Dragon Slayers: The Heroic Christian Life

Acts 9:31-43 November 29, 2020 Pastor Chris Oswald

Audio coming soon

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Thesis Christians are called to be dragon slayers—instruments in Christ's hands who enter the lives of others to help them confront the sins, sicknesses, and bullies they cannot defeat on their own—and setting one's life in this direction will generate momentum that produces unexpected kingdom fruit.

Series

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Type

Expository

Tone

pastoralpropheticdidactic

Method

grammatical-historicalredemptive-historicalapplicatory

What's in this sermon

The shape of the argument

27 units across exposition, application, illustration, theological claim, and conclusion. The pastor's argument is built from these moving parts.

Pastoral correction · unit #19

"The pastor's first application: recognize seasons of peace and prosperity as opportunities for dragon-slaying work rather than mere rest, specifically challenging the congregation to see 2020 (pandemic year) as a season of opportunity rather than hardship."

Doctrinal loci· 9 surfaced

Ecclesiology · 10 Sanctification · 6 Spiritual Warfare · 6 Providence / Sovereignty · 4 Pneumatology · 3 Soteriology · 3 Anthropology · 2 Christology · 2 Hamartiology · 2

Bible citations· 18

Illustrations· 2

The Legend of St. George and the Dragon historical example · unit #6 — The pastor narrates the St. George legend in full, emphasizing key dragon-myth elements: dragons grow through compromise, they mortgage the future by consuming children, communities become dehumanized and bureaucratized in response, and the dragon's victims initially reject outside help.
The Real St. George of Lydda historical example · unit #24 — The pastor reveals the historical St. George as a real Christian martyr from Lydda who came to faith through the generational fruit of Peter's visit—connecting the sermon's mythic frame back to the actual historical impact of Acts 9 and completing the homiletical arc.

Theological claims· 8

The critical life decision is not managing momentum but choosing the right initial direction, because momentum amplifies whatever direction you start in. unit #2
The Christian life must be re-mythologized—understood not as ordinary but as epic spiritual warfare against principalities and powers. unit #5
Dragon-slaying is not an accidental myth but a thousand-year Christian tradition of articulating what Christians should fundamentally be about. unit #8
Dragon mythology captures the psychological and spiritual dynamics of sin: problems grow through compromise, threaten the future, dehumanize victims, and require outside deliverance that victims may initially resist. unit #10
Jesus is the ultimate heroic stranger who fulfills all dragon-slaying mythology by coming from outside creation to destroy sin, sickness, and death on behalf of those who cannot deliver themselves. unit #11
Beginning in Acts, Jesus performs his dragon-slaying work primarily through human instruments—his disciples and the church—rather than through direct divine intervention. unit #13
To be a Christian necessarily means to be a dragon-slayer—an instrument in Christ's hands who helps others confront the sins, sicknesses, and bullies they cannot defeat alone. unit #15
The gospel is not merely therapeutic but adventurously missional—God crushes Satan under the feet of his people and positions them to slay dragons for others. unit #17

Quotations· 4

"there are only two things that are going to last forever: God's word and people. So we should probably invest in that." — Angela (the preacher's wife) (unit #2)

"For it is God who works in you both to will and to work for his good pleasure." — Paul (unit #15)

"Now may the God of peace who brought you again from the dead our Lord Jesus, who brought, who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great Shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ. To him be glory forever and ever." — The author of Hebrews (unit #15)

"for this I toil, struggling with all his energy, that he powerfully works within me." — Paul (unit #15)

Read it

Full transcript

30,680 characters 27 units ~34 min reading time

0 · The pastor reads the primary text and sets the stage for the sermon by presenting two healing miracles performed through Peter—the healing of Aeneas and the raising of Dorcas

Be seated. And if you have children, you can dismiss them to children's ministry. And if you will, open your Bibles to the book of Acts chapter 9. Acts chapter 9, we're going to be reading from verse 31 to the end of this chapter. 31, we've looked at a couple weeks in a row. Acts chapter 9, verse 31 says, so the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was being built up. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it multiplied. Verse 32: Now as Peter went here and there among all, he came down also to the saints who lived in Lydda. And there he found a man named Aeneas, bedridden for 8 years, who was paralyzed. And Peter said to him, Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you. Rise and make your bed. And immediately he rose. And all the residents of Lydda and Sharon saw him and turned to the Lord. Now there was in Joppa a man, a disciple named Tabitha, which translated means Dorcas. She was full of good works and acts of charity. In those days she became ill and died. And when they had washed her, they laid her in an upper room. Since Lydda was near Joppa, the disciples, hearing that Peter was there, sent two men to meet sent two men to him urging him, please come to us without delay. So Peter rose and went with them, and when he arrived, they took him to the upper room. All the widows stood beside him weeping and showing tunics and other garments that Dorcas made while she was with them. But Peter put them all outside and knelt down and prayed, and turning to the body, he said, Tabitha, rise. And she opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter, she sat up. He gave her his hand and raised her up. Then, calling the saints and widows, he presented her alive. And it became known throughout all Joppa, and many believed in the Lord. And he stayed in Joppa for many days with one Simon, a tanner.

