Being an Acts 29 Church

We all have different personalities.

Some people are very carefull.

They don’t jump into the something new without a great deal of thought.

Others are very adventurous.

They will jump into something new and see where it takes them.

Some people are what we call early adopters of change.

They see a change coming and are willing to take a risk.

They see opportunity in change and will move into the new thing even before all the details are clear.

Some people are what we call late adopters of change.

They see a change and are very unwilling to take any risks.

They will wait and see and only when everyone else moves will they consider making the change.

And in between are many people who have varying appetites for change but will make a change when they are convinced that it is worthwhile.

They see a change and are willing to be convinced, they usually need the big picture and sufficient details to see that the change is both beneficial and necessary.

Some people are change makers.

They are looking for opportunties.

They are never satisfeid with the status quo.

If there is a better way to do things, an opportunity for growth then they will seek out that change and go after it.

Embracing change and being comfortable in it is very dependent on our personality.

The Apostle Paul was someone who was a change maker.

He didn’t sit comfortably after Jesus confronted him on the road to Damascus.

He looked for opportunities.

The status quo was never going to cut it.

There were opportunities everywhere and he sought them out.

Paul had to be open to what God was up to

We read in Acts 16:6 to 10 that as Paul traveled he had a plan.

But God had other ideas and Paul and his companions had to be open to the opportunties that God was about to put before them.

Campbell Morgan wrote: ‘That invasion of Europe was not in the mind of Paul, but it was evidently in the mind of the Spirit.

It was from Europe that the gospel fanned out to the great continents of Africa, Asia, North America, Latin America and Oceania, and so reached the ends of the earth.’ (BST, Stott, The Message of Acts)

Paul had set out from Syrian Antioch, they had a plan to strengthen the churches already founded and to go and start new churches.

So he and his companions spent time first in Derbe and Lystra, and then in Iconium and Pisidian Antioch, which is probably what Luke meant by the region of Phrygia and Galatia. (BST, Stott, The Message of Acts)

But when they planned on going into the province of Asia we are told that the Spirit of God prevented them.

So they turned north and headed towards Mysia aiming to go to Bithynia on the southern shore of the Black Sea.

But again the Holy Spirit blocks their path.

They had come from the East, the South western and Northern routes were not open to them for some reason and the only way left is to go North west.

So they end up at the sea port of Troas.

How would you react if your plan had been to go to Toowoomba, but you get diverted to Canungra and then you find that you have to move on and head north only to end up in Nambour and then find that you can’t stay there and finally end up at Redcliffe.

Now I expect most of us would find this incredibly frustrating and we would fail to see God’s hand in it.

But Paul and his companions saw that God was up to something.

So far all of the leading had been negative.

Closed doors.

And Luke, who wrote Acts doesn’t even tell us how the doors were closed.

Was it through dreams, or sickness, or closed roads, or issues with the Jewish community driving them out of various towns or authorities hearing about the trouble that seemed to accompany Paul and his companions and banning them from their towns?

We don’t know

But doors were closed.

So Paul and his companions kept looking.

They kept on seeking opportunities.

They knew that God had something for them and they weren’t going to find it by doing nothing.

So they kept pushing on doors to see what would open.

God rewarded their desire to be change makers; he gave them an opportunity

God gave Paul a vision.

It was quite specific.

Acts 16:9 says “That night Paul had a vision: A man from Macedonia in northern Greece was standing there, pleading with him, “Come over to Macedonia and help us!””

So taking this as a clear cue from the Lord and being at the sea port of Troas they take the next ship heading to the province of Macedonia.

Which is modern day Greece.

A. T. Pierson in his The Acts of the Holy Spirit drew attention to what he called ‘the double guidance of the apostle and his companions’, namely, ‘on the one hand prohibition and restraint, on the other permission and constraint. They are forbidden in one direction, invited in another; one way the Spirit says “go not”; the other he calls “Come”.’ Pierson went on to give some later examples from the history of missions of this same ‘double guidance’: Livingstone tried to go to China, but God sent him to Africa instead. Before him, Carey planned to go to Polynesia in the South Seas, but God guided him to India. Judson went to India first, but was driven on to Burma. We too in our day, Pierson concludes, ‘need to trust him for guidance and rejoice equally in his restraints and constraints’. (Quoted in BST, Stott, The Message of Acts Pierson, pp. 120–122.)

