May 12, 2025 • 22 mins
Acts 13.13-41 | Ps Alex Huggett | 11.05.2025
Part of a series on the book of Acts
© Bentley Baptist Church Inc.
www.bentleybaptist.org
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
And as we make our way through Acts, occasionally
we come across these sermons andthere are differences in each
context, but they're basicallythe same message.
And I don't know about you, butI have to admit sometimes I
come to these sermons just asI'm reading through Acts and I
think, okay, I know all thisalready, luke, why are you
telling me again?
You sort of said it at thebeginning and again and again,
(00:23):
and I don't know, maybe you feellike that when the preacher
gets up every Sunday and keepsrepeating stuff Sorry, not sorry
.
Why does Luke keep repeatingthis core message all the time?
Well, I think he has a fewpurposes.
First, it simply keeps thegospel front and center.
Acts is the story of the spreadof the gospel from Jerusalem to
(00:49):
Rome, and there are a lot ofexciting stories in there.
But if you were here last week,we saw that Paul was presenting
the gospel, made an opponentsomeone who was opposing him go
blind, and the governor who he'dbeen speaking to was astonished
, not at the miracle, but at themessage that Paul and Barnabas
(01:12):
were presenting.
And so it's important that wenever lose sight of the gospel,
and you know there are so manyimportant issues that cry for
our attention, but as Christians, we always need to see them
through the lens of the gospel,and we always need to take
action shaped by the gospel andbecause that's simply friends,
(01:35):
where our power lies, as God'speople.
That's what bringstransformation to lives and
communities.
In this particular case, pauland Barnabas are entering a new
phase of the mission, so they'retaking the gospel into
(01:56):
previously unreached regions.
So you can see the map up thereand the big arrow pointing
roughly at Antioch in Pisidia,not to be confused with Antioch
in Syria, which was actuallytheir base, and there was a very
strong church in Syrian Antioch, and so Pisidian Antioch is in
(02:16):
what's now current-day Turkey.
So Luke tells us thisparticular story, I think, also
to introduce us to what will bePaul's general strategy.
He forms a base among theJewish community in each city he
goes to and with theGod-fearing Gentiles, but he
(02:39):
also shows us that Paul ispreaching the same gospel to
them as the apostles inJerusalem were preaching.
See, there is only one gospeland one church wherever the
gospel is preached.
It's not about differentcultures or denominations.
It's about the gospel and thelordship of Jesus that make us
(03:01):
one.
This sermon, I think, though,also gives us a helpful pattern
for sharing the gospel ourselves.
You may not be called to preacha sermon, but if you have the
opportunity to share the gospelwith someone, how do you do that
?
And that's what I want to lookat this morning as we go through
(03:22):
this sermon.
So the synagogue leaders invitePaul and Barnabas to bring the
sermon for the day.
It was an impromptu invitation,but Paul was so ready and he
tells us elsewhere to always beready in season and out of
(03:42):
season.
I have to confess I haven'talways been ready out of season.
I was asked to share the gospelwith someone once.
We were on a mission trip inIndia actually.
So remember this I am going ona mission trip to share the
gospel and I'm asked to talk toan individual.
(04:04):
Now I had all my in-season talk.
We were going to be talking topastors as well.
I had all of that prepared andit went really well actually.
But this out-of-season,in-the-moment opportunity,
friends, I croaked.
It was really embarrassing.
Fortunately, I had a friendwith me who was able to take
(04:27):
over and do that.
But be ready in season and outof season.
Now, as I said, you may not haveto preach a sermon, but if
someone asked you to explain whyyou're a Christian, why you
believe, would you be able togive an answer?
So let's look at how Paulhandles this, because it's kind
(04:49):
of helpful.
The thing is, first of all, heconnects with his audience and
actually he connects the gospelwith his audience's story.
Now, of course, it's kind ofeasy for Paul.
He's a Jew, he's preaching to alargely Jewish or God-fearing
audience.
