The Christian Mission is God’s Mission

Introduction

When you talk about the gospel or Jesus or Christianity, how does your version of the story begin?

Do you start with creation?

Do you start with the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem?

Do you start with your own life and experience?

This morning we’re going to read about how the earliest Christians shared the message of the gospel when called upon to do it.

This is a continuation of Paul’s first missionary journey, which began at the start of Acts 13.

Let’s read the passage out loud together, and then I’ll aim to explain it afterward.

Scripture Reading

Acts 13:13–52 (ESV)

13 Now Paul and his companions set sail from Paphos and came to Perga in Pamphylia. And John left them and returned to Jerusalem, 14 but they went on from Perga and came to Antioch in Pisidia.

And on the Sabbath day they went into the synagogue and sat down. 15 After the reading from the Law and the Prophets, the rulers of the synagogue sent a message to them, saying, “Brothers, if you have any word of encouragement for the people, say it.”

16 So Paul stood up, and motioning with his hand said: “Men of Israel and you who fear God, listen.

17 The God of this people Israel chose our fathers and made the people great during their stay in the land of Egypt, and with uplifted arm he led them out of it. 18 And for about forty years he put up with them in the wilderness.

19 And after destroying seven nations in the land of Canaan, he gave them their land as an inheritance. 20 All this took about 450 years. And after that he gave them judges until Samuel the prophet.

21 Then they asked for a king, and God gave them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years. 22 And when he had removed him, he raised up David to be their king, of whom he testified and said, ‘I have found in David the son of Jesse a man after my heart, who will do all my will.’

23 Of this man’s offspring God has brought to Israel a Savior, Jesus, as he promised.

24 Before his coming, John had proclaimed a baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel. 25 And as John was finishing his course, he said, ‘What do you suppose that I am? I am not he. No, but behold, after me one is coming, the sandals of whose feet I am not worthy to untie.’

26 “Brothers, sons of the family of Abraham, and those among you who fear God, to us has been sent the message of this salvation.

27 For those who live in Jerusalem and their rulers, because they did not recognize him nor understand the utterances of the prophets, which are read every Sabbath, fulfilled them by condemning him. 28 And though they found in him no guilt worthy of death, they asked Pilate to have him executed. 29 And when they had carried out all that was written of him, they took him down from the tree and laid him in a tomb.

30 But God raised him from the dead, 31 and for many days he appeared to those who had come up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are now his witnesses to the people.

32 And we bring you the good news that what God promised to the fathers, 33 this he has fulfilled to us their children by raising Jesus, as also it is written in the second Psalm, “ ‘You are my Son, today I have begotten you.’

34 And as for the fact that he raised him from the dead, no more to return to corruption, he has spoken in this way, “ ‘I will give you the holy and sure blessings of David.’ 35 Therefore he says also in another psalm, “ ‘You will not let your Holy One see corruption.’ 36 For David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, fell asleep and was laid with his fathers and saw corruption, 37 but he whom God raised up did not see corruption.

38 Let it be known to you therefore, brothers, that through this man forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, 39 and by him everyone who believes is freed from everything from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses.

40 Beware, therefore, lest what is said in the Prophets should come about: 41 “ ‘Look, you scoffers, be astounded and perish; for I am doing a work in your days, a work that you will not believe, even if one tells it to you.’ ”

42 As they went out, the people begged that these things might be told them the next Sabbath. 43 And after the meeting of the synagogue broke up, many Jews and devout converts to Judaism followed Paul and Barnabas, who, as they spoke with them, urged them to continue in the grace of God. 44 The next Sabbath almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord.

45 But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and began to contradict what was spoken by Paul, reviling him. 46 And Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly, saying, “It was necessary that the word of God be spoken first to you. Since you thrust it aside and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we are turning to the Gentiles. 47 For so the Lord has commanded us, saying, “ ‘I have made you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.’ ”

48 And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord, and as many as were appointed to eternal life believed. 49 And the word of the Lord was spreading throughout the whole region.

50 But the Jews incited the devout women of high standing and the leading men of the city, stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and drove them out of their district.

51 But they shook off the dust from their feet against them and went to Iconium. 52 And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.

Main Point

The mission of Christians in the world is the continuation of God’s mission in this world from the beginning - to bring sinners into the kingdom of Jesus Christ by grace through faith.

