Sunday Service - 2026-09-20

Welcome to the Lansdale Life Church podcast.

If you're seeking a closer relationship with Jesus Christ, this podcast is for you.

Thank you for joining us today.

Good morning, everyone, and thank you for venturing out in the torrential rains this morning.

We are having some technical difficulties, so hopefully it'll come up eventually, but if not,

I'll do my best to kind of wing it without the PowerPoint, right?

Hey, first I got to give mad props to Danny Jackson. How about it, right?

That is not an easy thing to do, to get up and talk with what was it, an hour and a half

preparation. Yeah, he did a phenomenal job, and Holy Spirit really spoke through him.

Chris is not still out with Vertigo this week, just so everyone knows. He's in his family

or away on a planned vacation, and according to Texas from him, he's feeling much better,

and we'll take a moment just to pray for him. Lord, we thank you for Chris and Jill,

Lord, and the ministry here, Lord, and our leadership here, and we pray for Chris right

now. Lord, you just continue to heal his body, Lord, and whatever it was that calls this

Vertigo, Lord, you would just bring complete healing to him. All right, well, we are in

Acts this morning still, and I know it only seems like we've been in it for, I don't know,

what, five or so months, but we're really 18 years into it, okay? So we're, this is Acts 13 is about

18 years since the beginning of Acts, and I know sometimes, like, when I'm reading things, I kind

of lose sight of the context of the journey and how things are happening and all that, but

Acts 13 really is a bit of a turning point in Acts, so just as a quick kind of recap on things,

you know, after Pentecost, you know, the gospel, you know, was spreading throughout Jerusalem and

Judea. They were being persecuted, especially following the stoning of Stephen, you know,

they scattered outward, I mean, you know, because imagine, it's kind of hard for us to imagine,

you know, imagine that, that, you know, your life is literally in physical danger

for presenting the gospel, but that's how they were. Saul, who was once, you know, the most

fierce, you know, persecutor of the church had an encounter with Jesus, and in Acts 10,

oh, hold on a second here, I think I lost, how do I do this all the time? Like,

hold on a second, folks, lost my hair. There it is, all right. So then in Acts 10 through 11,

Peter's encounter with Cornelius, and, you know, unmistakably clear that the gospel now is going,

going to the Gentiles, and meanwhile Antioch, which is what we're going to talk about this morning,

part of it, at least Antioch, Antioch emerged as a thriving center for believers in that time.

And Barnabas actually brought Saul there to help him teach, which we are going to talk a little bit

about, and 12, we're going to be doing a little hopscotch here with verses. I'm going to be doing

part of Acts 13 today, and next week, John's going to pick up on 13, and then Chris is going to

jump back and do 12, like he had planned to do last week. So 12 will close out with Barnabas and Saul

returning from Jerusalem back to Antioch. They were completing a relief missionary

work to them, and they're bringing with them John Mark. So that same, and John Mark is going to be

with them, you know, as we kind of walk through the first part of 13 here, and John Mark, who's

mentioning here, is the author then of Mark. You kind of get confused with characters sometimes,

at least I do, you know, they mentioned when they first called him. I remember when I was first,

when I first, very first, started reading the Bible and getting through it. Imagine that, never

reading the Bible or getting through any of that, and it was like, okay, is this John the Apostle?

Is this John the Baptist? Is this who? Who are all these Johns? So it really became kind of

confusing, but this is John Mark, and he's going to be with Paul and Barnabas through this. So

Antioch, what we know about Antioch, you know, when Jerusalem, you know, heard,

Acts 11 talks a little bit about this. So again, this was what seems like just a couple chapters

back, two chapters back, was really kind of a couple years back, that there was a revival

going on, and you know, the non-Jewish people were coming, Gentiles were coming to the Lord,

and God's Spirit was really being poured out there, and they asked Barnabas

to go, and Paul went as well. So they were there for about five years.

So let's read, and we're not up, are we? Yeah, okay, that's all right, we'll wing it here.

