Church Scattered: God"s Instrument for His Mission

Open my eyes to see who you are and fill my heart with the love for others. What a great prayer to pray. One must tremble and die the death of a thousand deaths to teach from this book, the Bible. Because it is the very word of the living God, a double-edged sword that can convict us at the same time encourage us.

Both the deliverer of the message and its hearers. And I pray that it will convict you and encourage you as much as it did me. To that end, let's pray. Father, thank you for your word. Thank you that you speak to us through your word. So we come to you expectantly, speak to us, challenge us, convict us, encourage us, equip us, embolden us, and transform us today. That we will be a powerful instrument in your hands for your mission.

In Jesus' name we pray, amen. The Lord's final instruction to his disciples before he ascended into heaven was to remain in Jerusalem until they received the power of the Holy Spirit from above. And then be his witnesses in Jerusalem, in Judea, in Samaria, and the rest of the world. After they received this power of the Holy Spirit in Acts chapter 2, the church grew exponentially gaining a unique potential to take the gospel beyond Jerusalem. The first century church was grounded in the word of God and we read that in Acts chapter 2 verse 42.

But however, by Acts chapter 6 we see that the spread of the gospel was largely confined to Jerusalem. In God's sovereign orchestration, he allowed the church in Jerusalem to go through a severe persecution that scattered many believers, forcing them to leave Jerusalem only with a dim possibility to return back to their beloved city for their regular daily fellowship and activities. Those who were scattered were then faced with a challenge. How will they respond? Will they go into hiding and wait till normalcy is restored?

Or will they follow the leading of the Holy Spirit and be God's powerful instrument for his mission? We today are faced with a similar challenge. In God's sovereign plans, COVID has disrupted us our daily lives and to some degree has scattered us, making it considerably difficult to return back to Jerusalem, so to speak, for our daily regular fellowship and activities. What will be our response? At Calvary, we are being grounded in the word of God.

For what purpose? Are we going to idly wait till normality is restored? Or will we be God's powerful instrument for his mission? In the places where he has scattered us in our neighborhoods, in our communities or wherever we are.

One of the challenges from our senior pastor this year is to share our faith. We will see from the passage this morning and we will be in Acts chapter 8 verses 26 to 40. And we will see from the passage this morning that the first century believers who were scattered, particularly Philip, became God's instrument for his mission to save those who are not yet believers. But how did God accomplish his mission through those who were scattered?

By sovereignly using them, by strategically placing them, by supernaturally empowering them to do what? To communicate the gospel. As God did then, so he will guide us now. Let me invite you to open your Bibles and let's read Acts chapter 8 verses 26 to 29 first. This is Acts chapter 8 verses 26 to 29. Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, rise and go toward the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.

This is a desert place. And he rose and went. And there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure. He had come to Jerusalem to worship and was returning seated in his chariot. And he was reading the prophet Isaiah. And the spirit said to Philip, go over and join this chariot.

So first of all, God sovereignly uses us for his mission to communicate the gospel. Now, who is Philip? The first time we read about Philip is in Acts chapter 6 verse 5.

Due to the numeric growth of the church in Jerusalem, they needed additional leaders to oversee their benevolent ministry, their growing benevolent ministry. So they appointed seven deacons and Philip is one of the deacons. As a deacon, Philip loved the daily fellowship and ministry to the widows who were in need. But the Lord is going to use, is going to do remarkable things through Philip. He is going to use Philip as a powerful instrument for his mission. Now notice in Acts chapter 8 verse 26, now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, the angel of the Lord called Philip.

But why call Philip? Don't you think, humanly speaking, it is more effective and efficient for God to use the angels, his angels for his mission? Angels are not riddled with human frailties. But more than that, God is infinitely more powerful that he does not need anything else to accomplish his mission. He does not need even his angels, let alone human beings, to do his work.

Remember what the Lord said in Matthew chapter 16 verse 18, I will build my church. It is his mission. He is powerful and well capable of completing his mission without human assistance. However, in God's grace and infinite wisdom, he calls broken, mortal, laughably inadequate people like us to join his mission, to be a powerful instrument for his mission. Can you imagine this, the almighty God, the creator of the heavens and the earth, the one who holds all things together by the power of his might and his word, the source, the author, the perfecter of our faith and our salvation, would call ordinary people like Philip for his mission.

What an incredible privilege this is. But see, this is not a privilege only for Philip. Do you realize that every authentic follower of Jesus is called by the living God to share his or her faith, to communicate the gospel? Go to 1 Peter chapter 2 verse 9, 1 Peter chapter 2 verse 9, 1 Peter chapter 2 verse 9. But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession.

