Go Fulfill the Great Commission: Strengthening the Church | Dr. John Ewart

Well, good morning, Englewood. Take your Bibles, if you will,

and turn to Acts Chapter 15. For those who are guests this

Acts 15 · chapter mention

morning, let me make just a couple of words of announcement

to you. And also just to let you know

that we're in the middle of our missions month.

So I feel like almost that I'm giving a travel log this

morning, but I really do want us to see the entirety of a

missionary journey so that we can understand from beginning to

end what all Paul went through. There are many times that we

would take a bit or a piece of it, but this morning we're going

to try to approach this a different way later this month.

We've got a couple of special guests coming on the 23rd and

30th. You don't want to miss these

guys. These are dear friends of mine.

And one of them was a radical Muslim who was led to Christ.

It became a pastor. Both of these men have been

arrested for their faith, which is an interesting story.

And they want to testify. And so the other one is, I

believe he's still 93. He's a legend of our

international mission service and he and I have served much

together. So you're going to want to,

you're not going to miss these guys.

You want to be here these last, the last two Sundays of the

month for sure. Also, you can still sign up for

2026 mission trips. There's a poster if you go out

the worship center, go right, you'll see two glass display

cases. There's a poster that has all

the QR codes on one poster now and you can still sign up.

We've had well over 200 people expressed interest in our

mission trips for 2026 and my hope is to see about 300.

So that so keep on signing up so that we're and we're going to

have the dates for those things revealed here in the next week

or so. So that'll help you as well.

So it's not too late. You're not, you're not

committing yourself to anything by signing up.

You're just saying I want to know more.

So we appreciate you doing that. And then also just the members,

forgive me for a moment. Guess budgets and happy birthday

Jesus offering information and goals will be coming your way

here very soon. And I'm actually we're going to

do something a little different this year, which shouldn't

surprise you. I'm here so things are always a

little different. But on December 7th, that Sunday

night at six, we're going to have a special town hall

meeting. I want to talk about the

strategy for stewardship, why certain decisions were made, and

also talk about the future of giving and how we want to give

to the and support the general budget.

I need to start teaching you about several important things

that I've been told you haven't heard as much about that I wish

you had. And that one of those things is

the cooperative program whereby just giving to our general

budget, you're supporting 10s of thousands of missionaries all

around the world as well as disaster relief, theological

education. It's a big deal.

Some of you know that very well. Some of you don't know anything

that I just said. And so we'll be talking more

about that as well as who Lottie Moon and Annie Armstrong are and

some other things. So I'm going to be talking about

our strategy for stewardship for 2026.

You'll want to come and be a part of that.

I'm also just excited the fact that we have so much to cover

today. So so let's get started.

They told me that with this is a record number of slides in

recent years. So so buckle up.

We'll be done by 5. Hey, I got I got the first

service out sort of on time. Even I did better this week than

last week. So this see how this goes.

So last week again, we're in we're in our missions month.

If you're, if you're a guest, thank you so much for being

here. And I really do want to still

look at this overall trip. So last week we left Paul and

Barnabas back in Antioch. They were back from the first

trip and they were teaching and preaching and reporting to the

home church what was going on. They some opposition arise and

some questions arise because Gentiles were being saved and

some of the Jewish background believers thought, well, these

people need to become Jewish first before they can become

Christians. So they actually had to send

folks back to Jerusalem to the mother church to talk to the

apostles, including James, the brother of Jesus, to kind of

settle whether or not a person who's a non Jew can become a

Christian directly or they have to become a Jewish person first.

It was a big deal in those days and and and they wrote a letter

stating the results. And So what was exciting is as

they affirm salvation by grace through faith and that you don't

have to be Jewish first at a couple of things, they asked the

Gentile people and their Pagan backgrounds to observe.

And so this is really a big deal.

You might not think it's a big deal, but if you're a believer

and you're not from a Jewish background, this is a big deal.

And so I'm thankful for this. But there so there was joy and

excitement as they came back to Antioch and they report this and

now they recognize it's time for us to go and continue to go

fulfil the Great Commission. And so we want to participate in

missions with urgency and sacrifice.

One of our essentials of discipleship.

Acts chapter 13, verse 35. Buckle up, here we go.

Acts 13:35

So but Paul and Barnabas remained in Antioch teaching and

preaching the word of the Lord with many others also.

And after some days, Paul said to Barnabas, let us return and

visit the brothers in every city where we proclaim the word of

the Lord and see how they are. So in other words, let's go

back, retrace our steps from the first trip and go see everybody

and, and, and talk about. So today what we're really

talking about is strengthening the church.

How can we strengthen the church because church planting is not

simply about starting the church.

Church planting is also how do you nurture that new church.

