SCRIPTURE: Acts 18:1-28 ESV
SPEAKER: Josh Hanson
DATE: 8-14-22
As always it’s a joy to be with all of you this weekend at Gateway Church. And there’s one thing I want you to know — and this is true if you’re worshiping with us for the first time or are joining us at our North Main campus — I want you to know that God loves you and that I love you too.
INTRODUCTION
We’re continuing our series in the book of Acts today. And you’re going to hear a familiar theme in many of these sermons. Last week I mentioned names of folks in our congregation who are part of a larger group who have really stepped up as members of this faith family over the past few years. Without this group the ministry of Gateway Church would not be moving forward. And — today — we’re going to see why this is true. Why the ministry of Gateway Church moves forward only when all of us are doing our part.
We’re going to see that ministry isn’t simply work that I do — it isn’t just the responsibility of the staff or the elders or deacons. Today — we’ll see — that ministry is the responsibility of all who profess faith in Jesus Christ. Because — to be a Christian — is to be in ministry — and this means that ministry requires teamwork.
Now — teamwork is something we’re all familiar with in some way or another. Many of us think of sports teams — though there are great teams in music, in business, in the military. But there’s something about sports that unites individuals together like few other activities.
- There’s the 1995 Dallas Cowboys with Emmitt Smith, Troy Aikman, Micahel Irvin, and Deion Sanders.
- The 1986 Lakers with Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, James Worthy, and Michael Cooper.
- And their great rival — the Boston Celtics — with Bird, McHale, Parish, and Walton.
- The 1984 San Francisco 49ers with Joe Montana, Ronnie Lott, Dwight Clark, and Roger Craig.
- And the list could go on with the 1978 PIttsburgh Steelers, the 1975 Cincinnati Reds, the 1985 Chicago Bears, and — if we stay in Chicago — the Michael Jordan led Bulls of the 1990s.
Each of these teams were made up of individuals who were different from each other. They came from different backgrounds, had different experiences in life, but they united together as a team because of a common goal: they wanted to win. And — in wanting the team to win — the individuals made personal sacrifices for the team as no one wanted to be the weak link. Thus they showed up early, worked hard, played hard, held each other accountable, and cared about each other — all so they could win together.
But for every successful team — there are teams that had an equally talented group of individuals who didn’t work together.
They didn’t make the sacrifices — they assumed someone else was the weakest link on the team — they didn’t work as hard as they could or give it their all on the field or court. Some allowed their differences to divide them or cause them to not care about each other. Others saw their teammates slacking and didn’t bother to speak up. Regardless of the reason — the individuals never came together to be an actual team even though they had all the talent needed to win.
Now — consider the local church. I think it’d be hard to argue against the church being a team. So the question for us is: What kind of team are we?
- Do we represent the qualities of those great sports teams mentioned earlier? People of different backgrounds and life experiences who’ve united together because of a common goal: to go and make disciples of all nations — which is the mission Jesus has given us.
- Are we a people who make sacrifices for the good of the team — this congregation — personal sacrifices because of a love and commitment to Jesus Christ and the people we’re connected to in this congregation?
- What does it even mean for a church to be a great team and how are each of us helping or hindering us from being a great church team?
- This is what we’ll be asking ourselves as we return to our verses in Acts.
And what I want to specifically highlight — from our verses — are some different ways we see the early Christians being great teammates. Because — just like any sports team — not everyone can be the quarterback or the point guard or the first baseman. We each have a role to play and — instead of comparing ourselves to others on the team — we each have the opportunity to serve in our role faithfully — while being thankful and even rejoicing because of how God is using others on our team.
THE CHURCH LEADERS
Alright — so let’s look at these examples of church teammates from our verses. And the first group we’re looking at — will be highlighted again in a sermon in a few weeks. These are folks on the church team that we’ve looked at time and time again in the book of Acts. In our verses — it’s the group made up of Paul, Timothy, and Silas — the leadership of the church team.
And — here in Corinth — we find Paul doing what we seem to always find Paul doing, right? Because he’s got a very specific role to fulfill on the team. His role is one of proclamation — of preaching — of declaring and defending that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world. And — just as he’s done in other towns — here in Corinth Paul reasons with the Jews — he proclaims to them that Jesus is the Christ. And — he does this not only with the Jews — for we find Paul proclaiming the gospel to the Gentiles as well. And many believe and are baptized — and that’s the win for the team — making disciples and baptizing them.
