What's it worth to ya?

Read

I. Paul decides that he needs to head out after the events of the last chapter

a. Remember the riot they faced?

i. It looks like Paul had had enough….and he was ready to move on.

ii. So he took off and went to Macedonia -- map

1. He likely spent a year in this area – going around to the different churches, and visiting them.

2. It’s believed…..that he wrote the book of 2 Corinthians on this leg of his trip.

b. He dropped in on the different churches in the area, encouraging them, and settled in Greece for about 3 months

i. It was during this time that he likely wrote the book of Romans

ii. He was intending to sail out of Corinth - -that great city by the sea…

I. Jesus is worth taking risks

I. Jesus is worth taking risks

a. Think about what Jesus gives us:

i.

Ephesians 1:3–4 ESV

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love

ii. THINK about that

iii. THINK about the goodness of God – of what he’s done for us

iv. Of what Jesus has done for us.

v.

Romans 5:8 ESV

but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

b. So….what do I mean by “risks”? to “take risks”?

i. Am I suggesting that we should go hang-gliding or bungee-jumping because of Jesus? -- NO…not quite….

c. To this point…..Paul had faced physical beatings over, death threats, insults, and more….

d. Here…we read that because of a Jewish plot against him, he headed back to the North

i. Did you Catch that? See the “ho-hum” way that Luke mentions that here?

ii. This sort of stuff is becoming kind of common-place, isn’t it?

1. Aren’t we blessed to live in a country where we can worship freely?

a. I pray we never get to the point where we simply mention off-hand…”There was a threat on the pastor’s life today…”

2. We STILL have the right to freely worship in America…..

3. Yet….less than 20% of Americans attend church on a given Sunday morning.

4. I wonder…..why do we see that sort of a trend in the US…..where in a country like North Korea where you can be killed for having a Bible in your home….

a. People willingly risk their lives to worship…while others have complete freedom to and don’t

b. It makes you wonder…….Why?

c. My only conclusion is that God is simply not important to many people

d. I don’t mean to beat anyone up…

i. But look at it this way:

1. Illustration: We bought a treadmill…thought we were going to be in SUCH GOOD SHAPE!

a. And we did…..a FEW times…

b. But it’s not important to us…..

e. It was important for Paul that he wanted to visit these churches and strengthen them

i. He routinely risked his life to preach the Gospel

ii. And it’s happened so often….Luke didn’t even want to waste the ink to write about what this plot was….

f. What are YOU willing to risk?

i. Are you willing to invite friends and family to church?

1. Why not?

2. Martin Luther: “Christ desires nothing more of us than that we speak of him”

a. I would add that we should have a walk that backs up the talk, as well….but we get the point!

ii. No—we won’t face the same persecution Paul did…..

1. But we may have to give something up for Jesus.

2. You may not realize the significance that you can have simply by asking a friend to come to church…

3. Or talking about how God has changed you

4. I am so thankful that as a teenager, a friend I worked with decided to talk about Jesus with me.

iii. Today…we see how important the Gospel of Jesus is to the early church.

II. Jesus is worth our time

II. Jesus is worth our time

i. A delegation of men from the area churches set off with Paul

1. Look at all of the churches that are represented: ( Map?)

a. The Berean church

b. The Thessalonian Church

c. The Derbe Church

d. The Asian churches

e. They were on their way to go to Jerusalem to deliver the offering that had been taken for the poor

f. These men went to wait in Troas

g. Paul, Luke, and maybe some others waited behind and were going to go meet them there

2. This wasn’t just a small thing….

a. There were MANY people represented in this delegation…

b. This was something this group of men were committed to – they wanted to see the Gospel of Jesus increase

ii. When they get to Troas, they stayed for 7 days.

1. Show map – where Troas is again

2. Some theologians speculate that the reason that Paul stayed here while the others went on was because he wanted to be with them for a Sunday church service

3. He was in a hurry to get to Jerusalem, yet he put the Gospel – and the Sunday Church service first….it was what was important to him

iii. You realize that?

1. Paul was in a hurry to get to Jerusalem….but he put church FIRST

2. It’s interesting…..I had lunch with some area pastors this past week…

a. One thing we talked about was how EVERY church in the area seems to be seeing less attendance lately….

b. Why is that?

iv. Do things get in the way of you attending church?

1. I’m not talking about missing an occasional Sunday because you have something going on – things happen.

2. I’m not talking about missing an occasional Sunday morning because you have to be out of town

3. If you know me, you know that I will tell you that you don’t have to be in church every single time the doors are open – it’s OK to miss church a OCCASIONALLY…..

v. But is it important to you that you come to church? Is it something that we believe is worth investing our time in?

1. I heard someone say once…”You find time to do the things that are important to you”

a. What’s important to you?

vi. For Paul…it was Jesus….and Sunday morning worship.

vii. In the first century, we see that it was apparently a very common thing for people to meet on Sunday for church

1. Not unlike today—we attend church on Sunday.

a. They did this because Sunday was the day that Jesus rose from the dead…

i. They did it to celebrate the resurrection

ii. And the tradition stuck….so we do it today

2. A difference though….you may not realize…..there was not a 2 day weekend then

a. People took the Sabbath off of work

i. The Sabbath was Saturday – the 7th day of the week

b. They would go back to work on Sunday

3. So…the early church would meet on Sunday NIGHT …AFTER they got off of work

a. Here…..Paul is in town for a Sunday evening meeting – and he gets to preach!

