Many years ago, when we lived in central Illinois, our daughter Megan and I spent a day running errands. Our first stop was to a lawnmower repair shop to drop off our lawnmower blade for its annual sharpening. When we walked in, I held up the blade over my head and my mechanic friend Rob immediately told me I had put it on upside down the previous year! I asked how he knew that, and he said he could tell just by looking at it. After turning red, I asked him if he was going to tell anyone else what I had done. He said he wouldn’t think of it.
When I was ready to debrief with Megan in the car, I told her I always wondered why our lawn looked hacked up the previous spring and summer. Thinking I was in a safe place, I began to lament, “What was I thinking? I had it on upside down all year! Why did I do that?” Megan quickly replied, “Hello, you are from Wisconsin!” Later that day, I told our daughter Lydia what happened, and she asked if I was going to have someone else install it for me. Funny girls.
Here’s the deal. In order for a lawnmower to work properly, the blade must be sharp and installed correctly. Here’s our main idea today: Our mission will be accomplished when we stay spiritually sharp.
Please turn to Acts 28:11-13. After being stranded on Malta for the winter, the Apostle Paul and the other castaways found another ship and continued their journey to Rome: “After three months we set sail in a ship that had wintered in the island, a ship of Alexandria, with the twin gods as a figurehead. Putting in at Syracuse [Sicily], we stayed there for three days. And from there we made a circuit and arrived at Rhegium [the toe of Italy]. And after one day a south wind sprang up, and on the second day we came to Puteoli [the major port for Rome].”
The twin gods at the front of the ship were believed to bring good luck to the sailors. Named Castor and Pullox, these idols were thought to be the sons of Zeus. Their constellation, Gemini, was considered a sign of good fortune after a bad storm. Paul obviously paid no attention to this nonsense. This detail may have been included to contrast pagan superstitions with the true protection believers have through God’s providence.
When I was growing up, my family used to reach out to St. Christopher before long trips because he is thought to be the patron saint of travel. St. Anthony was also popular in our home because he was prayed to when we lost things (we sent a lot of prayers his way). Let me just say we’re not to pray to those who have died or put our faith in figurines.
I see four ways for us to stay spiritually sharp in the final section of Acts 28.
1. Go out of your way to connect with Christians. We see this in verse 14: “There we found brothers and were invited to stay with them for seven days. And so we came to Rome.” The word “found” means, “to find for oneself, to discover through inquiry.” They couldn’t do a Google search for a church, so they went out of their way to find fellowship. The word “brothers” means, “from the same womb.” Being there for “seven days” allowed them to gather for corporate worship on a weekend.
After being isolated on a ship with salty sailors and hardened criminals, along with being shipwrecked on an island where they couldn’t communicate with the natives, the believers longed to gather with God’s people, no matter how inconvenient it was. We’ve seen this commitment before in Acts 19:1: “Paul passed through the inland country and came to Ephesus. There he found some disciples.” This was repeated when they landed in Tyre according to Acts 21:4: “And having sought out the disciples, we stayed there for seven days.” Once again, we see believers exercising hospitality in a hostile world.
Let’s apply this to our cultural context. After two years of isolation, many are gathering again for worship here at Edgewood! I received a note this week from a guest from last Sunday: “We had been watching your sermons online for a few weeks and felt it was time for an in-person visit. It’s been a while since we’ve been to in-person, and it felt very good to be amongst believers again.” Two Sundays ago, an Edgewood member was watching the Facebook livestream for our 9:00 service. When the service was wrapping up, she heard a pastor say, “‘See you next time in person.’ So, I got ready and came to the 10:45 service.”
Notice how the brothers from Puteoli “invited” the travelers. This word conveys warmth and earnestness and comes from two words, one meaning “to the side of” and the other, “to call.” It’s translated as, “to comfort, exhort, beseech.” In that spirit, if you’re engaging online, and you’re able, I beseech you to come and gather with other believers. Christians are not called to be consumers; we’re called to be contributors. The church needs you and you need the church.