1 · The pastor introduces the theme of life momentum, noting how time passes quickly when caught up in activity, and acknowledges the complexity young adults face when making major life decisions with limited visibility into consequences

So It's really interesting to get moments where you realize how much time has gone by without you realizing it. It's really interesting to have like a season of life where you're swept down into some kind of Chutes and Ladders momentum. It's like, I didn't even notice that I've been traveling so quickly. The first year that we came to Providence was the fastest year of Angela and I's entire life. It went by so quickly. Momentum is an inevitable kind of thing. We're dealing at this church more often nowadays with questions, the kinds of questions that 20-somethings ask. And it is an incredibly complicated, uh, strategic decade of life. Like, most of the big decisions have to happen in that first decade. And there's this incredible kind of, I think, correct fear of missing out. It's like, if I say yes to this, then what am I saying no to? And so on and so forth. And what you see in this passage is just something I thought would be an important aside, and that is momentum is just an inevitability.

2 · The pastor argues that momentum itself is morally neutral—the critical decision is the initial direction chosen, because momentum will compound whatever direction you start in, producing either catastrophic drift or surprising kingdom fruit

Even in Peter's life here, you know, he starts one thing and then it leads to another thing and then it leads to another thing. And really, I think that the main reason for the inclusion of these stories in Acts chapter 9 is we need to know why Peter is where he is when he winds up going to Cornelius. This is the big move. A big pivot point in the book of Acts when Peter goes to Cornelius and he's staying at someone's house named Simon, who is a tanner. But the idea, the image here in this string of incidents is that Peter does one thing and then that one thing leads to another thing and then that thing leads to another thing. And that's really just the way life is. Momentum isn't a bad thing. Being caught up in momentum is just inevitability. It's just part of life. You will just have seasons of life where you look back and say, my goodness, I don't even know what I really did for the last couple years. Here's the key: momentum's not the problem. It's just starting in the right direction to begin with that's the problem. Because if you start in the wrong direction, momentum will come and you'll be 12 steps further down the wrong road than you'd even realized you'd be when you started. But, but on the other hand, if you set out to make a good decision, if you set out the right direction Well, momentum will pick you up there too, and you'll wind up 12 steps down the right road, and you'll look back. And I'm convinced that some of the biggest successes we'll have in our life catch us by surprise. They're just, they're just the consequences of consequences of consequences. We could have never planned for them to take place the way they did. But here's what we did do: we set out in a particular direction, we made a particular priority. You know, when Angie and I were quite a bit younger, we might have even been in our 20s— I think we were we kind of were having this moment of this discussion of what are we going to be about, like what's worth our time and so on. And I remember we talked, we prayed, and we talked and prayed, but just like, you know, not, not very seriously, just kind of randomly talking here and there. And I remember Angela said, there are only two things that are going to last forever: God's word and people. So we should probably invest in that. And so you say yes to this direction, and then 20 years happens, and momentum happens, and things happen. You know, you know, you didn't, you didn't know all of this. You just said yes to a general direction.

3 · The pastor applies the momentum principle to Peter's narrative in Acts 9, showing that Peter's two priorities (strengthening the church and spreading the gospel) set him in motion toward outcomes he could not have planned

And that's what happens with Peter here. He has an opportunity. Yes, we'll talk about this later. He has some peace. He has a moment where, uh, where he has some rest. The churches are doing well. But he has kind of decided he's about two things. He's about strengthening the church and spreading the gospel. Those are his priorities. And because of those his priorities, he takes one step toward fulfilling those priorities. He goes to this town to visit some saints, and then, you know, momentum takes care of the rest. Before you know it, he's with Cornelius sharing the gospel with the Gentile and seeing God God's great purpose for including all peoples in the adoption of the gospel.

4 · The pastor pivots from exposition to his main homiletical concern: helping the congregation identify the foundational life direction that will generate good momentum

So, so there's just this interesting idea, and what I really want to talk about today is just how to make the big choice, how to make the big first step. All of the little things take care of themselves, but you kind of just have to decide, well, what do I want to be about? Like Angie and I did while we were driving down some country road, and she said, you know, two things last forever: God and his word. Let's be about that. What's the big choice? What's the big picture here?

5 · The pastor introduces the sermon's controlling metaphor—Christian life as mythic dragon-slaying—clarifying that 'myth' here means epic, fantastical reality, not falsehood, and that the Christian life is fundamentally a spiritual battle, not ordinary existence

Well, to give you that, I want to try to introduce— and I hope that you'll see how this is all related shortly— I want to try to introduce myth back into our conversation. I think in many respects we need to re-mythologize our Christian faith, meaning there is nothing ordinary about our Christian faith, right? So, I don't mean re-mythologize meaning make it false. I mean just get the dragons back in. Right? Get the dragons, get the battles, get some Mordor going. You know? That's what I mean. I mean, there's nothing really ordinary about our lives. We are wrestling against principalities. There's nothing ordinary about this. So, I think we need to be careful sometimes to not forget that behind the veil, there's a completely far more Tolkiennesque kind of reality that we're experiencing.

