Breaking the Mold - 2

Greetings and welcome once again the midweek service of beacon Baptist Church broadcasting from the empty auditorium of the church facilities on Kirkpatrick Rd. in Burlington, NC thankful for the opportunity to come into your presence here your home or wherever you may be in this way this matter that the Lord is provided for us. Looking forward to the time when will no longer say broadcasting from the empty auditorium. We hope it will be long until will be meeting again but for now we continue this schedule wake waiting as much as anything for the governor to tell us that the covert has died out enough that he wants to open things up in something closer to a normal fashion. At least get to phase 3. So we are moving forward with our pattern that we have followed for the last several months now, which is having services on Sunday morning with people present 930 Sunday morning and we been having some wonderful services and Sunday night and Wednesday night we are broadcasting by lifestream coming to you by by means of the Internet. Thankful it's working with had some some outages lately and grateful that is working tonight and that's the way it will be for a while. However, we are coming quickly to our full Bible conference were going to break the pattern in October 1 Sunday in October and will have not only our Sunday morning service Sunday, 96, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday night at 715 Bible conference or full Bible conference with Jim Orrick from Louisville, Kentucky. We are looking forward to that time. Please put it down on your calendar and plan to be with us during those dates, but after that we'll go back to the present schedule unless things have changed in our in our state regulations or state a request from the governor's office were not doing anything contrary to government regulations by conducting in-person services because that was settled in court a long time ago perfectly legal in doing these things that we are being careful and we recognize that covert is still there. People are still being affected. Thankfully we don't know of anyone who has contracted covert at church of beacon Baptist Church. We have had a couple of members who picked it up either in their home or at work and they're doing fine. There there over and now we have one member now in a rest home is also become infected with covert so that's usually where it takes place. But we are being cautious in trying to find a proper balance between just not meeting at all, which we think would be a real problem for the church of the Lord Jesus Christ to completely forsake the assembling of the saints. But on the other hand, not meeting so often and not meeting in a careless way so that we can increase or will not increase the possibility of spreading the covert virus I might remind college students or parents of college students that we are putting together a list of students that will be featuring on our Wednesday night prayer sheet and also that means that when that particular student is the student of the week will be sending them a letter from the church, assuring them of our prayers and encouraging them in the course of studies which they are following and we would like to have your college student on that list if you will let us know.

Be sure that if you have a student college either at home commuting to a nearby college or away at college. We would like to include them on that list if you will help us to be able to do so. Good advice more than advice.

Good scriptural instruction from first Peter 310, 11, 12 he who would love life and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit. Let him turn away from evil and do good. Let them seek peace and pursue it for the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayers but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.

I don't want to have God opposing me you so let us submit to his authority and obey his commands. We are praising the Lord that Alyssa long have successful oral surgery as three-year-old granddaughter of Mary Harper and had successful oral surgery on Monday and is doing well were also thankful that beacon member Debbie red is improved from the very severe case of vertigo the center to the hospital about a week and 1/2 ago. Good to see Debbie along with her husband Mike and church this last Sunday and Whittington is struggling with a case of the shingles, but she is improving and worth grateful to be able to report that our government officials a week as Village of Alamance Alder member Mike Baldwin. Please pray for him and a college student of the week.

This week is Jonathan Freeman and Bob Jones University in the Greenville South Carolina. He is an online student at this time. For those who are interested. I did get a letter form letter that was sent out a lot of people from the president of DJ you the came in the mail yesterday and reported that in spite of the covert their enrollment is actually up this year. There on campus enrollment just a little, but not down with about 20 more than 2500 students on campus. They have so far only had three cases of covert and they have good program in place to deal with that special facilities for them to isolate them and so forth. So everything is going very well and I hope the same is true of other Christian universities in other locations. I just don't happen to have a report on any of the others. We continue to pray for Rob Conrad one of our members who is been back and forth the hospital to home to the hospital to home, still not completely well.

