Proclaim the Gospel
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Last week we heard Jesus’ words saying ‘every scribe who has been trained for the Kingdom of Heaven is like a master of a house, who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old.’ (Mt 13:52)
And we heard Him command, with all authority, to make disciples; going, baptizing, and teaching obedience to His commands.
I challenged you with the question “are you ready?”
Throughout this week I’ve been dealing with some anxiety.
How do you teach a “mission trip”?
usually you do much of this in a small group setting, with discussion and Q&A, and at a different time than Sunday morning worship service.
I wrestled with thoughts like …
I know we’ll need to address the “big topics of the day”; Abortion, SOGI, racism, oppression, injustice, …
then there’s families and all the various struggles and brokenness experienced by so many
and then the poor, needy, sick, imprisoned, addicts, abused, enslaved, …
and on top of that all the struggles of isolation, worry, and grief caused by CoVid.
as my mind swirled with all of that and my heart was heavy considering the souls behind those ‘topics’ …
of course the next thought that came to mind is “yeah Derek, and you get to teach the church how to speak truth, grace, forgiveness, and healing in all those areas!”
followed by “but God, I don’t know the answers to all that”
followed by God laughing!!
Are you ready?
As I searched the Word and meditated on It (while diggin’ in the dirt!) my thoughts were drawn to the first church.
When I considered the beginnings of the early church, in Acts, I saw them coming together, sharing with one another, encouraging one another, praying and taking communion together, and soaking in the teaching of the Apostles.
We’re even told they met daily in the temple and ate in one another’s homes
The community of the Church became the place to be! And not just on Sundays!
yes, they came together for a focused time of prayer and praise to the LORD each Sunday, but life wasn’t lived only on Sunday mornings.
They came together to encourage and strengthen one another TO GO out the rest of the week.
They came together to collectively use their resources, creativity, skills, and gifts.
Some served, some gave, some taught; ALL gave witness to Christ
All in a collective effort to carry out the great commission; make disciples
And I thought about how the ‘meeting every need’ and ‘having everything in common’ is a radical change from the surrounding culture.
also noting: these are the actions of those who are new creations, those with transformed hearts and minds, those who have put their faith in Jesus, were baptized, and are living guided and empowered by the Holy Spirit.
These are the actions of those who knew what they had received, they had received freely, therefore they were freely giving.
These are the actions of those who believed that God is faithful.
Acts doesn’t tell us of a people fighting for social justice, or a people who just wanted to be ‘good neighbors’.
These were people in love with God. These are people who know the love of God through Jesus Christ.
These are a transformed and focused people! They are the Church!
Those words ‘you have been trained’ continued to echo in my thoughts.
So, I came in and grabbed my Bible and began reading again about the early church.
I want to share some thoughts that jumped out to me.
Acts
He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
They would receive power, the promised Holy Spirit. That power would help them ‘be His witnesses’
All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.
While they waited to more clearly see their mission, they gathered together and devoted themselves to prayer.
I’m sure this prayer was prayer anchored in the Truth of Jesus’ words and followed the frame work that Jesus taught them
to the Father, the One and only true God, almighty YHWH
may His will be done
His will FIRST
Peter tells us that God’s desire is that all should reach repentance;
God’s will is that all would come to know Him and the power of His salvation in Christ Jesus
then, for their daily needs
Through prayer they choose one to take the place of Judas as an Apostle; one who has been a witness from Jesus’ baptism to His ascension.
The Holy Spirit comes and they proclaim the Gospel message!
Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.”
They went, they proclaimed the Gospel, ...
the people were ‘cut to the heart’
Peter didn’t call out all their sin, he didn’t condemn them.
he knew Jesus’ teaching regarding the Holy Spirit
And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.
it is the Holy Spirit’s job to convict the world of their sin, not ours.
they didn’t go out and take care of everyone’s need or tell them how to solve all the injustices they faced.
instead Peter preached repentance saying, …
And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.”
this is the first steps
believe Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God who came in the flesh to die for our sins, and being raised again to life and exalted in glory, gives us life. He now sits at the right hand of the throne of God interceding for us.
believing, trusting, and obeying we are to repent
quit living according to our own desires or the ways of the world; turn and follow YHWH.
then join Jesus in His death, burial, and resurrection through baptism, receiving forgiveness of sins and the gift of the Holy Spirit.
As I kept reading, many were baptized
then we read of their fellowship and new life together.
Continuing to read through Acts, I continued to see this pattern;
Prayer, proclaiming the Gospel (repentance and accepting Jesus as Lord and Savior)
Acts 3:1 - going up to the temple at the hour of prayer
where on the way they didn’t have money, but gave what they had, the healing of the gospel.
When faced with persecution, the church prayed for boldness to share the Gospel and praised God as many continued to come to Christ and were baptized.
they called the people and the leaders to repent.
they stood on the sovereignty of God and continued to preach and the Church continued to pray for boldness
we read of the great love shown by many such as Barnabas, the son of encouragement
and of putting the LORD to the test as Ananias and Sapphira did
We continue to see this cycle of prayer and proclaiming the gospel throughout beginning of Acts.
In fact, this dominates the actions of the first church all they way through being scattered by persecution in chapter 8.
We are told of the churches fellowship and care for one another and those around them, but we see the focus is on teaching repentance and salvation in Jesus Christ
the care and fellowship became natural actions flowing out of transformed lives.
the care for one another and our community not only helps remove obstacles from people seeing Christ’s love …
it also PROVES the words of the Lord faithful and true.
we care and give to one another because we know it is all His, given to us for His glory.
We know these needs are temporary to this life.
We know the LORD knows what you need, promises to provide, and says seek Him first.
We confidently serve others because we KNOW God is faithful AND we believe and trust Him.
Although we need to take measures, plan and provide care for those in various needs, our first step is to pray and share the Gospel.
You may not have all the answers to the ‘big topics’ but you know the Gospel.
In reading again about the first church, it’s clear we are not called to ‘fix’ people or alleviate all their struggles.
We ARE called to share Jesus, who can ‘fix’/transform their lives.
Then we walk beside them, helping them keep their eyes fixed on the Author and Perfecter of our faith, Jesus.
Pray to the Lord of the Harvest
Sending out the 12 Apostles into the mission field, Jesus said …
Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”
Again, as He sent out 72 into the mission field, He said …
And he said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.
And while looking out over the fields at the crowds of Samaritans coming out to Him, Jesus said …
Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, then comes the harvest’? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest. Already the one who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. For here the saying holds true, ‘One sows and another reaps.’ I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor.”
There’s work to be done; spreading the seed, the Word of God.
Many have begun and are continuing this work.
Some of the wheat is already ripe for harvest.
Are you ready to join them?