The Church is Sent to the World

Acts 13:1-12

This morning, I want you to get in groups of 2 or 3.

Find a topic that you all 3 are passionate about. Then I want you to type up an advertisement for that thing you are excited about.

For example, maybe you are really passionate about helping people overcome their gas issue.

They are tired of people tooting.

So, you are your group are coming up with a revolutionary product that is going to cure people’s farting problem.

Maybe that’s too extreme.

In either case, come up with an ad for a product that would help everybody.

*LET STUDENTS SHARE AFTER 3 MINUTES*

Transition

Every day, we all see invitations. We are all invited to try this new product… to watch this video… to buy this tool to help you in life…

There are 5 steps to help you with anything you can google out there…

If we aren’t careful, we can lump our faith in with all these other things.

But there is a reason Jesus said,

“I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the father except through me.”

John 14:6 “6 Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

Jesus calls all of us as believers to take the gospel to the world.

What does that mean?

What does that look like?

Sometimes… It’s not what you think.

Acts 13:1–12 (CSB)

1 Now in the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen, a close friend of Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. 2 As they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” 3 Then after they had fasted, prayed, and laid hands on them, they sent them off. 4 So being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia, and from there they sailed to Cyprus. 5 Arriving in Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God in the Jewish synagogues. They also had John as their assistant. 6 When they had traveled the whole island as far as Paphos, they came across a sorcerer, a Jewish false prophet named Bar-Jesus. 7 He was with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, an intelligent man. This man summoned Barnabas and Saul and wanted to hear the word of God. 8 But Elymas the sorcerer (that is the meaning of his name) opposed them and tried to turn the proconsul away from the faith. 9 But Saul—also called Paul—filled with the Holy Spirit, stared straight at Elymas 10 and said, “You are full of all kinds of deceit and trickery, you son of the devil and enemy of all that is right. Won’t you ever stop perverting the straight paths of the Lord? 11 Now, look, the Lord’s hand is against you. You are going to be blind, and will not see the sun for a time.” Immediately a mist and darkness fell on him, and he went around seeking someone to lead him by the hand. 12 Then, when he saw what happened, the proconsul believed, because he was astonished at the teaching of the Lord.

Charles Spurgeon once said, “The important daily habit we can possess is to remind ourselves of the Gospel.”

Before we can take the gospel to the whole world, you’ve got to take it to yourself first.

Preach the gospel to yourself!

Look at vs. 2, “They were worshiping the Lord and fasting...”

fasting is giving up something you love for someone you love more.

This can be social media, food, TV, or something else. We give it up for a season so that every time we think about that thing we enjoy, instead of going to it, we got to Christ.

This is a very powerful experience if you’ve ever done it, and obviously, it’s biblical.

It demonstrates a powerful reminder that we need to be satisfied in Jesus and Him alone.

Jeremiah 29:13 “13 You will seek me and find me when you search for me with all your heart.”

Before I can take the gospel to the world, I’ve got to take it to myself.

The gospel can’t flow out of you if it isn’t first flowing in you

Fasting helps accomplish that.

But vs. 2 also said they were worshiping.

What is worship?

Worship is time given in praise to what we desire most.

Under this definition, we can worship lots of different things… And you know what… we do worship lots of different things.

But we must remember guys… Only Jesus is most deserving of our worship.

WHy fast? Why pray? Why sing? Why read our bibles?

Because Jesus is worth giving our time and praise when we desire Him most.

To help us here too… I don’t even think this means we need to go from A to Z…

Illustration:

Some people are very A-Z people…

Our culture is a very A-Z culture.

We go from one extreme to the next.

We cancel people for things they said when they were 13 and now they are 45…

That’s A-Z, we jump to conclusions instead of considering maybe there are other options.

Let’s go from A to B, then C, D, E… etc…

We don’t always have to take these massive leaps.

If Jesus is worth your time and praise, I’m not saying you’ve got to go from nothing to being willing to die for Jesus on the mission field tomorrow.

But! I am saying, is the needle moving in your life?

Is Jesus more important to you today than he was last year?

Are you thinking about him a little bit during the day?

Don’t sell yourself short!

Go after Jesus!

As we seek Jesus, you know what happens?

We proclaim Him.

2. Proclaim the gospel to others. Acts 13:5 “5 Arriving in Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God in the Jewish synagogues. They also had John as their assistant.”

Discuss missions in the church in general.

As the church, we support missions.

Missions is taking the gospel to those who don’t know the gospel.

This happens at home and as far from home as you can get.

Missions at BBC.

Albany, Mark Everett, Peru, soon in Indonesia

Close this section with an example of Jim Elliot being killed by South American Indians.

In 1956, a man named Jim Elliot was seeking to reach an unreached people group in Ecuador with the gospel.

For 6 months, they dropped gifts, food, and other items to the Auca indians in hopes to build a relationship.

The Auca were known for being violent.

On January 3, 1956, Elliot and 4 other men made a camp near the Auca indians.

a few days later on January 8th, the auca attacked and killed all 5 men.

It’s a tragic story, but there is an important lesson here and good news.

3. Standing on God’s word even in oppositon.

Elliot and team died for Jesus.

Without taking an A-Z approach here, Let’s remember, we are taking steps not leaps.

Every day we are going to hear worldviews that contradict Scripture.

We are going to encounter people who hate Jesus (in person or online).

We are going to hear people who use their lives for destruction instead of Construction.

After Paul’s encounter with demonic oppositon, it says, Acts 13:12 “12 Then, when he saw what happened, the proconsul believed, because he was astonished at the teaching of the Lord.”

People believed because of their actions and the way they handled themselves.

The Auca indians were eventually led to Christ by Jim Elliot’s wife and the wives of the other 4 missionary men who died.

Even in the face of opposition, God worked and brought people to salvation.

APPLICATION:

This morning, none of us are sharing the gospel to an unreached people group.

But we are sharing the gospel!

Tongue and Tone

What are you doing with your speech?

What are you talking about most?

How are you building others up or tearing them down with your speech?

With the things you type, send, post?

The same words we speak to tear others down can be turned around to share Jesus?

Which are we doing?

Your tongue has the ability to do huge damage. James 3:8 “8 but no one can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.”

Even if you say the right thing, your Tone can also cause great destruction.

If we are going to take the gospel to the world.

We need to use wisdom in how we speak and the tone we use.

Sometimes we have to be aggressive like Paul! We have to be willing to confront evil and remind evil who the God of the universe is!

That’s not self righteous to call out evil… it’s the opposite of self-righteous.

It’s reminding evil that this isn’t about what you believe. It’s about what is true no matter if you believe it or not.

Jesus is true and He rules and reins.

Let’s take the gospel to the world!