WEBVTT 00:00:00.560 --> 00:00:04.240 Please turn in your Bibles to Acts chapter 13. 00:00:04.639 --> 00:00:06.400 It's a short text. 00:00:07.200 --> 00:00:10.800 This morning we're starting a new sermon series kicking off the fall. 00:00:12.720 --> 00:00:16.239 Thinking, praying, living a missional life. 00:00:16.480 --> 00:00:20.559 We're going to talk about that this month in our sermon series. 00:00:20.879 --> 00:00:23.920 We're going to talk about it more later this month at the Vision Banquet. 00:00:24.079 --> 00:00:25.920 Hope that you have signed up already. 00:00:26.079 --> 00:00:28.000 If not, please do so. 00:00:28.160 --> 00:00:35.759 We'd love to have you at that banquet that night as we talk about vision, the vision that God has given this church going forward. 00:00:36.640 --> 00:00:39.119 Acts chapter 13. 00:00:40.560 --> 00:00:44.159 Now there were in the church at Antioch prophets and teachers. 00:00:44.479 --> 00:00:54.159 Barnabas, Simeon, who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Menaeon, a lifelong friend of Herod the Tetrarch, and Saul. 00:00:54.640 --> 00:01:04.319 While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them. 00:01:04.879 --> 00:01:09.439 Then after fasting and praying, they laid their hands on them and sent them off. 00:01:10.319 --> 00:01:12.560 This is the word of God. 00:01:14.959 --> 00:01:22.480 The same Spirit who inspired these words is here to illumine our minds and our hearts with these words. 00:01:22.640 --> 00:01:23.680 Let's pray to him. 00:01:24.799 --> 00:01:26.079 Lord, thank you. 00:01:26.319 --> 00:01:30.560 Thank you for the fact that you are a missionary God. 00:01:31.439 --> 00:01:35.599 Your very heart is so missional-minded. 00:01:35.920 --> 00:01:40.079 And Lord, we know that you want us to become more like you in that regard. 00:01:41.120 --> 00:01:45.040 Holy Spirit, would you please just teach us this morning through your word? 00:01:45.760 --> 00:01:47.280 We pray in Jesus' name. 00:01:47.519 --> 00:01:48.159 Amen. 00:01:51.680 --> 00:01:58.799 Thinking, praying, and living a missional life does not come naturally to any of us. 00:01:59.760 --> 00:02:00.239 Why? 00:02:00.400 --> 00:02:03.200 Because we battle with the flesh every day. 00:02:03.519 --> 00:02:06.959 The flesh inside of us does not want us to do this. 00:02:07.840 --> 00:02:12.879 The flesh says, no, let them do things, let them help. 00:02:13.199 --> 00:02:15.840 You've got enough things going on with your life. 00:02:16.479 --> 00:02:18.800 You just kind of take care of yourself. 00:02:19.039 --> 00:02:21.840 But that's not the spirit. 00:02:23.520 --> 00:02:25.199 Missional, what does that word mean? 00:02:25.439 --> 00:02:30.639 A specific task with which a person or a group is charged. 00:02:31.199 --> 00:02:36.479 We don't have to think too long or look too far to find what God's mission is for his people. 00:02:36.800 --> 00:02:52.479 Jesus' words at the Great Commission at the end of Matthew chapter 28 says, Go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them and teaching them to obey everything I've commanded you. 00:02:53.280 --> 00:02:55.199 We are those disciples. 00:02:55.919 --> 00:03:02.800 And oh yes, he's charged us with obeying everything that he said. 00:03:03.439 --> 00:03:05.280 Does that sound overwhelming? 00:03:07.199 --> 00:03:10.479 But he wouldn't have said it if he didn't mean it. 00:03:10.719 --> 00:03:13.919 And he would not have said it if he did not offer the empowering. 00:03:14.719 --> 00:03:22.479 As Augustine said, Lord, not only give us the commands, but give us the enabling to obey your commands. 00:03:22.719 --> 00:03:24.479 And it's possible. 00:03:25.199 --> 00:03:28.000 And so we are disciples of Jesus. 00:03:28.240 --> 00:03:33.120 And we've been called to disciple the nations, to disciple our city. 00:03:33.599 --> 00:03:38.240 But it starts with us, first of all, being followers of Jesus ourselves. 00:03:38.400 --> 00:03:45.120 As we're going to see in the text, in the first century church, they didn't call themselves Christians. 00:03:45.840 --> 00:03:49.360 Three times in the New Testament we find the term Christian. 