Where Are You Going?
Where Are You Going?
- Greg Waybright
- Acts 11:19 & Acts 13:1
- The Breakthrough
- 52 mins 6 secs
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Pastor's Letter
Where Are You Going? - Week 18
Often I am asked, "Scott, why should we send our own across the globe when we have so many who don't know Jesus and so many problems right here?"
Often I am asked, "Scott, why should we send our own across the globe when we have so many who don't know Jesus and so many problems right here?"
I love that question because first it is a fair observation, second it allows me to ask them how they heard about and encountered Jesus and the gospel story and then finally, it gives me a chance to answer their question.
So why do we send out our own? Let me turn to Paul, the key actor in the second half of Acts, he put it this way in Romans 10.13 - 15:
"Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can anyone preach unless they are sent?
Jesus, when asked after his resurrection when his reign would begin, said this in Mark 24.14: "The gospel of the Kingdom will be proclaimed to the whole world as a testimony to all nations (people groups) and then the end will come." Why do we go and send? Because today 7000+ People Groups remain without a Christ gathering (a church) in their midst. These groups total over 2 Billion people all without a chance to encounter the living gospel of Christ in a way they can understand it and embrace. This is why we send.
Over 2/3rds of Lake's Sent Ones minister focused on these "Least Reached" peoples. We send, like the Church of Antioch in Acts 11, to those who have yet to hear in obedience to the command to go.
His authority on earth allows us to dare to go to all the peoples. His authority in heaven gives us out only hope of success. And his presence with us leaves us no other choice. – John Stott
To His Glory,
Scott White
Interim Executive Pastor of Ministry
Study Notes
Where Are You Going? - Week 18 - Study Notes
Study Notes available in English and Chinese translations.
One of the most profound stories passed down through the history of the church is about the Apostle Peter after he had been called by Jesus to go as a witness into Rome at the peak of its anti-Christian actions. When the persecution in Rome reached its heights, the story says that Peter was fleeing Rome and met Jesus going the opposite way. Peter asked Jesus the same question he had asked him in John 13:36 when Jesus said he would soon would be going away. Peter asked Jesus, "Quo Vadis?" This time just outside Rome, Jesus answered, "Romam vado iterum crucifigi" ("I am going to Rome to be crucified again").
English
Where are you going?
Acts 11:19-30; 13:1-3
One of the most profound stories passed down through the history of the church is about the Apostle Peter after he had been called by Jesus to go as a witness into Rome at the peak of its anti-Christian actions. When the persecution in Rome reached its heights, the story says that Peter was fleeing Rome and met Jesus going the opposite way. Peter asked Jesus the same question he had asked him in John 13:36 when Jesus said he would soon would be going away. Peter asked Jesus, "Quo Vadis?" This time just outside Rome, Jesus answered, "Romam vado iterum crucifigi" ("I am going to Rome to be crucified again").
The point of the story is that if Peter was not going to fulfill his calling, then Jesus would have to be sacrificed again to make sure the calling was fulfilled.Peter, repenting of his unfaithfulness and knowing he needed to go back and obey Jesus' call upon him, turned around toward the city and gained the courage to continue the ministry to which he had been called. You may know that Peter's obedience eventually led to him being martyred. There is good historic evidence that Peter chose to be crucified upside-down.
This story has led to Christians often asking one another the same question, "Quo Vadis?" Where are you going? This is a far-reaching question. It assumes two things:
· That you have fully surrendered your life to Jesus – that you will go wherever he sends you;
· That you believe that you too are sent -- that wherever you go, you go as Jesus' witness. The Bible teaches that every destination is a sending from God – and that every Christian is sent.
When we ask, "Quo Vadis?" we are asking, "Where is God sending you today?" I want us all to think about this question as we come toActs 13 and how one church in a metropolitan and multicultural area experienced the way God sent two of its top leaders to carry the gospel where it had never been heard before. How did they recognize together this sending from God? We are looking at a significant text today. It reports the first intentional and sustained effort by one church to carry the gospel to the ends of the earth.
#1: God launched his global church-centered movement from an urban, multicultural church (13:1).
