A Growth Cycle

Introduction

Alright, thanks Tim!

How many of us have gardens? It can be a flower or vegetable garden - doesn’t matter. That was a large part of my sabbatical earlier this year - to spend time putting in my garden and expanding it and planting and planning.

And obviously, as we’re in this series in this chunk of Acts, we’re using gardening - or planting - as this analogy for the early church as Paul travels and plants churches. And it’s such a good analogy for it all.

Gardening is a real process! If you have a garden that you tend pretty carefully, this is about the time when you’re tearing it out, cutting things back, prepping the soil for winter and maybe planting some winter crops. There’s planning - what’s going to go where - what’s getting rotated - what type of what will I plant where next year.

I think of two things that I just love about gardening. First, it’s just the patience of it. The slowness. There’s a lot spiritual learning for it - because plans take so long to come to fruition, and when you find something didn’t work, and you want to do something different - it’s usually an annual process

When Pastor Justin talks about spiritual growth, one of the analogies he uses is always that we tend to think of ourselves like lego creations - and if we want to change something, we’ll just move it, y’know? From here to here. But in reality, we’re so much more like plants, that must be carefully cultivated, and pruned and trimmed and whose growth just takes time.

I’m always reminded of that when I’m gardening.

But the other part is the cycle of it - I’m a guy that grows fairly tired of monotony. And at first thought, gardening can seem monotonous - like weeding - but really, it’s anything but. As a year round hobby, every stage - every cycle - looks different. You’re planning, or planting, or growing, or caring, or cleaning - you’re rotating crops - you’re maintaining soil - you’re collecting seeds. There’s a pattern, but it’s constantly moving.

This morning, as we continue in Acts, we’re covering a few passages that talk about a regular pattern - a repeatable pattern - of church planting and growth work that Paul and Barnabas do. This is covering the end of their missionary journey, and they’re going to go into Iconium, and Lystra, and Derbe - these kinda more provincial towns - and there’s going to be this - kinda what we saw over the past two weeks - preaching in the synagogue, being accepted by the Gentiles, being persecuted, moving on. It’s a predictable pattern.

And what I realized as I worked through this pattern and through what Paul and Barnabas are doing and facing is just how much those patterns mirror our own walk with God, and so that’s something we’ll see this morning, too - five realities in a growth cycle - that’s true for a church, of a church planter, or of a Christian. These predictable patterns.

And also, while we’re talking about predictable patterns - how about that Bears game last week? That was a pretty predictable pattern!

Let’s pray.

Message

Last week, we heard Paul preaching in Pisidian Antioch. He went to the synagogue and, then, after being kicked out, took the message to the non-Jews - the Gentiles. Acts 13:48-52. The gospel is starting to grow - spread throughout the whole region. And so they travel to the next town. Acts 14:1-7‌

Now, if you had time to sit down and really observe this passage, one thing you’d probably see, despite the narrative arch, is that at least four times in this text, our attention is drawn to the message that Paul and Barnabas are proclaiming. Over and over again it talks about their focus on preaching.

Verse 1 - They entered the city and spoke in such a way

Verse 3 - so they remained and spoke boldly

Again in verse 3 - God bore witness to the Word of His grace

And in verse 7 - they fled and continued to preach the gospel

Everything in what Paul and Barnabas were doing - in traveling, in meeting, in gathering - all centered around the message of the gospel. We’re going to see this throughout the rest of the passage too, that whatever stage you’re at in a growth cycle of following Jesus - it all centers on the gospel - it all comes back to the central message of our faith.

It’s the truth that we saw Paul preaching last week - that all of biblical history - comes to a point, comes to a focus - in the person of Jesus, who dies and is raised and now sits at God’s right hand and will come back to make all things new.

And the truth that in his death and resurrection, he defeated death, he proved God’s love for us, he opened the way for us to have a relationship with God - the relationship that we were created for. That ultimately, all the longings of the human heart will be satisfied in a relationship with God, opened through the gospel of Jesus.