Over and over again through the next few chapters we see opportunties come up that Paul and his companions grasp.

So they go looking for such an opportunity and they find it with people who were gathered for prayer in Acts 16:13 “ On the Sabbath we went a little way outside the city to a riverbank, where we thought people would be meeting for prayer, and we sat down to speak with some women who had gathered there.”

It was Paul’s normal practice to find a Synagogue and preach there.

But if there wasn’t a Synagogue they knew that Jews and God fearing Gentiles would often gather by a river on the outskirts of a city to pray.

So they go and look for this place of prayer.

They went looking for the opportunity.

And Lydia a wealthy mechant was converted.

Lydia provided a base for Paul and his companions in her home.

Other opportunities were sort of thrust upon them.

Such as the slave girl in Acts 16:16.

This wasn’t a pleasent experience.

In fact we read that Paul became so exasperated by her constantly following them and exclaiming that they had the message of salvation that Paul ordered the evil spirit to come out of her.

We are told that her master wasn’t happy because it was this evil spirit that enabled her to tell the future and this made her master a lot of money.

And it all went down hill from there with a beating and jail.

But that gave them another opportunity, which they grabbed quickly.

And it was fortunate for the jailer that they did as we read in Acts 16:27 that the jailer thought the prisoners had escaped when God sent an earthquake to free Paul and his companions.

The jailer knowing what awaited him if his prisoners escaped prefered to die at his own hand than at the hands of the authorities.

Paul saw the opportunity called out to the man and he and his household became believers.

Again we see in Acts 17 Paul and his companions creating opportunities by preaching in the Synagogue in Theealonica where they meet with some success and a lot of opposition.

They move onto Berea where Acts 17:11 says “And the people of Berea were more open-minded than those in Thessalonica, and they listened eagerly to Paul’s message. They searched the Scriptures day after day to see if Paul and Silas were teaching the truth.”

Many Jews and many of the Greek men and women believed.

Again trouble makers arrive and the new believers send Paul to the coast.

Paul moves onto Athens in Acts 17:15 and here he siezes another opportunity.

He preaches in the Synagogue and also debates with Greek philosophers.

This opens a door to speak to the city council.

And some believed.

Next in chapter 18 we find Paul and his companions move on to Corinth.

Once again Paul looks for opportunities and the Lord has big plans for this city.

Once again we see the provision of resources in the form of Aquila and Priscilla.

Their business was tentmaking and this provided Paul an opportunity to work in his trade which provided income.

We see people coming to Christ, including the leader of the Synagogue.

The doors were opened even further and the Lord enabled Paul to stay in Corinth for a considerable period

Acts 18:9–11 NLT

9 One night the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision and told him, “Don’t be afraid! Speak out! Don’t be silent! 10 For I am with you, and no one will attack and harm you, for many people in this city belong to me.” 11 So Paul stayed there for the next year and a half, teaching the word of God.

Even when some troublemakers amongst the Jews saw their opportunity to get rid of Paul when a new governor arrived in town the Lord protected him.

Grasping opportunties that present themselves has a way of creating more opportunities.

Paul saw the opportunity in becoming friends with Aquilla and Pricilla.

This created the opportunity for them to join him in Ephesus.

And it was in Ephesus that Pricilla and Aquilla were able to help Apollos with his understanding and this added another great preacher to the church.

We see the same seeking of opportunity again in Acts 19 as Paul travels through regions he has previously visited encouraging the churches he founded there and then he returns to Ephesus where he taught for two years.

Miracles, signs and wonders confirmed the truth of the Gospel in the eyes of the local population.

So much so that it had a major effect on the entire region.

So what are we to make of all this?

As I read through this weeks Fan the Flame devotions, which acompany this series, I was struck by the idea of grasping opportunities.

Some of us find this easier than others, that is OK we are all made differently.

But it struck me that churches are like people.

Some refuse to change prefering what they know.

Others are sadly so wrapped up in their own concerns that they miss the opportunities that God has put in front of them.

Some are bold and not only look for what God will do but have eyes that are open to grasp opportunities and as a result opportunities are dropped in their lap.

As for each of us individually so it is for the church everywhere in the world.

We need to be open to the opportunities that are out there.

Every great work of God has been through people who are open to grasping the opportunities that God presents and have a desire to be change makers

It seems that God honours those individuals and churches who are open, willing and desire to be change makers