The Bride in Mission

Acts 13:1–5 (LSB) Now there were at Antioch, in the church that was there, prophets and teachers: Barnabas, and Simeon who was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. 2 And while they were ministering to the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” 3 Then, when they had fasted and prayed and laid their hands on them, they sent them away. 4 So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia and from there they sailed to Cyprus. 5 And when they reached Salamis, they began to proclaim the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews, and they also had John [Mark] as their helper.

Last week I began to link koinonia and ekklesia.

As we have deep relationship with God and deep relationship with one another we become the Body of Christ.

The church

The ekklesia

The Bride of Christ who longs for the Bridegroom and to hear the words of:

Revelation 19:7–9 (LSB) “Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to [Jesus], for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride [US!] has made herself ready.” 8 And it was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. 9 Then he said to me, “Write, ‘Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.’” And he said to me, “These are true words of God.”

Becoming the Body of Christ, the Bride of Christ is different than merely attending church.

A measure of our koinonia with God is that we are passionate about the things about which HE is passionate.

Jesus is passionate about His Bride.

As I read last week, Jesus is so-o-o passionate that as: Ephesians 5:25–27 (TPT) [says] [Jesus loved ] his bride [so much that] … He died for us, sacrificing Himself 26 to make us holy and pure, cleansing us through the showering of the pure water of the Word of God. 27 All that He does in us is designed to make us a mature church for His pleasure, until we become a source of praise to Him—glorious and radiant, beautiful and holy, without fault or flaw.

Don’t allow yourself to be deceived by the enemy, by satan.

Deceived into taking a harsh, unloving or uncaring attitude about the church about which Jesus is intensely passionate.

Why would the devil deceive people in such a way?

Because he wants us comfortable on our journey to hell.

As long as we live believing lies we will not change.

We don’t even think we SHOULD change.

And so we skip along on our merry way to hell.

Jesus said quite clearly in:

Matthew 7:21 (LSB) “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter.

What is the will of the Father concerning koinonia and ekklesia?

Are these merely optional facets of Christianity?

Options we embrace if they are convenient, comfortable, without effort?

1 Peter 2:9–10 (LSB) [says] But you are A CHOSEN FAMILY, A royal PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PEOPLE FOR God’s OWN POSSESSION, so that you [all] may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; 10 for you once were NOT A PEOPLE, but now you are THE PEOPLE OF GOD; you had NOT RECEIVED MERCY, but now you have RECEIVED MERCY.

That doesn’t sound like solo activity —because God NEVER intended us to walk through this life on our own.

He intends that we see ourselves as:

A family

A royal priesthood (NOT priest - singular)

A Holy NATION

A PEOPLE (plural of person) that is God’s own possession.

As 1 Peter 2:5 (LSB) you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

So, while the devil whispers in your ear…

“You can do this on your own.”

“You don’t need the ekklesia, the church.”

“DON’T commit to a local church — do your own thing.”

He does that so he can get you isolated and alone and devour you.

1 Peter 5:8–9 (NLT) Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. 9 Stand firm against him, and be strong in your faith. Remember that your family of believers all over the world is going through the same kind of suffering you are.

The devil is seeking someone who is ALONE.

Someone who is deceived to believe they can make it all by themselves.

Those are the ones the devil WILL devour.

He isn’t going to engage a bunch of Bible-believing, Tongue-talking, Jesus’ Name proclaiming saints that are knit together in the unity of the Holy Spirit when there are MUCH easier targets!

So, God is calling all of us to be knit together through the power of the Holy Spirit.

As Ephesians 4:1–6 (NLT) Therefore I, a prisoner for serving the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling, for you have been called by God. 2 Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love. 3 Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace. 4 For there is one body and one Spirit, just as you have been called to one glorious hope for the future. 5 There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all, in all, and living through all.

United in the Spirit, bound TOGETHER with peace.

