God’s Pattern for the Church 2

Pastor Mike will be speaking on God’s Pattern for the Church 2. He will be reading out of Acts 11:19-30.

But my goal is to get you to take that next step, whatever that next step is, that God would challenge you to go to the next level in your faith and helping you to become deeper and stronger in your faith so that people notice that you are like Jesus Christ.

Hello this is Pastor Mike Sanders from The Open Door Church and I want to welcome you to our radio broadcasts, Hope Worth Having. We’re delighted to have you with us today and we’re going to be in the book of Acts chapter 11 and we’re studying verse 19 through 30, continuing our study that we began last week on God’s pattern for the church.

So we’re excited that we can look at the scriptures and see that pattern of how God wants us to operate in this world. So let’s get our Bibles and get right into it today. It’s not a rejection of you, it’s a rejection of our Savior.

You don’t have to take it personal. Your job is just to plant the seeds. You don’t have to live in the fear of rejection but we also may have the fear of failure. We might think, man, I really can’t do a good job and I don’t want to mess this thing up and I don’t want to be the reason because I failed to do the presentation right that I might cause somebody to go to hell and be separated from God forever.

I want to tell you as I’ve been out there trying to engage people in spiritual conversations, there’s many times I fumbled the ball, misquoted the verses, couldn’t remember a Bible verse. Have you ever been there?

Am I the only one left? You all ever have those moments? But you know what? God gloriously works because people are saved through the power of the Spirit and the Word of God not because Mike Sanders said a certain thing or did it a certain way.

And that’s how the Lord works and there have been times I’ve thought, man, I did everything like I should be, crossed every T, dotted every I, why doesn’t this person get saved? because it has to be a work of God.

So you don’t have to be afraid of failure. The third reason I think we don’t engage in evangelism is because of ignorance. We may not just know how. We just are not aware. The Bible tells us in 1 Peter 3, 15, to sanctify the Lord God in your hearts and be ready, always, to give an answer to every man that’s asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear.

It’s good to take training classes. It’s good to read books on evangelism. It’s good to learn more how we can effectively engage people in spiritual conversations. But ultimately, I want you to know that you need to live a life that is so honoring to God that people say, man, why are you so joyful?

Why do you have so much hope? And you just answer. You just give the reason. Of why you are a person of hope and that reason is because you have put your faith and your trust in the Lord Jesus Christ You would be amazed how many times that you are in situations Where you can share your faith and you can share the hope of Christ with others.

You just have to be alert to it You’re already there. You just have to be aware of it Now in the book strangers next door immigration migration and missions if you’ve not read that book you need to read it But in this book it reminds us that there are more unchurched people groups who live within the boundaries of the United States Than any other country besides India and China.

There are 361 different people groups even within our own Country so we have a great responsibility To take the gospel and God is bringing the world to us and we should share Christ with them We should be open to engaging in evangelism.

This is what the early church did remember our Lord and Savior That in the gospel of Luke 19 and verse 10 He said the Son of man has come to seek and to save that which was lost The second thing that I want you to see is the pattern of the early church relating to that they were committed to Discipleship, let’s go back to verse 22 and let’s look it says then the news of these things all these people getting saved God’s mighty work in these particular places the news of these things came to the ears of the church in Jerusalem And they sent out Barnabas to go as far as Antioch When he came He had seen the grace of God.

He was glad Encourage them all that with purpose of heart. They should continue with the Lord When we think of discipleship, discipleship is the birth and the growth of a believer by which we become more like Jesus every day.

When we are discipling others in the church, we’re calling them to a higher commitment to Christ. We are calling them to a deeper walk with the Lord. Jesus said in Matthew 10, 25, it is enough for a disciple that he be like his teacher and a servant like his master.

Jesus is our master, Jesus is our teacher. It should be the desire of every Christian to be like Christ. When the Jerusalem church heard how great things were happening as these new converts were coming to the Lord, Jesus, that the Jerusalem church wanted to help establish these new converts in the faith and so they sent their best discipler.

