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Outward

Notes of Sermon by Ps Daniel Khong on 27 Apr 2025 in Faith Community Baptist Church,


Background: 

Missions are seldom explained because it is assumed that everyone knows what it is. Definition - mission is the task of sending Christians across cultures and borders to proclaim and propagate the gospel of Christ.

Scripture: 

Matthew 28:19 and Roman 10:13.  Jesus commands us to go the make disciples of all nations, baptising them. And Paul then questions how will the people believe if they have not heard, and how will the missions came to be if missionaries are not sent.

Most church-goers in Singapore today are a result of missions - they set up schools and churches. And we are blessed by these. In addition to reaping the rewards, we should participate in missions as well. Billy Graham, the evangelist, also prophetically proclaimed that Singapore is the Antioch of Asia. 

In Act 11, the book of Acts talks about the birth of the Antioch church. The church experienced revival, and received guidance from Jerusalem and it was in Antioch where the term Christian were first used. Antioch gave money, they send out missions and impacted the regions. 

3 things that an Antioch church must be:

1. Spirit-lead, not self-led

Spirit-led is to move with the power of the Holy Spirit. Acts 11:21 says that "the Lord's hand was with them and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord". In Acts 13, the people were praying and fasting. Because of that, they heard from God. They continued praying and fasting to confirm they have heard from God. 

2. Obedient and not self-centered 

The reason for not being obedient is that we are self-centered,  that we want to follow our own ways. There are 2 parts to obedience: to God and to earthly authorities. When Antioch was successful and the Jerusalem church sent Barnabas and Paul, the Antioch church received them. It is amazing that the Antioch accepted Paul because it was Paul who had persecuted the church and stoned Stephen in Antioch.  

3. Generous not selfish

Money is one way to be generous but not everything. Antioch also provided help to the brothers and sisters to Judea. 
Some things does not require prayer, giving to others is one of them. There is fallacy that generosity is rooted in abundance.  The root of generosity is in fact rooted in trust in God. If we trust in God in all our hearts, we should be generous with our money. It is in times of trouble that we need to be generous. 

To conclude, to be like the Antioch church, we need to be Spirit-led,  obedient and generous. In order to do this, we have to be like what Paul wrote in Collosians 3:2  to "set your minds on things above, not on earthly things".  
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