Don’t Miss the Move of God

Acts 16:11-15

People often miss a move of God because they're looking in the wrong place.

Paul and his team are on mission.

The Spirit has blocked every door they wanted to walk through in Asia.

"God, we are supposed to be preaching the Gospel and planting churches, what's going on?"

God is closing one door to open another.

A vision of a man from Macedonia.

They go.

The first person the gospel reaches on European soil is Lydia.

She would have been the least likely person to expect a move of God to start with.

Acts 16:11–12

• Luke joins the team ("we").

• First-hand historical account.

• Philippi:

  • Roman colony

  • Retired soldiers

  • Roman pride

  • Roman religion

No synagogue.

On paper, a terrible place to plant a church.

God opened a door into Europe...

...into a city that feels like the last place for a move of God to start.

01. GOD DIRECTS THE MISSION.

God often leads us into places that don't look promising so that when something happens, everyone knows it was Him.

Proverbs 16:9

"The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps."

Mexico mission trip

Everything fell apart.

• Church shut down.

• Orphanage closed.

• Backup plans failed.

A new opportunity near the Tijuana dumps.

• Breakfast for 200 kids.

• Shared the gospel.

• Care packages.

• Prayer.

• God opened hearts.

None of that was my plan.

God had closed every door I was counting on so He could open one I never saw coming.

Big Idea

God often moves in unlikely places.

Application

Some of you feel stuck.

Every open door you wanted has slammed shut.

Maybe:

• You didn't get accepted.

• The job didn't work out.

• You're serving somewhere you never planned.

The same God who closes doors is the God who opens hearts.

He is positioning you on purpose.

He often moves in the places you least expect.

Acts 16:13

Paul and his team go outside the city gate to the riverside.

They find a place of prayer.

They speak to the women gathered there.

There are multiple reasons this would not be the place Paul would expect a move of God.

Instead of:

• Influential men

• The synagogue

• The town square

It's a group of women by the river.

Jesus loves women.

Jesus values women.

Jesus uses women in great moves of God.

The Garden

Lyndsie.

This church would not be here today without her.

Many people found The Garden because of an Instagram post.

God knows what He is doing.

He goes before us and makes preparations we can't even see.

02. GOD PREPARES THE SOIL.

God is already preparing the soil before the seed is sown.

One of these women is about to become the first recorded convert on European soil.

The gospel is about to spread throughout Europe...

...and then throughout the world.

Acts 16:14

Lydia:

• From Thyatira.

• Seller of purple goods.

• Successful businesswoman.

• Worshiper of God.

She is:

• Seeking.

• Spiritually interested.

• At the prayer meeting.

Her spiritual interest is important.

The text does not treat her seeking as a bad thing.

God often meets people who are willing to show up and listen.

If you're here today...

• Seeking

• Asking questions

• Skeptical

Your willingness to be here is celebrated.

There are many people today aligning themselves with Christian values.

That is a good thing.

But...

Seeking is not the same as having an opened heart.

Charles Spurgeon

"She did not open her own heart... the Lord himself must open the heart."

God has been preparing the soil.

He has been preparing hearts.

He is doing the same thing in our culture.

People who never had spiritual interest are becoming curious about Christianity.

Examples:

• Joe Rogan

• Shawn Ryan

God is preparing the soil because He is ready to open hearts.

03. GOD OPENS THE HEART.

Key phrase

"The Lord opened her heart."

Not:

• Paul.

• The sermon.

• Lydia's intelligence.

• Lydia's moral effort.

It was a move of God.

We live in a culture of closed hearts.

Social media algorithms feed us what we already agree with.

We live in the age of the perfectly curated closed heart.

Christopher Nolan / The Odyssey

My feed says it's the greatest movie ever.

Someone else's feed says it's terrible.

That's how the algorithm works.

It gives us what we want and keeps us from seeing the other side.

What if the deepest problem isn't a lack of information...

...but a closed heart that only God Himself can open?

John 6:44

"No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him."

Ezekiel 36:26

"I will give you a new heart..."

God removes the heart of stone.

He gives a heart of flesh.

Why Lydia?

Why does God open some hearts and not others?

Romans 3

• None is righteous.

• No one understands.

• No one seeks for God.

1 Corinthians 2:14

The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit.

Ephesians 2

Dead in trespasses and sins.

Dead people don't open their hearts.

The real mystery is not:

Why some and not others?

The deeper mystery is:

Why does God open any heart at all?

Ephesians 1:11–12

Predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will.

John Calvin

The understanding of spiritual things is the peculiar gift of God.

Preaching does no good unless the inward calling of God is added.

There is not a heart that God can't open.

God often chooses the least likely people.

Rather than saying:

"God opens some hearts..."

Think:

"God opens any heart."

When He opens our hearts...

Obedience should follow.

Acts 16:15

Lydia:

• Was baptized.

• Her household was baptized.

• Opened her home.

04. GOD PRODUCES TRANSFORMED LIVES.

When Lydia's heart is opened:

• She pays attention.

• She and her household are baptized.

• She opens her home.

Opened heart = Opened home.

When God truly opens a heart:

• Hospitality

• Generosity

• Mission

If God has opened your heart...

He wants your open heart to lead to:

• An open home.

• An open neighborhood.

• An open city.

Lydia let a church start in her home.

She gave whatever resources she had for the move of God.

It started with hospitality.

Application

Maybe:

• Start a home group.

• Invite your neighbors.

• Join a team.

• Offer your home.

• Offer your time.

• Offer your resources.

If God has opened your heart...

Do something with it.

05. GOD EXPANDS HIS TERRITORY.

Before Acts 16...

The Gospel had not yet crossed into Europe.

Because of Lydia:

The first European church is planted in her home.

Philippi sat on the Via Egnatia.

The Gospel spread along its trade routes.

Years later Paul writes Philippians.

A church marked by:

• Joy

• Partnership

• Generosity

God is moving right here in the West Valley.

Territory is being claimed:

• Homes

• Workplaces

• Schools

The future Garden property.

God is expanding His territory.

Lydia was a successful entrepreneur.

She sacrificed her wealth to advance the Gospel.

We want entrepreneurs crushing it for the Kingdom.

Who would have guessed...

The West Valley?

Big Idea

God often moves in unlikely places.

Where in your life does it seem unlikely for God to move?

• Your "one more"?

• Someone whose heart God is ready to open?