I. All Saints 00:00
We come before you trusting that you know what you’re doing. We come before you trusting that you love us dearly, and that everything you do is to draw us closer to you. So, Lord, as we explore these stories in Acts, I pray that you would encourage our hearts and encourage our minds to look to you as the source of all goodness, of all our hope, and that we’d be transformed every day into your likeness. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.
So today is a special day in the Church. If you guys don’t know, we just had trick-or-treat the other day, right? And that’s your hint that this day is coming. Today we celebrate the feast of All Saints’ Day. Now, some of you may know there’s also All Souls’ Day, and I was trying to explain… But the feast of the Church that we celebrate is All Saints’ Day, and so I’m going to spend a moment talking about that.
Today it’s interesting. I was looking over Acts, and this is how God works, right? Last week I was supposed to preach a different sermon than I preached, and, fully my own human failing of organization, I preached the complete wrong story. It was a great story, and I really hope that sermon encouraged you. But in the ordering of our series, I actually jumped ahead many stories, and there was a little bit of confusion and miscommunication on my part. And so I was looking at Acts, and I was like, “What am I supposed to do? Am I supposed to jump back to this other story?” And I felt like God just put on my heart, “No, we need to visit the supernatural stories of Acts.” Because as we’re doing this series, we picked these landmark moments in the Church to talk about how the Church was formed, how it was shaped, how it spread. But we jump over a lot of these little stories along the way of how God moved in the day-to-day among the individuals. And so that’s what we’re going to be talking about today.
And it just so happens that today is All Saints’ Day. We remember how God moved in the life of our community throughout time and history. Because, like Paul says, concerning those who have fallen asleep (he means died), concerning those who have fallen asleep, we are not as those without hope (1 Thess 4.13). For we know they’re still in heaven with God to this day. We never lose anyone in the Church. That’s a pretty amazing thing, that we believe in the resurrection. And it is the central claim of Christianity that Jesus, through his resurrection, invites all of us to live the resurrected life, both here and into eternity.
So this morning we’re not just here with the saints, your brother and sister saints in this room, but we’re actually celebrating the fact that there’s a community of the Church in heaven that is witnessing to us, is praying for us, and that we are participating in worship with. We are not alone in this.
II. Forrest Frank 03:15
And so when we talk about that, let’s talk about some of the stories of these saints, how they lived their lives. But I’m actually going to start with a story of a person who lives today, one who has not gone before. I was preparing this sermon, and I happened to stumble across an interview with a pastor who was the pastor of my pastor in Boston. I know him. And he was interviewing this guy, Forrest Frank. You may have heard of Forrest Frank, or you may not have heard of Forrest Frank. He does music, and you may like it or you may not like it, but he does Christian music, and he’s been very successful. And he was being interviewed because apparently he got saved at the church that planted my church in Boston. So I know the people he knows. I know the story he tells. It’s really cool. And I was like, “I didn’t know I had this connection.”
And so I was listening to this interview, and the entire time he was just telling his testimony, and I was like, “That’s what we are supposed to live like in the Church.” He was just a regular old college student. Had some interest in music. He was at a coffee shop, and he felt like a voice told him, “You should go to church.” He had been raised Christian, but he wasn’t really practicing the faith. But he knew his brother was going to this church nearby called Antioch. So he goes to church that night and gets encountered by the love of God, gives his life to Jesus, and goes on living like any of us, right? His whole life is transformed, but it’s not a splash. It’s not this amazing thing. You know, Jesus doesn’t ride down on chariots to announce, “This is now going to be a really anointed man of God.” He just lives the Christian life.
And in the midst of that, he’s in a tough place, because his secular music is not going anywhere. And he’s praying, and he feels like God’s telling him to give it up. It’s like, “What? Music has been my thing. But you know what? I’ve got a business degree. I’ll just do my job, and maybe God has another way to use me.” And in that moment he goes to church and sits in the very back. They have a mezzanine, so he sits in the place where you can kind of be hidden, up in the upper level. But some people are praying up there, and there’s this girl who’s visiting, and she goes, “Hey, is there somebody named Forrest here?” And she walks up and gives him this vision. She had a dream about a man named Forrest who is going to turn the music industry upside down through Christian music.
