The passage this message was preached from, in full, with every other passage it reached for.
Colossians 1quoted to open worship, describing Jesus as creator of all things visible and invisible
1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus through the will of God, and Timothy our brother,
2 to the saints and faithful brothers in Christ at Colossae: Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.
3 We give thanks to God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you,
4 having heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, and of the love which you have toward all the saints,
5 because of the hope which is laid up for you in the heavens, of which you heard before in the word of the truth of the Good News,
6 which has come to you; even as it is in all the world and is bearing fruit and growing, as it does in you also, since the day you heard and knew the grace of God in truth;
7 even as you learned of Epaphras our beloved fellow servant, who is a faithful servant of Christ on our behalf,
8 who also declared to us your love in the Spirit.
9 For this cause, we also, since the day we heard this, don’t cease praying and making requests for you, that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding,
10 that you may walk worthily of the Lord, to please him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God;
11 strengthened with all power, according to the might of his glory, for all endurance and perseverance with joy;
12 giving thanks to the Father, who made us fit to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light;
13 who delivered us out of the power of darkness, and translated us into the Kingdom of the Son of his love;
14 in whom we have our redemption, the forgiveness of our sins;
15 who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.
16 For by him all things were created, in the heavens and on the earth, things visible and things invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers; all things have been created through him, and for him.
17 He is before all things, and in him all things are held together.
18 He is the head of the body, the assembly, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.
19 For all the fullness was pleased to dwell in him;
20 and through him to reconcile all things to himself, by him, whether things on the earth, or things in the heavens, having made peace through the blood of his cross.
21 You, being in past times alienated and enemies in your mind in your evil deeds,
22 yet now he has reconciled in the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and without defect and blameless before him,
23 if it is so that you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and not moved away from the hope of the Good News which you heard, which is being proclaimed in all creation under heaven; of which I, Paul, was made a servant.
24 Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and fill up on my part that which is lacking of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the assembly;
25 of which I was made a servant, according to the stewardship of God which was given me toward you, to fulfill the word of God,
26 the mystery which has been hidden for ages and generations. But now it has been revealed to his saints,
27 to whom God was pleased to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory;
28 whom we proclaim, admonishing every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus;
29 for which I also labor, striving according to his working, which works in me mightily.
cited as Jesus's prediction that the gospel would spread from Jerusalem to Judea, Samaria, and the uttermost parts
8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you. You will be witnesses to me in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the uttermost parts of the earth.”
named as the source of a song of gratitude sung during the offering
1 My soul rests in God alone. My salvation is from him.
2 He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress— I will never be greatly shaken.
3 How long will you assault a man, would all of you throw him down, Like a leaning wall, like a tottering fence?
4 They fully intend to throw him down from his lofty place. They delight in lies. They bless with their mouth, but they curse inwardly. Selah.
5 My soul, wait in silence for God alone, for my expectation is from him.
6 He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress. I will not be shaken.
7 With God is my salvation and my honor. The rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God.
8 Trust in him at all times, you people. Pour out your heart before him. God is a refuge for us. Selah.
9 Surely men of low degree are just a breath, and men of high degree are a lie. In the balances they will go up. They are together lighter than a breath.
10 Don’t trust in oppression. Don’t become vain in robbery. If riches increase, don’t set your heart on them.
11 God has spoken once; twice I have heard this, that power belongs to God.
12 Also to you, Lord, belongs loving kindness, for you reward every man according to his work.
The message in order, in a few minutes of reading.
This sermon worked through two sections of Acts 9, following Saul's arrival in Damascus and then Peter's travels through Lydda and Joppa. Pastor Ray traced how the early church grew not through careful planning but through God moving ahead of his people, often through interruption and surprise. The two stories, one about a former persecutor becoming the most compelling voice in the synagogues, and one about an apostle willing to stop what he was doing and go help, together painted a picture of what it looks like to be the continuing body of Christ.
What was said
Saul arrived in Damascus with paperwork from the high priest and a plan to drag followers of Jesus back to Jerusalem in chains. Instead, he arrived blind and humbled, having heard Jesus speak to him on the road. Within days of staying with the very believers he had come to arrest, he was preaching in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God.
