SERIES: A Church For the City
TEXT: Acts 18:1-11
MESSAGE: “Good Stewardship in an Age of Anxious Toil”
“It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives to his beloved sleep.” — Psalm 127:2
“If you have a vision for a great church, you will end up with neither a great church nor a great city. But if you have a vision for a great city, you will end up with both a great city and a great church.” — Ray Bakke
Q: What does it look like to practice good stewardship in an age of anxious toil?
TEXT: Acts 18:1–11
“Corinth was 46 miles west of Athens. It was a Roman colony and the most influential city of the province of Achaia.” — J. I. Packer
Q: What are the marks of good stewardship in this passage? Again, we see a stewarding of…(1. Skills 2. Seasons 3. Spaces)
1. Skills (v. 1-3)
After this Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. 2 And he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to leave Rome. And he went to see them, 3 and because he was of the same trade he stayed with them and worked, for they were tentmakers by trade.
“No crooked table legs or ill-fitting drawers ever…came out of the carpenter’s shop at Nazareth. Nor, if they did, could anyone believe that they were made by the same hand that made Heaven and earth.” — Dorothy Sayers
2. Seasons (v. 4-6)
And he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath, and tried to persuade Jews and Greeks. 5 When Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedonia, Paul was occupied with the word, testifying to the Jews that the Christ was Jesus. 6 And when they opposed and reviled him, he shook out his garments and said to them, “Your blood be on your own heads! I am innocent. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.”
“…And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place…” — Acts 17:26
“Loyalty is important, one of the most important character traits we can have. But loyal love does not mean infinite and/or misplaced responsibility for another’s life, nor does it mean that one forever puts up with mistreatment out of inappropriate loyalty.” — Henry Cloud
3. Spaces (v. 7-11)
And he left there and went to the house of a man named Titius Justus, a worshiper of God. His house was next door to the synagogue. 8 Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, believed in the Lord, together with his entire household. And many of the Corinthians hearing Paul believed and were baptized. 9 And the Lord said to Paul one night in a vision, “Do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent, 10 for I am with you, and no one will attack you to harm you, for I have many in this city who are my people.” 11 And he stayed a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.
“The most assuring word the Savior could speak… was this: ‘I am with you.’” — Charles Spurgeon
TAKEAWAYS: Our hope is that we would be a church that faithfully stewards…
- Our skills—with intentionality
- Our seasons—with discernment
- Our spaces and resources—with mission in mind
“…so Jesus also suffered outside the city gate to make the people holy through his own blood…For here we do not have an enduring city, but we are looking for the city that is to come.” — Hebrews 13:12–14
“Jesus Christ was thrown out of the city of God so you and I could be brought in… He got the punishment. He got the banishment. He got the exile…” — Tim Keller