Ekklesia Growth

Introduction

Visiting, and we appreciate very much your presence. We are about to enter our worship to God. And this morning I’d like to read from Psalms chapter ninety-nine, verses one through three before we begin our worship. The Lord reigns, let the people tremble. He sits enthroned upon the cherubim. Let the earthquake.

Let us worship our God. Good morning. Our first song is going to be Magnify O Magnify. As I was reading through the text that was provided that Brent’s sermons are going to come from, lots of things stood out to me, and I’m not going to try to guess what Brent wants to talk about this morning. I guess wrong too many times. But what did strike me is the various reactions in Acts chapters 13 through 18. The various reactions of people to the gospel. And specifically, what kept hitting me was the fact that these believers were rejoicing in their salvation. So that’s what I want to sing about this morning is rejoicing in our salvation. Specifically in Acts chapter 13 and verse 48. And when they heard this, that is the Gentiles, when they heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord.

And as many as were appointed to eternal life, believed. And the word of the Lord was spreading throughout the whole region.

He has given us his soul to save us now and so to be like him embrace forever and remain right, alarm with I miss our joy of love with I miss our joy magnify will bring us to his law and his glory to fellowship with him. We will see his love we will see his game cry along with God. Let us bow. Our most gracious Heavenly Father, the one and only true living God, the one that created the heavens and the earth, the one that breathed life into us. Father, we’re so thankful for all that you do for us and all that you have done and all that you continue to do. Father, we pray that as we come together this morning to praise and worship you, Father, that our hearts and our minds will be focused on you and on you only.

The hope lies in our walk with you in this life. But in the after we leave this life, we can walk with you in eternity. Father, we’re grateful for this group that meets here. We pray that you will be with each of us and watch us watch over us as we walk the path of light. And may we be a light in that path. That we will glorify you each day of our lives. Father, we’re thankful for the opportunity that we have to come together. Unmolested by man, that we have that freedom to worship you openly. Father, we pray that as we go through this service through this day and through our lives, that we will always remember the sacrifice that was made for us.

Be with us now as we go through this service. Be with us through our lives, and it’s in your Son’s name we pray. Amen.

Come to a part of our service where we have an opportunity to give back to God. This is an opportunity for the members of this congregation. If you’re visiting with us, we’re we’re glad to have you, but this is not a solicitation of any funds. we have an opportunity to do that based on the PayPal on the screen and/or boxes in the back, and then we also will have the plates coming around. So as we prepare to give back, let’s bow and give thanks to God. Almighty God and Father in Heaven, we humbly bow before your throne today, God, thanking you for the breath of life, thanking you for the health that we have to be here, thanking you for all the physical blessings that you’ve so richly bestowed upon each one of us.

Lord, we know that everything in this life is only yours, that we are here just as stewards of the things in this world. Lord, we pray that we would use all the blessings that you give us in a way that will glorify you and that will praise you and to give honor to your name. Lord, we thank you for these blessings, but more importantly, we thank you for the spiritual blessings that we have through your love and your son Christ Jesus and his death on the cross. Lord, we know that there is no way that we can ever repay you for that. We pray that as we give you praise and worship this morning, that our giving to you will be pleasing in your sight.

Lord, again, we thank you for everything that you do for us, and it’s Christ’s name we pray. Amen.

He is in our midst. Praise the Lord and shout for joy. For the Holy One is in our midst.

Praise the Lord. And shine, brother, all his name and his name.

Praise the Lord.

In our miss the Lord shall be your song books, mark number one hundred and seventy so sing that after his lesson this morning. Before the lesson, let’s sing number seven oh three. We’re marching to Zion, and I’ll invite you to stand again as we sing this song. Come even love the Lord. Let our joys be known.

As Matt mentioned, I gave a rather lengthy text for the sermon this morning. that’s because we’re gonna spend more than just this morning in Acts 13 through 18. We’re in a section that is really dealing with the three missionary journeys of Paul. so he’s at Antioch and he’s going out from Antioch a few different times, and going around the world and speaking the message of Jesus to all who will listen. And that’s really the focus of where I want to spend our time this morning with that idea. But I do want to talk about the concept of growth over two sermons. So we’re gonna do that this morning, and then we’re gonna come at it from a little bit different angle in a few weeks.

