Moving On Series

SERMON OUTLINE

(A). Making the Move: A Need (vs 1-3)

• The City (VS 1).

• The Believers (Vs 1).

• The Holy Spirit (vs 2-3).

(B). Making the Move: An Adventure (vs 4-12)

• A Good Beginning (vs 3-5).

• A Unique Island (Vs 4b-5a).

• A Difficult Experience (vs 6-10).

SERMON BODY:

Ill:

• I remember one time when we were moving house;

• And when I looked under the bed I found a box under the bed,

• I pulled it out and looked inside,

• Where I finds two eggs and about 8,000 pounds.

• So I asked my wife Penny what the eggs are for,

• And she replies,

• "Every time I you preach a boring sermon on you I put an egg in the box".

• So I am thinking,

• "That's not bad, in all my years of ministry I’ve only preached badly twice."

• So then I ask here, so what’s all the money is for.

• And she replies, "Well, every time I got a dozen eggs I sold them!"

TRANSITION:

• People move house for a variety of reasons;

• For some it’s because of a new job.

• For others to be closer to family members.

• Some the need is for more space,

• Some fly the nest or move to a bigger place to accommodate a growing family.

• Or may be for less space as the offspring leave home.

• To some the move is improve life - a better district, or to escape a tricky situation.

• There are many reasons both good and bad for moving.

Note: Regarding moving:

• Christians can add another key factor into the equation:

• God.

• i.e. I spent the first 24 years of my life in the same house (I was even born there!),

• Then when God called me into full-time Christian ministry;

• For reasons I will not go into now;

• But I experienced living in six different homes in the next two years.

This morning we are going to see in Acts chapter 13 this principle of God moving people:

• Perfectly illustrated in the book of Acts,

• Acts is a book of movement:

• It is a book of shallow tent pegs, as people are travelling here and there,

• Setting off in one direction or another in response to God’s call.

Ill:

• William Phelps taught English literature at Yale University for forty-one years;

• Until his retirement in 1933.

• One year just before Christmas he was marking an examination paper,

• Phelps came across the note: "God only knows the answer to this question. Merry Xmas"

• Phelps returned the paper with this note:

• "God gets an A. You get an F. Happy New Year."

• Well, God alone knows when, where and why we might move in the future,

• Wise people move with God, they do not fight against his will!

• Acts chapter 13 is a great example of;

• When God clearly says it is time to move on!

Note:

• The book of Acts is one of the few Bible books,

• That first gives us the outline to the book;

• And then gives us the content of the book.

Let me remind you of the outline (Acts chapter 1 verse 8):

“You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria,

and to the ends of the earth.”

• Jerusalem was where it all started,

• But sadly for many of these first Christians in the early chapters of Acts,

• That is where it ended as well!

• That’s as far as God’s people went – Jerusalem;

• They put their roots down and they were content,

• So God had to drop the stone of persecution into their calm waters

• And this persecution sent the Christians rippling outward;

• Into the second phase of God’s plan; Judea and Samaria.

• Yet here once again the Christians seem to have got themselves settled,

• They seemed to have forgotten the last part of Jesus’ command:

• “And even to the remotest part of the earth”

Certainly, we can understand their desire to stay settled,

• We all like the comforts of home,

• And the need for security that we find there.

• But when God has a plan, that plan must be implemented!

• God knows what He is doing and at times for some of us that may include us moving on.

(A). Making the Move: A Need (vs 1-3)

• The first few words of verse 1 provide a backdrop for the action that follows.

• Though his phrasing is simple,

• Luke conveys a wealth of information in his portrait of the situation.