Naylor Community Christian Church
Naylor, Georgia
I. INTRODUCTION
--
turn in Bibles to Acts 11:19-26
Acts 11:19 Now those who had been
scattered by the persecution that broke out when Stephen was killed traveled as
far as Phoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch, spreading the word only among Jews. 20
Some of them, however, men from Cyprus and Cyrene, went to Antioch and began to
speak to Greeks also, telling them the good news about the Lord Jesus. 21 The
Lord’s hand was with them, and a great number of people believed and turned to
the Lord.
22 News of this reached the church
in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. 23 When he arrived and saw
what the grace of God had done, he was glad and encouraged them all to remain
true to the Lord with all their hearts. 24 He was a good man, full of the Holy
Spirit and faith, and a great number of people were brought to the Lord.
25 Then Barnabas went to Tarsus to
look for Saul, 26 and when he found him, he brought him to Antioch. So for a
whole year Barnabas and Saul met with the church and taught great numbers of
people. The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch.
-- One of the greatest scientists of
all time was Albert Einstein – even though Einstein did most of his work in the
early part of the Twentieth Century, he is still a household name today –
recognized for his intelligence, wisdom, and ground-breaking scientific theories
– and back in his day, he was a legend – everyone knew him and knew of him –
and when he would go somewhere, people would instantly recognize him
--
after World War II, Einstein settled down to teach and do research at Princeton
– the story is told about the time he left Princeton on a train for a speaking
engagement at a city on the other side of the country
--
as the conductor made his way down the aisle checking tickets, he found
Einstein totally engrossed in his work – he had papers spread out on the seat
and was reading and completely focused on his research – the conductor stopped
and asked for Einstein’s ticket so he could punch it
--
Looking up in shock, Einstein realized he didn’t know what he had done with his
ticket – he started frantically searching his coat pockets and then his
briefcase – gently, the conductor said, "We all know who you are, Dr.
Einstein. I’m sure you bought a ticket. Don’t worry about it."
--
But as the conductor moved along, he looked back to see Einstein on his hands
and knees searching under the seats for his ticket -- the conductor walked back
-- "Dr. Einstein, please, don’t worry about it. I know who you are."
--
Exasperated, Einstein looked up and said, "I, too, know who I am. What I
don’t know is where I’m going."1
--
how true is that for us today? – there are a lot of us who don’t know where
we’re going or where we’re supposed to be – whether that’s in this life or in
the hereafter – but this should not be the case for Christians, because we have
the Holy Spirit within us who leads us and points us to the place where Jesus
wants us to go
-- this morning, we are continuing
in our sermon series in the Book of Acts – as I noted earlier, I have divided
our study into four main sections – Part 1 was The Humble Beginning of the
Church and covered Acts 1 through the first part of Chapter 8 – it was in this
section that we learned of Christ’s mandate to the church in Acts 1:8 to carry
the gospel to Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the ends of the earth – and we saw
how the coming of the Holy Spirit empowered the early Christians with a bold message,
bold prayers, and bold hearts
-- the Second Part was called,
“Unexpected Gospel Growth,” which covered Acts 8 through 12 – in this second
part, we learned that the term unexpected growth did not only apply to growth
in numbers, as we saw the church begin to grow with more and more people coming
to faith in Jesus -- but also that the growth in the early church was unexpected
in terms of who responded to the gospel – it was in this section that we saw
the first Gentiles come to a saving knowledge of Christ, to the astonishment of
Peter and the other leaders of the church, who initially thought that salvation
was only for the Jews
-- this morning, we are starting on
the third section of our study in the Book of Acts – and this will be the
longest section in our series – it is called “The Mission Continues” – and
covers Acts 13 through 21 – it is in this section that the focus of the Book of
Acts shifts back to Paul and his missionary journeys throughout the Roman
Empire, as he fulfills Jesus’ command to carry the gospel to the ends of the
earth
-- when you begin a journey –
whether that’s a trip by train to the other side of the country like Einstein –
or whether that’s to carry the gospel to the ends of the earth or to your
neighbor or coworker – it is always good to have a plan – to know where you are
going – to know who you are going to follow
-- I read one time about a
missionary who was traveling in the Middle East years ago – this is before they
had roads and cars – and the only way to travel was by camel – he hired a guide
to carry him out to this town where he was scheduled to speak
-- the guide led him out to the edge
of the desert – and he looked around – and there was nothing but sand and dunes
as far as the eye could see – there were no landmarks – there was nothing but
sun and sand
-- unhesitatingly, the guide headed
