Okay, I think we can go. My name's Sam Dawson. I teach at Detroit Baptist Theological Seminary, professor of theology. This workshop is Missions, a Perspective from Acts. Let's open with a word of prayer. Father, I thank you for the privilege that we have to think about the mission that Jesus has given his church. and to see how it unfolded in the book of Acts and what it means for us as we apply these truths to our time in which you have so graciously had us live in order to do your work. We pray that you would help us guide us and direct us and help our thoughts to be pleasing and yours in your eyes. And we pray this in Jesus name. Amen. So we're going to look at missions with the perspective of Acts. The Lord gave the mission to the church. He commissioned the church in Matthew 28 to go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. First things first. First things first. go and make disciples who follow Jesus of all the nations. The two other parts of this commission cannot be accomplished without there being disciples who follow the Lord. The church is not to baptize those who refuse to follow Jesus. Nor is it commanded to teach those who refuse to follow Jesus to obey his commands unless they are the first and primary commands to repent and believe the gospel, that is, to become his disciples. So this obviously doesn't mean that baptizing and teaching Jesus' disciples are unimportant. They are vitally important. The church is not fulfilling the Great Commission unless it has done all three. Make disciples, baptize them, and teach them to obey Jesus' commands. But there is an order of priority to this commission. The first priority is to make disciples through the proclamation of the gospel. And it is this part of the mission that I want to call our attention to today from the book of Acts. So we're going to rapidly move through Acts considering the evidence from the book of Acts for the priority of proclaiming the gospel to make disciples. So we're going to look at the evidence again. We've already looked at this evidence many times in our lives, but we're going to consider it again before we think about the mission of the church and in our conclusions. So after his resurrection, Jesus commands his disciples to wait in Jerusalem for the promise of the Father, the baptism of the Holy Spirit. In Acts 1.8, Jesus explains, but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you and you shall be my witnesses, both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and even to the remotest part of the earth. The spirit comes upon the believers on the day of Pentecost, and they begin to speak in foreign languages of all that God has done through his son. And Peter gets up and he proclaims the gospel, and 3,000 souls are saved and added to the church on its day of birth. In Acts 3, Peter and John go to the temple to preach the gospel, and Jesus draws the crowds to hear them by healing a lame man. through Peter and John. Several thousand people are saved that day, according to Acts 4.4. As a result of that day, fierce opposition arises from the Sanhedrin, who had earlier called out for Jesus to be crucified. And they tell Peter and John not to speak or teach. at all in the name of Jesus. Stop your witness. Abandon your mission of making disciples for Jesus or face the consequences. To which Peter and John respond, whether it be right in the sight of God to give heed to you rather than to God, you be the judge. For we cannot stop speaking about what we have seen and heard. Having been released, they gather together with believers to pray for God, to take note of the Sanhedrin's threats, and grant that your bond servants may speak your word with all confidence. They do not ask for God to remove them from danger. They simply ask that they might complete their mission, which is to proclaim the gospel, to make disciples. They might do it with all confidence, and God answers their prayers. And when they had prayed, the place where they had gathered together was shaken and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak the word with boldness. Through all of this, Jesus is in heaven and he's continuing to draw the crowds to hear the gospel through many signs and wonders that are regularly done among the people by the hands of the apostles. And as a result of the apostles preaching to the crowds in Solomon's portico in the temple, more than ever, believers are added to the Lord. Multitudes of both men and women. Yet again, Peter and John are brought before the Sanhedrin. And rather than cowering in fear, because they had not taken their command to heart, they boldly proclaim the gospel to the Sanhedrin. What they say is worth noting. We must obey God rather than men. The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom you had put to death by hanging him on a cross. He is the one whom God exalted to his right hand as a prince and a savior to grant repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. And we are witnesses of these things. And so is the Holy Spirit. whom God has given to those who obey him. So cut to the heart, the Sanhedrin's hatred boils over and they flog them, right? They flog Peter and John and order them again not to speak in Jesus' name. So how do they respond? They went out on their way from the presence of the council rejoicing that they