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Well, good morning. Please stand for the reading of God's Word. I'll be reading from Romans chapter 10, just a few verses beginning in verse 12. Romans chapter 10, verse 12. For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on him.

For ever who will call on the name of the Lord will be saved. How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in him in whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher? And how will they preach unless they are sent?

Just as it is written, how beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news of good things. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you that the riches of your grace extend to all men, all people, everywhere, and at all time. Father, we thank you for the grace that was so vivid in the life of your Son, so publicly portrayed, and so faithfully proclaimed through your servants, through the generations.

Thank you for the record of your word. Thank you that this message has reached us here today. So, in that spirit, Father, we call upon you. Call upon your name. It's what we do this morning. It's what we do with our lives. We want you to be part of our lives in every sense of the word.

We want you to be Lord over all. And, Father, it grieves us when we sin against you, when our hearts follow our own ways, when we get tripped up in the things of the world, or lured, or enticed, or discouraged, or anxious. Father, we recognize that we need your grace in such times.

And we turn to you, thanking you, Father, that though we fail, you are rich in mercy. And Father, you are rich in mercy, not just to tag us along and to help us get through life, but Father, you actually delight in a relationship with us. And so, Father, we come this morning just confessing these truths that you have taught us.

You have summoned us to follow you, and that is what we want to do. And so, Father, we now rely upon your continued grace and your continued powerment through your Spirit to glorify you as you ought to be glorified. So, thank you. May you be exalted here this morning in Christ's name.

Amen. Please turn in your Bibles to Galatians chapter 1. I'll be looking at verse 2A. Galatians 1:1, continuing to introduce to you this wonderful book of Galatians, really in the process, introducing to you the life and ministry of Paul. Galatians 1:1, Paul, an apostle, not sent from men, nor through the agency of man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead.

Verse 2, and all the brethren who are with me. And all the brethren who are with me. Paul didn't go it alone. Yesterday, September 28th, marked the 96th anniversary of one of the most important discoveries of all time. And it happened by accident. A biologist was returning from vacation.

His name was Alexander Fleming. He returned to his laboratory after vacation, and he looked upon his culture plates, you know, those petri dishes. And he had left this parody. Pile of staph bacteria on one of his plates, and upon his return, he saw mold growing on it. It had contaminated the plate.

Looked something like this: mold. But then he looked a little closer, and he noticed that the bacteria surrounding the mold had not grown. And while the rest of the plate was teeming with bacteria, he realized he had discovered something. It would later prove to be the bacteria killer, a substance that could kill certain kinds of deadly bacteria that, up until then, all the medical inventions had proven to be ineffective.

The substance later became known as penicillin, and it started the antibiotic revolution. And his discovery came at a critical time because soon World War II would be raging, and there was still a desperate need for an effective treatment for the infected wounds of injured soldiers. Alexander Fleming himself had been Stationed in France as a captain of the Army Medical Corps during World War I.

And he observed that the deaths were not always due to the wounds that were inflicted. In fact, nearly one in five deaths in World War I didn't come from the wounds themselves, but the bacterial infections that accompanied them. However, thanks to his discovery in World War II, the death rate from the very same conditions dropped to less than one percent, from one in five to less than one in a hundred.

In fact, some have asked the question: did penicillin really win the war? Well, I'll leave that to people to debate. But one thing that was clear: that due to the coming of penicillin, many, many wounded soldiers would go home. But the interesting thing about the story of penicillin is that even though Fleming discovered the cure without a Development team, the cure would not make it and never help anyone.

It would never make it to the general population. And so, one of the most remarkable stories about penicillin was this collaborative effort that came together to bring this wonder drug, bacteria killer, to the general population. It would take another 14 years, a special team of some of Fleming's colleagues who would also win Nobel Prizes for their contributions.

It would take universities, major donors, government agencies, businesses, and this well-orchestrated collaborative effort for this discovery that could kill the bacteria, the disease and death, before it could ever make it to the general population. And to date, it is estimated that penicillin has saved more than 200 million lives.