out across the sand in a straight line – the missionary wasn’t so sure about
following – he called out, “Do you have a map so that we know where we’re
going?” – the guide looked back and said, “I am your map” – and continued on
-- this is what the Christian life
should look like as we follow where the Spirit leads – our lives should look
like that childhood game, “Follow the Leader” -- except rather than following a
charismatic pastor or influential politician – rather than following the
pattern of this world and imitating the way people live today -- we follow the
Holy Spirit as He leads and guides us and the church to accomplish Christ’s
mission on earth today
--
the big theme for today as we go through this passage together is “where the
Holy Spirit leads, you should follow” – and that’s just what we will see as we
look at the missionary journeys of Paul and his companions
II. Scripture Lesson – Paul’s First Missionary
Journey
-- look back with me now at Acts 11:19
and we’ll begin there – I know we’re backing up some in the Book of Acts, but
we need to look at this passage so that we will have the context and the
background for the rest of the story of Paul’s first missionary journey
-- Acts 11:19-21
Acts 11:19 Now those who had been
scattered by the persecution that broke out when Stephen was killed traveled as
far as Phoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch, spreading the word only among Jews. 20
Some of them, however, men from Cyprus and Cyrene, went to Antioch and began to
speak to Greeks also, telling them the good news about the Lord Jesus. 21 The
Lord’s hand was with them, and a great number of people believed and turned to
the Lord.
-- so, as a reminder of how we got
to this point, persecution broke out against the Christians when Stephen was
stoned to death by the Jews for proclaiming Jesus as the Messiah – the
Sanhedrin authorized people like Saul to go out and arrest Christians wherever
they could find them and throw them into prison – so, a lot of the Christians
scattered – fleeing Jerusalem into Judea and Samaria and other places
-- if you remember, we talked about
how God allows persecution and trials and troubles into our lives to move us
from our comfort zones – from our comfortable lives and the comfortable
communities where we live – to the place where He wants us to go
-- sometimes, that is a spiritual
move – as trials and troubles mature us in our faith and help us grow closer to
Jesus in our relationship with Him – sometimes, as in the case of the
Christians who were in Jerusalem at the time Stephen was martyred, it means a
physical move
-- but the main take-away from this
is that the Spirit allowed the persecution to come at that time so that the
gospel would be carried into the regions around Jerusalem – and that’s what we
read here in these verses – that as they carried the word to both Jews and
Gentiles in places like Cyprus and Cyrene and Antioch – the people were
responsive to the message and many believed and turned to the Lord for
salvation
-- verse 22
Acts 11: 22 News of this reached
the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch.
-- remember Barnabas, right? – he
was the one the early Christians called the Son of Encouragement – he was one
of the men that the Apostles selected to help with the food distribution to the
widows in the church – and he was the one who sought out Saul after his
conversion experience on the road to Damascus
-- when Saul was in Jerusalem,
Barnabas stood up for him before the leaders of the church and affirmed Saul’s
faith – this is the same Barnabas – and since the church had such faith in him
and in his maturity as a Christian, they sent Barnabas to Antioch to find out
whether the reports of unexpected growth in the church there among both Jews
and Gentiles was truly occurring
-- verse 23-26
Acts 11:23 When he arrived and saw
what the grace of God had done, he was glad and encouraged them all to remain
true to the Lord with all their hearts. 24 He was a good man, full of the Holy
Spirit and faith, and a great number of people were brought to the Lord.
25 Then Barnabas went to Tarsus to
look for Saul, 26 and when he found him, he brought him to Antioch. So for a
whole year Barnabas and Saul met with the church and taught great numbers of
people. The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch.
-- so, Barnabas gets to Antioch and
sees how the Spirit has been moving in both the Jews and the Gentiles – the
church is growing and he encourages them in their faith – and then Barnabas
does something that would change the world forever – Barnabas left Antioch and
rather than going back to Jerusalem to report on what he has found, he headed
to Tarsus, looking for Saul – why?
-- this is one of those cases where
we have to read between the lines – where we’re not told the answer in
black-and-white – there is a reason why Barnabas decided to go to Tarsus
-- this is a clear example of a
godly man responding to the prompting of the Holy Spirit – I have no doubt that
it was the Spirit who put Saul in Barnabas’ mind – and who convinced him to go
to Tarsus and get Saul and bring him back
-- we’ve all probably experienced
something similar – how many times have you been going through your day, when
all of a sudden – out of nowhere – you think about someone you haven’t thought
about in years – and you feel like you need to pray for them – ever had that
happen?