had been considered worthy to suffer shame for his name. And every day in the temple and from house to house, they kept right on teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ. They keep right on accomplishing their mission that Jesus has given to them to be witnesses for him. They keep right on proclaiming the gospel, and it keeps bearing fruit. The disciples were increasing in number, Acts 6, 1. Now a problem arises in the church. Deacons are chosen to solve this problem so that the apostles can devote themselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word. And as a result, the word of God keeps on spreading, and the number of disciples continue to increase greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests are becoming obedient to the faith. The sowers continue to sow the seed of the gospel, and precious souls are made disciples. Stephen is martyred, Saul is consenting to his death, and begins to greatly persecute the church on the very same day. So believers, not just the apostles, actually believers, are scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria. And those who are scattered go about preaching the word about Jesus. Philip, an original deacon, expands the mission to Samaria, just as Jesus had commanded, Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria. He goes down to the city of Samaria, and he begins proclaiming Christ to them, and many Samaritans believe the gospel. Receiving word from an angel of the Lord, Philip goes to a desert road, descending from Jerusalem to Gaza. There he joins himself to the chariot of an Ethiopian eunuch who is reading Isaiah 53, and beginning from this scripture, Philip preached Jesus to him. The Ethiopian eunuch who once was lost, believes in Jesus, now is saved, once a condemned sinner, now a disciple, a follower of Jesus Christ. The mission is beginning to reach beyond Jerusalem and into Judea and into Samaria, and now to the end of the earth. The scene shifts from the glorious salvation of the Samaritans in the Ethiopian eunuch to the archenemy of the gospel, Saul, who is on his way to Damascus to capture the believers, put them in bonds, bring them back to Jerusalem so that they could stand trial. But Jesus has different plans for Saul, and he calls him to follow him and repent, and Saul willingly does. Indeed, Saul's conversion and commission are so radical that as soon as Saul regains his sight and strength, he immediately begins to proclaim Jesus in the synagogue, saying he is the Son of God, confounding the Jews who live at Damascus by proving that this Jesus is their Messiah. Surely many people in Damascus, we don't know this from the record, but many people in Damascus believe the gospel and become Jesus' disciples. Opposition from the Jews grow in Damascus. They plot to kill Saul, but he escapes to Jerusalem where he continues to proclaim the gospel, speaking out boldly in the name of the Lord, continually talking and arguing, that is, disputing, debating with the Hellenistic Jews that Jesus is their Messiah. But again, they attempt to put Saul to death. The brethren rescue Saul. They send him back to his early hometown in Tarsus in modern day Turkey, where the mission of Jesus continues to reach to the end of the earth. Now, even though some of the Hellenistic Jews apparently get their way by getting rid of Saul from Jerusalem, the gospel proclaimed by Saul and others, we are told, continues to bear fruit in that area surrounding Jerusalem, because Acts 9.31 says so. So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria enjoyed peace, being built up, and going on in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it continued to increase. Acts shifts to the ministry of Peter. What's he going to do? He leaves Jerusalem to minister to believers in Judea. In Lydda, he heals Aeneas, a paralyzed man. And when all who lived at Lydda and Sharon saw the paralyzed man healed, they turned to the Lord. In Joppa, Peter raises a beloved widow from the dead and presents her alive. And again, it becomes known all over Joppa, and many believed in the Lord. While on the rooftop of the house of Simon in Joppa, his house in Joppa, Peter receives a message from the Lord through a vision that he is to go with three men to the house of an unclean Gentile. And it's okay for Peter to do this, per the vision. So the Lord sends Peter to Caesarea to proclaim the gospel and make disciples. of the Gentile Cornelius and his household. In the meantime, those who were scattered because of the persecution that occurred in connection with Stephen made their way to Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, speaking the word, proclaiming the gospel to no one except the Jews alone, but wait a minute now, God is also saving Gentiles. because he's just saved Cornelius and his household. And so we read in the next two verses, but there were some of them, men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who came to Antioch and began speaking to the Greeks, also preaching the Lord Jesus. And the hand of the Lord was with them. And a large number who believed turned to the Lord. The church in Jerusalem sends Barnabas to Antioch to witness the grace of God amongst the Gentiles. He rejoices at the salvation of these Gentiles, and he encourages them to remain true to the Lord. And the text tells us in