Now — one observation I want to point out to you is how our verses indicate that Paul was in need of some reassurance — because — leadership is never easy. In verse 9 — we read, “And the Lord said to Paul one night in a vision, “Do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent, 10 for I am with you, and no one will attack you to harm you, for I have many in this city who are my people.” 11 And he (that’s Paul) stayed a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.” (Acts 18:9-11 ESV)
Even the apostle Paul needed encouragement to keep going. Even Paul needed to be told “Don’t be afraid, but go on speaking — keep proclaiming the gospel — keep teaching God’s Word.” Even Paul needed the reminder that the Lord was with him.
Two things. First, if you ever feel like you need assurance to keep going — or ever find yourself fearful and in need of encouragement to remain faithful — if you’re ever in need of hearing the sweet news that the Lord is with you now — just as he’s always been and will always be — know that you’re in good company. For Paul — an apostle of Jesus Christ — one who spread the gospel throughout the known world — one who penned half of the New Testament — Paul’s someone who knows exactly what you’re experiencing.
It’s easy — at times — to make Paul and others in the Bible out to be superheroes who never flinch in the face of danger. Appreciate their faithfulness — for sure — and be inspired by their commitment to the gospel. But know that they were men and women who struggled with the same doubts and fears and troubles that we face.
And — second — know that the leaders of Gateway are always in need of your encouragement to keep leading and shepherding this congregation faithfully. When’s the last time you’ve thanked or encouraged a staff member, elder, or deacon? These men and women make many personal sacrifices — they show up early and stay late — they’re doing much ministry for the good of your soul.
And one sign that a church is a great team is that there’s a seeming never-ending supply of encouragement and gratefulness for one another — a thankfulness that’s expressed to each other — especially to those called to lead. What can you do to encourage the leaders of Gateway?
Now — in addition to his preaching ministry — Paul was doing a lot of discipleship and leadership development. We’ll meet some of these folks — in a moment — but know that he’s spending quite a bit of his time preparing future leaders of the church. We’ve seen him do this with Barnabas and Silas and Timothy. And — in our verses — we see others come under his leadership to be discipled and trained as the next generation of church leadership.
Paul didn’t have time to spend with everyone and — his role on the team — was to invest in the future leaders of the church.
Here at Gateway — we’re blessed with a group of faithful men and women who serve in leadership. There’s the elders of Gateway — men who spiritually protect and shepherd the congregation. There’s the staff — whose role is to equip, train, and resource the members of Gateway to do the work of ministry. And there are our deacons — our lead servants. The elders, staff, deacons, and church members all have a role to play on our church team.
The question for all of us is first — which role is mine to fill — are you an elder, a staff member, a deacon, or a church member? Leading to the second question: Am I fulfilling my role on the church team?
Elders spiritually protect and shepherd the congregation. The way we elders describe our role is in a vision statement we have for ourselves.
Our primary responsibility, as elders, is to represent the mind of Christ as we spiritually lead Gateway Church. We’re to collectively discern his will for Gateway in all our decisions. Additionally, we’re called to be men who…
1) study, learn, and teach the Word of God,
2) shepherd the sick, lonely, elderly, and those in need,
3) disciple the children and adults of the church and seek after those who become inactive,
4) guard against dangers to the faith and life of those under our care,
5) warn, admonish, and reclaim those who stray and, when necessary, enact church discipline,
6) and seek out and raise up new leaders within the church.
We didn’t come up with this on our own — this is what our church constitution — what’s called the Book of Order — tells us is our role as your elders. If you’ve ever wondered what the elders do — this is our role on the team.
- The elders — collectively — represent the mind of Christ for this church.
- Together — we seek Christ’s vision for what we’re to be doing.
- This isn’t a one man at the top of the org chart kind of led team — the vision and direction of Gateway isn’t any one person’s responsibility or authority — it’s the responsibility of the elders together.
- As is the teaching of God’s Word, and the shepherding of the people, and the discipleship of the next generation, and the guarding against false doctrines, and the disciplining those who are ensnared by sin, as is the raising up the next generation of church leadership.
- If the church was a football team — your elders — together — are the head coach.
Now, we’ve yet to do the work of putting into bullet point form the roles of staff, deacons, and church members — but I’m sure you can grasp their roles easily.
Church staff are to equip, train, and resource the church members to do the work of ministry. The staff’s primary role is not to do the ministry work, but to serve the church members like resource personnel — making sure church members have what they need to do the ministry work of the church. Again — if we were a football team — the staff would be like assistant coaches.