Please pray for Rob.

Pray for Drew Guthrie as she continues to deal with with cancer and cancer treatments. Pray for Leanne Michael Hannon is recovering from thyroid surgery that she had last week and she's still suffering quite a bit of soreness in pain and difficulty swallowing and the things that can go with that arc pulp is waiting on the results of an MRI, but he's doing very well and feeling feeling good infected came by the church. I think yesterday to report and to tell us that he was doing well and he sounded good and he says by God's help, he intends to be in church this coming Sunday. We trust the Lord will honor that desire. Please also pray for Shirley Watkins who fell in Brewster left knee but fortunately no broken bones and she's back home recovering. Several on the other section need our attention tonight. Deanna Bethea, the granddaughter of Henry and Dorothy Campbell, who are members of our church will be having shoulder surgery on September 24 that will be. I think that'll be a week from tomorrow. If I'm not mistaken, that sounds about right.

1724. Yes, a week from tomorrow for a tear in her shoulder and then were praying for beacon member Louise day at the cottage of Blakely Hall. She has tested positive for covert and a number of folks there 13 residents and five staff members have tested positive for covert, there has been an outbreak. There please pray for all of the people living in Blakely Hall were praying for Rebecca Ellis granddaughter Paul and Gil Ellis who will be having a heart catheterization in Charleston on on all two on tomorrow. Looking at my sheet sets tomorrow in Charleston, South Carolina were continuing to pray for Stephanie Leonard fell and fractured her skull a few days ago. She is back home. Spend some time it Baptist Hospital but in Winston-Salem was released on Sunday and she's home but with a fractured skull.

She is having headaches. As you might well imagine. Please pray for her under the sympathy section.

We are praying for the family of Marie Hobbs. She was a believer and is a friend of Stephen's Suzanne Lynch were happy to report the missionary store law continues to do well. He had liver transplant surgery forgotten how long ago now may be as much is 10 days and may not be quite that long. And then that was followed up a few days later by another surgery to remove the cancerous tumor from his adrenal gland that went well and they couldn't find any evidence of any spreading or any additional cancer. In the meantime, he is now a recovering satisfactorily in his liver is working well and his other organs are functioning.

He still will be spending a few more days in the hospital but at the rate he's going, we would anticipate that he will be released before terribly much longer. Finally in the cancer section, we continue to pray for Ben Vestal, former member of our church way back in the early days who has lived for many years in Lynchburg, Virginia.

He is a brother to Lori Craig and a brother-in-law to Sue Vestal and he is now under hospice care cancer.

Please pray for Ben Vestal going to read the words of a hymn written by James Montgomery voice based upon Revelation 15 through seven and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth. To him who loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and has made us kings and priests to his God and father to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. Behold, he is coming with clouds, and every eye will see him, even they who pierced him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of him. Even so. Amen to him who loved us long ago before we came to be, who left his throne from Fort Worth below to save a wretch like me all praise to Christ from grateful med forevermore.

Amen.

To him who freight freed us from our sin by dying on the cross to make us whole without within redeemed from dreadful loss all praise to Christ from grateful men forevermore. Amen. To him who comes arrayed in light when sinners here shall see the one they pierced and mourn the site. God promised it shall be all praise to Christ from grateful men forevermore. Amen with Angels saints and seraphim. The new creation sayings all glory, power and praise to him who made us priests and K all praise to Christ from grateful men forevermore in let's pray heavenly father we bow to worship you, we bow to give you praise. We bow to praise your eternal son, the Lord Jesus Christ, the one who left heaven's glory and came to earth in order to die on the cross provide a satisfactory payment for sins in the place of we who are the sinners who deserved that judgment and our God.

How merciful you are to place our sins upon Christ and to credit his righteousness to our account for all of those who trust in you and so we do look forward to the day when Jesus Christ shall come, arrayed in white. When all the world shall see the one whom they rejected the one whom they pierced all Lord, we pray by the work of your spirit. You will cause yet a great multitude to trust in Christ to repent of their sins to embrace him to bow before his throne.

