What's Your Story | All That He Began To Do

Names like Peter, James, John, Andrew, and Paul are written in the New Testament of the Bible. These are names we would never know if it weren't for Jesus. When the story of their lives came in contact with the gospel of grace, with the story of who Jesus is and what He has done, that is what gave their lives significance. That is also what gives our lives significance.

Today, we are going to be studying using the Book of Acts, specifically Acts chapter 1, verses 1 through 3, to look at the reality that the story of who Jesus is, when it comes into contact with our lives, gives us significance and purpose. So, open your Bible to Acts chapter 1 and follow along with us.

Good morning! Would you open your Bibles to the Book of Acts, Acts chapter 1? We just finished five and a half years in Acts, and I thought we would start all over again with Acts chapter 1. If you don't have a Bible, you can raise your hand, and one of the ushers will bring you one.

Acts chapter 1, verse 1. We are going to stand together for the reading of God's Word. In Acts 1:1, Luke, the author of this book, writes, "The former account I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began to do and teach until the day in which He was taken up, after He, through the Holy Spirit, had given commandments to the apostles whom He had chosen. To whom He also presented Himself alive after His suffering by many infallible proofs, being seen by them during forty days and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God."

Father, we pray that You would make Your Word alive to us. We know that it is living and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword. Lord, make it come alive for us today as we stand here, knowing that You have given Your Word to instruct and teach us, to sometimes reprove and correct us. But God, we pray that ultimately we would find application in the text that we are going to look at and through today, and that You would use it in our lives to transform us.

Lord, You make it very clear in the Scriptures that these things are given. Jesus, You prayed that You would sanctify us by Your truth and that Your Word is truth. So, would You do that? Sanctify us, cleanse us, wash our minds, so that our lives would also be affected. May this time that we are here today not be wasted, but may we see the effect of it in our lives tomorrow and throughout the rest of this week, so that our family members, friends, co-workers, and neighbors would also be impacted.

See you working in us. Maybe they would not be able to explain it, but we know that it is the work of Your Spirit and by Your Word. So, God, work in us, we ask for this in Jesus' name. And all God's people agreed and said, "Amen." You can be seated.

At the opening of the Book of Acts, we have before us the author Luke's second work. He writes here of his previous work, which is referred to as the Gospel according to Luke. He says at the beginning of Acts that that previous work, that testament of Jesus's life, those 24 chapters, were a testament of all that Jesus began to do and to teach.

Think about that for just a moment. How many of you have read all four of the Gospels that are given in the New Testament? Many of you have. How many of you have read at least one or two of the Gospels that are presented?

At the beginning of the New Testament in the Bible, we have four books that are called the Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Three of them are very similar; they are referred to as the Synoptic Gospels. They give a synopsis of Jesus's life and ministry, His death, burial, and resurrection. The Gospel of John is a little bit different. It is built around seven sayings that Jesus gave, seven "I am" statements, and seven miracles that He performed.

So, it’s different, but really, they focus on the same subject, the same topic, and the same individual. Here, Luke tells us that those Gospels, those accounts of the life and ministry, the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus, as he says at the beginning of the Book of Acts, are all that Jesus began to do and to teach.

According to Luke, as we see it here in this passage, the Book of Acts is the continuation of all that Jesus began to do. I imagine that there are some people who might get hung up on that idea that the Gospels are just the beginning of all that Jesus began to do because they look at the Gospels as kind of a closed story, if you will—a story that has a beginning, a middle, and an end. A story that begins with the birth of Jesus or maybe the commencement of the ministry of Jesus, and then it builds through the teaching and the miracles of Jesus.

A culmination at the trial of Jesus, followed by the crucifixion, death, burial, and then the resurrection, ends on a triumphant note that He has risen from the dead. Many people view the Gospels in this fashion, seeing them as a good story in the good book, but that's all they consider them to be. They end with that triumphant note about the resurrection of Jesus.