Well, I want to talk to you about something that's far more potent than penicillin. That is God's grace. It is the remedy for sin. It is the remedy for death. The impact of God's grace cannot be measured either in breadth or in depth. Today we're going to pick up in Romans 9.

And I want to trace the steps of Paul from that moment he encountered God's grace to the point on which it is going to go to the world. You remember at the beginning of Acts 9, we begin with Paul breathing murderous threats against the Lord's disciples. 9:1 But there he is, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples.

Listen to what one writer says about him. I wrote this in 1751. Behold that bitter and bloody prosecutor, Saul. When breathing out threats and bent upon slaughter, he worried the lambs and put to death the disciples of Jesus. The havoc that he had committed, the families he had already ruined, were not sufficient to satisfy.

His vengeful spirit. They were only a taste, which, instead of glutting the bloodhound, made him more closely pursue the track and more eagerly pant for destruction. And in Acts 9:1, we see he is still thirsty for more violence. His words are spears and arrows, and his tongue a sharp sword.

Tis as natural for him to terrorize the Christians as to breathe the air. Who, upon the principles of human judgment, would not have pronounced him a vessel of wrath, destined to unavoidable damnation? Who would not have been ready to conclude that if there were heavier chains and a deeper dungeon in the world of woe, they must surely be reserved for such a ruthless enemy of true godliness, such as Saul?

Yes, admire. Admire and adore the inexhaustible treasures of grace. This Saul is admitted into the good fellowship of the prophets, is numbered with the noble army of martyrs, and makes a distinguished figure among the glorious company of the apostles. Saul discovered God's grace. That infection that was plaguing his heart, and it forever changed him.

It made him, it became that theme of God's grace, became the message of his life, and it was the answer to the human misery that he was very well acquainted with. And Christ had commissioned him to take this gospel cure to the nations. And so far in this series, what we've looked at in this, we see God is the one at work.

It is his grace that is at work. And so far, we see that the mission itself is under Christ's authority. We see the missionaries themselves God raises up that is under his authority, each individual one. But so is the mission team. It's important to recognize that God never intended Paul to go it alone.

The gospel cure of the nation involves ministry teams, a collaborative effort. And what a blessing it is, all the way down to us today. And I'm excited this morning to just step into this world of missions where it first gets started. I'm excited to show you how God brought together this unique ministry team for this time and place in history for God's purposes.

It was a local church with a global impact that God calls to come together. He raised up not only Paul, he raised up companions to go with Paul, and he raised up a church that would send Paul and be part of the ongoing ministry enterprise. And so that's where we're going.

We're looking this morning at how God raised up this team and this church and brings us to the very brink of the first missionary journey that's going to go and take the gospel to the Galatians. And that's where we will jump in in the weeks ahead. But it's a beautiful picture.

This assembling of this first missionary team is a beautiful testament, a beautiful picture of how God draws people together for his purposes, and he still is doing that. And you can be sure that when God is at work, the ministry team will be effective. And so I want you to see a mission effort that is God's doing.

That's what I want to look at this morning: a mission effort that is. God's doing, a mission team that is truly by God's grace. I want you to see that this morning so that you can appreciate the diverse people that God has had a hand in bringing here and this gospel ministry that we are caught up in and that we are involved in so that you can appreciate this local body that you are a part of and help us, help this collective body advance those ministries that God has called us to do.

It is a wonderful privilege to be part of a body of Christ in this gospel mission enterprise, taking the cure to the ends of the earth. Well, I can tell you this. A mission team of God's grace, it involves a preparation process and it involves a healthy church.

That's what I'm going to look at as we summarize these chapters from Acts 9 to chapter 11. A mission team of God's grace involves a preparation process. You can be sure God has a preparation process involved and it involves a healthy church. So let's look at this preparation process and I'll give it To you, a big overview.

