Take your Bibles please to Acts chapter 11. It's good to be back at Heritage Baptist Church. It's good to see so many familiar faces and it's good to see some unfamiliar faces. It's always a good sign to see new people at church and it's so nice to be here. Hey, things are going well at Capital City Baptist. We're enjoying it very much, and the Lord's blessing. Our next big thing on the horizon is our Thanksgiving dinner this Sunday night. We started working on remodeling the basement. Because it sounds scary to send people down to the basement, we call it the lower level. It just seems to be more inviting so it's at a lower level but it's the basement of the church and we're doing our best to make it not look and feel like a basement and it's going really well. Now when we did the upstairs, phase one, the college guys were there to help me and I did a lot of pointing and it felt good and phase two I have a lot of calluses on my hands. Guys, my dad would be so embarrassed of me. Soft hands. He always thought as he worked instruction his whole life and as a pastor he's always talking about my soft hands so I'm working on making my dad proud. But appreciate the support from Heritage Baptist, and even Brother Daniel's letting me borrow the sprayer and use that, and then some men in the church that are helping out. And they wouldn't want to be recognized, so I'll just say their names rhyme with Morgan and Denny. But I don't want you to know who they are. If you can figure it out, you got it. But man, these guys have done so much work for us. And to be able to volunteer and come after hours, it's been a huge blessing. And we have the seating set up in the basement for 42 people. And I think we're going to be at capacity. It looks like it's going to be a good attendance this Sunday night. And so obviously, church fellowship is one reason. But the other reason is just family members of church members that need to be saved. So I'd ask you to pray about that. They have a lot of brothers, moms, dads that have been invited that I will attend and perhaps hear the gospel, clear presentation of the gospel for the first time. And just if you would pray that the Lord would soften those hearts, that they'd bring them to church, that nothing would stop them from coming, that would mean a great deal to the people of our church. And just to have a burden for their family members. And that's a good thing to have. We want to see God come through and see that those people are saved. So that's this Sunday night. And none of you are invited because you need to be here Sunday night. But I would love for you to come by sometime on a midweek and see what it looks like and be able to show you what the Lord's allowing us to do there and just want to tell you thank you. So it's good to be back and be able to report that to you. We're in Acts chapter 10 and Let's read a few verses, 11, no, no, you're right, you're right, 11, I'm sorry, Acts 11. Let's begin in 19, we'll go through 24 or so and just get an idea of where we're at, Acts 11, 19. Now, they which were scattered abroad upon the persecution that rose about Stephen traveled as far as Phineas and Cyprus and Antioch preaching the word to none but unto the Jews only. But some of them were men of Cyprus and Cyrene, which when they were come to Antioch, spake unto the Grecians, preaching the Lord Jesus. And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number believed and turned unto the Lord. Then tidings of these things came unto the ears of the church, which was in Jerusalem. And they sent forth Barnabas, that he should go as far as Antioch, who when he came and had seen the grace of God was glad and exhorted them all that with purpose of heart they should cleave unto the Lord for he was a good man and full of the Holy Ghost and of faith." And here's a phrase that we're going to finish with, and much people was added unto the Lord. this should be the deep goal of every born-again believer that much people would be added unto the Lord. I just going through your prayer list tonight and just that the prayer list for those that are lost loved ones and I see brothers and man that the desire for your brother to be added unto the Lord to be saved and some for mothers and for sisters and daughters and sons-in-law and just people would be added unto the Lord and that's the desire of every born-again believer is that others would be added unto the Lord The very reason for the church, the reason that we like to see church growth and we like to see new people come to church is not because we're looking to add people to the roster, to the church roles. It's because it's indicative of people being added unto the Lord. And this is the desire of every individual. And as we start a church, as we grow a church, Passages like me, passages like this seem to have a special interest to me because the idea of just adding people to the Lord and how do you go about doing that? How do we result? How do we conclude at this phrase right here? When we back up and we see the verses before it and kind of see what were the events that rolled into this passage. So we're in the book of Acts. The majority of you are not novices when it comes to the Bible, but just to make sure we all have a good understanding of the context, the book of Acts is a hugely transitional book. So, Old Testament, right? In my Bible, it says New Testament, then there's Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. There's