There are even many people who are Christians, many who attend churches, who look at the work and ministry of Jesus as something that was done in the past. However, Luke informs us here at the beginning of his second work. He ends Luke chapter 24, the last chapter of his Gospel, with Jesus's ascension into heaven, and he restates that again in Acts chapter one. The movement of the church, the beginning of the church, is the continuation of the work that Jesus began to do.

So many people not only view the Gospels as the end of the story, as a narrative that has a beginning, middle, and end, but they also want it to be just that—a good story in the good book. However, it is just the beginning. The Gospels are the opening of all that Jesus began to do and to teach.

If you have your sermon guide handy this morning in your bulletin, point number one reminds us that the story of Jesus is not over. The story of Jesus is not finished; there is more that He was going to do after He ascended into heaven. The history of the church is the continuation of the story.

It’s as if the Gospels—Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John—are the trailer. You all know what a trailer is. Months before a movie comes out, the trailer begins to show on TV, and you start to see little bits—two minutes of what's going to come. Hopefully, they give you all the greatest scenes of that movie to entice you to go pay twelve dollars to see the rest of it. Most of the time, when you see the rest of it, you think, "I should have just stopped with the trailer."

That's not the case with the story of Jesus. The Gospels are like the trailer; they are an extended introduction, what you might refer to as the prologue—just the beginning of an amazing epic. What that means is that even though...

Jesus is in heaven. The New Testament tells us that He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of glory. He is there with glory and power. The Bible declares that one day He will return from that point. However, even though Jesus is in heaven, His work here upon the earth is not done. He is still at work in the world, furthering His story through history.

It is right that Luke, as he starts part two of the story after finishing the life, ministry, death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus, states that this was all that Jesus began to do and to teach. The story is not over; it is just beginning. The New Testament writers, such as James, John, Peter, and Paul, refer to those who are following Jesus and have put their faith in Him as the people of God. One of the New Testament writers says that at one point in time we were not a people, but now, by God's mercy, we have been made a people.

We are the people of God. Not only are we often referred to as the people of God, but we are also called the church, which is referred to as the body of Christ. The Apostle Paul, in his first letter to the Corinthians, specifically in 1 Corinthians chapters 3 and 6, states that if you are a follower of Jesus today, you are the temple of the Holy Spirit. In his letter to the church at Colossae, he says that Christ dwells in us.

This is not something that only Paul taught; Jesus made this very clear before He went to the cross. He was preparing His disciples for His crucifixion, His death, and ultimately His resurrection. In John chapters 13, 14, 15, and 16, He tells them that He is going away, but the Holy Spirit is going to come. After He raises from the dead, at the end of the Gospel of John, He appears to His disciples. The risen Lord Jesus breathes on them and says, "Receive ye the Holy Spirit."

Thus, Paul, in his letter to the Colossians, says that Christ dwells in us. To the Corinthians, he states that we are the temple of the Holy Spirit. In the opening chapters of the Book of Acts, specifically in Acts 1:4, he instructs them to wait in Jerusalem for the promise of the Holy Spirit.

The Father is coming. In Acts chapter 1, verse 8, it says, "You shall wait in Jerusalem, and you're going to receive power from God. The Holy Spirit is going to come upon you, and you shall be witnesses of Me in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the uttermost parts."

Then, in Acts chapter 2, on the Day of Pentecost, a feast day of the Jews, the Holy Spirit was poured out upon 120 followers of Jesus. They were empowered and filled with the Holy Spirit. From that point on, the church is ignited, and they go forth in the power and authority of Jesus, continuing the work of Christ.

It is right that Luke says here in Acts chapter 1, verse 1, that this is the continuation of the story as he writes this 28-chapter work to a man by the name of Theophilus. There is a lot of discussion about whether or not Theophilus was an actual person or if it's just the way that Luke wrote these books. However, I believe that he was an actual person for whom Luke is writing. The word or name Theophilus means "lover of God."

