2/9/2025 | Church Planting Sunday

morning e

says now there were in the church at

Antioch prophets and teachers Barnabas

Simeon who was called Niger Lucius of

sirene Manan a lifelong friend of Herod

the tetrarch and Saul while they were

worshiping the Lord and fasting the holy

spirit said set apart for me Barnabas

and Saul for for the work to which I

have called them then after fasting and

praying they laid their hands on them

and sent them off would you pray with me

Father we pray that you would help us to

see what we can't see on our own hear

what we can't hear on our own and Obey

through the power of your spirit where

we can't obey on our own we ask and pray

this in Christ's name

amen well over the last few years

probably the last 5 to 10 years the word

disruption has been a very popular word

um it's been popular because it's

usually looked at in a negative

connotation but now the word disruption

is looked at in a positive connotation

for example many many many years ago if

you wanted to get from New York to

California you had one or two options

walk horse and

buggy those were the only two options

that you had and then the right Brothers

decided that they were going to disrupt

the industry by creating Airlines and or

creating planes which we're all

extremely grateful for cuz I don't know

about you but when I travel across the

country I'm glad I don't have to walk or

take a horse and buggy in the early

2000s most communication was done

usually via phone and if you had um

Nigerians so my family wanted to talk to

other family back home in Africa then

they had to usually go to a convenience

store buy a prepaid card scratch off the

number and then call at certain times of

the day to make sure they caught

somebody then in the early 2000s young

college student by the name of Mark

Zuckerberg decided he was going to

disrupt the communication industry well

really he's been disrupting every

industry but at that time he was going

to disrupt the communications industry

and say hey have a bright idea I want

people to be able to communicate to one

another anytime no matter where they are

what they're doing so that they can

build deeper relationships and

meaningful connection disruption is

often times looked at a negative sight

but really as we've seen over the last

decade or so it can be a very positive

thing A disruption occurs when we are

going about our normal operating the way

we normally do things business as usual

and then something someone invades the

normal agenda in order for something

greater deeper more sustaining to occur

for the time that I have with you this

morning in our passage in Acts 13 I'm

going to talk about what it means when a

church experiences a Heavenly disruption

when a church experiences A disruption

when a There's A disruption in the

status quo and the way we always do

things in the way we normally go about

Sunday morning worship private prayer

time private reading of the word what

happens when the Holy Spirit decides hey

I want to change some things I want to

move some

things when that occurs when there is a

Revival when there is a movement of

God's spirit it always typically results

in one or two things a deeper hunger in

God's people but also the starting and

establishing of new churches the big

idea for our time together today is

simply this a true movement of the

Gospel a true Kingdom movement requires

gospel

Proclamation spiritual

desperation and missional

motivation gospel Proclamation spiritual

despiration and mid missional motivation

and in the passage that we see there's

three key things that I think help us in

order to be the kind of church that

welcomes invites and says Lord if you

want to disrupt the way I go about my

normal time with you if you want to

disrupt our service if you want to

disrupt my quiet time in the morning

Lord have your way but there's three

things that have to that have to occur

one there has to be a unified

diversity secondly there has to be a

deep hunger for God and then finally

there has to be a Great Commission

practice the church that we just read

about here in verse one it says now

there were in the church at Antioch

prophets and teachers Barnabas Simeon

who was called Niger Lucius a sirene

Manan a lifelong friend of Herod the

Tetro

and Saul when a church becomes highly

influential and famous and wellknown

it's usually for a couple of reasons one

they usually have a really well-known

Pastor or there's usually a great

worship leader or artist or musician or

maybe even a wonderful choir that

everybody likes to hear or the seating

capacity just keeps growing growing and

growing now there's nothing inherently

wrong with any of those things but

what's interesting to me about the

church at Antioch is that it is one of

the the most well-known and influential

churches in not only in that time but

yet even still today as many people will

still name their church today put the

name Antioch in there in order to

connect their contemporary church to an

ancient past and the reason for their

influence and the reason for their Fame

it wasn't the fact that they had a

really well-known senior pastor although

they had a lot of great leaders it

wasn't the fact that they were a busting

and growing congregation although

chapter 11 of Acts tells us that this

church was growing like crazy it wasn't

because of their seating capacity what

made this church so influential was

their sending

capacity this would be the home Church

the mother church that would start and

send out Paul and Barnabas on their

missionary Journeys when you read the

