What matters most in life?

August 13th 2023

Series: Courageous Faith

Sermon Title: What matters most in life?

Topic: Journey through the book of Acts.

Key Passages: Acts 20:16-38

Sermon Blurb: In today’s message we will see Paul parting ways with the church he spent more time with than any other church. We will also see what he says is the task we should all focus on in life.

Green in sermons means illustration

Yellow means what is yellow will be on the screens and in the handout.

Sermon:

Hello Family Church!

Family Moment –

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Those of you who are new, or newer, to Family Church we are SUPER happy you are with us today!

We have been walking through the book of Acts as a church for the better part of the last two years….

Walking through it line by line and verse by verse….

And we LOVE the book of Acts here at Family Church because it is all about how the first churches operated in their communities to reach people for Jesus.

And here at Family Church we LOVE to study the Bible and ask how can we apply what we learn to our lives today.

And that is simply what we will do today!

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So, let’s jump into the Bible today…

Grab your Bibles….

I hope you all brought your Bible to church!

Either paper version or electronic!

Open it up to

Acts 20

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Now we normally just continue forward from the verse we left off on.

But today we are going to rewind back and dive a little deeper into what we talked about last week because there is so much more to learn.

As you are getting to Acts 20 in your Bibles….. let me just catch up anyone who is new today.

Last week we saw a church leader named Paul traveling around and encouraging churches he has planted.

We also saw Paul preaching a sermon that was SO LONG that a guy fell out of a window!!!

And let me promise you….I like to preach….but I will try on preach so LONG or so BORING that you fall out of your chairs today!

And we ended last week with the Apostle Paul saying he wanted to end the race….

Or his life…

Completing the task Jesus gave him to do…

Which we see at the end of verse 24 is leading as many people to Jesus as possible.

PAUSE

So, let’s jump back in and dive deeper!

If you look in your Bible at the heading above verse 13 it says, “Paul’s farewell to the Ephesian Elders.”

Paul spent about three years in Ephesus.

Paul planted a church there.

Paul returned there several times to help grow that church and guide its leaders.

Paul spent MORE time in Ephesus than anywhere else in his ENTIRE ministry.

Look at what is says in Acts 20:16, it says he’s hurrying.

Acts 20:16 Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus to avoid spending time in the province of Asia, for he was in a hurry to reach Jerusalem, if possible, by the day of Pentecost.

Why was Paul in a hurry?

Paul wants to get to Jerusalem by the day of Pentecost.

What is Pentecost?

At this point in time in real human history, it was a religious holiday commemorating the FIRST time the Holy Spirit, God’s Spirit, came to live inside people like all of us.

That happened back in Acts chapter 2.

Here in the Bible in Acts 20….is around 26 years since Pentecost first happened.

Pentecost has already become a Christian holiday.

A Christian festival, not just a Jewish one.

And Paul wants to be there for it and he’s hurrying to try and get there!

This is why Paul is struggling with whether or not to stay in Ephesus for a final greeting.

He doesn’t think he’ll ever see these people again…and so he wants to spend time with them.

But he also wants to get to Jerusalem to be there….

So he will skip Ephesus, but he doesn’t skip the elders of Ephesus.

He puts in at Miletus in verse 15…. which is about 20 miles south of Ephesus.

Now, that’s where we pick it up in verse 17, so let’s read from verse 17 through verse 25:

Acts 20: 17-25 From Miletus, Paul sent to Ephesus for the elders of the church.

Pause here for a second…

You see, Paul feels that he doesn’t have time to see the whole church.

You can imagine the kind of farewells there would have to be.

You know what it is like when you have not seen someone in a LONG time and you want to pop in and say a quick, “HI!”

It is NEVER a quick, “HI!”

You all know when you are at family reunion’s it takes FOREVER to leave!!

If Paul had to say goodbye to hundreds of people he lead to Jesus in Ephesus, it would take forever….

Not to mention the emotional drain that would be as well.

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So Paul says to himself, “I must see the elders.

They are the pillars in the church.

I will quickly say, “HI!” to the church leaders.

Now, here’s what he has to say to them…verse 18…

18 When they arrived, he said to them: “You know how I lived the whole time I was with you, from the first day I came into the province of Asia.

19 I served the Lord with great humility and with tears and in the midst of severe testing by the plots of my Jewish opponents. 20 You know that I have not hesitated to preach anything that would be helpful to you but have taught you publicly and from house to house.