considerable numbers are brought to the Lord. Meanwhile, back in Jerusalem, Herod beheads James, the brother of John, puts Peter in prison, and intends to kill, to behead him also. But on the very night when Herod is about to bring Peter forward for execution, an angel helps Peter escape. Later, when Herod adds blasphemy to his list of crimes against Jesus, takes all the glory to himself, the glory that only belongs to God, an angel of the Lord strikes him and he is eaten by worms and dies. But as for the sowing of the seed of the gospel, the word of the Lord continues to grow and be multiplied. Back in Antioch, Barnabas and Saul are worshiping the Lord and fasting in the Antiochian church. While meeting together, the Holy Spirit said, and presses upon the minds of the leaders present, set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them. And when they had fasted and prayed and laid their hands on them, they sent them away. So ultimately, ultimately being sent by the Holy Spirit, Barnabas and Saul began their great first adventurous missionary journey to proclaim the gospel to the end of the earth. They first set sail to Salamis on the southeastern side of the island of Cyprus, where they began, the text tells us, to proclaim the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews. Presumably, they sow the seed of the gospel all over the island of Cyprus, because they move from east to west, and they end up in the west, and they end up speaking the gospel to the pro-council, the Roman pro-council of the island, Sergius Paulus, because he desires to hear the word of God from them. The procouncil believes the gospel, being amazed at the teaching, the teaching of the Lord. And Sergius Paulus, once lost, now is Jesus' disciple. Afterwards, Barnabas and Saul sail to the port city of Perga in Pamphylia, southern Turkey, on the coast. And from there, they move along the Via Sebasta up to their destination city, that is Pisidian Antioch, Antioch of Pisidian. As is their custom, on the next Sabbath day, Paul and Barnabas enter the synagogue and they demonstrate from the Old Testament scriptures and their eyewitness testimony that Jesus, Paul's eyewitness testimony for sure, Saul's testimony, that Jesus is the Messiah who has been crucified for sinners and raised from the dead by God. And Paul preaches that through this Jesus, one can have their sins forgiven and one can stand before God not condemned. A few believed it seems, but the jealous Jews begin contradicting the things spoken by Paul and blaspheming. And so Paul and Barnabas speak out boldly against them saying, it was necessary that the word of God be spoken to you first. Since you repudiate it and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we are turning to the Gentiles. When the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord. And as many as have been appointed to eternal life believed. So the mission continues. The Jews in Pisidia and Antioch reject the gospel, but many Gentiles are saved. In fact, the word of the Lord spreads through the whole region. Regardless, Paul and Barnabas are driven out of Pisidian Antioch by the jealous Jews and their helpers onto Iconium, where they repeat the steps of their mission and speak the gospel in such a manner that a large number of people in the synagogue believed, both of Jews and of Greeks. But the town's reaction to the gospel is mixed, and the Jews, who disbelieve, stir up the minds of the Gentiles and then bitter them against the brethren, so that the people of the city are divided. And some side with the Jews, some side with the apostles, and it comes to a boiling point. And so Paul and Barnabas flee to the cities of Lacaonia, Lystra, and Derbe, and the surrounding region. And there, they continue to preach the gospel. They continue to do what they're sent out to do. What are they sent out to do? They're sent out to make disciples. And how do you make disciples? You proclaim the gospel. You give them the word. And that's what they do. The jealousy and hatred over Paul reaches the point that the crowds in the city of Lystra stone him. They stone Paul and drag him out of the city, supposing him to be dead. But he's not dead. On the very next day, he and Barnabas set off for Derby. where they continue to preach the gospel, accomplishing Jesus' mission in the power of the Spirit. They then retrace their steps through southern Turkey. Once they've done that, now they come back through the cities that they have, even the city where they were stoned, where he was stoned and they thought he was dead. strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying through many tribulations, we must enter the kingdom of God. When they had appointed elders for them in every church, having prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord in whom they had believed. Returning to the port city of Italia, they sailed to Antioch, their home church from which the Holy Spirit had sent them out, right? and they report all the things that God had done through them and how he opened the door of faith to the Gentiles as they proclaim the gospel. The first missionary journey is over. The proclaiming of the gospel has been accomplished in a large swath of modern day southern Turkey and Cyprus. Disciples are made who followed Jesus. Churches are established. Jesus' mission