Speak Jesus to Everyone

Liam Cowman

Sermon • Submitted a year ago • Presented a year ago

Acts 18

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How to speak about Jesus to others without fear of ridicule.

Notes

Transcript

Tent Making

The Bi-Vocational call being a real call of people today

We all wear different kinds of hats and I do not mean physical hats.

I mean different roles that we take on that make up part of our identity as a person.

See for me I am: a Pastor, a Husband, a Movie watcher, a Long Boarder, a Biker, a Board Game Enjoyer, a Camper, and the list goes on.

I wear these different hats, some are constant, like being a pastor or a husband, those things never end. However my passion of riding my longboard (a large skateboard) is not a current activity nor is it important beyond this introduction.

It shows that there is more that I do then just speak to people about Jesus, HOWEVER it’s vice versa for you.

You might be a: Parent, Employee at wherever, along with a Christian, and altough following Christ is a permanant thing. Sharing about Jesus is not a constant hat that is warn.

Think about it we are not always trying to win someone to Christ, we do not constantly try to tell others about how powerful and wonderful is the Glory of God, even though its ingrained in our brains that we might be currently thinking about it those thoughts may not get said.

See if we break down our hats into two categories, the first being our 9-5 Job and the other being a particing Christina but for this message I am going to say a speaker of Jesus. Meaning that you are talking about faith or your testimony or Jesus.

These are two tasks that need to take place and they might have cross over, however we are called to do both. Jesus calls us to make disciples and to baptize them in the name of the father.

This is a bi-vocational calling, that you are not just called to sharing the gospel but also that you have a day job to and you are called to better the world and the people of the world through that job, even if you dont feel like it is important sometimes.

See you are called to this bi-vocational life which is a fancy way of saying that you are a tent maker! Just like Paul the Apostle, who crafted tents by day and spent the weekend speaking Jesus to the town. So our understanding of a effective practice of creating disciples needs to come from him, as he was just like us in wanting Jesus’ name to be made famous while having to keep the bills paid.

Turn with me to Acts 18 as we are going to hover here, and the whole Book of Acts could be a great understanding of disciple making, leading others to Jesus and just miracles. \Acts in itself is a great example of being on mission and even though we say it is the acts of the apostles there is plenty of ordinary people in this book who do extraordinary things.

Acts 18:1–5 NIV

After this, Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. There he met a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had ordered all Jews to leave Rome. Paul went to see them, and because he was a tentmaker as they were, he stayed and worked with them. Every Sabbath he reasoned in the synagogue, trying to persuade Jews and Greeks. When Silas and Timothy came from Macedonia, Paul devoted himself exclusively to preaching, testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Messiah.

Paul worked each day making tents but on the day of rest he would dedicate himself to the sharing of the gospel. The sharing of the gospel would happen regularly through the week to the people he would speak with at his tent making tent, however the Sabbath would be the one day where Paul would go out of his way to speak about Jesus.

Sabbath day, the day of rest would be the day where Paul sought to further his reach to the Jewish people and speak to them in the one place they would be gathering, the synagouge. Paul was a modern day bisnuess man when it came to reaching the unreached people. He knew what to say but also where to speak once and be heard by all.

Pauls purpose was never to build those tents, even if he would work a 9-5 Monday to Friday and that occupied 90% of his time, he was called to that Sabbath day where he shared the Gospel to the Jewish people.

This was his calling in his position, that he would go to the Synagouge and speak Jesus. This will be even more clear as we keep reading but to settle here and apply it to our lives, we need to decide what is my Life task - the thing that keeps me going so that I can get to Sunday and do my - New Life task - the thing that God has given me, where is my synagouge full of people that need to hear about Jesus.

Even though I use the sabbath example, there is more to just a sabbatical life style of service, your calling could be on a tuesday night and that is the time where you are called to ministry and speak about Jesus to a room full of whatever kind of people God has called you to.

See ministry to the world is not just a pastors Job, my Job is to equip and encourage you to find your God given opppertunites in this community or in the world. God has given you his calling and shown you the crowd of people that you are directly connected to and that need to hear about Jesus’ death and most importantly the ressurection.

Defining your missional field

Paul chooses to stay in Corinth to continue preaching.

