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Hey, I’m going to invite you today to Acts chapter 13 is where we’re going to be this morning in Acts chapter 13, as we get ready to look at what is the first missionary journey that’s recorded for us in the book of Acts. And and when we think about missionary journeys, no doubt the early church has lived in a, a missional way. And so in that sense, they’ve just been on a journey from the beginning that we’ve read together. But what makes Acts 13 unique from anything that we’ve seen in the spread of the gospel up until this point is in the first couple of chapters of Acts, the reason the gospel is going forth in a lot of ways is because of persecution. The church starts in Jerusalem, persecution breaks out, the church scatters because of it. And wherever they go, they continue to share the gospel. And because of that, the church spreads. Acts. Chapter 13 is really the first chapter where the church intentionally decides, hey, rather than leave because of persecution, let’s just keep going because God is at work in not only the Jewish world, but also the Gentile world. And we just want to join God in what he’s doing around the world. And so Acts chapter 13 shares with us the first missionary journey the Apostle Paul goes on. In the book of Acts there are recorded three missionary journeys that Paul goes on historically. We know he went on more than that, but the book of Acts ends before it shares with us the rest of Paul’s journeys.
Because the point of Acts is not about sharing Paul’s journeys. The point of Acts is helping us understand how the gospel spread throughout the known world. And so the book of Acts ends when the gospel gets to the city of Rome. And so here we see with with Acts chapter 13, the spreading of the church, the church stepping into something new, which I think works wonderfully for us as we think about a new year. What is it God has for us, and what is it God might have in store for us? Now? I know sometimes when we talk about a new year, even this week I had some conversations with people about a new year. You know, one of the questions you sometimes ask when you get together with people around this time of year is, hey, what are you got any plans for the New year? And I found it just kind of asking that question among some people that there are people that that like the New year, and they do set some plans and there are other people that are like Scrooge when it comes to the new year. They I’m not doing anything different because it’s a new year. You know, I’m just the same all the time. You know, you don’t you don’t like looking at the New Year as a time to do new things, and that’s fine.
Just be grumpy. I don’t that’s no, I’m kidding. But but truth be told, when you think about a new year, like it doesn’t need to be something that just radically makes us different. But I think it is good to have a place where we might look at things from a new lens, or just kind of awaken our eyes to sort of the mundane ruts that we get into and an opportunity to really hit a reset button, you know, to reorient about around some things that we know that we should be doing or we want to be better at. And so the new year kind of gives us an opportunity to to think in terms of that way. And when you look at Acts chapter 13, it’s it’s as they’re beginning a new journey and they’re stretching themselves as a church. It gives us the opportunity, as we look at a new year, to think about how how God desires to use us. You know, when you read the book of Acts, one of the things that I think is important to see with this particular chapter is also a a pivotal chapter in how this book is written. Meaning the first 12 chapters of the Book of Acts, the predominant character that we followed was Peter. Now there was a few other individuals peppered in in between all of that. But we’re following the gospel moving forward, primarily through the work of Peter and a few others.
But when you get to chapter 13 now, it transitions from Peter, who primarily focuses more on the Jewish world, to the apostle Paul, who was the apostle sent to the Gentile world. And so from Acts chapter 13 and on we we see a heavy focus in the way that the gospel is going forth into into this Gentile world. And so as we we get ready to read about the The apostles, this missionary journey and the expansion of the gospel. This morning we’re going to talk about how to expand our impact for Christ. What is it God desires to do in us and through us? And how how can he do that in us and through us? Acts chapter 13, verse one starts this way. I’ll come back to that in just a moment. Acts 13, verse one. Now there was in the church at Antioch prophets and teachers Barnabas, Simeon, who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, mania, a lifelong friend of Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, set apart from me Barnabas and Saul, for the work to which I have called them. Then, after fasting and praying, they laid their hands on them and sent them off. So. So here’s Paul and Barnabas about to embark on this this missionary journey. And this this first journey is, is similar to the second and third journey in that some of the places they go, they touch on and, and these other journeys.