6 · The pastor narrates the St

There's a legend that I want to walk you through as we interact with this text today, and that's the legend of St. George. Now, this is probably one of the most famous dragon-slaying legends in the pantheon of dragon-slaying legends. And so the idea— there's a lot of commonalities to this story and many other dragon-slaying stories, but the idea is that there's a dragon outside of town and he's terrorizing the village. And at first the villagers make peace with the dragon. That's always the wrong thing to do, by the way. Makes peace with the dragon and feeds them, feeds the dragon some sheep. And the dragon are okay, the dragon's okay with the sheep for a little while, but then he's like, ah, I want more. And so they bring him a sheep and a man, and like, here, have one sheep and one man. And that's always, you know, you don't compromise with the dragon. And soon enough, the dragon's like, I only want people. And eventually the dragon decides, like, I only want children. So now the village is caught up in this never-ending cycle of mortgaging their future through the compromise with the dragon. That's what sacrificing your children is in a myth. It's more— It's mortgaging your future. It's letting go of your prospects, your possibilities. And so when you have a dragon that you don't want to face, like they did, you form a bureaucracy. And the bureaucracy was a drawing that they did every week, or every time the dragon wanted a person, they would form a drawing and they would have all the— they would have all the kids' names in a hat. You know, it's probably like a magician's hat or something, I don't know. But they would draw one out And then like whoever's name came out of the hat, that was the kiddo that had to be fed to the dragon that time. And eventually, as this story goes on and on and on, they draw the king's daughter's name out of the hat. And she is this, you know, princess. She's this virginal princess. And they're like, the king says, I'll give you a ton of gold if you don't make me sacrifice my daughter. And the villagers all say no. The dragon wants the daughter, not the gold. Like, no. And so the king presents his daughter to this swamp where the dragon is living, and she's dressed in a wedding gown because that's, of course. And, and, uh, St. George, George prances along and he sees her standing there and he's like, well, that's convenient, I'm looking for a wife. Uh, here's one fully dressed, ready to go, which it's hard to get them to that state, by the way. She had had a venue picked out. She— anyway, uh, it was all done. Uh, so, so, uh, he's like, well, this is ideal. Here, here she is. So he begins to talk to her, and, uh, she says, go away, there's a dragon, he's going to come and eat me, just let him eat me. And George is like, no, that's terrible, not going to let this dragon eat you. And so he waits for the dragon to emerge from the swamp, throws his spear, kills or wounds the dragon, winds up carrying the dragon, leading the dragon back into town, and he does what all crusaders, crusading legends do. He's like, if you want me to kill the dragon, you all have to become Christians. So this is like, you know, seeker-sensitive church 101, right, Harry? You know, like a tractional church. Like, if you want me to kill this dragon, you all have to become Christian. So the story ends with like, like 10,000 people becoming Christians.

7 · The pastor connects the St

And you're like, well, what does that have to do with our text? Well, pretty much from this point forward in the book of Acts, all you're going to get are heroic outsider tales. And basically all I mean by that is you're just going to have story after story after story of someone like Peter coming into a town, you know, Mandalorian style, and solving a problem, right? Coming into a town and solving a problem, slaying a dragon. That's the baseline of the dragon tale, is an outsider wanders into a town and solves a problem that they can't solve. And so, in this text, we have two of those kinds of problems. And the first one is a paralyzed man named Aeneas, and then the second one is this, this woman named Dorcas/Talitha who has died. And in both cases, Peter is this Saint George figure, uh, where he wanders, he finds himself there and is called to by circumstances to solve a problem that they cannot solve. And this is what you're going to see every chapter pretty much of Acts moving forward is going to be some kind of heroic Visitor story, a lot of them with Paul.

8 · The pastor asserts that dragon-slaying mythology is not accidental but represents a thousand-year Christian tradition of understanding Christian identity—and that adopting this identity provides the directional clarity needed for momentum to produce kingdom fruit

So I want to talk about this a little bit just, just because this, I think, gives us clarity about, well, what should I set my life about and what, what direction should I make my life about? Because once I make my life about a certain direction, momentum is going to take care of the rest. And I really believe that this idea of being a dragon slayer isn't an accidental myth that just sort of happened. But that it was a central identity. It was a central way of describing what a Christian should be. That, that's, that, that it's a thousand years of people saying this is what a Christian should be. They should be dragon slayers. And I want to, I want to think about that a little bit this morning.

9 · The pastor defines what dragons represent in Christian mythology—sins, sicknesses, and bullies—and notes that ancient dragon-plague imagery maps onto pandemic experience, establishing the contemporary relevance of the metaphor

So the idea is that there, the world is full of dragons, and by dragons we don't mean, you know, literal dragons, but, but, but But generally, in all of these stories, including the ones in scripture, dragons are of three kinds. They're either sins, sicknesses, or bullies. So those are usually your three kinds of dragons that you'll see in the world and in the scriptures. And in fact, a lot of the dragon mythology is that, is that there's a dragon that lives outside of town and he has a poisonous gas that he breathes. And then every once in a while, this poisonous gas comes into the city and a bunch of people get sick. Which is kind of an ancient way of thinking about a plague or a pandemic. So this is the— these are the kind of 3 typical dragons you'll find: sin, sicknesses, and bullies.

