Urban Evangelism and Preaching in Pisidian Antioch

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Hi, my name is Elise. I live in North Oakland and I'm part of the Little Faith Group with a few of the women here.

Today's reading is from the Book of Acts, chapter 13, verses 13 to 48.

Acts 13:13–48

From Paphos, Paul and his companions sailed to Perga in Pamphylia, where John left them to return to Jerusalem.

From Perga, they went on to Pisidian, Antioch.

On the Sabbath, they entered the synagogue and sat down.

After the reading from the law and the prophets, the leaders of the synagogue sent word to them, saying,

Brothers, if you have a word of exhortation for the people, please speak.

Standing up, Paul motioned with his hand and said,

Fellow Israelites and you Gentiles who worship God, listen to me.

The God of the people of Israel chose our ancestors.

He made the people prosper during their stay in Egypt.

With mighty power, he led them out of that country.

For about 40 years, he endured their conduct in the wilderness.

And he overthrew seven nations in Canaan, giving their land to his people as their inheritance.

All this took about 450 years.

After this, God gave them judges until the time of Samuel, the prophet.

Then the people asked for a king, and he gave them Saul, son of Kish, of the tribe of Benjamin, who ruled 40 years.

After removing Saul, he made David their king.

God testified concerning him,

I have found David, son of Jesse, a man after my own heart.

He will do everything I want him to do.

From this man's descendants, God has brought to Israel the Savior Jesus, as he promised.

Before the coming of Jesus, John preached repentance and baptism to all the people of Israel.

As John was completing his work, he said,

Who do you suppose I am?

I am not the one you are looking for,

but there is one coming after me whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.

Fellow children of Abraham, and you God-fearing Gentiles,

it is to us that this message of salvation has been sent.

The people of Jerusalem and the rulers did not recognize Jesus,

yet in condemning him they fulfilled the words of the prophets that are read every Sabbath.

Though they found no proper ground for a death sentence,

they asked Pilate to have him executed.

When they had carried out all that was written about him,

they took him down from the cross and laid him in a tomb.

But God raised him from the dead,

and for many days he was seen by those who had traveled with him from Galilee to Jerusalem.

They are now his witnesses to our people.

We tell you the good news,

what God promised our ancestors he has fulfilled for us,

their children, by raising up Jesus.

Therefore, my friends, I want you to know that through Jesus,

the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you.

Through him, everyone who believes is set free from every sin.

As Paul and Barnabas were leaving the synagogue,

the people invited them to speak further on these things.

On the next Sabbath,

when the congregation was dismissed,

many of the Jews and devout converts to Judaism followed Paul and Barnabas,

who talked with them and urged them to continue in the grace of God.

On the next Sabbath,

almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord.

When the Gentiles heard this,

they were glad and honored the word of the Lord,

and all who were appointed for eternal life believed.

This is the word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God.

Good morning, Christ Church.

It is good to see your smiling faces.

It's been way too long.

I like your eyes, but I really like your smiles as well.

So it's really good to see you all this morning.

And wasn't last Sunday amazing?

And I'm not just talking about Andrew's ordination service.

I'm talking about the nacho bar after the ordination service.

Wasn't that amazing?

There was an army of people with crockpots,

melted cheese and meat,

and it was just a beautiful thing.

And it's created quite a buzz, I think, at Christ Church.

People are asking about starting a new nacho ministry,

making First Sunday's Nacho Sunday,

and sort of rebuilding Christ Church one nacho at a time.

So I'm sorry to say there are no nachos today,

but we will have a coffee hour in the side yard.

We hope you'll come.

We hope you'll meet maybe one person you don't know today.

But we are continuing today in the Acts of the Apostles,

this great book in the New Testament

that could also be called the Acts of Jesus

by the Holy Spirit in and through his church.

And we've been tracing the movement of the gospel

from Jerusalem and Israel to Antioch and Syria.

And we've seen as the gospel's been moving,

it's gone out to the Samaritans,

and then it went to this Ethiopian eunuch,

and he was converted,

and he took the gospel to the ends of the earth,

to the continent of Africa.