is being fulfilled. This is his mission. Paul begins a second missionary journey, this time with Silas and Timothy, and he retraces his steps through southern Turkey. He's always going back to those first churches, even though they stoned him in one of those cities. He retraces his steps, and the churches were being strengthened in the faith and were increasing in number daily. Acts 16 reminds us that the Spirit of God is in charge of the mission particulars. Paul and his missionary team were forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia. The Spirit of Jesus did not even permit them to go into Bithynia, but rather directed Paul and his team to preach the gospel to the Macedonians through a vision. Thus directed by the Spirit, the preaching of the gospel reaches across the Aegean Sea into Macedonia, Achaia, and Greece. First, Philippi. Paul and his team go outside the gate of the city to a riverside to find a place of prayer and there speak the gospel to Lydia and the women who had assembled And the Lord opens Lydia's heart to respond to the things spoken by Paul. She was lost, yet she and her household believe the gospel. They become Jesus' disciples. He's making disciples who are going to be baptized and added to the local church and taught. hindered by a demon-possessed woman from freely proclaiming the way of salvation without interruption in Philippi, Paul casts out the demon out of the woman, right? Stopping her interruptions. Good for the woman, bad for the business of her handlers who stand to lose much money. And so they create enough of an uproar within Philippi, within the politicians of the city, that Paul and Silas are thrown in jail, which is exactly where the Lord wants them. That's exactly where he wants them. For that very night, Paul and Silas speak the word of the Lord to a Philippian jailer, together with all who were in his house, and he, the Philippian jailer, and his household become Jesus' disciples. This is the mission. Even in prison it is carried out. Leaving the city of Philippi, Paul's team travels through Amphipolis and Apollonia to Thessalonica, where there is a synagogue of the Jews. And the sower goes to work. As Paul's custom, he enters the synagogue and for three Sabbaths reasons with them from the scriptures, explaining and giving evidence that the Christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead and saying, this Jesus, whom I'm proclaiming to you, is the Messiah. He is the Christ. And some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas along with a large number of the God-fearing Greeks and a number of the leading women. But again, the Jews in Thessalonica become jealous and after much turmoil, they send Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, right? And upon arriving in Berea, they're unafraid. They go into the synagogue of the Jews and they go proclaim the gospel. and find a more favorable reception actually than they did in Thessalonica. Luke records now these were more noble minded than those in Thessalonica for they received the word with great eagerness examining the scriptures daily to see whether these things were so. Therefore many of them believed along with a number of prominent Greek women and men. When the Jews from Thessalonica hear that Paul and his team are proclaiming the gospel in Berea, just a ways away from them, they immediately send disruptors to stop them and force them out of Berea. And so Paul is escorted to Athens, where he awaits for Silas and Timothy to rejoin him. However, as his custom, Paul reasons with the Jews and the Greeks, the God-fearing Gentiles in the synagogues of Athens from the scripture that Jesus is their Messiah. And in the marketplace of Athens. Every day, Paul sows the seeds of the gospel with those who happen to be present. These include some of the Epicureans and Stoic philosophers who consider Paul an idle babbler who proclaims strange deities because he preaches Jesus and the resurrection. Curious, they bring him to the Areopagus, a place where ideas are evaluated, a hill overlooking the marketplace just right underneath the Parthenon. In Paul's simple gospel proclamation at the Areopagus, he doesn't stop. He just proclaims the gospel again. And it divides the crowd, right? When they hear the resurrection of the dead, some sneer, others say, we shall hear you again concerning this. But some men join Paul and believe, among whom are also Dionysius, the Areopagite, and a woman named Damaris, and others with them. So Paul proclaims the gospel and some lost men and women become disciples of Jesus in Athens. Leaving Athens, Paul travels westward to Corinth where he teams up with Aquila and Priscilla to work as tent makers for support. While doing this, he still reasons in the synagogue every Sabbath and tries to persuade Jews and Greeks. But when they resist the gospel and blaspheme the Messiah, Paul turns his gospel focus to the Gentiles, and Luke records what happens. Then he, Paul, left there and went to the house of a man named Titius Justice, a worshiper of God, whose house was next to the synagogue. Crispus, the leader of the synagogue, believed in the Lord with all his household. And many of the Corinthians, when they heard, were believing and being baptized. And the Lord said to Paul in the night by a vision, do not be afraid any longer, but go