Essentials Of The Faith / Sunday Morning Sermon Series / Acts: Enlarging Our Vision
By Staying the Course Pt 2 03/01/09
Sermon Series: Acts: Enlarging our Vision
Title: ‘By Staying the Course’ Pt 2 Text: Acts 14
It’s been a couple of weeks since we last visited Paul and Barnabas so I thought I would give a brief summary of their activities in the early part of Acts 14.
Summary
I. Acts 14:1-7 Stay one who is faithful
Arriving at Iconium, Paul and Barnabas resume their usual approach to sharing the Gospel…they went to the local synagogue. They remained faithful to God’s plan…the Jew first, then the
Gentile.
In the face of opposition and rejection, they decide to stay in town a little longer and speak boldly for Jesus Christ. Staying the course for Paul and Barnabas meant being faithful, doing what they were called to do, even when it wasn’t easy.
It’s the same in ministry, marriage, parenting… doing what we were called to do, even when it isn’t easy.
II. Acts 14:8-20 Stay one who is humble
Arriving in Lystra Paul and barnabas notice a crippled man who was attentively listening to every word Paul was saying. Seeing the faith in his eyes, Paul told him ‘Stand up on your feet!’ And he did.
Well, the crowd saw this and they cried out ‘The gods have come down to us in human form.’ And they prepare to worship Paul and Barnabas with a sacrificial bull and wreaths.
Now, it would have been very easy for Paul and Barnabas to believe that really isn’t worship…it’s just their way of showing thanks. But they knew better. It was worship and they knew God will not share his glory with anyone. So, Paul and Barnabas display great humility when they plead with the townspeople not to worship them…but instead to worship the one True God who created all things.
Getting their attention, they begin to tell them about God and his Son, Jesus. But when Paul started to say their gods were ‘worthless things’ the people’s demeanor rapidly changed from worship to warfare. They were OK as long as you didn’t ask them to change anything about themselves…Sounds like many people today.
In the heat of the moment, Paul is stoned by the townspeople who leave him for dead. After everyone is gone, the new believers come to get Paul’s body and find him alive. They take him back to their home perhaps to mend his wounds. Then we read Paul and Barnabas leave the next day.
OK, we’re caught up. During bowling last week, Joe, a guy from 1st Baptist in Red Bank, asked me if I remembered Johnny Unitas. I said , of course. How about you. Do you remember him?
Introduction: Johnny Unitas was born in Pittsburg, Pa. While playing quarterback in High School, he broke his ankle. He couldn’t run but he could still throw the football in practice.
Unitas wanted to go to Notre Dame but was told he was “too small.” At the University of Louisville, he had a great sophomore year but not so great junior and senior years. He tried out for Pittsburg Steelers and got nothing but bus fare home.
He worked in a steel mill to support his wife and family. During that time he played semi-pro football for $3 a game. He would hire high school boys to shag footballs for him as he would continue to throw them through a tire hung from a tree…20, 30, 40 yards throwing thousands footballs for hours upon hours.
Finally, he tried out and was signed by the Baltimore Colts. The rest is football history. Did you know he is known as Mr. Quarterback? Even when it wasn’t easy, even when it seemed impossible, even when he couldn’t see around the next corner of his life, Johnny Unitas stayed the course. (Jim Kelly)
Transition: Open your Bibles to Acts 14:21 (pg. 843 in the Bibles under the chair in front of you.) For it’s there we will continue to find we enlarge our vision of God by staying the course.
III. Acts 14:21-25 Stay one who is encouraging
Read: Acts 14:21-25
Paul and Barnabas go to the town of Derbe and again many come to faith in Jesus. Then notice what they did…They went back to Lystra, Iconium and Pisidian Antioch.
· The places they had already been
· The places where many had come to faith in Jesus
· The places they were kicked out of
Why? Why would they go back? To encourage the disciples in those towns. They realized they left a lot of new Christians who needed to be strengthened in their faith.
· They almost certainly had questions
· They almost certainly needed to be encouraged, as they too now faced persecution for their new found faith in Jesus.
Understand something. Paul and Barnabas were hurting, suffering themselves. Paul was just stoned, almost to death. Yet in the midst of their own struggles, they recognized the struggles of others and wanted to encourage them…perhaps with both comfort from God’s Word and identifying with them by their own scars.
When Paul said ‘We must go through many hardships to enter the Kingdom of God.’ He was speaking from personal experience and the people knew it.
Do you see what they are doing? Paul and Barnabas did what is essential to the life of God’s church. They gathered the believers together and ministered to them. The Christian life is more than just being saved,
· it’s growing in our faith in Jesus Christ.
· It’s moving on to become all that God has planned for us.
And we can’t do that in isolation…it can only be done in community.
To stay the course in our journey of faith WE NEED EACH OTHER. So if you’re in the midst of a struggle, you can withdraw, but we need you and you need us…We need to encourage one another through our struggles. In that way… we help each other to stay the course.
Transition: Well, Paul and Barnabas aren’t done yet.
IV. Acts 14:26-28 Stay one who is focused
Read: Acts 14:26-28
Notice Paul and Barnabas’ focus…it was on God and what God had done. They told God’s story, not their story.
Remember, this was the church that sent them out on that first missionary trip. So…in a very real way, this was the very first Missions Conference. And what a conference it must have been.
Sidebar: Saying that, I want you all to consider attending our Kingdom Builders Conference (Missions Conference) Friday April 24th to Sunday April 26th.
Do something truly radical in this time and age…block out the whole weekend to hear God’s story of what he is doing in our own backyard as well as around the world. I promise it will help you stay the course when you hear that God is alive and working in and through the lives of many around the world.
Conclusion
ILL:
How many of you remember the cartoon Popeye? Well
what was his signature saying? ‘I’m Popeye the sailor man. I’m Popeye the
sailor man. I’m strong to the finish ‘cause I eats my spinach, I’m Popeye
the sailor man.’
You might as well get used to it, your
walk as a Christian is going to be a ‘Fight to the Finish.’ So, like Popeye,
you need to be strong.
That’s why Paul in writing to young
Timothy is very straightforward in what he has to say. His words seem to be
filled with encouragement and assurance that Timothy, as well as you and I,
can finish the race.
· 2 Timothy 2:1 ‘Be Strong’
· 2 Timothy 2:3 ‘Endure Hardship’
·
2 Timothy 2:10 ‘Endure
everything’
For those of you who are struggling, who are just trying to keep your head above water; financially, emotionally, relationally and/or spiritually, the finish line is just ahead and you’re heading down the stretch.
I know you’ve made many
sacrifices and faced many battles. But everything that you’ve done up till
now, will all be in vain, if you don’t finish the race, if you don’t stay
the course. While it’s important to start right, it’s more imporant to
finish well.
ILL: The Greeks had a race in their Olympic games that was unique. The winner was not the runner who finished first. It was the runner who finished with his torch still lit. I want us all to run all the way with the flame of our torch still lit for Jesus! (Johnny Carver)
Stay the course
· Stay one who is faithful
· Stay one who is humble
· Stay one who is encouraging
· Stay one who is focused
And you will enlarge your vision of God.
And this can all begin…right now, right here in this place…through prayer.