But this first journey, one of the things that makes it different is, is the travel they go on is, is not nearly as long in distance travel as well as time travel. We refer to these as missionary journeys. But one of the things I think is important to understand is that this we’re not talking about Paul just going somewhere, spending a day and moving on, but rather what we discover is that when the apostle Paul went to these different places, that oftentimes he spent months there, if not years, he spent an extended amount of time in the city of Corinth. He spent multiple years in the city of Ephesus. And so these missionary journeys lasted years that the Apostle Paul went on his first journey was was the one of the shortest or was the shortest. But some of these places, when he went to these particular towns, sometimes when he went to the towns, he found out that he wasn’t welcome there, and so he was immediately run out of town. Other times he spent a more lengthy amount of time in those towns. But when they go on this first missionary journey. This image on the screen doesn’t encapsulate all of the first missionary journey. Acts chapter 13 and 14. Tell about all of it. This is just Acts chapter 13. So we’re looking at that particular chapter today, and we’re only going to look at the first 16 verses of this entire chapter.
But this, this journey, they go from Antioch, Syria, where Paul is currently. They head down to Seleucia, which is a port city over to the island of Cyprus and then north. When they get north, they spend a good time and another town called Antioch. So don’t confuse that with the Antioch where Paul starts and the Antioquia Paul goes, there’s Antioch, Syria, and there’s Antioch, Pisidia. Antioch was a fairly common name for cities because it was to honor a ruler named Antiochus. So. So you have these these cities named after Antiochus. Paul in one of those. And he ultimately, on this missionary journey, travels to another, which is at the very tip, the highest point on his missionary journey you see on this map. But but here Paul goes on this missionary journey. Now, one of the things when we think about making an impact in this world for the Lord that I think is important for us to to understand and approaching this text is really what took what it took for Paul to get to this point. And it’s the same for you when you think about the impact that God has for you in this world. How in the world are you going to make that difference? Let me give you point number one in your notes and we’ll talk about this. It looks like this. Strengthen your root to make healthy fruit.
Not all of our points are going to rhyme today. So you know. Right. But strengthen your your root to make healthy fruit. When you think about the difference God has called you to in this world, it’s got to start in the development of your own relationship with Jesus. Because sometimes we come to know the Lord. We can get so excited about the transformation God is doing in me, and we get so focused on the doing that we forget about the growing. And in order to to make an impact in this world, it really requires you to deepen your roots in Jesus. And the deeper you grow with him, the more you have to impart to others. And this is critical for all of us to think about, not only in your own personal faith journey, but for the well-being of people around you. And you. Think about 2026 and the way God wants to use you desires to use you. All of it will be an outflow of how God has grown you in your own personal journey with him. So seek him. I mean, that’s the song we just sang before we started looking at acts 13. Seek first the kingdom and everything else that God takes care of in him, because he holds it all in his hands. I mean, we tend to complicate the Christian life, but it’s as simple as that. Seeking the Lord. And as God brings his his the richness of who he is into your life, you’re able to then pour your life out in the beauty of who he is.
And so the depth of your walk with Christ becomes important in terms of being able to make an impact. When you look at a story like this, it’s critical to see. And leading up to Acts chapter 13, what was Paul’s life like? I mean, they say that Paul had the equivalent of three in all of his studies. He was very disciplined in the Hebrew Old Testament. Only the Jews don’t refer to the Old Testament as old. To them there’s only one testament. They call it the Tanakh. Right? But but he he knew the Old Testament in and out. But the the Apostle Paul was not a believer yet. In fact, he hated Christians. And so it took this radical transformation of him coming to know Jesus. And then once he came to know Jesus, we start to learn in passages like Galatians chapter one, verse 17 and 18, that Paul, right after coming to know Christ, went and spent three years in the Arabian desert and developing the depth of his walk with Jesus before he comes back to Jerusalem. When he gets to Jerusalem, nobody wants him around. He comes back to Jerusalem and he says, hey guys, I’m a Christian now. And they’re like, that’s great, but don’t get near me because I don’t trust you. You were just killing my friends, so they don’t want anything to do with that.
