Acts – Pastor Dave Daye

“The Mission Continues, Acts 21 – 28” – Thoughts on Sunday’s Sermon

December 1, 2011 No Comments

Sorry that I’m a bit late on posting my “Monday’s Reflection on Sunday’s Sermon” (I’m writing this on Thursday!).

Have you ever thought about the power of “normal”? We often think of normal as being simple, taken for granted, plain, and powerless, but I think the concept of normal is one of the most powerful things in our lives. What we think is or should be normal exerts pressure on us. What we think of as a normal income, height, weight, intelligence, and so many other “normals” in our life, make us evaluate ourselves and we feel the weight of being out of line with normal. One profound way that the concept of normal impacts us is the idea that life should be relatively easy and smooth. That in general we should be happy, healthy, and comfortable.

We import this idea of normal life into our relationship with Christ on the Gospel Mission. We think that following Christ should be roses and green fields, calm waters and fresh air. This means that when our life goes through ups and downs we feel profoundly not normal which often translates into thinking something is wrong – that somehow we are wrong or doing something wrong or even that maybe God is wrong. Churches get caught up in this. We can think that any disagreement or differences of opinion are an indication of a deeper problem. We can think that if the church isn’t growing or enjoying “success” (whatever that is) then something is tragically wrong.

The problem with all of this is how we define “normal.” The picture we get from Acts chapters 21 through 28 (and really the entire book of Acts, and, come to think of it, the entire Bible!) is that life in relationship with God is filled with ups and downs. There is no normal level where we are supposed to be comfortable all the time. It is often in the ups and downs that God is profoundly at work.

On Sunday I gave an overview of Acts 21 – 28 which I won’t do here. Instead, I challenge you to read it for yourself. It is an incredible account of Paul’s arrest, multiple trials, and eventual travel and imprisonment in Rome. Acts ends there. There is no grand finale, no plot line wrapped in a bow. In fact, I would say that Acts ends with a great unwritten “to be continued…” It think it is part of the genius of God to have this incredible account of the beginning of the Gospel Mission end without an ending because the truth is that the account of the church – the followers of Jesus Christ – living the Gospel Mission in this world continues today with US.

One question I had after studying these final chapters of Acts was how it was possible for Paul to keep going when things were so difficult. Paul’s speech before King Agrippa in chapter 26 holds some key insights into Paul’s thinking and there I saw three things that really challenged me.

Good intentions do not equal right direction: In Acts 26:9-14, Paul tells about how he lived before meeting Christ. He was so sincere. So passionate. So single-minded in his devotion. So dedicated to living out his belief. Yet for all of his good intentions and sincere faith, he had to come to terms with the fact that he was sincerely wrong. Paul’s direction in his life of following Jesus wasn’t set by good intentions. When we try to just do the right thing then we might be quick to abandon that when it seems like it’s not working. Paul’s new direction in his life was shaped by the fact that Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sins and rose from the dead to prove He is the Messiah and offers eternal life to all who believe in him. Following Christ isn’t about having good intentions or just trying to be a better you. It is about knowing and living the reality that Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection is a truth which forever sets a direction for the Gospel Mission and that we must weigh all of our supposedly good intentions against this unchanging direction.

It really is all about Jesus: In Acts 26:15-17 and 22-29, Paul tells Agrippa what it was that changed his life. What could possibly make this persecutor of Christians and rejector (I think that’s a real word) of Christ become willing to endure beatings, imprisonments, and even death for the sake of the truth he once fought so hard against? It was the reply from the voice that stopped him on the road to Damascus and said, “I am Jesus” (26:15). The fact of Jesus’ resurrection proves everything Jesus ever said about himself. It proves that he was able to pay the penalty for our sins and offer eternal life with God. It also set an entirely new direction for Paul’s life (as it does for ours) because Jesus said, “I have appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and as a witness of what you have seen of me and what I will show you” (Acts 26:16). This is the same language Jesus used when speaking to the disciples when he said, “and you will be my witnesses” (Acts 1:8). The reason Paul could endure so much difficulty is that he knew his life was not about him. It had nothing to do with his comfort and it had everything to do with whether or not he lived and spoke as a witness to the truth of the existence, the death, and the resurrection of Jesus. We are equipped to endure the ups and downs of the Gospel Mission only as we accept the fact that our lives are now all about Jesus.