Now, before he comes in power and glory to judge father how grateful we are that we have a Savior and we indeed to give grateful praise to him forevermore. A few letters of communication tonight short one from the Christian Law Association that we will send gifts to from time to time. It's an organization that helps defend Christian freedoms in court that are very much under assault. There are good many similar organizations across the country. We need them all. These are perilous days in which we live to friends at beacon Baptist Church. If there be any virtue, if there be any praise, think on these things. This verse came to mind when we thought of how your financial contributions and cares impact the world for Christ. Thousands of believers across the country are directly impacted by your recent donation. You enable our ministry to be a lighthouse of the storm for many pastors and ministers. Many unique legal situations are rising that no one could have foreseen and we ask that you pray for wisdom for our legal team.

The Christians involved in legal trouble. During this time while pastors are trying to lead their ministries through wisdom and discernment join us in praying for God's blessing in America and signed David Gibbs Junior I have a letter from Tony and Kathy Payne in South Africa which actually precedes the letter that I read recently in the one that I read recently was their latest communication, just a short one that they set after they arrived in the states where they come to visit his mother who was in declining health. But this letter gives the back ground for their being able to come and also gives us a bit more insight into the ministry in South Africa so I would like to read that at this time dear Pastor Bartman friends at beacon greetings from Cape Town or we are still under lockdown which began on March 26. Many of you have been praying for my mother Lorraine Wood was declining in her kidney function is having other signs of end stage renal disease. Even with her dialysis three times a week for the past four years. She's having episodes of dangerously low blood pressure. In a previous letter almost a month ago I wrote that she had fallen and broken. The two lower leg blow bones that form the ankle when her blood pressure bottomed out when she was standing in her kitchen. She knows that she will not become any better. She is asked me for the last six months to please come and visit her.

I feel that it's something I should do talks about consulting with his mission board and with his home church pastors and they all agreed.

But the problem was getting out of South Africa because there were no flights. He said he says we are, we were not sure that they would be possible since the airports have been closed to international flight since lockdown began in March but we have been praying that the airports would be opened up by August to allow us to visit her at as had been originally planned covert, 19 about a week ago received an email from the US Embassy advising us of a few repatriation flights offered to Americans who wish to travel to America. We see this as an opportunity from God, Lord willing, we will deposit depart from Cape Town to Atlanta on August 9 course date. That was a little over a month ago at this point our gatherings for corporate worship are still not possible. So even with me traveling to the USA and Oakland Baptiste Kirk will continue with distance worship and preaching as we have been doing these past four months. I will go on with the new series of messages from the book of Galatians as well as a debt as well as a daily Scripture text for believers to read and study with the notes that I provide them in the texts. I think none of us ever knew what a blessing. Technology could become for the body of Christ.

Our men will continue to help by providing some of the Wednesday evening messages by giving oversight to the needs of the flock.

So even though he's in America is still preaching to his church in South Africa at the scheduled time by means of the Internet technology. Please pray for our hearts and our believers are to remain strong. Many of them came to Christ through our ministry of the gospel, so we carry them in our hearts as our children in Christ. The decision to come to America was not an easy one, especially with covert, 19 our prayers to return to South Africa in October. If the air reopens by then the course we had Dave and Julie Rudolph also missionaries to South Africa with us this last Sunday there trying to return to South Africa. They still have don't have a time when they will be able to return.

He writes Tony Pinkerton just right. I believers have been so supportive of the need that I feel to see my mom again because this is her wish, will you pray with us for all of the believers at Ed Hoven Baptist Kirk to be faithful and persevere in faith. Pray that they may remember to enjoy their new residence, mercy, and peace from Sunday. Galatians 12 message and I thank the Lord daily for the Old Testament dogs goodness in favor they pursue them. Psalm 23, six, praise our Lord God for his blessings. Rich blessings in our lives. World thinks their life is nice, but it is empty. We have kindness, mercy and grace and peace that abide with us is not as sweet, sweet letter.