tail and of Acts and you see Paul going

from one place to another Asia Minor

turkey and you see churches like Ephesus

being planted churches like the church

in Philippi being planted and you see

him traveling all over the then known

world as a gospel Globe troter the

church at Antioch was it sending church

was his mother

church when you get a chance hopefully

you can read acts 11 verses 19 through3

kind of gives the background for what

happened in the Church of Antioch but

there's a few key things that I'll share

with you that I think it's really

important to know about that church

number one it was a church that was

birthed in pain in Acts chapter 7 Steven

Acts 7 · chapter mention

gets stoned and as a result of the

stoning of stepen the church scatters

all throughout and some of those people

who were ended up getting scattered

ended up starting this church here in

Antioch Not only was this a church that

was birthed in pain this was a church

that experienced an abundance of God's

grace in chap 11: 21 it says this the

hand of the Lord was with them in a

great number believed and turned to the

Lord it was a church where people were

regularly coming to know Jesus and

following him it was also a church with

excellent Bible teaching two of its

greatest leaders were Paul and Barnabas

it was a church that was solid

doctrinally that understood the word of

God that loved to teach it so much so

that we're told in Acts 11: 25-26 that

Paul finds Barnabas excuse me Barnabas

finds Paul and they spent a year in the

Church of Antioch teaching them the word

of God but what I love the most about

the church at Antioch was that in

chapter 11 at the tail end of verse 26

we are told that this was a church with

a great

reputation because it is in Antioch

where that famous p page comes in in

chap 11 of Acts verse 26 where it says

and in Antioch the disciples were first

called

Christians so before then they were only

referenced as the way chapter 11 of the

book of Acts but here in this church

people looked at these people who were

following this Messiah who were

following the Risen Lord Jesus they had

no name for them but yet they said they

look like think like act like conduct

themselves like the guy we just

crucified not that long ago and who said

he was risen so much so that in order to

describe and Define them they said we're

going to call them

Christians we're going to identify them

by what they look like by how they act

by how they love one another by how they

care for one another by what they

treasure and what they hold on

to this church was known for having a

great there is no better reputation than

when you don't have a name and somebody

says hey you look and act like the god

that you worship that's what we're going

to call you now I think this is humbly

and convicting for us on one end is

really humbling because it shows you

like as you walk with him many of you

may have had the experience where you

are interacting with somebody and you

didn't open your mouth and tell them

that you love Jesus you didn't say

anything but then there's a sense of

what you're like man are you a

Christian because the way that you're

conduct the way that you're treating me

the way that you're acting there seems

to be an otherworldly attitude and

motivation behind it but it also should

be very convicting for

because friends we live in a day and in

an age where unfortunately the church in

the west is not known for having a good

reputation we're not known for what

we're for we're known for what we're

against we make headlines not for good

reasons we make headlines for really

poor reasons and yet here we see this

church in Antioch being known for all

the right reasons we tend to get

defensive and blame the world we tend to

blame our culture we tend to blame the

devil often all the time for the reasons

why things aren't going well but this

church here living in a time where there

was a lot of hostility towards the

church a lot of vitrio a lot of pain and

a lot of anger towards jesus' people

they were known for who they worshiped

and who they loved in the in the early

church Caesar uh Caesar hadrien he was

trying to figure out man what makes

these people tick they tried everything

that they could to stop them they said

hey we're going to take some of their

leaders like Peter let's crucify him

upside down Peter actually the going to

crucify him right side up Peter said no

no no no no I'm not worthy you can't

crucify me like my Lord throw that bad

boy upside down and crucify me that way

they tried boiling people alive they

tried taking them into the Coliseum and

pulling them from limb to limb Caesar's

trying to figure out how C how come

everything we're doing to stop this

movement is not stopping them so what he

ends up doing he ends up sending a spy

to infiltrate the church and to get back

word on why these people are acting why

we tell infiltrate their Rings go to a

service find out what it is that make

them tick so that we can understand how

to stop them listen to what aristedes

who was the young man who was sented as

a spy listen to what he wrote back to

Caesar he says this they love one

another and he who has giv gives to him

who has not without boasting and when

they see a stranger they take him in

into their own homes and rejoice over

him as a very brother and if there is

any among them that are poor and needy

and if they have no food to spare they

fast for two or three days in order to

supply to the need for their lack of

food such oh King is their manner of