The reaction in Damascus was amazement, then argument, then a murder plot. The Jews in the synagogues could not refute what Saul was saying, which Pastor Ray connected to the same phrase used earlier about Stephen. The city gates were watched day and night, and Saul had to be lowered out over the wall in a basket in the dark, the opposite of the triumphant exit he had planned.
When Saul reached Jerusalem, the believers there were afraid of him. Pastor Ray paused on that fear and asked whether we believe Jesus can redeem anyone, or whether there are people in our lives we have quietly written off. Barnabas was the one who stepped in, told the apostles exactly what had happened on the road and in the synagogues, and that testimony endeared Saul to them.
The narrative then shifts, as Acts often does, to Peter traveling from place to place. In Lydda he met Aeneas, a man paralyzed for eight years, and said to him, "Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you. Get up, roll up your sleeping mat." He was healed instantly, and the whole population of Lydda and the surrounding plain of Sharon turned to the Lord.
In nearby Joppa, a believer named Tabitha, whose Greek name was Dorcas, had died. She was known for doing kind things for others and helping the poor. The believers sent two men to beg Peter to come, and he came. Pastor Ray noted that Peter was willing to be interrupted, that he was not so busy doing good things that he could not stop and go help. He cleared the room, knelt, prayed, and said, "Get up, Tabitha." She opened her eyes, sat up, and Peter helped her to her feet. Many in the town believed in the Lord.
Pastor Ray drew these two stories together around a single idea: God is going ahead of his people. He is preparing ground, planting seeds, and positioning people for the gospel before any of us arrive. The application he offered was not a strategy but an invitation to be present with what you know of Jesus, to tell your own story of who He has been to you, and to stay open to the interruptions.
Doing a Bible study?
Here is a guide we have prepared for you: the passages
in order, questions for the group, and room to write.
The pastor pointed out that the believers in Jerusalem were afraid of Saul because they could not believe his conversion was real. Is there someone in your life you have a hard time believing God could redeem? What does that fear say about what you actually believe God can do?
Barnabas took a risk and vouched for Saul to the apostles when nobody else would. Who in your life has played that kind of Barnabas role for you, and is there someone right now you could play that role for?
Yeah. Good morning, everybody. Hey. What do you say we we stand and we sing some songs together? Worship.
Here's a good word from Colossians one to lead us in worship. Here's the verse. For by him, and we're speaking about Jesus here, all things were created, both heaven, earth, visible, invisible, whether thrones, dominions, rulers, or authorities, all things have been created through him and for him. Would you join us in singing glory to God forever? Friends, I just made a mistake.
We're supposed to sing higher than that. It happens. I didn't say we were polished. Forever. Creator God, he gave us breath.
Creator God,
Glory to God. Glory to Glory to God forever. Excuse me. I have a few announcements. Oh, gracious.
What are they? Announcements are here. Teton Valley, Idaho Fellowship is happening on the second Friday of the month. Is that this Friday? Whatever it is.
Second Friday of the month, Teton Valley Idaho Fellowship, second Friday of the month. Started last month. If you wanna talk to Emily Anderson about it, there is like a sign up for this. I don't know what the address for that is at this point, but it is nice to know. Emily Anderson, (808) 639-4739.
This is coming up fast. The men's snowmobile retreat for 2025 will be February twenty first, twenty second, twenty third up at Old Faithful Christian Ranch. $120 per person regardless of size of the person. Call Richard Largie for details. That's his number right there.
And there is a women's community Bible study going on down at Gateway this time around. A lot of times it meets here. It has met at the press church in the past. Some it's at Gateway this time around from ten to twelve on Wednesdays. I went this past week, it was fantastic.
We just loved it. So Carl played the box and I got to play the bass and it was really really really well done. Nehemiah rebuilding together. That's happening. Young adults.
Hey, this is a new one for me. Does somebody know more about this than I do? Oh, community formation. This is young adults women's studies. We've said for a long time, if you don't have a small group, let us know and we'll try to put you in one.
But if there's not one, we'll try to create one. I think this is one of those. So Monday, 7PM, February 3 through May 5, that's the next time that this is happening. You can sign up at the First Bees website and that's awesome. So Annika and Lauren are the ones putting that together.
