Responding To The Gospel Series

SERMON OUTLINE:

(1). The Initial Response: Excellent (vs 42-44)

(2). The Subsequent Response: Jews = Negative (vs 45-47 & 50-52)

(3). The Subsequent Response: Gentiles = Positive (vs 48-52)

SERMON BODY:

Ill:

A few nicknames of prime ministers of the United Kingdom

• Rishi Sunak:

• Dishy Rishi (not looks but for his ‘Eat Out To Help Out’ scheme when he was Chancellor).

• or the Yorkshire Maharajah/Maharaja of the Yorkshire Dales,

• (Indian heritage his being an MP for Richmond in the Yorkshire Dales.)

• Liz Truss:

• Human hand grenade ("she does tend to blow things up") or Lettuce Liz, the Daily Star joke asking whether her premiership and leadership would outlast a lettuce.

• Boris Johnson:

• Bojo or Bojo the clown or Buffoon Boris.

• Theresa May

• Mummy May (very maternal) or Maybot (very robotic)

• Gordon Brown:

• Flash Gordon or Golden Brown or Squatter in No. 10

• Tony Blair:

• Bambi (Disney character) or America's Poodle or Teflon Tony

• Margaret Thatcher:

• The Iron Lady

• Harold Wilson

• WISLON

• A deliberate misspelling popularised by the fortnightly satirical magazine Private Eye.

• TRANSITION: Now it was Harold Wilson who coined the phrase,

• “A week is a long time in politics!”

• He was of course referring to the fast-changing pace of the political landscape,

• The fortunes of a politician or political group can change drastically,

• Even in a single week.

• What is true in politics can be true in many areas of our lives,

• To paraphrase Harold Wilson’s words,

• “A week is a long time in Christian mission!”

• For the apostle Paul and Barnabas,

• They were about to learn that truth,

Question: How is your memory? Because “A week is a long time in Church life!”

• How is your memory?

• e.g. How much of last week’s sermon can you remember?

• Was there a title to the sermon?

• How many key points did the preacher make?

• Was there a sermon illustration that stood out?

• Was there anything he said that spoke into your life?

• If so, has it made any difference over the past seven days?

• TRANSITION: “A week is a long time in Church life!”

• TRANSITION: “A week is a long time in book of Acts!”

• Just one week earlier to the verses we have read together,

• The apostle Paul gave a sermon in the local synagogue of Pisidian Antioch.

• In that sermon the apostle Paul showed his congregation,

• That Jesus was their Mesiah/Christ.

• He did so by using the Old Testament (Jewish Bible),

• He taught and proved,

• That Jesus was the Savior who had died and been raised from the dead,

• Fulfilling all the prophecies of the Old Testament.

(1). The Initial Response: EXCELLENT (vs 42-44)

“As Paul and Barnabas were leaving the synagogue, the people invited them to speak further about these things on the next Sabbath. When the congregation was dismissed, many of the Jews and devout converts to Judaism followed Paul and Barnabas, who talked with them and urged them to continue in the grace of God.

On the next Sabbath almost, the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord.”

Ill:

• Paul and Barnabus were effective preachers,

• Unlike the unfortunate Revd W A Spooner, the English scholar who died in 1930,

• He was reputed to have had the problem of muddling his words,

• This of course confused his hearers or caused them to chuckle and giggle.

• e.g. At a wedding he told the groom, 'It is kistomary to cuss the bride.'

• e.g. Calling on the dean of Christ Church he asked the secretary; 'Is the bean dizzy?"

• e.g. Giving the eulogy at a clergyman's funeral, he praised his departed colleague as.

• “A shoving leopard to his flock.”

• e.g. In a sermon he warned his congregation.

• “There is no peace in a home where a dinner swells.

• Meaning, of courses 'where a sinner dwells”'

• e.g. Speaking to a group of farmers:

• Spooner intended to greet them as “sons of toil,”

• But what came out was. "I see before me tons of soil.”

• TRANSITION:

• Unlike the unfortunate Revd W A Spooner,

• Paul and Barnabus were effective preachers,

Notice that there are four features that stand out in verses 42-44.

• (a). They were eager (vs 42).

• “The people invited them to speak further about these things”.

• Paul’s words made a deep impression on his hearers:

• These folks were not clock-watchers, i.e. when is he going to finish?

• These folks were hungry for more!

• Every preacher likes a congregation like that!