This Changes Everything: In Acts 26:15-18, Paul tells Agrippa about the mission that Jesus gave to him to take the gospel to the Gentiles. For his entire life Paul had focused on keeping the Jewish Law and trying to preserve and purify the Jewish nation as God’s people (this is what being a Pharisee was all about). Now, Jesus tells him to leave all that behind and go to the people Paul once rejected to tell them that God is offering them salvation through Jesus. Paul’s life was (and our life still is today) radically changed by the fact of the resurrection of Jesus. Look at these statements of Paul from Philippians:

Philippians 1:12 – Speaking of his beatings and imprisonment – “Now I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel.”
Philippians 1:20-21 – “I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.”
Philippians 1:27-30 – “Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in one spirit, contending as one man for the faith of the gospel without being frightened in any way by those who oppose you. This is a sign to them that they will be destroyed, but that you will be saved—and that by God. For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for him, since you are going through the same struggle you saw I had, and now hear that I still have.”

These are the statements of a man whose entire life has been changed by Christ. He has a new definition of “normal” – a definition that is wrapped around the idea of proclaiming the truth about Jesus no matter what happens to him.

So as we end our brief study of Acts, we have to understand that the mission continues with us today. We are now the witnesses of Jesus in this world. We must allow this incredible truth redefine our concept of normal life and accept the wonderful, but often difficult, truth that we are living out the Gospel Mission today.

Sermon Reflection

“Perseverance” (Acts 15:36 – 20:38) – Monday’s Reflection on Sunday’s Sermon

November 21, 2011 No Comments

Yesterday was a great day at Orchard Community Church. We baptized two people who wanted to publicly proclaim their faith in Jesus as their savior. It was powerful!

The sermon yesterday was on Paul’s missionary journeys in Acts 15:36 through 20:38. Paul and Silas travel to many different cities as they continue to spread the gospel. We looked at the idea of perseverance. Paul and his companions go through so many difficult situations yet they continue to share the gospel no matter the consequences. In these chapters of Acts, here are just some of the difficult things that Paul and his companions go through:

Disagreement w/ Barnabas (15:36-41)
Beaten, flogged and imprisoned in Phillipi (16:16-40)
A friend named Jason is taken before city officials because of Paul and Silas’ preaching of the gospel in Thessalonica (17:6)
Endure a riot against them in Ephesus (19:23-41)
While Paul is preaching, a guy (Eutychus) falls out a window and dies – Paul raises him from the dead (20:7-12)
Ends by going to Jerusalem where he is certain he will be arrested or killed.

Most of us tend to give up after much less than this. So what kept them going. We looked at 4 Principles of Perseverance that are seen in these chapters of Acts.

Know the Destination

You can endure a lot when you know that you are headed in the right direction. In Acts 20:24, Paul says, “However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me–the task of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace.” Jesus set the goal of the Gospel Mission in Acts 1:8 when he told his disciples, “you will be my witnesses”. It is not our job to convince people. It is not our job to grow the largest church. The destination or the goal is simply to be a witness. Paul realized this and this is why he could go from one city to another where he was beaten and imprisoned because he knew that the whole point was simply to be a witness. It was about his “success,” it was about the spread of the gospel.

Trust in the Gospel’s Power

Paul was able to face many difficult situations because he knew that the gospel was God’s power for the salvation of everyone who believes (Romans 1:16). When Paul and Silas are sitting in prison after being beaten, flogged, and put into stocks so that they could not move, what do you think they did? They sang praises to God. Why? I think it was because they knew that the gospel was powerful in any situation and the best method they had at their disposal in that moment to share the gospel with anyone listening was to sing praises to God. Where we might have seen difficulty and despaired, they saw an opportunity for the gospel and trusted that the gospel would have an effect.

Because they trusted in the power of the gospel, Paul and Silas were able to share the gospel in many different situations with many different people. They shared the gospel with people from a Jewish background who knew the Old Testament and understood the promises of the Messiah. They were also able to share the gospel with people who worshiped everything but the God of Scripture and were completely different culturally. They shared the gospel with people who rejected them and their message and they shared the gospel with people who welcomed them and readily accepted the gospel. Why could they face so many different environments with the same perseverance? Because they trusted in the power of the gospel to impact any situation and any person.

Serve Together

Many people see Paul as a sort of Lone Ranger Christian, but this is certainly not the picture we see in Acts. He is constantly working with people, discipling people, taking them with him on his missionary journeys, leaving people to complete work that he started, and sending people ahead of him to start the work in a new city. Paul certainly recognized the need to serve with other believers. In fact, for Paul this was part of the gospel mission. Working with people and training them to serve wasn’t a distraction for him as he served, it was an essential part of his ministry. People like Epaphras, Timothy, Titus, Aquilla and Priscilla and many others all served with Paul and are the unsung heroes of Acts. Harry Truman once said, “It’s amazing what you can accomplish if you don’t care who gets the credit.” I like this, but I would change it a bit to say “It’s amazing what God can accomplish through us if we only care that He gets the credit.” A big part of persevering on the gospel mission is that we do it together.

