of God. Now remember, everything went south in Genesis chapter three. We rebelled against God. Since Genesis three, God has been on a loving, restorative mission to redeem and reconcile his creation back to himself.
Darren Rouanzoin:In Exodus, he frees his people from Egypt and he says to them, you will be for me a holy nation. You'll be set apart from all other nations to be set apart for my purpose and my glory. You will be a kingdom of priests. Meaning, you will represent me on earth. You will represent Yahweh to the people and the people back to Yahweh.
Darren Rouanzoin:And you will be a treasured possession. You are going to be my guys, my gals. If you obey me fully. And then he gives them the law. So, rest of the Old Testament, if you have never read the Old Testament, let me just tell you, they do not obey him.
Darren Rouanzoin:Overwhelmingly so. And what you see if you read the Bible, are like, Wow, he, God is so patient. He is. He is so patient. Sorry.
Darren Rouanzoin:I don't mean to mess up. Just fix that. Sorry about that. And so, they rebel. God says, hey, you gotta you gotta get back.
Darren Rouanzoin:Like, he he he talks to Israel like a wife who's an adulterer. And and he's trying to woo his lover back. And then you get to Isaiah 58 and Isaiah 61. It's at a time when Israel has been exiled and conquered. The temple was destroyed.
Darren Rouanzoin:The temple is the place where heaven met earth. Yahweh's presence dwelt. It's conquered by the Babylonians. They're in exile. And it's here that Isaiah writes this idea of Jubilee that one day you will be restored.
Darren Rouanzoin:One day you who are oppressed will be no longer oppressed. You'll be set free. And it goes on to talk about debts being canceled. And those who grieve and are living with ashes of their previous life, beauty. You'll become oaks of righteousness.
Darren Rouanzoin:You will restore ruined cities. This is the promise of what's to come. And what Luke frames all of Jesus' ministry as is the fulfillment of that new exodus. It's not just for Israel. It's for anyone who's ever been oppressed at any time.
Darren Rouanzoin:That there's a messenger that comes who's gonna bring about this new era. We're not talking about your personal comforts. We're not talking about your personal fulfillment in God like he's a self help guru. We're talking about Isaiah 61, cosmic reconstruction. The project that's unfolding in Jesus is cosmic renewal.
Darren Rouanzoin:And so he says, this fulfilled in your hearing. And then guess what? He begins to act like God's in charge. No. No.
Darren Rouanzoin:No. He begins to act like he is Yahweh and he is in charge. So what happens in the life of of Jesus? Well, the first thing is he casts out demons. He heals the sick.
Darren Rouanzoin:He gives sight to the blind. He forgives sinners. He announces and lives the year of the Lord favor because the kingdom of God is manifest in his presence because God's praises presence transforms lives. But then he does something so reckless. I know Jesus, you're reckless.
Darren Rouanzoin:He takes this cosmic renewal reconstruction project And he says to a bunch of teenagers, alright, go on with it. Here's the kids, you got this. Like, no. Acts one eight, this is how he said it though. He says, you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria to the ends of the earth.
Darren Rouanzoin:He says, my presence will fill you and it will transform your life so that you go about doing the things that I've been doing. It is the continuation of Jesus' ministry. This is what Jesus promises, that all of a sudden God's presence moves from beyond a sacred place at the temple in Jerusalem. And it's now, according to scripture, it's those who confess that Jesus is Lord and raised from the dead. They are a mini mobile temple of God.
Darren Rouanzoin:Put this on your business card. Hey John, what do you do? I'm a mini mobile temple of Jesus Christ. Everywhere I go, I bring the presence of the creator of the universe with me. Now, I'm building up to Acts five because we're gonna see what happens when a when a community takes it seriously.
Darren Rouanzoin:Acts two, the Holy Spirit fills the church and there's this radical reconstruction of life together. All of a sudden, there's a devotion to the teachings of Jesus. They stop doing some things, they start doing new things, they share life together, they share resources. There's a radical generosity to the point where the things that were once reserved for your bloodline are now being shared with people that just confess Jesus as Lord the next day because there's no needs among them. There's scandalous hospitality.
Darren Rouanzoin:People that you shouldn't be meeting and eating or welcoming into your home are happening because everything's being reordered around the risen Lord Jesus. And then you get to Acts chapter three and there's a healing that takes place. A guy who's lame from birth is walking into the temple. Remember, he had to be set outside the temple gate called Beautiful. He was restricted access to the holy, to the presence of God because he was paralyzed according to the Old Testament.
