-with "Rev" Peter Semeyn
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
people, Barnabas, life, paul, jesus, ministry, church, perseverance, target, god, persevere, called, lystra, pastor, faith, strategy, gospel, sermon, evangelism, evangelists
SPEAKERS
Peter Semeyn "Rev"
Peter Semeyn "Rev" 00:05
Well, good morning, everyone. As Gregg mentioned, my name is Peter Semyon people here call me Rev. I was the lead pastor here for six years from 2011 to just add six, however long that seemed like 100 years. But it was great. This is still our church home, Becky and I still worship here, sometimes in person, sometimes online. And I know what happens on holiday weekends is hard to find a substitute preacher, so
Peter Semeyn "Rev" 00:35
they figured, who can we get who's doing nothing right now. So here I am, getting old retired guy. We've been working through the book of Acts, and today we're in Acts chapter
Peter Semeyn "Rev" 00:45
14, as Gregg mentioned. And this is where we see the gospel starting to spread. As the apostles go on missionary tours, they are called; this is the first missionary tour that the Apostle Paul and Barnabas take. And I find it amazing. In the first century, there was no social media. There was no internet. There was no television. No, there were no smartphones. It sounds great, doesn't it? But the Gospels spread like wildfire. Because people went as individuals and met with people face to face. And God used them to convince them that Jesus was the Messiah and the way to eternal life. The apostle Paul was was one of the primary evangelists that we meet in the book of Acts responsible for sharing that gospel, and he took three different missionary journeys; you'll cover them all as we keep going through the book of Acts. And one of the things that we learn over time is this phrase that I've used quite a bit; sometimes I use it, other people will use it, and that is that life is hard. And faith is weak. Life is hard. And faith is weak. And we know that life is hard, right? We've all had difficult times; none of us would say that life has always been perfect for us. I can look out over the congregation today. And think about people that I know for whom life has been hard at certain moments in your life, either physically or emotionally, or relationally. Or with a job situation, or spiritually, even life is hard, and faith is weak. Whoa, there goes my whole sermon; we're done now. Amen.
Peter Semeyn "Rev" 02:31
I think I have something to say; I know that might surprise you. But so I got a little excited. I've been here in so long.
Peter Semeyn "Rev" 02:39
So anyway, I can relate to the man who is the father of a boy who was possessed by demons. And Jesus' disciples tried to cast out these demons. Jesus kind of chastise the disciples for not using prayer to cast out this demon. And he said to the Father, everything is possible for one who believes. And this is one of the great, honest comments from believers in the Bible. The father said I believe, but help my unbelief. I believe but help my unbelief. None of us believe 100% of the time. Sometimes we run into difficult problems, trials, sometimes we feel distant from God. Sometimes we create that distance from God. But I believe, Help my unbelief, and life gets hard. And faith is weak. That's what the Father saying life is hard. Faith is weak rather than a steady, constant ascent, where everything gets better and better and better all the time. The Christian life is more like a roller coaster, right? This is a great roller coaster, the cyclone, classic wooden roller coaster up and down and up and down and up and down. And that's what life is like for us. And sometimes, even in life, we feel like we're turned completely upside down like that. It probably has no relevance to the sermon, but I thought the picture was cool. So I use it. We're gonna look at extra chapter x chapter 14 of this up and down nature of the Christian life as it comes with through the Apostle Paul as he goes on this first missionary tour. And there are four aspects of this chapter that I want to look at. I want to look at the presentations that were made, the persecution that was experienced the perseverance that the apostle showed, and then the presence of God in the Holy Spirit. And rather than beginning at the start of chapter 14, I want to move toward the end of chapter 14. Paul and Barnabas had been on this mission journey, and now they were circling back. They went back to the cities of bad art. He visited town to town and then met with those who had chosen to be Christ-followers. And then that for these purposes to strengthen and to encourage strengthening the disciples and encouraging them to remain true to the faith, strengthening them and encouraging them. And the only thing that we are told that they said to them, to strengthen them, encourage them, the only sentence that is there, and that Scripture says, here's what they said to strengthen, encourage, we must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God. Now, I've done some motivational speaking, I've done some coaching; this is not the phrase I would use to strengthen and encourage people; we're going to go through a lot of hardships. If Pastor Jeff and Pastor Gregg, the started, you started, decided to start a new ministry, and here at Elmhurst church, and they called you on the phone say, Hey, we got this new ministry, we're starting to be a part of it. I mean, it's gonna be difficult, it's gonna be hard, people are going to be angry with you, you're going to get lots of emails, complaining about what we're going to do. There may even be arguments out in the lobby area you on? I mean, that's not the motivational technique that you usually use to get people to sign up to do something. And yet, this is the very thing the Paul and Barnabas tell these people to strengthen? and to encourage them? Why? Why would they use that as the tagline for ministry? Well, let's look at these presentations that they made in each of the towns that they went through; they first went to this town called Iconium.
