A Praying Church on Mission (Acts 13:1–3)

Introduction

We've been in this series on prayer, looking at different aspects of what it means to be a praying church. Today, we're going to look at being a praying church on mission, and how a praying church is a church that is sensitive to the direction and leadership of the Holy Spirit. We need the direction and leadership of God in our church and in our life. A praying church is a church on mission, led by the Holy Spirit, and ready to impact the world for Jesus Christ.

It's amazing how small acts of obedience can lead to something great. If you wanted to become an astronaut, you'd need to take certain steps: excel in science and math, pursue the right education, and gain experience in fields like engineering or aviation. After rigorous training and years of preparation, one day, you'd find yourself looking down at the earth from space. Little acts of obedience, done in the right direction, can lead to extraordinary outcomes.

But those acts of obedience have to lead you in the right direction. Studying stand-up comedy probably won’t lead you to become an astronaut. You need to follow the right direction.

For a church, how can a church know that it is following the right direction? What acts of obedience do we need to be a church aligned with God’s mission and following his direction? We’re going to take a look at that in Acts 13:1-3. So if you have your Bibles, please open there.

Scripture Reading

Acts 13:1–3 CSB

1 Now in the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen, a close friend of Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. 2 As they were worshiping 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 after they had fasted, prayed, and laid hands on them, they sent them off.

Pray

ANTIOCH

Acts 13 places us in Antioch, a key city in the Roman Empire located in the region of Syria (now near the Turkey-Syria border). Known as “the Queen of the East,” Antioch was a major trade hub with a diverse population, including many Jews.

Antioch played a crucial role in early Christianity as the birthplace of the Gentile church. Persecution scattered Jewish Christians from Jerusalem to Antioch, where they began sharing the gospel with Greeks (Acts 11:19-21). It was here that Paul and Barnabas taught for a year, and believers were first called “Christians” (Acts 11:26). Acts 13 marks the start of Paul’s missionary journeys, shifting the church's mission from Jerusalem to the Gentile world.

The church in Antioch was spiritually strong, not because of its location or diversity but because it practiced spiritual disciplines like worship, fasting, and prayer.

That brings us to our first point from Acts 13:1-3. It’s that,

God Uses a Spiritually Disciplined Church to Fulfill His Mission

The church in Antioch is an interesting group. The leaders that are presented in Acts 13 are a diverse group of people. It says in Acts 13:1,

Acts 13:1 CSB

1 Now in the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen, a close friend of Herod the tetrarch, and Saul.

The Role of Prophets and Teachers in the Early Church

Now the first thing we hear about this church in Antioch is that “there were prophets and teachers” there. It's evident that the early church had leaders who were considered to be prophets.

Acts 15:32 speaks of two prophets named Judas and Silas who encouraged the church in Antioch.

Acts 21:10 speaks of a prophet named Agabus who gives a warning to Paul from the Holy Spirit about his coming persecution in Jerusalem.

When we think of a prophet, we tend to think of someone sharing a revelation about the future that they received from God. That’s part of it, but the prophetic gift also encompasses sharing words of encouragement or words of warning from the Lord.

So in that sense, although we wouldn't call a pastor today a prophet, a pastor can operate in a type of prophetic gift for the church when he preaches from God's word, and through the teaching and preaching of God's word, he's shares an encouragement or warning to the church that is derived from God's word.

To be clear, In the same way that there are no apostles today in the church, there are also no biblical prophets today in the church. Prophets in the Bible spoke on behalf of God, and today we have God’s complete revelation in his word. If you want to hear from God today, open up the Scriptures.

Yet this early church in Acts 13:1 in Antioch had developed strong leadership through the prophets and teachers they were among them.

Diversity Among Leaders

The names of the individual leaders in Antioch tell us about the diversity of this early Gentile church. Acts 13:1 lists five names, and we know something about them.