10 · The pastor unpacks the internal logic of dragon mythology: dragons grow through compromise, mortgage the future, dehumanize their victims, and eventually require an outside deliverer—whom the victims may initially reject out of shame or fear of change

But I think the most important thing to get— and we're almost spending a long time on this— most important thing to get about this is, is that, is this— the features of the dragon stories are all consistent. The first one is I have a problem that I can't seem to solve. That problem is a dragon. It gets bigger and demands more. So I had a problem with X sin when I was 15, alone, you know, on my dad's computer or something. I had a problem and it was this big, but because I didn't face it and I compromised with it, it kept getting bigger and bigger and bigger. That's one of the features of the dragon story. And then this idea of eating children is super common. It's like, well, what does that have to do with— well, children represent the future. And so when you have a dragon in your life, the idea is like, this dragon is actually threatening my future because it keeps growing. It keeps growing. The more I compromise with it, the bigger it gets, and it's actually threatening my future. There's a dehumanization piece of this. So like in the myth that we just looked at, the villagers won't let the king buy his way out of this. You know, they're literally feeding— they've literally created a bureaucracy for feeding children to dragons. Like, and the idea there is that the dragon will make you less— more and more ashamed of yourself. The longer you interact with this dragon, the more ashamed of yourself you'll be, because you'll be crossing lines you never thought you'd cross. And, and the idea is, is that at some point you've compromised so extensively with this dragon, and it's cost you so much, and it basically has your number, that you get to a point where you have to have an outsider, someone outside the situation, to come in and help you with this dragon. And here's the other interesting thing, is you might initially tell that person, that outsider, to go away. That's the other interesting thing about these stories. So the, the woman that's on the edge to be consumed, she tells George to go away. So you'll see that in Acts a lot. People are desperate, they're living in darkness, they're living in sin, but when Paul comes, they tell him to leave. Dragons dominate in such a way that you actually essentially get used to them, and you are afraid of what the world would look like without them.

11 · The pastor establishes Jesus as the ultimate fulfillment of dragon-slaying mythology—the heroic stranger from outside who enters creation to defeat sin, sickness, and death, promised in Genesis 3:15 and prophesied in Isaiah 27:1

So these are just basic ideas built into dragon stories, and all of this is pointing back to the text, and that is that Jesus is the heroic stranger, right? Jesus is the heroic stranger. He is The Heroic Outsider. And this is, this is really our first sermon in a series of Christmas sermons about the Incarnation. And it's really just saying time and time again, Jesus is the outsider who destroys that which we can no longer destroy, that which has grown beyond our capacity to manage, that which dehumanizes us, that which makes us ashamed of ourselves, that which propels us into guilt. Like Jesus is the great dragon slayer, and this has been predicted all the way back beginning in the book of Genesis. And so all of these medieval myths are transparently references to Jesus. There's even one of these medieval myths of a guy, of a knight that slays a dragon. This is funny. He slays a dragon, he frees the people, but he gets in trouble. Why? Because he slayed the dragon on a Sunday. Right? So all of these stories are just transparent nods to what Jesus is and what Jesus does. Jesus is the heroic stranger coming from outside to inside to deal with the thing which dehumanizes, to deal with the thing which is demanding our future. You know, Genesis 3:15, this is all baked into the original story of original sin, where God promises that through Eve, he says, I will put enmity between you, the serpent, the snake, the dragon. I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel. Jesus is this long-desired heroic stranger who comes into the village known as earth and deals with sin, sickness, and bullies. Isaiah 27, verse 1, is fast becoming one of my favorite dragon verses in the Bible. And it's not— it's really— I'm only going to read verse 1, but I'll probably cover this next week. Verse 1 and 2, sweet, sweet, sweet promise. Isaiah 27:1: In that day, the Lord with his hard And great and strong sword will punish Leviathan, the fleeing serpent, Leviathan the twisting serpent, and he will slay the dragon that is in the sea.

12 · The pastor signals the transition from Christological foundation to ecclesiological application—from what Jesus does to what the church does

So what does all this have to do with Acts chapter 9, verses 31 through 43?

13 · The pastor makes the ecclesiological turn: in the Acts era and beyond, Jesus continues his dragon-slaying work primarily through human instruments—his disciples and the church—rather than through direct divine intervention

Well, these days— and by these days I mean Right away, beginning in Acts, Jesus does almost all of his dragon slaying through human instruments. That's where he wields his sword. And he said that he would do this through the disciples repeatedly. And he said that he would do this through the church. And so these days, the world is no less full of dragons in many respects. There's still plenty of sins to deal with, and sicknesses to contend with, and bullies to deal with. But these days, and Jesus is no less interested in defeating the dragons. But these days, beginning in the days of Acts, Jesus uses people, his disciples, to do this work.

14 · The pastor demonstrates from Acts 9:34 that Peter functions as an instrument of Christ's healing power, not as an independent agent—Jesus is the dragon-slayer working through Peter

And you can see that in Acts chapter 9, verse 34, where Peter says to Aeneas, Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you. Rise and make your bed. And immediately he rose. Peter's just an instrument.

