Do you know what the longest running book actively is on the New York Times bestselling list? It is the book entitled What to Expect When You're Expecting. OK, just a quick show of hands here in the room. How many of you have either received the book, thought about the book, or bought the book for someone who was having a kiddo? OK, most hands went up. All right, online real quick, if you got the book, raise your hand. OK, just kidding. I, I have, I can't see you anyway, OK. Um. Why is that? You know, it, it's sold over 24 million copies, 24 million copies. Number one, that is a great title to address the fear and need that we all face, uh, and, and number two, I think the reason that book has stayed on the New York Times bestselling list is because parenting is scary, and we all wanna know, don't we? We all wanna know uh what to expect when you're expecting, but here's the challenge is that. Did anyone read that book and go, OK, I got this. Anyone left feeling like you almost had more questions than when you in, OK. Parenting is terrifying, and we don't know what's coming around the corner, do we? But we wanna know. See, when you watch a movie, plot twists are fun. But plot twists in your own life, not so fun. And so what do you do when life doesn't go as planned? That's the title of this morning's message because so much of life comes at us and it's unexpected. And so what do we do when life goes? Unplanned Maybe it's a job change for you. Maybe it was parenting, maybe it was a relationship change. Maybe you had to move. Maybe it was a health scare or a challenge. But there's not a single person in this room whose life cannot dramatically change in direction in a moment. I mean, I think about, uh, I I I wanna write a book, what to expect when church planting. Because let me tell you, it, it doesn't go at all what you think it's gonna be like. I mean, I think about us, our grand opening day, right? Our big marketing ploy, so to speak, it's gonna be awesome and then we had flooding that closed the three main roads to get to our church. I've shared this with some of you. I think about when we tried to launch our groups, right? And we rented out a community center and the manager came back to me and said, hey, so sorry, double booked, it's also Caribbean music night. Good, Pastor Clark preaching with steel drums in the background. I remember thinking, wow, we got through 2019, so 2020 is gonna be our year. And then as we're trying to find a place to meet and schools weren't opening up yet, uh, I, I just think God has a sense of humor because here is the born and bred Southern Baptist who then finds himself leading a church out of a bar for about 10 months. I mean, everything about this church plant journey has been unique. Uh, and how we found staff, uh, I mean, Holly, our children's director, they came to the church because they were late to church and they happened to see an A frame on the corner. Everything about this church with location and gathering and decision making, it just seems like it just came out of left field. But today we're gonna actually talk about a church who had a crazier start than ours and we're gonna see how God works even in changes and detours and rejection and persecution and and he'll use unexpected circumstances and unexpected people. To launch an eternal movement that only God could coordinate. So if you're taking notes, I want you to write this down, that no matter what happens, we are called to praise God and point others to him. No matter what happens in life. We are called to praise God and point others to him. Another way to think about that is that worship and witness are not just actions, but really they are a lifestyle for every season. We are called to worship God. And we are called to be his witnesses. Now, in the book of Acts, they're described in Acts 18, the theme of the book to be God's witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria to the ends of the earth. And really, that's really our call as Christians still today. That in every season, with every unexpected turn, we're called to worship God, we're called to witness to others. We're called to praise God, and we're called to point people to Him. And what I've learned through the ups and downs of Life and growing up and marriage and parenting and church planting is that every situation is a stage for God's glory. Every situation is a stage for God's glory. I know this because we're not talking about this church that started in Philippi. And we're not gonna, we're gonna spend most of our time in Acts 16 if you want to turn there. But I want to start with the letter Paul writes to the church in Philippi. Because after he starts this church, he goes on to start other churches. And later Paul is put into prison and he writes this letter back to the people in Philippi. And, and the theme of the letter is joy. And so he writes and just, just sense the feeling and love that he has for these people. That really emanates here in Philippians 1:36. He says, I thank my God and all my remembrance of you. Always in every prayer of mine, for you are making my prayer with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. And I'm sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. I love that phrase. He who began a good work you will bring it to completion. What God started. God's gonna bring to completion. And see, we get stuck in the middle. Right? We, we look back and see how God has been good. But we don't quite see how God is going to be good and and how it's gonna finish. It doesn't make sense. Right, anybody else in a situation where you're like you can see where you've been, but you have no idea where you're going. This seems almost like this giant fog cloud, this is right in front of you. Well, before we get