Luke says, "The former account I made, O lover of God, of all that Jesus began to do and teach." This is just the beginning. In the book of Acts, we see what Jesus desires to do through His people. The Gospels reveal what God can do here on the earth, but the book of Acts begins to reveal what Jesus desires to do in and through His people, His church, here in this world.

The reality is that Acts is the story of Jesus working in this world through His people. Now, I know the book is called the Acts of the Apostles, but it should actually be called the Act of Jesus by His Holy Spirit in His people. When you read through the book of Acts, you find that it is really just a story about a few people who are used by God in a powerful way—men like Peter, James, Stephen, Philip, Barnabas, and ultimately the Apostle Paul, who takes center stage. About two-thirds of this work is focused on the Apostle Paul and the ministry that God did in and through him.

However, when you break down these 28 chapters of the book of Acts, there are really only a few key names of individuals that are mentioned as God is working in and through them. There are many names that are not.

There is nothing said about Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter. There is also no mention of Thomas. All we really know of Thomas from the Scriptures is that he was one of the doubting disciples. Similarly, there is nothing said about Bartholomew, Simon the Zealot, Matthew the tax collector, Thaddeus, or James, the son of Alpheus. These were other members of the Twelve.

There was a time in Jesus' ministry when He prayed all night and then selected twelve individuals who would be with Him and whom He would send out into the work. We know that one of them, ultimately Judas Iscariot, betrayed the Lord and took his own life. At the beginning of the Book of Acts, there were still eleven of them following Jesus, but most of them have no mention in the Book of Acts. There is nothing said about them and what happens in and through their lives.

The Book of Acts only focuses on about half a dozen individuals who are highlighted for what God is doing in and through their lives. However, the stories of Bartholomew, Thomas, and all of these other individuals are no less important. On the Day of Pentecost, 120 were gathered together when the Holy Spirit was poured out. Their stories are not recorded in the New Testament, but there is a little bit mentioned, peppered throughout early Christian history and other extra-biblical documents about these individuals and some of the things they did.

History records that Thomas, often referred to as Doubting Thomas, went very far to the east. He was the first to carry the Gospel to the western coasts of India. There are still people in southwest India who trace their lineage of faith back to Thomas. While there are some reports outside of the Bible about the actions of these followers of Jesus, there is very little in the New Testament account. Their stories are kind of lost to us in this world, and as a result, we begin to think that they were lesser apostles, less significant.

It is an unfortunate reality that even in history, sometimes these individuals are referred to as "such and such the less," like James the Less. It is quite a bummer to be known as James the Less, akin to being called a minor prophet, with major prophets and minor ones.

Prophets are often categorized as major or minor, and the only thing that distinguishes a major prophet from a minor prophet is that the major prophets were more wordy and couldn't get their point across in fewer chapters. They are often majorly hard to understand. Have you ever read Ezekiel? I mean, the first four chapters will have you beating your head against the wall.

We begin to think of minor prophets as lesser apostles, less significant, but nothing could be further from the truth. Although their stories are not recorded in the books that comprise the Bible, and may not even be written down in any histories, their stories are not insignificant. The unfortunate reality is that many of us often feel as though our lives have little significance too. Most of us probably feel that we will leave very little of a mark on this world, very little of an enduring legacy.

However, there is within the heart and mind of man a desire to make a name for oneself. You could argue that this desire may stem from the fall, but it exists nonetheless. We see this early in the book of Genesis. In fact, there was a group of people in Genesis led by a man named Nimrod, who wanted to make a name for himself. His name doesn't mean what it once did; he did make a name for himself, but that was their desire. They wanted to build in such a way that they would leave an enduring legacy.

The reality is that after a person dies, very few people within 100 or 200 years have any idea that they ever lived. If you look throughout recorded history, there's a relatively small group of people whose names are still remembered two, three, or four hundred years after they lived.