I will not be here next week. I’ll be preaching at Cyfair. And so Caleb Schmidt will be feeling filling in for me. So I’m looking forward to that and listening to what he does next Sunday, and I know that you are as well. But I want to spend some time in Acts working through this idea of how congregations grow and what does that even mean? What does it mean for God’s ecclesia for Jesus’ ecclesia to grow? Typically, we think of it in terms of maybe numerical. You know, we’re trying to get more people here. And that’s not a bad thing. Obviously, we do want that. But I want to think a little more broadly this morning in talking about what Paul’s doing as sort of an example of how we should think about our efforts in the world.

I want to go back to maybe a surprising place to begin this morning, and that is in Genesis chapter 2, when God has created the world, and he says, Let us make man in our image. The next thing he says is that they are to be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. The initial concept of God’s statement here was about expanding his glory throughout creation. The intention was not just to stay in Eden and to hunker down and protect that spot and to never leave and for everything just to be at Eden. It was to expand this and to expand Eden really into the world, and that was going to happen through procreation, right? God is the creator, but through procreation, these images or icons, they can even, it’s a term that can have to do with idols, but that’s not the way it’s intended here from a pagan standpoint.

These are the images of God that then spread throughout the world as a testimony to his glory. And I want us to take that concept and to translate that into the New Testament new creation. And to think about how this works in our world today. Now there’s still the initial divine mandate, I believe, from Genesis 2, the idea of what we are supposed to be doing as individuals, is to be spreading his glory and to be the image of God in the world. But maybe it’s given a little bit different significance or a little bit different nuance when we come into the age of the Jesus movement and the ecclesia, these people who are part of Jesus’ kingdom and how they’re establishing themselves in different places.

And even tells the disciples to go and to do this, to go and make disciples of all nations.

Don’t hunker down to protect your own borders and stay within your own walls. That’s not the mandate. And so we see the apostles doing this. They’re going out place to place, and that’s a lot of what’s happening in Acts 13 through 18. And then they have others who go along with this mission as well. But they’re to be going out making disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I’ve commanded you. That second part is going to be a little bit more of our focus in a couple weeks when we come back to this idea of growth. There’s really two aspects of this that I want to spend some time on.

And inevitably, this does have to do with numbers. We go various places, or we are participants in going various places with the gospel. It’s not just restricted necessarily to our community here, but maybe even some of our own people. Some of you may have done this, gone on trips to other places to preach and teach the gospel. This is the idea of spreading out, of multiplying, of getting the message of Jesus to all who will listen. We certainly see this in the book of Acts. It’s a prominent part of what’s happening here in Acts 13 through 18. And so we have these three different specific missionary journeys, but that’s not all that’s going on. The work of Paul and Silas and the work of Paul and Barnabas, they’re not the only missionaries going into the world to speak the message of Jesus.

There are plenty of others. We’re just getting this part of the story here in Acts 13 through 18, and we get a little peace with Philip when Philip goes to Samaria. These are just examples of the kinds of things that were happening because people were part of a mission. The second part of growth, we’ll talk about it in a few weeks, is just the idea of digging deep, of strengthening, building our faith. And this has a little bit more to do with what does happen within these walls, or at least with the people within these walls, and what we’re doing with our own personal faith, with our relationships with each other. And so both aspects of growth are extremely important when it comes to Jesus and his people.

1. The Ecclesia Is About a Mission, Not a Product

But this morning I want us to just think about this idea of how growing Jesus ecclesia works. What is this going to look like? When it’s something that’s bigger than just me or just you as individuals, it’s bigger than this congregation. There’s a mission that is bigger than all of that. How do we participate in that? How do we become part of this movement to spread the message of Jesus to the world? I think this first point is particularly important in our modern culture. That if we’re going to be part of this movement to spread the message of Jesus Christ, we have to understand that the ecclesia is about a mission. It’s not about a product. We live in a consumer world where everyone’s interested in what is in it for me.

And that has found its way even in the church. Well, I’m going to go to this church or I’m going to go to that church because of what it offers me. And certainly there’s going to be aspects of that we’re going to think about as humans, the relationships we’re going to build and how we want to shape our children. But more important than just thinking what’s in it for me is how can I help? I want us to understand, and if we’re going to help Jesus’ mission grow as his people, we have to understand that joining the ecclesia is about joining a mission. It’s not about consuming. It’s not that I come just to get what I can get and then I go out and it’s benefited me in some way.

