Did you know that ministry is not just for pastors and missionaries? Ministry is for every follower of Jesus Christ. God has a job for you to do, not only in the general sense but in a specific sense.
God has something special, specific, and significant for you to do.
One of the specific jobs that God had for the Apostle Paul was to travel the ancient Middle-Eastern and European world to tell people that Jesus saves sinners.
As Paul traveled, he encountered People, Places, and Power. Indeed, that’s the title of today’s sermon, “People, Places, and Power.”
The reality is that God’s ministry for you also involves people, places, and power.
You will do ministry that affects people in some way.
You will do ministry in a place or in places.
And, you better be sure that you are doing ministry in the power of the Holy Spirit of God.
Speaking of which, let’s go to God now in prayer and ask Him to provide power for us as we study His Word.
(prayer)
So, let’s dive into our passage and then see what God may have to say to us as we see the people, places, and power that Paul encountered.
First, notice . . .
I. The burden of traveling.
I lived in Kentucky for many years, while my extended family lived back here in Florida. I traveled that 14-hour, 800+ mile journey many times. Let me tell you, sometimes it was a burden to travel.
Yet, I had it so much easier than Paul and his companions. They traveled mostly by foot and sea. There was no cruise control, no air conditioner, no radio, and no navigation system. It was a burden to travel.
Let’s read now about some of their travels. Look at verses 1-6:
1 After the uproar was over, Paul sent for the disciples, encouraged them, and after saying farewell, departed to go to Macedonia. 2 And when he had passed through those areas and offered them many words of encouragement, he came to Greece 3 and stayed three months. The Jews plotted against him when he was about to set sail for Syria, and so he decided to go back through Macedonia. 4 He was accompanied by Sopater son of Pyrrhus from Berea, Aristarchus and Secundus from Thessalonica, Gaius from Derbe, Timothy, and Tychicus and Trophimus from the province of Asia. 5 These men went on ahead and waited for us in Troas, 6 but we sailed away from Philippi after the Festival of Unleavened Bread. In five days we reached them at Troas, where we spent seven days.
There’s more travel in this chapter. Let’s skip down to verses 13-16 (don’t worry, we’ll go back to look at verses 7-12).
13 We went on ahead to the ship and sailed for Assos, where we were going to take Paul on board, because these were his instructions, since he himself was going by land. 14 When he met us at Assos, we took him on board and went on to Mitylene. 15 Sailing from there, the next day we arrived off Chios. The following day we crossed over to Samos, and the day after, we came to Miletus. 16 For Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus to avoid spending time in the province of Asia, because he was hurrying to be in Jerusalem, if possible, for the day of Pentecost.
Ok, that’s a lot of traveling, right? It’s actually hard to keep up with it all.
Here’s a map to show all of the places that they traveled. This is roughly the direction Paul traveled. He was going all over the place.
Paul had places to go, people to see, and a powerful mission from God to accomplish.
It was a burden to travel, but he kept on keeping on because he was answering God’s call on his life.
God may call some of you to travel for ministry. Perhaps God brought some of you here to this area or this specific church because He had ministry for you to do.
For some of you, what God calls you to do may create a burden in your life. It may be difficult at times. However, that does not change God’s calling on your life.
When life gets difficult, God’s people keep moving.
Paul said this in Philippians 3:12–14: “Not that I have already reached the goal or am already perfect, but I make every effort to take hold of it because I also have been taken hold of by Christ Jesus. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and reaching forward to what is ahead, I pursue as my goal the prize promised by God’s heavenly call in Christ Jesus.”
Brothers and sisters, the journey may become a burden, but keep pursuing the goal of God’s heavenly call in Christ Jesus.
Paul was had difficulty, but he kept on doing what God called him to do. So, also, we should keep to the task to which God has called us.
First, we see the burden of traveling.
Second, we see . . .
II. The danger of sleeping.
Now, I’m going to say something that is not meant to hurt your feelings, but I’m just going to say it. I see some of you sleeping while I am preaching. I love you, and you love sleep (I love sleep too, but it’s hard for me to sleep while I preach).
Well, there’s a story about a young man sleeping while someone was preaching. Let’s take a look at it.
I told you we come back to the verses we skipped. Let’s do that now. Let’s look at verses 7-12:
7 On the first day of the week, we assembled to break bread. Paul spoke to them, and since he was about to depart the next day, he kept on talking until midnight. 8 There were many lamps in the room upstairs where we were assembled, 9 and a young man named Eutychus was sitting on a window sill and sank into a deep sleep as Paul kept on talking. When he was overcome by sleep, he fell down from the third story and was picked up dead. 10 But Paul went down, bent over him, embraced him, and said, “Don’t be alarmed, because he’s alive.” 11 After going upstairs, breaking the bread, and eating, Paul talked a long time until dawn. Then he left. 12 They brought the boy home alive and were greatly comforted.
Ok, first of all, notice that Luke (the author of Acts) uses the term we in this part. That means that he (Luke) is with them at this point.
So, what we have is Paul gathering with a group of believers in Troas, and he is leaving them soon. They know that he is leaving, so they want to listen to him preach more and more.
Well, all of this preaching is too much for a young man named Eutychus.
Notice also, in verse 8, that Luke mentions that there were many lamps. The lamps may have made the room warm and may have even created fumes in the room, which may have contributed to Eutychus feeling sleepy.