So the Gentiles there were verywarm to Judaism and had been
(05:10):
learning about it, and sothey're deeply rooted in the
story of God's people and there,as Gentiles living in foreign
lands oh sorry, as Jews livingin foreign Gentile lands, they
were, and they still are, deeplyconcerned with maintaining
their identity and faithfullyfollowing God in foreign lands.
(05:33):
And so Paul connects the gospelstory to their story, which
fits very naturally for theseJewish people.
The question for us is how canwe connect the gospel story to
the story of the people we'retalking to See?
What are their concerns thatthe gospel speaks to, what are
(05:57):
their pain points, their fears,their hopes?
How does the gospel addressthese, their hopes?
How does the gospel addressthese?
How does the gospel connect tothe person who's struggling with
broken relationships?
Or how does it connect withpeople struggling with chronic
illness I know some of you cangive testimony about these
(06:23):
things the person who's justlost their job, or just a person
whose life hasn't quite workedout the way they dreamed.
You know, if they're questionsthat you wrestle with or someone
you know wrestles with, thenthe Bible is for you, because
(06:44):
the story of the Bible is astory of a God who comes down
into brokenness and pain.
It is the story of a God whomade us to know and love him,
and that's the story of theGarden of Eden to be in
relationship with him and oneanother without any barriers.
But it's also the story of ourrejection of God, of God and
(07:10):
God's ways, and the disasterthat followed when we followed
our own path.
But God stepped into ourturmoil in the man Jesus Christ,
who died and rose again toovercome death and bring life to
all who believe in him.
And when we turn from followingour own way to following God's
(07:33):
way, as shown in Jesus, he fillsus with new life and new hope,
with forgiveness, healing hopein our broken relationships, our
pain and our disappointment.
Well, after connecting to hislistener's story and at this
(07:54):
stage that's all Paul's donethen Paul transitions into the
Jesus story.
The gospel beginning with Johnthe Baptist Now, if you're not
familiar with John the Baptist,he was a fiery preacher who came
.
He was Jesus' cousin, about sixmonths older appears in the
gospels as a herald for Jesus,just as Jesus is about to break
(08:17):
into the scene.
And he's significant for acouple of reasons.
One is that he was Jesus'herald.
The other is that he was thefirst prophet that Israel had
seen for centuries and he wasactually a big deal for decades
after his death.
So I think what Paul is doinghere by citing John the Baptist
(08:40):
which seems a little bitirrelevant, but these people
knew about him and Paul islending credibility to the
gospel story by citing acommonly recognised authority.
These people would haverecognized John as someone.
Now, as Christians, don't wemake some outlandish claims?
(09:02):
If you've been a Christian along time, it probably just
seems pretty normal.
God became human in Jesus.
He died and rose again.
Same human in Jesus.
He died and rose again, diedfor our sins, rose again and we
will rise with him.
But step back.
That's a ridiculous claim tomake, unless it's true.
(09:22):
It offends the materialistbecause of its supernatural
claims and it often offends thespiritual person, because our
claim is that Jesus is the onlyway to eternal life, and so
being able to provide somesupport to our claims can
(09:44):
sometimes help.
And there are many arguments forthe existence of God, and I
could this morning appeal toscience, logic, history,
morality, many more things tosupport the truth of the gospel.
I'm not going to go into themnow.
I have put a couple of links onour website.
(10:04):
So if you go onto our website,click on the grow tab and then
there's a subheading DefendingChristianity and some links to
that if you are interested inlooking at defences for
Christianity.
But you know you don't have tomemorise all that.
I think it's helpful if you gothrough and look at that.
But there's a better argument,even for the gospel.
(10:27):
That's you, it's your story.
If you were to ask me why I'm aChristian, I might say it's you
know, when I look at Jesus andI look at his life and story, I
see something in someonecompelling, I see something
beautiful and good.
And you know what, when I metJesus, he changed my life.
(10:50):
He took my guilt and gave mefreedom.
