Author: joemarino (Page 7 of 51)

The Apostle Paul is by far one of the most inspiring characters in the New Testament outside of Jesus himself. Through the Apostle Paul, God did what we typically think is impossible. He took a national terrorist and turned him into a worldwide evangelist; he planted upwards of thirteen or more churches throughout the middle east and modern-day Europe; and he also wrote two-thirds of the New Testament.

Two weeks ago, we surveyed all the events that led up to the Apostle Paul and his crew receiving the call to minister in Macedonia or modern-day Europe (15:36 – 16:10). Those events were nothing short of disorienting, discouraging, and downright brutal. Discerning and following God’s call on your life is typically a process that is not for the faint of heart (I imagine this is why so many so-called believers in the Western church cannot explain what their ministry is).

One of the core teachings in the Bible is that every Christian is called to do gospel ministry. The Great Commission in Matthew 28 and the teaching of Ephesians 4 regarding the responsibility of church leaders to equip church members for the work of ministry, stands in stark contrast to the idea in the Western church that church leaders do the ministry as they work for the church. The bottom line is, every Christian is called to be a minister and ministry is not easy.

Over the last few sermons, I have been arguing for a perspective on the book of Acts that envisions God as a wartime General who will stop at nothing to advance his kingdom here on earth through the preaching of the gospel.

Before we dive into our text today, I want to remind us of the grand movement that has been taking place throughout the book of Acts.

How often do you think about the Christian life being a war? Maybe the better question to ask is how often do you live your life like you are in the middle of a war?

Over the last few chapters, we have observed how God has advanced the gospel beyond the borders of Jerusalem into Judea and Samaria; he has literally moved his people, with the message of the gospel on their lips, into some of the most remote and unlikely places of the known world.

The passage we are studying today describes how the gospel advanced into the city of Antioch where “the disciples were first called Christians” (v. 26). At first glance, it can be really easy to miss the significance of what was taking place at this specific moment in the history of the church.

I love large bodies of water. Nothing beats the sun coming up over a large lake with the haze of the morning fog in the air, the sounds of the water gently hitting the sides of the boat, and the ripples of water that seem to go on and on as far as the eye can see. 

After studying the text in front of us today, I could not help but to be reminded of an old favorite movie of mine called Top Gun. While it is definitely a favorite movie of mine, it is not necessarily the movie that I am reminded of; I am reminded of one of the songs from the soundtrack of that movie called, “Danger Zone”. Can you hear the lyrics of that song?