MISSON POSSIBLE
“Here Am I…..Send Me”
Acts 13:1-3 (p781) August 26, 2012
INTRODUCTION
Remember the theme verse for Mission Possible? Acts 1:8 “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth.”
Jesus spoke these words to his disciples immediately before His ascension back to Heaven…After He said this He was taken up before their very eyes and a cloud hid Him from their sight.” (Acts 1:9)
10 days later, while all the disciples were waiting and praying in an upper room the gift “The father promised was given…The disciples of Jesus were baptized with the Holy Spirit…”He came like the blowing of a violent wind from heaven…It filled the entire house where they were sitting…they saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them…All of them were filled with the Holy spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them…
Its Pentecost…so there are God fearing Jews from every nation in Jerusalem…when they heard this sound they came to the place in amazement, because each hears the gospel in their native language.
It’s the fulfillment of prophecy…Joel, the prophet told his people…”I will pour out my spirit on all people your sons and daughters will prophecy...”
On this day this prophesy is fulfilled…Parathions, Medes, Elamites, people from Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus, Asia, Phrygia, Pamphilia, Egypt, Libya, Rome, Cretans and Arabs….
“Every Nation under heaven…heard the wonders of God in their own tongue…
The apostle Peter takes the lead with the eleven disciples (now including Matthews, who took Judas’s place)
He shares a history lesson…He quotes from King David in the psalms...He is an eye witness of Jesus miracles, His ministry and His death, burial and resurrection…
He pleads with this audience to accept Christ Jesus as their Messiah; the Christ…the Lord…and God cuts their hearts to be open…
“Those who accepted his message were baptized and about 3,000 were added to their number that day” (V 41)
That’s amazing
I THE CHURCH BEGAN WITH GOD BRINGING PEOPLE TO ONE PLACE
The one place….Jerusalem….
Remember the promise…”Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my father promise…you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth. “(Acts 1: 4-8)
Remember when I shared with you Pentecost is the opposite of the Tower of Babel in Gen. 11…There God confused their language and scattered them over all the earth….” (Pride, sin, independence…God rejects it)
Here in Jerusalem, at Pentecost…God brings together nations so they can hear His plan in their own language… (God’s plan of grace and redemption for the entire world) “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
The key word there is….”Everyone!”
Yes it will start with the Jews, from every nation at Pentecost…but even on this day we see a glimpse of God’s all inclusive plane…Sons & daughters, old and young, men and women…everyone.
The Messiah came through God’s covenant relationship with the Israelites…Matthew and Luke both records that lineage…
The disciples of Jesus are Jewish…Its their heritage…the Messiah was promised to Israel…Peter and the others begin….He has come…He was born, He lived, performed miracles…you saw them…you killed him, crucified him with the help of wicked men…He dies, He was buried, but He rose from the dead…We saw Him, we touched Him…He lives…Peter says
It’s what God planned for our salvation all along! Can you see it? Do you understand your need for a Savior? Do you want the promised Gift of God’s Spirit? 3,000 God fearing Jews from every nation under the sun joined the 120 believers that day in Jerusalem…by accepting this message and being baptized.
But the growth of the church required
II THESE INDIVIDUALS COMMITTING THEMSELVES TO GROWTH.
You cannot grow without roots…you cannot become a disciple-maker unless you are discipled…It’s a symptomatic relationship between God’s spirit, His word, and His people.
These individuals that God added to the family of believers on Pentecost committed themselves to growth…listen…
Acts 2: 42-47 (p772)
God’s word through the apostles taught them truth, they were encouraged by others who were learning and growing alongside them…relationships and fellowships spring up, they shared communion together but also meals with each other in their homes…and they prayed about everything they poured their hearts out to God.
This community caught a glimpse of the eternal because their priorities changed. Selfishness was replaced with humility and selflessness…they touched base in accountability daily with other Christians…and these entire attitude flowed out into their non-believing friends, family and neighbors…It was a blessing to all people, not just the church people…and because of that God added to their number daily those friends, family and neighbors that accepted the message they had accepted on Pentecost.