So Acts 13, one through three, let's start with. So now the church at Antioch, there were prophets

and teachers, Barnabas, Simeon, called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manium, who had been brought up

with Herod, the Tetra, and Saul. While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit

said, set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work which I've called him. So after they had

fasted and prayed, they placed their hands and sent them off. So they were in God's presence,

and notice that they were worshiping and fasting. So before we get into it, let's get into the,

oh, here we go, look at that. Hey, I'm gonna exit out of here and just kind of start over again.

Well, we were close, and maybe we'll get there. So before we get into this, let's look at the

characters who were involved here. Antioch, as we read here, is a pretty remarkable

church, and the leadership that they talk about here, different ethnicities from different

geographies, different political backgrounds, and they're all together kind of worshiping

in unity. I won't talk too much about Paul because we all know Paul's story, but Barnabas,

let's talk a little bit about Barnabas. So his original name, as we know from Scripture,

was Joseph, but the apostles renamed him Barnabas, which means son of encouragement.

And as we get through Acts and read about him, we understand why that is. He was a Levite

from Cyprus. So that, if you're up on your Old Testament, you know how important that is. I mean,

the Levites were the worshipers. They were the ones who let out in battle with their music,

and they were the ones that cared for and took care of the temple. So that's a really important

side. He was Jewish, obviously, and he was in a perceived role. Acts 4.36 tells us that he was

generous and committed to God, to Jesus. He sold a field and gave the proceeds to the

apostles to support their work. Acts 4.37 tells us about that. He believed in Saul

before Saul believed in himself. When Jerusalem believers feared Saul, they were afraid of him

as well. They should be. Barnabas personally brought him to the apostles and vouched for him.

That's in Acts 9.26-27. So Barnabas, what a love about Barnabas. You know, he wasn't always,

and he didn't always need to be the center of attention, the center guy. He was often the guy

kind of behind the scenes, making things happen or helping someone or encouraging someone to go out

and do things. So the second guy, this guy to me is probably the most interesting character here,

Manonin. So it gives just a slight mention of who he is and you're kind of left, you know,

saying he was what? He was with Herod? So he was brought up with Herod.

It says that he was in it. Some translations say he was an advisor. Some say he was a friend,

but he was connected. The Greek word there, centrophos, it means that they were kind of

raised together, almost nurtured together, educated alongside of one another, almost kind of in this

royal, royal childhood. So it's kind of hard to get all that into, you know, a singular translation.

Now, it's not Herod the Great, okay? Herod the Great died shortly after the birth of Jesus,

but it's his son, Herod of Antipas, who became the ruler in Galilee. And he's the one who executed

John the Baptist. He's the one who questioned Jesus during his trial. So he was a bad dude.

So when you say, okay, this guy was friends with Herod, it's like, what happened here? You know,

how did this happen? And you know what? We don't have any answers to that. We don't know. We don't

know what his conversion story is. We don't know what happens. We do know at the time when Acts,

I mean, when Luke wrote Acts around 39, 40 A.D., the Roman Emperor Caligula stripped Herod of all

his power and they banished him actually. So we don't know the circumstances of how he came

to know Jesus, but it had to be a powerful story. I wish we did. We know. We also know that he had a

very, very influential family. He had to have had an influential family. He had to have come from,

you know, a royal background. So very interesting character here. Simeon called Niger.

So Simeon is a traditional Hebrew name. Niger is a Latin translation that talks about, you know,

okay, he was a dark skin. So most likely of African descent. There are biblical scholars

that suggest that he could potentially be the same Simeon, the Simeon of Cyrus who carried Jesus's

cross, but that's speculative. Lucius of Surin. Surin is North Africa. It was a major, major Greco-Roman

city. It's modern-day Libya, just so we know, kind of get context of where it is. Very, very large

Jewish population. But because it was kind of in this, you know, from a Greek-speaking Roman

province, it was very Hellenistic. You know, and if you get a chance, you know, on your own,

study the difference in Hellenistic Jews versus, you know, Jerusalem-oriented Jews or those who

did, you know, really were committed to the temple. They were Jews who were very

influenced during the occupations that they had gone through. It was very, very,

very interesting to understand the difference between the two, but they were Hellenistic.