He took my dark thoughts andgave me peace.
He took my cynicism and gave mejoy.
I'm still on a journey withsome of those things, but here's
the thing.
What's your Jesus story?
What does it look like?
Why do you believe?
What does it look like?
Why do you believe?
(11:14):
It's not enough, though, just totell people why you believe.
They also need to know what youbelieve, and so Paul presents
the message of the gospel.
Now, if I were to ask you toexplain to me the core message
of the gospel, would you be ableto do that?
(11:35):
Would you have confidence to dothat?
I'll give you a little hint.
I just told it to you a minuteago.
So here's the guts of it.
God made a good world.
We broke the world bydisobeying God, and sin, evil
and death entered into ourexperience, but Jesus died and
(11:57):
rose again.
So we can be forgiven and theworld can be made new, and when
we turn to Jesus, he gives us aglorious new life.
Now, you might want to put itin slightly different words, but
that's the heart of the gospel,and that's great news.
(12:20):
But you know what Great news isreally only great news for me
if I respond to it.
And the gospel demands aresponse.
And Paul urges his listeners toit.
And the gospel demands aresponse and Paul urges his
listeners to believe.
So he does this by giving thema promise and a warning.
(12:41):
So it may not be quite asobvious for us as we read this
as Gentiles, but remember, thesepeople were steeped in the
Scriptures.
I mean, these people had.
You know what?
I'm told Jewish mothers, thereally full-on Jews, the Jewish
mothers do by the time a childis a few years old, because mum
(13:05):
is there as she feeds her child,she's reciting the scriptures.
Jewish children learn Leviticusby heart.
Have you ever read Leviticus?
They're steeped in this stuff,so it's not as obvious for us.
But the promise is thateveryone who believes is
(13:33):
justified.
Okay, now, his Jewish listenerswould have understood that to
mean being made right with God.
And to be made right, paul saysin a way that their law we read
in the Old Testament, the Torah, that the law couldn't do law
(13:55):
we read in the Old Testament,the Torah, that the law couldn't
do.
And the Jewish law is still abig dividing line between Jews
and non-Jews.
But Paul's message was thisdividing line has been rubbed
out in Jesus and we're all onequal footing.
No one can be made right withGod by any other means than
Jesus, and so we must follow him, not just by obeying a bunch of
(14:20):
rules, and we call thatpropensity to rely on rules and
regulations to be made rightwith God.
Legalism, you know what?
It may not be so much aboutspiritual things, but don't we
live in a legalistic society?
So think about these.
(14:40):
If you have the wrong views onclimate change or sexuality or
migration, social welfare or ahost of other topics, you're in
for a world of hurt.
(15:01):
If you say the wrong thing tothe wrong crowd of people,
aren't you?
One side or the other is goingto cancel you.
Different law, different people, same problem and the same God
who says you don't actually haveto have it all right all the
(15:24):
time.
You're imperfect.
He says I know that.
That's why you need my grace.
You don't need to be perfect.
Do you know what?
To become a Christian, youdon't even need to be
particularly good.
In fact, if you think you'regood enough to become a
Christian, that almostdisqualifies you.
You just need to believe in theright person, jesus Christ, and
(15:49):
you need to trust him.
You need to hitch your wagon tohis train and he says the whole
world will be yours in him.
But Paul invites his audiencewith a warning as well, and he
quotes his verse at the end ofthis passage.
You know, look, you scoffers,marvel and vanish away, and so
(16:16):
on.
And his listeners would haverecognized the passage that
verse came from, because thatwas a passage about how God was
going to judge, to bring theBabylonians to bring judgment on
his enemies.
So it's a warning of judgment,and there's a warning of
judgment for us as well, because, remember, I said that the
(16:40):
gospel begins with God creatinga good world, but then we
stuffed it up.
Well, god is going to clean upthat mess, and there's two ways
he does this.