In fact, that's what my doctoral dissertation is about, not about

how do you plan it, but then what Jonathan Taylor talking

about and I talking about those kinds of things over in Tarboro.

So here's Paul and Barnabas. They're like family.

They're best buddies. They've been colleagues, They've

been been Co workers on the trips and it's time to plan

their next mission trip. I mean, how exciting.

Everything's going well. What in the world could possibly

go wrong? Verse 37 Now Barnabas wanted to

take with them John called Mark, but Paul thought best not to

take with them one who had withdrawn from them and

Pamphylia, and had not gone with with them to the work.

And there arose a sharp disagreement, so that they

separated from each other. Barnabas took Mark with him and

sailed to Cypress. But Paul chose Silas and

departed, having been commended by the brothers to the grace of

the Lord. And he went through Syria and

Cilicia strengthening the churches.

So to fill to fulfill God's mission to strengthen the

churches, sometimes change might be necessary.

So the first thing we're going to see is we're going to see a

new strategies defined. And it was born out of crisis.

So John Mark Bonner, Bruce's cousin, went with him on the

first trip for a while when things got tough, he ran home

and and kind of abandoned the the mission.

And it was not perceived in a positive way by Paul.

And so Paul knew that they were going to go back to some of the

same difficult areas where they've been persecuted before.

And so could a man who abandoned the mission the first time be

trusted to hang in there if he if they brought him again?

But Barnabas, the encourager, obviously, and also the

relative, believed in giving Mark a second chance.

For Paul, the mission was too great or too important to risk.

For Barnabas, the people were too important to risk.

In fact, in verse 37, that verb wanted different translation.

I have a different verb there. It actually means that Barnabas

won't let it go. He keeps bringing it up.

You ever had an argument or a conversation with that person?

They just won't let it go. That's what's going on.

All right. So eventually it leads to a

sharp disagreement. That's a passionate emotional

argument with one another. In fact, there's a medical term

related to this wording that refers to the spasms you have

during a seizure. So in other words, they're

they're spazzing each other out. And so the only other time this

word's used is in Hebrews 10, when we're told in a positive

way to provoke one another to good works.

So we're actually to, to, to seize one another and provoke

one another to actually do the right things.

And so I'm going to cause all of y'all to have a spasm before

this one's over. So, so it might not have been

the best way to handle it. We see these two brothers having

a sharp disagreement. But it's also interesting

because no sin is ever indicated.

And so sometimes not all agreements are one person being

right and another person being wrong.

Sometimes there can be strong different opinions.

So your heart kind of goes with Barnabas.

Your head might kind of go with Paul.

And and so finding an objective, respectful, patient Ave. of

communication that actually results in compromise or

agreement is so very rare in our culture today.

So rare in our current culture where it's more normal to lash

out in anger, lack of trust, poor motive, attribution and

blame. And sometimes that's even true

in the church. And so sometimes Christian

brothers have to go in separate directions.

Sometimes that happens for a while.

And, and, and, and, and their separation and how they

separated actually mattered. So the way they split up

mattered. It can leave scars.

It can leave heartache. It can leave bad testimonies.

And so God uses these two missionary teams instead of 1.

And he blesses both of them. And then later on we see

reconciliation. Paul even uses the ministry of

Barnabas as an illustration to the Corinthians.

Later. Listen to 1st Corinthians 9 it

says. Or is it only Barnabas and I who

have no right to refrain from working for a living?

No words. Barnabas is out there getting

after it. And Paul later famously names

Mark as a useful member of his team.

He does it in Philemon 24, but also in Colossians chapter 4,

Colossians 4 · chapter mention

where he where he says, Aristarchus, my fellow prisoner,

greets you, and Mark the cousin of Barnabas, concerning whom you

have received instructions. If he comes to you, welcome him,

or even in Second Timothy 4. Luke alone is with me.

Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is very useful to me for

ministry. So we see this reconciliation

taking place later. In fact, most scholars believe

that Mark becomes very close to Peter and that the Holy Spirit

uses Mark to write the Gospel of Mark based upon the experiences

of the apostle Peter and Jesus. And so we see how useful this

becomes. So second chances are amazingly

healing in the hands of God's Amazing Grace.

And so instead Silas, who's a leader from Jerusalem, they met

when they went back there to deal with that issue and he

followed them back to Antioch. So Silas goes with Paul and

they're sent out to strengthen the churches.

Acts 16, verse one. Paul also came also to Derby

into Lystra, and a disciple was there named Timothy, the son of

a Jewish woman who was a believer, but his father was a

Greek and he was well spoken of by the brothers at Lystra and

Iconium. Paul wanted Timothy to accompany

him, and he took him and circumcised him because of the

Jews who were in those places, for they all knew that his

father was a Greek. As they went on their way

through the cities, they delivered to them for observance

the decisions that had been reached by the apostles and

elders who were in Jerusalem. So the churches were

strengthened in the faith and they increased in numbers daily.