We saw the conversion of Cornelius and his household

and how he took the gospel into the Greco-Roman world.

And now here we are in Acts chapter 13,

Acts 13 · chapter mention

and it's the Apostle Paul's first missionary journey.

And we're told in verse 13 that from Paphos,

Paul and his companions, they sailed.

And they sailed to Perga and Pamphylia,

and then from Perga, they went to Pisidian Antioch.

Now, this is about 45 AD,

15 years after the resurrection of Jesus.

And Paul has gone sailing overseas from Syria

to the island of Cyprus,

and now he's in central Turkey.

If you can imagine the map in your mind.

And he's in central Turkey,

which is basically his home territory,

about 200 miles west of Tarsus,

where he grew up.

And it's a place right where these two regions,

called Asia and Galatia, come together.

And we're told in verse 14

that on the Sabbath, he entered the synagogue

and sat down.

This is the practice of Jesus,

we're told in the Gospel of Luke,

that on the Sabbath,

Jesus went to the synagogue as was his custom.

Week by week by week,

the people of God have always gathered together

to worship God.

And that was their predictable pattern.

So one of the elders of the synagogue

presumably met with Paul ahead of time,

asked him to come and be a guest preacher.

And so we read in verse 15,

after the reading from the law and the prophets,

the leaders of the synagogue

sent word to them saying,

brothers, if you have a word of exhortation

for the people, please speak.

Two major divisions in Israel's Bible,

those were read,

and then came this word of exhortation,

which is what preaching and teaching is.

It's the opening up and the expounding

of this inspired text,

faithfully and sensitively,

so that the voice of God can be heard,

and so that the people of God

can obey his voice.

And that's what Paul does.

He steps up to the microphone,

and we're told in verse 16

that standing up,

he motioned,

he apparently used his hands a lot too,

he motioned with his hands

and said,

people of Israel and you Gentiles

who worship God,

listen to me.

And what comes is this amazing,

marvelous summary

of the Apostle Paul's incredible message

here in this little sermon,

and what he says to those people

I want to say to you today,

and that is that God's king rules us

with forgiving grace.

That's Paul's message,

that God's king rules us

with forgiving grace.

And I want to talk a little bit

about how God's king rules,

because that's where Paul starts out.

In verse 17,

the God of the people of Israel

chose our ancestors,

and right away we hear

that the Apostle's teaching

is biblical teaching,

because he goes to Genesis chapter 12,

Genesis 12 · chapter mention

God's covenant with Abraham,

because Paul thinks like a Jew,

he writes like a Jew,

he argues like a Jew,

and he knows Israel's scriptures

extremely well,

backwards and forwards,

he's masterfully skilled

at unfolding the story of the Bible

from Moses to the prophets.

He quotes all kind of books of scriptures

from Genesis to Habakkuk in this sermon,

and he works his way

from the covenant with Abraham

to the covenant with Moses

to the covenant with David,

working through the history

these people knew,

the hopes that they cherished,

but Paul gives them a golden key

that unlocks its meaning.

And he starts out again,

verse 17,

the God of the people of Israel

chose our ancestors.

That's Genesis 15,

chapter 12,

verse to chapter 50,

where God elects Israel

from among the nations.

And then he says that

God made the people prosper

during their stay in Egypt

with mighty power.

He led them out of that country.

That's Exodus 1 to 15,

where God delivers Israel from slavery.

And then he says in verse 18,

for about 40 years,

he endured their conduct

in the wilderness.

That's Exodus,

Leviticus,

Numbers,

and Deuteronomy,

where God cares for his people

despite the fact

that they're a pain in the you-know-what.

And then in verse 19,

it says he overthrew

seven nations in Canaan,

giving their land to his people

as their inheritance.

That's the book of Joshua,

where God provides Israel

with a home in the promised land.

And then in verses 20 to 22,

Paul expounds the book of Judges

and Ruth and Samuel.

And he basically says,

look, the Bible is this immense,

sprawling, capacious,

millennia-long story.