life and verily this is a new people and

there is something Divine in the midst

of them basically what he's saying is

when the church is known for having a

good reputation even the enemies of the

Cross have to say something miraculous

and divine is happening among them the

final Mark of about this church of

Antioch that I think is important for us

to know is that this is a church that

was marked by

generosity and it's a very specific kind

of generosity so at the end of Acts 11

the Church of anarch is growing Paul and

Barnabas are there preaching the word to

them they're growing in number they're

experiencing a lot of encouraging things

and then at the tail end of chapter 11 a

propheus named agabus which is a very

strong propheus name she comes to them

in Jerusalem and she says hey she comes

from Jerusalem she says hey I have a

sense the the Lord has told me there's

going to be a faming and so what the

church in Antioch does they said okay

the Lord has spoken we're going to

gather up the resources we have and

we're going to send them with Paul and

Barnabas to to Judea in order to care

for the need on paper you're like that's

what the church does when it's a crisis

when it's a famine when it's a hurricane

when it's a disaster we show up we send

people we send resources but the part

that's interesting about that is the

Church of Antioch was a primarily

Gentile Church they're sending money and

resources to a primarily Jewish

congregation why is that important well

it wasn't that long ago when the Jewish

Christians didn't even have a category

or a frame of reference for the Gentiles

being a part of the family of God they

and if you would ask a Jewish person

before Peter has this dream in Acts

Acts 10 · chapter mention

chapter 10 and Paul comes to God comes

to him in a dream and says hey don't

call unclean what I've called clean and

basically telling him I'm not just the

god of the Jews I'm the god of the

Gentiles before that they were thinking

the only way that you're entering the

kingdom of God is if you look like us

think like us and worship in the

synagogue just like us God had to have a

Divine disruption in Peter's life and

then lead the church to say oh no no no

this Gospel Movement this message of

Salvation is for all people which what

that communicates to you and I is that

this church in Antioch they were

committed to Unity and they love their

diversity look at verse one again it

says now let me read it

again now there were in the Church of

Antioch prophets and teachers Barnabas

Simon who was called Niger Lucius of

sirene Manan a life long friend of Herod

the tetrarch and

Saul the church in Antioch they fought

for the church's Unity while embracing

the church's diversity if you read those

names again you would think well those

are some Heavy Hitters Paul wrote 13

letters in the New Testament Barnabas

really encouraging uh but when you look

and you actually think about what did

this mean for that church number one you

have Barnabas who back in Acts chapter 4

Acts 4 · chapter mention

were told his original name was Joseph

and then they Apostles renamed him

Barnabas and he gets a name called

Barnabas which means son of

encouragement Barnabas was the guy

everybody wants in their Church he's the

guy that says man I'm for you I believe

in you God's going to do it like God's

not doing anything in your life in this

particular moment you feel like but

Barnabas comes and says man God's got

some incredible things for you he's the

kind of guy that you always want in your

circle he's the kind of guy you want

around when you're having a bad day or a

great day because he's constantly going

to encourage you now what I love about

Barnabas is that he ends up being paired

with Paul if you're in the Church of

Antioch or in church at that time

initially and the Apostle Paul walks

into your church everybody as you're

looking at me right now everybody's

going to start looking sideways

clutching their purse and whispering to

their spouse or their kids saying hey

get as close to the door as possible but

don't make any sudden movements why

because the last time that the people

heard about Paul he was sa of Tarsus he

was persecuting the church the he was

overseeing the stoning and killing of

Steven so if you're coming into that

congregation and you see him you're

thinking to

yourself you know I need to check my

life insurance

policy um you may want to pull Pastor

Andy to the side and say hey uh yeah guy

in the back we may want to keep an eye

on him how many HPD officers do we have

here on

Sunday why because you you're thinking

here's a guy who we he was known for

trying to stop the movement by killing

our people

and yet Barnabas goes and finds him and

brings him in because Barnabas

understood that the diversity in the

Kingdom in other words if God can change

and transform a man like Saul into Paul

if he can turn a terrorist into a

teammate it's only because he turns

Sinners into

Saints Barnabas understood like don't

don't get it misunderstood what you're

seeing in Paul's life on the outside is

exactly what God does in each and every

one of us on the

inside so here you have somebody who is

in loved and beloved by the church and

you have somebody who we have a lot of

Suspicion doubt and worry about in the

church and the other part about

barnabas' story I think is encouraging

considering the fact that they're

working

together the church L Barnabas they

named him son of encouragement if you're

him you're probably thinking well um I'm

going to go find Paul but I don't really