Most of Jesus' ministry was centered in a small rural homogeneous town known as Capernaum. But, within a decade of Jesus' crucifixion, village culture had been left behind and the metropolitan city became the sending base of God's movement. At least 40 cities are mentioned in Acts. Antioch was a world-class city, called the "third city of the Roman Empire" (after Rome and Alexandria) with at least 500,000 people. And Antioch was the first city from which people were intentionally sent to plant churches. Before Antioch, when the gospel went out from Jerusalem, it did so not out of a Holy Spirit led strategy but mostly because Christians were fleeing from Jerusalem to escape persecution and they witnessed along the way.
With that in mind, notice the five church leaders mentioned. They reflect the rich diversity of Antioch:
· Barnabas – a Jewish man from Jerusalem – though even he was originally from Cyprus, an island west of Palestine;
· Simeon – a Jewish name but he was almost certainly a man of color because he was called "Niger";
· Lucius – a man from Cyrene, which is located in Northern Africa in what is now Libya;
· Manean – an intimate friend (or a foster brother) of Herod Antipas (who killed John the Baptist) so Manean was probably born and raised in a Roman context. How ironic it was that one boy in the house ended up being a violent anti-Christian while the other became a church leader;
· Saul/Paul – Jewish leader, a Pharisee, but one with Roman citizenship from Tarsus.
And – note this: It's clear from the Bible that the church in Antioch was already reaching out into its own ethnically and nationally diverse neighborhood – being a group that invited both Jew and non-Jew into the family of God through faith in Jesus (11:19-21). So, the Antioch church was not an in-grown, inwardly focused church. Moreover, they had identified and nurtured a multicultural leadership team so they already had a bigger perspective on the work of God.
Have you noticed that when you spend time with people very different from yourself, you hear a much different understanding of the whole world? If we're good listeners, learning from others expands our own perspective on the world. If we only spend time with people we are like and that we agree with, our perspective on the world remains extremely small.
Let me put it another way. Have you noticed that when you meet Christians from other parts of the world and hear about what God has done in their lives, you learn much, much more about the greatness of God? You learn how he works in different ways among different peoples. This leadership team in Antioch knew that the gospel spoke to all cultures and to all peoples. God had prepared them to make a difference in the entire world by bringing people of the world into this one church family. Sometimes God brings different people into our sphere of relationships to prepare us for a ministry to which he is calling us.
Sometimes we might complain about some of the people God sends into our lives – the one we become roommates with in college, the boss we have to serve under or the neighbor who moves across the street. But, God knows what he is doing. When God brings someone into your life, he probably is making you ready for a ministry you could never have been otherwise equipped for.
#2: The Holy Spirit sent people out from the congregation for a new ministry while the church was worshiping, praying and fasting.
There is some confusion here about who was praying and fasting in v. 2 -- the leaders only or the entire church. I'll just tell you that I think Luke is reporting that the entire church was praying. It was a praying church and a fasting church. There are two references to fasting in vv. 2-3 – one linked with service (v.2) and one with prayer (v.3). So, I don't want to pass over this matter of fasting too quickly today.
I want to demystify fasting for you. What fasting is in the Bible is setting aside a mealtime for the purpose of seeking the Lord about some matter. Seldom if ever is fasting an end in itself. Fasting is a negative action (i.e., abstaining from food and other distractions) for the sake of a positive one (serving or praying). Fasting is not a magic formula for us to gain some spiritual power that we otherwise do not have. When we fast, we pause in what is often a life that is very busy in order to be with the Lord and seek his guidance. When the Bible speaks of fasting, it often speaks of doing it for a 24-hour period. When your stomach growls, you are reminded to pray. Of course, fasting can be longer – or it can be shorter. You might simply set aside one mealtime for prayer. The point is that fasting is a practical way of spending time with God when you otherwise would have been eating. So, the people of Antioch were setting aside some mealtimes so that they could hear from the Lord. This seems to have become a way of life for them.
The point is that not only was this church 1) outwardly focused and reaching out into their very diverse community and 2) culturally diverse in its leadership with a knowledge of and heart for the world as a whole, but also 3)it was was engaged in fervent prayer and in tune with the prompting of the Holy Spirit.
The application is fairly simple, isn't it? We must be a people of prayer. We must pray individually and together too. And, I believe we all need to consider times of fasting as one of our regular spiritual disciplines. When people prayed – and even set aside some mealtimes to pray – they heard from God. I believe the same will be true for us.
#3: Those called by the Holy Spirit were already serving the church faithfully.