So they send Paul from from Jerusalem back to where he was from, which was is Tarsus. That’s modern day Turkey. And so Paul lives in Tarsus and ministers for Tarsus for about a decade before Barnabas, who was an encourager, he starts to to minister in, in Antioch, Syria. And he thinks to himself, man, I need some help for what God’s doing here. And he remembers Paul and he goes and gets Paul, and he brings him to Antioch to help him minister there. And so Paul has spent well over a decade nurturing his own walk with Jesus before he goes on this missionary journey. And guess what? Whatever God calls you to in this world, it’s important to remember that it all begins out of your own faith journey with him. In fact, as a church, we have five values. As a church that we uphold, that our desire in these values is to perpetuate a healthy culture. And in our five values we say there is one value, our first value that takes precedence over all the values. And our primary value as a church is simply this to know Christ. Everything falls in line after that. To know Jesus. The reason God created you is for relationship. And you think about the way that God, more than anything, what God desires for you and in you this year is, is to grow in your own personal journey with him.
And in so doing, that’s what God desires to use for his glory in this world. Out of the depth of your relationship, God then uses that to to challenge and transform the hearts of people around you. I mean, who better to share the beauty of Jesus and someone who knows Jesus and how Jesus can transform lives. And this is exactly what’s happening with the Apostle Paul. He doesn’t just wake up and say, I’m going on a journey. But no, he’s nurtured the depth of his own faith in the Lord. And God continued to use that. We’re where the Apostle Paul was. And so God, God, God is taking him to this place of opportunity to then to share with others what what God has imparted in him. You know, if we’re not careful, we have this tendency of getting distracted in our faith journey. And one of the things that we should know in relationships is no relationship just stays the same. Relationships aren’t static. They they grow. They’re organic. Right? They they they have opportunity to decrease or increase. And it’s really what you put into it that determines what you get out of it. When I think about the first century church, one of the most impactful churches in the first century. What was the. The church in Ephesus. It’s where Jesus’s mother ended up. It’s where the apostle John ended up. It’s where Timothy was.
It was a powerhouse church in the first century. But when you read the the book of revelation in chapter two, verse four, God says this to the church of Ephesus, but I have this against you because you’ve left your first love. The thing that drives all things I can’t help but think this morning, even for some of us that don’t like to set goals for a new year, how is your walk with Jesus? Have you gotten distracted? And one of my hopes for us as a church this year that’s different than last year, that whatever last year was in your walk with the Lord, that this year would be a year that you grow even deeper in him. What would that look like for you if you just set a goal for yourself and saying, yeah, I do want to take that more serious. And I do want to nurture what Jesus has called me to in him. And I want to experience the wealth that is Christ. And if you were just to make one goal for the year, what would that look like? What’s that one thing that you could do to spend time with Jesus? To nurture the health of your own relationship with him? When you talk in terms of making an impact, it’s the simple steps that God uses to grow us. Sometimes, if we’re not careful, we can get so big in the dreaming that we forget to just be faithful.
And it’s wonderful. You ever talk to a young person? Sometimes you may be asking the question, what do you want to be when you grow up? And if and if their dreams haven’t been crushed by life yet. And they might say things like, I want to be, I don’t know, an astronaut, a professional, whatever athlete you know and and you think about the probabilities. I mean, maybe your kid can do that. That’d be wonderful if they did get me tickets to whatever event they’re they’re in. But but the probability of necessarily seeing that happen to the end is very low. We like to dream the big dreams sometimes, but not take the simple steps. And when it comes to making an impact for Jesus, it starts. Get this through your own relationship with Jesus. Deepen. Deepen your root to to make healthy fruit. And so the Apostle Paul in Acts chapter 13, leading up to this point on this missionary journey, it’s important for us to think about all that went into his life, to be able to to be set out for this particular journey. And and then the second related to this is, is bloom where you’re planted. Bloom where you’re planted. And this is to encourage us not to look so far beyond, in these hopes and dreams, that we forget to see what God’s put right in front of us. I think it’s wonderful to have hopes and dreams in the Lord, and to pursue greater things and what God can do, but not to the neglect to to what’s right around me right now.
And one of one of the great things about how God works right around you right now is that community gets to participate in how the Lord is leading people beyond. When you look at what the Apostle Paul is doing in this story, one of the things that I love is you’re looking at the names of individuals in Antioch, right? Like you can’t help but think that when Barnabas went to Antioch Barnabas sees God working, but he knows he needs help. And so he goes and gets Paul. And you can’t think that if Paul had not come to Antioch, some of the names you’re reading on this list wouldn’t have been on this list. But because Paul was just faithful to bloom where God put him or God was leading him. Now you have a longer list of individuals of that are coming to to know the Lord. And so as God continues to stir the church, not all of them are participating in this together. And and this is saying to us, you should not undermine the way God wants to work in community for all of us to participate in and what God desires. Like for Paul, this became a place to affirm where his giftedness was like, he’s not just dreaming so big of what God wants to do that that the church isn’t seeing that in him.