He was most likely Hellenistic, so he would have understood the Gentiles. He would have

been a great candidate for doing what he's doing here. He was most likely one of the unnamed

pioneers in Acts 11, where it talks about this revival that went along. So, okay.

I had a really, really good graphic here. I was going to kind of show you some stuff. I'll just

kind of describe it to you as we're going through here. There's a powerful sequence

that's going on that we read here in this chapter. You know, they started out with worship

and they were praying, and they were fasting, and then they were kind of hearing God. So,

this group of leaders in this group of church, they were really being present with God. So,

God's direction to them and God's voice to them really came through his presence.

So, they were there with God. They were worshiping. And, you know, when I think to

myself in my own personal experience, I know that some of the clearest directions

don't necessarily come from, hey, God, can you help me with this, or can you give me a direction

with this specific thing in my life, or can you kind of bless this journey that I'm going on,

but it's just from being in his presence and then him revealing what he has for me.

So, you know, understanding the nature here, that they were called.

They were in God's presence and they had this calling. So, it says,

to which I have called them or chosen them. You know, it literally means this idea or this sense

of, you know, calling someone towards oneself or what God has within us or what he's doing

within us. So, this calling, summoning or inviting them or appointing them to participate in

what God, that's what was really happening here. It's a deeper, it's deeper than, it's a much,

much deeper meaning than, hey, I've got this job for you to do. Okay, it's this calling. He knows

that they were chosen, you know, to go. So, and guess what? There's really good

news behind that. We're all chosen. God has something very specific for each one of us.

Ephesians 1.4 says, for he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless

in his sight. John 15.16 says, you did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you

so that you might go and bear fruit, fruit that will last. That is exactly what's happening here.

God is saying, I have chosen you to go forth and bear fruit. And he has these plans for all of us.

Romans 8.30 says, and those he predestined he also called or chose. He also justified.

And he also justified, he also glorified. So, he has predestined work for all of us to do.

Predestined a mission or calling for all that. But so often, I know for me, I'll often reverse that.

I'll make plans that I have, that I want to do, and ask God to bless that.

And that's not at all what's happening here. They are seeking God first and then allowing God's plans

to shape within them and what they are doing. So, when we think about the idea of being present

with God and being in his presence before we make those plans, Moses said in Exodus 33.15,

if your presence does not go with us, do not send us.

Samuel said in Samuel 3, he learned to hear God before being sent by God.

And Isaiah said a similar thing in Isaiah 6. He saw God first, then he heard. Whom shall I send?

God said, so there's a pattern here of presence before purpose, being in God's presence first,

and then the purpose coming after that, the mission coming after that. They were ministering

to God first in what they were doing here. Fasting can quiet us.

Fasting can quiet other things that we hunger for. Fasting makes us present with God.

Doesn't necessarily, you know, make God more accessible or make him more present,

but it makes us more attentive to him. Doesn't make him more available to us,

just makes us more attentive to him. So, God gave them a calling, right? Not a roadmap.

The Spirit simply said, set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.

There was no itinerary, no warning of what was to come, and no promise. They were present with God

and God called them. Acts 13, 4-5.

The two of them, sent on their way by the Holy Spirit, went down to Seleucia and sailed from there

to Cyprus. When they arrived in Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God in the Jewish

synagogues. John was with them as their helper. Now, envision this map of the Middle East,

okay? Just close your eyes and envision this great map that I have here.

So, they started out on the coastline in Antioch and they went about 15 miles south

to Seleucia. Then they got on a boat and they sailed about 130 miles. 130 miles to Cyprus

and they landed in Salamis, which was a major commercial city there in Cyprus.

So, I like to ask questions of myself as I'm going through this thing and I say,

why did they go to Cyprus?

So, five years earlier, we read that there was part of a major movement in Antioch and they

have here is we've got this beautiful reversal happening. So, let's read that real quick. It's

Acts 11, 19-21. You want to follow along? Now, those who had been scattered by the persecution

that broke out when Stephen was killed traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch,

spreading the word only among the Jews. Some of them, however, men of Cyprus and serene,

went to Antioch to begin to speak to the Greeks also, telling them the good news about the Lord

and the Lord's hand was with them and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord.