The word translated "worshipping" in v.2 has a slightly different meaning from what we usually think of when we use the word. In v. 2, it actually means that they were "rendering sacrificial service that brings benefit to others." We don't know much about Simeon, Lucias and Manaean. But we know a good deal about Saul and Barnabas. They were the most prominent and influential teachers in the church. Saul we know well since the book of Acts is structured mainly around his great, earth-shaking ministry. Barnabas may have been the most respected leader in the early Jerusalem church. He is the one who reached out to the despised Saul after his conversion and vouched for him among the churches (Acts 9:27). He is the one whom the church in Jerusalem sent to Antioch when they heard that the Gentiles had started turning to the Lord (Acts 11:22). So Paul and Barnabas were already serving God faithfully when the calling came.
Note this: The church leaned on these two men. They were not the kinds of people about whom you would say: "Well, it won't hurt if they leave the church for another ministry." They were the kind who, when they leave, you take a deep breath and wonder how things will carry on after they leave. That is the kind of people the Holy Spirit called to a new venture in God's mission – to a pioneering work in which the only one who knew the outcome was God himself.
Does this calling and sending still happen -- and does it happen at LAC?
That's what I've been asking about all week. Mayra Nolan told me a story that sounds just a bit like the Antioch story. Samir Hannah and Leo Hurtado, two leaders in our church, went to Mayra 1 ½ years ago asking about the possibility of LAC starting a "Celebrate Recovery" ministry, i.e., a ministry to help the many people God is sending to us who are trying to find liberation from addictions like drugs, alcohol, gambling, etc. At that time, Mayra asked them if either of them would lead that kind of ministry. Neither of them felt they were called and gifted to do it. So, there was a new work that needed to be done among us but no one sent to do it. So, Mayra told me, nothing (visible) came from that first conversation. But I believe Samir and Leo kept praying.
Recently, Mayra was deleting some old emails and came across one email from Samir about an entirely different matter and this jogged her memory. She decided to shoot Samir an email asking if he had thought anymore about recovery ministries. He said that the needs were still great and he recently learned that there would be a training conference for this kind of ministry. Again, he asked if LAC could send someone.
Mayra decided to ask Tsega Worku, our Director of Counseling, if we have ever done this type of ministry and learned that in fact we have -- and that we currently have growing needs. However, Tsega told her we need lay-people from among our congregation to lead it. So, Tsega, Mayra, Samir and Leo decided to continue to pray that God would raise up a leader. Mayra forwarded her email conversation to Than Veltman, who oversees the LAC Sunday Community Meal and asked him also to pray about this need too.
A couple of days later Than told Mayra that he and his wife, Ruthina, had just had a couple from LAC over for dinner and they told Than they had been praying for about a year about a very specific ministry focused on people longing to find recovery from addictions... As this couple heard from Than about our prayers, Mayra said, "They were beyond excited." And when Than shared with them about the upcoming training conference for recovery ministries, they felt that this may be God at work among us.
And that brings me to a brief interview I want to do right now. I'd like Phil Sites to come up so we can talk about this together. Questions for interview:
1. In what ways have you two have been serving in the life of LAC in recent years?
2. Has this service brought you into relationship with a broad range of people?
3. As people in our church – like Samir, Leo, Mayra, Than and Tsega – have been praying that God would raise someone up to serve in recovery ministries, you and Carmen been praying too. What it was like to pray for a year? And how did God was prepare you during that time?
4. So now you are at the beginning of what seems to be a God-directed new ministry. I've heard you'll be going for training very soon. Tell us about that and tell us what to pray for.
[From this interview, I'll probably summarize that Phil and Carmen have been in contact with a very diverse group of people – many of whom need the power of God for recovery. These relationships have given them a great love for those needing God's liberation from addictions. The number of people facing the need of recovery is growing in our community and our church. We have been praying about this. Phil and Carmen have been praying about it. They have already been serving faithfully in the church family. In that context, they have sensed God is calling them – and we are seeking to send them.]
#4: The result of people being sent out was more than the church ever could have imagined.
