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*POV:* Teamwork in the body of Christ is essential for effective missions.
*Audience:* People who are apathetic about mission because they think it’s not for them, and some who would be willing to play a part if they knew an appropriate role.
*Action: *Find a role and play your part.
Don’t worry about “giftings” just do what God puts on your heart.
Learn more and be educated about missions!
*Benefits:* We can see the Great Commission in motion and being fulfilled, and be part of a winning team that has incredible meaning.
The peace, contentment, and excitement of being part of God’s plan.
*Introduction*
/Blow whistle!
Enter some of the missions committee as a football team…/
We’re wearing different football jerseys not because we’re on different teams but because each of us bring different gifts and skills to the missions team!
We’re one team because of one common goal – that we make disciples in Woodlands and the World!
We work together as a team for missions, but it isn’t enough for it to be just us.
The entire church needs to work as a team for missions.
This includes not only the pastors and the leaders, but each one of you can be involved in missions and be a part of God’s missions team.
Today in the book of Acts, as we look at the beginnings of the ministry of a man named Apollos, we will see how essential teamwork is throughout the body.
You are going to be challenged to learn more and to play your part.
We’re going to give you practical ways that you can do just that, because after the service downstairs in Cana Hall they have set up various booths for the different countries we are involved in.
The World Cup may be going on in Germany, but we are having World Missions right now in WEFC!
So throughout this sermon, I’m going to be referring to people and places and things you can find out more about.
Whatever God puts on your heart, I want you after the service to find out more about that thing at the appropriate booth downstairs!
/Blow whistle and dismiss team!/
Many of us never thought that we who are in Singapore can play a significant role in world missions, or perhaps you just didn’t know specifically what you could do.
But when you take that step to find out how you can play your part on the team, you will be participating in the Greatest Commission ever given to anyone – take make disciples of all nations!
And you will get to see that in motion and be a part of the winning team.
It’s the most exciting and most rewarding thing you could be a part of!!
Now, let’s turn to Acts 18:23 and see what God’s Word has for us today…
*Verse 23 sets the stage for us…*
"/After spending some time in Antioch, Paul set out from there and traveled from place to place throughout the region of Galatia and Phrygia, strengthening all the disciples./"
(Acts 18:23, NIV)
At this point in the early church there is a flurry of missionary travelling and activity.
Paul leaves Antioch (right side of map) and travels along the blue arrows, through the regions of Galatia and Phrygia.
Eventually he will end up in Ephesus, and *here is where we read about Apollos.*
"/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 encouraged him and wrote to the disciples there to welcome him.
On arriving, he was a great help to those who by grace had believed.//
//For he vigorously refuted the Jews in public debate, proving from the Scriptures that Jesus was the Christ.//
/" (Acts 18:24-28, NIV)
What we see in this passage is a teamwork of people, working together, and a man at the centre of the story – Apollos, who matured, developed, then was sent out to tell others about Jesus.
The first lesson we can learn from this passage is from Apollos.
Like him, we must
*1.
Be Ready and Teachable*
Apollos was a man who was ready to be used by God.
He wasn’t standing stationary in life, but he was moving with whatever he had.
The fascinating thing about Apollos was that he had both great skills and also a great lack of knowledge!
On one hand, he had been taught the skills of speaking convincingly.
In the ancient world, this was a highly prized skill among the Greeks called rhetoric.
And he combined it with his Jewish education in the Old Testament.
He was man who capably straddled two worlds –his Jewish heritage and his Greek surroundings.
Verse 24 tells us that he came from Alexandria, a city where one-third of the population of Jews – a mixing pot of Judaism and Greek culture.
His situation like a typical guy in Singapore, who may grow up with Chinese culture while having an English education and is exposed to a globalized worldview.
Such a person is able to straddle asian and western worlds, and Apollos did that with his teaching skills!
Yet Apollos also had a great LACK of knowledge.
We are told that he knew only the baptism of John.
What does that mean?
This refers to John the Baptist, and his ministry of calling people to repent from their sins in preparation for the coming of Jesus.
In *Matthew 3:2-3, John the Baptist says:*
/“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near…prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.”/
Apollos was preaching a powerful message of repentance, and the coming of a Saviour.
It was good but incomplete!
It was incomplete because he hadn’t yet heard that this had been fulfilled in Jesus, that Jesus was the Saviour, and had already died on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins.
This was why Priscilla and Aquila explained to him “the way of God more adequately”.
So you can see that on one hand, Apollos was a man who had significant talents yet on the other hand he lacked significant knowledge.
This represent aspects of every one of us! God gives each one of gifts and talents, experiences and skills - yet every one of us also has our own hang ups, weaknesses and limitations.
We often feel limited by alack of knowledge or confidence.
It could be a fear of talking to strangers, or appearing foolish, or not being able to manage our time to handle ministry, work and family.
Whatever your limitation, you still can be used by God, but you must, like Apollos, have a heart that is *Ready to be Used by God*
Even though Apollos had limited knowledge about Jesus, he was doing his best with what he knew.
His heart was in a position ready to be used by God.
The church can have the best equipping, training, and inspiring programs available, but unless you have a ready heart to move in whichever direction God calls you, you can’t get moving like Apollos.
On other hand, if you have a ready heart, then when God shows you something, or burdens your heart, then you can get moving.
/Illustration: Tennis/
· Some of you know I play tennis.
This is my tennis racket!
· Normal standing posture doesn’t allow you to get ready for the ball.
· Ready position allows you to quickly
· Super-ready aggressive position to receive the serve.
Is your heart in a ready position?
Are you living your life in such a way that when God calls you to move in this ministry, learn a new skill, or be humbled in a new way – that you are ready to quickly spring to respond.
/Pause/
Something else that goes hand-in-hand with being ready is being teachable.
Apollos exhibited this in a tremendous way.
*We read in verse 26, *that Priscilla and Aquila, upon hearing him speak, “invited him to their home and explained to him the way of God more adequately.”
Now I’m quite sure that Apollos was a far more gifted speaker than either of these two.
He was also very knowledgeable in the Old Testament scriptures, yet he was still willing to learn and *demonstrated a very teachable heart.
*
I believe that as a church, we have learned and progressed a great deal under Ps Leonard’s leadership in missions over the last 6 years.
We learned more about caring for our missionaries on the field, and we learned about adopting an Unreached People Group, the Sawa of Thailand.
Now God is calling us to make a difference in East Timor, and I believe, to align ourselves closer to God’s heart that has a burning passion for the lost.
In the coming LTP semester, on Wed 20 September, we will be starting an LTP course that will help us do just that.
It’s about us becoming world Christians, learning what God has done to reach the lost, and how we can be involved in the work right now.
It starts 3 months from now, but I want you to prepare yourself to be READY and TEACHABLE.
Watch this 1 min video:
*Show LTP 270 Kairos Course Video (1.5 min)*
If you’re ready to learn more about God using you in His missions team, then after the service, one of the booths downstairs is featuring the Kairos Course and you can learn more about it and sign up there.
Being ready and being teachable are important matters for our hearts.
We also need to pay attention to how we can find and develop the right people to go to the mission field.
When Priscilla and Aquila heard Apollos speak, they were neither jealous of his great skill, nor did they feel superior because of his lack of knowledge.
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