Family Matters | Selvin Cortez

In this message from Acts of the Apostles 16, we explore how God can turn midnight moments into stories of transformation. 

As Paul and Silas choose worship in the middle of pain and uncertainty, God moves powerfully, not only opening prison doors, but changing the heart of a jailer and rescuing an entire family. 

This message is a reminder that Jesus brings hope, restoration, and salvation into broken homes, imperfect situations, and every season of life. 

REFERENCE: Acts 16:16-34

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

New Life Church, God bless you. How are you feeling on this beautiful Sunday afternoon? I love the little graphics that were created for this message because if you notice, the the car is driving past the street, and all we can see are the homes. And then we've got this little x-ray of what's happening on the inside. Can you imagine if you had that vision? If somebody just drove past your house and could see inside of the walls of your house, um, what would they see? Don't answer, don't answer, don't answer. I'm just saying, I think it's a great, it's a great little, it's a great little uh expression that inside the house, there's a heart. Inside the house, inside the house, there's a a family. And at the center of that family is Jesus. And at the center of that family is God wanting to speak to you and wanting to show you what he desires, what his plans are for your life and for my life. I think this is a great, great series. And and thinking about today's series, uh, I thought, you know, growing up, there was so many, uh I watched, I watched a lot of TV growing up. Um, and you know this by now, TV and movies, that's our lives. Uh, but there was there was a lot of TV shows that really impacted my life that I thought, man, like I haven't seen TV shows like this in a long time. And and the the one that I took the message title from is Family Matters. Do you guys remember Family Matters back in the 80s and 90s? Uh, Family Matters was a TV show that was so, so funny because of one specific character. And that character everybody knows him as Steve Urkel. Somebody just said Urkel because yeah, he was so annoying, you didn't even want to pronounce his first name. This is Steve Urkel. If you remember Steve Urkel, uh the point of this show was that every time uh he would come in, he wasn't part of the family, he was the neighbor. But they just took him in and loved him, and he fell in love with one of the little girls. Um uh but he he um he was he was he wasn't part of the family, he was the neighbor, but they made him a part of the family. And every time he walked in somewhere, something wrong would happen. There was chaos around him, there was tragedy around him, there was there was broken things that were happening around him, but at the end of every episode, it all came together and it all made sense, and there was love and unity that was happening in this moment. And every time he messed up, he would say, Good night, and you got the accent too. You even did it with the with the with the with the boy. Did I do that? That's exactly what it is, and and that's Steve Urkel, and that's that's the shows that I grew up with. And uh, I have this this thought in my heart for the next couple of there's there's family matters, remember that? There's also there's also family ties. Okay, we're going back. No, you some of you young people, you're looking at me like, what what is he talking about? Um okay, here's one Full House? Okay, yes, the Olsen twins. Okay, that one you remember. So that's what I'm thinking of calling the next series. I'm just saying, uh, the next titles are gonna be all TV shows. So catch up on your TV shows because that's where we're going. Um but as I as I'm thinking about this message, I'm thinking that that there's a moment where where uh Paul is getting his his ministry ready. And Paul is is called by God, and and he's going to these different cities. And it's so interesting because the Bible says in in Acts, uh, it's it's it's the the ministry of Paul coming forward. And there are some cities where where he would he would go into the city to want to minister and to want to spread the word of God into that city. And the Bible says that the Spirit of God said no, don't go in there. And so he wouldn't. And so he's like, okay, then I'll go to the next city and I'll go to the next city. And and God would say, nope, not this one, nope, not now, nope, no, not not not this, not just yet. And how often do we have these these desires for God? And we're like, God, you know what? Yes, try me in this. Um, you know, uh I've I've been through I've been through suffering now, now try me with with overwhelming joy. I've been through through want and need. Now, God, let me win the lottery ticket. Um, and so so we pray, we pray, and and God is saying, not yet, not yet, not for the lottery ticket thing. He's he's saying, not yet for for uh a couple of reasons that that we don't know. We don't know, and and sometimes we want to we want to twist God's arm and say, God, but but it's ultimately for you, it's ultimately for your glory, it's ultimately for what you've called me to do. Why can't I? And God doesn't answer that prayer just yet. And so in that moment, Paul gets his vision uh and and and he