You are Sent Manuscript

SERMON TITLE: You are Sent
TEXT: Acts 13:1-12 (ESV)
SPEAKER: Josh Hanson
DATE: 9/27/20

You can watch the sermon here.

WELCOME

It’s a joy to be with all of you this weekend at Gateway Church. And the one thing I always want you to know — and this is true if you’re worshipping with us in person at our North Main or Bowling Green campuses — or are worshipping with us online — the one thing I want you to know is that God loves you and that I love you too.

SERIES INTRODUCTION

And we’re continuing our series in the book of Acts today. And in this series we’re seeing various barriers the early Christians had to overcome in order to fulfill the mission Jesus had called them to. Thus far, we’ve seen these Christians overcome potential barriers to their joy. And then — and Andrew Brunson was sort of a bonus sermon in this series as he basically set me up for last week’s sermon — where we saw the early church overcome the barrier of persecution. And today we’ll continue to learn from the early church. So let’s turn to our passage for today.

ANNOUNCE THE TEXT

If you have your Bible please turn with me to Acts chapter 13. We’ll be looking at verses 1-12. We’re in Acts chapter 13. Beginning in verse 1.

Now there were in the church at Antioch prophets and teachers, Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen a lifelong friend of Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. 2 While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” 3 Then after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off. 4 So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia, and from there they sailed to Cyprus. 5 When they arrived at Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews. And they had John to assist them. 6 When they had gone through the whole island as far as Paphos, they came upon a certain magician, a Jewish false prophet named Bar-Jesus. 7 He was with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, a man of intelligence, who summoned Barnabas and Saul and sought to hear the word of God. 8 But Elymas the magician (for that is the meaning of his name) opposed them, seeking to turn the proconsul away from the faith. 9 But Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him 10 and said, “You son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, full of all deceit and villainy, will you not stop making crooked the straight paths of the Lord? 11 And now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you will be blind and unable to see the sun for a time.” Immediately mist and darkness fell upon him, and he went about seeking people to lead him by the hand. 12 Then the proconsul believed, when he saw what had occurred, for he was astonished at the teaching of the Lord. (Acts 13:1-12 ESV)

SERMON INTRODUCTION

You are sent. Familiar words to you — I hope — as we say these words at the end of every one of our worship services no matter which campus you attend.

And the big idea for today — our main point — is that we — God’s people — are a sent people. And we are sent by the Holy Spirit. So God’s people are sent out to accomplish his will and it is the Holy Spirit who ultimately tells us, “You are sent.” And this being sent — by the Holy Spirit — happens to God’s people today — just as we see it happening to the Christians here in the book of Acts. And — to be even more specific — if you are a believer in Jesus Christ — the Spirit has called you to be sent out as a witness for Christ in the world.

Now we immediately run head first into a few barriers when it comes to this idea of us — you and me — being called and sent by the Spirit of God.

• The first barrier we encounter is us doubting if the Spirit is really working in us like he did in the early church? I mean — let’s be real — “Am I really called by the Holy Spirit like Paul was called by the Holy Spirit?” Well are you?
• Another barrier is how it’s easy to feel completely inadequate to be someone called by the Holy Spirit to be sent. I don’t know about you, but I feel so ordinary. So unremarkable. So unqualified to be someone sent out to represent Christ to others.
• Then we have cultural barriers. I think it’s obvious — that we’re influenced by the culture we live in. And the culture tells us to be whoever we want to be. Do whatever we want to do. Our culture doesn’t value authority or following the orders and directives of someone else — even if that someone else is the Spirit of God.
• Then there are Christian cultural barriers. What are these? Where we spiritualize things we want to do by saying it’s God telling us to do them. Now God does tell us to do things — as we’ll see in our passage — but often we Christians simply want to do something — so we spiritualize whatever it is — so no one can question us about it. We want to go on vacation, but feel like we have to spin the vacation as something super spiritual — like a missions trip — so we tell people about how we always go to the same place and are really getting to know the hotel staff and will maybe someday talk to them about Jesus. Sometimes — even God’s people — just need a vacation — and that’s OK! What’s not OK is living life however we want and then giving a spiritual spin to our selfish desires by adding a not quite true narrative to them.
• And here’s why all of this is important. What God is doing — in his creation — is not something with you or me at the center. We’re not the star of the show or the main character — our story isn’t even about us. Because we’re part of God’s story and he’s the main character. History and life are God-centered. And part of God’s story is the Holy Spirit calling people to be sent. And though this being sent looks different for each Christian — all Christians are people who are sent. And the better we know Scripture the more clear it will be as to what it means to be sent out by the Spirit. For God’s people are sent people.
• Thus — we tell you each week as we send you with a blessing — we tell you, “You are sent.” Because you — God’s people — are sent ones.

