Refuge Church Byhalia is a new nondenominational evangelical church located in Byhalia, MS that exists to share the hope of Jesus, grow together, & love our neighbors in Byhalia, Marshall County, Lewisburg, & surrounding areas. Below is a sermon outline from our Launch Training on 1/12/25. From Acts 17:1-9 titled, ‘Habits of a Deputy for Jesus’ that was part of our ‘Preparing to Launch’ series where we are learning what the church should be & do.
Introducrtion
- Good Morning
- Welcome again to Refuge Church!
- My name is Michael & I serve as the Planting Pastor here at Refuge
- So glad y’all are here on this cold morning
- I’m thankful that God gave us lots of sun yesterday so that our parking lot almost completely melted so we can meet without issue today
- It’s always good and helpful to meet with the saints.
- Now I’m a big snow person, I love it.
- If we get 1 storm like that a year, I’m happy.
- And while the snowball fights, snowman building, sledding, & more are fun.
- One of my favorite things is to remember that through Jesus, the crimson stain of our sin, can be washed white as snow.
- So as you leave today and you see some remaining brilliant white snow.
- Know this, for those of us who have trusted in Jesus,
- That brilliant white, is how clean, and pure we are in the eyes of God the Father.
- Not because of anything valuable in us, not because of anything amazing we have done.
- But because of the amazing steadfast love of God demonstrated through the perfect life, substitutionary death, & victorious resurrection of Jesus Christ.
- If you want to know more about this Jesus, you can mark salvation/baptism on your Care Card and we will reach out and have a joyful conversation about Jesus with you.
Preparing to Launch
- Today we are diving back into the book of Acts
- We are continuing a series that we are calling ‘Preparing to Launch’ (BIG GRAPHIC)
- In this series we are looking at the habits of the early church and learning what we need to do in order to polish our skills and passions to serve the church.
- This is helpful as we are in this season of renovating the building after a core church plant team and some faithful saints from Faith Baptist have linked arms under the banner ‘Refuge Church Byhalia’
- And as we finish our renovations we are looking forward to celebrating what God has done and will continue to do in Byhalia, Barton, & Beyond as He continues His promise to build His church in His time & in His way.
- Therefore, we are spending time in the Word to see what the life & habits of the early church were
- Today that brings us to Acts chapter 17, so if you would, please open your Bibles to Acts Chapter 17.
- Today we will be looking at the Habits of a Deputy for Jesus. Acts 17:1-9 Page ___.
- If you don’t have a Bible with you, we want to invite you to use one of those Blue Bibles around you. Page numbers that connect to every verse we reference today are listed on the screen.
- Let’s dive in and read Acts 17 verses 1-9 now.
1 Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to gThessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews. 2 And Paul went in, has was his custom, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them ifrom the Scriptures, 3 jexplaining and proving that it was necessary for kthe Christ to suffer and lto rise from the dead, and saying, “This Jesus, whom I proclaim to you, is the Christ.” 4 And msome of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did na great many of the devout oGreeks and not a few of the leading women. 5 pBut the Jews1 qwere jealous, and taking rsome wicked men of the rabble, they formed a mob, set the city in an uproar, and attacked the house of Jason, seeking to bring them out to the crowd. 6 And when they could not find them, sthey dragged Jason and some of the brothers before the city authorities, shouting, “These men who have turned the world upside down have come here also, 7 and Jason has received them, and they are all acting against tthe decrees of Caesar, saying that there is uanother king, Jesus.” 8 And the people and the city authorities were disturbed when they heard these things. 9 And when they had taken money as security from Jason and the rest, they let them go.
‘Let’s Pray.
- Last week we were looking at a passage in 2nd Corinthians 5 where the Apostle Paul said we are to be Ambassadors for Christ
- And how Ambassadors – don’t go like Rambo with guns blazing
- They go diplomatically
- They go with peace
- And they discuss and talk with people about the things of Jesus
- And if we want to become and sustain as a healthy, vibrant, life-giving church
- We must be effective ambassadors
- Another word for ambassador would be deputy
- We have been deputized or commissioned and sent to go take the Hope of Jesus where it is not today
- We must take the Gospel to people that are today, far from God.
- We aren’t trying to gather up and be a church full of sheep from other churches.
