Refuge Church Byhalia 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 Grand Opening Celebration on 5/4/25. From Acts 20 titled, ‘Don’t Sleep Through the Mission that was part of our ‘Grand Opening Celebration’ series where we share the heart of Refuge Church Byhalia.
Intro
- Well Good Morning
- What a day to be at Refuge Church Byhalia
- I’m so glad you all were here today
- Especially as we celebrated Ellen’s faith in Jesus Christ
- Through her public profession of faith & baptism.
- What a joyful moment.
- God is on the move in Barton, Byhalia, & beyond
- Ellen came face to face with the Love of God demonstrated through Jesus’ perfect life, death in her place, & victorious resurrection
- & responded.
- Awesome.
- Now, my name is Michael and I have the honor of serving as the Planting Pastor here at Refuge Church Byhalia
- You know this week has been the first ‘normal’ church week that we’ve had in a long time here at Refuge
- I mean October 12th, 204 days ago – we started our major renovation
- Made it all the way through Christmas, New Years, & February
- Then spent early March ramping up before our grand opening celebration on March 30th, April 6th, & 13th
- Then it was the superbowl of church days, easter on April 20th
- And to put the cherry on top we had our biggest outreach event of the year the following Saturday, April 26th, the Byhalia Crawfish Festival
- It’s been a whirlwind
- And it’s been good
- We’ve grown closer as a family
- Our family has grown ins ize
- We’ve accomplished a lot together and worked hard together
- There’s been good days, there’s been bad days
- There’s been in between days
- But it’s been a race
- So it was nice to have a quote ‘normal’ week at Refuge
- Finishing last sunday’s service
- Team Lead meeting last sunday night
- Small groups wednesday night
- Men’s group Saturday Morning
- & back to church this morning
- A normal week of normal church life for me
- But in the normalness – it’s important to not get complacent.
- To fight the urge to get bored
- Or to say – it’s just another Sunday
- No big deal
- Nothing special, nothing important – no more grand adventure like renovating a church building. What I do in the middle week doesn’t matter much
- We’re going to have to fight against that mindset
- And fight for the reality that the normal church life – is vital for our lives.
- And so today, we will dive back into Acts
- & a challenge for us is going to be:
- Don’t Sleep Through the Mission
- Acts 20:1-16.
- I want to invite you to turn or click there now in your Bible or on your device
- If you don’t have a BIble, we have scattered Blue Bibles around the room for you to use.
- If you don’t have a Bible at home, you can take that home & make it yours by putting your name in it.
- Page numbers in those Blue Bibles for every passage we read will be listed on teh screen
- Look, this book contains the Words of life, the Word of God, it’s the most important book you can hold and open
- And we hold such high esteem for this book – we crack it open every Sunday
- Sometimes we read a few verses sometimes we read a lot
- But either way – we believe its important for us all to look at the Bible and read, as best & as much as we can – not just hear my voice read through it.
- So let’s do that, starting in verse 1 of chapter 20.
After the uproar ceased, Paul sent for the disciples, and after encouraging them, he said farewell and qdeparted for Macedonia. 2 When he had gone through those regions and had given them much encouragement, he came to Greece. 3 There he spent three months, and when ra plot was made against him by the Jews1 as he was about to set sail for Syria, he decided to return through Macedonia. 4 Sopater the Berean, son of Pyrrhus, accompanied him; and of the Thessalonians, sAristarchus and Secundus; and sGaius of Derbe, and tTimothy; and the Asians, uTychicus and vTrophimus. 5 These went on ahead and were waiting for wus at xTroas, 6 but we sailed away from Philippi after ythe days of Unleavened Bread, and in five days we came to them at Troas, where we stayed for seven days.7 zOn the first day of the week, when we were gathered together ato break bread, Paul talked with them, intending to depart on the next day, and he prolonged his speech until midnight. 8 There were many lamps in bthe upper room where we were gathered. 9 And a young man named Eutychus, sitting at the window, sank into a deep sleep as Paul talked still longer. And being overcome by sleep, he cfell down from the third story and was taken up dead. 10 But Paul went down and dbent over him, and taking him in his arms, said, e“Do not be alarmed, for his life is in him.” 11 And when Paul had gone up and fhad broken bread and eaten, he conversed with them a long while, until daybreak, and so departed. 12 And they took the youth away alive, and were not a little comforted. 13 But going ahead to the ship, we set sail for Assos, intending to take Paul aboard there, for so he had arranged, intending himself to go by land. 14 And when he met us at Assos, we took him on board and went to Mitylene. 15 And sailing from there we came the following day opposite Chios; the next day we touched at Samos; and2 the day after that we went to Miletus. 16 For Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus, so that he might not have to spend time in Asia, for he was hastening gto be at Jerusalem, if possible, hon the day of Pentecost.