00:03:49.599 --> 00:04:00.319 They viewed themselves mostly as disciples, a follower, a student of a master, someone who follows someone in life. 00:04:00.960 --> 00:04:02.000 That's us. 00:04:03.199 --> 00:04:08.240 Serving our city and our world in the name of Christ, that was our theme last year. 00:04:08.560 --> 00:04:13.520 The elders, after much prayer and thought, believe that this new theme is a follow-up. 00:04:13.759 --> 00:04:17.759 It's maybe another step to last year's theme. 00:04:18.079 --> 00:04:21.120 Lord, would you teach us how to think missionally? 00:04:21.680 --> 00:04:23.680 Because we don't naturally do that. 00:04:24.000 --> 00:04:27.120 Would you teach us how to pray a missional life? 00:04:27.680 --> 00:04:33.680 I'm thrilled the 150 copies of a praying church by Paul Miller went like hotcakes. 00:04:34.480 --> 00:04:35.279 It went fast. 00:04:35.360 --> 00:04:37.600 I hope many of you have read it. 00:04:38.000 --> 00:04:39.360 You are reading it. 00:04:40.399 --> 00:04:43.439 It really shakes hands well with this theme this year. 00:04:43.759 --> 00:04:48.639 But how do we actually live a missional life and not just talk about it? 00:04:49.040 --> 00:04:52.639 That's what this sermon series is going to focus on. 00:04:53.279 --> 00:05:01.519 All Christians are called to be not only followers of Jesus, but to be disciplers of Jesus for Jesus. 00:05:01.839 --> 00:05:06.480 Our passage today illustrates this quite well in these three short verses. 00:05:06.879 --> 00:05:09.279 A little background will be helpful. 00:05:09.680 --> 00:05:12.079 The church at Antioch, what do we know about that church? 00:05:12.240 --> 00:05:19.600 If your Bibles are open, if you turn back to chapter 11, verse 19, this is very helpful background. 00:05:19.839 --> 00:05:31.519 Now there were those who were scattered because of the persecution that arose over Stephen, traveled as far as Phoenicia and Cyprus in Antioch, speaking the word to no one except Jews. 00:05:31.759 --> 00:05:33.199 Now let me pause here. 00:05:33.519 --> 00:05:33.839 Dr. 00:05:34.000 --> 00:05:43.519 Luke tells us in Luke, in Acts chapter 8, that this persecution that arose in Jerusalem, a lot of it was sparked by Stephen's martyrdom. 00:05:44.800 --> 00:05:46.319 They hated the Christians. 00:05:46.560 --> 00:05:48.879 They started persecuting the Christians. 00:05:49.199 --> 00:05:53.279 Many of the laypeople in the church, the Christians, left. 00:05:55.199 --> 00:06:00.000 It says in chapter 8, all except the apostles scattered. 00:06:00.240 --> 00:06:01.759 Now, not everyone. 00:06:02.079 --> 00:06:04.959 Many in the church still stayed in Jerusalem. 00:06:05.360 --> 00:06:11.360 But the laypeople were sent out all over the Roman Empire. 00:06:11.600 --> 00:06:15.680 That's how God spread the kingdom of God. 00:06:16.800 --> 00:06:27.040 So we read that and pick up in verse 20, but there were some of them, men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who on coming to Antioch spoke to the Hellenists also, preaching the Lord Jesus. 00:06:27.279 --> 00:06:33.279 And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number who believed turned to the Lord. 00:06:33.519 --> 00:06:40.079 The report of this came to the ears of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. 00:06:40.639 --> 00:06:48.800 When he came and saw the grace of God, he was glad, and he exhorted them all to remain faithful to the Lord with steadfast purpose. 00:06:49.120 --> 00:06:56.160 For he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith, and a great many people were added to the Lord. 00:06:56.399 --> 00:06:59.920 So Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul. 00:07:00.240 --> 00:07:04.079 And when he found him, he brought him to Antioch. 00:07:04.560 --> 00:07:08.399 For a whole year they met with the church and taught a great many people. 00:07:08.879 --> 00:07:13.519 And in Antioch, the disciples were first called Christians. 00:07:15.279 --> 00:07:17.439 This background is helpful. 00:07:17.680 --> 00:07:20.000 What do we know about the city of Antioch? 00:07:20.240 --> 00:07:24.639 It was a very large, diverse, cosmopolitan, commercial city. 00:07:24.879 --> 00:07:31.040 Historians tell it was the third biggest city in the Roman Empire at that time, behind Rome and Alexandria. 00:07:31.920 --> 00:07:33.759 Kids, not Virginia. 00:07:34.959 --> 00:07:35.600 Egypt. 