First of all, one of the difficult things about Acts and the New Testament is harmonizing Paul's life, because you get bits and pieces. Actually, it's not that complicated, it's pretty straightforward, actually. You just have to read in more than one places. But I want to trace this, the events of Paul's life right after the time that he met Christ, first was introduced to Christ's grace on the road to Damascus.

There's a and this is what it looks like in a quick overview. First of all, he's in Damascus. Then he goes to Arabia for about three years. And we're actually going to cover more, we're covering more territory in Galatians than you actually might think. I know it looks like we're going pretty slow.

But you're going to keep your thumb in Acts 9, 10, 11, and then we're going to also keep your thumb in Galatians 1 because much of this harmony of Paul's life comes from Galatians 1 and the record in Acts with a few other verses along the way. So he goes to Damascus right after he meets Christ.

Goes to Arabia for about three years. Then he's in Damascus again. I call that stint number two. And then he goes to Jerusalem, stent number one, in Jerusalem. And then he's in Tarsus for about 10 years. And then he is in Antioch in Acts chapter 11. And then he's in Jerusalem.

Stint number two. This is the famine visit in Acts chapter 11. And then he's in Antioch again in chapter 13 for the launch of the first missionary journey. So he's in Damascus, then Arabia, Damascus, and to Jerusalem, and then to Tarsus, and then to Antioch, and then to Jerusalem, and then to Antioch again.

That's the narrative of where it goes. We just walk through these one at a time. First of all, Paul's in Damascus. This is his first stint. What did he do? Right after he met the Lord, he was sent. Acts chapter 9. And Acts 9, verse 5, he said, Who are you, Lord?

And he said, I am Jesus, who you're persecuting. But get up and enter the city, and it will be told what you must do. And in verse 8, Saul got up from the ground, and though his eyes were opened, he could see nothing. And leading him by the hand, they brought him into Damascus, and he was three days without sight, and neither ate or drank.

And so he comes to the house of Judas, where Ananias meets him. And there at the house that he is healed, filled. And baptized. Acts chapter 9, verse 17. So Ananias departed and entered the house, and after laying his hands on him, he said, Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road by which you were coming, has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.

And immediately there fell from his eyes something like scales, and he regained his sight and he got up and was baptized. And in verse 19, it says, He took food and was strengthened. Now, for several days he was with the disciples who were at Damascus. Notice that, several days, not several years, several days.

Just underline that. Talk about that in just a moment. But a couple of observations need to be made. Baptism was already an established ordinance. It was a post-conversion act, subsequent to the work of the Holy Spirit. It was a public profession of Paul's identity with Christ and solidarity with Christ.

And it is therein that the disciples at Damascus receive him. And he was welcomed into the community of believers. But notice immediately in verse 20 what happens. And immediately he began to proclaim. So there in Damascus, his first stint, he begins preaching. Verse 20. And immediately he began to proclaim Jesus in the synagogue, saying, He is the Son of God.

All those hearing him continued to be amazed and were saying, Is this not he who in Jerusalem destroyed those who called on his name and who had come here for the purpose of bringing them bound before the chief priests? But Saul kept increasing in strength and confounding the Jews who lived at Damascus by proving that this Jesus is the Christ.

So, right away, we get a sense of the content of Paul's preaching message. What did he preach? Jesus. That's who he preached: Jesus. Jesus is the Son of God. This is the content of his proclamation. Jesus is the Son of God. Jesus is the Christ. Jesus, this one from Nazareth, the one that was resurrected from the dead, the one he met on the road to Damascus.

This one is the Son of God. This one is the Christ. And notice how he did it. He began to proclaim, announce Jesus, and he was proving. He was proving that Jesus is the Christ. Verse 22. But after this initial stint, we're going to have to look at Galatians 1, verse 5, for 15.