You can read about the extraordinary work of God that began with this sending in the chapters that follow Acts 13:1-3. What was launched was a movement of church planting that changed the Roman world. In Cyprus, Antioch of Pisidia, Iconium, Lystra, and Derbe churches sprang up - people in those places worshiped Jesus and laid their lives on the line for him. On that day of fasting and prayer in Antioch, these five leaders had no idea what they were unleashing on the world. That is God's way: He calls for obedience and faithfulness, but he keeps the future blessings of hardship and triumph in his own secret wisdom.
What do I want you to do?
I want to take you back to those two assumptions I mentioned at the beginning of this message:
· That you have fully surrendered your life to Jesus (that you will go wherever he sends you);
· That you believe that you too are sent by God as his witness to this world.
If those points are true of you, then I want to ask you a question: Quo Vadis? Where are you going?
1. Identify the place to which or people to whom you are sent.
That might be to a school as a student or teacher. It might be into your profession or place of work. Wherever you go this week, when you go there, go as one being sent by God to be his witness.
Or, maybe you are sensing that God is calling you to another people or to another place as his witness as he did Paul and Barnabas. Either way, I want you to do something else too.
2. Spend more time in prayer – and add a time of fasting – this week.
Remember that the Christians in Antioch were praying with other Christians. If you are in a small group, spend some additional time simply praying for one another – that all may experience a sense of God's sending in a new way. If you're not in a small group, come up after the service and allow one of our pastors or prayer counselors to pray with you.
More and more I believe that the book of Acts is in the New Testament to prevent local churches like ours from coasting to a standstill and entering a maintenance mode with all the inner wheels working but going nowhere -- treading water into no new people groups or no new ventures or no new exploits for the kingdom. Let us be serving wherever we are, praying fervently for God to guide and empower us, and then go as those sent by God to be a part of what he is doing in the world.
To His glory,
Dr. Greg Waybright
Senior Pastor
title="Chinese
去往何處?——前傳8/18/2013
《使徒行傳》11:19-30
上個星期,我們從《使徒行傳》13:1-3看到,在一個充滿活力的世界級的城市裡,有個生氣勃勃教會,它派出兩個教會領袖,把耶穌的信息帶到那些從未聽說過祂的人們當中。今天,我想讓時鐘倒轉到幾年前,看看是什麼讓那個教會如此具有活力,並如此情願做出犧牲。換句話說,這是上次講章的前傳!如同好萊塢的的電影前傳一樣,《星球大戰》1-3集是在4-6集之後才拍攝的,《教父》第2集是教父第1集的前傳。我們將看看是什麼讓安提阿的這個教會給出了一個深刻的問題。這個問題與耶穌和彼得相遇時提出的問題相同:“去往何處?”你到哪裡去? 在你的生命中神要把你派往何處?安提阿的信徒相信每個基督徒都會被神派往某處。 當一個名叫巴拿巴的保守的猶太基督徒走進安提阿的一個教會,看看在那裡發生事。他看到了這個教會不僅僅做與宗教相關的事,他還看到了一些力量充沛的基督徒,他們深信自己將在天父的計畫中扮演角色。今天,我想知道他在那兒看見了什麼。我祈禱人們會在LAC看到同樣的事發生在我們當中! 巴拿巴在安提阿到底看到了什麼?他看到一個大城市裡,到處都是耶穌要拯救的人。 巴拿巴在猶太社區生活了很久,在那裡,多數人具有相同的傳統和文化。在耶路撒冷教會的人當中確實也存在一些差異,但他們對生活有相同的認知基礎,這個基礎可以追溯到從他們的父親亞伯拉罕所留下的傳統。但是,在安提阿所發生的與耶路撒冷迥然不同。 當教會在安提阿開始成長時,耶路撒冷的領袖們派巴拿巴來到這個大城市。他確信自己看到城市的多元化、商業氣氛以及動感的生活。安提阿環境優美,毗鄰大河,群山環繞。它被稱做“美麗的安提阿”。 但是,他也看到都市文明的衰退。高犯罪率,且過度擁擠:每畝平均200人(曼哈頓100人,洛杉磯13人)。他們沒有高樓大廈來緩解擁擠——也沒有整潔的洗手間。想像一下,擁擠、疾病、貧困和無家可歸的情況充斥整個城市。安提阿以淫亂著稱。即使是羅馬人也認為安提阿是一座“罪惡之城”。在大型公共劇院裡,可以公開地賣淫。 我們居住在一個不完全像安提阿的地方。我們是在美國的第二大城市,這座城市帶給我們美麗、動感和各種娛樂消遣。但我們存在與安提阿相同的一些問題——擁擠,也有貧困、無家可歸、犯罪等問題。甚至因為我們的娛樂產業,在很多方面我們背上了缺乏道德的名聲。在我成長的過程中,我常常聽到一些有關好萊塢的負面消息。事實上,我總是收到一些父母的信件,說他們的孩子正要從這裡搬出去,他們問我,在南加州一個基督徒還能否做個純正的基督徒。(我確信我們能!)因此,我希望我們學會像巴拿巴看安提阿那樣來看我們的城市。 很多參觀過安提阿的人,看到了一個將要被拋棄的城市——一個將要被審判的城市。但是,巴拿巴卻看到一個耶穌的福音可以使之發生變化的城市。他沒有離開它,沒有譴責它。他呆在那兒並為它服務。我希望你明白,巴拿巴看到神的百姓在那兒,一個教會將要為神在那座城市裡做光做鹽。他看到一個教會不僅在自己的城市裡發展,還延伸到其他地方。請看23節:巴拿巴“看見神的恩就歡喜”。
他在那座城市的教會裡看見了什麼?
