Multiply Disciples | Acts 15:36-16:15 | September 20, 2026 | Aaron T. Colyer

That's twice.

Back to back.

I did that last week as well.

Open your Bibles to Acts, Acts chapter 15.

Acts 15 · chapter mention

And we're going to be using Acts chapter 15 as a way to see in a narrative passage some of these values that we have as we close this series.

Acts 15 · chapter mention

Now, some of you are really looking forward to going back to two gatherings.

Some of you are like, I'm going to have my seat back.

The parking lot won't be as full.

It won't be so crazy.

Some of you have told me I'm not looking forward to it.

I love how loud it is in this room when people sing.

Can I let you know that even in two services, we can get this loud?

You know how?

You know how?

When we go out and invite our neighbors to church, we go into the highways and the byways and we say, Jesus saves, Jesus loves you.

Come on, we're gonna tell you all about it.

You can be a part of a family that you can grow in.

Amen?

And maybe I'm the only one that's excited about that.

That's not even discernment.

I just want you to know that if we have this growing zeal for the gospel, we're busting out of those doors every single time we gather.

Now, I have a few housekeeping things to handle this morning.

Uh, I'm looking forward to that ministry fair next week to two gatherings.

I need to tell you this.

If you have not gotten a photo and you're not part of our directory, or you want an updated photo, if you've not been pictured, it means you are not being prayed for.

This is very important.

You have one last opportunity right after this worship gathering to go get your picture taken.

Our prayer team every Sunday night cuts up those directories and they pray for people by name.

Our elders do that very frequently.

Our ministry team is gonna be at a staff retreat over the next few days, and that's one of the things we're gonna do.

We're gonna invest an hour and a half to pray through the entire directory.

So if you want to be prayed for, make sure you're in there.

Amen.

Okay, I've got one last housekeeping thing to do.

Many of you know that Pastor Mike Gibbons, our executive pastor, last Sunday was his last Sunday in that role.

They're gonna be away for about six weeks on a rest, a sabbatical, visiting other churches they've been part of.

And when they come back, he's gonna be an important part of this church, not as a staff pastor.

But that means that our personnel committee and our elder team have been working behind the scenes already, praying that God would find the right man at the right time with the right gift set and the right skills.

Many resumes have been coming in already, but as a church, y'all need to have the opportunity to know how to tell someone to apply.

So, right here, if you scan that QR code, uh the title is changing Pastor of Ministries and Operations.

You can get that from the office, but just so you know, so every one of the people that love our church family have the opportunity to know that that's happening.

Go ahead, scan that, take a picture of that, send that to somebody because all those resumes are already coming in.

So now you've got that information.

As a church, please, please, please be praying.

It's a big, big deal that God would be growing our staff.

And that's been my prayer.

The right man at the right time to fill this pastor position.

Amen.

Okay, we're gonna pray for a church just up the road.

I got to hang out with Josh Clark, the pastor of the Vine Community Church, just this last week, and great stuff is happening.

They're seeing people get saved, they're seeing families grow.

Uh, his personal family, including his in-laws and his brother-in-law, have come to salvation, have been baptized as a result of coming and being a part of this small church plan.

It's just praise God.

Amazing things are happening.

Thank you, thank you, thank you, all nine of you.

I really appreciate that.

But the other thing about ministry is sometimes it's hard.

Sometimes it's really, really hard.

And he was telling me some things that are really, really hard right now.

And so he's balancing the huge blessing of what God is doing with the hardship or the burden of struggle.

And so I told him we'd be praying for him.

Let's pray for Pastor Josh and the vine.

Lord, we thank you that you've brought us in this place to stir one another up, to love and good works, to lift up the name of Jesus, to bring you glory, not just in our song, but in our posture, in our hearts as we come before you, surrendered, saying, We want more of your presence.

We want to walk by the Spirit.

And I just thank you, God.

I thank you for the love in this room.

I thank you for the sense of family in this room.

I also just pray that as we hear from the Word today, would you help us incline our ear to lean in and say, What do you have for me today?

Something that can change the way I'm walking with you.