Barnabas was a Jewish Levite from Cyprus (Acts 4:36)

Simeon who was called Niger and Lucius of Cyrene were two people probably from Africa.

Manaen is described as a friend of Herod the tetrarch, so probably someone of social status.

And of course Saul, who becomes Paul, who is from Tarsus, an area in modern day Turkey.

So this early Gentile Christian church ethnically looked like the Roman world. It's always beautiful to see how Jesus unifies people from all different ethnicities and walks of life and he brings us together as one unified body in him.

And you can picture how this unified body of believers, a body of people from all different ethnicities and all different social classes, people unified in Jesus Christ, are together as one body, seeking God's guidance and leadership for his church. They are seeking God through spiritual disciplines that had been taught to them through the ministry of Saul and Barnabas.

Spiritual Discipline of Serving

The first part of Acts 13:2 outlines for us the spiritual disciplines of this early Christian community. It says,

Acts 13:2 CSB

2 As they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.”

“As they were worshiping the Lord and fasting”: Now, the term “worshiping” there literally means to serve, or to perform a religious service. The New American Standard Bible translates Acts 13:1 as, “While they were serving the Lord and fasting.” These are Christians who serve the Lord in ministry. Serving is a spiritual act; it’s part of our worship God.

When our musicians play music, they are serving the Lord through the talents that God has given them, and they are worshiping him through their service.

When our greeters encourage people coming into the church through their smiles, their hugs, their handshakes, they are serving the Lord through their works of hospitality to the church.

When our children's workers teach the young ones, they are serving the Lord through the gifts that God has given them with children.

This early Christian Church had learned the spiritual discipline of serving.

Spiritual Discipline of Fasting

Not only had they learned the spiritual discipline of serving, they had also learned the spiritual discipline of fasting. It says, “As they were worshiping the Lord and fasting.”

Now, fasting is more than a break from food or a diet. If all you're doing in fasting is taking a break from food, then you are just doing a physical exercise and are not doing biblical fasting. In fact, the world is seeing benefits of fasting, and they will call it intermittent fasting. They are okay with fasting, as long as it's not connected to faith in Jesus Christ.

Fasting is never alone. Fasting is always an aid to prayer. In Acts 13:1-3, fasting is directly connected to worshiping the Lord, being sensitive to the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and to prayer.

But throughout the Scriptures, when fasting is mentioned, it's usually within the context of prayer. Sometimes its in the context of repentance and mourning, but in every case, it’s more than a physical act; it is an act of spiritually seeking God.

To give us some examples, Daniel 9:3,

Daniel 9:3 CSB

3 So I turned my attention to the Lord God to seek him by prayer and petitions, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes.

So you can see there that Daniel uses the physical act of fasting, along with sackcloth and ashes, which were symbolic of mourning, he uses these physical acts as an aide to turn his attention to the Lord and seek him by prayer and petitions. In other words, fasting is an aide to prayer.

You also see this in Ezra 8:21, where Ezra says,

Ezra 8:21 CSB

21 I proclaimed a fast by the Ahava River, so that we might humble ourselves before our God and ask him for a safe journey for us, our dependents, and all our possessions.

Here the physical act of fasting is used to drive the people of Israel to humility, that they would realize their dependence on God and pray to him. Ezra follows up in Ezra 8:23 by saying,

Ezra 8:23 CSB

23 So we fasted and pleaded with our God about this, and he was receptive to our prayer.

Fasting is an aide to prayer. Even in Matthew 6, in the Sermon on the Mount where Jesus talks about fasting, he speaks about it within the context of a discussion about prayer. Biblical fasting is a spiritual discipline that leads people to pray.

Spiritual Disciplines Build Up a Church

So we get a picture of the spiritual disciplines that are at work in the church in Antioch.

It is a church under the prophetic leadership of the teaching God’s word.

The church are a people in submission to the teaching of the word of God. Submission to the teaching of the word of God is itself a spiritual discipline.