And the way he's doing it nowis through the blood of his son,
jesus, and all who believe inJesus are cleaned up by him and
(17:02):
set right with God.
And the other way he's going todo it is through fire, and the
biblical image of that judgmentis literally hell.
And so the question for us iswhat will we do with Jesus?
Will we choose Jesus or will wechoose judgment?
(17:24):
Will we go God's way orcontinue to go our own way,
which isn't working out so wellfor the world at the moment?
Is it so?
The sermon Paul preaches atPisidian Antioch is the same
message that's been preacheddown through the centuries and
that has brought life to peoplein every age.
(17:47):
It's a message for you, it's amessage for me and it's a
message for the people in yourlife.
There might be people in yourlife who need to know that
message.
Are you confident to tell them?
And if you're not, well, whatdo you do?
(18:09):
And look, folks, I can preachthe message from up here, but
when it comes to sharing it withindividuals, I'm as chicken as
a lot of you.
A lot of you are more bold thanme, I can tell you.
So what do we do?
Well, of course, we pray.
We pray for them and we prayfor ourselves, that the Lord
will give us boldness andclarity, and so on.
But here's another question, apractical thing, aside from who
(18:30):
you tell it to, can youarticulate your testimony?
Do you know how to share, whyyou believe, how you became a
Christian?
If I was to ask you in acompletely non-threatening
there's nothing on the line herewould you be able to tell me.
(18:50):
And so, if you're not quitesure about that, why don't you
just start by having a thinkabout that and writing it down,
maybe getting it clear in yourhead, maybe sharing it with a
friend or your home group, justto start.
Not that you then have to goand tell everyone, but some
questions that might be helpful.
Why do you believe in Jesus?
How did you meet him?
(19:13):
What changed after you met him?
So can you express yourtestimony, your story of meeting
Jesus?
And secondly, can youarticulate or can you explain
the gospel?
Like I've said a couple of timesand again, if you're not quite
(19:37):
sure, why don't you just go andwrite it down, get it clear in
your head and then maybepractice it to yourself a few
times so that you become justagain?
If I was to sit down with youand say, hey, can you tell me
the gospel, you can just comeout with a skeleton.
That may not be what you tellpeople, but at least it's clear
in your own mind and you've gota bit more confidence.
(19:57):
You know when soldiers orwarriors train for battle, one
of the things they do is theyrepeat the same moves.
Maybe if you've ever donemartial arts or something, it's
like this you repeat the samemoves over and over, and, over
and over again until it justbecomes muscle memory.
You don't even need to thinkabout it, it's just there in
(20:18):
your body and it's the same withthese gospel truths.
It's why we do certain things.
In a moment we're going to havecommunion again, just like we
did last week, because we justwant these things to seep into
our hearts and just become partof us so that when someone says
it just comes out, so repeatthese things to yourself until
(20:40):
they become automatic.
And doing that will build yourfaith and it'll build your
confidence.
But look, even if you strugglewith that, all is not lost.
If you still feel as chicken asI usually do, even after all
that, you can invite someone toAlpha and we've got it this week
, we're going to be doing itagain later in the year and
there they'll hear the gospel inan engaging and an
(21:03):
understandable way.
And if you're here today andyou haven't put your trust in
Jesus, can I invite you to dothat, to think about the claims
of Jesus that I've been talkinglargely to Christians this
morning, but I've tried to do itin a way that will be clear to
everyone.
And if you're interested infinding out more, if you're
(21:25):
interested in giving your heartto Jesus, I would love to pray
with you after the service Godwants to give you eternal life.
Will you say yes to Jesus?
Gary comes up to lead us incommunion.
I just want to pray, father.
Thank you for your grace to us,thank you for the story of the
(21:48):
gospel, thank you that theinvitation is there to be shaped
by love and life and hope andthe joy of the gospel.
So help us to step into thatLord.
Just give us a confidence toshare your gospel with our
friends, with people who needthat life and love and joy and
hope as well.