Well I have a letter from David and Nikki Vaughn in France and I had intended to read but as I look at the clock and I look at the letter, which is a fairly long one.

I don't think I'll have time to read that. So I'm also holding in my hands. The most recent letter from Paul and Trish Snyder from Papua, Indonesia, and they are home because of medical needs as our Trevor and and Teresa Johnson from the same field work together partnership with these folks there also in the states because of medical issues.

I'm not going to try to read the Snyder letter either. It's too long to fit into the space that I'm not contemplating as I look at the clock but having it in my hand, at least allows me to update you a bit by summarizing some of things that are in the letter, primarily to tell you that they recently relocated to Radford, Virginia.

We'd already reported that so you probably already know that and they report that they are doing well. There they settled in.

They are involved in the church that is there. They are involved in the mission board hearts cry missionary society with which they have had a working relationship in Papua even though that's not their board, but they are working with other missionaries who are with that board and have found that to be a very fruitful relationship of Paul tells us that his health is improving.

Still not completely well but is better. He also reports that their daughter Marianne is improving his handsome subissues of various kinds and they were very perplexing but they are now improving. She's doing well. Well in school and is so much improved and their son Wayne who really didn't have any issues that I know of is that doing well has made the adjustment and is in school and is doing well. Then he reports on the work back in Papua. He has photos of some of the workers. Some of the believers and all seems to be going on. Well, there in their absence for which we praise the Lord. So I'm happy to be able to give you that update Paul and Trish Snyder and I will Lord willing. Next time I come to this Wednesday night pulpit give you the letter from David Nikki Vaughn in France.

With that I now open my Bible to ask Chapter 11, I would encourage you to do the same. Last Wednesday we opened our Bibles to ask Chapter 11 I read verses 19 through 30 and then review what was best described as an introduction to the message from this passage so I can't spend much more time on introduction.

Though there are a number of other things that I would like to say and I think would be profitable but let me simply report to you that what is going on here is a record of the beginning of what we now call missions. They didn't call it that the damage is called proclaiming the gospel to well as they eventually understood to the ends of the world to every creature exactly as Jesus Christ had commanded though as we know, the first Christians were a little perplexed perfect befuddled and uncertain as to exactly how that was to be carried out because the first several thousand Christians, all from the from the Jewish community and most of them from the city of Jerusalem were therefore Jewish believers in Jesus Christ, and they still had this erroneous idea that the way Gentiles were to become members of the family of God, like the Jews was by way of of Judaism that they should become Jews and then as Jews should embrace Christ to become Christians the same way that these Jews had done and that was their concept and that was their error and so for a long time, they had difficulty just simply preaching the gospel to Gentiles, the gospel of the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ for sinners and that those who trust in him will be saved from their sins, but to them it seemed like you had to. You had to first be a Jew you had to first be a follower of Moses you first had to be submitted to the authority of the Old Testament before you were prepared to hear the message that Jesus is the promised Christ. The crown was promised Messiah promised from the Old Testament Scriptures, but if you did know anything about the Old Testament Scriptures that how could you understand about Christ.

This is the way they were reasoning, and even though they seem very strange to us now as we think about what they were dealing with what they believed why they believed it, we can see it makes a certain amount of sense, but it's one of those things that though it may make sense.

It certainly made a lot of sense to them. Though it may make sense.

It was wrong and the caution is to realize that we could be doing something similar in a different realm. We don't embrace their error but it's very easy for us to pick up things in the realm of Christianity that make perfect sense well to us.

They make perfect sense though if they're not right. This certainly wasn't right with these people believed it wasn't perfect sense.

It was a measure of sense. It was a a category of logic. But it really wasn't perfect sense because it was wrong, and sometimes we think we have things that make perfect sense.