So the second thing we just see is as the mission continues,

more people are converted, more people are discipled.

That's what we want to see. So I'm so thankful for the

testimony of baptism this morning.

I'm so thankful for the way God continues to bless people and,

and, and to him be the glory. But it's just fascinating to

watch. We've already baptized almost

twice as many people as you did last year, and so it's very

exciting just to see people being led to the Lord and LED to

decision and LED to commitment. I also want you to know we have

over 40% more people in Connect groups.

You didn't think I'd fit that in today, did you?

We have over 40% more people in Connect groups than we did just

six months ago. And so I just want you to

understand that people are are being converted, people are

being discipled, right? I'm just excited about that and

just give God all the credit for that.

And so Paul had Timothy circumcised.

This was just a pragmatic contextualization issue so that

he would be welcomed in the synagogues, which was going to

be their their place to preach often because rabbinic law

taught that if a person had a Jewish mother and a Greek

father, he was still considered Jewish.

And so Timothy would have been an offence to the Jews that they

just didn't need to deal with. So they share the good news

about Gentiles becoming Christians.

And then that last verse, the churches grow quantity or

qualitatively. First they grow qualitatively,

they're strengthened in the faith, and then they also grow

quantitatively. The word strength in there is

often used for a, a, a, a young boy who's becoming a man and

he's turning baby fat into muscle.

That's what that word means. It's a interesting word.

In it, I'm turning my baby fat into muscle.

Now, as you get older in life, you kind of go the other

direction, but in but as a child, as a child, this is what

happens. So they're being strengthened

and the verbs are literally they are or were being strengthened

and they were increasing. In other words, it never, it

wasn't stopping. It wasn't an event.

This was a process. It was never ending.

This is continuous, continuously taking place.

And that's what we want to see. And you'll see this.

They're continuing to grow deeper and they're then they

continue to grow larger. And that's the proper order.

We always want that to be the proper order.

We've got to grow in quality. We've got to grow in our depth

of discipleship. Let that overflow into the

quantitative, evangelistic, and missions growth that we hope

that we'll see. Look at verse 6.

And they went to the region, region of Phrygia and Galatia,

having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the Word in

Asia. And when they had come up to

Missia, they attempted to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of

Jesus did not allow them. So passing by Missia, they went

down to Troas. The third thing you need to see

is this. Sometimes God says no.

See, Paul wanted to go one way. He wanted to go deeper into

Asia, but the Holy Spirit forbid him and and the word means to be

cut off. Like think about chopping your

hair off. The Holy Spirit cuts him off,

clips him. And they walked so closely with

God, they were able to perceive this from the Lord and they

recognize God's sovereignty and they obey him.

And, and, and you got to just follow this for a minute.

Sometimes God wants us to stop doing something or to do

something in a new and different way.

When God closes the door we wanted to enter and we when we

don't get to do what we want to do the way we want to do it, we

often just see this as a bad thing, when in fact it might be

Him redirecting our lives in the best possible way and the way

that's truly needed. And that's when our faith needs

to be strong. That's when we need to stand

with Him, believe God is in control, believe God knows

better. Trust in God because He has

something better planned for us than we could have ever planned,

even when it doesn't seem that way.

And that's exactly the time to trust in Him.

So they go to Troas. Now, you just got to understand

Troas is a very unremarkable place on the edge of the ocean.

I mean, it's kind of the dead end.

It's kind of like a nowhere place.

And so they they find themselves in this dead end place.

And you would think, well, what in the world are we doing here?

But sometimes in life, when you think you've reached a dead end,

just hang on, because God might just have another door.

He's waiting to swing wide open, right?

And in those moments of unclear direction, in those moments of

fear, in those moments of disappointment, hang on because

he might just be bringing you to the remarkable.

So always remember, before God can use us, he might have to

stop us. He might have to change us.

William Carey wanted to go to Polynesia.

The great missionary wanted to go to Polynesia, but was sent to

India. David Livingstone, another great

missionary, he wanted to go to China, but he was sent to

Africa. Both of them making incredible

missions, history. So he got to open and close

opportunities according to his timing, and his timing is always

perfect. G Campbell Morgan once wrote,

Oh, to go not where I may choose even by my love of the Lord, but

where I am driven by the Lord's command.

Circumstances of difficulty are opportunities for faith.

So wait upon the Lord to receive the remarkable.

Just watch. Look at verse 9.

And a vision appeared. So you, you need a vision from

the Lord. You need directions from the

Lord. Sometimes he might have to stop

you in your tracks. Sometimes he might have to put

you in a place you don't want to be in first in order to reveal

to you what you're supposed to do next.

And a vision appeared to Paul in the night.