to how it ends, let's start here with how did the church in Philippi, uh Philippi start? How did it begin? Now I was having a conversation with a good friend of mine. His name's Chad Moore. He's a pastor um down in Florida. We, we were youth pastors together, uh, Chad and his wife Candice, and actually when I was telling what I was preaching on, he said, hey, uh, I actually just took a trip, just led a group from our church to Philippi, and, and to, and we were actually walking the steps of Paul. And so I was like, man, that's awesome. Would you mind texting me a couple photos so I can share with the church? So he literally was walking like 2-3 weeks ago. Um, from the passage that we're preaching today. I love God's timing in that, right? And so he actually sent me this, uh, photo. He sent me this photo here and uh and so that's Chad and Candice and if I'm being honest with you, I wanted to say that I took this trip with Chad and Candice. Uh But something tells me you wouldn't have believed me. Um, so we'll just say that Chad and Candace took this trip. They led a group of students here, and what's cool is, uh, what you see behind is the city of Philippi, and there's also this road known as the Villa Ignatia that was built around 2 BC, and it was built, if you've heard the phrase all roads lead to Rome. It's because the Roman Empire uh built all these roads out into their provinces and so you can actually see behind them the Villa Ignatia and the town of Philippi. So these are literally the spots, the road, the places that Paul was walking when the story we're about to read happened, isn't that cool? I mean, you can visit, this is, this is like a 2-3 week old photo, OK. And so to set up how it starts in Acts 16, the first couple verses we actually hear how uh Paul led Timothy to the Lord or he didn't lead Timothy the Lord. It it really came from the faith of his grandmother, uh, his grandmother Lois and his mother Eunice, and we know this from 2 Timothy chapter 1 verse 5. And so, uh, side note, you could preach a whole sermon on the importance of a faith of a grandma or the faith of a mother, couldn't you? Right, we don't know a lot about his dad. We know that he had some Greek background in him. You know he's got some Roman background in him here as a family, but really what's highlighted, uh, with Timothy is actually the faith of his mom and the faith of his grandma. And so here he's he's a spiritual seeker and and he comes into a mentor mentee relationship with Paul. And he's after this moment here in Acts 16, he's gonna journey with Paul and actually his name is found in the greeting of several other New Testament letters and then he becomes the pastor in Ephesus as a young man and Paul writes some of his last words and 1 and 2 Timothy um to him to encourage him as he's pastoring the church in Ephesus. So we pick up the story here now in Philippi, and then then what we see here is that once Timothy is with them, Paul felt like he was called one direction. But yet the Holy Spirit stopped him. Now we don't fully know what that means. We just know that the door closed, so he tried to go to Asia. Nope, didn't happen. Tried to go to Bethenia. Nope, didn't happen. He ends up getting this vision or this dream of a man standing in Macedonia, which the capital or or really the major city there in Macedonia was Philippi, about 200,000 people. You can actually see the city behind. There's some of the ruins that are still being excavated today. And so they said, OK, I got this vision from God, we're gonna go. So right out of the gate. The only reason Paul is in Philippi is because of a rejection letter from God. How many of us? Receive some type of rejection notice. You thought you were going one way and that door closed. You thought you were going this way and that door just abruptly closed. Maybe Maybe it's not simply rejection, but maybe it's redirection to where God really wants you to go. Right. So he goes into the city and this is where we're gonna pick it up, starting in verse 12. And from there to Philippi, which is the leading city of the district of Macedonia, and a Roman colony, we remained in the city for some days. And on the Sabbath day, we went outside the gate to the riverside, where we were supposed, uh we suppose there was a place of prayer, and we sat down and spoke to the women who had come together. So here Paul is supposed to start this church and he comes across a women's Bible study. OK. Never underestimate the power of a women's prayer group, OK? We're gonna see this here. And so he continues on in verse 14, and one who heard us was a woman named Lydia. From the city of um Tyteria. Now what's what's interesting here is Tyteria is a modern day uh Turkish city known as Aysar and the modern name actually means White Castle. So here we have this rich businesswoman from White Castle, OK. And she is a seller of purple goods, so she sells, I, I learned actually from my friend Chad who was just there he said actually the dye was so rich it's actually more of a red dye, but it was so rich they described it more as purple and so someone who was selling fabric, so you have a rich businesswoman, OK, think, uh. Meryl Streep from the Devil Wears Prada, but she's also hospitable, so she's also Meryl Streep from Mamma Mia. OK? So you got this mixture in. See, I don't always do sports references. OK. Just throwing that out there. Where were we? So we have Lydia, uh, from White Castle, this rich businesswoman here who uh was a worshiper of God and the Lord opened up her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul. And after she was baptized and her household as well, she urged us, saying, if you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay, and she prevailed upon us. Now what's really cool about