I pray the same for Pastor Josh as he preaches up in Butta.

And I'm so grateful to hear the many things that you're doing in that church family.

Continue to mold these believers to look more and more like Jesus, that they might live on mission.

Continue to give Pastor Josh a sense of strength and energy and perseverance to walk out this ministry assignment that you have laid before him.

Bring others in that church family, lay leaders and staff members, to circle around him so he's not leaving on his own or leading in isolation.

I just ask that you pour your grace out on Pastor Josh and continue to see your kingdom come and your will be done in that local church family.

And we pray that in Jesus' name.

Amen.

So one last big gathering.

If you have read through our values book, we have just a few more copies.

Uh, we'll be reprinting those if you want in the future.

If you want the digital copy, that's such a helpful resource.

This is who we want to be.

We want to glorify God and abide in Christ and connect in community.

And today we're looking at this theme of multiply disciples.

We have a desire to multiply disciples.

The three values that fit under that is we have a growing zeal for the gospel.

And you're gonna see that in some of these passages today.

And that we also are developing intentional discipleship, more than just spiritual growth generally, but a specific intentional plan to reproduce disciples and teach people how to obey what Jesus has commanded us to do.

And then lastly, something that's very close to my heart is we want to build Christ-centered homes.

And so, even in the next couple weeks, you're gonna see our milestone one play out right in front of our church family.

We're families who have children and then when they grow their family, have another child, or maybe they've got some older children because they've never stood up in front of a church family and said, I am dedicating my home to the Lord.

I am asking for God's grace and help to fulfill God's call in my life to be the primary faith trainer in my home.

You will see that happen here in the next couple weeks.

We have milestones all the way through from birth to 18 to launch them out.

That we are training parents and grandparents to have intentional faith talks and capture God moments.

Because I think one hour a week at church, or if you come Sundays and Wednesdays, three hours a week at church is not enough for spiritual development.

I think mom and dad doing it at home is much, much better than just counting on the church.

Amen.

And we'll get to that later.

As you hear those values, a growing zeal for the gospel and developing intentional discipleship and building Christ in our homes.

Would you see some of that as I read this narrative?

It's Paul, Barnabas, Silas, Luke, Timothy leaving one missionary journey and going into Philippi and being on another missionary journey.

It's interesting because we will jump right back into Philippians next week.

So as I read, would you follow along in Acts chapter 15?

Acts 15 · chapter mention

I'm going to start reading in verse 36.

Verse 36.

And after some days, Paul said to Barnabas, Let us return and visit the brothers in every city where we proclaimed the word of the Lord and see how they are.

Now Barnabas wanted to take with him John called Mark, but Paul thought best not to take with them one who had withdrawn from then in Pamphylia, and had not gone with him to the work.

And there arose a sharp disagreement, so that they separated from each other.

Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed away to Cyprus, 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.

Paul came to Derby and to Lystra.

A disciple was there, named Timothy, the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer, but his father was a Greek.

He was well spoken of by the brothers at Lystra and Iconium.

Paul wanted Timothy to accompany him, and he took him and he circumcised him because of the Jews who were within 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.

Now we're going to read verse six through fifteen in a moment, but let's just start with this idea.

Missionary journeys, leaving one, going to another one.

What you see in the book of Acts is Christians living on mission.

And I think if we're going to understand as a church family what it means to multiply disciples, we need to see our identity as sent saints.

Right?

We read Acts chapter 1, verse 8.

Acts 1:8

That we will receive power and the Holy Spirit comes upon us, and we will be witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, to the ends of the earth.

That was true for the apostles, and it's still true for us today.

We need to understand our identity as sent saints.

And this text covers a lot.

I'm not going to get to all of it, but in all things it demonstrates this key principle.

Sent saints will go to great lengths to obey the Great Commission.

So as a church, First Baptist Church of Wimberley, what great lengths are we going to so that we can obey the Great Commission?

A few observations as we walk through this.

Number one, sent saints take the whole Great Commission seriously.

So Paul, Barnabas, Mark, Silas, Timothy, they understand what Jesus said in Matthew 28.