15 · The pastor issues the sermon's main application: Christians must adopt dragon-slaying as their fundamental life direction, serving as instruments of Christ's ongoing dragon-slaying work—and this is not optional but definitional for Christian identity, supported by Scripture's testimony that God works in and through believers

And this gets back to my introduction and the whole idea of like, can you just set one direction for your life and then let momentum take care of the rest? And this is the direction. Would you be an instrument in the hand of the Lord God to be the heroic outsider in other people's lives and help them deal with the things that are taking their future and then dehumanizing them and making them feel stuck and making them rue the day so long ago when they first compromised with that? Dragon. Could you just be a Saint George? And my argument would be that if you're going to be a Christian, you have to be a Saint George. That's the only option, because this is what Jesus is doing. And to be a Christian means to do that which Jesus does, the power of Jesus. And so if you set your— and I think this is the conversation my wife and I had on that road years ago, was we didn't know we were signing up for dragon slaying, but that's the idea. It's like we just decided these are the things that matter. 'Let's do this.' And when you go in those directions, the word and people, well, what you find is that the word becomes a sword and that there are a lot of people who are bound with some bargain they made a dragon years prior. So Jesus is the great dragon slayer. He is the heroic stranger, and he still is doing that work, but he's doing that work through us like he's doing it through Peter. You can see time and time again in Scripture that this is the idea of the Christian life. Philippians 2:13: For it is God who works in you both to will and to work for his good pleasure. You say, well, what is the pleasure of God? Well, at least significantly, the pleasure of God is to kill dragons. Hebrews 13:20: Now may the God of peace who brought you again from the dead our Lord Jesus, who brought, who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great Shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ. To him be glory forever and ever. Paul says in Colossians 1:29, for this I toil, struggling with all his energy, that he powerfully works within me.

16 · The pastor completes the St

I left one of the St. George pieces out of the story. It's like, well, how did the dragon get into town? So St. George wounds the dragon, and then he tells the bride, take the belt that signifies your virginity and use it as a lasso around the serpent's neck and carry him back into town. And so, like, even St. George knows to get the girl involved, you know? Like, he's like, I wanna do this, but I'm also gonna make someone else my partner. And that's part of the gospel story is Jesus, of course, has done all of the work, but he has this husbandly wisdom that says, I'm not gonna only do the work, I'm gonna involve my bride in the work. And so St. George tells this girl, use your belt and tie it around his neck. And she does it, and then she— and then he winds up being led into town like a pet, instantly submissive. And that's the belt of truth, by the way, in Ephesians. It's the same belt that's being described in Ephesians. So that's the idea, is Jesus is already doing this, and you're setting out, you're figuring out whether you're 40 or 20, and you're figuring out, or 50, whether you're figuring out, or 60, hey, what should I make my life about? This. People outside of your immediate circle have dragons. They have problems that they have unexpectedly seen grown and dominate their lives in ways that they can no longer on their own attend to. And don't be surprised if, while they need your help, they say like the girl at the pond did, with the dragon pond did, go away, go away. Don't be surprised if that's the first instinct. That's okay. Just, you know who did that? Peter did that to Jesus when he said, go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinner. You know, that's okay. They're going to say that. Just, just Just show up again, not because you have the answers, not because you have the strength, but because the one who lives within you, who saved you and ordained great works for you so that you could walk in them, this is what he's about. And if you, like Peter, just said yes to the first one, it wouldn't be surprising if then the second one was right around the corner, and then there's a third one, and then before you know it, You're 20 years into momentum, but it was the good kind because you said yes to the right thing at the front end. This is, this is just the way God wants to do things. Revelation chapter 12. This great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent who was called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world. He was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him, and And I heard a loud voice in heaven saying, now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down who accuses them day and night before our God. And they, they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death.

17 · The pastor celebrates Romans 16:20 as evidence that God crushes Satan through his people's agency, arguing that the gospel is not merely therapeutic but adventurously missional—God providentially positions believers to slay dragons for others

Partnership here. The sweetest, um, manliest greeting of peace in the whole Bible is in Romans 16:20, where at the end of this epic piece of art that is the book of Romans, Paul writes to the church, and the God of peace will crush Satan under your feet. It's like monster truck. It's like, it's like Hallmark Channel, monster truck channel, right together. The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. This is what he's about, and this, I think, is what he's inviting us into week after week after week after week when we open his word. He's inviting us into is something beyond a merely therapeutic gospel that assuages our fears. But he's inviting us into an actual adventure in which he causes us to wander into the lives of others in his providential wisdom, people who need somebody to slay a dragon for them.

18 · The pastor signals a structural shift to three practical applications of the dragon-slaying vision

So just end with 3 dragon slaying, 3 hot dragon slaying tips.

19 · The pastor's first application: recognize seasons of peace and prosperity as opportunities for dragon-slaying work rather than mere rest, specifically challenging the congregation to see 2020 (pandemic year) as a season of opportunity rather than hardship

First one is this: see your peace. See your peace. Verse 31 is key to this entire understanding. See your peace. So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was being built up and walking in the fear of the Lord, and the comfort of the Holy Spirit had multiplied. Now why is that key? Because Peter has time to travel. He has the freedom here in this particular moment. A window of opportunity has been opened for him And Peter has an opportunity now to go out into the rest of the land and strengthen churches and spread the gospel. I would really hate it if we look back 10 years from now and said, boy, 2020 was actually a pretty peaceful year where I had tons of opportunities to invest in other people and I blew it. But we think this is hard, but compared to what? There still is in this moment plenty of peace and plenty of opportunity and plenty of window. And it's in these particular moments when we have the peace, when we have the prosperity, when we have the opportunity, we ought to say, what am I going to do with that? What is the temptation? Of course, the temptation when you have a moment of ease and respite, especially after several hard years like Peter had just experienced, the temptation, of course, is to sit back. And say, okay, I'm gonna— I'm just gonna take a break. And you know, there's certainly— I'm sure, I'm sure we don't have it in our text, but I'm sure like there is a moment where Peter is on a lounge chair next to a pool in between verses 31 and 32. Like, some rest is appropriate. Uh, we have these human bodies and need to do that. But, but I want you to notice that if you've made the decision about what you want your life to be about, and you're— you want your life to be in of the dragon-slaying variety, then these moments where you have freedom and time and money and health and whatever else you have, these moments, make the most of them. Make the most of them.