Young, adult, Bible study. Steve Gilmore was here last week and he announced this, the start up Wednesdays. This will be starting February 12. He told me after the fact, he said, the first one will be more or less an informational sort of gathering around what it is going to be like. So even if you're thinking, might want to attend this, why don't you come to that first one, see what it's like.
It's going to be downstairs in the Purple Room, which is the youth room down there. Steve Gilmore, that's his contact information. The paying it forward, he said it's been paid forward for you, but if you want to pay it forward for the next folks, costs us $25. It's not per per time, it's just $25 period. So 6PM in the evenings, Wednesday starting February twelfth.
If you're on the go, we're all on the go. First being the Bible is an encouraging email each morning, usually depending on the text. Right? It's a chapter of scripture or sometimes three or four chapters of scripture, but then it'll be one among us that has written about it some notes and application. It's really good.
For me, this is one of the most encouraging things we've undertaken in the last three years, think. It's been three years. It's great. And I think that's it. Anybody else have something?
Berkeley Johnston. Men's Alliance. Men's Alliance. When is it? Where is it?
Hello. Hello. There you go.
We have men's alliance this week, Wednesday, 06:30 in the Fellowship Hall for breakfast. One of those other ways, if you're a man at this church looking to get in more community, get to know guys deeper, that's a great way to do it. This week, we are having everyone's favorite elder, Steve Baldock, share a bit about his story and encourage us. So come for breakfast and to hear from Steve. Thanks.
Thank you. Thank you, Ray. Alright. Appreciate it. Would you stand with us now?
Thank you, Berkeley.
God, we have sung it, but I I want to say it too. Thank you, God. You are awesome and mighty and holy and wonderful and selfless and generous and faithful and so much more. That is why we are here to gather together as the body of Christ. We're not just singing individually here.
We're singing together as a body of believers, imperfect people worshiping a perfect and holy and almighty God. God, could we be cognizant of that right now as we sing these next song and just celebrate gospel, the good news of your love and forgiveness. Amen. That one got me this morning. Thank you, Lord.
Thank you for that. Truly in you, there is no guilt in life. There is no fear in death. Why? Because this is your power in us.
We just let that sink in for a bit. And can we go to the table right now, Ray? Or... Oh, we'll wait a little bit. You can have a seat here for a moment.
This is the worship through giving part of the service, and I'll invite the ushers to come on forward. We're gonna sing a song of gratitude from Psalm 62. It's all my people. Trust him. Trust him at all times.
Pour out your heart to him. God is our refuge. Before we sing, Ray, may I ask you to pray?
We are thankful, Lord. We're thankful and overwhelmed. You are so good to us, And you are just so good, Lord. Not just to us, you're good, your favor is emanating out. I pray Lord that we'd be reflecting that and carriers of that grace and favor and goodness, Lord.
That we'd be willing to cross significant boundaries to carry the gospel with us. Lord, would you break through? Would you break through? Would you break our hearts and then others? Lord, by your spirit, convict us of our own sin, convince us of your goodness and righteousness, Lord.
And I pray that even this morning, right here among us, that you'd be illuminating scripture. I pray that you're going ahead of us and people are reading it and like that Ethiopian treasure, Lord. They are looking for someone to help explain what it is. I pray that we'd be those people. Lord, we wanna be a part of your advance of the gospel's advance.
Would you convict us and convince us and illuminate the word Lord and do what it is that only you can do? But Lord, we pray specifically for the divine appointments you have for us. In Jesus name, we ask that you would bless the gift and the giver during this time of offering that everything that's placed in these plates, whether it be financial resources or metaphorically, Lord, Just our trust, our conversations, our our thoughts, our prayers that you would lead us, Lord, into what you want us to do. Would you show us the next right step in Jesus name. Amen.
Amen. It's time for children's church downstairs. Setting up and ready for you down there. Middle school and high school Zone 2. I see a couple of elder statesman of the Boy Scouts here.
Did y'all have an announcement or anything that you wanted to say? Y'all y'all want... Neither one of you recognized your elder statesman status. You're dressed like Boy Scouts. Okay.