-- that happens because the Spirit
has put that person in your mind and on your heart – and that’s what happened
with Barnabas and Saul – so, Barnabas left Antioch and went to Tarsus and found
Saul, and brought him back to the church – where the two of them continued to
teach and preach and help the fledgling church grow and mature in the faith
-- while they were there, a prophecy
came to the church and they felt like they needed to take up a donation for the
believers in Jerusalem – once the money was collected, Barnabas and Saul went
to Jerusalem to deliver the offering
-- skip over to Acts 12:25
Acts
12:25 When Barnabas and Saul had finished their mission, they returned from
Jerusalem, taking with them John, also called Mark.
-- so, Barnabas and Paul delivered
the offering to the elders of the church in Jerusalem – and then they returned
to Antioch along with John Mark – John Mark was Barnabas’ younger cousin – the
author of the Gospel of Mark
-- Acts 13:1-5
Acts13:1
Now in the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon
called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen (who had been brought up with Herod the
tetrarch) and Saul. 2 While 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 So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on
them and sent them off.
4
The two of them, sent on their way by the Holy Spirit, went down to Seleucia
and sailed from there to Cyprus. 5 When they arrived at Salamis, they
proclaimed the word of God in the Jewish synagogues. John was with them as
their helper.
-- the important thing I want you to
see from the events of Acts 11 and Acts 12 that we looked at and these verses
here in Acts 13 is how the Holy Spirit was active in the early church
–
not only did the Spirit reach out to these communities through His prevenient
grace – leading the people to respond in faith and turn to Jesus for salvation
– not only did the Spirit cause the church to grow both numerically and
ethnically and in maturity – but the Spirit was always present as the leader of
the church – guiding and pointing and directing the people in what they needed
to do and where they needed to go
--
it was the Spirit that led people like Barnabas and Saul to go the places they
needed to be – to find the people they needed with them in order to fulfill the
mission of Christ – and this will be the pattern throughout the entire Book of
Acts
-- it was not happenstance that the
elders of the church in Jerusalem sent Barnabas to Antioch – or that Barnabas
felt led to go to Tarsus and search out Saul – or that the church in Antioch
decided to send their offering to Jerusalem through their teachers
-- nor was it happenstance that John
Mark joined them and traveled back with Barnabas and Saul to Antioch – where
their mission trip awaited
-- no, this was all the act of the
Spirit – moving and leading and guiding the Christians in fulfillment of the
calling of Christ – this is an act of “Follow the Leader” – this is an act of
being faithful to follow the prompting and direction of the Holy Spirit
--
sometimes, the Spirit spoke internally – as He impressed upon individuals to go
from place to place or to find other people that He wanted to have help in the
ministry – and sometimes the Spirit spoke externally through prophets or
through situations – as when He led the church in Antioch to take up a donation
for the believers in Jerusalem and then here in verse 2, where the Spirit spoke
to the prophets and told them to set Barnabas and Saul apart for the work to
which He had called them
--
and I want you to get this – I want you to know this – the Holy Spirit still
works in the same way today – He speaks to us through our prayers – through the
Word – through the church – and through events – the Holy Spirit still leads us
and directs us down the paths He wants us to go -- the key, though, is being
open and receptive to His word
--
we have to make sure that we are taking time to hear from Him in our lives
today – that we are getting away from the cacophony of life – that we are
getting away from the chaos and the distractions and the noise of the world
around us – and that we are getting into a place where we can hear His small
still voice and respond to His direction and His guidance when He speaks
--
this whole year, we’ve been progressing through what it means to be receptive
to the Holy Spirit – we looked at the spiritual gifts and spiritual disciplines
– and then we transitioned into this study in the Book of Acts, where we see
the presence of the Spirit leading and guiding the early church and the early
missionaries, such as Paul and Peter and Philip
--
that is what we should be seeing in our churches today – that is what we should
be seeing in our lives today
--
this lack of spiritual presence – this spiritual malaise that we find ourselves
in – is what caused John Wimber to ask the people in the church after he got
saved, "When are we gonna do the stuff? – when are we going to do the
stuff that I read about in the Bible?”
