02.01.2009 Acts 8 The mission of Christ will be accomplished by volunteers

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02.01.2009 Grace Summit Sermon - Acts 8 The mission of Christ will be accomplished by volunteers from Grace Summit on Vimeo
02.01.2009 Grace Summit Worship led by Kasey Kelly from Grace Summit on Vimeo

Things are often cliché because they are true. The percent of the iceberg that you see is very small compared to the entire iceberg. What is written in the Book of Acts is really the tip of the iceberg of what occurred in the first century. We will focus on the mission – from Acts 1:8 – being accomplished in large part by unnamed, common believers. Yes, we focus on Paul and Peter – but primarily, the work was done by ones whose names we don’t know. We will focus on the most important work of the church being accomplished by volunteers without any titles attached to their names. Most of the work is not done by the clergy – but by believers, volunteers – who, in one sense, are doing it for free because of their love for Christ. It is a blessing to serve at this church. Tuesday night I spoke to the interns at The Chapel. I talked to them about what it is like to be the pastor of a small church. They want them to understand that for the majority of them – they won’t pastor a megachurch. There are the challenges, but also the joys of being involved in a small church. Most everyone is involved. That is not the case in most churches and it is a joy to serve and pastor here because we are really doing this. As we look at the Book of Acts, it is something we are doing but need to excel still more.

Thank You, Lord, for Your word and for the amount of ministry that takes place on every level for this church of 140-150 – Youth, Men’s, Women’s, Missions – all these different ministries. Continue that spirit in our hearts. Thank You – now speak to us. Teach us something that will transform our lives with a new focus and mission. Challenge us this morning. In Your name we pray.

Acts 6 – appointing of leaders

Acts 7 – Stephen’s martyrdom – the history of Israel – would be good to go through for several weeks – how the history of Israel is fulfilled in Christ. I have an outline on the back table that describes this. Take one – we can make more.

Acts 8: - after Stephen is put to death for the gospel –

Acts 8:1 And Saul was in hearty agreement with putting him to death. And on that day a great persecution arose against the church in Jerusalem; and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. 2 And [some] devout men buried Stephen, and made loud lamentation over him. 3 But Saul [began] ravaging the church, entering house after house; and dragging off men and women, he would put them in prison. 4 Therefore, those who had been scattered went about preaching the word.

All the people in the church – except the apostles were scattered – and they went out preaching the gospel message –
Scattered – the same word as spreading seed all over the place. They were scattered everywhere. 3000-5000 in Jerusalem – now, because of this persecution – they are fleeing – but as they do it, are spreading through Judea and Samaria and brining that message to all those people.

Eugene Peterson – a Church Without Walls – good book – and a great name – the churches could not and should not be contained by brick and mortar. The church is not inside the walls of a building but should be scattered out into the world. Even though we don’t have persecution – the church is scattered and divided amongst the world. Even here – we work and live in different places. We are scattered throughout Akron/Canton/Cleveland throughout the week – and in those situations we have the opportunity to bring this message to the people God sovereignly has in our lives. It is interesting, the apostles stayed in Jerusalem. Maybe it was strategic. They may have wanted a base. But Luke, I think, gave emphasis that the work of the Great Commission belongs to you. To me also, but not more. It belongs to all of us – you have that responsibility and that opportunity. Take advantage of that! The mission of Christ will be accomplished by volunteers. The great pioneers of the Christian church – we don’t know their names. The first pioneers were not the apostles – they stayed.
We will look at 1 person’s story today. Luke brings us back to Philip – one of the deacons listed in Chapter 7.

Acts 8:5 And Philip went down to the city of Samaria and [began] proclaiming Christ to them. 6 And the multitudes with one accord were giving attention to what was said by Philip, as they heard and saw the signs which he was performing. 7 For [in the case of] many who had unclean spirits, they were coming out [of them] shouting with a loud voice; and many who had been paralyzed and lame were healed. 8 And there was much rejoicing in that city.

We will take a detour here – he was performing miraculous signs – and I don’t want to ignore this fact. What is this? How does it relate to us today? I have a few points here. First – it happened. This is trustworthy. As the apostles went out – people were healed, demons were cast out – and other miracles. These are called miraculous signs – but God is demonstrating through these miracles the validity of the message and the messenger. That is the primary purpose. Yes, people were healed and that was important to those people. But this is demonstrating that their message is true – they can be trusted. Their ears are opening to the message. “Something is going on and I had better pay attention. It was not so Philip could say, watch what I can do! It was so that the people would wake up to what was being spoken.