Come and join us. Come and join us. Alright. That's good. There was a full full room, a full room down here for the Grand Prix for Boy Scouts last week, and it's fantastic to see you.
The Boy Scouts have been meeting at First wherever First happened to be for the last ninety years. And we're glad you're still here, I'm glad you're here this morning. Thank you, Herb and Jonathan. So where did I put the thing? Is it working?
Yes. Hey. That calms my fears right there. Acts nineteen nine nineteen b through 31, thirty thirty one is the text for today. And we've just been going through sort of plotting.
Today, have two different sections. They might ought to go in two different sermons, maybe. One of them is about Paul, and then the other one is a meanwhile back at the ranch about Peter. Okay? And that's the way acts goes.
There's a story that is unfolding and Luke is doing his best to tell you this is how it happened. This is how the church was started, born, and this is Jesus building his church and these are the things that happened. So it's history, it's a great narrative. There are two kind of different stories this morning. So if you'll remember the conversion of Saul, the conversion of Saul we talked about last week, and he left from Jerusalem and he's headed to Damascus, it's probably a 120, 125 miles.
And as he's going there, he has the paperwork. He has the documentation, and he is going there, and he's going there to take anybody who is following the way, followers of Jesus. He's going to the synagogues in Damascus. There are about 10 of them at the time. He's going there with letters from the high priest to appeal to the local synagogues to get the people of the way out of there.
They don't want this message spreading. And so, Paul, Saul at the time, Saul grabs those papers, he's heading up but he's blinded on the way and he's humbled. And it says at the end of the sermon last week that Saul stayed with those very believers that he went to drag back in chains. He stayed with them. He hung out at their house.
We... My goodness. What's happened here? This is a humbled man. Jesus spoke to him directly.
Jesus spoke to him again through Ananias and Stall... Saul stayed with the believers in Damascus for a few days and immediately immediately when Jesus got a hold of him, when he recognized Jesus for who he was, and when he recognized the church for what it was, the body of Christ. The continuing body of Christ. Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? Now Saul was persecuting the church, the way.
And immediately when he got it, he began preaching, proclaiming the good news about Jesus in the synagogues. I highlight in the synagogues because we hear it often in the Pauline epistles where he says, first for the Jew, then for the Greeks, Gentiles, the outermost. And this is what he was saying, he is indeed the son of God. I know all of your objections. I've got your objections.
I understand them. I've been fighting your side for a long time. He is indeed the son of God. This is what it's all about. And all who heard him were amazed.
You see a lot of amazement in the book of acts. It's pretty crazy. We still see it and are amazed. Isn't this the same man who caused such devastation among Jesus's followers in Jerusalem? He was present at the stoning of Stephen, held the coats but was completely in agreement.
Isn't this that same Saul who was there and caused devastation among the followers of Jerusalem? They, all who heard him, they, didn't he come to here to arrest them and to take them and change to the leading priest? The news of his coming had gotten out ahead of time in Damascus. So Saul's preaching, his proclamation of the gospel became more and more powerful as he engaged the Jews in the synagogues. Every objection that they were raising the Holy Spirit is allowing for Paul, Saul to communicate back.
So more and more powerful, and the Jews in Damascus could not refute his proofs that Jesus was indeed the Messiah. This reminds me of Stephen at his... Before his stoning, it said, and they could not refute. These these Jewish folks from Cilicia and from the outermost parts, they couldn't refute the the synagogue of the freedmen, could not refute Stephen's gospel message, and now, these folks in Damascus, the Jews in Damascus, the synagogues, the ones that there were believers among them, but he's speaking to the Jews in Damascus, couldn't refute his proof that Jesus was indeed the Messiah. And after a while, some of those Jews, some of them plotted to kill him.
This is a common theme in Acts. It's a common thing. We've had threats against the apostles. We've had one of the deacons who was really lynch mobbed, murdered, and now they're plotting together to kill him, but they're watching for him day and by day and night after night at the city gate so that they could murder him, but Saul was told about their plot. So during the night, some of the other believers lowered him in a large basket through an opening in the city wall.