00:07:36.959 --> 00:07:42.000 Antioch was a hustling, bustling, thriving metropolis. 00:07:42.879 --> 00:07:47.839 But because of it being a commercial center, people from all over the nations came. 00:07:48.399 --> 00:07:52.800 God uses cities in very strategic ways in the gospel. 00:07:53.040 --> 00:07:55.360 It goes all the way back to the early church. 00:07:55.680 --> 00:07:58.959 Cities where everybody comes from, some other place. 00:07:59.519 --> 00:08:02.240 And then they're exposed to new ideas. 00:08:02.720 --> 00:08:04.720 They're exposed to the gospel. 00:08:05.120 --> 00:08:08.399 And many of them would take that gospel back home with them. 00:08:10.160 --> 00:08:10.959 Antioch. 00:08:11.439 --> 00:08:15.680 As we said, God used the persecution in Jerusalem to scatter his people. 00:08:16.399 --> 00:08:24.160 Verse 21, and the hand of God was with them, and a great number of people who believed turned to the Lord. 00:08:24.560 --> 00:08:32.799 The church in Jerusalem hears about this, and they send Barnabas, that word means son of encouragement. 00:08:33.039 --> 00:08:35.200 Barnabas was an encourager. 00:08:36.720 --> 00:08:44.559 And he gladly went to Antioch, although he was living in Jerusalem, to find out what was going on. 00:08:44.720 --> 00:08:48.159 There was a revival going on in Antioch. 00:08:49.759 --> 00:08:58.559 He surveys the church and he realizes that all these new Christians are going to need, they're going to need good teaching, good preaching. 00:08:59.120 --> 00:09:00.879 And he says, I know who we need. 00:09:00.960 --> 00:09:02.399 I mean, after prayer. 00:09:02.879 --> 00:09:04.960 I need to go back and find Saul. 00:09:05.120 --> 00:09:06.639 They knew each other. 00:09:07.279 --> 00:09:08.879 He goes to Saul, he finds him. 00:09:09.039 --> 00:09:11.519 It's about a hundred-mile trip to Tarsus. 00:09:11.840 --> 00:09:18.480 He says, Saul, God has a mission, not only for me, but I believe that God has a mission for you to come to Antioch. 00:09:18.720 --> 00:09:25.120 Things are going like wildfire, but we need you to help set the gospel foundation here. 00:09:25.600 --> 00:09:27.200 And so he goes. 00:09:28.320 --> 00:09:30.879 And they do a great work together. 00:09:31.120 --> 00:09:34.159 I'm encouraged by Barnabas' humility. 00:09:34.559 --> 00:09:36.720 He didn't have to be the number one guy. 00:09:36.960 --> 00:09:42.960 He gladly served as a companion, working together with Paul. 00:09:43.360 --> 00:09:44.879 And that's what they did. 00:09:45.200 --> 00:09:58.720 I'm also encouraged that though neither one of them, Saul nor Barnabas, were from Antioch, they weren't prideful. 00:09:59.519 --> 00:10:06.000 They could celebrate God doing a work in a different faraway city with people that are different from them. 00:10:06.639 --> 00:10:09.919 You know, they weren't steeped in denominationalism. 00:10:11.519 --> 00:10:17.120 God can and God does do amazing things outside the PCA. 00:10:18.799 --> 00:10:19.679 He does. 00:10:23.200 --> 00:10:29.200 And we don't want to get caught up in thinking that God is really mostly working through us. 00:10:29.840 --> 00:10:32.399 This church, this denomination. 00:10:32.799 --> 00:10:34.399 That's not true. 00:10:34.960 --> 00:10:43.440 Wherever God's people are listening, learning, growing, and walking in the Spirit, He's working. 00:10:43.679 --> 00:10:45.200 And that was true here. 00:10:45.440 --> 00:10:48.639 So Barnabas went to Tarsus, he found Saul. 00:10:49.120 --> 00:10:54.000 And let's take a moment to think about seasons of preparation for ministry, your ministry too. 00:10:56.879 --> 00:11:07.200 This may surprise you, but Paul was not this superstar that once he was converted just got launched into missionary service. 00:11:07.840 --> 00:11:16.799 It was a long time coming of God working in his heart, probably three years in the desert in Arabia, where he said, Jesus taught me. 00:11:17.519 --> 00:11:21.120 Jesus called me as an apostle, and I was not taught by other leaders. 00:11:21.200 --> 00:11:22.799 I was taught by Jesus. 00:11:23.120 --> 00:11:25.440 As an apostle, call it as an apostle. 00:11:26.000 --> 00:11:29.759 Then there was another seven or eight years in Asia Minor, Turkey. 00:11:30.720 --> 00:11:32.159 What's he doing? 