- We desire to be a church that regularly sees new conversion growth
- Meaning people who don’t know Jesus today
- Hear about Jesus from one of the deputies of Refuge Church Byhalia
- And God graciously opens their eyes to the hope they have in Christ
- And they trust in the person and work of Jesus
- And then we keep doing the part of the great commission where Jesus said teach them about me and what I said
- And we help them to learn to obey the Word of God
- Including that Christians are to publicly profess faith through baptism.
- And we celebrate God saving another sinner as we baptize them and welcome them into our church family.
- And that growing church family then continues on and continues to grow
- And continues to live out the one another commands of scripture.
- This is what we see Paul and the missionary team do.
- I love how in verse 2 it says Paul went in as was his custom.
- Meaning this was totally normal for Paul to do.
- Paul regularly lived to make the name of Jesus known.
- But he also did it in a diplomatic ambassador-like way.
- It says he reasoned with them.
- This means, Paul discussed things
- He took questions & answered questions
- Which means he wasn’t ignorant or without understanding of the things of God.
- And if we want to be like Paul
- And effectively live on mission in our lives
- We need to get some healthy habits
- We need to develop some regular customs
- So let’s dive in.
- What are some habits of a Deputy for Jesus
Key Points
- A Deputy for Jesus regularly Shares the Hope of Jesus.
- Acts 17:2 ‘ 2 And Paul went in, has was his custom, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them ifrom the Scriptures,’
- Paul was not going to miss a chance to share the hope of Jesus.
- He knew that our only hope is to knwo and trust in Jesus
- And he greatly desired for others to know about Jesus, the long promised messiah
- And what he did to rescue & redeem us.
- Turn to 1 Corinthians 9:16 Page ___.
- Paul in his 1st letter to the Corinthian church says its very important to him, to share the hope of Jesus
- He has no other aim or goal in life
- Than to make much of Jesus
- Not for his own good & glory, but for the glory of God.
- ‘16 For if I preach the gospel, that gives me no ground for boasting. For enecessity is laid upon me. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!’
- This is what Paul was known for.
- It was necessary, there wasn’t a more important thing than to share the hope of Jesus.
- It was expected for Paul to go and share the hope of Jesus wherever they went.
- What are you known for? *Pause/Drink*
- Not from your past.
- But from your present.
- What are you known for?
- My hope is, we can all become known for regularly sharing the hope of Jesus & being ready to discuss the things of God.
- That we would be ready and willing to joyfully answer questions from those currently far from God.
- Pastor & Theologian John MacArthur says ‘Effective Christian witness includes being able to answer questions about the faith.’ -John MacArthur
- Which means time under the preaching of the Word, Time spent in small groups reading the Word, & personal time in the Word is very important.
- It’s essential for our Christian Witness.
- Its essential for us to be good deputies for Jesus.
- You see.
- A Deputy for Jesus knows the Bible.
- We see this in Acts 17:3 ‘ 2 And Paul went in, has was his custom, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them ifrom the Scriptures, 3 jexplaining and proving that it was necessary for kthe Christ to suffer and lto rise from the dead, and saying, “This Jesus, whom I proclaim to you, is the Christ.’
- Paul knew the scriptures.
- He knew the Old Testament well.
- He could hear questions
- And answer them.
- Well how can we know the Bible better?
- I think there are some ways we can know the Bible better.
- 4 Ways to Know the Bible.
- 1 – Confess & Turn from sin.
- 1 Peter 2:1-2 Page ___.
- ‘jSo put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. 2 kLike newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual lmilk, that by it you may grow up into salvation—’
- If we put away sin,
- If we turn from sin
- We need to fill in the space with something
- Verse 2 says long for pure spiritual milk
- Which is found in the Word.
- Confess sin to God
- & to whomever we have sinned against
- And desire the Word.
- And how can we fill that desire effectively?
- Through
- 2 – Diligent & Consistent time in the Word.
- 2 Timothy 2:15 Page ___.
- ‘15 Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved,3 a worker bwho has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.’
- Do your best
- Work hard
- Get after it
- Grind
- Know the Word so that you can rightly divide the Word.
- Be focused and not lazy as you read the Bible.
- Be consistent in your reading of the Bible.
- The new year, many people make efforts to read the Bible more
- Do it!
- Long for the pure spiritual milk of the WOrd of God.
- And then,
- 3 – Do what the Bible says.
- James 1:22-25 Page ___.
- James, the half brother of Jesus
- Writes in his letter to dispersed Christians
- ‘22 But be ndoers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. 24 For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. 25 But the one who looks into the perfect law, othe law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, phe will be blessed in his doing.’