sees he sees an old man sitting on the streets in a region called Macedonia. And in that moment, he he feels, okay, that's the place that I have to go. And so he goes to this region called Macedonia. And in this region, there's a city called Philippi. And in that, he's like, okay, can I take the step? And God says, yeah, go forward. And he starts moving forward and he starts preaching. And as he's preaching, there's this there's this girl that that starts to follow them around, Paul and his buddy Silas. And this girl is following them around, and she shouts at the top of her lungs, and she's saying, These are preachers, these are servants of the Most High God. And she just keeps following them and following them all around and and and just keeps saying this, and and and it sounds like the truth. It sounds like what she's saying and what she's declaring is is what everybody should be hearing and listening to. The problem is she was a medium, she was she was a fortune teller, and she was a really good one because she made a lot of money for her owners, and so she's fortune telling about these two men preaching the word of God. And and Paul, you you can imagine having your own like cheerleading squad, and Paul could have been like, Yeah, that's that's us, that's us. We've arrived, we are here. Uh, your savior has come. Uh, they could have taken that attitude, but they didn't. Paul turned around and said, like, stop it, like, stop saying that. And he starts to pray over her and he casts out the demon that was inside of her, that was, that was professing all of these fortune telling. And she gets delivered, and she is no longer under the oppression of the enemy, she's no longer possessed by this evil spirit, she is now, she's now free. And the whole city said, All right, these guys are truly the men of God brought here to us. But that's not how the story goes. The owners of this, of this fortune teller, of this business, they were so upset, they were so mad that they started to convene people around Paul and Silas, and they started to say to them, hey, listen, uh, you don't belong here. You just you just broke my entire network of of of fortune and money making. Like this was our our number one recruiter. This is our number one fortune teller, and now you've broken that over us. We don't want you here, go away. And they didn't just tell them to go away, they actually grabbed them, seized them, and brought them towards to the magistrates, and and in that moment they start flogging them and beating them severely, punishing them, and it's almost like something good that they did brought them so much pain and so much hurt and so much suffering, and it's almost like, did did we do that? Did did I do that? I think is what Paul is saying. Did I did I do that? And and they get thrown into prison, and and the jailer of the prison, he he's he sees these two men beat up, like clinging on to life, bleeding all over and swollen, and and instead of helping them, the the Bible says that the jailer took them to the deepest part of the jail. So add insult to injury. So now they're now they're in the deepest parts of the jail, and and the jailer comes in, and what he does is he he they're sitting down and he shackles their feet so they can't move. So now they're just in this moment, beaten, bleeding, hurting, hungry, thirsty, and they have their feet nailed down to boards, all because they did something good for a girl that needed deliverance. And in that moment, something really special happens. And what looks like a mess in that moment, what looked like like what is going on, God, this is is this what you call me to? What looked like a mess was actually God setting up a miracle. Because while everyone else saw interruption, inconvenience, chaos, God was looking for a family that he could call his own. And so, how many times, how many times do we come into this moment where we are going through a season that we just don't understand? And it's it's the midnight season. The Bible says that that in in Acts 16, the first two words of Acts 16 says, at about midnight, about midnight, midnight, the midnight season of our lives, the midnight season that happens in our families, those moments where you just don't understand what in the world is going on, and you know what I've been praying for for your life and for my life the last couple of days, the last couple of weeks, and that is interruption. And it's in this moment that God, that God is is interrupting their ministry. They're like, is this what I've been called for? Is this what ministry is all about? Being flogged, being being being all stoned, being being hit, being put to jail, bleeding out almost. And God is interrupting their ministry. God is interrupting their lives in this moment, and in the midnight, Paul and Silas are bleeding, chained, humiliated, they're locked in prison, yet at midnight. The darkest point of the night. They worship. They started to worship God. And that is what midnight does. Midnight reveals our attitude towards God. And and church, can I say it like this? Oftentimes what we call trials, God calls training. And and and we feel like we're going through a trial and and and a testing, and God is saying, I'm actually training you. And and and we don't know why he allows certain things to happen in our