The Way | The Good News Travels — Jeremy Taylor

Hey, I'm Pastor Forrest, and welcome to the Multiply Church Podcast.

Each week we open God's word together to help you meet God and multiply good in your everyday life.

We're so glad that you've taken time to join us for this week's sermon.

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Now, let's dive into this week's sermon.

Good morning, church.

When I thank of you, uh I pray for you.

And I'm so um humbled and honored to be back and revisit this morning.

And uh I will do the best I can um to uh to honor your pastor uh as I fill in this morning and uh help continue the series that you guys have been walking through entitled The Way.

I know you guys have been walking through Acts.

And being someone who's not here on a regular basis and not here on staff and in the sermon prep meetings and know exactly word for word what's been preached in the last couple of weeks, I'll do the best I can to pick up where Pastor Forrest left off last week and continue this movement that we're discussing through the book of Acts, where the Holy Spirit fell on uh new uh new believers and persecution uh happens because of the death of an individual named Stephen, and then believers are scattered.

Uh, and so we're gonna pick up there today.

But before we get into that, I just want to say thank you.

Uh thank you for uh showing up today.

Thank you for choosing to bring the church into this building.

Uh thank you for choosing to be a difference maker in Frankfurt, Kentucky.

Thank you for being someone who truly believes in the mission of meeting God and multiplying good and pushing Frankfurt forward.

Um I do want to say this um before we get going that uh life update.

Uh I know the last couple of times I've been here, uh we've I've been able to celebrate on a on a uh Super Bowl Sunday with you on a couple of occasions.

And I told you last time I was here that we still had some of those multiply footballs in the vehicle.

Life update, they're still there, right?

Uh life update as well.

The last message that we talked about, as some of you remember, I used an illustration where we talked about an oak tree in my driveway.

Life update that is dropping acorns right now as we speak this morning.

Uh, I don't know whether that should get an amen or not, um, because that means rodents are at bay, right?

Uh, I didn't even tell you all the last time I was here.

I shared a couple stories with you about how that had impacted uh us financially, how that had impacted us a number of different ways as well.

But also, I didn't tell you the story about driving down the road, and little Mia was in the back back in her car seat, in the back seat in her car seat, and a mouse ran across my lap while I was driving down the road.

Yeah, uh I nearly set the vehicle on fire when I got in the driveway.

Uh thank they thank you, Oak Tree, for all that that goodness.

And other life update, I'm I'm I would assume that Pastor Force is enjoying some barbecue this weekend somewhere.

I know you guys probably know that, but um when when you're working on a message, I also want to share this.

When you're working on a message, I truly believe that the message is working on you.

And I just want to share this on the front end before we dive into today's message.

I was really convicted by studying the scripture this week and talking about what God put me in a position to share this week.

So I'm just gonna tell you right on the front, front end here.

I am preaching to Jeremy this morning, right?

I'm just telling you that right out of the gate.

I'm preaching to Jeremy this morning because I realized what these new believers were doing at this particular time in church history.

Uh, one, it wasn't easy.

They faced persecution that many of us will never have to face.

Um, but uh they were sharing something with passion and zeal and excitement because they knew it was worth sharing.

And I can't always say that my actions reflect and my words reflect that I truly believe that it's always worth sharing because um uh I don't talk about the good news of the gospel nearly as much as what I probably could or should.

And I would venture to say that there's there's some other folks in here uh who feel that way um as well.

But I want to open up here.

I want to open up here by asking a question.

Have you ever noticed how easy it is to uh for us to tell people about something that we love?

Right?

Do we have any folks in here who are uh like here recently I have been on a mission to talk about how much I love.

I know some of you guys are gonna be like, really, dude?

I love gardening and I've been so excited about expanding the perennial garden and the wildflower garden and bringing in all the pollinators to our yard.

I've been excited about transforming things and bringing some fruits and some vegetables into your yard.

But part of the reason why I've been so passionate about it is because I'm tired of mowing so much yard and I'm trying to transform some of it, right?

Uh, but I can talk about that, I'm telling you, as the day is long.

Some of us, it's easy for us to talk about things that we love.

I love talking about my wife.

Matter of fact, we celebrated our 11-year anniversary yesterday.

Yes.

Let's go.

Let's go.

Man, she's so blessed to have me.