His name was Barnabas. Barnabas is a name that refers to the son of encouragement. That is what Barnabas means, to be an encourager. Barnabas was a great example of what being a true encourager entails.

Scripture frequently sums up a person’s life in a single sentence, and we see that in Barnabas in verse 24. Go back to verse 24 of chapter 11. He was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith.

And a great many people were added to the Lord. Barnabas’ original name was Joseph. We’re introduced to him in chapter four of the book of Acts. But he had a graciousness about him. He had a way about him where he was always encouraging others.

And so the apostles gave him the nickname Barnabas. Which means the son of an encouragement. That’s a great name, amen. Would you like to be known as that, as an encourager? Barnabas was known for his willingness to seek out those who were struggling.

And to encourage them along the way in the work of the Lord. Did you see that back in verse 23? That he was glad, and what did he do? He encouraged them all. What did he encourage them all? That with purpose of heart, they should continue with the Lord.

This was the message of Barnabas. And not only was he encouraging the church at Antioch, these new believers, but he took the initiative to reach out to Saul, who would later become Paul, and to get him connected to the church at Antioch.

Barnabas played a key role in helping the church to receive Saul into the family of God. You know the story how Saul was a persecutor of the church, and there was great fear among the church family. Here, Saul is now claiming to be a believer.

Is it possible that he might try to infiltrate us? Is it possible that he might turn against us? No, Barnabas was the man who stepped up and said his faith is genuine and we need to recognize that God’s hands on this man and we need to let him be a part of the church family.

So he was a true encourager, a discipler. And Barnabas and Saul would take time for a whole year teaching and developing the church. Look at verse 26. When he had found him, meaning Saul, he brought him to Antioch.

So it was that for a whole year they assembled with the church and taught a great many a people and the disciples were first called Christians at Antioch. Each of us would be a better person. If we would be like Barnabas and if we had some Barnabas in our life.

We need to think of those terms of when it relates to discipleship. So many times we look at discipleship as more formal. We see it as something like classes, which I think that’s certainly a part of it.

But you know, I think sometimes more is caught than taught. And we need to remember that we need people that will help us along the way, that we need those encouragers in our life. We need people who will help us to stay faithful for the Lord.

And we need to be those kind of people to others in the church family. The Bible teaches us that the word encourage has the idea of putting courage into someone. And that’s the way I see Barnabas as he is going to the church at Antioch as these new believers are coming to Christ and they really don’t even have an Old Testament or a background that much in Judaism.

They’re Gentile believers. They’re just coming to Christ and they’re trying to leave their old lifestyle behind and they’re trying to follow a Savior. They’re trying to give their life fully to Christ and Barnabas was that encourager helping them along the way.

And he connected them to a good teacher of the Word of God, Saul. We all need encouragement to keep growing. I want to challenge you in your own life to think about who can I encourage this week? Who could I send a text message?

Who could I send a card? Who could I pick up the phone? Who could I have lunch with? Breakfast with? Who could I encourage? Look, God has not just called us to sit and soak but he certainly called us to serve.

And as we serve him, as we think about others, think about many times of how in my own life how God had always had different people in my life to encourage me in the faith. It wasn’t that they were scholars or that they somehow had all this Bible knowledge but they were just faithful people who loved God and who were always encouraging me to live for Jesus.

Jesus Christ. Many of you know my story and how I came to Christ and I was invited to ride the bus to church, little church of about 50 people and that was on a high special day. But anyways, our bus driver, he couldn’t even read.

He had to leave school early to take care of the family. And yet he was such an encouragement to me, my brother and sister. To this day, all of us are active in our churches. All of us married to Christian spouses, all of us having Christian families and here God used this man greatly in our lives because he was an encourager.

I wanna challenge you to think about people not only in our own community of faith here at the Open Door Church but others throughout the community, others throughout the region that you could encourage because God has called us to encourage people in their walk of faith.

What was the outcome of the discipleship? in the church? What was the outcome of having a man like Barnabas who was encouraging others and a man like Saul who was teaching the Bible? What was the outcome?