on speaking. He's just ready to get kicked out, right? I mean, that's the way he's treated in every city thus far, right? He's ready to get kicked out. But Jesus says to him, don't be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent, for I am with you and no man will attack you in order to harm you, for I have many people in this city. And he settled there for a year and six months teaching the word of God among them. When Paul's 18 months is over in Corinth, he continues a second missionary journey with Priscilla and Aquila going with him to Ephesus. And again, as is his custom, Paul himself enters the synagogue and reasons with the Jews. The sower continues to sow the seed of the gospel. At this time in Ephesus, he has an open door to do so. They even ask him to stay for a longer time. But Paul is determined to make it back to Jerusalem. And so taking leave of them, he says, I will return to you if God wills. Setting sail from Ephesus, he arrives in Caesarea, goes up to Jerusalem, to the church there, and then down, which is down from the height, to Antioch, his supporting or sending church to report. and to the second missionary journey. But Paul's not through with Southern Galatia. He wants to go back to the Galatian area for the third time to strengthen all the disciples in the city where he was been stoned, et cetera. And so he passes through that country, goes through upper Asia Minor, modern day Turkey, and eventually comes to Ephesus again. In Ephesus, we read, Paul enters the synagogue, well, that's not surprising, and continues speaking out boldly, that's not surprising, for three months, reasoning and persuading them about the kingdom of God. But when some become hardened and disobedient, speaking evil of the way before the people, Paul withdraws from them and takes away the disciples, reasoning daily in the school of Tyrannus. This takes place for two years, so that all who live in Asia hear the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks. And through many trials and tribulations, the word of the Lord grows mightily and prevails. After this, Paul purposes in the spirit to go to Jerusalem again, after he has passed through Macedonia and Achaia once more. And then Paul comments, I must also see Rome. Eventually, Paul makes it to his destination city, Rome. After much sowing of the gospel, we know the story and how he's held in trial, he's shipwrecked, et cetera. Much sowing of the gospel along the way, reaping, and the dangers that he faces, and he comes to Rome. He doesn't come as a tourist to Rome, just to see the sights of this magnificent city at the time, but as a proclaimer of the gospel, even though in chains at this time. His reason for desiring to come to Rome is spelled out for us and well expressed in his letter to the Roman church. Romans 1.15, he says, so for my part, I am eager to preach the gospel to you who are in Rome. For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it, the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith as it is written, but the righteous man shall live by faith. And so in Rome, Paul preaches the gospel as is his custom to the Jew first. But the Jews in Rome, as is their custom, reject the gospel in the main. So Paul turns his focus toward the Gentiles. And many Gentiles welcome the gospel. even some in Caesar's household become disciples of Jesus Christ. Acts ends literarily with this statement, and he stayed two full years in his own rented quarters and was welcoming all who came to him, preaching the kingdom of God and teaching concerning the Lord Jesus Christ with all openness unhindered. While Acts ends literarily, The mission described in it does not end. The foundation of the church has been laid by the apostles and prophets now. They pass off the scene. Therefore, the duty of carrying on Jesus' mission has passed down to the church. It is the church's duty now to speak, to proclaim, to announce, to preach the gospel. Indeed, the whole counsel of God, making disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that Jesus has commanded. And as Jesus is present with the apostles in the book of Acts, so he is with all of his witnesses during this timeframe because he says so. He says, lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age, the end of this church age. Now we've spent the bulk of our time looking at the evidence that supports the priority of proclaiming the gospel for making disciples from the book of Acts. And I don't apologize for this, even though we all know this material. But we need to think, but I wanted to think about this evidence before we ask another question. We have one final task. That's to ask ourselves this question, is there more to the mission Jesus has given the church than just making disciples, baptizing them, adding them into the local churches, and teaching them to obey Jesus' commands? Well, Christopher J. H. Wright, I'm going to use him as a foil to talk through this. He stands in the tradition of John R. Stott, and he thinks so. He thinks there's more to this mission that is mandatory for us. And his essay for the church, Participatory Mission, the Mission of God's People, revealed in the whole Bible story in the book, Four Views on the Church's Mission, edited by Jason Sexton in 2017, Wright argues for an expansion of the church's mission. And he writes