lives, and it's the why that that devastates us. And it's that why, that three-letter word that that that completely derails us from who he is, and it's in the why that the enemy comes and starts saying, and you're a Christian? And and aren't you supposed to have faith? Aren't you supposed to be a believer? Aren't you supposed to rain down fire from heaven? Aren't you supposed to pray with diligence? Aren't you supposed to be happy? Why then is this happening to you? And it doesn't sound like a third person. It's why then is this happening to me? And in that moment, in that moment of midnight, that's where we see what's inside of our own hearts. And so you might see families on Instagram, they look fantastic. I know that when we take pictures for Instagram, when we when we go on vacation, it's about eight pictures to get that one single. It's like, David, look at the picture. Matthew, could you just smile? Uh, Grace, smile big. And so we have to take like eight different pictures to get that one that's going on Instagram, and everyone's like, what a beautiful family. We've read in the comments, uh, I remember many years ago we went to a youth event and there was a photo booth set up, and my kids were little, and we took a picture, and everybody in the comments was, What a beautiful family! God bless you, beautiful family. The kids are great, they're so big, and and it was just all these beautiful comments. They had no idea the chaos it was to get that one single picture. And I think that's what Instagram provides for us a false sense of what is actually happening on the outside. It's it's it's a revelation of what's on the outside, but not necessarily what's on the inside. And that's why I really like the trailer for this series. It's because we're not only seeing the building on the outside, we're seeing what's happening on the inside. And that's this moment right now between Paul and Silas. We're looking at what's happening not only on the outside where they're bleeding and hurting and in pain and suffering, but we get to see a sneak peek, an x-ray vision of what's happening in their hearts. And in that moment, they begin to worship. You see, the enemy for our families, he wants the midnight to be silent, bitterness and fear. Instead, these two men they got up and and and with their voice, they couldn't get up, but they they lifted their voice and they started to sing praises. They started to sing praises, and and the Bible is really specific. Look at what it says here. At midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God. They were praying and singing hymns to God, and I think they were singing, to worship you, I live. To worship you, I live, I live, to worship you. And I think that was their only cry that night. And you know what's interesting is that as they're singing in the deepest recessions, in the deepest parts of that jail, the Bible says that all the other prisoners heard them, heard them singing. And so this right here is it's not it's not a detail that it's just random, it's there for a purpose, for a reason. The reason why I feel the spirit put that word there, the prisoners were listening to them is because what happens at midnight, what happens in your homes is being heard by your children, by your spouse. What's happening in that moment is being heard and transmitted to the people around you. What's happening at midnight in your life is echoing in the hallways of your home. And what is it that we want to be heard in that moment? Because you see, family is so important to God. God establishes family before he establishes nations, before he establishes societies and kingdoms and kings and church, he establishes a family. And it is so important for God that you would relate to him in the in the context of family, and what happens and what generally has happened in in most of our lives and in some of our lives is that the way that we relate to each other, the the the song that we have heard in the hallways of our homes is now how we relate to the father. And so when we start praying, our father in heaven, father bless, father, thank you, we start thinking and associating the term father to our earthly fathers. And we have a heavenly father that's calling me to be a part of his family. But I have a disconnect between what my earthly father looked like and my heavenly father looks like many years ago, my my older son, and I don't think he would mind me sharing this story, but uh he got in trouble. Uh he did something that he wasn't supposed to do, and uh he was young, he was about 10 years old, uh, or nine or ten years old, and uh some of his buddies were were writing on the lockers uh with uh with uh with a marker. Um and so he decides, well, pass it on. And so he grabs a little marker and he starts writing on the on the uh doodling on the on the on the locker, and the security guard came and saw them and grabbed the two boys and put them in the put them in the room and said, You're gonna get in trouble, we're gonna call the police. And these two little boys were devastated. And he said, Before you call the police, can you call my dad? And so they gave him the chance to call me, and I picked up the phone. I saw it said Ville de Montreal. Uh so it was the city calling, and I answered the phone, and it was this this little tiny voice