00:11:32.879 --> 00:11:35.840 Those were the, you call them the silent years? 00:11:36.159 --> 00:11:39.360 Call them the ministry preparation years. 00:11:39.840 --> 00:11:42.399 See, he didn't see himself as a superstar. 00:11:42.639 --> 00:11:44.480 He didn't say, oh, I've got all these gifts. 00:11:44.960 --> 00:11:46.080 I better get going. 00:11:46.399 --> 00:11:47.600 They need me. 00:11:49.200 --> 00:11:51.200 He waited patiently. 00:11:51.519 --> 00:11:53.679 He grew quickly. 00:11:54.080 --> 00:11:57.519 And then there was another almost two years in Antioch. 00:11:59.039 --> 00:12:11.519 Twelve, at least 12 years in his life, and he was in a season of preparation, letting God do a deeper work in him, preparing him to do a deeper work in the kingdom. 00:12:12.240 --> 00:12:16.320 Now, as I say that, what does that trigger in your mind? 00:12:16.799 --> 00:12:19.440 You know, we're all called to Christian service. 00:12:20.639 --> 00:12:31.600 What might be this season in your life where God might be teaching and growing you, me, preparing us for even more? 00:12:33.039 --> 00:12:34.960 And so we come to the text. 00:12:35.840 --> 00:12:38.720 It's a powerful little text we read. 00:12:40.399 --> 00:12:50.879 And so with this diverse leadership, Barnabas, a Levite, Simeon, who was called Niger, he was a black man, probably from North Africa. 00:12:51.759 --> 00:12:53.519 Lucius of Cyrene. 00:12:54.720 --> 00:12:58.480 Commentators wonder, was that Simon of Cyrene who carried the cross? 00:12:58.720 --> 00:12:59.919 It could have been. 00:13:05.120 --> 00:13:05.759 Saul. 00:13:07.039 --> 00:13:13.519 The natural leader, you would think, humbly comes last in this list. 00:13:13.600 --> 00:13:14.799 And he's okay with that. 00:13:15.759 --> 00:13:17.279 He was okay with that. 00:13:18.240 --> 00:13:27.519 And so we have these leaders that were meeting with the congregation, worshiping the Lord and fasting, and the Holy Spirit said, What? 00:13:27.759 --> 00:13:29.120 This is the first point. 00:13:29.679 --> 00:13:34.320 Set apart for me, Saul and Barnabas. 00:13:34.799 --> 00:13:36.879 Set apart for me. 00:13:37.519 --> 00:13:41.519 The Holy Spirit claimed these two men for a special mission. 00:13:41.919 --> 00:13:45.120 And notice it was not from a strategy session. 00:13:45.440 --> 00:13:51.279 It was not from a whiteboard exercise that so many, I think, get caught up in today. 00:13:51.919 --> 00:13:59.440 So many, I think, of our ideas for ministry don't come from the Holy Spirit, perhaps, but from our own ideas. 00:13:59.679 --> 00:14:01.519 Our own ideas, our own thoughts. 00:14:01.679 --> 00:14:02.559 Well, this would be great. 00:14:02.639 --> 00:14:04.799 Let's just do this and just jump into things. 00:14:06.159 --> 00:14:07.519 But is it from God? 00:14:09.840 --> 00:14:12.080 If it's not from God, it's not going to last. 00:14:12.879 --> 00:14:17.039 If it's not directly from the Holy Spirit, it's not going to have much staying power. 00:14:17.200 --> 00:14:20.000 And it's not going to have much lasting effect. 00:14:21.919 --> 00:14:27.759 No, they were set apart in worship by worship and fasting. 00:14:28.000 --> 00:14:35.519 Many of you know we fast in this church multiple times through the years, God calls us to significant challenges. 00:14:35.840 --> 00:14:41.279 To set apart, to step back from the busyness of our Washington lifestyle. 00:14:42.639 --> 00:14:44.159 Just to step back. 00:14:45.360 --> 00:14:51.440 And sometimes, yeah, abstain from food, clear our minds perhaps even more. 00:14:51.759 --> 00:14:54.639 And to say, God, what is it that you're calling us to do? 00:14:54.960 --> 00:14:57.120 What is it that you're calling us to be? 00:15:02.639 --> 00:15:03.759 That's important. 00:15:05.120 --> 00:15:08.159 So we understand that vision comes from God. 00:15:08.399 --> 00:15:09.919 It doesn't come from us. 00:15:10.159 --> 00:15:13.519 It's a very hard lesson to learn for Christians. 00:15:13.840 --> 00:15:15.519 It doesn't come from us. 00:15:15.840 --> 00:15:19.759 Our best ideas may or may not be God's vision. 00:15:20.480 --> 00:15:25.279 You know it's possible to have a good idea, but it's not from God for the vision. 00:15:25.600 --> 00:15:28.240 We have to learn how to say no to ourselves. 