SPEAKER_01: Welcome to Sermons from the Way Church KC, a community of licensed saints in Kansas City, following the way of Jesus and pushing back darkness together.
SPEAKER_00: Good morning.
SPEAKER_00: Zach, you're not up here.
SPEAKER_00: You're usually my crutch.
SPEAKER_00: Like, is it time to go up?
SPEAKER_00: All right, I'm Teresa.
SPEAKER_00: I'll be reading the gospel this morning.
SPEAKER_00: Well, not the whole gospel, but we'll be reading from Acts this morning.
SPEAKER_00: If you'll stand, please, in honor of God's word.
SPEAKER_00: So we'll be in Acts 14, verses 1 through 18.
SPEAKER_00: Now at Iconium, they entered together into the Jewish synagogue and spoke in such a way that a great number of both Jews and Greeks believed.
SPEAKER_00: But the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brothers.
SPEAKER_00: So they remained for a long time speaking boldly for the Lord, who bore witness to the word of his grace, granting signs and wonders to be done by their hands.
SPEAKER_00: But the people of the city were divided.
SPEAKER_00: Some sided with the Jews and some with the apostles.
SPEAKER_00: When an attempt was made by both Gentiles and Jews with their rulers to mistreat them and stone them, they learned of it and fled to Lystra and Derby, cities of Lyconia, and to the surrounding country.
SPEAKER_00: And there they continued to preach the gospel.
SPEAKER_00: Now at Lystra there was a man sitting who could not use his feet.
SPEAKER_00: He was crippled from birth and had never walked.
SPEAKER_00: He listened to Paul speaking, and Paul looking intently at him and seeing that he had faith to be made well, said in a loud voice, Stand upright on your feet.
SPEAKER_00: And he sprang up and began walking.
SPEAKER_00: And when the crowd saw what Paul had done, they lifted up their voices, saying in Lyconian, The gods have come down to us in the likeness of men.
SPEAKER_00: Barnabas they called Zeus and Paul Hermes because he was the chief speaker.
SPEAKER_00: And the priest of Zeus, whose temple was at the entrance to the city, brought oxen and garlands to the gate and wanted to offer sacrifice with the crowds.
SPEAKER_00: But when the apostles, Barnabas and Paul, heard of it, they tore their garments and rushed out into the crowd, crying out, Men, why are you doing these things?
SPEAKER_00: We also are men of like nature with you, and we bring you good news that you should turn from these vain things to a living God who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them.
SPEAKER_00: In past generations he allowed all nations to walk in their own ways, yet he did not leave himself without witness.
SPEAKER_00: For he did good by giving you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying your hearts with food and gladness.
SPEAKER_00: Even with these words, they scarcely retrain the restrained the people from offering sacrifice to them.
SPEAKER_00: And that is the reading of God's word this morning.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you, you can be seated.
SPEAKER_02: Amen, amen.
SPEAKER_02: Well, welcome everyone to the Way Church KC.
SPEAKER_02: My name is Zach.
SPEAKER_02: I have the privilege of uh being the lead pastor here.
SPEAKER_02: Um if this is your your first time here, um, I want to tell you welcome.
SPEAKER_02: We're glad you're here.
SPEAKER_02: Um, what I believe is that um God is building a really sweet family here at the Way Church.
SPEAKER_02: We're a new church plant, and today's March 22nd, March 31st.
SPEAKER_02: So that's um 11 days from now.
SPEAKER_02: We'll celebrate two years as a church.
SPEAKER_02: Um that's exciting.
SPEAKER_02: Thank you, Crystal.
SPEAKER_02: Um Yeah, that's a yeah, we're we're excited.
SPEAKER_02: It's been a fun journey.
SPEAKER_02: It's been a wild faith journey.
SPEAKER_02: Um, what I tell people is like church planting is the craziest, most wild faith journey you could ever go on, and I wouldn't trade it for anything.
SPEAKER_02: That's the type of journey I want to be on for the rest of my life, Jeremy.
SPEAKER_02: So that's what we're doing.
SPEAKER_02: If this is your first time here, um, we have a gift for you that we'd love to give you after service.
SPEAKER_02: Um, so feel free to come connect with me.
SPEAKER_02: I'll get you that gift, and um we'd love to take you to coffee and get to know you.
SPEAKER_02: Well, last week I said I had allergies.
SPEAKER_02: I think I decided that it was a cold.
SPEAKER_02: This week I for real have allergies.
SPEAKER_02: It's just a little sniffle, no worries.
SPEAKER_02: Um, anywho, let's dig in.
SPEAKER_02: We've been walking verse by verse through the book of Acts in our series that's entitled Living by the Spirit and Following the Way.
SPEAKER_02: We're a church that holds the Bible, that holds this book in high regard.