So, there was something exciting happening and Cyprus was a part of starting this movement.

They were a key part. So, this is a great reversal. How often does this happen? We've

seen this happen so many times and I remember talking to a close friend of mine who was a

missionary down in Mexico. He's been down there for 40 some years and he told me once,

like 15 years or so ago, he's here. Yeah, they sent me as a missionary down to Mexico.

Now, I send missionaries up to the United States. So, it's kind of this reversal of things. So,

Cyprus had helped bring the gospel to Antioch and now Antioch sends Barnabas and Saul back to Cyprus

with the gospel. So, Cyprus was why it was familiar territory to them.

So, why they might have gone there. God's calling was on. Barnabas was a native

of the island. Acts 4 tells us geographically and strategically

they begin their mission in familiar territory. Strong Jewish communities in there

and obviously the Gentiles as well. So, scripture tells us that they went right to the synagogues

to start. So, why again? Why start in the synagogues, guys? Well, Paul was a trained Pharisee.

So, he was… What would be a good… I don't know. Somebody uber-brilliant today that travels

the world as a speaker who just is leaps and bounds above all of us as far as intellect go.

He trained under Gamaliel who was one of the top. It would be like, okay, this guy is a student

of the greatest. Acts 22 tells us this. So, rather than… Paul had great credentials for synagogues.

No synagogues going to look at a guy named Saul and say, yeah, we don't want you talking here.

They're going to say, this is really something special to have him here. So,

Paul's initial reception when he would speak at these synagogues, again, this is happening

every year, was often… They were often very, very receptive to the gospel. They were often

very, very in line with what he was teaching because he was basically saying they knew the

story, okay? They knew the story of what God was doing and he was basically saying,

Jesus is simply the fulfillment of this story. And they were receptive to that.

Conflict didn't really come in at these synagogues until

Gentiles would get integrated. There was this argument as to how do the Gentiles fit in

to what we're doing here? Are they full-fledged Jews? Are they kind of

stepchildren to the process? How did they all fit in? There was conflict when he would preach

at a synagogue and all of a sudden hundreds, if not thousands of people would show up the next day

flooding the place. It creates problems, right? So, these are as problems will come in logistical

challenges, let's call them. So, Jews, they knew the law, they knew the prophets, they knew the

promise of the Messiah and Paul was basically saying, this is it. And this is written in

Romans. He says first to the Jew and then to the Gentiles. So, Paul started with the people

who already knew the story. So, you know, God is sending them,

but God can send us sometimes and we kind of just tuck it away, right? We don't really do it. So,

when someone sends you, there's a certain level of action that's required.

So, they immediately took action. You know, they heard what was happening and they went.

But when God gives us direction and when God asks us to do things,

Spirit-led doesn't always mean that he's going to give us a full plan as to what we're doing,

but it also doesn't mean that there's no strategy behind that. You know, when God calls us to do

something, they put a strategy in place. They went to where they felt God was calling them.

They went to the synagogues and God didn't show, he didn't show Barnabas and Saul everything that

was waiting for them. We're going to get to that in a minute, some of the things that happened.

So, we shouldn't necessarily require that from God. If God is putting a calling in your heart

and you're waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting until you get a little bit more detail,

maybe God is saying, just go and take some action on whatever that is. So,

they were worshipping, they were hearing, and they were being sent. So, Acts 13,

6-8 says they traveled through the whole island until they came to Paphos. There they met a Jewish

sorcerer and a false prophet named Bar-Jesus who was an attendant to the proconsul, Sergius Paulus.

The proconsul, an intelligent man, sent for Barnabas and Saul because he wanted to hear

the word of God. But Elamis, that's the second name for Bar-Jesus, the sorcerer, for that is what

he opposed and tried to turn the proconsul from his fate. So, the proconsul was saying,

hey, I want to know more about this. And Bar-Jesus is saying, no. So, before we kind of

get into this opposition that we're going to talk about, I want to, again, look at these

characters that are here. You've heard me say many times when I come across something in

scripture that just seems weird. You've got to do some digging there because that's an arrow

directing you somewhere. So, when you think of this Bar-Jesus character who is a Jewish sorcerer,

something's not quite right there, right? Because this would be a clear, clear breach of Torah.