The church is a people unified in community because of Jesus Christ.

The church is a people committed to the spiritual discipline of serving the Lord as their spiritual act of worship.

And the church is a people committed to the spiritual discipline of fasting as an aide to drive them to seek God more in prayer.

These practices of spiritual discipline builds up a healthy church, because spiritual discipline will drive your dependence on God. God uses a spiritually disciplined church to fulfill his mission. So church, if we want to be a church that fulfills the mission of Jesus Christ here on Earth, we need to be a church that seeks to grow in spiritual discipline.

When you go out to see the San Diego Padres, you're going out to see a team of people committed to their craft. Their a team of people with different backgrounds and skills. They play different positions. Some are gifted infielders or outfielders. Some are gifted pitchers. There's gifted coaches. But what has made them good is their discipline, and they have discipline because from their youth they had a love of the sport of baseball. Love will drive you to discipline.

You can say thing about marriage. In a healthy marriage, you need the practice of discipline. In healthy marriage, you need quality time with one another, having that time of breakfast or dinner with your spouse. You need the discipline of good communication, listening attentively to your spouse. You practice the discipline of sacrificing things for your spouse, because love will drive you to discipline.

In the same way, our love for Jesus Christ should drive us to spiritual disciplines. And a church of people whose love for Jesus Christ drives them to spiritual disciplines builds a healthy church. God uses a spiritually disciplined church to fulfill his mission.

Question to think about: How often do we allow love for Jesus to drive us to discipline in our lives?

No, I want you to follow this.

The church in Antioch was a church filled with people who love Jesus.

Their love for Jesus drove them to spiritual disciplines: serving, fasting, and seeking God with all their hearts.

In other words, the church in Antioch was a praying church.

God responded to their love for him. The Holy Spirit moved among them and provided direction for their path.

Their spiritual discipline:

Opened their hearts to hear God’s voice

God responded

That brings us to our next point,

The Holy Spirit Provides Clear Direction to a Praying Church

We’re going to take a look at the Holy Spirit providing direction for the church in Antioch in Acts 13:2. It says,

Acts 13:2 CSB

2 As they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.”

The Personhood of the Holy Spirit

Now, sometimes Christians can fall into a fallacy of thinking of the Holy Spirit as a force. They’ve watched a little too much Star Wars, and think the Holy Spirit is like, “May the force be with you.”

But the Holy Spirit is not a force. He is powerful, but he is a person. You can see some of his personhood here in this verse.

The Holy Spirit speaks and communicates like a person does.

The Holy Spirit gives instruction, he commands things to happen. “He says set apart for me.”

The Holy Spirit refers to himself as a person.

He knows people by name, and the Holy Spirit, who is God, has called people to tasks.

It is in verses like this that we get to understand the Holy Spirit as a person. The reason Christians believe in the Trinity is because that's how God reveals himself in Scripture. We worship one God who has revealed himself to humanity in three persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is a person in the Triune God.

The Holy Spirit's Guidance in Acts

The Holy Spirit speaks clearly to the praying church in Antioch. He gives a command to the church with a sense of urgency. He says, “Set apart for me,” using an imperative verb, which is a command he gives to the church. The Holy Spirit speaks with divine authority. The church has to be obedient to his call.

But we see the Holy Spirit giving clear direction to Christians in other parts of the book of Acts as well. In Acts 10:19-20, the Holy Spirit instructs Peter to go with the men sent by Cornelius. In Acts 8:29,

Acts 8:29 CSB

29 The Spirit told Philip, “Go and join that chariot.”

The Holy Spirit directs Philip to approach the Ethiopian eunuch, which led to the eunuch hearing the good news about Jesus. Jesus told us in John 16:13 that the Holy Spirit would John 16:13 guide us into all the truth. He says there,

John 16:13 CSB

13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth. For he will not speak on his own, but he will speak whatever he hears. He will also declare to you what is to come.