And, father, we just pray thatyou pour out your spirit on us
(22:16):
and that your gospel may bevibrant among us.
In Jesus' name.
And as we make our way through Acts, occasionally
we come across these sermons andthere are differences in each
context, but they're basicallythe same message.
And I don't know about you, butI have to admit sometimes I
come to these sermons just asI'm reading through Acts and I
think, okay, I know all thisalready, luke, why are you
telling me again?
You sort of said it at thebeginning and again and again,
(00:23):
and I don't know, maybe you feellike that when the preacher
gets up every Sunday and keepsrepeating stuff Sorry, not sorry
.
Why does Luke keep repeatingthis core message all the time?
Well, I think he has a fewpurposes.
First, it simply keeps thegospel front and center.
Acts is the story of the spreadof the gospel from Jerusalem to
(00:49):
Rome, and there are a lot ofexciting stories in there.
But if you were here last week,we saw that Paul was presenting
the gospel, made an opponentsomeone who was opposing him go
blind, and the governor who he'dbeen speaking to was astonished
, not at the miracle, but at themessage that Paul and Barnabas
(01:12):
were presenting.
And so it's important that wenever lose sight of the gospel,
and you know there are so manyimportant issues that cry for
our attention, but as Christians, we always need to see them
through the lens of the gospel,and we always need to take
action shaped by the gospel andbecause that's simply friends,
(01:35):
where our power lies, as God'speople.
That's what bringstransformation to lives and
communities.
In this particular case, pauland Barnabas are entering a new
phase of the mission, so they'retaking the gospel into
(01:56):
previously unreached regions.
So you can see the map up thereand the big arrow pointing
roughly at Antioch in Pisidia,not to be confused with Antioch
in Syria, which was actuallytheir base, and there was a very
strong church in Syrian Antioch, and so Pisidian Antioch is in
(02:16):
what's now current-day Turkey.
So Luke tells us thisparticular story, I think, also
to introduce us to what will bePaul's general strategy.
He forms a base among theJewish community in each city he
goes to and with theGod-fearing Gentiles, but he
(02:39):
also shows us that Paul ispreaching the same gospel to
them as the apostles inJerusalem were preaching.
See, there is only one gospeland one church wherever the
gospel is preached.
It's not about differentcultures or denominations.
It's about the gospel and thelordship of Jesus that make us
(03:01):
one.
This sermon, I think, though,also gives us a helpful pattern
for sharing the gospel ourselves.
You may not be called to preacha sermon, but if you have the
opportunity to share the gospelwith someone, how do you do that
?
And that's what I want to lookat this morning as we go through
(03:22):
this sermon.
So the synagogue leaders invitePaul and Barnabas to bring the
sermon for the day.
It was an impromptu invitation,but Paul was so ready and he
tells us elsewhere to always beready in season and out of
(03:42):
season.
I have to confess I haven'talways been ready out of season.
I was asked to share the gospelwith someone once.
We were on a mission trip inIndia actually.
So remember this I am going ona mission trip to share the
gospel and I'm asked to talk toan individual.
(04:04):
Now I had all my in-season talk.
We were going to be talking topastors as well.
I had all of that prepared andit went really well actually.
But this out-of-season,in-the-moment opportunity,
friends, I croaked.
It was really embarrassing.
Fortunately, I had a friendwith me who was able to take
(04:27):
over and do that.
But be ready in season and outof season.
Now, as I said, you may not haveto preach a sermon, but if
someone asked you to explain whyyou're a Christian, why you
believe, would you be able togive an answer?
So let's look at how Paulhandles this, because it's kind
(04:49):
of helpful.
The thing is, first of all, heconnects with his audience and
actually he connects the gospelwith his audience's story.
Now, of course, it's kind ofeasy for Paul.
He's a Jew, he's preaching to alargely Jewish or God-fearing
audience.