A man of Macedonia was standing there urging him and saying,

come over to Macedonia and help us.

And what Paul had seen the vision.

Immediately we sought to go on into Macedonia, concluding that

God had called us to preach the gospel to them.

So the fourth thing you need to see is that the new visions

clarified. But before we can see the new

vision, sometimes he's got to stop the other one.

And so they must hear the gospel in Macedonia.

That's why we had to go through this.

That's why we ended up here. So so this really isn't about

us. It's about the Holy Spirit and

what he wants to do through US and in US and because of us.

And they went immediately. They were excited to get after

it. They were excited to do the will

of God. In fact, that word concluding

that God had called us. The word concluding means to put

together a jigsaw puzzle. I don't know about you all, but

but almost every Christmas my sweet wife and daughter buy one

of those thousand piece jigsaw puzzle things.

I want to throw them out the window.

I have. I have zero.

I mean zero. I mean you just got to

understand less than 0 tolerance for such things.

They're over there figuring out where the edges are and what why

that puppy looks just like the next puppy and the next puppy

and the next puppy. Talk about spasms.

But that's what that word means. So the picture becomes clear.

You got to go to Macedonia and you got to go now.

So they end up in a city. You'll know this name.

They end up in Philippi. And so in verse 13, and on the

Sabbath day, we went outside the gate to the Riverside where we

were, where we suppose there was a place of prayer.

And we sat down and spoke to the women who had come, who had come

over. And one who heard us was a woman

named Lydia from the city of Theatyra, a seller of purple

goods, who was a worshipper of God.

The Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by

Paul. And after she was baptized and

her household as well, she urged us, saying, If you have judged

me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay.

And she prevailed upon us. Now, Philippi was settled by a

lot of Romans and a lot of former Roman military people.

It was an important economic and cultural place.

But they didn't have a synagogue.

And so whenever there was a city didn't have a synagogue, the

Jewish people, if they were there, would often meet in a

park or by the river or someplace that was easy to find.

And so that's what they're doing.

They're gathering in this place for teaching and prayer and so

people. So Paul shared with these

ladies, many of them were probably wives of Romans at this

point, frankly, including Lydia who imported this.

Expensive purple dye or cloth. That purple dye or cloth was

worth its weight in gold. So she was doing really well and

she saved. The Bible says the Lord opens

her heart and that's what He has to do.

The Holy Spirit has to illuminate your heart in order

to be saved. Some of you here this morning

might need that to happen right now.

You may have friends that you know out in this community that

you need that to happen to them. The good verse 16 as we were

going to the place of prayer, see everything ought to be going

great now people are being saved, everything's going along.

Guess what happens? We were met by a slave girl who

had a spirit of divination and brought her owners much gain by

fortune telling. She followed Paul and us crying

out these men are servants of the most high God who proclaimed

to you the way of salvation and this she kept doing for many

days. This next part's always funny to

me. Paul, having become greatly

annoyed, turned and said to the Spirit, I command you in the

name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.

And it came out that very hour. So the fifth thing we need to

see is whenever the gospel is successful, the enemy is going

to attack. But let me tell you something,

friends, the enemy will lose. I've read the book.

And So what we see is as they ministered, the enemy shows up.

He always shows up. These superstition Romans love

these fortune tellers. They used them for war and they

used them for business. They love them.

This girl is, bless her heart, as demon possessed.

But it's also interesting because the demon knows who they

are, keeps following them, keeps shouting out.

And so Paul finally had had enough and he cast a demon out.

It's always interesting to me because demons have no trouble

believing who Jesus is, and demons have no trouble obeying

immediately the commands of Christ.

It's always interesting. Demons do that.

Men have trouble with that. Sometimes demons have a lot

better theology than we do. Verse 19 But when her owner saw

that their hope again was was gone, they seized Paul and Silas

and dragged them into the marketplace before the rulers.

And when they had brought them to the magistrates, they said,

These men are Jews, and they are disturbing our city.

They have to take customs that are not lawful for us Romans to

accept our practice. The crowd joined in attacking

them, and the magistrates tore the garments off them and gave

orders to beat them with rods. And when they had inflicted many

blows upon them, they threw them into prison, ordering the jailer

to keep them safely. Having received this order, he

put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the

stocks. Now seeing their business run,

they had them arrested. And since they couldn't bring

honest charges against them, they accused them of practices

that were dangerous to their belief system.

This, this story ought to start sounding familiar.

This story ought to sound familiar to our friends that we

know. And so, so a word used in verses

22 means they could have caused a riot.

So a mob. And they beat them, and they

would beat them with these big wooden rods.

That's what they used, and then they lock them up in prison, and

the inner prison place them in stocks again.

This should have been the end of them.

So much for the missionaries. Poor old Paul and Silas, We

never knew what happened to you. Verse 25 about midnight, Paul

and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God again.