SPEAKER_02: So we believe in uh walking expositionally through books of the Bible.
SPEAKER_02: Um what we keep seeing throughout Acts is that when the gospel shows up, people don't stay neutral.
SPEAKER_02: When the gospel shows up, people do not stay neutral.
SPEAKER_02: The gospel changes anything, changes things.
SPEAKER_02: In fact, what I would argue is that the gospel changes everything.
SPEAKER_02: Every single time the gospel is proclaimed, people respond.
SPEAKER_02: Some believe, some resist, some worship rightly, some worship wrongly.
SPEAKER_02: And that's what exactly what we continue to see in Acts chapter 14, verses 1 through 18.
SPEAKER_02: So if you've got your Bible, you can go ahead and open to Acts 14.
SPEAKER_02: If you don't have a Bible, we'd love to give you one right outside of the sanctuary doors.
SPEAKER_02: Um, there's Bibles for you to have, for you to keep, for you to mark up, take notes, highlight all that fun stuff.
SPEAKER_02: Um but as we dig in, I got I got a title for this morning's sermon.
SPEAKER_02: I don't always have a title, um, but we do today.
SPEAKER_02: And it's simply this Turn from the Things of this world.
SPEAKER_02: Turn from the things of this world.
SPEAKER_02: Or kind of a subtitle, if you will, would be Turn or Burn.
SPEAKER_02: Turn or burn.
SPEAKER_02: So why did I entitle the sermon that?
SPEAKER_02: Because this passage it confronts us with something that we all need to hear.
SPEAKER_02: And it's this that everyone is turning to something.
SPEAKER_02: Everyone is turning to something.
SPEAKER_02: No one in this room is neutral.
SPEAKER_02: Every single person here, you're turning somewhere for security, for identity, for meaning, for purpose, for hope.
SPEAKER_02: And the thing about this is that we are prone to turning to the things of this world for these things.
SPEAKER_02: Maybe you are are turning to success for security.
SPEAKER_02: Maybe you are turning to comfort.
SPEAKER_02: Maybe you are turning to control.
SPEAKER_02: Maybe you are turning to who who and what other people say you are for your identity.
SPEAKER_02: Maybe it's a relationship, maybe it's distraction, maybe it's alcohol, maybe it is drugs, maybe it's, if you're being honest, it's even religion.
SPEAKER_02: The fact of the matter is, is that we're all turning to something.
SPEAKER_02: So the question for us this morning, and what Acts 14 presses upon us is what are you turning towards right now?
SPEAKER_02: What are you turning towards right now?
SPEAKER_02: Here's our big idea this morning.
SPEAKER_02: It's this the gospel demands a response.
SPEAKER_02: Either you turn to the living God or you turn to empty idols.
SPEAKER_02: The gospel demands a response, and either you turn to the living God, or you turn to empty idols.
SPEAKER_02: With that, we're gonna look at three movements that we see within this text, and we're gonna look at what we are to do with them.
SPEAKER_02: First, we'll look at how the gospel divides, so speak boldly.
SPEAKER_02: Second, we'll look at how the heart distorts, so reject false worship.
SPEAKER_02: And then third, we'll look at how the gospel confronts, so turns the living God.
SPEAKER_02: I'll pray, and then let's dig in.
SPEAKER_02: Heavenly Father, I thank you for bringing us here today to sit under the preaching of your word.
SPEAKER_02: Lord, I pray that as we look at Acts 14, that you move me out of the way, that you let your words be made clear.
SPEAKER_02: Lord, I praise you for the time of worship, of lifting high your name, of exalting your name.
SPEAKER_02: Lord, I pray that in all that we do today we honor you, that we glorify you, that we see you for who you truly are, and that we see clearly the response that your gospel calls us to have.
SPEAKER_02: Lord, we love you.
SPEAKER_02: We praise you, thank you for sending your son Jesus.
SPEAKER_02: It's in his mighty name we pray.
SPEAKER_02: And everybody said, Amen.
SPEAKER_02: Amen.
SPEAKER_02: So point number one this morning is that the gospel divides, so speak boldly.
SPEAKER_02: The gospel divides, so speak boldly.
SPEAKER_02: Acts chapter 14, verses one through seven, read this.
SPEAKER_02: Now at Iconium they entered together into the Jewish synagogue, and spoke in such a way that a great number of both Jews and Greeks believed.
SPEAKER_02: But the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brothers.
SPEAKER_02: So they remained for a long time, speaking boldly for the Lord, who bore witness to the word of his grace, granting signs and wonders to be done by their hands.
SPEAKER_02: But the people of the city were divided, some sided with the Jews, and some with the apostles.
SPEAKER_02: When an attempt was made by both Gentiles and Jews with their rulers to mistreat them and to stone them, they learned of it and fled to Lystra and Derby, cities of Lyconia, and to the surrounding country, and there they continued to preach the gospel.
SPEAKER_02: So we see Paul and Barnabas, they arrive in Iconium, and verse 1 says that they spoke in such a way that a great number of both Jews and Greeks believed.
SPEAKER_02: And that phrase spoke in such a way, it's important.
SPEAKER_02: It matters.
SPEAKER_02: It doesn't mean that Paul and Barnabas are being manipulative.
SPEAKER_02: It doesn't mean that it was simply like clever speech that caused a great number to believe.
SPEAKER_02: It's not based on their charisma that a great number believes.
SPEAKER_02: No, what this text makes clear is that it is spirit-empowered proclamation of the gospel.
SPEAKER_02: That's what we've seen throughout Acts up until this point, and that's what's taking place right here.
SPEAKER_02: It's the spirit that is proclaiming the gospel through them, and it's allowing those to believe, a great number to believe.
SPEAKER_02: But here, what's so interesting is the result is that some believe, others don't.
SPEAKER_02: Verse 2 says, The unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brothers.
SPEAKER_02: So that phrase, poison their minds, it's strong language.
SPEAKER_02: It's showing us like active hostility.
SPEAKER_02: The same language is used elsewhere in the scriptures for oppression, for harm.
SPEAKER_02: So the gospel here, it's not just ignored, it's being resisted by some.
SPEAKER_02: And then verse 4 shows us that the people of the city were divided.
SPEAKER_02: That's the pattern that we're seeing here in Acts 14.
SPEAKER_02: And one commentator, he makes an important point on this.
SPEAKER_02: He says that this is not simply Jews rejecting and Gentiles accepting.
SPEAKER_02: No, what's happening is that some from both groups believe and some from both groups oppose.
SPEAKER_02: Which means that now what we're seeing is that the deepest divide in the room, it's not ethnic, as it has been earlier in the book of Acts.
SPEAKER_02: Now it is a spiritual sort of divide.
SPEAKER_02: Because here's the thing: the gospel, it exposes our allegiance.
SPEAKER_02: And these people in Iconium, they have other allegiances.
SPEAKER_02: They have other gods, as we'll soon see.
SPEAKER_02: So what do Paul and Barnabas do?
SPEAKER_02: Well, verse 3 says, they remained for a long time and they spoke boldly for the Lord.
SPEAKER_02: That's shocking.
SPEAKER_02: That should shock us.
SPEAKER_02: They don't leave at the first sign of resistance.
SPEAKER_02: They don't soften the gospel message in order to make it more palatable.
SPEAKER_02: They don't pivot strategy.
SPEAKER_02: They're not part of like the seeker-sensitive movement of old.
SPEAKER_02: They're not like, hey, let's do whatever we can to bring people into the room.
SPEAKER_02: No, they're just straight up preaching the gospel.
SPEAKER_02: It's just the truth of the gospel and they stay and they speak boldly.
SPEAKER_02: The same gospel message.
SPEAKER_02: Why?
SPEAKER_02: Well, I think that it's because faithfulness is simply measured by obedience.
SPEAKER_02: Are you being obedient to God's call on your life?
SPEAKER_02: And notice what we see: the Lord Himself confirms the message through signs and wonders.
SPEAKER_02: And I want to point out that the author Luke describes this as the word of his grace.
SPEAKER_02: The word of his grace.
SPEAKER_02: This the culture in Iconium and much of the world around them, it was built on patronage, like what family you came from.
SPEAKER_02: It was built on benefaction, like what you could gain based on your status.
SPEAKER_02: But what Paul's doing is announcing a better gift.
SPEAKER_02: The gift of the grace of God in Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_02: So, church, here's the encouragement for us in this text.
SPEAKER_02: Just this.
SPEAKER_02: Speak anyway.
SPEAKER_02: That one coworker who's making fun of your faith in Jesus.
SPEAKER_02: Speak anyway of the gospel at work.
SPEAKER_02: Your spouse who is resistant to the gospel message, speak anyway of the gospel in your home.
SPEAKER_02: That one roommate you got in your sober living house, speak anyway of the gospel in your home.
SPEAKER_02: Your children who don't understand why you're going to church week in and week out and dragging them with you, speak anyway of the gospel to your children.
SPEAKER_02: Your friend who doesn't want anything to do with the faith, speak anyway of the gospel to your unbelieving friends.
SPEAKER_02: You know, a picture that I think articulates this is thinking about like a lighthouse in a storm.
SPEAKER_02: Now, back in the day when I was in the nonprofit world, I used to have the opportunity to go out to Eastern North Carolina.
SPEAKER_02: Jevin, you ever been to Cape Lookout?
SPEAKER_02: You ever seen Cape Lookout out there?
SPEAKER_02: No?
SPEAKER_02: It's on the outer banks, it's the lighthouse out there.
SPEAKER_02: So I got to go on a camp out out there to Cape Lookout.
SPEAKER_02: And when thinking about a lighthouse, that's the only lighthouse I've seen in person.
SPEAKER_02: It's like real.
SPEAKER_02: There was one at this little like pond lake thing in Oklahoma City, but it wasn't a real lighthouse.
SPEAKER_02: That's beside the point.
SPEAKER_02: But when you think about it like a true lighthouse, it's on the ocean.
SPEAKER_02: The lighthouse, it doesn't control the waves, it doesn't control the circumstances around it, it doesn't calm the wind, it doesn't guarantee even that every ship will respond to the light spinning, but it keeps shining.
SPEAKER_02: It keeps speaking, if you will.
SPEAKER_02: And I think in the same way, that is the responsibility of the church.
SPEAKER_02: That's the responsibility of our church right here in Rosedale, in KCK.
SPEAKER_02: We're to be a lighthouse shining out on the darkness, saying, hey, turn or danger is near.
SPEAKER_02: Turn to Christ or danger is near.
SPEAKER_02: You know, we talk often about being a city set on a hill right here in Rosedale.
SPEAKER_02: And I think about this every Sunday and every time throughout the week that I'm driving here.
SPEAKER_02: Like, you know, you're I'm driving up the highway and I turn on Mission Road, and you know, it's it's kind of like a hill that you're driving up.
SPEAKER_02: And to me, it's like we really are like in a physical sense, a city set on a hill, and we're living it out in a spiritual sense as well.
SPEAKER_02: That's what we're gonna be about as a church: a lighthouse, a city set on a hill.
SPEAKER_02: Speaking anyway of the gospel, despite any opposition.
SPEAKER_02: But here's the thing.
SPEAKER_02: Here's the thing.
SPEAKER_02: You will not always be applauded for speaking anyway.
SPEAKER_02: You will not always be applauded for gospel clarity.
SPEAKER_02: Sometimes clarity of the gospel message, what you believe, what you root your life on, it will cost you.
SPEAKER_02: That's just like a harsh reality about living the way of Jesus.
SPEAKER_02: And I think some of us can allow that to cause us to pause, to cause us to be resistant about speaking this gospel message.
SPEAKER_02: But Paul and Barnabas, they were not resistant.
SPEAKER_02: They were speaking anyway.
SPEAKER_02: I think a lot of us can take this posture of waiting on the perfect moment.
SPEAKER_02: Maybe it's that friend or that family member that you just really want to share the gospel with, and you're waiting for that perfect moment where there's no resistance, where there's no awkwardness, where there's no pushback.
SPEAKER_02: But Acts 14, it shows us that there are no perfect conditions.
SPEAKER_02: Our job is to speak anyway of the gospel message.
SPEAKER_02: But also notice that when a violent plot emerges, as we see here in the text, that Paul and Barnabas they flee, and I believe they flee rightly.
SPEAKER_02: That's not Paul and Barnabas being cowards.
SPEAKER_02: No, that's that's them showing wisdom and discernment.
SPEAKER_02: My guess is that they spent a lot of time in prayer discerning when it was time to leave iconium.
SPEAKER_02: Because boldness, it doesn't mean recklessness, but it does mean faithfulness.
SPEAKER_02: And here's the encouragement just from these first seven verses for us.
SPEAKER_02: It's this as you speak boldly, as you preach the gospel boldly, in the face of opposition, in the face of resistance, rest in the truth that you are modeling Jesus.
SPEAKER_02: Because Jesus himself was received by some and mocked by many and rejected by many, and yet he kept speaking the truth all the way to the cross.
SPEAKER_02: Church, we don't speak because it's easy, we speak because we follow him.
SPEAKER_02: But here's the problem that we see arise from this text is this even when people encounter the power of God, they don't always respond rightly.
SPEAKER_02: Which leads us to the second movement that we see in today's scripture.
SPEAKER_02: Point number two the heart distorts, so reject false worship.
SPEAKER_02: The heart distorts, so reject false worship.
SPEAKER_02: Acts chapter 14, verses 8 through 13.
SPEAKER_02: Now at Lystra there was a man sitting who could not use his feet.
SPEAKER_02: He was crippled from birth and had never walked.
SPEAKER_02: He listened to Paul speaking, and Paul, looking intently at him, and seeing that he had faith to be made well, said in a loud voice, Stand upright on your feet.
SPEAKER_02: And he sprang up and began walking.
SPEAKER_02: And when the crowd saw what Paul had done, they lifted up their voices, saying in Lyconian, The gods have come down to us in the likeness of men.
SPEAKER_02: Barnabas they called Zeus, and Paul Hermes, because he was the chief speaker.
SPEAKER_02: And the priest of Zeus, whose temple was at the entrance of the city, brought oxen and garlands to the gates, and wanted to offer sacrifice with the crowds.
SPEAKER_02: So now the scene it shifts to Lystra, and we're introduced to a man who's crippled from birth, he'd never walked.
SPEAKER_02: And Luke, the author, Luke, he stacks this description so we really feel the weight of it.
SPEAKER_02: We see that this man has no strength, that he has no history of walking, he'd never walked in his life.
SPEAKER_02: And if we're being honest, he had no hope of change.
SPEAKER_02: And Paul looks at him, he looks at him directly in the eyes, and he says, Stand upright on your feet.
SPEAKER_02: And instantly this man stands up.
SPEAKER_02: So this is an incredible miracle that we're reading about right here.
SPEAKER_02: Amen.
SPEAKER_02: There's no ifs, ands, or buts about it.
SPEAKER_02: But it's not just a miracle.
SPEAKER_02: What we're seeing is this is new creation power on full display.
SPEAKER_02: This is 2 Corinthians 5.17.
SPEAKER_02: Anyone who is new in Christ, being a new creation.
SPEAKER_02: We're seeing that on display in this man's life in Lystra.
SPEAKER_02: And that's kind of thematic of the gospel message.
SPEAKER_02: Patrick Shriner, one commentator I read while preparing, he notes that there's a clear parallel to Acts chapter 3 and even to Jesus' own ministry.
SPEAKER_02: And there are echoes of Isaiah 35, where in those texts, We see the lame leaping as a sign of salvation.
SPEAKER_02: So, yes, this is a miracle, but even more miraculous is that the kingdom is breaking in in Lystra.
SPEAKER_02: But the crowd, unfortunately, misreads it completely.
SPEAKER_02: They say, the gods have come down to us.
SPEAKER_02: They call Barnabas Zeus and Paul Hermes.
SPEAKER_02: Why is that?
SPEAKER_02: Well, just for a little historical background to help us here, there was a well-known local legend in this town that Zeus and Hermes once visited that region.
SPEAKER_02: And when people didn't show them hospitality, the gods, Zeus and Hermes, judged the land.
SPEAKER_02: That's what they believed.
SPEAKER_02: So now the people are thinking, we're not going to make that mistake again.
SPEAKER_02: So they rush to offer these sacrifices and they rush to worship these little G, lowercase G gods.
SPEAKER_02: In other words, they see a real miracle, but they draw a completely wrong conclusion.
SPEAKER_02: And here's what that shows us, family.
SPEAKER_02: The human heart, it does not stop worshiping, it misdirects worship.
SPEAKER_02: You don't stop worshiping the living God.
SPEAKER_02: You direct your worship to something that's not a God, but you're making a God.
SPEAKER_02: These people, they see power, but they assign it to the wrong source.
SPEAKER_02: And family, can we just be real and acknowledge that we are prone to doing the same thing?
SPEAKER_02: Maybe you're sitting here and you're like, oh no, that's not me.
SPEAKER_02: Like, I'm not worshiping Zeus or Hermes.
SPEAKER_02: But I think if we're being honest, we still have some idols.
SPEAKER_02: They may not be Greek gods, but they're still idols in our life.
SPEAKER_02: Like so often we can take good gifts from God and make them ultimate things.
SPEAKER_02: Tim Keller, he says this an idol is usually a good thing that we make ultimate.
SPEAKER_02: We say, unless I have that, I am nothing.
SPEAKER_02: Maybe the idol for you is comfort.
SPEAKER_02: Maybe the idol for you is control.
SPEAKER_02: Maybe the idol for you is approval.
SPEAKER_02: Maybe the idol for you is a relationship.
SPEAKER_02: Or maybe it's relationships with friends.
SPEAKER_02: Maybe the idol for you is success.
SPEAKER_02: Maybe the idol for you is money.
SPEAKER_02: And maybe the idol for some of us is even ministry.
SPEAKER_02: If I can be honest, back when I was working for a parachurch ministry in the nonprofit world, like if I'm honest with you, I would at times elevate my role in ministry above God.
SPEAKER_02: The work of ministry became the idol.
SPEAKER_02: But that's no rhythm for ministry.
SPEAKER_02: That's idolatry.
SPEAKER_02: And here's the thing like, none of those are bad in and of themselves.
SPEAKER_02: Like nobody's saying, like, hey, when you spent your 20s on the mission field, that was bad.
SPEAKER_02: But if you being a missionary became the idol, that's when it becomes idolatry.
SPEAKER_02: So they're not bad until they become everything, until they become an ultimate thing.
SPEAKER_02: We must keep these things in their rightful place.
SPEAKER_02: That is proper worship.
SPEAKER_02: But the converse is idolatry.
SPEAKER_02: And then let's not even get started on all the sinful things of this world, the overtly sinful things of this world that we can place above God.
SPEAKER_02: Be it a substance, be it where we are placing our identity, be it the way in which we see other gender, the other gender, whatever that may be, like there's these sinful things that can become idols as well.
SPEAKER_02: One theologian he says that the human heart is an idol factory.
SPEAKER_02: The human heart is a perpetual factory of idols.
SPEAKER_02: And I think that Acts 14, it proves that.
SPEAKER_02: Ask yourself, wherever you're sitting this morning, what do I run to when life gets hard?
SPEAKER_02: What do I run to when life gets hard?
SPEAKER_02: Or ask yourself this: what do I fear losing the most?
SPEAKER_02: Most likely, what I would make the argument of is that whatever that thing is or that person is, whatever it is, that is where your worship is.
SPEAKER_02: Madeline's in kids' ministry, but I do have like a Lord of the Rings illustration, so she can like watch this later and bash me if I mess it up.
SPEAKER_02: I think of like Gollum, right?
SPEAKER_02: Who treasures the ring, but he ignores everything else in his life.
SPEAKER_02: He he admires the ring, he protects the ring, he shows off the ring, like my precious.
SPEAKER_02: But he neglects the one thing that matters.
SPEAKER_02: For him, it's simply just to like live life and care for himself and take care of himself.
SPEAKER_02: But for us, it's like the one thing that matters is putting God in his proper place.
SPEAKER_02: If any of us did that, did what Gollum did, we would say, hey, like you're missing the point.
SPEAKER_02: You're missing the whole point.
SPEAKER_02: And family, what I want to tell you is that that's idolatry.
SPEAKER_02: So what does Paul do when he sees this?
SPEAKER_02: Well, he doesn't accept it, he doesn't tolerate it, he confronts it.
SPEAKER_02: He confronts the idols in this city.
SPEAKER_02: Which brings us to point number three.
SPEAKER_02: The gospel confronts, so turn to the living God.
SPEAKER_02: Verses 14 through 18 of Acts 14.
SPEAKER_02: But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of it, they tore their garments and rushed out into the crowd, crying out, Men, why are you doing these things?
SPEAKER_02: We also are men of like nature with you, and we bring you good news that you should turn from these vain things to a living God, who made the heaven and the earth, and the sea, and all that is in them.
SPEAKER_02: In past generations he allowed all the nations to walk in their own ways.
SPEAKER_02: Yet he did not leave himself without witness, for he did good by giving you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying your hearts with food and gladness.
SPEAKER_02: Even with these words, they scarcely restrained the people from offering sacrifice to them.
SPEAKER_02: So first, verse 14, they tore their garments.
SPEAKER_02: That shows just the utter shock that Paul and Barnabas have at these people offering sacrifices to them as though they're Hermes and Zeus.
SPEAKER_02: That shows an urgency.
SPEAKER_02: They have a sense of urgency to confront what's going on.
SPEAKER_02: And that's also them showing grief over the blasphemy that's being spoken.
SPEAKER_02: They rush into the crowd and they say, Turn from these vain things to the living God.
SPEAKER_02: Like boom, mic drop, that's the sermon, that's all that needs to be said.
SPEAKER_02: Turn from these vain things to the living God.
SPEAKER_02: Vain things, the Greek word Mateos, it's loaded language.
SPEAKER_02: It's Old Testament language for idols.
SPEAKER_02: It's showing that these idols, these vain things are empty, they're worthless, and they're deceptive.
SPEAKER_02: So this isn't neutral sort of language.
SPEAKER_02: No, what Paul and Barnabas are saying is that this is false worship that leads directly to destruction.
SPEAKER_02: And what Paul does here, it's so beautiful.
SPEAKER_02: He contrasts these vain things with the living God.
SPEAKER_02: The living God, we did a sermon series on the living God while I was on paternity leave last year.
SPEAKER_02: But this is a phrase that's used throughout the Old Testament to distinguish Yahweh from dead idols.
SPEAKER_02: Yahweh, the living God, is utterly and completely different from these dead things, from these vain idols.
SPEAKER_02: Because here's the fact of the matter: we don't worship someone who's dead.
SPEAKER_02: We worship the living God.
SPEAKER_02: And what does Paul say about this God?
SPEAKER_02: Well, first, he says that he is creator.
SPEAKER_02: Verse 15, he who made the heaven and the earth and the sea.
SPEAKER_02: This is like total sovereignty.
SPEAKER_02: This is who God is.
SPEAKER_02: He created all things from nothing.
SPEAKER_02: And this language, all throughout this section, it echoes Exodus, particularly in him being creator.
SPEAKER_02: Exodus 20, 11 and Psalm 146, 6.
SPEAKER_02: Because here's the thing, and what he's trying to say.
SPEAKER_02: Paul's telling them, like, hey, this God, the living God, Yahweh, is not a local deity.
SPEAKER_02: He's not like Zeus or Hermes.
SPEAKER_02: No, he is the creator of everything.
SPEAKER_02: And secondly, we see that God, this living God, is patient.
SPEAKER_02: Verse 16, in past generations, he allowed all the nations to walk in their own ways.
SPEAKER_02: That's the rhythm, that's the theme that we see throughout the Old Testament, and like particularly Israel's time in the wilderness and how they repeatedly turn away from God, but God is patient with them.
SPEAKER_02: And he's patient with us today.
SPEAKER_02: You know, when in thinking about this, I think of my daughter Louie yesterday, or two days ago, I think, was like a monumental day because she on her own climbed up the stairs, right?
SPEAKER_02: And that's like she's just started crawling like a week ago.
SPEAKER_02: That's terrifying.
SPEAKER_02: We have a split level with like two sets of stairs, and I can just picture everything that could go wrong.
SPEAKER_02: But I'm like, hey, I want to see you like try this.
SPEAKER_02: And so I'm like standing behind her with my hand behind her back, just like waiting to see, patiently waiting to see if she's gonna fall or if she's gonna topple over.
SPEAKER_02: And she made it to the top.
SPEAKER_02: And I think like that's a little bit uh just a taste of how God is patient with us.
SPEAKER_02: Like he's there with us, walking with us.
SPEAKER_02: You know, sometimes like he might not catch us and we might fall and stumble, but he's there to help us back up and there to help us get to the top of the mountain.
SPEAKER_02: He's patient with us.
SPEAKER_02: Praise God that we have a patient God.
SPEAKER_02: And the third thing that we see here in the text is perhaps the most eloquent.
SPEAKER_02: He is good.
SPEAKER_02: He is a good God.
SPEAKER_02: Verse 17, yet he did not leave himself without witness.
SPEAKER_02: How?
SPEAKER_02: Well, in the Old Testament, in the Exodus narrative, he brought rain, he brought different seasons, he brought food, he brought joy, and that's grace, that's in a sense common grace.
SPEAKER_02: Even when people rejected him and turned away, he fed them, he brought manna from heaven.
SPEAKER_02: Even when they worshiped idols, the golden calf, he gave them joy, he gave them the law because he is good.
SPEAKER_02: We serve a good God, family.
SPEAKER_02: I think of a quote from the Chronicles of Narnia when thinking of God being good.
SPEAKER_02: So Aslan the Lion, who's who's here seeing the Chronicles of Narnia Lion Witch in the wardrobe?
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
SPEAKER_02: It's a pretty fire little movie.
SPEAKER_02: I suggest you watch it.
SPEAKER_02: Um but Aslan, he's symbolic of kind of the Christ figure.
SPEAKER_02: And Susan's one of the little girls that goes through the wardrobe to this um fantasy land, and she's talking to Mr.
SPEAKER_02: Beaver.
SPEAKER_02: Mr.
SPEAKER_02: Beaver, you ever met Mr.
SPEAKER_02: Beaver, Jeremy?
SPEAKER_02: So Susan she says to Mr.
SPEAKER_02: Beaver, is he quite safe?
SPEAKER_02: So she's asking about Aslan, the lion.
SPEAKER_02: Is he quite safe?
SPEAKER_02: I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion.
SPEAKER_02: Mr.
SPEAKER_02: Beaver says, Safe?
SPEAKER_02: Who said anything about safe?
SPEAKER_02: Of course he isn't safe.
SPEAKER_02: But he's good.
SPEAKER_02: He's the king, I tell you.
SPEAKER_02: So is this living God, is this Jesus that we follow, is he safe?
SPEAKER_02: Absolutely not.
SPEAKER_02: But he is good.
SPEAKER_02: He is good.
SPEAKER_02: So here's the key truth to us.
SPEAKER_02: Ashen, you can come up and um begin to close us in worship.
SPEAKER_02: Here's our key truth as we land the plane.
SPEAKER_02: Idols, idolatry, it is empty.
SPEAKER_02: But God is living, he is active, and he is good.
SPEAKER_02: God is living, he is active, and he is good.
SPEAKER_02: So, family, hear this as we begin to close.
SPEAKER_02: You don't need to just remove these idols from your life.
SPEAKER_02: No.
SPEAKER_02: Just removing them, that's like um just like self-help, right?
SPEAKER_02: No, you need to replace these idols with the living God.
SPEAKER_02: Because idols, they promise life, but they ultimately bring death.
SPEAKER_02: But God, the living God, he both promises life and he gives life.
SPEAKER_02: So ask yourself this morning, what do you need to lay down?
SPEAKER_02: What do you need to lay down at the altar?
SPEAKER_02: And here's one last little point I want to make to you.
SPEAKER_02: Even though Jesus isn't named explicitly here, he is not absent.
SPEAKER_02: In fact, he is very present.
SPEAKER_02: This text in verse 17 talks about good news.
SPEAKER_02: So this is good news that Paul and Barnabas are proclaiming.
SPEAKER_02: And what we know and what we believe is that there is no good news without Christ.
SPEAKER_02: Because this Jesus Christ, he is the true image of God.
SPEAKER_02: He is the one who actually came down.
SPEAKER_02: Not Zeus, like these people believed, but Jesus came down to this earth, fully man, fully God, and lived a perfectly sinless life so that we don't have to.
SPEAKER_02: And he went to the cross, was beaten, was bruised, was battered, had a crown of thorns placed on his head, and he was hung on that cross for the forgiveness of our sins.
SPEAKER_02: He was buried in a tomb, and three days later, the tomb was empty.
SPEAKER_02: And then Jesus then spent 40 days teaching and talking to his disciples, and then he ascended to the right hand of God the Father, where he now rules and reigns today.
SPEAKER_02: That is the gospel, that is the Jesus that we are following.
SPEAKER_02: He and he alone is the one who brings life.
SPEAKER_02: So as we close this passage, it drives us to one simple command.
SPEAKER_02: Simply this turn from the things of this world to the living God.
SPEAKER_02: Turn from the things of this world to the living God.
SPEAKER_02: With this, we see three calls.
SPEAKER_02: Turn from idols.
SPEAKER_02: What I want us to take some time to do this morning is to name them.
SPEAKER_02: You don't gotta like name them out loud in front of everybody, but you need to name them in your heart.
SPEAKER_02: Like, hey, this is what idol I'm dealing with today.
SPEAKER_02: Right now, I want you to do that.
SPEAKER_02: Name them under your breath to yourself in your mind.
SPEAKER_02: Stop excusing them.
SPEAKER_02: Repent and pray to God right now.
SPEAKER_02: Maybe you need, as Ashton closes us in worship, maybe you need to come down to the altar and truly, like in a real physical, tangible way, lay them down before the Lord.
SPEAKER_02: But remember, we don't just turn from idols, we turn to God because He is creator, He is provider, and He is living.
SPEAKER_02: He is waiting with open arms to welcome you back as you turn back towards Him.
SPEAKER_02: Think of the prodigal son story in the Gospel of Luke.
SPEAKER_02: The Father ran back to the Son who squandered everything.
SPEAKER_02: And lastly, we turn to Christ.
SPEAKER_02: We turn to Christ because He lived the life that you couldn't live.
SPEAKER_02: He died the death that you deserved, and He rose to give you life.
SPEAKER_02: God has not left us without witness, family.
SPEAKER_02: Every breath you've taken, every meal you've eaten, every joy you've experienced, every friendship that He's given you has been evidence of His kindness.
SPEAKER_02: And now He invites you, turn and live.
SPEAKER_02: So as Ashton closes us in worship, the altar is open per usual.
SPEAKER_02: Maybe you want to come down to the front and kneel.
SPEAKER_02: Maybe you want to worship where you sit, whatever that looks like.
SPEAKER_02: My hope is that you turn from your idols and turn to the living God.
SPEAKER_02: Let's pray.
SPEAKER_02: Heavenly Father, we love you, we praise you, we need you.
SPEAKER_02: We cannot turn from these vain things without you, God.
SPEAKER_02: God, we lay these things down, we lay these idols, we lay our sin down at the foot of the cross, and we accept your forgiveness, we accept your love, your mercy, your grace that you've bestowed upon us.
SPEAKER_02: God, we we commit to turning back to you today and repentance, turning from one way of life to another.
SPEAKER_02: And God, I ask that if there is anyone here this morning who does not yet know your son, Jesus, as their Lord and Savior, that today would be the day that they turn from the old way of life and become a new creation, a believer in you, Jesus.
SPEAKER_02: God, we love you, we praise you, and it's in the mighty name of Jesus we pray.
SPEAKER_02: And everybody said, Amen.
SPEAKER_01: Thanks for listening.
SPEAKER_01: Join us Sundays at 10 30 a.m.
SPEAKER_01: in the Rosedale neighborhood of Kansas City.
SPEAKER_01: Or find us anytime at the wakeac.church.