00:15:28.559 --> 00:15:31.840 Our own desires sometimes can get in the way. 00:15:33.759 --> 00:15:49.279 Hudson Taylor, the missionary, said years ago, since the days of Pentecost, has the church ever put aside every other work and waited upon the Lord for ten days, that the Holy Spirit's power may be manifested. 00:15:49.679 --> 00:15:59.679 We give too much attention to our own methods and machinery and resources, and too little to the source of all power, which is the Holy Spirit. 00:16:00.480 --> 00:16:02.240 I think those words are still true. 00:16:03.519 --> 00:16:05.279 We have to learn how to wait. 00:16:05.519 --> 00:16:07.360 We have to learn how to listen. 00:16:07.600 --> 00:16:11.840 We have to learn how to humble ourselves for a word from heaven. 00:16:12.639 --> 00:16:20.559 As we say, vision comes from God through prayer as we ask, as we wait, as we humble ourselves. 00:16:20.879 --> 00:16:25.120 Barnabas and Saul did not volunteer so much for this as they were called. 00:16:25.279 --> 00:16:28.080 And that's still true for Christian ministry today. 00:16:28.399 --> 00:16:32.720 The Holy Spirit himself appointed them and set them apart. 00:16:33.360 --> 00:16:37.600 Notice the words, set apart for me. 00:16:38.559 --> 00:16:43.360 Does that strike you as worth lingering on? 00:16:45.200 --> 00:16:51.840 The Holy Spirit still says, I have a mission for my people, for you. 00:16:52.879 --> 00:16:56.080 But again, we can easily miss these assignments. 00:16:56.320 --> 00:17:07.039 If we're too busy, if we're too distracted, if we're not really communing with God in his word, if we're not walking in his spirit, we will very likely miss these assignments. 00:17:08.640 --> 00:17:13.839 The verb set apart was used by Paul three times in the epistles. 00:17:14.319 --> 00:17:18.400 At his birth, he said he was set apart to God, Galatians 1.15. 00:17:18.720 --> 00:17:20.640 You know that's true for you, Christian. 00:17:20.880 --> 00:17:24.240 We've all been set apart at birth to God. 00:17:24.799 --> 00:17:26.480 I mean, take that in. 00:17:28.640 --> 00:17:30.799 We're not living random lives. 00:17:32.720 --> 00:17:35.359 What we do matters every day. 00:17:35.680 --> 00:17:39.039 If we've been called by God at birth, to him. 00:17:39.599 --> 00:17:45.599 Secondly, he said in Romans 1:1, at his conversion, he was set apart for the gospel specifically. 00:17:46.240 --> 00:17:47.440 So have we. 00:17:48.240 --> 00:17:52.400 Thirdly, at Antioch, as we read, he was set apart for a particular mission. 00:17:52.640 --> 00:17:55.200 We call it the first missionary journey. 00:17:55.440 --> 00:17:57.039 The first of three. 00:17:58.240 --> 00:18:05.039 He was set apart for a specific mission at a specific time to specific places. 00:18:06.400 --> 00:18:08.079 You know that's true of you. 00:18:09.359 --> 00:18:14.240 We don't read it in the scriptures, which was after the fact for him. 00:18:14.799 --> 00:18:18.400 We have to discern God's call just like Paul did. 00:18:19.200 --> 00:18:21.839 As we wait, as we pray. 00:18:22.000 --> 00:18:24.720 And we know that prayer is two ways, right? 00:18:25.519 --> 00:18:26.319 Prayer. 00:18:27.519 --> 00:18:31.039 A rich prayer life is not just one-way communication. 00:18:31.920 --> 00:18:38.880 We talk to God and He speaks back to us by the Holy Spirit's promptings and leanings and direction. 00:18:40.079 --> 00:18:41.440 Who to marry? 00:18:42.480 --> 00:18:43.279 Career. 00:18:44.640 --> 00:18:49.920 Assignments, kingdom assignments, not just in the church, but vocationally. 00:18:50.799 --> 00:18:53.359 You know, your vocation is part of your calling. 00:18:54.079 --> 00:18:55.039 It all is. 00:18:56.240 --> 00:19:00.000 I want to share something from one of my mentors, Jack Miller. 00:19:02.160 --> 00:19:04.319 It really kind of touches on this. 00:19:08.400 --> 00:19:21.839 Jack is saying he ministered for years as a professor at Westminster Seminary and as a pastor of an OPC church before he understood this. 00:19:26.400 --> 00:19:32.720 A seminary professor once challenged me by saying that I had never learned to depend on the Holy Spirit for ministry. 00:19:33.839 --> 00:19:43.039 I tried to go to the scriptures to investigate more carefully, but I thought my interpretation might be off theologically, and I might get the wrong view. 00:19:43.359 --> 00:19:47.119 You see, he disagrees with his professor, this co-worker. 