This is just a regular guy. Sometimes we can look at these celebrities and be like, “Oh yeah, these are special people.” He’s just going to church. He served on the worship team some. He likes music. And she comes and gives him this big word, and he just gave up music. He’s like, “I’m done with music.” And he gets this word about writing Christian music. Well, within a couple of weeks he releases a song that becomes number one on the Christian music charts everywhere. And not only that, he releases songs that hit the Billboard Top 100, which is not normal for Christian music. I don’t know if you guys know, but we have our own music, and some people don’t ever hear our music. No, he’s breaking through boundaries. And now he has 1.8 billion streams on Spotify. That’s within the past two years. If you thought he came out of nowhere, he did. He gave up music. But somebody in his church, this random lady named Morgan, walked up to him and said, “I had this dream about a guy named Forrest, and he’s going to change the music industry, and he needs to write Christian music.” And so his whole life changed.
And now my kids love this guy’s music. It’s very upbeat. It’s poppy. We listen to it all the time. We listened to it on the way to church this morning. And you think about what had to happen in his life. He had to be a part of a church. He had to give his life to Jesus. And Morgan had to be listening to God. You don’t know what you in this room can do just by listening to God. Maybe God has given you a word for somebody sitting right here.
Now, not everybody’s going to become a multi-, you know, whatever, platinum artist. I don’t think they use those labels the same way anymore. But he’s got billions of streams, right? Top artist in the world, all these things. He’s up there. Not everybody’s going to be that. But you don’t know what your encouragement will lead people to. Because I can tell you this: each person sitting in this room has an important calling in Christ. Jesus has called you to something. And there were so many other things, like his back was healed when he got his back broken. He’s just living the Christian life like we see in Acts.
III. Living the Supernatural Life 07:41
And I bring him up to frame this whole conversation, because I want you to hear these stories like you heard this one about Forrest: this guy in this church in another state, but he believes the same stuff we do. He has the same Holy Spirit we do. He’s serving the Lord. And God is using him to transform his world, the world that he impacts and influences. That’s the same thing we’re going to read in Acts, and we’re all invited to live that way.
Okay. So how do we live the supernatural life in Acts? That’s the title: “Living the Supernatural Life.” Because your life is no longer just (not that it ever was), your life is no longer just physical, mental, emotional. Your life is supernatural. You have Christ living in you. You live in him. And you walk the world with the same power that raised Christ from the dead within you. And yet so often we rely only on the resources we can readily bring to bear. We don’t pray. We don’t ask for help. We just go about our life living.
But how does God reveal himself to this new group of people, who encounter the Holy Spirit for the first time in this way? Right? When Jesus left, he sent them the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. And they’re building this community, and they start out from the Jewish faith. But there has never been a community before in the history of the world where they had access to God himself within them in the way this Christian Church did. And they’re trying to figure out how to live a normal life that way. And these are the stories that come out.
IV. Signs and Wonders Regularly Done 09:10
Chapter 5, verse 12 of Acts:
12 Now many signs and wonders were regularly done among the people by the hands of the apostles. Acts 5.12
I just want to stop there and highlight “regularly done.” This was normal Christianity for them. This was not “every once in a while somebody would be encountered by the Holy Spirit, or healed, or prophesied over.” This was regular, normal Christianity.
And they were all together in Solomon’s Portico. 13 None of the rest dared join them, but the people held them in high esteem. 14 And more than ever believers were added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women, 15 so that they even carried out the sick into the streets and laid them on cots and mats, that as Peter came by at least his shadow might fall on some of them. 16 The people also gathered from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing the sick and those afflicted with unclean spirits, and they were all healed. Acts 5.12–16
That’s incredible. I don’t know about you guys, but I have never heard of somebody walking by, their shadow hits a sick person, and they’re healed. I’ve never heard of it. And yet we’re told this is the life we’re invited into by the power of the Holy Spirit.
So you look at this, and you see: what’s the purpose here? Well, in verse 14 it said, “more than ever believers were added to the Lord.” God in his power was inviting people to participate in relationship. A manifestation of God’s power alone will not save. In fact, Jesus said there will be people who say, “I prophesied in your name. I did wonders and signs in your name.” And Jesus will say, “I never knew you” (Matt 7.22–23). So what is the purpose of the sign and wonder? Not the sign and wonder. The purpose of the sign and wonder is to invite you to get to know the miracle worker, Jesus. God is doing these things through the apostles that people might come to him and be changed and restored.