So the Gentiles there were verywarm to Judaism and had been
(05:10):
learning about it, and sothey're deeply rooted in the
story of God's people and there,as Gentiles living in foreign
lands oh sorry, as Jews livingin foreign Gentile lands, they
were, and they still are, deeplyconcerned with maintaining
their identity and faithfullyfollowing God in foreign lands.
(05:33):
And so Paul connects the gospelstory to their story, which
fits very naturally for theseJewish people.
The question for us is how canwe connect the gospel story to
the story of the people we'retalking to See?
What are their concerns thatthe gospel speaks to, what are
(05:57):
their pain points, their fears,their hopes?
How does the gospel addressthese, their hopes?
How does the gospel addressthese?
How does the gospel connect tothe person who's struggling with
broken relationships?
Or how does it connect withpeople struggling with chronic
illness I know some of you cangive testimony about these
(06:23):
things the person who's justlost their job, or just a person
whose life hasn't quite workedout the way they dreamed.
You know, if they're questionsthat you wrestle with or someone
you know wrestles with, thenthe Bible is for you, because
(06:44):
the story of the Bible is astory of a God who comes down
into brokenness and pain.
It is the story of a God whomade us to know and love him,
and that's the story of theGarden of Eden to be in
relationship with him and oneanother without any barriers.
But it's also the story of ourrejection of God, of God and
(07:10):
God's ways, and the disasterthat followed when we followed
our own path.
But God stepped into ourturmoil in the man Jesus Christ,
who died and rose again toovercome death and bring life to
all who believe in him.
And when we turn from followingour own way to following God's
(07:33):
way, as shown in Jesus, he fillsus with new life and new hope,
with forgiveness, healing hopein our broken relationships, our
pain and our disappointment.
Well, after connecting to hislistener's story and at this
(07:54):
stage that's all Paul's donethen Paul transitions into the
Jesus story.
The gospel beginning with Johnthe Baptist Now, if you're not
familiar with John the Baptist,he was a fiery preacher who came
.
He was Jesus' cousin, about sixmonths older appears in the
gospels as a herald for Jesus,just as Jesus is about to break
(08:17):
into the scene.
And he's significant for acouple of reasons.
One is that he was Jesus'herald.
The other is that he was thefirst prophet that Israel had
seen for centuries and he wasactually a big deal for decades
after his death.
So I think what Paul is doinghere by citing John the Baptist
(08:40):
which seems a little bitirrelevant, but these people
knew about him and Paul islending credibility to the
gospel story by citing acommonly recognised authority.
These people would haverecognized John as someone.
Now, as Christians, don't wemake some outlandish claims?
(09:02):
If you've been a Christian along time, it probably just
seems pretty normal.
God became human in Jesus.
He died and rose again.
Same human in Jesus.
He died and rose again, diedfor our sins, rose again and we
will rise with him.
But step back.
That's a ridiculous claim tomake, unless it's true.
(09:22):
It offends the materialistbecause of its supernatural
claims and it often offends thespiritual person, because our
claim is that Jesus is the onlyway to eternal life, and so
being able to provide somesupport to our claims can
(09:44):
sometimes help.
And there are many arguments forthe existence of God, and I
could this morning appeal toscience, logic, history,
morality, many more things tosupport the truth of the gospel.
I'm not going to go into themnow.
I have put a couple of links onour website.
(10:04):
So if you go onto our website,click on the grow tab and then
there's a subheading DefendingChristianity and some links to
that if you are interested inlooking at defences for
Christianity.
But you know you don't have tomemorise all that.
I think it's helpful if you gothrough and look at that.
But there's a better argument,even for the gospel.
(10:27):
That's you, it's your story.
If you were to ask me why I'm aChristian, I might say it's you
know, when I look at Jesus andI look at his life and story, I
see something in someonecompelling, I see something
beautiful and good.
And you know what, when I metJesus, he changed my life.
(10:50):
He took my guilt and gave mefreedom.
He took my dark thoughts andgave me peace.
He took my cynicism and gave mejoy.