#1. 他看見教會把福音傳到整個社區。 一些人只向猶太人講道。而有些人去到安提阿,也向非猶太人講,告訴他們關乎主耶穌的好消息。(11:19-20) 那些受迫害而逃離家園的耶路撒冷的基督徒只向猶太人傳福音,對此我並不感到奇怪。我們大多數人也會這樣做。我們在與我們相似的人群中會感到舒服。我們有時甚至會想,那些與我們不同的人不想聽我們所講的。有很多事情,驅使我們遠離與我們不同的人。 但是,去往安提阿的信徒已經知道,神的恩是向所有人,基督裡的饒恕能夠赦免所有的罪,聖靈的力量足以改變我們的生命。你相信這個嗎?相信嗎? •那些陷入毒品、淫亂和黑社會的人能夠得釋放嗎? •那種長期破裂的關係能夠修復嗎? •道德能夠重建嗎?驕傲能夠化為謙卑嗎?反對基督教的人能夠充滿喜樂地追隨耶穌嗎?你相信嗎? 我很清楚,在安提阿的信徒已經親身體會到了神轉變生命的大能。因此,他們知道神的恩典對所有人是充充足足的。因此,這個在安提阿的教會,它目標向外、對外作見證,是一個開放的教會。神讓他們的見證結果子。在21節:主與他們同在,信而歸主的人就很多了。 我正在為LAC能夠成為這樣的教會而禱告。
#2: 他看到一個在靈命上需要成長的教會 (門徒訓練)。 巴拿巴又到大數去找掃羅。找著了,就帶他到安提阿去。他們足有一年的功夫和教會一同聚集,教訓了許多人。(11:25-26) 我確信,對於神在舊約中顯現、耶穌道成肉身、十字架的必要性、耶穌復活所帶來的救贖這些內容,新的信徒還不十分明白。由於安提阿的人們對神和聖經一知半解,我確信他們在那座城市所建立的生活風格,包括一些癖好和生活習慣,都需要被轉變。哥林多比安提阿對罪的認識還要少,保羅在哥林多前書6:9-11寫到:你們豈不知不義的人不能承受神的國嗎?不要自欺!無論是淫亂的、拜偶像的、姦淫的、作孌童的、親男色的、偷竊的、貪婪的、醉酒的、辱駡的、勒索的,都不能承受神的國。你們中間也有人從前是這樣;但如今你們奉主耶穌基督的名,並藉著我們神的靈,已經洗淨,成聖,稱義了。 我希望你能把握保羅這幾節經文要義。他的意思是:耶穌來是因為神愛我們——祂這樣做,不論事實上我們做了多少不討祂喜悅的事。但是,當我們把信心放在基督裡,神就洗淨我們,讓我們走上一條新路。我們就不能再像以前那樣活,我們已經把信心放在耶穌上。你明白嗎?但是,我們為什麼信神?我們怎麼知道罪已得赦、生命已被更新?我們怎麼知道該怎樣生活?我們把這個叫做門徒訓練。通過這個過程,我們從耶穌救我們之前的樣子向神應許我們將來要成就的樣子轉變。你是否看到,神在我們生命中的轉變工作是十分必要的?這是教導。我們必須被神的話教導。教導神的話如此重要,以致巴拿巴跑到大數把保羅叫來——他們兩個教導培訓了許多新的信徒。 我來告訴你兩件事: #1)一個好的教會不只是關心你我是否得救。一個好的教會希望每個人都能在基督變得完全。當你來到耶穌面前,這是我們在LAC對你的承諾。我們會竭盡所能來幫助你成長為神造你的樣子。我們不會譴責你的過去,但我們也不會讓你留在過去的生活中——因為神不想讓你留在那兒。 #2)你在基督裡的新生命的根基就是聖經裡所透出的信心。一個好的教會將會努力幫助你瞭解這個“信心”。這就是為什麼我們通過敬拜的服事如此用心地教導聖經。明年,在LAC,你會有很多機會學習,或重新學習——你建立新生命的信心。巴拿巴知道(我也知道),除非你明白神要你怎樣活著,你的生活不會發生改變。當你自己沒有明白這個信息時,你不可能向他人做見證。因此,看看在LAC有怎樣的學習機會,然後a)制訂一個讀經計畫b)在我們教會裡找一個小組,這個小組不僅是團契,也是在學聖經。
#3: 他看到了建立在對耶穌基督的信心之上的統一的教會。 在安提阿門徒第一次被稱為基督徒(11:26)。 在一世紀,羅馬已經控制了大部分已知的世界。正因為如此,人們跨越了之前民族間的壁壘,以一種前所未有的方式在羅馬帝國中自由旅行。結果,為了尋找貿易和工作機會,人們大量湧入城市。所以,像安提阿這樣的城市容納了當時世界上各種不同的人群。有記錄顯示,在當時的安提阿有大量的猶太人,中國人,中東人,非洲人和一些歐洲社區。這一點和南加州頗為相似。 但是,盡管這個城市的群體極其多樣化,但群體間卻相當疏離。這個城市中有18個不同的住宅區域,每一個住宅區域都由來自不同民族和種族的人們構成。