--
if you remember, I told you that Wimber had been reading about the miraculous
conversions -- the healings and the deliverance from sin and the other miracles
that took place in the early church as recorded in the book of Acts – the same
passages that we’ve been looking at now for several weeks
--
but instead of seeing signs and wonders, Wimber saw no sign of life at all --
no sign of anything that would make him wonder -- that would leave him
speechless -- that would draw people in from all walks of life
--
all he experienced in the church was the deadness of the ritual that he had
just sat through -- and his heart broke to know just how much of God was
missing
--
as we’re looking at these stories from the Book of Acts, we need to be asking
ourselves why we aren’t seeing the stuff happen in our church and in our lives
that we are reading about here in these pages
--
and we need to make a change in our lives so that we reach the place that the
early church was at – where they were open to hearing the Spirit speak – both
internally and externally – and where they moved in response to the Spirit – as
He spoke – as He led – as He pointed them the direction He wanted them to go
--
that’s the whole purpose of this study – that’s the whole reason we are here –
to fulfill the Great Commandment and the Great Commission and to be the hands
and feet of Jesus in our community today
--
and that starts when we remember the Holy Spirit is our leader and we listen
for and hear His voice and we follow Him where He leads
--
look at what happened here in these verses – the Spirit told the church to set
Barnabas and Saul apart for the work He had called them to – and the church did
just that – they laid their hands upon Barnabas and Saul – and they sent them
off
--
immediately, the two of them were sent on their way by the Holy Spirit – they
went down to Seleucia – which is a port city just outside of Antioch – and they
got on a boat and they left, heading towards Cyprus
--
once again, this is an act of the Spirit leading and guiding Barnabas and Saul
– for it was the Spirit that sent them across the Mediterranean Sea to Cyprus
instead of another direction
--
and keep that in mind – as we look at the three missionary journeys of Saul/Paul
– when the Bible tells us that Paul went to this city and then left and went to
another city – that is not Paul deciding where to go – that is Paul responding
to the call of the Spirit and following the lead of the Spirit to the next
place of ministry
--
so, as the Spirit led and directed them, Barnabas and Saul left Antioch, got on
a boat in Seleucia, sailed to Cyprus, where they taught and preached their way across
the whole island – eventually, they made their way back to the mainland by
sailing to Perga and then they traveled north to Pisidian Antioch – where they
spoke in the synagogue at the invitation of the synagogue leader
--
skip down to verse 16 – I know we’re running short on time, so I’m going to run
through this pretty quickly
--
verse 16-33a
Acts 13:16 Standing up, Paul motioned with his hand
and said: “Fellow Israelites and you Gentiles who worship God, listen to me! 17
The God of the people of Israel chose our ancestors; he made the people prosper
during their stay in Egypt; with mighty power he led them out of that country;
18 for about forty years he endured their conduct[a] in the wilderness; 19 and
he overthrew seven nations in Canaan, giving their land to his people as their
inheritance. 20 All this took about 450 years.
“After this, God gave them judges until the time of
Samuel the prophet. 21 Then the people asked for a king, and he gave them Saul
son of Kish, of the tribe of Benjamin, who ruled forty years. 22 After removing
Saul, he made David their king. God testified concerning him: ‘I have found
David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him
to do.’
23 “From this man’s descendants God has brought to
Israel the Savior Jesus, as he promised. 24 Before the coming of Jesus, John
preached repentance and baptism to all the people of Israel. 25 As John was
completing his work, he said: ‘Who do you suppose I am? I am not the one you
are looking for. But there is one coming after me whose sandals I am not worthy
to untie.’
26 “Fellow children of Abraham and you God-fearing
Gentiles, it is to us that this message of salvation has been sent. 27 The
people of Jerusalem and their rulers did not recognize Jesus, yet in condemning
him they fulfilled the words of the prophets that are read every Sabbath. 28
Though they found no proper ground for a death sentence, they asked Pilate to
have him executed. 29 When they had carried out all that was written about him,
they took him down from the cross and laid him in a tomb. 30 But God raised him
from the dead, 31 and for many days he was seen by those who had traveled with
him from Galilee to Jerusalem. They are now his witnesses to our people.
32 “We tell you the good news: What God promised our
ancestors 33a he has fulfilled for us, their children, by raising up Jesus.