Message

The Mission Continues (v13-15)

Moving on from Cyprus to Pamphylia and Pisidia

Paul and Barnabas (traveling along with at least John, and maybe also Luke and/or some others) had finished their preaching and teaching mission on the island of Cyprus, and they arrived first in “Perga,” a port city on the southern end of “Pamphylia” (v13).

Luke says almost nothing about their time there, except that “John [Mark] left them and returned to Jerusalem” (v13).

This will become a note to remember later on in the story of Acts.

Then, Paul and Barnabas traveled [by foot? by donkey?] more than 100 miles north, to a city called “Antioch” (v14)… not the Antioch in Syria, but the “Antioch in Pisidia” (v14).

The Mission and Motive

This Antioch was the military and political center of the Galatian province.

It’s possible that Sergius Paulus (the proconsul of Cyprus) had family there.

And there was probably a large Jewish population there.

Any one or all of these reasons may have motivated Paul and Barnabas, since their primary goal was to preach the gospel far and wide… first to the Jew and also to the Greek/Gentile (Rom. 1:16).

And that’s why Paul and Barnabas “went into the synagogue” on “the Sabbath day” (v14).

And, we’re told that “After the reading from the Law and the Prophets [a common way of referring to the Old Testament Scriptures], the rulers of the synagogue sent a message to them, saying, ‘Brothers [fellow Jews, descendants of Abraham], if you have any word of encouragement for the people, say it’” (v15).

Preaching Christ from the Old Testament (v16-37)

Listen to the way a Christian uses the Old Testament to preach the gospel!

God created and established a people

Having been invited to speak, Paul started on common ground.

“Men of Israel and you who fear God” (v16)

The synagogue was mostly Jews, but there were some Gentiles who lived as God-fearers, adopting Jewish culture and especially key aspects of the Mosaic covenant.

v17 “The God of this people Israel chose our fathers [i.e., Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob] and made the people great during their stay in the land of Egypt [despite slavery and oppression, the people of Israel grew great in number], and with uplifted arm he [God] led them out of it.”

This is a quick summary of the books of Genesis and Exodus.

v18 “And for about forty years he [God] put up with them [the rebellious people of Israel] in the wilderness.”

This refers to what is recorded in Deuteronomy 1-2.

The people of Israel refused to enter the Promised Land, and God sent them out into the wilderness to wander around (though God preserved them every step of the way) until every adult Israelite who had been alive that day to disobey was dead.

v19 “And after destroying seven nations in the land of Canaan, he [God] gave them their land as an inheritance [that’s the book of Joshua]. 20a All this took about 450 years [from Egyptian captivity to conquest of Canaan].”

God raised up a king and then a Savior

Then Paul seems to move toward reminding his audience that God not only established Israel, but that God also made promises that extended far beyond the land of Canaan.

v20b “And after that [i.e., the conquest and inheritance] he [God] gave them [Israel] judges [who mostly defended Israel and flexed God’s judgment against other nations/peoples… you can read all about them in the book of Judges] until Samuel the prophet.”

v21 It was at that time (when Samuel became God’s prophet) Israel “asked for a king, and God gave them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years.”

The book of 1 Samuel tells us all about Samuel’s calling as a prophet and about the rise and fall of king Saul.

It’s important for us to know that Saul was Israel’s king by God’s appointment, and Israel asking for a mortal king was indeed part of God’s design for ultimately producing the Messiah…

BUT, the whole episode was another indication of Israel’s rebellion and their desire to be like all other nations.

They didn’t want Yahweh as their king, they wanted a flesh-and-blood king like everybody else.

v22 “And when he [God] had removed him [Saul], he [God] raised up David to be their king, of whom he [God] testified and said, ‘I have found in David the son of Jesse a man after my heart, who will do all my will.’”

This statement, which God made about David came as a judgment against Saul in 1 Samuel 13:14. But, it was still another 18 chapters before Saul died… and another 4 before David was installed as king (2 Sam. 5:1-5).

It’s also important to note that David’s designation as a “man after [God’s] own heart, who will do all [God’s] will” does not give blanket approval to all that David did.

David did some great things, and he did some really terrible things.

You might be interested to know that when the Bible says that this king of Israel was bad or that king of Judah was good, it was not making a statement about the king’s personal holiness per se.

Rather, the king’s goodness or wickedness was measured primarily by his leadership of the nation… either toward obedience and right worship of Yahweh… or toward idolatry.

At any rate, God did promise king David that one of his own “offspring” would sit upon an eternal throne and provide “rest” for all of God’s people (v23; cf. 2 Sam. 7:10-12).