What's interesting, out of those three times that we spoke of in the book of Acts, where the Holy Spirit is giving clear direction to Christians, in at least two of those three times, we know that the Holy Spirit’s direction comes out of a time when Christians are seeking God.

Now, we don’t know what Philip was doing before the Spirit spoke to him, but we do know what the Christians at Antioch were doing. They were worshiping and the Lord and fasting when the Holy Spirit spoke to them. With Peter in Acts 10, Peter was in a time of prayer on his roof when the Holy Spirit gave him a vision and spoke to him.

In other words, the evidence of Scripture is that a church that seeks God will hear from God.

How the Spirit Speaks to Believers Today

Now how does the Holy Spirit speak to believers today? The Scriptures give us insight into how we can expect to hear from the Spirit.

The Spirit speaks through inner convictions: You can think of Paul in Acts 16:6-7 where the Spirit prevents him from going into a place, redirecting his path.

The Spirit speaks through Scriptural confirmation: The Spirit inspired the word of God. He will never contradict his word. The Spirit will use his word in your life.

The Spirit speaks through other believers: You see that today in Acts 13, where the Spirit uses the prayer leaders in Antioch to commission Paul and Barnabas to their mission work.

Sometimes the Spirit speaks through circumstances. You might look at Rev. 3:8 or Acts 16 for that.

What’s important to know is that the Holy Spirit’s direction in your life will never contradict Scripture. He will affirm his will in your life through his word. And to be sensitive to the Spirit’s direction in your life requires a life that is seeking him. Seek God, and he will reveal his direction in your life.

You get a picture of a sense of awe that comes over the people of God at the church in Antioch, as the Spirit of God convicts the souls of his people, that his will for the church was to send Paul and Barnabas out on mission.

That was not an easy thing for them. Paul and Barnabas had been their leaders there for a year, they had taught them deep things about Jesus. But the sensitivity of their spirits, built up through worship, prayer, and fasting, led them to be obedient to the will of God, because his direction is always better.

About a month ago, we commissioned two new leaders at our church to be on our board. It was amazing how there was a sense that the Spirit of God was directing our path in it. Pastor Johannes and I, as we sat down for lunch, spoke of two individuals. Scripture tells us the characteristics of a deacon, and we saw it in these two individuals. Then when we brought it to the church members, and we said, “Church, here are the biblical characteristics of a deacon. Who should fill this role?” And the church members brought up the same two individuals.

Both of them serve on our board now, and they've been awesome. It's amazing to me just how the Spirit of God continues to raise up people. He continues to lead his church. He continues to give us direction. The Holy Spirit provides direction to a praying church.

Question to think about: When have you experienced a time where you felt the Spirit leading, but it required discipline and obedience to follow?

In Acts 13, the Holy Spirit provides clear direction to the church in Antioch. He speaks. He commands, he calls Barnabas and Saul for the work that he has prepared for them.

But what happens next is just as crucial. The church doesn't just simply hear the Holy Spirit and then hesitate or question the call. Instead, they respond to the call of God upon their church in obedience.

There’s a powerful lesson here in that the obedience of the church becomes the vehicle through which God's mission is fulfilled.

That brings us to our last point,

The Church’s Obedience Enables the Fulfillment of God’s Mission

Take a look at the immediate response of the church to God's command. It says in Acts 13:3,

Acts 13:3 CSB

3 Then after they had fasted, prayed, and laid hands on them, they sent them off.

The immediate response of the church at Antioch was more prayer and fasting, more seeking God. Then they do something interesting where they lay hands on Paul and Barnabas before sending them off.

Symbolism and Purpose of Laying on of Hands

Now, why do this? Why the laying on of hands? I mean, we did this about a month ago with the commissioning of our deacon and deaconess. Is there some spiritual power that comes zapping out of our hands? If you watch Marvel, sometimes Thor will have this electricity zapping out of his hands. Is that what happens?