All authority has been given to me, therefore, go make disciples of all nations, baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and teach them to obey everything that I've commanded you.

Behold, I'm with you always to the end of the age.

I think the big critique for kind of the church growth movement of the nine days is people know who Jesus is, they get saved, they get dunked, and they take a seat.

And no one ever teaches them to obey.

No one ever does that second part of the Great Commission.

Go make disciples, baptize them.

Don't forget about the other part where Jesus says, Teach them to obey everything I've commanded you.

So when Paul says we should go back to these places that we've been, we should pour into them, we should see how they are.

We should make sure that they understand how to obey Jesus.

That they understand the sacred writings, that they understand what Paul says to Timothy later, that all scriptures breathe out by God.

It's useful for teaching, correction, reproof, and training for righteousness.

Hey, hey guys, you know, it was really fun to be on this missionary journey, but can can we go back and visit these guys?

We want to make sure that they're being trained for righteousness.

That's the whole Great Commission.

I don't know how to uh explain just doing half of something that's really important.

I was thinking it this morning, I've got an example here, but I thought of another one.

Anyone brush your teeth this morning?

Anyone?

I did.

Good job, guys.

Can you imagine just deciding I'm gonna only brush half my teeth?

All my life.

I just want the tops, forget about the bottoms.

Would that be a good situation?

That would be a bad situation.

The example I had in my notes was, you know, are kids still getting duck and cover drills in school?

Kids, kids, uh kids in the room.

I see some kids right here.

Are you still getting duck and cover drills at school?

Tornado drills?

Like, what do you do if there's a tornado?

Yeah?

Do you know what to do?

What do you do, Hunter?

I put him right on the spot.

Yes, ma'am, what do you do?

If it say it's a tornado, right?

So what are you supposed to do?

Hide in the bathroom.

Hide in the bathroom?

Do they say like get down against the wall?

Cover our heads.

That's what I was looking for.

We cover our heads.

So can you imagine this really important like tornado drill?

So you go to a place, an internal room, and you cover your head, and all the kids are like, what was that other one?

I don't remember.

I we went to the bathroom, but I didn't cover my head.

That's pretty important.

Make sure you cover your head.

If the tornado comes, you want you want to protect this vulnerable area.

Jesus said, Go make disciples.

And he said, Teach them to obey.

Paul and his missionary buddies are honoring the whole Great Commission, taking the whole Great Commission seriously.

And did you see the result?

Verse 41.

The churches were strengthened.

Did you see the result?

Chapter 16, verse 5.

So the churches were strengthened.

We want to know who we are in our identity.

That we take this book seriously, that we seek to magnify Christ and share the gospel in our homes in the Wimberley Valley and beyond.

And how are we going to accomplish that goal?

Well, we have these 12 values.

They're on our website.

You can read them, memorize them if you if you really want to go extra credit.

What I'm concerned about is that generally we as a church understand these categories.

We want to glorify God.

I want to know what it is in my life to glorify God.

I want to abide in Christ.

I want to connect in community.

That matters.

And I want to multiply disciples.

Take the whole Great Commission seriously.

Our church will be strengthened if we take the whole Great Commission seriously.

You know, we got to go on a trip this summer to Columbia, and there's two church members right now that are planning an additional trip to go back.

Why?

Because you want to go back and you want to revisit and you want to check in and you want to say, How are things going?

I want to fulfill the whole Great Commission.

You know, developing intentional discipleship is one of the key values.

We want to use that language.

And I just had lunch a couple weeks ago with a brother that walked through our discipleship ministry that first year I was here.

And then he multiplied and he had a group and he was pouring into other men.

And I love seeing that.

And then he multiplied again.

He started a new group recently and he called me up and he was like, Hey, hey, Pastor Aaron, I don't think I'm doing these tools right.

Like you're trying to do accountability and like ask these important accountability questions, or you're trying to understand some of these acronyms, and there's scripture associated, 2 Timothy 2, 2.

And we just we look at it and I don't think I'm explaining it right.

I had lunch with him, and I slowly sat down.

I said, Let me explain this to you.