And that’s what Paul is referring to in v23… but Paul pulls that promise into the present when he says, “God has brought to Israel a Savior, Jesus, as he promised.”

God sent OT prophets, the last of which was John the Baptist

It’s at this point in Paul’s message that he really makes the shift from Israel’s past to Israel’s future… or as we would say it commonly today, Paul shifted from the Old Testament to the New Testament.

In v24, Paul said, “Before his [Jesus’s] coming, John [the Baptist] had proclaimed a baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel.”

John took his place among a long line of prophets, which God had sent to His people… calling them to repentance and promising salvation through God’s anointed one (i.e., Messiah or Christ).

But Paul seems to be more than implying that John was the immediate forerunner to the Messiah who came… since Paul says that John himself rejected the idea that he was the Messiah. In fact, Paul tells them that John said, “No, but behold, after me one is coming, the sandals of whose feet I am not worthy to untie” (v25).

In other words, “I’m not the Messiah, but He’s coming right after me, and He’s infinitely greater than me.”

The very people God created did reject the Savior which God had promised and provided

v26-37 (it seems to me) is the climax of Paul’s message… and that’s probably why he calls out to them in such a personal way.

v26 “Brothers [fellow Jews], sons of the family of Abraham, and those among you who fear God [probably God-fearing Gentiles, though certainly the idea of fearing God was intended to cover everyone], to us has been sent the message of this salvation [the salvation God promised through the offspring of David!].”

What did Israel do with the Savior God had promised?

v27 “those who live in Jerusalem and their rulers, because they did not recognize him nor understand the utterances of the prophets, which are read every Sabbath, fulfilled them by condemning him.”

v28 “And though they found in him no guilt worthy of death, they asked Pilate to have him executed.”

But all this was exactly as God intended

Note how Paul places the blame Jesus’s crucifixion squarely on the inhabitants of Jerusalem and on Pontius Pilate, but he also says that these events were exactly as the Scriptures predicted.

Those who condemned Jesus “fulfilled” what the “prophets” said about Him… the very words which “are read every Sabbath” (v27).

Those who arranged for Jesus’s execution “carried out all that was written” about Him (v29).

And God vindicated His Messiah by raising Him from the dead

After Jesus’s life was fully expired, and after His body was “laid…in a tomb” (v29), “God raised him from the dead” (v30)!

Paul is pointing to the reality that Jesus’s rejection and death were exactly as God had planned… and that God vindicated Jesus as both righteous and true by raising Him back to life again.

And this was no magic trick or illusion… v31 says, “for many days he [Jesus] appeared to those who had come up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem...” and now these have become “his witnesses to the people.”

This good news (now proclaimed by Jesus’s witnesses) is what God has promised all along

In v32-37, Paul and Barnabas take on themselves that very role of being witnesses of Jesus Christ.

Paul says, “we bring you the good news that what God promised to the fathers, this he has fulfilled to us their children by raising Jesus...” (v32-33).

And then Paul cites three OT prophecies (Ps. 2:7, 16:10; Is. 55:3), which he argues have been fulfilled in the person and work of Jesus Christ.

Some application

Friends, the New Testament writers and the earliest Christians didn’t see themselves as inventing a new religion. Rather, they believed that they had witnessed the climax of God’s plan of redemption, which God had been promising for centuries.

The early Christians didn’t leave the Old Testament behind… In fact, the only Scriptures they had were the Old Testament documents… until the Apostolic letters and the Gospel accounts of Jesus’s earthly ministry began to be circulated about 15-20 years later.

This reality should have a huge impact on the way we read and treat our Bibles today.

We shouldn’t unhitch from the OT, nor should we use OT stories as mere moralistic proverbs.

We should see the OT more like a field full of Jesus-shaped treasures, most of which are right there on the surface if we will use our NT lenses to see them.

Hearing how Paul preached the gospel from the OT this morning should also have a huge impact on the way we talk about the gospel with our friends and family members.

We should probably talk less about how Jesus can meet people’s felt-needs (unruly children, broken marriages, financial troubles, etc.)… and more about how the divinely-promised and ancient Messiah… who lived and died and conquered death… provides forgiveness and justification to guilty sinners like us.

We should probably talk less about “my personal savior” and more about the King of the universe… who is the Judge of all mankind… and the Savior of those who turn from their sin and pledge their total allegiance to Him.

