June 1, 2025
Pastor John Hering
Acts 16:6-10
Acts 16:6-10
6 They went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, because they were prevented by the Holy Spirit from speaking the word in the province of Asia. 7 When they went as far as Mysia, they tried to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them. 8 So they passed by Mysia and went down to Troas. 9 A vision appeared to Paul during the night. A Macedonian man was standing there, urging him, “Come over to Macedonia and help us!” 10 As soon as he had seen the vision, we immediately made plans to proceed to Macedonia, because we concluded that God had called us to preach the good news to them.
God’s passion is for people to believe in Jesus and join him in heaven. Jesus told some parables to make this point.
“33 He spoke another parable to them: “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast, which a woman took and mixed into a bushel of flour until the whole batch was leavened” (Matt 13:33).
The point? God wants his kingdom to grow internally by the power of his Word quietly permeating in the hearts of people.
“The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. 32 It is one of the smallest of seeds. But when it grows, it is larger than the other plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches” (Matt 13:31-32).
The point? God wants his kingdom to grow externally, often beginning very small but then grows more and more.
But, even when we hear these words are you convinced? Let’s apply Jesus’ words very close to home. How does God grow his people at Divine Peace in Garland, Texas? It is the theme of our worship today and center point of Acts 16. The Holy Spirit wants us to take it to heart when he hear that
Christ Works Through Us For Unity
As Partners
There is a lot of divisiveness around us. This can make it hard to be partners with others. Should we list a few of the issues that cause division? Politics (easy one), racial and cultural differences, moral issues like abortion and human sexuality. These topics usually bring out the worst in people. What about in your own life? Do you remember hearing your parents tell you who you should date or not date, marry or not marry, acceptable grades, school choices, careers, how you’re raising your kids the wrong way, who’s going to take care of mom and dad in their old age. Why worship together at Divine Peace? How much money can you spend? Think about something that is divisive in your life right now. I would imagine our list would pretty long!
Your sinful nature loves to make an appearance during these issues and show just how selfish and self-centered you can be. It shows itself in arguments, in shouting, in shutting down and shutting out others, in the way you mistreat or disregard someone. You pick sides. We’re not often one, but divided. It causes a lot hurt, frustration, and resentment. It divides people and that’s a problem. It’s way bigger than just a social problem, it’s a heart and faith problem. That’s why Jesus came to be your Savior.
St. Paul certainly knew what it meant to live in a divisive world. Think of all he lived through—debate at the synagogue, ridicule, beating, prison, hunger, even stoning. Would you like to travel with Paul on his missionary journeys? Isn’t it a miracle that he often had others who traveled with him as his partners? I wonder how many times he quoted Ecclesiastes 4:9 to himself,
“Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their hard work.”
No doubt the work that got done multiplied through these gospel partners. But, we also know there was another Partner at work with them.
“6 They went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, because they were prevented by the Holy Spirit from speaking the word in the province of Asia. 7 When they went as far as Mysia, they tried to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them. 8 So they passed by Mysia and went down to Troas.”
Troas was an important seaport on the northwestern part of Asia Minor at the threshold of another continent—Europe! We know Luke wrote the Book of Acts, and did you catch the pronouns I just read? “They, they, they…..”
But, after this Luke writes, “we immediately made plans to proceed to Macedonia, because we concluded that God had called us to preach the good news to them.” It appears God just added another partner to Paul’s mission work. Can’t you imagine Dr. Luke preparing for the journey while packing his bag? Let’s see, bandages, scalpel, bottle of pain killer, salve and then he added one more important item—Holy Scriptures! While Luke was trained as a doctor it appears he was a medical missionary. He could help with physical pain, but he had a heart for people. Jesus worked through Paul to have Unity with his new Partner, Luke!
And what has Jesus done to partner with you on his mission of saving people? I know how many excuses I’ve heard when called to share the gospel with people. “I don’t know what to say.” “They probably won’t listen to me anyway.” And what should God do with excuse makers like you and me? He should fire us from his workforce and cancel his partnership with us and send us to hell! But what DID God do? Let’s think of a couple of examples from the Bible: What did he do with that excuse maker Moses? Or that run-a-way prophet Elijah, and Christian Church destroyer S/Paul? God was patient, without any arm twisting (arguably standing in front of a burning bush, the earthquake and the bright light were attention getters!) he forgives them and elevates them, and us, to the position of being Partners With Jesus on a mission. Then he equips us to text that person who is hurting a Bible passage, to introduce that sad person to a friend at Divine Peace, or to say like Nathanael did, “Come and see” (John 1:46). These proclamations of God’s Word to people make a difference as God’s kingdom grows. To be clear, we’re not interested in more members at Divine Peace as we are interested in more people in heaven. We don’t tell new members, “Pray, Pay and Obey.” No, rather we say, “We are Partners with Christ Who Works Through Us Toward Unity to share the gospel with everyone!”