Because I’ve got to spoil the ending for you guys here: there is not a disease, an ailment, a sickness, or a sorrow that will not be healed by Christ in the end. Period. So when God does these supernatural works, he’s just inviting you to live in the reality he already established through the cross and resurrection of Jesus. Jesus is already enthroned. He has all power. He can heal whatever. Bring it to him, because he wants to invite you into that greater reality.
Now, I already mentioned one of those troubling verses in the New Testament, because they’re seeing this happen: “All were healed.” But then a couple of years later their Aunt Martha dies, and they go, “What? People are getting healed. Jesus was raised from the dead. Jesus raised me before. What do we do when Aunt Martha dies?” And I’m not belittling that question. That’s something you’ve got to work out in relationship with Jesus. But Paul’s encouragement is: we don’t talk about Aunt Martha as one who doesn’t have hope. When Aunt Martha died, she also was healed and resurrected. She was healed and raised up. Death for us is an entrance to the deepest relationship with Jesus. He went into death so that when we go into death, we might meet him there.
So I don’t want to minimize the fact that the early Church had to face some pretty serious hardship. Yes, they were healing people. You’ll see in later stories they were raising people from the dead. And yet they also were being murdered systematically for three hundred years in the midst of this. So it’s not some la-la pretend world where evil and suffering don’t exist. It’s an invitation to live this life, the miracle-working, Christ-centered life, in the midst of the brokenness of the world, trusting that all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well.
So when you see this and you say, “Why were these miracles being poured out?” Because God wants the people who were being healed to be in his family. He wants to adopt them into the community. And so as we walk this out, remember that the power of God is not just for you. It’s for them. And “them” includes all of us and all of them. So if God’s given you power… let’s say you’ve been given a gift of prophecy: then you should use it. It’s not for you only. It is for you, but it’s not just for you. It’s for you to encourage them. If you pray for people and they’re healed, then pray for more people. God’s given you a gift. And that doesn’t even count the fact that each one of us, no matter our gifting, is called to walk by faith and not by sight (2 Cor 5.7), believing God and expecting God to show up in the darkest, deepest, most difficult situations.
V. Jesus I Know, and Paul I Recognize 14:23
Okay, one more story from this section, and we’ll move on. Later on, chapter 19, beginning in verse 11, it says:
11 And God was doing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul, Acts 19.11
Remember that Paul, who was slaughtering the Christians? Now God has made him the center focus of the Christian movement worldwide. Talk about a miracle in and of itself. He’s doing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul. Oh, one more thing. If you think you’ve disqualified yourself from working by the power of God, you haven’t. I don’t think anybody here is a murderer, but even if you are, come to Jesus. He can still use you.
12 so that even handkerchiefs or aprons that had touched his skin were carried away to the sick, and their diseases left them and the evil spirits came out of them. Acts 19.12
Was this because Paul was so great? No. It’s because God in him was so great. God was doing these. What does it say? “God was doing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul.” Number one rule of miracles: you are not the person doing the miracle. Period. It’s all about him. That’s really encouraging, because if it was about me, I’d mess it up. Have you seen Bruce Almighty? Just saying. Verse 13:
13 Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists undertook to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, “I adjure you by the Jesus whom Paul proclaims.” Acts 19.13
So they’re like, “Okay, there’s power in his name. This person’s suffering. We are the exorcists, so we’re already the experts on getting rid of demons. But we’re not having that much success, so as soon as we hear of somebody actually casting out demons, we jump on his program.” And so they’re walking around, trying to cast out demons by this name. And I love this:
14 Seven sons of a Jewish high priest named Sceva were doing this. 15 But the evil spirit answered them, “Jesus I know, and Paul I recognize, but who are you?” 16 And the man in whom was the evil spirit leaped on them, mastered all of them and overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. Acts 19.14–16
“Who are you, to command me?” What an awesome story. I love this, right? It’s like, “I know who Jesus is. I’m afraid of that guy. And Paul as well. He’s pretty scary. But you guys don’t have anything.” Because what did I say earlier? The whole point of the signs and wonders was about relationship with Jesus. It flowed out of their identity in Christ. So when these kids, these young men, come along and they’re like, “We’re going to use this like a magic talisman,” they have no part in Jesus. Why did the demon recognize Paul? Because he recognized Paul in Christ. He recognized that Paul was a part of Christ, that Paul was operating in Christ’s authority, the same authority that’s been given to us. It’s pretty incredible.