Let’s Pray.
Recap
- Paul is laser focused right now on getting to Rome.
- He wants to get the Gospel to the people of Rome.
- But before he goes to Rome he is going to head back to Jerusalem to bring a love offering to the poor & hurting members of the church in Jerusalem.
- But Paul, as always, doesn’t waste his journey.
- As Paul goes, wherever he goes, he works hard to encourage & instruct the church.
- And so should we
- As we go, we must keep eternity in mind which means we share the hope of Jesus & live out the one another commands with our church family.
- We are ready & available to be used by God as we go about our week.
- It’s a call, it’s a command for us all
- It’s teh great commission from Jesus Himself
- Go therefore, make disciples, baptize them, teach them to obey.
- That ‘Go’ doesn’t mean become a bum for Jesus
- It means ‘as you go about your week’ or ‘as you go’ do the Great Commission.
- And we see this example from Paul
- Paul was available
- Paul was intentional with his time
- Town by town
- Paul was ready to encourage the church & talk about Jesus
- Paul had somewhere to go – Rome
- And before he went there, he had to go to Jerusalem
- Paul had reasons to hurry, and yet he took time to encourage the various churches in the various towns
- Pastor & theologian John MacArthur says ‘Paul’s selfless love for the church is notably clear. He was available to minister for an entire night and through a twenty-mile walk the next morning. No sacrifice was too great for the apostle to make for the building up of the saints. He was tirelessly available to his beloved people.’
- And this is immensely challenging to me
- I mean I can come up with so many excuses to not share the hope of Jesus and live out the one another commands with y’all
- Well you know I’ve got that full time job away from the church, you know I’ve got 4 kids 7 & under, you know I’ve got my beautiful wife to love and care for, you know Jude has baseball, Cozette’s dance recital is coming up, my yard sure could use a good mow, Melanie’s van needs a service visit,
- on and on and on I can come up with reasons to put church & church life on the backburner
- But the example of Paul
- & the example of the early church screams to me, screams to us
- There is something more important than the business and busyness of southern American life
- And that something is Jesus Christ & His bride, the church.
- Jesus & the church are to take high priority in our lives.
- Now that again doesn’t mean we aren’t responsible in our lives
- The Bible is full of verses about working hard
- Leading the home men
- Women caring for the home and supporting it
- Raising kids well
- Stewarding the world around us
- But those things don’t take place
- Don’t take priority over Jesus and the church
- They are important.
- Paul didn’t just sit around to encourage & teach the church
- Paul had a journey to go on
- We have our weeks to go about
- But Paul took advantage of his journey and his time
- He redeemed the time & was productive for eternity in his day by day
- Theologian Warren Wiersbe says ‘. he knew, and so should we, how to redeem even journeying time, and to make it turn to some good account. ‘
- Paul on his way to Jerusalem before heading to Rome – turned every moment every town he passed through – into an opportunity to do things for the Kingdom of God
- And so can we
- As we work this week
- As we care for our kids
- As we love & respect our spouse
- As we do any number of activities
- All of those things can be turned for the Kingdom
- But also when the opportunity to choose between church & something else arises – we choose church & our church family
- It takes priority
- How easy is it for you to miss church?
- To miss small group?