shaking in fear, and he said, Dad, I messed up, and I said, I'm on my way. And I went to the pool, and sure enough, they were sitting in the office, and the police hadn't come, they was just Just a scare, a scare tactic of the security guards. The police hadn't come, but but my son saw me through the through the TV, through the security footage. He saw me walking in and his heart was trembling. And I had a choice in that moment. I had a choice to remember what happened when I used to get in trouble. And yeah, some of you are laughing because you know your parents, if you fall, don't come back crying because uh you're gonna get it again. Um but but I had a choice to remember that, or in that moment, here's here's what I I felt so deeply that my name, my name to my children is dad or daddy or father. And I get to share that name with our heavenly father. He he in fact shares his name with me, and as a father of my children, I bear his name for them, and and they call me father the way I call him father, and I am their provider the way he is my provider, and I love them the way he loves me, and so I've got a choice right now. Do I reflect anger or disappointment? Or do I reflect what our heavenly father would do? And in that moment, as I saw him, the first thing I said to him as I grabbed him and I've grabbed him into my arms, and I said, It's going to be okay, we're gonna get through this together, and that moment marked his life, and he knows that when he messes up, he can run to dad. Because when I mess up, I run to dad, I run to my father, and that's the gift that we have as a family, as men, as fathers, we get to share in the name of our heavenly father, and we get to reflect that name back to him, back to our children. And so, in that moment, what are we going to do? At the midnight hour, are we going to praise or are we going to complain? Are we going to blame or are we going to have peace? Are we going to pray or are we going to go into panic mode and yelling mode and anger mode? Are we going to start thinking, what in the world is going on? And to make matters worse, at midnight, through their worship, the ground begins to shake. The ground begins to shake, and an earthquake is now coming. And in the earthquake, this is this is an impressive miracle. Picture, picture the two disciples, the two apostles right there. They've got their their feet shackled down, and the earth begins to shake. There's a great earthquake, so violent that the chains come undone and they become free. And not only do the chains become undone, the cells start opening up, not just for them, but for all of the prisoners in that place. This earthquake shook the ground, opened cells, broke chains. When did the earthquake happen? After the worship. After worship, the earthquake happens. Acts 16, 26. Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. Chains fell off, and doors swung open. Such a violent interruption to their midnight. Such a violent interruption. And you don't want to hear your pastor say this, but that's what I'm praying for us, for me. A violent interruption. An earthquake that would shake the foundations and lead us back to him. And in that moment, in that moment of the earthquake, you think, wow, what is going on? That moment the earthquake hits. You know, it was freedom for Paul and Silas and all of the other prisoners. But it became a jail of fear for the jailer. You see, according to Roman law, if a prisoner escapes, the jailer has to give up his life. The jailer is murdered, sentenced to death, because one of his prisoners escaped. One. Now we've got through this earthquake all prisoners free, all cells opened, all chains broken. And now his life is at the mercy of the law. His life now becomes insecure. And the Bible says that he's trembling and he's in fear and he has no idea what's going to happen. And in that moment, Paul speaks out to him, knowing that he's suffering right now. Can you imagine us being in that moment? I mean, if it were me, I'd get up and I'd start running out of there as fast as I could. And I'd be like, hey, fellas, I mean, I'm not I'm not telling you you should leave. I don't know why you guys are here. I'm innocent, but if you guys need to stay, stay. I'm out of here. And I think I'd run faster than Silas just in case the jailer was a quick guy. He'd probably get Silas and I'd be free. But but in that moment, Paul says, hey guys, nobody move. It's okay, stay here. And he calls out to the jailer and he says, Jailer, jailer. I don't think his name was jailer, I think his name was Larry. And he says, Larry, don't worry. Larry, it's okay. We're all here and accounted for. And in that moment, the actual miracle happens. It's not the miracle of the earthquake. It's not the miracle of the open cells. It's not the miracle of the broken chains. It's not even the miracle of everybody staying and not leaving. It's the miracle of a man who was broken in fear and despair and hopelessness. That does not describe Paul and Silas. They were worshiping this man, his life just became interrupted by an earthquake, and fear and hopelessness and despair shook the foundations. He was not going home that night. If one prisoner would have escaped, the earthquake exposed more than just prison doors. The earthquake exposed the condition of this man's heart. And