Okay, so what happens? This is the best part of the story:
17 And this became known to all the residents of Ephesus, Acts 19.17
Which was a big city at the time.
both Jews and Greeks. And fear fell upon them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was extolled. Acts 19.17
They’re like, “Wow, it’s not enough to say his name. Paul in Christ has a level of authority we’ve never seen. This church, this Christian Church, has a level of authority we’ve never seen.” And it causes them to come to repentance.
18 Also many of those who were now believers came, confessing and divulging their practices. 19 And a number of those who had practiced magic arts brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted the value of them and found it came to fifty thousand pieces of silver. 20 So the word of the Lord continued to increase and prevail mightily. Acts 19.18–20
VI. Complaining or Advocating 18:18
What an incredible example of why God does miracles in our midst: to call us to repentance. If you’ve encountered Christ in a powerful way along this path, when you do, one of the good things you can do is say, “What is God calling me to do? How am I to respond to this?” And as you can see, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit naturally caused the whole city to repent. It’s kind of like a mirror of that story of Nineveh, right? Where Jonah shows up. He says the words, which he knows will have no effect, but the Holy Spirit is in the words. He’s saying the word of God, and the power of the Spirit brings a whole city to its knees. That’s normal Christianity.
When California is evil, we should pray for God to pour out his Spirit more, to bring us to repentance. I don’t know if you guys know, but there’s a prop going around, Prop 50. There are details I’m not getting into, but basically it’s about instantiating more abortion protections, right? And here’s the thing: it is evil and wrong that our government is writing laws so that they can murder infants. If you don’t know that, talk to me after church. We’ll have fun. No. So we should be praying on our knees for God to enact miracles that transform our state.
It is wrong to live in a state that’s allowing that. Our hearts should be broken for the state. I know what we say is, “California is beautiful, but it’s terrible.” (I’m paraphrasing here.) But we like to complain about California: “I’m surviving out here in the midst of all of this evil and wrong.” But complaining is exactly the opposite of advocating. The Holy Spirit advocates. The enemy wants you to complain: “Man, this is so terrible here. My life is so hard. California is so expensive. California is so this. California is so that.”
You know how we sing every day how good God is? That’s worshiping God. When you sing every day how terrible your life is, or how hard your life is, that’s worshiping the devil. Straight up. You’re declaring worship songs of the devil. If he had a scripture like the Bible, the verses would be filled with, “My life is so hard. Everything sucks. California is the worst.” We’d be quoting scripture to ourselves to remind ourselves to believe in the misery the devil offers, instead of the goodness God offers. Complaining is worshiping the enemy and his plans and purposes. Straight up.
So when you think about California, pray about California. When those words come to your mouth, say, “If my people who are called by my name will turn and repent and worship me, then I will heal their land” (2 Chron 7.14). Declare Scripture over California. We are called to live here. If you live here, God put you here. One way or another, he brought you here. So we have a job to do. Okay, that’s what’s going on in Acts: they’re showing up to these evil cities, they are walking out the Christian life, and people and cities are being changed. That’s normal Christianity.
VII. The Holy Spirit Governed the Church 21:24
So what else did God do through the Holy Spirit? Well, he governed the Church. He told them what to do and where to go. This is what you can actually do in your life. That’s what I was talking about with Forrest Frank, right? He got these moments where God gave him insights about how he was supposed to live. It’s not just something where you show up on Sundays, and if you’re pretty holy, then you’re probably doing good; if you don’t do all the bad things, you’re probably doing okay. No. God has a mission for you, a plan, and a purpose. Listen to how closely they paid attention to these things. Acts 13:2:
2 While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” 3 Then after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off. Acts 13.2–3
Imagine if they weren’t listening to God. Saul (we call him Paul now) changed the world because of this little church. And it was not a giant megachurch. It was a little church. They were trying to figure out how to make these communities work. And the elders said, “You know, we think you’re supposed to go talk to those people about Jesus.” And the whole world was changed.
