A missional community is a group of believers who are on mission in a particular community to make disciples for Jesus. Today, as we read about the apostle Paul setting out on his second missionary journey, we will look at some of great characteristics of an effective missionary team.
Teaching Notes:
Effective Missional Communities
Acts 15:36-16:10
We have been very intentional in how we have gone about planting The Bridge. We have intentionally decided to place the emphasis, not on the big Sunday Morning show, trying to attract the masses with professional music and drama, and slick 20-minute power point presentations on parenting skills, stress management or conflict resolution. Instead, we have intentionally decided to put all our focus and effort into building strong missional communites. Our vision here at the Bridge is “We exist to glorify God by making disciples who make disciples.” Our identity is “A family of missionary servants that are being discipled and who make disciples.” The way we intend to make disciples who make disciples is through the vehicle of missional communities.
Let me explain what a missional community is. Presently we have 1, and it is the prototype of all future MCs. We call it our Bridge Group. When you reduce a Missional Community to its irreducible minimum it is a “Disciple Making Team.” This is a group of people who band together for the purpose of making disciples together. They meet together weekly for dinner, prayer, and equipping. Our missional community has gone on 2 overnight training conferences in the Bay area. We’ve also gone away to Donner Lake over the weekend to enter into a covenant together. Our Bridge Group wrote out a covenant of what we believe God is calling us to. Then we all signed it, and went out for dinner to celebrate! Every week in one way or another we are talking about, praying about, and planning on how to accomplish the mission Jesus gave us.
What we have described in our text today is a small missional community. It is made up of 3 members: Paul, Silas, and Timothy. Others will join later like Luke and Titus. They are an itinerant missional community, while we are a local missional community. But our goal is exactly the same thing – to make disciples who make disciples. Now, if we want to see how a missional community can function most effectively, we need to examine carefully this missional community, because they were extremely effective!
This MC had 4 things going for it: the right passion, people, presentation, and place. If we want to be effective in making disciples we too, must have the right passion, people, presentation and place!
1. The Right Passion: 15:36
Let us return… Paul took the initiative. This was on his heart. He was concerned about the disciples he had made on the 1st journey. He knows the Judaizers have been going behind him, trying to bring these believers into bondage. Paul loves these people and wants to make sure they are not swept into legalism. Now, it wasn’t as if Paul and Barnabas had nothing else to do. They were busy preaching and teaching in Antioch. But the call of God as an apostle was on his life, and he had to be doing what God called him to do. It was awfully hard to keep Paul in one spot. He was a driven, passionate man. He probably never saw a ship without thinking about the possibility of getting on it and taking the gospel to people who had never heard. He probably never saw a mountain range without thinking he ought to cross them to take the gospel to the people beyond them. Paul had a passion for the salvation of men, especially those who had never heard the gospel. Paul’s passion was not only for evangelism, it was also for discipleship. Notice that he wanted to see how the disciples were. He wanted to strengthen them – notice 15:32,41; 16:5. The strengthening of the church was a high priority in Paul’s ministry. Col.1:28-29. Where did Paul go on his 1st missionary journey? Galatia. Where did he go on his 2nd missionary journey? Galatia! Where did he go on his 3rd missionary journey? Galatia! Acts 18:23. Every time he went back, his goal was to strengthen the disciples. Why? Because Paul knew that the best way to evangelize is to produce 1 reproducing disciple! That was Jesus’ strategy. Jesus spent the bulk of his time training and preparing 12 men to take over when He went away. His strategy wasn’t mass evangelism. He rarely preached to the masses, and when He did, it was often in parables, and they didn’t understand it. So, if we are committed to reaching the world with the gospel, we must be committed to maturing and training disciples to reproduce.
Now, where did Paul’s passion come from? What motivated him? What drove him on? Let me mention four that come right out of 2 Corinthians chapter 5. 2Cor.5:9 – “Therefore we also have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him.” 2Cor.5:10 – “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.” 2Cor.5:11 – “Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade men.” 2Cor.5:14 – “For the love of Christ controls us.” Pleasing the Lord, the Judgment of the Lord, Fearing the Lord, and Loving the Lord. Let me ask you – do these 4 things motivate you in your service to Christ?