即使偶爾在集市或娛樂中心這樣的地方,不同群體的人們有些生活上的接觸,但各群體間始終相互保持距離。這些群體通過語言,民族遺產和膚色來相互區別和隔離。 但是,正如我們所看到的,這些安提阿的基督徒們呼召城中所有群體的人們來信仰耶穌。結果,所有這些不同的人們漸漸成為了他們教會家庭的一部分!由於這些不同的教會人們聚在一起敬拜,再一起到外面的世界去事工,那麼出現了一個問題,他們該如何被識別呢。這個新群體里有來自各個國家,民族,語種和宗教背景的人。正如我們上週在使徒行傳13:1-3中看到的,連教會的領導階層都來自三個不同的洲和四個不同的群體。人們該怎麼給這樣的一群人命名呢?在安提阿,他們被稱為“基督徒”,即跟隨基督的人。 所以,使這個群體統一的是:1)他們住在這個城市。2)他們屬於耶穌。讀到這,我記得耶穌曾說過:“你們(與眾人不同)若有彼此相愛的心,眾人因此就認出你們是我的門徒了。” 我希望你從這當中看到對我們的啓示。在我們這個分裂的世界里,教會是這樣一個地方,在這裡,人們來自不同的種族,可能曾屬於不同的幫派,也可能經濟情況迥然不同,但在基督里我們成為弟兄姊妹。我們需要通過一起敬拜,一起走出去在世界上並肩事工來證明我們在基督里的合一。人們會問,“是什麼把這些人凝聚在一起?”,唯一的答案應該是,“耶穌”,他們是“基督-徒”-跟隨耶穌的人。 在北美的教會,我們往往會在不知不覺中做一些不榮耀神的事情。而且我想說,頻率極高,可能即使是同在一個校園中,我們也往往滿足於過互不相干的生活。我們時常會這樣想,“如果我們創建的聚會能關注這群人或那群人的喜好,那麼我們的教會將會壯大。”結果是,教會辦的聚會變成老年人一群,年輕人一群,富人一群,窮人一群。喜歡教導的一群,喜歡體驗的一群。 我們LAC不打算這樣做。讓我們學習安提阿教會。不要只和那些與你同上一所高中或大學或同輩的人一起敬拜。做出承諾,來這裡一起敬拜。我知道,當我們歡迎不同的人到我們教會來聚會時,我們所有人都需要願意改變。出於對我們教會其他家庭成員的深切愛心,我們所有的人將不得不放下個人喜好,因為他們很可能與我們不一樣。當我們一起敬拜一起事奉時-一起的時候,神得著榮耀,!而且,我堅信這一點:當你作出這樣的承諾時,你將會遇見神。記住這一點,讓我再一次告訴你們,去年十月聖靈向你們的事工委員會顯明了什麼: 我們是被差派的,不分年齡各代 在合一中敬拜 在社區中學習 朝著基督的完全進步 為神的使命服務。 我知道這個異象是反傳統文化的。但它非常合乎聖經。
#4:他看到一個委身的人,向困難中的人獻上基督之愛。 門徒們,盡其所能,決定向猶太的弟兄們提供幫助。(11:29) 在27-30中我們瞥見從安提阿教會中流出的愛心。當從先知那裡得知在猶太將有一場大範圍的毀滅性飢荒時,這些安提阿的信徒們捐錢幫助。歷史將會繼續表明,自我犧牲性的給與幫助,這一特質,不只體現在幫助基督徒上,同樣也體現在對神引領前來的所有人的幫助上。這一特質是教會的一個顯著標誌。 當過度擁擠導致了安提阿和羅馬這樣的地方發生疾病時,其他群體把他們的病人扔到街上任其死亡。但是,基督徒去把病人們聚到一起,為他們祈禱,為他們服務。正如朱利安大帝向他所屬宗教的一位牧師抱怨自己在處理四世紀中葉基督徒增長時的無奈時所說,(Ep. Sozum.5:16):“他們的成功就在於他們對陌生人的慈善幫助。這些不信神的加利利人(他指的是基督徒)不僅幫扶他們的窮人,連我們的也幫!” 我希望人們也能這樣談論我們。而且,我已經看到了這樣的愛心,它體現在對那些在我們教會家庭中受到傷害或感到被疏離的人們的關心上。我喜愛看見神在我們生命中的作為。但是,我知道神的愛必須在我們身上成長並且要更加澎湃。 神把你我放在這個地方是有原因的-為做他的見證,做他的使者。神把我們安置在一個相當顯眼的角落,這個城市的210公路和湖邊大道上,這也是有原因的。我們必須要為神把我們安放在的這個城市做出見證。我們必須用言語和行為來做見證。 作為一個位於這個街角,這個城區(這裡有需求,有問題,有機遇)的教會我們享有著特權,這個地方有世界上最好的學校,這個地方通過娛樂業向全世界輸送著它的價值觀。我們被“差派”來到這個社區,再從這裡走向世界。何去何從?你要去哪裡?
榮耀歸給神,
格雷格博士
主任牧師
Greg Waybright • Copyright 2013, Lake Avenue Church