This reminds me so much of this Sunday school. I love this image. David C. Cook literature that we had when I was little was just this great cartoon page of what was happening, and I was fascinated that a basket could hold a man. And they lowered him down over a wall.
And that's that's not how he planned on leaving Damascus, is it? He planned on leaving Damascus as a conquering hero, dragging back prisoners back to Jerusalem where they'd be tried and probably found guilty. He had seen it happen before. He was uttering threats. He was in a murderous rage when he left, but when Jesus got a hold of him, there was peace in his heart and peace in his proclamation.
When Saul arrived in Jerusalem, now how did he... How did you think he was gonna come back? How did he think he was gonna come back? Hail the conquering hero. He tried to meet with the believers, but they were all afraid of him.
We've been praying for this, guy not to wreak the destruction he's trying to wreak since he left, but they were afraid of him. I think there's something here for us like an application point. I don't have application slide at the end today, but there's something here about fear. They're afraid of him. Are you afraid of anybody that Jesus can redeem?
Are you afraid that Jesus can't redeem somebody? Maybe that's a better way to put it. I meet with people from all stripes all over, and there are some of them that I I probably do think, can God really get this one? I'm having a meeting this afternoon like that. I don't want to be fearful if if I see what God is doing, they didn't believe he had truly become a believer.
Now, if they believed he truly became a believer, what's the best way to sneak in? What's the best way to infiltrate? Right? Act like you're a believer. That's what they thought he was doing was play acting.
But then Barnabas, oh Barnabas. You remember Barnabas? Carl preached about Barnabas. He had Barnabas as the good example before Ananias and Sapphira, the bad example. And this was the passage that Carl was presenting.
All the believers were united in heart and mind, and they felt that what they own was not their own. They felt like they were entrusted with by God, so they shared everything they had. They apostles testified powerfully to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and God's great blessing was upon them all, and there were no needy people among them because those who own land or houses would sell them. Bring the money to the apostles to give to those in need. For instance, there was Joseph.
How many of remember Barnabas' name was Joseph? Yeah. I didn't. But isn't that great that you become known by your nickname when your nickname is son of encouragement? Yeah.
It's really really good. One of the apostles nicknamed to Barnabas and it stuck. It means son of encouragement. Now, he was from the tribe of Levi, which is the ministering tribe all the way back in the old testament, and he came from the island of Cyprus. So there it is.
Israel as we know it today, those are current... More current boundaries and Cyprus is right there in the Eastern Mediterranean. That's where he's from. Barnabas Barnabas, the son of encouragement brought Saul with him to the apostles and he told them how Saul had seen the Lord on the way to Damascus, just straight up narrative. We've already heard the story when it happened and then we heard it for told again.
We're gonna hear it two or three more times, but Saul just told him what happened and how the Lord had spoken to Saul. Can you imagine how encouraging that would be? If you're a believer in Jesus, and you're there and you're fearful about this guy, And then this encouraging dude says, listen, when he spoke to him, he said, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? And it was the believers persecuting. That would be encouraging for me.
Jesus considers me a part of his ongoing body. And let me tell you today, if you're a believer in Jesus, you are a part of his ongoing body. That's encouraging. I'm on the same mission that he was on. I had a professor, he's passed now, in seminary, and he taught a class called the mission of God.
The mission of God. There are a bunch of other things going on, but the mission of God is a blessing for all peoples. He's a part of it. And how the Lord had spoken to Saul, he also told them that Saul had preached boldly in the name of Jesus and to whom he did it in the synagogues in Damascus. To whom and he preached, he did it to the Jews, and for the apostles and for the believers in Jerusalem, knowing that he had the courage in Damascus to go to the same congregations that he was going to and to speak the opposite side of the debate with boldness, also encouraging.
Endeared him to the apostles truthfully, so Saul stayed with the apostles and he went all around Jerusalem with them, and he was preaching boldly in the name of the Lord, and they saw it. And he debated with some Greek speaking Jews, but they tried to murder him. And Paul spoke Greek. I'm sure he spoke Aramaic and Hebrew and all kinds of stuff, probably Latin too, but he debated with some Greek speaking Jews and they tried to murder him. So when the believers heard about this, that the Greek speaking Jews tried to murder him, they took him down to Caesarea.
