Sermon Tone Analysis

The Church God Wants Us to Be

The Book of Acts - Part 52

Acts 16:1-15

Sermon by Rick Crandall

Grayson Baptist Church - August 10, 2014

*Christians: We are part of the most important organization the world will ever see: The Church of the living God!

*Many of you have heard my favorite description of God's Church.

It came from Pastor Russ Blowers when he was speaking to the Rotary Club in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Each week, a different member told a little about his job.

And this is what Russ said when his turn came up:

*"I'm with a global enterprise.

We have branches in every country in the world.

We're into motivation and behavior alteration.

We run hospitals, feeding stations, crisis pregnancy centers, universities, publishing houses, and nursing homes.

We care for our clients from birth to death.

We are into life insurance and fire insurance.

We perform spiritual heart transplants.

*Our original Organizer owns all the real estate on earth, plus an assortment of galaxies and constellations.

He knows everything, and lives everywhere.

Our product is free for the asking.

(There's not enough money to buy it.)

*Our CEO was born in a hick town, worked as a carpenter, didn't own a home, was misunderstood by his family, hated by enemies, walked on water, was condemned to death without a fair trial, and arose from the dead!

I talk with him every day."

(1)

*God's Church is the most important organization the world will ever see! Thank God for the Church of Jesus Christ!

But how can we be the church God wants us to be? -- The Lord shows in today's Scripture.

1. First: We must make sacrifices for our Savior.

*We must be willing to sacrifice for our Savior, and young Timothy is an excellent example for us in vs. 1-3.

Remember that Paul and his mission team have started on their second missionary journey.

And vs. 1-3 tell us that:

1.

Then he came to Derbe and Lystra.

And behold, a certain disciple was there, named Timothy, the son of a certain Jewish woman who believed, but his father was Greek.

2. He was well spoken of by the brethren who were at Lystra and Iconium.

3. Paul wanted to have him go on with him.

And he took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in that region, for they all knew that his father was Greek.

*Timothy's circumcision was a sacrifice he was willing to make for the cause of Christ.

But even before he was circumcised, Timothy was giving himself as a living sacrifice to the Lord.

Verse 2 tells us that Timothy was well spoken of by the brethren.

They gave a good report on his life.

*And it helps us to know that the original word for "report" here is "martureo."

That word means "witness," "testimony," or report."

And "martureo" probably sounds familiar to you, because it's where we got our modern word "martyr."

*Timothy must have been doing what Paul asks all Christians to do in Romans 12:1.

There Paul said: "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service."

Timothy was already presenting himself to the Lord as a living sacrifice.

But then he took the further step of being circumcised.

*Now from a legalistic point of view, we know this Jewish religious rite was completely unnecessary.

The previous chapter is almost completely devoted to establishing this fact.

Acts 15:1-2 tell us that:

1. . .

certain men came down from Judea and taught the brethren, "Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.''

2. Therefore, when Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and dispute with them, they determined that Paul and Barnabas and certain others of them should go up to Jerusalem, to the apostles and elders, about this question.

*So, they went up to Jerusalem, and there Peter gave a strong affirmation that we are saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ.

Acts 15:7-11 says:

7.

And when there had been much dispute, Peter rose up and said to them: "Men and brethren, you know that a good while ago God chose among us, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe.

8.

So God, who knows the heart, acknowledged them, by giving them the Holy Spirit just as He did to us,

9. and made no distinction between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith.

10.

Now therefore, why do you test God by putting a yoke on the neck of the disciples which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?

11.

But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved in the same manner as they.''

*Then James suggested that they write a letter to the other churches to confirm this truth.

And Acts 16:4 says: "As they went through the cities, they delivered to them the decrees to keep, which were determined by the apostles and elders at Jerusalem."

*Paul and his mission team were delivering the letter that told new Christians they did not have to be circumcised.

And how ironic that newly circumcised Timothy is helping take the good news that you don't have to be circumcised!

*We don't have to be circumcised, but Timothy was.

He was willing to make that sacrifice to serve the Lord!

He was willing to make that sacrifice to spread the good news about Jesus Christ!

He was willing to make that sacrifice to help Jewish people open-up to the truth about Jesus.

*And we must also be willing to make sacrifices.

We must be willing to give our time, our talents, and our money for the cause of Christ.

We must daily "present our bodies a living sacrifice" to the Lord.

God help us to do it!

*Bruce Riggins told the story of a lady whose life was changed by a great sacrifice.

When Bruce met her in 1980, she was a very dedicated Christian working with poverty-stricken people in London, England.

*Bruce wanted to know what inspired her Christian faith and action.

And the lady told her story of how another Christian's sacrifice changed her life.

As a young woman during World War II, this lady was a Jew running from the Nazi Gestapo in France.

She knew that she was very close to being caught, and she wanted to give up.

*She found brief safety in the home of a Christian.

Soon another Christian, a widow came to tell her that it was time to flee to a new place.

This Jewish lady said, "It's no use, they will find me anyway.

They are so close behind."

*Then the Christian widow said, "Yes, they will find someone here, but it's time for you to leave.

Go with these people to safety.

I will take your identification and wait here."

As Bruce listened, the Jewish believer said, "I asked her why she was doing that.

And the widow responded, 'It's the least I can do.

Christ has already done that and more for me."'

*The widow was caught and sent to a concentration camp, and within six months the Christian widow was dead.

But that gave time for the Jewish girl to escape the clutches of the Nazis.

Infinitely more important, that widow's sacrifice inspired the young Jew to trust in the Lord Jesus Christ.

(2)

*Someday, we may need to lay down our lives for Jesus Christ.

But most of our sacrifices are small things: A kind word, time devoted to Christian service and prayer, a helping hand for someone in need.

*Our sacrifices may seem big to us, until we compare them to the cross of Christ.

Then we see that our sacrifices times a million could not repay what Jesus has done for us!

When we think about all He gave up for us, when we think about how He suffered for us on the cross, then we know that He deserves our very best.

2. How can we be the church God wants us to be?

We must be willing to make sacrifices for our Savior.

And we must have spiritual strength.

*We cannot live the Christian life in our own strength.

We must have more strength from the Lord.

And He often sends His strength through His people.

That's the main reason why Paul made this mission trip.