Greg Waybright • Copyright 2013, Lake Avenue Church
Study Guide
Where Are You Going? - Week 18 - Study Guide
ACTS 11:19-30; 13:1-3
Read Acts 1:8 and then 11:19–21. What was Jesus' prophetic word to his followers? How was Jesus' promise furthered in vv.19–21?
Where Are You Going
ACTS 11:19-30; 13:1-3
- Read Acts 1:8 and then 11:19–21. What was Jesus' prophetic word to his followers? How was Jesus' promise furthered in vv.19–21?
- Why do you think the Jerusalem church sent Barnabas to Antioch? Put in your own words what Barnabas saw in vv. 22–24. What similarities might church missionaries have in our own day as they report what God is doing in other cultures?
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What role did the teaching of doctrine play in the beginnings of the church in Antioch according to vv. 25–26? Why do you think Barnabas needed Paul for this task?
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Describe the ministry of churches in different vicinities to one another that you see in vv. 27–30. Do you think that this might have application to churches today?
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What are your first impressions of the Antioch church leadership as described in 13:1? Is there a lesson for churches located in multi-cultural and multinational neighborhoods in our own day?
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13:2–3 was the first time a church intentionally—and without being forced out by persecution—sent people to carry the gospel to places it had not been heard. What should we learn from the actions of the spiritual leaders in that church?
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What do you hope to apply to your life from this study?
2013 Study Series • Copyright © 2013, Lake Avenue Church