Together We Win!
Text: Acts 18:1-11
Intro: Patrick Henry once said, “United we stand, divided we fall.” This slogan proves true in politics, business, and many other areas. Even the animal kingdom understands the strength and safety in staying together. Predators generally go after the stragglers or they purposely try to cut off 1 or 2 animals from the rest of the herd so they can pick them off. As Christians, it is vitally important that we learn how to live this life together! By ourselves we face danger, loneliness, insecurity, and weakness. But together with other believers, we find encouragement, hope, strength, safety, and so much more!
-I’d like to show a video clip from Facing the Giants that reminds us how important it is for us to be together in this thing, and give encouragement and strength to one another. [Show clip]
Prop: If we will follow Christ together, we can win in the life struggles we face.
Interrogative: How does togetherness in Christ help us win?
TS: There are 4 wins I’d like to talk about from our text today.
I. Being Together Helps Us Conquer Loneliness (Acts 18:1-2)
1After this, Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. 2 There he met a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had ordered all the Jews to leave Rome. Paul went to see them,
-Paul was in Corinth by himself to begin with and probably found himself in need of good Christian fellowship. He was human like us, and he was probably kind of lonely. He needed others around him who believed in Jesus. It just so happened that God had brought a man named Aquila and his wife Priscilla to Corinth recently. They and all Jews had recently been evicted from Rome, apparently due to the rioting among the Jews as they strongly opposed the followers of Jesus. The Roman historiographer Suetonius recorded that the Emperor Claudius “expelled the Jews because they were continually rioting at the instigation of Chrestus.” Most Christian scholars believe that Suetonius misspelled the Greek name, Christos, or perhaps Latinized it. Regardless, this appears to be a reference to Christ Jesus or more specifically, his followers. Suetonius probably knew little about Jesus and cared even less. He was simply recording the fact of the Jewish eviction from Rome.
-Nevertheless, God used these circumstances to bring Aquila and Priscilla to Corinth. Paul met them and then got together with them. It appears that they were already followers of Jesus, which established more common ground with Paul than the fact that they were tentmakers.
-Maybe you’ve struggled with loneliness before. It is not a pleasant feeling. There are times when we all need our space, but too much space makes us feel empty and alone. We were created to love and be loved, and that is not done well in isolation. God wants us to develop friendships with other believers so we can mutually encourage one another. Sometimes we need to cry and be cried upon. We need to laugh with others. There is something about sharing both joys and sorrows that meets an emotional and even spiritual need within us.
-We are not alone, so it is imperative that we don’t live like we are! I need you! You need me. We all need each other. So, being together is important. It helps us conquer loneliness, depression, and helps us see that we are going to make it!
-TS: Well, we can see that Paul did not just go and hang out with Aquila and Priscilla, but he started working with them. They had to make ends meet, so why not work at it together? Let’s look at it in v.3.
II. Working Together Helps Bring Provision (Acts 18:3)
3 and because he was a tentmaker as they were, he stayed and worked with them.
-Some people view work as a curse, as part of the Fall of man. However, work is a gift from God. The curse was that man would have to toil laboriously, living by the sweat of his brow. The ground was cursed, so man would have to cultivate it and take care of it in order to grow the needed food. Here is what it says in Genesis 3:17-19 “17 To Adam he said, "Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, ’You must not eat of it,’ "Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. 18 It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. 19 By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return."
-Paul was not afraid of work. In fact, he usually worked wherever he ministered in order to be a good example to others. That is why he could write things like this: “We were not idle when we were with you, 8 nor did we eat anyone’s food without paying for it. On the contrary, we worked night and day, laboring and toiling so that we would not be a burden to any of you. 9 We did this, not because we do not have the right to such help, but in order to make ourselves a model for you to follow. 10 For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: "If a man will not work, he shall not eat." 11 We hear that some among you are idle. They are not busy; they are busybodies. 12 Such people we command and urge in the Lord Jesus Christ to settle down and earn the bread they eat” (2 Thessalonians 3:7-12). So, work is a good thing. It allows us to take responsibility for our own provision and can provide us opportunity to get to know others we are working with. You don’t really know someone well until you’ve worked side by side with them and worked up a sweat together.
III. Ministering Together Helps Us Exceed Our Limitations (Acts 18:4-8)
4 Every Sabbath he reasoned in the synagogue, trying to persuade Jews and Greeks. 5 When Silas and Timothy came from Macedonia, Paul devoted himself exclusively to preaching, testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Christ. 6 But when the Jews opposed Paul and became abusive, he shook out his clothes in protest and said to them, "Your blood be on your own heads! I am clear of my responsibility. From now on I will go to the Gentiles." 7 Then Paul left the synagogue and went next door to the house of Titius Justus, a worshiper of God. 8 Crispus, the synagogue ruler, and his entire household believed in the Lord; and many of the Corinthians who heard him believed and were baptized.
-One of the points to be made here is that it wasn’t all Paul. Yes, Paul is the central figure of Acts 13-28, but he was part of a greater team. Not only did they work together with their hands to earn a living and pay their own way, but they ministered together. Notice in v.5, after Silas and Timothy rejoined Paul, he apparently quit making tents and focused solely on telling the Jews about Jesus. Why didn’t he do this to begin with? Probably because his team was not there to help support him and cover for him.
