WELCOME & GREETINGS
- Getting to know new brothers and sisters in Christ in our fellowship.
- My prayer this morning is that I can encourage and lift up this congregation with this message.
INTRODUCTION
We exist in a time where great things have happened. We’ve taken extraordinary leaps in technology, travel, and exploration. But with great advancement comes great tragedy. In order to succeed in these areas, there are going to be failures.
1. Our 35th President, John F. Kennedy was considered a successful president. Whatever disagreement you may have with a number of his works as president, he has an enduring legacy where people generally see him in a positive light. Some of his policies were disastrous but that didn’t tarnish his legacy. He was a war hero saving his fellow sailors after his PT boat was hit and sinking. He cared about people. He wanted to help pass the Civil Rights Act to make sure all Americans were free to vote, work, and generally live in a way that would ensure their skin color didn’t prevent their life, liberty and pursuit of happiness. On November 26, 1963 Kennedy was assassinated. It was also Kennedy’s dream that as a nation that leads, we should be the first to reach new heights and land on the moon. Kennedy’s impact on our world is still being seen today.
2. NASA’s influence on the world grew because of this directive. And in 1969, Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins journeyed to the moon before two of those men (Armstrong and Aldrin) walked on the lunar surface.
3. In both good and bad ways, we have been impacted by NASA and our space program. I was a young 10-year-old when watching from my school desk, we awaited the seven astronauts who would leap into orbit; among them the first school teacher--Christa McAuliffe. Their mission was to deploy a communication satellite to study Halley’s comet. After launch, one of the boosters had an issue that allowed gas to escape through a small O-ring. It ignited and caused the entire rocket and shuttle to explode. All seven astronauts were killed.
4. On September 11, 2001 I woke up and got ready for work. I turned on the television as I always did to watch the news. On every station one of the World trade towers was on fire and smoking. Then the second plane hit the other tower. Our lives would forever be changed.
So many points in history that we could speak about. Wars, conflict, economic victories and disasters, the rise and fall of influential people in governments, Hollywood, and music. Men and women who have written works that will be forever read and beloved for generations. These events have turned our world upside down. These events change us. Some of them so captivating they inspire conspiracy theories about the events and timelines.
Today, we look back to this story of our friend the Apostle Paul who made such an impact.
READ ACTS 17:1-9
1 Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews. 2 And Paul went in, as was his custom, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, 3 explaining and proving that it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead, and saying, “This Jesus, whom I proclaim to you, is the Christ.” 4 And some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a great many of the devout Greeks and not a few of the leading women.
5 But the Jews were jealous, and taking some wicked men of the rabble, they formed a mob, set the city in an uproar, and attacked the house of Jason, seeking to bring them out to the crowd. 6 And when they could not find them, they dragged Jason and some of the brothers before the city authorities, shouting, “These men who have turned the world upside down have come here also, 7 and Jason has received them, and they are all acting against the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, Jesus.” 8 And the people and the city authorities were disturbed when they heard these things. 9 And when they had taken money as security from Jason and the rest, they let them go.
EXEGETE PASSAGE
- Paul’s influence on their part of the world
- The men who accompanied him as part of his team that had been sent out to many cities all over Asia Minor.
o Silas, Barnabas, Luke, John Mark, Judas Barsabbas, Timothy….
- Encountered persecution, stoning, prison
o Remained faithful, converted jailers, Greeks, political and religious leaders
o Reputation for continuing to teach about the Messiah Jesus
- Here in Thessalonica
o Continued their teaching at the synagogue
o Some more were persuaded to follow Christ
o Raised jealousy in others
o People who had been teaching all their lives and could not convert people as quickly.
o If Paul had been at Jason’s house at the time of this mob he may have been stoned and killed for good.
o The mob made an interesting accusation…
THESE MEN WHO HAVE TURNED THE WORLD UPSIDE DOWN
As they should have. Isn’t this the kind of people God has called all of us to be? What was the state of the world at this time? Thessalonica needed to hear this message from Paul. He and Silas passed by other cities in order to go here. It was clearly not the easiest city to convert. It’s here where he received opposition. We see that a lot with Paul. When he chose a city, it wasn’t because it was going to be easy to raise a church. He went to places that needed the Gospel the most. Paul was called to Thessalonica for a reason. The people who accepted Paul and Silas’ message needed to hear it.