We should probably talk less about building (or rebuilding) a “Christian nation” and more about the kingdom which Christ Himself is building throughout the whole world… not by political or military strength, but by the word of the gospel and the conversion of sinners.

An Invitation and a Warning (v38-41)

Paul concludes his message by laying out the options.

Paul invites his audience to receive the complete forgiveness of sins and freedom/justification before God… and all simply by “belief” or “trust” or “confidence in the reliability” of the message Paul preached.

But, Paul also warned his audience that there was no place for neutrality… Now, having heard the message, Paul’s hearers were responsible to acts on it.

Forgiveness and Justification

The gospel call or invitation is in v38-39.

“38 Let it be known to you therefore, brothers, that through this man forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, 39 and by him everyone who believes is freed from everything from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses.”

As Paul elsewhere explains thoroughly (Gal. 3:15-29), the law of Moses never offered anyone justification or freedom from sin… Rather, the law of Moses (the covenant God made with Israel at Sinai) was always intended to be a reminder of sin and to offer Israel a typological or shadowy depiction of the perfect Savior God had promised to send from the beginning (Gen. 3:15).

Paul says here that forgiveness of sins is “through this man,” i.e., Jesus Christ (v38). And everyone who believes is freed (or justified) “by him” (v39).

Friends, this is Paul’s invitation… this is a biblical invitation to respond to the gospel… by believing in Jesus and receiving forgiveness through/by Him!

You know, I’ve sometimes been criticized for not giving an “invitation,” but I argue that I give an invitation every single Sunday! In fact, I’m giving one right now!

I’m not asking you to come down here and shake my hand… I’m not asking you to pray any particular prayer… I am urging you to respond to the preaching of the gospel in the way the Bible says you should respond…

YOU SHOULD BELIEVE!

You should trust yourself to the mercy and grace of the Lord Jesus Christ!

You should turn away from your sin, and you should give up on any idea that you can satisfy God’s wrath against you by your own efforts, and you should simply trust and follow Jesus from here on out.

And you should make up your mind about this offer right away… because to reject it… well, let’s see what Paul says will happen if we reject or neglect this offer.

Unbelief and Death

In v40, Paul says, “Beware!” or “Watch out!” or “Take care!” …but beware of what?

Paul says, “Beware, therefore, lest what is said in the Prophets should come about...” and then in v41 Paul cites the first verse of a prophetic judgment against the people of God during a time right before a hostile, pagan nation came in and destroyed them (Hab. 1:5).

The message is clear: God’s judgment is coming… but this time the dividing line of safety isn’t drawn on a map (it’s not this nation or that, this people or that)… instead the dividing line of safety is drawn by “belief” (v39) and “unbelief” (v41).

Will you believe the message of the gospel? Or will you scoff at it… disbelieve it… and go on about your day as though you hadn’t even heard the message of salvation through judgment?

Belief = forgiveness, justification, and life

Unbelief = sin remains, guilt remains, and death is imminent

How did the crowd respond?

How are you responding right now?

Two Responses: Blasphemy and Belief (v42-50)

The people wanted to hear more

v42 says, “As they [Paul and Barnabas] went out, the people begged that these things might be told them the next Sabbath.”

And Paul and Barnabas apparently had some conversations with various Jews and Gentile God-fearers after the meeting as well (v43).

Then came “the next Sabbath” (v44), when “almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord” from Paul and Barnabas (v44).

We’re not told what they said, but they most likely preached the same sort of content which they had preached the Sabbath before.

The first response we read about is blasphemy.

Some in the crowd “reviled” or “blasphemed” Paul (v45).

The Greek word means: blaspheme, insult, slander, or to speak profanely of sacred things.

They were arguing with him, aiming to “contradict” what he was saying (v45).

Luke says they “were filled with jealousy” (v45), but whatever their motives, they were overtly hostile to the message of the gospel.

Now, Luke tells us that this response was not only due to the hard-hearted people in the crowd that day, but also part of God’s design in Israel’s continued rejection of the Messiah and God’s outstretched arms to the Gentiles.

We don’t have time to get into this today (I went more into it in my message on Acts 13:1-12, with Elymas as a sort of picture of all Israel), but suffice it to say that there is more going on here than the mere rejection of the gospel.

But there is not less than that!

Some sinners hear the message of the gospel and they hate it… or they don’t believe it… or they simply reject it.

They don’t always show overt hostility, but sinners reject God’s authority over them in Jesus Christ all the time.