Peter Semeyn "Rev" 06:37
And we're told that at Iconium Paul and Barnabas went, as usual, into the Jewish synagogue. There, they spoke so effectively that a great number of Jews and Greeks believed. So there are two things that we learned there; first of all, Paul and Barnabas had a strategy. And secondly, they spoke boldly and effectively, right? So the strategy is this, we're going to go to a Jewish synagogue. And that's where we're going to start. Why would you start there? Because these people who were Jews had an Old Testament background. They knew the prophecies; they knew a Messiah was prophesied. The apostle Paul, who was an expert in the law, could take those Old Testament prophecies and prophecies and trace them from place to place.to dot event to event that led to their knowledge of Jesus Christ, who was the Messiah. And then they would share the fact that we knew this Jesus, we've seen the resurrected Jesus, and our lives have been transformed because of Jesus. The strategy was to get the low-hanging fruit, we might call it, who are the easiest people to convert people with a religious background, especially people with a Jewish background. So that was one strategy. Secondly, they communicated effectively, somehow, boldly we are told, and effectively. Now, this strategy is important because they had a target audience. Effective ministry always has a target audience. Ask the question, Who are you trying to reach? Are you using tools that are effective for that particular target? Now, a lot of times, churches like to say, well, who are you trying to reach? We're trying to reach everyone? Well, everyone's a big word. What one strategy Do you use that's going to be effective with everyone? I mean, we just experienced this morning that one strategy doesn't work with everyone, right. So we have adult pastors who minister to adults, we have elders who work with the life of the church, and we have a children's ministry person who targets children; it's their target; they have a target audience. In the 1980s, when I worked on the street of Christ Church at Oak Brook, we had a very clear target. The target at Christ Church of Oak Brook was what we call the up and outer people who lived in the western suburbs who were very successful materially but felt like they were out of it because they were missing the one thing that would really give their life fulfillment and meaning. There are a lot of people who live thinking that I make a lot of money. I have a beautiful house; I got all these cars, I got a second home, I can travel anywhere I want to. They're very successful. They're up in the world.
Peter Semeyn "Rev" 09:27
But they're also empty. And we believe that the only thing that would fill that emptiness was the person of Jesus Christ.
Peter Semeyn "Rev" 09:33
So we ministered our target was the up and out, or did we get a lot of other people? Absolutely. When Willow Creek began its ministry out in Barrington, their target was unchurched, Harry and unchurched. Mary, they were trying to reach people who didn't go to church. And so they did things that were kind of unchurched. They tried to appeal to people and understand help them understand that there was a correlation and relevance to the Christian faith. When you came to worship their armchairs, Terry, unchurched, Mary, Dumars Christian Reformed Church. If you look back at our history, it began with a target. The target was the children who lived around the neighborhood or Mrs. Tessman lived in Bellwood. That was her target. Let me get those kids in and tell them about Jesus. And guess what? When you got the kids in, their parents started to come. One of the core values that Homer's Christian Reformed Church is children. We still have a very successful little lambs program. If you go out now, most people know. Well, that's the Little Lambs church. A lot of families have come to our church and ministry through little lambs. But we also have cadets and gems. And we have a full-time children's minister and other people who helped with that, who tried to target children because that's one of our core values that are only core value, but it's one of them. And we have other targeted ministries as well, right? Isn't single moms a targeted ministry? I'm disqualified. I'm not single. GriefShare is another targeted ministry. Its targets people who have experienced grief in their life open everybody in the community. Journeymen is another targeted ministry. It's for men, who usually end up walking in life alone, without strong relationships. And the journeyman ministry here tries to help men form relationships that are helpful to them in life.