We can learn from this. We too are called to turn the world upside down. When we live in this world as Christ’s ambassadors, we are going to share a message that people might not accept, but need to hear. It’s a bold life we are called to live in Christ.
I noticed something from your own website. I don’t know how often you refer to this message, but I found it to be very Godly. Your mission statement…Know Him, Follow Him, Share Him…
KNOW HIM
God has made Himself known through His creation and revelation, the Bible. But most emphatically though His Son, Jesus Christ.
If we know God, our message becomes counter cultural. We speak differently. We treat others differently. The things we spend our time on, our money on, the way we teach our family, the people we spend time with all look different. Do you know God? Do you know His Son, Jesus? Does the Spirit of God live within you? Then we will look and act differently.
ROMANS 12:2
“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”
FOLLOW HIM
To follow means to be a disciple. Jesus invites everyone. Following is a call to be like Jesus. Being His disciple must become one’s top priority.
Are we disciples of Jesus? Do we take Jesus’ invitation to live like him seriously? Do we expect to always have our way? Or are we willing to lay down our lives for others? That’s what we are called to.
GALATIANS 2:20
“I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”
2 TIMOTHY 3:12
“Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted…”
JOHN 15:18
“If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you.”
I was on YouTube watching people who claim they have the “Neighbors from Hell.” At first, I was annoyed by the things their neighbors were doing. Then I started to realize and ask the question, “Have they tried talking to their neighbor about the issues?” Then I started to see videos where the person who thought their neighbor was the big meanie (“Karen”) was the one causing problems. So, then I started to ask, “Could it be that this person is the actual bad neighbor?”
Sometimes you have to just let things go even if they bother you. We’re not called to go looking for trouble. We’re not called to be mean to people who won’t follow Jesus. Quite the opposite. But our lives should reflect our Savior’s. If our lives don’t, it is likely not Jesus that we are following.
SHARE HIM
The first disciples were called to share the gospel with everyone everywhere. We are both the result and the continuation of that goal. Because we love Him who first loved us, we take that love to others.
We should be ready to share the gospel with everyone. Are we making disciples as Jesus called us to? Are we following Jesus’ Great Commission?
MATTHEW 28:18-20
18And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 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 all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
How are we as people ready to share the Good News? It includes things like the way we treat our neighbors. How we speak to our neighbors. How we speak with our enemies. How we think about our enemies. Are you actively praying for the people who you don’t like?
CHURCHES OF CHRIST ARE AT A CROSSROADS
We can continue the way we are or we can be ready to adjust our methods to reach more people for Christ. Kairos Church Planting has done a lot of work compiling statistics about our fellowship and the decline we are in right now. Every 6 days, another Church of Christ closes her doors.
I don’t know about you, but I want to end that. I want to see that statistic die. I want to be an active part in seeing that number change.
These Thessalonians didn’t like change. It’s hard. We all have our sacred cows. Many of those sacred cows aren’t because of scripture, but preference. When it comes to changing hearts and turning people toward the cross of Jesus Christ, I am willing to do what that takes. Sometimes it can be uncomfortable. But souls are in jeopardy!
My friend David Young says this often and he’s right when he says,
“You can have comfort or you can have awesome but you can’t have both. If you want to be comfortable keep doing things the way you’re doing them.”
If comfort is our desire, then we can one day become part of that statistic and shut our doors. But I love our fellowship. I will choose the Churches of Christ every day over some other group. Not because we’re right. But because I love our heritage. I love our doctrine. I love our people. I love our mission. I love our passion for singing. I love our teaching about baptism and the Lord’s supper. And I won’t sit back and watch us die a slow (sometimes a quick) death.
The Thessalonians heard Paul’s message of the Gospel and they accepted it.
1 THESSALONIANS 2:13
And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers.
May we be like these believers. May we be people who receive the word of God and accept it as such. Let this word be at work in us. Let us be people who want to Know God, Follow Christ, and Share the Good News of the Gospel with everyone we meet. Let us be people who turn the world upside down in a world that is already upside down
What an awesome thing that would be!
INVITATION