They wanted to protect him. He wanted to preach boldly in the name of Jesus, but when they heard about this, they said, man, it's probably better that you get out of here. This is a hotbed for you. And so, they took him from Jerusalem to Caesarea Maritime on the coast and sent him away to Tarsus, his hometown. Now that's up on the other side of Cyprus in current day Turkey, and that is the place where he had been brought up.
He knew he probably had a library card. He knew every place in town. He went to his old stomping ground. He'd blend in, I'm sure, but he had this new message, the the gospel was in his heart. You can go to Galatians one to see where he went from there, but we're gonna keep going.
The church, the assembled body of Christ, the church triumphant as it's called in some places, is the continuing body of all believers who have put their faith in Messiah from all past generations, that generation and up to our day. The church, it says, this... At that time, the church then had peace throughout Judea, Galilee, and Samaria. If We look at the map, Jerusalem surrounding areas, Judea, Samaria just north of that, Galilee just north of that. So far, that's what we heard of in Jesus' ministry except for over across the river in Decapolis.
It's spreading from just like Jesus said it would by the way, in acts one eight. You're gonna be my disciples in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the uttermost parts. And it, the church, it became stronger as the believers lived in the fear, the reverence of the Lord. They were revering him, they wanted to do what he wanted them to do, they were open, they had received his spirit, and they were ready to go forward the mission that he had in their lives. They became stronger as the believers lived in the fear of the Lord and with the encouragement of the Holy Spirit, it also grew in numbers.
So this is the historical record of how the church grew specifically for this paragraph or these few paragraphs that was about Saul and then meanwhile back at the ranch, Peter. Peter, the apostle is what? Traveling from place to place. Now, we already have record of when the when the gospel is spreading in Samaria, Peter and John went up to Samaria and they preached all the way back down from Samaria and Judea back to Jerusalem. And then Peter heads out again, he's traveling from place to place.
He comes down to visit the believers in the town of Lydda, if you've been... Current day Israel, if you've been to the town of Lod, L O D. I'm from Georgia, forgive me for that pronunciation. L O D is Lidda, and it is right there where the green star is. Jerusalem is kind of this pink pen down below.
Lydda, there he met a man named Aeneas. Now, what type of a name is Aeneas? Aeneas is a... It's a Greek name. It means praiseworthy or commendable.
It's also like very Greek and that it's the legendary son of Venus and hero of Troy in Rome. So probably not Jewish, maybe, but kinda doubtful. Maybe. Peter said to Aeneas, this man he just met who's paralyzed for eight years. Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you.
Get up, roll up your sleeping mat. Does that sound like anybody else we know? Peter is following in the footsteps of Jesus, and he is God's instrument. Now, it's interesting that Saul, Saul, Saul, Saul, Saul who Jesus said, go Ananias and tell him, this guy is my chosen instrument for the Gentiles and everybody that Saul has spoken to in this chapter is Jewish. And then Peter, who we think of as Peter.
He's the... He's a good Jewish boy, fisherman empowered by the Holy Spirit, the church grows in Jerusalem. A lot of it had to do with his preaching under obviously the Holy Spirit. Peter said to him, Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you, get up and roll up your sleeping mat. He was healed instantly, and then the whole population.
This reminds me of Spanish because I think it's just a verbal thing. It could be the whole population. Absolutely every single person, but when we say in Spanish that, who was there? You know, who was there at the cowboy on Wednesday night? Everybody was there.
The whole population of Lydda and Sharon saw Aeneas walking around. They've been watching him for eight years. He's paralyzed. And they turned to the Lord. Amen.
So that's from Lydda up towards Sharon. Sharon's the whole plane. If there was a city, it'd be at the northern end of that orange circle right there or oval. And it says, now there was this believer in Joppa. Joppa is right there.
It's not far from Lod or Lydda. It's Jaffa, Tel Aviv Jaffa, the airport is there in Israel these days. It's a real place and its proximity just a few miles from Lydda, these folks in Joppa, there was a believer there. This believer was named Tabitha, it's an Aramaic name. Aramaic, Hebrew name, Tabitha, which in Greek is Dorcas, Luke tells us.
