How are we doing? It is so good to be back in this place that we call home. If we haven’t met yet, my name is Ben and I’m one of the pastors here at Epic Church. I’m so grateful for our other pastors and staff, who have led so well while I’ve been on sabbatical this summer. I’m also grateful for everyone who has taught these past 10 Sundays.

Shauna and I made the most of our time this summer. We rested. We prayed. We played. We traveled. We got to spend so much time together. We feel renewed physically, emotionally, and spiritually. We’re so thankful for the past 15 years here and we’re excited about what God has in store for the next season here at Epic Church.  

As I think about coming off of my sabbatical and what I’m seeking to communicate today, I want to begin with this question:

What are you giving your one precious life to?

I think about this question often and this summer afforded me the time to think about this in an even deeper way than I normally do. Life is precious and this reality hit me hard during my first week of Sabbatical.

I preached here on June 1st, participated in our Next Steps Lunch and when I left the building that day, my Sabbatical began. The next morning, I flew to Dallas and met three close friends who pastor significant churches across the U.S. We met in Dallas because our mentor was battling cancer. It was a special day and a half we got to spend with him and each other. Life is precious.

That Wednesday, June 4, our family flew to meet Shauna’s extended family for vacation. We arrived that evening and it was time for the season of rest and play I had been looking forward to. The next morning, I woke up to my phone ringing. It was my brother, letting me know that our father had been in a serious automobile accident. A few hours later, I was on an airplane and by 6pm I was in a hospital waiting room with all of my siblings. Our dad was in surgery because he had fractured a vertebrae in his neck. We were told he was lucky to be alive. Life is precious.

The question, “What are you giving your precious life to?”, can feel like too daunting of a question. I get it. So let me give you a more accessible way to answer this question.

What are you giving your time to?

What are you giving your energy to?

What are you giving your money to?

As you think about your answers to these questions, I want each of us to picture something together. It’s the end of our lives and rather than answering those questions in the present tense, imagine answering them in the past tense. She gave her life to ___________. He gave his life to _____________. It might not be a secret that I’m going to ask you give your life to the mission and movement of Jesus. But I’d love to ask you one more question before we get into our main text for today:

What would you need to know in order to give your life to the mission and movement of Jesus?

Our text for today is Acts 5:33-42. Let me catch us up on what’s just taken place. The apostles, those disciples Jesus commissioned to lead the movement, kept teaching about Jesus. More and more people put their faith in Jesus as a result. This did not please the religious and political leaders. It actually made them jealous, so they arrested the apostles and put them in jail. But during the night, an angel of the Lord opened the doors of the jail and brought them out. The angel said, “Go stand in the temple courts and tell the people about this new life.” They did this and of course, they upset the leaders who had thrown them into prison in the first place. They reminded them they had given strict orders not to teach in the name of Jesus. Peter responded, “We must obey God rather than human beings!” and he told them again about Jesus. What are they going to do now?

Acts 5:33-42 When they heard this, they were furious and wanted to put them to death. But a Pharisee named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law, who was honored by all the people, stood up in the Sanhedrin and ordered that the men be put outside for a little while. Then he addressed the Sanhedrin: “Men of Israel, consider carefully what you intend to do to these men. Some time ago Theudas appeared, claiming to be somebody, and about four hundred men rallied to him. He was killed, all his followers were dispersed, and it all came to nothing. After him, Judas the Gaililean appeared in the days of the census and led a band of people in revolt. He too was killed, and all his followers were scattered. Therefore, in the present case I advise you: Leave these men alone! Let them go! For if their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail. But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God. His speech persuaded them. They called the apostles in and had them flogged. Then they ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name. Day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Messiah.

They wanted to put the apostles to death and they eventually make good on this for some followers of Jesus. You can read about how they killed Stephen in Acts 7. But at this moment, God uses Gamaliel to keep the apostles alive. Who was this guy, Gamaliel? He was held in honor by all the people. He was a Pharisee and part of the Sanhedrin. The Sanhedrin was composed of 71 members who had authority over major religious and civil matters. Besides this moment, there’s one other thing Christians know about Gamaliel. These are the Apostle Paul’s words, referring to a time before he became a follower of Jesus.

Acts 22:3 “I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city. I studied under Gamaliel and was thoroughly trained in the law of our ancestors. I was just as zealous for God as any of you are today.”

Gamaliel uses reason to keep them from killing the apostles at this moment in time. He tells them to consider carefully what they’re about to do with these men. And God uses this, even though Gamaliel was not a Christian.

God will even use influential people outside of His kingdom to advance the mission of His kingdom.

There’s a Scripture that’s been so helpful for me to keep in mind when I think about how God does this.

Proverbs 21:1 In the LORD’s hand the king’s heart is a stream of water that he channels toward all who please him.

We’ve prayed this when it didn’t look like Epic would have property in this city.

We’ve prayed this when it appeared that the courts in India wouldn’t let us adopt Kavita into our family.

Do you need God’s hand to move the heart of a person with influence in your life?

Gamaliel cites examples of two other movements. And he basically says this, “Those movements died when their founders died.” Then he gives one of the greatest truths about our lives and the mission of God. “If their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail. But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God.”

Are you giving your life to a man-made mission or a mission that lives in the heart of God?

Let’s be honest. It often looks like the man-made missions win and the purpose of God has failed. The death of Jesus looked like the greatest failure, but it was actually paving the way for the greatest victory history will ever know. Here’s a challenging question we each need to answer: Does Gamaliel have greater confidence in God’s purpose than we do? What impacts your confidence the most?

Jeremiah 17:5-8 This is what the LORD says: “Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who draws strength from mere flesh and whose heart turns away from the LORD. That person will be like a bush in the wastelands; they will not see prosperity when it comes. They will dwell in the parched places of the desert, in a salt land where no one lives. “But blessed is the one who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him. They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.”

Confidence in God will not keep you from paying a high price for your faith. Even in this moment, they still get flogged and told not to speak the name of Jesus. Their response? They left rejoicing that they had been counted worthy to suffer disgrace for the name of Jesus. And “they NEVER stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Messiah.”

The mission of Jesus has always moved forward through risk and sacrifice.

The word “sacrifice” can have a negative connotation in our minds. When we hear it, we instantly think, “I need to avoid sacrifice.” Sacrifice for the sake of sacrifice is pointless. But sacrifice for the sake of gaining something of great worth is a beautiful practice.

You sacrifice to start a new company, but you do it because it’s worth it.

You sacrifice to become a parent, but you do it because it’s worth it.

You sacrifice to start a church in a city like San Francisco, but you do it because it’s worth it.

And you sacrifice to move the mission of God forward, but you do it because it’s worth it.

These men were willing to give their lives for the sake of Jesus’s mission. What will we make our lives all about? What can you do to participate in the movement of Jesus?

Invite someone to church.

Serve on a team.

Give generously and sacrificially to the mission God has given Epic Church.

Share your faith with people you live near and work with.

Say “yes” to Jesus, the King who will reign forever.

Say “yes” to participating in the movement of Jesus.

Are you pursuing man-made initiatives or God-birthed purposes?