Steve Jobs, the former CEO of Apple and one of the co-founders of Apple Incorporated, died a couple of years ago. It's noted that one of the things he said was that we are here to put a dent in the universe. If we don't do that, what else are we here for? His desire was to change the world and put a dent in the universe. I guarantee you that 50 years from now, there will be other great products and other great companies that come along, and the name Steve Jobs will be...

Remembered by a relatively small group of tech-savvy individuals, the history of tablet devices may fade over time. In 100 or 200 years, there might be a street or a school named after someone significant, but people will still wonder, "Who was that guy? What was so big about him?" We drive down streets day after day named after historical figures we know nothing about. Sure, there are some we recognize, like Lincoln and Washington, and we know a little bit about them. However, very few people in history are truly remembered or known.

This reality can lead us to believe that our lives hold little significance. When we don't see an individual recorded or their story expounded upon in the Scriptures, we may start to think that they have little importance as well. In many ways, they have been forgotten, and we might think that we have little significance until we begin to understand that our significance is found in His greatness and not ours.

This is an important point: significance is found in His greatness and not ours. We live in a day and time where people are still trying to make a name for themselves, just as they have throughout history. However, today, it's done in much stranger ways. You can make a name for yourself by dancing a funky dance, recording it, and posting it on YouTube, where it might get two billion hits. Suddenly, everyone knows your name because of those views.

We live in an age where people are constantly seeking likes and trying to gain attention on social media platforms like Facebook and YouTube. If they achieve those things, they feel they have succeeded in making a name for themselves. But this recognition is fleeting; it fades away quickly. There is a desire within us to find significance in our accomplishments, but the reality is that our significance is found in His greatness, not in our own.

Think about it for a moment. What makes us remember James, John, Peter, or Paul? If it weren't for Jesus coming into their lives and the power of Jesus transforming them, they would never be remembered today. This leads us to point number three on your outline: when your story meets His story.

You become a part of history when your story meets His story. You become a part of a history that is bigger and greater than any history in this world. This history is not written in books and scrolls, but in eternity. It is kept not in the libraries of Congress or the great libraries of this world, but with God in heaven.

When the storyline of your life meets the storyline of Christ, the Gospel of Christ, your life becomes a part of history. When I say "history," I mean "His story," and our significance is found in His greatness. Apart from Jesus, those we read of in the Bible would be nobodies.

Think about Peter. That's not even his real name. In fact, you would not know him as Peter had it not been for Jesus, because Jesus is the one who started to call him Peter. Before that, he was Simon, son of Jonah. He worked for his dad's fishing company in Galilee with his brother Andrew. But apart from Jesus entering into his life, we would not know the name Peter; he would not have mattered in history at all. However, when his storyline met the story of Jesus, he became a part of history.

Then there is John. John is also a great character in the Scriptures, both in the Gospels and in his writings in the New Testament. Behind the Apostle Paul, he wrote quite a bit in the New Testament, more than any other writer. Yet, apart from the work of Jesus, no one would ever know who John was. Again, he was just another fisherman, the brother of James, working for their dad Zebedee in Galilee.

Jesus had a tender spot for fishermen, apparently. I think Pastor Mark likes that. So, we have James and John, Peter and Andrew—fishermen. We call it the Sea of Galilee, but if you've ever been there, it's a lake. In your minds, when you hear "the Sea of Galilee," you think of this great epic thing, but it's nothing. You know, if you're Jesus, you can walk on it.

Across it in a night, it's just not a big deal. There they were, fishermen on a lake in the Middle East, and apart from Jesus, they were nobodies. Matthew, the author of the Gospel of Matthew, wasn't even called Matthew until Jesus came into his life. His name was Levi. He was just a tax collector who lived on the Sea of Galilee and had a little office outside the city of Capernaum.

We believe Paul the Apostle is someone many people look up to. The journeys of Paul are written for us in the Book of Acts, which we've studied, along with the letters of Paul—the epistles of the New Testament, 13 of which he penned or dictated. We admire the Apostle Paul and think, "What a great man!" But that wasn't even his name; his name was Saul. Saul was just a very zealous religious man, a Pharisee, until Jesus came into his life. Apart from Jesus, these guys were nobodies.