You can easily get lost,

but if there's one key word

that sums up the whole theme,

it's this.

It's kingdom.

The kingdom.

And we're told in verse 21

that the people ask God for a king.

And then in verse 22,

that God made David their king.

God's people are meant to be ruled

by God's king.

And we're told in verse 22

that that king is to be a man

after God's own heart.

A person who will do everything

that God wants him to do.

This king is to rule Israel

and through Israel

to rule the nations

with justice and truth.

And that's the problem

with the entire Bible, right?

Because David,

King David and David's sons

failed miserably,

failed fantastically,

failed tragically

to be the kings

that they were supposed to be.

And everything ends up

in exile

with the people of God

longing for the true king

to come.

And this is where

Paul gives these people

the golden key

that unlocks the problem

of the entire Bible.

In verse 20,

he says,

from this man's descendants,

God brought to Israel

the Savior Jesus

as he promised.

Jesus is the Savior King.

He's the Messianic King

that God had promised

would rule universally

and reign eternally.

And Paul goes on

in verses 26 to 29

to say that the message

of salvation

is that through

Jesus' death on the cross,

he established

once and for all

the kingdom of God

on the earth.

And Paul's argument

is this.

Remember how

God liberated us

from slavery?

Remember how he conquered

in the promised land?

Remember how he provided

a leader in King David?

Well, God is still

liberating us,

but he's liberating us

from sin.

He's still conquering,

but now he's conquered

over death.

He's still providing

a leader,

but believe it or not,

that leader

is a crucified king.

And then Paul comes

to the climax

of his sermon

in verse 30,

and he says,

but God raised him

from the dead,

and for many days

he was seen

by those who had

traveled with him

from Galilee

to Jerusalem.

They are now

his witnesses

to our people.

We tell you

the good news,

what God promised

our ancestors,

he has fulfilled

for us

their children

by raising up

Jesus.

Paul says,

we live in a sad

and broken world.

We live in a messy,

muddled world,

but God

has launched

his new creation

in the midst

of this world.

God has launched

the new world order,

and that new world order

is ruled by one

who was dead

and buried,

and yet he did not

see corruption

or decay.

God's new creation

is ruled

by this king

who's throbbing

with life

and energy.

He is full of power,

he's full of wisdom,

he's full of truth

and justice,

and he's the one

that we've all

been waiting for

who can put

the world right,

who can bring heaven

down to the earth,

and he says,

my friends,

brothers and sisters,

I invite you,

do not miss out

on what God

is doing

here and now

through his king,

Jesus.

And what I want

to say to us today

is that the truth

of this risen king

I think is far

more comforting

than many of us

perhaps realize.

Maybe you've seen

the movie

The Darkest Hour,

it came out

in 2017,

it's an account

of Winston Churchill,

arguably one

of the most

important public

figures of the

20th century.

And Churchill

is facing

extreme challenges

in his new role

in early days

as the prime minister

of Great Britain.

He's not only

trying to manage

the terrifying

and expanding

presence of

Adolf Hitler

in Europe,

but he's also

facing mounting

pressure from

his political rivals

to enter into

peace talks

with the Nazis.

And so basically

the future of

Western civilization

is hanging in the

balance and his

own relationship

with the king

is tepid at best.

His foreign secretary

says,

you only have to

meet with the king

once a week

and Churchill says,

well that's like

saying you only have

to have your tooth

pulled once a week.

And later on

we find in this

pivotal scene

late in the film,

Churchill is sitting

on his bed

in the dark

staring into space,

he's clearly

at a very low ebb,

just troubled

and with the full

weight of the world

on his shoulders

he's completely

unclear how

he's to proceed.

He looks disheveled,

his suit's rumpled,

he's a complete mess.

Maybe you relate

to that.

Then he has

this surprise visitor

come into his home.

King George VI

enters the room,

he's the most proper

man in all of Europe,

the height of manners

and decorum

wearing this

impeccable suit

and the king comes

and he says,

Mr. Churchill,

I hope you can

forgive the late hour

but your wife thought

tonight might be

a good time,

should we sit?