this, how then can we define the mission of the church? It's a good question, right? That's a good question. One helpful, and he continues, one helpful proposal was produced by the Anglican Consultative Council in 1984. Conceived as a mission statement for the worldwide Anglican communion, it was adopted by the Lambeth Conference of Bishops in 1988 as the five marks of mission, and goes a great distance in understanding holistic integral mission. It stated this, the mission of the church is the mission of Christ, and here that is. Number one, to proclaim the good news of the kingdom. Number two, to teach, baptize, and nurture new believers. Number three, to respond to human need by loving service. Number four, the mission of the church is to seek to transform unjust structures of society. Number five, the mission of the church is also to strive to safeguard the integrity of creation and to sustain the life of the earth. Wright continues, I find it simpler to group these five dimensions together in a way that generates three larger domains. And so he synthesizes them in this way. Number one, cultivating the church through evangelism and teaching, co-laboring with Christ to see people brought to repentance, faith, and maturity as disciples of Jesus Christ. Number two, engaging society through compassion and justice in response to Jesus' commands and example to love and serve, to be salt and light, to be doers of good. And number three, caring for creation through the godly use of the resources of creation and economic work along with ecological concern and action. So bottom line, Wright adds two more dimensions to the mission of the church, beyond what is explicitly expressed in the Great Commission. One is to engage society through compassion and justice, and number two, caring for creation through the godly use of the resources of creation. Now permit me to make a few brief comments about these added dimensions before I open it up for any comments that you might have that we can talk about or any questions that you might have. First, I find little to argue about with the first two marks of the mission for the church conceived by the Lambeth Conference of Anglican Bishops. I can make some emphases here, looking at it from a different, going around the elephant in different ways, but for sake of argument, to proclaim the good news of the kingdom, to teach, baptize, and nurture new believers, I don't wanna take issue with that now in any way. But by adding, using Wright's words, I'm gonna use Wright's words, engaging society through compassion and justice and caring for creation to the church's mission, this is my take on it. This is my take, okay? I'm not putting this take on anyone else. I believe that most office, often, the emphasis of priority shifts. The priority in the Book of Acts, as we have seen, was to engage society, think Athens, for example, with the proclamation of the gospel. That's what Paul did. That's, Paul would say, be, you know, be imitators of me, right? He says in the epistles, period. Now, Wright might complain that he does emphasize this, using his words, cultivating the church through evangelism and teaching. After all, He puts it first in his list of domains, right? But I've experienced that a person actually scratches where they itch. And so I believe that the second and third domains of the mission that he brings up to expand it will shift the church's mission and priority to these last two domains. in order to gain an audience for gospel proclamation, and then I fear that gospel proclamation becomes second and maybe never is done. Maybe never is done. So let me comment on these last two domains. First, the compassion displayed throughout the Book of Acts, and there is compassion displayed throughout the Book of Acts. I believe it runs in two directions. First, Jesus displays compassion. Through the signs and wonders he performs through the apostles in order to draw people, we just said that, to Solomon's portico, for example, so that they could hear the gospel and be saved, many of them. Second, compassion amongst believers attracts unbelievers to hear the gospel and be saved. Think Acts 2, the end of Acts 2. Think Acts 6. Think in those ways. But I find no compelling evidence in Acts that organized good is done by the church as an attempt to help society, quote, in general, to gain an audience for the gospel. Next, I also find no organized effort from the church to work toward justice in society. In addition, I find little to no evidence that the early believers were concerned about caring for creation through the godly use of the resources of creation. However, I also find no explicit evidence that they were unconcerned about God's creation, as if it didn't matter to them at all. So I don't see any evidence that way either. But what I do find, what we do find, is that the church gives priority of place to the proclamation of the gospel in the making of disciples. And this process is to continue to the end of the church age. So permit me to demonstrate how this worked out, as I see it, in the life of Paul as he, in using his letter to the Corinthians as my pastor just used in the plenary session, and how it should work out in our lives. First, I would say and suggest that Paul lived, he lived to win people to Christ by witnessing to them about Jesus