EVERY CHAPTER HAS A PREJUDICE SHATTERING PARADIGM SHIFTING - VISION CHANGING IMPACT.

Transcription

1 e 1 of 8 HOLY BOLDNESS REACHING ALBANY, TOUCHING THE WORLD Acts 8,9,10 ou were to ask, what is the Mission Statement of Sherwood, the wer would be: Sherwood was established to touch the whole ld, with the whole Word, motivated by a passion for Christ and passion for all people. ou were to ask, what is our vision, it would be Reaching Albany, ching the World. ou were to ask our purpose, it would be Changed Lives. en you read Acts, the emphasis is on people. We don t reach people ups as much as we reach individuals. Reaching our community is person. one family at a time. ist ascended left us a job - sent the Spirit - birthed the church used people to change the world. RY CHAPTER HAS A PREJUDICE SHATTERING - PARADIGM FTING - VISION CHANGING IMPACT. at we see in Acts 8-10 didn t happen under ideal circumstances. 8 begins, on that day (the day Stephen was stoned to death) at persecution began against the church... rd great is megas - mega- persecution, viscous, wide- spread and ressive. ew group of servants - deacons, laymen are rising up to take gospel to the world. They aren t content to leave it w/ the stles. atershed Events in Acts: The Commission and Ascension of Christ. The Spirit coming at Pentecost and the conversion of the Jews. The Stoning of Stephen. The Conversion of the Samaritans through Phillip. The Conversion of Saul. The Conversion of the Gentiles. The Missionary work of Paul. are crucial to who & what we are about as a church

2 e 2 of 8 I. THERE ARE ALWAYS THOSE WHO NEED TO HEAR. re is a God shaped vacuum inside of man. There is an empty spot only Christ can fill. 4:29- " But from there you will seek the LORD your God, and you find Him if you search for Him with all your heart and all your. 5:6- Seek the LORD while He may be found; Call upon Him while s near. 7 Let the wicked forsake his way And the unrighteous man thoughts; And let him return to the LORD, And He will have passion on him, And to our God, For He will abundantly pardon. y do people respond to the gospel? Because they are looking answers/ meaning to life. see this w/ 3 individuals in the book of Acts. THE ETHIOPIAN IN ACTS 8. He was what we might call a ker. an African. In a position of power, prestige and privilege. Yet, was seeking - He wasn t satisfied w/ his life. 8:27- there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of Candace, en of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure; and he come to Jerusalem to worship, 28 and he was returning and ng in his chariot, and was reading the prophet Isaiah. 29 Then the it said to Philip, "Go up and join this chariot." 30 Philip ran up and rd him reading Isaiah the prophet, and said, "Do you understand t you are reading?" 31 And he said, "Well, how could I, unless eone guides me?" And he invited Philip to come up and sit with. OK AT WHAT HE WAS WILLING TO DO TO FIND TRUTH: He was willing to travel. vs.27 - He was separated from God and was willing to do whatever it takes to find out the meaning of life. He wanted to worship the true God. He had come to Jerusalem to worship He was willing to study the Scriptures to find answers. vs.30 he was reading Isaiah He was willing to ask questions in his search for truth.

3 e 3 of 8 us came to seek & save the lost...i ve never met anyone who nted to know truth that God didn t find them. WHAT BEGAN W/ NVICTION ENDED IN A COMMITMENT TO CHRIST. HE PHARISEE IN ACTS 9 - Paul. He was religious but lost. This started when Saul, who would become Paul was a part of the ning of Stephen. Blood was on his hands. was devout sincere - religious well educated and lost. was orthodox he had great zeal but he was fighting against the God he said he believed in. was born under O.T. law He believed the Scriptures, but he was secuting God Himself by trying to destroy God s people. E MOST FAMOUS CONVERSION IN HISTORY. 9:1- Now Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the iples of the Lord, went to the high priest, 2 and asked for letters m him to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any nging to the Way, both men and women, he might bring them nd to Jerusalem. 3 As he was traveling, it happened that he was roaching Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed und him; 4 and he fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?" 5 And he said, "Who You, Lord?" And He said, "I am Jesus whom you are persecuting... RY TOLD 3X IN ACTS - Chapters 9,22,26 the last 2X Paul tells the y himself while he is on trial. l so hated Xty that he literally breathed hatred. He longed for their ruction. We are called to share Christ today with people who e Xns, often in the name of God. THE INITIATIVE IS ENTIRELY W/ JESUS. He is the one who seeks the lost out. SALVATION FROM BEGINNING TO END IS A WORK OF GOD we are simply the messenger boys. You didn t find Christ Christ found you. D HAS A WAY OF GETTING OUR ATTENTION. Even those you and

4 e 4 of 8 ight have given up on. THE ONE WHO YOU CONSIDER AN MY GOD MIGHT CONSIDER A CHOSEN INSTRUMENT. God had an for Saul. persecutor became a preacher and the most famous missionary in ory.. 3:9 God asked man, Where are you? - you can t find your way to, until you know where you are - lost! 9:4 Why are you persecuting me? - Anyone who is not for Jesus gainst God. THE ROMAN CENTURION. Acts 10. This man had a God and ntry faith. He was sincere, but lost. This is our culture today. ple confuse patriotism and singing God Bless America with being. 10:1- Now there was a man at Caesarea named Cornelius, a urion of what was called the Italian cohort, 2 a devout man and who feared God with all his household, and gave many alms to the ish people and prayed to God continually. 3 About the ninth hour he day he clearly saw in a vision an angel of God who had just come nd said to him, "Cornelius!" 4 And fixing his gaze on him and being h alarmed, he said, "What is it, Lord?" And he said to him, "Your yers and alms have ascended as a memorial before God. 5 "Now atch some men to Joppa and send for a man named Simon, who is called Peter; He was a good man. A leader. Worked his way through the ranks of the Roman army. Served his country. Our world is full of good people who are lost. He was a religious man. God fearing one who had turned away from pagan gods to a monotheistic faith of the Jews. He was an empty man. Even w/ all his religious activity, he was still searching. He had no peace, no power in his life. know he was empty, searching because he was willing to mediately do what God said. He sent people to find Simon Peter. lieve most the people you meet are good people they have