the Gospels. But Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John were really kind of the closing out of the Old Testament and the introduction of the church, correct? Now, Acts 1, the Lord ascends, and now we have just church growth. in Acts chapter, in the book of Acts. Hugely transitional time, and kind of like in life, in moments of transition, those are probably not the best times to make life-changing decisions for yourself or life-altering decisions, trying to get through those transitional times. And when it comes to the book of Acts, a lot of transitional things happen, and it's probably not advisable to build doctrines off of a single passage in Acts or a single verse in Acts. Tongues, okay, for instance. So we go through the book of Acts and we understand it's transitional, but of all the chapters, chapter 10 and chapter 11 seem to be a big plot twist in the whole narrative. Because the Lord when he was on earth said, whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. The Jews kind of had this mindset, like similarly to the Calvinists of today, where whosoever among the Jews can be saved. We're so happy about that. It's not whosoever among a select few. I mean, did they miss the beginning of John 3, 16? For God so loved the world. Yes, and so Acts 10 is where they start realizing, wait a minute, the gospel is going to go to the Gentiles just the same. And they can be saved just, and this is where Peter has a vision and Peter says this as he makes this declaration in Acts chapter 11, the hand of the Lord was with them and a great number believed unto the Lord. I'm trying to see where the idea where Paul just discovers, oh, Peter, he says, God has showed that I should not call any man common or unclean. This happens Acts chapter 10 and 11, okay? So this is where we're in the middle of. And a report gets back to the church in Jerusalem that the Grecians, that Gentiles are being saved. And there's this hopeful skepticism, this optimism, but just kind of a, are you, is this accurate? Is this genuine? It would be similarly to us in Kansas getting a report from Damascus, Syria, that there is a wave of Christianity sweeping across the city of Damascus and the country of Syria. And you and I both know it's not a Christian nation. I mean, the country of Syria is one of four countries in the world that the US government has earmarked as state-sponsored terrorism. And we're hearing reports that there's just this wave of Christianity and you think, I hope it's true, but it's just a degree of doubt, maybe skepticism. And so the church in Jerusalem said, we have a guy that has a tremendous amount of biblical discretion. In fact, he has helped us before when we've heard reports that we were hopeful of that we just didn't know if we could trust. Remember when Paul of Tarsus, claimed he was saved and he wanted to come and join the church and he wanted to be a part. We sent Barnabas and Barnabas was the one that introduced Saul of Tarsus to the church and said this man's conversion is genuine. Let's send Barnabas out this direction to Antioch to just evaluate the situation because this is a brand new area for us. What a great opportunity it was to be able to know that the gospel is now reaching beyond just the Jews and now to the Gentiles But just we want to make sure that it's genuine. So Barnabas makes his way to Antioch and he comes back and this is the Barnabas report. And the conclusion of this is that look at the end of this there's much people being added unto the Lord. That is my conclusion. But what did Barnabas see? What did Barnabas feel? What did Barnabas evaluate with this group of believers in this new area that led him to believe this was genuine. I guess I'd ask it to you and I the same way. Is our Christianity genuine? Is there evidence of our Christianity? It was an evangelist, Brother Woods, out of Nolenville, out of Northside Baptist. I heard him preaching in Texas a few years ago, and he said it like this. He said, if Christianity was a crime, would there be enough evidence to convict you? I thought, that's a really good question. So I know what I feel and I know what I believe. But he says, if Christianity was a crime, would there be enough evidence to convict you? Barnabas comes back and he says, brethren, I see evidence that they are born again Christians. What did, what did, let's begin with this, what did Barnabas see? The Bible says this, if you look at verse 23, who when he came and had seen the grace of God." He saw the grace of God, evidence in these people's lives. The grace of God similarly to faith, how do you see that? Well you see it worked out through their actions, through the way that they lived. Titus chapter 2 verse 11, for the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men. The grace of God brings salvation, but the Bible says in verse 12 of that same chapter, teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world. You see, the grace of God that bring us salvation, it's grace that brings about, it is the grace of God that we are saved through, the mercy and pardon of God because of His grace. But it's also grace that we live by. We're not only saved by grace, but we live by grace. So, if there's a subject matter that you and I should give close attention to, it would be the grace of God. And Barnabas comes back and he says, my friends, the grace of God is evidenced with these people. Is the grace of God evident in your life and