Then one day, Jesus crossed paths with them. Their story met His story, and they stepped into a much bigger story—into His story, into history. When your life becomes a part of His story, then you truly are living history—a history that is greater than anything this world records. These individuals that we read of—Peter, John, Paul, Matthew—were just ordinary people. Had they never met Jesus, they would have just been born, lived, worked, handed their family and their work off to their family members, and died. No one would have ever had a clue who they were.

But along came Jesus, and when Jesus came into their lives, things changed. When your story meets His story, you become a part of history. Luke writes, "The former account I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began to do and teach." The Gospels are not the end of the story; they're just the beginning. From the end of the Gospels, from the ascension of Jesus into heaven, and from the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, the work of God has continued. The story of Jesus continues through the people of God as God fills them with His Holy Spirit and moves them out to accomplish His work in this world. Then your story becomes a part of His story.

The Book of Acts is the continuation of all that Jesus began to do. The last words of Jesus, recorded by Matthew Levi, the tax collector, are found in Matthew chapter 28. Many of you probably know them well; you can turn there if you'd like. We refer to them as the Great Commission.

In Matthew chapter 28, beginning in verse 18, Jesus is with His disciples around Galilee. This is just before He ascends into heaven, after His death, burial, and resurrection. Jesus came and spoke to His eleven gathered disciples there in Galilee, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you. And lo, I am with you always, even till the end of the age. Amen."

In essence, what Jesus is saying to His gathered disciples there in Galilee is that He is passing His work to them. From this day forward, by His authority and by His power, they are to continue the work until the end. He prophetically tells us that there is an end that will come one day, but He says that between the time He ascends into heaven and the time He returns, there were two angels that appeared to His disciples in Acts chapter one after His ascension. They told them, "Listen, He is going to come in like manner someday." So, the same way He ascended into heaven, someday He will come again.

Between those two events—one that happened in the past and one that will happen in the future—is the time that Jesus is still at work in the world through His people, His body. He is at work through ordinary people.

Take Simon, the son of Jonah, a fisherman from Galilee. He had a pretty mundane and straightforward existence. He was born, grew up, and like many people of that day, began to work in the family trade, which was fishing. His father was a fisherman, so it was the default for Peter to follow in his footsteps. As he began to grow, his brother Andrew, who we believe was his younger brother, also grew up in the family business—Jonah's fishing business.

Now, you have to be a pretty gutsy guy if you have the name Jonah and you're going to go out on the sea, especially if you know other biblical accounts. But you know Jonah decided he was going to test the waters. So, he went.

Out started his fishing business. He probably took it over from his father, who took it over from his father, and so on down the line. There they were in the city of Capernaum, on the Sea of Galilee, this little village. Peter was a fisherman, and a fisherman's existence during that time was pretty straightforward and mundane. Every night, they would go out and fish, hoping to catch something. Apparently, Peter didn't catch too much because every time we see him, he has empty nets.

In the morning, when they returned, they would bring whatever catch they had. Hopefully, someone would sell that catch for them while the rest of the family cleaned and mended the nets, getting ready for the next day. Six days a week, this is what they did, except for the Sabbath. Six days a week, they would fish at night, clean their nets in the morning, sell their fish during the day, and then sleep, only to go back to it again. That was their life, their existence, constantly. Peter, or Simon, would have done this for the rest of his life. He would have had children who grew up into the family business as well, and they would have taken over the fishing business and continued it on. A few generations later, no one would have had a clue who Simon was.

