Acts - To All People in All Places Week 1: I Am Not Here To Sit. I am Here To Be Sent | John 20:21

Hi, it's Pastor Jonathan, and thanks for downloading the FBC El Dorado Sermon Podcast.

In today's sermon, we begin a four-week series in the Book of Acts as we think about what it means to take the gospel to all people in all places.

This morning I want to introduce you to a man named Larry.

But I'm not talking about this Larry right here.

That's Larry Legend, the favorite son of French Lick, Indiana.

And I'm not talking about this Larry right there.

That's Larry the cable guy.

Some of you I know love a redneck comedy hour, so maybe he's your favorite.

Or this Larry right here, Larry the Cucumber, who many of our children in the room have grown to love.

This morning I want to tell you the story of a different Larry.

His name is Lawn Chair Larry.

And his given name is Larry Walters.

Well, one day, Larry Walters walked into an army surplus store and he purchased 42 weather balloons.

And then Larry Walters went back outside to his pickup truck, loaded up the weather balloons, and went to his house.

And he took out of his garage a lawn chair that he had just bought at the local Sears store.

And then lawn chair Larry, he uh tied down that lawn chair in the bed of his pickup truck.

And then he proceeded to blow up those 42 weather balloons one by one and attach them one by one to his lawn chair.

Some of Larry's friends gathered around as he climbed up into the bed of that pickup truck and he settled down nice and cozy into his lawn chair.

In his arms he had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, he had a six-pack of beer, and a loaded BB gun.

So he sat down in his chair and he said, uh, hey, you, my friend, let her rip.

And his friend untied the ropes from the bed of the pickup truck.

And that's well, when his day really took off.

Yeah, Larry had planned on this really careful, slow ascent into the sky.

His belief was that he would drift no more than 30 feet into the air.

He just wanted a different perspective on life for that day.

Um, but his slow drift was actually more akin to being launched out of a cannon.

Before he knew it, no, this isn't funny.

He was 2,000 feet in the air.

And the moment he's 2,000 feet in the air, he becomes overwhelmed with stress and he passes out in his lawn chair.

Two and a half hours later, an air traffic controller at Los Angeles International Airport reports the sighting of an unidentified flying object on the radar.

There's a blip on the radar that is hovering at 16,000 feet.

And remember, he had gotten stressed out and then passed out.

Right?

And here's how he actually wakes up.

If you go that high in the sky, it gets really cold.

And if you go that high in the sky, a 737 may pass nearby.

So eventually, Launcher Larry, he wakes up and he takes out his BB gun and he begins to shoot the weather balloons overhead because he wants to get down lower.

He wants to get back down to the ground.

Here's the problem: he can't control his descent.

So as he shoots the weather balloons one by one by one and begins to make that slow drop down to the ground, the wind is just pushing him to and fro and back and forth.

He is like a hundred miles from his house where he started.

Eventually, though, he gets low enough to the ground and the wind is strong enough that guess what happens next?

He gets tangled up in the power lines.

Now, he would have a completely different nickname if it were not for the efforts of the LAPD.

They had the foresight to say, this guy's in trouble.

And they asked the electric company to shut off the entire power grid in that section of the city.

Once Larry actually makes it to the ground, he's surrounded that day by the police and the press.

The police issue a fine of$4,000 for interfering with air traffic.

Fair enough.

The press, they ask Larry a series of questions.

Larry, were you scared?

Yes.

Larry, would you do it again?

No.

Larry, why did you do it in the first place?

And this is what he said.

Go to the next slide.

A man can't just sit around.

A man can't just sit around.

And it's with that response that we realize the story of Lawn Chair Larry isn't just the story of one man.

It's the story of every man and every woman.

The details of your story may change, but the point of the story remains the same.

A man, a woman, a teenager can't just sit around.

It's one reason why every week you're just on the go constantly.

You go to work, you go to the gym, you go to the grocery store, you go to your kids' soccer practice and their piano rehearsal, you go, you go, you go.

It's why, even if you're retired, you always have a project that keeps you on the go.

A man can't just sit around.

Worse, the reason why.

A recent study conducted among high school students discovered this.

That these high school students, and these are not necessarily Christian high school students, just the general population of high school students, discovered that the thing they most desired in life, what they desired and imagined for their future, was not to sit around in an office collecting a big paycheck, or to sit around in a big house with the newest technology and gadgets in front of their face.

Instead, the future life those high school students desired overwhelmingly was a life that made a difference in the world.

Like lawn chair Larry, those high school students know this.

A man can't just sit around.

And if it's true of a man that he can't sit around, it's just as true of a church.

A church can't just sit around.

A church has to be sent out.

In a recent book called Gaining by Losing, which I know sounds like a weight loss book, a pastor named J.D.

