So far in this series (that I didn't plan on doing, that God turned into a series), we have been asking what it means to be a sent church. So week 1, we talked about being tuned in, right? Before we go anywhere for God, we learn to be with God and we listen. Everybody remember that one? Okay, good start.
And then the second week, it was stay tuned. This was the one about interference, right? And that the noise and the distractions in our life can sometimes get in the way of us consistently hearing or listening. And so it's like the dropped phone calls are the ones that, you know, interference happens and you can't get the whole conversation. Why are you laughing, Dee?
And then we took a break last week where we had, um, the Reader's Theatre with Esther. So then now we come to our third instalment, and we are looking at the theme of keeping the signal clear by asking a really practical question. When we are sent out into the real world with real people that are not Christians, what exactly are we supposed to say? Because that's the part that for some of us can sometimes feel unclear, right? We can talk about mission, we can talk about outreach, we can talk about being sent, but when the moment comes when someone actually asks a question Or when an opportunity opens up, what do we say?
So do any of you have a relative that is known for telling family stories? The one who at family get-togethers others try to avoid being alone with because they know the same old storeys are gonna get told?
Hopefully none of you are that person. In my family, that person was my mom. She loved history, both of the world, but when I say world, I actually mean England, which to her was the world. She wasn't really much interested in the rest of the world except how it related to the history of the Brits. And as for Canada, she would just like, "Pfft, there's no history.
This country's barely started." So she was ironically very Britishly snobby, having been born in China. So anyway, as I say, she loved history. And that was most vividly understood in her family history stories. The way she would tell a tale would be a very long winding road with many detours. So many, in fact, that we often forgot what the actual destination was until it seemed like hours later she would get to the part about the person that she had originally started the storey about.
Unfortunately for Mom, we kids started making a break for it as soon as she started in on a story. Or we would roll our eyes because we had already heard it all before many times over. Alas, after Mom passed away, we all realised how little we actually remember of her stories. We found boxes and boxes of pictures which have names of distant family members on the back, and none of us can remember who they are or how they are connected to our family. And even the things that we thought we knew for sure, like how they came to arrive in Canada from China, we actually are not so sure about, 'cause if you ask any one of the 6 of us who are left how Mom and Dad got here, you would hear 6 different accounts.
So why didn't we listen better when Mom was telling us our own family stories? Was it a lack of interest? Not exactly. We wanted to know, but we didn't want to be taken down all these detours along the way. We wanted to know how it impacted us as individuals and as our family as a whole.
Hearing about people we didn't know or have any connection with didn't really hold our interest because it wasn't meaningful and it didn't feel personal. When listening to stories, we want the highlights. We want the parts that matter, the moments that shape the future, and how what you're hearing still matters today. Stories draw people in. Stories help people to see how and where they fit into the bigger picture.
And that's exactly what we see Paul doing in Acts 13.
So Paul and Barnabas arrive in Antioch. They go to the synagogue. They are invited to speak. And Paul stands up. And he doesn't start with a debate.
He doesn't start with accusations. He doesn't start with, "Here's everything that you're doing wrong." He tells a story. He starts where they are. So Paul begins with the storey that the people already know. So verses 16 to 22: Standing up, Paul motioned with his hand and said, "Fellow Israelites, and you Gentiles who worship God, listen to me.
The God of the people of Israel chose our ancestors. He made the people prosper during their stay in Egypt." With mighty power he led them out of that country. For about 40 years he endured their conduct in the wilderness, and he overthrew 7 nations in Canaan, giving their land to his people as their inheritance. And all this took about 450 years. After this God gave them judges until the time of Samuel the prophet.
Then the people asked for a king, and he gave them Saul son of Kish of the tribe of Benjamin, who ruled for 40 years. After removing Saul, he made David their king. God testified concerning him, "I have found David, son of Jesse, a man after my own heart. He will do everything I want him to do." So Paul talks about God choosing Israel, leading them out of Egypt, being patient with them in the wilderness, raising up judges, giving them a king. He walks through their history.
Why?
Well, he begins with Israel's storey because it's the storey of God's covenant work that leads to Jesus. And it's the storey that the Jewish listeners already know. Now for the Gentiles present, it is the storey that they are being invited into. Now these Gentiles were known as God-fearers. They were Gentiles who were attracted to Jewish worship.
