Sermon Brief
Date Written: June 09, 2015
Date Preached: June 14, 2015
Where Preached: Evergreen Baptist Church (AM)
Sermon Details:
Series Title: Miscellaneous Missions
Sermon Title: Ananias – Portrait of Leaving The Comfort Zone!
Sermon Text: Acts 9:10-18 [HCSB]
Introduction:
Now we all know about Saul, who became Paul and what he contributed to the early church and we have been blessed for centuries for HIS contribution to the Gospel and the church, however, this morning I gonna introduce you to the MAN who one of the most instrumental believers in the early church….
I want us to look at Ananias this morning and what a powerful contribution HE made to God’s work!
By show of hands, how many of you here like to be comfortable? How many of you here have a place where you feel most comfortable… church, work, school, a favorite chair, couch… bed?
In America today MUCH of our lives are spent trying to GET comfortable and I believe it is safe to say that we all LIKE to be comfortable—right?
Well let me share a truth about Christianity that may upset a few of you today…
God does not care about how ‘comfortable’ we are or how comfortable we want to be! He has NOT called us to be comfortable in serving Him! WE are called by Christ to serve in obedience, regardless of the situation!
Saul (Paul) was one who knew about being uncomfortable in service to God, he was willing to serve God NO matter where it took him and no matter what it cost him…
Many believers today find it very UNCOMFORTABLE when they are called to go on missions and be evangelistic! I bet there are several that are sitting here today who would get physically uncomfortable just talking about sharing their faith with their neighbor!
While we are ALL not called to go out on a mission trip… God does call ALL believers to share their faith, regardless of where you live or who you are! We him telling us this in Matt 28:19-20a:
19Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you...
He also instructed those who follow Him that we are ALL His witnesses! He calls us to be on mission for Him throughout our entire life, even if we never leave our own “Jerusalem.”
Look what He told His disciples just before He ascended into heaven… [read/show Acts 1:8 here]
8But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come on you, and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
However, it does not matter how uncomfortable this makes us, we are still called by God into His service…
Called to serve as witnesses for Jesus in our everyday life!
Called to serve as a witness at our job.
Called to serve as a witness in our schools or our communities…
With that being said:
MANY believers are NOT willing to be a witness…
MANY believers are NOT willing to go on missions…
Why is this? I believe it is because this calling takes us OUT of our comfort zone and MOST believers (especially here in America) are just not willing to leave that place of comfort and safety!
I want to tell you that this morning God is calling you to step out and trust Him and understand it is TIME TO LEAVE OUR COMFORT ZONE!
Today we are here to celebrate and send out 16 people to go on mission for Jesus! This morning I want us to look at a passage of Scripture that speaks about the mission trip a single individual took back when the church was very young…
Let me give you just a little background about our passage today, there had been a man named Saul who was commissioned by the High Priest to persecute the Christians! He gave him authority to go to Damascus and find Christians and put them in jail or have them stoned.
Saul was on his way to the city when his trip was interrupted! Jesus met Saul on the road to Damascus and Saul was physically blinded by the sheer glory of Jesus’ presence!
Jesus challenged Saul to serve Him and for him to go, wait in the city until someone comes to him. Saul is led by those he had traveled with into Damascus…
As we take up the story in our passage this morning Saul is still sitting and waiting in a house and STILL blind! In another house across town Jesus is visiting is another man! His name – Ananias!
Now Paul is basically a ‘rock star’ in Christian circles but I want us to focus on ‘the other guy’ this morning… I want us to focus on a man willing to take on a mission that had all the looks of tragedy…
He was a missionary who was ready to hear God’s call…
He was a missionary who listened to God’s instruction…
He was a missionary heard God’s call, who obeyed God’s call and then witnessed God’s wonder!
We find that God actually calls a man by the name of Ananias to go to Saul and pray with and for him…Would you stand with me in honor of the reading of God’s word…
Ananias’ Mission Trip – v10-12
10There was a disciple in Damascus named Ananias. And the Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias!” “Here I am, Lord!” he said. 11“Get up and go to the street called Straight,” the Lord said to him, “to the house of Judas, and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, since he is praying there. 12In a vision he has seen a man named Ananias coming in and placing his hands on him so he can regain his sight.” 13“Lord,” Ananias answered, “I have heard from many people about this man, how much harm he has done to Your saints in Jerusalem. 14And he has authority here from the chief priests to arrest all who call on Your name.” 15But the Lord said to him, “Go! For this man is My chosen instrument to take My name to Gentiles, kings, and the Israelites. 16I will show him how much he must suffer for My name!” 17So Ananias left and entered the house. Then he placed his hands on him and said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road you were traveling, has sent me so that you can regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.”18At once something like scales fell from his eyes, and he regained his sight. Then he got up and was baptized.
