Building a Great Church, part 7 - First Missionary Journey | Chicago International Christian Church

Preached by Chris Broom, 3/30/2008

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Disciples at the Washington DC Mission Team Retreat
Disciples and their families at the Washington DC Mission Team Retreat

Building a Great Church, part 7 - First Missionary Journey - Outline

Theresa and I had the privilege of joining Andrew and Patrique Smellie and the Washington DC mission team for an incredible missionary journey as we gathered for their church planting retreat which was held on the weekend of March 16, 2008 (see report on LA website). Upon our arrival in Washington, I was overwhelmed with a flood of memories. It was exactly two years earlier that we had met in Chicago with the dream to plant a church of sold-out disciples there. God has blessed us incredibly as we have now grown to 90 members in Chicago. It is a very diverse group and we are confident that God is going to use even us, the worst of sinners, to make disciples of all nations here in the Midwest.

It was my second time in DC. I had traveled there in the summer of 2000 with about seventeen others from Syracuse, New York, to attend an International Campus Ministry Conference entitled “Known But To God.” I’ll never forget the life changing message that Kip McKean gave at that seminar. One of the young men with me at that retreat was a three month old Christian named Andrew Smellie. Now, eight years later, we were in DC again, yet Andrew is no longer a young Christian. With his wife Patrique by his side, God is using him to bring hope to our Nation’s Capitol!

As we talked and prayed with the Smellies and McKeans about the mission team, we had a strong sense that the team needed more diversity. The Holy Spirit answered our prayers through Elena as she mentioned a couple that she thought would be a great fit for the team. That was Thursday night. Kip talked to the couple on Friday morning, we booked plane tickets for them to come to the retreat on Friday afternoon and they landed Saturday evening in DC. We met them at the Lincoln Memorial where we shared and prayed and sang as we walked the three miles or so all the way down the mall, past the Vietnam memorial, the World War Two memorial, the Washington Monument and all the way to the Capitol Building. That night we went out for a late dinner and a talk about the possibility God had put before us. By Sunday after church, Chuck and Elizabeth Hess, currently of the Corvallis Oregon Church said, “We’re coming to DC!”

When I returned to our hotel, I saw Lee and Noni Pullen, currently in the Chicago Church, and told them the good news. They said, “It’s a yes, we’re coming to DC as well! The joy in them was infectious. It‘s called living by faith. Please continue praying for the DC planting. Their inaugural service will be held on September 14, 2008!

I hope you will enjoy the lesson posted above on Paul’s First Missionary Journey (I have included some of the notes below). Perhaps God is calling you to join us on a missionary journey of your own as we strive to fulfill Jesus’ commission to make disciples of all nations!

Your Partner in the Gospel,

Chris Broom

Acts 13:1
1. Zeal for the mission.