Proverbs 27:8 (MSG) People who won’t settle down, wandering hither and yon, are like restless birds, flitting to and fro.

Charles Bridges, commenting on this verse says:

The unsteady professor [of faith in Jesus] has no spiritual home. No church is sound enough for him or her; none wholly molded to her taste. Like the wandering bird, he is always on the wing. Any one place is too [narrow] for her. The accustomed food, even though coming down from heaven, is “loathed as [miserable food]” (Nu 21:5).

His [spoiled] appetite leaves him often on the sabbath morning undecided whom to hear, his or her own will being his only guide. He is anxious to hear from all; and, as the sure result, she learns from none (2 Ti 3:7).

In this self-willed delusion [God’s decreed] form and substance of the Church is destroyed.

[The Bride of Christ] is not a few wandering sheep, but a fold and a shepherd;

not a heap of loose scattered stones, but stones cemented, fitted into their several places; and “the building thus fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord” (Ep 2:21, 22).

The Church is “[awesome]” not in her single members, but “as an army with banners” (SS 6:10); close in rank, where each soldier keeps his own place.

The individual profession, in the stead of collective unity, is a purely schismatical spirit, the essence of pride and selfishness.

Better Things

Ah, but like the writer of Hebrews says in: Hebrews 6:9 (NLT) Dear friends, even though we are talking this way, we really don’t believe it applies to you [at least not to MOST of you]. We are confident that you are meant for better things, things that come with salvation.

That you understand that the ekklesia, the church is the Bride of Christ

At this time of the year, as we approach Resurrection Sunday, we remember that Jesus suffered, bled, died and rose again for His Bride.

NOT just for us 4 and no more — but so that the WHOLE world will know and turn to Him in repentance and surrender.

Jesus died to save us for a reason.

And that reason is a mission.

The mission of proclaiming to the world the words of

2 Peter 3:9 (LSB) [That] The Lord is not slow about His promise [to come again!], as some consider slowness, but is patient toward you, not willing for ANY to perish but for all to come to repentance.

As the Fire Bible Reminds us:

The true church will actively participate in ministries that reach beyond their own congregation and community.

They will help send missionaries to take Christ’s message to other lands, people groups and cultures.

Individual church members will serve, give of their finances and, at times, go to other places to deliver the message of salvation through Jesus alone. (2:39; 13:2–4; 2Co 8:11–12).

Last week we gave away the Worldview Magazine.

A magazine that tells of AG missions efforts.

I encouraged you to read it.

Online you can see it at…

https://agwm.org/en/worldview/

In it we see several discuss multiple aspects of reaching out to the nations with the Gospel of Jesus.

We are reminded by the new director of World Missions on page 11 that:

“Local churches are the seedbed where new generations of young people respond to the call of God to be missionaries. God is calling the local church to send its sons and daughters into cross-cultural missions. The local church is the lifeblood making this possible. Giving and praying are the backbone of what we do. ”

Before saying that, Brother Easter refers to our text this morning. Let me read it again:

Acts 13:1–5 (LSB) Now there were at Antioch, in the church that was there, prophets and teachers: Barnabas, and Simeon who was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. 2 And while they were ministering to the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” 3 Then, when they had fasted and prayed and laid their hands on them, they sent them away. 4 So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia and from there they sailed to Cyprus. 5 And when they reached Salamis, they began to proclaim the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews, and they also had John [Mark] as their helper.

As we look at that passage I would like for us to notice 6 things:

Don’t worry, I’ll be brief.

First, God intends that healthy churches have many prophets and teachers in them.

NOT one Bible Answer Man Pastor.

Can we pray that God will raise up more folks to fill these roles here at New Life?

That God will coordinate these folks to do what we see secondly?

That these people will “minister to the Lord” while praying and fasting.

Third: The church at Antioch were sensitive the voice of the Holy Spirit.

They could actually HEAR the Spirit saying, I’m going to take some of your best people away and use them in other ways.

Wow!