This ought to sound pretty familiar.

And the prisoners were listening to them.

And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the

foundations of the prison were shaken.

And immediately all the doors were opened and everyone's bonds

were unfastened. And when the jailer woke and saw

that the prison doors were open, he drew a sword and was about to

kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped.

But Paul cried with a loud voice.

Do not harm yourself, for we are all here.

And the jailer called for lights and rushed in, and trembling

with fear, he fell down before Paul and Silas.

Then he brought them out and said, Sirs, what must I do to be

saved? And they said, Believe in the

Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.

And they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were

in his house. And he took them the same hour

of the night and washed their wounds.

And he was baptized at once, he and all his family.

Then he brought them up into his house and set food before them.

And he rejoiced along with his entire household that he

believed in God. Now, listen, you got to really

put yourself in this spot for a second.

These guys are all bruised and battered.

They just been beaten with wooden rods.

I mean, it would have been so easy for Paul to say, see, God

told you we should have gone to Asia.

This can't be right. I obey.

I do everything you tell me, and this is what I get.

But instead, they prayed, they praised, they sang, they

testified to God and to the other prisoners.

It ought to remind you of our friends.

And right when you think you have reached a dead end, hang

on, because God might just have a door.

He's ready to swing wide open when there are no options.

You think you're all shackled up in your confusion, your fear,

your doubt, your unbelief, your unclear direction, your

disappointments. Hang on, cuz he might just be

shaking out the remarkable. The foundation of your prison

can be shaken. Locked doors can swing open.

Chains that have bound fall off. That is our sovereign, gracious

God of deliverance. Paul says we're all here.

We're all here. The other prisoners had

witnessed all this too. Don't forget that.

They saw all this. They they saw what was going on.

Sirs, what must I do to be saved?

The most vital question you'll ever ask.

Some of you in this room might need to ask that question right

now. What do I need to do to be

really saved? What do I need to do to really

trust in Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior?

Because the only answer is Jesus.

So they followed up with discipleship.

The whole family saved. The whole family is baptized.

It's interesting. They start the night as

prisoners and end up the night in fellowship as brothers and

sisters in Christ. Only by God's remarkable

conquering grace can something like that happen.

Look at verse 35. But when it was day, the

magistrates sent the police saying, let those men go.

And the jailer reported these words to Paul, saying, the

magistrates have sent to let you go, therefore come out now and

go in peace. But Paul said to them, They've

beaten us publicly uncondemned men who are Roman citizens and

have thrown us into prison. And do they now throw us out

secretly? No, let them come themselves and

take us out. The police reported these words

to the magistrates, and they were afraid when they heard that

they were Roman citizens, so they came and apologized to

them, and they took them out and asked them to leave the city so

that they went out of the prison and they visited Lydia.

And when they had seen the brothers, they encouraged them

and departed. Paul used this opportunity to

show them their own wrong, that they had violated their own

laws. And he also did this to protect

the believers that they'd leave behind when they left because

they wanted to strengthen those believers, which they did before

leaving. My suggestion to those of you

who understand the story that's going on with our friends

overseas is that before you go to bed tonight, pray.

And when you wake up in the morning, pray because the timing

at that point of what they're facing in there tomorrow will be

about right. And my prayer is, is it before

it's over? They owe our friends an apology.

Acts chapter 17, verse one. Now when they had passed through

Acts 17 · chapter mention

Amphibolis and Apple, that's hard to say by the way, and

Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica where there was a

synagogue of the Jews. And Paul went in, as was his

custom, And on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from

the Scriptures, explaining and proving that it was necessary

for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead, and saying

This Jesus, whom I proclaim to you is the Christ.

And some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as as

did a great many of the devout Greeks, and not a few of the

leading women. But the Jews were jealous, and

taking some wicked men of the rabble, they formed a mob, set

the city in an uproar, and attacked the House of Jason,

seeking to bring them out to the crowd.

But when they could not find them, they dragged Jason and

some of the brothers before the city authorities, shouting.

These men who have turned the world upside down have come here

also and Jason has received them and they are all acting against

the decrees of Caesar, saying that there's another king Jesus.

And the people in the city authorities were disturbed when

they heard these things. And when they had taken taken

money as security from Jason and the rest, they let them go.

Here's what's funny or interesting.

So Paul, who had been beaten by these wooden rods, thrown in

jail, didn't sleep, basically walked about 100 miles over the

next three days. Now it makes me wonder, how

enthusiastic am I about God's mission?

What trip would I go on? How far would I travel to?

What links would I go to fulfill the Great Commission, to

participate in missions with urgency and sacrifice?

So Paul's led the Thessalonica. You ought to know some of you,

that city. He'll write to them later.

He follows his normal pattern, preaches in the synagogue for

several weeks. He reasoned with them, explained

to them and demonstrated the gospel.

