Acts
In 2007, filmmakers Sebastian Junger and Tim Hetherington embedded with Second Platoon of the 173rd Airborne Brigade in Afghanistan’s Korengal Valley to produce the documentary Restrepo. Their aim was simple: no narration from a distance, no polished commentary…just life as it was.
The cameras lived with the soldiers. They slept where the soldiers slept. They walked the same mountain patrols. They endured the long stretches of boredom, the weight of waiting, and then the sudden crack of gunfire. What emerged was raw and unfiltered, an unvarnished look at courage, fatigue, fear, and deep camaraderie. Viewers don’t just hear about the war; they feel what it was like to be there.
When we come to Acts 20, we find something similar. Luke is not writing as a detached historian. He is there. He is traveling with Paul. He is in the room. He sees the lamps flickering in the upper chamber. He watches the apostle preach long into the night. He witnesses the young man fall. He follows Paul down the stairs.
Luke is, in a sense, our embedded reporter.
What we receive is not a highlight reel of miracles and triumphs, but a glimpse of ordinary missionary life. We see travel, fellowship, preaching, fatigue, crisis, and comfort. We see that apostolic ministry was not a constant spectacle. It was steady faithfulness. It was long obedience. It was ordinary means through which God worked extraordinary grace. And that should steady us. The Christian life is not lived on a stage. It is lived in upper rooms, in long nights, in patient endurance. Like Paul, we will know both strain and encouragement. And through what seem like ordinary means, God will accomplish the extraordinary. To come prepared for the sermon, take time this week to read and to meditate upon Acts 20:1-12, John 16:33, Acts 2:42-47, 1 Corinthians 10:13, 1 Peter 4:12, and this article on the Means of Grace.
As we gather to worship the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit this Lord’s day, we will join our hearts in song, singing the Hymn of Praise “Holy, Holy, Holy,” the Acclamation of Praise, “O for a Thousand Tongues to Sing,” and the Hymn of Response “For the Cause.” Let us come to worship this Sunday prepared to hear God’s Word, to receive it in faith, to love and treasure it in our hearts, and to practice it in our lives that we may continue to glorify and enjoy Him!
Sermon Information
Text: Acts 20:1-12
Title: An Ordinary Christian Life
Outline:
- We Must Expect Ordinary Troubles (vv. 1-6)
- We Must Pursue Ordinary Means (vv. 7-8)
- We Must Trust Extraordinary Results (vv. 9-12)