this is that there's really only one river kind of running through next to the town there in Philippi, so they actually know where Lydia was baptized and so we have a photo of it, uh, and so they have because they know where she was baptized, they actually built a little amphitheater around it. Um, so that's pretty cool to actually know the exact spot where she was baptized because that's why they built it wasn't there when she was baptized, but they built the amphitheater around it and many people since then have been baptized there and so they know the spot that was there and then what's pretty cool then is that uh the story goes on. And Paul's preaching and they're leading people, but they come across this gentile slave girl, and I, and I say those terms because those three components alone are go against what a phariseeutical religious leader would say is what you need to start the church like Paul's MO was to go to the synagogue preach because that's what he knows he's educated. He was a religious Pharisee himself, so he's gonna go to the marketplace he's gonna go to the synagogue. He's gonna try to preach to the religious leaders to the Jewish people, but as we learned last week that they just opened up after the council of Jerusalem to go to all people. And so here he has this interaction, uh, this, this interaction here with this gentile slave girl who is so gent, not Jewish, um, not no power, and then, uh, and then there's a girl and so who uh was demon possessed. Let's add that in there too, OK. And so she's going around and actually the demon possessed slave girl is actually saying, listen to these men, the servants of the Most High God. So it's not even saying like what's wrong, it's actually saying, hey, these men are of God. Um, another little side note, uh, there are no atheist demons. Did you know that? Every demon knows who God actually is. If you look, if you look in scripture, every demon that is in Scripture trembles at the name of Jesus. And they said, no, no, no, don't, don't come here. And there's actually a group of um um demons later in Acts that we'll get to who they said like, I know of God, who are you? And they actually beat somebody up who tried to claim to be of God and they weren't. So anyway. Paul, um, out of being annoyed of her saying this for days, it's the only miracle that I see in scripture that came from being annoyed. Um, he said he he just finally turned and says, in the name of Jesus, get out. And as parents, I think we can relate. I think if you've ever felt your children were deemed possessed, just try that sometime maybe in the name of, OK, sorry, it's getting too real. Um, so here's the problem though, the owners of this demon possessed gentile slave girl were making money off the fact that she could fortune tell and doing all these predictions. And so when she had the demon cast out of her, they lost money and they didn't like that and so they actually caused up this big. Riot, so to speak, in the town marketplace, and so you actually have a photo of the marketplace, you can see it right here. So you can see the marketplace in the corner you can actually see uh that via Ignatia the road that Paul actually walked on, and so you can see the marketplace there. And then if you go to the next photo, what happened was the magistrates then out of anger because they're saying, hey, these Jewish people are upsetting the Roman culture and so we can't have that and so they beat them up and throw them into prison. They assume that where you see a group of students that's standing there, uh, that is where the prison is believed to be because it's on the corner of the marketplace but also uh actually on closer examination here they found this symbol of the Praetorian guard and so that symbol was placed of the Roman guard above the entrance of prisons and so they assumed that under this place under this was where the prison happened and so Paul and Silas get beat up. And they get put in prison and their legs are locked and so we actually know where the prison was. That's pretty cool, right? And so, uh, because only a small percentage of Philippi has actually been excavated and so but they know right where it is. And so here's where we're gonna pick up the story in verse 25. Paul and Silas are in prison. About midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God. And the prisoners were listening to them. Isn't that amazing, it's one positive, isn't that amazing, they were beat up. They were locked in prison and what are they doing? They're having a praise and worship night in prison. They're saying pray. the Lord. I mean, they're singing in the prison at midnight, locked up. I love that. And the prisoners were listening, uh, we had a captivated audience. OK, sorry, that was bad, um. Anyway, uh, verse 26, and suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken. And immediately all the doors were opened and everyone's bonds were unfashioned. And when the jailer woke and saw that the prison doors were open, he drew his sword was about to kill himself. The reason he did that was because if any prisoner broke free, you had to give your life for their life. So he thought his life was done. So you wanna talk about a man at the end of his rope. And literally suicidal at that point in the moment, the lowest possible moment assuming that the prisoners had escaped, verse 28 but. Paul cried out with a loud voice, Do not harm yourself. For we are here, can you imagine that moment? About to take your life back at the end, like the lowest of possible lows. And right before it happens, you hear a voice, wait. He says we are all here. Verse 29, and the jailer called for lights and rushed in and trembling with fear, he fell down before Paul and Silas. And then he brought them out