Leave the Results to God

Paul went to cities where lots of people turned to Christ and he went to cities where lots of people fought against him and ran him out of town. In fact, in one city, Ephesus, both of these things happened (see Acts 19). Paul understood that we don’t determine our mission and therefore we shouldn’t set the standard for success. Our role is simply to keep on sharing the gospel. Keep going – persevere. The results aren’t up to us so we should not get discouraged by small results and we shouldn’t think that we are doing something right when there are large results. Our measure of success is faithfulness – perseverance – everything else is God’s job!

A final thing I learn from Paul and his companions in these chapters of Acts is that the mission is about God and not about us. We are able to persevere because it’s not about us. If it were about us then the rejections and persecutions would be cause for alarm and quitting, but if it is about God then as long as God gets the glory then we can keep on going.

If you are sharing Christ with someone who keeps rejecting the message of the gospel – keep going.

If you are thinking that you are a failure as a follower of Christ – keep going.

If you get frustrated with the ups and downs in your church – keep going.

The gospel mission requires perseverance. Will we keep going?

Here are the devotionals for the week that were on the back of the sermon notes:

Monday: Read Acts chapters 16-17. What are some of the difficulties that Paul and other believers face in this chapter? How do you face similar difficulties in your life? What are some of the different groups that hear the gospel in this chapter and how do they respond? How does this encourage you to share the gospel with different people in your life?

Tuesday: Read Acts chapter 18. Who are some of the people who help Paul as he continues his ministry and how do they help? Who has God brought into your life to help you as you follow Him and who are you helping?

Wednesday: Read Acts chapter 19. How was the gospel challenging normal life in Ephesus? How does the gospel challenge some of the thing we consider normal today?

Thursday: Read Acts chapter 20. What are some of the main things Paul says to the Ephesian Elders and why do you think he thought these things were important as he was saying goodbye? Do we need to hear these things today? Why or why not?

Friday: Read Acts chapter 26 in preparation for Sunday’s sermon.

photo by Flickr user hcii

Sermon Reflection

“Systems Check” (Acts 15:1-35) – Monday’s Reflection on Sunday’s Sermon

November 15, 2011 2 Comments

So it’s 11:30pm on Monday night and I’m finally getting around to writing my reflection on the sermon yesterday! We leave tomorrow for a brief three day family trip so today was pretty busy as I tried to get stuff done that I normally do on Tuesday through Thursday.

I have come to love Acts chapter 15 and the account of the Jerusalem Council. I love it because I think it shows us a picture of church leadership in action in a powerful way on a very important issue. The gospel was being threatened by people who said that believing in Jesus was not enough and were saying that people had to do certain good works in order to be saved. By the end of the council’s meeting, the church has affirmed that salvation is by God’s grace through faith in Christ alone and has protected the unity of the church around the central truth of the gospel.

I called this sermon “Systems Check” because the early church had to check it’s way of thinking and doing things against the Word of God. We all have “systems” or ways that we normally think or act. Our systems are usually based around the highest priority in our lives. It could be money, power, what people think of us. It could be tradition or change, fear or self-doubt. When we face a difficult situation we grab the handle attached to that central gear of our system and we turn the crank. The system goes into production and out comes a response. Oh sure, we have the ability to make different choices, but we have to at least admit that those choices are largely determined by our greatest priorities around which we have built our systems.

The early church could have given a quick answer. They could have grabbed the handle attached to their greatest priority and turned it and then responded accordingly. For some churches the greatest priority is tradition – doing things the way it’s always been done. For some it is change – purposely doing things differently than it’s always been done. Both represent systems based around a central priority and both can be drastically out of line with the mission of the gospel.

But the early church didn’t just respond out of their “system.” They took the harder route to judge how they thought against God’s Word. In fact, it isn’t just what the council decides that is so important – it’s how they decide it. They start by listening to everyone that they can. Paul and Barnabas tell their stories of what God has done on their first missionary journey. The believers from the Pharisee group tell how they think the Gentiles must keep the Law of Moses. Others must have been given the chance to speak as well because verse 7 says, “after much discussion…” At several points in the narrative we are shown that there was a rather large crowd. At the beginning of the meeting, the entire church of Jerusalem seems to be involved (verse 4 says they were welcomed by “the church” – not just the leaders). Verse 6 tells us that the “apostles and elders met to consider this question” but they either did this with the rest of the church present or greatly involved the rest of the church throughout the process because verse 12 calls the group “the whole assembly” (which would be an odd way of referring to just the leadership) and verse 22 says that after James makes his recommendation for what they should do that “the apostles and elders with the whole church” come up with a plan to carry it out.

As they are listening and involving the people (which turns a crisis into a discipleship opportunity!) they are also weighing everything against God’s Word. Peter tells about what Christ has taught him in regards to the Gentiles being accepted through Christ and not through the Old Testament Law. James cites passages from the Old Testament that show that it was always God’s will to accept the Gentiles. They take this information and use it, instead of their own “systems” to weigh the current situation and the conflict that is being caused by a challenge to the core of the gospel.