And then Acts 16:6–10, just more of the same:
6 And they went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia. 7 And when they had come up to Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them. Acts 16.6–7
Okay, so we’re going to stop there. If I was starting a church, I would have a strategy for how I hit every single city, made sure everyone had the pamphlet, everyone heard the name of Jesus. I would have a great plan and strategy for how I was going to reach the most possible people. Period. I would not turn away from a city. I would have a path, and I would say, “I’m going to hit this one and this one, and then they’re all going to be straight. I have it all figured out.” No. They just said, “God, am I supposed to talk here?” “No. Go on to the next place.”
And they’re not talking about… you know, my brother-in-law is driving from Phoenix today, and my sister Kimberly’s here. They’re moving back to California. Woohoo! And he’s driving here, and it’s like a six-hour drive. Do you know what that would take if you were walking? These guys were walking and taking boats, sailboats without motors. It was months of travel. And you get to a city, and God says, “Nah, not here.” “Okay, we’ll go to the next.” “No, not here.” It’s incredible. And then what is it?
8 So, passing by Mysia, they went down to Troas. 9 And a vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man of Macedonia was standing there, urging him and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” Acts 16.8–9
Guys, I didn’t put the map up, I’m so sorry. But here’s kind of your little bowl of the Mediterranean, and over here is Macedonia. They’re over here. He had to go a different place, weeks of travel, because he was just trying to do what God said. You can live like that. You can live like Paul. You can actually ask God, and he will direct you where you go. Now, if you’re wondering, “God, should I wake up in the morning, brush my teeth, eat breakfast, go to work?” The answer is yes. Do all those things. He’s not looking to micromanage you. He’s looking to partner with you to conquer the world with his love and goodness.
VIII. The Jerusalem Council 24:55
Okay? Then there’s the Jerusalem council. We’re not going to do a whole teaching on this, but I want to point out one thing. God leads us individually, but he also leads us through the authority of the Church. Part of living supernaturally is actually living in submission to the authority God’s placed on earth, which is really backwards in our culture. Our culture is every man for himself, whatever is right in your own eyes. Do you know who did that? All the people in Judges who were raping and murdering and pillaging and worshiping idols. All of those people did whatever was right in their own eyes (Judg 21.25). It’s a recipe for destruction. No. Instead, we’re called to come and submit ourselves to the authority of Christ and his Church. That’s actually an invitation that is scriptural, that is built up in the Acts of the Apostles.
We see it in the Jerusalem council, because there’s a big fight, where one group says, “If you want to be a Christian, you have to get circumcised.” I’m not going to get more specific. And the other group says, “No, you shouldn’t have to do that, because we’re saved by grace through faith, not by a work” (Ephes 2.8–9), right? And so the invitation into the community is baptism, not circumcision, because it’s internal, not external. They have all these arguments. People are really upset about this. I don’t know if I can explain to you that the Church was going to fall apart. This little thing that Jesus started was about to break away and become two separate things, immediately wounding the witness they had to Christ.
And so they came together, and they’re praying. It says the elders and the apostles came together, and they’re praying. Peter gets up and says, “You guys know about the story of Cornelius.” (If you were here a few weeks ago, you heard about that.) “God revealed to me that the Gentiles can receive the Holy Spirit, that they are welcome to be a part of the body.” He gets up and gives this great word. And then Paul and Barnabas, who’ve been traveling around all these places and ministering to the Jews and the Greeks (which basically means everybody else, in their language, right? The Jews and all the other people there), are like, “Yeah, actually, the Gentiles are more open to the power of the Holy Spirit than the Jews right now.” And they’re like, “Look at this. This is evidence that God is speaking to us.”
And so they’re praying, and people are angry about this. But Peter stands up, and then Paul and Barnabas support it: “This is our experience of the Holy Spirit coming in the world.” Then James, the bishop, the first among equals, the leader, stands up and says, “The word of God is, they don’t need to be circumcised.”
And we sit here going, “Jesse, what is important about this?” The important part is: you are in a church that is not led by men. It’s led by the Holy Spirit. And that’s how Saint Michael’s Church… I can vouch for them, because I get to be on that council. That’s how we make decisions. We ask God to make it clear to us, and we pray, and we trust that even in our foolishness and our stubbornness and our failings, God will lead us. He used men back then, and he’s still using them today.