Darren Rouanzoin:And for forty something years people walked by but now the new temple's on the move, the mini mobile temple say, I don't have silver or gold but what I have, I give, walk. The guy stands up and they're like, how did you do this? What practice did you learn? What methodology are you learning? They said, it's not my godliness.
Darren Rouanzoin:This is what's happening. The reign of Jesus Christ is happening in your midst. What do I mean by that? The testimony of healing is the result of Jesus living. So the healing is not an event in itself.
Darren Rouanzoin:I have no power to heal, Peter will say. I'm not good enough to do what God can only do. How do I know Jesus is reigning? You crucified him. He's raised from the dead.
Darren Rouanzoin:He ascended into the the right hand of the father and now he sits in a seat of authority. How do we know? Because this man walks. Signpost. Don't get messed up by the sign.
Darren Rouanzoin:The sign points to a greater glory. So Acts three happens and we see that Acts four, five thousand people are added to the number. Acts four happens. They say, stop talking about the name of Jesus. Acts four, ends with the the spirit of God filling the church again.
Darren Rouanzoin:They pray for boldness. The rooms shake. And there there there's this amazing unity that takes place in the church. And then Acts five comes with a sudden stop. We talked about this last week.
Darren Rouanzoin:There there are ushers in the church that will bury the dead because they lied. Fear grips the church in a moment where we can't pretend anymore. We can't play church, folks. We can't say one thing and do another. We can't say, oh, I'm a mini mobile temple of God and not, and not remember that he is a Holy Spirit.
Darren Rouanzoin:So the church wakes up. It, it steps up. It wakes up from its sleepy slumber. And Acts five comes and we get this. You with me?
Darren Rouanzoin:That was the build up. Acts five. I am not there so you beat me. Acts five. Man, my ribbon is all messed up.
Darren Rouanzoin:Eleven fifteen. It's your energy. I'm just, I'm bouncing off the energy you had. I felt it. I heard all the talking during announcements.
Darren Rouanzoin:Was like, they're a lively bunch. I get it. I'm with you today. I have the same thing. Let's go.
Darren Rouanzoin:I don't even know who I'm, you know, wanting to win today. Who's the underdog? Who's the underdog? Does anyone know? Does anyone care?
Darren Rouanzoin:Everyone's like, we don't care. San Francisco lost. Rams lost. Dallas Cowboys never had a chance. I'm just kidding.
Darren Rouanzoin:I'm just kidding. I don't even know. I'm reading these. I'm like, how do I joke about football? I can't wait to watch the match.
Darren Rouanzoin:Here we go. Let's go. I'm not that bad. Okay? My son plays flag football.
Darren Rouanzoin:I know how to play. It's cool. It's good. Verse 12. I can't.
Darren Rouanzoin:I don't know what the anointing is in this one. You get like raw Darren talking about his parenting. You're getting comedy. The other the other folks are not laughing. They're sitting in silence, terrified to move.
Darren Rouanzoin:Past said, I can't go pee during the service. He's gonna call me out. Verse 12, I'm gonna go. I'm gonna get to the notes. My wife is here.
Darren Rouanzoin:She's like, just read. Just just read. Verse 12, the apostles. Here we go. The apostles oh my gosh.
Darren Rouanzoin:Maybe God maybe maybe someone needs some joy. Maybe maybe someone needs some joy. Yeah. We should laugh in the church. We should cry in the church.
Darren Rouanzoin:The apostles performed many signs and wonders among the people. And all the believers used to meet together in Solomon's calling on. No one else dared join them even though they were highly regarded by the people. Nevertheless, more and more men and women believed in the Lord and were added to their number. As a result, people brought those who were ill into the streets and laid them on beds and mats so that at least Peter's shadow might fall on some of them as he passed by.
Darren Rouanzoin:Crowds gathered also from the towns around Jerusalem bringing those who were ill, those tormented by evil spirits. And all of them were healed. Come on church. This is not history. This is an invitation.
Darren Rouanzoin:This is what happens when the church recognizes it's God's presence that transforms lives. This is what the local church is designed to be. A preview. A trailer of what's coming. This is the fulfillment of Jesus' vision.
Darren Rouanzoin:When you pray, pray. God's kingdom come. His will be done on earth as it is in heaven. May it be here as it is in heaven. May it be here in the space where God's desires and dreams are yes and amen.
