Acts 14:21-28

gets the text message. So again, if you would like to receive a text message whenever this goes live, you're more than welcome to shoot us an email, brian at sharon rpc.org. That's my computer saying that I got a text message with it. So we are ready to go. Good morning. Good morning. Good morning. Welcome to coffee and devotions. This is where every day you and us we Yeah, and we grow in our love for the Lord together in this year 2022 we'll make it from the book of Acts to Do you remember? Philemon. Oh, yep. You'll see you'll get there as we keep reading it, right? So why don't we have some coffee? We'll pray and we'll get in the Lord's Word. Nathan has hot chocolate this morning. Not coffee I know you saw him try some coffee the other day, but he's just got a hot chocolate All right, you ready to pray?
Yeah. Father, we thank you so much for this day and we thank you for your word. We pray that as we read your word that you would teach us. We pray that we would be people of such strong faith in Jesus's name. Amen. Okay, here we go. So we are at Acts chapter 14 beginning at verse 21. Acts chapter 14 beginning at verse 21. We'll just, you read a verse, I read a verse, you read a verse, I read a verse. Okay, go ahead.
And when they had preached the Gospels to the city and made many disciples, they returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch, strengthening the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith, and saying, We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God. So when they had appointed elders in every church and prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord in whom they believed. And after they had passed through Pisidia, they came to Pamphylia. Now when they had preached the war in Borgia, they went down to For from there they sailed to Antioch, where they had been commended to the grace of God for the work which they had completed. Now when they had come and gathered the church together, they reported all that God had done with them, and that He had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles. So they stayed there a long time with the disciples.
Well, we need to ask ourselves, A, what is this about? B, what's the best verse to summarize this? And C, what are we called to do in response to these words? Alright, so A, what is this about? What do you think is going on here? I think it's about they are leaving Jerusalem. Well, no. So what had happened is they had gone to Cyprus. After Cyprus they went to what's now Turkey. So they're making disciples. Yeah, they're making disciples of all the nations. That's exactly right. And so they start in southern Turkey. They start at when they first got there. This is like the end of Paul and Barnabas's first missionary journey.
So they had gotten to Atalia and from there they went up to Perga and that's in the region of Pamphylia and then they went to the region of Pisidia and they went to Antioch and Pisidia. From Antioch and Pisidia they went to Iconium. From Iconium they went to Lystra. You know what happened in Lystra? What? They tried to kill Saul. They stoned him. Yeah, and from Lystra, they went to Derby. Now, they've made disciples in Derby, and guess what they do now?
Keep on going? No, keep on going. Actually, you know where Paul is from? Derby? Paul is from Tarsus. which is just a few more towns down the road. They could have left and gone back to Antioch by going to Tarsus and then going back to Antioch in Syria. But instead they turn around and they go back. Think about that. They leave Derbe, they make disciples there, and they go back to Lystra where they had just tried to kill Paul.
If someone just tried to kill you, would you want to go back to that city? No. I'd get the shivers if I go back to that city. Yeah, and yet that's exactly what Paul and Barnabas do. Why do you think they would go back to those cities? Back to Lystra, back to Iconium, back to Antioch?
Because they need to make nations in the whole world. They need to make disciples of the whole world. Yeah, you're right. And so that making of disciples is also setting up how the church is supposed to run. So they appoint elders in all of them. Do you want to know what the word for elder there is? You ready for the Greek word? Krasputoroi. Well, it means elder. Have you ever wondered what the word Presbyterian means? It means that we're run by elders. Yeah, we literally get our name from places in the Bible like this. And so, elder just means somebody who's appointed or elected to kind of lead the people.
Or, you wanna know how else Presbyter Roy is used? It's used for like an old man. Right, so you would honor an older person. An elder is an older person. Yeah, an elder is typically an older person, yeah. Except for you. Yeah, I'm not very old. You're right, I like you.
So anyways, they go and they need to teach them that... Do you think some people could sit there and think, oh no, we're being persecuted, we're suffering, something must be wrong. No, Jesus told them. But had they heard from Jesus, the people in Asia Minor? No. So they go back, Paul and Barnabas, and they tell them things like that. You know, Jesus told us, a servant is not greater than his master.