and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? I love this verse. It's a great gospel verse right here if you want to highlight it, verse 31, and they said, Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved, you and your household. Now this wasn't assumed by the way that just one person believes and then everyone's automatically in, but rather what you're gonna see in the next couple verses is that when the leader is saved that changes most likely the direction of the entire household, right? And so as the parents go, the family goes and so as he's leading his household, the household will go and so we see this here verse 32, and they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house so you see that all people in the house hear the word, and he took them that same hour of the night and washed their wounds, and he was baptized at once. I'm assuming that he was baptized in that same river that we just saw and and he and all of his family. And then he brought them up into his house and set food before them, and he rejoiced along with the entire household that he had believed in God. Now it goes on to say we're not going to say this for time's sake, but he goes on to say, uh, good news in the morning, the magistrate said we can't actually hold these guys for anything because they technically didn't break any law, so we got to let them go. But Paul, because Paul is just an ornery, stubborn man, I like him. um, he goes, oh really? Really? You think you can just let us go after you beat us up? I'm Roman and I have rights. You tell them to come down and apologize to my face. And so, so the boldness that you have in that moment and they go, um, and, and they go down says we're sorry we didn't know you were Roman, uh, and you're free and then they go back to Lydia's house and they end up going back and they ultimately leave and start other churches but what's really cool here is that after this the church begins and we actually have an image here of the early church so you can actually see a photo here. If this is not Lydia's house, you can see the progression of the development of the early church to where from that moment on, the first European Eastern European church started and a movement was launched. And what's so crazy to me. Is that the early church, think about who started the church. Think about what your plan would be like saying, hey, you have no money, you have no authority in a culture that's completely against you. What would you do to launch a movement in Eastern Europe? Whatever your plan was, my guess, just guessing here, is that it would not include a Turkish businesswoman. A gentile demon possessed slave girl and a Roman jailer. But those are the 1st 3 comforts of the Philippian church. Why? Because God's gonna do what God's gonna do. And he can move how he's gonna move. And so I want you to think about a few things here, one notice that Paul and Silas's mindset. Didn't change even when they were locked up. What I take from that is that what if breakthrough wasn't waiting on a change in your situation but a change in your spirit. Paul and Silas didn't start praising the Lord after they got out of prison. They had no idea what God was going to do in their situation. So they didn't change their situation right away. They changed their spirit. Right, you might not be able to control your position at the company in the family, in life, but you can control your disposition or your outlook or your your your mindset, your spirit behind it. They are locked up in prison with no hope or future. They might lose their life and they're singing praise. And they're telling people about Jesus. I love that. What if breakthrough isn't waiting on a change in your situation but a change in your spirit? So you can do that today. Next thing I notice here is that everyone has a story. But not everyone connects. Their story to God's story. What would it look like for you to connect your story to God's story? What if every single person in our church? This year Shared their story and God's story with somebody in the community. What if every single person watching online, listening later, whoever's hearing this message, between now and the end of 2025 led someone to Christ. See that would launch a movement. And before you say I'm not qualified, I'm not educated, I have too much of a sinful past. The church in Philippi, one of the most successful movement changing historical churches in the history of the world that we still have access to and can visit right now physically was started with a rich businesswoman, a gentile demon possessed slave girl, and a Roman guard. If God can start a movement, he can start it with you. I love that and all three cases, right? Some of you. are in incredible positions of leadership and influence in the world. And then we get into church and we're like, oh, you wanna greet. Right, you wanna like, and don't want, we need greeters, and we need children's workers. Oh my goodness, do we need children's workers? Come on, everybody, let's change some diapers and help some kiddos. Um. But understand that what if God used your business savvy? What if God used your position of leadership and management? What if God used your influence, your resources? To launch a movement of God. Don't shy away from where God's placed you, but understand that that is something you need to steward. That your story is connected to God's story. Some of you are sitting here going, man, I'm in the lowest of low. Lowest of low young slave girl. She had quote unquote nothing to give. But yet it was her change. Her testimony. That caused a riot for the people against God, but then also caused a revival for the people of God. It's the people with the biggest challenges and the biggest battles that end up having