Take Jesus Seriously
Acts 15:32-16:10
Baptism is warfare.
You're publicly breaking ties with sin and darkness and being declared a new follower of King Jesus.
Picture:
Sin
Selfishness
Satan's own power
...drowning.
Visualize the chains of your past sinking into the depths.
When you emerge:
It's not just for air.
It's your first breath into life on the other side of a real cosmic war.
Baptism is symbolic, but isn't just a religious symbol.
It's a declaration that the forces of evil genuinely lost their claim on you because Christ's own Spirit empowers and emboldens you.
People are unserious today.
Examples from culture
College degrees
Sex or commitment
Gender
Facts or truth
Conspiracies
Post-literate
So this is why the church is gaining so much traction in the culture today.
People are desperate for something substantive.
They are finding that the world is unserious.
That's turning into Jesus.
Worse than the world...
Christians don't take God seriously.
There’s a seriousness to following Jesus.
We want to produce serious followers of Jesus.
It's serious business to step into leadership of God's people.
The Great Commission
Not just to make converts.
But make disciples.
NOT JUST DECISIONS—DISCIPLES
CONTEXT
Acts 15:32–35
Judas and Silas encouraged and strengthened the brothers.
Paul and Barnabas remained in Antioch.
Teaching and preaching the word of the Lord.
Acts 15:41
"He went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches."
THE CHURCH ISN'T A BASSINET BUT A BOOTCAMP
Acts 15:33
ἀπολύω
Released
ἀποστέλλω
Sent
(Same root as apostle or "sent one.")
You'd think these words are only applied to evangelism.
But they aren't.
Paul did pioneer evangelism—taking the Gospel where it hadn't been before.
But he also did pioneer discipleship.
He was a missionary of maturity, training believers in biblical literacy—taking people to new depths they had never plummeted.
PAUL DIDN'T STOP AT DECISIONS—HE STRENGTHENED DISCIPLES.
Three tenses of salvation
Justification
Saved from the penalty of sin (Upon belief)
Sanctification
Being saved from the power of sin (Throughout life)
Glorification
Will be saved from the presence of sin (After death)
The middle two are our concern in this passage.
Jesus is both:
The heart surgeon who brings the dead to life.
The commanding officer who trains the soldier, sending us into battle.
Ezekiel 37:9–10
"...breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet—a vast army."
Acts 15:35
Teaching and preaching the word of the Lord.
The means of our sanctification is always driven by the power of bringing God's Word to bear on human souls.
Eric Metaxas on James Otis:
"Three years later he would valiantly argue against slavery itself. Who then can reasonably shrink from the sharp conclusion that Otis was on that cold day in Boston a wild-eyed prophet declaring the future? It was as though at the extremest verge of logic and truth he stood on the lip of madness, and, like so many prophets, reached into the timeless eternity all around us to pull from it and into time and space something sacred and true, so that the world would never be the same."
It's this prophetic power that God's Word has.
Become a Self-Feeder.
LEADERSHIP ISN'T AN ENTITLEMENT—IT'S A STEWARDSHIP
Because their goal was producing mature believers, there was also high expectation of the leaders.
John Mark
Joined Paul and Barnabas on the first missionary journey.
Withdrew and returned home in Pamphylia.
Paul viewed John Mark as a serious liability.
Barnabas wanted to take him.
Barnabas is John Mark's cousin.
Acts 15:37–41
"...there arose a sharp disagreement..."
Barnabas took Mark.
Paul chose Silas.
Too often people in our world today act entitled, like power, authority, opportunity, and responsibility are owed to them.
This is not biblical.
Leadership is a sacred assignment given by God and must be stewarded wisely for God.
Our church will give an account.
We take leadership very seriously at The Garden.
People are sometimes shocked by how carefully we vet leaders.
Teaching Kids
Large churches tend to take leadership skillfulness very seriously.
Small churches take the spiritual maturity of a person very seriously.
The Garden takes both seriously.
Many churches are loose, hokey, or mom-and-pop—letting anyone who demands serve anywhere because it's "just serving."
We're careful, strategic, and have ridiculously high standards for leaders because we're serving King Jesus.
HONORED
Heart
We have a heart for the House.
Ownership
We build team from nothing to accomplish everything.
Normal
We make saying the uncomfortable normal.
On Fire
We run through walls of fire.
Ridiculous
We hold ridiculously high standards.
Elegant
We make the complicated feel simple.
Development
We are gluttons for growth.
Paul later honored John Mark.
2 Timothy 4:11
"...he is very useful to me for ministry."
Colossians 4:10
"...If he comes to you, welcome him."
Philemon 24
Mark among Paul's "fellow workers."
THERE IS A COST TO DISCIPLE-MAKING
Acts 16:1–5
Paul comes to Derbe and Lystra.
He finds Timothy.
Timothy:
Already a disciple.
Already respected.
Already recognized by believers.
Paul wanted Timothy to accompany him.
He took him and circumcised him because of the Jews in those places.
Everyone talks about the cost of discipleship.
Few talk about the cost of disciple-making.
Paul returns to Lystra—the very city where he had been stoned and left for dead—and there he finds Timothy.
Paul paid the cost of:
Slowing down.
Bringing someone younger with him.
Training him.
Correcting him.
Sharing the work.
Timothy paid the cost of:
Sacrifice.
Laying down his rights for the mission.
ARE YOU WILLING TO PAY THE COST?
Disciple-making costs:
Time
Comfort
Convenience
It requires:
Mature believers to open their lives.
Younger believers to receive correction.
Examples:
Serving
Giving
Leading
Opening your home
Getting baptized
Knowing neighbors
Praying for people over time
Taking a step of faith (Men's Night or Mission Trip)
Acts 16:5
"So the churches were strengthened in the faith, and they increased in numbers daily."
People are coming to Christ in remarkable numbers today—not because we have lowered the bar, but because we have clearly called them to take up their cross and follow Jesus.
A generation starved for meaning is not longing for easy believism; they are longing for conviction, challenge, and a life worth surrendering to.
1 Corinthians 3:12–15
"...each one's work will become manifest... because it will be revealed by fire..."
→ YOU CAN BE SAVED BY GRACE AND STILL WASTE YOUR LIFE.
One Life to Live, Will Soon Be Past,
Only What's Done for Christ Will Last