It appears the prospect

of a peace deal

with Hitler

has increased dramatically

and Churchill says,

well later today

I will address the house,

I should like to know

your mind

because nations

which go down fighting

rise again

but those

which surrender

tamely

are finished.

the king says,

well what about

the mood

of the parliament?

Churchill says,

it's fear

and panic.

The king says,

well are you not afraid?

Are you afraid at all?

And Churchill says,

I am most terribly

afraid.

Our defeat

in France

is the most crushing

in the history

of the empire.

Support among

my party

for a campaign

of resistance

has collapsed.

and at this point

the king moves

to sit next

to his prime minister

and the king says

to him,

you have

my support.

And Churchill

can't believe

he's there

as he says,

your majesty.

And the king says,

you have

my support.

We shall work

together,

you shall have

my support

at any

hour.

And Churchill

says,

well I fear

I may be defeated.

On certain matters

I have few people

with whom I can speak

frankly.

And the king says,

well perhaps now

we have each other.

And they remain

sitting there

side by side

friends

for the rest

of their lives.

Today you might

be navigating

the labyrinth

of adolescence.

You might be

navigating

the difficult

dysfunctions

of your family

as we have

these wonderful

family gatherings

this summer.

You might be

navigating

your messy

workplace

or the

complexities

of being

part of

an imperfect

church

or the

complications

of your

neighborhood

and your

city.

But my

friends,

when you

know

that the

king

is seeking

you

and that

the king

is with

you

and he's

for you,

that your

king is

on your

team

and he's

by your

side,

that you

have the

support

and the

friendship

of your

king

at any

hour.

You can

face

anything.

You can

face

your

darkest

hour.

In Christ

church,

we don't

just have

any old

king.

We have

God's

promised

anointed

king,

the king

of the

ages,

who went

through

death

and then

came out

the other

side,

the king

of the

ages

who filled

his tomb

with life,

the king

who walked

out of his

grave and

launched the

new creation

of God

and says

to everyone

and everything,

come alive

with me.

Christ

church,

the kingdom

of God

is here

and the

king is

risen and

he's with

you and

he's for

you and

I wonder

if that

gives you

any comfort

in the

midst of

what is

going on

in our

lives.

And I

want to

say also

that the

truth of

this risen

king is

not only far

more comforting

than we

realize,

but the

truth of

this risen

king is

more dangerous

than I

think most

of us

realize.

One pastor

is sort

of commenting

on this

and he

said,

you know,

everywhere

the apostle

Paul went

a riot

broke out

but everywhere

I show up

they just

serve tea.

And the

reason,

you know,

Paul's

scandalous

message about

God's king

who's risen

started riots

is because

he went to

these places

where Caesar

was believed

to be lord

and Paul

said,

no,

you know,

Jesus,

the king,

the risen

king,

he's the

lord of

all.

And therefore,

we need to

recover this

dangerous

message that

Jesus,

the king of

this world,

calls all

people to

believing

allegiance in

him,

calls all

of us to

live under

his kingship

in obedience

to him,

calls all

of us to

share this

amazing message

of his

kingship to

the whole

creation.

This is the

point of

Paul's

sermon,

that God's

king rules.

And God's

king not

only rules,

but he rules

us.

And he rules

us with

forgiving grace.

God's king

rules us with

forgiving grace.

Paul comes to

the climax of

his sermon,

and like all

good preaching,

he issues an

invitation and a

challenge.

He says in

verse 39,

therefore,

in light of

this risen and

living king,

therefore,

my brothers and

sisters,

I want you to

know that

through Jesus,

the forgiveness

of sins is

proclaimed to

you.

And through

him,

everyone who

believes is

set free from

every sin,

a justification

you were not

able to obtain

under the law

of Moses.

Whatever those

words mean,

they mean that

our king,

Jesus,

he's not a

coercive or

oppressive or

dehumanizing king.