the biggest stories to tell. Right? And then you look at that Roman jailer. Head down, he's doing his job. Following what he thinks is the right way and then coming to a realization at some point that I've missed it this whole time. Risks everything. But he doesn't just come to Christ, he changes the generational legacy for 2000 years for his family and beyond. Some of you are sitting here in the room and you do not have a history of faith in your family. But you could be the person that changes the direction and destiny for your family tree for generations to come. Takes one moment, one person. To humbly repent of their sins and give their life to God to see Him move. If you've ever thought to yourself, I don't think God can use me. This story is for you. Have you ever thought to yourself, I'm too busy. This story is for you. If there's ever anybody in here who's walking through something, who feels locked up, who feels alone, who feels overwhelmed, who feels overlooked, who feels just distracted or destroyed or broken, this story is for you. Because no matter what happens. We are called to praise God and to point people to Him. Win or lose. Success or failure? Mountain tops or valleys. Highs and lows. In all circumstances, in all situations, you can praise God for who He is, for what he's done. And what he's going to do, and then you can turn around and you can point people to him. If you're struggling, if you're hurting. Be encouraged that God's with you in the hurt and be encouraged by the fact that there's gonna come a day. Where sickness and pain and hurting will be no more. If you've gone through battles and addictions and loss. Praise God that you're still standing and you're still here. Because God's not done writing your story. It would not be good if you walked out of the movie mid-movie thinking everything is hopeless. Right? If you walk out early. Like you're like, oh. Yes, Darth Vader wins. You know, cause there really is no hope. Some of you are struggling, but you need to be reminded. That your story is still being written. You're in the middle. Of course there's tension in the middle. Of course there's struggle in the middle. But your story is not just your story, it's God's story. He's gonna use it to impact not only your life but the people of the lives around you. Who knew That the businesswoman The slave girl And the Roman jailer would be the people that would start one of the most impactful churches. That history has ever known. To a place where you can go walk to this day. And to where Paul writes encouragement back to them that we read 2000 years later. Got it. So I want you to ask yourself 3 questions today as we wrap up number 1. How would you describe the current chapter of your story? How would you describe it? Broken, hurting, abandoned. Hopeful but lost. Right, I, I remember driving somewhere, have no idea where I was going, but thinking, man, I'm lost, but I'm making great time. You know what I mean, like you're getting the green lights and you're going anyway, all right. Be honest, where are you? How, how would you describe the current chapter? But remember, it's the current chapter, it's not the whole story. Number 2, Once you identify that story, how can you praise God in this chapter? Sometimes surviving is the wind. God, I'm hurting I'm struggling, I'm doubting, but you know what? I'm still standing. I'm gonna praise you for that. God, life doesn't seem so good, but you are. I'm gonna praise you for that. Find a way to praise God for every season in your life. Because breakthrough might not be the change of your situation, it might start with the change in your spirit. Identify the chapter. Find a way to praise God in that chapter. And the third question then is, with whom can you share your story and God's story? That's what Lydia did. That's what that slave girl did. That's what Paul and Silas did. They, they were in the middle of the night locked up, they couldn't go. But there's a person across from them. OK, I'll share with that person. I'll share with each other. Right. With whom can you share your story and God's story right now because you don't know. How God might use that to alter eternal destiny for people in your life. We're gonna end the same way we started. And now that you know the story of the Church of Philippi. Think about how impactful these words are that Paul writes to them while he himself is in prison. At the end of his life, he writes these words. I thank my God in all my remembrance of you. Always in every prayer of mine for you all are making my prayer with joy. Because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. And I'm sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. All eyes up here for just one moment. God's not done with you yet. God is working. And what God started. God will complete Let's connect our story to God's story. Will you pray with me, dear Emily Father. Thank you for the story and faithfulness of Lydia using her resources. To start the church God, thank you. For the even possessed girl, we, we don't know fully what she would go on to do. I do think she ended up getting saved. We don't know that fully, but. I think when her life changed as much as it did. I think that's a natural response. And thank you for the faith of a jailer. From a second away from taking his own life to now leading his household and many in the city to change and give their lives to him. God help us to connect our story to your story and that no matter what happens, no matter when things change and life does not go as we planned or expected. May we continually find a way in this very moment to praise you and to point others to you. we have a strong worship and witness today. We give our lives and our stories up to you and your sons and we pray amen.