Uh I can say that at nine because she'll be here at 11.

Uh, but you find a new restaurant and suddenly you're a spokesperson for that establishment.

I know I got some people in here guilty.

You find a lawn care product and suddenly, right, you're giving neighbors unsolicited agricultural advice.

Your team wins one football game, right?

I've shared this before, and some of y'all have chosen to love me as a part of the body of Christ anyway, but I'm a cards fan.

But I also saw that UK is now second, the setting second in the SEC.

Is this real life?

In the SEC rankings?

Woo-woo, right?

Uh you uh listen, you won't ever hear me say this ever again.

Go cats, right?

But I'm excited about that.

I'm excited about that.

Go Cars, Go Cats, both got a win yesterday, and K-State put a thumping, right?

Uh had another thumping yesterday, got a big dub.

And so your team wins a football game, and you're ready to tell everybody why this is finally the year, right?

In Will Stein we trust, right?

I'm a Chicago Bears fan.

Uh I was told that the Chicago Bears are gonna have the most explosive offense in the National Football League this year, and now they're trash once again.

All right.

Welcome to being a Bears fan, right?

Uh, but I think Caleb Williams is back this week.

Hopefully things will turn around.

But don't get me started also on how we get excited about the the water bottle, the new water bottle that we got, right?

And how it keeps water cold for 14 plus hours in a day.

I mean, I put ice in that last week, right?

Jiggle that thing.

You hear that ice in there?

Go get you one of these, right?

And I don't know about you all, but at my church, uh it seems like there's always two or three people throughout the course of any given Sunday gathering during the service, you hear doom.

You know what I'm talking about?

Doom.

Somebody kicked over one of those water bottles, doom, and everybody's like, yeah, right?

Those water bottles.

But engagements, babies, right?

Baby announcements, first homes, long-awaited reunions with family and friends.

At the end of the day, we share these things because we believe that they matter.

We share these things because we believe that they matter and we're excited about it.

We want to we want to share that with somebody, right?

We don't struggle to share things.

We we we share recommendations, opinions, experiences, products, and just about everything else.

But isn't it interesting when it comes to sharing the greatest news we've ever received?

The good news of Jesus, that suddenly we can become hesitant.

Right?

Why is it that we're willing to tell everybody about what makes our coffee taste better?

Right?

Something that's helped us drop a few pounds, or some some some life hack that's helped dinner be a little bit more effective and less challenging on a weeknight with the kids, right?

But sometimes we struggle to tell somebody about the one who gives us hope to be on this life.

And I don't say that.

Again, I made this disclaimer on the front end.

I don't say that this morning to shame anybody because I am just as bad about it as anybody else.

I I share that because I think it reveals a question worth asking today.

Do we really understand and live out our daily lives in a manner where we really understand what we've received?

Do we really grasp the power of it, the weight of it, the joy of it, the implications of it, right?

As I prayed through and prepare for today's message, I can't begin to tell you how overwhelming the conviction was that I felt about how much I personally needed today's message.

I really feel like Pastor Forrest reached out and said, Hey Jeremy, can you preach on October 18th?

Because the Lord knew that I needed this message today more than anyone else did.

We don't struggle to share things, we struggle to recognize the urgency, right?

How urgent it is to share the right thing.

In doing so in our everyday lives, where we live, work, play, and worship.

I say that oftentimes when I think about practical daily applications of our faith and advancing the kingdom because one of my pastors, uh, when I lived in Bowling Green, Kentucky, he used to say that often.

He talked about the practical application of our faith, where we live, work, play, and worship.

And that just rolled off his tongue and that just kind of settled into my heart.

I think about that so often.

Where we live, work, play, and worship.

Do people see the glory of Christ in us?

And are we sharing the good news of the gospel?

But that doesn't always mean asking someone the awkward question do you know where you're going when you depart from this earth?

It's not just awkward evangelistic conversations.

And I hope that we can unpack some of that today.

But look quickly, look at a neighbor if you don't mind.

Look at a neighbor real quick and say this for me.

The good news is too important to keep to ourselves.

I'm gonna say that again.

You don't have to repeat after me, but I'm gonna say that again.

The good news is too important to keep to ourselves, right?

This doesn't mean that because we're a follower of Jesus, sharing the good news should look effortlessly.