The deacons are our lead servants. They assist the staff and elders to make sure the ministry work — that the staff has equipped the congregation to do — gets done. Deacons are a fairly new leadership role at Gateway — and we’re slowly expanding their responsibilities as the group gains more members. But the deacons are key in both freeing up the elders — so we can focus on our role of shepherding and protecting — while also freeing up the staff so they’re able to equip, train, and resource the church members to do the ministry work of the church. If the church was a football team — deacons would be all of the team personnel who assist the coaches — the nutritionists, the equipment managers, the people who make sure the field is ready to go and so on.
And that leaves us with our church members — the vast majority of you — the key “doers of ministry” on our church team. Church members — here at Gateway — are those who commit to following in their Savior’s footsteps who came “to serve — not to be served.”
And the vast majority of this church team — or to use a biblical metaphor — the vast majority of this church body — are members who are called to serve one another — members whose role is to do the work of ministry — individuals who’ve been called by Christ to make disciples of all nations. Church members are the players out on the field — in the game.
To put this all in perspective, Gateway Church has 14 elders on our team. We’ve got 18 deacons. We’ve got 23 staff members — that’s full and part time. But — be amazed by this — we’ve got 698 church members. That’s not including regular attenders who are deeply involved in the church. We have nearly 700 people who’ve formally committed to being on this church team.
Just think of all the ministry we can do with every one of our members fulfilling their role on our church team? What kind of church might we be — what kind of team — what kind of positive impact on our community — what kind of global reach can we have — if all of us — who are a part of this church team — fulfill our unique role?
Now listen — this isn’t gonna be a “here’s where the pastor tries to make me feel guilty for not doing my part” part of the sermon. I’m not gonna do that — I’ll leave that between you and God. I just want us all to dream of what we could and should be as a church team. And to those of you who are being faithful in your calling on the team — thank you. As Paul will later write to these Christians in Corinth, I say to you, “I rejoice, because I have complete confidence in you.” You’re doing wonderful ministry work and I’m thankful that you’re part of this team. And I can’t wait to see what God does in and through this church because of you.
THE HUSBAND AND WIFE TEAM
Now let’s move from Paul and talk about the husband and wife team — in our verses — Priscilla and Aquila — and their role on the team. We’re back in verse 1. “After this Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. 2 And he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to leave Rome. (And after the controversy in Corinth had come to a conclusion we read…) 18 After this, Paul stayed many days longer and then took leave of the brothers and set sail for Syria, and with him Priscilla and Aquila. At Cenchreae he had cut his hair, for he was under a vow. 19 And they came to Ephesus, and he left them there, but he himself went into the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews. 20 When they asked him to stay for a longer period, he declined. 21 But on taking leave of them he said, “I will return to you if God wills,” and he set sail from Ephesus. (Paul leaves Priscilla and Aquila in Ephesus — we know this because they’re in Ephesus when Apollos arrives — who we’ll look at next. But — for now — notice how they help Apollos. We’re in the middle of verse 26…) when Priscilla and Aquila heard him (that’s Apollos), they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately.” (Acts 18:1-2a, 18-21, 26b ESV)
Now — this husband and wife team is mentioned by Paul in a few of his writings. For example, in his closing remarks to the Christians in Rome, he writes, “Give my greetings to Priscilla and Aquila, my co-workers in the ministry of Christ Jesus. 4 In fact, they once risked their lives for me. I am thankful to them, and so are all the Gentile churches. 5 Also give my greetings to the church that meets in their home.” (Romans 16:3-5a NLT)
Paul calls this couple his co-workers in ministry. This is one of Paul’s favorite ways to describe others in ministry. Luke, Timothy, Titus, Mark, and Philemon — all with books of the Bible named after them — Paul calls each of them his co-workers in ministry. His co-laborers — his fellow “Jesus servants” — his ministry teammates. These would be folks who most likely served as elders or deacons in the church — though we don’t see them all being given one of these titles in the Bible. But based on what we read about them — it’s obvious that these folks all had various leadership roles in the church.
Additionally, we see the intimacy of this couple’s relationship with Paul in his description of them. He highlights how they made a significant sacrifice for him. In the verses from Romans Paul says they once risked their lives for him. That’s quite the commitment on their part — a commitment not just to Paul — but to Jesus and his mission.
