Text: Acts 5:1742

Topic: How to live an exciting Christian life

Introduction

Jesus, Stephen, Paul and Silas, John, and the apostles in Acts exemplify exciting, joyous lives.

Surfer Phil Edwards's term, "legions of the unjazzed," however, describes how too many Christians live.

The Christian life is meant to be vibrant and exciting—like riding a surfboard with God.

If you want to surf with God, get out to where the big waves are.

• The disciples' bold witnessing contrasts the "unjazzed" response of Gamaliel and the Jewish court.

Acts 5:1742

• When you launch into the white waters of life, however, expect to be beaten up.

Illustration: Thielemann retells a conversation with a man who wants relief from his troubles, but Thielemann advises him only the dead are free from trouble, for to live is to confront difficulties.

• If we must face trouble, let us spend our lives on the issues that bring glory to Christ.

Illustration: Thielemann quotes philosopher Jean Paul Sartre on the emptiness of life without purpose.

Illustration: Thielemann tells the story of Southworth Swede, a man "happy as a puppy" to "play hooky from life," and challenges us to live instead as a Great Dane for Christ.

• The thrill and power of life come when we get into the white water of deep issues.

Illustration: This brief joke tells of a woman concerned about monkeys with dice, only to discover they're just "playing for peanuts."

To ride the wave with God, you must lean into it.

• Illustration: Thielemann uses visual and tactile imagery to convey the feeling of leaning into and riding a wave.
• From Mary to Matthew to Luther to Livingstone, vibrant Christians in history have been impulsive enough to lean into the wave.
• Christian faith is supposed to be a mixture of enthusiasm, risk, and extravagant trust.

Illustration: This detailed story of an elder who risks car, life, and limb to take a sick boy to the hospital in a blizzard demonstrates living with reckless faith.

• The beauty and blessing of living in Christ can only be found in the dangerous, impractical, whirling world of saying yes to God's dares.

Illustration: Thielemann concludes with an extensive description of being swept up in the waves of God's adventure and then resting on the beach after a long and thrilling life.