And that’s my primary goal for being here. There’s something bigger at hand that’s taking place. This is not just a product, and so we shouldn’t treat it like a product. You know, how are we going to shape everything in just the right way to appeal to people, to bring them in, and so that they are hooked on the product we’re offering? Well, there’s a lot of wisdom in that in the world. You know, when we do sell products and the way we market them and all of that. The product, if you want to call it that, is Jesus Christ Himself, the gospel, the good news, the message, the hope of forgiveness of sin. It’s a mission to spread this to the world. I guess I see this maybe a little bit in terms of how we would view the difference between maybe a nonprofit organization and a corporation that’s out to make money.

I mean, they’re going to do things in certain ways for their stakeholders, right? For their employees, for their shareholders, for the people who are interested in making the money, and the bottom line. And so they’re going to market the product and they’re going to expand and they’re going to do research and develop and they’re going to do all kinds of things to help that bottom line. Whereas the nonprofit is on a mission. They’re not on a mission just to make a bunch of money. The fundamental aspect of what a nonprofit’s supposed to be, and I know this is not always the case, but what it’s supposed to be is that they’re helping people, right? They’re trying to transform lives. They’re trying to change the world in whatever area and avenue they’ve gone into.

And so what we are here to do is to transform our own lives, transform ourselves and the world through the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ. And when we become part of the ecclesia, we’re joining a mission. We are part of it. We’re not just here to consume a product. Not just here to feel good about singing, feel good about reading some scripture, and feel good about how we’ve decided to do the right thing.

And we do want to pray. And all those things are, but it’s part of the mission of what God is doing through us to the world. It’s bigger than just me and what I get out of it.

Certainly we should. But this is more about the perspective that we bring to a place like this. Why am I here? Am I here simply to consume and then leave and take with me what I’ve what I’ve received? Or am I here to participate? If we’re going to help the mission of Jesus grow in the world, we have to be participants and not just consumers.

I think that’s just a tall order in our world where everything seems to be about consumption and what’s best for me and what do I get out of it. I think it even finds its way sometimes into the way we view what we’re doing within a church. Let me explain. Our mission is not to convert people to the Decor Prairie Church. Our mission is to convert people to Jesus Christ. To turn people to Him. And of course, when we work with people and we study with people and they learn, we want them to be a part of us. Of course, we want that. But it may be they live somewhere else, or it’s it’s this is not the easiest place for them to go. And what’s most important is we want them to be with the Lord’s people, serving the Lord, bringing glory and honor to Him.

It’s not about growing our numbers. We enjoy that. Certainly we appreciate that when we have more people come and they join our midst and we build those relationships. And that’s a blessing that we also receive in Christ. And so I’m not saying we don’t want to build numbers. Of course, we enjoy that. But that is not the ultimate goal. The ultimate goal is that it is all to God’s glory, which we’re going to sing about here in a little bit. And there are all sorts of ways in which this functions, I think, if we think about it. We do our work here the best we can while we can. And we want to equip people for various purposes. Maybe someone’s here for a short amount of time and they’re gonna go somewhere else.

And while they’re here with us, we want to do our best to build them up and strengthen them so then when they go somewhere else, they can continue that work wherever they are. Or maybe it’s our young people who grow up in this place and we teach them. We want them to learn scripture, we want them to hear truth. They may never come back here after they go off somewhere else and get a job, but they can take what they’ve gained and learned here and they can bring it somewhere else. This is about something bigger than this place.

That the reality is as time goes by, things will shift and change. People will move, we’ll have others move in, we’ll have others leave. And the greater mission is the bigger purpose. That we are working to be a part of a mission for Jesus Christ, not just consuming something, not just offering a product to appeal to people. I think about that when I look at this text in Acts chapter 13 through 18. And you think about how some of this happens, you know, Paul and Barnabas, they’re in Antioch. Antioch, I mean, what a great church to be a part of. You’ve got Paul here, an apostle, and you’ve got Barnabas, and now all of a sudden they’re gonna be sent out. And this is not like a three-week trip.

You know, they’re gone for quite a while. The people in Antioch could have said, hey, you know, we’re supporting Paul, we’re taking care of him. Why is he going somewhere else? Why is he spending all this time traveling around the world? I mean, he’s part of our group. Fortunately, that’s not their mindset. It tells us in verse 3 of chapter 13, after fasting and praying, they laid their hands on them and they sent them off. We see another place within this section of text. They commend them to their work. They’re glad to send Paul and Barnabas out to the world. They’re glad to send Paul and Silas out to the world. They see the benefit of not just building here, but seeing the greater purpose and the mission they’re a part of.