--
skip down to verse 38-41
Acts 13:38 “Therefore, my friends, I want you to know
that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you. 39 Through him
everyone who believes is set free from every sin, a justification you were not
able to obtain under the law of Moses. 40 Take care that what the prophets have
said does not happen to you:
41 “‘Look, you scoffers,
wonder and
perish,
for I am going to do something in your days
that you
would never believe,
even if
someone told you.’”
--
I know this was a long passage – but it’s here in this place in the Bible for a
reason – and it’s for that reason that I read it all to you this morning
--
when Paul first visited a new city, the Spirit always led him to speak first at
the synagogue to the Jews who gathered there every Sabbath for worship – it’s a
reminder to us that the Jews are still God’s chosen people – it was through the
Jews that God gave us the Law and His word – and it was through the Jews that
the Messiah came to die for the sins of the world – God is not done with the
Jews – and He still reaches out to them with the good news of salvation through
Jesus
--
and this passage that we just read was the same message that Paul shared in all
the synagogues when he had the opportunity to speak there – this is the only
place where we’re going to see that in the Book of Acts – it was given to us at
this point – at the start of Paul’s first missionary visit – so that we would
know what message the Spirit gave Paul to share as he was led from place to place
--
so, keep these verses in the back of your mind – when you read in the Bible
about Paul going to a city and speaking in the synagogue, this is the message
he shared right here
--
as we read here, Paul stood up in the synagogue and began to speak, sharing
with the Jews gathered there the history of the Jewish people and their
relationship with God – this is something that all of them would have known –
this was the foundation of their faith and their heritage – of their very way
of life – so, why does he do this?
--
couple of reasons – first, he’s emphasizing that he is one of them – they stand
on common ground – they have a shared heritage – he is a Jew, just like them –
with the same background and faith that they all have
--
and second, he is building on that foundation of faith to show them that Jesus was
the promised Messiah – and that Jesus had come to save the world by dying on
the cross to set them free from every sin – to offer them a justification that
they were not able to obtain under the law of Moses – Paul is saying here that
Jesus is the fulfillment of the Law – and that salvation is only through belief
in Him
--
and finally, Paul is laying out before the Jews a map – he is showing them the
direction that the Spirit wants them to go – he is calling on them to respond
to the prompting of the Holy Spirit in their lives
--
they can choose to follow the path of their forefathers – the same path that
led their forefathers to reject God and clamor for a king to lead them – the
same path that led them to kill the prophets and reject God’s word throughout
the Old Testament -- or they can follow the way of Jesus by responding to His
word and turning to Him in repentance of their sins – trusting in Jesus for
eternal life
--
what we see here in these verses is the same message and the same choice that
Paul lays out before all the people that he will visit during his three
missionary journeys
--
it is a message that the Spirit has given him – and it is in obedience to this
message and the calling on his life that Paul follows the Spirit and goes where
He leads him and tells everyone he meets the good news of salvation and eternal
life through Jesus
--
this is what we are going to see throughout the Book of Acts as we continue on
in our study and as we follow Paul along on his three missionary journeys – so,
as we go through this, always keep in mind the Spirit’s presence in Paul’s life
– leading him and guiding him and directing him down the paths that he is
following – a reminder to us that where the Spirit leads, we must follow
--
before we close, I want to share with you one more truth about following the
Spirit in our lives – anytime God moves in our lives – anytime we hear His
voice and follow His path – we will always run into opposition because we have
an enemy who seeks our downfall
--
Satan does not want us to follow God or to lead others to follow Him – and
Satan will come against us and against our church to keep us from doing what
God has called us to do
--
we see an example of this in Paul’s life here in Acts 14 – I don’t have time
this morning to go in depth into this – so, let me encourage you to read this
on your own later today – just let me summarize the two attacks that Satan
employs here against Paul
--
first, when Paul and Barnabas make their way to Lystra, Paul heals a crippled
man through the power of the Spirit – when the crowds saw the miracle, they
thought that Paul and Barnabas were gods that had come down to earth in human
form – they called Barnabas Zeus, and they called Paul Hermes, because he was
the chief speaker
--
the priest of Zeus brought bulls and wreaths to the city gate to offer as
sacrifices to them – and they began bowing down to Paul and Barnabas in praise
and worship
-- as Greg Laurie points out, this
was an inward attack on them by Satan – Satan was trying to tempt Paul and
Barnabas to accept the praise of the people
–
popularity and a desire for recognition and honor can be more dangerous to a
person’s soul than physical persecution – many have fallen for this temptation
and become inflated with pride, to their downfall – remember the story of Herod
from last week?