Why? That you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of the darkness into his marvelous light. Every authentic follower of Jesus is called to proclaim the excellencies of God to communicate the gospel. Would you joyfully consider this privilege today and be God's instrument for his mission to communicate the gospel? So first, God sovereignly uses his people to communicate the gospel. Now we will see God strategically places his people to communicate the gospel. Sometime after the seven deacons were appointed, Stephen, another deacon, got the opportunity to preach the gospel to the religious leaders, especially the high priest. Stephen was brutally stoned to death and this opens up the door for a church-wide persecution by a man named Saul who would become the apostle Paul. And the believers were scattered and they went to the neighboring places in Judea and Samaria. Turn to Acts chapter 8 verse 1, please. This is Acts chapter 8 verse 1 and 2. And Saul approved of his persecution that is referring to Stephen's execution. And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria. And what did the believers do?

Look at verse 4. Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word. Where did Philip go? Philip went down to the city of Samaria and proclaimed to them the Christ. Now Philip goes from the bustling city of Jerusalem to the villages of Samaria and from there he goes to a desert place, the road to Gaza. And on that road he meets an unnamed Ethiopian eunuch, the minister of finances of the queen of Ethiopia, which is modern-day Sudan. Let's read Acts chapter 8 verse 27 to 29.

This is Acts chapter 8 verses 27 to 29. And he rose and went and there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure. He had come to Jerusalem to worship and was returning seated in his chariot and he was reading the prophet Isaiah. And the spirit said to Philip, go over and join this chariot. Now see the Ethiopian eunuch was a non-Jewish man, a God-fearing man who went to Jerusalem to worship the God of Israel. Now we don't know what motivated him to go to Jerusalem. We also don't know if this was his first trip to Jerusalem. What we do know is this, that God had been working in his life, guiding him and preparing him for this precise moment.

How do we know that? Go to Acts chapter 17 verses 26 and 27. This is Apostle Paul speaking to the men at Athens and he is speaking at Arepagus about God. So this is verse 26. And he made, that is talking about God, and God made from one man every nation of mankind to live on the face of the earth having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place. God predetermines when and where we live.

Why did he do that? Look at verse 27. So that they may seek God in the hope that they might feel their way toward him and find him. Now see, Philip meeting the Ethiopian eunuch was not happenstance. We can rightly say that God strategically placed Philip on that road to communicate the gospel with the Ethiopian eunuch.

We can also say that God strategically placed the Ethiopian eunuch at that precise location, at that precise moment to hear the gospel from Philip. Can I say that your neighbors, and I'm speaking to those who are authentic followers of Jesus, your neighbors, your friends and those around you are strategically placed there so they can seek God. Now do you realize just like Philip was placed on the road to Gaza to communicate the gospel, those of us who are authentic followers of Jesus are placed strategically in our respective neighborhoods to communicate the gospel to those who are not yet believers. Now it is persecution that scattered the first century believers, forcing them to focus on the neighboring towns and to share the gospel with the people there. To rethink, forcing them to rethink or rightly think missions as a personal responsibility of every believer. Now in our case, we are already scattered all around Charlotte and Fort Mill and Rock Hill and Monroe and all these places.

And even those joining us online, you're already scattered in the places where you are. But COVID has forced us to spend more time and engage more in our neighborhoods, compelling us to rethink or rightly think missions as a personal responsibility of every believer, of every authentic followers of Christ. Will you accept that responsibility this morning? Will you follow the example of Philip? Now what did Philip do? In obedience to the Great Commission, being led by the Holy Spirit, he intentionally shared the gospel. He communicated the gospel in the place where he was strategically placed. Let's continue reading in our passage this morning. Let's read from verse 29 onward. And the Spirit said to Philip, go over and join this chariot. So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, do you understand what you're reading? And he said, how can I unless someone guides me?

And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. Now the passage of scripture that he was reading was this. Like a sheep, he was led to the slaughter, and like a lamb before its shearers is silent, so he opens not his mouth. In his humiliation, justice was denied him.

Who can describe this generation? For his life is taken away from the earth. Now this is a quotation from Isaiah 53. We will not have time to go in detail in this passage, but you can read that at home. It is Isaiah 53 talking about the sacrifice of our perfect Savior, Jesus Christ. And Eunuch said to Philip, about whom, I ask you, does this prophet say this?

About himself or about someone else? Then Philip opened his mouth and beginning with the scripture, he told the good news about Jesus. And as they were going along the road, they came to some water. And the Eunuch said, see, here is water.

What prevents me from being baptized? And he commanded the chariot to stop, and they both went down into the water, Philip and the Eunuch, and he baptized him. What an incredible story this is. Would you follow the example of Philip? Now you might say, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, wait, wait, wait, wait. This is Philip the evangelist. I am no Philip. I am no evangelist.

But that brings us to our third point. First, God sovereignly uses us, his people, to communicate the gospel. God strategically places his people to communicate the gospel. Now God supernaturally empowers his people to communicate the gospel.