People believed. They become the the nucleus of

that church that he'll write later.

Now, others don't believe because that's always the case.

There's always going to be those who don't, who don't believe.

And so they gathered thugs. It says from the rabble.

Your translation might say from the market.

So they get thugs from the market to come cause trouble,

but they couldn't find Paul. So they drag us hosts out in

front of the local leaders and her accusations at them and and

this great line, these men who have turned the world upside

down have come here also. And since Paul and his team

weren't there, they could only charge bail or a bond and let

them go. Look at verse 10.

Their brothers immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to

Berea, and when they arrived they went into the Jewish

synagogue. Now these Jews were more noble

than those in Thessalonica, and they received the word with all

eagerness. Examine the examining the

Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.

And many of them therefore believe with not a few Greek

women of high standing as well as men.

But when the Jews from Thessalonica learned that the

word of God was proclaimed by Paul Berea also, they came there

too, agitating and stirring up the crowds.

And then the brothers immediately sent Paul off on his

way to the sea. But Silas and Timothy remained

there, and those who conducted Paul brought him as far as

Athens. And after receiving a command

for Silas and Timothy to come to him as soon as possible, they

departed. So they once again, normal

pattern, they're preaching in a synagogue, they listen.

These people are listening. They're more noble.

The word can kind of mean a higher class.

They're more noble. They're not just listening,

they're actually cross checking. They're making sure that what

these people are teaching are true.

You need to do that. Don't just listen.

Study the word, understand the word for yourself.

In fact, in the upcoming podcast that we're doing and our midweek

study in January, we're going to start talking about how do we

engage the Bible? How can I have the best personal

Bible study? How can I teach others what the

Bible says? Doctor Danny Aiken is going to

join us on some podcast to help us with this, but we're also

going to be teaching this in our midweek time.

Now you need to come this Wednesday night in our personal

evangelism series. This Wednesday night is that

turning point where we lead that that conversation to Christ.

This is the big deal for a lot of people.

Be here Wednesday night with hundreds of other people.

So many people believed, including these prominent

citizens. But the enemy can't lose a

struggle that easily, and the Thessalonians can show up to

cause trouble. So Paul heads on while Silas and

Timothy actually stay put to face him, to defend the church,

to, to deal with the opposition's.

And God helps his people to conquer fears, to stand, to

serve. Because God wins and the enemy

loses. Always, always.

Look at verse 16. Now, while Paul was waiting for

them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him as he saw

that the city was full of idols. So he reasoned in the synagogue

with the Jews and the devout persons, and in the marketplace

every day with those who happen to be there.

The sixth thing I want us to see is that that darkness must be

confronted. We can't just sit back in our

world today. We've got to confront the

darkness. Paul was in the very epicenter

of Greek culture and Greek mythology and Pagan worship.

It was an ancient place of paganism, and it burdened him,

it provoked him, it agitated him when he saw that around him.

It's been said in history that in Athens it was easier to meet

a God than it was a person. They had more statues in Athens

than all the rest of Greece combined.

You couldn't, you couldn't round a corner without a temple,

without seeing a Pagan God. And so as Paul sees that he's

provoked. This translation says he's

deeply distressed. He has a an emotional response

to what he sees. When you look at the world

around you and you look at your city, when you look at your

neighborhood, are you provoked by the darkness?

Does it burden you? Are you grieved by the darkness

that swirls around us? Someone, us, we must take a

stand. So once again goes to the

synagogue. He also goes to the market,

which is the center of community activity.

Look at verse 18. And some of the Epicurean and

Stoic philosophers also conversed with him.

And some said, what does this babbler wish to say?

Others said he seems to be a preacher of foreign divinities

because he was preaching Jesus and the resurrection.

And they took him and brought him to the Erapagus, saying, May

we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting?

So Athens was not only the center of idolatry, but Athens

is also the center of Greek mythology and philosophy.

And the philosophers didn't actually believe in the old

system anymore. They felt like the, the old gods

were failing. They felt like the gods were too

distant or some of them thought they were too holy.

They, they, they had no interaction with humanity

anymore. So they were hopeless and they

were lost and, and no, and no matter what their own self

concepts, no matter how they might present themselves as

being intellectually elite, they were lost in their own

brilliance and sophistication. So they call Paul a babbler.

That word means a seed picker. And what it means is a person

who can't even pick the right seeds.

In other words, they they mix their seeds up.

And so when they plant you, you have radish, corn and you have

cucumber, cucumber, okra, everything's all mixed up.

And so he's mixing the seeds. So in other words, he's

confusing, he's not logical. And they bring him to a council

that would hear new teachers and kind of judge whether they ought

to be censored or listened to. So Paul presents to them in a

very lengthy sermon. He presents to them the

judeo-christian worldview. But then he also goes right to

the gospel and he contextualizes the message to his audience.