And at the end of the lunch, it was aha moment, light bulb, like, oh my goodness, I should have been doing this from day one.

It was a big encouragement to me.

So I'm not gonna tell you who it was, but I am gonna tell you this is what happens when we go back and we go back and we invest and we pour in and we check in and we say, How are things going?

And are you pouring your life out for the sake of the gospel?

Do you have a growing zeal for the gospel in your life?

When we look at the book of Acts, you see a balance between evangelism and discipleship.

And I really think it's important.

I carry a coin here on Sunday mornings when I preach.

There's a coin given to me by a church member, the armor of God.

It's it's the same coin, it's just two sides when you think about evangelism and discipleship.

We need to go preach the gospel.

We need to train people up in Jesus.

We can't just do one, it's two sides.

I don't know if you like peanut butter and jelly.

I know this illustration may fall flat because some people don't like peanut butter and some people don't like jelly, but I like a good PBJ.

And I don't want just peanut butter.

Ew, this is dry and gross.

I want some more sugar in there.

Throw some jelly, but I don't want just jelly.

I'm not a biscuits and jelly guy.

I don't eat a lot of jelly, but give me some peanut butter and some jelly, and that's the perfect balance.

It's the same way with evangelism and discipleship.

We should be balancing these things.

That value of having a growing zeal for the gospel.

It reminds me of the verse that Jason just read earlier, Romans 1.16.

I love that verse, by the way.

It became very important to me in my life when I followed this Christian rapper in college.

His name was Lecrae.

I don't know if you've ever listened to Lecrae.

But man, he he started this ministry, the 116 click, man, because they were unashamed of the gospel.

And I remember Romans 1.16.

I want to be unashamed of the gospel.

But not until this week, when I was throwing that into my sermon notes, did I realize the importance of the context of Romans 116?

I want to read, starting in verse 13, it says this I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that I've often intended to come to you, but thus far I've been prevented, in order that I may reap some harvest among you as well as among the rest of the Gentiles.

I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish.

Verse 15.

So I'm eager to preach the gospel to you, always.

Excuse me, the gospel to you also who are in Rome.

Verse 16, for I am unashamed of the gospel.

For it's the power of salvation of those who believe to the Jew first and then to the Gentile.

The whole context of Romans 1:16, which I love, I want to be unashamed of the gospel, is verse 15, Paul's eagerness to preach the gospel.

Romans 1:16

Do you have an eagerness to share the gospel with people?

Do you have a growing zeal for the gospel?

Are you understanding the beauty and the weight of Jesus' death and resurrection for your own life, for your own forgiveness, for the grace that you have every day to wake up and say, Today's another good day, Jesus, thank you for dying for me.

And as you have that growing zeal for the gospel, I think it will have a direct correlation for the way that you go out and share the gospel with others.

This text in the context, verse 37 through 41, talks a little bit about how Paul and Barnabas get split up.

It's actually a really, really big deal.

And if I had more time, I would address it in more length.

But I'll essentially just say this there was more opportunity for the gospel because these two split up.

Barnabas was the guy in Acts chapter 9 that defended Paul and said, I know that he killed Christians, but really Jesus has changed this man's life.

Acts 9 · chapter mention

And he went from defending Paul to saying, maybe we just need to split up.

Maybe we need to go on our different directions.

And it's interesting because Paul did not go back to Cyprus.

Let's go back to all the places that we've preached the gospel and check on them.

But Paul skips Cyprus.

You know who does go though?

Barnabas and Mark.

So there's more opportunity for the gospel.

I know there are times when there's disagreements in churches.

It's happened in this church.

We got two options.

We can get upset, or we can get to work.

And I think the thing that we learn here, if we spent more time, is Paul and Barnabas had this sharp disagreement, and instead of getting upset, they just got to work.

Amen.

We gotta do that, church.

There's too many people that need to hear the good news of Jesus.

We gotta get to work.

Sent saints needs to be our identity.

Number two, sent saints make sacrifices for the sake of the gospel.

Now, this one's interesting.

And some of the kids may go home and ask mom and dad, what was the preacher talking about?

