The Adventure of a Life Time (Revised)

Greeting

Good morning Lighthouse Church!

Well, I am excited to continue this series, Growing Pain. I have to admit, last week I was preaching on a sore throat, a lot of ministry heading into Sunday and not feel like I was at my best. But you all, let me tell you… I came in tired but was so energized by your worship and your smiles.

I’m feeling great today and I’m ready to preach a message that I tried to preach earlier this year.

How many of you came to Date Night?

OK, so I was supposed to be the closing speaker, and we were running late and I could read the room. They caterers were baking pizza and I knew I needed to cut my message really short. So I did.

Today, I’m going to try and preach that entire message and not compete with pizza makers outside. So, let’ go.

[Pray]

Image

This summer I have had the pleasure of watching my two sons get ready for their Fall football season.

If you have no context for what is required to start a football season there is a process.

Long before they put on helmets and pads there is mandatory conditioning. If a kid misses any of the mandatory sessions, he doesn’t get to put the gear on, he has to make up the time. He can’t get into pads, and certainly won’t see any time on the field until the conditioning is done.

After the conditioning, then they put the pads on.

But they don’t start hitting each other just yet. With their pads on, they have to learn how to hit. So they hit the bags and the sleighs and all the other equipment that is designed to teach them how to hit with their gear on.

Then, they start to hit each other.

They don’t run to Oklahoma drills week one, they build up to the drills.

Then, they start learning the play book. The line starts to drill their plays and pulling and the pushing and the whole team is learning to work together as one.

Every practice the coaches are teaching these kids their team values, because each team plays a certain way.

So they’re learning a whole lot, so that they can finally get to game day…

Now, just imagine for a second, that a football team goes through all of the off season and pre season workouts, and then they learn the plays, and they gel as a team, and then right when the season starts the Coach says, “All right men… that was fun. Season over. We’ll do it again next year.”

That’s crazy right.

Everything that they did was to prepare them to play the game.

The point isn’t practice, the point is the actual game.

Everything culminated in actually playing a game… that makes sense right?

Subject

Now in that example, I see a picture of marriage.

Not in the sense of sweaty football players, but a strong and healthy marriage does feel like a strong team.

Yes, they are your best friend, but one word that I use often to describe marriage a team. There’s team work involved.

We need a vision for our marriage.

We need to be aligned in our marriage.

We have to have strong communication in our marriage.

And all of these are the absolutely necessary for a marriage to thrive.

But what I want to ask the room is, what are we aligning for?

Meaning, let’s say you build a really great team. You have a incredible vision, alignment, and culture. You can go and accomplish ANYTHING you set your mind to do…

So let me ask, what is it that you are setting your mind to do?

What’s the big thing that you are chasing after?

Alignment matters to the degree that we are actually going somewhere.

So the question is, where are we, as a marriage and as a family, going?

Need

Perhaps you’ve never heard of this kind of language when it comes to marriage and family, but I think it is a real need.

I think there are a lot of marriages that have gone stale…

They built this strong team, and once the kids are gone and once they’ve grown and no longer need Mom and Dad, purpose is missing from the home.

We have couples who aren’t exactly thriving in their marriage, they’re just kind of on auto pilot and that’s a real dangerous place to be.

I think that when marriage gets stale, couples start to get distracted.

So I think there’s a real need for what I want to share with you today, and when I want to show you is another way to approach marriage.

To do that, we’re going to look at a couple and they’ll be an archetype for what your marriage and your family can be.

The Adventure of a Life Time

The Text

Let me introduce you to this couple.

Acts 18:1–4 NIV

After this, Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. There he met a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had ordered all Jews to leave Rome. Paul went to see them, and because he was a tentmaker as they were, he stayed and worked with them. Every Sabbath he reasoned in the synagogue, trying to persuade Jews and Greeks.

We’re going to spend our time looking at this power couple, Priscilla and Aquila.

What do we know about them?

They were early followers of Jesus who lived in Rome. They were a part of the early and growing church. History tells us that in time, the Emperor Claudius demanded all of the Jews to leave Rome for a period of five years. We not only read this in the Bible, but you can read this in history books as well. The Jews were forced to leave in a political effort by Claudius to rebuild Rome.

This couple left and established themselves in Corinth, and while Paul was on his second missionary journey, he travels to Corinth after leaving Greece, and there he meets Priscilla and Aquila.

I want you to see what happens here… when this couple met Paul, they immediately saw the grace of God on his life and they leverage their business to support Him, and their home to begin a house church.

Was it risky? Absolutely! Look at Paul’s track record…. in just the previous chapter, Acts 17, Paul has to leave Thessalonica because a mob tried to kill him there.

And yet, here is this beautiful, God-fearing couple, that says, Paul you can stay here with us. You can work in our business. You can preach in the synagogues on weekends, and we’ll open up our home for the cause of Jesus Christ.

APPLICATION

I believe just as God used this couple to propel Paul and the advancement of the Gospel, we need marriages built on values, vision, and alignment, and are throwing themselves into the advancement of the church.

Families who don’t see their homes just as their residence, but a training ground for the next generation.

Families who don’t see the opening of their homes for small groups as an imposition, but their reasonable service unto God.

Families who don’t just treat their resources and their tithes as a line item on their family budget, but from what everything God has given them, they leverage it to advance the church.