00:19:47.359 --> 00:19:50.240 He's trying to find biblical reasons why he wasn't right. 00:19:52.079 --> 00:19:58.880 So I turned to the writings of John Owen, who said the same thing as this professor and his teaching. 00:20:00.960 --> 00:20:02.880 You can't do anything. 00:20:03.119 --> 00:20:07.839 You can't do anything in ministry apart from the Holy Spirit. 00:20:08.480 --> 00:20:13.839 Then I decided that he may be wrong, so I went to John Calvin's commentary in John chapter 1. 00:20:14.559 --> 00:20:16.240 He said the same thing. 00:20:16.480 --> 00:20:24.240 He said, You're as dry as dust if you don't have the Holy Spirit operating, leading you, filling you day by day. 00:20:29.359 --> 00:20:30.960 Can we call it busyness? 00:20:31.440 --> 00:20:33.039 Not fruitful ministry. 00:20:33.359 --> 00:20:35.440 Yeah, that happens at seminaries. 00:20:35.680 --> 00:20:37.359 That happens in churches. 00:20:39.680 --> 00:20:45.119 He also said that for you to have, to keep getting grace from Jesus every day. 00:20:45.359 --> 00:20:50.640 And then I read Luke 11, 1 through 13 about the call to ask, seek, and knock. 00:20:50.960 --> 00:20:55.680 Jesus said that we were to ask and to seek and knock every day for the Holy Spirit. 00:20:55.839 --> 00:20:58.880 I realized that I had never done that in my ministry. 00:21:00.880 --> 00:21:04.960 Years of ministry without the key to ministry. 00:21:06.559 --> 00:21:11.759 I realized that I needed to make a change in my ministry. 00:21:12.480 --> 00:21:15.680 Surprised, I thought, you know, the Bible is right. 00:21:15.839 --> 00:21:17.200 My friend is right. 00:21:18.160 --> 00:21:23.839 I guess I can trust the Holy Spirit from this point on in a new way. 00:21:26.960 --> 00:21:28.240 It's true. 00:21:30.720 --> 00:21:34.240 It's the fruit of the Holy Spirit. 00:21:34.559 --> 00:21:39.519 They're the gifts of the Holy Spirit, only as we're led by the Holy Spirit. 00:21:39.680 --> 00:21:42.240 Only as we're filled with the Holy Spirit. 00:21:42.559 --> 00:21:45.839 Is that part of your understanding of the Christian life? 00:21:47.119 --> 00:21:52.160 There's a calling for every Christian, and it comes from the Holy Spirit. 00:21:52.799 --> 00:21:56.480 Maybe we would take time today to set some time aside. 00:21:56.640 --> 00:21:59.119 You know, Sunday's a good day to do this, the Lord's day. 00:22:00.160 --> 00:22:15.359 Sunday's a really good time to set ourselves apart and say, Lord, what is it that you would have to say to me about my calling in life, my ministry, my service to you? 00:22:16.160 --> 00:22:18.000 I don't want it to be my mission. 00:22:18.079 --> 00:22:19.759 I don't want it to be my ministry. 00:22:20.000 --> 00:22:21.359 What would it be like? 00:22:21.839 --> 00:22:23.039 Invite them in. 00:22:23.680 --> 00:22:27.039 Secondly, set apart through prayer and fasting. 00:22:27.200 --> 00:22:28.240 Verse 3. 00:22:28.480 --> 00:22:34.079 Then after fasting and prayer, they laid their hands on them and sent them off. 00:22:35.680 --> 00:22:41.440 We're going to send off a family today, a little bit later. 00:22:42.640 --> 00:22:44.960 They're not sent by us. 00:22:45.759 --> 00:22:47.920 They're sent by the Holy Spirit. 00:22:48.160 --> 00:22:50.480 They're not really sent from us. 00:22:51.279 --> 00:22:53.039 We're the agency. 00:22:53.519 --> 00:22:55.519 By the way, what a thrill it is. 00:22:55.839 --> 00:22:58.480 This family is being sent out directly from APC. 00:22:58.559 --> 00:23:03.119 They're not going through another missions organization, which many do, which is fine. 00:23:03.440 --> 00:23:07.839 This is the second family that we've sent out from this church directly from APC. 00:23:08.400 --> 00:23:12.079 And we're honored and we're humbled and we're thrilled to be able to do that. 00:23:13.599 --> 00:23:17.680 Not set apart from us, by us, but through us. 00:23:18.079 --> 00:23:20.960 We're not the cause of or the power behind. 00:23:21.119 --> 00:23:23.200 We're the means that God uses. 00:23:23.599 --> 00:23:26.720 A healthy church will witness this often. 00:23:27.039 --> 00:23:33.680 Setting hands on elders and deacons, commissioning missionaries and deaconesses and others in service. 