Greer illustrates this point by looking at different classes of ships, of boats, when he has a vision of the church.

He says that some of us view the church primarily as a cruise ship, a place where you sit around.

You sit around, it offers sports, entertainment, childcare, business networking.

You show up at church asking, can this church improve my religious quality of life?

Does it have a good family ministry facility?

Does the pastor preach funny?

Yes.

Time-conscious messages, most of the time, that meet my felt needs.

I'm not really sure.

Do I like the music?

You ask that question.

If church is like a cruise ship, then it's just a place to come and sit.

Be comfortable.

But remember that wisdom of lawn chair Larry?

A man can't just sit around.

And here's why I call that a word of wisdom.

Because it really echoes a famous teaching of our Lord and Savior Jesus.

When Jesus looks at his disciples and says, As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.

I didn't gather the disciples together.

I'm not establishing a church to sit around.

I've gathered the disciples together and I've established a church because they can't sit around.

They've got to be sent out.

And I wonder if uh Greer has uh John 20, verse 21, what I just mentioned, or so many other verses on the back of his mind when he suggests a wholly other metaphor for the local church, a wholly different class of ship.

John 20:21

He says it's more like an aircraft carrier.

On an aircraft carrier, every member of the crew has a job to perform, a role to carry out.

On an aircraft carrier, uh, the crew members rarely sit down unless they are sleeping or maybe eating a meal.

Because ultimately, every crew member knows that their job is to be equipped and to send out planes to take the fight to the enemy, to engage in a battle.

Every crew member on that aircraft carrier knows a man can't just sit around.

If a man sits around, the job won't get done.

And if every crew member on an aircraft carrier can accept that fact, I wonder if every church member I wonder if we can accept that fact as well.

I wonder if we're ready to declare something like this.

Let's go to the next slide.

I am not here to sit, I am here to be sent.

Are you ready to declare that?

I am not here to sit, I am here to be sent.

Today, as a companion to our global missions offering and our emphasis on prayer for missions, we will begin a four-week study in the book of Acts.

And I brought together our emphasis, this season of giving and a season of prayer with a study of Acts for this reason.

God calls his church not just to send out our money for missions or to send up our prayers for missions, but to send out our lives for the sake of his mission.

For us to be people who say, I am not here to sit, I am here to be sent.

You are here.

You gather in this place to be then sent out of this place, to be sent in the name of Jesus to your office and to your neighborhood and to your school.

We gather here on Sunday mornings to then be sent out into our community to go to a soccer field and pass out hot dogs like many of us did last week in the name of Jesus, to be the light of Christ in the world.

We gather in this place to be sent out of this place into our community next Saturday when we gather in downtown for scare on the square to be the light of Jesus, to carry the name of Jesus with us wherever we go.

We gather in this place to be sent out of this place.

Because we firmly believe.

A book that contains 28 chapters means we cannot study every passage in this book, but we can highlight some specific passages, some key themes.

These moments when the earliest followers of Jesus learned what it meant to be sent.

In Acts curriculum on the topic of sentences, that the church isn't here to sit, the church is here to be sent.

It begins on day one of the class.

As Jesus' disciples, they learned two foundational truths.

Two foundational truths that allow us to say, I am not here to sit, I am here to be sent.

And the first foundational truth is this in Acts chapter one.

The first one we'll talk about is Christ chose the church for his mission.

And the second foundational truth, the Spirit empowers the church to complete his mission.

Let's focus on that first foundational truth that Christ chose the church for the mission.

Acts chapter 1, verses 1 and 2.

Acts 1:1

In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and teach until the day he was taken up to heaven.

After giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles, he had chosen.

Any study of the book of Acts needs to begin with this realization that Acts is the second volume of Luke's gospel.

Acts continues the story that Luke began in Luke chapter 1.

Luke 1 · chapter mention

And this morning, here's why I think it's really important to highlight that connection.

It only takes a brief survey of the Gospel of Luke to realize that Jesus didn't sit around for very long.

Jesus was always on the move.

Jesus was constantly being sent out by the Holy Spirit into the world.

And in those moments when Jesus did retire, and he did, he retired to a lonely place and he would pray.

He would spend time alone in silence and solitude with his father.

He did it long enough to be recharged.

And then the next moment, he was sent out into the world.

And when Jesus was sent out, do you know what he did?

He befriended people that no one else wanted to be friends with.

And he told those people, people like Zacchaeus, people like the woman at the well, people like blind Bartimaeus, he said, There's a place for you in the family of God.

And when Jesus was sent out, he performed all sorts of miracles that said, God's kingdom has come.

Or when Jesus was sent out, he preached and he called people to repentance and to turn from the kingdoms of this world from a way of life that was opposed to God and to embrace the love and the truth and the life they could find with God.