The second response in our passage is joy and belief.

Most of the Jews (certainly the leading Jews) in Antioch were hostile to the gospel, but “when the Gentiles” in Antioch heard that this message of salvation was also for them, “they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord” (v48).

And, we’re told, “as many as were appointed to eternal life believed” (v48).

I think it’s important to highlight here the difference between those hostile and unbelieving sinners in our passage and those rejoicing and believing sinners.

Both the Jews and the Gentiles in Antioch were guilty sinners before God… Both people-groups had heard the message of the gospel from Paul and Barnabas that day… and yet some blasphemed that message while others believed it.

And what does Luke… what does Scripture tell us was the deciding factor?

Were the Jews less religious than the Gentiles?

Were the Gentiles more humble or in-tune with God’s Spirit than the Jews?

No, Luke doesn’t attribute “belief” in the gospel to any of that stuff… Luke simply says that those who “believed” were those who “were appointed to eternal life” (v48).

Appointed by whom? …Appointed graciously by God!

Friends, salvation (including repentance and faith) is a gracious gift of God!

And this is both humbling and emboldening news today.

It’s humbling, because we can all know that if we are believing ones this morning, it’s got nothing to do with us being better or more deserving or more lovable than anyone else. It is all God’s grace!

And this is emboldening, because we can know that there is no sinner too hard-hearted for God to grant repentance and faith. As Jesus said about the difficulty of salvation, “What is impossible with man is possible with God” (Lk. 18:27).

Well, those who opposed the gospel when Paul was preaching it continued to oppose it when many people “throughout the whole region” recieved it with joy and belief (v49)… but that didn’t hinder the Christian mission at all.

The Mission Continues (v51-52)

Paul and Barnabas ended where they began

From Cyprus to Perga, from Perga to Antioch, and from Antioch to Iconium

They arrived “Perga in Pamphylia” with the goal of preaching and teaching the message of Jesus Christ (v13).

From Perga they “came to Antioch in Pisidia” (v14), aiming to preach and teach the gospel.

And when they left Antioch, being driven out by those who rejected the message they preached, Paul and Barnabas “went to Iconium” with the exact same goal to keep right on preaching the gospel (v51).

“they shook off the dust from their feet against them” (v51).

Despite the steep opposition they faced, Paul and Barnabas gave a sign of judgment rooted in Jewish history. [1]

This was also the same sign of judgment which Jesus told His disciples they should display when anyone would “not listen” to their message of “repentance” (Matt. 10:14; Mk. 6:11; Lk. 9:5).

The sign basically meant, “We’ve done our part. If you suffer God’s judgment, it’s all on you.”

“And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit” (v52).

John Calvin takes this to mean “the disciples” who “went to Iconium” (i.e., Paul and Barnabas and those who traveled with them).

John Polhill takes this to mean “the disciples” or Gentile converts in Antioch - those who “rejoiced” and “believed” in response to Paul and Barnabas’s message (v48).

David Peterson takes a both-and perspective, simply saying that it was amazing that “the disciples” (all of them, not distinguishing between those who left and those who stayed)… it was amazing that “the disciples” still had joy which was Spirit-enabled.

No matter which of these perspectives seems best to us, the fact remains that these early Christians... (newly converted Antiochans, departing missionaries, or all of the above)... these Christians maintained their joy in the face of calculated persecution from religious zealots, “women of high standing,” and “leading men of the city” (v50).

How did they do it?

Well, they were “filled… with the Holy Spirit” (v52).

The Spirit of God and of Christ certainly does produce in Christians an other-worldly and transcendent joy (Rom. 15:13; Gal. 5:22; 1 Thess. 1:6).

But this is true of every Christian.

They knew that the circumstances they were facing were only temporary… and that God was going to do exactly what He’d said He would.

They knew that the message they proclaimed was not merely a message of personal conversion to Christ… though it was surely that.

They knew that the gospel wasn’t just a promise that Jesus saves souls… though it was surely that.

They knew that the message they preached was the story God had been telling from the very beginning, and that God’s story has a final destination… heaven on earth!

Christians of every age, and Christians in any circumstance can indeed rejoice… because Jesus has died for us, because He has risen again, and because He reigns forevermore… and because He will soon return to make all things new!

And Christians of every age join with these earliest Christians in the mission of God… proclaiming the message of the person and work of Christ, so that sinners may enter Christ’s kingdom by grace through faith… until He returns.

