Sermon - Ryan McCoy - Disruption [Acts 5]

Last week’s sermon was about how God interrupts his people as individuals to call us into deeper trust.  This week, we look at the church and see how disruption is a consistent part of our story.  

The Body of Christ is alive and dynamic.  She has a mission that requires us to go and to do, to stretch and to change.  When the church experiences disruption, it’s never meant to destroy, but to deploy.  There are no forces from within or without that will stop the Bride of Christ.  When disruption knock on our doors, it’s not a herald of the end, it’s an opportunity for growth.  

Acts 5:17,40 tells us about a time in the early church when things were going well until the disruption of persecution came, but it never changed their tune.  Stephen was put to death by stoning, but in Acts 8, when the church was scattered because of this persecution, they preached the word wherever they went.  We also need to stay committed to the mission.  When change comes, we need a powerful, unifying vision.  During these times, we should expect God to be faithful.  The faithful followers of the early church could never have imagined the fruit of their faithfulness in this time of displacement- it led to widespread evangelism.  They didn’t leave as refugees, but as missionaries. 

You cannot squash the church- it’s like kicking a dandelion.  God is faithful.  He didn’t promise us an easy life, but a full one.  He is making things new. We are not a people of stagnation, but of adaptation.  Everything is secondary to the mission.  We keep going.