And, and, and it's very important.

He takes their familiar, what they're familiar with, and he

takes them to the unfamiliar. He starts with what they would

understand in their philosophy, takes them to the gospel.

That would be brand new to them and that's what we're talking

about doing. That's what you need to do this

mid this, this Wednesday night, we're going to come and talk

about how do I take my neighbor from something very familiar to

them, but lead them in a conversation to the gospel.

Very important time that you need to be here.

Look at verse 29. Being then God's offspring, we

ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or

silver or stone and image formed by the art and imagination of

man. The times of ignorance God

overlooked, but now He commands all people everywhere to repent,

because he is fixed today on which he will judge the world

and righteousness by a man whom he has appointed.

And of this he has given assurance to all by raising him

from the dead. So he zeroes in on Jesus.

So a God that cannot be seen was hard for these Greeks to

understand. I mean, everywhere you look,

there's a statue. Everywhere there's a look,

there's an image. So an unseen God that you can't

see, something like that was very weird to them, and it's

weird to our world today. Our world is just as spiritually

blind as these people were. They're blind to the gospel and

they're blind because they can't see God, so to speak.

So we need to understand them. We need to help them the best

way we can to move to a place where they can understand and

see God with the power of the Holy Spirit.

Look at verse 32. Now when they heard the

resurrection of the of the dead, they some mocked, but others

said we will hear you again about this.

So Paul went out from their midst, but some men joined him

and believed among whom also were Dionysius the the Arapogite

and a woman named Damaris and others with him.

So the idea of the resurrection was just too much for him, but

God still saves. You never know what God will do

when this story is shared honestly, when his story is

shared faithfully with people. So let's wrap this up by going

to chapter 18 verse one. After this, Paul left Athens and

went to Corinth, and he found a Jew named Aquila and a native of

Pontius, recently come recently come from Italy with his wife

Priscilla. Because Claudius had commanded

all the Jews to leave Rome and he went to see them, and because

he was of the same trade, he stayed with them and worked, for

they were tent makers by trade. And he reasoned in the

synagogue's every Sabbath and tried to persuade Jews and

Greeks. When Silas and Timothy arrived

from Macedonia, Paul was occupied with the word

testifying to the Jews that that the Christ was Jesus.

And when they had opposed and reviled him, he shook out his

garments and said, your blood be on our on your own heads.

I am innocent. From now on I will go to the

Gentiles. So the next thing we've got to

see is that God's mission still must compel us.

He travels to Corinth, now again a city you would recognize which

which again is full of Roman culture and worship.

In fact, Corinth Corinth had a well known reputation in the

ancient world for its immorality.

They actually made a verb out of it.

To Corinthianize was to be immoral.

It had a horrible reputation. So Paul meets this tent making

couple who become dear friends of his set up shop shop and once

again they're going to the synagogue.

Paul was compelled by the Spirit to preach the gospel.

He could not do this and and and was even rejected at times.

And so he would move on to those who were more receptive.

Look at verse 7. And he left there and went to

the House of a man named named Tidius Justice, a worshipper of

God. His house was next door to the

synagogue. Now you see that he leaves the

synagogue, doesn't go very far, just goes next door.

And Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, believed in the Lord

together with his entire household.

And many of the Corinthians hearing Paul believed and were

baptized. And the Lord said to Paul one

night in a vision, do not be afraid, but go on speaking and

do not be silent, for I am with you, and no one will attack you

to harm you. For I have many in this city who

are my people. And he stayed a year and six

months teaching the word of God among them.

Listen to how God reassures him to keep on preaching.

I mean, it's empowering to be compelled by God to share his

word. I have many people in this city.

I believe that about ours. I believe that about our area.

He already knew how many would be saved.

He knows how many are going to be saved here too.

So Paul stays there longer than he'd stayed anywhere else so

far. And the gospel succeeding.

So one last time, if the gospel succeeding, guess what?

The enemy is going to step up. Verse 12 But when Gallio, who

was pro counsel of Achaia, the Jews made a united attack on

Paul and brought before and brought him before the tribunal,

saying, This man is persuading people to worship God contrary

to the law. But when Paul was about to open

his mouth, Gallio said to the Jews, If it were a matter of

wrongdoing or vicious crime or Jews, I would have a reason to

accept your complaint. But since it's a matter of of

questions about words and names in your own law, see to it

yourselves. I refuse to be a judge of these

things. And he drove them from the

tribunal. And they all see.

So they all see Sothanes, the ruler of the synagogue, and beat

him in front of the tribunal. But Gallio paid no attention to

any of this. So they dragged Paul in front of

this Roman leader who could care less.

He could care less about any of it.