Meaning, when you come to know Jesus and you start walking with people in Jesus, those people around you can see how God’s hand is on you in the way that God’s gifted you. So that when you say things like, man, I feel like God might be leading in this direction. You can look to that community and say, do you see this in me? Like, am I just crazy? Am I just dreaming dreams here? Or can you see a way that God can use me in this? Like sometimes in I want to pick on Christianity, but I’m going to for a second, like sometimes in in in Christian circles, people will get so passionate about the way God’s working in their heart, and you should definitely share that with others. But we start coming up with these ideas of what we want to do, and it’s like we do that despite the church where we just say, this is what God called me to do. You can just take it or leave it. And it’s like, well, where is community in that? And how can we celebrate that? When you see the way the church is working in this, it’s they’re seeking God in his spirit. They’re they’re they’re praying about this together. They’re affirming this. They’re sending out their best for what God desires to do around this world. And so they’re seeing the they’ve seen how how Paul’s been gifted among their own community.
And so they can get behind this and get excited about this and be praying about this with him as they’re seeking God’s face. And so blooming where you’re planted becomes critical for all of us as a community to see how God wants to perpetuate his work in this world. And even beyond that, when when you read this, this list of names. One of the things that Luke takes time, takes time to do here is he also identifies where these individuals are from. Right? So not only not only is the gospel being made known in Antioch, but Antioch becomes this hub of potential for around the world because as they gave us this list of names, one of the things you begin to see is that everyone that Luke is talking about here is in Antioch, but they’re not from Antioch, right? When you read like Barnabas, he’s from Cyprus. Simeon, who was from Niger, that’s sub-Saharan Africa. Lucius. He’s from northern Africa and Cyrene. Mani. And he might be from that region. But one of the things Luke wants to notice, he is a dignitary. He he’s he’s got political weight. He’s a significant person in this region. And then there’s Saul, who’s who’s from Tarsus, which is modern day Turkey. So, so blooming where they’re at not only gives the the beauty of that community, but it gives potential for the possibility of what God can do around the world.
And so this becomes critical not only for the first century church, but for us to think about what what does it look like to strengthen my roots? What does it look like to to bloom where I’m at? And number three is this expand through the fields God opens. Expand through the fields that God opens. You know, one of the great things about a church, as as people are coming to know Christ and the church is growing, so should the ministries that we’re a part of. It should grow numerically, but also even expand other ministries, other opportunities, because the body gets bigger. So comes the opportunity to reach people. And and this is what the early church is doing. They’re considering where God is at work in their joining him. Right. I mean, for us, when we think about our lives and how God can use us just through the common connections we have and the and the burdens God’s given us, we just look for the waves, God’s making, and we join him. Maybe for us, we could. We could start like this. What? What burdens has God placed on my heart? How how is my community supporting in this? And then where is God doing a work that we can join him in? You think about those things. It’s really God directing us through, through his people and in my own life, the the burdens he gives to see his will accomplished in this world.
And when it comes to the early church, I think they’re following in those those simple steps. I mean, it tells you in verse two, while they were worshiping the Lord and they were fasting, the Holy Spirit said, set apart for me Barnabas and Saul. But one of the things that’s interesting about this, this chapter, is it doesn’t tell us how. It just says the Holy Spirit does this, but it doesn’t tell us how the Holy Spirit does this. I mean, you could go so far as saying the Holy Spirit, just in an audible voice says, set apart from me. You could. You could say that maybe the Holy Spirit, I don’t know, it doesn’t tell us or. Or maybe it’s much more practical than that. Maybe they’ve seen the heart of God in Scripture, and they know God’s hearts for people. Because from the days of Abraham, God said through him he will bless all people groups. And maybe they’ve seen the heart of that. God make himself known at the cross as he pursued us and gave his life for us, that we could have freedom in him. And maybe they saw the way that God moved, even in the midst of persecution that they had endured. How they didn’t stop the spread of the gospel, but rather it multiplied it. And they began to realize, this is the way that God is working, and this is God’s desire for the church. And we want to partner with the Lord in that.