Look over there. But right after this initial preaching stint, Paul leaves for Arabia. And we learned this from the book of Galatians. Look at Galatians 1:15. What he says, but when God, who had set me apart, even from my mother's womb, and called me through his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son in me, so that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with flesh and blood, verse 17, nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me, but I went away to Arabia and returned once more to Damascus.

So you only get this in this letter to Galatians. Luke doesn't record Paul's trip to Arabia because it doesn't fit Luke's purpose. Luke is emphasizing something else. So he skips this Arabian years. But Paul talks about them because what is Paul doing? He had proclaimed the gospel there in Galatia, and then that gospel had come under attack, and now he is defending the gospel he proclaimed, and he's having to do so by defending his own apostleship.

And so it's very much in Paul's purpose to explain these Arabia years or to mention them. So he's down in Arabia. He goes to Arabia. Now, at the time, You can see up at the north, you see Damascus way up here at the top. You have Petra right here.

That's the capital of the Nabataean kingdom. And it's a large kingdom out there, a trading route, a bunch of Ishmaelites. And so he goes to Arabia. What is he there for? Well, he's there for several years. or parts of three years, three years or parts of three years.

Look at verse 18 of Galatians 1. Then, three years later, I went up to Jerusalem to become acquainted with Cephas. And that three years is best to be taken from the time of his conversion, three years later. So this time, he is there. So you can see the Nabataean kingdom.

Petra is the capital city. There's a lot of speculation as to why Paul was down there. Some say, well, maybe he was just trying to gather himself. You know, a lot had just happened. His whole world had been turned upside down, so he's going to do some quiet reflection.

And that may be part of it, but it doesn't satisfy really the whole picture. Because you remember in Acts 26:19, Paul is standing before Agrippa, and he says, I did not prove disobedient to the heavenly vision, but kept declaring. In other words, I kept declaring from the very Beginning, I declared to people in Damascus, Jerusalem, throughout the region of Judea, the Gentiles, that everyone, everywhere, should repent and turn to God.

It's clear that Paul was engaged in some kind of ministry. Whatever else was going on, he was engaged in some kind of ministry and learning or whatever in Arabia. And this becomes clear because whatever he was doing in there captured the attention of the king of the Nabataeans.

Now, look at back to Acts chapter 9. Flip back over there to verse 23. Again, keep your finger in Acts 1 or Galatians 1. Acts 9, verse 23. When many days had elapsed, you notice what Luke says, after many days had elapsed, that is the Arabian years. When many days had elapsed, the Jews plotted together to do away with him.

But their plot became known to Saul. They were also watching the gates day and night so that they might put him to death. But his disciples took him by night and let him down through an opening in the wall, lowering him in a large basket. So that's his second.

He goes from Damascus to Arabia, back. To Damascus, and in Damascus, if we add a little bit of detail that Paul gives in 2 Corinthians 11:32, he says, In Damascus, the entharch, that's the ruler, under Artis, the king. Artis, the king, was the king of the Nabataeans. The entharch, under Artis, the king, was guarding the city of the Damascus in order to seize me.

And I was let down in a basket through a window in the wall, so escaped his hands. The king of the Nabataeans is after Paul. So, whatever he is doing down in Arabia may be something very similar to what was going on in Damascus. He was preaching with great success.

But it's interesting. By the way, we know when he lived. King Artias lived from 9 BC to 40 AD. So these events had to have happened before 40 AD. So we can get a pretty good timeline event of when these things took place. But here's what's interesting: Luke says that it was the Jews that wanted Paul dead.

And Paul says it was the king that wanted him dead. You get the sense both are in. Involved. And this has been the mode of persecution. The Jews are going to attack Paul, and they're going to use the government authorities to come down hard upon them. This is what the Jews did to Christ.

This is what Paul had been doing to the Christians. And so, for the first time, at least recorded Scripture, we have Paul experiencing that same kind of persecution he used to inflict upon others. And so, what happens? They let him out of a basket and they send him to Jerusalem.