Darren Rouanzoin:Amen. That's the invitation that we become the kind of people that embody the very vision that Jesus had. It says the apostles performed many signs and wonders among them. I love this. That word signs is used all over the Old and New Testament.
Darren Rouanzoin:In the New Testament, a sign, let me make sure I get this right. It represents miracles that reveal the nature and character of God. So John's Gospel, the Gospel of John which is a very poetic, unique Gospel compared to Matthew, Mark and Luke. He organizes the book of John structurally around seven signs. And the way he does this is so fascinating.
Darren Rouanzoin:He'll, he'll tell the story of Jesus' first miracle. His first miracle he goes to a wedding. His mom's like, Hey, we ran out of wine. And she's like, I need some more. And he's like, Woman, what do you want me to do about it?
Darren Rouanzoin:And then she's like, Do whatever he says. And so then he fills six Jewish ceremonial jars that were massive. Historians believe based on the size of Cana at the time. Because Cana, if you ever do a trip to Israel, you do not stop at Cana. You just drive past it on your way to Galilee.
Darren Rouanzoin:You're like, oh, Canaan is over there. It was so insignificant archaeologically. It would have been maybe 70 people. They're saying they suggest that there probably would have been enough wine for every person in attendance to have a gallon and a half of wine. Based on the juxtap.
Darren Rouanzoin:Like, let's party. The point's not the wine. Because John says this is the first of the signs that reveal his glory. It's, it's pointing to something else. And, and it wasn't about the wine.
Darren Rouanzoin:It was about the, the, the abundance of the kingdom of God. Right. It's, it's about these ceremonial jugs, jugs for Jewish religion were used for cleansing and purification rites and they're empty. Why are they empty? They're not being used.
Darren Rouanzoin:And now they're overflowing and it's not water. Come on church, are we preaching? And then the signs get progressively more intense to where he stops saying the second sign and the third sign. He stops saying it and you're like reading along going, well, what's the sign? Which one's the sign?
Darren Rouanzoin:And then you get to the last sign which is Lazarus coming out of a tomb. It starts with water being turned into wine to someone being raised back to life. That is not a let's take a photo of that. It's like what is going on? All of the signs are symbols of God's nearness.
Darren Rouanzoin:He he's drawing this when God begins to move and testimonies of healing happen, testimonies of salvation happen, it's it's a move. What we're seeing right now is God pressing in across The United States, across The UK, in Brazil, all over the world right now. People are coming to faith. People are recognizing that they're open to something else beyond themselves, beyond what culture has taught them. And signs are are here to point to something greater.
Darren Rouanzoin:Are you with me? And I was like, okay, how do I teach the theology of the difference between miracles and signs and wonders and there's categories? And for all I could say, like, there's some ways I could approach it but at the end of the day, signs and wonders will be subjective for sure. Let me explain this. Like, have you ever had a deep pain from your past that stayed with you and marked your life in a negative way But then you came to a person or a gathering where someone prayed for you and they don't know you from anywhere and they had a word of knowledge about the deepest pain of your life and they said something prophetic about the deepest pain of your life.
Darren Rouanzoin:And all of a sudden, you're met by the love of God. And you're weeping. And you're surrendered. And you're overwhelmed. You're not thinking, wow, this guy's really good at prayer.
Darren Rouanzoin:You're thinking, God, you see me. God, you are near. That's a sign. That's a wonder. I mean I was with the youth on Thursday.
Darren Rouanzoin:And don't, first of all, gotta say, I am so grateful for Pastor Slav and Lexi and Sid and all the youth leaders in the room. To witness what I got to witness on Thursday was like, I wish I had this youth group. And it is such a, and I, look, the youth may not know this, this is their experience in youth, that's fine. The fact that we have a community where there's insane worship on Thursday nights, where there's a group of leaders who are hungry and desiring Jesus and serving these kids. And then, you know, I got to preach which I would say, it was probably a C minus sermon.
Darren Rouanzoin:It wasn't great. I was all over the place. I'm usually asleep by 08:30 so it was a late, it was like, you know, I'm like, hey, someone pick up Ezra, I'll be asleep. Like, it's true. It's fact.
Darren Rouanzoin:I go to sleep early. I wake up early. But then we did ministry time and these kids came forward. They're all hungry for God. And they're they're encountering God.
Darren Rouanzoin:You know, talked to one parent who I don't I'm not gonna tell the details but what they said is what was so significant is that she felt seen. Yes. By who? By God. That's a sign.
