Called By God, Commissioned By God's People

Introduction

The anticipation of something big happening is sometimes a bigger deal than the happening itself:

Slide at Great Wolf Lodge...

Other times, our anticipation is exactly right:

My Six Flags story...

In the case of the First Century church, they knew that God had called them to be a missional people, but they didn’t know what to anticipate. Yes, Jesus said they would be His witnesses to the ends of the earth, but they had no idea at this point that they were now on the cusp of the beginning of that mission.

This morning, we will jump into the text that is the jumping off point for the First Missionary Journey and the mission to the Gentiles.

As the modern church, we shouldn’t see this as simple history. No, in fact, this is the beginning of our mission as well. See, the mission to the ends of the earth begins in Acts, but it doesn’t end until the Gospel has been presented to everyone who needs to hear it. So, we need to see this as the beginning of our mission as well.

Body: Acts 13:1-3

Verse 1

The church of Antioch...

From this point forward, the church of Antioch will be the main sending church for the Christian movement...

This marks the beginning of the Gospel going to the “ends of the earth” with what is known now as the First Missionary Journey.

It cannot be overstated how important this would be for the church, as the Gospel will eventually become the most widespread religion in the world. It will begin here in Antioch.

prophets and teachers...

These men were the leaders in the church because the spoke the words of God boldly to God’s people (prophets) and taught the Gospel to people consistently with the intention that people would apply the teaching to every area of their lives (teachers).

One of the most fascinating aspects of the church was it’s diversity.

Barnabas

A Jewish Levite from Cyprus. He was likely the leader at this point and the man with the most seniority.

Simeon

Likely a black man from somewhere in Africa (Niger means “black”).

Lucius

A Roman from Cyrene in North Africa (modern-day Libya). It is possible that he was one of the men who first preached the Gospel in Antioch (Acts 11:20-21).

Manaen

A Jewish man who was closely associated with Herod Antipas. How he became a follower of Christ we do not know, but he is likely Luke’s main source of information on Herod Antipas.

Saul

The former Pharisee and persecutor of the church; a highly educating Jewish man from Tarsus.

Verse 2

While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting...

They were doing what believers do: worshiping and praying together.

Fasting is sometimes linked with prayer in Scripture. In this case, it is likely that the church was looking to hear something specific from God.

To fast is to deny one’s self of something, typically food, for a time in order to focus on seeking God’s guidance. Someone who is fasting is essentially practicing the discipline of self-denial, focusing on the fact that God is the one who truly sustains us, not simply food.

It continues to be a good discipline today...

...the Holy Spirit said...

This is a reminder that God is the one who calls His people to the work.

When serving the Lord, the only thing that can truly sustain is God’s call...

“Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.”

One of the most interesting aspects of this call is that God doesn’t tell them where they are going. They are willing wherever and whatever He is calling them to do.

This is attitude that all believers should have...

The “work” is revealed during the mission: Acts 14:26-27

Acts 14:26–27 “and from there they sailed to Antioch, where they had been commended to the grace of God for the work that they had fulfilled. And when they arrived and gathered the church together, they declared all that God had done with them, and how he had opened a door of faith to the Gentiles.”

Verse 3

...after fasting and praying...

Again, the church recognizes the seriousness of this call and want to devote themselves to seeking God’s blessing on Barnabas and Saul’s mission.

...laid their hands on them...

Laying on of hands is a way to say, “these ones go from us, with our blessing.”

While the church doesn’t call these men to the ministry, the church commissions them here, sending them out with their blessing with a commitment to support them.

So What?

God sends His followers to do the work of bringing the Gospel to people.

As I touched on earlier, it is vital that followers of Christ see themselves as called by God to the mission, not by a person, organization or church.

This is particularly true for people called to a special area of service (pastor, teacher, missionary, etc.).

If I am called by God, then it is God who I’m seeking to please, not people. It is God that I’m serving and what really matters is fulfilling the calling because God called me to the mission.

Outside of the special calling like these, the call of God is the driving force for all genuine believers, as our desire ought to always be to obey God.

I want to go and do what God calls me to do because He is worthy of my obedience and because I love Him...

Additionally, God is still sending His follower to do the work of bringing the Gospel to people.

The church is facing a quiet crisis not enough people know about. Fewer Christians are answering the call to serve the Lord as pastors of established churches. Fewer Christians than ever are answering the call to be full-time or part-time missionaries. Fewer Christians than ever before are willing to even share the Gospel with their neighbors. And Christians giving towards missionary work, while significant, is not keeping up with the population growth rate.

In fact, I saw the other day that for every $100,000 the average Christian makes, $1.83 goes to reach the unreached people groups of the world. That’s .00183%

If those same Christians gave $1.93 instead of $1.83, we could support 72,000 new missionaries.

If we all gave 1% of our income to reaching the unreached people groups, we could support 10 million missionaries.

My point is this: we must be an on-mission people: praying, giving and going to bring the Gospel to people.

I believe this with all my heart: If we are doing the work that God is calling us to do as a church, then someone here will eventually become a full-time missionary. Someone else will surrender to full-time Christian ministry. And, numerous people will go on a short-term mission project in the next five years.

Our church gives. Our church prays. But, is our church truly ready to go?

The responsibility of followers of Jesus is to be prepared for the work of bringing the Gospel to people.

The church in many ways is an armory: a place where believers come to get “rearmed” for the spiritual warfare that everyone is locked in, whether they know it or not.

The church is where we get built-up, encouraged, and prepared for the battles that will come.

This, it is our responsibility to become prepared for spiritual warfare.

How?

Gathering together consistently with other believers for worship and prayer.

Notice that the church in Antioch were gathered together when God called. It’s important to recognize that this isn’t the first time they gathered together. This was their habit.

And it was within this context that the Holy Spirit spoke through His people.

God intends for believers to gather together for worship and prayer as often as possible.

In fact, the writer of Hebrews articulates the reason we gather together:

Hebrews 10:24–25 “And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.”

We stir one another towards love and good works;

We encourage one another;

We anticipate our great future.

Learning as much as possible about the Gospel of Jesus so we can share it with others.

The ultimate goal of discipleship is to be ready when God calls, wherever He calls us to.

I often explain to people that one of my most important roles as pastor is as a teacher. We teach because it is vital that God’s people have an opportunity to learn.

Why do you say “about the Gospel”?

See, the Gospel isn’t simply our entry point into the church. The Gospel is our very life as believers.

It not only tells us how to be saved, it tells us how those who are saved are to live in light of what Jesus accomplished.

We strive to know the Gospel, but to also spend our lives understanding the implications of the Gospel in every area of our lives.

When God sends His followers to bring the Gospel to people, the church commissions them for the work.

Commissioning is a way of saying, “We commit to supporting you as you go out representing Christ and our Christian community.”

We support by praying...

We support financially...

We support by encouraging...

We support by responding to our own call...