Both of those mean gazelle, possibly also gracious, Tabitha, but named Tabitha, which in Greek is Dorcas, and she was always doing kind things for others, and she was always helping the poor. Now, what had Aeneas done to get a healing? Nothing. He just laying there, sitting there. Doesn't say anything about him or his personality, anything else.
Tabitha, Dorcas, is always doing kind things for others. She's always helping the poor. This reminds me of a whole different gospel story. Do you remember when in Luke seven, Luke's volume one, Jesus was returning to Capernaum and at that time, there was a highly valued slave of a Roman officer who was sick and near death, and when the officer heard about Jesus, he sent some respected Jewish elders to ask him to come and heal his slave. And they earnestly begged Jesus to help the man.
If anyone deserves your help, he does, they said. For he loves the Jewish people. He even built a synagogue for us and it says that Jesus went. So that's the way it's... She's always doing kind of things that sounds like she's worthy.
Right? If anybody deserves it, she does. Now about this time, she became ill and died. Gracious, we just got to know Tabitha and now she's dead. Her body was washed for burial and laid in an upstairs room.
I think Aeneas was Gentile, I think, Greek. And I think Tabitha was Hebrew. There are a lot of different things kind of point in that direction. This is one of them. The body was washed for burial, laid in upstairs room.
That reminds me of a different gospel story. There are a lot of these in here. They're reverberations of what Jesus has been doing, but the believers, the believers, these are folks who had trusted in Christ. They heard that Peter was nearby, Lydda, so they sent two men to beg him. Please come as soon as possible like those Jewish emissaries.
So they earnestly begged Jesus to help the man. They are begging Peter to come help. So Peter returned with them. He was willing to be interrupted. That's the kind of application point right there.
He was doing something else and things were going great. I'm sure he was taking the opportunity to preach the gospel, but he wasn't so busy that he couldn't go help. He returned with him. As soon as he arrived, they took him to the upstairs room. The room was filled with widows who were weeping and showing Peter the coat.
Look, she made me this coat. And the other clothes that Dorcas had made for them. Now, Peter asked them all to leave the room, then he knelt and prayed as he had seen Jesus do. Turn into the body, he just said, get up Tabitha. Leap, you gazelle.
Get up Tabitha. And she opened her eyes and when she saw Peter, she sat up. And he gave her his hand and he helped her up. And then he called in the widows and all the believers and he presented her to them alive. And news spread through the whole town and many believed in the Lord.
So the gospel is spreading out and we see kind of the reaches of it going, oh, Damascus, it's there. Now now we know Saul just set out from Caesarea to Tarsus. It's... If it's not there yet, it's about to be. Right?
And then, this is not that far from Jerusalem, but the news spread through the whole town. Many believed in the Lord and Peter stayed a long time in Joppa, living with Simon at Tanner Of Heaven. What a detail. Just like this is where he was. Good historian.
This is what happened. That's the end of the text actually. As I was considering this, and I'm praying over it, and thinking about it all week, I'm thinking, God is on the move. He is going ahead of us. He has steps that he is preparing the ground before we plant the seed.
He's planted the seed in some places that we're supposed to go in water, and then in other places, he has it ready for the harvest. In Jesus name, we are the continuing body of Christ. I'm amazed by how fearful we can be when we know that the Lord is on our side. Do we really know it? Do we really believe that the Lord is on our side?
Do we really believe that the gospel is to go forth to every tribe, tongue, and nation? Do we really believe that that's the mission of God? If we do believe that, are we on the mission of God? Mike Barnett, my professor. The mission of God, a blessing for all peoples.
This area of Turkey where they went is mostly Muslim, mostly secular Muslim, mostly Muslim these days. It is pre christian again. It's ready for the gospel. The people that you meet in town today, if they're not Christian, they're pre Christian. God is going before you.
You have no idea of the circumstances of the lives of the people that you'll meet. You have no idea of the interruptions that you will have this week. But I'd say, if I were to take an application away from this, it is present what you know of Jesus. If you know him to be your healer, tell your story. If you know him to be your provider, tell your story.
