What Matters To God Sermon by Shawn Drake, Acts 5:17-42

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What Matters To God Series

Contributed by Shawn Drake on Jun 7, 2020 (message contributor)

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Scripture: Acts 5:17-42

Denomination: Baptist

Summary: This is the 12th sermon in the Action Series. This series began during the COVID-19 pandemic. This sermon is during the time of protesting and rioting in the United States due to the death of George Floyd.

Series: Action [#12]

WHAT MATTERS TO GOD?

Acts 5:17-42

Introduction:

This situation with all of the looting, destruction, and violence needs to stop. This idea of only black lives matter is out of control. Any other race of people that would say that their race is the only race that matters would be called racist. Grant Napear, longtime Sacramento Kings TV broadcaster resigned Tuesday after he tweeted, “All lives matter… Every single one!” He tweeted that in response to DeMarcus Cousins’ question about his opinion on the Black Lives Matters Movement. The 60-year-old Grant was also fired by KTHK Sports 1140 in Sacramento.

I do not understand what is racist about saying, “All lives matter… Every single one!” We could spend a lot of time talking about this; but it really isn’t the important question here. Let me ask the question that really matters- “What matters to God?”

Acts 5:17-19

What matters to God?

1. God’s children.

The religious leaders hated Jesus; and they hated all of His followers. They were jealous of the Apostles and Christian’s success. There were people being saved daily and the religious leaders were losing their power and prestige.

The Apostles were arrested for their belief in Jesus. Their relationship with Jesus caused them to be hated by some. How did they get through these types of things? God’s love for them. God loves His children. His children matter to Him. (Only Christians are His children.)

Acts 5:20-32

2. The Gospel of Jesus Christ.

The angel of the Lord opened the doors of the jail and let them out. The angel told them to go out to the Temple Court and tell everyone that would listen about eternal life through Jesus Christ. Because God loves all people, He desires that they are saved. To God, “All lives do matter”.

John 3:16

When Jesus became the sins of the world on the cross, He became the sins of everyone; and when He died for those sins, He died for everyone’s sins. When Jesus had victory over sin, death, Hell, and Satan; that victory is offered to all who will accept Jesus’ gift of salvation.

Galatians 3:28

All lives matter to God. It is the Gospel of Jesus Christ that brings us all together, not protests and violence.

Acts 5:33-42

What matters to God?

3. The truth.

The religious leaders wanted the Apostles dead. It is interesting to me how God uses those who do not know Him as Savior to sometimes teach His truths. Gamaliel, (a Pharisee) had the Apostles taken outside so that he could reason with these other religious leaders. He gave them a history lesson in those who had claimed to be the Messiah and when they died, their followers scattered.

His words of guidance in verses 38-39 are exactly right- “Therefore, in the present case I advise you: Leave these men alone! Let them go! For if their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail. But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God.” Right there is God’s truth- “If it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God.” That’s exactly what has been happening throughout history- People have been battling against God; and their only hope is through the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Conclusion:

I have to be very honest with each of you- I have considered that there could be some “backlash” for this sermon. Maybe not from those that are in the congregation today; but possibly from someone who reads this on Sermon Central or listens to the video of the sermon. Unlike many others, I am not going to apologize for preaching the truth of God’s Word- Jesus died and had victory on the 3rd day for all people regardless of their skin color, political affiliation, position in society, or any other thing that people invent to cause strife.

All lives matter. If that was not true, Jesus would not have paid the price for the sins of the World. In these times, Christians need to lift up Jesus Christ so that people will be saved.

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Scriptures: Acts 5:17-19, Acts 5:17-42, Acts 5:20-32, Acts 5:33-42, Galatians 3:28, John 3:16

Sermon Topics: Be The Church, Coronavirus

Talk about it...

Raul Burgos

commented on Jun 13, 2020

Hello Pastor, I'm a Hispanic pastor myself of 22 years. My comment is not backlash as you feared in your message. It's meant to be a different perspective than the one you present in your message. The term BLM in it's broader meaning, is not meant to imply that all the other lives don't matter. It's meant to highlight the deep seated pain of a people who have suffered for centuries, whose oppressors unfortunately were many times their own white brothers and sisters. Jesus himself called attention to the poor many times, which didn't mean at all the rich were excluded from the Kingdom. He wanted to make a point. The book of Acts chapter 6th, could very well have a heading today of Greek Widows Matter. Does that mean the Jewish widows didn't? No. It meant those were already care for. In other words pastor, I don't think when people say Black Lives Matter means the rest do not. But At this time those are the ones suffering systemic injustices. Those African American parents brothers of yours have to have THE TALK with their children so they are not mistreated in their encounters with the police. You probably don't have to worry about that for your children. I don't agree or subscribe to everything that is under the umbrella of BLM, but I do to the main idea of having some reform to alleviate their pain. thanks for the opportunity pastor. Blessings

Charlet Lewis

commented on Jul 24, 2020

Very well said! I was going to respond as well. Black Lives Matter does not mean ONLY black lives matter. ALL LIVES MATTER is a given, of course they do, but right now (or over the course of over 400 years black lives do not seem to matter, therefore the slogan. In contract, the ALT Right movement, white supremacy, KKK and so forth do believe only White Lives Matter - that I believe is the real threat. Jesus fought agains the religious and for the marginalized, guess who the marginalized are? The least, the lost and the left out which many times are in fact our black and brown brothers and sisters. God created us all in His image including the protesters and guess what even the looters and the the KKK...my humble opinion. We can't just pray, we myself pray and fight for those who cannot.

Ej Rice

commented on Feb 16, 2023

Well Said Thanx

Ej Rice

commented on Feb 16, 2023

Well Said Thanx

Ej Rice

commented on Feb 16, 2023

I appreciate you Raul

Ronald Fletcher

commented on Jun 19, 2021

Please explain what systemic injustice is.

Ej Rice

commented on Feb 16, 2023

When most people think about racism, they probably think of racial slurs, hate crimes, or other overtly racist actions. There are, however, other less obvious yet ultimately even more destructive forms of racism. Structural and systemic racism are often invisible—at least to those who are not its victims. Although structural and systemic racism can harm the health of people of color, they also may damage the health and well-being of a society overall — including the health and well-being of White people. Systemic injustice has plagued America since the founding of the nation—especially when it comes to people of color and historically marginalized groups. Systemic racism is so embedded in America's systems that it often is assumed to reflect the natural, inevitable order of things. Slavery—explicitly supported by laws—endured for 250 years in the United States and was followed by almost 100 years of Jim Crow laws—often enforced by terror—that were deliberately designed to restrict the rights of African Americans, including the rights to vote, work, and get an education. Need More?