want to open up a lot of opportunities

and doors for him

but yet he does the exact opposite twice

this is actually the second time that

Barnabas goes and finds Paul brings him

to the church and allows him to use his

gift to build up the church what am I

trying to say you know that there is a

ridiculous amount of unity in the midst

of diversity when people from different

backgrounds and cultures are not only

worshiping together but they're actually

trying to open up gospel opportunities

and doors for people that they have

access to that others wouldn't there's

no way that the church in Jerusalem

without Barnabas co-signing and vouching

for him would say hey come on come on

come on Pastor Paul teach us the Bible

but Barnabas who they love said he's

with me and if I'm good with you and

he's good with me he has to be good with

all of us the other names here that

should be interesting is Niger bar

Simeon who was called Niger that word

Niger there is Latin for black um so he

was a black African Lucius of sirene

sirene is Northern Africa so here you

have in the church you have a Jew and

you have non-jews you have Gentiles and

you have Jews you have those who are

black Africans you have those with

different spiritual gifts because we're

told in verse one some were prophets

some were teachers you have different

ethnicities you have different

backgrounds and yet they didn't see

their diversity as something to fear

they saw it as something to embrace and

to celebrate because they understood our

diversity is beautiful as long as our

Unity is even stronger what United them

was their common love and their Savior

and as they as they were anchored in

that they embraced not only embraced but

they celebrated the diversity that they

had among

them this is transformational and not

only to say nothing of the fact of the

last man that I overlooked Manan it says

Manan a lifelong friend of Herod the

tetrarch now if you didn't like Paul

you're probably not going to like Manan

either because who is Herod the tarch

Herod AKA Herod anpus also known as the

son of the Herod that we read about

during Christmas time in Matthew Chapter

Matthew 2 · chapter mention

2 who tried to kill baby Jesus in

Matthew 2 so you're thinking oh that's

like you got a group of Elders or

Pastors in the church and one of them

says hey my lifelong friend my BFF my

ride or die is the ruler who's trying to

stop our movement I don't know about you

but he's probably not getting ordained

in our church because I'm thinking hey

is he going to try and like Rome isn't

for

us but yet they have different

backgrounds different cultures different

people working and worshiping together

in order to see a true movement

occur do you see diversity in the church

as Kingdom strength or Kingdom

weakness is your life personally

reflected of this kind of diversity that

we see here in verse one now this is not

a call for every Church to be extremely

diverse but what it is saying is every

church will have a variety of gifts a

variety of backgrounds a variety of

expressions and ways that they grew up a

every church will have by Nature a

variety of relationships even if there

was a mono ethnic church and one guy

says hey my lifelong friend is the guy

who's running Rome I'm thinking to

myself yeah I probably don't want you

anywhere near the finances of the church

but in h for but for them they thought

our unity and what we have together is

stronger than what separates

us Pastor in Rockford Illinois um of a

pastor of a predominately

African-American church K Edward

Copeland says this in the Symphony of

God there is room for every

instrument secondly not only did this

church have a Unity amidst their

diversity but also there was a DE deep

hunger for God look at verse two while

they were worshiping the Lord and

fasting the holy spirit said set apart

for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to

which I've called them the church at

Antioch ostensibly was not content with

doing church as normal just going

through the emotions which is a

Temptation for me I know for sure even

in my own time with the Lord there's a

temptation just reading and praying and

going through the motions they weren't

content with that how do we know they

weren't content with that well we know

they weren't content with that because

when we find them here in verse two we

see that there is a deep hunger for God

verse two tells us that they were

worshiping the Lord and fasting fasting

means that they were giv up legitimate

needs of the Body for a greater need of

the Soul worshiping That Word Worship

there literally means that they were

performing their religious duties so

they were going about their day

preaching the word doing communion

baptizing caring for the Saints using

their gifts and then as they were doing

that and as they were devoting

themselves saying hey I'm going to take

some time off temporarily from Instagram

I'm going to take some time off

temporarily from Facebook I'm going to

take some time off temporarily from

Netflix they said I want a deeper hunger

for the Lord in my soul so I'm going to

put away things that are good but not

great in this season and they said as a

result of that a Divine disruption comes

in heaven invades this

church remember we don't know so there's

so many questions here that we don't

even have time to get to but we don't

know why they were fasting but what we

do know is this is a fairly new church a

growing congregation a new Community of

Faith they're living in an

anti-christian Greco Roman culture that

is very hostile to what they believe and