They believed in the God of Israel, they attended the synagogue, and had some familiarity with Jewish scriptures and traditions. So while they would not have had the same relationship to Israel's history as the Jewish listeners did, they would have appreciated it as the storey of the God that they had come to worship and the faith tradition that they were being drawn into. And of course they wouldn't have been submerged in the scriptures as their Jewish counterparts had grown up being, but they would have known the basics: that there was one God who was the creator, They would have had a general knowledge of Israel's relationship with God. They were most likely familiar with the storeys of Abraham and Moses, the Exodus and the prophets, and they would have understood that Israel was waiting for God's promised Messiah. They may have heard these storeys regularly through synagogue worship, scripture readings, and teachings.
So Paul's approach is actually quite strategic. He does not begin with something that's completely unfamiliar. He begins with the shared foundation already present in the room. He's essentially saying, "You already know the storey of God's faithfulness. Let me show you where that storey has been heading all along." So Paul demonstrates that sharing faith is not about starting with a lecture or trying to overwhelm somebody with information.
He begins with a place of connection. So for us today, the equivalent might not be starting with Bible history or quoting scripture, because many people we meet don't have that background. Instead, we might begin with questions like, "Do you ever look at the world around you and wonder if there's more to life than this?" Or, "Have you ever felt like you were searching for something that you couldn't quite name?" Or, "What do you think that gives life meaning?" Paul's principle is not always start with Israel's history, The principle is start where people are, find a point of connection, and then show how Jesus meets them there. As Paul isn't just telling a story, he's helping people discover that the storey of God's work is also the answer to the deepest questions that they are already carrying. This is how he connects with them.
He starts where they are. And that matters. Because when we think about sharing our faith, we often feel like we need to say something really impressive. Like we need to be able to fully explain our theology of salvation. But think about it.
If you feel like you might struggle trying to explain it, what do you think it's like for someone who doesn't even have a basic understanding of God or the Bible to try and understand it from you? If I were trying to learn the basics of bookkeeping and someone started teaching me by explaining advanced calculus, I wouldn't learn anything, right? I would just feel lost. I might feel embarrassed, and I'd probably decide that I want nothing to do with bookkeeping at all. That's why Paul doesn't start there.
He starts somewhere familiar. He finds the common ground and he begins with what they already know: God choosing Israel, leading them out of Egypt, being patient in the wilderness, raising up judges, giving them a king. He walks through their history. By starting where they are. And in doing that, he opens the door for them to see where the storey is leading and how they fit into it.
So then he stays focused on Jesus. So verses 23 to 37. 'Cause now this is where Paul shifts. From this man's descendants, God has brought to Israel the Saviour Jesus, as he promised. Before the coming of Jesus, John preached repentance and baptism to all the people of Israel.
As John was completing his work, he said, "Who do you suppose I am? I am not the one you're looking for, but there is one coming after me whose sandals I am not worthy to untie." Fellow children of Abraham and you God-fearing Gentiles, it is to us that this message of salvation has been sent. The people of Jerusalem and their rulers did not recognise Jesus, yet in condemning him they fulfilled the words of the prophets, that are read every Sabbath. They found— though they found no proper ground for a death sentence, they asked Pilate to have him executed. When they had carried out all that was written about him, they took him down from the cross and laid him in a tomb.
But God raised him from the dead, and for many days he was seen by those who had travelled with him from Galilee to Jerusalem. They are now his witnesses to our people. We tell you the good news: what God promised our ancestors he has fulfilled for us, their children, by raising up Jesus, as it is written in the second Psalm, "You are my Son, today I have become your Father." God raised him from the dead so that he will never be subject to decay. As God has said, "I will give you the holy and sure blessings promised to David." So it is also stated elsewhere, "You will not let your Holy One see decay." Now when David had served God's purpose in his own generation, he fell asleep. He was buried with his ancestors and his body decayed.
But the one whom God raised from the dead did not see decay. So you see, now Paul changes the direction of the conversation. Now that he has opened the door for his audience to see where the storey is leading and how they fit into it, he shifts a little bit now to tell them that this storey he has been talking about actually leads to someone. Jesus. So he speaks about John the Baptist preparing the way, about Jesus being rejected, crucified, and laid in a tomb, and then everything turns on these words: But God raised him from the dead.
That's the centre. No side issues, no distractions, not trying to say everything all at once. Unlike the way my mom would tell a family story, Paul stays focused. Because he knew the right approach. He knew that if we wander down into every possible topic, good ones even, or related ones, we're gonna lose people.