It doesn't mean that talking about Jesus, sharing your story, asking someone about, asking someone that you care about, asking them hard questions, uh, that it can't be vulnerable.

We're gonna feel these things, right?

But the good news is too important, guys, to keep to ourselves.

And the value of the message that we carry with us everywhere that we go gives us a reason to lean in and be intentional about it because we know what it can mean for someone else, right?

We know what it can mean for someone else.

In Acts 11, we encounter believers who understood that the good news wasn't theirs to keep.

And now that the door had been opened, as Pastor Forrest alluded to last week, for Gentiles to be welcomed into the family of God.

He talked about being grafted into the family of God, right?

Uh they carried the gospel across boundaries into unfamiliar places, and specifically in Antioch, where we're going to talk about today, uh, into a place where there's deep racial and religious opposition, right?

To people who needed to hear the gospel the most.

And the beauty of what we're unpacking this morning is that that same calling, that same good news, that same Holy Spirit that they received, and we sung about this morning, that same power is still alive and well, inviting and propelling us forward today.

But if I'm honest with myself, there's a lot of days I don't act like it, right?

And my life doesn't reflect it.

And I'm not talking to people like I truly believe that, right?

Uh but before we unpack what I feel like are some practical applications from Acts 11 and we look at the scriptures, for those who haven't been here the last few weeks, I'm going to try to do the best I can from a timeline perspective to catch us up to speed on what's been happening through Acts.

So if you missed the series so far or you've you weren't here last week, uh uh uh uh stay with me here.

Jesus has risen from the grave, commissioned his followers to be witnesses in Jerusalem and in all of Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth.

That's Acts 1:8, where he commissions them, right?

Acts 1:8

Uh and then he ascended into heaven, and at Pentecost, the Holy Spirit comes and he empowers believers, right?

Empowers them to carry out that mission that Jesus has given us.

Stephen is killed for his faith, and then persecution breaks out, and believers begin to scatter.

But here's the good news is that wherever they go, the gospel goes with them.

And what God, uh what, what what the enemy uh intends to use to persecute the church to stop this movement, God uses as a means of advancing the kingdom, right?

Into all the nations, right?

As believers are on the move, the gospel goes with them.

And along the way, a man named Saul, which is also named Paul, he gets a new name after this encounter with Christ, who've been persecuting followers of the way of Jesus.

Uh he's confronted his encounter, transforms him into one of what we would consider probably one of the boldest witnesses in all of church history, right?

I like to call him the gangster of the gospel.

That's my nickname for Paul.

Um, I mean, the fact that this guy was persecuting Christians, imprisoning Christians, killing Christians, and now God is using him as one of the greatest mission church planners and missionaries in all of church history, right?

Don't tell me he can't use me, you, and all of us, right?

Uh if we know Paul's story here.

But he would go on to author much of what we consider to be the New Testament.

And during his planning and discipleship journey, God then sends Peter, which you guys talked about last week, to the home of a man named Cornelius, a Gentile, and the Holy Spirit falls on many Jewish believers who we would have never expected to welcome into God's family for the first time, right?

And now we arrive at Acts 11.

Some of those scattered believers have now reached this place called Antioch, and they begin telling Greeks about Jews.

People believe, the church grows, Barnabas comes alongside of them, Saul begins to join the work, and disciples begin to be called Christians for the first time.

We're going to read about that in today's message.

But what's happening here?

What's happening here is the gospel is moving, right?

Persecution doesn't stop it, cultural boundaries don't contain it.

The mission isn't dependent upon one famous preacher or somebody who's uber talented in the mission of Christ, right?

God is working through ordinary believers like you, like me, like all of us, who are willing, emphasis on willing to carry out the good news, to carry the good news.

And we are a beneficiary of that in present time.

You know, I've been made aware of a recent story in your church where a young lady by the name of Lily was recently baptized, who's here from Germany as a foreign exchange student.

Listen, what happened 2,000 years ago, right?

Look at this, folks.

What happened 2,000 years ago?

Because ordinary people like you, like me, and we are a part of God's mission of redeeming the world and reconciling people back to him because people have chosen to believe that the good news is worth sharing.

This is what's happening in Frankfurt, Kentucky.

And now wherever Lily goes, the gospel will go with her.

Praise be to God.

