Acts 20:1

And after the uproar was ceased, Paul called unto him the disciples and embraced them, and departed to go into Macedonia. And when he had gone over those parts, and had given them much exhortation, he came into Greece. And there abode he for three months. And when the Jews laid in wait for him, as he was about to sail to Syria, he purposed to return through Macedonia. And there accompanied him into Asia, Sopater of Berea, and of the Thessalonians Aristarchus and Secundus, and Gaius of Derbe, and Timothy, and of Asia, Tychicus, and Trophimus. These going before us, tarried for us at Troas. And we sailed away from Philippi after the days of unleavened bread, and came unto them in Troas in five days, where we abode seven days.

Paul traveled through the churches he planted, gathering a team to carry the gospel forward—and that same mission belongs to every believer today.

A Huge Vision in a Not-So-Huge Church

It's a great blessing every year when Luke comes and shares what God is doing through Cross Connection Outreach, and to see the passion the Lord has placed in his heart. Over the last six months our church has taken over much of the administrative work of that ministry—Pastor Richard and Kelly Kirstead overseeing the back office—which has freed Luke and Kristen to expand the vision. A vision to reach the 30 nations of the world with 50% or more illiteracy is huge, especially for one couple in Southern California. But with God all things are possible. We want to set out to do great things for God, expecting Him to do great things on our behalf.

At the Calvary Chapel Missions Conference in Marietta a couple weeks ago, Luke connected with GALCOM, a ministry out of Canada that makes solar-powered radios and broadcasting equipment to reach people for Christ. We'll see how the Lord develops that partnership. Next Sunday we'll have missionaries Pat and Sherry Bailey here, who minister among Muslims in Mindanao in the Philippines, and now have open doors in Pakistan as well.

Sending People Out

We've seen this ministry sending people out for a very long time. Last year we sent Eddie Martinez to Mozambique with Cross Connection Outreach, Sergio from our Spanish ministry to Panama, and Shane Nelson to China. We didn't intend to send Shane for five months, but he stayed five months, and God has stirred his heart to return for a year to a year and a half—teaching English and learning Chinese.

This year, 2012, this church turns 31 years old, and we expect God to keep doing amazing things. We're not slowing down. We sent teams to Mozambique, China, and Israel last year. Almost every month Dave Bossy takes people to Tecate to work at the Rancho San Juan Bosco orphanage we've partnered with for nearly 20 years. We sent mission teams to Phoenix—cross-cultural ministry with Jeff Jackson's 1040 Interface, which serves refugees brought here from Burma, Bhutan, Iraq, and Afghanistan. Imagine being dropped in the middle of the jungle in Burma and told, "See you later." You'd probably die. These refugees are dropped into a culture they've never known, and ministries like 1040 Interface come alongside them to teach them English, how to turn on a light, how to flush a toilet, how to take care of themselves. Josh also led a team to Dinuba to work with Gleanings for the Hungry.

Reaching Globally, Nationally, and Locally

God is using our church globally, nationally, and locally. We've had nursing home ministry for 18 years. Reading old board minutes from the early '90s, I found a note that the Lord had stirred Pastor Mark Turner's heart to reach the elderly in our community. There are far more care facilities in our town than we're currently ministering in, so Pastor Mark will hold a training on the 21st.

About 15 years ago, Tim Tompkins came to Pastor Pat and said we could get our services onto public access cable cheaply. We had no budget, but Tim figured it out. For 15 years or more we've been on Cox and Time Warner across San Diego County, with the ability to reach three million homes a week. Many people first found this church that way. Our video team, Brett and Dave, are planning new things this year, especially getting more content online, since the cable companies will soon just be a utility giving access to internet content.

We connected Cross Connection Outreach with New Tribes Missions and with Bill and Donna Davis, who for 25 years have been translating the New Testament into the Palawano language in the Philippines. As they finish, we're going to document the recording of these audio Scriptures for a group of people who don't read. A year and a half ago, 88.9 FM (KSDW, associated with K-Wave) offered us affordable airtime, and Terry Moody now produces our broadcast every week—on a Mac with GarageBand and a little microphone, cutting it to 26 minutes. It's amazing what God is doing through our church.

