A LIFE OF ADVENTURE
Acts 9:19-30; 11:19-30; 13: 1-4
August 2002
INTRODUCTION
A. In 1953 Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay became the first people to stand on the "roof of the world." Ten years later, a man named Barry Bishop was among a group that carried the American flag to the summit for the first time, following a route up the previously unclimbed west ridge
B. In April 1986, French doctor Jean-Louis Ettenne makes a solo dash across the arctic ice (National Geographic, Sept 1986)
C. Answering an urgent call to adventure, author Ramon Larramendal set off to cross the artic from Greenland to the cost of Alaska by kayaking, dogsledding and slogging….(National Geographic, Jan.1995)
These brave and adventurous men dared to face the danger they could not imagined: frostbite, insomnia, oxygen depravation, loss of appetite and death.
Why they did it despite the danger?
“It was an amazing moment”, answered Peter Hillary when ask why what it is like to climb at Mount Everest.
Maybe because they are faced with awe to this once-isolated region. Maybe to test their intelligence, physical condition and human will.
D. My Ascend to Mount Mayon at camp 1 with the groups of mountain climbers. One of my lifetime of memories.
E. Brethren have you ever thought of your Christian life as an ultimate adventure, full of surprises, full of changes? Does unexpected surprises, changes the monotony of your ministry? How do you respond?
Christ’s faithful disciples learned that a life of adventure and being greatly used by God requires sensitivity to his leading, willingness to take a risk and adjust his life to Christ.
F. Turn your bible to the book of Acts
BACKGROUND
A. Written by Doctor Luke. Date is uncertain.
B. Records the story of the growth of the early Church.
C. The book is called “The Acts of Triumphant Faith.”
D. The book is called “The Acts of the Holy Spirit.” The Holy Spirit is mentioned in 17 chapters.
PREPERATION YEARS –Acts 9:18-30; 11:19-30:Gal.1:15-18
Note: First take the account on Damascus Road.
A. Let’s begin our journey. Read verses 18-19a.
a. These verses talk about what happen to Paul during his conversion.
b. Reading it through verse 31 will have us to think Paul immediately after his conversion, preached the Gospel. However, that is not I believe happens.
c. I believe there is a break here between verses 19a and 19b.
d. Doctor Luke didn’t record the where-about of Paul right after his encounter of Jesus Christ. Where did Paul Go?
B. Paul’s in Desert Retreat. Read Galatians 1:15-18
a. In Galatians 1, Paul recounted his experience.
b. Paul addressed two things he did not do.
1. He “did not consult with flesh and blood.” That means he did not consult the counsel of men who might have understand the situation.
2. He did not rush to Jerusalem to present himself to the apostles, nor did he stand in need of any instructions from them, being immediately furnished sufficiently by Christ himself.
“This emphatic disclaimer of any contact with earlier believers and their leaders makes it clear that Paul did not drive his understanding of the Christian message from any who were Christians before Him….” (Leon Morris, as quoted by Charles Swindoll in Paul: A man of Grace and Grit) pp.28
c. Read verse 17. Rather than joining the Apostles, he instead stole away to Arabia.
1. This journey of the apostle is wholly omitted by Luke, nor should we have known anything of it, had it not been for this account: how long he stays, what he did and what success he meets are no where related.
2. Paul experience would seem to fit in best at the close of Acts 9:19a.
“….It has been suggested that those three years in Arabia were a deliberate compensation for three years of instruction which Jesus gave the other apostles, but which Paul missed. Now he had Jesus to himself, as it were, for three years of solitude in the wilderness” (J. Stott, The Message of Galatians) p34
“Arabia became a temple where he worshiped the Lord in a way he had never experienced in his life. Solitude helped… As the desert winds bowled across rocky gorges, God revealed Himself to His servant” (Charles Swindoll, Paul a Man of Grace and Grit), pp 55-56.
d. Eventually, Paul returned to Damascus (verse 17b). He stayed for several days with the disciples and preached Christ (Acts 9:19b-22).
1. We must keep in mind, however, that it is not Paul’s purpose here to give us a complete autobiography.
2. He relates only those events which support his vindication of his calling and apostleship from heaven.
3. Thus, his record here, and that recorded by Luke in the Book of Acts (which is a history of Christ’s work through the early church) do not contradict one another. They simply bring to light different events in the life of this man of God.
C. Faithful despite terrible trial (Acts 9:23-30)
a. Paul faced a life threatening plot (verses 23-25).
b. Disciples were afraid of him (verses 26-28). Paul’s past as the persecutor of believers haunted him; the believers would not accept him.
c.Hellinists try to kill him, forced him to flee to Tarsus (verses 29-30).
D. The Gospel at Antioch (Acts 11:19-30)
a. Paul spent a final year of his preparation period in Antioch
b. Barnabas went to tarsus and looked for Paul and invited him to come to Antioch.
c. Paul helped the newly formed Antioch Church.
d. A great famine struck Jerusalem. Paul & Barnabas took gifts from Antioch to Jerusalem to help the poor Christians there
BREAKING INTO NEW TERRITORY (Acts 13:1-4)
A. Setting apart Paul and Barnabas- verses 1-2
1. These five men worked as a “team” as band of brothers in faith, committed to share the Gospel.
2. These five men face hardship, pain and difficulties. They were defamed, belittled, and persecuted.
3. As they ministered together, GOD chooses to send two of them in different direction.
B. They Step out in Faith-verses 3-5
1. The Holy Spirit made an impulse on their minds, to separate two of their brethren to a work they were appointed to.
2. He called Paul and Barnabas to follow His directives in order to achieve His specific purpose, and they followed.
3. They knew that following God often meant taking leaps of faith into unknown territory. So they obediently responded in faith.
CONCLUSION
In our ministries changes too may occur. Surprises may come our ways. Remember they are God’s plan, not our plan. God overrules everything. This is not about our life, this is about God.
In the life of adventures by Paul, Barnabas and all the disciples, teaches us three things:
1. Be sensitive to His leading- Don’t hung on to what you once was. Stay open. It might be a new adventure in your ministry. Years we spend in our present ministry might be a preparation years God design for us.
“the sensitive believer will be alert to what God is intending to do’ even in unexpected or unplanned or unlikely situations.” – Millard Erickson, Christian Theology
2. Respond in faith- Stay available in His leading. Obedience to God requires obedience to change. Remember, God is the potter we are the clay. Submit to His will. He picked & chooses men & women for the work & places He chooses.
3. Adjust your life to Him- Be ready to say yes to Him. Don’t fear the unknown. God will take care of it. Everything has to have to be yielded to God and the entire life adjusted to Him.
“When God speaks to you, revealing what he is about to do, that revelation is your invitation to adjust your life to Him.” – Henry Blackaby, Experiencing God
REFLECTION:
1. Has God made known His will to you?
2. Have you seen His Christ?
3. Have you heard His voice?
4. Has God uses a time of quietnes and solitude to speak to your
Heart?
5. Do you experience unexpected change in your life? How did you
deal with it?