Eventually, Jesus was sent out so often that he caught the eye and the ire of the religious leaders and the Roman authorities.

You know what they did next.

They sentenced Jesus to death.

Think about it.

Think about if Jesus had just sat around on the earth.

Think about if he just sat in his home in Nazareth.

Think about it if he just sat every day fishing on a boat in Galilee.

Think about it.

What would your life be like right now if Jesus sat around?

If Jesus had not been sent out, God's gospel plan would not have been fulfilled.

If Jesus had not been sent out, then you would have never heard the gospel in the first place.

The gospel would not go to all people in all places.

And that means all people in all places, including you, if he had not been sent out, if Jesus just sat around, we would be consigned to an eternity separated from God.

Praise God.

The first volume of Luke's gospel, his former book, he says, reminds us that our Savior, when he came into the world, he didn't come to sit.

He came because he was sent.

And he was sent and he suffered because he was going to save us.

And what Acts 1 makes clear is that what Jesus began to do, the Savior who didn't sit, the Savior who was sent, what he began to do is now what we continue to do.

Which is why our foundational truth, that first foundational truth we have this morning, is Christ chose the church for his mission.

Christ chose the church for his mission.

And that becomes absolutely clear when we realize this fact.

Until his final moment on this earth, right?

The moments before the ascension of Jesus.

Not the death, the ascension of Jesus.

Acts 1 tells us that Jesus instructed the apostles he had chosen.

He taught them.

In Acts, only a select handful are given the title apostle.

The twelve disciples, later on, Paul, Barnabas, those are the apostles.

Each of these men is given the title apostle in part because they are chosen by Jesus to carry out the mission of Jesus in the world.

But what becomes clear, if you read the entirety of the book of Acts, is that this title that is reserved for a few becomes the responsibility, the requirement of the many.

In Acts chapter 7, a man named Stephen is sent before the Jewish religious leaders, the high council, and he gives a stirring testimony that declares the good news of God's salvation.

Acts 7 · chapter mention

Or in Acts chapter 9, a man named Ananias is given a vision by God to be sent out and to go find a man who just met Jesus on the road to Damascus.

Acts 9 · chapter mention

Ananias, go and find this guy who was murdering the church.

His name is Saul.

He's changing his name to Paul, and you need to disciple him in the way of Jesus.

Or in that same chapter, Acts 9, we meet a lady named Tabitha.

Her life of being sent out in the name of Jesus.

She's described as someone who did kind things for other people and helped other people out.

And that's not to mention the believers we meet in chapter 11 in Antioch.

This group of believers, it was kind of a scattering.

They've been scattered due to the persecution of the church, but then they've come back together in Antioch, and we are told that they preached the word of God.

Acts makes it quite clear that a title that was reserved for the few, it is the responsibility of the many.

Many who whose list it also includes the names like Silas and Timothy and Priscilla and Aquila and Lydia.

And there's this open invitation, or better stated, um, this standing expectation that every generation of disciples, every local gathering called the church, would add our name to that list that begins in the book of Acts.

That we would realize that Christ chose the early church and he chose this contemporary church for his mission.

But you and I, listen, we're not only chosen for that mission, we're empowered to complete the mission.

And that's our second foundational truth.

Listen to Acts chapter 1, verse 8.

Acts 1:8

You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.

That single verse reminds us of this important fact.

The mission which lies ahead cannot be completed without supernatural power.

Listen, if Jesus, if Jesus' mission relied on the power of Peter, how far do you think it would have gotten?

Peter, a guy who often was filled with fear, he would have cowered in the corner.

Or if Jesus' mission depended on the power of those two brothers, James and John, the sons of thunder, these guys who were always overwhelmed and overcome by their own anger and want for vengeance.

If Jesus' mission depended on their power, their anger would have been a consistent roadblock.

Or if Jesus' mission depended upon The power of Thomas, the one whose mind is consistently filled with pessimism and doubts.

It would have been a constant source of discouragement to the church.

And if Jesus' mission relied on my power or your power, it'd be stuck in neutral.

It wouldn't get off the starting line.

But the completion of his mission doesn't rest on their power or my power or your power.

It rests on the power of the Holy Spirit.

And when you are empowered by the Holy Spirit, you are a witness of Jesus Christ.

In the book of Acts, to be a witness of Jesus Christ can be summarized this way: You declare the reality of the resurrection.

You declare the good news that Jesus is alive, that he died on a cross, but he came out of the tomb, that he has conquered sin and death in the grave.

And that Jesus who is alive will one day come again.

You see, throughout Acts, the Spirit gives people the power to speak on behalf of Jesus and tell the world he's alive.

He is who he said.

He was.

In Acts 4, Peter, he's filled with the Holy Spirit, and he preaches to the rulers, and he just says, Jesus is the hope of salvation.