No, of course not. Instead, the laying on of hands was a symbolic act from the church affirming their obedience to the call of God to send out these missionaries, and affirming their support and unity with the work of God on their life. They said, “We, as a church, will affirm and support the call of God on your life.”

In Numbers 27, God lets Moses see the promised land from the top of a mountain. He has been wandering in the desert with the people of Israel, and he finally gets to see the promised land, but he wont be able to enter it with the people of Israel.

So he prays to the Lord that God would raise up a leader to lead his people, so as he prays in Numbers 27:17, “so that the Lord’s community won’t be like sheep without a shepherd.” Look at how God responds to Moses in Numbers 27:18-20,

Numbers 27:18–20 CSB

18 The Lord replied to Moses, “Take Joshua son of Nun, a man who has the Spirit in him, and lay your hands on him. 19 Have him stand before the priest Eleazar and the whole community, and commission him in their sight. 20 Confer some of your authority on him so that the entire Israelite community will obey him.

And it says in Numbers 27:22, “Moses did as the Lord commanded him.” Look at how close this is to Acts 13. Moses is praying to the Lord. He certainly is a man who had spiritual disciplines in his life. And God says to Moses, “Set apart for me Joshua for the work that I have called him to do.” Commission Joshua, confer some of your authority on him. And his obedience is crucial. Moses did just as the Lord commanded him, laying hands on Joshua, in solidarity with the command of God.

For the church at Antioch, they had no idea what would happen to Saul and Barnabas when they left Antioch. These two men that they had loved and had led their church were being sent out, and they didn't know what would happen to them. The same with Moses. In commissioning Joshua, Moses didn't know what would happen once Joshua led the people of Israel into the land.

Obedience Through Transitions

There are times when the mission of God in your life calls for transition. And transition can be scary because it involves the unknown. It's easier to hold onto things that feel safe, because that's just the way it's been. I know what this is, but I don't know what else is out there.

And there are times within a church where the mission of God calls for transition. If you were a member of the church at Antioch, I doubt you would want to see Paul and Barnabas go.

But God always has a bigger vision and a bigger plan. and the mission of God at a church calls for flexibility because the church must be willing to transition according to God's leadership, direction, and guidance for his church.

Transition done in accordance with the will of God is always a good thing, because God loves his church.

There is a transition for the church that I’m looking forward to. I love these verses in Revelation 21:1-4,

Revelation 21:1–4 CSB

1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2 I also saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared like a bride adorned for her husband. 3 Then I heard a loud voice from the throne: Look, God’s dwelling is with humanity, and he will live with them. They will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them and will be their God. 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; grief, crying, and pain will be no more, because the previous things have passed away.

Brothers and sisters, that’s the transition I’m looking forward to. I’m looking forward to being with God forever.

The Bible says that you can be with God forever, you can have that transition, because of Jesus Christ. Whoever believe in Jesus will not perish, but will have eternal life.

Conclusion

A praying church is a church on mission because we are looking forward to God’s plan and a forever life with him.

We want to be a church that God uses, and God uses a spiritually disciplined church, a church that seeks the face and presence of God.

The Holy Spirit directs a praying church. The Holy Spirit gives direction to a praying church, and we want his direction in our life.

A praying church is an obedient church to the transitions he has called us to in our life.

The wonderful hope of the church is that, because of Jesus Christ, we will transition into glory and see and be with God in his kingdom forever. We look forward to that day.

Prayer

Last Song

Doxology

Numbers 6:24–26 CSB

24 “May the Lord bless you and protect you; 25 may the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; 26 may the Lord look with favor on you and give you peace.” ’

Jude 24–25 CSB

24 Now to him who is able to protect you from stumbling and to make you stand in the presence of his glory, without blemish and with great joy, 25 to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, power, and authority before all time, now and forever. Amen.

You are dismissed. Have a great week in the Lord!