But who sends us? How are we sent? And what will we encounter as we are sent? These are the questions that our text answers for us. Who sends us? How are we sent? And what will we encounter as we are sent? Let’s begin with the first question, “Who sends us?”

THE CHURCH THAT SENDS (v1-3)

Who sends us? Well we know that — ultimately — it is the Holy Spirit who sends us, but we learn — in our text — who the Holy Spirit uses to send us. Let’s begin back in verse 1.

Now there were in the church at Antioch prophets and teachers, Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen a lifelong friend of Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. 2 While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” 3 Then after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off. (Acts 13:1-3 ESV)

Verse 3 is key.“They laid their hands on them and sent them off.” It’s obvious who is being sent, but who’s doing the sending? The church. The local church in Antioch sends out Barnabas and Paul and the others. And we’ll see this continue on — in Acts — people being sent out by the church in order to do work for the Lord. Because the church is the Holy Spirit’s sending agency.

Now a few weeks ago, I gave you a glimpse into what kind of city Antioch once was. But the list of names here — these prophets and teachers — show us just how culturally diverse this cosmopolitan city was in Paul’s day (John R.W. Stott, The Message of Acts, BST (Downers Grove: InterVarsity, 1990), 216.) and how culturally diverse the church was as well.

• You’ve got Barnabas mentioned first. Most likely, he’s first in the list because he was the leader of the group at this point in time. And you may remember that he was a Jew — sent from the Jerusalem church — to come see what was happening in Antioch.
• Simeon is a Jewish name. But notice that he was called Niger — which the New Living Translation of the Bible translates as “the black man.” So there’s ethnic and racial diversity among these men who are being sent.
• Lucius was from Cyrene which was in north Africa — in present day Libya.
• Manaen is another Jewish name. And notice that he was a lifelong friend of Herod. And being lifelong friends means that these two guys were friends from childhood — some scholars even suggest that they were possibly foster brothers. (Barclay M. Newman Jr., A Concise Greek-English Dictionary of the New Testament (London: United Bible Societies, 1971), 175.) But I find it interesting how one of the lifelong friends grows up to be an enemy of the Christian faith and the other is a leader in the church.
• And then there’s Saul — who we already know. He’s a Jewish man. A Pharisee and expert in religious law. A man who was out to stop the church and end the spread of Christianity. A man who arrested and even was present at the murder of followers of Jesus. He was the most unexpected convert to the Christian faith and no one would’ve guessed that he would become a leader in the church. But here he is — a man called by God and now being sent out by the Spirit.

And these men all submit themselves to the local church in Antioch. And the church confirmed the calling of the Spirit on these men’s lives and then sends them out. Because the church is the Spirit’s sending agency.

Now — for some of us — submitting ourselves to others — like a local church — may seem to strip away what we feel is the uniqueness of our calling by God — “Why do I need the church to confirm a calling that I’m sure God has for me?” But know that the Spirit of God calls and sends people through the church. Thus, nothing is being stripped away from you when you submit to the church. In fact, more is stripped away from you when you assume a calling from God without the confirmation of the church. For the church is what Jesus promised to build. The church is his bride. The church is the body of Christ. And the church is the means by which God’s Spirit calls and sends individual Christians out to do the work he has created them to do.

But — for others of us — I hope this being sent by the Spirit through the church will give you confidence. Because for some Christians, being called and sent by the Spirit creates anxiety in them because they wonder if they’re maybe going to mishear what God wants them to do or end up doing the wrong thing. And — though the church won’t always get things right — I believe we can have greater confidence in our calling and being sent when it happens in the context of a local church. Why? Because the Spirit of God is speaking to and working in all of us. So — collectively — we can discern what the Spirit is calling you to as we send you out to do his will.

