{"id":380,"date":"2006-11-13T02:37:00","date_gmt":"2006-11-13T02:37:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/oxgoad.ca\/2006\/11\/13\/on-the-first-missionary-journey-and-its-aftermath-sermon-summaries-111206\/"},"modified":"2006-11-13T02:37:00","modified_gmt":"2006-11-13T02:37:00","slug":"on-the-first-missionary-journey-and-its-aftermath-sermon-summaries-111206","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/oxgoad.ca\/2006\/11\/13\/on-the-first-missionary-journey-and-its-aftermath-sermon-summaries-111206\/","title":{"rendered":"on the first missionary journey and its aftermath (sermon summaries 11.12.06)"},"content":{"rendered":"
Today we come to Paul’s first missionary journey, the first major step in the ‘uttermost parts’ expansion of the church. My theory is that Ac 12 sees the apostles generally forced out of Jerusalem for their own safety, the basic foundation of the church is laid in Judea, Samaria, and Galilee, and now the Lord is using the apostles to push the church farther into the civilised world.<\/p>\n
Our first message concentrated on the stoning at Lystra, with a summary of the whole first missionary journey (Ac 13-14). The title was “They Returned to Lystra<\/a>” and the basic theme was evangelism. Here is my proposition: Gospel work needs Christian men and women who are willing to risk themselves for the sake of the witness. I began by showing the persistence of Paul and Barnabas by giving the overall survey of their ministry, then their persistence in the whole region, especially Lystra, after the stoning. The thing that is amazing about the healing or resurrection of Paul is that he returned to the city. He wasn’t about to let the opposition keep him from his task or from his flock. The next day he went to Derbe and evangelised many people there. When the work in Derbe was finished, They Returned to Lystra, and Iconium, and Antioc, the places where the most fierce opposition had been fomented. Their purpose was to encourage and stabilise the saints and to appoint elders – they persisted. Were they successful? Well, consider Ac 16.1 – Timothy is the fruit of this ministry, he was from Lystra. Consider Ac 20.4, and Gaius of Derbe. The work was significant. I closed the message with these words: We are plagued with a pathological desire to be well liked and well thought of. Have you ever considered what an idol that desire is? One of the reasons we are ineffective for Christ is because we will not risk ourselves for his gospel. None of us in our church have ever been slugged for the gospels sake, but we have been evil spoken of. For our precious ‘id’, we are tempted to keep silent!<\/p>\n