5 e 5 of 8 me religion and they are all empty inside. t people are good, religious but they never come to Christ. n Piper Sin is pursuing happiness where it cannot be lastingly nd.. Lewis It would seem that our Lord finds our desires not too ng, but too weak. We are ½ hearted creatures, fooling about with k, sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an orant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because an not imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. are far too easily pleased. II. THE CHURCH NEEDS TO GET WITH GOD S PROGRAM. MIND YOU: alvation from beginning to end is of God. Jn 6:44- "No one can e to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him God uses ple to get the message out. 2 Pet 3:9 The Lord is not slow about promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not hing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance. Ritchie I am intrigued by what this passage shows us about how re God is of all who fear him and of their need to be saved. This y...should put to rest the question... What happens to all men...who e never heard of Jesus? Scriptures tell us, God is a rewarder of those who seek Him. nelius was seeking God and as James 4:8 says, God was drawing r to him od honors His Word and the Spirit uses it to convict of sin. Act 2- Now the passage of Scripture which he was reading was this: WAS LED AS A SHEEP TO SLAUGHTER; AND AS A LAMB BEFORE SHEARER IS SILENT, SO HE DOES NOT OPEN HIS MOUTH. We must recognize the human condition, that man is lost. All e sinned and come short of the glory of God There is none teous, no not one... We must be available to God.

6 e 6 of 8 nk back - who was available, obedient to tell you the good news? w did you find out? What method did God use? Someone put a track in your hand. A Sunday School teacher, coach, minister shared the gospel with you. A total stranger walked up to you and started talking about the Lord. ESE WERE DIVINE APPOINTMENTS - THEY WERE SENT TO YOU T AS MUCH AS PHILIP WAS SENT TO THE EUNICH AND PETER S SENT TO CORNELIUS. This leads me to the last point. GOD NEEDS AND EXPECTS AVAILABLE AND WILLING WORKERS. hilip in Acts 8. ip was willing to be interrupted. He was in the middle of a great ade in Samaria but he was willing to go where ever and when r the call came. He didn t even know where he was going, or why, ust obeyed. ERE ARE SOME DIVINE APPOINTMENTS WE MISS BECAUSE WE ITATE & MAKE EXCUSES. en he got there, he shared the gospel. 8:29- Then the Spirit said to Philip, "Go up and join this chariot." 30 ip ran up and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet, and said, "Do understand what you are reading?" 8:35 Then Philip opened his uth, and beginning from this Scripture he preached Jesus to him. nanias in Acts 9. While Ananias wasn t the witness on the road to mascus, he did the follow up. e is a man who was... Willing to take a risk. 9:13,14 Willing to trust someone no one trusted. 9:15,16 Willing to obey, go and embrace Paul 9:17 eter in Acts 10. eter was willing to deal with his personal prejudice. 14 But Peter said, "By no means, Lord, for I have never eaten thing unholy and unclean." 15 Again a voice came to him a second

7 e 7 of 8 e, " What God has cleansed, no longer consider unholy." s didn t eat unclean meat - no hot dogs, bacon, ham. They did not ociate w/ Gentile dogs. It doesn t matter who you are, it matters who you know. Prejudice - noun, an adverse judgement or opinion formed beforehand or without knowledge or examination of the facts. An irrational suspicion or hatred of a particular group, race or religion. American Heritage Dict. eter was willing to do the unorthodox he was willing to associate with a Gentile. His willingness to y broke down the barriers and opened the door for the gospel to and me. eter was willing to be stretched out of his comfort zone. 34 Opening his mouth, Peter said: "I most certainly understand w that God is not one to show partiality, 35 but in every nation the n who fears Him and does what is right is welcome to Him. reason Albany is more lost today than ever before is because churches have been filled with a godless prejudice and red for others who are different. THE MOST SEGREGATED HOUR IN AMERICA IS 11 A.M. ON SUNDAY MORNING. THE BLAME LIES AT THE DOORS OF OUR CHURCHES. 10 is in the Bible to say to us God is multi- cultural in His love. rosses all the lines. He breaks down man made barriers. E GATES OF SALVATION ARE OPEN TO ALL WHO WILL BELIEVE. and yellow black and white, they are precious in His sight. mans 12 says, God does not show favoritism... s be honest, it s easy for us to become self absorbed. Easy for the rch to become inward focused. We can spend our whole lives ng to please ourselves or find people who will make us happy that s not why we are here. We are here to be witnesses and bring

8 e 8 of 8 y to God. God has placed us here - this town is a literal gold mine of ortunities to share good news. ple with families in hospice people who have delinquent children - ilies falling apart people going through crisis people who think will never be good enough. job is to leave this church and enter a mission field w/ 135,000 ple in it and probably less than 25,000 of those are in any rch this morning. VE GOT A JOB TO DO - A CALLING TO FULFILL - LET S GET BUSY CHING ALBANY AND TOUCHING THE WORLD.