00:23:34.000 --> 00:23:37.680 A healthy church will experience this because the Spirit is at work. 00:23:38.480 --> 00:23:43.359 The Spirit is not saying, I have a staff to do the ministry at APC. 00:23:44.000 --> 00:23:46.319 The staff is here to serve the body. 00:23:46.480 --> 00:23:53.119 The staff is here to help you find your ministry, to help resource you in your ministry, to pray for you in your ministry. 00:23:55.680 --> 00:23:58.079 The intercessory prayer ministry. 00:23:58.319 --> 00:24:00.000 I don't know if you're on that. 00:24:01.759 --> 00:24:04.079 Matt, how many are in this now? 00:24:05.759 --> 00:24:13.359 75 of you are praying weekly, daily, for the ministries of this church. 00:24:13.599 --> 00:24:18.640 And if you're on your lit, if you're on that list, you know it's not like going one page. 00:24:20.319 --> 00:24:21.359 Humbled. 00:24:21.680 --> 00:24:26.240 Oh, I love the transparency of so many of the people who are asking for prayer. 00:24:26.640 --> 00:24:27.599 Honestly. 00:24:30.480 --> 00:24:39.279 We serve in many ways as an agency that God's using, but the power is God's, the glory is God's. 00:24:39.759 --> 00:24:46.000 And thirdly, lastly, set apart to a specific work, place, people. 00:24:46.400 --> 00:24:51.519 Again, this is really the first missionary journey that we read about. 00:24:57.279 --> 00:25:00.000 So again, I encourage you to get alone with God. 00:25:00.240 --> 00:25:09.599 Spend some time praying and thinking about, yes, your assignments, but there's another question that precedes that. 00:25:10.400 --> 00:25:13.519 Who's in control of your life? 00:25:14.319 --> 00:25:15.680 Are you in control? 00:25:17.279 --> 00:25:20.960 Do you feel responsible for your assignments? 00:25:21.279 --> 00:25:26.319 Do you feel like it's up to you to ascertain your assignments? 00:25:26.720 --> 00:25:28.880 To carry out your assignments? 00:25:29.599 --> 00:25:31.039 That's not gospel. 00:25:31.279 --> 00:25:33.359 That's not a gospel way to think. 00:25:34.640 --> 00:25:36.160 Would you get alone with God? 00:25:38.160 --> 00:25:43.440 I find I need to do that really every day. 00:25:45.519 --> 00:25:47.440 God, are these my is this my thought? 00:25:47.599 --> 00:25:49.759 Are these my ideas or are these yours? 00:25:51.680 --> 00:25:57.119 And oh the confidence when I believe that it's come from God. 00:25:57.920 --> 00:25:59.759 Oh, the encouragement. 00:26:00.480 --> 00:26:03.680 I find I don't get so I don't get so discouraged. 00:26:04.000 --> 00:26:08.240 I don't give up so easily if I really sense that this is from God. 00:26:09.759 --> 00:26:17.119 Often God's leading is revealed over time, is it not, my friends, who are going. 00:26:19.440 --> 00:26:20.079 Years. 00:26:21.200 --> 00:26:24.000 Saying, God, we want to listen? 00:26:24.240 --> 00:26:28.640 You've put these desires on our hearts, but we we need to listen. 00:26:28.880 --> 00:26:30.400 We need to obey. 00:26:30.720 --> 00:26:32.319 We need confirmation. 00:26:34.720 --> 00:26:38.640 God's leading is revealed over time, both internally and externally. 00:26:38.799 --> 00:26:42.400 The Holy Spirit's called internally and oftentimes externally. 00:26:42.559 --> 00:26:44.799 Other people come around and confirm. 00:26:44.960 --> 00:26:47.920 Other people come along and say, I can see you do that. 00:26:48.640 --> 00:26:50.400 I can see you do that. 00:26:51.119 --> 00:26:52.720 They encourage you. 00:26:54.960 --> 00:26:56.559 One step at a time. 00:26:56.880 --> 00:26:59.359 Yes, all of us are called to ministry. 00:26:59.680 --> 00:27:03.680 It's not how far away we go to the ministry. 00:27:03.920 --> 00:27:11.440 It's not the distance, it's discerning the Spirit's leading and experiencing the Spirit's empowering. 00:27:12.000 --> 00:27:13.839 May I say that again? 00:27:14.160 --> 00:27:16.079 It's not how far you go. 00:27:16.240 --> 00:27:17.680 It's not the distance. 00:27:17.920 --> 00:27:32.079 Look, if God's not doing, if God's gospel is not growing in your heart here, if God's not making you a new woman, a new man here, daily by this transformation, why would you cross an ocean? 