I read an article to our staff team this week which referenced how many believers are floating without a church today. Many want to connect again but have become disoriented, demotivated, or discouraged. These two sentences stood out: “Many have been displaced physically and relationally, uprooted from place and people. They are wandering around, looking for another church to call home.”
Let’s make the “Easter Ask” this week and invite at least one person every day. According to a Lifeway study, over 60% of unchurched people indicated they would likely go to church on Easter if they were invited. We have invitation cards on the table in the lobby. When you’re out and about this week, hand them out to people. I gave one to a coffee shop employee and to someone else in the community this week and they both seemed very interested.
Related to that, let’s be ready to welcome our guests to one of our four services. For those of us who are members and regular attenders, let’s make sure our guests can find someplace to sit. If you’re able, slide into the middle of the row to make room on the ends. If the Worship Center starts to fill up, would you consider giving up your seat and moving to the Life Center overflow area?
Verse 15 indicates some believers traveled a great distance to be together: “And the brothers there, when they heard about us, came as far as the Forum of Appius and Three Taverns to meet us. On seeing them, Paul thanked God and took courage.” One group traveled about 33 miles and the other journeyed over 40 miles (it would take 1-2 days to travel). Three years earlier, Paul had sent the Book of Romans to them. They no doubt had spent time digesting its deep doctrinal truths and were excited to meet Paul so they could grow in their discipleship.
When they traveled to be with Paul, he gave thanks to God and “took courage.” We might not think much about this, but being with other Christians gave Paul courage. I’m reminded of our responsibility to encourage one another according to Hebrews 3:13: “But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called ‘today,’ that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.”
Some of you travel great lengths each week to gather with God’s people. This week, I asked Marie to compile a list of communities some of you travel from to get to Edgewood that are at least ten miles away.
Andalusia = 11 miles
Silvis and Colona = 12 miles
Sherrard and Taylor Ridge = 13 miles
Preemption = 14 miles
Le Claire, Cleveland, and Orion = 15 miles
Reynolds = 16 miles
Eldridge and Blue Grass = 17 miles
Matherville = 18 miles
Walcott = 19 miles
Long Grove = 20 miles
Princeton = 21 miles
Port Byron = 22 miles
Illinois City = 23 miles
Alpha and Geneseo = 26 miles
Hillsdale and Cordova = 27 miles
New Windsor = 29 miles
Aledo = 30 miles
Muscatine = 32 miles
Atkinson and Cambridge = 33 miles
Joy = 37 miles
Delmar = 41 miles
New Boston = 44 miles
Fulton = 44 miles
Maquoketa = 47 miles
Kewanee = 50 miles
Hiawatha = 91 miles
You might be interested to know approximately 80% of our members and regular attenders live in Illinois, 20% come from Iowa, and .001% are from Wisconsin.
Our mission will be accomplished when we stay spiritually sharp.
2. See every place as a platform for ministry. Look at verse 16: “And when we came into Rome, Paul was allowed to stay by himself, with the soldier who guarded him.” Paul wasn’t put in prison but instead was allowed some freedom, though he was chained to a soldier. This may have seemed like a bummer, but Paul saw it as a gospel opportunity because soldiers changed shifts every six hours. They were literally a captive audience. BTW, Paul wrote at least four New Testament letters during this time – Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, and Philemon.
According to Philippians 1:12-14, Paul saw God’s purpose in everything, and he looked at every place as a platform for ministry: “I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel, so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ. And most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.”
Paul called together the local Jewish leaders to share the gospel with them. We read their response in verses 21-22: “And they said to him, ‘We have received no letters from Judea about you, and none of the brothers coming here has reported or spoken any evil about you. But we desire to hear from you what your views are, for with regard to this sect we know that everywhere it is spoken against.’” In case you haven’t noticed, it’s always been common for people to speak against Christianity.