20 · The pastor signals the transition to the second application point

Number 2, see your specialty.

21 · The pastor's second application: recognize your spiritual gifts as dragon-slaying specializations—different gifts align with different dragons (sins, sicknesses, bullies), and God sovereignly matches believers to the dragons they're equipped to fight

Peter has been presented in the scriptures up until this point as a man who has the gift of healing. And I want it to be understood that you don't need to have the gift of healing to be a dragon slayer, because dragons come in all shapes and sizes. In 1 Corinthians chapter 12, we're just reminded here, amongst many other places, that each of us— and if you're, if you're using dragon slaying terminology— that we each have certain dragons that we're better at than others. We each have gifts that, that align with people's needs and their crisis and so on and so forth. Peter has this kind of unusual gift of healing, so much so that in chapter 5, people with sick people, sick friends, are putting him out, putting them out in the street so that Peter's shadow could just touch them and heal them. Barnabas is presented not as a healing guy so much, but as a guy who has a gift of faith and a gift of generosity. And then Paul, you know, yeah, he does some healing, but Paul's really more of the intellectual, I'm going to tell you why there is a Jesus kind of thing. I'm going to tell you that Jesus in Christ. You see different people with different gifts, and those gifts just align with the different dragons that are in the world. And God will lead you to the ones that you have unique capacity or calling to contend with.

22 · The pastor signals the transition to the third and final application point

And finally, see the goal.

23 · The pastor's third application: keep evangelism as the ultimate goal of dragon-slaying work—dragon-slaying is not social activism but gospel witness that leads people to turn to the Lord

Both of these stories, the story in Lydda and the story in Joppa, both end the same way. Verse 35: And all the residents of Lydda and Sharon saw him and they turned to the Lord. Verse 42: And it became known throughout all Joppa, and many believed in the Lord. That's the goal. The goal is we're not just social activists trying to make the world a better place, but we are dragon fighters who maybe do what George did, but a little less coercively. Hey, I killed your dragon. I'm gonna kill your dragon. I'm trying to help you kill your dragon. Won't you believe in the name of the Lord? The goal of all of this is to make much of Jesus. The goal of all of this is to show the world that Jesus is who the Bible says he is.

24 · The pastor reveals the historical St

I landed on this, the St. George storyline, because he really was a real person. The myth that I told you was invented around the 11th, 10th or 11th century, but he actually lived in somewhere around 300-something AD. And here's the crazy thing, and this is how I got onto this. All of that stuff wound up being, you know, added extra, extra myth, but he really was a man who really lived in the town of Lydda, who came to faith in Christ because his parents were— came to faith in Christ because his grandparents came. He came from a long line of Christians, Christians who were brought to Christ through this actual historic visit of Peter. And so this really was a real man, and he, he was actually a Christian martyr who was a soldier in the Roman army who refused to give worship to the Caesar of the moment. And so St. George, there's all these myths involved, and that'll happen to you and I too. Like, we'll look back at our lives and we might mythologize it a little bit here or there, but he really was a man. He really was a Christian, and he came to faith in Christ because of Peter's visit. Peter's visit to this town led many to faith, led the town to faith in Jesus. This town wound up becoming renowned as a hub of Christendom. And George comes along a few generations later and slips, just as many of you children of faith, children raised by Christian parents, into the faith, becomes a soldier in the Roman army, and then refuses to bend the knee to Caesar and dies. And that's why he's known The myth came much later. What he's known for is being a faithful Christian, being a Christian who would not bend the knee.

25 · The pastor concludes by reiterating the sermon's controlling vision: the Christian life is mythically fantastical, not ordinary—every act of faithfulness participates in the epic dragon-slaying drama of redemptive history

And I think it's okay to look at that and make a dragon out of that, because like I said, nothing we do is ordinary, not really. All of it is far more fantastic than we dare to believe.

26 · The pastor closes the sermon with prayer

Let me pray.

Where this fits

Recent preaching context

The three sermons immediately preceding this one in the preaching schedule.

Sep 22, 2019

Open Homes, Open Gospel

Christians should see their homes and evening hours as strategic opportunities to fulfill multiple biblical commands simultaneously through the practice of simple, repeatable, Christ-centered hospitality that welcomes neighbors, fellow believers, and family around a shared table.

Acts 2:46-47

Jan 12, 2020

Truth, Beauty, Community

The local church is called to pursue truth and beauty in community as a reflection of Christ's diverse excellencies, making the church a place where people can both gaze upon beauty and inquire of truth.

Psalm 27:4

Jul 5, 2020

Love God Alone, Love Neighbor Rightly

We cannot rightly obey the command to love our neighbor until we first ruthlessly obey the command to love God alone with our whole being, jettisoning every idol—especially the idol of comfort—that distorts our understanding of love and prevents us from achieving unity in a divided moment.