Peter Semeyn "Rev" 11:31
So it's very important for ministries to have a target, just like the Apostle Paul and Barnabas did, and to speak effectively about the life and faith of Jesus Christ. Now, there's no record of what they said,
Peter Semeyn "Rev" 11:48
when they went to each of these towns, and they engaged in the synagogue. The pastor Jeff mentioned a week ago that there were like four different sermons that he came across in the book of Acts. And none of these sermons shared great deep insights in theology. You know, they didn't talk about predestination, they didn't talk about being chosen. They didn't talk about, you know, all the other kinds of things that we think are important. There was no five points of Calvinism. I don't know how anybody was converted. Without that. There was no Heidelberg catechism, there were no canons of dort. You know what they did? They talked about Jesus, having his roots in the Old Testament, being the one who fulfilled the idea of the Messiah. And then they told them about their own experience with Jesus. The most powerful witness and testimony to speak effectively that we can give is to be able to share your own story with Jesus. What's your story? So I moved on from my conium, to a town called Lystra. And then Lystra, Paul and Barnabas came across a man who had been lame from birth. And Paul healed him. And the response of the crowd in Lystra is interesting. Because what they did is they decided that Paul and Barnabas were not great evangelists. But they were gods. These were gods who had come, this man had been, you know, lamb since birth, and they were able to heal them. Only a God could do this. Paul, and Barnabas must be gods. So they tried to honor them as gods and worship them as gods and celebrate them as gods. You know, Paul and Barnabas had to kind of talk about the edge of the cliff there a little bit. Holy, we're not gods. You know, he was healed through the power of the Holy Spirit, God healed him. We were simply the people that God used. And this is consistent with a theological idea of miracles. In the New Testament. In the book of john, we hear a lot about signs and wonders, and Jesus performed miracles. But I think that Jesus was a reluctant miracle performer, he didn't like to do miracles, because people focus too much on the miracles. They were signs and wonders, miracles are signs that point us to God. They don't point to the person as God. They are signs of point us toward God. The Miracle itself is simply a tool that God uses. And that was the clarification that Paul and Barnabas had to make. We are not God's. God healed him. It's a sign of God's power. And we're told that in this passage of Acts chapter 14, as well, when he gave a report on the work that he and Barnabas had done back in Lystra. They gathered the church together and reported all that God had done through them. Do you hear that phrase? They report it. They weren't Even claiming to be great evangelists. It wasn't the work of Paul and Barnabas. It was God's work. Billy Graham was a great evangelist. But Billy Graham would have been the first person to tell you, he never converted one person in all of his ministry. God did the converting, he just simply use Billy Graham, as a tool. Whatever we do in ministry, individually as a body is not an indication of how effective we can be.
Peter Semeyn "Rev" 15:33
But it's a demonstration of God's work through us as people. I want to celebrate the fact that last weekend, we packed 100 over 100,000 meals right for Feed My Starving Children.
Peter Semeyn "Rev" 15:48
And that's a great accomplishment. But we shouldn't, you know, tear our rotator cuff by patting ourselves on the back about how great we were. that only happened, because God has blessed us with the ability, the tools, the people, the connections to be able to do that. Mean, our outreach pastor is the one who organized all that and got it into motion. We know he's not that great. So why would God do God just used it. Jeff would be the first to tell you that. God uses us to do his work. The work of Paul and Barnabas then continued from last year to Derby. And there's not a whole lot said about that, except that they preach the gospel in that city. And they want a large crowd, a large number of disciples. They made gospel presentations and people were converted, it was a consistent theme throughout the whole thing.
Peter Semeyn "Rev" 16:43
Now,
Peter Semeyn "Rev" 16:45
what is the reward for being a great evangelist? People cheer you, you make lots of money. You get all sorts of plaques and awards. Are you familiar with this concept that sometimes happens in writing or in conversation, where you'll say a lot of really positive things in a conversation, or you'll write something very positive. And then you use the word buck. And everybody stops listening to anything you said ahead. And they only listen to what's said after the buck, right? Let me give you an example. Let's say a dad couldn't make it to his kids soccer game. So his wife calls him on the phone, had the soccer game go? Well, Susie scored three goals in the first half of the soccer game, but she got a red card and got kicked out in the second half. That's all the mom is gonna hear. I'm great, great that she scored three goals but hold it, she got kicked out of the game. Or I sold three houses last week. But I had to give up on the Commission on two of them. Or we can be back together in live worship Isn't that great? But we have to wear masks. You know, we get hung up on things that come after that, but and the buttons very important. It's not new to us. It happens here in Acts chapter 14. And I caught him they spoke so effectively in a great number of views in Greece believe but but the Jews refuse to believe stirred up other Gentiles and poison their minds against the brothers. The reward for their success and evangelism was opposition or detractors. If you keep reading the next chapter 14 it gets worse, not just opposition, detractors poisoning people's minds. They're going to stone Paul and Barnabas. And that's a matter of fact of why they left I called him and went to Lystra because they got word of the fact that rumor mill was open, that they were going to get stoned. So they left and that's why they went to Lystra where Paul was stoned and left for dead and that's why they went to Derby. This was the roller coaster you see of that first missionary journey, great number of converts life threatening experiences with opposition spreading the faith. Increasing the number of people who align themselves with Jesus always leaves the opposition or detractors and sometimes the persecution now it's hard for us to get this in our head except know this. We have