This is true leadership in action. Not only are the leaders not just pushing their own agenda, they are purposely taking the time to check their agenda against the word of God. No top down authoritarianism. They are involving the people by first listening to them, letting them see how the decision is reached, and then involving them again in carrying out the solution.

The main “gear” of our “systems” needs to be the gospel of salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ and God’s Word must be the standard against which our systems must measure up. This is true in the church and in our individual lives. If we truly believe that we are sinners saved only by God’s grace, then why would we want to try to figure things out and do them our way? We will instead want to do them God’s way as we check everything against His Word. This is the role of leadership in the church and it should also be evident in the lives of Christians as we seek to be led by Christ on this gospel mission.

Disclaimer: any typos or blatant heresy in this post is due to the fact that the author should probably be sleeping…

photo by Flickr user bluebus

Friday's Sneak Peek

“Systems Check” – This Sunday At Orchard Community Church

November 12, 2011 No Comments

I remember watching the movie “Apollo 13” and that dramatic moment when the explosion occurs. One astronaut speaks into his radio those brief words that are so full of meaning and emotion – “Houston, we have a problem.”

In Acts chapter 15 the early church has a problem that threatens to tear it apart. The way in which the early church dealt with this problem is very instructive for us today. They did it together. They did it according to Scripture. And they did it as godly leaders applied God’s Word to their specific situation.

Sometimes today we still need a “Systems Check” to see if we are in line with God’s Word or if we too have a problem. Thankfully, in Christ every problem is just another opportunity to see God at work!

Sermon Reflection

“Grounded and Growing” (Acts 11:19 – 14:28) – Monday’s (well, actually Tuesday’s) Reflection on Sunday’s Sermon

November 8, 2011 3 Comments

I blame the time change this past weekend for why I’m a day off on posting my reflection on Sunday’s sermon. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

This past Sunday at Orchard Community Church we looked at Acts 11:19 – 14:28. It was a LOT of information to cover. In these chapters we get to know the church at Antioch and then read about how they send Paul and Barnabas on Paul’s first missionary journey. Chapter 14 ends with Paul and Barnabas returning to Antioch and telling the church about the amazing things God has done.

On the surface these chapters seem to be about a lot of action. There is a lot of travel, a lot of people coming to know Christ, and a lot of churches being started. What struck me was what was behind this action. In the church at Antioch and in the churches that Paul and Barnabas start there is an emphasis on being rooted or grounded rather than just doing.

We see this first in Antioch before the missionary journey even begins. In Acts 11:19-21 we see that God has done a great work among the Gentiles in Antioch and a church is growing. The Christians in Jerusalem hear about this and send Barnabas to check it out and to help. (Just as a quick side note, I absolutely love this idea of one church helping another and working together for the Gospel Mission!) Barnabas arrives and sees “evidence of the grace of God” (Acts 11:23). Another possible translation is that he saw “evidence of what the grace of God had done.” Barnabas knows immediately that what is happening at Antioch is God’s doing, not just their own efforts. This view shapes his ministry there. He doesn’t challenge them to do more or to work harder, he encourages them “to remain true to the Lord with all their hearts.” If what was happening was God’s doing, then the way to keep it going was to keep the people focused on God. The evangelistic and missionary activity of the church at Antioch came from their being grounded or rooted in God so that it was God working in and through them and not just their own clever ideas.

The ministry at Antioch is growing so Barnabas travels all the way to Tarsus (over 100 miles each way!) to get Paul. From earlier in Acts we know that when Paul first meets the risen Christ he is told that he will be sent to take the gospel to the Gentile world. For several years Paul has waited for God’s timing for this huge mission to begin. I think Barnabas saw something going on in Antioch that resonated with the mission Christ had given to Paul and so he brings Paul there to see what God does. For a whole year they work together in the church at Antioch.

Acts 12 is a snapshot of some things that were happening in Jerusalem around this time. The apostle James is put to death. Peter is arrested and by a miracle of God he escapes from prison. King Herod is getting a bit full of himself and some people start saying that he is a god to be worshiped. Herod doesn’t stop them and give glory to God so he is struck down and dies (see Acts 12:23).

Chapter 13 starts back in Antioch. There are “prophets and teachers” (which are probably leaders in the church since Barnabas and Paul are included in this list and these gifts/functions are listed in Ephesians 4:11-12 as people given to the church to “prepare God’s people for works of service”) who are “worshiping the Lord and fasting” (Acts 13:2) As I read this, this means that these leaders were not sitting around discussing strategies and programs. They were focusing on who God is (worshiping the Lord) and what He wants them to do (often associated with fasting). They knew what Christ had called Paul to do. They could have been making charts and maps and filling three ring binders with ministry plans, but instead they were seeking God and waiting on Him! It is this groundedness in the gospel and in God that leads to the incredible missionary work found in the rest of Acts.