FASTING, PRAYER, AND LAYING OF HANDS (v1-3)

Which leads us to our second question. How are we sent? God’s Spirit does the sending through the church. But how are we to be sent? Let’s look at verses one through three again.

Now there were in the church at Antioch prophets and teachers, Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen a lifelong friend of Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. 2 While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” 3 Then after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off. (Acts 13:1-3 ESV)

First, here’s something I find interesting. In verse 2, we read “while they were worshipping the Lord and fasting.” Now the word translated here as “worshipping” is only translated as “worship” in one other place in the New Testament. The other place is Hebrews chapter 9 verse 21 which says, “And in the same way, he sprinkled blood on the Tabernacle and on everything used for worship.” Worship — in this verse from Hebrews — is the same word used in verse 2 of Acts chapter 13. Now I say this is interesting because everywhere else the Greek word translated as “worship” in our verse comes up in the New Testament has a bit of a different feel to it. What do I mean? Well everywhere else in the New Testament this word is translated as “service, or “offering” or a variation of “minister or ministry.” So why is this interesting — what does this tell us? This tells us that the early church saw acts of service as acts of worship. So don’t think — here in Acts 13 — that they were necessarily singing songs and fasting — which means to go without food. Could they have been singing? Sure. But more likely their worship was a kind of service they were doing as an act of worship while they were fasting and listening to God’s Spirit.

And notice that fasting comes up again — in verse 3 — as the men are being sent. The point being that fasting plays an important role both in the calling and in the sending of these men. And fasting is a spiritual discipline that often goes unpracticed among God’s people today. So — you may wonder — why should we fast?

First, Jesus pretty much made fasting an expectation of his followers. Here’s what he said. “And when you fast, don’t make it obvious, as the hypocrites do, for they try to look miserable and disheveled so people will admire them for their fasting. I tell you the truth, that is the only reward they will ever get. 17 But when you fast, comb your hair and wash your face. 18 Then no one will notice that you are fasting, except your Father, who knows what you do in private. And your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.” (Matthew 6:16-18 NLT)

Second, it’s been said that “fasting gives evidence of an atmosphere of urgent desire” (Everett F. Harrison, Interpreting Acts: The Expanding Church (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1986), 216.) in the church. As we fast, we demonstrate that we hunger for God — hunger for his presence, his purpose, and his plans for us — more than we even hunger for food. And fasting causes us to see our dependence on God as our stomachs hunger for the food we need for sustenance.

Now — obviously — there are a variety of reasons why some folks should be cautious about fasting. You may have a health reason that makes fasting dangerous. But even for those of us who can’t fast from food, we can fast from other things. But know that fasting isn’t just about what we give up or stop doing. It’s about our focus being placed on God. It’s about us recognizing our complete dependence on him — for everything. It’s about us even viewing our calling and being sent through the lens of — not our will being done — but God’s will being done in our lives, in our church, and in our world.

So we see that they worshipped through serving. They fasted. They prayed. And the church laid hands on them. So the “you are sent” ceremony — in our verses — includes the laying on of hands which was “an act of blessing in which the church associated itself with them [those being sent] and commended them to the grace of God.” (I. Howard Marshall, The Acts of the Apostles, TNTC (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1980), 216.) Now — in this case — the laying on of hands is more of a commissioning for a specific task than what you might have seen when someone is ordained for ministry. That’s why it’s not surprising that — at the end of their mission — in chapter 14 — Paul and Barnabas return to the church in Antioch and give a report of what happened. They were being commissioned for a specific task. Or — to say it another way — they were being sent out for a specific purpose thus they will come back and give a report to the church later on how their task went.

Now here’s why there’s a tension with sending others out — and we feel this tension every time we start a new campus here at Gateway by the way. The church in Antioch is about to send out these men knowing that there’s still a lot of work to do in Antioch. Remember, it’s still a fairly young church. But God has told this church to send out who? Their key leaders. And — let’s be honest — that’s a potential barrier for any church — “You want us to send out who? The best we’ve got? Well what about those of us who are staying back?” It can be a scary thing to be asked to send out your best leaders as a church. But to their credit the church sent out their best — “Paul, Barnabas, Simeon, Lucius, Manaen...you are sent.” And they sent them out with no apparent hesitation. Which shows us just how important missions and obedience to the Spirit were for these followers of Jesus.