And so they’re coming to the Lord, prayerfully seeking God and how they can join him and what he desires to accomplish in this world. And it’s the same for us. As you begin to read Scripture, you begin to recognize what the heart of God is about, and it’s about reaching the hearts of people who need him desperately. So our lives can be radically transformed in the forgiveness that only he can bring. And we can walk with the hope of newness of life in Christ. And so we we understand that, and we can join him in that. And he’s given me position in him to represent him in this world as his ambassador. Like, we get to be a collective community for his glory to the benefit of others. And so the church is just walking in that. And when you read about what the church did and verse four, it says, so being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia, and from there they sailed to Cyprus. When they arrived to Salamis, they proclaimed the Word of God in the synagogue of the Jews. And they had John to assist them when they had gone through the whole island as far as Paphos. It’s not rocket science what the early church is doing there in Antioch, but none of them are from Antioch, and they realize we’ve had the opportunity to come to know Jesus here.
But now we can take the gospel to the places we’re from. And so get this the first place Paul and Barnabas sailed to is the place Barnabas is from. They go down to Seleucia, which is a port town, and then they sell to Cyprus, and it tells you they go from Salamis to Paphos, which is saying from the far eastern side of Cyprus to the far western side of Cyprus. They went through the whole island of Cyprus. I mean, they’re looking for the opportunities God’s opening and the most up step to them is to go where they’re from. And then when they leave Cyprus, get this, you know, where they travel to Turkey and you know where Paul’s from? Turkey. They reach their own community. This this church becomes a hub for for the spreading of the gospel around the world. We look for the opportunities. God’s opening. It becomes obvious to the church that steps that they’re there to take to be faithful to what God’s put before them. I mean, it doesn’t just happen in this way. When you read verse seven, it tells us that Sergius Paulus, a man of intelligence who summoned Barnabas and Saul and sought to hear the word of God. When they get to the island of Cyprus, you know how they know where to go, because a guy named Sergius Paulus said, come, tell me about Jesus. I mean, they’re looking for people that are hungry to know, and they’re sharing who Jesus is.
And by the way, Sergius Paulus, if you take time to investigate him, look him up. You’ll find that there are first century documents that contain his name. And it turns out Sergius Paulus is from Antioch, Pisidia, which, after Paul and Barnabas leave the island of Cyprus, gets guess which city they go to Antioch, Pisidia. There’s inscriptions in Cyprus and in Antioch with this guy’s name on it. And so they’re just following the trail of opportunity that God gives him for his glory. And not only do they go to Sergius Paulus, but but then it tells you in verse nine something interesting, something that is easy to miss because it doesn’t acknowledge it in Luke. It just tells us, it says. But Saul, who was called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him. In this particular verse, it’s important to recognize, because this is the place that that the apostle Paul goes from his name, Saul to Paul. Some people have asked the question, well, why did why did Saul change his name and have erroneously concluded the reason that the apostle Paul went from Saul to Paul is because Saul was his unsaved name, and Paul was his slave name, and he was such a terrible person. He he wants to he wants to go by a different name. Right. And so they think it’s because of conversion in Jesus. And I just want you to know, that is not the reason the Apostle Paul went from Saul to Paul.
The reason Paul’s name is changing here has to do with his identity. According to the people he’s reaching. What I mean is Paul had both of these names already. Saul is his Hebrew name. And when he’s ministering in Jerusalem, guess what? He goes by Saul. But but Paul is his Greek name. And when he ministers to the Gentiles, guess what? He goes by Paul. What it’s saying is Paul’s becoming who he needs to be to reach people with the gospel. He’s becoming all things and seeing opportunities. So. So for him, it could look like going to a new city For him, it could look like encountering the person in front of him, Sergius. Paulus. For him, it’s even as something as simple as going by his other name for for better communicating the gospel to people. And so we we think about the opportunities God has for us. It could be a complete transition. It could be just opening our eyes to the people God is putting in front of us. Or it could be learning how to be a better servant in the things that God has given me, whether it’s a name or whatever. But looking for the doors of opportunity that God’s got right in front of me. And the last is this. Walk by faith and you’re going to assume this wrong if you quote the Bible verse, the Bible verse, second Corinthians five seven, don’t put this down says walk by faith, not by sight.
