SUPERNATURAL #14: THE POWER OF THE GOSPEL
KEY TEXT: “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” (Acts 1:8).
REVIEW PART ONE: MAPS
• In Acts 13, the Lord called Paul and Barnabas to go on a missionary journey.
• They went from ANTIOCH to SELEUCIA, then sailed to CYPRUS
• On Cyprus, they went to PAPHOS, where they found a sorcerer, a false prophet named Bar-Jesus and the proconsul, Sergius Paulus. They led Sergius to the Lord.
• They returned to the mainland and went to ANTIOCH in Pisidia, and preached there.
• The whole city came to hear the Word, people were saved, the disciples were persecuted.
THE BIG IDEA: God has called us to be missionary Christians – to share the Gospel (Good News) with everyone we meet. The Gospel has the power to transform their lives.
BEING A MISSIONARY CHURCH: WHAT DOES THAT LOOK LIKE?
“A missionary is not someone who crosses the sea, but someone who sees the cross.”
THE GREAT COMMISSION:
“And Jesus said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover” (Mark 16:15-18).
• If you are a believer, then Jesus has called you to share the Good News with other people.
• Lost people in the world are going to hell because they don’t know God’s love!
• Our job is to present JESUS to the world – the Saviour, Healer, Baptiser & King!
MISSIONS TRIP TESTIMONIES: From Mexico and the Yukon – personal stories.
KEY TEXT:
“Now it happened in Iconium that they went together to the synagogue of the Jews, and so spoke that a great multitude both of the Jews and of the Greeks believed. But the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brethren. Therefore they stayed there a long time, speaking boldly in the Lord, who was bearing witness to the word of His grace, granting signs and wonders to be done by their hands. But the multitude of the city was divided: part sided with the Jews, and part with the apostles. And when a violent attempt was made by both the Gentiles and Jews, with their rulers, to abuse and stone them, they became aware of it and fled to Lystra and Derbe, cities of Lycaonia, and to the surrounding region. And they were preaching the gospel there.” (Acts 14:1-7).
• Paul and Barnabas continued sharing the Gospel – Good News – in Iconium.
• As Jesus had promised, when they preached the Word, He confirmed the Word through the accompanying signs and wonders.
1. THE GOSPEL HAS THE POWER TO TRANSFORM LIVES:
“And in Lystra a certain man without strength in his feet was sitting, a cripple from his mother’s womb, who had never walked. This man heard Paul speaking. Paul, observing him intently and seeing that he had faith to be healed, said with a loud voice, "Stand up straight on your feet!" And he leaped and walked.” (Acts 14:8-10).
• Jesus never commissioned a signless, powerless Gospel!
• Paul wrote: “in mighty signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God, so that from Jerusalem and round about to Illyricum I have fully preached the gospel of Christ.” (Romans 15:19).
• In other words, wherever the Good News is preached, lives should be transformed!
• Jesus wants people to be set free – saved, delivered and healed:
• Saved = sins forgiven, adopted into God’s family
• Delivered = joy in our emotions, peace for our troubled minds
= set free from addictions and bondages
• Healed = in our physical bodies as well.
2. THE GOSPEL CALLS US TO REPENT – TO TURN FROM OUR SINS TO GOD:
“Now when the people saw what Paul had done, they raised their voices, saying in the Lycaonian language, "The gods have come down to us in the likeness of men!" And Barnabas they called Zeus, and Paul, Hermes, because he was the chief speaker. Then the priest of Zeus, whose temple was in front of their city, brought oxen and garlands to the gates, intending to sacrifice with the multitudes. But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard this, they tore their clothes and ran in among the multitude, crying out and saying, "Men, why are you doing these things? We also are men with the same nature as you, and preach to you that you should turn from these useless things to the living God, who made the heaven, the earth, the sea, and all things that are in them.” (Acts 14:11-15).
• The Bible says to turn from useless things.
• Useless = mataios = fruitless, empty, futile, frivolous, hollow.
• People look to useless things like drugs, alcohol, sexual relationships to try to find satisfaction and fulfillment. These are empty things!
• Paul preached that the people should turn from their sins, and turn to God = repentance.
• You can go to church your whole life and never experience the Good News of salvation.
• Peter preached: “Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that He may send Jesus Christ, who was preached to you before.” (Acts 3:19-20).
• True happiness in life is found only in the person of JESUS. Jesus IS the Gospel!
• Peter preached: “Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12).
• Why must we go preach the Gospel? Because Jesus is the only way to Heaven!
3. WHEN WE PREACH THE GOSPEL, WE WILL BE PERSECUTED:
“Then Jews from Antioch and Iconium came there; and having persuaded the multitudes, they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing him to be dead. However, when the disciples gathered around him, he rose up and went into the city. And the next day he departed with Barnabas to Derbe.” (Acts 14:19-20).
• Wherever and whenever the Good News is preached, there will be opposition.
QUOTE: Jim Elliott said, “That man is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.”
QUOTE: Nate Saint said, “People who do not know the Lord ask why we waste our lives as missionaries. They forget they too are expending their lives, and when the bubble has burst, they will have nothing of eternal significance to show for the years they have wasted.”
Martyrs CD: “As Joan of Arc was dying at the stake, she said this quote: every man gives his life for what he believes…sometimes people believe in little or nothing, and yet they give their lives to that little or nothing. One life is all we have, we live it and it’s gone, but to live without belief is more terrible than dying, even more terrible than dying young. What do you burn for?”
CLOSING CHALLENGE: MY LIFE FOR THE GOSPEL
“When Jesus had called the people to Himself, with His disciples also, He said to them, "Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?.” (Mark 8:34-36).
• Jesus is calling all of us to lay down our lives for the sake of the Gospel.
• Call #1 – those who feel (one day) called to full time missions or ministry work
• Call #2 – those who want to join us on our missions trip to Costa Rica in August 2010
QUOTE: John Piper says there are three kinds of people when it comes to missions:
1. Those who GO to the missions field
2. Those who SEND others to the field, and support them with prayer and finances
3. Those who are DISOBEDIENT.
Beausejour Community Church Website: www.beausejourchurch.ca
Pastor Chris Jordan’s Blog: http://thelandofpromise.blogspot.com/