Torah clearly says that paganism is a no-no. So, Bar-Jesus was acting in paganism,

so it kind of makes it an oxymoron to say he was a Jewish saucer, right? So, this is something

that's explicitly prohibited in Torah. Deuteronomy 18 10 through 12 says, let no one be found among

you who practices divination or sorcery. So, clearly, he was not acting or moving in God's way or even

kind of walking in his Jewish heritage. I mean, his Jewish past, he was just kind of clearly opposing

what God was doing in here. So, the second question I would ask myself is, well,

who would listen to a Jewish sorcerer? How and why? Why is this guy taking him in as such a confident

confidant? And there are many, many people in this world today that masquerade or call themselves

believers, and they walk in complete contradiction of what Scripture says. We know that. It's all

around us, but yet there are people that kind of bring them in and believe what they're saying

in a spiritual way. So, the occult is everywhere. People like to bring their own self-definition

of what God is and put it above what Scripture says. People celebrate what Scripture says

is sin or blasphemy before God, and these people get put in places of power. So, when I ask the

question, how or why would somebody be listening to this guy? Well, I've just answered my own

question. It happens all around us, and it's still happening today. So, who is the second guy here?

Lucius Sergius Paulus. So, he was a high-ranking Roman aristocrat who served as the proconsul

or the governor of Cyprus during the reign of Emperor Claudius. So, it would be in the mid-40s

there. So, what makes this guy, to me, a really, really interesting, fascinating character is

historians and biblical scholars have pointed to this for centuries that Luke's account is wrong.

It's just historically wrong. They would say that Cyprus was originally governed by a low-level

official. So, it wasn't really this... in other words, it would not have had a governor.

And now we know, and I love this. I don't need evidence.

When someone says, show me evidence, you know, if Jesus... if Jesus was really who he was,

we wouldn't even have left some evidence. And that might come back to that as always, well,

we need faith for if we have evidence. But I love when evidence comes into play, because it's just

kind of... it makes you feel good. See, the Scripture was right here. So, archaeology has now

unturned, overturned Roman records, like legitimate Roman records that have proven that under Augustus

Caesar, he changed Cyprus into a senatorial province. So, what Luke wrote was exactly now

historically correct and aligns with Scripture, right? So, not that we need that, but it's kind

of fun to see, isn't it? So, through both biblical narrative and concrete archaeological evidence,

we see now this guy was an important guy, all right? Lucius Sergius Pauls was an important

guy. So, let's pause here for a minute and talk about... obviously, he was important to the

reasons. So, Acts 9.15 says, the Lord gives Ananias a direct prophecy about Paul's life mission.

Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine, God is saying, to bear my name before the Gentiles and

kings and sons of Israel. So, in this particular exact situation, Paul is fulfilling prophecy in

his life, or God is fulfilling prophecy through Paul's life that was spoken over him. They're

saying that Paul is going to be the guy not only to bring the word to the Gentiles, but he's going

to speak before kings. He's going to speak before high, influential people, and this is being

fulfilled. He was one of them. Think back to in the original leadership of Antioch,

there was other high-level, influential people there. So, Paul is like saying, okay, this is

kind of my thing here that God has called me to. Plus, we know that through Scripture,

Paul was eager to get to Rome. Paul didn't look at those in authority and those kind of high up and

those as influential as more important, and we shouldn't either. But the reality is,

some of these people, when they become enlightened, when they have an encounter with Jesus,

they have the ability to influence so many more people. You think about guys like Russell Brand,

it's like, how many gazillion of people follow this guy? And this guy is just

proclaiming the gospel in a loud, loud way. He's transformed his podcast and all of his media.