is trying by force to put an end to it

and

yet with all of that that world that is

being turned upside down they don't

respond in fear they don't get defensive

they get offensive by going to God and

crying out in

prayer this is a miraculous thing we're

not living in that much really that much

different of a Time

we could talk all day about the moral

decay in our culture about the spiritual

Decay excuse me about the political

decay in our culture about the social

decay in our culture but at the root of

it is always a sense like man there's a

spiritual decay in our culture no people

don't want God and yet the church here

they said no we need him we need him so

much that we are going to we even as

we're going about church that there's a

sense and a hunger that we want God to

invade one of the ways you know that

there is a hunger for God amongst a

group of people is when the people are

no longer setting the agenda God is the

one setting the agenda how do I know

this it says

here that they were worshiping the Lord

in fasting and then the spirit

interrupted and said hey set apart for

me Paul and Barnabas so what does that

mean that means that the church leaders

are no longer setting the agenda saying

this is what's going to happen saying

we're going to do this we're going to do

that the spirit says hey I got a can I

speak well one of the beautiful things

when there's a hunger for God the lord

loves to speak the Lord speaks us to us

primarily through his word he speaks

through Us in ways that is very clear

Old Testament and New Testament and yet

what we don't know here is how I mean

there's questions how when the spirit of

God says Hey set apart for me Paul and

Barnabas like how does that work is he

is this like Jesus being baptized where

the father says audibly this is my son

with whom I'm well pleased is this like

what happens later on in Acts chapter 15

Acts 15 · chapter mention

where as a result of the Jerusalem

Council and saying hey we want to

encourage the Saints by sending them a

letter they say in verses 15 in chapter

15: 20- 29 for it seemed good to the

holy spirit and to us to lay on you no

greater burden than these requirements

that you abstain from what has been

sacrificed to idols and from blood and

that you abstain from sexual immorality

if you keep your souls from these you

will do well farewell they said it

seemed good to us and the Holy Spirit

like how do you know there's so many

like you're I'm reading I've read this

passage a bunch of times I'm like God

what does it feel like what does it

sound like when the spirit starts

speaking where the pastor's voice is

decimated and the spirit's voice is is

Amplified the reality is we don't know

but what we do know is when the spirit

spoke everybody

agreed that when there is a hunger for

the word of God when there's a hunger

for The God Who is resurrected from the

dead who has drawn us together we we we

do the things we're supposed to do we

gather with the Saints we take communion

We Gather in groups we do Outreach we

pray and then all of a sudden there is a

sense in which the spirit says oh I I

like this I I like it when there is a

temporary um pushing away of physical

needs so there can be be a temporary um

amplification of spiritual needs I I

love it when the leaders are sensing we

want to take some time away to draw

nearer and closer to God the spirit said

oh I I'm going to use my bullhorn so

that everyone knows I have something to

say that I have something to say this

should develop within us a deep desire

and a passion for the Lord for him to

speak into our lives for him basically

it should it should bring within us an

opportunity and an attitude to say

Lord I love you you know I do I love

spending time in your word I love

praying I love gathering with the Saints

but Lord I'm also open if you want to do

a miracle today have your way if you

want to call us to something greater

have your way if you want to call us to

things that seem scary like we prayed

about earlier taking a step out of faith

into going to places we never thought we

would go sending people to places we

never thought we would send them a

general sense in which there is just a

almost a earthquake Quake trying to

erupt beneath us because we are hungry

for

you have your

way isn't that what you want in your

life like that's what when when we talk

about being led by the spirit but

everybody wants to be led by the spirit

I do but what we often don't talk about

is creating a hunger for God so that we

can be led by the spirit we want the

benefits but we don't really enjoy the

process I mean if you have a big project

at work this week or you have a big

meeting it's not just the execution of

the project or the execution of the

meeting you're saying Lord in the

process guide me lead me if you're in

the real estate industry and you you're

think man I have this commercial real

estate property that I have to get out I

have to find a buyer you know there's a

difference between straining and

struggling and trying to find everything

you can walking the property there's a

difference between going tooth and nail

trying to find a buyer there's a

difference between that and then when

you sense like Lord I'm just going to

prayer walk this

area I'm going to pray for the right

buyers I'm going to pray for this area

I'm going to pray for this neighborhood

I Lord I sent you leading me to that

house in particular to pray for it now

you say I well does it really involve

all that well you have to ask yourself

are you a spiritual person often times