21 I have declared to both Jews and Greeks that they must turn to God in repentance and have faith in our Lord Jesus.

22 “And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there. 23 I only know that in every city the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardships are facing me.

24 However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace.

25 “Now I know that none of you among whom I have gone about preaching the kingdom will ever see me again.

Do you see what Paul just said?

Look at verse 24 again….

He wants them to KNOW his ONLY AIM is to testify to people about Jesus.

That is it!

That is what his life is about!

And he wants them to know this because…verse 25….

He is confident he will NEVER see these people again.

He will NEVER talk to this church again….

He is confident he is heading toward the end of his life.

Which if you remember last week, I said this chapter begins the journey toward the end of Paul’s life.

Paul clearly senses, or God has shown him, that….

And so Paul gives this emotional talk to the church he has spent more time in that ANY other church….

He says….verse 26…..

26 Therefore, I declare to you today that I am innocent of the blood of any of you. 27 For I have not hesitated to proclaim to you the whole will of God.

28 Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood.

29 I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. 30 Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them.

31 So be on your guard! Remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears.

32 “Now I commit you to God and to the word of his grace, which can build you up and give you any inheritance among all those who are sanctified.

33 I have not coveted anyone’s silver or gold or clothing. 34 You yourselves know that these hands of mine have supplied my own needs and the needs of my companions.

35 In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ ”

36 When Paul had finished speaking, he knelt down with all of them and prayed. 37 They all wept as they embraced him and kissed him.

38 What grieved them most was his statement that they would never see his face again. Then they accompanied him to the ship.

PAUSE

When any person is leaving for what they think is the last time….

Leaving and never planning to return….

Almost always they speak words from DEEP in their hearts.

Pastors get to be there at so many end-of-life moments.

And I have learned I’m going to hear words not only from the heart but also words that probably sum up:

What has my life been about?

What is MOST important to me.

What has this ministry been for?

What’s the point of everything the person said or did?

This here is like Paul’s last will and testament.

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This GREAT follower of Jesus is speaking to a church where he seems to have worked longer than anywhere else.

This is a very personal word from Paul about his deepest convictions….

About what it means to follow Jesus Christ.

And I have to admit that virtually every time I circle back to these words, especially verses 24, it makes me evaluate my life….

What is the greatest goal of my life?

What am I REALLY living my life for?

What am I devoting my life toward?

Am I doing what God wants me to do or what Adam wants to do?

Am I doing what I do just to please my parents?

Am I doing what I do to just please my spouse?

Am I doing what I do to just make more money?

Am I doing what I do to just make a new for myself?

Am I doing what I do to just make myself feel good?

PAUSE

These radical words of Paul…….

They make me want to make sure I am completely out of step with our culture and the typical expression of the “American Dream….”

Statistically, the average American man dies at 76.

The average woman will live to 81.

So, I am more than ½ way done with my life….

Here is the question….

What is the GREATEST goal in my life?

Repeat

What matters MOST to you in life?

What has the MAJORITY of focus in your life?

What is the focus of your life?

Is it on your job?

Is your focus your kids?

Your wealth?

The company you own?

Do your investments command all your time?

Do your travels take up all of your time?

Is your focus on just getting by?

Is your focus on sports or video games or band or theatre?

Is your focus on things of this world….

Or is your focus really on God?

PAUSE

Paul says….

For him….

What matters the MOST….

Look at verse 24…..

Testifying to the GOOD NEWS of God’s Grace….

That his life is about telling people about the Good News of Jesus!

How Jesus was SO gracious with someone as broken as Paul was.

How he wanted to tell everyone how he did HORRIBLE things in his past and God’s grace forgave them and God’s grace can forgive you!!!!

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I know some of you think you have messed up so bad God will NEVER forgive you..

I know some of you think you need to turn your life around before you start following God.

I know some of you think still think this whole Jesus being God thing is not real….

And church hear me…..

So did Paul…..

Paul strove to become this perfect follower of God and fail…

Paul did messed up stuff like endorsing the killing of Christians…

Paul struggled with the fact that even after he became a believer in Jesus he kept doing wrong things…

And here me….

NONE of that disqualified Paul from following God OR being in ministry!!!!

God forgave Paul and kept forgiving Paul when he kept failing!

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Paul’s words make me want to be utterly abandoned to the cause of this world….for the cause of Jesus…..

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I want to circle back and point out somethings……

Go back to verse 22-24

22 “And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem,

Stop there….

Do you see what he said?

COMPELLED by the SPIRIT.

Not compelled by Paul.