He is proclaiming Jesus. He had an encounter with Jesus. He has had the ability to influence

others. Think about others in Hollywood like Denzel Washington and Chris Pratt,

who are out there with their faith. So, again, we're not to hold them in higher esteem,

but God uses people like that in a powerful way to influence people, influence the kingdom

for him. And Paul was a part of this. And God was breaking through. When you think about all of

these, he's breaking through today when we look at people of influence that he is reaching. But

Cornelius, the centurion, this is a guy who was in charge of thousands, thousands of people.

You think of the Philippian jailer in Acts 16. You think about Capernaum's centurion in Matthew 8.

God was impacting this. And think about all of those Roman officials that literally witnessed

the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus. So God was doing a movement among these people,

and Paul was just being obedient. Acts 27, 23, 24 says, last night an angel of God,

to whom I belong and whom I serve, stood beside me and said, do not be afraid, Paul.

You must stand trial before Caesar. And God has graciously given you the lives of all

those who sailed. This is when he was in an accident. So, you know, this idea of this

pathway to breakthrough, you know, we've got worship and fasting, we've got the hearing,

we've got the sending, and now we've got this opposition that's happening right in front of them.

So they're kind of, you know, cruising through here, you know,

on the way to doing these great things for God, and all of a sudden, boom,

they're trying to reach this guy, and bar Jesus steps in and says, yeah,

I'm going to oppose this. So, opposition oftentimes appears where God is working.

If there's no opposition, sometimes you've got to scratch your head and ask yourself

if God is in it. Not that he's not. But more times than not, where God is moving,

and God is doing great things, there's going to be opposition. So, Sergius Paulus,

he wanted to hear the word of God. He wanted to hear the gospel. And as soon as he said that,

bar Jesus turned and said to the pro council, you know, he tried to turn him from faith,

so he did not want this happening. So the timing matters here is what's happening.

And the enemy almost always attempts to intervene where the kingdom is moving

forward towards breakthrough. And this pattern is something that's been all throughout.

Bible. You think of Moses, you know, when he was called to do what he was doing,

all the resistance that he had in Egypt and all of the resistance that he happened

out in the desert. I mean, it was just a thing. When you think of Nehemiah,

as he begins rebuilding, you know, opposition happened. When you think of David, when he

was anointed, opposition from Saul and others. You know, when you think of, you know,

John the Baptist, when you think of Jesus, when you think of the apostles,

everywhere where God is really moving forward, there is opposition.

So we don't want to just stop when we have opposition. We want to push through this

opposition to get to where God is calling us. So along the way, in this message,

and in this mission, in this calling, we're going to have opposition,

and we've got to break through it. So the finishing part of scripture here,

Acts 13, nine through 12, then Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit,

looked straight at Laimas, who was part Jesus, and said,

you are a child of the devil and an enemy of everything that is right.

You are full of all kinds of deceit and trickery.

You will never stop perverting the right ways of the Lord.

Now, the hand of the Lord is against you. You are going to be blind for a time,

not even able to see the light of the sun.

Immediately, mist and darkness came over him, and he groped about seeking someone

to lead him by the hand. When the proconsul saw this, when Sergius Paulus saw this,

he saw what happened to him, and he believed, for he was amazed at the teaching of the Lord.

Amen. Praise God.

So Paul immediately puts the enemy in his place, and what do we have here now?

This pathway, worshiping, fasting, hearing the word of God, they're sent,

they come into opposition, and now there's breakthrough.

So Paul puts him in his place, and the other thing that just stuck out to me, he put him

in his place in a very familiar manner, and there is a level of irony here.

How he deals with bar Jesus is pretty much exactly how Jesus dealt with him.

There are some striking parallels here, not just the blindness, but there's some striking

parallels here from Acts 9, where Paul is converted to the bar Jesus story here.

So both of them oppose the gospel, right? So Paul tried to stop Christianity.

It was his mission to stop this movement. Bar Jesus tried to stop God moving forward

where he was. Both were confronted with divine authority that they could not deny.

They were both confronted with this authority. Jesus confronted Saul,

and he was filled with the Holy Spirit. Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, confronted bar Jesus.

Both were struck blind, so their physical blindness exposed what?

Their more deeper spiritual blindness.

Both had to be led by the hand, almost identical language that's used in each of these scriptures.

