Paying Attention To Our Lives

6 · The preacher signals a structural shift from theological exposition to narrative application, connecting the Ephesians 2:10 framework to Paul's personal story in Acts 13

I want to draw your attention to that because what God does in the book of Acts is he permits us to observe the, the very practical reality of Paul's teaching in Ephesians 2:10. It's a critical turning point in the developmental process of Paul's life, and that turning point is recorded in Acts chapter 13, verse 13.

7 · The preacher draws attention to the name change from Saul to Paul in Acts 13:9 as a textual signal that something pivotal has occurred

This is a dramatic moment Something extraordinary is taking place right before our eyes. Luke had actually given us a little sneaky hint of it back in Acts 13, verse 9, saying, "But Saul, who was also called Paul"— that's a new thing. Prior to Acts 13, verse 9, Saul had never been referred to as Paul. It's the first time. And then after Acts 13:9, Paul is, is not referred to as Saul again except by himself in his own words when he recounts and refers to his own conversion. So something profound has happened. And therefore Luke says in Acts 13:13, now Paul and his companions set sail. Paul set sail. It's a wonderful, it's a metaphorical, it's an actually literal expression of the unique work that God had prepared before Saul was born, before Saul met Jesus on the road to Damascus, and even before Saul Paul was baptized by Ananias in Acts 9:18.

8 · The preacher traces the connection between God's declaration of Paul's purpose in Acts 9 and its fulfillment in Acts 13:13

In Acts 9, Jesus tells Ananias, the one who baptized Paul, he says, "Rise and go to a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he," listen, listen here, "he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. There it is. That is the good work that God had prepared in advance for Paul to fulfill. And now in Acts chapter 13, verse 13, Paul has set sail, or he's walking or sailing, as it were, in this good work. Namely carrying the name of Jesus to the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. This is a pivotal moment. And listen, it's always a pivotal moment when a child of God and those around him or her behold that moment of convergence, when it becomes clear, this is what I was made for. This is what my life is all about. This is what God has been doing and preparing and working to accomplish in me so that I might walk in the good and the joy of the works he has planned for me.

9 · The preacher articulates the sermon's main thesis: God has planned both the good works and the entire developmental process preparing us for those works

So you see, God has not only planned in advance specific good works for Paul and for us in which we are meant to walk, God has also planned in advance every day, every chapter, every experience, every critical event and relationship in the lives of his sons and daughters in order to prepare us and shape us and to equip us to fulfill these good works. And friends, it's, it's my conviction that we need to be trained to pay attention then to our lives, to be trained to pay attention, to read the storyline of God's epic poem in order that we might rightly frame our experiences and our backgrounds and our strengths and our weaknesses and all that we're proud of and all that we're ashamed of through the lens of God's craftsmanship and artisanship to prepare us to walk or maybe set sail.

10 · The preacher announces the sermon's structure—four lessons from Paul's life about God's workmanship—and introduces the first point

And with the life of Paul then as an illustration, I want to draw your attention to 4 things that we learn about the workmanship of God, this activity of God preparing lives for good works. And the first of Paul. The first one is that the workmanship of God takes time.

11 · The preacher demonstrates through careful chronological reconstruction using Galatians 1-2 and Acts that at least 17 years passed between Paul's conversion and the events of Acts 13

The formative activity of God in preparing Paul for his launch in Acts 13:13, it was years in the making. In Acts 13:13, it begins saying, "Now," Now Paul and his companions set sail. And this, this now comes years after his first encounter with Christ. We know this, we know that from the, the time of his baptism in Acts chapter 9, verse 18, to the time when Barnabas came to find Saul in Acts 11:25 in order to bring him to Antioch to teach and to serve. It's a period of 17 years. We get that from Paul's own testimony in his letter to the Galatians. I, I wanna show you this. Beginning in Galatians 1:15, Paul writes, "When he who had set me apart," but before I was born, and who called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son to me in order that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with anyone, nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me, but I went away into Arabia. And returned again to Damascus. Then after 3 years I went up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas and remained with him 15 days. But I saw none of the other apostles except James, the Lord's brother. Then I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia. And I was still unknown in person to the churches of Judea that are in Christ. They only were hearing it said, 'He who used to persecute us is now preaching the the faith he once tried to destroy. And they glorified God because of me. Then after 14 years, I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas. You see that? It was, it was 17 years just from the time of Saul's conversion to the time when he and Barnabas were sent as curriers to Jerusalem with this famine relief offering referred to in Acts 11:29.