Darren Rouanzoin:Pointing to something greater. Now it's not just that God is near. It's also signs in the Old Testament are also used to confront the false religious systems and cultural narratives of their day. So if you go to Exodus and this is drawn from Exodus. The author of Exodus, Moses most likely, is, is, tells the story of what happens with, when Egypt is, I am sorry, when Israel is liberated out of Egypt.
Darren Rouanzoin:YHWH says to Moses, I am going to stretch out my hand and perform signs and wonders. And each sign and wonder recorded in the book of Exodus is a confrontation from the false idols and gods that were worshipped by Egypt. The frogs and the gnats, all of those symbolize a cultural, spiritual stronghold set up against Yahweh and every one of those signs and wonders is confronting the false belief systems Egypt put their trust in. And so in Acts chapter five, all of these miracles so far are happening in Jerusalem, God's holy city. And they're meeting in Solomon's colonel, Portico.
Darren Rouanzoin:This column section east of of the main area with 38 foot columns, right? That would have been this area for meeting. Thousands of people could gather in this area in the temple outside of the holy of holies. And that's the point. These mini mobile temples are now carrying the presence of God in the place where heaven met earth was once behind a curtain called the holy of holies.
Darren Rouanzoin:And now, it's front and visible for all to see. This is a correction for the systemic religious system of Judaism that set itself up against Yahweh. And this is a confrontation. That's what signs tend to do. Signs, when God begins to move, he begins to shake, he begins to confront the religious systems that are, we're being exposed to.
Darren Rouanzoin:And this is why one scholar will say Christianity is not a private faith or personal journey. Craig Keener says, Luke repeatedly emphasizes the public visibility of the Christian demonstration of faith in the book of Acts. Which is why Luke writes this paradox. He says, No one else dared to join them. No one else dared to join them.
Darren Rouanzoin:And I've been wrestling with this because the very next line is that more and more people believed. No one else dared to join them and then more and more. More and more is a new category. 3,000 got baptized day one Acts chapter two. 5,000 when the guy gets healed Acts three and four.
Darren Rouanzoin:And now more and more. It's like this extraordinary amount. God's adding. It's like growing. Crowds are coming in and he describes the crowds.
Darren Rouanzoin:They're not the kinds of people we want to sit next to in church. They're tormented by evil spirits. They are sick. They are sneezing all the time. I am going to come back to that in a second.
Darren Rouanzoin:Want you to think about that. Who gathers in the early church and why that is important for what God is doing. But it's strange. I think there's something strange about the fact that people aren't coming or dare to join them in the public place. I think it has something to do with the weightiness of the church that becomes a trailer or a signpost to what's coming.
Darren Rouanzoin:You see, for far too long we have become a kind of church that manages religious events. Right? For, we have got seeker friendly churches. We have lost the fact that we have to, the church is the place that hosts the presence of God. We've got presence, or we've got purpose driven churches.
Darren Rouanzoin:We've got practices. We've got programs. But we have forgot that we are the people that God wants to inhabit in our praises. We have to get back to the weightiness of being the kind of person that hosts the presence of God. I think this is what God's doing.
Darren Rouanzoin:He's trying to shake the church awake for his presence to flow. Because it says, nevertheless, more and more men and women believed in the Lord and were added to their number. This is so fascinating. I think it's when a move of God happens, there are signs that point to a move of God. I was just reading an article last week in The UK.
Darren Rouanzoin:They are saying the the the statistical outrageous anomaly of Gen Z coming back to faith is is unheard of. This quiet awakening. But this is what they described. They are like, this is not revival yet. This is what happens before revival.
Darren Rouanzoin:It's pre It's awakening moment for the church. And and and can I just I I want to summarize something but I want to give you history first and then I will tell you what what happens when God gets near? Okay? Historically, we see this in Acts. This is what happens when God gets near.
Darren Rouanzoin:There's four things that happen. But before I tell you four things, this is based on history. I'm just gonna list just a couple of these moments throughout history where revival happened. In 1727, there was the Moravian revival. In 1730, there was the Great Awakening.
Darren Rouanzoin:In 1790, there was a second Great Awakening. Then there was the Cane Ridge revival in eighteen o one, followed by a prayer revival on Fulton Street in 1857. Then the Welsh revival happened in nineteen o four, Azusa Street in nineteen o six, the Korean revival in nineteen o seven, the Hebrides revival in 1949, the East revival in 1930, the Jesus movement in 1969, the Brownsville revival in 1995. All of those are historical from the last 17 hundreds to present day. You ready?