Now, in both, blindness was temporary, bar Jesus was blind for a time, leaving open to the possibility

that he saw the power being demonstrated here and received it. So there's just a level of

irony, and you just kind of maybe imagine Paul's kind of winking a nod as he's going through,

as he's going through. So let's think about some of this stuff. So

when God calls us forward into something, when he puts a calling on our lives, when he sets us

apart for something specific that he has, when resistance happens, it doesn't mean that we're

going the wrong way. Sometimes, this is a whole other teaching, but so often we program ourselves

to follow this open door, closed door philosophy, which really is not a strong biblical concept to

look at. So when resistance happens, it doesn't mean you're on the wrong road. And when we come

to a closed door, doesn't necessarily mean that this isn't where God is calling us to be. Resistance

can be just what we need. Opposition oftentimes centers around something that God is doing that

he wants us to participate in. When we respond to opposition, and this is a hard one for me,

when we respond to it, we have to do it through the spirit, not through emotion,

and not through our own physical abilities to do. We have to do it through God's presence and God's

spirit, and sometimes that's hard, because we can be in a moment. And we know when things happen,

in a moment. When we're caught up in what's happening, it can be very difficult to center

ourselves on what God has for us in that moment. God can turn obstacles into opportunities.

So when we have an obstacle in front of us, when we have that resistance that's in front of us,

God can turn that into an incredible opportunity for us. And sometimes the greatest

breakthrough isn't the change in the circumstances, but it's the changed lives.

It's what God is doing with his kingdom and his presence in others. So when we think about this

idea that breakthrough is on the other side, and it all starts with obedience.

Following what God has for us. Acts 13, for me, it reminded me, God's greatest moments

often begin, almost always begin quietly in worship, in prayer, and in fasting.

You guys can come on forward worship team.

The quiet moments before God is when these things are born. So like Barnabas and Saul did, they were

in prayer and they were worshiping. So they didn't know what waited for them in Cyprus. They didn't

know about Sergius Paul. They didn't know about Bar Jesus. They didn't know about any of this stuff.

They only knew that God had called them. And in their obedience, they went. So obedience

doesn't always mean becoming a missionary and going and doing what we like to think of as big

big things. Obedience can be making a phone call that God is calling you to do. It can mean

walking away from something that you're into or involved with, something that's important to you

that God has you something else significantly bigger. Obedience can mean stepping into

things that are incredibly uncomfortable for us. Things that make us,

things that get us kind of out of our element, so to speak.

Obedience can mean serving someone

that maybe nobody even notices. It can mean these smaller things.

I don't think, I don't think when Danny got that call last week, he was too terribly comfortable

with teaching on an hour and a half. I know I wouldn't have been. I probably would have

been fumbling through some old sermons and saying, hey, can I recycle this here for something? So

it means being available when God calls us.

The challenge here in Acts 13 for us is to stay close enough to God to be present with

Him, to be in His presence, that we can hear from Him. It's to be courageous enough

to go when He calls, even though we don't necessarily have all the details of things,

to be faithful and to be strong in God's Spirit when opposition and resistance happens for us,

and to trust Him enough to believe that beyond this resistance, beyond this opposition,

God's kingdom is breaking through.

Lord, we just thank you, Lord, for the opportunities that you put in front of us,

and we pray, Lord, that you give us a heart of obedience, Lord, that when we are in your presence

and we hear you and we're with you, God, that when you present these things to us, Lord,

that we're obedient enough to take action on them and go. Give us those ears to hear, Lord,

and give us courage, God, to face opposition when it's square in front of us, Lord. Help us not to have

a mantle of fear when these things come against us, Lord.

We know that your Spirit, your power, overcomes all fear, Lord, and help us to push through God

to that breakthrough in the kingdom that you have waiting there for us, whatever that may be.

We give you all the glory and the honor, Jesus,

and all the praise in Jesus' name. Amen.

Thanks for joining us at Lansdale Life Church as we praise God and discuss His word.

Don't forget to join us for Worship Live Sunday mornings at 10 a.m. Eastern on YouTube.

Be blessed and have a great day!