I'm still on a journey withsome of those things, but here's
the thing.
What's your Jesus story?
What does it look like?
Why do you believe?
What does it look like?
Why do you believe?
(11:14):
It's not enough, though, just totell people why you believe.
They also need to know what youbelieve, and so Paul presents
the message of the gospel.
Now, if I were to ask you toexplain to me the core message
of the gospel, would you be ableto do that?
(11:35):
Would you have confidence to dothat?
I'll give you a little hint.
I just told it to you a minuteago.
So here's the guts of it.
God made a good world.
We broke the world bydisobeying God, and sin, evil
and death entered into ourexperience, but Jesus died and
(11:57):
rose again.
So we can be forgiven and theworld can be made new, and when
we turn to Jesus, he gives us aglorious new life.
Now, you might want to put itin slightly different words, but
that's the heart of the gospel,and that's great news.
(12:20):
But you know what Great news isreally only great news for me
if I respond to it.
And the gospel demands aresponse.
And Paul urges his listeners toit.
And the gospel demands aresponse and Paul urges his
listeners to believe.
So he does this by giving thema promise and a warning.
(12:41):
So it may not be quite asobvious for us as we read this
as Gentiles, but remember, thesepeople were steeped in the
Scriptures.
I mean, these people had.
You know what?
I'm told Jewish mothers, thereally full-on Jews, the Jewish
mothers do by the time a childis a few years old, because mum
(13:05):
is there as she feeds her child,she's reciting the scriptures.
Jewish children learn Leviticusby heart.
Have you ever read Leviticus?
They're steeped in this stuff,so it's not as obvious for us.
But the promise is thateveryone who believes is
(13:33):
justified.
Okay, now, his Jewish listenerswould have understood that to
mean being made right with God.
And to be made right, paul saysin a way that their law we read
in the Old Testament, the Torah, that the law couldn't do law
(13:55):
we read in the Old Testament,the Torah, that the law couldn't
do.
And the Jewish law is still abig dividing line between Jews
and non-Jews.
But Paul's message was thisdividing line has been rubbed
out in Jesus and we're all onequal footing.
No one can be made right withGod by any other means than
Jesus, and so we must follow him, not just by obeying a bunch of
(14:20):
rules, and we call thatpropensity to rely on rules and
regulations to be made rightwith God.
Legalism, you know what?
It may not be so much aboutspiritual things, but don't we
live in a legalistic society?
So think about these.
(14:40):
If you have the wrong views onclimate change or sexuality or
migration, social welfare or ahost of other topics, you're in
for a world of hurt.
(15:01):
If you say the wrong thing tothe wrong crowd of people,
aren't you?
One side or the other is goingto cancel you.
Different law, different people, same problem and the same God
who says you don't actually haveto have it all right all the
(15:24):
time.
You're imperfect.
He says I know that.
That's why you need my grace.
You don't need to be perfect.
Do you know what?
To become a Christian, youdon't even need to be
particularly good.
In fact, if you think you'regood enough to become a
Christian, that almostdisqualifies you.
You just need to believe in theright person, jesus Christ, and
(15:49):
you need to trust him.
You need to hitch your wagon tohis train and he says the whole
world will be yours in him.
But Paul invites his audiencewith a warning as well, and he
quotes his verse at the end ofthis passage.
You know, look, you scoffers,marvel and vanish away, and so
(16:16):
on.
And his listeners would haverecognized the passage that
verse came from, because thatwas a passage about how God was
going to judge, to bring theBabylonians to bring judgment on
his enemies.
So it's a warning of judgment,and there's a warning of
judgment for us as well, because, remember, I said that the
(16:40):
gospel begins with God creatinga good world, but then we
stuffed it up.
Well, god is going to clean upthat mess, and there's two ways
he does this.
And the way he's doing it nowis through the blood of his son,
jesus, and all who believe inJesus are cleaned up by him and
(17:02):
set right with God.
And the other way he's going todo it is through fire, and the
biblical image of that judgmentis literally hell.