As Paul and Barnabas travel, share the gospel, and see churches start in various cities, they also encounter lots of opposition. They are chased out of cities. They are under threat of death. In one city, Paul is stoned and left for dead. This is no easy or comfortable mission. The gospel life to which we are called is difficult. This is why, when Paul and Barnabas start their return trip to Antioch, they go back to these baby churches and do two things. First, they challenge and encourage them to “remain true to the faith” (Acts 14:22) – stay grounded, rooted, in Christ. Paul and Barnabas knew that any effectiveness for the Gospel Mission in these cities would be the fruit of a strong and growing faith. The second thing Paul and Barnabas do is to appoint elders (Acts 14:23). In order for these churches to stay grounded in their faith, they need leadership that saw this ministry as their highest priority. It is no accident that one of the words often used in Scripture for godly leadership is “shepherds.” These churches were going to face difficulty from both inside and outside of the church and they needed godly leaders who led the church in such a way as to care for the people by helping them to continue being grounded and growing in their relationship with Christ.

I truly believe that churches and followers of Christ today are way too focused on DOING. We have lost a sense of being grounded, rooted, and completely dependent on God. All too often we see our relationship with Christ like being a rechargeable battery. We plug in for a short time each week or maybe even each day and then we go out and do our work (taking time along the way to ask for God’s blessing) and over time our “charge” starts running down. We come back to church, do our daily devotions, or go to a conference to recharge our batteries so that we can go out and do more for God again.

Leadership in churches reflects this understanding. Leaders set direction, make the decisions, and lay out strategies. In so many churches, the model of church leadership has slipped into the idea that the leaders “drive the bus” – do what they think is right – and the people can either get on board or get out (I have actually heard this!). Leaders push, pull, and even even hurt people all in the name of trying to get them to do the things that the leaders think they should be doing for God.

But God doesn’t need us to do anything for Him. This idea that we do things for God betrays the fact that we have too small of an idea of who God is! It is God who is at work. It is God who is moving and doing ministry. It is God who has all the power and all the grace. We need to quit trying to do things for God and focus instead on living lives rooted in what God is doing. Jesus says this so poignantly in John 15:5 – “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” We are not batteries that have some capacity to store up God’s power for ourselves and let it out at our choosing. We are branches that are constantly and totally dependent on the vine for nourishment and it is the health of the vine that works through us to create the fruit. Since this is true, leadership in the church is not a matter of getting people to do the right things, but shepherding people to be more grounded and rooted in Jesus Christ so that God can do great things in and through them.

This is true for how we each “lead” ourselves as well. We often seek tips and techniques to make our lives better. We want the latest book or fad to tell us the secret of life. We want to do things that will make us feel better when it is the frantic doing that is keeping us from the One who created us to find our joy in Him.

OK, this is getting really long so if anyone is still reading at this point let me finish with two other observations from this missionary journey.

1. Difficulties are natural and should be expected on the Gospel Mission. This is all the more reason to focus on being grounded in the gospel and in relationship with God through Christ. If we are only focused on doing things then when difficulty comes we can easily think we must be doing something wrong. But if we are instead focused on staying grounded in God’s grace then the difficulties become an opportunity to see God at work.

2. Watch out for Pride. As Paul and Barnabas traveled and shared the gospel, it was the people who thought they had it all right that were the most resistant to the gospel. I believe this is just as true for those “inside” the church as those who are outside the church. When we focus on “doing” for Christ we will feed the pride in who we are and what we can accomplish. If instead we focus on being grounded and rooted in Christ then any effectiveness, any growth, is what God is doing in and through us and He gets the glory. The way to fight pride is to keep our focus on Christ and the gospel that says we are dead in our sins and risen to new life only in and through Jesus Christ. All our plans and strategies are filthy rags that amount to nothing, but God’s work is His glorious grace on display through us that can change people’s lives.

Friday's Sneak Peek

“Grounded and Growing” – This Sunday at OCC

November 4, 2011 No Comments

I kill plants. It’s something I’m fairly gifted at. I’ve killed tomato plants, cilantro, flowers, bushes, even trees. My skill at killing plants knows no bounds. I may not grasp the intricacies of helping a plant to grow, but I know that God’s Word has a lot to teach us about growing strong in the gospel.

This week at Orchard Community Church we are looking at the end of Acts chapter 11 through Acts chapter 14. This is the first of Paul’s three missionary trips. We are going to pay specific attention to the church that sent Paul and Barnabas on this trip – the church at Antioch – which is a great example of a church that is Grounded and Growing. Then we will look at the things they encounter on the trip and what they do on their way home that shows how important it is for churches and believers to be “Grounded and Growing”!