Ananias was called by God to do something that would take him OUT of his comfort zone! Today there are 16 people sitting before us that are in a similar situation, as God has called them to GO on mission and leave their comfort zone… to serve Him and His kingdom!
Their mission trip may not seem as dramatic of a circumstance that Ananias was facing… but I want us to see and understand it is NOT about the circumstance BUT it is all about the willingness to obey, when God calls!
Ananias was ready to hear from Jesus…
Question: Are YOU ready to hear from Jesus in your life today?
I believe that that Ananias was ready to hear from God…now wait a minute preacher how can YOU know that? There is nothing in this verse that indicates he was ready to hear from God…
I disagree!! I believe Ananias was ready to hear God and we CAN know this from his response…look at that verse again with me!
How did Ananias respond?
Responded with eager anticipation
(new believer/new faith)
HERE I am Lord!
Can you imagine what Ananias felt. Here he was a new believer in this new movement that had just come out of Jerusalem, and NOW the One he worshiped was calling on Ananias to do something for Him…
As believers today, are you ready for God to call on you… better yet are you ANTICIPATING God’s call on your life? We must live our lives in anticipation of God’s calling! Do you LONG for Jesus to call you into ministry?
Responded with willing obedience (B4 knowing what it was)
HERE I am Lord
Ananias makes it plain to Christ that HE is available… Here I AM Lord! Revealing his willing obedience to His Savior! His eager willingness to serve should be an example for us today.
As a Christian, it is important for us to be listening for God’s voice in our lives, but we must also be ready to ACT on what God calls us to do… In fact we must have our heart set on acting even before God reveals what He wants of us!
Responded in humble submission
HERE I am Lord!
I can picture Ananias falling to his knees as he says this… just as Thomas did when he finally saw the resurrected Jesus and he fell at his feet saying, “My Lord and my God!” Can you just imagine what Ananias felt when Jesus appeared to him?
He had accepted Christ as Messiah and Savior BUT now he was standing in the same room with Him, and Jesus was asking him to go on a special mission. He was humbled that His Savior was calling him to serve!
The question is are you ready to hear from God and respond today?
How can YOU hear from God today?
Reading our Bible – When we are faithfully and consistently IN the Word, it prepares our heart to hear from God! Are you in the Word today?
Prayer and meditation on God’s Word – When we spend a lot of time in prayer and when we are in communication with God, we open our hearts to hear FROM God…
Thru the confirmation of others – You have friends and family that God can and will speak thru… this is usually to confirm what God is already saying to you as you read the Word and go to Him in prayer!
Today we have 16 people about to embark on a mission for Jesus. My prayer is that they have heard from God and are answering His call…
When we open our hearts & minds in prayer & Bible study, He will speak to us… That leads me to the next step… WHEN we do hear from God, then what do we do? Do we act or do we resist? Ananias heard God and we find that he paid attention and listened to what God was saying…
I know that often we want something SO much that we have a tendency to NOT listen to God’s answer because we want what we want! It could be out of fear, or selfish desire on our part, but there are many times when we KNOW God is speaking but we don’t listen to what He is saying!
However, what we see here was not only was Ananias ready to hear God speak, he listened intently to what God Jesus had to say!
2. Ananias was ready to listen TO Jesus…
Ananias listened to God’s instructions:
Now that MAY seem like the same thing, but how many of you here this morning know the difference between hearing someone and listening to someone…
Question: Many of us ‘hear’ God when He speaks, but the question for us today is: Are YOU ready to listen to what Jesus is saying to you?
We can read that God gave Ananias some pretty specific instructions… and from his actions we KNOW that Ananias LISTENED to Jesus! Jesus told him to:
Go to a house on Straight Street owned by Judas
Saul of Tarsus is there praying right now
Go Lay on hands and pray for him
I have told him YOU are coming (by name)
Personal calling to Ananias by God
Has God called YOU personally to His work?
We know that Ananias wanted to hear from God because he was READY and waiting to hear God’s voice… and we can learn from his willingness to listen for God’s voice…
BUT, we can ALSO learn from him this morning in that we can see that Ananias was also willing to listen to God’s instruction… we can also know this from his response…
In v13 Ananias SEEMS to be questioning Jesus, but let’s take a closer look at this…
13“Lord,” Ananias answered, “I have heard from many people about this man, how much harm he has done to Your saints in Jerusalem. 14And he has authority here from the chief priests to arrest all who call on Your name.”
I believe the 1st thing we can see in his response is fear or anxiety! After all, can you imagine what he was thinking? He had heard about this guy and probably did NOT want to go and face him!
But what I want to point out is that we should NOT judge his fear! I believe his fearful response is his fleshly response, but I don’t think this meant he was resistant to Jesus’ calling.