we forget that by definition being a

Christian means you are you are by

definition a spiritual person which

means your life is engulfed incenter

around not only the person and work of

Jesus but in how he communicates to us

it's a it's a deep you're cultivating a

deep hunger and a deep passion saying

Lord move Lord Speak Lord have your way

Lord open doors that no man can open

Lord close the doors that no man can

open Lord guide and lead us and it

wasn't it wasn't just the fact that the

spirit spoke the spirit spoke very

distinctly he said set apart for me

these two individuals what does that

mean that means that there has to be a

understanding in the church that Lord

what you're doing is greater than what

we're doing it's a beautiful thing when

you're creating plans and this isn't

this doesn't mean don't create plans

don't have a strategy it just means

write it in pencil so that when you

submit it to the Lord and the Lord says

oh that's cute but hey I got an idea

send out that person and that person now

when you are reading that passage you're

like

Lord are you if I'm there I'm thinking

let's pray again which is exactly what

they did in verse three let's pray again

to make sure we heard that one right

Saul like H okay we can but Barnabas we

love Barnabas but then as they got to

know Paul they probably thought man this

dude is the brightest person in the

history of the world I see why God saved

him he has a massive intellect he is

basically has three phds he is defending

the faith and he's willing to sacrifice

and go wherever the Lord sends him

you're kind of thinking Lord keep him

here we get great Bible teaching every

week don't send them out help them stay

but of course they were compelled by the

fact that when this when there is a

hunger for God even the things that lead

to tears and gospel goodbyes everybody

in the church says we got to do it

because God has spoken we got to do it

because God has

spoken a gentleman I listened to

recently he was a very wealthy man came

to Faith later in life and he talked

about how the Lord developed a deep

hunger within him and he said the as a

result of that deep hunger he wanted to

teach his kids about Jesus he wanted

them to have the Deep hunger so much so

that I heard him this week he said man

my son he's a oral he's an eye surgeon

in Oklahoma and he prays for his

patients before he does surgery and I

thought to myself man the kingdom of God

must be breaking out in Oklahoma see we

often think in large grandiose ways but

when there's a hunger for God you're

just going about your the the best word

in that passage is while while they were

worshiping the Lord in fasting which

nobody had on the agenda hey we're going

to worship and fast and sing and pray

today and then at about 2:00 the spirit

of God is going to intervene no they

were just saying this is what we seem

the Lord's calling us to do and we're

just going to keep doing that and then

all of a sudden the Holy Spirit disrupts

their service flow and their agenda and

he calls them to something greater that

word w is a is a great word Romans in

Romans chapter 5 Paul says that while we

Romans 5 · chapter mention

were yet sinner Christ died for what

does that mean that means while you were

far off from God while you were not a

follower of his while you were an enemy

of his he doesn't wait for you to get

right he says I'm going I'm going to

bring a Divine disruption into your life

to draw you closer to me all he's doing

here in the Church of Antioch is

creating a Divine disruption in the

world so that churches can be started

people far from God can be drawn near in

the Kingdom would

Advance there isn't a lot of clarity

here we don't know a lot about what the

specifics are it doesn't tell us hey

here's a fivepoint strategy on what I'm

going to he just says I'm going to call

them to myself to the work that I've

called them

to let me ask you a

question if the Lord was to call you

into something that feels scary

something you feel like you're not

equipped for something you feel like I'm

not even ready for

would you be able to hear

him part of what it I mean inevitably

part of what it means to hear the spirit

speak is that you have to be

listening we do not know the specifics

of how the spirit spoke to them but we

do know that because there was such a

hunger for God when he did speak

everybody in the church said yes and

amen yes and a God is speaking to you

he's speaking to me he's often calling

us from what is comfortable to calling

us to what is uncomfortable he's calling

us from what is safe and he's calling us

to Adventures the Great Adventure of

Faith the attitude that we have to have

is to say Lord your servant is listening

what do you want us to

do now of course this is scary and the

as we get to the final point we see that

not only must there be a unified

diversity not only must there be a deep

hunger for God there must also be a

Great Commission practice as we round

third base and head for home verse three

simply says this then after fasting and

praying they laid their hands on them

and sent them off

we all love the Great Commission I love

the Great Commission Mo often times I

find out that we often have a Great

Commission Theory or a wonderful Great

Commission theology but the church in

anoch had a great commission practice

they said it's not when the spirit spoke

notice the first thing they did they

went back to praying and fasting

probably one if I'm there I'm thinking I

want to make sure this is right right we

I mean we have some incredible Bible