Timothy was circumcised.

That's just for you guys, mom and dad.

You're the primary faith trainers of your home, so you can have this conversation again and again and again with the young people in your house.

The big deal was in the Old Testament, it's God's law to be circumcised.

And all these Gentiles, all these Greeks are coming to Christ and they argue about it in Acts chapter 15.

Acts 15 · chapter mention

Like, do we need to make these Gentiles get circumcised?

Do they have to obey the law, or can they just have forgiveness because Jesus paid it all?

And it's not about obedience to the law, it's about Jesus' blood.

And so, why in the world would Paul encourage Timothy?

Hey, I know you're an adult man now, but I think you should probably go get circumcised.

They figured it out in Acts chapter 15.

Acts 15 · chapter mention

You don't have to, you can just receive forgiveness because Jesus paid it all.

Here's why Paul did that.

Everyone knew his dad was a Gentile, his mom was a Jewish Christian, and so was his grandmother, by the way.

Talk about Christ's centered homes.

The reason Timothy knew about the gospels because his grandmother Lois is pouring into him.

And Paul says, Look, we're gonna go minister to some Jewish people that haven't come to Christ yet.

And if I if you're gonna be all things to all people, they may give you more authority.

Authority instead of griping with you about circumcision if they know that you've been circumcised.

And you know what Timothy does?

He says, you know what?

For the sake of the gospel, sign me up.

I'm not trying to be inappropriate, but ouch.

Okay.

There is a reason that in this country, if mom and dad want to make that decision, it happens in the hospital before boys come home.

Because I would not want to have that operation as an adult.

Listen to what it says in 1 Corinthians 9.

For though I'm free from all, I've made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them.

To the Jews, I became as a Jew, in order that I might win Jews.

To those under the law, I became as one under the law, though not being myself under the law, that I might win those under the law.

To those outside the law, I became as one outside of the law.

Not being outside the law of God, but under the law of Christ.

That I might win those outside the law.

To the weak, I became weak, that I might win the weak.

I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some.

Paul is just instructing Timothy to become all things to all people.

And so there are sacrifices being made.

Serious pain.

So that some might hear more about Jesus.

I don't know what it is in your life.

I don't know what God is asking you to sacrifice.

It's one of the things about being sensitive to the leadings of the Holy Spirit that we walk with the Spirit.

We're going to talk about that in just a moment.

But are there things in your life that if you just said, Lord, here, you can take this, that it might help you share the gospel more?

Are there certain opinions that you have or convictions that you have that that the Lord would say, hey, seek the scriptures again and re-examine some of those things?

Maybe you could win more for the gospel if you wouldn't be so strong on that certain thing.

What sacrifices is God maybe calling you to make so that you could share the gospel with more people?

I'll tell you one thing.

First, you have to go.

You have to be willing to speak up for Christ.

You have to be willing to enter the workplace with the desire to talk about Jesus.

You have to be willing to knock on your neighbor's door and say, Would you want to come over for dinner sometime?

First, you have to go.

But then you can consider some of the things.

The way that you speak, coming out of your comfort zone, being a little more friendly, being a little less harsh, being a little less judgy.

You have to consider how is God calling me to make sacrifices so that I can share the gospel.

I'm not talking about bending the truth of Scripture.

That's not what I'm saying.

We stand on this.

We started with that.

We are trusting God's word.

I'm talking about things in your life that may need to change so that you can take the gospel more seriously.

It's hard to develop intentional discipleship.

It takes time.

We've got to make certain things go off of our schedule so that we can meet with our little men's group or our little women's group or our student group.

It takes time.

There's some sacrifices.

I know that it's hard.

That's part of the tool that we use.

You have to be faithful, reproducible, available, and teachable.

It's hard when you're done with this season, whether it's six months or a year, where your mentor says, now you get to go reproduce, and shaking in your boots, you say, What?

I'm supposed to do that now?

I I needed this.

And then it takes sacrifice for you to go and pray and seek the Lord and say, Is there someone that I can pour into and multiply a disciple?

It's that principle that we see in 2 Timothy 2.2.