And she's gonna go back to Germany in a place where there in her surrounding areas where there aren't many people who understand what she's feeling, what she's experiencing.

And now she has an opportunity to be an advocate for Christ where she goes because of the faithfulness of some of you in this room, folks.

What a beautiful picture here of what this actually looks like.

That brings us to the question that we have to wrestle with, I believe, today.

If the gospel has reached us because others were willing to carry it, who is God calling us to reach?

Who's he calling us to reach?

And I want to answer that question here quickly before we dive in.

Because I know Pastor Forrest has been using this idea through Acts, kind of looking at zooming in and zooming out, zooming into particular stories that play a part of this movement in Acts, but zooming out, looking at the church moving as a whole, right?

So on a personal level, zooming in, right, on a on a micro level, this question, who is God calling us to reach, that's somewhat personal and unique to all of us.

Because all of us, we have different talents, we have different backgrounds, we have different family dynamics, we have different interests, careers.

We're exposed to different people in different places at different times than one another.

And so uh that the answer to that question is unique to each of us in some way.

But if we pan out, if we zoom out on a macro level, that question simply means that God is calling us to reach the people around us.

That's the simple answer.

But that's not easy.

But this morning what are we gonna we're gonna talk about what that looks like, practically speaking.

Um, and and I believe it begins here.

It begins with understanding and a baseline understanding that the gospel is for everyone, not just a few of us, not just some special people who look a certain way or who come from a certain part of the world.

The gospel is for everyone.

And I and I threw a couple of scriptural references there.

I'm not gonna read all of those.

I am gonna uh look at uh chapter 17, Acts 10, or excuse me, uh Acts 10, 17 through 18 here in just a second, uh what Paul, what Peter says here as he's recapping what happened between he and Cornelius.

But John 14, 6 says that Jesus basically says this.

He says, I am the way.

Some of you all can probably help me finish this.

I am the way, the what?

The truth, and the what?

That no one comes to the Father except through who?

Through Jesus, right?

Through me.

Jesus said, so so we understand that the gospel is for everyone.

It is impossible to please God, it is impossible to be reconciled to God, it is impossible to be in eternal relationship with God, to be uh uh saved from our sins, to be reconciled back to Him, to live in unison with Him, except through Jesus, right?

And then Peter, these other scriptural references here talking about how Peter, uh his encounter with Cornelius, basically saying that he realized at this point in time, right, after God gave him this vision, that wow, this is this is God's plan for the world, right?

And then in 17 through 18, as he is reporting to the church, because people are asking Peter about what happened, man?

You went to these people who we're not supposed to be kicking it with, right?

You're you we went to hang out with these people who we're not supposed to uh step into their households, we're not to mix and mingle with.

Like what happened?

And then Peter goes on to say this in 17 uh if then God gave the same gift to them as he gave to us when we believed in the Lord Jesus, who was I that I would stand in God's way?

The gospel is for everyone, right?

And when they had heard these things, they fell silent and they began to glorify God, saying, Then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that leads to life.

Praise the Lord that the Gentiles get to receive the good news and the Holy Spirit because we are on the other side of that, right?

Praise the Lord that that was the that's the case.

The gospel doesn't become powerful because of the people that are sharing it, though.

It becomes powerful because the the it comes from the creator of the heavens and the earth.

The gospel isn't merely advice for people on how to live better because they're struggling or because they mess up or they need to get their act together.

It's good news of what God has done through Jesus to reconcile sinners to himself.

No ethnicity, no background, no social standing or religious history puts someone beyond the need for him.

And I would assume that there are some people who are in situations that many of us think, or maybe we were there ourselves, where we think, well, maybe I am beyond the reach of God.

Or we know people who are apathetic to faith.

Maybe they don't think they need Jesus because their life, they seemingly have all the things that they need to live this life and live it in a uh seemingly good way.

And financially, their house is in order, and they maybe have a good marriage and their kids are put together.

Uh but the reality is that everybody needs the gospel.

The apathetic, the downtrodden, the the hesitant, those who are hostile to the gospel as well, right?

Those who feel unlovable.

And unworthy, everybody needs the gospel.

And so I believe when it comes to these new believers being scattered and sharing the gospel with folks who would not have received the gospel otherwise, and that being God's plan for the world, when I think about this, I think about the fact that we are oftentimes hesitant about sharing the good news that we've received and what Jesus has done in our life.