But the wrong doesn't perfect sense. It is a factual error. It is a scriptural or just just to caution to remain humble and teachable, and to realize that you may embrace something you may believe something that is not actually biblical you think it is. But it's not wrong. I may be embracing something like that as well. In fact, I think I meant to make them stronger. It is without doubt that both you and I are embracing some things that are not factually biblical. If we knew what they were, we could reject them right now and change the we don't understand what they are, because up until this time we've been unable to see it clearly been blind in that particular area and so may God teaches the Holy Spirit of God.

Open our understanding may our understanding of Scripture be enlarged so that we can see our errors and deal with them, reject them and correct them according to the word of God back to ask Chapter 11. What's going on here in this account of the spread of the gospel to Antioch in the first substantial Gentile church. I don't know if there were any any Gentile churches before this time is no record of any so when I called the first substantial Gentile church. That's just based on the supposition that there may have been some that are accorded as far as the Scripture is concerned.

There weren't any Gentile churches. It wasn't the first substantial Gentile church.

It was the first ever Gentile church. That's what we find in acts chapter 11. Now I read the text verse 19 and following all those who were scattered after the persecution that arose over Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia Cypress and Antioch, preaching the word to no one but to the Jews only some of them were men from Cyprus and Sirena when they had come to Antioch spoke to the Hellenists. Some translations say Greeks some say Gentiles, but they spoke to the Hellenists preaching the Lord Jesus but Helen Hellenists is another name for Greek and verse 21 tells us the hand of the Lord was with them and a great number believed in turn to the Lord.

The news of these things came to the ears of the church in Jerusalem and they sent out Barnabas to go as far as Antioch when he had come, and had seen the grace of God was glad and encourage them all that with purpose of heart. They should continue with the Lord. Then Barnabas departed for Tarsus to seek Saul in 20 had found him he brought him to Antioch so it was that a whole year they assembled with the church and taught a great many people in the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch and in those days prophets came from Jerusalem to Antioch and one of them named Agatha's stood up and showed by the spirit that there was going to be a great famine throughout all the world which also happened in the days of Claudius Caesar than the disciples, each according to his ability, determined to send relief to the brethren dwelling in Judea this they also did and send it to the elders by the hands of Barnabas and Saul. I have an outline for the passage I don't have any any inclination that I'm going to be able to cover the whole message tonight so it will be continued on the future Wednesday night. Let me at least give you the four-point outline of the entire passage that I just read we could call this breaking the mold and what we have is first of all, evangelism verses 19 through 21. Secondly, church planting verses 22 through 26 third de-privatization in verses 27 to 28 and finally response in verses 29 and 30.

First of all, evangelism. That's the beginning of what we call missions preach the gospel, Jesus said, go into all the world and preach the gospel. He actually said make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the father and of the son of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you. And low. I'm with you always, even to the end of the age go into all the world and make disciples of the nation. That's Christ command Christ has now been back in heaven for several years and still this command is not being carried out of the great deal of energy or intentionality or success because as I already explained these early Christians didn't seem to be able to figure out how to do it still thinking in terms of preaching the gospel to the Jews so that they might believe that Jesus of Nazareth is actually the Messiah, the Christ promised by God in the Old Testament Scriptures so somebody had to come along and break out of the mold.

This mold of error. This of mold of of erroneous belief that was holding back the work of missions holding back the spread of the gospel. So how did this evangelism unfold and ask Chapter 11. It started with faithful evangelists back to verse 19 again. Now there those who were scattered scattered rather after the persecution that arose over Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia Cypress and Antioch, preaching the word. But that's not where the verse ends preaching the word to no one but the Jews only. There were selective workday, but they were going. Jesus Christ said go into all the world more literally as you are going into all the world and persecution had pushed them out of the nest in Jerusalem. That's where the persecution was now so intense that it wasn't safe to stay there so they were being scattered. They hadn't really intentionally said we think we ought to carry the gospel to other places. They were living their lives in Jerusalem enjoying the fellowship of the saints. There preaching the gospel to their fellow Jews in Jerusalem and were given much thought to going into all the world, but persecution was scattering them and so they were going even why Jesus said as you are going as you go into all the world preach make disciples of all nations prior to ask Chapter 11 we find couple of of outreaches to Gentiles your member Philip went to Samaria. Hard to know exactly how to categorize Samaritans were they Gentiles may be where they Jews.