The starting place for an effective missional community is Passion! How about you? What’s your passion quota? What are you passionate about? Do you have a deep desire to see people saved? Do you desire them to grow into healthy, mature, reproducing disciples? You say, “how can I know what my passion is?” It’s easy. What do you think about, talk about, pray about, and spend your money on? That’s your passion! Oh, let the fear of the Lord, the judgment of the Lord, and the love of the Lord move you! Don’t waste your life on trivial things! You and I only have 1 shot at this life – let’s make sure we don’t fritter it away. There are so many things that can suck your passion dry and take up large chunks of time that may not be sinful in themselves – TV, video games, hobbies, entertainment. Oh, give your life to that which really counts! Decide what is truly important in life and what isn’t. Then, discipline yourself to focus on what is important! Oh may God increase the passion of our Disciple Making Team!
2. The Right People: 15:37- 16:3
Silas: Every missional community needs to have the right people. You may have good people, but they aren’t the right people for that team. What do I mean? The folks that covenant together need to be in unity. They need to share the same values. Paul and Barnabas were both wonderful men, but they didn’t share the same values, and eventually it led to a split. Let’s take a look at the issue for them.
Barnabas wanted to take John Mark. They were cousins with family ties and family history. But I think there was more going on than that. Remember Barnabas is the “son of encouragement.” He loves to encourage people. When he came to Antioch he encouraged the new believers to remain true to the Lord. When Paul got saved, he was the one that took him to the apostles, when everyone else wanted nothing to do with him. Barnabas is people-oriented. He’s a loving man. He’s a restoring man.
Paul would not take John Mark. Why? Because John Mark deserted them on the 1st journey. He was a quitter. Paul was task-oriented. He was driven to accomplish the mission Jesus had given him. He had no use for someone that had proven himself unfaithful already. Paul does not believe John Mark can be trusted on the mission. Paul was a strong man, and it’s hard for a strong man to tolerate weakness. He was also a courageous man, and it’s hard for a courageous man to tolerate cowardice. He didn’t want to be dragging around dead weight. He had no confidence in John Mark.
It really boils down to this: Barnabas said, “what can the mission do for John Mark?” Paul said, “What can John Mark do for the mission?” Barnabas’ focus was on restoring John Mark. Paul’s focus was on accomplishing the mission. There’s a very important principle here. Each missional community needs to decide and agree on why they exist. Do we exist for ourselves, or do we exist for a lost and perishing world? If you can’t agree on that, you’ll have problems and will probably eventually separate. If part of a missional community thinks that they should be focusing on each other, and personal spiritual growth, and the other part thinks they should be focusing on reaching a lost and dying world with the gospel, it’s just a matter of time until they butt heads!
So, what was the outcome? Barnabas took John Mark and headed to Cyprus, Barnabas’ home town, and Paul took Silas and headed off to Syria and Cilicia. Who was right? Both of them were doing a good thing. It was good for Barnabas to have a heart for the restoration and usefulness of his cousin. It was also good for Paul to passionately labor for the salvation of all peoples. We do read in vs.40 that Paul and Silas were committed by the brethren to the grace of the Lord. Just as at the beginning, the church at Antioch laid hands on them, and sent them off. It appears that the church backed up Paul and Silas. Nothing is said of them doing the same for Barnabas and John Mark. If I had to take sides, I would take sides with Paul.
Was is the sequel to the story? John Mark is restored. 2Tim.4:11. When Paul is trapped in a dungeon awaiting his death sentence, he tells Timothy to bring John Mark, because he is useful to him for service. The one who was useless on the 1st journey was now useful! Barnabas’ restoring ministry paid off! John went on to travel as Peter’s assistant and write the 2nd gospel in our Bibles.
Notice the sovereignty of God in this matter. Instead of having 1 missionary team, there are now 2. Twice as much ground can be covered, and twice as many people can be reached. Both Paul and Barnabas are skilled missionaries. Each skilled missionary took a young missionary apprentice under his wing and went out, multiplying the teams. God was in it!
It’s good to know that the early church had problems, and that Paul and Barnabas were human. It’s also great to see that they forgave each other and were reconciled to one another. So Satan tried to bring an ugly rift between 2 men of God, but the Spirit just multiplied the 1 team into 2!