They were becoming witnesses of God’s plan…perculating in Jerusalem, and Judea…now even spreading out to Samaria (their enemies…loved because of Grace)….and those God fearing Jews were now returning with roots of faith to “Every nation under heaven.”
[Church, the most irritating part of our faith to the world is that we are not only called to share what’s happened to us in salvation but…”the Love of Christ compels us”…propels us into a sinful lost world we believe needs a Savior...even when they don’t]
Acts 6: 7 says “So the Word of God Spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests become obedient to the faith.”
The Jerusalem church is growing fast…especially when a bunch of Jewish preachers (priests) become believers…
But the gospel is meant for the whole world…not just Jerusalem or even Judea…or Samaria…
So a persecution breaks out…lead by a man named Saul…He helps kill one of the churches deacons name Stephen…He’s a member of the Jewish Elite so he gets permission to arrest and persecute any followers of Jesus…men and women…but you know the story...while on a journey to Damascus for just that purpose…He meets a risen Jesus, He is blinded by the light, discipled by a man named Ananias…baptized and then given his marching orders from God.
“This man is my chosen instrument to carry my name before the gentiles and their Kings and before the people of Israel...I will show him how much he must suffer in my name” (Acts 9:15, 16)
Growing in Christ is vital to a believer’s health and maturity…but the Christian life is never self focused…our growth and maturity in Christ must make us other –focused.
No where in scripture is the church told to expect a lost world to come to their building or assemble for salvation…it’s a ridiculous way to expect God’s Kingdom to grow…it’s certainly not a New Testament concept…
The Assembling is for growth, preparation and worship… It’s the huddle on the football field…now after the huddle you break out to run the coach’s play.
Peter has been the primary spokesman in Jerusalem...so when God reveals to Him in Acts chapter 10 that the doors are open for gentiles (non-Jews) to be saved…it’s now time for “Everyone to have the opportunity to call on the name of the Lord.”,
God now scatters the believers like seed in a field as the persecution breaks out, because they are seeds in His field, the whole world. Listen
Acts 11: 19-26 (p 780)
So when we come to our test it’s our challenge to consider that we are
III THE MISSIONARIES SET APART AND SENT INTO THE WORLD.
Listen once again…
Acts 13: 1-3 (p 781)
In the church of Antioch there were leaders with recognizable spiritual gifts…preaching…teaching.
According to Acts 11: 25, 26 Barnabas and Saul have been in Antioch a year teaching, growing disciples…and they are meeting with disciples who share the same connection…as they disciple one another….they are seeking god’s plane and purpose through worship and fasting…and PRAYER.
And the Holy Spirit speaks…”while they were worshipping the Lord and fasting the Holy Spirit said.
“Give me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I’ve called them”
Here’s the 64,000 dollar question for us as Christians…at Antioch or Fern Creek?
How do I recognize the work I’m called for and set apart for?
And the answer…recognize individuals who are genuinely seeking the purpose and plan of God for their lives…leaders who really worship, fast and pray…and those leaders..
Must be open when the Holy Spirit speaks to them and says…”I’ve prepared Joe, Mary, John, Sarah for this work…
Folks, there’s always ministry that needs to be done…
Places no one else will recognize or see…”Like Brantley’s Poem” … Feet that need washing, children who need changing, materials that needs stapling…unreached people who have never, ever heard of the Savior…
[I stood with a couple on Thursday the 16th at the Airport…I’ve been there with them several times…they were headed out to a country on the other side of the globe….preparing to effectively communicate the gospel through language studies…leaving behind three children grandchildren, parents, friends. I share this because years before this couple owned their own business…lived in a nice house, loved to go to the movies…He was a leader in our church…And God took it all…took all the stuff that gave him security and identity…I understand this test)….but when God does this…whether it’s in Paul’s life, my life, or His life….God has a plan…a purpose…He’s the replacement for that which he takes away…and He’s better than anything, or anyone else that gives us security or our identity.
So I asked this husband, father, grandfather, now missionary…”Would you trade your relationship with god now for the one you had before if He gave it all back…and He said, “Not in a million years:…Kair and I say “Amen”…Saul who became Paul would say…I have been crucified with Christ and the life I now live I live by faith” I wouldn’t trade it!)