Instead of being unwilling to do what Jesus was calling him to do, what I see is Ananias applying good listening skills what Jesus had said!
In this verse, I see a man wanting to make sure he heard Jesus right… Haven’t we already established that he was ready to HEAR from God? So if he was listening for God, I believe he wanted to make sure he had the facts straight!
It is like Ananias was saying, “Ok Jesus, you said Saul, right? I have heard of him, isn’t he the one killing & imprisoning your disciples? Is THAT the man you want me to go see?”
Is there fear in his response? YES, having fear does not disqualify us from being obedient in ministry! In this passage, we see that he does not allow his fear to paralyze him! Instead what we see reveals great courage on his part in the face of his fear!
Let me ask ALL of you a question this morning, has God called you to something that you are afraid to face? Fear does NOT disqualify you OR exempt you from obedience. Ananias trusted in Jesus’ calling and that trust fueled his obedience OVER his fear!
YOU too can overcome your fear from that calling that is scaring you! Paul told Timothy that fear was NOT an option for the believer. 2 Tim 1 Paul says, “. . . for God gave us a spirit NOT of fear but of power and love and self control!”
We are called to SERVE… our calling from Jesus calls us beyond our fear, it overcomes our doubts, it transcends our anxieties and leads us to obedience and service to Him!
Ananias wanted to hear from Jesus…
Ananias wanted to listen and heed Jesus’ calling…finally,
Ananias wanted to serve Jesus…let’s look at v17-18
3. Ananias was ready to Serve Jesus…
17So Ananias left and entered the house. Then he placed his hands on him and said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road you were traveling, has sent me so that you can regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” 18At once something like scales fell from his eyes, and he regained his sight. Then he got up and was baptized.
What do you see in these verses? What I see is a man of great courage! We see that ultimately Ananias did not allow his fear and doubt to take him away from his obedience!
Ananias was focused on being obedient and that drove his fear to the background… it did not eliminate it, but it drove it to the rear of his heart where he could be obedient!
You know -- courage is NOT the absence of fear, but it is the ability to do what you need to do in spite of the fear! In ministry, overcoming fear is based on our trust in Jesus!
Overcoming fear is not complicated… it is simply being obedient to God’s calling in the face of whatever He calls us to do… or whatever fear the enemy places in front of us!
Ananias’ calling from Jesus was not a complicated task, but it WAS intimidating! It was NOT something too demanding, what we CAN know about what Jesus called him to do is that it was tremendously important!
Let’s not lose focus of just what Jesus WAS calling Ananias to do! He was calling him to reach out to Saul… and because of Ananias’ obedience; God used Saul for great things.
Ananias was ready hear Jesus…
Ananias was ready for Jesus’ instructions…
Ananias was ready to serve Jesus!
Let me tell you this morning, God wants US all to serve like Ananias did…
We should ALL be wanting and desiring to HEAR God’s call on our lives…
We should ALL be willing to not only hear Him, but listen to His instruction…finally,
We should all be willing to serve God according to how He has called us… trusting in Him to drive out our fear and lead us to our obedience!
God has also called these 16 missionaries this morning for His purpose! He has a plan for them… This morning we commission them to serve God and go on this mission!
Who knows what the results are going to be? Who knows if God has another ‘Saul’ waiting to hear from one of these missionaries…
Who knows… on this mission trip one of you may just meet another ‘Saul’ type of servant who is just waiting to hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ and then spark a revival that sweeps our country and the world!??
Today, these missionaries are called by God just like Ananias was called by God…
I believe all of these 16 missionaries have prayed about going on this mission…
I believe each one of them has felt God’s calling in some way…
I believe each one of them has God calling them to do HIS Gospel ministry.
I believe God is giving them instructions for their journey and we must pray for them as they go!
We need to lift them up today… that they would allow God to use them… that they would trust in God to drive away their fear and spur them to obedience!
But here is another point I want to make this morning… NOT all of you are going on this mission trip, but you are still called by God as well…
Your calling may not take you out of state… BUT…I can guarantee you that your calling from God is going to take you out of your comfort zone!
Ananias heard Jesus, and then listened to Jesus’ instruction! Ananias the fully trusted IN Jesus’ calling as he willingly submitted God’s call even tho’ things did not seem to be good for him to do it…
He trusted God when everything in his body told him NOT to… Our calling in Christ is NOT to keep doing what we have always done, but to trust Him to be obedient to what He is calling us to do FOR Him!
We are called to go forth into this world and make disciples by sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ with this world!
He is calling you to stop being satisfied with what is and trust in Him for what He can do and what CAN be through Him!
God has called YOU today to LEAVE YOUR comfort zone behind! He is calling you to be willing to step OUT of your comfort zone by trusting Him and allowing Him to use you as His instrument… Are YOU willing today?