But let's never assume that someone is too different, too far gone, or too unlikely to respond to Jesus.

I know for me, I have person on a on a real personal level, I have struggled to have some conversations with my own flesh and blood, my own brother, because of some challenges and difficulties that he's had with his faith and with the church and some church hurt that we haven't really completely unpacked from years past.

I struggle to have conversations with him because sometimes I feel like he doesn't want to hear me or he won't respond to anything that I say regarding Jesus.

So I realize that those conversations are delicate, but I should never assume, I should never assume that my own flesh and blood doesn't need to hear the good news of Jesus.

That he doesn't need to hear that I've been praying for him, that I love him, ask him questions.

How are things going?

What's on your mind?

What's on your heart?

Being the example that I can be of Christ in his life.

But let's look at Acts 11 here, chapter 19 through 21.

Acts 11, chapter 19 through 21.

Now those who were scattered because of the persecution that arose over Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, speaking the word to no one except Jews.

So there were some people that were, as they were being scattered, they were speaking the word to no one except folks who were essentially their own kind.

But then it goes on to say here in verse 20, but there were some of them.

We don't know their names, we don't know their backgrounds, we don't know how talented they were, we don't know what they specialized in, we don't know what they were excited about.

We don't know if they like splitting perennial plants in the fall and expanding their pollinator garden.

It just says some of them.

We'll never know what their names were because it's not recorded on the pages of scripture, but some of them, men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who on coming to Antioch spoke to the Hellenists.

What that simply essentially means here is Greek-speaking non-Jews, right?

They spoke to the Hellenists also, preaching the Lord Jesus.

Verse 21 says, And the hand of the Lord was with them.

I highlighted that for emphasis this morning because I want us to remember that as we talk about the gospel spreading and us sharing the good news and using these new believers in Antioch as a model and inspiration for sharing the gospel, I want us to know that it's not on our own merit that this is possible, that the hand of the Lord was with them.

It was only made possible through him that this could happen.

And a great number who believed turned to the Lord in the process.

And so what that takes us to is our second talking point this morning, which is this you and me, we have a part to play.

We have a part to play.

God uses ordinary believers just like us to accomplish extraordinary things.

In Acts 11, uh, 22 through 26, it says, the report of this came to the ears of the church in Jerusalem that this movement was taking place.

So they sent Barnabas to Antioch.

They sent Barnabas to Antioch to confirm, to see with his own eyes and hear with his own ears what was going on.

And it says here that he came and saw the grace of God on display, essentially.

He was glad.

And he extorted them to remain faithful to the Lord with steadfast purpose, for he was a good man and full of the Holy Spirit and faith.

And a great many people were added to the Lord.

Right?

So Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul, and when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch for a whole year.

They met with the church and taught a great many people.

And in Antioch, the disciples were first called Christi, this were first called Christians.

This movement had exploded so much that they had to give these folks a name.

At one point in time, they were just saying that people were following the way, the way of Jesus.

And now this thing is moving at such a rapid pace and it's infiltrating the lives of folks in an area that was essentially godless with all of this uh racial and religious tension, right?

Opposition, that now it's like these new people, right, we got to give them a name.

We're gonna call them Christians, right?

We're talking about people whose names clearly not recorded on the page of scripture.

Everyday people like you and me, they're making this happen.

But as we talked about here a second ago, let's be clear.

They were responsible for bearing the witness, but God himself was responsible for the work that only he could do in people's hearts.

We are not responsible for begging, selling, telling, convincing, twisting anyone's arm into following Jesus or think that it can happen on our own merit.

Our goal, our job is simply to obey and be faithful to the call.

It's his job to take care of the results, right?

But we see here not just the fact that they're sharing the gospel and the good news, but then Barnabas comes on the scene and he says, Man, I want to encourage you.

And then he reaches out to Paul.

Paul, Saul, same, one and the same here.

We see discipleship happening, right?

Strengthening of new believers.

The church in Jerusalem sending Barnabas here, and then he goes and seeks out Saul's support, and they spend a year gathering and growing under the leadership of a guy who was fresh off the streets of imprisoning and killing Christians.

I'm gonna say that again, right?