as soon as he saw what had happened, here's the miracle. Ready? Acts 1630. Sirs, what must I do to be saved? That's the miracle of midnight. That's the miracle. That's the answer to all of your whys. I know that we want specific answers to why we're going through these circumstances, these situations. We want to know A, B, C, and D. And if they're not convenient for me, God let me shuffle them around until it finally is convenient for me. But God is saying, no, the answer is this. The answer to humanity's cry is this, sirs, what must I do to be saved? God shook a prison because he loved a family. And and you're thinking, yeah, but this is this is just one dude. This is just one dude getting saved. And and God is in the business of families. And he's not saving just one guy. He's saving his entire family. Look at what happens. This is this is the answer to what must I do to be saved? Acts 16 31. Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved. Amen. But watch this. You and your household. Notice that Paul wasn't just looking at the man, he was looking at the man and his family, his entire household. Paul was speaking the gospel into his home. Paul was speaking the word of God into his children, into his wife. This man who had been around violent criminals his entire career is now getting a change of heart. So while we see the prison walls and while we see the brick and the mortar and the stone walls that this man had built around a career of being around violence, we now see the real miracle of a changed heart. A heart that recognizes the rescue that was given to him. And the Bible says that he who is forgiven much loves much. How in the world can you explain a hardened crime, maybe he was a hardened criminal at one point? This man that was just around so much evil, all of a sudden his heart is transformed and changed, and he says, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And Paul answers him, believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household. And so I told you this uh a couple of weeks ago that that in when you go see a doctor now, um, they ask you for for your family history. What is what what was what did your parents suffer from? And then there's a whole big list of all types of diseases and everything. And and there is there is uh a genetic, a genetic inheritance that we receive from our parents. There's also a spiritual one, and there's also a vision one where we can receive fear. Fear spreads through homes. Addiction can spread through homes, anger can spread through homes. Those are the tough ones. You know what's what's the killer? Silence. Silence can also spread through homes. Not having the trust or the confidence to speak to a parent. Silence can be a deadly killer in the family. Faith. I came to Jesus because a woman believed in Jesus and believed that her and her household would be saved. And not only her and her household, my mom believed that not only my household is going to be saved, but my household will serve the everlasting God. And she took on Joshua 1.8 into her heart and said, Me and my house, we will serve the Lord. And so when Lori was speaking, that that Iris Cortez is going to be doing the next the next uh uh newsletter. Well, that's my sister. And my brother is out in Calgary, and he's serving the Lord in his local church, and his daughter, and my nieces, and my children, all because one person decided this is the moment in the darkest point of my life, I will look to him and worship him. The earliest memory that I have of Christ is my mother praying in front of a window at night with so much joy. And I don't know what I was thinking, but I remember being six or eight years old and accepting Jesus in my heart at that moment, and I said, That's what I want, and I don't know what this means for my life, but that's what I want, and so all it takes is faith, and faith can spread through a family. And watch this that this jailer believed, and the same man that locked up their their hands and their feet, the same man that escorted down uh to the lowest parts of the jail and chained them up, the same man who saw these two men almost about to die, bleeding out, everything that's going on in this moment. That same man says that he invites them to his house. Acts 16, 33. He says that the Bible, the Bible says he washed their wounds. He washed their wounds, he is now serving them. Then immediately he and his household were baptized. What a transformation, what a transformation from the jail to washing their feet. That's what God does. That's what God can do. And so if you're here today and you've got family members that you're praying for, what must I do to be saved? You probably already are saved. And if you are saved already, what must I do? Worship, worship him. If you're not saved, believe on Jesus, and he can give you the peace that you're looking for, he can give you the strength to go through any circumstance, any season of your life. Whatever questions you have are found in him. Through the most difficult circumstances. There is a modern day. Paul and Silas, and not so modern, but a story that really really got to me. And it's it's actually a book. It's uh Cory Tenboom. Yeah, some of you have heard of her. Corey Tenboom is a a believer. And during the Second World Wars, they wrote a book