Well, look at verse 26 at the end. The disciples were first called Christians in Antioch. They were first called Christians. Most likely it was the Romans who looked at their lives. They saw something distinct and different about them.

Be a Christian, the word literally means little Christ. Little Christ. How wonderful for others to recognize by your actions and your beliefs that you are very much like Jesus. That’s what it means to be a Christian.

So as these new converts are being discipled in the faith, they are becoming more like Jesus. I want to challenge you to A, be that person who is every day striving to be more like Christ. Also be that person that is striving to help others be like Christ.

And there’s a key component to that that is important because sometimes we let the perfect destroy the good or be the enemy of the good you might have heard. And that is that we must learn to accept people where they’re at in their faith and help them to take that next step.

As a pastor, I recognize that not all the people are going to be committed as some of the people. I got to understand that I have a core in my church. I have people who are going to be here a few times a year and people are going to be here a few times a month.

Now some of you, you’re here all the time. It’s so wonderful. But my goal is to get you to take that next step. Whatever that next step is, that God would… challenge you to go to the next level in your faith and to encourage you to become more devoted followers of Christ, more committed in your walk and helping you to become deeper and stronger in your faith so that as you are living your life in your homes,

as you’re living your life in the workplace, as you’re living your life in the community, that people notice that you’re different. Not in a weird way, but that you are like Jesus Christ. Now I want you to notice the third pattern in the church.

We learned already, first of all, that they were active in evangelism, committed to discipleship. But the third pattern is that the church was devoted to ministry. They were devoted to ministry last week.

Pastor Seth shared with us a lot about ministry and service and he did a great job. We appreciate his message and I’m not here to reiterate it. But I just want to add a few more things to it, not that it needed anything added to it.

But according to the passage, I have to stay true to the passage so I couldn’t really get around it. But in verse 27 through 30, it says, in those days the prophets came from Jerusalem to Antioch. And one of them named Agabus stood up and showed by the spirit that there was going to be a great famine throughout all the world, which also happened in the days of Claudius Caesar.

Then the disciples, each according to his ability, determined to send relief to the brethren dwelling in Judea. This they also did and sent it to the elders by the hands of Barnabas and Saul. The entire Roman world was experiencing a crippling famine.

According to Josephus, in his historical books, he has written that Claudius was an emperor from AD 41 to AD 54. And the famine had reached a pinnacle in 44 through AD 48. And so this is what Luke is recording about that the church and really literally the Roman empire is experiencing this great famine.

And so the church decides they’re going to do something about it. The believers, rather than just sitting on the sidelines, say, you know what, we’re going to get involved and we’re going to be willing to help out.

Look at verse 29, the disciples, each according to his ability, determined to send relief to the brethren dwelling in Judea. And that’s something how the new Gentile believers in Antioch were desiring to show the grace of God that they had been shown.

They were so grateful for the believers in Jerusalem and Judea who had come down and shared the wonderful treasure of Christ with them. They now wanted to share their own. tangible treasures with others and bringing relief of the suffering that the Jewish believers were experiencing.

The Apostle Paul referenced this in Romans chapter 15 in verse 31. He does this in other passages but this is what I want to bring to your attention. He says to the believers in the city of Rome he wants them to pray for him.

He says when you pray, pray that my service which I have for Jerusalem may be accepted of the saints. As Paul was traveling he was raising funds to help bring relief for the church in Jerusalem and he was praying that they would be responsive and accepting.

It might have been difficult for the Jewish believers who kind of were the founding of the church relating to Jerusalem being the first place where the local church had emerged. and been born. But now they would be receiving.

Sometimes it’s hard for us to receive, right? But God had established a new way to test the faith and the commitment and devotion of the believers at Antioch by calling them to show grace to those who had brought the grace of God to them.

I want you to know three things about this service that I think is important when we minister to God. First, that our service should always be practical. That is, it should be tangible. You know, sometimes we say, well, I’m going to pray for you, and I think that’s good, and I know prayer is powerful, and I believe every aspect of prayer, God works through prayer, I’m all in.