Can it, and does it happen today? That question comes up. I would say – God can and do whatever He wishes. If God wishes to do something miraculous – we should not stand in His way. It is not something we can control, manipulate, orchestrate, or call a meeting to have happen! Philip did not call a meeting – it was in the course of the mission that God had called him to where God was doing these miracles. If it happens today, don’t deny it – Praise God for it! But don’t think it can be orchestrated. In regards to healing – James 5 says that if someone is sick, to call the elders of the church and anoint him with oil. Not just a cold – but a sickness leading to death – but something having other things connected to it. It is an ailment that might be hindering a person’s life and walk with Christ. We do that! Anyone who wishes to be prayed over – we welcome you to talk to us. The other thing – we pray in faith, but God chooses the outcome. Oftentimes – I mean all of the time – we will all pass on. Sometimes God does something miraculous to extend someone’s life – but that is not our choice – it is God’s – our choice is to continue to pray in faith.

The mission is accomplished by every believer.

v. 9 Simon –

Many of these Samaritans come to Christ. Now they have entered the third phase of the mission – the Samaritans were on the fringe of the Jewish state. Samaria was the farthest place from Jerusalem. They were probably mixed blood, but held to some semblances of Judaism. In John 4 – Jesus passed through Samaria – they were people whom the Jews did not want to have anything to do with – but the truth is that God will call us to people who are on the fringe of our comfort zone. The people Philip went to – were people that Philip was probably uncomfortable with.
It is not an easy task. It may cause us to put some of our prejudices aside – and that is good for us.

Bob comes in and does “BobJobs” - There is a guy who comes by – it is probably not the best, but we call him Homeless Ray. He would do tasks with Bob and we’d buy him lunch. Then Ray would bring other homeless guys – and we’d give them jobs and times we wondered if it would have been quicker to do them ourselves. And I recognize the dangers of this – but they would be on our fringe. There are times where God wants us to reach into peoples’ lives – and it might be a little (or a lot!) uncomfortable. My son and daughter-in-law are in Columbus helping a man dying of AIDS. A lot of us would have a hard time with that. Why? Because it would make you uncomfortable! If you think God would not call you to uncomfortable places, you don’t know Him.

In the next section – Peter comes – and we’ll talk about that next week – because we’re talking about Peter next week.

v. 25

25 And so, when they had solemnly testified and spoken the word of the Lord, they started back to Jerusalem, and were preaching the gospel to many villages of the Samaritans. 26 But an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip saying, "Arise and go south to the road that descends from Jerusalem to Gaza." (This is a desert [road].)

This is the farthest point south. First God took him to the farthest point NORTH – and now it is the farthest point SOUTH. He comes upon this Ethiopian Eunuch who is reading the book of Isaiah. Solomon had dealt with Ethiopia – so there may have ended up Jews in Ethiopia. Whatcha reading? Isaiah, but I don’t understand it – and then Philip explains it – but afterward, God snatches Philip away.
Before this, there were mass conversions. But beginning with the Ethiopian, we see individuals coming to Christ. Not only does the individual person/believer accomplish the mission of Christ – but it also says that most conversions happen 1 at a time. Reaching 1 individual at a time. If we are going to fulfill His work today, it will be the individual believer going out and reaching the individuals. Do you know what individual is next? Saul. It was unique – but it was not in a mass conversion.

So – what I’d like to do – close off with some application –
First – to tie it all together – Today – the church needs to be distributed and scattered. It is already scattered – but YOU rub shoulders with people every week who need Christ. It starts with your family – and then wherever you go. We have opportunity and responsibility in that. God is giving us opportunities as we scatter, but we also have responsibility as we are scattered. It starts by living our faith – we need to be prepared and willing and ready to open our mouths and share our faith. That can be done in a number of ways. You can tell people how you came to Christ – you can invite them to church, invite them to a book club- whatever – but there is the freedom to be creative as to what will work in your situation. The opportunity is there and there is the responsibility. Then you have to figure out the best way to do it. If you wish to lead others to Christ – God will lead you. Cindy did a book club on Forty Days of Purpose – and there were many who were not churchgoers there.

Second – many that we are called to reach will be on the fringe of our comfort zones and we need to be willing and open to go there. I don’t know who it will be for you – but God will call us there. We need to go out protecting our faith as we do it – not putting ourselves where we might stumble and fall.

Third – personal mission – Our mission will be primarily to individuals. Reaching one individual at a time is the key to kingdom growth.

Fourth – God raised up someone from the community to make them the example to the rest – common guys whom God chose and raised up as an example. We need examples – from our church – to come up and take the opportunity to take the lead in ministry to those who need Christ outside. We are doing a number of thing – We support Jamie and Ruthie, Urban Vision – Compassion – Church plants in Cleveland and Kent State – it is great to do that as a church – but we need volunteers to stand up where we are and to set the example – to take the lead in reaching folks and bringing the gospel message to individuals – and then we need to hear about it – to hear how it is happening in our lives.