Acts 29 Series

Acts 29

The Church

October 2, 2022

If I asked you to turn to Acts 29, in your Bibles, you wouldn’t find it. You would think something’s a little off with Pastor Michael today. More so than usual. Because there really is no Acts 29. It’s like Moses running a special telling us there’s an 11th commandment.

The book of Acts is such a fascinating book of the Bible. It details the start of the church, some of their problems, the persecution, the dysfunction and the miracles. About 50% of Acts gives us detail about Paul. The writer of Acts is the apostle Luke. As he’s closing the book of Acts, he wrote this - - -

23 When they had appointed a day for Paul, the Jews came to him at his lodging in greater numbers.

From morning till evening he expounded to them, testifying to the kingdom of God and trying to convince them about Jesus both from the Law of Moses and from the Prophets.

24 And some were convinced by what he said, but others disbelieved.

25 And disagreeing among themselves, they departed after Paul had made one statement:

“The Holy Spirit was right in saying to your fathers through Isaiah the prophet:

26 “‘Go to this people, and say, “You will indeed hear but never understand, and you will indeed see but never perceive.”

27 For this people's heart has grown dull, and with their ears they can barely hear, and their eyes they have closed;

lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them.’

28 Therefore let it be known to you that this salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles; they will listen.”

30 He lived there two whole years at his own expense, and welcomed all who came to him,

31 proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness and without hindrance. - Acts 28:23-31

There’s so much in what Luke is telling us in these final words of Acts. And so much that he leaves unsaid. In short, while he was in prison, Paul was teaching all people about Jesus. He was trying to reach the Jewish people be synthesizing the law of Moses with the grace of Jesus.

Some believed, some didn’t. Many left after one particular statement Paul made, which was the same statement Jesus made in Matthew 13, which was first stated by Isaiah in 6:9-10. It was pretty blunt and a little brutal.

To be told that your hearts and ears have grown dull and you’ve closed your eyes, would make a few folks pretty irritated.

That’s blunt! And to be honest, that was true then, and it’s true today.

Luke then tells us Paul boldly taught and preached about Jesus.

And then - - nothing! BOOM! The story of the start of the church ends. I don’t like movies that just end. I want an ending. It’s unsettling. Luke doesn’t wrap up the story by adding some nice concluding paragraphs.

And - - - we’re left with Acts 29, the unwritten chapters about the next steps and future of the church. We catch glimpses in Paul’s letters, but nothing more.

Acts ends abruptly . . . But maybe it’s to send the message that our business is unfinished. It’s to know that the church hasn’t ended. It’s an ongoing movement, so, I believe the church, our church, FBC, is now writing our own Acts 29.

Think about how many people in Madison, Grant and Delaware counties don’t know Jesus. There are about 310,000 people in these 3 counties. I don’t know how many claim to be Christ followers as opposed to being fans or admirers of Jesus. That’s actually something we’ll talk about beginning next year!

I would guesstimate there’s about 75,000 - 100,000 people who don’t know Jesus. That means we have work to do. It means we have history to write for the next generations. It means we must continue writing Acts 29.

We all know we live in a torn and broken world. I really believe if we’re willing, and that’s a big IF . . . if we’re willing then we should have a better understanding of the fallen nature of the world. We understand that because of passages like Romans 3:23, when Paul tells us - - - -

23 For ALL have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. - Romans 3:23

We all sin, and as a result we don’t bring glory to God. It’s pretty straight forward. Paul also wrote about his desire to do what’s right, yet, he still sinned, as he tells us in Romans 7 - - -

15 For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.