Looks like we're just going to stay on this slide. So, he comes to Jerusalem. This is what I call the first stint, the first stint after his conversion. Look at Acts 9:26. Acts 9:26. When he came to Jerusalem, he was trying to associate with the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he was a disciple.

Yeah, sure, Paul. Yeah, you, yeah, I'm sure you're a disciple. Yeah, yeah, I ain't hanging around you. That was the treatment that he was getting. They were all afraid of him. But Paul wanted to get to know the church, he needed the fellowship. Yet they were wary of him.

But it's at this moment that somebody very special steps into the picture. Look at Acts 9:27. But Barnabas, circle that name, but Barnabas took hold of him and brought him to the apostles and described to them how he had seen the Lord on the road and that he had talked to him and how at Damascus he had spoken out boldly in the name of Jesus.

And he was with them moving about freely in Jerusalem, speaking out boldly in the name of the Lord. And he was talking and arguing with the Hellenistic Jews, but they were attempting to put him to death. But when the brethren learned of it, they brought him down to Caesarea and sent him away to Tarsus.

Notice at this moment that Paul is wanting to connect with the church, needing the fellowship. It's Barnabas that steps in. A colleague that's going to be part of Paul's missionary team. God is raising up a missionary team. And he takes them in, he welcomes him. And it's during this time that Paul is going to meet with Peter.

It's also during this time that Paul is going to preach, as we just read. And he's going to cause a stir because of the Because he kept preaching, Jesus is the Son of God, Jesus is the Christ, and he kept proving it from Scripture, and he kept confounding the Jews.

And the only thing you can do when you can't reply, you have to try to kill them. And that's exactly what they do. So they whisk Paul away, and they send him to Tarsus. To Tarsus. You can read about this in Galatians 1:21. Then I went to the regions of Syria and Cilicia.

See that? Galatians 1.21. So where is that? Okay, so you can see where he comes from Arabia to Damascus, gets lowered down in a basket, then goes to Jerusalem, gets pushed out of Jerusalem, goes to Damascus, way up here, and I mean, goes up to Tarsus by boat, and there he stays for about 10 years.

These are what are called the silent years. I don't know really much about what Paul was doing there. But this is what he says. It says, then in Galatians 1:21, then I went to the regions of Syria and Cilicia. I was still unknown by sight to the churches of Judea which were in Christ, but only they kept hearing.

He who once persecuted Is now preaching the faith which he once tried to destroy, and they were glorifying God because of me. What was Paul doing all this time? Well, you can be sure of several things. Number one, it was a time of learning, it was a time of receiving revelation, it was a time of building relationships, it was a time of tent-making, for sure.

He was getting good at his trade, he got a job, he was working, perhaps even a time of persecution, but it was clearly from what Paul's own testimony is that it was a time of fruitful ministry. It was a time of personal growth, ministry equipping. Isn't it interesting?

God was long in preparing. We've got 14 years, if you've added it up at this point. And Paul, 14 years, 13, 14 years. There he is. He's long in preparing us. Don't despise the ministry preparation that God is doing in your life. Appreciate what one man said. He said, Our age is marked by industrial loafing.

And mental slackness. Work is detested, and how quickly a task may be disposed of rather than how well it may be done, is the order of the day. I'd say one of the biggest issues, though we have more seminaries now than ever, I think there's a slackness in preparation for ministry.

We are impatient with results. But you can see how God shaped Paul. There's formal education, but there's life experience, there's work involved. We should be diligent as Paul, we should minister as God prepares us for ministry. Listen, by this time, Paul's not going to get to the mission field, at least the first mission field, until he's 51 years old.

So I'm going to talk to you, all you youngsters out here. Paul's in his 40s, early 40s, and he's sent away for a decade. Use your youth to grow in your ability to minister to others. I don't care if you're a teenager, I don't care if you're 40 years old.

Use your youth to prepare for ministry. Don't be slack. There's a bigger picture that God has you in than just getting a job. Living the American dream. Be preparing. And be diligent in that preparation. And so it's at this point, the silent years, that the Acts narrative goes silent about Paul.