in my life? What would the evidence of this be? Well, it was said in this in Titus, "...denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, living soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world." He says, I see people living righteously, godly, and they're doing so because it's an evidence of the grace of God working inside of them. I think about just the testimony of the great apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians. He says, He says, Is there still a work of God happening inside of you as a Christian? You go back to the time of your salvation, you go back to your conversion and you realize the grace of God that just kind of flooded your heart and flooded your soul. Whether you were saved out of a life of sin or saved from a life of sin, there was a moment in your heart where you just said, God's grace was sufficient. God's grace is because of that I am saved and just this work of grace in my heart. My question, is that still working in your heart today? Is it work out your own salvation with fear and trembling? Is there enough evidence, my friends, to convict you of Christianity? Barnabas went and he saw these individuals and he said, look, the grace of God is the first thing that is evident to me. and I think about my own salvation, I think about the goal is this, much people would be added unto the Lord. How is that going to be, how is that going to happen if the grace of God isn't evident in my life and in your life? If there's no distinction between us and the lost. If there's no difference this Thanksgiving and this Christmas between the way the Christian conducts themselves and the way the lost person conducts themselves. There should be something about you, there should be something about me that is distinctly different from the world and the way that comes about is the grace of God working in our hearts. Pastor Bob Smith in Texas, he pastored the church that I joined, that I was a youth pastor in. And I remember him talking about the farm, and he said that growth comes, or fruit comes from new growth. Farouk and he was teaching on sowing I think and he just said some of the best sowners, the best producers when it comes to sowing are people that are newly saved because it's new growth or Christians that are experiencing new growth within themselves on a regular basis. He said the grace of God was working. There's something going on in their hearts. Christianity is designed to work from the inside out. If we're not denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, if we're not living soberly and righteously and godly right here, right now, every day, every hour, it's a matter of grace working in your hearts. I would say this, I would propose that pride disrupts this work of grace. This idea of I've been around for a long time, I've kind of, I have the system, I know how it all should go. just personally, would you evaluate your heart this evening and just ask God, are you still doing a work in my heart? Am I still humble enough to learn from your word? I'm not gonna teach you anything new from the Bible tonight, but we didn't come here to learn more about the Bible as much as we came here to live more like our Savior. And in learning the Bible more, we live more like him. And that's the end goal of this, that the grace of God would be demonstrated in our lives and that more people would be added unto the Lord because of our testimony, because of the way we live, because it's genuine, because it's authentic. Barnabas saw the grace of God. He says there's saved people living like saved people. If Christianity was a crime would there be enough evidence to convict you, to convict me? What did Barnabas feel? Acts 11.23 again, who when he came and had seen the grace of God was glad, he was glad. The Bible says he was glad and exhorted them all. What did Barnas feel? He felt a gladness about him. My question is this, is there anybody this week, this past week, that is better off for having met you? For having crossed paths with you or with thy? Did we make a difference in anybody else's life or in anybody else's heart? I'm telling you what, it does my heart well to come back to Heritage Baptist Church. It does my heart well to be able to talk with you and just to be able to see you, just to be able to sing congregational songs with you, just to be able to pray on the altar with Brother Daniels, to be able to have this time with you. It does my heart well because there's something about the family of God that knits our hearts together. And there's something about being a Christian, and I know many of you, you feel encouragement when you come. I want to ask you, are you one of those people that's also an encourager, that's also edifying, that you're giving that out. When people come to church, do they feel better because they got a chance to talk to you? Or are you just kind of adding burdens to their week? Are you dumping on them? Are you helping carry one another's burdens? The idea of the church is to be able to edify, to be able to build up each other. And a lot of that happens between brothers and sisters in Christ, not just from the pastor to the people, but it's between each and every one of you. And you said, yeah, I feel the same thing. That's why I'm in church on a Wednesday night. That's why I come, because it does something for me. I want to ask you, are you doing something for somebody else? Barnabas walked away and he said, you know