So, it’s important to have the right people on the right team. Silas was a great choice. He was a Roman citizen, so he was a great guy to have around when traveling through the Roman empire. He was Jewish, so he was able to enter the synagogues and reason with the Jews. Part of his job was to announce to the churches the decree of the Jerusalem Council that salvation is by grace, not Law, so it’s also helpful if he comes from Jerusalem and actually was there when that decision was made. And he was a prophet, so he was able to bring timely messages from the Spirit.
Timothy: So, Silas was the right person for this disciple making team. But a 3rd person also needed to be added – Timothy. A disciple was there: So how did Timothy become a disciple? He may have been converted on the 1st missionary journey. Or, his mom and grandmother may have been converted on the 1st journey, and they have led Timothy to Christ. 2Tim.1:5. He was well spoken of by the brethren: Timothy had a genuine faith, a true desire to be pleasing to the Lord, and a longing to serve the Lord with all his heart. He was a young man, probably between 16 and 25 years old at this time. Paul wanted this man to go with him: Paul saw the need for a helper to take John Mark’s place, and he also saw someone he could pour his life into and raise up as a Man of God. Every once in a while someone comes along that you know has a lot of potential for ministry. They have zeal, enthusiasm, want to make a difference with their life and are teachable. Timothy was a man like that. Now, where was Paul the last time Eunice and Lois saw him? He was soaked in blood, nearly dead, lying outside the city gates on a garbage dump, having just been stoned. Now Paul is saying, “How about it Mom? I’d like to invite your son to come along our missionary team!” That’s amazing sacrifice! Timothy’s parents had no idea what kind of dangers he would face, or if he would even co me back to them alive, but they let him go. Paul took him and circumcised him: All the Jews knew Timothy had a Greek father, and a Jewish mother. Since he had never been circumcised, the Jews would all assume that Timothy had not embraced the faith of Abraham, and thus would not have anything to do with him. This would present real problems for the missionary team who were trying to reach the Jews in each city. Now, remember that Paul had just got back from the Jerusalem Council where the apostles and elders had unanimously agreed that Gentiles did not need to be circumcised in order to be saved. So, why did Paul have Timothy circumcised? Was Paul waffling on what he believed? Not at all! Timothy was circumcised not get saved (he already was), but to allow greater opportunities of ministering to Jews. 1Cor.9:20 sums up Paul’s philosophy: “To the Jews I became as a Jew, so that I might win Jews; to those who are under the Law, as under the Law though not being myself under the Law, so that I might win those who are under the Law.” In every culture that we bring the gospel to, there are unique situations we need to understand and be aware of. We need to be sensitive to them, so that we maximize our opportunities of bringing people to Christ. For example, if you are trying to reach gays and lesbians with the gospel, you would not want to put a big sign on your van that says, “God Hates Fags!” You have just cut yourself off from all opportunity of speaking to gays about Christ. John Newton once said, “Paul was a reed in non-essentials, an iron pillar in essentials.” We need to know what is an essential of the faith that we must never compromise on (Deity of Christ, substitutionary atonement, salvation by grace), and non-essentials that need to be willing to compromise on (drinking of alcohol, which day to worship on, what foods we can eat).
So Timothy was the right man for this team. Timothy had both a Gentile and Jewish background, perfect for this team that began in every city to preach to Jews, and when they resisted, went to Gentiles.
We need the right people for our Missional Communities. If you want to be involved in extending the kingdom of Jesus in this world, if you want to invade the kingdom of darkness and take souls captive to Christ, if you want God to use you in significant ways in building into people’s lives, then you need to join a Missional Community. But you also need to realize that in order for all of us to work well together we need to embrace the same value system. What is that value system? We exist to glorify God by making disciples who make disciples. A Missional Community is not a small group, or a support group, or even a bible study. We exist as a Disciple Making Community, and our priority is for the salvation and discipleship of lost people. If you can embrace those values, then you’re the right person for these MCs – come and welcome!
3. The Right Presentation: 16:4-5
It won’t take long to make this point. What were the missionaries declaring? The decree of the Jerusalem Council. What was it? Acts 15:9 “We believe that we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus.” The Jerusalem Council declared that salvation is by grace, not the works of the Law. A Gentile did not need to be circumcised or keep the law of Moses in order to be saved. Salvation is a gift, to be freely received by faith alone. Our good deeds have nothing to do with receiving God’s salvation. However, the Council went on to say that the Gentiles needed to be willing to limit their liberties out of love for their Jewish brothers, so they should avoid eating certain kinds of foods and participating in any kind of sexual immorality, which would offend them. So the message was this, “Salvation by grace, and Living by love.” Gal.6:6 says, “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything, but faith working through love.”