In fact,

it says in

verse 43 that

when the

congregation was

dismissed,

many of the

Jews and

devout converts

to Judaism

followed Paul

and Barnabas

who talked

with them and

they urged them

to continue in

the grace of

God.

Our king is a

gracious king.

Our king is a

merciful king and

he rules us with

grace.

to make us

into a forgiven

and a free

people.

You've got to

remember that

Paul is preaching

this sermon in

Galatia and in a

few short months

he's going to

write this letter

to the Galatians

where he'll

explain these

simple yet

profound and

deep words like

sin,

forgiveness,

grace,

faith and

belief,

justification and

freedom.

I don't have time

to do all that

today but I do

want to give you

a story with

some pictures in

your mind.

Without God's

grace and the

grace of God's

king, we are

like the

ever given.

Did you follow

the story of the

ship, the

ever given?

This was back in

March, about six

days in March.

This giant

container ship

got stuck in the

Suez Canal in

Egypt.

The ship is a

quarter mile long.

It's the size of the

Empire State

building about

four football

fields.

This Leviathan

weighs over

200,000 tons.

So if a ship

this large gets

stuck, it's like

really, really

stuck.

And this became

one of the most

consequential shipping

accidents in

maritime history.

The Suez Canal

is a 150-year-old

trench that goes

through Egypt and

it's this critical

shortcut between

east and west.

It's one of the

world's most important

waterways that

connects Europe

and Asia and

through there

about 15% of

the global

container shipping

capacity moves.

And part of the

problem that day

was that the

weather, there

was this wind

storm, this

sand storm that

turned the ship

sideways and

caused it to

start moving to

the left and to

the right down

this waterway.

And then human

error got involved

and the crew

tried to regain

control of the

ship by putting

on speed, which

of course only

made matters worse.

And so the

ship, this giant

ship just slammed

into the bank and

ran aground.

The bow and the

rudder were stuck

in the sand and

the mud and the

rock.

And when the

Apostle Paul talks

about this word

sin, he's talking

about the human

condition of being

stuck, of being

run aground.

He's talking about

how we're fixed and

we're lodged as

people, whether we

like it or not, in

our own self-centeredness

and self-interest.

And our sin,

therefore, creates a

chain reaction that

ripples and compounds

basically in every

direction.

The ever-given

clogged one of the

most crucial arteries

of trade in the

whole world.

It blocked shipping

traffic in both

directions.

There were 400 ships

that had to wait in

line outside the

canal.

This colossal traffic

jam significantly

disrupted the global

supply chain and

created basically a

full-blown crisis.

This stalled ship,

this one stalled ship

was holding up $10

billion worth of

cargo a day.

Things like cars,

oil, livestock,

laptops, jet fuel,

scrap metal, grains,

sweaters, sneakers,

electronics, appliances,

toys, medical equipment,

toilet paper.

Any brand you can

imagine, it was on one

of these ships.

And so if you're having

trouble finding what you

need at IKEA, it's

probably, this is the

reason.

Three months later, in

fact, the crew and the

ship of the ever-given,

with all of its 18,000

containers, $750 million

worth of goods is still

stuck in Egypt.

And isn't that a picture

of our lives?

We get wedged in sin.

And because we're wedged

in ourselves, turned in

on ourselves, everything

else in our relationships

gets clogged and stalled

and jammed and blocked.

And all of our loves

become disordered.

All of our loves become

jacked up, right?

We don't love God with all

of our heart.

We don't love one another

as we love ourselves.

And so the great question

of the human dilemma is

how do we get dislodged?

How do we come to be

salvaged?

How did it happen for the

ever-given?

Well, they brought in eight

of the world's most

respected experts, and

they deployed diggers and

front-end loaders and

specialized dredgers and

tugboats, and they were

working on this thing for

six days and six nights,

and none of their efforts

were enough to fix the

problem.

Anybody feel like that?

I got $10 billion problems

a day, and nothing I do

is making it any better.

In fact, it might even be

making it worse.

Well, by God's grace, on

the seventh day, the tides

turned.