- Does your weekly routine show that Jesus is a priority
- If yes – praise the Lord for your love for Jesus & the church
- If no, let me encourage you – to enjoy life in the church
- See it as immensely valuable & important
- As a training opportunity for your weekly routine
- As an opportunity to have your wounds bandaged & cared for.
- For repair to happen – so you can be ready to go back out
- And redeem the time.
Normal Church Matters
- It’s important to see
- It’s important to know
- It’s important to trust
- That life in the church – is great & is helpful
- Paul in he middle of our passage today participates in a normal church day in Troas
- A Sunday meeting of the believers there
- Likely starting in the afternoon or evening because Sunday was not a day off in those days
- People came in – after a hard days work
- People came in – maybe still dirty from the day
- People came in – to be wiht each other – and hear the preaching of the Word.
- To sing songs
- To break bread.
- To pray for one another
- To do normal church things
- ‘The normal things of church should delight & feed our hearts, minds, & souls.’
- This sunday meeting mattered to the believers in Troas
- And it mattered to Paul
- Who paused his journey
- To be with these believers and teach & train them.
- And boy did Paul preach
- I mean, he kept on going
- And kept on going
- And everyone in the room – hung on every word
- But before we get too far
- Let’s look somewhat focused on what we see the church do in verses 7-12
- Let’s re-read it Acts 20:7-12 Page ___.
‘7 zOn the first day of the week, when we were gathered together ato break bread, Paul talked with them, intending to depart on the next day, and he prolonged his speech until midnight. 8 There were many lamps in bthe upper room where we were gathered. 9 And a young man named Eutychus, sitting at the window, sank into a deep sleep as Paul talked still longer. And being overcome by sleep, he cfell down from the third story and was taken up dead. 10 But Paul went down and dbent over him, and taking him in his arms, said, e“Do not be alarmed, for his life is in him.” 11 And when Paul had gone up and fhad broken bread and eaten, he conversed with them a long while, until daybreak, and so departed. 12 And they took the youth away alive, and were not a little comforted. ’
- So from this passage – let’s try to answer What are the normal things of church?
- The Lord’s Day.
- The church met on the day of the week that Jesus rose from the grave
- Culturally at that time, Sunday was not a ‘day off’ of work
- So the church met in the evenings
- But they came as they were – and gathered with believers
- The Lord’s People.
- All of the believers in Christ in that local area would gather together on the Lord’s day
- It would be a mixed group of people
- Jews, Gentiles, Slaves, Masters, Men, Women, & Children
- A beautiful sight for sure
- And a key moment in the weekly routine of the early church was
- The Lord’s Supper.
- When the church gathered on the Lord’s day – they remembered and participated in the last supper
- In the actions of remembering what Jesus did
- Each member of the church proclaimed the Gospel & it’s personal impact on their lives
- In taking the bread and the wine – they proclaimed that Jesus died in their place for their sins & rose from the grave victoriously
- They are proclaiming the blood of Jesus wiped their slate clean
- As you saw Ellen get baptized earlier & saw the church participate in the Lord’s Supper
- Did it strike your curiosity?
- Do you want to know more about this Jesus that Ellen is trusting in?
- Do you want to know why we gathered around that table?
- It’s because of Jesus & what He did.
- Ellen & all that gathered – are saying they are trusting that Jesus paid for their sin
- & they are submitting to Him as Lord & boss of their life
- And in the early church – every week – sometimes more than that
- They participated in the Lord’s Supper
- The bread broken – Christ’s body broken
- The wine drank – Christ’s blood shed – for us
- What a demonstration of His love – want to know more? Mark salvation and come forward at the end of service to discuss the beautiful Gospel of Jesus Christ
- Now on the Lord’s Supper or Communion
- It’s a delightful opportunity to joyfully remember what Jesus has done for us.
- Pastor & Theologian John Piper says ‘The purpose of the Lord’s Supper is to receive from Christ the nourishment and strength and hope and joy that come from feasting our souls on all that He purchased for us on the cross, especially His own fellowship.’