With Power
We’re not sure how Paul and Luke met, but I wonder if Paul’s thorn in the flesh caused him to knock on Dr. Luke’s door one afternoon? Being a doctor Luke would hear all about people sicknesses. However they met we have two missionaries here: Paul a weakened traveling preacher, and Luke, the inexperienced medical missionary that gets this vision from God.
“9 A vision appeared to Paul during the night. A Macedonian man was standing there, urging him, “Come over to Macedonia and help us!”
Oh Boy! 🥺 How are we ever going to be able to carry the gospel into a new continent? We know! They had a Power Source that was better than protein bars! “because they were prevented by the Holy Spirit from speaking the word in the province of Asia…. the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them.” When we read Luke’s Gospel and the Book of Acts, we don’t get the impression that Luke was some rugged guy who enjoyed venturing into a new continent with storms, rough seas and synagogues. But, then again neither was Paul. However, the Holy Spirit was directing traffic here and pointing them in the right direction. Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit filled them with faith and with confidence based on God’s power so they could be Unified Partners to save souls!
How about you? Are you in good enough shape to run a half marathon, or just enough strength to make it through another work week? Are you fine mentally and ready for any challenge, or suffering under mental fatigue? You know your own weaknesses. Problem is that Satan knows those weaknesses as well. Satan would love a world full of wimpy, angry, selfish people and just hates it when a soul is picked out of his grasp and planted in the God’s kingdom of love. So, Satan works hard to put hurdles in the way of our partnership with Jesus with greed of money so we use our wealth for ourselves rather than give generously for growth of God’s kingdom. He uses mixed up priorities so people spend more time on social media entertainment than talking to people about Jesus. He uses lust to tempt you to act on feelings rather than growing in self-control. These hurdles get in the way of our partnership with Jesus’ Power to Unify People into God’s kingdom.
There was a song we used to sing after the sermon that went like this: “🎶Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with your free Spirit” (Ps 51:10-13). That’s our prayer for power from the Spirit! He is our Partner with the Power so we can fulfill
The Purpose
If there was one more line in the song we just heard it would go like this,
“I will teach rebels your ways, and sinners will turn to you” (Ps 51:13).
Luke joined Paul with a real purpose in life! He loved caring for people—both body and soul. I would assume Luke already had a list of patients he knew that he could share Jesus with right there in Troas. But, the next thing Luke reports is,
“9 A vision appeared to Paul during the night. A Macedonian man was standing there, urging him, “Come over to Macedonia and help us!” 10 As soon as he had seen the vision, we immediately made plans to proceed to Macedonia, because we concluded that God had called us to preach the good news to them.”
I wish I could have been there when Paul shared this vision with them. There they are staring at each other until someone says, “We gotta go! There are Macedonian people who are pleading for our help!” These were souls won by Jesus on the cross and he wanted them in his kingdom. And you know how this turned out, right? The church blossomed and grew, eventually spreading into Europe! Paul, Silas, Timothy and Luke were missionaries with a purpose and Christ Worked Through Them to Unify His Kingdom! There they met Lydia, who appears to have been a women of some means. They met the Jailor at Philippi and his whole family was baptized. And when Paul and his companions left Philippi, Luke stayed behind to shepherd the congregation. And how did that go? The congregation in Philippi grew into a model congregation of love, generosity United in Sharing the Gospel of Jesus!
I pray this same Spirit is alive and well in you. We know God has a passion for souls to live with him in heaven forever. We know God works through people like Paul, Luke, and other disciples like you! Can one person make a difference in God’s kingdom? Yes! But, one person did not make Divine Peace grow to what it is today. Speaking to others may mean talking about things that divide us like politics, cultural and moral issues. Yet, God wants us all to be Unified in Jesus Christ to heal a diverse world by sharing the power of God’s Word with more people. Heaven isn’t full yet. We have purpose, power and partnering together in the gospel work of Jesus Christ. Let’s Work To Evangelize our Neighbors and God’s kingdom will come! Amen!