In verse 23, we see what happened when a large group of people gathered at Paul’s Airbnb: “When they had appointed a day for him, they came to him at his lodging in greater numbers. From morning till evening he expounded to them, testifying to the kingdom of God and trying to convince them about Jesus both from the Law of Moses and from the Prophets.” I see six elements which made up Paul’s preaching paradigm.
• He preached a long time. If you think I am long-winded, remember Paul preached from morning to evening! What a joy to watch what God is doing in our students and young adults as they prepare to gather for Secret Church on Friday, April 29 from 6pm to midnight. Along with 50,000 online participants, they will engage in a simulcast for six hours of intense study of God’s Word and in passionate prayer for the persecuted.
• He expounded the Scriptures. The word “expound” means, “to make plain, to expose, to set forth systematically.” Our preferred practice at Edgewood is to preach through a book of the Bible, explaining each verse and applying the Word to our world today. Expository preaching, also known as expositional preaching, explains what the Bible means by what it says.
Our study in Acts took three years and covered 56 sermons. Our next series will be called RE: and will explore biblical words which begin with the letters “Re.” Each message will be rooted in a text of Scripture. Here are some of the words – Resurrect, Renew, Revive, Repent, Resolve, Redemption, Return, and Reconciliation.
• He testified to the kingdom of God. Paul’s preaching was filled with testimony about the kingdom of God. We see this theme at both the beginning and the end of the Book of Acts. Listen to Acts 1:3: “He presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God.”
• He worked to convince people to make a commitment. The word “convince” means “to persuade and bring over.” Paul preached for a response because he was all about transformation, not simply information. We saw this in Acts 19:8 as well: “And he entered the synagogue and for three months spoke boldly, reasoning and persuading them about the kingdom of God.”
• He centered everything in the Scriptures. Paul preached from the “Law of Moses and from the Prophets.” Undoubtedly, he exegeted the texts of Moses describing the sacrificial system and how Jesus is the final sacrifice. When preaching from the prophets, I’m sure he described Jesus as the fulfillment of all prophecy. I’m always surprised when guests remark how much of the Bible is used at Edgewood. Friends, even though some churches have stopped preaching the Bible because its unpopular or moved to brief “conversations,” we will never stop centering everything in the Scriptures as we strive to preach the whole counsel of God.
• He was prepared for different responses. We see this in verse 24: “And some were convinced by what he said, but others disbelieved.” This is good for us to remember when witnessing – some will believe, and others will push back. The idea behind “disbelieved” is they refused to believe as a stubborn act of their will like we saw in Acts 19:9: “Some became stubborn and continued in unbelief.” It’s not that they couldn’t believe, it’s that they wouldn’t believe.
God has called us as a church to live on mission by reaching our neighbors and the nations with the gospel as we strive to see our place in the world as a platform for ministry.
Our mission will be accomplished when we stay spiritually sharp.
3. Focus on those who will listen. The next way Paul stayed spiritually sharp was to invest his energy in those who were open to the gospel. Listen to verses 25-28: “And disagreeing among themselves, they departed after Paul had made one statement: ‘The Holy Spirit was right in saying to your fathers through Isaiah the prophet: “Go to this people, and say, ‘You will indeed hear but never understand, and you will indeed see but never perceive.’ For this people’s heart has grown dull, and with their ears they can barely hear, and their eyes they have closed; lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them.’ Therefore let it be known to you that this salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles; they will listen.” Incidentally, this passage from Isaiah is quoted six times in the New Testament to show the horrors of a hardened heart.
It was Paul’s practice to go to the Jew first and then to the Gentiles. Turn over to Romans 1:16: “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.” Because these Jews demonstrated spiritual dullness, Paul turned his attention to the non-Jews who were spiritually hungry. Here’s the principal. Look for opportunities to take the gospel to everyone and when you see someone who is open, concentrate on him or her.