So he stays on track and he keeps moving toward Jesus. And he speaks to what people are really seeking. Okay, so now we're going to hear how Paul makes it personal, starting at verse 38. Therefore, my friends, I want you to know that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you. Through him everyone who believes is set free from every sin, a justification you were not able to obtain under the Law of Moses.
Take care that the prophet— what the prophets have said does not happen to you. Look, you scoffers, wonder and perish, for I am going to do something in your days that you would never believe, even if someone told you. Through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you. So let's just focus on the first 2 verses here. This is where we see that Paul doesn't leave the storey in the past.
What happened before is important, yes, but Jesus is more than history. He's the living God. And this is key to the message that we share with people because they don't just want to know history. They can brush that off, right? "Doesn't have anything to do with me." Or they could just sit there, roll their eyes like we would do with my mom, and just stop listening.
And it's one of the reasons I would always ask kids that were in Sunday school that when I asked them to explain their faith and they would tell me exactly what they had been taught, that Jesus lived and he died on the cross and rose again. I said, okay, now that happened. How does that relate to you today?
Right? That's the key. Because people are not just interested in knowing that something happened in the past, and they're not interested in just hearing theology. That keeps it at a head knowledge level. If someone is going to come into a relationship with Jesus, the truth needs to affect them more deeply.
It needs to be more than just knowing facts about Jesus. They need to know that he has extended a personal invitation to them. An invitation to forgiveness and to freedom and to new life. His people are searching, even if they don't have the language for it. Not just for answers, but for freedom.
Freedom from guilt, freedom from patterns that they can't seem to break, freedom from the sense that something just isn't right inside. And this is the invitation that Paul announces, and then he contrasts it with the law, saying something radical. He tells them that what the law could not do, Jesus has done. Now Paul's audience would have understood what he meant by the Law of Moses, but most people we're talking to today won't have that background. So explanations about not living under the law can wait.
But we can make it more relatable by starting with the idea that we all have a sense of what's right. We know how we should live, We know the kind of people we want to be, and that awareness can show us where we fall short. And when it does, it often leaves people carrying guilt or shame or that quiet sense that we're not exactly who we should be. But awareness can't free us. It can't change us.
Jesus does. Through him there is forgiveness, not just being told that we're wrong, but being made right. Through him there is freedom, not just knowing that there is better, but being able to live differently. And through him there is new life, not just trying harder, but actually being changed. This is the good news, that through Jesus God meets us right where we are and begins to do what we could never do on our own.
And as we wrap up, I want to acknowledge something honestly. For many of us, the idea of sharing our faith in Jesus can feel daunting. Even talking with people who aren't Christians about anything can push some of us outside of our comfort zone. But listen to how the Gospel of Matthew describes this moment. Then the 11 disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go.
When they saw him, they worshipped him, but some doubted. All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, and surely I am with you always to the very end of the age. So this call is both challenging and deeply encouraging, because even the disciples, even those who walked with Jesus, who knew him best, even they had doubts. And yet they still worshipped him.
So what can we take away from this? That we don't need to have all the answers. In fact, we may even still have a lot of questions, but that doesn't disqualify us. We are not called to be impressive. We are called to be witnesses.
Not experts, not perfect, not people with everything figured out. Witnesses. And what does a witness do? A witness simply tells what they have seen, what they have heard, and what they have experienced. And that's what we see Paul doing.
He shows us how to start where people are, find common ground, stay focused on Jesus, speak into what people are already seeking. And here's the key: tell what you know. You don't need to pretend that you know everything. In fact, when we try to go beyond our own experience, we often lose clarity. But when we speak from what we have seen and experienced, people recognise something real.
And we can trust this, that God is already at work ahead of us. He prepares the way, he places the people in our lives, and as we pay attention to him, he will show us who to speak to and use our storey in ways that we could never plan. Because when we speak honestly about what Jesus has done in, in us, it helps others to begin what they themselves have been searching for. So now I have a little role-play exercise for you to try. Find a partner or a group of 3.
So we're gonna play "Can You Tell the Story?" So let me ask you a couple of simple but important questions. Can you tell the storey of Jesus simply? Not perfectly, not with every detail, but clearly enough that someone could understand who he is, what he's done, and why it matters. And maybe even more personally, can you tell what he has done in your life? And can you do all this in 2 minutes or less?
The best question. You don't need perfect words, you just need a real story. What has Jesus done in your life? Where has he met you? Where has he forgiven you?
