The Mission Trip Continues
Acts • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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This morning we continue on with Paul and Barnabas’s first mission trip
We come into Acts 14
There are 2 things we are going to highlight in this particular chapter
1 In Iconium they entered the synagogue of the Jews together, and spoke in such a manner that a large number of people believed, both of Jews and of Greeks. 2 But the Jews who disbelieved stirred up the minds of the Gentiles and embittered them against the brethren. 3 Therefore they spent a long time there speaking boldly with reliance upon the Lord, who was testifying to the word of His grace, granting that signs and wonders be done by their hands. 4 But the people of the city were divided; and some sided with the Jews, and some with the apostles. 5 And when an attempt was made by both the Gentiles and the Jews with their rulers, to mistreat and to stone them, 6 they became aware of it and fled to the cities of Lycaonia, Lystra and Derbe, and the surrounding region; 7 and there they continued to preach the gospel.
Paul and Barnabas are in the middle of their mission trip
If you will recall last week we talked about what their job on a mission trip was
They were to proclaim the Gospel Message
Here we see them going just that
To proclaim the Gospel Message
They showed up and shared the Gospel Message
They are sharing Hope
Church do you understand that in the midst of living our life on mission for the Glory of God
We are called and commanded to share the Gospel
Do you know what happens when we share the Gospel
People get saved when we share the Gospel
We see a large number of people are getting saved because they are sharing the Gospel
The Gospel church is not a script of a message we share with people
But the Gospel is hope for the lost and broken people
I am here to tell that the world is very lost and very broken and very very much in need of the hope that you and I have
Just last week
A pastor friend of mine did 2 funerals one for a 6th grader who committed suicide and one for a 5th grader who attempted a tik tok challenge and died
Just this last week I heard of 2 other young people who attempted suicide
Do you hear me that people are lost
I am sure you know people who are lost or who are broken or church I am sure you know people are hurting
And our job church is to share the Hope we have in Jesus
The hope is found in the Blood of Jesus
5 For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection, 6 knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin;
That we are no longer slaves to the sin in our lives
The hope is found in the cross that is paying for you debt of sin
That you and I no longer have to deal with the death and destruction of sin
The hope is that Jesus came to take all the junk and deal with it so you didn’t have it
The struggle God has come and has dealt with you can be set free
I need you to understand that our current society wants instantaneous freedom from the junk and don’t want to put the work into being set free because it is hard and difficult to walk with Jesus
But church because it leads to true freedom it is well worth it
There is true freedom found in Christ
Everything else is false
And because church Jesus promised the Holy Spirit to walk with you through this thing called life
Like I have been extremely blessed to have family and friends with me as I walk through Christ and even in the midst of all that
I still desperately need Jesus to get me through each and everyday
There is hope that Jesus walks with you
8 “The Lord is the one who goes ahead of you; He will be with you. He will not fail you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.”
The Hope is that as you walk through life with Jesus
Jesus does lie
That as you go out we can rest in the fact and truth that He goes before us and He goes with us
That as you go to work tomorrow
Maybe you just recently graduated and you are off into the new chapter of your life
Maybe you go into work tomorrow like normal
To know and rest in the fact that Jesus goes before us and with us as we go about our life
Because of the promise I have because I have a personal relationship with Christ
That Jesus sent us the Holy Spirit
26 “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.
Jesus gave us the Holy Spirit
There is hope in knowing that
There is hope in having the Holy Spirit with us as we go about our day
That He comforts us
And if you watch the news or spend time around people you know that people need comfort
The comfort this world has to offer is fleeting
We can help introduce Jesus the one true comforter to people by sharing the Gospel
Sharing the hope that we have inside
That is what we are called to do
To share the hope of salvation with lost and broken people
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
This is the hope we are to share with people
This is the Gospel Message we are to proclaim with those who come into our lives
The people you around you need need to hear the hope that you have in Christ
This is what Paul and Barnabas were sharing and see the result
We have people who we know are lost and broken
We know they need the hope of Jesus
The hope that says Jesus won’t leave you
The hope says that Jesus defeated death once in for all that we no longer have to deal with things of death
See people of the world think death in final for a Christian
John MacArthur - “All death can do to the believer is to deliver him to Jesus”
Paul and Barnabas go about sharing the Gospel Message with people who are broken and hurting
They do this because they have been so changed by the Gospel personally that they can’t help but tell people about it
They continue traveling and sharing the Gospel
People are getting saved and those who are denying Jesus are getting so upset to the point they stone Paul
Does that stop Paul
Nope because He desires to see people come to know Christ personally
He knows they are so hurting and broken that he doesn’t take it as they are rejecting him
He knows they are rejecting Christ
And yet church they continue to share the Gospel
21 After they had preached the gospel to that city and had made many disciples, they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch, 22 strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying, “Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.” 23 When they had appointed elders for them in every church, having prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord in whom they had believed.
They go back and encourage those people they had shared the Gospel with
They have shared the Gospel now they are helping those who have believed in Jesus to continue to grow in Christ
They are discipling them in Christ
They are spending time praying with them and there is that problem word we don’t necessary like
The fasting
They spent time praying and fasting with them
They spent time worshipping God
They spent time encouraging them
Do we see the application church
18 And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
No only are we called to share the Gospel with people
To share the hope we have in Christ Jesus
Then we are to spend time encouraging them after they have come to know Christ personally
And church as we have seen people are lost, people are broken, and people are hurting
And we have and know personally the answer to their being lost, to their being broken, and to their hurting
So church as we come to a close this morning
The band is going to come up
If you don’t know Jesus personally I would encourage you to come and speak with someone about knowing Jesus personally
Maybe you need to spend sometime in prayer
The alter is open