How does he do that? How does he supernaturally empower his people to communicate the gospel? First, by providing supernatural boldness. Now most of us are familiar with the fear that comes upon us, the crippling fear that comes when it comes to sharing the gospel, communicating the gospel. Now for me, it is the fear of rejection.

And I should say, the fear of rejection cripples me really well. A few years ago, at a local India festival, Calvary sent a team to share the gospel with the festival goers. A dear brother of mine, Richard, and I, we planned to serve together. And I reached the venue a few hours before the others thinking that I would get a head start into communicating the gospel with others. Now I'm at the venue and I see this individual sitting on a bench. You know, at the sight of this individual and the thought that I should walk up to him and start sharing the gospel, a thundering, fury, fury, dark cloud of fear just dropped upon me. And my heart started pounding so hard that I felt it was going to jump out of the window. Excuse me, jump out of my chest, the window. I was so afraid of rejection and I paced back and forth contemplating whether I should go to this person and talk to him. Also thinking, why in the world am I here? Oh, wait a second. I'm the pastor of outreach. I should be here.

But that didn't help the fear though. I paced back and forth and finally I mustered all my courage that I could and I walk up to this person. I take a gospel track from my back pocket and I said, hey, how are you doing?

Have you seen one of these before? And he says, nope, thank you. Go away. I felt so defeated. I felt so inadequate. I wish that the Lord came back at that very moment and took me back to heaven.

I also thought, you know what? Forget this. Let me go back home, sit on my couch and sip on a cup of coffee and reflect on my inadequacy. It took me 45 minutes of walking and praying to recover from this paralysis caused by the fear of rejection.

I know fear. But what do we do? What did the first century believers do? They prayed. Turn with me to Acts chapter four and let's read verse 31. Acts chapter four, verse 31. And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with what?

With boldness. Also look at Acts chapter four, verse 13. Now, when they saw the boldness of Peter and John and perceived that they were uneducated common men, they were astonished.

Wait a second. This is Peter. This is the same individual who denied the Lord Jesus three times before his crucifixion.

Where did he get this boldness? Go to Acts chapter four, verse eight. Then Peter filled with the Holy Spirit.

God empowers his people with supernatural boldness, but he also empowers his people through supernatural gifts. Let us turn back to Acts chapter eight and let's read verses 34 and 35. Acts chapter eight, verses 34 and 35. And the eunuch said to Philip, about whom, I ask you, does the prophet say this?

About himself or about someone else? Then Philip opened his mouth and beginning with this scripture, he told him the good news about Jesus. Now, how was Philip able to do this? How was Philip able to start with this scripture, the Old Testament, Isaiah 53, and talk about Jesus? But remember, in Acts chapter two, verse 42, we read that all the believers devoted themselves to the apostles' teachings.

Philip was prepared for this. He was taught under the best expository preaching that there is. And what Philip learned when the church was gathered, he used when the church was scattered. Do you realize that you and I are being prepared Sunday after Sunday by strong expository preaching at Calvary, Bible study after Bible study, ALG after ALG, for what purpose? To communicate the gospel. We must, what we learn when we gather, we must use when we scatter. Turn also with me to Ephesians chapter four, verse 11.

Ephesians chapter four, verse 11. And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, for what purpose? To equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ. Gifted teachers are given so you and I can learn the word of God. Gifted shepherds are given so you and I can learn to live godly, holy lives. Gifted evangelists are given so that you and I can learn how to communicate the gospel with others.

Now, I understand that not many are gifted evangelists, but every authentic follower of Jesus is called to be a witness for Christ and communicate the gospel. The Lord of all creation, the living God, will supernaturally empower you. Do you lack boldness to communicate the gospel? Please don't succumb to fear and retreat. Get down on your knees and pray. And the Lord will give you supernatural boldness.

He will. Now, when it comes to communicating the gospel, do you feel paralyzed like a deer in the headlights, not knowing what to do or what to say? We want to help you. We want to equip you. Now, God has blessed Calvary with phenomenal evangelists like Pastor Caswell and the others, who are well capable of equipping you, well capable of helping you to communicate the gospel clearly, effectively, and intentionally.

So what have we learned so far? We saw that those who were scattered from Jerusalem in the first century were God's powerful instruments as He sovereignly used them, as He strategically placed them, as He supernaturally empowered them for what? To communicate the gospel. To communicate the gospel. We who are authentic followers of Jesus can also be used as God's powerful instrument.

Do you know why? Because He uses us sovereignly. He has already placed us strategically. He will empower us supernaturally.

To do what? In obedience to the Great Commission, following the leading of the Holy Spirit, to be intentional in communicating the gospel. So what is the gospel? The gospel is this, that all human beings, every single one of us, have sinned and broken God's perfect law, making us utterly sinful and unclean, that an infinitely holy God and a perfect judge has to send us away. Just like dirty water cannot be used but thrown away, God has to throw sinful people away, send them away. But in God's amazing love and grace, He sent Jesus to die, the perfect Savior, to die on the cross for your sins, for my sins, for the sins of the world, that whoever would believe in Jesus Christ will be forgiven, will be cleansed, will be made new and be used for His purposes and to be with Him forever.