But then the Gospel of Luke, specifically Luke chapter 5, records something interesting for us. It tells us that there was a traveling rabbi from the city of Nazareth who came to Capernaum. There, in Luke chapter 5, a multitude of people followed this rabbi because news was spreading about him—people were being healed of diseases and demons were being cast out. So now, a multitude of people were there, and Simon was cleaning his nets. He probably didn't catch anything and didn't even want to know that, but he was cleaning his nets when this rabbi said to Simon, "Hey, can I stand in your boat? Can we push it out so I can preach? There are so many people." Simon agreed, and there he was, cleaning his nets while listening to Jesus.

Finally, in Luke chapter 5, Jesus said, "Hey Simon, let's go fishing." Simon knew that you don't fish during the day, but he thought, "Alright, fine, let's go fishing." They went out and caught nothing. Then Jesus said, "Cast the net on the other side of the boat." They pulled in a great catch. Immediately, Peter exclaimed, "You're something greater than just a preacher man. I'm unworthy to be in your presence." Jesus replied, "Simon, you think this is amazing? You're going to see greater things than this. I'm going to make you a fisher of men."

Now, Simon's story became part of Jesus' story, and he became a part of history. There was nothing great about Simon apart from Jesus. Not just Simon Peter, but Levi also lived in Capernaum, the same place that Peter lived. He was a tax collector, and people didn't like him.

Tax collectors 2,000 years ago were not well-liked, and things have changed a whole bunch since then. In fact, not only did people dislike them, but they also looked down upon them and considered them sinners simply because of their work. They labeled Levi a traitor because he was working for the Romans.

Levi was sitting at his tax office outside the city of Capernaum when a multitude of people came by. The story is told in the Gospel of Mark, chapter two. Matthew also refers to it as a side note in his own writing in Matthew, chapter nine. A great multitude surrounded this traveling rabbi from Nazareth, and in the midst of this crowd, the rabbi looked at Levi and said, "Levi, follow me." Levi responded, "Okay," and his story intersected with the story of Jesus. At that moment, he made the decision to follow Jesus, and suddenly, his life took on greater significance. Ultimately, God used him in a powerful way to pen the Gospel according to Matthew, which has been used by God throughout the world ever since.

Saul was a Roman-born Jewish man, the son of a Pharisee and the grandson of a Pharisee. He was following in the family business, which was religion. He figured that since his father and grandfather were both Pharisees, that was the path he would take. It seems that he grew up most of his life in the city of Jerusalem, the capital of the Jewish faith, which still is today. There, he sat under some of the greatest teachers of his day, such as Nicodemus and Gamaliel, spending most of his time probably in the temple, growing up right next to the religious ruling class: the Sanhedrin, the chief priests, the scribes, and the Pharisees.

Saul knew and associated with all of these people, and he was so passionate and zealous about the faith of his fathers. He states in his letter to the Galatians, chapter 1, verse 14, that he was so zealous for the faith of his fathers that he excelled above all of his contemporaries. He took religion seriously. Has anyone in this room ever taken religion seriously in your past? Saul did. He was so committed to his faith and the faith of his fathers that when prominent men of the Jewish faith began to follow after this Nazarene rabbi, who had apparently been crucified and raised from the dead, he felt compelled to act.

When they began to follow after Him, Saul was so committed to the faith of his fathers and so completely convinced that this new movement was against it that he began to persecute and press against all of those who said, "We're going to follow this rabbi from Nazareth because He raised from the dead." Paul said, "No way! I'm going to fight against that," even though his teacher, his rabbi Gamaliel, had advised him not to fight against this movement. Gamaliel warned that if it was of God, Saul would be fighting against God. Saul probably looked at Gamaliel and thought, "Listen here, old guy, you don't get it. This is bad news. I'm taking care of this."

Then, in Acts chapter 9, the story unfolds. As Saul was on his way to Damascus, the capital of Syria both then and now, he sought to find anyone who was a follower of this rabbi from Nazareth to bring them back bound to Jerusalem. It was there that the rabbi from Nazareth, who had been crucified, appeared to him. Saul's story met Jesus's story, and Saul stepped into His story. No longer was he Saul of Tarsus; from that point on, he was Paul the Apostle.

