Caring Enough to Send

Over the last 9 days commencement ceremonies have been held all over our region. From Kindergarten to Graduate School, students are moving on the next stage of their lives.

Over the next 6-8 weeks another set of ceremonies are about to be held. Men and Women will be making vows to one another and (hopefully) beginning to live together and make a household.

One often missed part of these transitions is the great furniture and household migration. Furniture is transferred to underclassmen or placed on the curb for the next owner. Blenders, coffee pots and microwaves are bequeathed to the next person in need of a smoothie, caffeine or a frozen burrito. I have benefitted from both of these migrations, as well as the moving/downsizing liquidations.

When you equip a student or newlywed’s household, what quality of products do you give away?

Sometimes you purge only the Tupperware that is missing lids, sometimes you give away the furniture that the cat used for a scratching post or the dog used when he couldn’t get outside. Sometimes what you give away is “better than nothing”, sometimes it is truly a blessing to the recipient, and sometimes it is merely a transfer of a headache to a new owner.

Not only do dormitory residents or new households need equipment, but new churches also need new resources. Do we bless with our best? Do we relinquish the odds and ends? Do we transfer our headaches to a new congregation?

Today’s text describes a setting where one church had an abundance of prophets and teachers, and the Holy Spirit called them to give away some of their best.Text

Christ’s Church Embraces Differences (Acts 13:1)

Different Gifts (v.1a)

Prophets – what does God say?

Teachers – what does it mean or look like in my life?

The church needs both! Sometimes the afflicted need comfort and sometime the comfortable need affliction.

Other places in the New Testament describes other gifts from God to a local body. A few chapters earlier the church needed volunteers to deliver food to members. A few chapters later the church will need trustworthy people to handle and transfer finances

There is someone listening to me right now who would love to go through our buildings and replace all the burned out lightbulbs in the emergency exit signs, but that person would absolutely hate reading Scripture in front of a group. There is also someone who would love to prepare communion bread and wine next week, but hardly knows which end of the screwdriver to use to open the exit signs. There is also someone who would simply adore sitting with a widow, sipping iced tea and listening to her stories, who would be tempted to quit the church if asked to teach Sunday School.

5. This text begins with admitting we are not all the same and we need each contribution

Different Cultures (Acts 11:19-20)

In the list of 5 in Acts 13:1 we are introduced to various backgrounds and life experiences that made up the leadership community of the church in Antioch.

Palestine dispersion scattered Jews (v.19)

Gospel spread had impacted Cyprus and Cyrene (v.20) (Gentiles too)

Antioch Church had dark and light, powerful and obscure

Different Callings (v.2b)

Just as we have different background and different abilities, we also have different passions for serving.

We tend to think that the Old Testament was all about the descendants of Abraham. Did you realize the People of God in the OT sent missionaries?

Isaiah 6:8-10 – Isaiah is sent to his own people

2 Kings 17:27-28 sends a Samaritan to his own people.

Of the 5 leaders in Antioch, only 2 get called to leave.

TRANSITION: “Different” allows us to multiply impact, not force square pegs into round holes.ext

Christ’s Church Encourages Both/And (Acts 13:2)

· 3 stay and 3 go. One church with one staff, becomes 2 outreached with 2 staffs. By the end of this chapter we have 3 staffs doing ministry in multiple communities.

Deep & Wide (Isaiah 54:2)

There are some Scriptures that encapsulate a bigger principle in just a few words. In the area of Worship my mind often defaults to 2 Samuel 24, when the story ends with v.24:

2 Samuel 24:24 ESV:2016

24 But the king said to Araunah, “No, but I will buy it from you for a price. I will not offer burnt offerings to the Lord my God that cost me nothing.” So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver.

In the area of leadership I frequently cite 1 Chron 12:32:

1 Chronicles 12:32 ESV:2016

32 Of Issachar, men who had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do, 200 chiefs, and all their kinsmen under their command.

Or Psalm 78:72

Psalm 78:72 ESV:2016

72 With upright heart he shepherded them and guided them with his skillful hand.

When it comes to depth or width of strategy my mind goes to

Isaiah 54:2 ESV:2016

2 “Enlarge the place of your tent, and let the curtains of your habitations be stretched out; do not hold back; lengthen your cords and strengthen your stakes.