That’s the message that Paul preached, and that’s the center of everything that has to do with our growth. Whatever place you’re in in your pursuit of Jesus - whether you don’t know him - this is your first time at church - or whether you’ve been following Jesus for 75 years - your next step involves understanding more of the gospel.

I think there’s this false idea, sometimes - that the gospel - what Jesus did on the cross - is like Christianity 101, and once you get it, you move on to other things - like, done that - took that class - understand that concept - now I’m going to work on learning about these things or these topics or these issues. Like, I got this, I’m working on this.

But I don’t see that in the Bible at all. The “gospel” isn’t an introductory class - it’s not like, “concept A” - it’s the framework - that everything about our life - our faith - is built on. It’s more than a foundation - it’s the whole structure.

To borrow a gardening analogy - the gospel is the trellis for our entire lives. You know what a trellis is - right? It’s this structure that a vining plant will grow up - beans, or squash, or vining flowers - and it grows and grabs on and holds on.

Everybody’s life has a trellis - this thing that helps make sense of our experiences and our longings and our relationships. Before Christ, it’s the trellis of self - my life is going to be built around myself - what makes me happiest, what makes me the most satisfied, what makes me the most content, what feels best to me. Depending on the values that someone’s raised in, that might mean service - I feel best when I’m serving people - or it might be substance - I feel best when I’m drinking - it might mean relationships or work or even family - not all of those things are bad. But they form the trellis - the supporting structure - of everything else.

And the problem is is that you are ultimately an eternal being. And if you’re life is built on something that isn’t eternal, like substance or work or even family - you’re ultimately going to find it not satisfying.

Instead, the Bible invites us with a gospel message to build our lives - everything we do - our sense of self, our family, our purpose, our work, our relationships - to build it all on the supporting structure of the gospel - of Jesus’ death, resurrection, and claim on your life.

I love how this looks in Colossians. In the next verses - 5-17 - it talks about all the things we as Christ followers should be about - purity and righteousness and not being angry. But all of that relates back to the supporting structure of the gospel. Colossians 3:1-4

It’s all about the gospel.

As we keep reading in Acts, we’ll see how that continues to flesh out.

Miracles

So back to Acts. That message ultimately is rejected by some in Iconium, and so Paul and Barnabas flee to Lystra. Acts 14:8-10

Part of the ministry pattern for Paul and Barnabas is miracles, and this is a pretty remarkable miracle. And I’m going to step out and say that part of the growth cycle for all of us - for any believer - is also miracles. In Christ, our life will be characterized by miracles. But give me a moment to explain what I mean.

There’s a parallel passage to this story earlier in Acts - Acts 3, with Peter and John in Jerusalem. And I think if we look at these two passages next to each other, it’ll help us understand the nature of miracles in our growth cycle a little more.

So, we have this man, lame from birth, begging. Acts 3:4-8 Do you see the parallels? Both stories center on a man lame from birth. Both stories involve this seeing - Peter has the lame man look at them, he fixes his attention - Paul is looking intently at the man and sees he has faith to be made well - in both cases the healing takes place instantly and the man leaps to his feet. Three points about miracles from these two passages -

And the first one is a word of caution and observation, because I think this can be misunderstood in the Acts 14 passage: Miracles are not related to the amount of faith of the recipient. The phrasing that Paul sees this man, “Has the faith to be healed,” can really easily make us feel like just having enough faith is what’s going to produce the healing - but that’s not what this is saying, at all. This passage is describing what happened in this circumstance, it’s descriptive - it’s not saying, ‘this is how things happen.”

In Acts 3, our lame beggar didn’t have any faith - when Peter looks intently at him, the guy looks up thinking he’s going to get some coin! It’s not the same. He doesn’t have faith. Miracles are not related to the amount of faith of the recipient.