12 · The preacher extends the chronological analysis to conservatively estimate 20 years of post-conversion formation, then expands the scope to include Paul's pre-conversion years as tentmaker, scholar, and persecutor—all framed as part of God's workmanship under Psalm 139:16

Now, you know, we can't be super precise with how much time it took to return from Jerusalem to Antioch in Acts 12:25, and of course it doesn't include the time that passed between their return and then their being set apart and deployed in Acts 13:1-4, but let's just say, let's just say conservatively, it's a span of 20 years. 20 years of life for Paul as a new creation in Christ. 20 years of the Lord's sovereign and intentional developmental formation of Paul. And those are just his years as a Christ follower. That doesn't include the prior years of formation as a vocational tentmaker, nor does it include the prior years of formation as an Old Testament scholar under the tutelage of Gamaliel, nor does it include those dark years. And they were dark years of hunting and prosecuting and imprisoning and and killing Christians like Stephen. Those years would have certainly left an enduring formative influence on the storyline of Paul's life. And they are no less a part of God's workmanship because according to Psalm 139:16, all the days that were formed for each of us were written in His book when as yet there were none of them.

13 · The preacher applies the principle from Paul's life to all believers, asserting that time and every relationship—especially painful ones—are God's tools for preparing us for good works

And friends, this is true, this is true not just for Paul but for every new creation in Christ. Time together with each and every critical event in relationship and oh, including and I would say especially the painful events in relationships, they are engraving tools in the hands of God to shape us and equip us for the good works He has planned and prepared in advance for us that we should walk in them. So the workmanship of God, it takes time. It takes time.

14 · The preacher announces the second major point of the sermon structure, shifting focus from the time required for formation to the role of endings in that formation

Second, the workmanship of God involves personal growth through endings. Endings.

15 · The preacher traces the shift in Luke's narrative ordering from 'Barnabas and Saul' to 'Paul and his companions' in Acts 13:13, identifying this as a relational ending marking Paul's maturation and Barnabas's receding role

From Acts 11:25, when Barnabas sought out Saul, up to and until Acts 13:13, it's always Barnabas and Saul. Barnabas and Saul. Barnabas had served as Paul's advocate. Barnabas had served at least some significant measure as Saul's mentor. Without Barnabas, we might safely say there would have never been a Paul. And for years, Barnabas is referred to first and Saul second. So look again at Acts 13:13. It is a pivotal moment. It is no longer Barnabas and Saul. From here on, it is now Paul and his companions. The baton has been passed, and in so doing, a relationship has changed.

16 · The preacher interprets Barnabas's gracious acceptance of his receding role as evidence of God's grace, celebrating the moment when a disciple surpasses the mentor as the intended outcome of faithful discipleship

We can only speculate on how significant the impact was on these two men, but it is certainly the work of God's grace for, for of Barnabas to say, "Paul must increase, I must decrease. His name first, me second. His name, I'm just one of the companions." And there are certain temperament types that just naturally find joy in promoting others. "Here, you stand out in the front." But it is a profound evidence of God's grace when the The deepest joy in making and multiplying disciples comes when the disciple surpasses the discipler and succeeds him.

17 · The preacher uses parenting as an analogy for the Barnabas-Paul dynamic, showing how painful endings (children leaving home) are necessary and good evidence of maturation

You know, it's often a painful transition when kids grow up and leave home. Some of you maybe haven't experienced that yet, but there are others of you You might remember the day you sent your baby out the door to kindergarten. It's often a painful transition when kids grow up and become independent. They don't need us anymore. They may even communicate they don't want us anymore. It's often a painful transition when kids leave home and get married. And something sweet and precious has come to an end. But as painful as those endings may be, something good has happened, right? It's precisely what it means to grow up. It's part of God's design for life and God's plan for our developmental process as living human beings, as well as our maturation as disciples of Jesus, as well as a necessary component for faithfully walking in the good works God has prepared in advance for each of us.

18 · The preacher asserts the theological principle that endings are necessary for growth and applies it specifically to the Barnabas-Paul relationship

See, here's the thing. As challenging as they might sometimes be, without endings, we cannot grow up. And in relation to Barnabas and Saul, an ending has taken place. And that particular order under God's providential design for both of these men and for the church and for the progress of the gospel is by necessity and forever over. It's over. Barnabas and Saul is over. Now it is Paul Paul and his companions. And though it is more than likely it stung, how could it not? It is God's workmanship and it is good because God's workmanship includes growing through endings.