And so our congregations, you know, our local congregations, they are part of a bigger story that’s taking place. And certainly what we do at a place like this is significant and it’s important. But we need to understand the importance of it is connected to what Jesus is doing overall. That on the reality that Jesus is the Son of the living God, he is building his ecclesia. And it’s not just limited to what we’re doing here. It is something that is global. And so there’s no place for being territorial or competitive. None of that is at all what God wants for his people. Clearly, in these texts, I think it’s pretty evident that they have divine direction. The Holy Spirit is saying, hey, I want you to take Paul and Barnabas, and I want them to go.

And the church says, we’re going to send them out. We’re going to commend them to this work. And that is not how things work for us. We don’t have the Holy Spirit telling us, you know what, I want you to send these two people and have them go out. But the precedence is set here of the importance of this kind of work. And this church and various other churches that many of you have been a part of over the years, have done this sort of thing because they understand the greater mission is not just what happens in the local place where you worship. So I want us to think about this idea. Do I see the Lord’s ecclesia? Do I see this congregation as something I attend?

2. Going Into Our World: Speaking and Living Truth

You know, an experience I have each week. Or is it something that I’m a part of, a mission that I’ve joined? Something I’m offering my hand to. Not just a consumer. I don’t come here just to get things, but I’m a participant of the work that’s taking place here and sometimes other places involving the people who are here. Which then functions in this next concept, which is, I think sometimes difficult to take the divine mandate to the apostles and think, well, I just can’t do that. You know, he tells them to go into all the world. That’s, you know, we can’t all be traveling all over the world constantly. That’s just not how life works. And we see these texts like Acts 13 through 18 in these three journeys, and Paul and Barnabas and Silas, they’re going all over the place.

And that’s great. I mean, this idea of going into all the world, what we’re talking about in our theme this year, it can mean, I mean, maybe we do take some of our members and we send them to places. We support people in other countries. And so maybe we’ll at some point take some of our members, or some of our members travel a lot already. Maybe they can go and see what’s happening in these places and participate. And that certainly can be a part of all of this. People like Paul and Barnabas and Silas and others in the first century, they did this in a very big way. And we have people we know who’ve done this too: going to India or the Philippines, other countries, Zimbabwe, Ethiopia.

And some of you know people who’ve done all this. And of course, that’s part of going into all the world. But I think the more applicable way that we can go, you and I, is just within our own daily life. We can reach back to a text like Acts 8 and verse 4 when it talks about the persecution that came over the church, just an event that took place in their life. They’re scattered, and it says those who were scattered went about preaching the word. They just preached the word where they went. And yes, in these texts, we find out in chapter 13 and some of the later chapters that there are people who are prophets and teachers. We have apostles, but not all these people were prophets and apostles.

Some of these are just people like you and me, who wherever they go, they go preaching the gospel. Am I willing to speak and to live truth day to day? What do people know about me? There’s two elements of this that are going to factor into, I guess, what we would call our testimony. That the apostles have their own specific divine witness. They’re to go into the world because they’re told to by Jesus. That is their job. But as God’s people, we also bear witness with the things that we’re doing. Are we willing to speak the truth of the gospel to those who are around us? It’s kind of interesting in our world. We will find a lot of agreement. And the United States of America, where we live right now, there’s a lot of people who already believe in Jesus.

It doesn’t necessarily mean they know a lot about the Bible or even about God at times, but it’s so immersed in our culture that in some ways we have it’s an advantage. Other ways, it makes things a little bit more complicated. because I can go to many people on the street probably and say, Do you believe in Jesus? And they’re gonna say yes. So then what? Where do we go from there? That’s maybe it’s a topic for another time. But I so I think speaking the truth and being willing to speak the truth of scripture, just in daily life, finding ways to bring this into what’s happening around us. Some people are so good at that. And I say that not to say they’re just like born with that ability, because that’s not the direction I’m about to go with this.

But it’s obvious they have worked in their life to find ways to put Jesus into the conversations they’re having. Just in regular conversations. I’ve been around people who are at the baseball field who are doing that. You know, how do you get from baseball to Jesus? Some people are really good at that because they’ve worked at it. And I would like to get better at that sort of thing in my life. But in the grocery store, I mean, anywhere. There’s been people I’ve been around in my life who it doesn’t matter where they are, they find a way to talk about Jesus. It comes up in conversation. Someone asked about the weather, they can get to Jesus. And so there’s this one avenue that I think is extremely important that we can’t neglect if we want to be part of this mission, take part in what’s happening around us, finding ways to talk about Jesus in our life.