When Peter preached in Acts chapter 2 to a gathered multitude of Jewish men and women in Jerusalem, and 3,000 became believers, it was not because of Peter's ingenuity or ability. It was because of God dwelling and working in and through his life. In Acts chapter 9, when Peter was used by God to raise Tabitha from the dead in the city of Joppa, it wasn't because Peter was some amazing healer; it was because God was working in and through him.

So, it is not Peter's story; it is God's story of how He works through His people. When Peter stood in Cornelius's house in Caesarea, a Gentile Roman centurion, and preached the gospel, Gentiles came to faith in Jesus. It wasn't because Peter was amazing or powerful; it was because Jesus was working through him.

When Matthew recorded the Sermon on the Mount, the Olivet Discourse, and all of those things in the Gospel according to Matthew, it was because he was inspired by God, not because Matthew was an amazing guy. When the Apostle Paul was used by God to plant churches in Galatia, Macedonia, Asia, and Greece, it was God working in and through him. When God worked through him to cast the demon out of the slave girl in the city of Philippi, it wasn't by Paul's miraculous abilities; it was by Jesus's power.

So, it is Jesus's story and not Paul's when he preached before Felix, Festus, or King Agrippa.

Before Caesar Nero, it was because God opened doors and God was working through him. It is His story and not our story. Our significance is found in His greatness and not ours. When we begin to understand that and step into His story to further it, we become a part of history. We become a part of this great, awesome, eternal story.

Ever since that point in Acts chapter 2, with the pouring out of the Holy Spirit and the beginning of the Church, billions of monotonous, seemingly uninteresting stories over the last 2,000 years of church history have come in contact with the storyline of Jesus, with the Gospel of Jesus. In that moment, their stories take a turn, and that becomes the defining moment.

One of the things I like to do when I talk with people is to ask them, "What's your story?" People often ask me to go out to lunch with them—sometimes someone from the church or someone in the community will sit down with me. I don't always know why they called the meeting, but as we sit there, I ask them about their story. It’s an interesting question to ask because every single person has a story. They often default to the same narrative, going back to that same place. If you've been friends with that person for a long time, you've heard that story over and over again to the point that you can almost mouth along with the words.

When someone new comes into that circle and starts to tell their story, you might sit back and think, "I've heard this one before about fifty million times." If you're married, poor wives, you've heard the stories repeatedly. Here he goes again, telling the one about the Labrador. We all have a storyline.

When your story comes in contact with the storyline of Christ, and you become a part of His story, everything that happened before that point and everything that happens after becomes a part of His story. He saves you from all the pitfalls, failures, and wrongdoings against God. He rescues you out of that and reorients your life in a new direction. Your story then becomes a God-glorifying story, showcasing how powerful and awesome He is, rather than how amazing you are.

If you're still trying to make your story about how awesome and amazing you are, it may last until you die. Perhaps a few people will continue to talk about, "Oh, I remember granddaddy used to tell these great stories," but they will never tell the stories as well as you did. A few generations later, those stories will be forgotten. But if you recognize that...

Ultimately, it's His story that is greater, and we find our significance in His greatness. When we come in line with His story, then all of a sudden, things change. What does this ultimately mean for us? It means that although you may feel like you have little significance and that your life will have little impact in this world, ultimately, we do have significance and purpose.

Therefore, point number four on your outline is that we need to live as though our life has purpose and significance. We need to live as though our life has purpose and significance. Why? Because it does. If the story of your life has come in contact with His story, then your story is now a part of His, and it has purpose and significance. The purpose and significance is making Him great and showing off how awesome and powerful He is.

Then you have purpose, and you have significance that extends beyond this life, beyond this world. It extends on into eternity because He is eternal, and He will be hallowed for eternity as awesome, great, and powerful. If your story comes in line with His to make Him great, then that story will continue on into eternity.