-Why didn’t God just send ravens to feed Paul like he had done for Elijah? I believe the reason is this: God’s often provides through members of His own family. Do you need a miracle of provision? God can do things like multiply oil and fish and loaves, but He can also use another team member to help provide. Maybe you have been someone’s answer to prayer. Maybe you have been God’s miracle to someone in need. Or maybe you’ve been able to help minister to someone’s physical needs while they devote themselves to meeting spiritual needs. Both endeavors are works of ministry.
-Preaching the word is not the only form of ministry there is. Some preach, some teach, some serve, some lead, some encourage, some give, some give prophetic insight, some give heartfelt compassion and mercy, some clean the toilets, some prepare meals, some write cards and letters – We all have some form of ministry that complements the overall effort of God’s kingdom to reach people in need. There are lead roles and there are supporting roles. Team ministry is what we need if we ever hope to reach our community with the good news about Jesus.
-Someone said that a lot gets accomplished when nobody cares who gets the credit. If it is not all about me being in the spotlight, then maybe I can effectively minister to people out of love and genuine concern for them.
-Since we are human, there is only so much that we can accomplish by ourselves. That is why Paul eventually devoted himself exclusively to preaching. He saw how great the need was and decided that he could do the most good by preaching as often as he could get someone to listen. Team ministry helped Paul overcome his own limitations.
-Sometimes we have limitations that we put on ourselves. We have mental barriers that keep us from accomplishing all we are capable of with God’s help.
-In the video clip we watched earlier, we saw how the coach helped the player overcome some of his own mental limitations. He was guilty of small thinking because he was only seeing the obstacles and the level of difficulty that was ahead. It took someone else to show him that faith and an “I can” attitude could make a world of difference.
-So, let’s learn to team up with each other and do ministry together. If we realize that we are all on the same team and if each one plays their important part, that will help build the kingdom and bring more people to Christ.
-Well, our final point has to do with overcoming our fears.
IV. Trusting Together Helps Us Overcome Our Fears (Acts 18:9-11)
9 One night the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision: "Do not be afraid; keep on speaking, do not be silent. 10 For I am with you, and no one is going to attack and harm you, because I have many people in this city." 11 So Paul stayed for a year and a half, teaching them the word of God.
-Certainly, each of us must learn to trust God ourselves, regardless of what others may or may not do. However, we must never lose the perspective that we are in this together. That is what the Lord told Paul, when he apparently feared for his life. “I am with you, and I have many people here to help you.” Let’s take a look at this first thought- I am with you!
A. Trusting God’s Presence – I am with you! The biblical rationale for boldness and courage is the immediate presence of God. The greatest weapon we have against fear is the knowledge that God is with us! The Lord told Paul, “Do not be afraid… I am with you.” That is exactly what the Lord told Joshua after Moses died: “As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you. 6 "Be strong and courageous. 9Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go” (Joshua 1:5-6). In Hebrews 13:5-6, “God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you." 6 So we say with confidence, "The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?"
-These and so many more scriptures remind us that God is with us and that we have nothing to fear.
B. Trusting God’s People – God strategically places believers in communities so that we can help strengthen and protect one another. What kind of protection are we talking about here? The biggest is prayer protection. When we pray for one another, we are forming a barrier of strength against the enemy. We should also be watching out for one another. Sometimes we need protection from ourselves. Other believers may see us slipping into a compromising situation, and we may be blind to it. We should live openly enough with one another that it would not be offensive to us for someone to ask us about an area of our personal life. I know of groups of men who ask each other accountability questions each week to keep themselves clear of temptations. Some of those questions are quite personal, but they are important. “Have you been in any compromising situations this week with anyone other than your wife?” “Have you viewed any pornography or read pornographic material this week?” These are some of the things people deal with on a daily basis. Christian friendships should be a deterrent to moral compromise. God has placed Christians in your life to protect you and for you to protect them.
-In relation to overcoming our fears, there is safety in numbers. When we are in fellowship with other believers, we realize that God is using them to help keep us safe. God strategically places believers in proximity of one another so we can watch each other’s backs and provide encouragement and victory over fear.
-So, God is with us, and His people are all around us. We do not have to live in fear, but we can boldly share the good news about Jesus with others!
Conclusion: As we close, how are you doing on togetherness? Together we win. By ourselves we will likely fail. Do you need help against loneliness? Get together with others in God’s family. Do you need provision in your life? Team up with others to work for what you need. Do you want to exceed the limitations you’ve come to expect in your life? Try the team approach of doing ministry. Maximize your strengths by doing what is best for the team. Others on the team can help cover you and strengthen you. Do you battle with fear? Join the many others who are trusting that God really is right where you are and is willing to help you. Recognize the fact that God has many other believers strategically placed in your life to help you succeed in living for Him and doing His will.
-So, what next? What should we do with all of this information? First, join the team. If you have not asked God to forgive your sins and lead your life, then that is the first thing that needs to happen. Maybe you are ready to do that today. If so, I’d enjoy talking with you and answering any questions you might have about God or the Bible. God is real and He wants to become real to you today!
-Now, maybe you’ve already done that, but you’ve not really been part of the team. You haven’t practiced with the team or worked out with the team much. You’ve kind of been going it alone. The result is that you haven’t been very effective, and neither has the team! I challenge you to get in all the way. Commit to God and to His team, not based on what you might get out of it, but based on what others might get out of it. We can do so much more together than we can alone!
-I’m not sure what you need to do today in response to this message, but you probably do. I encourage you to do it. Whatever the Lord lays on your heart, be obedient and follow through with it! Together in Him we win! Let’s pray.