And it's going to remain silent for about two chapters in about 10 years. We get this to see that a mission team of God's grace, one that is God's doing, you can be sure, involves a preparation process. God involves a preparation process. And listen, when I look at Paul's life and how he ministered, listen, if you're in your 50s, you're young for this.

Listen, we're young, 60s. Paul goes to 70. Effective ministry. It's interesting, he was being prepared about as long as he would actually be serving, just a little bit longer service. Second thing I want you to see about a mission team that's God's doing, a mission team of God's grace.

It involves a healthy church. It involves a healthy church. And so it's during these years that Paul is in Tarsus that a healthy church. Begins to emerge in Antioch. And this church is going to prove vital for world missions because this is going to be the launching point for the gospel going to the ends of the earth.

Remember, it's in Judea, in Jerusalem, in Judea, and then to the ends of the earth. And it's through this church in Antioch that it's going to be launched to the ends of the earth. So we again pick up the narrative of Paul in Acts 11. Turn to Acts 11 and come to verse 19.

Acts 11, verse 19. Acts 11, verse 19. So then those who were scattered because of the persecution that occurred in connection with Stephen made their way to Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch, speaking the word to no one else except to Jews alone. Interesting. Now, why were they scattered? Because of the persecution that occurred in connection with Stephen.

And who instigated that whole thing? Saul. Paul. You see how God was using Paul in his plan, even when Paul was opposed to him. It's an incredible picture of God's sovereign grace, the very efforts that Paul made. Used to scatter the disciples, then a group of that refugee scattering ends up in Antioch and ends up forming a vitally important church.

Tell you a little bit about Antioch, the city. I don't know if you can really see this, but just to give you a lay of the land, Mediterranean Sea, here's Israel down here, the Jordan River, Sea of Galilee, Dead Sea, here's Jerusalem, here's Damascus, here's Syria, Antioch, this is Antioch.

There's going to be another Antioch in the Galatian region. Don't confuse it with that. And then there's Tarsus. So these are the main areas where we're talking about now. Antioch, the city, up here. It's also called Antioch on the Orontis River. It's the capital of Syria. It's the third largest city in the Roman Empire at this time.

It was only surpassed by Rome and Alexandria, so a very significant city, size. It had a large population of both Jews and Greeks. Let me tell you a little bit about Antioch, the church. The Antioch, the church, is going to be the model of what a healthy church looks like.

It's going to be that first Gentile church. It's going to be a model. You can see there's even today the There's the church at St. Peter's there, has a 13th century facade, but it is said to mark the entrance to a cave that was used by first century Christians as a church or meeting place.

But it's going to be this place that's going to be the sending church for the gospel to the nations. And you can see it up there on the map over here. And you can see this is going to be the whole region whereby the gospel is going to go forward through Paul's ministry.

But a healthy church, I want to take some time to think for a moment as we come to Antioch. This is going to be the model of what a healthy church looks like and the pattern for establishing churches in Galatia and beyond. This is what Paul has in mind.

And so I want to take a moment and ask the question, what does a healthy church look like? What does a healthy church look like as we are going through this chapters, coming to chapter 13 from 11 to 13? We'll be looking at this four characteristics. And I want to call these to your team.

I want them to jump out at us so that you and I. Will understand what a healthy church is, what this church needs to look like, and how we can grow in health here, and how you can do your part in helping Emmanuel Baptist Church be a healthy church, or whatever church that you are part of, that you will give yourself to helping the church that you minister at to be healthy.

Well, the first characteristic of a healthy church is that a healthy church has a teaching ministry devoted to helping people remain true to the Lord. A teaching ministry devoted to helping people remain true to the Lord. And let me show you this: Acts chapter 11, verse 20, speaking of this group that came up to Antioch.