It Takes the Whole Body

We're not a huge church, but we have a huge vision. The things God is doing aren't things one person or a small team could do—it takes the whole body of Christ. More than 150 people here are regularly involved in serving: children's ministry, men's and women's ministry, worship, sound, parking, recording, missions planning. When I step back and see what we're planning—trips to China, possibly the Philippines, maybe a small team to Africa for recording—it boggles my mind that the Lord allows me to be part of it.

Next month we're meeting with the American European Bethel Mission, which has bases in Haifa and southern Israel, hoping to plan a youth missions trip to China or Israel this summer. Dr. Varghese, who developed our School of Discipleship materials, has invited us to take a group to Dubai, Nepal, and India to continue discipleship ministry he's done for over 30 years.

Several of our ministries had tables at the Marietta missions conference. Pastor Richard runs Calvary Admin Services, helping other churches with administrative tasks. Last year we started Logos Retirement Plan, offering church-appropriate retirement plans, set up by Doug Eagle. At a conference in Indiana, Pastor Bob Coy from Calvary Chapel Fort Lauderdale—the tenth largest church in America, 17,000 members, 805 staff—asked Doug to set this up for his church. This week Richard and Doug are flying to Florida, where Doug meets with Bob Coy's executive team Wednesday through Friday. So write on your bulletin: "Doug Eagle, pray, exclamation point."

A little more than a year ago we started Calvary Online High School—not a brick-and-mortar building, but a regular accredited Christian online high school. Jared Beck is our administrator. We have 25 students worldwide, and this month we expect to learn the outcome of our WASC accreditation, which should open the door for many more students. Last June we graduated two students, one of whom was finishing her education while working with the underground church in China.

On Mission: Acts 20 and the Great Commission

Not a huge church, but a huge vision. We'll share more in a church meeting on Sunday, January 29th at 5:30 p.m.—we made sure it wasn't Super Bowl weekend. Our elder board, staff, and pastoral team are convinced this is what God would have us do as a church.

In Matthew 28, Jesus commissioned His church:

Go into all the world and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I've commanded you, and lo, I'm with you always even to the end of the age.

Some believe 2012 is the end of the world. I don't think so. The Lord could return this year, and that would be great—but if He doesn't, we know He's with us until the end and has given us a commission. Teaching and baptizing nations means planting churches—gathering disciples together into congregations. If you want to know what Jesus meant, look at what His disciples did for the next 30 years in Acts: they went throughout the world and planted churches. That's exactly what we see in Acts 20.

Paul Plants and Embraces

Last week we saw Paul in Ephesus, where he'd ministered nearly three years, teaching daily and shaking the pagan occultic practices of the city until a near-riot broke out. So in verse 1, after the uproar, Paul "called to him the disciples." This tells us he had planted a church there—a gathering of disciples, of learners and students. Jesus said, "Go and teach," and here are the students.

But a disciple isn't just a vessel for information. Paul wasn't a giant orb of info trying to download into people's heads. Notice that when he called them, he "embraced them." Discipleship is relational, not just informational. As Paul says in 1 Thessalonians 2, his goal wasn't merely to give the gospel but to impart his very soul to them. His heart was connected to these believers.

Wisdom, a Plan, and Flexibility

From Ephesus Paul traveled northwest across the Aegean Sea to Macedonia, likely to Philippi, where he'd planted a church on his second journey after the Macedonian vision in Troas—the church where he and Silas were beaten, imprisoned, and then expelled. Verse 2 says he gave the churches "much exhortation," strengthening them—probably stopping in Philippi, Thessalonica, and Berea on his way south into Greece.

In verse 3 he stays three months, likely in Corinth—the church to which he'd sent the heavy letter of 1 Corinthians, confronting their pride, stubbornness, and immorality. The word "exhort" is the Greek parakaleo, "to come alongside with a call"—like seeing a teammate stumble in a race and saying, "Come on, get up, let's finish well."

Then the Jews laid wait for him as he was about to sail to Syria, so he purposed to return through Macedonia. Paul's home church was Antioch of Syria; after years on the field, he wanted to return, ultimately aiming for Jerusalem by Pentecost. But word reached him of a plot—perhaps on the very ship—so he changed his route.

Three things here are important. First, Paul used wisdom. Knowledge is information; wisdom is knowing how to rightly use it. Second, Paul had a plan. Some think planning is unspiritual, that to be led by the Lord you should never plan and just go with it. But Acts shows Paul repeatedly had plans. Third, he was willing to change his plan. We should exercise wisdom, seek the Lord for a plan, and remain flexible, because "a man plans his ways, but God directs his steps." That's how we operate as a church—not haphazardly stumbling along, but asking the Lord to direct us. God is the CEO of this church, not me.