Darren Rouanzoin:All of them share in common these four things. You good? Number one, when God draws near and begins to emerge with an act, sovereign act of God we will call revival, the first thing that happens is sleepy Christians wake up. It starts in a rumbling in the church where all of a sudden we are like we can't keep doing this anymore. The Ananias and Sapphires, go.
Darren Rouanzoin:And then the church wakes up with repentance, with a hunger for his presence, with a holiness. Not that this was sin but this no longer belongs because he's the main thing now. In in Revelation, it's talking about lukewarm Christianity. I would say lukewarm Christianity in our context is consumer Christianity. It's a cultural Christianity.
Darren Rouanzoin:It's about voting a certain way and being outraged about based on the news that you read rather than focus presence of God. He stirs something. You're waking up early. You're eating, you're eating, feasting on scripture. You can't help but want more of God.
Darren Rouanzoin:He wakes up the sleeping church. The second thing that happens historically from all those revivals, I had a lot more but I didn't have time to give you them, Is, the lost get saved in droves. The outsiders all of a sudden are curious about Jesus. There's mass conversions and there's public baptisms. Every single one of those movements saw all of those things.
Darren Rouanzoin:The sleepy church that wakes up and droves of people that were once lost are now saved. And they come in flooding into our facilities and they won't be, there won't be room for you anymore. Right now, I find it fascinating. We started a new service over there. It's completely full in Costa Mesa.
Darren Rouanzoin:And we have we have completely full services here. A couple of room at the 01:00. 01:15 has a little bit of room. But there's there's this thing happening where God's filling containers. He's taking people that you never think will get saved and they're coming and submitting and giving their lives to Jesus.
Darren Rouanzoin:The third thing is the testimonies of healings. Healings become normal. Signs and wonders become normal. God begins to draw near. People get saved.
Darren Rouanzoin:People get healed. People get set free. God begins to answer prayers. It is a testimony of God. And the fourth thing which is always observed years later after the revival, if it is a true move of God, is reformed societies.
Darren Rouanzoin:We have seen throughout history, the abolition movement, the temperance movement, education initiatives, caring for the poor, hospitals were created all out of a move of God that took place in real time and place. It does not just start with the church waking up, it moves to the lost. It moves to healing. And it moves to reform in ways that we can't even imagine. That's what happens when God draws near.
Darren Rouanzoin:But let me just say, God is the one that draws near and he's drawing people near. John six forty four says, No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them and I will raise them up on the last day. It is God drawing people in this moment. But I want to go back, I want to end with how this fascinating description and I love it. It says, as a result, people brought the sick into the streets and laid them on beds and mats that at least Peter's shadow might fall on them as he passed by.
Darren Rouanzoin:Crowds gathered and the church said, where is my seat? Crowds gathered. I like a smaller version, thank you. I just want to sit here for a moment. Any form of preferential Christianity has to die.
Darren Rouanzoin:Otherwise, we could use your seat. Because it is your preferences that go to the cross. When God draws near, all bets are off. People are like, How are you managing preaching all the services? I have been praying my whole life for this.
Darren Rouanzoin:I will dedicate, I will reorder my entire life around God's move because that's, I've longed to see a moment. I was preaching to five people in a basement. The opportunity to carry the word God in this moment. This is not like, oh, do you feel This is not a preference moment. This is God's moving.
Darren Rouanzoin:Or do you see him? And all I can do is set myself on fire and say, hope you get warm or burn up in the flame. That's all consuming because he's moving. So any form of, well, this model works or this, none of that counts in revival. We have to we have to recognize when God draws people, he's probably gonna draw the people who were sick and tormented with impure spirits.
Darren Rouanzoin:But look at the local church, the sign that said this is what's coming. All of them were healed. That's how it says. Now, a couple of things theologically I want to point out. Peter's shadow.
Darren Rouanzoin:So great. The word is overshadow. This is used all over the Scriptures. In the Gospel of Luke, Luke chapter nine, a cloud overshadows Jesus in the transfiguration moment. When Jesus is revealed in his glory to his three disciples.
Darren Rouanzoin:In Luke chapter one, Mary is overshadowed by the Holy Spirit and she has the immaculate conception and conceives Jesus through the power of the Holy Spirit. That's that phrase. If you follow it to the Old Testament, I love it. It's so good, especially for all of those that love the liturgy of worship. In Exodus, there is given half of the book of Exodus is dedicated to how to worship Yahweh.
