Good Trouble Series

GOOD TROUBLE

Text: Acts 17:1–9 (Key verses 6–7)

Theme Refrain: God doesn’t need a crowd—He needs the committed!

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INTRODUCTION: THE CALL TO NECESSARY TROUBLE

Church, I want to begin with the words of a modern prophet of justice—Congressman John Lewis. He carried courage in one hand and conviction in the other. He said:

“Never, ever be afraid to make some noise and get in good trouble, necessary trouble.”

When he said that, he was not calling us to become reckless or hateful. He called us to become faithful. There is trouble that destroys and trouble that delivers. There is bad trouble and Good Trouble.

And here is what the church must remember: we often define peace as the absence of conflict. But in the Kingdom of God, peace is not the absence of conflict—it is the presence of justice. Sometimes peace requires disruption. Sometimes healing requires confrontation. Sometimes deliverance requires the church to disturb what is destroying the people.

Today, I challenge you: don’t settle for comfort. Be the faithful ones who let the Gospel disturb darkness, expose lies, and turn communities right-side up. Step out and let your commitment spark change.

And there is a truth the church needs to receive today—especially in a time when many feel outnumbered, overwhelmed, and intimidated: it doesn’t take a lot of people to share the Gospel and transform a city. God has never depended on a crowd to change history. God has always used a faithful few.

So let me say it again, because somebody needs this in their spirit: God doesn’t need a crowd—He needs the committed! Through history, God has used a faithful few to change nations. Today, let’s discover what it means to be among that committed few.

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THE SETUP: THESSALONICA GETS SHAKEN—BY A FEW

Acts 17 opens with Paul and Silas walking into Thessalonica. Not an army. Not a choir tour. Not a conference. Just two men on assignment.

They go straight to the synagogue. Paul reasons with them from the Scriptures—opening the Word, explaining the Word, proving from the Word that the Messiah had to suffer and rise, and that Jesus is that Messiah.

Some believe. The Gospel starts taking root. And whenever the Gospel starts taking root, something always starts shaking.

Because the Gospel doesn’t just save individuals; it threatens systems. It doesn’t just change hearts; it confronts idols.

It doesn’t just inspire private spirituality; it introduces public truth.

And when Jesus becomes the center, the enemy never stays calm—he starts gathering a crowd.

THE CONTRAST: TWO CROWDS, TWO SPIRITS

Now, in order for me to preach this text effectively, I need to point out to you that Luke shows us:

two crowds operating in the same city,

two spirits competing for influence,

Two movements are colliding in the street.

1. THE MOB OF THE MARKETPLACE (Acts 17:5)

Acts 17:5 says they were moved by jealousy. And jealousy is not a small sin—it’s a controlling sin. Jealousy is the fear of losing position. Jealousy is insecurity that cannot tolerate change. Jealousy doesn’t ask honest questions; it forms angry conclusions. Jealousy doesn’t seek truth; it seeks power.

So they pulled “wicked men from the marketplace,” formed a mob, and set the city in an uproar. That is not revival—that’s a riot. That is not conviction—that’s a tantrum. That is not righteousness—that’s fear with religious language.

And church, that marketplace mob spirit is not locked in the first century. It still shows up whenever people feel threatened by truth, threatened by justice, threatened by the liberation the Gospel brings.

It shows up today in the way some try to weaponize Christianity—using the name of Jesus not to carry a cross, but to protect control. One of the modern expressions of that same spirit is what many call White Christian Nationalism—a distortion of Christianity that confuses the Kingdom of God with national power, and tries to make faith a tool of domination instead of deliverance.

And I need to be clear: the Gospel of Jesus Christ cannot be reduced to an ethnic hierarchy, a political mascot, or a national idol. Anything that uses the Cross to justify hatred, exclusion, or supremacy is not Christianity—it is counterfeit religion wearing Christian vocabulary.

This describes the mob of the marketplace—motivated by jealousy and fear, standing in stark contrast to the Messiah's movement.

But Acts 17 shows us something else.

2. THE MOVEMENT OF THE MESSIAH (Acts 17:6–9)

Paul and Silas are not a mob. They’re a movement—the Movement of the Messiah. They are not fueled by jealousy; they are fueled by calling. They are not driven by fear; they are driven by faith. They are not trying to dominate people; they are trying to deliver people.

And notice this: there weren’t many, but they were effective.

Two men walked in, and the testimony was: