WEBVTT 00:00:04.559 --> 00:00:08.080 The message and our title is kept for a purpose. 00:00:08.640 --> 00:00:09.599 Kept for a purpose. 00:00:09.679 --> 00:00:12.400 We are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation. 00:00:12.560 --> 00:00:17.519 And he didn't just keep us so that we can kind of loiter until we die and go to heaven. 00:00:17.760 --> 00:00:19.280 He kept us for a great purpose. 00:00:19.440 --> 00:00:22.640 The topic of our text is discipleship. 00:00:22.879 --> 00:00:28.320 And as we just heard moments ago, our text is Acts chapter 11, verses 19 through 30. 00:00:29.199 --> 00:00:38.560 When you think about a lush, green front lawn, you probably don't think about January in Ohio, right? 00:00:39.520 --> 00:00:50.719 You um, well, but as every neighbor, you know, the neighbor that ever all of us have, the one who cuts his grass on his hands and knees, and oh, beautiful little flower, you know, that kind of guy who makes your yard look terrible. 00:00:50.960 --> 00:00:59.200 As he knows, a beautiful front lawn doesn't begin in April, May, or June, but actually begins in November, December. 00:00:59.280 --> 00:01:03.200 And if you're like me, a procrastinator when it comes to yard work, January. 00:01:03.600 --> 00:01:09.200 If you haven't already done so, this is actually the time of year to overseed your lawn. 00:01:09.760 --> 00:01:41.599 Because as snow falls and it melts and as the freeze-thaw kind of situation happens, the little seeds that you sow into your lawn will work themselves just a little bit into the soil, and when the first warmth of, I think 55 degrees, that's what Google said, uh, of early spring, which in Ohio is around June or so, happens, you get fresh growth springing up, and you have this beautiful thick green front lawn that you actually sowed in January. 00:01:42.079 --> 00:01:45.680 This message is brought to you by Scott's turf builder Lawn Solutions. 00:01:47.519 --> 00:01:48.719 Small commission. 00:01:49.519 --> 00:01:56.319 When we come to Acts chapter 11, we are emerging from a winter moment in the life of the early church. 00:01:56.560 --> 00:02:08.879 If we want to think about this, the cold winds of religious opposition that we've read about in the preceding chapters are now giving way to the warm southern breezes of the Holy Spirit. 00:02:09.039 --> 00:02:21.360 And the seeds that were sown during this time of persecution in the early church are now going to spring up everywhere in unsuspecting places, ushering in a new era of kingdom expansion. 00:02:21.520 --> 00:02:24.800 This is one of the most exciting parts of the book of Acts. 00:02:25.599 --> 00:02:29.840 As we see in verses 19 to 21, we're going to kind of break up our passage into three parts. 00:02:30.000 --> 00:02:35.840 Let's look at these first several verses of our passage, verses 19 to 21. 00:02:36.719 --> 00:02:49.439 Now those who were scattered because of the persecution that arose over Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, speaking the word to no one except Jews. 00:02:50.080 --> 00:03:02.159 But there were some of them, men of Cyprus and Cyrene, non-Jewish places, who on coming to Antioch spoke to the Hellenists, which were non-Jews, also, preaching the Lord Jesus. 00:03:02.319 --> 00:03:08.479 And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number who believed turned to the Lord. 00:03:08.719 --> 00:03:10.000 This is exciting stuff. 00:03:10.159 --> 00:03:21.439 We notice, first of all, we're going to summarize this passage that what we see here is that the gospel reaches Antioch, resulting in new believers and the first church in a Gentile city. 00:03:21.759 --> 00:03:23.360 So this is big news. 00:03:23.680 --> 00:03:37.840 Because for the first time in about a decade since Pentecost had happened, since Jesus had come on the earth and uh died and rose again and ascended up on high, we have the church really going forth to a Gentile place. 00:03:38.080 --> 00:03:50.080 And this had started in Acts chapter 10, when you have the Apostle Peter, who, against his best judgment, was directed by God to go to the house of a Roman centurion named Cornelius, and he preached the gospel there. 00:03:50.159 --> 00:04:04.960 And the Holy Spirit fell upon the household of Cornelius, and they were all, they all spoke in tongues, and it actually mirrored what had happened in Acts chapter 2 in the Jerusalem church, where the Holy Spirit fell upon the Jews who'd become Christians. 00:04:05.199 --> 00:04:13.919 So we have this a decisive transition in the story of the New Testament church, chapter 10 and chapter 11, where the gospel is now reaching Gentile places. 00:04:14.159 --> 00:04:22.079 Historians estimate that the church at Antioch, which is the subject really of this passage here, it was established around 42 A.D. 00:04:22.319 --> 00:04:26.879 And Jesus died between 30 and 33 A.D., as best we know. 00:04:27.120 --> 00:04:29.839 So this is about 10 years thereafter. 00:04:30.399 --> 00:04:49.439 And although Jesus had told the church in the Great Commission, right before he ascended up into glory, to go into all nations and make disciples of all nations and teach them everything I've commanded and baptize them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, ten years had passed, and that really hadn't happened much. 00:04:49.680 --> 00:05:01.040 And so in God's providence, a persecution arose with the martyrdom of Stephen that would drive the church out of their comfort zones and into the nations. 00:05:02.720 --> 00:05:06.399 Stephen was one of the deacons we might call him. 00:05:06.639 --> 00:05:13.519 He wasn't called a deacon, but he was one of seven men that was chosen to uh to sort of organize the food drive in the early church. 00:05:13.600 --> 00:05:22.800 Because Jerusalem had had thousands of converts in a very short period of time, uh, they sort of outgrew their infrastructure, so they had to uh step back and get some help. 00:05:22.959 --> 00:05:30.639 Stephen was one of the men that was full of the Holy Spirit who would oversee the food and distribution ministry in the church at Jerusalem. 00:05:30.800 --> 00:05:32.959 Well, Stephen was such an incredible guy. 00:05:33.120 --> 00:05:47.040 He was out preaching on the street corners, he drew the attention of the local religious leaders, and he was drawn before the Sanhedrin Council of the Jews, the same people who just months before had crucified Jesus. 00:05:47.680 --> 00:06:05.360 And so mightily did he testify to the truth of Jesus and preach the gospel to them, and then also indict them for the murder of Jesus, that they literally stopped their ears, rushed upon him, bit him with their teeth, drug him outside, and stoned him to death. 00:06:06.000 --> 00:06:08.160 He was the first martyr of the Christian faith. 00:06:08.319 --> 00:06:15.120 The very same people who'd cried out for the crucifixion of Jesus here personally kill Stephen. 00:06:15.439 --> 00:06:28.079 And so we read in our text that those who were scattered because of the persecution that arose because of Stephen, they traveled as far as Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, speaking the word to no one except the Jews. 00:06:28.160 --> 00:06:30.800 After all, that's what they'd been doing for ten years. 00:06:31.759 --> 00:06:36.240 If someone was a Jew, they felt like, well, this was the Jewish Messiah, so this is the Jewish gospel. 00:06:36.399 --> 00:06:40.319 But remember, Jesus had told us that the gospel is the gospel for the nations. 00:06:40.480 --> 00:06:47.839 Yes, Jesus was a Jewish Messiah, but through faith in Jesus Christ, all of us can become the seed of Abraham. 00:06:48.000 --> 00:06:53.120 All of us can become spiritual Jews, so to speak, and be grafted into the family of God. 00:06:53.360 --> 00:06:58.800 They go to Phoenicia, which was north of Israel in Syria, along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. 00:06:58.959 --> 00:07:00.959 Cyprus was a place you can still go today. 00:07:01.120 --> 00:07:02.639 Maybe some of you have honeymooned there. 00:07:02.800 --> 00:07:06.800 Cyprus is a large rock in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea to the east. 00:07:07.040 --> 00:07:12.240 And if you go further north in Syria, at the very top there, you're going to find a city named Antioch. 00:07:12.560 --> 00:07:15.839 When we think of Antioch, we need to think of maybe the city of Chicago. 00:07:16.079 --> 00:07:21.360 Chicago is the third largest city by population in the U.S. 00:07:21.920 --> 00:07:25.600 And Antioch was the third largest city in the Roman Empire at that time. 00:07:25.759 --> 00:07:36.079 It had been built by the Greeks, but under Rome, it had become a city of major importance because of its proximity to the Mediterranean Sea and a lot of trade routes. 00:07:36.240 --> 00:07:44.399 It possessed magnificent temples, theaters, aqueducts, public pools, and it was very Gentile. 00:07:44.800 --> 00:07:52.720 But the writer Luke records that the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number who believed turned to the Lord. 00:07:52.879 --> 00:07:54.160 Can you imagine that? 00:07:54.560 --> 00:08:00.319 A bunch of Gentiles in a pagan city upon hearing the news about a Jewish Messiah. 00:08:00.480 --> 00:08:01.920 I mean, what does that have to do with them? 00:08:02.079 --> 00:08:11.199 A Jewish Messiah that came into the world at the bidding of his father, fulfilled prophecy, suffered under the wrath of God for our sins, and rose again from the dead. 00:08:11.360 --> 00:08:14.560 When they heard that the Holy Spirit, this is how you know it's the Holy Spirit. 00:08:14.720 --> 00:08:17.360 That message had little to do with the Gentiles, right? 00:08:17.519 --> 00:08:26.160 But when the Holy Spirit convicts the heart, there's something in the regenerate heart that corresponds with the news of the gospel, and they believed. 00:08:26.560 --> 00:08:29.120 And they turned to the Lord. 00:08:29.920 --> 00:08:43.519 This is so encouraging to me as we read it, because so often you see doors to the gospel closing or slamming shut in our faces at times, just like it seemed to be happening in Israel at that time. 00:08:43.759 --> 00:08:48.720 But where doors were closing on one hand, God was opening up doors on the other hand. 00:08:48.960 --> 00:09:08.159 And it's so common that you and I get discouraged whenever we share the gospel with someone or we're kind of seeing where our neighbor is in terms of their relationship with Christ or religion, and you can just tell that they can kind of see where you're going, and they are not interested in talking about Jesus or church or anything except sports. 00:09:08.639 --> 00:09:10.799 And you get discouraged and you think, well, what am I going to do? 00:09:10.879 --> 00:09:14.159 I mean, well, if one door is closing, God is opening up another one. 00:09:14.240 --> 00:09:16.559 This is the way the Lord works when it comes to the gospel. 00:09:16.639 --> 00:09:19.679 There's always open doors to the gospel somewhere. 00:09:19.840 --> 00:09:26.720 And so instead of feeling defeated, we should be like these disciples, just wherever they go, they knock on doors, so to speak. 00:09:26.879 --> 00:09:34.320 And we say, Lord, this door is not opening like I would like it to, but I know that you're opening doors somewhere else, so lead me to it. 00:09:35.679 --> 00:09:47.360 On a larger scale, it's kind of fascinating to realize that the epicenter of Christianity for the first thousand years of the church was in Asia Minor, which includes Antioch, uh, modern-day Turkey, and some surrounding areas. 00:09:47.519 --> 00:10:01.440 So for the first thousand years, you think of um Constantinople, right, that fell to the Turks close to the end of the first millennia, uh, and ushered in a uh a dark period for the church in that area. 00:10:01.759 --> 00:10:05.919 We have it moving and shifting to Europe for the next thousand years. 00:10:06.000 --> 00:10:11.840 And literally up until a hundred years ago, uh two-thirds of Christians in the world lived in Europe. 00:10:12.559 --> 00:10:18.240 And guess how many, uh guess what percentage of Christians lived in Africa in 1910? 00:10:18.559 --> 00:10:18.960 2%. 00:10:19.919 --> 00:10:27.120 2% of Christians 100 and so years ago lived in Africa, and today, 25% of all Christians live in Africa. 00:10:27.279 --> 00:10:34.000 And it's projected that in 2050, uh, nearly 40% of all Christians will live in Sub-Saharan Africa. 00:10:34.159 --> 00:10:35.519 You see the shift taking place. 00:10:35.679 --> 00:10:39.519 Places that literally 100 years ago, 2% of the faith was there. 00:10:39.679 --> 00:10:41.279 Now it's going to be almost half. 00:10:41.519 --> 00:10:50.799 And by 2050, two-thirds of Christians will be in Sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America, with only a quarter being in Europe and the U.S. 00:10:51.039 --> 00:10:51.840 combined. 00:10:52.799 --> 00:11:05.279 So this is interesting to see how God is, how doors start narrowing to the gospel, how they had their heyday, and then the gospel shifts, and God grants open doors through his spirit, through his own sovereign pleasure. 00:11:05.759 --> 00:11:21.120 So when doors are closing to the gospel, as we see in our own countries becoming more gospel hostile, it's more post-Christian, we shouldn't mistake that to see, to understand that doors everywhere at the gospel are closing, because in many places they are just opening. 00:11:21.759 --> 00:11:29.919 Next, we see in verses 22 through 26 that the report of this came to the ears of the church in Jerusalem. 00:11:30.159 --> 00:11:33.039 And they sent Barnabas to Antioch. 00:11:33.440 --> 00:11:40.720 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. 00:11:40.960 --> 00:11:47.679 For he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith, and a great many people were added to the Lord. 00:11:47.840 --> 00:11:51.279 So here's a second harvest in Antioch when Barnabas goes there. 00:11:51.360 --> 00:11:55.360 So, verse 25, Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul. 00:11:55.519 --> 00:12:08.000 And when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch, and for a whole year they met with the church and taught a great many people, and in Antioch the disciples were first called Christians. 00:12:08.639 --> 00:12:12.399 It wasn't in Jerusalem that disciples of Jesus were first called Christians. 00:12:12.480 --> 00:12:16.159 It was in Antioch because of the big splash they had made there. 00:12:16.399 --> 00:12:26.240 We might summarize this part of the passage and say that the Jerusalem church sends Barnabas to make disciples of the new believers in Antioch. 00:12:27.200 --> 00:12:29.120 Now I don't want us to breeze over this. 00:12:29.279 --> 00:12:39.600 We read this, and in fact, the first time I read this, anytime I'm studying a passage to preach on, I try to read it multiple times, and every time you read it, something else stands out, and this is something that didn't even stand out to me the first time. 00:12:39.840 --> 00:12:47.519 The fact that when the Jerusalem church heard about a harvest of souls in Antioch, they didn't just say, man, let's just praise the Lord. 00:12:47.600 --> 00:12:48.559 Lord, thank you, Lord. 00:12:48.639 --> 00:12:51.759 Let's give them a round of applause and then go home. 00:12:52.159 --> 00:13:06.159 They felt a personal responsibility to ensure that their brothers and sisters, in a place without any uh any Christian infrastructure there, they felt a personal responsibility to make sure they would be discipled. 00:13:06.320 --> 00:13:10.000 That is brought to spiritual maturity in Jesus. 00:13:10.720 --> 00:13:20.879 So if you and I were to hear about a band of believers that were uh born again in the city of Chicago, how many of us would think, you know, we need to send someone there? 00:13:21.120 --> 00:13:24.399 We need to send someone there to live there and to disciple these people. 00:13:24.639 --> 00:13:29.679 And granted, we're living in a day when there's lots of churches in Chicago that, Lord willing, are doing that. 00:13:30.159 --> 00:13:41.120 But more personally, in our own backyard, whenever we meet someone who says that they just become a Christian, is it an impulse in our soul to wonder, are they being discipled? 00:13:41.200 --> 00:13:43.840 Is someone coming alongside them and meeting with them? 00:13:44.000 --> 00:13:45.840 Are they are they getting deeper in the word? 00:13:46.080 --> 00:13:48.320 Are they learning uh how to have a prayer life? 00:13:48.720 --> 00:13:50.399 Do they know how to share the gospel? 00:13:50.559 --> 00:13:52.879 Are they uh committed to a church? 00:13:53.039 --> 00:13:54.320 Do they have regular community? 00:13:54.480 --> 00:13:56.080 Do they have accountability? 00:13:56.320 --> 00:13:58.240 Are there people there for them? 00:13:58.639 --> 00:14:02.960 Or when your neighbor expresses interest in hearing about Jesus, do you just say, man, I'm thankful to here? 00:14:03.120 --> 00:14:03.360 That's good. 00:14:03.440 --> 00:14:06.879 He must already be saved, or he must already, he's he's already good to go. 00:14:07.120 --> 00:14:08.720 No, you move in. 00:14:08.960 --> 00:14:15.200 You move through open doors like Jerusalem did when they heard about this new growth there. 00:14:16.639 --> 00:14:20.960 Barnabas' name had actually already come up in the book of Acts in Acts chapter 4. 00:14:21.120 --> 00:14:23.039 His given name was Joseph. 00:14:23.440 --> 00:14:30.720 But he was literally nicknamed by the apostles Barnabas, which meant son of encouragement. 00:14:31.279 --> 00:14:33.039 This guy was something else. 00:14:33.200 --> 00:14:36.320 He was a he was a discipler par excellence. 00:14:36.559 --> 00:14:39.440 This guy, if you had potential, he was going to bring it out of you. 00:14:39.600 --> 00:14:42.399 If he saw that you had a little bit of interest, he was gonna maximize. 00:14:42.639 --> 00:14:48.080 This guy was someone who pushed on doors, and they sent Barnabas, this son of encouragement. 00:14:48.159 --> 00:15:03.360 He was someone who was actually a native of Cyprus, the place that the gospel had gone, but he had long before that moved to Jerusalem, and we know that he had purchased property there because in Acts chapter 4, we learn that he actually sold his property, or at least part of it, and gave the proceeds to the church to give to the poor. 00:15:03.679 --> 00:15:05.519 I mean, this guy was a rock star. 00:15:06.240 --> 00:15:07.759 Loved the cause of Christ. 00:15:07.919 --> 00:15:09.200 He loved the mission. 00:15:09.360 --> 00:15:13.840 And so they send this guy to Antioch to mature the disciples there. 00:15:15.600 --> 00:15:30.399 In their groundbreaking book about 10 years ago, I think it was 2009, a little over ten years ago, called The Trellis and the Vine, two Australian pastors wrote of how we must undergo what they call a ministry mind shift. 00:15:30.960 --> 00:15:44.000 Because in our day and time, we tend to think of ministry in terms of paid staff, in terms of programs in the church, rather than relationships centered on God's word. 00:15:44.480 --> 00:15:51.679 We tend to think about ministry in terms of paid staff and programs instead of relationships in the church centered on God's word. 00:15:52.000 --> 00:16:03.840 And they write that when someone comes up to them after a service and asks sincerely how they can begin serving in the church, they tend to respond by looking around the room and seeing someone say, Hey, you see that person over there? 00:16:04.080 --> 00:16:04.639 Yeah, yeah. 00:16:04.879 --> 00:16:05.440 Do you know them? 00:16:05.600 --> 00:16:06.320 No, I don't know. 00:16:06.480 --> 00:16:07.440 Neither do I. 00:16:07.679 --> 00:16:15.600 Why don't you go over there, meet them, see if they have any interest in meeting once a week over some coffee and reading through a chapter of the Bible, praying through it. 00:16:15.759 --> 00:16:19.519 Invite them to your mission group, or I guess they probably call them small groups there down under. 00:16:20.559 --> 00:16:25.840 And see if there's any interest there in a relationship centered on God's Word. 00:16:26.000 --> 00:16:27.919 This is definitely a ministry mind shift. 00:16:28.000 --> 00:16:31.600 It's not something that you outsource to people you pay, full-time staff. 00:16:31.840 --> 00:16:36.480 It's not just for super Christians, it's for each of us to build these kind of relationships. 00:16:36.799 --> 00:16:41.600 Barnabas was this kind of guy, he was the son of encouragement. 00:16:41.840 --> 00:16:46.960 If you had, if you were new to the faith, he would turn you into a disciple-making disciple. 00:16:47.440 --> 00:16:50.240 And this is actually what we read about him, verse 23. 00:16:50.720 --> 00:16:55.039 When he came and saw the grace of God, he was glad. 00:16:55.440 --> 00:17:00.559 And he exhorted them all to remain faithful to the Lord with steadfast purpose. 00:17:00.799 --> 00:17:04.079 For he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. 00:17:04.640 --> 00:17:07.920 And the result is a great many people were added to the Lord. 00:17:09.039 --> 00:17:14.880 Something else that stands out to me is the fact that Barnabas sees the grace of God and is glad. 00:17:15.920 --> 00:17:17.440 Sees the grace of God. 00:17:17.599 --> 00:17:19.839 What does it mean to see the grace of God? 00:17:20.000 --> 00:17:41.039 It means that when he looked at these new believers who, if you can imagine the difference of culture between someone who's, you know, uh spent most of the last number of years in Jerusalem, whose name is Joseph, who's a Jew, and he goes into a pagan, huge metropolitan city like Antioch, all the differences on the surface would have been very jarring and difficult to assimilate, right? 00:17:41.200 --> 00:17:44.640 But when he looks at them, he doesn't see, man, look at all the progress we've got to make. 00:17:44.799 --> 00:17:48.240 Look at these baby Christians, and oh, I don't even know if we can even do this. 00:17:48.400 --> 00:17:50.079 Does the gospel even work here? 00:17:50.319 --> 00:17:56.559 No, he shows up and he hears their testimonies and he spends some time with them and he sees God's grace at work. 00:17:56.960 --> 00:18:17.119 Imagine looking at your spouse or your kids or your neighbors or your fellow churchgoers or your mission group peers and not seeing problems and limitations and frustrations and differences in culture and preference, but seeing the grace of God at work. 00:18:17.680 --> 00:18:19.200 That's Barnabas for you. 00:18:19.359 --> 00:18:22.400 The son of encouragement looked around and he saw God at work. 00:18:22.559 --> 00:18:24.720 He had an eye attuned to seeing God at work. 00:18:24.880 --> 00:18:32.559 And this is why he's described as being full of the Holy Spirit and of faith, because only faith can look around and see grace at work. 00:18:33.440 --> 00:18:39.119 I'm fascinated by the Cliff Notes version of what we have as the message he gave to them. 00:18:39.279 --> 00:18:45.599 He was there for over a year, but this is the only phrase we have of what he told them recorded by Luke. 00:18:45.759 --> 00:18:51.039 He exhorted them all to remain faithful to the Lord with steadfast purpose. 00:18:51.279 --> 00:18:52.559 One year summed up. 00:18:52.720 --> 00:18:56.880 Remain faithful to the Lord with steadfast purpose. 00:18:57.599 --> 00:18:59.039 I think this is so insightful for us. 00:18:59.359 --> 00:19:04.480 As new believers sprang up in a foreign place, a discipler goes there, and this is his message. 00:19:04.799 --> 00:19:11.200 He knew that if they did not engage themselves with steadfast purpose, they would fizzle out. 00:19:11.599 --> 00:19:21.200 If there were not people coming around them that were in, they were investing in them in the faith, these new believers could fly the coop. 00:19:22.880 --> 00:19:25.519 Their hearts could remain could grow cold. 00:19:26.079 --> 00:19:33.920 A believer who doesn't devote him or herself, herself to remain faithful to the Lord with steadfast purpose will inevitably grow cold in their faith. 00:19:34.160 --> 00:19:36.880 I wonder if you remember whenever you first became a Christian. 00:19:36.960 --> 00:19:38.000 If you can think back. 00:19:38.480 --> 00:19:46.160 Some of you may have been so young you don't remember exactly, but um some of us were in our teenage years or later, and you remember what it was like to become a Christian. 00:19:46.240 --> 00:19:50.480 And the new, I mean just think, do you remember what it felt like to be forgiven? 00:19:51.279 --> 00:20:01.599 For that heavy, guilty conscience when you knew God was chasing you and you were resisting, and then whenever he overcame your will and you realized I can't fight this, I'm gonna be, I'm gonna follow Jesus. 00:20:01.759 --> 00:20:03.599 I'm gonna profess him as my Savior and Lord. 00:20:03.680 --> 00:20:04.559 I'm gonna be baptized. 00:20:04.640 --> 00:20:07.359 I'm gonna go stand in front of those people at church and be baptized. 00:20:07.519 --> 00:20:14.319 I remember the relief that God gave me whenever I just surrendered to Jesus so many years ago. 00:20:14.559 --> 00:20:19.359 And then later as a teenager, whenever I was, I kind of caught a second wind and was really just passionate about. 00:20:19.519 --> 00:20:27.759 I just loved hearing preaching, I loved hymns, I loved uh talking about Jesus, all these things that I loved as an early teenager. 00:20:28.240 --> 00:20:30.960 There was a man that came up to me afterwards who handed me a shoebox. 00:20:31.200 --> 00:20:34.160 He said, Tim, I overheard you talking earlier to someone. 00:20:34.240 --> 00:20:39.279 He says, I remember when I was where you were, when Jesus was just all I could think about. 00:20:39.519 --> 00:20:48.160 And this box of uh of cassette tapes, literally, uh there's probably 50 sermons here, there's a bunch of playlists I put together during that period of time, and here's two books. 00:20:48.240 --> 00:20:54.160 And he gave that to me, and it made a huge impact in my life for the next couple years as I went through that shoebox. 00:20:56.559 --> 00:21:03.839 I remember him doing that in the simple gesture of him not just being like, oh, that's good to see, or even worse, oh God help us. 00:21:04.079 --> 00:21:14.799 When we see a new believer come to faith, and they're so excited, they come to our mission group and they're on fire for Jesus, and we utter under our breath a cynical refrain. 00:21:14.960 --> 00:21:16.559 Yeah, give them a little time. 00:21:17.119 --> 00:21:18.400 They'll chill out. 00:21:18.640 --> 00:21:21.599 I've actually heard people, maybe you've heard it, maybe you've said it. 00:21:22.240 --> 00:21:28.720 That person's all passionate, they want to save the world, they want to start a you know a food kitchen, they want to do all this stuff, just give them a little time, they'll chill out. 00:21:28.960 --> 00:21:31.440 That cynicism has no place in the church. 00:21:31.599 --> 00:21:34.000 Instead, you just say, that's an open door. 00:21:34.240 --> 00:21:39.039 I do realize that this person is gonna come under persecution for their faith if they keep talking about it. 00:21:39.200 --> 00:21:47.200 I do realize that Satan's got a bullseye on them if they are they're coming to faith like this, and they are probably gonna grow cold in time, and so I'm not gonna let that happen. 00:21:47.599 --> 00:21:49.279 That was Barnabas. 00:21:51.039 --> 00:21:53.759 Let me share something that is tragic. 00:21:54.799 --> 00:21:56.720 I've seen it more times than I'd like to admit. 00:21:56.880 --> 00:22:02.880 Christ calls someone to himself and an invisible Clock starts ticking. 00:22:03.759 --> 00:22:06.880 A few days turn into a few weeks, into a few months. 00:22:07.039 --> 00:22:17.279 And that person who was the first one to leave, and the last or first one to get there, and the last one to leave at church, the one who was just on fire for Jesus, as we used to say back in the 90s, I guess. 00:22:17.359 --> 00:22:18.240 I don't know. 00:22:19.039 --> 00:22:29.680 You see them slowly melt into the crowd, and they become just a face in the crowd that no longer really has time to serve, no longer, you know, they're just not as present as they were. 00:22:31.039 --> 00:22:35.039 They're burdened down with the cares of life and Jesus is not on their lips. 00:22:36.000 --> 00:22:47.279 This happens so easily whenever people come to faith in Christ, but no one feels the responsibility to be alongside them and to disciple them in the faith. 00:22:47.519 --> 00:22:51.839 And in fact, it happens to all of us if we're not engaged in this kind of community. 00:22:52.079 --> 00:22:58.000 And we can be in the church for years and be cold in our faith. 00:22:59.039 --> 00:23:01.920 So don't assume that someone is being discipled. 00:23:03.279 --> 00:23:09.920 If the Lord puts someone on your heart or someone on your radar, be a Barnabas while the door is wide open. 00:23:10.480 --> 00:23:12.480 We believers need invested in. 00:23:12.559 --> 00:23:18.160 We need authentic, word-centered community to envelop us and to develop us. 00:23:18.960 --> 00:23:22.799 This is how God designed for us to mature in the faith. 00:23:23.119 --> 00:23:33.359 And so we actually see that Barnabas was so urgent to capitalize on this open door that he actually, when more people come to faith, what do you see him doing? 00:23:33.839 --> 00:23:36.240 He leaves town and goes to Tarsus. 00:23:36.319 --> 00:23:37.200 We see in verse 25. 00:23:37.279 --> 00:23:40.400 So Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul. 00:23:40.640 --> 00:23:44.960 Saul is someone we met in chapter 8, actually at the end of chapter 7. 00:23:45.759 --> 00:24:03.759 At the end of chapter 7, when Stephen was literally being stoned to death, these Jewish leaders, these uh, probably these older guys who were who were throwing these rocks uh at Stephen, and they were, they had taken off their garments so they wouldn't solate with his blood, and they laid him at the feet of a guy named Saul of Tarsus. 00:24:04.319 --> 00:24:09.920 Young man, a zealot in the Pharisee Judaism religion. 00:24:10.240 --> 00:24:25.519 In the very next chapter, you see that so emboldened is Saul of Tarsus that he becomes the spearhead guy in persecution, and he's literally traveling into other cities, chasing down Christians and hauling them back to Jerusalem to be tried, prosecuted, and put in jail. 00:24:25.920 --> 00:24:36.720 But then in chapter 9, as he's on one of his murderous missions to crush the gospel under his thumb, he meets the one he thought was a figment of people's imagination. 00:24:37.359 --> 00:24:44.240 The Jesus he thought, who had died and was laid in the tomb and his body was stolen and hidden somewhere, and then they said, Oh, he's risen from the dead. 00:24:44.480 --> 00:24:59.039 He met the risen Christ on the road to Damascus, and God, Christ converted him, called him to himself, and he became the greatest preacher and advocate of the Christian faith the world's ever known. 00:24:59.359 --> 00:25:03.519 Saul, the former Pharisee, the former persecutor-turned preacher. 00:25:03.599 --> 00:25:05.359 We read about in Acts chapter 8 and chapter 9. 00:25:05.440 --> 00:25:11.119 Here he is, kind of hanging out in Tarsus, which is his hometown. 00:25:11.599 --> 00:25:17.119 We know a lot about Paul, his name later becomes Saul turns to Paul, his Jewish name Saul. 00:25:17.680 --> 00:25:25.359 It sounded a little better to the Gentiles to call him Paul, Paulus, who is a Roman name, later on when he became the apostle to the Gentiles, so he would change that. 00:25:25.440 --> 00:25:37.279 We know a lot about Paul, but did you know that his origin, his start in the faith and really being a discipler was because a guy named Barnabas sought him out in his own hometown and said, Man, you got work to do. 00:25:37.519 --> 00:25:42.880 I know you've been converted and all this stuff, and the Lord's giving you revelations and everything, but it's time to leave your hometown. 00:25:43.119 --> 00:25:44.160 It's time to get to work. 00:25:44.319 --> 00:25:45.599 Let's start with Barnabas. 00:25:45.759 --> 00:26:01.440 Barnabas goes down to Tarsus and he finds Saul and he comes back to Antioch and they together for a year discipled the believers there to the point they made such a splash on the map that this was the first place that people were like, oh yeah, you know the Christians? 00:26:01.759 --> 00:26:07.200 Well, they weren't just a Jewish sect, they weren't just a little cult, they were Christians. 00:26:07.599 --> 00:26:09.759 They were followers of Christ. 00:26:11.759 --> 00:26:20.720 Saul shared Barnabas' passion for not only helping people believe in the gospel, but in bringing them to spiritual maturity in the faith. 00:26:20.880 --> 00:26:24.240 As we see in Colossians chapter 1, verses 28 and 29. 00:26:24.559 --> 00:26:29.680 This is what Paul, who in our text is Saul, what he would write later on. 00:26:29.920 --> 00:26:31.359 Colossians 1.28. 00:26:31.519 --> 00:26:38.000 Him, Christ, we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom. 00:26:38.160 --> 00:26:39.920 And what was his objective? 00:26:40.240 --> 00:26:45.119 That we may present everyone mature in Christ. 00:26:46.160 --> 00:26:55.039 For this I toil, struggling with all his energy, Christ's energy, that he powerfully works within me. 00:26:55.680 --> 00:26:58.880 What was on the heart of Paul when he crisscrossed the globe? 00:26:58.960 --> 00:27:16.240 Remember, Paul, he literally traveled, he traveled almost 10,000 miles on foot or on boat as he was missionary in Asia Minor, which would be the equivalent, I think, of going from New York to LA like almost four times or something. 00:27:17.119 --> 00:27:27.200 This was what was driving him, his toil, his struggle, the energy that was powerfully working in him, so that he might not only proclaim, but so that he might present everyone mature in Christ. 00:27:27.279 --> 00:27:30.480 That's why he didn't just preach, only preach Christ where Christ wasn't named. 00:27:30.559 --> 00:27:32.960 He would go back to churches and establish them in the faith. 00:27:33.200 --> 00:27:38.000 We read also in Ephesians chapter 4 another glance at his calling. 00:27:38.240 --> 00:27:39.200 Ephesians 4 12. 00:27:39.359 --> 00:27:48.400 He says, Apostles, pastors, prophets, teachers are given to the church in order to equip the saints for the work of the ministry. 00:27:49.440 --> 00:28:02.720 For the building up of the body of Christ until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. 00:28:02.960 --> 00:28:16.799 And one thing that looks like is this, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. 00:28:17.680 --> 00:28:33.519 Paul knew that whenever the gospel came into someone's life, and then they start, and it's this life-altering event, to be forgiven of your sins, to be born again, to have a clean conscience before God, to be have a new purpose in life that actually corresponds to the purpose God gave you by creating you. 00:28:33.680 --> 00:28:35.359 It is a life-altering event. 00:28:35.440 --> 00:28:40.880 But Paul knew that left to ourselves, we will fizzle out in this calling. 00:28:41.279 --> 00:28:45.279 And so he was committed to bring this to maturity. 00:28:45.599 --> 00:28:47.839 Now, discipleship can sound really complicated. 00:28:47.920 --> 00:28:52.480 It can sound like, man, we gotta set up all these programs. 00:28:52.720 --> 00:28:56.079 We've got to start having these organizers, you know, out the wazoo. 00:28:56.240 --> 00:29:01.680 We have to get the right curriculum and then we have to start measuring things because if you don't measure it, it's not gonna produce the right results, right? 00:29:01.759 --> 00:29:02.799 All these metrics and everything. 00:29:02.960 --> 00:29:06.000 And trust me, I love all that stuff, and that stuff can be wonderful. 00:29:06.240 --> 00:29:09.599 But it's actually not as complicated as you might think. 00:29:09.920 --> 00:29:12.559 It's not about some really complicated system. 00:29:13.119 --> 00:29:18.720 What we're after is simply making disciples as Jesus commanded us. 00:29:18.960 --> 00:29:22.559 And there's no limit to the tools you can use and the strategy, that's wonderful. 00:29:22.720 --> 00:29:26.079 But sometimes we can lose sight of what we're actually trying to do. 00:29:26.240 --> 00:29:29.599 We're trying to make disciples as Jesus commanded us. 00:29:29.759 --> 00:29:31.440 And what is a disciple? 00:29:32.480 --> 00:29:42.160 Here's one little definition: a disciple loves, trusts, and obeys the master and participates in his mission. 00:29:42.559 --> 00:29:46.880 A disciple loves, trusts, and obeys. 00:29:47.119 --> 00:29:54.000 And those are all so closely wrapped up that you could almost argue that you should just use, pick one of them and keep it because they all feed on each other. 00:29:54.079 --> 00:29:57.440 But it's not enough just to entrust yourself to Jesus for eternity. 00:29:57.599 --> 00:29:58.400 You have to love him. 00:29:58.640 --> 00:30:00.400 A disciple loves the master. 00:30:00.640 --> 00:30:04.400 But this love is an entrusting of the self and the soul to him. 00:30:04.640 --> 00:30:12.160 But it's not just in your head, it's actually obedience to the Master, which involves participating in his mission. 00:30:12.799 --> 00:30:18.319 I was listening to a helpful sermon the other day, actually from Colossians chapter 1, verse 28, on discipleship. 00:30:18.559 --> 00:30:31.279 And um something I gleaned from that was it really stuck out to me, the fact that we actually can mistake maturity in the faith with being on mission for Jesus. 00:30:31.519 --> 00:30:34.160 We can confuse maturity with mission. 00:30:34.400 --> 00:30:47.119 We can think that being missional means that we're mature, that being busy in church stuff and zealous in reaching people for Jesus is synonymous with our own spiritual maturity. 