So when you look at this story of the Jerusalem council, we say it’s so important. They write a letter to the churches, and they say this three times. They say, “Then it seemed good to the apostles and the elders, with the whole church” (Acts 15.22). And then again they say, “It has seemed good to us, having come to one accord” (Acts 15.25). Finally they say, “For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us” (Acts 15.28). That is consensus. That’s the Church we walk in. We actually are on mission with Christ, following where he leads.
And so you can trust, when you come to a place like that. You can actually trust that God will guide your pastor. God will guide your priest. If you have a problem with leadership, tell him. He’s our boss, and you have the Holy Spirit in you. Also, you can come to us. But I’m just saying that ultimately our trust is not in Father Lewis and Father Ed and Deacon Jesse, Deacon Phil. Our trust is in the Holy Spirit.
IX. Those Who Were Scattered 28:54
Okay. So, living the supernatural life. We’re going to sum up there. There’s so much more goodness. I didn’t even get to talk about the angels. I didn’t get to talk about the chains being broken off. We’re going to end with one last story here, and you guys will love this story. It’s one of the best stories in all of Scripture, bar none.
In Acts chapter 8, beginning in verse 4, it says, “Now those who were scattered…” Okay, this is great. We’re going to stop right there. Those who were scattered: what happened? They were being persecuted, so they couldn’t stay in their homes. They had to run and flee to the surrounding villages. We have difficulty getting to church if our gas tank is low: “I’ve got to stop and get gas. I don’t know if I can make it today, guys.” Or if there’s a game on, right? We struggle with this. They’re like, “We’re getting killed. We’re going to go to another village, so at least we can still meet and go to church.” Okay, a little preachy there.
So they’re scattered. But God uses their very persecution, which sends them to the surrounding regions, and that means the surrounding regions get to hear about Jesus. So when they get there, those people who wouldn’t have heard get to hear:
4 Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word. 5 Philip went down to the city of Samaria and proclaimed to them the Christ. Acts 8.4–5
I’m reading the wrong one. Either way, you needed to hear about the scattering. That was really important, about being scattered. That’s why we went there.
X. Eutychus 30:10
This is the story we’re going to end on: Acts chapter 20, verse 8.
8 There were many lamps in the upper room where we were gathered. Acts 20.8
So Luke’s there, right?
9 And a young man named Eutychus, sitting at the window, sank into a deep sleep as Paul talked still longer. And being overcome by sleep, he fell down from the third story and was taken up dead. Acts 20.9
This is so funny. Okay, I love that Luke’s in there. He’s writing it down. He’s like, “This kid fell asleep while Paul…” Not “talked for a long time.” He said “talked still longer.” You can hear it in the words he’s using. He’s like, “He’s just going on and on. He’s continuing to talk.” So he’s taken up dead.
10 But Paul went down and bent over him, and taking him in his arms, said, “Do not be alarmed, for his life is in him.” Acts 20.10
Raises him from the dead. Hold on. Listen. It gets better.
11 And when Paul had gone up and had broken bread and eaten, he conversed with them a long while, until daybreak, and so departed. 12 And they took the youth away alive, and were not a little comforted. Acts 20.11–12
“Not a little comforted” means they were really comforted, right? But you can hear the sarcasm in here. It’s like he went and he had a meal. He raised the kid from the dead so he could preach to him more. He was like, “That’s not acceptable. You have got to get back up and listen to more of what I’ve got to say.” I knew I had to end on that today, because I knew it was going to be a long sermon. So I am being more moderate than Paul, okay, guys? I’m not preaching till anybody dies. And if you do die, I will do my best to raise you from the dead. But, you know, no promises.
Think about this, though. They just kept moving. They didn’t stop everything and say, “He raised someone from the dead! We need to go tell everybody how crazy this is.” They were just like, “That’s church. Let’s get back to the sermon.” That’s normal Christianity.
You should be encouraged this morning. All Saints is about being encouraged by the testimony of the faithful: that you not only have their words and their actions, but you have their real presence with us in heaven. They are not gone. In fact, they are experiencing a reality that is greater than the reality we live in, because they’re experiencing Christ at a greater level.
Okay, I didn’t get to talk about teleportation, or about angels. But I hope you know that God is so present with you this morning, no matter who you are, where you’ve been, what you’ve done. All of these people we talk about when we talk about All Saints have stories just like you, stories of their failures and triumphs. But what unifies them is that they exist in the body of Christ. They have the Holy Spirit, and they walk according to his power, not their own. Amen.