- It’s all about Jesus
- And focusing in on Who Jesus is and what Jesud did is a vital part of normal church things.
- Coming aroudn this table – should delight your soul, mind, & heart
- Pastor Charles Spurgeon, with a bit of a longer quote than I usually use “If you do not love Him, do not come to His Table! But if you love Him, come because you love Him. Come because you remember Him and because you wish to be helped to remember Him yet more. If there is nothing about Him that you wish to remember, do not dare come! But, if He is precious to your soul, your transport and your trust. If His very name is music to your ears, honey to your mouth and joy to your heart, then you do not need me to press you to come to His Table, but you will come because He says, ‘This do you in remembrance of Me.’
- Do you love Jesus?
- If you do – this table – is a joyful part of your week.
- Another key part of normal church life
- The Lord’s Message.
- Now this Sunday – Paul did the preaching & Teaching
- But other Sundays – a leader in the church would read form the Old Testament or from a letter that they received from an Apostle or church leader
- To teach & encourage the gathering of believers.
- The Word of God is beneficial for many things
- And the preachers job is to prayerfully seek the scriptures
- Find their meaning in context
- And explain what happened
- And apply it to our lives
- This is what we do every Sunday
- Now Paul – maybe because he did not know if he would ever make it back to Troas
- Started going on and on
- And most people were hanging on every word that Paul had to say
- And they preached into the night
- Long into the night
- And let me remind you – this was after a normal Sunday where most were working
- And in the middle of this we find a young man ‘Eutychus’ struggling to stay awake
- He may have moved by the window to feel the breeze that the building naturally had in hopes it would keep him awake
- And fought as he could
- Eh fell asleep and then fell out the window
- And died
- Like dead dead
- Not nearly dead – dead dead
- And in the commotion
- The normal church – continued being normal – but with a special demonstration of
- The Lord’s Power.
- When the church gathers – the Lord’s power is always there
- When the church prayers – the Lord’s power is always there
- When the church sings – the Lord’s pwoer is there
- WHen the church remembers the Lord’s supper – The Lord’s power is there
- The HOly Spirit – dwelling in every Christian moves and pushes us
- And in this moment for Paul & the Troas believers
- God raises Eutychus from the dead
- Awesome God moment
- And they keep on doing the church thing
- Including – eating a meal together
- The church was fed the Lord’s Supper, Was Fed the Word, & was shown the power of God, it was time to keep fellowshippping and eating together.
- It was a good lord’s day.
- When you got up this morning did you excited and looking forward to a good Lord’s day?
- I hope so
- Because the normal things of church are a delight to our hearts minds and souls
- The normal things of church feed our hearts mind and souls
- And beacause of that – Knowing Jesus more – & being with the church more – should take priority in our lives
- It should be harder to miss church than it is ot miss a baseball game
- A basketball game
- A work event
- Working in general
- And when we put Jesus & His Gospel & His bride in the right place – it will impact how we go wherever we go
Closing
- So what ways can you choose Jesus this week?
- What ways can you choose the bride of Christ this week?
- Are you ready to learn more about the church family of Refuge?
- Are you ready to talk about Jesus?
- Mark it on your care card!
- Come get prayer from Mr Scott or Ashli.
Key Take Aways
- As we go, we must keep eternity in mind which means we share the hope of Jesus & live out the one another commands with our church family.
- Jesus & the church are to take high priority in our lives.
- The normal things of church should delight & feed our hearts, minds, & souls.
Charles Spurgeon
- “If you do not love Him, do not come to His Table! But if you love Him, come because you love Him. Come because you remember Him and because you wish to be helped to remember Him yet more. If there is nothing about Him that you wish to remember, do not dare come! But, if He is precious to your soul, your transport and your trust. If His very name is music to your ears, honey to your mouth and joy to your heart, then you do not need me to press you to come to His Table, but you will come because He says, ‘This do you in remembrance of Me.’”
- Never neglect the means of grace; God may bless us when we are not in His house, but we have the greater reason to hope that He will when we are in communion with His saints.