Let’s make sure that when we’re trying to help others and minister to others, that we are practical. And it could be as simple as a meal, it could be simple as helping with a circumstance, it could be simple as Pastor Seth taught us to just listen and be an encourager.

What I want you to note is that the way that we show people that we love our neighbor is by practically finding ways to do things that demonstrate God’s love for them. When we go down to the rescue mission, what a wonderful ministry, Pastor Paul oversees that, and every month we go down there.

It isn’t enough for us to just teach the gospel. It isn’t enough for us to have a testimony of the gospel. It is not enough for us to sing about the gospel. We must bring something tangible, and every group brings food and feeds these folks that are struggling in their life, and I know God honors that.

Remember that Jesus, throughout his ministry, found practical ways to serve people. You don’t need a list from me. You just need to be led of the Spirit, and you need to let God’s wisdom be poured into your heart and mind.

as you think of practical ways. The second thing I want you to note about this ministry, that it was accountable. It was accountable. Of course, it required money, and of course they were giving each according to his ability.

There was no mandate on a percentage. There was no pressure. It was just according to their ability. And here, how was it handled? Look at verse 30. This they also did and sent it to the elders by the hands of Barnabas and Saul.

What we see here is there’s accountability. It’s not just that it’s out there randomly, recklessly, or even spontaneously. It is that there is a structure, there is order, and there is accountability.

And the reason for the accountability is to make sure that God would receive all the glory and that we could be blameless before the world. Human nature without accountability will always lead to demise and That’s why it’s important.

It doesn’t matter who we are Whether it’s church leadership or it’s any of us serving for the kingdom of God. We must all be accountable Every once in a while run into Christians even sometimes leaders not within our own church, but other areas They don’t want to be accountable Well, why wouldn’t ya?

Doesn’t accountability help us to stay true to the Lord doesn’t accountability help us you have a ministry God is entrusted to you Don’t be afraid to have people help you give input into your ministry to be Accountable so that your ministry can continue to strive.

We often have this conversation With ministry leaders and that is what is going to happen when you’re gone What is your legacy plan? I? Remember I was sitting down with brother Dave Arnold you remember brother Dave Arnold and he was in my office and I said brother Dave what is your legacy plan?

What’s gonna happen when God calls you to home? He said my legacy plan pastor Mike is heaven. I Said okay, that’s good Dave But how are we gonna make sure these pastors are taken care of as they support so many pastors in Sierra Leone?

How are we gonna make sure that these schools are continue to being built after you’re gone? No ministry should ever be built on a personality or a person We should always be built on the foundation of Jesus Christ, but people come and go You must recognize that but when we build it upon Christ and we establish a Plurality of leaders and we establish a ministry that is accountable.

This brings honor and glory to Christ The last thing I want you to know is that it was a partnership There are three things about this ministry that we see at the church at Antioch is that it was practical it was accountable and it was a partnership.

Would you look at verse 30 again? Would you underscore the two names there, Barnabas and Saul? What you’re gonna see as you study throughout the scriptures from chapter 11 all the way to chapter 15, Barnabas and Saul, eventually Barnabas and Paul, eventually Paul and Barnabas, a partnership that they have together in serving the Lord Jesus Christ.

I wanna remind you that all ministry is not a solo act, but ministry is a partnership, and we have a partnership in the gospel together. Why? Remember this church, we can do far more together than we can do individually.

We can support more missionaries together as a church family than we can individually. We can accomplish more for Christ together than we can individually. Never do ministry alone. And I know what some of you are saying to me.

Well, Pastor Mike, if you want to do it right, you got to do it yourself. I know some of you are like that, but let me tell you something. You’re not helping the next generation. You’re not equipping the next generation.

You’re not building the next generation. When you do it all yourself and you don’t pass on those opportunities and those blessings to others and the opportunities to learn and grow and develop, you are limiting the gospel, the reach of the gospel from one generation to another.

And you don’t want to be a part of limiting it. You want to do more together. Some of you say, well, it just takes so long, Pastor. It takes so long to have to train somebody. It takes so long for me to have to teach them and they can’t remember half of what I teach them.