Or in Acts chapter 4, verse 31, the disciples, they're filled with the Spirit, and they're able to speak the name of Jesus even in the face of severe persecution.

Acts 4:31

Or later on in Acts chapter 9, Paul, filled with the Spirit, he goes into the Jewish synagogues to share the good news.

Acts 9 · chapter mention

That's the same power that Jesus says is available, not just to the early church, but to the contemporary church.

A church that is empowered by the Spirit to fulfill his mission.

But we have all the excuses, don't we?

Got excuses.

I don't have what it takes.

Yes, you do.

You do.

Stop it.

Don't say that.

Don't diminish the power of the Holy Spirit in your life.

What if the Holy Spirit is all you need to declare the name of Jesus?

In those moments when you're like, I don't know what I'm gonna say, guess what?

There are a lot of times when I talk to someone about Jesus and I don't know the first word to say to them when I walk up to them, but then I have it.

Because it's about the Holy Spirit.

I'm worried I'm gonna stumble over my words, and the Holy Spirit gives me the words.

When we say it's not my gift, and there are people who are gifted in evangelism, but that special gift, that special ability is still the responsibility of all of us.

Or we just say I don't have time.

Listen, I promise you this.

Here's what I know about every person that I've ever met.

We all make time for what's important.

We just find a way.

If it's important to us, we make time for it.

We make excuses.

Make so many excuses because, listen, the reason it's easy to make an excuse is because we trust in our power.

And we have yet to yield to the power of the Holy Spirit.

And it's only that Holy Spirit that can empower the church to complete the mission.

So I think a new like forever stamp, they're like 55 cents each, right?

Is that right?

First class letter 55 cents and send it out.

Changes like every few weeks, it feels like.

So with that first class letter stamp, that you can send all sorts of things, can't you?

You can sign a birthday card and send it to a friend.

Or maybe a Christmas card.

Or you can write a letter to a friend, put a stamp on it.

Imagine that.

It's been a while, hasn't it?

Or you can write a thank you note for a gift you received.

Now imagine that after you bought the card or you wrote the note or letter and you put the the stamp on the envelope and you've got it all ready to go, but you just put the card or the note on your nightstand and you just let it sit there.

You just let it sit there and you never send it.

And if you let it sit and it's never sent, then the message is never shared.

It's never received.

Maybe our life and our church is like that forgotten message sometimes.

Maybe it's more like it than we ever would care to admit.

The message has been written.

The gospel is 100% true.

It's finished, Jesus says.

Jesus is Savior, Jesus is King, and by his death and resurrection, all who put their faith in him are members of the family of God.

And now you are chosen if you're one of those family members.

Yeah, Christ chose that church, chose this church for his mission in the world.

And listen, the stamp's been placed on the envelope.

You've received the gift, the seal, the stamp of the Holy Spirit.

The Spirit is present to empower you to complete the mission.

Yes, all of those things are true, but all too often we are happy, all too happy to just sit.

We're happy to sit and not share the good news of Jesus Christ.

We're happy to sit and not yield to the power of the Holy Spirit.

We are happy to sit while a community and a world suffer under sin and are separated from God.

And here's my hope in this week one.

That the Holy Spirit has begun to kindle within you a holy angst.

An unsettleness of the soul that will only grow in weeks to come.

An angst in your soul, an unsettleness in your soul, so that you can't help but stand up and say, I'm not here.

I'm not here to sit.

I'm here to be sent.

I'm here to be sent into this world for the sake of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

I'm sent because all people in all places were created to have a relationship with God.

Are you ready to make that sort of statement?

Not here to sit.

I'm here to be sent.

Let's pray together.

Almighty God.

We are humbled to stand in your presence at this hour.

We are overwhelmed by your love in our life.

The free gift of salvation we have received through Jesus Christ.

And your word this morning has placed a holy yoke on our life.

A yoke that says we have been chosen by Jesus for a mission.

Jesus, you have instructed us in all your ways.

We know more than enough to tell people about you.

A holy yoke that empowers us for the mission to complete it.

Oh Spirit, you are more than enough for the work that lies ahead.

Jesus, we offer this church to you.

Holy Spirit, we yield the motivations and the strength and the power of our church to you.

Believing that you want to send us, you want to launch us out into the world.

I think, God, we are often like launch here, Larry, we want kind of a slow drift out into the world.

I know the Holy Spirit wants to launch us.

The Holy Spirit's already out there, the Holy Spirit's already at work, the Holy Spirit's already doing things, and we just need to go partner with Him.

The places where the Holy Spirit is already convicting and tilling the ground in a person's life, we just need to find a way to identify those places and to be bold enough to go.

Launch us, Holy Spirit.

Send us where you have us go.

And may the name of Jesus forever be on our lips.

The name above every name.

In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.