what? It did my heart well to be in that church, to be with those people. And I'm telling you what, it was real. It was genuine. There was a spirit that bore witness with my spirit. There was something that did something to me. He said, I was glad when I walked away from them. Just the idea of who are, is there a lost person in this world that you got to share salvation with this week? Is there a saved person in this world that you got to encourage this past week? The lost are lost in every sense of the word. Man, you know our church is right by that Motel 6 and what an evangelistic opportunity the Motel 6 is. I was taking some garbage out from the basement yesterday, the day before. And actually, I was taking some out today. And this is not the first time this has happened. And some people showed up for their dentist appointment. Every couple weeks, I should have kept some of that equipment in the basement. A little side hustle. I just recently, because I'm cleaning out the basement, threw away that machine, that sucking machine that the dentist used. Man, I should have kept it. So I don't know. Hindsight, you know. I'm taking some trash out and there's a guy in the balcony of the Motel 6 and he asked me to come over and he said, your church has a reputation here of helping people." And that was nice to hear. He said, he's helping some people. He said, there's a lady who's been sitting out on the lawn all day. She got kicked out of her room. She didn't have any money to pay for an extra night. He's like, I'm not asking for myself. I'm asking for somebody else. Would you at least consider helping her out? Would your church be able to do anything to help her? Just so you know the situation. I'm telling you, you see people like this and they're just lost in every sense of the word. And you understand that salvation gives people an eternal home in heaven, but it gives them direction here on this earth. Think about just the purpose that you and I have because we know the Lord is our Savior. The encouragement that comes to our heart, even in hard times. I don't know how lost people lose loved ones. I don't know where they find any comfort. The God of all comfort, they don't even know Him. I just see people, I mean, on the drive here, homeless people walking across the bridge. It's so cold outside and they're just lost. Just think, my goodness, I spent a couple hours the other day with a drunk, and he was drunk unfortunately, and came to the church and just called me and said, Pastor, and we spent some hours together, just lost. They're all over the place. And I'm telling you this, somebody better off for having met you this week. Have you and I done our part to be able to see the lost and say, I can give you some direction, I can introduce you to somebody who can help you through these times. just handing out a gospel track. Last week Laura flew back from Chicago. We picked her up at the airport and on our way back we went through the Legends shopping area and Chloe gave a lady there a track and she tracked us down in the store and for the next 10 or 15 minutes just went on and on and on about just what this, she handed her a track and that was about it, but what this invitation, what this gospel track meant to her heart and shared contact information with us try to hook up with the church out in that direction and just they're planning on coming their family to our Thanksgiving meal it's too far of a drive for them to regularly come but just what a difference you can make because people are lost and just looking for a little bit of direction a little bit of hope and you have that the hope is lies inside of you and for you and I to be able to share that with others I'm telling you what it is evidence, it is working out your own salvation. Paul looked at these people and said, not only do I see the grace of God working in them, he said, but it just did something for my spirit to be able to be around them. When it comes to the idea of Christianity, if it doesn't make it home, if it doesn't make it back to the most meaningful relationships that you and I have, how good is our Christianity? You're a great church member, you're a great soul winner, you're a great witness, or you're a great father. Provoke not your children to wrath, but raise them up in the nurture and the admission of the Lord. What kind of nurturing, fathers, do we do this week? Do we represent Christ well in our household? Husbands, love your wives. Telling you what, is there evidence? I go to work, I work all day. You would work all day with or without a wife. You just love to work. That's how you're designed. You like that productivity. Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church. There's something distinctly different about the way that a Christian man loves his wife. Wives, submit yourself to your husband. Showing some reverence. What words of admiration did you give your husband this week? I'm saying, Barnabas came back and said, didn't my heart good to be around these people? I hope families, dads, I hope your kids are looking forward to you coming home from work. Husbands and wives, I hope that after being away for a couple hours, a couple days, you're just happy to be back together. I'm telling you what, what's gonna happen, or what's gonna make that happen, it's a Christ-centered home is what's gonna make that happen. And it starts inside of everyone. You say, well, if my kids would've been better kids, I would've been happier to see them. If my wife would show me more respect, I'd be happier to come home. You understand, it comes back to individual responsibilities. It comes back to you and I living like Christians for ourselves, and following the example that God set for us. Barnabas came back and he gave report and he says, you know what? I saw the grace of God working. He said, I've made me glad. He said, this is how it made me feel because I got to be around born again believers. If Christianity was a crime, would there be enough evidence to convict you? Did your Christianity make it back to your house? Let's finish with this. What did Barnabas do? The Bible says this in Acts chapter 11, 23 again, who when he came and had seen the grace of God was glad and exhorted them all. that with purpose of heart they should cleave unto the Lord." The Christian life is lived on purpose. Sometimes, listen, the majority of our church are new Christians, the majority of the attendants throughout a week will be people that are newly saved and there's sometimes this impression of if any man be in Christ he is a new creature, old things are passed away behold all things are become new and it gives the impression of now that I have Christ I kind of just jump in this river and it just kind of flows me right close to Him. Well you know and I know that without any purposeful drawing to Christ you're by nature you're still going to drift away from Him. The current of this world is going to pull you away from Him. Just our sinful flesh is going to draw us away from Him and there's a flesh that warth with our spirit. You understand that But sometimes young Christians just feel like, new creature, I'm just going to go right up and be with Christ. And Barnabas says, with purpose of heart, he said, I want to challenge you to cleave unto the Lord. The word cleave means to unite closely in interest and affection, to adhere with strong attachment. The other time I hear the word cleave in the Bible is when it comes to marriage, right? And the two shall be one flesh. And there is this uniting. And I just ask, is there in your heart and in your life, is there an affection that you closely align with when it comes to the Lord's affection? What does the Lord care most about and do you care most about those things? You talk to a Christian and you say, what's the most important thing in life? Well, my walk with God or my relationship with God or the Lord is the most important thing in my life. Is there evidence in your life and in my life that proves that statement? We know the cliches, we know the words, we know the rhetoric. Yeah, the most important thing in life is the things of the Lord. What things of the Lord did we invest ourselves in today? Where does our heart lie when it comes to the things of the Lord? What does the Lord love? Well, He loves His church. Yes? The Bible says He loves people. If you've done it to the least of these, my brethren, you've done it to me. Are we caring for people? Are we caring for our church family? Are we investing in the things of God? Truly, not just because it's what we say but is there evidence of that in our lives? I think about the Barnabas Report and he comes back and he says, Reverend in Jerusalem, Church of Jerusalem, you can be assured that the Christianity over in this city is genuine." He said, I saw the grace of God. He said, I felt the gladness and the knitting of my heart. He said, I challenged them with purpose of heart to cleave unto the things of the Lord. What is the conclusion of this passage? Acts chapter 11, 26. The Bible says the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch. It was real. It was genuine. It was authentic. And the report that Barnabas brought back, he says there's evidence enough to be able to say truly they're Christians. And I just think for my life, and I think if Christianity was a crime, would there be enough evidence to convict me? I know what I say, I know what I think, I know what I feel, I know what I believe, but how am I living? If a man like Barnabas with a great degree of godly discretion came into my life, into my home, He said, obviously this is a Christian home, obviously. Because I see the grace of God here. I can feel the gladness here. And I just see this purposefulness to be able to cleave unto the things of the Lord. If he was in a church service and he heard the conversations going on between one brother and another brother, and he would say, you know what? I see the grace of God. I feel just the gladness, the unity, the happiness of a church family. He said, I just see them with purpose cleaving to the Lord. He said, that's what I'm seeing. And when he said this is evidence they were called Christians first in Antioch, the conclusion of this is that much people were added unto the Lord. And you and I, we have this idea, we have this heart set, we have this desire that much people would be added unto the Lord. And it comes back to the way that we live our lives. The way that we conduct ourselves as Christians. And Barnabas's report came back and said, yes, brothers, there is evidence. And I think of my own life and I know of your life, and I want to challenge you this week to live out your Christianity, work it out, work it out. Christianity is designed to work from the inside out. And may there be evidence of Christianity in your life, in your home, in your workplace, in your walk this week. Let's pray about it together tonight.