However, if you live your entire life trying to make your story about how awesome and great you are, maybe a few people will remember you sometime in the future. They might say, "Could anything wonderful come out of Escondido? We couldn't have believed it, but there it did." Live as though your life has purpose and significance. If you have come to the point where you find your significance in His greatness, then you will have purpose in this life because your purpose will be to glorify His greatness. There is no greater cause.

Why? Because the chief end of man is the glory of God. The reason God created you is to bring glory to Himself. The reason the painter paints is to bring glory to his ability. If you understand this truth, it will affect every aspect of your life.

How so? Well, today, the big thing on TV is reality TV, which we all know is actually real. It's funny. Just this last week, my wife and I were up in Santa Barbara. We go to Santa Barbara pretty regularly, and a couple of years ago, we were in Santa...

Barbara, we're sitting there on the wharf in Santa Barbara, and there was this group of people that walked by. They were a reality TV show; I have no idea who they were, but there were about two people who looked like they were on a date. There were dozens of sound people with their boom microphones, cameras, and lights. It was quite a scene.

Now, if you had that—if every morning from the time you got up until you got home and went to bed, you had a camera crew, a dozen people with boom microphones, and lights following everything you did—there's no way you could avoid beginning to live for the audience. You would try to perform for the audience, to do something to make it seem more interesting. The reality is that most people's lives are not that interesting. Even those reality TV show people are not that interesting. They get about five interesting things that happen in a week and put them into a 30-minute show, and everyone thinks, "Man, their life is so cool." In reality, they had five interesting things that were actually scripted.

You couldn't help but live for the camera crew and for the people who are watching you, for those following you on Twitter, wondering what you’re going to say next. You would start to live for that, and that is so temporal.

But the reality is we have an audience watching us. How do we know that? The Book of Hebrews tells us in Hebrews chapter 12, verse 1: "Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses." The author of the Book of Hebrews knew this. He says there are witnesses watching you. Now, that might freak you out, and that freak-out might be a good thing.

Notice what the author says: "Let us lay aside every weight and sin that so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us." If you knew that you had a great cloud of witnesses watching you, it would alter the way you live, especially if one of those witnesses is Jesus. He is watching, and it is being recorded.

What's your story? If your story is not aligned with Jesus' story, then you're living for yourself, and ultimately, it will be a temporal existence that will be lost when you die. But if your story is being lived for His glory to show His greatness, it will extend on through eternity.

Though there may never be a biography written about you or a film made about your life, it's highly unlikely that any of us will have a film made about our lives unless we make it ourselves and put it on YouTube. But unless we have a film made about our lives...

It may not be recorded in this world, but I can guarantee you it's recorded in eternity. The Book of Acts continues the acts of God working through His people for the last 2,000 years. It may be that your life has been aligned with His story so that it is showing forth His greatness. If not, you're just living for yourself, and that's a temporal life that is vain and fleeting. Solomon talks quite a bit about it in Ecclesiastes.

Would you stand with me as we close in prayer? Lord, Your story is greater than anything that we could ever come up with or fabricate. Your story is so glorious, and how awesome it is to be a part of it. Lord, You've invited us to come into that grand history so that we can show, in and through our failures in the past, Your glory to rescue, forgive, and transform our lives. We can show how awesome, powerful, and amazing You are.

I pray that my life and the lives of my brothers and sisters here this morning would be a testament to how glorious You are and how wonderful You are. Just like Simon, Andrew, John, James, Saul, Levi, and all these individuals we would never have any idea who they were unless You had come into their lives, may it be that our lives are accentuated by the fact that You have come into our lives. You've given us purpose and significance that is far greater than anything we could produce for ourselves.

Something the atheist does not have is hope for purpose and significance, but we have that because of Your revealed truth. So, God, help us to live and walk in that. I pray this morning, if there's anyone standing here who's been living for their own glory, trying to write their own stories so that they're remembered and can put a dent in the universe, I pray, God, that they would see and recognize that their true significance can only be found in Your greatness. Draw them by Your Spirit, we pray, in Jesus' name.