00:27:32.799 --> 00:27:35.279 Why would you go get a job somewhere else? 00:27:36.000 --> 00:27:38.000 He wants to do it now, here. 00:27:39.200 --> 00:27:40.640 And then he can send us. 00:27:40.880 --> 00:27:42.319 Should he send us? 00:27:43.599 --> 00:27:49.599 It's not the distance we travel, it's discerning the Spirit's leading and experiencing the Spirit's empowering. 00:27:50.319 --> 00:27:53.200 God has called every Christian to a particular ministry. 00:27:53.839 --> 00:27:55.680 May you find your ministry. 00:27:55.920 --> 00:28:00.559 Your ministry is not necessarily just within these four walls of this church. 00:28:01.519 --> 00:28:04.160 Your calling certainly includes your vocation. 00:28:04.559 --> 00:28:10.240 Your calling certainly includes your home, your family, your friends. 00:28:12.079 --> 00:28:19.200 As Paul said to Archipus in the church at Colossae, see to it that you complete the work you received in the Lord. 00:28:20.079 --> 00:28:21.680 Man, I want to complete. 00:28:22.079 --> 00:28:24.480 I want to complete the work the Lord's given me. 00:28:24.640 --> 00:28:25.599 Don't you? 00:28:26.319 --> 00:28:28.240 I don't want to just go halfway. 00:28:31.440 --> 00:28:35.920 However, it's not what we will do for him that matters most. 00:28:36.960 --> 00:28:38.400 What did he just say? 00:28:40.640 --> 00:28:42.720 It's not what we do for him. 00:28:43.359 --> 00:28:44.400 What's first? 00:28:45.680 --> 00:28:46.960 Our time with him. 00:28:48.240 --> 00:28:54.400 And that's a really important basic that we can neglect very easily, can't we? 00:28:54.880 --> 00:28:58.240 We can get so caught up in what we want to do for him. 00:28:58.960 --> 00:29:05.039 And so I read from my favorite book outside of the Bible, We Would See Jesus. 00:29:07.039 --> 00:29:13.119 I read this to my friends this morning, but not just to my friends who are going over an ocean. 00:29:13.200 --> 00:29:14.400 I'm reading this to you. 00:29:14.960 --> 00:29:17.200 I read this book every year in ministry. 00:29:18.559 --> 00:29:23.440 I need to come back to this basic gospel truths. 00:29:24.160 --> 00:29:35.839 In light of all the things he's been saying in this book, we see that some of us have been, what we have been doing, we have been availing ourselves of Jesus in his blood as the way, but to ends other than himself. 00:29:36.319 --> 00:29:46.319 We have been willing to go to all lengths to put things right in our life, sometimes at great cost to ourselves, because the end that we seek seems to be so desirable. 00:29:46.960 --> 00:29:53.839 We intensely pray, God, I'll pay any cost to have revival in my life to enjoy your power in my ministry. 00:29:55.039 --> 00:29:57.279 Doesn't this sound like good stuff? 00:29:57.599 --> 00:29:57.920 No. 00:29:59.359 --> 00:30:00.640 If it's put first. 00:30:01.839 --> 00:30:07.839 But in the shadow around these ends often lurks the subtle motives of self-interest and self-glory. 00:30:08.240 --> 00:30:14.480 Little wonder then that in spite of our agonizings in prayer, God has not allowed us to reach these ends. 00:30:14.720 --> 00:30:23.279 Even if our motives are quite free from self-interest, those things are still not to be the end, nor the reason for which we are to get right with God. 00:30:23.759 --> 00:30:27.359 Our end is to be the Lord Jesus Himself. 00:30:28.000 --> 00:30:39.519 The reason for which we are to get right is not that we might have revival or power to be used greatly of God, to have this or that blessing, but that we might have Him. 00:30:41.440 --> 00:30:44.000 Friends, it doesn't get any better than that. 00:30:46.160 --> 00:30:48.240 That's where we find our joy. 00:30:49.440 --> 00:30:51.519 We can't find our joy in our ministry. 00:30:51.839 --> 00:30:53.680 Trust me, I've tried. 00:31:01.039 --> 00:31:03.920 We only find it when we see it in Jesus. 00:31:04.880 --> 00:31:06.559 How much he loves us. 00:31:07.200 --> 00:31:09.039 How much he saved us from. 00:31:09.920 --> 00:31:11.759 How much he saved us for. 00:31:12.400 --> 00:31:13.759 He's the end. 00:31:14.079 --> 00:31:16.079 He's not a means to the end. 00:31:25.680 --> 00:31:29.359 In another word, from my friends, and to you. 00:31:31.359 --> 00:31:33.519 George Mueller said it. 00:31:34.240 --> 00:31:40.559 Of all the things that you engage in in the Lord's work, may this be most important to you. 00:31:40.880 --> 00:31:48.480