ISLAND SUNDAY
{6-13-2010}
How many of you have ever been on a cruise?
How many of you have ever been to an island?
Why would anyone from Iowa want to go to an island?
What can you do on an island that you can’t do in Iowa?
Give me some ideas of what I could do on an island.
Enjoy the beach.
Get away from a winter in Iowa.
Let me tell you what one guy did on an island:
Acts 13:2-7) While they were serving the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said to them, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul, to do the work to which I have called them.”
3) They fasted and prayed, placed their hands on them, and sent them off.
4) Having been sent by the Holy Spirit, Barnabas and Saul went to Seleucia and sailed from there to the island of Cyprus.
5) When they arrived at Salamis, they preached the word of God in the synagogues. They had John Mark with them to help in the work.
6) They went all the way across the island to Paphos, where they met a certain magician named Bar-Jesus, a Jew who claimed to be a prophet.
7) He was a friend of the governor of the island, Sergius Paulus, who was an intelligent man. The governor called Barnabas and Saul before him because he wanted to hear the word of God.
What did the governor of the island want to do on his island?
Have you ever had a strong desire to hear/read the word of God?
What are some reasons we sometimes might have that cause us to want to
hear/read God’s Word?
We need direction from God in our lives.
We’re confused and need to make some sense of life.
His Word strengthens us and gives us courage to face our circumstances.
Acts 13:8-12) But they were opposed by the magician Elymas (that is his name in Greek), who tried to turn the governor away from the faith.
9) Then Saul—also known as Paul—was filled with the Holy Spirit; he looked straight at the magician
10) and said, “You son of the Devil! You are the enemy of everything that is good. You are full of all kinds of evil tricks, and you always keep trying to turn the Lord’s truths into lies!
11) The Lord’s hand will come down on you now; you will be blind and will not see the light of day for a time.” At once Elymas felt a dark mist cover his eyes, and he walked around trying to find someone to lead him by the hand.
12) When the governor saw what had happened, he believed; for he was greatly amazed at the teaching about the Lord.
What was the governor’s response to what he saw and heard?
What amazed the governor?
Have we lost our “amazement at the teaching about the Lord”?
What’s so amazing about the things that Paul taught?
1) We’ve all fallen short of God’s righteous requirements.
Rom. 3:23) For all have sinned; all fall short of God’s glorious standard [NLT].
2) We were facing the wrath of God.
John 3:36) Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on him [NIV].
3) Our sentence was eternal death/separation from God.
Rom. 6:23) The payment for sin is death [GW].
4) We couldn’t help ourselves.
Rom. 5:6) When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners [NLT].
5) Jesus offers us the only solution available that can save us.
Rev. 3:20) Look! Here I stand at the door and knock. If you hear me calling and open the door, I will come in [NLT].
6) When we accept Him into our lives we become His children.
John 1:12) But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God [NLT].
7) Absolutely amazing things are in store for us.
1 John 3:1-3) See how very much our heavenly Father loves us, for he allows us to be called his children, and we really are! But the people who belong to this world don’t know God, so they don’t understand that we are his children.
2) Yes, dear friends, we are already God’s children, and we can’t even imagine what we will be like when Christ returns. But we do know that when he comes we will be like him, for we will see him as he really is.
3) And all who believe this will keep themselves pure, just as Christ is pure [NLT].