Not driven by Paul’s desires.

Not driven by Paul’s ambition.

Not driven by others.

Paul was simply following God’s calling.

And that is the same thing we all need to get good at.

Discerning God’s calling on our lives….

Learning how to not do what I want but what God wants me to do.

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And not only that but look at what he says next….

not knowing what will happen to me there. 23 I only know that in every city the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardships are facing me.

Stop there…

Not knowing what will happen…

But I will still follow God.

Knowing it might lead me to hard places….but I will still follow God.

Knowing life will not be easier….I will still follow God.

Knowing following God might cost me dearly…I will still follow God….

WOW!!!

Is that you?

Is that how you operate?

Is living for God more important to you than your job?

Is living for God more important than making your friends like you?

Is living for God more important than writing a paper the way your teacher wants to hear you bash your faith so you get an A?

Is living for God worth it…if it costs you something?

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Do you need to know what tomorrow brings…

Or are you ok with knowing God knows..

And God will take care of the details?

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I wish it was not the case…but all of us will go through hard times and pain in life….

God never promised that life will be easy.

Paul also NEVER promised life will be easy.

Paul said to all his churches according to

Acts 14:22, “Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.”

There is one path to heaven, and that is the way it goes.

He wrote to Timothy in

2 Timothy 3:12, “Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.”

Jesus said in

Matthew 10:25, “If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household.”

PAUSE

He continues saying…

24 However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace.

We don’t all have the same ministry call.

But we do all have the same essential goal….

It is the end of that verse….

The TASK of testifying about the Good News of God’s grace.

All of us will run a different race.

The twists and turns of your life will be different from mine.

The terrain of your race is not like mine.

The land mines you need to avoid are different from mine.

But the AIM is the same.

The TASK is the same.

Write this down.

The TASK of my life is to testify to the good news of God’s grace!

Repeat

I hope by this point in the book of Acts we are all coming to understand this.

The reason why the early church grew so fast is because EVERYONE saw it as their TASK to lead people toward Jesus.

To share how Jesus had changed them.

To share who Jesus changed their lives.

Changed their families.

Changed their business.

Changed their views.

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That is the what the Good News of God’s grace is.

The Good News you and I share about how God’s grace has changed us…

How God forgave us for all the messed up stuff we have done and how we want to extend that grace to anyone who hurt us as well!

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With all that in mind…..

That is why Paul goes on to say in verse 27 and beyond….

27 For I have not hesitated to proclaim to you the whole will of God.

I have made it all about sharing the GOOD News of GOD’S grace with you!

So be like me and……verse 28…..

28 Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood.

Paul says now is YOUR time to lead this church.

You don’t need me to do it!

You are ready!

But knows this…..verse 29…..

29 I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. 30 Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them.

31 So be on your guard! Remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears.

He says….be ready!

People are going to try and stop you from leading this church toward Jesus!

Be ready!

Some people even inside your church are going to try and lead people back toward the world and away from Jesus!

Be on your guard!

Ministry is not easy!

The worlds draw is powerful!

Be on your guard!

Do not turn toward the world!

Stay strong in Jesus!

Verse 32….

32 “Now I commit you to God and to the word of his grace, which can build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified.

33 I have not coveted anyone’s silver or gold or clothing. 34 You yourselves know that these hands of mine have supplied my own needs and the needs of my companions.

35 In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ ”

AKA life isn’t about money….

Life is about helping other people.

36 When Paul had finished speaking, he knelt down with all of them and prayed. 37 They all wept as they embraced him and kissed him.

38 What grieved them most was his statement that they would never see his face again. Then they accompanied him to the ship.

It ends with this poignant moment….

Of prayer.

Crying.

Knowing this is an ending.

This is the last time they will see the man who launched this church.

This is the last time Paul will be here to encourage them.

This is the last time Paul will be here to hold them accountable.

This is now when the momma bird flys away and you are on your own.

This is now mom and dad dropping their kids off at college and crying…. Knowing you have to trust God to step in the gap while you are gone….

This is marrying your kids off….knowing they are never coming back home to live…

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Which leads us to our Life Application today.

For those of you who are newer to Family Church we love to give you something to take home each week to ponder…

Talk about with a friend, family member, neighbor or co-worker…

Something to help you continue to connect the Bible with your life this week….

Our Life Application today says….

Life Application: How are you keeping your life focused on what really matters most? How are you doing at investing in others to help them focus on what really matters most? As a result of today’s message, I will ______________________________.

Let’s Pray…..