Paul comes and disciples them for a year, teaching them, loving on them, caring for them, and this dude was fresh off the streets of telling people that if you're following the way of Jesus, you're wrong and you need to be put away.

Folks, this is only an act of God that this is possible.

And I promise you, if he can use Paul, I think about this so often, if he can use Paul, I know he can use you.

I truly believe he can use me.

Although in my finite mind, I don't believe it at times.

But when I read the pages of history here and what happens here, he's calling us to step and filling us to step into the gap, right?

And make a difference the same way as these Christians were doing at this particular point in time as well.

But I want you to know this: you don't have to be a professional Christian to have a meaningful part in what God is doing.

Let me tell you this, guys, for a long time I didn't think that I could really make a difference in God's kingdom because I thought that the ultimate calling was quote unquote surrendering to the ministry.

For a long time in my past with my faith, I thought the only way really to be used by God is for me to surrender to the ministry and for me to be in full-time vocational ministry.

Right?

But we don't have to be a professional Christian.

Multiply church isn't simply a place that you attend, it's a local expression of God's people that you are part of, that you have a stake, a role, and an opportunity to serve in.

And much of what it looks like is how you show up in the lives of the people around you where you live, work, play, and worship.

And that's what we're going to transition and unpack here quickly as we talk about the fact that if we believe that the gospel is for everyone, and those first believers did, and if we believe that we have a part to play, then that should compel us to act, right?

To love people enough to act.

Because the gospel, gospel-shaped faith moves beyond words into sacrificial love.

Acts 10, 27 through 30 goes on to say this at the end of the chapter.

So you have these new believers that reach Antioch.

They're sharing the message with folks who are Gentiles, right?

This movement happens.

Barnabas comes to encourage them, Saul comes to teach them for a year.

But then what happens here is you see real transformation happening in their lives.

It's it's it no longer is just about sharing the good news of the gospel and who Jesus is and what Jesus has done for us and the opportunity to be reconciled back to him and be saved from our sins.

But then it transforms the way that they live their lives.

Listen here, 27 through 30, it says, Now in these days, prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch, and one of them named Agabus stood up and foretold by the Spirit that there would be a great famine over all of the world.

This took place in the days of Claudius.

So the disciples determined, these these new disciples of Jesus determined everyone according to his ability.

Everyone according to his ability, whatever you can bring, whatever you can offer, whatever you can provide, everyone according to his ability to send relief to the brothers living in Judea, and they did so.

And they did so, sending it to the elders by the hand of Barnabas and Saul, right?

When this famine is predicted, they determined that they're going to send relief.

Their gifts were brought through Barnabas and Saul.

There was no mandate, there was no minimum number of what you should provide.

There was no bottom figure here.

It was about practicing generosity, and that's the overflow of a life that's hidden in Christ.

That's ultimately the expression of us living out who we say we are, what we say we believe.

It's being generous in the lives of other people with our time, our talent, and our treasure, right?

Um if the mission reaches beyond the church building, then through this type of generosity, what does it look like to engage people with the gospel?

Practicing generosity in our everyday lives, right?

Not just giving away our coats at a coat drive, not just donating shoes or school supplies, but what does it really look like to be generous in the lives of others, right?

To be generous in the lives of others where we live, work, play, and worship.

I want to I want to provide just a couple of practical examples here before we start to land the plane today.

Where we live, this is really what convicted me as I was working through today's message.

Learning your neighbor's names and inviting someone over for dinner that maybe you haven't had in your home before.

Listen, I we have an elderly gentleman who lives in the corner as we uh depart our road.

We we come down our drive and we hang a left by the barns on the farm property, and we go around this corner, and his name is Mr.

Rodner.

And I've noticed that over the last couple years, Mr.

Rodner has struggled to get out and do some seasonal decorating the way that he likes to.

He usually has the house decked out with Christmas lights and the kids love it.

Miles gets so excited seeing the Christmas lights that Mr.

Rodner puts out.

But I noticed this last season that he wasn't able to put those out.

And as I was reading through this scripture and as I was talking about what it looks like to practically love people, the Lord said, Jeremy, how about you just go down the street, you knock on the door and say, Hey, Mr.

Rodner, me and Miles, we'd love to help you put up your Christmas lights this year.