Priscilla and Aquila were business owners, and yet they knew that who they were was more important than what they did. As a matter of fact, they used what they did to fund who they were.

They were followers of Jesus and were committed to advancing the Kingdom of God.

[Transition]

Let’s read some more about this Bible’s original power couple.

Acts 18:18–19 NIV

Paul stayed on in Corinth for some time. Then he left the brothers and sisters and sailed for Syria, accompanied by Priscilla and Aquila. Before he sailed, he had his hair cut off at Cenchreae because of a vow he had taken. They arrived at Ephesus, where Paul left Priscilla and Aquila. He himself went into the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews.

When Paul established the church in Corinth he knew that he needed to keep advancing the gospel so he travels to and he plants the church in Ephesus.

Who sold everything and went with him?

Priscilla and Aquila.

The couple that opened up their doors to Paul and supported Paul would pack up everything and go.

[Transition]

You need to know that churches are built on the “yeses” of not just the Pastors, but also the people who leave everything and go.

When I think back to the Summer and Fall of 2018, I have the fondest memories of building a team that would leave it all to come and help build Lighthouse Church.

God graced us, and we were able to build a team of 74 adults who were willing to not just take a chance on Jesus, but also on Joanna and I. Yes, there is a component that we are following the leading of God.

We pray. We seek wise counsel.

But we also say yes to the people that God has placed to lead that church.

74 said yes…

Today, we are seeing close to 500 people a Sunday come to church.

We did church in a theatre, we did church in a warehouse, we did church in a parking lot, we did church in a tent, and now here we are chasing what God has for us.

But it took families willing to say ‘yes’.

I want you to hear me…

When you’ve said yes to mission of the church, sometimes God will take you and use you in some of the most incredible ways!

Priscilla and Aquila said yes, and they left it all ONCE AGAIN to go and follow Paul and build the church.

[Transition]

We’ve got one more story to tell about this couple in Acts 18.

Let’s read Acts 18:24-28

Acts 18:24–28 NIV

Meanwhile a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was a learned man, with a thorough knowledge of the Scriptures. He had been instructed in the way of the Lord, and he spoke with great fervor and taught about Jesus accurately, though he knew only the baptism of John. He began to speak boldly in the synagogue. When Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they invited him to their home and explained to him the way of God more adequately. When Apollos wanted to go to Achaia, the brothers and sisters encouraged him and wrote to the disciples there to welcome him. When he arrived, he was a great help to those who by grace had believed. For he vigorously refuted his Jewish opponents in public debate, proving from the Scriptures that Jesus was the Messiah.

At the time of this passage of scripture Paul has already moved on once again, and he asked this couple to watch over the church in Ephesus. While there Apollos passes through, and he was impressive. This man could preach. He could reason the scriptures. He was a Jesus follower and making an impact, much like Paul, but his theology was off a bit.

Notice who steps in to disciple this young man?

Priscilla and Aquila.

They brought him into their home, and they taught him the gospel.

We can read between the lines here that they weren’t the ones with the preaching gift on their life. They weren’t the ones carrying the gifting of Paul. But they didn’t try to be. They knew their place was to use their marriage, their experience and their resources to the glory of God.

And Apollos was so eloquent and so used by God, that later on an entire church would prefer Apollos over Paul. That’s saying A LOT about the depth of Apollos.

[Transition]

Many times I’ll hear men and women say, “Let’s have a Pastor handle this,” or, “we need to call the Pastor.”

Notice that Aquila and Priscilla see Apollos and simply said, “Why don’t you come spend some time with us at our home…”

It doesn’t take a ministerial license.

It doesn’t take a doctorate in divinity.

It takes a couple, a family, that is completely sold out to the mission of the church to say we will see the need and meet the need, for the glory of God.

Summary

Let me close my time together by asking the room, is your marriage on mission right now?

There has to be more than working, paying taxes, taking our kids to all of their activities, and an occasional date night.

Maybe God’s vision for marriage is MORE than this.

God’s vision for marriage is an adventure to be lived!

So yes, we need alignment and vision, and everything we talked about is critical. But what are we going to do with our marriages that brings God glory and gives purpose to our lives?

Earlier we talked about “All That Remains” as a north star for our church. There is a season that your children will consume your time, but when they out grow that season, what is the adventure that God is calling the two of you to?

Perhaps our marriages do get stale because we don’t ever leave the convenient and comfortable.

But I believe purpose and fulfillment is found in the adventure of our marriage.

Call

I have some next steps, and we’re going to make a call today.

First, next month we launch our Connect Groups and we need more families to lead a group, or open their homes to lead a group. Is there an Aquila or a Priscilla here that want’s to say yes to using their homes so that people will encounter Jesus? If so, please let us know. We have a solid foundation, but we need more families willing to say yes.

Second, we launch our Lighthouse Leadership College next month, and in this college we equip men and women for ministry. There is the full time college track with SEU, but there is also the Certificate program where you come just one night a week. Just one night a week to grow in your knowledge of the Word of God and prepare yourself to be lead here in the church. There is still time to sign up and we would love to see another 10 people join our cohort that is forming.

To say yes to either of these, please go to the start here canopy after service so that we can lead you to your next step.

Now, let’s close by asking if there is anyone who would like to commit their life to Jesus.