I taught a leadership seminar in Costa Rica with our mission team that went there last year. I taught for nine hours or so, and I felt like I was going to fall asleep. So, we shouldn’t be too hard on poor Eutychus.
Nevertheless, Eutychus falls asleep and falls from a third-story window to the ground, and he is found to be dead.
However, we see the power of God here, don’t we?
Paul goes to the young man, embraces him, and all of a sudden, the young man is alive.
You see, even as Paul is wrapping up his time with these people, we continue to witness the proclamation of God’s Word and the power of God’s work.
Sleeping was very dangerous for Eutychus. After all, he ended up dead! However, that was not the end of Eutychus. God’s power made him alive again!
So, we see the danger of sleeping.
Finally, we see . . .
III. The pain of leaving.
Let’s finish the chapter. Look with me at verses 17-38:
17 Now from Miletus, he sent to Ephesus and summoned the elders of the church. 18 When they came to him, he said to them, “You know, from the first day I set foot in Asia, how I was with you the whole time, 19 serving the Lord with all humility, with tears, and during the trials that came to me through the plots of the Jews. 20 You know that I did not hesitate to proclaim anything to you that was profitable and to teach you publicly and from house to house. 21 I testified to both Jews and Greeks about repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus.
22 “And now I am on my way to Jerusalem, compelled by the Spirit, not knowing what I will encounter there, 23 except that in every town the Holy Spirit warns me that chains and afflictions are waiting for me. 24 But I consider my life of no value to myself; my purpose is to finish my course and the ministry I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of God’s grace.
25 “And now I know that none of you, among whom I went about preaching the kingdom, will ever see me again. 26 Therefore I declare to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all of you, 27 because I did not avoid declaring to you the whole plan of God. 28 Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has appointed you as overseers, to shepherd the church of God, which he purchased with his own blood. 29 I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. 30 Men will rise up even from your own number and distort the truth to lure the disciples into following them. 31 Therefore be on the alert, remembering that night and day for three years I never stopped warning each one of you with tears.
32 “And now I commit you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and to give you an inheritance among all who are sanctified. 33 I have not coveted anyone’s silver or gold or clothing. 34 You yourselves know that I worked with my own hands to support myself and those who are with me. 35 In every way I’ve shown you that it is necessary to help the weak by laboring like this and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, because he said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ ”
36 After he said this, he knelt down and prayed with all of them. 37 There were many tears shed by everyone. They embraced Paul and kissed him, 38 grieving most of all over his statement that they would never see his face again. And they accompanied him to the ship.
This is a large section of verses, but what is happening here is that Paul is saying goodbye to the elders in the Ephesus.
Paul did not want to go back to Ephesus. After all, we see at the beginning of the chapter that he left there after an uproar. However, Paul did want to speak to the Ephesian elders before he left.
You see, the elders were the leaders of the church. They were the pastors or the overseers.
Paul spent a lot of time in Ephesus, and he cared about the churches there.
So, Paul shared a few things with them.
He shared that he sought to be humble among them.
He shared that he sought not to be a burden to them.
He shared that he sought to proclaim the truth of God’s Word among them.
He shared that he thought persecution awaited him ahead.
He shared that he didn’t expect to see them again.
He shared that false teachers would seek to come in among them, like wolves coming in to attack.
Then, he prayed for all of them.
We see that many tears were shed among those who were there. They loved Paul, and he loved them.
I recall when I came to be your pastor, that involved me leaving a place of ministry where I had been eight and a half years. As much as I knew that God wanted me here, it was so hard to leave there. I loved that church, and they loved me. I recall saying goodbye to one of my friends there, and we both just cried. Two grown men just crying together because we love one another. There’s something about the love of Jesus Christ that binds us together in a remarkable way.
I love you all greatly as well. I feel confident that God has me here for quite some time. However, if I ever had to leave, I’m sure it would be very difficult for me.
There are other times that we have to leave situations because of God’s calling on our lives.
Young adults leave to go and receive training for gospel ministry.
Pastors move from church to church.
Missionaries move across the world at times.
You may be called to go somewhere else.
It is painful to leave.
However, if God is calling us, we must go.
Leaving is painful, but obedience to God’s mission must be first and foremost. We definitely saw this truth played out in the life and ministry of Paul.
Let this bottom line summarize all that we are learning in today’s passage:
Bottom Line: God has called us to be a ministering people who minister to people.
People, places, and power. That’s what we do.
We, as God’s people, are commanded to reach people. We are to minister in places. And we are to minister by God’s power.
People are not easy. The hardest part of ministry is the people. So also, one of the best parts of ministry is the people.
Paul endured all that he endured so that people may hear the message that Jesus saves sinners.
So, may we purpose together to be a people who minister to people.
Challenge yourself this week in these two ways:
Weekly Challenge #1 – Commit to God’s ministry for you.
What does God have for you to do? Seek Him. Ask Him. Submit to Him.
Challenge yourself this week to wrestle with the thought of committing to God.
It’s not always easy, is it? However, remember these words from the Apostle Paul in verse 24: “I consider my life of no value to myself; my purpose is to finish my course and the ministry I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of God’s grace.”
May that be the prayer for all of us this week and beyond.
Weekly Challenge #2 – Identify some people for whom you can pray.
Paul was committed to people. This week, think about someone for whom you can pray. Just let that be part of your ministry this week.
(Gospel presentation)
(closing prayer)
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