Strengthen your stakes

Lengthen your cords

Us & Them (Acts 1:8)

I believe one verse summarizes the spread of the Gospel in the first generation after Jesus’ resurrection. The whole book of Acts describes the broadening influence, but this verse says that that it happens simultaneously.

Acts 1:8 ESV:2016

8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

2. And, not then

3. Before today’s text, chapter 11 explains how the vision of the Antioch church had to broaden.

TRANSITION: When you surrender to be used by God, you are never intended to do it alone! You will always have the Holy Spirit with you, AND it is best to share ministry with other believers!

Christ’s Church Enjoys Partnerships (Acts 13:3-5)

Barnabas AND Saul (v.2b)

Jesus knew that lone rangers can go renegade or fizzle out.

Luke 10:1 ESV:2016

1 After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself was about to go.

2. This is an application of a principle promoted by the writer of Ecclesiastes

Ecclesiastes 4:9–10 ESV:2016

9 Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. 10 For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up!

3. Often used as a wedding verse, the application is much broader.

They Laid Hands (v.3)

What the Holy Spirit impressed upon Barnabas and Saul, He also communicated to the Church.

The calling to vocational ministry is both extended to an individual AND confirmed by counselors and (hopefully) the Body.

I have a poster on my wall from Hebrews 5:4

Hebrews 5:4 ESV:2016

4 And no one takes this honor for himself, but only when called by God, just as Aaron was.

3. I know a lot of people who enter ministry trainingwho never finish. And I know many who enter ministry then flame out before crossing the finish line. One thing that those who finish well have communicated time and again was a sure calling from God that sustained during tough time.

John to Assist (v.5c)

Speaking of the need for calling, Notice that the 2 who are called and sent are assisted by John Mark. I may be reading between the lines and making an assumption from silence, The end of this chapter around vv.37-38 describe attitude toward one who had withdrawn from the mission.

Notice that the one who withdrew is the one about whom it never says he was called by the Spirit. Perhaps he just took it upon himself.

Anyway the trio in v.39 becomes a duet and a solo act, but the solo act chooses Silas so that the 2 individuals called in 13:2 are 2 teams by the beginning of the next chapter.

Apprentices may fail and need a restart, but that is no excuse to avoid the training of the next set of leaders.

Over my 3½ decades of ministry, I have benefited from workers who were developed by others. I have also raised up leaders who ended up serving with others. I’m grateful that our leaders support me in the tasks of ministry as spelled out in Eph 4:11-12

Ephesians 4:11–12 ESV:2016

11 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ,

Conclusion:

It pleases me when I look at our Education and Small group ministries and I see that ALL of the Bible Studies and Sunday School classes this quarter are being led by people who were NOT leading those same groups when I came in 2018. Of our elected officers & committee chairs, only 1 is serving in the same role she was 6 years ago, and that is after letting someone else lead that team for several years in the middle.

Ministry is a cycle of equipping and releasing. Sometimes we release individuals to bless another congregation. Sometimes we raise up our replacement so we can engage in a different ministry here.

Each of our committee chairs could testify that they have already been asked to identify the person(s) that they are training to step into their role.

The joy of service and ministry is not to be hoarded. It is to be shared and multiplied.

With that in mind, I want to acknowledge the students from this church who have engaged in Summer missions work over the last 5 years. The states across the Midwest and down into the Southeast have been served by our students. This Summer one of our own is going to an anonymous country in Southeast Asia. For the safety of the team and the long term missionaries in that area we can’t be any more specific than the Continent that will be served. I won’t share the lady’s name since this service is being livestreamed across the Internet, but if you want to know more, please ask me after the service and join the virtual prayer meeting for that region that is linked on the back of our bulletin.

Sometimes lengthening the cords involves far, and sometimes it involves near. But lengthening the cords always involves equipping and releasing. This morning we will be recognizing as a church body somebody who has demonstrated calling and competency in ministry. What we are about to do for one of our own, happened to me in August on 1985. As we License Brendan to the Gospel Ministry, I don’t view him as “spare Tupperware”! He will truly be a blessing to those whom God permits him to serve!

I would like to invite our Elders to the floor in front of the pulpit, and Maci Harshman to come close by so you can join us when we pray over your husband.