What has he changed in you? Where has he been faithful? That's your story. Okay? And when you place your storey inside his story, that's where it becomes powerful.
So we're going to practise with each other. So I'm gonna set my timer for 2 minutes. You can choose who goes first. And then we will repeat so everybody gets a turn. Okay, are you ready?
On your marks, get set, go! Go.
Did anyone find it challenging?
Do you, those that did not find it challenging, do you think you would be as confident with someone who's not sitting next to you that you know very well and you know is already a believer? Someone that you don't know? And there's some were like, I can do it in less than 2 minutes. That's good, but the reason for the 2 minutes was developed by people much wiser with much more experience than all of us. The reason for 2 minutes is that it is felt that if you are trying to share your faith in less than that time, it comes across as you just throwing information at the person and it's not a conversational type.
They just feel like you're And so it has— these people have spent years developing the best ways of sharing the gospel around the world, and so they have developed a whole plan, but its basic premise is that you should be able to share your storey in the bigger storey of Jesus in a 2-minute time frame. And that's why it's not expected that in 2 minutes you're going to explain everything about Jesus, because you can't. All you're trying to get, all you're trying to communicate is the general big storey of God and Jesus and how that relates, how that has impacted you in your life. Because as you say, if you could go through the whole Bible with them, but they're not A, going to understand most of it, and B, it's not going to be relatable. Your story, God brings you to people because your storey is going to be relatable to the person that you're sharing with.
So for those that think, okay, that was okay. I could do that. That was no problem. But maybe with someone that I don't know well, it could be more difficult. I have a really simple way to get the key points out there.
This is not to say that I'm telling you, this is how you share the entire message of the gospel. Okay, these are just for those of us that might get tongue-tied when it's somebody that we don't know well, but we're feeling that nudge to share and we don't know what to say, where do we start? Okay, so you need to remember 3 things, and I know that you know what these 3 things are. God, Jesus, us. Okay, so God, you start, the storey starts with him.
God made us, he loves us, and he's been at work since the beginning. Jesus, the turning point. Jesus came, he died for our sins, and God raised him from the dead. And then us, that's the invitation. So through Jesus— sorry— we're offered forgiveness.
Through Jesus we can have new life, and we are invited to trust and follow him. That's it. So God made us, Jesus loves us, and we're invited to follow him. One sentence to remember. And that can be your takeoff point into a whole conversation.
Okay? Now, at some point in time this week, you may find yourself in a conversation. Maybe someone asks you a question. Oh, I think somebody's locked out. Maybe you sense a quiet nudge from the Spirit.
Maybe it's not so quiet. Those of us that resist, maybe it's not so quiet. And in that moment you think, "I don't know what to say." Now you do. God made us, Jesus saves us, and we are invited to follow him. That's your starting point when your mind goes blank.
Because when people are listening, they're not looking for every detail. They're not asking for a long explanation. They're listening for what matters. They're wondering how it connects to them, and they're asking, "What does this mean for my life?" So keep it simple, keep it personal, help them to see why it matters. And if you need a little courage to actually speak, I'll share with you what my favourite New Testament verse is.
Romans 1:16: "For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes, first to the Jew, then to the Gentile." This is what I come back to when I feel hesitant, when I start to worry about how someone else might respond. Because it reminds me that it's not about me being accepted or rejected. It's about the opportunity to point someone to Jesus and to the life that he offers. Right? Our hearts need to be breaking for people that don't know Jesus.
Because we know that he's the only one that can repair that brokenness and that hurt and that, that lack in their life.
So being given the opportunity to point someone to Jesus and to the life that he offers is an amazing privilege, and that is the part of the storey that really, really matters.
Let's pray.
God, we thank you that you are such an amazing God. We thank you that you have given the invitation of salvation to everyone with such a simple request to believe. And so, God, we just know that we are called to share the good news. We are called to Let people know that this invitation is available to everyone. All that is required is that they turn to you and that they believe, and then that relationship can start.
The repentance happens, the forgiveness is there, the guilt and the shame can be pushed aside, and new life begins. So God, just give each one of us a heart for the lost, a motivation, a desire, a need to share the good news to those that you bring us into contact with. And then give us the boldness and the words and most of all the love and the heart. To share that there is a God, that he loves us, that Jesus came, that Jesus died, that he rose again all out of love, and that there is an invitation to new life. And we just thank you that this is true.
In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