But we want to talk about this walk by faith, not by fear. Walk by faith, not by fear. In fact, I I would say second Corinthians five seven. One of the reasons it tells us to walk by faith, not by sight, is because when we’re looking, sometimes fear can control what we do. And as people, we we want to walk by faith and not by fear. But you know, as you look at this first missionary journey, Acts chapter 13, one of the things that I find interesting in this chapter is, is what it doesn’t say. And what it doesn’t say is that Paul was petrified to go on this journey. Paul was mortified or absolutely afraid to go on this journey. But you know, when you think about the Apostle Paul’s life, I would think that that would be a pretty rational thing to include in this chapter, but it doesn’t. And one of the reasons I think it would be rational to include is when you, even if you know anything about the Apostle Paul’s life, and he tells us in Corinthians that he was beat, he was imprisoned, he was hungry. He was shipwrecked multiple times. Multiple times these things happened to him. I mean, he led a very difficult life. And and knowing the kind of life the Apostle Paul led. Like if you go all the way back to his conversion, if you remember in Acts chapter nine, a man named Ananias was told to go and share Christ with the Apostle Paul, and he was reluctant to do it.
But but in verse 15 it says it like this. But the Lord said to him, Ananias, go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine, to carry my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel. Now if God had stopped there, I think that would be wonderful. Like if God said, if someone showed up and said that to you and it came from the Lord, you’d be like, oh, that’s so great. Like, let’s see how God does this. This would be so good. But then God had to include verse 16 in verse 16, is this for I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name. Who would be like, oh really? Sign me up, right? Like, oh, let’s do that. Right. Let’s start. Can we start today? Let’s do this today, right? This that is that is an insane statement. Why could he just stop with the positive statement? Why is he going to gotta say this and like. And Paul knows this in Acts chapter 13, the early church is like, hey, we think, Paul, that God is leading you on this journey. Do you do you think God’s leading you on this journey? And Paul signs up for this journey? I don’t know about you, but I can’t help but think some people in this room would be like, let me just quote to you Acts chapter nine, verse 16, right.
Like I, you know, is there a second pick? I’m I’m glad. I’m glad I might be first pick in the draft, but I’m going to fake an injury now, and maybe we can send somebody else in my place. You know, this is this is not not an easy step. But when you read Acts chapter 13, you don’t find Paul reluctant to go. Why? Well, let me ask you a different question. As we kind of drive at this a little bit. Let me ask a more of a rhetorical question. I want you to answer this out loud, because I don’t want you to look like a wimpy Christian. Okay. But just in your mind is it okay to be afraid? Maybe we could ask it in a moral sense. Is it right to be afraid? Or is it sinful to be afraid? The Bible tells you multiple times, do not be afraid. In fact, it mentions it hundreds of times. Do not be afraid. Some say it mentions it as for as many days or in the year. Do not be afraid. I mean one of my favorite verses, Joshua one nine And God says, have I? Have I not commanded you? Be not afraid nor dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.
Even in Second Timothy chapter, chapter one, verse seven, it says, the Lord doesn’t give us a spirit of fear, but of power and love and a sound mind. Is it okay to be afraid? Is it wrong to be afraid? Well, I’ll give you my answer and work it out for a minute. I would say to that it is. It is not wrong to be afraid, but what is wrong is to be controlled by that fear. And even as a human being, I think it’s unrealistic to say that you’re going to go the rest of your life and not have fear if you just. If you’ve got enough faith, that’s not that’s not accurate, right? As human beings, there’s there’s a certain kind of fear that can even be healthy. Right. A concern for things. But but there is there is a fear that can lead to ungodliness. And to expect that you can completely eradicate fear, I think is wrong. But it’s what you do with it when fear arises that determines what you’re really following. Does that make sense? Fear is not ultimately what God says to control you, but but rather faith. So? So maybe we should ask the question, well, how do we get there? How can we approach this new year like Paul in Acts 13, knowing everything that was in front of his life? I mean, when you think about this year, I have no idea what this year holds for you.