He didn't want to get involved in their religious squabbles and

so Paul's about to speak, but the Roman leader cuts him off

and instead they turn on the Jewish leaders for causing such

trouble and they beat this guy. It's interesting because later

Paul mentions a sophones in his greeting to the church in

Corinth. I don't know if it's the same

guy or not, but if it is, it'd be remarkable.

He goes from being the accuser and the beaten leader of the

synagogue to a brother in Christ, if that's who it is.

Well, let's wrap this up, verse 18.

After this Paul stayed many days longer and then took leave of

the brothers and set sail for Syria.

And with him Priscilla and Aquila at Syncrea.

He had he had cut his hair for he was under a vow.

And they came to Ephesus and he left them there.

But he himself went into the synagogue and reasoned with the

Jews. When they asked him to stay for

a longer period, he declined. But on taking leave of them he

said, I will return to you if God wills.

And he set sail from Ephesus. When he had landed at Caesarea,

he went up and greeted the church and then went down to

Antioch. And the last thing we see is

simply this. The mission continues.

It was time to go home. It was time to report.

So he takes a Nazaretic vow and cuts his hair, which is just a

pledge of full time service in this work of missions to the

Gentiles. They stopped in Ephesus, another

well known place. God saw God work in the

synagogue and and then he actually goes to Jerusalem

before he goes home and he sees the apostles and greets them

there too before he heads on home.

And the question as we talk about this story, I know it was

a long thing and I know it might be complicated to you, but I

wanted you to one time just to see it as a whole, easy to go

back and pick it apart. My concern is we might not

understand context, but to understand this as a whole and

to recognize what all Paul, Barnabas, Silas, Timothy, all

these people went through. How flexible are you?

How flexible would you be in following God's mission?

Is your faith strong enough to serve Him and persevere no

matter what? Would you praise Him even in the

hard times? Would you sing praises to Him at

midnight in a jail cell? Will you praise Him no matter

what happens to you? Are you provoked by, are you

burdened by the darkness of this world around you?

Will you contextualize and share the gospel to this world?

Listen, I believe with all my heart God is opening new,

remarkable doors to US. One of the reason we're going to

go to some new places in 2026 is because of this.

And we're going to see God work in new places, in new ways, as

well as some of the old ones. But it's time for us to gather

as one. We've got to do this together as

a church. A writer once said the reason

mountain climbers are tied together is to keep the sane

ones from going home. We got a mountain of grace

behind us. We got a mountain of mission

ahead of us. We got to be roped together.

We got to be in this together. We need that encouragement.

We need a united strength of 1. So are you first of all bound to

Christ? Have you been saved?

And then are you bound to one another?

Are you a part of this church? Are you, are you serving?

Are you, are you 100% participation person?

Are you in? Are you going to do this?

Are you on board? So how bound to Christ are you?

How tightly are you bound to him and one another?

Because frankly, my friends, it's time to tie up some loose

ends. So let's do that, Father.

Thank you. Thank you for your grace.

Thank you for the opportunity to serve you, Father.

We don't deserve any of that, Father.

Thank you for the examples, the demonstration of these

missionaries, the way you use them so powerfully, Father, even

in in great difficulty, even under great persecution, even

when beaten, imprisoned, shackled.

Now, Father, I just wonder how you could use us here in this

place of freedom, here in this place of comfort.

Maybe, Father, sometimes a place of apathy.

Maybe we're too comfortable, maybe that's part of the

problem. But Father, I pray that we will

be bound together and bound to You.

Now for some, that means salvation.

They need to be saved. They need to ask Jesus Christ

into their heart to be the Lord and Savior.

They know that's true right now. Father, help them to know that's

true. Father, I pray your Holy Spirit

would convince them. Illuminate their minds to that

truth. Others need to take steps of

commitment and service. For some, it might be baptism.

For some, it might be church membership.

For some, it might be a calling to missions.

They need to take that vow to say, I want to do this full

time. This is what I'm called to do.

For others, they need to sign up for a trip.

For others, they need to sign up to serve in one of our

ministries right here. For others, just like after the

first service, they need to say, all right, I'm going to the

Connect group for the first time.

Father, we need to be bound together.

It's time to tie up loose ends so we can move forward.

So Father, I pray that as we sing, people will commit and

they'll commit to you. So thank you for that in

Christ's name, Amen. So as we stand together, our

worship team is going to lead us.

They'll have, we'll have some pastors here we'd love to visit

with you. You can just come and kneel at

these steps and pray if you want to.

There's also a room over there. We call that the Next Steps

Room. There are people in there who

would just love to have a private conversation and prayer

time with you. Whatever it is that you need to

do in your life, whatever God's doing in your life, they just

love to pray with you. They're going to visit with you

and pray over you and help you to understand what God's doing.

So let's stand together and let's worship and let's

surrender.