And — finally — I hope you noticed that Priscilla and Aquila eventually host a church gathering in their home. Paul mentions them doing this — not only in Romans — but in a letter he’ll later write to the Christians in Corinth.
“The churches here in the province of Asia send greetings in the Lord, as do Aquila and Priscilla and all the others who gather in their home for church meetings.” (1 Corinthians 16:19 NLT)
Hosting a church in their home is a pretty significant responsibility to say the least showing us that this couple was all in when it came to being part of the team.
Now — let’s connect some biblical dots together. Take the verse we just read — Paul writing to the Corinthians. He’s writing to them while he’s with the church that meets in Aquila and Priscilla’s home. Any guesses as to what town this church is located in? Ephesus! Apparently, when Paul leaves them in Ephesus — Aquila and Priscilla stay. And they either start — or help to gather together — the believers in this town — as a church. And — years later — Paul will send Timothy to go lead this church in Ephesus.
Here’s my point. These aren’t just names in our Bibles. These are relationships. Partnerships. Teammates working together. And look at all of the connections between Paul and these folks that he’s helped to raise up to lead in the church. Paul can’t do it all — but man can a lot be done when everyone’s doing their part on the team.
And — not only does ministry stuff get done — but love for one another increases. For Paul and these people are a team that loves each other.
It’s not just about what they’re accomplishing — their ministry work is ultimately about people — about relationships — including their love for each other — that’s the win. In fact — some of Paul’s last words ever written are, “Give my greetings to Priscilla and Aquila…” (2 Timothy 4:19a NLT)
He’s in prison and as he’s penning his final letter to Timothy — the pastor of the church in Ephesus — that may still be meeting in Priscilla and Aquila’s home — he tells Timothy to say hi to this couple who’s part of the same team — a team that loves one another.
One thing I appreciate about many of our couples at Gateway, is how often I find husbands and wives serving together in ministry.
- Just like Priscilla and Aquila, we’ve got husbands and wives who host church gatherings in their homes — what we call Life Groups — couples like Abe and Heagan Sparling, Randy and Kathy MacDonald, Steve and Lisa Towell.
- We’ve got couples who serve our next generation together — like Kevin and Jenny Snyder and Adam and Lauren Hamman.
- Couples who serve on our worship team together — Jim and Sarah Tomlinson and Jeff and Marsha Snare.
- Couples who serve in the cafe or on the welcome team together — like Gary and Janis Wittenmyer, Michael and Michele Jewitt, and Steve and Kara Eberhard.
- Couples who go on local, national, and global missions trips together like Larry and Sandra Tietje, Bill and Karon Foster, and Dick and Greta Shrock.
- By the way — if you’re at North Main right now — some of you know this — but many of you may not — you wouldn’t be in the building you’re gathered in if it wasn’t for the countless hours that Dick Shrock gave to make your campus a reality. I don’t know if he ever “risked his neck” for you all — like Priscilla and Aquila did for Paul — but I saw the building in its original condition. He’s probably got some “I nearly risked my neck for you all” stories he could share.
The couples I’ve mentioned — are imitating Priscilla and Aquila — they’re doing the work of ministry together in our church. And they’re a blessing to all of us.
And I know that not all of us are married — and I’m not wanting to discourage anyone who’s not married by focusing on couples who serve together — Paul was single, after all — I just want to encourage our married couples to do ministry together. You’ll grow closer together as husband and wife — especially spiritually closer together — when you do ministry work together.
THE TEACHABLE
Finally — one last person to highlight — one last teammate from our verses to point out to you — Apollos.
“Now a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was an eloquent man, competent in the Scriptures. 25 He had been instructed in the way of the Lord. And being fervent in spirit, he spoke and taught accurately the things concerning Jesus, though he knew only the baptism of John.
26 He began to speak boldly in the synagogue, but when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately. 27 And when he wished to cross to Achaia, the brothers encouraged him and wrote to the disciples to welcome him. When he arrived, he greatly helped those who through grace had believed, 28 for he powerfully refuted the Jews in public, showing by the Scriptures that the Christ was Jesus.” (Acts 18:24-28 ESV)
Here’s what I appreciate most about Apollos. He’s already doing ministry and — it seems to be going pretty well — yet — he’s teachable. He’s humble enough to know that he doesn’t know everything. Thus he submits himself to the correction of Priscilla and Aquila as they explain to him the way of God more accurately. But that’s not all that impresses me about Apollos. I’m also impressed by how he doesn’t let their correction cause him to second guess his role on the team.