teachers in this church we're not just

giving away people for free amen but

we're probably thinking all right Lord

did I hear you right but then you're

also thinking we got to pray and prepare

them for where God is because they they

have no idea they have no idea what

troubles are facing them Paul has no

idea all the imprisonments he know

there's going to be suffering because of

his call but he doesn't understand the

Shipwreck that's going to occur he

doesn't understand the beatings the

lashes the

loneliness he but they set aside time to

pray for them which just is another way

of saying point two isn't really just

one point isolated it should be a way of

life that a hunger for God it shouldn't

just be something that we do for a

season it should characterize our

everyday lives and when it does we have

a practice of sending people out that

the Great Commission doesn't just become

our favorite verse it becomes our

favorite

practice that they said hey we're going

to bring these brothers up we're going

to lay our hands on them and we're going

to send them

out what I love about this John St says

that this shows the beautiful

relationship between the church and the

spirit some people we love the Holy

Spirit working in our own lives we feel

the spirit guiding us and we want just

that just me Jesus and nothing else but

then that just leads us to hyper

individualism but some people we just we

love the work of the church we think man

the church should be doing everything

but often times that leads us into hyper

institutionalism but John St says you

know what's beautiful here who says we

should set apart Paul and Barnabas the

spirit then who lays their hands on them

to send them out the

church when the church and the spirit

are working in un it it it's a it's

almost like a marriage that you are feel

like you're at a front row watching it

happen the spirit calls puts on the

hearts of the leaders whether it's

through the prophets they were there or

just through however he spoke puts it

heart on the heart of the leaders and

then as he puts it on the heart of the

leaders the church says man we have to

by faith walk forward in bringing these

men up recognizing them sending them out

and trusting that what God has for them

is better than what he has for them here

it's a call to Courageous Faith the word

they're literally sinned it means they

were commissioned they were sent out

they were pushed

out part of the reason why this is so

important is that this is what God

always does and this is what he

continues to do he continues to call his

people to himself so he draws Us in but

he doesn't just draw Us in to draw Us in

he draws Us in to send us out the Church

of Antioch was growing like crazy if you

read chapter 11 they could have been

suff they could have been say we are

sufficient by growing by addition but

they said no when there's a hunger for

God we don't we're not just okay with

growing by addition we want to grow by

multiplication which means we are always

looking for identifying who the spirit

is calling us to raising them up and

sending them out three years ago a

little over three years

ago uh the church that we my wife and I

were attending downtown they did the

same thing they said hey we want to send

you all out they we felt the Lord

calling us to the a community southwest

Houston where we start our church and I

remember distinctly a meeting I had with

one of the leaders and they said hey you

know we're planning on this and they

said you know if you want you can

stay which I know that's what they

really

wanted and I for a moment there I

thought man that's a lot more

comfortable frankly you know couple

million dollar budget I don't have to

worry about anything don't have to start

anything from scratch all the systems

everything is Plug and Play I was like

man this is great I'm fairly comfortable

I you know a little bit of church issues

but every church has that I can sleep

well at

night uh not a lot of

stress but as they were talking to me I

it was like I remember thinking but I

can't stay if God has called me to

go I can't stay if God has called me to

go remember the church in Antioch they

were first called Christians at Antioch

what is Jesus most known for obviously

for his death and for his resurrection

but also he was Jesus God himself as the

First Missionary we serve a sending God

he sent his son into the world on a

rescue mission to redeem us he sending

his people out through every area that

we live work and play in order to draw

people to him and he keeps Gathering his

people to send them out he and it's so

beautiful because you think man we're

we're actually subtracting but when you

look at the rest of the book of Acts and

the big reason why we're all sitting in

this room today is because this church

said hey we're going to send out

missionaries to the ends of the Earth

may we be the kind of people

individually and may we serve in the

kind of churches that we we said Lord

speak to us and have your way father we

thank you for your word we pray that we

would be the kind of people who are

missionary people we may not travel

overseas but we may travel the block we

may travel the boardroom we may travel

our neighborhood we want to be the kind

of people who are always sending we want

to send our best we want to send our

brightest we want to train and evaluate

and equip them we want to see more and

more churches started For Your Glory

healthy churches people who are sent by

the church

church because churches start churches

we ask and pray this in Christ's name

amen