and what he has done for us, and dying for us on the cross, being buried, and rising from the grave, and how you can find forgiveness of sins in him. That's what he lived to do. He writes in 1 Corinthians 9, 16 through 22, and I'm gonna start with the context in verse 16. For if I preach the gospel, Paul writes, I have nothing to boast of. For I am under compulsion, for woe is me if I do not preach the gospel. For if I do this voluntarily, I have a reward. But if against my will, I have a stewardship entrusted to me, what then is my reward? That when I preach the gospel, I may offer the gospel without charge so as to make full use of my right in the gospel. For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a slave to all, so that I may win more. To the Jews, I became a Jew, so that I might win Jews. To those who are under the law, as under the law, though not being myself under the law, so that I might win those who are under the law. To those who are without law, as without law, though not being without the law of God, but under the law of Christ, so that I might win those who are without law. To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all men, so that I may by all means save some." So Paul made the winning of people to Christ the way he did everyday life. That was every day. Every day he was looking to give the gospel. That's what he was doing. And he didn't let food or cultural customs get in his way. He might not have wanted to eat. I mean, he might not have been partial to eating something that he did eat because he wanted to give them the gospel. Second, Paul was totally committed to proclaim the gospel. In the very next verse, he says, I do all things for the sake of the gospel so that I may become a fellow partaker of it. Advancing the gospel then was the center of his life. Everything he did was for its sake. I do all things for the sake of the gospel. Third, Paul accomplished the task. He just didn't build relationships, redemptive relationships, and stop there. He knew what the target was, and he didn't stop until he hit the target. He accomplished the task of presenting the gospel. He did not get distracted from it. Picking up his thought in verse 23, we read to the end of the chapter, I do all things for the sake of the gospel so that I may become a fellow partaker of it. Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win. Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. They then do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable that my pastor talked about, right, in the plenary session. Therefore I run in such a way as not without aim. I box in such a way as not beating the air, but I discipline my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached the gospel, I do all things for the sake of the gospel. To others, I myself will not be disqualified. I don't let anything distract me so that when I come to hit the punch of giving the gospel, I miss the target. I hit the target. I hit the target. I do what I'm supposed to do. I accomplish the task. I give the gospel. That's what he did. He did all things for the sake of the gospel, and he refused to be distracted from this commitment. Instead, his focus was razor sharp on presenting the gospel. He knew what to do, and he did it. In season and out of season. Like Paul, we are willing to put everything on the line, right? To accomplish our mission for Jesus. We're willing to put everything we have on the line for that. we're willing to risk everything for him. Paul writes this, but I do not consider my life of any account as dear to myself so that I may finish my course and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus to testify solemnly of the gospel of the grace of God. This wasn't just throwing out the seat and running in case he was persecuted. No, he solemnly, he believed it with all of his heart and he gave himself to do it. And he accomplished it. Time and time again, people say no to the message about Christ, but we persevere in begging the world to come to Christ. We do our job. We live to win people to Christ. We tell them the gospel. We give them the gospel. We preach the gospel. We speak the gospel. We are totally committed to advancing the gospel. We can say, as Paul said, I do all things for the sake of the gospel. We accomplish the task of presenting the gospel and do not get distracted from it. If we are building a redemptive relationship, we get it done. We get it done. We take it to the end and we proclaim the gospel. I believe the church becomes anemic. And I think it's been that way from the beginning, right? Of when we interact with people, Paul says, I am not ashamed of the gospel. And so he just doesn't get distracted. He gets it done. But some may become that way. And they don't get it done. They beat the air. And so they will answer for it, right? We will answer for it, as Pastor Dorn brings up. And that will be individually and collectively as a church, with the main emphasis being on our gathering together as believers in the church, as he says. So in the end, the commendation of the Lord is what we desire above all else. We want him to say, well done, good slave, because you have been faithful in a very little thing. You are to be an authority over 10 cities. That's what we want. That's what we desire. And so that's to me is the main priority.