And secondly - so important - miracles are vehicles for the message. This is super clear in our Acts 3 passage - Peter heals the man, and then Acts 3:11-13. Peter’s just like, “Now that I have your attention, let’s deal with the real stuff. Let’s get to the gospel.” Acts 3:18-19

And the same is true in chapter 14. Did you notice verse 3 - back in Iconium? Acts 14:3. God is granting signs and wonders, in order to give witness to the message. The miracles that are being performed are being done to confirm - to affirm - the gospel message. This is why miracles take place.

And that leads to the final point - that the gospel is the greatest miracle of all. I think back to Mark 2, and the story of Jesus doing with Paul and Barnabas, what Peter and John have done - he healed a man born lame. And yet, it says he started by saying, “Your sins are forgiven.” And that caused a huge uproar among the Pharisees - “who is this that thinks he can even forgive sins!” And Jesus’ response is, “In order to prove that I can do that - see this:” and then heals the man.

It’s as if Jesus says, “I’ve already accomplished the greater miracle - the forgiveness of sins. Let me show you.”

Brothers and sisters - if you feel like you haven’t seen the miraculous working of God - guys, we’re in a room surrounded by men and women who have been sinners from birth and by choice, and yet who are now separated from their sin and united with God in Christ by the finished work of Jesus on the cross - if we don’t see that as eternity shatteringly miraculous - we’ve made the gospel too small.

It’s a miracle. And it’s a miracle we should look for and be constantly astounded by. I believe that God will continue to perform miracles today - but His purpose is for eternity, and He will use those works to reshape eternity, so let’s trust Him in that.

Misunderstandings

Ok, back to Acts. That miracle here in Acts 14, causes a huge uproar. Acts 14:11-18

This miraculous movement - this gospel message - surprisingly, produces a massive misunderstanding. The people, steeped in the pagan culture of that day, see everything that’s happening through their worldview - Zeus and the Olympian gods - they’ve come down! They’re moving among us! Let’s sacrifice to them - let’s celebrate!

And of course Paul and Baranabas are appalled. They rush out - because there’s a language barrier they tear their clothes to show this isn’t what they want - they plead with the people - exactly what we saw earlier about miracles - this miracle wasn’t to prove that we’re powerful, it’s to prove that God is - and that he’s worthy of you following him, turning from vain things, to a living God.

It’s striking, though, just how much of Paul’s early journey with Christianity was marked by misunderstanding, too, right? Before He met Jesus - he was aggressively persecuting believers. He felt he was doing the right thing, his actions exactly matched up to the way he viewed the gospel, which was as a perversion of Jewish belief.

Think of Peter’s misunderstandings about the gospel - even right up to the night before the crucifixion. Time and time again in the Bible, Peter tries to dissuade Jesus from doing Jesus things - “You can’t go to Jerusalem!” “You can’t wash my feet!” “You can’t be arrested!” “We need to fight!”

At different stages, Peter didn’t understand the gospel, and so his actions - which were sensible based on how he viewed the world - were ultimately wrong.

And misunderstandings of the gospel have shaped Christianity over the generations - think of the Crusades - holy wars fought in the name of a Savior who came to suffer and die for his enemies. Like, that’s wild.

Think of the hatred and bigotry that’s represented by some branches of fundamentalism in America, or on the other side, think of the abandonment of traditional social biblical morals, the abandonment of Scriptural authority, replaced by things like the sexual revolution or modern ideologies.

The vast majority of times, these failures or strayings are based in a misunderstanding of the gospel - like an overvaluation of truth over grace, or grace over truth. And some people will say that “misunderstanding” is too weak of a descriptor for some of these, and that might be true - purposefully misrepresenting or twisting might work in some cases - but it ultimately comes back down to a lack of understanding of the biblical gospel.

That’s what we see here in Acts 14.

And if there’s one thing that this breath of misunderstandings should produce in us - it’s humility and compassion. It’s acknowledging, “You know what? I might not have it all figured out.” My tight understanding of how everything works might be a little off. I always appreciate my theology professor saying, “I’m fairly certain that 10% of my theology might be wrong - I just don’t know what 10%.” That’s humility.