You know why? Because Jesus didn't die and stay dead. He rose again on the third day, victoriously giving us this hope of eternal life. Now I realize there might be several who've come to Calvary for the very first time or have never heard this message before and those online. Do you know the Savior?

Do you have this intimate relationship with God, your Creator, through the perfect Savior Jesus Christ? Now see, there is no one else in this entire universe who can save you or save me or save anyone from the divine punishment for your sins, for there is no name other than Jesus Christ that has been given unto men that they may call and be saved. If you do not know this Savior, Jesus Christ, please don't leave this place without speaking to one of the pastors or the deacons or the elders. We would love to explain the gospel to you. And those attending online, if you've never accepted Christ as your Lord and Savior, please reach out to your host on livestream. We would love to explain the gospel to you.

Now to those who are authentic followers of Jesus Christ, would you follow the example of Philip and would you be intentional, especially in your neighborhood, to communicate the gospel to those around you? Now I realize that there are many at Calvary who are already doing this. And I want to praise and thank God for you. And I pray that God would continue to use you as a powerful instrument for His mission.

But there are many others who struggle to be intentional, who are fearful, who are discouraged. We want to help you. We want to equip you. We are very excited to introduce to you a new ministry, one of the ministries that can help you be intentional to communicate the gospel this far and beyond, especially in your neighborhood. We are calling it Be a Light. Now the Lord commands every authentic follower of Jesus to shine his light and not hide it under a basket. What does it mean to shine the light of Christ? To show Christ and to share Christ. Be a Light is a ministry that will equip you and encourage you to show the love of Christ and communicate the gospel intentionally, effectively, and organically. Be a Light utilizes a tool.

And you can see the tool up on the screen. This tool is called blesseveryhome.com, which is built on a mapping directory. This mapping directory uses the public information sources and public census data, and it gives you, once you sign up, the names and the addresses of your neighbors and will remind you to pray for them regularly. As you pray, God will open up the door to care for them. Now, Be a Light also adopts a very simple yet effective strategy of pray, care, share, disciple. Pray, care, share, disciple. Like I said, as you pray for your neighbors, the Lord will open up doors to care for them. Once you care for them, you plan to share the gospel with them. And when the Lord touches their hearts, opens their hearts, and gives them a desire to follow Him, you will disciple them.

Please don't fret. We will provide you all the resources and the training that you would need to follow this strategy. Now, there is also a way in the tool, in the Be a Light ministry, to let others in the Be a Light ministry to know what the Lord is doing in your neighborhood through you. I believe this will be a tremendous encouragement for others to continue as they pray, care, share, and disciple. Do you desire to be used by God as a powerful instrument in your neighborhood? Sign up to Be a Light.

Did I tell you already? We will provide you with all the training and the resources that you need to be effective. Now, when Pastor Cashwell and I, when we proposed this ministry to Dr. Monroe, he was very excited because it helps us to be intentional and strategic. And we did a trial run with Pastor Cashwell's ALG. We already started seeing results as they started praying for their neighbors. And one of Pastor Cashwell's neighbors is going to attend their Zoom meeting tonight for their ALG. Can you imagine the impact that Calvary can make in Charlotte and the surrounding areas when we start praying for our neighbors? And when we start being intentional and strategically reach out to our neighbors to communicate the Gospel? All you need to do to be a part of this ministry is send that text to the number that you see on the screen.

If you don't want to send a text, there is the link on the website as well, and it gives you the information. Once you send the text, we will get in touch with you this week and let you know, give you more information about the upcoming trainings and how to be a part of this ministry in the fall and beyond. Now we're going to pray in a bit. I want us to reflect on what we heard from the Word of God. God sovereignly uses you to communicate the Gospel. God strategically, He has already strategically placed you in a neighborhood where you can communicate the Gospel. God will supernaturally empower you to communicate the Gospel. I want us to spend a few moments in silent prayer, reflect on that and ask God to reveal, impress on your heart what He wants you to do. If it is the case that you want to be a part of Be A Light Ministry, please send that text.

And you can take this moment to send that text to the number as well. Let's pray. Father, thank you for your word. Thank you for speaking to us through your word.

Thank you for convicting us, yet encouraging us. So we ask you, Lord, that you would move us. Help us to know that you sovereignly use us, that you strategically place us and you supernaturally empower us. So please help us to be intentional, to be strategic, to communicate the Gospel where you have placed us. Challenge us today. Empower us today. Make us your choice instrument in your hands for your mission. For we ask in the majestic, matchless, beautiful name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.