00:30:47.599 --> 00:30:56.160 But being mature, and this is the phrase that really got me, being mature in Jesus is much more than being on mission for Jesus. 00:30:56.559 --> 00:31:03.599 The one, you see, relates to Jesus as employer, the other relates to Jesus as Savior and Lord. 00:31:04.720 --> 00:31:13.440 I want to be really careful in saying this because I've had friends, and maybe you've had friends, maybe you yourself, have experienced what we might call in the ministry burnout. 00:31:13.759 --> 00:31:17.920 You get tired of serving, you get tired of laboring. 00:31:18.480 --> 00:31:26.319 And so often it's because, man, there's only a handful of people that are trying to, you know, run the whole thing, and you just run into the ground and you simply physically can't keep it up. 00:31:26.480 --> 00:31:29.200 Your family suffers everything, and burnout can happen for that reason. 00:31:29.279 --> 00:31:34.720 But often it's not because of the weight of the load, but because the motivation wanes. 00:31:35.039 --> 00:31:42.400 What used to be a joy and a privilege and something that actually energized you turns into a huge burden. 00:31:42.880 --> 00:31:51.920 And what actually is happening here, I think, in many cases is that we misdiagnose burnout as, you know, you need rest. 00:31:52.720 --> 00:32:02.240 Instead of seeing that ministry, that mission has become an idol, has become our identity, has become our thing we do. 00:32:02.640 --> 00:32:03.279 Yeah. 00:32:03.599 --> 00:32:04.319 You know that guy? 00:32:04.400 --> 00:32:15.680 Oh, yeah, he's a discipler, he's a this, he's a that, he's a pastor, he's a mission group leader, he's a, he uh he runs this organization, he runs this nonprofit, and it becomes our identity, and we lose sight of the master. 00:32:15.759 --> 00:32:18.880 And what used to energize us now drains us. 00:32:19.039 --> 00:32:24.960 It's if that's the case, then it becomes not burnout that needs rest, but idolatry that needs repentance. 00:32:26.319 --> 00:32:28.000 Let me illustrate this. 00:32:28.319 --> 00:32:34.079 We've we bought a uh a little roomba um on Cyber Monday, I guess it was last year. 00:32:34.319 --> 00:32:40.480 You know, the little vacuum cleaner robot thing that goes around and makes a lot of noise at night and makes you think there's an intruder. 00:32:42.400 --> 00:32:47.359 Um it grows around every few days and it gobbles up everything except what you bought it to gobble up. 00:32:48.240 --> 00:32:58.799 But sometimes a little roomba gets too far from its charging station and is working so hard, and then it gets kind of you know bumping around and kind of gets lost and everything, and then and then it runs out of battery. 00:32:59.039 --> 00:33:05.519 And you walk down the stairs in the morning, and there it is, kind of laying there lifeless, like it's dead, like our roomba just died right there, you know? 00:33:05.759 --> 00:33:07.440 It's not supposed to be there. 00:33:08.000 --> 00:33:15.119 And so what you do is you pick the thing up and you take it back to the charging station, and in a couple hours, it's ready to go again. 00:33:15.359 --> 00:33:21.920 I think some of us are like the roomba, and being so involved in mission, and the mission is making disciples. 00:33:22.079 --> 00:33:36.480 Being so involved in the mission, we actually lose sight of the master, and our motivations and our reasons for why we do what we do change, and when they change, and if the master is not what's driving the mission, then we run out of energy for the mission. 00:33:36.559 --> 00:33:38.799 Because the mission can't sustain the mission. 00:33:38.960 --> 00:33:43.279 The mission's not big enough to sustain the mission, only the master is. 00:33:43.839 --> 00:33:46.400 He's the one for whom the mission exists. 00:33:46.880 --> 00:33:50.240 We might say it this way, that this is part of our story. 00:33:51.599 --> 00:33:55.440 We love the mission more than we love the master. 00:33:56.799 --> 00:33:58.799 We love the mission more than we love the master. 00:33:58.880 --> 00:34:04.079 Thankfully, not all the time, but if I'm gonna confess to you, I would say, man, I am a numbers guy. 00:34:04.319 --> 00:34:19.360 I would say 30% of the time, functionally, when I'm preparing for, let's say, a sermon is what I'm doing now, when I'm preparing for this, my heart is more focused on the mission than it is the master. 00:34:19.519 --> 00:34:23.199 And so literally, I have to watch that when I'm preparing a talk. 00:34:23.360 --> 00:34:35.440 Or in you, if you're preparing for having people over into your home and you're fixing food and you're doing all stuff, and you're thinking, oh, you know, I've got to be hospitable and I've got to, I've got to, you know, we're gonna have prayer, we're gonna have to read some scripture, and we're gonna we're gonna do the mission. 00:34:35.599 --> 00:34:37.440 Have you thought about Jesus? 00:34:37.920 --> 00:34:43.199 Is Jesus what's pushing you to be hospitable, or is it just the pastor that said we've got to be hospitable? 00:34:43.280 --> 00:34:47.280 Or we know that our mission group leader is gonna ask us if we've had anyone in our home recently, right? 00:34:47.360 --> 00:34:48.960 It's so, so easy. 00:34:49.199 --> 00:34:54.320 Maybe more times than not when we lose sight of the master because we're focused on the mission. 00:34:54.559 --> 00:34:55.360 So let's be real. 00:34:55.679 --> 00:34:57.840 The mission can be intoxicating. 00:34:58.159 --> 00:35:03.280 Ministry strategy, growth initiatives, metrics, large crowds. 00:35:05.360 --> 00:35:13.039 Great music coming from the stage, conferences, mission groups that are bursting into the seams and they're moving into different parts of the city. 00:35:13.199 --> 00:35:20.719 Even we here at Sacred Mission Church have as one of our four core identity markers that we are a missional church, is what we aspire to be. 00:35:22.000 --> 00:35:31.440 But without great purpose of heart, Barnabas says, we may fall in love with the mission and out of love with our master, and that's not sustainable. 00:35:33.599 --> 00:35:38.719 None of us is immune to this, no matter what our role in the church is. 00:35:39.679 --> 00:35:47.119 It's absolutely possible to love the mission, which is good to love the mission, but to think little of our master. 