III. Jesus is worth staying awake

III. Jesus is worth staying awake

i. This one is said kind of tongue in cheek….

1. Read

ii. Look at the events that happened here.

1. V. 8 says there were many lamps in the room

a. Maybe they were torches…..

b. Maybe they were lanterns of sorts….

c. There was:

i. Open flames warming up the place

ii. There was possibly a smoky atmosphere, low-oxygen levels

iii. It was a warm night…

iv. Paul had been going for 3….4….5….6….hours (you think I preach a long sermon???? J )

v. It was probably well-past the young man’s bedtime

vi. Young Eutychus sits in the window to get some fresh air

1. And…..he falls asleep and goes RIGHT out the window

2. This is horrible!

3. This boy fell out of the window…and died

a. Some people will say that the wording used here means that he was just unconscious….maybe severely injured…..

b. But did you know…Luke, who wrote this….was a physician

i. He PROBABLY knew how to diagnose if a person had died or not

ii. He could probably tell if the kid had just gotten knocked cold…

c. Luke also made the point that it was a 3rd story window….that’s up there a ways

i. That would probably cause death

ii. I don’t know that there would REALLY BE a lot of doubt here

d. There really is no doubt…This young man died here…..

2. (Now…I KNOW something like this would NEVER happen here…..

a. Do THESE windows open…. )

iii. The point of this story though, is not about falling asleep…

1. I’m not going to chastise anyone here for occasionally dozing off as I get long-winded – or “resting your eyes”

a. Truth be told—I’m glad you ‘re here!

i. I’d rather you be here and maybe doze off…..than to not get out of bed at all!

ii. If you call yourself a Christian…you should want to gather with your brothers and sisters in church!

iv. The point of this story isn’t REALLY even about the fact that we should stay up late at night and risk falling out of windows to hear it

1. The point of this story is that God is THAT good

2. This kid was dead.

a. Not sleeping

b. Not unconscious

c. Not sick

d. He was dead

e. And God did a miracle that day – and raised him up alive.

3. Jesus is THAT POWERFUL

4. Jesus is THAT GOOD

5. And their faith was that great

a. They took the young man back up to the room…and waited for God to work

6. When tough times come…..

a. When the going gets tough…

b. When money gets short…

c. When things get difficult…

d. When sickness comes…

e. When we struggle with life…

f. Why don’t we wait for God to work?

i. Why do we instead try to figure out how we’re going to solve it?

ii. Do we believe God is going to work in the situation?

g. The text actually says that Paul went up, had a small meal with them, and they continued on until daybreak!

i. Thankfully…..there wasn’t any more incidents like that.

h. I know there are some folks that are checking their watches at 11:30….so I was GOING TO make a joke about staying until midnight if anyone falls asleep J

7. Jesus is that good, though.

III. So let’s recap:

a. Jesus worth taking risks for

b. Jesus is worth your time

c. Jesus is worth staying awake for

i. (Wait………/) Jesus is THAT good

ii. Now….let’s be honest here…..I know that not everyone walks in here each week and they’re just happy to be happy and are thrilled to be in church again

1. Right?

2. There are times when you come to church, you’re not REALLY all that into it…

3. Maybe you’re thinking to yourself, “Wow….wish I could have THAT type of faith….

4. Have you asked God to strengthen your faith and give you the desire?

a. Have you prayed to ask him to change your heart?

b. Have you taken the next step in your faith….maybe started attending a Bible study?

i. We meet every Wednesday night for church….

1. We usually sing a few hymns…

2. WE look to God’s Word….

3. We always have a GREAT discussion……

ii. We’re discussing the idea of starting some small groups next month….

1. Do you want to get to know God deeper?

2. Do you want to get to know some other PEOPLE more?

3. Do you want to grow deeper in your faith and build REAL relationships with others believers?

4. That’s what the idea of small groups is about…

a. When you can sit and discuss REAL issues of life with other believers…..

b. THAT is where we grow in our faith

5. How about personal prayer time?

6. Study?

7. Do you spend time with God every day?

a. Do you pray every day?

8. God asks us to come to him

9. THINK about that---The God of the universe INVITES us to come to him – to draw near to him.

iii. What’s stopping you?

1. What’s stopping US from seeking Jesus, and from telling the WORLD about him?

So my challenge to you today?

iv. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you

James 4:8 ESV

Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

1. Jesus really IS that good.

Jesus is worth our all.

Jesus is worth our all

Have you drawn close to Jesus? I challenge you today to seek after him. If there has never been a point in your life where you have intentionally trusted Christ….what’s stopping you today?

Is he like that $2 hot dog? Or is he so much more valuable?

What’s he WORTH to you?

Pray