Forward: Ready For More

• Acts 15:36-16:10
• if anyone needs a vacation it’s Paul…but he’s ready to move forward to the next mission!
  • in the absolute sense we never have a vacation from mission
• Paul exemplified the moving forward missionary mindset

Cultivating a missionary mindset means:

1. I need a growing love for the church (v36)
   • if the Gospel goes, the church goes, then God fails…
   • The local church…
     1. theology was right: church was a bride, the body of Christ
        • Acts 20:28; cultivate a love for the church
        • How can we be cultivating?
          • be with God’s people!
            • Paul had the heart and desire
          • be willing to get to know people and form true relations, beyond the superficial
        • Our health and effectiveness as Christians and church is based on depth of relationship in the church
        • Heb 10:24-25; press on together
          • Is it a priority in your life to be with your local church?
     2. Following up with God’s people: seeing them grow in the relationship with the Lord
        • pre-occupation with self grows love for self and opposite is true as well
        • you know and follow up with what happens in people’s lives
        • it’s so meaningful to actually remember, pray and follow up…
     3. be investing in God’s people; wanted to make spiritual deposits to see growth
        • v41; you can’t love what you don’t invest in
          • your heart follows your investments
        • difference between attending church and investing in church
2. I need a growing commitment to the mission (v37-41)
   • Remember: John Mark was Barnabas’ cousin and bailed after their 1st mission
     • even good and godly Christians can have disagreements BUT they didn’t sin in their anger
       • they left amicably and continued with their missions
       • equally valid opinions to do this differently
         • Satan tried to divide to destroy, but God turned the situation into 2 teams!
   • Barnabas & John Mark, Paul & Silas
     • Paul: press forward with urgency
       • get the work done! strongly blaze a trail
     • Barnabas: draw near with compassion
       • heart to restore
     • John Mark: get up with resilience
       • failed and fell flat on face BUT got back up to get back on missions!
       • later went on to write the Gospel of Mark, became Peter’s contemporary, and was specifically asked for by Paul later in life
     • Silas: step out in preparation
       • prepared, chosen specifically
       • was Jew, spoke Greek, was Roman citizen…God chooses the right person for the right job
       • was a man of proven faithfulness, uses gifts to build others
         • seek preparation and then the Lord calls us, step out in faith

3. I need a growing desire to multiply myself (16:1-5)
   • Timothy was probably between age of 16-25; grabbed into ministry
     • really big deal for Eunice and Lois to let Timothy go on mission with Paul, given they saw what had happened to Paul last time he was in the city bloodied and bruised
     • adding and developing Timothy was essential in uilding the ministry and kingdom
   • 1 Cor 4:17
   • 1 Thes 3:2
     • pouring yourself into others isn’t a waste of time; it’s an investment into the kingdom and ministry
   • Timothy wasn’t circumcised, but everywhere they’ll enter would look as him as uncircumcised Jew abandoning the faith…
     • but this isn’t the “salvation of circumcision” that Paul was arguing against earlier for Titus’ situation (he was full Gentile Greek)
       • this is the giving up of liberties to remove stumbling blocks to others
         • what might you have to give up as a stumbling block?
   • commitment of strengthening church through investing and multiplying
     • 2 Tim 2:2
4. I need a growing sensitivity to God’s leading (v6-10)
   • notice that Paul had plans BUT God was placing roadblocks
   • God will sometimes leads us by restraining us
     • how did God prevent/block Paul and Silas? (v10)
       • Paul’s illnesses?
       • “we” includes Luke, the physician
   • Troas was the port city to launch them from Asia to Europe
     • Paul kept moving; it’s hard to steer a parked car…
   • v9-10: “concluding”; message/purpose was crystal clear now
     • therefore there was a period of time that Paul actually didn’t really know what his mission was BUT when God speaks we need to immediately respond and obey
   • we may not have visions anymore, but we have God’s prophetic Word
   • delayed obedience is still disobedience
   • G. Campbell Morgan, “It is better to go to Troas with God, than anywhere else without Him.”
5. I need a growing love for the lost (v9-10)
   • “Come over and HELP US“
   • do we see others in need of help with urgency?
   • Schindler re: why he did what he did, “I had to help them, I had no choice…”
   • love for the lost comes from love of Jesus; love of Jesus comes from understanding what he has done