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How to Help God's Church
The Book of Acts - Part 76
Acts 21:15-26
Sermon by Rick Crandall
Grayson Baptist Church - March 1, 2015
BACKGROUND:
*In this Scripture, Paul and his mission team were on the last leg of Paul's epic third missionary journey, and they arrived in Jerusalem.
John Phillips explained that it was about sixty-five miles by road from Caesarea to Jerusalem.
Some of the Christians from Caesarea decided to come along.
These knew of someone in Jerusalem with whom the others could stay.
(1)
*Paul was about to enter a period of trials and tribulation.
All of his travels from now until the end of the Book of Acts will be as a prisoner of Rome.
But tonight, we will explore what happened when Paul first arrived in Jerusalem.
With this background in mind, let's begin by reading Acts 21:15-26.
And as we read, please think about how we can help God's Church.
MESSAGE:
*Do you ever need help in life?
I need help all the time.
If my computer goes down, I need help.
If my temperature goes up, I need help.
If my power goes out, I need help.
*Thank God that there are people around us who are able to give us help!
But the flip side of that truth is that God wants us to be helpers too, and all of us can help God's Church.
How can we do it?
1. First: With hospitality in our hearts.
*We can help God's Church with the kind of hospitality we see in vs. 15-17.
There, Luke gave this report:
15. . .
After those days we packed and went up to Jerusalem.
16.
Also some of the disciples from Caesarea went with us and brought with them one, Mnason of Cyprus, an early disciple, with whom we were to lodge.
17.
And when we had come to Jerusalem, the brethren received us gladly.
*Paul and his mission team were almost to Jerusalem, but where would they stay when they got there?
John Phillips pointed out that there weren't a lot of places for them to stay, even among the Christians in Jerusalem.
The reason why was because Paul had brought Gentile believers with him.
(1)
*Remember when Peter went into Cornelius' house in Acts 10:28?
Cornelius was a Roman centurion, and the very first thing Peter said was, "You know how unlawful it is for a Jewish man to keep company with or go to one of another nation.
But God has shown me that I should not call any man common or unclean."
*Jews allowing Gentiles into their homes was not specifically forbidden by the Law God gave to Moses.
But the Scribes and Pharisees added layer on top of layer to God's Law.
And by the traditions of the elders, allowing a Gentile into your home was very criminal.
(2)
*But there was a kind-hearted Christian from Cyprus who had a home in Jerusalem.
His name was Mnason.
The KJV says that he was an "old disciple," and he probably was old.
But the main idea was that he had been one of the first believers.
He might have even been one of the original 70 Jesus sent out in Luke 10. (3)
*Don't you know those Gentile believers loved listening to his stories of the earliest days of the church?
Thank God for people like Mnason who are willing to open their hearts, and willing to open their homes, even to people they do not know.
*And we may not have a place for people to stay, but God can still fill our hearts with gracious hospitality.
It can show up in things as simple as a big smile, a warm welcome, and a good handshake.
Our hospitality can also shine through the excellent meals we have in our church.
*Christian hospitality is crucial in the life of our church and every church.
May the Lord help us to be like Mnason, overflowing with God's hospitable love.
2. We can help God's Church with hospitality in our hearts.
And with gratitude for God's goodness.
*God wants us to be grateful for all of His goodness in our lives.
Unfortunately, the church in Jerusalem is an example of the way NOT TO BE.
Yes in vs. 17, we see a flash of gladness in their hearts.
There Luke said: "When we had come to Jerusalem, the brethren received us gladly."
*But John Phillips explained, "This was the only bright spot in the story of this visit of Paul to Jerusalem.
What was it that made the Jerusalem Christians so glad?
-- Was it the money?
If so, their appreciation was short lived.
It is not even recorded that they so much as thanked Paul for all his efforts, or his Gentile friends for their generosity."
(1)
*There doesn't seem to be any real gratitude in their hearts.
Paul had traveled hundreds of miles to help them.
The Gentile churches had given a large offering to help the church at Jerusalem.
The Gentile Christians had given sacrificially, even when they couldn't afford to give at all.
But there was no evidence of gratitude from the Jewish believers at Jerusalem.
*How grateful are we for God's goodness in our lives?
God has blessed us with so much!
*Pastor David Read told about something that happened when he was a prisoner of war in a Nazi Camp during World War II.
They were going through terrible conditions of hunger.
Then one day a German soldier at his post finished eating a sandwich, and threw the crust onto the ground where the prisoners were.
*Pastor Read later said, "I pounced on it quick as lightning.
We crouched beside a stone, and measured that crust into three exactly equal parts, which we consumed like gourmets attacking a perfect filet mignon.
It wasn't the last time that I was to reflect how casually we accept the meals that come our way three times a day during peacetime.
(And how weak our prayers of thanks can be.)"
(4)
*God has blessed us with so much!
And we need more gratitude.
I know I do.
And one of the great things about our gratitude is that it will help our church.
Our gratitude can help our church in a really big way, because it will motivate us to say good things about our Lord and His Church.
*Pastor Roland Allen was reminded of this truth by a testimony from a longtime missionary.
The missionary introduced himself and said, "I was a medical missionary for many years in India, and I served in a region where there was progressive blindness.
People were born with healthy vision, but there was something in that area that caused people to lose their sight as they got older."
*By the grace of God, this missionary was able to develop a surgery that would stop the loss of vision!
So, people came to him, and he performed his operation.
*They would leave realizing that they had been spared a life of blindness because of this missionary.
But they never said, "Thank you," because that phrase wasn't part of their language.
Instead, they spoke a word that meant, "I will tell your name."
Wherever they went, they would tell the name of the missionary who had cured their blindness.
They had received something so wonderful that they eagerly proclaimed it.
(5)
*You see, that kind of gratitude tends to overflow, and somehow it finds a way out.
Our grateful hearts will naturally overflow to speak well of our Lord and His church.
That's why our gratitude can help God's Church in a really big way.
3. We can help God's Church with gratitude for His goodness.
And with God's love for the lost.
*We need the same kind of love that led to Paul's testimony in vs. 18-19:
18.
On the following day Paul went in with us to James, and all the elders were present.
19.
When he had greeted them, he told in detail those things which God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry.
*Notice that there is an amazing partnership in vs. 19, the amazing privilege that God gave Paul to work together with Him.
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