And so the question for us iswhat will we do with Jesus?
Will we choose Jesus or will wechoose judgment?
(17:24):
Will we go God's way orcontinue to go our own way,
which isn't working out so wellfor the world at the moment?
Is it so?
The sermon Paul preaches atPisidian Antioch is the same
message that's been preacheddown through the centuries and
that has brought life to peoplein every age.
(17:47):
It's a message for you, it's amessage for me and it's a
message for the people in yourlife.
There might be people in yourlife who need to know that
message.
Are you confident to tell them?
And if you're not, well, whatdo you do?
(18:09):
And look, folks, I can preachthe message from up here, but
when it comes to sharing it withindividuals, I'm as chicken as
a lot of you.
A lot of you are more bold thanme, I can tell you.
So what do we do?
Well, of course, we pray.
We pray for them and we prayfor ourselves, that the Lord
will give us boldness andclarity, and so on.
But here's another question, apractical thing, aside from who
(18:30):
you tell it to, can youarticulate your testimony?
Do you know how to share, whyyou believe, how you became a
Christian?
If I was to ask you in acompletely non-threatening
there's nothing on the line herewould you be able to tell me.
(18:50):
And so, if you're not quitesure about that, why don't you
just start by having a thinkabout that and writing it down,
maybe getting it clear in yourhead, maybe sharing it with a
friend or your home group, justto start.
Not that you then have to goand tell everyone, but some
questions that might be helpful.
Why do you believe in Jesus?
How did you meet him?
(19:13):
What changed after you met him?
So can you express yourtestimony, your story of meeting
Jesus?
And secondly, can youarticulate or can you explain
the gospel?
Like I've said a couple of timesand again, if you're not quite
(19:37):
sure, why don't you just go andwrite it down, get it clear in
your head and then maybepractice it to yourself a few
times so that you become justagain?
If I was to sit down with youand say, hey, can you tell me
the gospel, you can just comeout with a skeleton.
That may not be what you tellpeople, but at least it's clear
in your own mind and you've gota bit more confidence.
(19:57):
You know when soldiers orwarriors train for battle, one
of the things they do is theyrepeat the same moves.
Maybe if you've ever donemartial arts or something, it's
like this you repeat the samemoves over and over, and, over
and over again until it justbecomes muscle memory.
You don't even need to thinkabout it, it's just there in
(20:18):
your body and it's the same withthese gospel truths.
It's why we do certain things.
In a moment we're going to havecommunion again, just like we
did last week, because we justwant these things to seep into
our hearts and just become partof us so that when someone says
it just comes out, so repeatthese things to yourself until
(20:40):
they become automatic.
And doing that will build yourfaith and it'll build your
confidence.
But look, even if you strugglewith that, all is not lost.
If you still feel as chicken asI usually do, even after all
that, you can invite someone toAlpha and we've got it this week
, we're going to be doing itagain later in the year and
there they'll hear the gospel inan engaging and an
(21:03):
understandable way.
And if you're here today andyou haven't put your trust in
Jesus, can I invite you to dothat, to think about the claims
of Jesus that I've been talkinglargely to Christians this
morning, but I've tried to do itin a way that will be clear to
everyone.
And if you're interested infinding out more, if you're
(21:25):
interested in giving your heartto Jesus, I would love to pray
with you after the service Godwants to give you eternal life.
Will you say yes to Jesus?
Gary comes up to lead us incommunion.
I just want to pray, father.
Thank you for your grace to us,thank you for the story of the
(21:48):
gospel, thank you that theinvitation is there to be shaped
by love and life and hope andthe joy of the gospel.
So help us to step into thatLord.
Just give us a confidence toshare your gospel with our
friends, with people who needthat life and love and joy and
hope as well.
And, father, we just pray thatyou pour out your spirit on us
(22:16):
and that your gospel may bevibrant among us.
In Jesus' name.
Popular Podcasts
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.