Honey, Where’s My Super Suit?
Focus: Committed, long-term relationships with God and one another produces lasting impact on culture.
In My Own Skin
Continue in the Work
A Long Obedience in the Same Direction
In My Own Skin
We must continue the work of Christ in our own skin.
Acts 12:12 ESV
“When he realized this, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John whose other name was Mark, where many were gathered together and were praying.
Acts 12: 24-25 ESV
But the word of God increased and multiplied. And Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem when they had completed their service, bringing with them John, whose other name was Mark.”
Paul, Barnabas and Mark were uniquely described in the Scripture, each having their own strengths and weaknesses, but they learned lessons of how to minister together with perseverance to fulfill God’s purposes.
Matthew 5:13-16 ESV
“You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet. "You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”
We are called by God to be salt and light in the world to flavor and preserve the cultures of the earth with the kingdom of God.
No culture was formed overnight, nor will they be redeemed overnight - we must persevere in Christ.
“The way of the world is marked by proud, God-defying purposes, unharnessed from eternity and therefore worthless and futile.”
-Eugene Peterson
Part of the joy of making Christ known is finding the manner in which God has uniquely designed you to do so.
Use what is in your hand.
David was not able to use Saul’s armor because he was not used to it (I Samuel 17).
1 Samuel 17:38-40 ESV
“Then Saul clothed David with his armor. He put a helmet of bronze on his head and clothed him with a coat of mail, and David strapped his sword over his armor. And he tried in vain to go, for he had not tested them. Then David said to Saul, "I cannot go with these, for I have not tested them." So David put them off. Then he took his staff in his hand and chose five smooth stones from the brook and put them in his shepherd's pouch. His sling was in his hand, and he approached the Philistine.”
He killed Goliath with the sling and the stone, the same instruments with which he took down the lion and bear as a shepherd prior to being king.
What are the sling and the smooth stones that God has placed in your hands?
From Lee Strobel’s and Mark Mittelberg’s Becoming a Contagious Christian training (I realize that this title hasn’t aged well in light of the pandemic):
Six styles of evangelism and their set-backs:
1. Direct Style
Biblical Example: Peter in Acts 2
Confident, Assertive, Direct
Caution: Be sure to use tact when confronting people with truth to keep them from becoming unnecessarily offended
2. Intellectual Style
Biblical example: Paul in Acts 17
Inquisitive, Analytical, logical
Caution: Do not substitute giving answers for giving the Gospel message, and be careful of becoming argumentative.
3. Testimonial Style
Biblical example: Blind man in John 9
Clear communicator, story teller, good listener
Caution: Beware of talking about yourself but not relating your experience to the other person’s life. You first need to listen to them to be able to connect your story to their situation.
4. Interpersonal Style
Biblical example: Matthew in Luke 5:29
Warm personality, Conversational, Friendship-Oriented
Caution: Avoid valuing friendship over truth-telling. Presenting the Gospel often means challenging a person’s whole direction in life, and that can mean causing friction in your relationship.
5. Invitational Style
Biblical example: Woman at the well in John 4
Hospitable, Relational, Persuasive
Caution: Be careful not to always let others do your talking for you. You too, need to “always be prepared to give an answer for the hope that you have…” (I Peter 3:15).
6. Serving Style
Biblical example: Dorcas in Acts 9
Others-Centered, Humble, Patient
Caution: Just as “words are no substitute for actions,” “actions are no substitute for words.” In Romans 10:14, it is made clear that we must verbally tell people about Christ.
Continue in the Work
We must continue in the work of Christ despite obstacles.
Continue when there is opposition.
Acts 13:4-16 ESV
“So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia, and from there they sailed to Cyprus. When they arrived at Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews. And they had John to assist them. When they had gone through the whole island as far as Paphos, they came upon a certain magician, a Jewish false prophet named Bar-Jesus. He was with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, a man of intelligence, who summoned Barnabas and Saul and sought to hear the word of God. But Elymas the magician (for that is the meaning of his name) opposed them, seeking to turn the proconsul away from the faith. But Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him and said, "You son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, full of all deceit and villainy, will you not stop making crooked the straight paths of the Lord? And now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you will be blind and unable to see the sun for a time." Immediately mist and darkness fell upon him, and he went about seeking people to lead him by the hand. Then the proconsul believed, when he saw what had occurred, for he was astonished at the teaching of the Lord. Now Paul and his companions set sail from Paphos and came to Perga in Pamphylia. And John left them and returned to Jerusalem, but they went on from Perga and came to Antioch in Pisidia. And on the Sabbath day they went into the synagogue and sat down. After the reading from the Law and the Prophets, the rulers of the synagogue sent a message to them, saying, "Brothers, if you have any word of encouragement for the people, say it." So Paul stood up, and motioning with his hand said: "Men of Israel and you who fear God, listen.”
“No literature is more realistic and honest in facing the harsh facts of life than the Bible. At no time is there the faintest suggestion that the life of faith exempts us from difficulties.”
-Eugene Peterson
Continue when there are disappointments.
Acts 15:36-41 ESV
“And after some days Paul said to Barnabas, "Let us return and visit the brothers in every city where we proclaimed the word of the Lord, and see how they are." Now Barnabas wanted to take with them John called Mark. But Paul thought best not to take with them one who had withdrawn from them in Pamphylia and had not gone with them to the work. And there arose a sharp disagreement, so that they separated from each other. Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed away to Cyprus, but Paul chose Silas and departed, having been commended by the brothers to the grace of the Lord. And he went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches.”
“Feelings are important in many areas but completely unreliable in matters of faith . . . We live in what one writer has called the ‘age of sensation.’ We think that if we don’t feel something there can be no authenticity in doing it. But (the) wisdom of God says something different: that we can act ourselves into a new way of feeling much quicker than we can feel ourselves into a new way of acting.”
-Eugene Peterson
Colossians 4:10 ESV
“Aristarchus my fellow prisoner greets you, and Mark the cousin of Barnabas (concerning whom you have received instructions—if he comes to you, welcome him),”
Continue when there is a door for reconciliation.
2 Timothy 4:11 ESV
“Luke alone is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is very useful to me for ministry.”
A Long Obedience in the Same Direction
We must continue in the work of Christ until we see Jesus face to face.
Hebrews 12:1-3 ESV
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted.”
“The central reality for Christians is the personal, unalterable, persevering commitment God makes to us. Perseverance is not the result of our determination, it is the result of God’s faithfulness. We survive in the way of faith not because we have extraordinary stamina but because God is righteous, because God sticks with us.”
-Eugene Peterson