missionaries that we support in this church who can't let anybody know what they do where they're doing it because if they do, they will die or at least be kicked out of the country. Sometimes when they come to visit on mission Sunday, they cannot participate on the platform in the service because they don't want to have anybody see them on a screen and be identified where they're going to go back to the persecuted church in the world as much more prevalent than we often acknowledge. Now, my guess is that you're here this morning, and none of you are worried about going out in the parking lot and being killed because you were here this morning. But we do worry about opposition knowing. We do worry about detractors. We do worry about arguments, we do worry about people not liking what we have to say about our faith. And so we tend not to want to do evangelism, because we just don't want to deal with the hassle and the arguments. And there are some times Unfortunately, there are some times where the detractors come from within. Sometimes when churches emphasize outreach and evangelism, people who have been longtime members feel like they don't care about us anymore. They only care about the people out there. And you get this kind of tension in life you're trying to work through. I'm not very smart. I only know what Jesus said. Jesus was criticized for hanging out with and eating, whether having good solid friendships
Peter Semeyn "Rev" 21:39
with sinners and unbelievers. He was criticized by insiders, because he spent time with outsiders. And his only comment was, I've come for the sick, and not the well. This is cares about us. And God cares about us. And we're the Well, people were here. He's not that worried about us wandering away that much. But he's really concerned about the people out there who don't know Jesus yet. And sometimes that's difficult for us to embrace. Let me say something about perseverance. So we're back to the buck word. But the Jews who refuse to believe stirred up the other Gentiles and poison their minds against the brothers. That was the response to having so many people respond positively to the message Jesus Christ. They were going to get stoned. Paul knew he might die. So what was Paul's response? So Paul and Barnabas spent considerable time here, speaking boldly for the Lord. You want to stall me, I can't do anything about that. But I'm not gonna stop speaking boldly for the Lord. I'm chased out of one town where they want to kill me; I'm going to go to the next town and do exactly the same thing. And there, they almost succeed and kill me. And I'm going to go to the next town and do the very same thing. And that's mind-boggling to me. Inspired spite of difficulty and threats and trials and roadblocks, Paul and Barnabas, continued on; it was their purpose in life, there was nothing that was when distracting them from spreading the gospel, we must go through many hardships to enter into the kingdom of God, that was their conclusion, and it became their tagline. It's gonna be okay; this is not gonna be easy; it's gonna be hard. And they persevere.
Peter Semeyn "Rev" 23:45
they persevere. Life is hard, and faith is weak. But we persevere.
Peter Semeyn "Rev" 23:52
I sometimes wonder if, if Paul's experiences on these missing journeys were the same thing happened time and time again, if that wasn't in the back of his mind when he wrote back to the church at Corinth. I mean, these words, these words should encourage us. We are hard-pressed on every side, but not crushed, perplexed, but not in despair, persecuted, but not abandoned, struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our bodies the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body, for we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that his life also may be revealed in our mortal body. So then, death is not at work in us. But why does it work on you? and perseverance, you see perseverance going through the tough times. Coming? out the other side as a form of witnesses itself. Life is hard, and faith is weak, but God is strong and powerful. They can see us through. Perseverance isn't something that you and I decided to do on our own. It isn't something that you and I can muster up. It isn't something that your pastors can help you with; what are the five steps to perseverance in my life? Perseverance comes through the power of the Holy Spirit working in our lives. And also, if you'll notice, not only the presence and power of the Holy Spirit gives them perseverance, but they're always with other people. Paul isn't out there by himself. He's at Barnabas with him. They go back and visit these other churches, where they get encouragement and support. They're never alone
Peter Semeyn "Rev" 25:52
are our friends Becky, have a friend back in River City? Leslie, who, for us is a model of perseverance. Leslie's daughter Katie played on my basketball team one year and three-quarters of the way through the season; she was diagnosed with leukemia.
Peter Semeyn "Rev" 26:11
And over the next year, Leslie and her husband Pat, along with Katie, rode the roller coaster of what it meant to suffer from leukemia when you're a teenager. Up and down and up and down and hope and despair. Good news, bad news. And after a year of riding that roller coaster, Katie passed away. I mean, it's horribly devastating to lose a 16-year-old kid, your youngest child. But that unless they persevere because they're people of faith and through the power of the Holy Spirit. They did a lot of things in Katie's name and on her behalf that transformed other lives. A little over a year ago. Leslie's husband Pat, who makes me look like I have no energy, I was struck down with a horrible, massive stroke. The doctors all said that he should have died. The pet didn't die. We saw him a couple of weeks ago. He walks with a brace on his leg. He kind of limps his speeches at what they used to be. He kind of tries to have the same energy he used to have, but he needs a full-time caregiver, and that's less than she perseveres. She perseveres with the power of the Holy Spirit and God's work in her life. It says power and strength. We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God. God will always, always empower us to persevere. We pray with me, please. Life is hard, and faith is weak, Lord. We thank you for the gift of life. We thank you for all the good things you give us; you take for all the good things that we experience. When times are difficult and hard. surround us with other men and women who will encourage us and love us, and give us the power of your Holy Spirit. And allow us to be a witness to who you are and what you can do in the lives of others. In Jesus' name we pray, Amen.