John Piper
- If you’re totally engaged in corporate worship, surrounded by people who are engaged, it will save your marriage, it will save your job, it will save your calling, and it will save your sanity.
- The purpose of the Lord’s Supper is to receive from Christ the nourishment and strength and hope and joy that come from feasting our souls on all that He purchased for us on the cross, especially His own fellowship.
- When we celebrate the Lord’s Supper, we feast spiritually by faith on all the promises of God bought by the blood of Jesus.
John MacArthur
- Paul was about to leave on a long, difficult journey, yet his love for the church made him available as long as the members needed him. Giving no thought to his own need for rest, he used every available minute to teach the believers at Troas. As verse 11 indicates, Paul kept at it until it was time for him to leave.
- Paul’s selfless love for the church is notably clear. He was available to minister for an entire night and through a twenty-mile walk the next morning. No sacrifice was too great for the apostle to make for the building up of the saints. He was tirelessly available to his beloved people.
Matthew Henry
- Tumults or opposition may constrain a Christian to remove from his station or alter his purpose, but his work and his pleasure will be the same, wherever he goes.
- Paul thought it worth while to bestow five days in going to Troas, though it was but for seven days’ stay there; but he knew, and so should we, how to redeem even journeying time, and to make it turn to some good account.
- Though the disciples read, and meditated, and prayed, and sung apart, and thereby kept up communion with God, yet they came together to worship God, and so kept up their communion with one another.
- In the breaking of the bread, not only the breaking of Christ’s body for us, to be a sacrifice for our sins, is remembered, but the breaking of Christ’s body to us, to be food and a feast for our souls, is signified.
- In the early times it was the custom to receive the Lord’s supper every Lord’s day, thus celebrating the memorial of Christ’s death. In this assembly Paul preached. The preaching of the gospel ought to go with the sacraments.
- Sleeping when hearing the word, is an evil thing, a sign of low esteem of the word of God. We must do what we can to prevent being sleepy; not put ourselves to sleep, but get our hearts affected with the word we hear, so as to drive sleep far away.
- they knew not when they should have Paul’s company again, they made the best use of it they could, and reckoned a night’s sleep well lost for that purpose.
- How seldom are hours of repose broken for the purposes of devotion! but how often for mere amusement or sinful revelry! So hard is it for spiritual life to thrive in the heart of man! so naturally do carnal practices flourish there!
Warren Wiersbe
- Much as Jesus set His face ‘like a flint’ to do the Father’s will, so Paul determined to finish his course with joy, no matter what the cost might be.
- The care of all churches was his greatest joy as well as his heaviest burden.
- 2 Corinthians 11:23-28
- His main purpose was to encourage and strengthen the saints so that they might stand true to the Lord an dbe effective witnesses.
- The men remained at Troas a week so that they might fellowship with the believers there.
- The Lord’s Day
- They met on the first day of the week and not on the seventh day.
- The Lord’s People
- The assembly would have been a cosmopolitan group, but their social and national distinctions made no difference: they were ‘all one in Christ Jesus.’
- The Lord’s Supper
- By sharing and eating with one another, the church enjoyed fellowship and also gave witness of their oneness in Christ. Slaves would actually eat at the same table with their masters, something unheard of in that day.
- It is likely that the church observed the Lord’s Supper each Lord’s Day.
- The example of the early church would encourage us to meet at the Lord’s table often.
- The Lord’s Message
- The Word of God was always declared in the Cristian assemblies.
- The Word of God is important to the people of God, and the preaching adn teaching of the WOrd must be emphasized.
- Preach the Word! Is still God’s admonition to spiritual leaders.
- 2 Timothy 4:2
- The Lord’s Power
- Paul raised him from the dead and left him and the church comforted. God’s power was present to work for His people.
- The Lord’s Day
- What really keeps me awake? Christians who slumber during one hour in church somehow manage to stay awake during early morning fishing trips, lengthy sporting events and concerts, or late night TV specials.
- Also we need to prepare ourselves physically for public worship to make sure we are at our best.