Jews certainly didn't think so, but they claim to Jewish relationship and they claim to worship the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. They claim to worship him on now dear is immune.

All of that from John chapter 4. The woman at the well so related themselves to the Jewish nation to the Jewish religion to the Jewish promises but they had already broken away from the worship of Jehovah in Jerusalem the place where he had appointed his worship to be centered. Philip went to Samaria, and in doing that he broke barriers, Jews had been going to the Samaritans, but Philip did and the number of people were saved. Philip also went to the Ethiopian eunuch and that is also in acts chapter 8 the Ethiopian eunuch would definitely a Gentile. No confusion about what category he said into. He was a Gentile. He was the treasurer of candidates see the queen of the Ethiopians, but God was working in his heart he uninterested in the Bible the Scriptures the Old Testament Scriptures.

Of course for the New Testament had been written yet. He had journeyed to Jerusalem to worship there to learn more about the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. You can see Holy Spirit working in hearts. He was preparing the heart of the this Ethiopian eunuch but he was going back home traveling in a chariot with the retinue.

No doubt, back home, taking with him a copy of the book of Isaiah which he was reading in the chariot but not understanding very much about it. The Holy Spirit of God had picked Philip up from his recall of the revival pretty pretty successful evangelistic effort that was going on.

Samaria and Holy Spirit are going to pick him up and dropped him down along the roadside.

Where this Ethiopian eunuch was coming along pretty amazing. So here comes Ethiopian eunuch in his chariot and who is a see but bad out there standing by the roadside. I don't know if he was doing this I don't think so, but God prompted the unit to stop his chariot to find out who this man was, he found out that he was a Christian, a Jewish Christian, and invited them up in a chariot and Philip notices that he's reading the prophet Isaiah and he was reading from Isaiah 53 of all the places that the book of Isaiah that he could have been reading from there is none that would be a better place to preach the gospel in Isaiah 53.

There are other passages that speak about the Messiah, but you can't find a better one in Isaiah 53 so he's reading about the one who was led as a sheep to the slaughter before and and as a ship sheet before he shares his dummy opens not his mouth and he was wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities of the chastisement of our peace was upon him, and with his stripes we are healed and he's reading these things he knows that these are the words of the prophet Isaiah, and he says the Philip, who, who is the prophet speaking about here in these words is he speaking about himself or some other man is one who was wounded as one who is bruised.

Who is this an Philip Bible tells us began to explain to him about Jesus.

This is Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus the Christ, the unit believed in Jesus knew something about the Christian religion because as they were driving along and Philip was explaining things to him.

It probably gone on from the gospel to talk about other things we really don't know what all was upon Lake somebody of water and what does the eunuch say luck, here's water. What prevents me from being baptized, and Philip said tongue-in-cheek will.

Here's the canteen and sprinkle a little bit on your head will know that would work down to the body of water down into the water immersed into the water raised up out of the water. That's the baptism that is described in prescribed in the Scriptures, sprinkling a little water on the head does not meet the biblical doctrine of baptism at all. But here's another Gentile who is come to faith in Christ. But we haven't heard about the establishment of a church in Samaria, though I can't rule it out. There were good many believers there that would seem to be the next logical step, but we haven't been told of one. There's no no description of one in the Scriptures, the Ethiopian eunuch certainly had no church to attach himself to. He went back to Ethiopia and I presume at that time was the only believer in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Now again my supposition is that he witnessed the gospel and God blessed is witnessing and others were saved and who knows, there may have been a church established before too many months past and as we know there is a whole population of Ethiopians who call themselves Crips Christians, we call them today. Coptic Christians and they live in Egypt and they live in Ethiopia and no doubt trace their spiritual heritage all the way back to acts chapter 8 to the Ethiopian eunuch but still there had not really been a serious evangelistic outreach to a distinctly Gentile community Samaritans are as close as we come to a community of Gentiles, but they really worked. So now these faithful evangelists are being scattered from Jerusalem.