Mark 12:31

November 29 · This sermon

Dragon Slayers: The Heroic Christian Life

Christians are called to be dragon slayers—instruments in Christ's hands who enter the lives of others to help them confront the sins, sicknesses, and bullies they cannot defeat on their own—and setting one's life in this direction will generate momentum that produces unexpected kingdom fruit.

Acts 9:31-43

Take it further

Discuss · apply · pray

Small groups

6 discussion questions

In Acts 9:31-43, what specific actions does Peter take when he encounters Aeneas and Dorcas, and what do these actions reveal about what it…

Daily readings

5-day reading plan

This week we trace the dragon-slaying mission from its cosmic victory in Christ through the church's present call to participate in his work, discovering that our heroic purpose flows from the gospel and generates momentum we cannot predict.

Prayer

Prayer for Dragon-Slaying Grace

Father, we come before you in wonder at the heroic stranger who came from outside creation to slay the dragon that holds us captive. We ador…

Family table

What Dragon Are You Meant to Slay?

This prompt invites your family to think concretely about the sermon's main idea—that Christians are called to be 'dragon slayers' who help…

Couples

Dragon Slayers Together

When you heard that Christians are called to be 'dragon slayers'—instruments in Christ's hands entering others' battles—what dragon in someo…

Memorize

Romans 16:20

This verse captures the sermon's central claim that Christians are instruments in Christ's hands who participate in his dragon-slaying work—Satan is crushed not by Christ alone but 'under your feet,' positioning believers as active agents in spiritual warfare. It anchors the mythic vision of the Christian life as epic and heroic rather than ordinary, and shows that God positions his people to crush the very enemy that Christ has fundamentally defeated.

Small-group discussion

6 questions for your group this week

In Acts 9:31-43, what specific actions does Peter take when he encounters Aeneas and Dorcas, and what do these actions reveal about what it means to be a Christian instrument in Christ's hands?

Acts 9:32-43

→ How would the outcomes have been different if Peter had simply prayed for these situations from a distance rather than entering into them directly?
The sermon frames the Christian life through the lens of dragon-slaying—confronting sins, sicknesses, and bullies that others cannot defeat alone. Where do you see this kind of spiritual battle playing out in the lives of people around you, and what makes these problems 'dragons' rather than merely inconveniences?

→ What would it look like for you to see a specific situation in your sphere as a dragon you're called to help slay rather than as someone else's problem?
The sermon argues that Jesus is the ultimate heroic stranger who came from outside to defeat sin, sickness, and death on behalf of those who could not deliver themselves (Genesis 3:15, Romans 16:20). How does understanding Christ's work in these terms—as dragon-slaying deliverance—reshape your grasp of what the gospel accomplishes?

Genesis 3:15, Romans 16:20

→ If Christ is the ultimate dragon-slayer, what does it mean that He then calls His church to continue this work rather than completing it Himself?
The sermon claims that 'the critical life decision is not managing momentum but choosing the right initial direction.' What does this mean, and how does this principle apply to the way you currently think about your calling or sense of direction as a Christian?

→ What would it require of you to intentionally set the direction of your life toward dragon-slaying work—toward being an instrument of Christ's deliverance in others' lives—rather than drifting with circumstances?
The sermon suggests that many of us have absorbed a therapeutic version of the gospel rather than an adventurously missional one. How do you tend to think about the Christian life—as primarily about your own peace, comfort, and growth, or as about being positioned by God to slay dragons for others? What evidence supports your answer?

Philippians 2:13, Colossians 1:29

→ If the gospel positions you to slay dragons, what would need to change in how you spend your time, energy, and resources this week?
Peter's work with Aeneas and Dorcas resulted in people throughout the region turning to the Lord (Acts 9:35, 9:42). The sermon emphasizes that dragon-slaying work must culminate in evangelism. In your own experience, how have you seen someone's physical, emotional, or spiritual need become a doorway to faith in Christ, and what role did another Christian play in that?

Acts 9:35, Acts 9:42

→ What is one specific dragon in someone else's life that you're equipped and positioned to help slay, and how might that become an opportunity for them to see Christ's power and turn to Him?

Draft · pending review

Daily readings · Monday–Friday

5-day reading plan

Monday Genesis 3:15

The protoevangelium announces the entire drama: the serpent's seed and the woman's seed are locked in cosmic conflict, and victory belongs to the offspring who will crush the dragon's head. This is the archetype behind every tale of heroic deliverance—the stranger from outside who enters to defeat what cannot be defeated from within. We see in this promise the template Jesus himself would fulfill.

Tuesday Isaiah 27:1

Isaiah names the dragon with ancient names—Leviathan, the fleeing serpent—and declares that the Lord's sword will punish it in that day. This is not metaphor softened into abstraction; it is warfare language that names the real enemy of creation. When we re-mythologize our own lives as dragon-slayers, we are not adopting fanciful speech but recovering the biblical vocabulary for the actual spiritual conflict we inhabit.

Wednesday Revelation 12

Revelation reveals that the great dragon is cast down to earth through the testimony of believers who did not love their lives unto death (Rev. 12:11). The victory is Christ's, yet it is executed through the witness and sacrifice of his people. We are not bystanders watching Christ slay the dragon; we are co-laborers through whom his victory is extended and embodied in the world.

Thursday Colossians 1:29

Paul labors strenuously with all the energy that Christ powerfully works in him—not through his own strength but as an instrument of Christ's efficacious grace. This is the pattern of dragon-slaying work: it demands real human effort ('I labor strenuously') yet is sustained entirely by Christ's energy working in us. We are the vessel; he is the power that fills it.