If you know the gospel, tell your story. Be willing to do it. Be willing to be interrupted and help as many folks as you can. But always, always, always in the name of Jesus. Now, we come to the table right here.
This is open table for anyone who has placed their faith in Christ. Some of y'all placed it in Christ seventy five years ago and I know that. And some of y'all placed your faith in Christ in the last little while. I pray I pray that before the end of the day, there's someone who accepts him. I I pray it every day that before the end of the day, Lord, would you get another one?
Would you pull somebody out of the kingdom of darkness and put them into your kingdom of marvelous light? This table is a celebration of the the live... The life of Jesus, the death of Jesus, burial, resurrection of Jesus. This table is open to all who have believed. So I'll invite the ushers to come forward and the band gonna play something?
What are we doing? We're gonna play something good. By the way, the plastic cups that have both juice and the wafer in them are gluten free. If you're not gluten free, don't worry about that. Let that pass.
The oyster crackers are representation of the body of Christ and will pass again the cup representing the blood of Christ. It's an open table for all denominations. Anyone who has ever placed their faith in Christ, if you trust in him. Now, Paul does give an admonition not to take this unworthily. He says, that you need to know that you are at peace with others when you do this.
If you have to let it pass for that reason, I understand you and I'm praying for you. But if if you've ever put your faith in Christ, this is the place for you. In Jesus name, amen. I'm thinking of this today as those disciples gathered around the table there with Christ when he instituted this, the Lord's Supper communion. When he instituted, I'm thinking about the unity around that table.
And I'm prayerful about the unity of the body of Christ continuing. In the Old Testament, Amos three three, God gives his word to the prophet to carry to the king and his word was, can two walk together unless they be agreed? I'm praying for the unity of the body of Christ. God, you bless us into divine unity? Would you pull us from the perimeter and into the center of your good gospel?
In Jesus name, amen. Now when Christ was gathered with his disciples in that first night, he said, this is my body which is given for you. It was voluntary, it was sacrificial. This is my body which is given for you. Take this and eat of it all of you and do it as often as you will in remembrance of me.
Amen. Now, this little plastic cup of grape juice is a representation of the blood of Christ. Again, open for all who partake because of their belief in Christ. Lord God Almighty, would you bless this little representation as it is distributed? Would you bless it, Lord, as we take it together?
In Jesus name, we want to live our lives in Jesus name. We want to raise our standards and our our banner high in Jesus name. Amen. Amen. God, your love is overwhelming.
I pray that it would flow out of us. Right here, Lord. At the cross, at the cross. In the same manner that he had taken the bread, he also took the cup after supper, a common cup for them. We pray this representation is a common cup for us, bringing us into the center of his will, his mission, his love.
In the same way he took the bread, he also took the cup after supper and he said to his disciples gathered there and his voice rings to us today, that this is the new covenant in my blood. Take this and drink it in and do it as often as you will in remembrance of me. Amen. Amen. Would you all stand with us?
We're gonna sing one closing hymn. Paul says that as often as we do this, we proclaim Jesus' death. His death that can be an end for sin. It breaks the power of cancel sin and sets the captive free. That's what he says we proclaim every time we do this together.
Would you stand and sing with May I pray and then I'll share with the benediction with you. God, would you keep us from being fearful? Would you allow us to step over significant boundaries to get to the hearts of someone that needs the gospel? Would you allow us the grace to see it, and would you allow us the words at the right time? You say, you'll stand before governors and kings.
You say that you don't even need to practice what you might say, that I will accompany you and I'll be there and I will give you the words. Lord, would you allow us to see the opportunities? I believe, Lord, that you can save. I believe, Lord, that you can save marriages. I believe, Lord, that you can save what the...
We think the locusts have destroyed. In Jesus name, we ask you to be doing it Lord in our midst and through us. Amen. Ephesians two eight through 10 says this, it's by grace that you have been saved and that's through faith. It's not of yourselves, it's the gift of God.
It's not by works so that none of us can boast, but we are indeed God's handiwork and we have been created in Christ Jesus to do good works which God has prepared in advance for us to do. In Jesus name, may we be doing them. Amen. Amen. Cheers.