Take some time before Sunday to read Acts 11:19-30 and 13:1 – 14:28 as we prepare to gather with other believers and be “Grounded and Growing” in the gospel together!

We will also be participating in Communion. I like to think of Communion as a sermon that you do instead of a sermon that you listen to. In the act of taking the bread and the cup, we are declaring that Jesus’ death on the cross is our hope of salvation. It is always such a meaningful experience and a great reminder!

photo by Flickr user churl

Sermon Reflection

“Out of our Comfort Zone and into the Gospel Mission” (Acts 10 and 11) – Monday’s Reflection on Sunday’s Sermon

October 31, 2011 4 Comments

I was a lifeguard for one summer and not everyday is a “Baywatch” sort of day. The truth is that many days are cold and rainy and I would absolutely dread going into the water. Could you imagine if a child started to drown and I sat there watching thinking, “I know exactly what to do but there’s no way I’m going into that water on this cold of a day!” The thought of a lifeguard being unwilling to get uncomfortable in order to save a child is absolutely appalling to us. So why is it we are not equally appalled when we are unwilling to get uncomfortable in order to share the gospel with a lost sinner?

Acts chapter 10 tells the story of Peter going to visit Cornelius. Peter had been brought up understanding the difference between clean and unclean things. It was God’s way of teaching His people that there should be a difference between them and the rest of the world. At some point this daily reminder of God’s holiness became an end in itself. Instead of these practices pointing to God, they were simply followed for their own sake and became a sort of comfort zone for God’s people. As long as they stuck to this list of rules they were fine. It didn’t matter if they were completely ignoring the one to whom the rules pointed.

Cornelius was a Gentile and did not follow these rules. In fact, these rules meant that Peter could not even go to Cornelius’ house and certainly not eat any of his food. The early followers of Jesus assumed that people had to first accept the Jewish rules and then could come to God through Christ. They understood these rules and were comfortable with them. They knew God had worked through these rules in the past so didn’t He have to work this way in the future? But the Gospel Mission in Acts often leads God’s people into uncharted waters. God teaches Peter that He (God – not Peter!) is in control of what is clean and unclean. God is not bound by what keeps us comfortable.

Comfort Zones are a form of protection. We put up walls in our lives saying we are willing to be stretched so far but not any farther. Life within those walls seems safe and predictable because we know it and understand how it works.

In the sermon I described three steps that God uses in getting us out of our comfort zones and into the gospel mission. The first step is to LEARN – God teaches us something about Him and His work in the world. God was teaching Peter something new – that God was making things clean that were unclean before. Peter had to learn this important lesson if he was to follow where God was leading.

The second step God uses in getting us out of our comfort zones and into the gospel mission is to give us an opportunity to RESPOND. Peter was faced with a choice. He could have stayed home and not gone to Cornelius’ house. He could have stayed in his comfort zone, but he would have missed out on the incredible opportunity to see God at work in a powerful way. But Peter did respond – he went to Cornelius’ house and he told Cornelius and his entire household about the death and resurrection of Jesus.

The third step God uses in getting us out of our comfort zones and into the gospel mission is to give us a new EXPERIENCE of His work. Peter witnessed the coming of the Holy Spirit on these “unclean” Gentiles. Peter assumed that these people would first need to become Jewish, but God was at work and clearly accepted these people only on the basis of what Christ did on the cross. This opened a whole new opportunity for the Gospel Mission. The gospel could be taken straight to people that had no connection at all with the Jewish rules.

So when we LEARN something about God we must RESPOND to what we are learning by faith and obedience and this leads to a new EXPERIENCE of who God is and what He is doing in this world. Then, and this is the really cool part, this EXPERIENCE means that we LEARN something new – which means we should RESPOND and then EXPERIENCE and….well, you get the point. It’s a cycle. LEARN, RESPOND, EXPERIENCE, REPEAT…

Peter makes an interesting statement in Acts 11:17 when he is being questioned by fellow believers as to why he would go and stay with a Gentile. He says, “So if God gave them the same gift as he gave us, who believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to think that I could oppose God.” That last phrase really challenges me. If we stick to our comfort zones and assume that God has to work in ways that are comfortable to us, then we might actually be in opposition to God.

As I was preaching this sermon, I could almost imagine the younger generations shouting “Amen.” Churches are still struggling with the whole traditional vs. contemporary issue and I think a sermon like this could be taken as a challenge to the traditional mindset that thinks that the way things were done in the past is necessarily the best way. I think this is a good application, but it is only part of the picture. The truth is that the contemporary style of church is just as comfortable for those who like it. Sometimes the efforts to change a traditional church are simply to bring the church in line with a new comfort zone! It’s like a lifeguard trading the fuzzy hoodie and sweatpants for an electric heater – much more contemporary, but still unwilling to get in the water!