They are going northward up the coast. They traveled we read as far as Phoenicia. Phoenicia is modern day Lebanon those days. That would've been the cities of Tyre and Sidon, they preach the gospel. There they went to Cyprus. That's the island they they didn't didn't restrict themselves to staying on the mainland. Some of them maybe all of them. We don't know God. The boat traveled over to the island of Cyprus preach the gospel. There, and Antioch. Some of them finally reached the city of Antioch in Syria 300 miles north of Jerusalem, a great Gentile city great Roman city in those days, but still up until this time. All of these people who were fervent evangelists preaching the gospel. We were preaching we are told to no one but the Jews only. They found the Jews in tired preach to them. They found the Jews inside preach to them they could find the synagogues they could find the Jews. They found shows in Cyprus and preach to them.

They found Jews in Antioch and preach to them they didn't know any other thing to do. They just work. They were pressed into a mold of their own wrong thinking.

But it was a cultural thing.

It was a day I heritage issue. It was a matter of their upbringing them out of their training. It was a matter of carrying over their Jewish upbringing in the concepts they brought from that into their Christian faith and they brought in some some concepts that were erroneous but they had seen that yet. They had had corrected these things and shaken them yet again I have to ask how many cultural concepts have you been endued with and brought into Christianity from your background could be just as erroneous. Just as culturally based rather than biblically based, but you somehow have confused in your mind there all mixed up together, these biblical ideas of these cultural ideas and somehow you think they're all biblical. You don't realize that some of them are cultural.

That's the way these folks were, they were faithful evangelists but they were restricted in their focus.

They preach to no one but to the Jews only until we come to verse 20. Now we find some bold innovators among the faithful evangelists.

This was in all of them but this was some of them. Verse 20 but some of them were men from Cyprus and Sirena when they had come to Antioch spoke to the Hellenists preaching the Lord Jesus from Cyprus we've already mentioned that the island of Cyprus and Sirena that's a city on the north coast of Africa and some of these were men who would come from these places. They were Jews.

Jews of the dispersion. The DS Bora but even Jews from the DS for I had synagogues in their places where they lived, and many of them traveled to Jerusalem on major feast days in order to continue to be faithful to the regulations of Moses who said you are to go to the major first feast days in Jerusalem, and many of them dead and of course at that time one of those feast days on the day of Pentecost.

What happened 3000 were saved, many of whom were people from the dispersion from Cyprus and Sirena. In fact, we got a whole list of places where these people were from many of them were saying. The difference is these men from Cyprus and Sirena.

Though they were Jews like the others hadn't come from quite the same strong Jewish cultural heritage is the other. These things can be regional people who are reared up in the South have certain cultural concepts that may be those who are reared up in New England do not have, and vice versa, and different from some that are raised in the Midwest and vice versa, and some that are raised in the Far West and vice versa. Some that are raised in Texas. They have their own cultural concepts that they grow up with and so these from the dispersion were Jews, but there there Jewish cultural hangups were not nearly as strong because they had lived there lives among Gentiles they were. I minority of Jews in a Gentile community and so they had gotten to know Gentiles they had had done business with Gentiles. If you lived in Jerusalem.