If we are to be part of an Effective Disciple Making Team, we need to have the right presentation. All of our labors must be rooted in the Good News that salvation is a free gift, which no one can earn or deserve. We simply receive it by faith. But it must also be rooted in the truth that out of Love for one another, we must be willing to lay down our rights in non-essential matters. May God help us to stand like an iron pillar for the truth that salvation is wholly of grace, but be willing to bend like a reed in non-essential matters out of love for one another!
4. The Right Place: 16:6-10
After ministering in Galatia, they wanted to go due west into Asia where Ephesis, Colossae, and Laodicea are, but they were forbidden by the Holy Spirit. So, they turned northward to Mysia and tried to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus wouldn’t permit them. Now, we don’t know how the Holy Spirit revealed His will to them. It may have been through prophecy. Remember that Silas was a prophet. It may have been through God’s providence, in that government officials would not let them enter. It may have been because the roads were impassable. We just don’t know. But what we do know is that this Team was unstoppable. A less committed group may have decided to give up and go home. Not them! They couldn’t go East – they had just come from there. They couldn’t go south into Asia. They couldn’t go North into Bithynia. The only option left was to go due West, so they walked a tightrope between Bithynia and Asia and just kept going until they got to the Aegean Sea, where they couldn’t go any farther! Interestingly, later the Spirit would let them go into Asia. In fact they would spend 3 years in Ephesus, the longest period of time Paul ever spent in any city! Peter would later be called to minister to those in Bithynia (1Pet.1:1). So, the Holy Spirit knows what is best for every Team at every point in time. When they finally got to Troas and couldn’t go any further, it was then that God gave Paul a prophetic dream giving them His guidance. Now, why didn’t the Lord just tell them they were supposed to go to Macedonia, when they were back trying to go into Asia and Bithynia? He knew them, right? The Lord’s ways are not our ways. The Lord wanted them to learn to live by faith. How do we do that? By just keep pushing and pushing until we hit a dead end, and then God will open the door for effective ministry!
This Team needed to have the Right Passion, the Right People, the Right Presentation, but also be in the Right Place. So too, we at The Bridge need to be in the Right Place. I believe the Lord has shown us lately that we have been in the wrong place, and He has directed us to the right place. We have been trying to go through brick walls here in Anatolia, and we’ve just been shut down. A little over a week ago I went to Folsom Blvd. and W. La Loma to some apartment complexes, and He opened the doors for effective ministry. The folks there have been so much more open and receptive to the gospel than the folks right here. In a little over 1 week’s time I have collected 32 phone numbers or e-mails of families who want to know when and where we are going to hold an Investigative Bible Study! Compare that to about 7 people who were interested in Anatolia over a 3 months period of time! We need to go where the Lord is working, not do our own thing and ask the Lord to join us.
Brothers and Sisters, the Lord has laid before us a wide door for effective service. The Harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. The Lord has given us the Right Passion, the Right People, the Right Presentation, and the Right Place. Now we need to pray that the Lord of the Harvest will send out workers into His harvest. You know what will happen when you start praying that prayer? The Lord will send you! Jesus tells His disciples to pray that prayer in Mt.9:38. In the next verse (10:1) we find the Lord sending them out to labor in the Harvest!
I want to say a word for those of you who have come this morning who can’t be workers in the Harvest, because you’re not saved. Before you can serve the Lord, you must be saved by the Lord. So, how does that happen? It happens when you recognize that you are guilty, condemned, and undone before a Holy, Just and Sovereign God, and that if you died right now you would have to spend eternity under His wrath. And yet, you also understand that God has provided a way for you to be rescued. It is through what God’s Son, Jesus Christ, accomplished for you when He died on the cross. It was there that He paid your punishment, so that you could be set free. Then He rose from the dead, to prove that God had accepted His sacrifice for your sin. If you understand that this morning, give your life to Jesus Christ this morning. Trust Him to save you, and resolve that with His help, you will follow Him from now on.
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