However you need to decide where your mission field is, God has called you here to _______ and you need to understand that there is a group of people here and they are the people that you are called to do ministry for, to care for, to bear their burdens and of course disciple them.

Paul goes through this same experience as we keep reading., Acts 18:5-8

Acts 18:5–8 NIV

When Silas and Timothy came from Macedonia, Paul devoted himself exclusively to preaching, testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Messiah. But when they opposed Paul and became abusive, he shook out his clothes in protest and said to them, “Your blood be on your own heads! I am innocent of it. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.” Then Paul left the synagogue and went next door to the house of Titius Justus, a worshiper of God. Crispus, the synagogue leader, and his entire household believed in the Lord; and many of the Corinthians who heard Paul believed and were baptized.

See Paul finds out through a bad example, this encounter leaves a sour taste in his mouth as the Jewish people who he is trying to share Jesus with are abusive in speach.

Imagine sharing your heart only to be relased to anger or resentment, that is how Paul is feeling here, and so his natural solution much like anyone of use is to leave the situation.

However Paul does not decide to stop in the sharing of Jesus and decides that his mission field is not here but is rather next door. Sometimes we just miss that mark of effective evanglism by just a few steps to the right. See Pauls chosen audience is only a few feet away from where he begain, and he goes through this hard ship to only find out that their is people who want to hear about Jesus.

Pauls effectiveness is in contiuing to share the gosepl through the hardship but also know that maybe the first crowd that is there is not the calling. Paul realizes that maybe the Jewish people that are gathered in the Synagouage are not the rigth crowd but those who are gathered else where are it. The synagouge leader being amoungst them.

Paul through this calling and the decision to go next door leads him to the great turning of people to the Spirit, it says many come to Jesus in Corinth simple because he did not give up but rather he reassesed his understanding of his missional field.

Maybe my mission is not here, but rather a few feet away; am I effectively showing Jesus here or is there a difference atmosphere or venue where Jesus is leading me to impact his Kingdom?

While it takes Paul a failure to recceive that awesome success and even if that might be a case of other parts of the bible where people fail to find more success then failure there is some more important things at play. Especcially when we look at this as being apart of a missional world.

God is with you in the teaching of his Word

Paul receives a vision from the Lord

See Paul recceives a message from Jesus that he never left or forsaken him, Acts 18:9-11

Acts 18:9–11 NIV

One night the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision: “Do not be afraid; keep on speaking, do not be silent. For I am with you, and no one is going to attack and harm you, because I have many people in this city.” So Paul stayed in Corinth for a year and a half, teaching them the word of God.

Jesus tells Paul that he is still on his side, even when he recceives hardship and painful experiences. Jesus comforts Paul and reminds him that he can contiune to do what he is doing as Jesus will protect him from any type of attack that might show its way in to the world.

So what does Paul do? He keeps going, preaching more for a year and a half before we contiune reading about what happens next. So we need to hear from Jesus in the mist of our service, that we are called by Jesus to do this awesome ministry and to serve others that do not know him. If we are called by the Lord most high to love and disciple that God given group of people then we must know that God will help us.

Jesus is never going to send you into a mission field and leave you there to rot.

Jesus is never going to send you to a place where he has never gone

We are talking about the man who died on a cross for you, he went that far for you, so going into that house or community meeting or that group of people is already something he died for.

Jesus is going before you, he is walking beside you and he is cheering you on from behind!

As people who want to make Jesus’ name more famous we actually have a really easy job, because we weren’t the one to die on the cross, we just get to talk about it.

This is shown as we keep going

God has placed people around you to help in your reaching the world.

The person of Gallio, not even allowing Paul to defend himself, as Gallio steps in.

See Paul continues to preach and share about Jesus in Corinth and while he was there the Jews hated him and decided to attack him

Acts 18:12–17 NIV

While Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews of Corinth made a united attack on Paul and brought him to the place of judgment. “This man,” they charged, “is persuading the people to worship God in ways contrary to the law.” Just as Paul was about to speak, Gallio said to them, “If you Jews were making a complaint about some misdemeanor or serious crime, it would be reasonable for me to listen to you. But since it involves questions about words and names and your own law—settle the matter yourselves. I will not be a judge of such things.” So he drove them off. Then the crowd there turned on Sosthenes the synagogue leader and beat him in front of the proconsul; and Gallio showed no concern whatever.