It's always supposed to be reproducing, it's always supposed to be multiplying.

2 Timothy 2-2.

Paul says to Timothy, what you have heard from me, teach to faithful men who are able to teach others also.

You see what's going on in that scripture?

There are four generations of discipleship in this one scripture.

Did you see it?

Paul, what you've heard from me to Timothy.

Paul to Timothy.

Timothy, you teach faithful men.

What you've heard from me, Timothy, you teach to faithful men who are able to teach others also.

Did you see?

You've got Paul, you've got Timothy, you've got faithful men, and you've got others also.

There's four generations of discipleship there.

Do you know that that takes sacrifice?

It takes time.

You gotta say no to certain things and yes to other things.

You gotta be vulnerable in accountability, you gotta confess sin sometimes, and then you need that encouragement to keep your eyes on Jesus and keep running after him.

It takes sacrifice, but I think it's worth it.

We're talking about building Christ-centered homes.

Did you know it's easier to be a lazy Christian parent?

Just not pray for your kids when you tuck them in at night, just not read Bible stories, just not talk about the Lord.

It's easier to do that.

But it's not better.

What sacrifices are you making in your life so that the kids in your very home have a foundation that they can stand on to receive the gospel one day?

Sent saints make sacrifices for the gospel.

Two more points, and I've got to run through them.

In verses six through fifteen, we recognize a few other things about sent saints.

I want to read chapter 16, verse 6.

They went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia.

And when they had come to Mysia, they attempted to go to Bithynia, but the spirit of Jesus did not allow them.

So passing by Messiah, they went down to Troas, and a vision appeared to Paul in the night.

A man of Macedonia was standing there, urging him, saying, Come over to Macedonia and help us.

And when Paul had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.

So setting sail from Troas, we made a direct voyage to Sumathras, and the following day to Neapolis, and from there to Philippi, which is a leading city of the district of Macedonia, and a Roman colony.

We remained in that city some days, and on the Sabbath day we went outside the gate to the riverside, where we supposed there was a place of prayer.

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

One who heard us was a woman named Lydia from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple goods, who was a worshiper 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.

Lot going on here.

Briefly, just to make the observation that sent saints are sensitive to the leadings of the Holy Spirit.

I read this text for the first time and thought, why would the Spirit not want Paul to share the gospel in this place?

That doesn't make sense.

We share the gospel in every place.

But Paul, being sensitive to the Holy Spirit, knew that there's another place he should go.

So he had to say no to this place so he could go to that place.

And then God gives him a vision and he consults with the people around him, and they decide to go preach the gospel at Philippi.

There is a sensitivity required.

If we are going to have a growing zeal for the gospel, if we're going to develop intentional discipleship, if we're going to build Christ in our homes, we need to be saying, Holy Spirit, lead me.

When my kid comes to me and says, I didn't like this because my friend said this and I feel this way.

Holy Spirit, I need you right then in that moment.

What should I say?

What scripture should I take them to?

Holy Spirit, I need you right then in that moment.

And what you see here is Paul is sensitive.

I love this passage in Isaiah 30.

Isaiah is speaking about hearing from the Lord.

I'm going to skip down to a verse 20.

It says, Though the Lord give you bread of adversity and water of affliction, yet your teacher, capital T, will not hide himself anymore, but your eyes shall see your teacher, and your ears shall hear a word behind you saying, This is the way, walk in it.

When you turn to the right or to the left?

Man, I want to walk with the Spirit, that value we discussed two years ago.

I want to be full of the Spirit, and I want to be sensitive to the leadings of the Holy Spirit.

Do you have that kind of intimacy with the Lord where you know he's leading you and guiding you and directing you?

Are you pursuing a closeness with the Holy Spirit?

If you want that in your life, let me just give you one very practical thing you can do.

How do we get better at following the Holy Spirit's leading?

Well, you get to know this book.

Because the Spirit's never gonna lead you to do something that's not in this book.

One preacher says it like this the Spirit inspired word.

The Spirit has inspired the word.

Therefore, he goes where the word goes.

The more of God's word you know and love, the more of God's spirit you will experience.