Last week, we reopened our Bowling Green campus. I think the campus was open for a solid six months before everything shut down. So this is like a restart for them in many ways. And I’m thankful to hear how great things went last week for all of you up in BG. But I want to encourage those of you who are either worshipping with us at one of our Findlay campuses or are joining us online — would you ask God if he’s sending you to Bowling Green? We need to send some of our best folks to that campus — to go and join them as they begin again. Some of our best musicians and kidway volunteers and greeters need to be sent. But who will go? Who is the Spirit of God calling to be sent? And if you feel that you should go, talk to your Life Group leader or your campus pastor so others are helping you to discern if you are being called to be sent to Bowling Green.

And for our Findlay campuses, I know it’s crazy scary to think of sending folks out to another campus. Especially when we’re still getting our feet back under ourselves in many ways. But this is what it means to be a “you are sent” church. We send out our very best with our blessing as we commend them to the grace of God just like the church in Antioch did.

OUR OPPOSITION AND OUR POWER (v4-12)

So we’ve seen who sends us and how we are sent and now — we ask — what might we encounter as we are sent? Let’s begin in verse 4.

So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia, and from there they sailed to Cyprus. 5 When they arrived at Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews. And they had John to assist them. 6 When they had gone through the whole island as far as Paphos, they came upon a certain magician, a Jewish false prophet named Bar-Jesus. 7 He was with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, a man of intelligence, who summoned Barnabas and Saul and sought to hear the word of God. 8 But Elymas the magician (for that is the meaning of his name) opposed them, seeking to turn the proconsul away from the faith. 9 But Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him 10 and said, “You son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, full of all deceit and villainy, will you not stop making crooked the straight paths of the Lord? 11 And now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you will be blind and unable to see the sun for a time.” Immediately mist and darkness fell upon him, and he went about seeking people to lead him by the hand. 12 Then the proconsul believed, when he saw what had occurred, for he was astonished at the teaching of the Lord. (Acts 13:4-12 ESV)

Now verse 4 reminds us of what we learned at the beginning. Ultimately, it’s the Holy Spirit who does the sending. And then we find some brief updates about where the men were sent to. First, to Cyprus — which is where Barnabas was originally from. They travel a bit more and then they run into a false prophet. You may recall that Peter and Philip ran into a false prophet — a sorcerer — in Samaria — and here on the island of Cyprus Paul and his companions run into Bar-Jesus also known as Elymas. Now we don’t get all the details — but apparently Bar-Jesus opposes Saul and the gang. Probably because the ministry of Saul and Barnabas was jeopardizing his standing with the proconsul — think of the proconsul like a governor with quite a bit of authority. So this sorcerer is opposing the work of the gospel Barnabas and Saul have been sent to do — and his opposition is mainly due to selfish reasons — he wants to keep his influential relationship with the proconsul.

But here’s the point. The men who were sent out by the church encounter opposition. And we must know that — as we are called and sent out — we too will meet opposition. We’ll encounter people who are opposed to the gospel. Some will oppose us purely out of selfish reasons. Others because they are under the power of the evil one. Others because they are simply lost. But we cannot fear opposition. The opposition will be there regardless. But we do not fear the opposition because we believe the truths promised to us — such as “Greater is he who is in you than he who is in the world.” (1 John 4:4) We are sent out believing that we have been given a spirit of power — and that powerful spirit in us is the Spirit of God.

And — here in Acts — we see the Spirit of God move in a powerful way in Paul as he turns to face Bar-Jesus. And though the “You son of the devil” and the “you will be blind” parts grab our attention, I’d like to fix our attention on what comes after the miracle. The proconsul believes because of what he saw. He believes because of the miracle but he’s astonished by what Paul and the others taught.