So vital and so important. What do people know about me? Do they know I’m a follower of Jesus? Do they know I’m part of this mission? Whether it’s Decker Prairie Church or just the idea that I’m I’m one of Jesus’ people in general, that I’m a believer. What do they actually know about me? Am I willing to talk about it? These are ways that we, that I and you, we can just go into the world that we’re in every single day. Some of you may experience that through what you don’t say. Maybe in your workplace. Maybe the language there isn’t so great. The way people talk, and you refuse to do that. And that says a lot about who you are and opens doors for you to be able to talk to people about the Lord.

Which then goes into the second part of this, and that is, are we not just speaking the gospel, but are we also properly living it? All over Scripture, God’s word, it speaks to how we should live, how we should live as a spouse or a parent or a child or as friends or in the workplace as an employee or even as an employer. How we treat fellow believers. Is my life speaking to how the gospel has transformed me? Who wants to join a movement of bad marriages and bad family life, untrustworthy friendship, poor work ethic? None of that sounds like good news. They particularly don’t want to join a movement of people who say the right things and then don’t do them. And so the two of these have to be married together.

If we’re going to be part of the mission of spreading the Lord’s church to the world, to my world, to your world. That people need to see these things align in a way that Jesus, you remember, criticizes the Pharisees for, right? He says, listen to what they preach, but they don’t practice it. That’s not what we want people saying about us. That’s not going to bring people to the Lord by the things they hear us say and by the way they see us live. And so we have this opportunity as God’s people to be a part of a mission to spread the good news of the gospel, but we have to speak it first, and we have to be willing to live it. And we are not called to fully outsource Jesus’ mission to others.

This is not something that we put on other people and we say, well, that these people are doing that for us. It’s a decision that I have to make in my life to be willing to speak and be willing to live in a way that is a testimony to the Lord. We can send people out, obviously, that’s within Scripture, and we can be a part of that sort of thing. The Philippian brethren supported Paul, and he writes them and thanks them for that. And we can do those kinds of things. But the reality is scripture tells us as we move into the epistles, which we’ll do more of this in a couple weeks, that we should be equipping all the saints. Ephesians 4, 11 and 12, he tells us that he gave us apostles and prophets and evangelists and shepherd teachers.

Here’s the point.

3. It Is Not All on Us

The end goal that every joint is supplying, that we are all part of the body and the growth of the body, I think, both locally and even globally, as we are trying to spread the message of Jesus to the world. And then there is this last concept I think we see within these sections, this section of Scripture in Acts 13 through 18. And that is that it is not all on us. And there’s some aspects of this that I think are important to consider. The Holy Spirit is behind the things directly in this text that are happening. And we don’t know exactly how the Spirit is working in the world around us, but it is still there. There are people who are still interested in truth, who are seeking the truth, who want to find the Lord.

And maybe they don’t know how, but we are a means by which they can be brought to truth. And we can think about the right techniques and the right things to say, and I think all of that is healthy and good, but we also need to realize that to spread the gospel, to preach Jesus to the world, we need to trust that God is going to open hearts, that he’s going to open doors for us. Maybe a strange point to bear out of this is just the reality that I don’t have to force truth on people. There’s times in people’s lives when they don’t want to listen. Paul recognizes this. And a number of times within Acts 13 through 18, we’re whole we’re told he moves on.

People don’t want to listen. He’s preaching, he goes to the synagogue and he’s telling them the message of Jesus, how God has promised all these things and the law and the prophets, and now Jesus of Nazareth has come. He’s the one who died and was resurrected. And there’s some who believe, but there are others who don’t want to hear it. In fact, over and over again, the people who don’t want to hear it stir up others to attack Paul, to work against him in chapter 13 and 14 and 17 and 18, at least seven times, these Jews are stirring up the crowd. They’re creating problems for Paul as he’s trying to do his work. And what he does is he goes somewhere else. He’s looking for other people who are willing to listen.

