A Hunger For Truth Series

SERMON OUTLINE:

Preparation (vs 16-25)

Declaration (vs 26-37)

Application (38-41)

SERMON BODY:

Ill:

• "Just one more thing..."

• Was the TV detective Columbo's catchphrase.

• Columbo, was a homicide detective with the Los Angeles Police Department

• When you first saw him on screen,

• Lieutenant Columbo looked like a he had been sleeping rough in a shop doorway!

• He wore a scruffy crumpled beige raincoat,

• He had a bumbling, clumsy manner,

• He was overly polite, and he was always chomping on the same short cigar.

• At key moments in the show,

• He would often leave the room making the criminal feel he had gotten away with it,

• Only to return with the catchphrase "Just one more thing."

• Where he would ask the critical important question.

Columbo was played by the actor Peter Falk (1927-2011),

• Now not a lot of people know this,

• But in real life Peter Falk had a glass eye.

• When he was just 3 years old, he had an operation to remove a cancerous tumor,

• As a result of the operation, he lost his eye.

• In spite of his missing eye, he was a pretty good high school athlete.

• And one baseball story he loved to tell.

• In one game, after being called out at third base,

• He removed his glass eye and handed it to the umpire and said, '

• “Here. You'll do better with this.''

• TRANSITION: In sport we all feel our team is getting a rough deal!

• And what we all want is the correct decision.

• (Actually, that is not true, what we want is an advantage for our team).

• I guess when it comes to life,

• There are people we have met or know of that need a new pair of eyes.

• Our own Prime Minister Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson,

• Could do with a fresh set of eyes to help him see life clearly!

• There seems to be a famine in our country, and also worldwide,

• For people who tell the truth and people who practice what they preach!

In our last study (vs 4-12):

• We saw how the Roman proconsul, Sergius Paulus.

• Turned from the false teaching of Elymas the sorcerer.

• And discovered the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

• The apostle Paul, with Barnabas,

• Now move on to Perga in Pamphylia to share the truth of the gospel there.

• John Mark leaves them, and we will look at why in a future study,

• When we get to chapter 15 verse 36.

Note:

• Verse 14: “From Perga they went on to Pisidian Antioch.”

• I love these throw away lines in the Bible.

• They remind us they went to real places and encountered real people,

• The book of Acts really is a history book of the early Church.

• In that one throwaway line, if we look a little deeper,

• We discover that journey was 100miles north and 3,600feet up,

• For them to get to this important city.

• Now they may have had a Roman road to travel on,

• But it was still a physically demanding walk.

• His strategy was to go to strategic cities, plant Churches in them,

• And those Churches would then evangelize the villages around them.

Note:

• This section divides into three sections.

• Verse 16, verse 26 & verse 38

• Each section starts with the words, K.J.B.: “Men and brethren”

• The N.I.V. translates slightly differently:

• “Fellow Israelites” & “Fellow children of Abraham” & “my friends,”

(1). Preparation (vs 16-25)

Ill:

• We have a saying, “Horses for courses.”

• Meaning people should be chosen for jobs or roles,

• Based on their particular experience, strengths, or skill set.

• TRANSITION: That is also true for preachers.

• You must know who or what audience you are speaking to.

• For example, we have some very good speakers on a Sunday morning,

• But when I have invited same of those speakers,

• To our outreach men’s event called ‘The Net.’

• They ‘die-a-death’

• Because their style and approach make them, ‘square pegs in round holes!’

• TRANSITION: In this book notice how the apostle Paul changes his style and content,

• Depending on who he is speaking to.

• This is his first recorded sermon in Acts chapter 13.

• It is very different to the one he preaches, for example in chapter 17 in Athens.

• Here in chapter 13, he starts preaching in the Synagogue,

• Verse 14: “On the Sabbath they entered the synagogue and sat down.”

• He is speaking to Jewish people, who know the Old Testament.