I’m not sure if it’s his personality — his temperament — whatever you want to call it — but his response of being both teachable and eager to keep getting after it — is so encouraging. He’s humble and willing to jump back into ministry after receiving feedback from others.
I’m sure you’ve met someone who wasn’t teachable — not open to feedback or correction. It was their way or the highway. Strange how often the highway’s the better choice, isn’t it? Some of us have personalities that more easily accept feedback from others — while others of us feel like a knife’s been stabbed into our soul when someone offers us feedback of any kind.
We’re such complicated human beings aren’t we? We carry around baggage from our childhood and past relationships making — for some — even the most loving feedback feel like a betrayal. Others hear feedback and it becomes a prison keeping us from making decisions in the future. Others are very open to feedback — but somehow never seem to change because of it.
Again — all of this is why I admire Apollos. He’s already doing ministry. He’s already successful. And when some new folks — who he’s just recently met — take him to the side to correct him — he receives their correction. And the result isn’t him being petrified — he’s eager to be sent out to do more ministry for Jesus!
And that’s what he does. For we read that he greatly helped those who had believed. He goes on to use the Scriptures — which he now understands more accurately — to show people that Jesus is the promised Christ of the Old Testament.
How are you like Apollos? Are you both eager to do ministry and open to receiving feedback from others? If we’re honest — all of us have room to grow in these areas. And — now that we’re being honest with ourselves — how will you work on growing — in either being more eager to do ministry or in being more open to feedback?
May I make two suggestions? What’s one area of ministry that — either you’ve served in in the past or have had an interest in learning more about — but have yet to take a step in that direction? How can you imitate Apollos and step into this ministry work?
Maybe you’re someone who’s currently not serving — how can you help us be a better team by getting off the sideline and out on the field? You can go to our app or website and discover many ways you can help us be a better church team by getting involved in ministry. Imitate Apollos’ eagerness to do ministry.
Here’s my second suggestion. If you’re already serving in a ministry area, what’s one way you can invite feedback from others? Maybe you’re a Life Group leader and you’ve felt like the group’s prayer time has been a dud lately. Why not say, “Group, I’m not sure what’s going on, but I’ve been struggling to lead us in our prayer time. I’m open to any suggestions you have to make our prayer time better.” Wherever and however you serve, there are simple ways to invite feedback from others so you’re modeling the humility we see in Apollos. A humility that will make all of us better teammates as we do ministry together.
CONCLUSION
Just like sports teams — or bands or businesses — there have been great ministry teams throughout history — and — there have been some duds. And it just so happens that what makes great teams great is what makes great church teams great — but with a twist. We’re not playing a game for a trophy. We’re not just trying to make the next big business deal or the next great music album. We’ve got a mission and purpose given to us by Jesus Christ himself.
And the Son of God came to earth to ensure that we’d have all of the resources we need in order to accomplish his mission. A mission we’ve seen the early Christians begin as a team. Where each member of the team — with particular giftings and talents — had a specific role to play. With no role being more or less important than the others — because all roles on the team are equally important — every individual matters — everyone on the team is critical to our success.
And the mission the early church was given has been handed down to us. Two thousand years later and we’ve got the same mission as was first given by Christ: Go and make disciples of all nations. A mission we can’t accomplish on our own as individuals — but as a team — with each one of us doing our part — well — what we can accomplish as a team is yet to be seen. And with the Father, Son, and Spirit leading, guiding, directing, resourcing, and empowering us — I don’t know about you — but I can’t wait to see what we’ll accomplish together. Let’s pray.
PRAYER
Heavenly Father, thank you for your love for your church — for this church — for our church. Help us to love our church like you love us. To be thankful for the work each other is doing and to encourage each other — for we’re all in need of encouragement.
Spirit of God — thank you for the unique calling you have for each of us on this team. Help us to celebrate each other’s successes and carry each other’s weaknesses. All done in love — for our love for one another is key.
And — Jesus — our love for one another is key because it imitates your love for us. The mission you’ve given us is to make disciples of all nations and the evidence that shows the world that we are your disciples is our love for one another. So — as we do the ministry work of making disciples of all nations — may our love for one another be proof of the message we proclaim. It’s in your name that we pray all of these things. Amen.
BENEDICTION
May you go with thankfulness for your church team — encouraging your teammates — as we grow in our love for each other — as we each fulfill our role on this team. Amen.
God loves you. I love you. You are sent.