Darren Rouanzoin:Here are the rules. The priests wear certain clothes. You do this sacrifice after this sacrifice. You do all this. You construct the tabernacle.
Darren Rouanzoin:And then once the tabernacle's done, once all that takes place, there's a moment where they dedicate the tabernacle and a cloud overshadows the tabernacle so they can't do the liturgy of worship. They couldn't enter the tent because of the glory of God. This is what's being referenced in the shadow of Peter. It's that there's there's people who are carrying the presence of God and they're walking as a mini mobile temple and they're the byproduct of their presence being there is healing. Could you imagine?
Darren Rouanzoin:This is not about your godliness. This is about you hosting his presence in a time where he draws near. This is not about us figuring out a model. This is about us becoming a church that recognize what's at stake. The holy presence of God in our midst.
Darren Rouanzoin:Carrying that wherever we go and the streets become our sanctuaries. This is not held here. It's not about getting overflow rooms for a message. It's about the presence of God going and the power of God going with you. God's presence is not contained in gatherings.
Darren Rouanzoin:His authority flows from where you live under his reign and rule. And when we live under his reign and rule, God releases authority through us naturally. And healing is not the proof that the church is powerful. It's proof that God's presence is near. And signs point to something greater.
Darren Rouanzoin:That something greater is the resurrected Jesus Christ. We are all moving closer and closer to him. Only what Acts is inviting us into now is to become a trailer of what's to come. Problem is this. We've not been trained in this form of Christianity.
Darren Rouanzoin:We've been trained in what I'll call gift shop Christianity. My wife and I have this practice of whenever we go somewhere we get ornaments from where we travel. So in Sydney, Australia, got an ornament. Catalina, we got an ornament. Saint George, we got an ornament.
Darren Rouanzoin:And there was a season where we went all over the national parks and we have so we decorate our trees like the national park tree. It's awesome. I remember the first time I went to Yosemite Valley. And again, I stood looking at El Capitan. I looked at the falls and and just the wonder and beauty of this magnificent national park.
Darren Rouanzoin:And I think for so many of us, we've never been trained to lay and seek and get lost in the glory of the national parks. We run to the gift shop to get the merch. So you got your ornament to remember what happened that one time. And you got your shirt to prove to the world that yeah, you are a believer. Only you've lost the fact that the whole thing is about his glory.
Darren Rouanzoin:And you've settled for gift shop Christianity. And God's asking you to take a backpack and get lost in his wisdom. Get lost in his presence. Get lost in his glory. That's what I'm calling you to today.
Darren Rouanzoin:Can we stand? We're gonna baptize some people. This is a sign. This is a sign. So if you're new to Christianity, look at this.
Darren Rouanzoin:There's no other way in the New Testament to declare that you are a follower of Jesus unless you get dunked in some water. We call it baptism. It's, it's a visible sign of an invisible grace. It's a sacrament. And what it means is when we come together and people are like, What's up with the water?
Darren Rouanzoin:We say, Well let me tell you what's up with the water. The person that's getting dunked is saying, I am letting the world know that I'm a follower of Jesus. And I go into the water as a symbol of, as a confession and a declaration that I've, I've died with Jesus. I've been buried with him. And when I come out it's a symbol of me having new life and being raised with him in the age to come.
Darren Rouanzoin:This is a sign that the gospel is moving forward. This is a symbol to the powers and principalities that wants to silent faith, that wants to keep your faith private and keep you quiet. This is a symbol of a declaration that Jesus reigns. And if you've never been baptized, today's the day. You're not gonna have all your answers figured out in the next six months.
Darren Rouanzoin:Do you believe that Jesus is Lord and raised from the dead? Do you confess him as Father, Son, Holy Spirit? Do you believe salvation comes not through works but through grace alone? And do you wanna follow Jesus for the rest of your life? Those are the questions.
Darren Rouanzoin:If you said yes, then you get to get baptized. Michael's over here. Pastor Michael, he's gonna wave. If you didn't sign up, we have a few people that are signed up. Come talk to Michael.
Darren Rouanzoin:He's gonna give you a shirt. Those of you, I think there's a few of you that have signed up, go change right now and let's all worship together. Would you open your hands? I wanna pray. Lord Jesus, release the church.
Darren Rouanzoin:We surrender to you as Lord. We ask for your Holy Spirit to fill us. May we host your presence, God. May you wake us up out of slumber. We confess the sleepiness.
Darren Rouanzoin:And we're all in today. In Jesus' name. Amen.
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