--
pride goeth before the fall – and just as Satan succeeded in having Herod’s
pride result in his downfall, he tries the same thing here with Barnabas and
Paul
--
but unlike Herod, Barnabas and Saul reject the praise and worship and rebuke
the people for doing so, pointing them instead towards God and telling them to
worship Him
--
the second attack from Satan came a short time later – this was an outward
attack that came first in the form of slander and threats and ended up with
actual physical harm
--
many of the Jews that Paul and Barnabas had preached to in Pisidium Antioch and
Iconium rejected their message – and Paul and Barnabas had been led by the
Spirit to other cities
--
the Jews from these two cities followed Paul and Barnabas to Lystra – and they
spoke out against the missionaries and turned the crowd against them – they
stoned Paul to the point of death and dragged his body outside the city
--
just as an aside, I think this is the moment when Paul was caught up to the
third heaven in Paradise and was given spiritual visions, which he mentioned in
2 Corinthians 12 – he may have actually died or he may have just been severely
wounded – we don’t know
--
but Luke tells us that the disciples gathered around his body that was dragged
outside the walls of the city – and then Paul got up and went back into the
city – so, he survived the stoning in some fashion – and continued to minister
as the Spirit led
--
as Paul said in verse 22, “We must go through many hardships to enter the
kingdom of God”
--
opposition to the gospel and to the ministers of the gospel will always come
when we seek to follow the Spirit’s leading – so, be aware of that and don’t be
surprised when it happens – our call is to remain faithful and to trust God and
to do what He says, regardless of the cost
--
after his stoning, Paul and Barnabas left Lystra for Derbe, where they remained
for a time – and then they retraced their journey – going back to Lystra,
Iconium, and Pisidium Antioch and finally sailing back to Antioch
--
all along the way, they met with the Christians and the churches that they had
founded – strengthening the disciples and encouraging them to remain true to
the faith
III. CLOSING
--
in closing, I want to share with you an account I read from a pastor who went
to Europe in 1982 as a missionary – it was his first time going out of the
country to carry the gospel and minister to others, but he felt that this was
where the Spirit was leading him
--
the church he attended threw a going away party for him the night before he was
scheduled to leave – at the party, this girl showed up that no one in the
church knew or had ever seen before – she was just there
--
she came up to this missionary and handed him a plaque that read, “Being filled
and led by the Spirit may take you to places you never planned; but the will of
God will never call you where the grace of God cannot keep you.”
--
the missionary received the plaque with gladness and carried it with him on his
travels in Europe – he concluded his message by saying that neither he nor
anyone else in that church ever saw that girl again – and he remains convinced
that she was an angel sent by God to bear him a message from heaven
-- those words on that plaque sum up
our message for today – “Being filled and led by the Spirit may take you to
places you never planned; but the will of God will never call you where the
grace of God cannot keep you”
-- the Spirit is calling us today –
and if we want to be the men and women that He is calling us to be, then we
have to be open to hearing His voice and responding to His call in faith
-- Jesus said the Holy Spirit was to
be our guide and our counselor – He would empower us to live out the faith that
we proclaim – He would fill us with His very presence and manifest His power in
us through spiritual gifts
-- we must be open and willing to
follow the Holy Spirit wherever He leads – doing so will lead us to places
we’ve never dreamed of before – and some of them may be scary – our faith will
certainly be challenged – but God’s grace will keep us safe – and we will
experience the stuff that we read about here in the Book of Acts
-- so, if you’re tired of just
reading about the stuff here – if you’re tired of just coming to church and
going home and doing nothing more – then spend some time today with the Lord –
ask Him to speak to you – to guide you – to reveal to you the path He wants you
and this church to take – and then get up and go
-- we don’t know what road lays
before us – we don’t know where our mission might be -- it might be next door –
it might be the next town over – or it might be another country – we just don’t
know – but one thing is certain -- until we are open and willing to do what He
says, nothing will ever happen
-- so, as we close, let us ask God
to speak to our hearts – to open our eyes and our ears to the vision He has for
us – so that we might make a difference for Him in this community as we follow
where He leads
-- let us pray
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1
Modified from illustration in sermon, “Led By The Holy Spirit,”by Bill Burress
-- https://sermoncentral.com/sermons/led-by-the-holy-spirit-bill-burress-sermon-on-forgiveness-in-jesus-165066
2
Modified from sermon “As The Spirit Leads” by Mark Schaeufele
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