Proclaiming the Lord’s death until He comes

Explanation

Christians partake of the Lord’s Supper together as a formal remembrance of how God has shown His love for us in Jesus Christ. Christians also partake of the Lord’s Supper to collectively look forward to that day when Christ shall return and make good on all His promises.

So, we – who love and trust in Jesus – ought to approach God’s table this morning with full assurance and faith. All those in Christ are welcome.

The Bible also urges us to examine ourselves in preparation, before we partake of the Lord’s Supper. So, we should honestly evaluate our lives today, looking for real repentance and true faith. We are not looking for perfection, but we are looking for evidence that we really do believe what we are proclaiming when we partake of this New Covenant sign, the Lord’s Supper.

If you are a baptized member in good standing with this church, or of another church who believes and preaches the same gospel, then you are welcome to participate this morning.

But if you are not a committed follower of Jesus, then please do not participate. This ceremony is only for those who believe the substance of what is behind and underneath these symbols, and participation by an unbeliever would only make a mockery of the ceremony.

For the members of FBC Diana, the Lord’s Supper is our God-given and formal occasion to reaffirm our unity with Christ and with one another. The Lord’s Supper is the ongoing sign of the New Covenant, which Christ has instituted and in which we are partakers together.

There are covenant promises (eternal life, peace with God, joy in the Holy Spirit, and more), and there are covenant obligations (belief in the gospel, love for God, and love for one another). Our membership covenant is a list of promises which come directly from Scripture and represent a summary of our New Covenant obligations.

We make these promises to one another because we believe they demonstrate the love we have for God and for one another. Let me read our membership covenant aloud, and let’s both examine ourselves and reaffirm these promises together.

Membership Covenant

I promise to submit to the Bible, and the truths it contains, in all areas of my life.

I promise to participate in the life and function of this local church.

I promise to read the Bible, pray and unite with this household of faith.

I promise to serve others rather than expecting others to satisfy my preferences.

I promise to lead my family in healthy membership practices.

I promise to cheerfully and willingly give all that I am able to the work of God through this church.

I promise to strive towards a life of holiness, righteousness, and Christ-likeness.

I promise to submit to and participate in biblical discipline and accountability.

I promise to honor my covenant with the other members of FBC Diana.

Prayer

Distribution of the Elements

At this time, we will begin distributing the elements. Deacons, would you come forward and begin distributing the juice and the bread?

Take note that each element is in its own container, so we can minimize the number of fingers touching each element. Also, please receive the juice and the bread and then hold on to them until I lead us all together in partaking of the Lord’s Supper.

As I said before, if you are a baptized member in good standing with this church or of another who believes and preaches the same gospel, then you are welcome to participate.

Let’s remain seated and sing as these elements are distributed.

Singing – In Christ Alone

Partaking of the Lord’s Supper

We’ve praised to God together, we’ve heard the word of God explained together, and we’ve confessed our sin together. Now, let us partake of the Lord’s Supper together.

Since the beginning, Christians have been participating in this ordinance from Christ by recounting Jesus’ own words.

The Scripture says, “that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, ‘This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me’” (1 Cor. 11:23-24).

Let’s partake of the bread together.

The Scripture continues, “In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.’ For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes” (1 Cor. 11:25-26).

Let’s partake of the cup together.

Prayer

Singing – All I have Is Christ

Let’s stand and sing again together, “All I Have is Christ,” proclaiming our trust and hope in nothing and no one other than Jesus Christ.

Endnotes

[1] Nehemiah was a leader in Jerusalem during a time when there was a massive rebuilding project going on, after a long and painful exile of the Israelites. There were in Jerusalem, however, leaders (rich and politically influential men) who were burdening the common people with taxes and fees, which were oppressing the people and hindering Jerusalem’s progress. Nehemiah confronted the leaders and demanded that they stop this abusive practice, and he made them all swear in front of the priests that they would stop. And then, Nehemiah “shook out the fold of [his] garment and said, ‘So may God shake out every man from his house and from his labor who does not keep this promise’” (Neh. 5:13).

Bibliography

Calvin, John, and Henry Beveridge. Commentary upon the Acts of the Apostles. Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2010. Print.

Peterson, David G. The Acts of the Apostles. Grand Rapids, MI; Nottingham, England: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2009. Print. The Pillar New Testament Commentary.

Polhill, John B. Acts. Vol. 26. Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1992. Print. The New American Commentary.