If they hated me, they'll hate you also. And so they need to encourage them. They need to tell them, hey, this is normal. It's good. Right? That's how things are going to go. And so here they appointed elders and they prayed with fasting. What do you think fasting is? Well, it could be many days, it could be a few hours, right? But they fast. They want to devote themselves to prayer so they don't eat.
And then it says that they commended them to the Lord in whom they believed. That means like they entrust them to God. Because are Paul and Barnabas going to stay there? Nope. Nope. And so who's going to watch over the church? The Lord. Follow the Lord. Yeah, they entrust them to the Lord. They say, all right, we've done our work. You have elders. We've prayed for you. We've loved you. We've preached the good news to you. Now, whose hands are they in? God's. Yeah, they're in God's hands. And so they go back and they're preaching everywhere that they go.
And so finally they get back down to, sorry I'm trying to think, Atalia, and that's like a seaport, and they get on a boat, they sail across the Mediterranean, and they go back up the Orontes River, and you know what they go, you know where they go back to? Antioch. Yeah, he missed his hometown completely and he went across instead down and over to Antioch.
That's the church that had sent them. Yeah, because there was a couple people who were listed as the prophets and teachers and it was there that the Spirit told them that they were supposed to go do this. And so why do you think they would go back to that church?
And to go from city to city, it might have taken them almost a year, probably. It did take them at least a year, you're right. Which means most of our missionaries, they sometimes try coming back between two or a year because it's kind of, you want to You're still American, just you're in another country. And so why do they come back from time to time? Because they want to see other people. They want to know. Yeah, do we like hearing from the missionaries? Yeah. Do we like hearing how things are going and how the Lord is working? Yeah. Yeah.
And so that's exactly what they do. They gathered the church together. Verse 27 says, Now when they had come and gathered the church together, they reported all that God had done with them. Who was the one getting them from town to town to town? Who is the one, I love this, opening the doors of faith for the Gentiles? God. Isn't that amazing? It's God who opens their hearts. And it's God who keeps them. And it's God who's spreading his gospel. Isn't that beautiful?
What do you think was the best verse that you think would summarize all this? Do you think we must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God? Do you think that? Yeah, I think also From there, they sailed to Antioch, where they had been commended to the grace of God for the work which they had completed. Or verse 27, I have verse 27 double underlined. And so, any of those verses, what would you underline in your Bible? Well, lastly, let's go ahead and talk about, okay, so these are great stories. But how does it apply to your life and my life?
What are we called to do in response to this? Share the gospel, good. Tell other people about Jesus. Should we pray for the missionaries? Should we be praying that the Lord will open people's hearts? Should we thank God that he's given us a structure for the church to work? We should thank God that we also can communicate with them. Yeah, it is a blessing. Because some of my friends are missionaries. And some of them, sometimes we can't even communicate. Yeah, some friends we can't even communicate with because they're missionaries. That's right. Well, why don't we go ahead and pray for them now?
You ready? Lord, we thank you so much for those who are going out and making disciples of the nations. We thank you for your spirit that has sent them to do this work. Lord, they are entrusted to your care. And so Father, we pray that you would watch over them and bless them. Some of them are in very dangerous places. Some of them are in less dangerous places. Father, we pray that no matter where they are, that you would watch over them and protect them.
We pray that you would open the doors of faith for people to believe in Jesus Christ and that they might not be dismayed or troubled when trials and tribulations come. but that they would endure suffering. Lord, we pray that you would teach us to endure suffering as well, and that we would also have preachers in our own land who would be bold who had preached the good news of Jesus Christ. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Well, may the Lord bless you today. May he give you divine appointments. May you be looking for them today. Opportunities where you might impart grace and tell others of Jesus Christ. And we'll see you tomorrow. You wanna say bye? Bye. Bye.
Thanks for listening to this week's message from God's Word for You, a ministry of Sharon R.P. Church in rural southeast Iowa. We pray that the message would be used by God to transform your faith in your life this week. If you'd like to get more information about us, feel free to go to the website, SharonRPC.org. We'd love to invite you to worship with us. Our worship time is 10 a.m. every Sunday at 25204 160th Avenue, Morning Sun, Iowa, 52640. May God richly bless you this week.