Transforming Stories of the Next Generation!
Make Space for Grace in the Home!
Acts 16:22-34
I am teaching the fourth message in our new sermon series, called, “Transforming Stories of the Next Generation.” In this message, I will continue my teaching on Ephesians 6:4, focusing on what it is we are supposed to be instructing our kids at home and how discipline works in conjunction with that training up of our children in the way they should go.
Read Acts 16:22-34
What can we learn from a slow reflective reading of this story?
[Read twice, first time to give an overview then second time with parenthetical notes through this lens: People are people and not objects!]
Parenthetical Notes:
22, Paul and Silas had a bad day – accused, convicted, beaten, and thrown into jail (The context of previous verses explains the why – objects!)
23-24, The jailer put them in the deepest part of the jail and fasted their feet in the stocks. Most likely, there was a personal contact between the jailer and Paul and Silas. (objects that he saw as a threat to his own life. It was Roman Law to execute the guard who allowed a prisoner to escape)
25, Paul and Silas were people of faith who prayed and sang songs at midnight; they created an atmosphere of praise and worship. In doing so, they set a culture that attracted the other prisoners to them and their influence (persons who had been treated like objects, have influence )
26, God supernaturally intervened through an earthquake that specifically affected the jail doors and chains – the doors opened and the chains fell off. (God!)
27, the jailer assumed the worst about his prisoners because he saw them as objects – he was ready to kill himself because he was ordered to secure them at penalty of his own death. He was seen as an object by the Roman Empire (a cog in the machine) so he only saw others the way he was seen by the authority over him.
28, Paul saw the jailer as a person, even though the jailer had only treated Paul like an object!
29-30, “What must I do to be saved?” Wow! This is God’s amazing grace, but don’t miss this: While it took a miracle of salvation (earthquake) to precipitate this event, the entire relationship changed because the jailer responded to Paul’s love and concern. He was shocked by the grace that gave him life and it transformed him from the inside-out! This is the power of grace and we must work hard to make space for it because often it is after a hard day when we ourselves have not received grace, been treated like an object, that we must intentionally bring prayer and worship into our homes and give the grace to others. Why? Because they are people and not objects! It’s easy to treat people like objects, but when we do we create a culture where the gospel is not operative… there is no grace at work with a machine mindset of life.
31-32, The gospel came to the Jailer and his home because Paul and Silas were seen as people who brought favor and life, and all listened.
33-34, The jailer did not force his faith on his household, but they listened and follow his lead because they saw the change in him. Just like with Levi (Matthew) the tax collector, there was a radical transformation that caused those closest to him to take notice.
Read Matthew 9:9-13 and invite people to see how the story makes them feel.
In light of what we learned from the story of the Philippian jailer, contrast the difference between Jesus and the Pharisees. What does Jesus do that makes space for grace in the tax collector’s home?
(Imagery of the machine that needs to be managed verses creation that we get to steward.)
The Next Generation are NOT OBJECTS to be managed, fixed, or replaced.
The Next Generation are PEOPLE! People who need to be known, discovered, invited, cared for, stewarded, and loved.
We witness God transforming stories of the next generation when we see them as souls, people, gifts from God.
You can watch this week’s message by clicking HERE.
You can watch the entire service including music by clicking HERE.
