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Acts 20:9–10 (KJV)

“And there sat in a window a certain young man named Eutychus... and as Paul was long preaching, he sunk down with sleep, and fell down from the third loft, and was taken up dead. And Paul went down, and fell on him, and embracing him said, Trouble not yourselves; for his life is in him.”

Let’s just be real—some sermons feel like they last forever.
If you’ve ever caught yourself nodding off during a message, blinking your eyes back open, hoping nobody notices… you’d probably get along just fine with a young man named Eutychus.

He was sitting in a third-story window, trying to stay awake during a late-night revival service. Paul was preaching—hardand long. And somewhere between “finally, my brethren” and his fifth closing point, the boy drifted off… literally.

He fell asleep.

Then he fell out of the window.
Three stories.
To his death.
Right in the middle of a church service.

Now look—I’ve preached long before, but at least I’ve never killed anybody.
(Not yet, anyway. )

But This Isn’t Just About a Fall

This isn’t a story about a boring sermon.
It’s a story about what happens when you fall—in church, in life, in faith—and people think it’s over.

The crowd ran to the body.
The room froze in grief.
They assumed it was finished.

But Paul…
Paul stopped preaching.
Ran down three flights of stairs.
Threw himself on top of the boy.
And spoke life:

“Trouble not yourselves. His life is in him.”

God Still Speaks Life Over the Fallen

That’s the Gospel right there.

Where others saw an ending, God saw a comeback.
Where people said, “He’s gone,” God said, “Not yet.”
Where the fall made the loudest noise… grace was louder.

Because that’s who Jesus is.
He doesn’t write you off because you fell asleep at the window.
He doesn’t cancel your calling because you slipped during the sermon.
He doesn’t walk away from broken people—He runs to them.

This Is for the One Who Drifted

Maybe you’ve fallen.
Maybe your passion faded.
Maybe you used to burn for God, but somewhere along the way, you got tired.
Tired of trying.
Tired of showing up and still feeling empty.
Tired of holding on when nothing seems to change.

And now… you feel like you’re on the outside. Laid out. Left behind. Forgotten.

But I came to tell you something loud enough to wake the dead:

There’s still life in you.

You are not your fall.
You are not your failure.
You are not finished.

You’re about to get up again.

When You Rise, You Change the Room

The end of the story says they brought the boy back upstairs—and everyone was comforted.
His resurrection became their revival.

What if your comeback is what stirs everyone else back to life?

Don’t let the fall define you.
Don’t let tiredness win.
Don’t let shame keep you on the ground.
Because the same Jesus who raised Eutychus is reaching for you right now.

Reflection

Have you been feeling like you’re spiritually asleep, drifting, or disconnected? What would it look like for you to let Jesus meet you where you fell?