19 · The preacher announces the third point, which intensifies the second: not just endings, but specifically painful endings are part of God's workmanship

And therefore it's no surprise that thirdly, God's workmanship, the workmanship of God includes painful endings.

20 · The preacher exposits John Mark's departure in Acts 13:13 as a painful relational ending, cataloging various kinds of church departures to show how the text addresses a universal pastoral reality

Not all the endings that God writes into the storyline of our developmental process are accompanied with tears of joy. Some are searing and leave scars. Look again at Acts 13:13. Now Paul and his companions set sail from Paphos and came to Perga in Pamphylia. And John left them and returned to Jerusalem. Relational endings are particularly hard, and in local churches, people leaving is always hard. Friends get married, they move away. You get— they get a new job that requires them to relocate. They go off to college someplace. You know, even under the best of circumstances, It hurts, it hurts because things aren't the way they were. But when they leave because of disappointment or disagreement or disillusionment or estrangement, their leaving is like an emotional tear that bleeds. And for pastors and ministry leaders in particular, endings like these, they inevitably feel personal, like failure, like rejection. But listen, God uses all endings and even, and I might add, especially through painful endings as a part of our personal development process. And he does it in order to produce depth and wisdom and maturity and resilience.

21 · The preacher shares detailed personal testimony from his church plant experience, cataloging the painful statistics of departure to validate the emotional reality of pastoral loss

Before we planted Imas Road Church of Sioux Falls, I was familiar with the analytics There's analytics even in the sport of church planting. I had heard the stories. On average, 50% of the members of your launch team will leave you in the first 18 months. I kind of balked at that. Ah, yeah, right. But every planter I talked to, they said the same thing. As exhilarating as church planting mission is, you better get ready to have your heart broken. We celebrated our 10th anniversary of the church plant this past December, so just a couple months ago, and in doing so I was reviewing all of our founding documents again, and here are the facts for us. Of our original launch team, 17 of the 37 who had committed themselves to getting us up and running, 17 of those 37 are still with us. 20 left. Of the 7 original members of our deacon team— those were the people who led our essential ministry areas— 3 of them are still with us and serving. And of the 4 of the, those original deacon team members who left They left before the end of the first 6 months. And of the 7 adults who relocated from the mothership in the Twin Cities to be part of our church plant, 7 members of Sovereign Grace Church in Minneapolis that sent us, not one of them is still with us. My point is, leaving happens. Sometimes the leaving is good and we celebrate it. Sometimes the leaving is commissioned and purposeful. Sometimes the leaving is benign, you know, just, "It just didn't work out." And then there's sometimes that the leaving is hurtful.

22 · The preacher exposits Acts 15:36-39 to show that John Mark's departure caused lasting conflict between Paul and Barnabas, but then reframes this apparent setback as a 'switchback'—a providential means by which God gained greater gospel advancement through both men

And we don't know the specific circumstances surrounding John Mark's departure, but we do know that it caused some emotional scar tissue. Later, when Paul approached Barnabas about a second mission, you probably know what happened. Here it is, Acts 15:36-39. Paul said to Barnabas, "Let us return and visit the brothers in every city where we proclaimed the word of the Lord and see how they are." Now Barnabas wanted to take with them John called Mark, but Paul thought best not to take with them one who had withdrawn from them in Pamphylia and had not gone with them to the work. And there arose a sharp disagreement, so that they separated from each other. So I think this is, this is the point that I want to draw your attention to. What appeared up close to be this kind of a gut-wrenching setback— ugh— reframed by years under the workmanship of God, this epic poem. It was not a setback. It was actually a switchback that enabled each of these sons of God, all three of them, to gain greater altitude for the glory of God. Look at Acts 13:13-14 yet again. John left them, but they went on. Paul and Barnabas separated from each other, But according to Acts 15:39, Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed away to Cyprus. Paul chose Silas and departed, having been commended by the brothers to the grace of the Lord. And they went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches.

23 · The preacher applies the principle to the congregation, asserting that moments of perceived failure or disorientation are often God's hidden entrances to developmental progress

Friends, the points in our storyline at which we fear we are, oh, terminally bogged down, or we've lost our path, or, "Oh, the best times are behind us." Under the providence of our loving Lord, these often turn out to be hidden entrances to places that we need to visit in order to reorient ourselves for the next part of our developmental journey.