There could be some fantastic things. There could be some incredibly difficult things. And when you start to think about all the what ifs, those fears can petrify you. So. So rather than walk in that, how do you walk in what God desires for you? Well, there’s a story and I got to do this a little quicker. But in Mark chapter four of the disciples with Jesus there on the Sea of Galilee, and it says this on that day when evening had come, he said to them, let us go across to the other side and leave the crowd. They took him with them in the boat, just as he was, and the other boats were with him, and a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat so that the boat was already filling. But he was in the stern, talking about Jesus, asleep on the cushion, and they woke him up and said to him, you gotta say this in a panic danger. Do you not care about us perishing? In verse 39, he awoke and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, peace be still. And the wind ceased, and there was great calm. And look what Jesus says. He said to them, why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith? And they were filled with great fear. And said to one another, who is this, then, that even the wind and the sea obey him? Now, if you want to get rid of fear, here’s the answer you need a bigger fear.
When I think about what God has for you in this world, I know some of us in our pride might say, I’m not afraid. I’m not afraid of nothing. Right? And I would just say, well, then what stops you from living your life in faith in Jesus? I really got two options. It’s pride or fear. But what keeps us from going all in? In the Lord. I think fear controls us more than we like to confess sometimes. And if we want that fear to not control us, what Jesus is teaching us here is we need a bigger fear. Interesting that Jesus’s disciples, predominantly their trade were fishermen, so they knew the sea better than anyone. And for them to be afraid of saying something. But this particular miracle is also teaching us something. That when you study the Hebrew Old Testament in the very beginning, you see that when God created the heaven and earth, it tells us the earth was without form and void, and waters covered the deep. And what it’s saying in Hebrew is when God created the earth, water covered the earth. It’s in absolute chaos. But out of the chaos, God brings order. He speaks. Life begins. The earth is formed. There’s land. There’s birds. There’s fish of the sea. There’s animals, there’s vegetation, and then there’s humanity. It’s God who controls the sea.
It’s God who brings order out of chaos. And now all of a sudden, on this boat, they’re seeing one who controls the water, and they’re realizing, who is this man? Because there’s only one who controls the water, and it’s God. And they’re starting to learn who God is. So. So not only do you need a God who is powerful, more powerful than your fears, but the other thing that you need is a God who is compassionate, a God who cares. By them asking that question, they’re beginning to learn where to put a healthy fear, a reverence for the Lord, a fear of the Lord. Because in the fear of the Lord, what they’re discovering is also a God who cares about them. And in so doing that, they begin to discover, rather than fear anything in this world. They know whose hands they’re in and they know he holds tomorrow. What does this year have for you? I don’t know, but I know who has it, and I know he’s far greater to get rid of fear. It takes a greater fear. And when we walk in the reverence of the Lord, the church does incredible things. Leonard Ravenhill said it like this. When fear of the Lord disappears, sin becomes casual and obedience becomes optional. But guys, if we set it the opposite way, when you truly fear the Lord, you live for his glory and do incredible things in him. When the Apostle Paul finally got to Antioch in Acts chapter 13, this is the last verse I’ll share.
But in Acts chapter 13, we finally have the first message he shares to two people on his journey. So it talks about him sharing the gospel. In verse 16, he finally shares his first message in Antioch, Pisidia. And get this, he’s in the synagogue. He stands up and the first thing that he says is. So Paul stood up and motioning with his hand, said, Men of Israel, and you who fear God, listen, you know what he’s saying? You who are about to do incredible things. And the reason is not because of you, but because of the one you fear and the compassion he has towards you. Maybe we should ask this morning the question, how do I know that that’s God for me? I think it’s wonderful to see this in Acts 13. But how do I know? And can I just tell you the answer is the same always for us. It’s it’s through the resurrection. The resurrection of Christ. Is God screaming his love to you? It’s God proclaiming his power for you that he has defeated sin, Satan, and death, that you can have life in him. And because of that, you may not know what tomorrow has, but you know who has tomorrow. You want to make an impact for the Lord, and in 2026, strengthen your root to bear the fruit bloom where God has planted you. Expand in the fields of opportunity God gives and walk by faith, not by fear.