But there were some of them, men of Cyprus, Cyrene, who came to Antioch and began speaking to the Greeks also, preaching the Lord Jesus. So they were just preaching to the Jews first in Acts 19, but here comes another group who came and they started speaking to the Greeks also and preaching the Lord Jesus.

In verse 21, and the hand of the Lord was with them, and a large number who believed turned to the Lord. And the news about them reached the ears of the church. At Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. Then, when he arrived, verse 23, and witnessed the grace of God, he rejoiced and began to encourage them all with resolute heart to remain true to the Lord.

For he was a good man and full of the Holy Spirit and of faith, and considerable numbers were brought to the Lord. So, initially, in verse 19, the word is only being preached to the Jews, but then all of a sudden the word starts going out to the Gentiles, to the Greeks, and a large number turn.

And by the way, without the apostles' involvement, so they've got this great movement taking place, and so what does the church at Jerusalem do? They send up Barnabas. Barnabas goes up there, and he's like, this is a real move of God. And so he encourages them. What does he encourage them to do in verse 23?

To remain true to the Lord. So, this is what a faithful ministry is all about: faithfulness to Jesus. You see, those who receive Jesus need to remain faithful to him, and this is what the church is to do. We are to help your brothers and sisters remain faithful to the Lord.

All of our ministries, everything geared here, is for the purpose of edifying, building up the body. Helping one another stay true to the Lord. And that takes on a number of forms. Second, a healthy church is seen in the character of its people, in the character of its people.

Look at Acts 11, 25. And he, Barnabas, so Barnabas is going to take care of this big population of Greeks and Jews. He's got to shepherd this church. And what does he do? And he left for Tarsus to look for Saul. And when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch.

And for an entire year, they met with the church and taught considerable numbers. And the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch. So what was Barnabas' plan for all of these Greek-speaking Jews? I mean, these Greeks and Jews and this church that's booming and growing. How is he going to shepherd him?

What's his answer? Paul. And so what does he do? He goes up and he searches and he finds Saul. After 10 years, all is up there. Barnabas goes and finds him and brings him to Antioch. And it's clear that the effectiveness of the ministry is very profound because it's there at Antioch.

They are called Christians. You know what the word Christian means? Partisans of Christ. And this is the Gentile population saying, I don't know what this group is. They're not Jews. They're not Jewish converts. They are something else. They are partisans of Christ. It's probably a derogatory word. But you can see the effectiveness of Paul and Barnabas' teaching and shepherding ministry.

They are called Christians. So a healthy church has a teaching ministry devoted to helping people remain true to the Lord. It also, a healthy church, is seen in the character of its people. That is the best testimony of any church or any discipleship ministry is the quality of the disciple that comes out.

Such was true about Antioch. Third, a healthy church is concerned for the well-being of other churches. And this is the next event in Paul's life. It's another trip to Jerusalem. Stint number two, the famine visit. Look at verse 27 of Acts 11. Now, at this time, some prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch.

One of them, named Agabas, stood up and began to indicate by the Spirit that there would certainly be a great famine over the world. And this took place in the reign of Claudius. And in the prophet, Proportion that any of the disciples had means, each of them determined to send a contribution for the relief of the brethren living in Judea, and this they did, sending it in charge of Barnabas and Saul to the elders.

So now here's Paul, Saul, Paul, is there in Antioch with Barnabas, and because of the famine, and you've got to understand something about the Jerusalem church, it was persecuted hard. And so much of this time, the Jerusalem church is in poverty. And then you couple that with the great famine, they're in need.

But you can see the compassion of this church for the Jerusalem church. There was no antagonism toward the mother church, quite the contrary church, quite the contrary. The Gentile church loved its Jewish counterpart and mother, and were very concerned for its well-being. And we should be concerned today for the well-being of the church in Jerusalem, as we have sent a contribution as well.

