One of the funniest stories I have heard in a long time came from the Leadership
Summit I attended. One of the speakers, Dr. Jack Groppel, operates
a training camp in Florida where business leaders, athletes, and law
enforcement officers are trained in the skills they need to improve
their performance. His story was about four tough football players,
each standing over 6’ 4” tall and weighing more than 350 pounds.
The four
football stars were given the assignment of running a mile in nine
minutes, at the end of the mile they were to touch a white fence,
and then run back to the training center. As they prepared for the
run, Dr. Groppel told them to be aware that they were running through
a swampy area and the might encounter an alligator or two along the
way and they should make a detour around them, but to be careful
in their detour to not step on any poisonous snakes. As the runners
were about to take off from the starting line, Dr. Groppel added,
“Oh yes, I spotted a couple of wild boars wandering around the property
last week. They are really aggressive and have really sharp tusk!
If you see any of those, be sure and take appropriate action!” And
off the runners ran.
What the
runners didn’t know was that one of Dr. Groppel’s assistants was
waiting in bushes along the running trail … and he had a camera.
When the four huge football players came near his bush, he snorted
like a pig and shook the branches. The four big, tough, football
players all jumped, yelled like little children, and ran in the opposite
direction as fast as they could go! Needless to say, they didn’t
complete the assignment of touching the white fence.
Fear does
funny things to us, doesn’t it? Have you ever had any wild boars
scare you?
Last Sunday
we ended our morning message standing around the body of Stephen,
the apostle who was stoned to death because of the Gospel of Jesus
Christ. One of those men who had argued with Stephen came from the
synagogue of Cilicia, from the city of Tarsus, his name was Saul.
As Stephen died, Saul held the coats of those who stoned him. Acts
chapter 8 begins with these words ….
8:1 Now Saul
was consenting to his death.
At that time
a great persecution arose against the church which was at Jerusalem;
and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria,
except the apostles. 2 And devout men carried Stephen to his burial,
and made great lamentation over him.
3 As for
Saul, he made havoc of the church, entering every house, and dragging
off men and women, committing them to prison.
Stephen
had been killed by an angry mob and Saul was pleased with that murderous
work. He gladly consented to Stephen’s death and was motivated by
it to make havoc of the church! He began to invade the private homes
of the believers, dragging them out of their homes unmercifully,
and the fate of most of them was death! He personally terrorized
the believers!
Is this
what the Church expected? Is this the glorious future that Jesus
promised?
He had told
the disciples that “…all power was given unto Him in Heaven and in
Earth. Go therefore and make disciples in my name …”
Look at
the promise of supernatural power in Acts 1:8!
Acts 1
8 You shall
receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall
be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and
to the end of the earth.
Doesn’t
that sound like a promise of protection and victory? After the Day
of Pentecost the believers were overjoyed! People were believing
in Christ, they were being healed, and miracles were happening all
over the area! It was a grand revival!
Acts 2
42 And they
continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, in
the breaking of bread, and in prayers. 43 Then awe came upon every
soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles.
That is
what Church is supposed to be like … isn’t it? We enjoy being our
church when the Word of God is preached in way that we grow in Christ,
when everyone loves each other and we enjoy the fellowship; we have
sweet communion together and we pray for one another, but then...
Then the
wild boars began to snort and rattle the bushes. Someone dies. Someone
gets hurt. Someone gets a bad report from the doctor. Someone misunderstands
us. We may even feel as if someone is persecuting us! The Church
in Acts had an experience just like that …
Acts 8
2 At that
time a great persecution arose against the church which was at Jerusalem;
and they were all scattered …
They were
scattered. Have you ever been scattered? The big tough football players
were scattered. They ran in terror! Forget about finding a white
fence and touching it! It’s time to find a quick way home! The football
players lost their bravery, their direction, their plan, and their
dignity.
I’m glad
to announce that the Church in Acts 8 didn’t react the way the football
players reacted!
They knew
the plan: “Go into all the world and preach the Gospel.”
They knew
the power: “The Holy Spirit shall come upon you and you shall be
witnesses.”
And they
knew the Presence of Christ: “And awe came upon each one of them.”
Acts 8
4 Therefore
those who were scattered went everywhere preaching the word.
They may
have been scattered … but they went preaching Christ! They weren’t
defeated. They weren’t downhearted. They were full of Jesus! The
plan from the beginning was to go into all of the world and preach
and now they were given the opportunity to follow the Lord’s command!
They had the anointing of the Holy Spirit and the Presence of Christ
to give them supernatural power and they JOYFULLY followed the Lord!
Dr. Jack
Groppel told an additional story about the wild boars. He had a group
of FBI agents in training and he used the same situation. They had
to run and touch the white fence and return; but if an alligator,
or poisonous snake, or a wild boar appeared … be sure and take appropriate
action! The FBI men took off running, Dr. Groppel’s assistant rattled
the bushes, and the FBI agents squared off in battle array … prepared
to take on the enemy. The assistant said, “I’m sure glad they didn’t
have weapons with them!”
After the
FBI agents saw it was not a real wild boar, the ran on down the path,
touched the white fence, and returned to the training center. They
completed the task they had been assigned! The early Church saw the
threats of the wild boar too, and they may have been scattered, but
they completed their task of preaching the Gospel!
Do you know
that Emmanuel Church has a white fence out there that we have been
called to touch? It’s the same plan that the early church had. Our
plan is to go into our world and share Christ … take the Gospel beyond
our walls … and see what Christ will do in Mountain Home! It has
been projected that our city is going to triple is size in the next
few years. Instead of us sending missionaries to Michigan, or California,
or Wisconsin, or Mexico … Jesus is sending people to us!
Our area
is going to grow with retired people, wealthy people, working class
people with teens, and poor people with children, and our plan is
to pour out God’s grace on any we can get close to! It may be your
neighborhood, or your banker, or your doctor, or your nurse, or the
person you meet in the store … but they are our mission field! That’s
the white picket fence!
But don’t
get scared when the bushes rattle! Satan wants us to forget about
the white fence! He will send as many bush shaking discouragements
as he can muster: pain, the death of a friend or relative, circumstances
we can’t control, and distractions of every kind. Satan would rather
have us scattered!
But if we
respond like the early church … we will do well!
Acts 8
5 Then Philip
went down to the city of Samaria and preached Christ to them. 6 And
the multitudes with one accord heeded the things spoken by Philip,
hearing and seeing the miracles which he did. 7 For unclean spirits,
crying with a loud voice, came out of many who were possessed; and
many who were paralyzed and lame were healed. 8 And there was great
joy in that city.
The result
of persecution of the Church was the preaching of the Gospel. They
went in the power of God and watched in awe as Jesus Christ manifested
His glory in the earth.
I want you
to know the Jesus hasn’t changed. The power of the Holy Spirit hasn’t
changed. The glory of God is still upon His Church! Those who are
called by His Name still have the ability to shake off the fear in
the Name of Jesus … and be overcomers!
Are you
ready to jump and run … or take your position of attack? Either way
… the white fence is still waiting for your arrival. If you decide
to attack … you will find the white picket fenc |