Because that's what it looks like to show up where you live, work, play, and worship.

And I'm gonna report back to the church here.

I'm gonna send Barnabas here to tell you if I did that or not, right?

Um because I need to make sure that I make good on my word.

What about where we work?

It brings us into contact with people that we probably wouldn't meet otherwise.

Our workspaces are full of people who need Jesus, right?

And one of the ways that we can provide hope is by treating all people with dignity and respect.

Right?

One of the practical ways that we can model Jesus in our workspaces, because it isn't always an evangelical conversation.

Maybe it's just choosing not to participate in the office gossip, and people see that man, there's something different about them.

What about where we play?

Be willing to befriend people.

Or maybe it's at the soccer field, maybe it's at the ballpark.

Be willing to befriend people who don't share your faith rather than treating them as folks that we should always avoid and shield ourselves from.

And and where you worship, where you guys gather here, all right?

Moving from a consumer to a contributor, being an active participant in what's taking place at Multiply Church, what's taking place with the ministry efforts, right?

Use your gifts to add value to the church because you have them.

Be willing to do something uh you're uncomfortable with doing, right?

Uh to add to the mission of multiply church.

You don't have to wait for a mission trip or a church event.

You can participate in God's mission right where God has placed you, right here, right now, because your current platform is your current, your current position is your current platform, right?

We can't control who believes, where we live, work, play, and worship.

We can't control who believes, but we can control, we can choose whether we faithfully bear witness.

So here's the bottom line today.

Here's the bottom line is that you've received the good news.

I've received the good news, we've received the good news, and we are called to go share that, right?

Now it's necessary for us to take it to someone who needs it.

But that isn't easy.

The gospel is too good to keep to ourselves, but that isn't easy.

That's why I put the emphasis here in Acts on the fact that the hand of the Lord was with them because only through him it was possible.

But being possible also is it uh happens through our obedience, right?

The gospel is too good to keep to ourselves, so we cross boundaries, we take part in the mission, we love people through words and actions, because this is what it means to be a Christian.

This is what it means to be a Christian.

And I love that these words from Tony Evans.

He says this that if we're going to bear his name in the world, if we're if we're gonna if we're gonna fly our flag and hang our hat on the fact that we are a Jesus follower, then we must likewise bear his attitudes and actions, his character and his conduct.

And that's ultimately what sharing good news is.

It's being open and honest about the fact that Jesus is the way, the life, and the truth, that no one comes to the Father except through him.

But it's also about that truth reflecting our character, our conduct, the way that we treat people, the way that we honor people, the way that we serve people, the way that we sacrifice, the humility that we show, right?

That's what it looks like to live out what we say we believe.

So let's do that.

If Jesus is for everyone and we believe that the gospel carries God's authority, that means every believer has a part to play.

And if we understand that every believer has a part to play, then that means the local church is a shared responsibility amongst us, people.

The local church in reaching Frankfurt is a shared responsibility amongst us.

How many people in here have children by show of hands?

How many people in here at one point in time you've told those children or you're preparing your heart to tell those children that, hey, if you live here, you're gonna do some work around here.

Right?

Huh?

Right?

You may not be paying no bills right now, but if you're gonna dirty up them dishes, guess what you're gonna do?

You're gonna help clean them dishes, right?

You're gonna help pick up around the house.

You're gonna take the trash out, right?

How crazy would it be to say that we are a part of something, but not participate in what unfolds in it?

How crazy is it for us to think?

We look at our kids sometimes, I'm like, who do you think you are?

Right?

Thinking that you can just throw clothes around, thinking that you can just leave all that toothpaste on the bathroom here, thinking that you can just throw all this stuff all over the place and not pick up.

Listen, if you live here, you're gonna get on board and help take responsibility for what goes on here.

What if we brought that same energy to the local church?

Because when we live this way, here's what we do: we make heaven full, people.

Heaven got a little bit more crowded because of how God has used you to minister to a young lady named Lily.

Heaven just got a little bit more crowded because of how God has used you to plant seeds at Kentucky State University, and people received the word recently and were baptized into the family of Jesus Christ because of you.

The gospel reached Jerusalem, it spread through Judea and Samaria, it crossed boundaries into Antioch.

And from Antioch, the church sent people toward the nations.

We are beneficiaries of that expanding mission, folks, and we should be proud of that.

