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Acts 14:8-20 Turn To A Living God

Paul and Barnabas enter into Lystra, a frontier outpost town, and as God heals a lame man, the people begin worshipping the missionaries as gods....and then they try to kill them. What we see in this passage is that all people are worshipers. That is how we are created. Even the most devout atheist worships. What we live for - what we put all our hope in - what we sacrifice everything for - that is what we worship. And the truth of God’s message always exposes and confronts our idols. The gospel calls us to "turn from these vain things to a living God" (Acts 14:15).

It is God alone who "satisfies [our] hearts...with gladness" (Acts 14:17). All other things we live for, find our identity in, or put our hope in are powerless to give what they promise. Only a living God who created us in His image, can give the hope of salvation, reconciliation, and relationship for which we were created. But as we see in this text (and all around us) human beings don’t give up their idols easily. To touch someones idol will bring forth rage and hatred. To say an idol - what a person has built their life and identity on - is a "vain thing" will incite a tidal wave of opposition. The people of Lystra won’t give up their "gods" easily. The unbelieving Jews who followed the missionaries here won’t give up their idols easily either. And when they lash out together, we see where Paul has placed his hope and his worship. He values Jesus more than his own life, comfort, and security. He has turned to a living God and calls us to do the same.

Acts 14:1-7 ...And They Continued To Preach

When we left Paul and Barnabas in Acts 13, they had just been run out of town as the unbelieving Jews of the synagogue stirred up the leaders of the city to persecute them. As chapter 14 begins, they enter the city of Iconium and go right back to the synagogue there to continue preaching the same message. And, as you might expect, they same thing happens again. In each place, the gospel goes forth, God saves souls, a church is established, and the missionaries are attacked, persecuted, and banished. What we can see from these repeated situations is an uncanny perseverance that these witnesses exhibit. In 14:1-7, Paul and Barnabas persevere on the mission to which God called them. They persevere in contending for the faith against all opposition, and even when they are forced out of the city, they continue preaching the gospel wherever the Lord leads them.

This is instructive for the church today because Paul and Barnabas are not supermen. They are not free from despair, disappointment, weariness, and uncertainty. Yet something in them spurs them on in their mission. Not only will we seek to follow Paul as he follows Christ, examining his perseverance and applying it to our lives, but we will also see how he is able to persevere through the trials and opposition. It isn’t because he is stronger, smarter, or greater than everyone else.

When we left Paul and Barnabas in Acts 13, they had just been run out of town as the unbelieving Jews of the synagogue stirred up the leaders of the city to persecute them. As chapter 14 begins, they enter the city of Iconium and go right back to the synagogue there to continue preaching the same message. And, as you might expect, they same thing happens again. In each place, the gospel goes forth, God saves souls, a church is established, and the missionaries are attacked, persecuted, and banished. What we can see from these repeated situations is an uncanny perseverance that these witnesses exhibit. In 14:1-7, Paul and Barnabas persevere on the mission to which God called them. They persevere in contending for the faith against all opposition, and even when they are forced out of the city, they continue preaching the gospel wherever the Lord leads them.

This is instructive for the church today because Paul and Barnabas are not supermen. They are not free from despair, disappointment, weariness, and uncertainty. Yet something in them spurs them on in their mission. Not only will we seek to follow Paul as he follows Christ, examining his perseverance and applying it to our lives, but we will also see how he is able to persevere through the trials and opposition. It isn’t because he is stronger, smarter, or greater than everyone else.

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Acts 13:26-41 The Gospel Fulfilled

This Sunday we will finish Paul’s first recorded sermon in Acts. He stood and preached this sermon at the synagogue in Antioch of Pisidia before those gathered to worship there on the sabbath. Last week, we walked through the first part of his sermon as Paul recounted God’s faithful and gracious works throughout the history of Israel (v. 16-23). His timeline shows that God has been faithful to His word from Abraham all the way to David. As Paul mentions David, he immediately comes to the point of his sermon. In v. 23 he says, "Of this man’s [David’s] offspring God has brought to Israel a Savior, Jesus, as he promised."

From this point, Paul shows the people how Jesus has fulfilled the promises of David and the purposes of God in salvation. In verses 26-41, we will see how Jesus accomplished salvation for us, how it was foretold and proven from the Scriptures, and how this salvation is applied reconciling the sinner to God. This gospel message Paul delivers would have been earth-shaking news to these synagogue worshipers. And indeed, it still is today. Though most of us are very familiar with the gospel truths Paul speaks here, this message is not mundane or repetitive. It is the glorious fulfillment of God’s promises and the foundation of how we walk in this world.