00:35:50.480 --> 00:35:55.280 You may know that you're there, and I was trying to think practically like, when do I know that I'm slipping into that? 00:35:56.079 --> 00:36:03.119 Um, you know you're there when you'd rather talk about how we should pray for this or that than actually pray for this or that. 00:36:03.760 --> 00:36:10.000 How you'd rather plan a worship experience or enjoy a worship experience than actually worship. 00:36:10.239 --> 00:36:18.400 It's so easy for all the thought and intention that goes into a public gathering and a worship experience that's meant to drive us to the foot of Jesus to worship. 00:36:18.480 --> 00:36:23.119 It's so easy for that to do everything except drive us to the feet of Jesus and worship. 00:36:23.679 --> 00:36:27.039 Whether we are the ones leading it or the ones participating in it. 00:36:27.280 --> 00:36:38.480 Or when we'd rather debate theology and discuss theology than weep for joy over its beauty, or grieve for not having lived consistent with it this week. 00:36:40.239 --> 00:36:44.800 When it's enough to know it and we aren't really interested in living it out. 00:36:45.599 --> 00:36:50.800 But this isn't the only way we can err in discipleship by making an idol out of the mission. 00:36:51.119 --> 00:36:54.880 And we'll see uh in a few verses how that works. 00:36:55.039 --> 00:36:56.480 There's other ways to mess it up. 00:36:56.639 --> 00:36:58.639 Look at verse 27 and 30. 00:36:59.679 --> 00:37:03.119 Now, in these days, the prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch. 00:37:03.679 --> 00:37:06.800 Prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch. 00:37:06.880 --> 00:37:08.000 Notice the phrase in these days. 00:37:08.079 --> 00:37:17.760 So this is signaling that this is an extended period of time in which there was this robust relationship between Jerusalem and Antioch, sort of the Jewish uh hub and then the Gentile hub. 00:37:19.760 --> 00:37:28.960 And so prophets would come and go from Jerusalem to Antioch, and one of them was named Agobus, and he stood up and foretold by the Spirit that there would be a great famine over all the world. 00:37:29.199 --> 00:37:29.920 And guess what? 00:37:30.000 --> 00:37:32.880 This actually took place in the days of Claudius. 00:37:33.119 --> 00:37:41.039 So the disciples of Antioch determined everyone according to his ability to send relief to the brothers living in Judea. 00:37:41.360 --> 00:37:42.159 That's Jerusalem. 00:37:42.239 --> 00:37:43.360 Jerusalem's in Judea. 00:37:43.440 --> 00:37:46.800 So Antioch sends money to Jerusalem. 00:37:46.880 --> 00:37:50.960 And they did so, sending it by the hand to the elders by the hands of Barnabas and Saul. 00:37:51.119 --> 00:37:56.639 In summary, the disciples in Antioch, they mature and they give back. 00:37:56.800 --> 00:37:58.400 This is such a beautiful thing. 00:37:58.639 --> 00:38:09.199 A famine had occurred in the days of Roman Emperor Claudius, and according to non-Christian ancient historians, there were actually actually several waves of famine that happened throughout the Roman Empire. 00:38:09.360 --> 00:38:14.960 And the one that impacted Judea happened around 46 or 40, 45 or 46 AD. 00:38:15.360 --> 00:38:19.360 So four to five years after Antioch was started. 00:38:19.440 --> 00:38:20.960 So it's a pretty young church. 00:38:23.599 --> 00:38:29.519 And the fact that the famine had hit Judah or Judea makes sense of the fact that they would send money to Jerusalem. 00:38:29.760 --> 00:38:33.679 I want to focus on just one idea from this final part of our text. 00:38:34.559 --> 00:38:55.440 Want us to notice how these disciples in Antioch, who themselves were only just a few years old, as a church and as disciples, that they had matured enough through the ministries of Barnabas and Saul that they themselves, who were ministered to, now became the ministers. 00:39:03.440 --> 00:39:13.360 And they start moving towards those needs, and through that service and through that mission, they themselves mature again, and then they're to the point where they can actually come alongside other people and help them do the same thing. 00:39:13.599 --> 00:39:17.440 This beautiful picture of discipleship coming full circle. 00:39:18.559 --> 00:39:21.440 The ones ministered to become the ministers. 00:39:22.239 --> 00:39:26.400 Joyful service is a sign of spiritual maturation. 00:39:27.440 --> 00:39:35.760 On the other hand, a consumeristic, me-focused, what can you offer me mentality is a sure sign of spiritual immaturity. 00:39:36.079 --> 00:39:40.800 According to the famous Pareto principle, some of you business guys are like, yeah, Pareto. 00:39:41.440 --> 00:39:42.719 Hashtag Pareto. 00:39:43.280 --> 00:39:44.639 2080 rule, right? 00:39:44.719 --> 00:39:50.639 20% of employees in an organization, 20% minority, that actually end up doing 80% of the work. 00:39:51.039 --> 00:39:52.559 80% of what's effective. 00:39:52.639 --> 00:39:56.559 And then 20% does 80, or 20 does 80 and 80 does 20. 00:39:56.719 --> 00:39:58.320 The same actually is true in churches. 00:39:58.480 --> 00:40:03.840 There's been people that you know geeked out about how this works in all organizations, including churches, and the same is true. 00:40:04.079 --> 00:40:10.719 Roughly speaking, 20% of a given church is going to produce 80% of the mission of discipling. 00:40:10.880 --> 00:40:15.840 And then the 80%, the larger crowd, is only going to present twenty uh produce twenty percent. 00:40:16.320 --> 00:40:33.199 And so I've already kind of picked on those of you who love mission, who love the mission, the 20% here, that love the mission so much that you can actually forget Jesus because you're all about the mission when mission is the forethought and Jesus is the afterthought. 00:40:33.519 --> 00:40:34.719 But what about the 80%? 00:40:36.000 --> 00:40:45.280 I think there's a beautiful application in this passage for those of us who actually aren't tempted to OD on the mission, to overcommit ourselves. 00:40:45.440 --> 00:40:50.079 We're not really tempted to do that because we actually don't love the mission that much. 00:40:51.119 --> 00:40:54.800 We're not tempted to love the mission more than Jesus because we don't really love the mission. 00:40:56.159 --> 00:40:57.679