Some just aren’t ready to listen. They don’t want to hear, so you plant a seed and you move on. There may come a time when they are willing to listen and they do want to hear more, but at the time they don’t. And so Paul doesn’t continue to speak to people who really just don’t want to hear what he has to say. In fact, we get a couple pretty graphic images. He shakes the dust off his feet in chapter 13 and says, I’m moving on. I’m going to other people. Another time, he shakes out his garment and says, You’ve decided you don’t want to listen. I’m going to go somewhere else. And he’s looking for other open doors and open hearts. I think it means focusing on what matters most.

Not just realizing people don’t want to listen, but also not slamming open doors because of things we want to talk about. Teach people the gospel before getting into complex doctrinal issues and denominational debates. If we can’t even agree on the basics of the gospel message, beliefs about forms of worship and how money is used and all of that are a moot point. It doesn’t matter at all. If we can’t even convince people that they need to be baptized into Jesus Christ and be resurrected to new life and have their sins washed away, it’s not going to do much good to get into all the issues and the debates that people have. Be like Paul. This is what he taught first, 1 Corinthians 15. The death, the burial, and the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

And how Christ is the fulfillment of everything God has promised in the law of prophets to anyone who believes and is baptized into Jesus Christ. They can be saved. This is the message of the gospel. And then from there in time, as we have patience with people and we work through scripture and we learn ourselves, we have opportunities to talk about all the various other things that may come up along the way. But this is the core of truth that is being taught over and over and over again in the book of Acts to anyone who will listen. To people who just want to argue and people who just want to debate, that’s where you shake the dust off your feet and you move on. That’s what Paul does.

4. Faithfulness, Awareness, Responsiveness

And he listens, he looks for people who actually want to hear the message of the gospel. I think as we kind of sum all of this together, one of the things that we can think about with what we see in the book of Acts as he’s going on these journeys, going from city to city. And if you read through this, it’s just one city after another. He’s going from place to place to place, converting people and establishing churches, and there’s a lot happening within Acts 13 to 18. I want us to understand we just can’t manufacture growth. You know, we’re not going to just put all the parts together in just the right way and then produce growth of ourselves. Same thing with unity. We can’t manufacture unity.

I mean, the unity is of the Spirit, Paul tells us in Ephesians chapter 4. And so we maintain the unity of the Spirit, which happens through appealing and sticking with the truth of the gospel and standing with the mission of Jesus Christ. But there are some things that we can do along the way, even though we can’t just make growth happen, and we really shouldn’t want to do that. We want to follow this the way Jesus wants us to do it. There are three things that we can do along the way that really have been a part of what we’ve all talked about we’ve been talking about this morning. The first one is faithfulness. Here are our goals. If we want to be part of participating in the mission of bringing Jesus to the world, to my world, to the greater world.

Number one is faithfulness. This is what we talked about earlier about what we speak and how we live and have a consistent life for the Lord. Number two, awareness.

We just talked about this idea of trusting that God will open hearts and open doors. When Paul and Barnabas come back at the end of chapter 14, they say a door has been opened to the Gentiles. The way things took place and the way God worked it out, he opened a door for the gospel to go to places they never would have imagined. We’re told in Acts 16 that the Lord opened Lydia’s heart. She was ready. She wanted to listen. There are people out there who are ready who want to listen, who need Jesus desperately, and they realize it. Everybody needs Jesus. But a lot of people don’t realize it yet. But there are people who do. And so it’s faithfulness, my own dedication and my own loyalty to the mission and to Jesus Christ Himself.

And then number two, awareness. Being ready, looking around, seeing these opportunities. And then number three, this may be the hardest, responsiveness. How many times have you thought that may be an opportunity? But it’s lunchtime. I’m going to go get something to eat first. I need to mow my yard. You know, distractions get in the way, whatever it is for you. We see opportunities. Have you ever been there? You see an opportunity. This looks like a good opportunity, but then just don’t walk through the open door. It’s tough. Taking that action, making that step. And so faithfulness, awareness, responsiveness, trusting that God will give us opportunities if we are looking for them. And the two dangers there is that we try to force doors open that aren’t ready to open, or that we miss opportunities.

We ignore conversations or relationships or the doors that open right in front of us and we decide, well, now isn’t the right time, or whatever other thing we think that causes us to miss these, maybe even divine opportunities opened right in front of our faces. It doesn’t have to be complex, is what I’m trying to say. It doesn’t mean you have to get on a plane and go to Africa. Or go to Asia.