But it’s also saying, “I can recognize that those with whom I disagree care deeply, but misunderstand.” In verse 15, Paul doesn’t say, “You idiots - you are absolutely insane right now!” He reasons and pleads with them.

Oh that we would be humble followers of Jesus, especially in this season!

Mission

And then, the passage takes a striking turn. Peter and Barnabas were trying to dissuade the people from sacrificing to them, we don’t know how much time goes by, but Luke, the author, kind of zooms back out. Acts 14:19-20 And preached the gospel there…

What can we say about this, but marvel at Pauls’ grittiness, his determination, his fierce focus. There’s this dramatic shift in the people of Lystra - they went from proclaiming Paul and Barnabas as gods to trying to kill them. They throw stones at Paul, likely knocking him unconscious - they think he’s dead and drag his body out of the city. And moments later he wakes up, and simply walks back into town - leaving the next day and preaching elsewhere.

This is just the epitome of grittiness - and it’s because Paul was focused on his Mission. He had such clarity about his purpose - that he was to preach the gospel to wherever the Holy Spirit led him - why would you think a few stones to the head would dissuade him?

I’ve always been struck by how Paul talks about this in I Corinthians - he lays out his mission - that he’s a missionary - we looked at this passage in verses 19-23 two weeks ago, where Paul says that “he has become all things to all people so that by all means I might save some.” And then he talks about his passion for that mission. I Corinthians 9:24-27.

Paul’s point is that in his life, everything he does strains for the mission to which he’s been called - for Paul, it was planting churches and preaching the gospel. Everything circled that and flowed from that. That was his fierce purpose - and focused on that, what’s a few stones? Persecution isn’t going to dissuade him, opposition won’t, frustration won’t - why? Because, like he said in verse 25 - he’s on mission to receive a prize of imperishable value. Paul’s vision and focus and aim and goal is not on what comes next in this life - it’s on the life that comes next. And Paul says I will suffer anything in this life - if it means I can gain in the next. What does he say in Philippians 1:21? “For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”

And so we see this in a growth cycle - whether it’s Paul’s mission, whether it’s growth of churches, or even individual believers - there comes a time when mission becomes clear - the message is heard, miracles have happened, misunderstandings are being worked through - the mission is clear, and it shapes life moving forward.

But my encouragement to us - each of us - is that our mission won’t be exactly the same as Paul’s. Being faithful to God - sure. Living in light of the gospel - sure. But where you’ve been placed and your particular sphere of influence - that’s going to be your mission, in this season. Do you have a family at home? Where are your coworkers? What are your gifts? What are your Spirit-fueled passions? What are your relationships? What is your capacity - all those things will shape your mission. We need to find it

Maturity

And the passage finishes with, really, a profound wrap up. Acts 14:21-23. Paul and Barnabas return through the communities that they had preached in - they appoint elders over those churches so that they can be guided and directed according to the Holy Spirit, they’re preaching and strengthening - in short, they’re moving these early believers towards maturity. They’re setting the stage for a lifetime of faithfully following Jesus.

So what’s the story? What’s the growth cycle? What’s the pattern? All of these things will be present in our lives as we’re seeking to know and follow Jesus. The message - that central truth - the gospel truth of who Jesus is and what he did. Miracles - and seeing the work of the Spirit in bringing the dead to life - next week we get to gather and celebrate baptisms - we’ll hear stories of spiritual resurrection - we’ll celebrate miracles. And we need to acknowledge that there’s misunderstandings. That we don’t always see things right - and we need to remain humble and gracious and teachable.

We need to find and refine our mission - our purpose as followers of God.

And as we do these things, we’ll grow into maturity, strengthened and encouraged and seeking to enter the Kingdom of God.

Let’s pray that we will be marked as followers of Jesus.

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