Recruiting a Team for the Mission

In verse 4, a team accompanies Paul: Sopater of Berea; Aristarchus and Secundus of Thessalonica; Gaius of Derbe; Timothy of Lystra; Tychicus and Trophimus of Asia. As Paul went city to city, he recruited men with great names. Where he went, he gathered a team for the work God was doing—and that's what we're doing as a church, looking around and asking people to step in.

In Isaiah 6, Isaiah hears God ask, "Who will go for us, and whom shall we send?" And he answers, "Here am I, send me." God is looking for people willing to say, "I'll do that. I don't know how, but I'll do it." As a senior in high school I came to fold bulletins. One day Pastor Richard said we needed someone to wire the phones and network for this building. I said, "I don't know how to do that, but I'll help." He had someone show me how, and 16 years later it still works. Every time the phone rings I think, "That's amazing."

When God called Todd Kent to the Philippines, I doubt he said, "I've got this in the bag." When Rick and Kelly went to Minsk, Belarus in '93 to plant a church, I'm sure part of their hearts said, "We can't do this"—but here we go. That's walking by faith, not by sight. Walking by sight says, "I've got this," and that's usually right before you fall. That happens to me about 15 times a day.

Every Believer Is Gifted for the Mission

Every believer in this room is gifted by God's Holy Spirit and given natural abilities and talents—which aren't really natural, they're supernatural. God created you with them so you could glorify Him. Yes, by being a good employee and providing for your family—because if you don't, you're worse than an infidel—but also by extending the glory of His kingdom. God gave you a knack for engineering plastics because Cross Connection Outreach needs you. He gave you computer and recording skills so you can produce Line Upon Line radio. He gave you a gift for making videos that you use for your business; you can also use it for the kingdom. Over 150 people here serve weekly in exactly this way.

Luke Rejoins, and the Road to Rome

In verse 5, this team goes ahead to Troas and waits "for us." Circle "us," because now Luke, the author of Acts and the Gospel of Luke, is with Paul again. Paul had left Luke in Philippi back in Acts 16, where Luke essentially oversaw the church. Verse 6 says "we sailed away from Philippi after the days of unleavened bread"—so Paul wintered in Corinth (a wise plan), came up to Philippi in early spring for Passover, picked up Luke, and sailed to Troas, staying seven days.

From there Paul will go to Ephesus, then Syria, then Jerusalem—where a group of Jews vows not to eat until he's dead. Taken into Roman custody partly for his protection, and as a Roman citizen, he'll appeal to Caesar, traveling to Caesarea and ultimately to Rome, because "I must see Rome." Through all of it, Paul was on mission.

Be Missional Where You Are

That is our desire—that we would be missional. We didn't merely grow up here, get transplanted by the military, or move here for work. God placed us here to be missionaries to the culture of North County California—missionaries in nursing homes, as chaplains in your company, at the street fair in May and October, at Cruisin' Grand Friday nights from April to September. We're missionaries wherever the Lord plants us. And perhaps one day God will knock on your door and say, "I'd like you to come with Me to China," and you'll go and do there what you're doing here.

This is what the church must recognize: we are all commissioned. The ones we pray for up front—Luke, Shane, Eddie—aren't the only ones doing the Great Commission. We're all doing it. We've enjoyed His grace in salvation; we're enjoying His grace in sanctification; now we extend His glory wherever we are.

So my exhortation is to engage in the mission, however it looks—a nursing home, children's ministry equipping future missionaries, men's or women's ministry strengthening the body, the street fair. Engage with the gifts, talents, time, and money God has given you. This is the greatest mission in the world—the mission of the King of Kings—and the only mission that continues into eternity. Every other endeavor ends when Jesus returns and says, "We're out of here." But His kingdom's mission is awesome, and it's a mission possible.

Closing Prayer

Father, I pray that You would unite our hearts together to accomplish the work You have set before us as a church. Accomplish the work in and through us that You desire to do. Glorify Yourself in us to our culture. Open greater doors for us. Lord, help us to see and heed those Macedonian calls when they come—"Come help us." We lay our plan before You, and we ask You to direct our steps. For we ask it in Jesus' name, Amen.