That is NOT me!

God help me to willing to release the best we have into ministry on the mission field (in the U.S. OR Overseas).

How can these “sent” folk be used?

As an AG we are to facilitate people entering ministry.

You can see various avenues on page 19 and 19.

So, FOURTH, in Acts 13 we see Barnabas and Paul set apart for ministry.

But the church at Antioch did more!

Not just set apart for ministry.

But fasted and prayed over.

And, FIFTH, I have to believe they “sent them away” by providing finances and provision for their journey.

Being PROPERLY sent, Barnabas and Paul were led by the Spirit in the places they went, in the people they met.

Because Sixth - they were willing to BE sent.

They were willing to go.

I think more than that, they were passionate about taking the Gospel to places it had never been taken.

I believe they were successful in ministry because Antioch did it right.

Read down through verse 12 and beyond:

The devil was confronted in supernatural ways.

Influential people were saved.

All because a church in Antioch was listening and obedient to the Holy Spirit.

They were the Bride of Christ as we read a few minutes ago in Revelation 19 [Who understood and took seriously the responsibility] … to clothe [themselves] in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.

Next Sunday, we too will have an opportunity to clothe ourselves in righteous acts, as we will have another opportunity to pray over a missionary to whom we contribute both finances and prayer.

I urge you to be here and be supportive of Robin Broom.

Missionary to Uganda.

She will tell of what God is accomplishing since she was with us last year.

I actually discouraged her from coming because our finances have been low.

I said, we don’t have money to pay for a hotel and other travel costs or to give her a big love offering for her work in Uganda.

She said:

I would like to come to New Life. Again, it is not so much about finances for me and I do not feel it is a waste of my time. I am so thankful for people who stand with us in many different ways. Prayer is of upmost importance to us. We are grateful for your partnership. Thank you for the opportunity to come and share. Again, I am not seeking additional funds (or any compensation for being there). I want to come and be with you all there and praise our Lord for His goodness and see how we can encourage one another for His kingdom purposes!

But, more than Robin Broom and the many other missionaries we support financially, this week I have been inundated with requests for volunteers.

2 weeks ago I dissappointedly told Stonehenge we would be unable to furnish volunteers — we couldn’t get a few people to help Stonehenge residents shop at Walmart.

And yet, I have DFACs wanting help with Foster Parenting.

As you see in the bulletin insert.

There is also Isaiah 117 House, a local Christian ministry to Foster Children also needs volunteers.

The American Red Cross contacted me asking if people would be interested in volunteering.

On Palm Sunday we will begin going on the 4th Sunday of each month to the Union County Nursing Home.

On April 14 we will begin going to Vogel State Park on the second Sunday of each month at 9:00 am to do a service each month.

We have so many open doors for reaching beyond the 4 walls of this building.

Will it be just me and Sandra?

Is there a passion for souls at NLFC or has the love of many grown cold?

Serious questions!

Today, when Jesus could return at any moment, we need to be leaning in to ministry — not stepping back.

What About Us?

Are we willing to follow the pattern laid out by the church at Antioch in Acts 13:1-3?

Have we studied and prayed over a theology of missions such is laid out in Worldview Pages 23-27?

Do we believe what page 35 says:

That Jesus is the answer to every brokenness in our world.

That Christ in among us to take the Gospel everywhere?

Are we so captivated by and committed to Jesus that we are knit together with Him and with each other in koinonia?

Are we passionate about the things Jesus is passionate about?

As the worship team comes …

Let’s stand together.

Can we recommit to Jesus this morning?

Recommit to being a part of His Bride

Can we give Him our all?

I urge you to sing this closing chorus as a prayer.

And as we sing together, pray together in giving ourselves to Jesus.

If you have any question about passion in your life,

Are you drawn to Jesus, but haven’t repented of your sins and surrendered your life?

Come forward and we will pray together.

Others will come and pray with us.

If you need to recommit to Jesus.