Antioch is the 3rd largest city in the Roman world. It was a big metropolitan city. A very diverse city.
The leadership of the church in Antioch was very diverse. (A church’s leadership needs to reflect the demographics of the people in that city.)
Chicago is a big city. A diverse city.
It has been great to see the church here growing: from January to the end of March, our church has grown from 71 to 90 disciples.
As the church here is growing, the leadership must also grow and change in order to meet the needs.
In verse 2, we see the church leadership is worshipping God and fasting, and God‘s Spirit chooses Barnabas and Saul and sends them on their way on a missionary journey. (This Summer, God willing, at the 2008 World Missions Jubilee in Los Angeles, The New York City and DC mission teams are going to be sent out; not by the Syracuse church or the LA or Chicago churches, but by the Holy Spirit.)
The First Missionary Journey took place from 46-48 AD, and established Paul as a leader in the evangelization of the world. They sailed across to Cypress (some 80 miles).
At this time Barnabas was still the senior member over Paul. That was soon to change.
John Mark was with them as their helper. We first met him in Acts 12:12 when the angel broke Peter out of Jail. He was Peter’s son in the faith (1 Peter 5:13), and the cousin of Barnabas (Colossians 4:10).
You will never grow as a leader until you entrust yourself to someone as a helper or follower. (Ace and Pam have given themselves over as helpers in LA and therefore God is raising them up.)
They meet Bar-Jesus, which means Son of Jesus, and he’s a false prophet. He opposed Paul and tried to turn the proconsul from faith.
Paul stands up to him and calls him a Son of Satan, strikes him with blindness, and the Proconsul believed their message. (We can‘t get so sentimental that we won‘t preach the truth without apology.)
John Mark deserts them. We don’t know whether it was the travel, sickness, home sickness or just plain cowardice, but he quit and went back to Jerusalem.
Acts 14: We don’t just want to preach the word, we want to be effective in preaching. That means you have to study the word and live it and teach it. You also have to be humble and learn from those that are effective.
Even the most effective people will have others go after the people they are teaching and try to poison their minds. In the first century and now, people will say bad things about a church that is trying to make disciples and turn the world upside down. They will say things with their mouth and on the Internet that are half truths and lies. There will be persecution. We have to deal with it, and have a zeal for the mission.
Acts 14: Paul heals a cripple, and the people believe he is a god that has come down in human form.
Oved, a roman poet, wrote about mythology. In one of his writings, he told of how Zeus and Hermes had visited Lystra and they hadn’t received them well. Now, the people think Zeus and Hermes are back and they are determined not to blow it again.
While Paul is trying to convince them that they are not gods, Jews came and won the crowd over. They turn on them and stoned Paul and left him for dead.
We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God.
For some, church Is like Disneyland. We say, “I hope there are good songs today“ or “communion will be insightful“ or “I’ll see people“. Some just come to be entertained. I believe that church needs to be fun with people who have a sense of purpose in God and in Christ, but for too many people, church is no more than a Disneyland affair and when it stops being fun, they quit.
We say, “I don’t have gas“ or “it’s to far!“ Can you imagine the disciples in the first century making excuses like that. Every disciple must be ready to go anywhere the Spirit leads, and we must be totally devoted to God and His church. (We must eat, sleep, drink and breath God and His church.)
How can we cheapen the church. We need to hold the church dear. It’s not to be worshiped, but it is to be loved.
How zealous have you been this week? How many have you shared with. Does it match the early disciples. Are you willing to do what they did?
Every four hours a new McDonald’s opens.
CNN reported that it is currently the tenth anniversary of Viagra. Ten years ago, no one knew what it was. Now, 3 pills are taken every second.
If they can do that, we can evangelize the world with the gospel.
We must ask ourselves, “Have I been stoned and left for dead?” We have such a weak view of the commitment it takes to follow Jesus. For the early disciples, It was life and death everyday. It was worth living for and it was worth dying for.
We’ve got to have a zeal for the mission.

2. Zeal for unity. Chapter 15:1 “Jerusalem Council.”

Church was a good news celebration.
Some are teaching that the Gentiles must be circumcised and become Jewish before they can be saved.
James, the half-brother of Jesus, heard form the circumcision party and Peter and Paul.
Then James gave his judgment in the situation. He didn’t think it right to make it difficult for the Gentiles to enter the Kingdom of God, but there were some things that he did consider worthy of obedience. He basically said, “This is what we are going to do.”
There was no voting or casting lots. Just leadership that said, “This is what’s right.”
Most likely, in the crowd, there was a majority of Jewish disciples that thought differently, but James said no!
This was not the democracy of God, it was all about the Kingdom of God.
For Americans, this is a hard teaching, because we think democracy is the highest form of government. But when you have God leading you, and the authority of his word as your guide, you don’t need a majority decision.
Most of the time when there was a majority in the Bible, they were wrong.
Unity must be forged, and that takes leadership.
A letter was sent to all the churches that told of the leadership’s decisions on what should be obeyed.
Today, the Chicago International Christian Church is going to make some changes in it’s structure. The Holy Spirit has worked through our growth, as well as hardship and the need to make sure we are sharing the load of leadership.
Growth means change. (If your child grows, you have to buy them new clothes.)
Today, we are going to restructure the church into four different regions of work.

Spanish Region: Juan Carlos and Betty Garcia
Northwest Region: Jay and Barb Shelbrack
Southwest Region: Pat and Pam Boea
East Region: Chris and Theresa Broom