You could avoid Gentiles your whole life and have no contact with them. Virtually have no conversation with you would need to go to the market always be dealing with a fellow Jew, any place you weapon could be dealing with a fellow Jew. There were few Gentiles there, but they were outsiders and didn't for the most part wouldn't of spoken Aramaic form of Hebrew that was spoken by the Jews in the day so you could tell them immediately. We have the same thing in America go with. Sometimes we go into a store and we hear people speaking a different language. We know immediately. They didn't grow up in North Carolina that from someplace else and it's really easy not to have any direct contact with them.

They're not particularly usually seeking direct contact with us and it's easy for us to know they're not there not from here fact we don't even know how to how to converse with them. In some cases if they don't speak any English so Jews who grew up in Jerusalem could live their whole life without having any contact with a Gentile. I suppose it's possible some of them and never had a conversation with a Gentile, so it's not surprising that when they went up preaching the gospel. They were looking for Jews preach the gospel to Jews if they never talk to Gentiles before they really didn't know how to do that. Did the very awkward for them.

It was a mental barrier mental hangup a cultural problem but it was very real and very strong but those who grew up in Cyprus. Those who grew up inside reading entirely different story.

They had mingled with talked with befriended Gentiles. All of their lives. So when they went to Antioch. They just they found it very easy to strike up conversations with Greeks with Gentile.

Unlike there Jerusalem friends who found that very difficult. They had done of all their lives and so whether they had planned to do it or not, whether were just a matter of their enthusiasm for the gospel, spilling out they couldn't couldn't hold back any longer could contain themselves. Whatever happened, they begin to preach the Lord Jesus to Gentiles and a great number believed the hand of the Lord was with them at a great number believed and turned to the Lord and now for the first time there is a significant number of Gentiles all in one city all in one community where believing in Jesus Christ and what you have and will see it developing unfolding as we go further, the passage another night what you have is the beginning of the first identifiable Gentile church. As a result of this missions effort out of Jerusalem, and now we will have to conclude with prayer. Father, we thank you for your word how we thank you that the gospel did break out from the Jews and went to Gentiles for where would I be where would we be if the gospel had been spoken to the Jews only. For all of the century. We thank you that your river of grace is deep and wide and has flowed throughout the whole world and has brought many many Gentiles into the fold of salvation.

We thank you Lisa long surgery went well and we pray that you may continue to touch and heal her thank you to Debbie red is doing much better. We pray that you will help her with these issues we pray for and Whittington rejoicing the she's improved and praying that she may continue to recover from the shingles we pray for village of Alamance altar member Mike Baldwin that you might give him wisdom from above guide and direct his thinking, helping father to be a good representative of truth and righteousness and justice in his place of civic responsibility. We pray for Jonathan Freeman as he's taking some courses online, preparing himself to go away to the University next year if all goes according to plan.

Pray for Rob Conrad please strengthen him.

We pray for Drew Guthrie please minister to her. We pray for Leanne Michael Hannon that you will ease the pain that she is experiencing from surgery and bring her to recovery. We thank you that our pope is doing better. We pray they'll get a good report from his MRI. We thank you for protecting Shirley Watkins from breaking any bones. We pray that you will minister to this dear sweet sister. This sweet member of our congregation. We pray for Deanna, but they will be having surgery on her shoulder on September 24 week from tomorrow. Please prepare her for the surgery and prepare the ones who carry it out. We pray that it shall be successful. We pray for Louise day. Please protect her from serious covert symptoms. We pray for all those of Blakely Hall that you might keep them from having a major bus problem with this. This virus we pray for Rebecca Ellis. She has a heart catheterization in Charleston tomorrow.

We pray for Stephanie Leonard you will help her to recover from this head injury. Pray for Stuart Waugh that his recovery may continue for Trevor Johnson and Paul Snyder and their families here in the state. Pray for the family Marie Hobbs that you might minister grace to them.

We pray for Ben Vestal this dear brother in Christ that you might minister much grace to him making all your presence now father, thank you for allowing us together in this way, Lord help us help us to be faithful, fervent and fruitful servants of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, in whose name we pray