This week, I went back to the very first message in our series on the Book of Acts. Here’s part of what I said…
While we’re excited about all the facility changes taking place, we need to remember Grow Time is all about growing our faith, our family, and our future for the glory of God. We must remain on mission by focusing outwardly, not inwardly…we need to be constantly reminded of our purpose and of God’s plan to reach the world through His witnesses.
While the good news of the gospel spread throughout Jerusalem, it extended to different cultures, languages, and people groups. People from every walk of life and every racial background were saved and enfolded into the ever-expanding church (Acts 1:8). At its core, Acts is a book about each of us living on mission among our neighbors and sending missionaries to the nations. It would be great if God would call some of us to become cross-cultural missionaries through this series.
God is answering this prayer! A young woman from Edgewood is in the process of faithraising a prayer team and a financial team so she can go to Asia in January. Edgewood members Aaron and Amanda Langworthy were just accepted by a mission’s agency and plan to head to Uganda. This year, at the Cross Conference, a total of seven people from Edgewood surrendered their lives to cross-cultural ministry!
I read a very convicting post this week called, “When Did Evangelicals Stop Caring About Missions?” I can’t stop thinking about one stat: “We spend more on Halloween costumes for our pets than we spend on evangelizing unreached people groups.”
As I reflected on what God has taught us these past three years through our study of Acts, I wrote down seven statements.
• We are more interested in what happens in our building than with the building itself.
• We are more interested in our sending capacity than in our seating capacity.
• We are more interested in making disciples than counting conversions.
• We are more interested in how many are serving than with how many come to a service.
• We are more interested in how many are following Christ than with how many call themselves Christians.
• We are more interested in growing in Christ than just knowing about the Bible.
• We are more interested in our people living on mission with neighbors and the nations than with how many members we have.
Our mission will be accomplished when we stay spiritually sharp.
4. Live on mission wherever you are. We see this in verses 30-31: “He lived there two whole years at his own expense, and welcomed all who came to him, proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness and without hindrance.” Here are some ways Paul lived on mission.
• He welcomed all who came to him. The word “welcome” means, “to accept gratefully and embrace heartily.” Simply put, Paul loved people and was a master at making connections with Christians. For example, Paul sent greetings to 26 people by name in Romans 16. While he was a prisoner in Rome, Timothy, John Mark, Luke, Aristarchus, Epaphras, and Demas were with him. While a prisoner, he also led Philemon’s runaway slave Onesimus to the Lord.
• He proclaimed the kingdom of God. To “proclaim” means, “to announce by preaching.” Broadly speaking, the kingdom of God is the rule of the eternal, sovereign God over everything. More narrowly, the kingdom of God refers to the spiritual rule over the hearts and lives of those who willingly submit to Jesus as Lord and Savior.
• He taught about the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul’s passion was to preach about who Jesus was and what He came to do through His life, death, burial, resurrection, ascension, reign, and second coming. He called people to trust Jesus as Savior and surrender to Him as Lord. Since this is Palm Sunday, my mind goes back to the donkey who had the privilege of carrying\ the Son of David, the King of Glory into Jerusalem. Interestingly, when Jesus came in, no one noticed the donkey, which is how it’s supposed to be. Our job is to shine the spotlight on the Savior as we bring Him with us wherever we go.
• He ministered with all boldness. The word “bold” speaks of “freedom, frankness, and exactness of speech.” He didn’t water down the Word as he preached repentance and the new birth.
• He didn’t let anything stop him. Paul did not let anything slow him down or become a hindrance to the gospel. 2 Timothy 2:9: “For which I am suffering, bound with chains as a criminal. But the word of God is not bound!”
Our mission will be accomplished when we stay spiritually sharp.
Let’s summarize what we’ve learned today.
1. Go out of your way to connect with Christians.
2. See every place as a platform for ministry.
3. Focus on those who will listen.
4. Live on mission wherever you are.
Anyone willing to help me install this blade after the service?