And just like for Barnabas and Saul — being called by the Holy Spirit has massive implications for our public life — just like it had for their public lives. Like them — we have to be ready to engage with people in a public setting. And we must be certain of God’s will so that we act not according to our desires or expectations — but according to the will of God. And we know God’s will through his Word — thus the better we know God’s Word the greater clarity with which we will hear the Spirit of God and respond to him as we are sent out into the world — even as we encounter those who will oppose us.

And — for some of us — this is crazy scary because we see the potential for all of this being called and sent stuff to disrupt our inner stability and peace of mind. We like our comfort and being sent sounds like potentially being asked to do something that we’re not prepared for. But know that the Spirit who is calling and sending you is the same Spirit who gives God’s people the peace and power and the gifts and talents that they need to obey.

But know that our obedience must be on the table first. This is one of my sayings, so many of you will have heard this before. God wants our obedience on the table first and then he’ll show us what we’re being called and sent out to do. We often want a sneak preview of what the calling will be so we can decide if it’s worth our obedience, but that’s not how our relationship with God works. Our obedience comes first. A decision we make where we will obey God before we know what’s being asked of us. And when we make this decision — to obey first — then we begin to clearly see what God is calling us to and where he’s sending us.

Henry Blackaby says it this way. “The Holy Spirit doesn't need to equip you for what you're not going to do, so if you're in rebellion against Jesus and refusing his right to be Lord, he doesn't need to send the Holy Spirit to equip you for service. And, tragically, you miss out on the joy that he brings. So let the Holy Spirit deal with anything that's keeping you from obeying Christ.” Our obedience comes first — “God I will do whatever you want me to do” — then comes the clarity of knowing our calling and where we are being sent to.

CONCLUSION

Do you believe in Jesus? Then you are called and you are sent. Called to what exactly? Sent to where? We’d love to help you figure that out. If you’re in a Life Group, have this discussion with each other. Ask, “What do you see as the calling God has for me? And where is he sending me?”

And if you’re not in a Life Group — first, you should be — so go to our website and sign up. But if you’re not in a Life Group and if you’re a member of Gateway, you have a shepherding elder. One of the elders has reached out to you via email or text or phone call over the past few months. It may be buried in your spam folder somewhere, but reach out to them. If you’re not sure who your shepherding elder is, call the church office and they’ll find out who it is for you. And talk with your elder about your call and where you are being sent.

And if you’re not a Christian, the first call we receive is the call to believe. To believe in Jesus Christ. That he did for you what you won’t ever be able to do for yourself — he came to rescue you. From what? From sin. From eternal death. From God’s judgement and wrath. From a life of foolishness and folly. Is the Spirit of God calling you to believe in Jesus Christ? If so, turn to Jesus — right now — and he will show you his love, he will offer you forgiveness, and through his life, death, and resurrection, the Spirit of God will give you life. A new life that comes with a high calling — the life of being a sent one — someone sent out to be a witness for Christ. Let’s pray.

PRAYER

Heavenly Father, we thank you for calling us to yourself. Calling us out of our sin and the darkness of despair and death that our sin had trapped us in. By sending your Son — Jesus — to do for us what we could not do for ourselves — we have been rescued. Rescued for a purpose. Rescued to fulfill a high calling. A calling to be your sent people — witnesses for Christ to the whole world.

Holy Spirit, help us to discern our calling by knowing your will and purpose for us as revealed in your Word to us — the Bible. The better we know it — the better we can discern your voice. So help us to know the Word so we discern your voice as you give us — every single Christian — a calling and purpose. And may we submit ourselves to your sending agency — the church. Trusting that you use the church to confirm our calling and to send us out with a blessing of grace. I ask that you would give us all a clear picture of what you are calling and sending us out to do and that we would be obedient and fulfill our calling.

Finally, Father, Son, and Spirit, we ask that you would call people to you who do not yet believe. Do the work of salvation in those who hear my voice who need you to give them life. Rescue them we pray. Demonstrate to them your eternal love and may they turn to Christ in Faith. And it’s in his name that we pray all of these things. Amen.

BENEDICTION

Through your faith in Christ, may you go knowing that you have a high calling. A calling by the Holy Spirit to be sent out as a witness for Christ. Amen.

God loves you. I love you. You are sent.

You can find the sermon notes here.