This ship that was stuck

just north of the Red Sea,

where Israel got unstuck from

her bondage and went into

freedom, after six days, the

ever-given had a little mini

exodus of her own.

Because of this fortuitous

full moon, when it was

closest to the earth, and

because the sun and the

moon and the earth were

aligned in such a way, it

conjured up this unusually

high spring tide where the

waters began to rise.

And as a result, the ship got

unstuck from its bondage, and

it began to float, and it was

free to move again.

And when that happened, there

were horns, and there were

sirens, and there were

cheers, and all the world

that was watching this drama

rejoiced.

Because these puny machines

and human effort were not

enough to get this mammoth

boat out of the mud and the

muck.

The ever-given needed heavenly

bodies to move, heavenly

bodies to align.

The ever-given needed a cosmic

event that could salvage her

and set her free.

And this, my friends, is what

the Apostle Paul means when he

talks about the forgiveness

of sins.

Listen to it again.

He says, therefore, my

brothers and sisters, I want

you to know that through

Jesus, the forgiveness of

sins is proclaimed to you, and

through him, everyone who

believes is set free from

every sin.

Paul says that that heavenly

body, that heavenly person who

came close to us, who aligned

himself with us to salvage the

human race, is God's King

Jesus, whose very name means

that he will save people from

their sins.

And this is what he talked

about all the time.

The Son of Man has authority on

earth to forgive sins.

I've come to call sinners to

repentance.

I've come to seek and to save

those who are lost and stuck in

their sin.

And Paul says the cosmic event

that dislodged us and that

salvaged our lives stuck in sin

is the King's cross.

Because forgiveness is a moral

impossibility for God without the

King's cross.

How can the moral ruler of the

universe forgive sinners without

compromising his absolute

justice?

And yet how can he judge sinners

without frustrating his love?

It's because of the cross of God's

King that the tides turn for us.

The death of God's promised

anointed King caused the waters of

God's grace to rise up and to set

us free.

Paul says in verse 28, though they

found no proper ground for a death

sentence, they asked Pilate to have

Jesus executed.

Jesus didn't die for his own sins

because he had none.

They could find no evidence against

him.

And so if Jesus didn't die for his

own sins, and if the resurrection

proves that God vindicated him as

the righteous one, then who did he

die for?

He died for you.

He died for me.

When he was hanging on his cross,

the dark clouds of sin encircled

around him and closed in on him, and

he cried out, my God, my God, why have

you forsaken me?

And as he bore our sins on the cross,

you know what he was praying?

Father, forgive them.

Father, forgive.

And then he spoke that most powerful

word spoken in the history of the world

when he said to tell us die.

It is finished.

The work of dislodging and salvaging,

the work of forgiving and freeing has

been and will remain forever

accomplished.

The king's cross shows us that God's

righteous, implacable intolerance of our

self-centeredness, and yet at the same

time, it shows us the burning,

inextinguishable compassion that he

has for sinners like me.

At the king's cross, God judged our sin,

and yet there he bore his own justice

himself.

In the king's cross, he condemned sin in

the flesh of Jesus, and there he suffered

the condemnation for sin.

You see, it's here at the king's cross that

infinite justice is exacted for the penalty

of sin, and yet infinite grace accepted it

as sufficient for every one of us.

And so, my friends, it is finished.

The work of sin-bearing has been completed,

and therefore nothing needs stand in the way,

and nothing needs stand in God's record

against any one of us anymore.

You can be justified.

You can be declared in the right with God,

forgiven, a full and free member of God's

people, reconciled in the fellowship and the

favor, the very grace of God.

Hear it one more time.

Verse 39.

Through him, everyone who believes is set free from

every sin.

Have you heard Jesus whisper in your ear,

my son, my daughter, your sins are forgiving you.

Go in peace.

In Christchurch, if you've heard that, do you still

believe it?

I want to urge you, like Paul and Barnabas urged the

people there in Pisidian Antioch, I want to urge you

today to continue in the grace of God.

For God's king rules us with his forgiving grace.

Amen.

In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.