When Paul has that vision Jesus was not just speaking in metaphors but actually had people around Paul that would step in and help him.

The funny part is that Gallio might have never even been a Christian, he was just fated to be here in Corinth and in his position Paul was on mission, Jesus is working on our story even before he arrive at the momment.

We need to understand that the people around us are not just here by happenstance but rather God has orcestrated it all together to bring out his glory,

this happens as Paul teaches

But also as Paul was attacked and brought to what the JEws thought was going to be Judgement.

Jesus has already stacked the cards in your favour and is only asking that you play in, where he wants to invite you to share about him, make disciples, even to speak Jesus into parts of the world that might be dangerous like a Jewish Synagouge.

We are called to be the sharers of the world to all the world and we a fortunante the Jesus has already done all the work.

Sharing as you learn

Apollos has a passion to share Jesus, but a desire to learn more too.

However you might be feeling a lack of perperation in the sending message. Which is a normal thing, we can think about Timothy who at a young age was sent to be the pastor of the church in Epehsus. Paul sent him out while Timothy felt like he was not ready.

Even the disicples probably felt like they could have had Jesus as their rabbi just a little longer to prepare them for their sending into the world, and thats clearly shown by their prayer gathers after Jesus assencion

So knowing that the fear of being not ready to share about Jesus is a normal thing especially when it comes to the content you share, there is still a need and luckly while Paul was still in Corinth he meets a man named Apollos, who has a fire for sharing the Good word.

Acts 18:24–28 NIV

Meanwhile a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was a learned man, with a thorough knowledge of the Scriptures. He had been instructed in the way of the Lord, and he spoke with great fervor and taught about Jesus accurately, though he knew only the baptism of John. He began to speak boldly in the synagogue. When Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they invited him to their home and explained to him the way of God more adequately. When Apollos wanted to go to Achaia, the brothers and sisters encouraged him and wrote to the disciples there to welcome him. When he arrived, he was a great help to those who by grace had believed. For he vigorously refuted his Jewish opponents in public debate, proving from the Scriptures that Jesus was the Messiah.

Apollos knew the bible story but knew little of what Jesus actually did, so he teaches what he knows and later is corrected.

Apollos is a great example of how to grow in your discipling capacity but also your faith. Where he starts is different to where he ended. Apollos was a man who knew the scirptures, a Jewish man who would have known all about moses and Abraham. However he knew little of Jesus, only being able to speak on the baptism in the Jordan river.

However through the narrative Apollos is still openly teaching about the Lord, know we cannot say that what he was teaching was 100% right, however through the writing we cannot say he was speaking on things he did not know. Using his limited knoweldge he was trying to lead people to Jesus.

Thats alot like you and me, we don’t have it all fiqured out. I cannot repeat all the new testament word for word to win you over in a debate, however I can tell you everything I know about Jesus, which is a lot and it probably is for you aswell.

You could speak about Jesus all day if someone asked, and that was the heart posture that Apollos would take when he would teach others.

Saying, “I don’t know it all but here is what I do know”

What a powerful stance that is to take, that he would be able to share even his limited knowledge about Jesus to lead others into finding his love.

Imagine if we took that same stance as a Church, where we in our finite knowledge would share all we have for the building of Gods Kingdom here on earth.

Apollos is even taught more as well as we had read.

Strengthened in your evangelism by the people around you.

Even though Apollos could have given up or shifted away during that confrontation, he actually gets better through it.

Apollos was taught more knowledge of Jesus’ life by Priscilla and Aquila. Apollos is a great example of evanglism and sharing the faith as;

he teaches what he knows

he learns more to share more.

We even hear about him later that he is actually making a name for himself as he is discipling more and more people, and he is included in the letter to the Corinithians. Apollos takes this teaching moment not in spite as he could have refuted the time with Priscilla and Aquila and saying that he “knows it all” however he learns and contiunes on his calling of sharing and making Jesus’ name more famous. He even goes off to Achaia where becuase of the learning and growing is able to publicly debate the Jewish people.

All in all we need to learn that even if we don’t know all about Jesus we can use our limited knowledge to share with others.

We know the death and ressurection which is the most important parts of our faith as we really are nothing with out them

We also know that we have been put here in this exact place, in our homes our communities and venues to minister, love, care, share, and teach others about the love of Jesus.

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