But going into the world doesn’t mean that is the extent to which we have to go. It may just be the coworker next to you or your family member. That you know there’s an opportunity there. This is going into your world, going into my world. And let me just end with this last thought that maybe is overlooked too often. At least I can just say in my life, I probably haven’t used this as much as I should. And that is that we pray for open doors and look for them. Do we believe in prayer? When we look at these stories in Acts, God is doing all kinds of things behind the scenes. If we believe in a God who is powerful, who hears our prayers, we can pray for open doors.

We can pray for opportunities, which then probably will cause us to be more aware. And hopefully give us the courage and the boldness to respond to them when we see them. Maybe even if we don’t the first few times, we pray and a door opens and we don’t walk through. We’re going to feel that, right? And we’re continuing to pray for these opportunities. And I pray within myself that as I see them, I will take those opportunities and that you will too. But it starts with our own faithfulness and our awareness and then our boldness to respond, which we see all over the book of Acts. As you read the book of Acts, and I hope you’re doing that week to week. I hope that you’re seeing the boldness of people like Peter and Paul and Barnabas and Silas, the willingness to speak even when it’s hard, even when they are persecuted, when they’re beat for it.

We see that a couple different times, even in Acts 13 through 18. Paul’s stoned. They drag him outside the city and they beat him up. And he gets up and he moves on to the next place and he keeps speaking. Because it’s not a product to consume. He’s on a mission. The same mission that you and I have joined and are a part of. Let’s pray. Lord, I pray today that all believers here will be looking for open doors for open hearts. They’ll see the people around them as souls who need you. And not only that we will see these opportunities, that we will take action and that you will bless our efforts, not for the purpose specifically of even growing numbers in this place, but so that we can participate in your greater mission to save the world, to save people from their own sins, and have them turn to your Son to find rest for their souls.

Conclusion

And pray that we will do all this not for our own glory or for even building up our own group. Although that’s something that we would enjoy and we would see blessing in, but that it is all done to your glory and for your purposes. It’s in your son’s name we pray. Amen. Could be this morning you realize you need Jesus. We’ve been talking about open hearts and open doors. Maybe your heart’s open. You don’t have all the answers. You don’t necessarily have to, but you know you desperately need forgiveness of your sins. And we are here to offer that for you. We have water ready. You can be baptized into Christ, just like the Ethiopian eunuch was when he saw water. And you can come up a new person.

It doesn’t mean everything is right in your life and you’re never going to have any problems ever again. But it does mean you have the peace that comes from being justified and being in the Lord. Can we help you with that this morning? Why don’t you come now as we stand and we sing?

So I will be using the sun.

Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Let me hear and bear his voice. Praise the Lord.

Let the before the Father.

I give my glory. Great things be has done. Great things on us, great days, and great seek through Jesus thus, and I greater will be our Jesus be seek. Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, let me hear his voice, praise the Lord, praise the Lord, let the people the Father Jesus the Son and my glory.

Please raise your hand at this time, and we’ll make sure that you that gets to you.

Thee will I honor thou my soul’s glory and joy and crown Jesus.

Good morning, family. This morning I want to think about a phrase Jesus said while he hung on the cross. He uttered several phrases, but one of the final phrases is recorded for us in John chapter 19, verse 30. Jesus spoke three words. It is finished. What did Jesus mean by this? And how do these words help shape our thoughts this morning as we prepare to partake in the Lord’s Supper? I don’t believe it was a cry of defeat, but a declaration of victory. I want to look at three things that explain what he meant by, it is finished. So we can have deeper gratitude and understanding of this phrase. First consider what Jesus had endured up to this point. He had just underwent betrayal, abandonment, character assassination, a sham trial, mocking, beatings, and then a brutal scourging.

Now he was in agony on the cross, nailed and struggling for every breath. In that moment he proclaimed it is finished.

It was a term used when a task was completed or a debt fully settled. Jesus was not making the end of his marking the end of his suffering. He was announcing the completion of a divine mission that began from the foundation of the world. The first thing finished was the fulfillment of prophecy. The Old Testament is filled with promises about the Messiah. Over 300 prophecies describing his life, death, and resurrection. Jesus said in Luke 24 that everything written about him in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the Psalms, must be fulfilled. Isaiah 53 describes him as the suffering servant, burying our sins. Daniel 9 foretells the timing of the Messiah and His death. Even small details were fulfilled. When Jesus said, I am thirsty, he fulfilled Psalm 69.

Then knowing all was accomplished, he declared, It is finished. Let these words assure us that God’s word is trustworthy, and his plan of salvation through Christ is complete.