called The Secret or The Hiding Place. The Hiding Place. And they get transferred, they get they get imprisoned and transferred into uh into a jail overcrowded. Um and in that moment her sister, she's in the jail with her sister. Her parents had been murdered in a concentration camp. And they survive that concentration camp and get transferred over to another jail. Overcrowded population is is is is just brutal. And they get transferred over to cell block 33. And in that moment, the sister, she can hear her sister crying, and her sister says, I can't take it anymore. I I don't know what to do anymore. I I I wish I wish they'd have taken me this the suffering, it's unbearable. The concentration camp, the the food, the the the I'm cold, I'm hungry, I'm thirsty, I'm hurting, I can't take it no more. And her sister kept saying, hey, listen, just the Bible says, in all things be grateful. In all things give thanks to the Lord. And she says, What are you what are you saying? She says, in all things give thanks to the Lord. She says, I can't, I can't take this anymore. The the the fleas are driving me crazy. There was a there was an infestation of fleas in cell block 33. She could not take it anymore. And her sister just kept saying, Hey, you want to do something crazy? Do you want to thank God for the fleas? And she said, I can't. She said, just follow me and just start, just start, let's just start thanking God for the fleas. And so they start thanking God for the fleas, and and and she is sick and tired and and hungry and hurting, and she just starts to thank God. The rest of the prisoners start to hear their worship, and they start to build this home group of the cell block 33. They start to build this this church community, and and in the middle of the war, in the middle of Nazi Germany, they they're building this this group of women believers, and they are so surprised because nobody bothers them. They can preach the word and teach the other women about who Jesus is, and they start to gain gain traction in the gospel and in the message of Jesus. And now the war is over. And they see one of the jailers. And they say, hey, listen, do you know that we've been preaching Jesus for the last two years in cell block 33? And the jailer says to her, We have no idea what you've been doing there. Because we didn't dare go to cell block 33 because of the fleas. And so what we think is our midnight God is using for salvation. Church, I want to invite you to stand to your feet. I love how God works. We know the Apostle Paul as a great, great man of God, great preacher. Wrote about two-thirds of the New Testament. Inspired by God. Wouldn't it be great to know who the first person is that accepted Jesus from him? Like of all the message that he has and everything he wrote and all the churches that he established. Do you know who accepted Jesus under his watch? The very first person was a woman named Lydia. And Lydia was a prominent person. She had a business of selling textiles, purple textiles, which means she probably had a government contract because she was in charge of producing the uniforms in the royal purple of Greece. And you know what the Bible says of her? She was a worshiper. And the Bible describes Lydia as being a worshiper of God. And when Paul came to her and started speaking the gospel, the Bible literally says, right here, it says, her heart was opened. Her heart was opened. It's the same story. Paul in jail with cells being opened, chains being broken. Lydia's heart through worship, her heart begins to open up to God. All because of worship. Your family and my family are going to be blessed. And they are blessed because God is in the midst of us. But what I want you to take from today is that whatever circumstance you're living in, in your family, in with your parents, with your siblings, with an aunt, with an uncle, whatever happened in the past can be healed. No matter how awful it may have been. No matter how awful it is today. Today. Worship opens doors. Opens hearts. Worship is the answer that we need for our families. Worship. You know, for all the accolades, for all the diplomas that we can collect. The number one thing God is looking for is worshipers. Not how much you know, not what you know, not where you work. He's looking for worshipers that would worship him in spirit and in truth. I don't know what's going on in my life, but one thing I do know for sure is that you are God. And no matter what the circumstances in my life, I will follow you. I will follow you. And that faith, that faith that you proclaim, that faith that you declare will be, I promise you, on the authority of the word of God, that faith will be passed down to your children. That faith will come into your household. Not because I say it, but because the Bible says it. The word of God is saying this to you. So if you've suffered separation, divorce, anxiety, hurt, pain, abuse, God is opening up his arms. Our Father is opening up his arms and he's saying, Come to me, come to me, believe and worship. We're gonna sing this song in worship to him, declaring that he is mighty and powerful and great, that his name stands above all names, that his name is above the name of my family. His name is high and mighty, his name stands above every situation in my life. Sing it together, church.