We should be grateful for that.

We should be excited about that, we should be hopeful about that, we should tell people about that.

We have a part to play in carrying the good news to the people that God has placed around us.

2,000 years ago, these ordinary believers they went into places that the gospel had not taken root.

They did something that was hard, they did something that was scary, they did something that was, dare I say, courageous.

Like it was what's gonna happen.

But they spoke about Jesus and they strengthened new believers, and they gave sacrificially to people in need.

Since we are beneficiaries of their obedience, I think it's important to remember what I recently heard John Tyson say.

He says, You have no idea what is waiting on the other side of your obedience.

They had no idea what was waiting on the other side of their obedience.

We have no idea what's waiting on the other side of our obedience.

We've received the message that they carried, the faith that they modeled, and the opportunities to continue the mission that Jesus gave his church.

And the same Lord who worked through those believers is still at work today, church.

Remember, Acts 11.21 says, the hand of the Lord was with them.

It's also with us.

It's also with us.

So the question isn't, am I gifted enough?

Am I qualified enough?

Or am I influential enough to make a difference?

That's not the question.

The question is, is am I willing?

Am I willing to be faithful with the people God has already placed in my life?

Somebody in your neighborhood needs hope.

Somebody at your workplace is carrying a burden.

Somebody on the sidelines at your child's sporting event is lonely.

Somebody who walks through these church doors on any given Sunday or at any particular event throughout the week, they need to know that they belong and Jesus is inviting them into something far greater than they could ever imagine.

You don't have to have all the answers, you don't have to have perfect words, you don't have to be God's most gifted evangelist, you don't have to be a pastor, you don't have to force a conversation, but you do have a story, and you do have a savior, and you do have a responsibility to faithfully share that good news that you've received.

So, multiply church, let's remember this morning that we're not simply here to receive what God is doing, we're invited to participate in it.

The gospel is too good to keep to ourselves, the gospel is too good to keep to ourselves, the gospel is far too good, far too great, far too rich, far too meaningful, far too impactful, far too great to keep to ourselves.

So let's love people enough to share it.

Let's trust God enough to obey what he's asked us to do and let him take the good news wherever he so chooses.

As our music team returns, let's pray, guys.

Heavenly Father, thank you.

Thank you for this opportunity today to receive your word.

Thank you for this opportunity today to realize and to understand and um to be reminded that your plan for the world is for the folks who are made in your image to be reconciled back to you so that we can be a part of the family for uh of your family, and that the the hope of the world, the light of the world is the local church.

Lord, we are grateful that you've given us an opportunity to be a part of that.

We are so unworthy, we are so undeserving, but you loved us so much that you sent your son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross for our sins.

And he was raised from the grave and conquered death to give us an opportunity to live a new life.

When we say yes to Jesus, we are born again and we've been given a new purpose, a new mission, Lord.

Let us not take that lightly.

Help us to take responsibility for what that means in the kingdom on the macro level, but also help us to take responsibility for what that means on a micro level, right here in our backyard, through Multiply Church, through Frankfurt, in our neighborhoods, where we live, work, play, and worship, to be an example of what the good news can do through someone and to share that good news with others.

Lord, it is only through you that this is possible.

You said that your hand was with those believers in Antioch.

And I trust, Lord, that your hand is also with us when we choose to be obedient, Lord.

Give us the strength, give us the energy, give us the fire, give us the passion to do what it is that you've called us to, and let us do it in such a way, Lord, that it overwhelms the minds and the hearts of people around us, Lord, that they see that Jesus not only is he for everyone, Lord, but that Jesus is the only way.

That he is the ticket to a better life.

And that better life doesn't mean having everything that we want, Lord, but it looks different than the world.

It's a life that loves other people, it's a life that serves other people, it's a life that gives away of ourselves so that other people can be rescued and swept up into the family of God, Lord.

Help us.

Help us to do what it is that you called us to do, Lord.

We are grateful this morning for you.

In Jesus' name, I ask and pray all these things.

Amen.

We're so grateful you joined us for this week's message.

At Multiply, we believe life was never meant to be lived alone.

If today you made the decision to follow Jesus, we'd be honored to walk with you on this journey.

Visit multiplyky.com to let us know.

We love you and we'll see you again soon.