Friday Romans 16:20

God will crush Satan under our feet—a stunning reversal that makes us not passive recipients of salvation but active participants in cosmic victory. The promise carries us forward into application: if the God of peace has already secured the victory and placed us at the center of its execution, then setting our lives toward dragon-slaying work is not aspirational but obedience to our true identity and calling in Christ.

Draft · pending review

Pray together this week

Prayer for Dragon-Slaying Grace

Father, we come before you in wonder at the heroic stranger who came from outside creation to slay the dragon that holds us captive. We adore the all-glorious Christ who defeated sin, sickness, and death on our behalf—who came as the ultimate dragon-slayer for those of us who could not deliver ourselves (Romans 16:20, Genesis 3:15). We thank you that through his finished work, we are no longer victims but instruments, called to participate in his dragon-slaying mission in the world.

Yet we confess that we often live as though the Christian life is ordinary, a matter of managing comfort and minimizing conflict rather than embracing the epic reality of spiritual warfare. We confess that we have failed to see our neighbors' struggles—their sins, their sicknesses, their oppressors—as dragons that cry out for heroic intervention. We have been passive when you have positioned us to be active, comfortable when you have called us to be courageous, and self-protective when you have equipped us to be generous with the gifts you have given us.

But the gospel humbles and frees us: Christ has already won the war, and he invites us to share in his victory. We are no longer slaves to fear but clothed with the authority of his name, sent as his servants to help others confront what they cannot defeat alone (Acts 9:31-35). In this season of peace, grant us eyes to discern the dragons in the lives around us—the addictions, the loneliness, the spiritual blindness—and the courage to enter those battles as your instruments.

We pray that you would awaken us to the direction we are setting our lives: help us choose to be dragon-slayers, trusting that once we commit to your mission, the momentum will carry us forward (Colossians 1:29). Match us, we pray, with the specific spiritual gifts and battles you have uniquely prepared us to fight. And grant us wisdom to ensure that our dragon-slaying always culminates in turning people's hearts toward Jesus, their ultimate deliverance. To you alone be the glory, as you crush Satan under our feet and make us effective witnesses of your saving power.

Draft · pending review

Sunday-evening family table

What Dragon Are You Meant to Slay?

For the parent

This prompt invites your family to think concretely about the sermon's main idea—that Christians are called to be 'dragon slayers' who help others with problems they can't solve alone. Listen for which family members recognize their own gifts and passions emerging in their answers; this often surfaces how God has already been shaping them for specific kingdom work.

In the sermon, we heard about Peter healing Aeneas and raising Dorcas—he was like a hero stepping in to solve problems those people couldn't fix themselves. If you were going to be a 'dragon slayer' for someone, what kind of problem would you want to help solve? It could be sickness, loneliness, fear, bullying, or something else entirely. What dragon do you think you might be built to fight?

Works for ages 8+—younger kids can listen and offer simple answers with prompting; teens and adults will engage at deeper levels, recognizing their own spiritual gifts in the conversation.

Draft · pending review

Couples · three questions over coffee

Dragon Slayers Together

When you heard that Christians are called to be 'dragon slayers'—instruments in Christ's hands entering others' battles—what dragon in someone's life came to mind, and what stirred in your own heart?
How might we, as a couple, be called to slay dragons together in our church or neighborhood, and where have we been hesitant or reluctant to step into that kind of costly, heroic work?
What specific dragon is the Lord calling one of us to confront right now, and how can we pray for courage, discernment, and Christ's power working through us?

Draft · pending review

Memory verse this week

Romans 16:20

And the God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

Why this verse: This verse captures the sermon's central claim that Christians are instruments in Christ's hands who participate in his dragon-slaying work—Satan is crushed not by Christ alone but 'under your feet,' positioning believers as active agents in spiritual warfare. It anchors the mythic vision of the Christian life as epic and heroic rather than ordinary, and shows that God positions his people to crush the very enemy that Christ has fundamentally defeated.

Draft · pending review

Where this was preached

About the church

Providence Community Church

Lenexa, KS
Sundays · 10:00 AM
About us · What we believe

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# Providence Community Church

A church preaching expository sermons through the books of the Bible.

## Sermons
- [Open Homes, Open Gospel (Acts 2:46-47, 2019-09-22)](/ProvidenceLenexa/sermons/2019/09/9-22-19)
- [Truth, Beauty, Community (Psalm 27:4, 2020-01-12)](/ProvidenceLenexa/sermons/2020/01/truth-beauty-community)
- [Love God Alone, Love Neighbor Rightly (Mark 12:31, 2020-07-05)](/ProvidenceLenexa/sermons/2020/07/july52020sermon-7-5-20-6-30-pm)
- [Dragon Slayers: The Heroic Christian Life (Acts 9:31-43, 2020-11-29)](/ProvidenceLenexa/sermons/2020/11/dragon-slayers-the-heroic-christian-life)

## About
- [About the church](/about)
- [Plan a visit](/visit)

The page itself ships with Schema.org Article + Church markup (with real geo coordinates), Open Graph + Twitter cards for share previews, and a canonical URL. Transcripts are server-rendered HTML — no JS dependency for the readable body.