We don’t get out of our comfort zones and into the gospel mission on our terms. Too often we seek an experience with God without ever truly learning from His Word and responding to Him in faith and obedience. This leads to shallow and ineffectual experiences that are only our own poor imitations of God’s real work and it leads to people who are “converted” to our comfort zones rather than being truly converted by the saving power of the gospel.

Throughout this sermon series, people have asked me why God doesn’t work with the same power today that He did in Acts. Trust me, He does. But He does so on His terms, not ours. Maybe the reason we don’t see (or experience) it is that we are too busy rearranging our comfort zones. May we be like Peter and be willing to get out of our comfort zone and into the Gospel Mission as we learn, respond to, and experience more of what God is doing.

Friday's Sneak Peek

This Sunday at OCC – “Getting Out of our Comfort Zone and into the Gospel Mission” (Acts 10 and 11)

October 28, 2011 No Comments

We don’t like to be uncomfortable. Unfortunately, comfort can be very limiting. There are lots of things in the world that are amazing, but not always comfortable. This Sunday at Orchard Community Church we are going to look at Acts chapter 10 and the idea of getting “Out of our Comfort Zone and into the Gospel Mission.” God has amazing things to do in and through us, but they are not always comfortable. Are we willing to lay aside what keeps us comfortable for the sake of the Gospel Mission? This Sunday we will look at how Peter stepped out of his comfort zone because he LEARNED something new about God, he RESPONDED in faith and obedience to what he learned, and this led to a new EXPERIENCE of who God is and what God was doing. Spend some time in prayer before Sunday and ask God where you might be stuck in your comfort zone and then read Acts chapter 10 in preparation for Sunday morning.

Sermon Reflection

“This Changes Everything” (Acts 9:1-31) – Monday’s Reflection on Sunday’s Sermon

October 24, 2011 No Comments

Edit (10/26/11): Sermon now available online.

What if…? This is a powerful question. When you couple “What if…” with “…is true?” it can be even more powerful. We often like to talk about whether or not something is true or is real, but then we stop. We don’t go on to the essential issue of so what. What difference does it make?

In Acts 9:1-31, Saul is confronted with a truth that changes everything he believes, everything he lives for, and everything he does. Paul (Saul is his Hebrew name, Paul would have been his Greek name – I’ll use Paul from now on.) did not accept that Jesus was God’s Son. He did not accept that Jesus was the Messiah. He absolutely did not accept that Jesus had risen from the dead. So imagine his dilemma when he sees a light brighter than the midday son and hears a voice that says “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting” (Acts 9:5)! This one statement changed everything for Paul. If Jesus was alive then he had risen from the dead. If Jesus had risen from the dead then he was the Messiah. If he was the Messiah then everything he said and taught was absolute truth. The very foundation of Paul’s life was being pulled out from under him. The thing about foundations, though, is that if they can be pulled out they are probably too weak anyway! Paul was about to get a much better foundation for his life. A foundation built upon the resurrection of Jesus Christ which proves that he is the Messiah (Acts 9:22 – “the Christ”) and that he is the Son of God (Acts 9:20).

In Acts 26:9-14, Paul is retelling his meeting with the risen Jesus to King Agrippa. There he says that Jesus states, “It is hard for you to kick against the goads” (Acts 26:14). Goads were sharp sticks that were used to direct animals. In a world that believes the highest goal of human existence is to be happy the idea of “goads” is somewhat unacceptable. A goad hurts. A goad even causes bleeding. A goad limits our freedom. But if it is God that is holding the goad, and the path that he wants us to stay on is the path of life – the path we were created for – then maybe the pain of the goad is much better than the pain we will face if left to our own wanderings. The other thing we learn from this idea of the goad is that Christ was at work in Paul’s life long before this incident on the road to Damascus. Jesus had evidently been pricking Paul’s conscience for some time. Maybe it was guilt about what he was doing, maybe it was some unanswered questions or doubt. I don’t know, but whatever it was, Paul had been kicking against it and feeling the pain. Maybe we kick against the goads in our lives as well.

I absolutely love Jesus’ creativity in dealing with people. In this passage he teaches someone who thought he saw everything clearly that he was absolutely blind to the truth by causing Paul to be blind for 3 days. He also uses one of the people that Paul was going to arrest and possibly put to death as the instrument of Paul’s healing and his commissioning to spread the truth about Jesus.

Think about this encounter from the perspective oo Ananias. Ananias knew that if Paul was in town it was to arrest Christians (see Acts 9:14). I made the point in the sermon that we all have people that we think are “too tough to save.” It could be a spouse, co-worker, or friend, or maybe an enemy. They are the last person in the world we think will ever accept the gospel. For Ananias, I imagine Paul was someone who was “too tough to save.” How could this persecutor and killer of Christians ever accept that Jesus is the Messiah? There is no strategy or plan that could be made that would end in the conversion of someone like Paul. But the resurrection of Jesus really does change everything!

