Unstoppable
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Student Led Reading: Elijah & Ethan
Student Led Reading: Elijah & Ethan
Intro/Illustration
Intro/Illustration
Elliots/Saints
Always in Control
Always in Control
In the midst of severe persecution
James, (of Peter, James, and John) was killed by Herod the king
Trying to keep favor with the Jewish leaders
Show his rule to the Romans
Herod, sees that this please the Jews, you know, those ones who killed Jesus, that he proceeded to arrest Peter
Feast of Unleavened Bread - Passover - it was consider completely immoral and a desecration to kill a Jew during Passover, so Peter was kept in prison during this time
See, God is always in control…even in bad times
God orchestrated it so that when Peter was arrested, he couldn’t be immediately killed
Elliots/Saints -
Always Involved
Always Involved
Secondly though, what we see from this is God is always involved
Clockmaker God
In verses 6-11, we see this in a very real way, with the prison escape of Peter
Notice how many guards were tasked with watching Peter in verse 4?
4 squads of 4 soldiers =16 guards total!!
And remember, Peter’s been in prison before, way back in chapter 5
And what happened then? God opened the doors and brought them out
Again, tonight, we see God showing up for Peter in a very real way
Verse 6 tells us the night before Peter was to be brought out to be killed
He was sleeping between two soldiers
And I’ve gotta stop there real quick.....Peter was sleeping....SLEEPING!!!!
Man, I can’t sleep when I know I have to have a difficult situation the next day, or when I’m excited about something....
And here we’ve got Peter, sleeping soundly, with his head nestled up against the guards shoulder....the night before his execution
Why was he sleeping?
- “And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
Peter had peace
God had shown up before
And even if he didn’t this time, God was His Savior....he had nothing to fear.
But God is always involved, no matter how a situation turns out…and tonight we see Him involved Himself in a pretty cool way
Relate story of verses 6-11
Elliots/Saints continued example
Always Going to Win
Always Going to Win
Well as we read on through this story, we see that Peter heads to the house of Mary, where all the believers had been praying for Peter the entire time
Let’s pause there a second....God often will show up (or we will at least notice it more) when we are willing to go to Him in prayer
Prayer is absolutely vital to our Christian faith....we’ve got to be people who pray
Tell story of verses 12-19
See? God always wins.....but wait a second…that isn’t even the greatest way God wins in this story....let’s keep reading
Verses 20-25 - Read
So Herod was angry....shocker
So the people come before him to praise him and Herod speaks to them and they go nuts
They start praising Herod
They start hooting and a hollering
and they cry out to gether, “The voice of a god, and not of a man” - talking about Herod
And the people were doing this all out of a fear of Herod
And then you’ve got Herod....taking it all in....reveling in his glory
And slamma-bamma-ding-dong.....
God kills Herod
And he was eaten by worms
See, God always wins....but again, still not the greatest way God wins in this story
And you’re thinking, “Why not?” Herod was totally evil and a constant threat to the gospel
Which is true…but that’s why this isn’t the greatest victory in this story
Look at verse 24, “But the word of God increased and multiplied”
There is the money quote of the evening
Do you guys get it?
There is no murder of a Christian that is in vain
There is no prison sentence that can stop it
There is no escape that is in vain
There is no person that can hold it back
There is no king or ruler or government that can snuff it out
There is nothing in this world that will ever, ever, ever stop the word of God from increasing and multiplying
Elliots/Saints finished example