Are you passionate about the word?

How do we apply this to building Christ-centered homes?

There are truths that your kids need to know from the scriptures.

Whose job is it to teach them?

Yours.

Deuteronomy 6.

Parents are to love God with all their heart, mind, soul.

And then after the parents love God with all their heart, mind, and soul, we're commanded to teach diligently these things to our kids.

And we talk about them when we sit in our home, walk by the way when we lie down and when we rise.

Our ministry staff here, Melinda and Isaac in particular, our next gen ministry staff, is passionate about equipping parents to know how to have these conversations in the home.

Do you believe that the Spirit will inspire you to teach diligently to your kids how to love God with all their heart?

I do.

I do.

We see it right here for Paul and his missionary buddies.

How can that be true in your home when we're seeking to build Christ-centered homes?

Homework, if you want homework.

Verse 10, it says, We conclude it.

We.

I want you to do a little homework if you're interested and see.

When did Luke go from describing these missionaries as it's them, it's they, to now, verse 10, it's we.

And is that the first time that that happened?

And so does that mean that Luke accompanied Paul and Silas to go to Philippi?

And does that mean that when they concluded they were supposed to go to Philippi, that there was this council of many other believers, right?

The Proverbs says that we get wisdom when we surround ourselves with a counselor of many other believers, right?

Who are those people in your life helping you be building a Christ inner home?

Is it a small group?

Is it your friends, the people around you that are helping you make big decisions?

Who is that in your life if you're growing a passionate zeal for the gospel?

Who are you surrounding yourself with?

People that fit these values?

I hope so.

Lastly, I want you to see sent saints speak the gospel and trust God to do the rest.

Paul and Silas are preaching the gospel.

They concluded that we're supposed to go preach the gospel, and what happens to Lydia?

God opens her heart.

Did Paul argue Lydia into believing in Jesus or did God open her heart?

Sent saints just speak the gospel and trust God to do the rest.

This is heavily important in building a Christ-centered home.

I know so many moms and dads that are desperate for their kids to come to Jesus.

I got good news and bad news.

The bad news is you cannot save them.

The good news is Jesus can.

And so we do everything we can to pour that foundation and then just trust God to do the rest.

We want to build Christ in our homes.

We want to give you tools and resources.

We want you to be having those conversations at home.

But you can't think that you're saving your kids.

Grandparents, same thing.

Raised my kids in church.

Now I've got kids in their 30s, and my grandkids don't even go to church.

How are they going to hear the word of the Lord?

Well, you're going to tell them, grandma and grandpa.

And you're not going to try to save them.

Jesus can.

We just speak these truths and ask God to do the rest.

Only Jesus can.

As we come to a close, I wonder if you stepped into church today, and if you're honest, you'd say, I'm not a Christian.

You've heard a lot about Jesus, forgiveness, the mission.

We got to tell everyone that Jesus saves.

Forgiveness comes by the blood, it doesn't come by the law.

Maybe today is a day that God is stirring something in you where you say, I want to cry out to Jesus.

Would you come talk to a pastor or minister?

We'd love to walk you through that.

The bigger question for everyone in the room is Do you see yourself as a sent saint?

Is that your identity?

And if it is, which one of these three values could be something very practically where you grow in?

I want to have more of a zeal for the gospel.

I want to step into intentional discipleship.

I want to be a part of building a Christ-centered home.

Let's pray.

Lord, thank you for your word.

We just learned so much from seeing Paul and his missionary buddies, and more so, we we want to be shaped by the word when it comes to our vision and values.

And so this season has been fruitful, has been encouraging for me personally.

I hope it's been that for our church.

Help us.

Help us to be the kind of church that magnifies Christ and shares the gospel.

As we come into this moment of response, Lord, if there's people that need to come and just pray at these steps, a prayer of surrender, would they feel the freedom to do that?

And not worry about what people are looking at, what they might think.

If they need to come and speak to a pastor, would they do that?

If they need to walk across the room and hug someone in their church family, would they do that?

Show us how you're calling us to respond to the truth today.

We pray that in Jesus' name.

Amen.