Marked the end of the old covenant and the establishment of the new.

Which could not fully atone for sin. They were only a shadow, pointing to the ultimate sacrifice, Jesus, the perfect Lamb. When Jesus died, the temple veil was torn from top to bottom, symbolizing direct access to God through him. No more priests, no more altars, no more repeated offerings. During the Last Supper, Jesus said, This cup is the new covenant in my blood, poured out for you. As we partake, remember that the old system is finished, and now we stand in the grace of the new covenant. The third thing, finished, was the defeat of sin and death. Since the fall, sin enslaved humanity, death reigned, and Satan had his way. But Scripture tells us that Jesus disarmed the demonic powers and authorities, making a public spectacle of them, and triumphing over them by the cross and resurrection.

He bore our sins and paid the penalty in fold. He was delivered over to death for our sins, for my sins, and raised to life for our justification. Death has lost its sting. As we share in the Lord’s Supper, we do not mourn his death. We celebrate his triumph.

What does this mean for us, though? Jesus finished, Jesus’ finished work does not save us, it transforms us, or Jesus’ finished work does not only save us, it transforms us and calls us to action. Through his sacrifice, God fulfills his promise to give us a new heart and a new spirit. The Holy Spirit works in us, creating a heart that loves God and desires to follow him. This changes how we view sin. We no longer continue in it. Instead, Christ’s blood allows us to live in righteousness. As we take the emblems this morning, reflect on a couple questions. Do you truly believe that your debt is paid? Or do you still carry guilt? And am I living a transformed life shaped by his love and sacrifice?

It is finished. Invites us to rest in Christ’s completed work. Salvation is not earned, it is received by faith. We no longer need to carry shame or guilt, but hear the words of Jesus your debt is paid. As we approach the Lord’s Supper, let it is finished, resonate in our minds and our souls and our hearts. Jesus fulfilled prophecy, established the new covenant, and defeated our sin. His work is complete, and it gives us hearts of love, gratitude, and tremendous purpose. Let’s pray.

And you did that through your sacrifice, the sacrifice of your son. And when your son declared, It is finished, he had accomplished everything that you had planned and set out to do. As we think upon this, may we think that it is finished. May it give us hope and a love and a desire to serve you, to love you, and to serve and love those around us. Amen.

Again, Father, we come to you giving praise and honor to you and the sacrifice that your son gave. And as his blood was poured out, as he hung on the cross and declared, It is finished. May that blood and those phrases help us to think about that no longer do I need to be ashamed of my sin, because you have cleansed me through your sacrifice.

I’ll have a few announcements before the closing song and the closing prayer. let’s keep Mary Madden in our prayers. she is at home and she’s going through therapy, so to help her through this. group six meets tonight after services. That’s Clayton and Micah’s group. The young people are at the RENS tonight, that’s seventh grade through twelfth grade. And older people, no, I’m just kidding. I’m not gonna okay. let’s keep in mind Don Giles. she’s had a rough well, she’s had a rough long time, but I just even the last couple of weeks. I was talking to Ed, she’s had several things. So let’s keep her in our prayers. If you have the opportunity to call her or send her a card, it would be appreciated.

The Harrods are at home sick. If you want more details, you could talk to somebody else, but it doesn’t sound great. then last, I wanted to make everybody aware that Galen’s newest grandchild is here today. And yeah, he liked that one. So oh well, yeah, but it was more about you than from the announcements before. and then let me clarify real quick. my announcement on Wednesday night. It wasn’t the worst day of my life. I am not very good with English, you guys know this at this point. but I appreciate everybody that came up and talked to me, and it was really good to be there, be here to Wednesday night and be here today. So elders and deacons, do we have any other meeting announcements?

Sorry. All right, close the slide. I will fly away. Of course, the enjoy that we have in our salvation is one of those already but not yet things that’s so common in the gospel. We are already rejoicing in our salvation, but the ultimate manifestation of that is when we will see and be with our Lord. So that’s what this song is about. Let’s let’s sing this one together and to take this joy into our communities this week.

So I’m inside the soul.

Let’s pray. Our most glorious and wonderful Heavenly Father. We thank you so much for this day you’ve given us and this opportunity to gather together. We thank you for Brent’s lesson that reminded us that your son did not die for us, but for everyone.

At every opportunity we have.

Keep a watchful eye on those expectant mothers. Be with us as we depart in Jesus’ name.