Paul is going to go on to be one of the superhero’s of Christianity. He is someone that we read about in Scripture and think, “if I could only be more like him…” There are some “Pauls” in the world and they are important instruments that Christ uses in the Gospel Mission. But I think there are a lot more Ananias’. These are the people that serve in small ways wherever they are. These are the people who traveled with Paul and worked in the churches he started. These are the people who kept the Gospel Mission going, slugging it out in the trenches of day-to-day life. God may not call us all to be Paul – to leave everything behind and go from place to place sharing the gospel – but I think God does call us all to be Ananias. We should living daily for Christ and be ready and willing to be used by God whenever and wherever. We should trust that if God says to go talk to the guy that might put us in jail or even kill us then we go. If God says to live for Christ in our secular world then we will (oh, and by the way, He does say to do this!).

One last thing that struck me from this passage is that Paul immediately begins telling others about Jesus. The mere fact of the resurrection of Jesus was all that Paul needed to start telling others that Jesus is the Messiah, the way of salvation. I didn’t get this into my sermon yesterday, but Paul does go away for about 3 years during which time I assume he is discipled and spends time relating what he knew from the Old Testament to what he now realized about Jesus. This takes place sometime before he leaves Damascus for Jerusalem (see Galatians 1:17-18). I am sure that this time of training was good for Paul. I am a big fan of training and education as tools and preparation for effective ministry. The problem is that so many believers use the lack of training as an excuse to not share the gospel with others. In Acts 9, as soon as Paul understands that Jesus is risen from the dead, he immediately (as in before any training happens) starts telling others that Jesus is the Messiah! The fact of the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is more than enough to get us going on the Gospel Mission. It really does change everything!

I ended the sermon yesterday with the following lengthy quote from C.S. Lewis that is from his book, Mere Christianity (which I I found on Wikipedia):

I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept his claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronising nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to. … Now it seems to me obvious that He was neither a lunatic nor a fiend: and consequently, however strange or terrifying or unlikely it may seem, I have to accept the view that He was and is God.

Jesus has risen from the dead. This proves he is the Messiah, the Son of God. It proves that he has the authority to say “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). This is not just some truth that we can stick into our bag of interesting facts to pull out at our convenience. It is THE truth that really does change everything! What difference is it making in your life?

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Here are the devotional readings and questions from the back of the sermon notes:

Monday: Read Acts 9:1-19. Why was this such a big deal for Saul (aka, Paul)? Has Jesus made a big difference in your life? Why or why not?

Tuesday: Read Acts 9:20-31. Why could Saul now proclaim that Jesus is the Son of God when before he was arresting people who believed this? Why do you think Saul immediately begins working at telling others about Jesus? Has your relationship with Christ had this effect on your life? Why or why not?

Wednesday: Read Philippians 1:12-26. How did Paul’s (Saul’s) encounter with Jesus change his life? What do you think he means by verse 21? Is this true of your life? Why or why not?

Thursday: Read Philippians 3:4-11. What things might Paul have been tempted to trust in before he met Jesus and how did he feel about those things after meeting Jesus? Why? Do you see this in your life as well? Why or why not?

Friday: Read Acts chapter 10 in preparation for Sunday.

Friday's Sneak Peek

This Weekend at OCC

October 21, 2011 No Comments

This Sunday at Orchard Community Church we will be looking at Acts 9:1-31 which is an amazing account of a man named Saul (a.k.a. Paul). He was absolutely against Christ and all Christians until he met the risen Jesus on the road one day and it changed his life forever. In fact, saying he was “against” Christians is way too weak. He went door to door arresting Christians and putting them on trial which sometimes ended in their deaths. This man goes from being one of the biggest enemies of the church to being it’s main spokesperson. He changes from arresting those who speak about Christ to being one who is willing to give his own life so that others can hear about Christ. His story is a reminder to us that none of us and none of our friends or relatives is beyond the reach of the great power of God for salvation! The sermon is called “This Changes Everything” and is about how the fact of Jesus’ resurrection really does change everything.

Another great thing this weekend is that in about 5 hours I am taking a group from the church to Pennsylvania for a one day mission trip on Saturday to help victims of the recent floods. Another group is coming on Saturday morning for a total of about 15 in all. This trip was completely planned and implemented by some wonderful volunteers in the church. They found the need just a few weeks ago and immediately put plans in action to see who could go. I am really looking forward to it and I’m so proud of the people of OCC for their love for God and for others!

That’s what we’re doing this weekend…what about you?

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