But look at the end. What happens is, look at Acts chapter 12 and verse 24. Turn over to Acts chapter 12 and verse 24. But the word of the Lord continued to grow and to be multiplied. Verse 25: And Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem when they had fulfilled their mission, taking along with them John, who was also called Mark.

So notice what happens. They go up on occasion of a famine to help take care of the church there, and they come back with a young man named John Mark. And John Mark is another one who's going to be part of this missionary team. Comes back to help in Antioch.

But now, look at this mission effort. This is a mission effort of God's doing. And this is where I get my mind as I think around missions, the parts. What does an effective ministry team or mission team look like? Number one, a teacher, an encourager, and an apprentice.

You have the teacher, one that's going to be part of the mission effort is the training, the teaching, much like you just saw on this video of the effort to train pastors and church leaders. But there's also a need for encouragers, those who go, who may do all kinds of other aspects to help the enterprise.

Maybe it's the building, it's the supply, maybe it's strengthening other ministries of the church. That's much like what we do in Honduras. Sometimes we are engaged in teaching, sometimes we are engaged in supporting that teaching effort, and sometimes we're encouraging it by many other ways. But then it's always good to have apprentices.

The next generation of missionaries. And so you have the teaching emphasis, you have the encouraging emphasis, and you have the apprentice. So a healthy church is concerned for the well-being of other churches, but it doesn't stop there. A healthy church is concerned for the well-being of those who do not know Jesus.

It's concerned for the well-being of those who do not know Jesus. And this is where the ministry of the Galatians comes on the horizon. Look at Acts 13, verse 1. Acts 13:1. Now there were at Antioch in the church that was there, prophets and teachers, Barnabas, Simeon, who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Mannion, who had been brought up with Herod the Tetrarch, and Saul, five of them.

While they were ministering to the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work that I have called them. That's where the missionary team begins. That's going to be the point of departure. So, as we put all this together, we've looked at a mission team, and that's where we're going to pick up next time: is in Acts 13 and look at this first missionary journey, the lessons, and the gospel, getting the gospel right.

That's what I love about the book of Galatians and the ministry. It's about getting the gospel right. But this mission team of God's grace will certainly, when God puts one together, it involves a preparation process and it involves a healthy church, and that's going to be the paradigm.

I want to introduce you to a lady in closing named Ann Miller. Back in 1942, she checked into a New Haven hospital in Connecticut. A young mother, joyfully expecting another child, miscarried her child. And what followed was a bacterial infection that left her near death. For four weeks, her temperatures kept spiking, reached a peak of 106.5.

All the medications had failed. But providentially, 14 years earlier, Alexander Fleming had discovered. Penicillin. And by then, a team of experts had made it available very slightly to the public. And after a heroic effort to get the penicillin, she was the first civilian patient to have it administered to successfully.

In one day, her fever broke. And without it, she would have surely died. She went on to live 57 healthy years afterwards. Let me tell you about the gospel of God's grace. That is the cure for humanity's problems. Every person. It is the sin killer. It is the guilt killer.

It is the restorer of humanity. Listen to what one commentator says. Grace is a provision for men who are so fallen that they cannot lift the acts of justice, so corrupt that they cannot change their own natures, so adverse to God that they cannot turn to Him. So blind that they cannot see him, so deaf that they cannot hear him, and so dead that he himself must open their graves and lift them into resurrection.

I'll leave you with the words of Paul. How then will they call upon him who they have not believed? How will they believe in him who they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher? And how will they preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written, how beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news of good things.

But the gospel has reached our ears. It is the great anecdote for the soul. God really does love you. God really does. And he proved it at the cross, Jesus Christ. He invites you into relationship with him. He invites you into that ongoing enterprise. Receive that grace. And then let's labor together to take news of that grace to the world around us, to the person next to us, and to all of the associations that God Puts us in contact with.

Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you for this great gospel mission that you orchestrated, that was by your design, to carry the news of your grace, that cure for our sin and shame. Help us, Father, to be a people who run to you and run for you. For it's in Christ's name we pray.

Amen.