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Acts 13:1-12 Characteristics of Missions

At the beginning of Acts 13 we will see another "first" in the early church. The church at Antioch became the first congregation composed mostly of Gentile Christians. Now as we begin chapter 13, this church will be the first to send out missionaries with the intent of strategically making the gospel known in other lands. And this is not the result of the goodness of the people or the desire of the Church. It was the Holy Spirit’s specific command to this church as they worshiped and ministered to the Lord. The Holy Spirit called the church to set apart Barnabas and Saul for the work that He has called them to do. As these men are called, commissioned, sent, and engage in their mission on the island of Cyprus, we see the characteristics of missions and to be witnesses to the ends of the earth. Mission is the call of the local church because souls are at stake - eternity is at stake - and the gospel is the only answer for all of humanity.

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Acts 12:1-25 No Power Above Our God

As we return to Acts this Sunday, we once again find ourselves in a text that is providentially applicable to us today. Acts 12 presents the early church with a new, seemingly insurmountable opponent. Instead of being opposed and persecuted by the Jewish religious leaders or an overzealous Pharisee (Saul) bent on killing individual Christians, now all the governmental might of King Herod Antipas I (backed by the Roman garrison in Jerusalem) will attempt to destroy the church. The political power and might of Herod is enormous. He is a childhood friend of the Roman Emperor Claudius and uses the Roman garrison of Jerusalem to do his bidding. He succeeds in killing the Apostle James and imprisons Peter. And as the worldly powers marshal themselves to destroy the leadership of the church, all the believers can do is pray.

Chapter 12 is a clash of powers. The power of the world which seems unconquerable, and the power of God to overrule and overcome all others. Sunday, we will see that although individual Christians may suffer and even be killed, the Lord’s power is above all other powers. The Church’s prayers avail much, even when their faith is lacking, and when all the dust settles, the mission of Christ is increasing and multiplying (12:24). The church at prayer is surprised when their prayers are answered in this text, they needed to learn the lesson that we must internalize as well. There is no power in creation that can conquer the power of our God and His gospel.

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1 Samuel 2:1-10 A Mother's Prayer Of Faith

Hannah sings a joyful, thankful, and worshipful prayer at the tabernacle of God as she dedicates her son Samuel to the service of the Lord. 1 Samuel begins with Hannah as a barren woman, suffering in despair and calling out to God for the blessing of a child. She prays at the tabernacle that God would give her a child and vows to give him back to the Lord (See 1 Samuel 1:27-28). And as our text for Sunday begins in chapter 2, Hannah breaks out into a psalm of praise (which is called a "prayer" in 2:1). The prayer of this mother is extraordinary, for is shows a heart of gratitude and trust in the God who rules over all. It shows that Hannah’s hope is in God, even as she is about to leave her son at the tabernacle to serve the Lord all his life. Hannah’s trust and hope in the Lord is the source of her joy and her strength, and this demonstrates that not only was Hannah giving her son to the Lord, but she had also given herself in faith to God. Her hope (and her hopes for her son Samuel) were bound up in the faithfulness and the promises of the sovereign God in whom she trusts. This mother’s prayer shows her joyful hope in the God who is faithful to her and to her child and to the God who is able to guard the feet of his faithful ones (1 Sam. 2:9)

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Acts 11:19-30 The Church That Changes The World

This Sunday we will finish Acts 11 and be introduced to an incredible event in the mission of Acts. Acts 11:19-30 describes the planting of a church in the city of Antioch. The magnitude of this event in the early life of the church cannot be overstated. This is literally a church that will be used by God to change the world. The church in Antioch will be the first congregation composed of both Jews and Gentiles (the majority being Gentiles). What God revealed to Peter about the Gentiles in chapter 10, will come to fruition here in this large pagan city. The church in Antioch will also be the base of operations for the missionary journeys of Paul and Barnabas. God will move mightily through this congregation as the mission of Jesus takes root, grows, and spreads to the whole of the Roman empire.

In Acts 11:19-30, we are shown the DNA of this church. Luke records for us the planting and growth of this church where God is moving and the gospel is flourishing. Here we see a church that God uses to change the world. Sunday we will examine the fingerprints of a church that is used mightily of God and call ourselves to obey the exhortation of Barnabas to the church in Antioch – “he exhorted them all to remain faithful to the Lord with steadfast purpose” (v.23)

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Acts 10:34-43 The Gospel of Peace

This is the gospel sermon that Peter preaches to the household of Cornelius right before the Holy Spirit falls upon them and they are ushered into the family of God. In this sermon, Peter reflects on what God has taught him (that God shows no partiality between peoples and nations) and he explains the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ as the only way of salvation. I am praying as we gather together to worship our risen Savior that God will move upon hearts in our community just as He did in the household of Cornelius that day.