And then I know how some of you are. It’s got to be your way or the highway, right? I know how some of you are. It’s your way or the highway, but you know what? It’s okay. Everybody has different styles.

Everybody has a different way. We don’t have to all be like each other. I’m thankful that we don’t have cookie cutter Christianity. It’s okay to have a different style. Your style may be different than mine.

I may be more confrontational in my witnessing and not afraid to knock on a door or to walk up to a stranger and share Christ. You may be different in how you do your witnessing. It’s okay. As long as you’re witnessing, I’m a hundred percent in.

We all have a ministry that we do and we’re called to do. And our ways of ministry, our styles may be different, but we need to remember that God is calling us to serve together. I think about where would I be if there wasn’t different pastors throughout the years as I was going to Bible college who said, come on, Mike, come serve for a summer with me and let’s work together.

I think about when I became a new believer, how my pastor used to take me to the hospital and teach me how to make hospital visits. I think about different people who through the years have let me work right alongside of them because I’m telling you that more is caught than taught.

And you’ve got to be that kind of person who says, I’m committed to a partnership, I’m not gonna do ministry alone because one day, I know it’s hard for us to believe this, but one day we’re not gonna be here.

So who’s gonna step up and take your spot? When I first came to the Open Door Church, I told the staff, it was me, Carl, and Pastor Carl, I should say, Pastor Art Brown. How many of you remember Pastor Art Brown?

What a great man of God, a great soul winner. This is another story, but every time I think of him, well, I was one time out in the lobby and I was on my way somewhere and I was running late and Pastor Art wanted to tell me something.

I said, Pastor Art, just send me an email. He said, Pastor Mike, we don’t do emails here. He said, we built this church, me and Dino, and Dino, and Dino, and Dino, and Dino, and Dino, 30 West, cup of coffee, and on a napkin.

I said, okay, brothers, put it on a napkin and lay it on my desk. Heh heh heh heh. All right, I’m all in. But, I remember when I first came, we was in a staff meeting, and I said, I need you guys to work yourself out of a job.

And after the meeting, Pastor Art came to me, he said, are you trying to get rid of me? And I said, no, brother, I’m not trying to get rid of you. And he said, well, you said, we need to work ourselves out of a job.

And I said, what I meant, and what I was trying to say, is let’s get other people involved, so that when the Lord calls us home, that we got somebody to step up and fill in the spot. And you know, every once in a while, I run into different ones of you, and I see, you know, things that you’re doing.

And I remember, Pastor Art took you out on visitation, didn’t he? He showed you how to do it. Some of you go out and you visit the hospitals, you visit the shut -ins, you visit different people, you check in on people for us.

You know why you’re doing that? Because there was a man named Pastor Art, who didn’t do ministry alone, and he partnered with you to help you learn, you watch him, and you learn how to do it. And friends, that’s what ministry is about.

It is a partnership. So I want to encourage us to dedicate our lives to service the Christ, who gave his life for each of us, so that we could have eternal life. Let’s pray together. [“The Spirit of Life”] We are called to be on mission, and the principal theme in the book of Acts is the triumph of the gospel in all the world.

That’s our mission, continue to take the gospel to every person, to every heart, and to every home, as we sing. the pattern that is laid out so clearly in Acts chapter 11, I hope that each of us will a be a part of that pattern as a individual believer, but corporately that you’re connected to a Bible believing church that is exemplifying the New Testament church in the book of Acts.

We got to be careful. Sometimes we want to be like the church down the street or we want to be like the church that is the biggest in America, when really what we need to do is strive to be like the church in the book of Acts.

And that’s what God honors and that’s what he blesses. And that’s what he uses to make disciples and to bring people into the family of God. Well, I want to encourage you to make sure you check out our website, hopeworthhaving .com.

On that website, you can get an update of what’s going on in our ministry, a lot of resources available as well as we are archiving all of our preaching and teaching. So make sure you check that out and remember that in Christ there is hope worth having.