- We must respond to the Word
- When the Bible says Jump, we Jump.
- When the Bible says sit, we sit.
- 4 – Share the Word & teach it to others.
- 2 Timothy 2:2 Page ___.
- ‘2 and ywhat you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses zentrust to faithful men,1 awho will be able to teach others also.’
- If we entrust the Word to faithful men & women
- It means we teach or share it with them.
- Teaching is a great way to learn the Word better.
- So when we read something in the Word. Let’s talk about it.
- Bring something that struck you in your Bible reading to Small Group.
- Bring something that struck you in your Bible reading to Men’s Bible Study on Saturdays.
- Talk about it on Sunday mornings.
- Share the Word & Teach it to others.
- At the end of the day ok to Ezra
- Follow the example of Ezra.
- Ezra 7:10 Page ___
- ‘. “For Ezra had set his heart to study the Law of the Lord, and to do it and to teach his statutes and rules in Israel.’
- What’s your heart set on in 2025?
- Let’s be like Ezra
- His example is great for a Deputy who wants to Know the Bible
- What else should a deputy for Jesus do?
- 1 – Confess & Turn from sin.
- A Deputy for Jesus shares a full Gospel.
- Acts 17:3 ‘3 jexplaining and proving that it was necessary for kthe Christ to suffer and lto rise from the dead, and saying, “This Jesus, whom I proclaim to you, is the Christ.’
- We cannot water down the truth of the full Gospel
- Jesus didn’t just come die and resurrect because it made for a good story
- There is a Holy Righteous God who cannot be around sin
- There is a Holy Righteous Perfect God who hates sin
- Therefore we must be clear Christ died for sinners
- Sinners deserving the wrath of God
- Sinners like me, sinners like you
- ‘The true Gospel must offend the nonbeliever by confronting him with his sin & judgement.’ -John MacArthur
- We must share the full Gospel
- And thanks be to God that the full Gospel includes full and complete payment and coverage for my sin, your sin, and the sins of anyone who would look upon the person and work for Jesus
- All who do that, are made whiter than snow
- And want others to be made whiter than snow
- This is what effective deputies for Jesus do
- It is their habit
- It is their custom
- Just like it was Paul’s
- Conclusion
- So as we go this week and next week and the week after
- We should work hard to be high quality ambassadors for Christ
- High quality Deputies for Jesus
- Deputies that show habits that matter for eternity
- Paul was known for it and demonstrated it as he arrived in Thessolonica
- And we should strive to live in the same way
- We should strive to regularly share the hope of Jesus
- We should strive to want to know the Bible and grow in our knowledge of the Bible.
- & we should be bold and very clear with the Gospel & why Christ had to die.
- Paul did this without fear & trusted God in the outcome
- In Thessolonica there were many that were saved & became followers of Jesus
- But there were also some who became upset
- SO upset they formed a mob to attack & drag out Paul & the missionary team
- And this did not deter from Paul from keep doing his habits as a Christian missionary
- And nEither should the outcome deter us
- So this week, let’s trust God & go without fear
- And be deputies for Jesus with habits that fill heaven and matter for eternity
- ‘Let’s pray.
- Care cards plug
- Now as we wrap up, grab a care card that’s sitting near you.
- I want you to know God loves you and cares for the things in your life. Big or small.
- If you need victory over sin to clear the way for a desire to be in God’s word, write something down so our elders and their wives can pray for you.
- If you want to get more clear in your gospel sharing, write that down on the pray for me line.
- If you have a specific friend, coworker, or family member you want to share the hope of Jesus with, write their name down.
- And after service you can drop off that card in our black offering box
- I would love to also pray with you after service – so feel free to bring your card forward. It’s a joy to pray for y’all.
- Also, if you want to get to know more folks at Refuge, we will be launching small groups in February and we would love for you to check out this part of our church family.
- Our small groups meet here at the building, share a meal together, and then read some Bible, discuss it, & pray together while the Kids are doing fun activities in their classrooms.
- They are a great ‘recharge’ in the middle of the week.
- If you want to hear more about this or are all in on trying out our small groups, please mark member/small group on the care card.
- We all can benefit from that midweek boost.
- Now as you stand to be dismissed, Go make a habit of being a good deputy for Jesus.
- Love some neighbors.
- Have a great week, we are dismissed.