24 · The preacher announces the fourth and final point, signaling a climactic movement from painful endings to their redemptive resolution

A journey which, fourthly, aims toward and displays God's redeeming grace.

25 · The preacher traces Paul's story to its prison conclusion, revealing that John Mark—the deserter who caused the painful split—was reconciled and present with Paul in his darkest hour

If the tooling of his early years while known as Saul were grueling and grinding, it didn't get any easier at the end. Aging, as they say, is not for sissies, right? Prison life during his golden years Golden years. This would be Paul's deepest and darkest valley, but it was in the depths of this dark crevasse that the glory of God's workmanship shone forth with the most unanticipated brightness. Who, who was it that stood at Paul's side in the pit of a Roman prison? Colossians 4, Paul tells us, "Aristarchus, my fellow prisoner, greets you, and Mark, the cousin of Barnabas, concerning whom you received instructions. If he comes to you, welcome him." And Mark. Yes, John Mark, cousin of Barnabas, right? That probably explains at least in part why breaking up the band cuts so close to the bone. You know, Barnabas is standing up for his cousin. And yet something happened over the course of those years that reconciled them so that in Paul's darkest hour, it is John Mark Mark, the deserter, the one who left him, the one who broke his heart, the one over whom Paul's partnership with Barnabas was torn. He's the one who's there caring for his needs.

26 · The preacher interprets Mark's prison service not just as reconciliation but as discipleship—Mark learning from Paul in anonymous suffering

And I would venture to say more than caring for his needs, he is learning and he's growing He is studying the man through serving that man in that dark place, that place where no one sees and no one takes notice and nobody goes, "Oh, great job, great job." It's those anonymous seasons. They are often the most profound workshops of God. And Paul is a disciple maker to the very end and is a servant of God's developmental process in the life of John Mark. This may have been, this very well could be his greatest work.

27 · The preacher cites Philemon to show Paul listing Mark as a 'fellow servant' alongside Luke, then offers a theological synthesis: God's workmanship redeemed both Saul the persecutor into Paul the apostle, and John Mark the deserter into a seasoned, trustworthy servant

In his letter to Philemon, he writes, "Epaphras, my fellow servant in Christ Jesus, sends greetings to you and so do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, and Luke, my fellow servants. It is God's workmanship that redeemed Saul of Tarsus, the blasphemer, brutal persecutor, insolent opponent of Christ, and transformed him into Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles. It is God's workmanship that redeemed the relational tear between Paul and John Mark and transformed what may be appropriately assumed as an inexperienced young man with thin-skinned unreliability into a seasoned, trustworthy servant with sturdy, resolute masculinity, a man who at the end of his life Paul counts as a fellow servant right alongside Dr. Luke.

28 · The preacher identifies the Gospel of Mark as the ultimate fruit of God's redemptive workmanship through the Paul-Mark relationship, connecting the painful relational tear in Acts 13 to a gospel document that has shaped redemptive history

And perhaps the crown jewel and most enduring fruit of God's redemptive workmanship through Paul in the life of Mark is the gospel account of Christ attributed to Mark's authorship and the redemptive effect of that story in countless lives throughout redemptive history.

29 · The preacher synthesizes the sermon's theological argument: every believer's life is a developmental process sovereignly orchestrated by God, who has written the entire storyline in advance to prepare them for specific redemptive works for His glory

Friends, listen, the life of every child of God is a process. By which we are developed by God for specific works planned in advance uniquely for us in order to fulfill the redemptive purpose of God. In Christ, our lives are not our own. We have been purchased, redeemed with a price, the blood of Jesus, the Son of God. And our Heavenly Father has, has written this epic storyline of our own lives in advance with all the peaks and all their valleys and all the joys and all their sorrows, all their endings and beginnings, pains and promises in order to redeem us and shape us and prepare us for good works, beautiful things, redemptive things for the glory of Jesus.

30 · The preacher issues the sermon's final application: pay attention to your life for God's providential fingerprints

So just one brief closing exhortation. Pay close attention to your life. Pay careful attention for God's providential fingerprints. He has written your story in advance. Every day, every day before any one of them came to be. He's not, he's not making this up as he goes along. He is at work in us now, shaping us now, tooling us now, engraving us now. Perhaps for some of you it feels like he's excavating you now, and in so doing, listen, he's only enlarging your capacity internally for more of his fullness so that you might make disciples of others who will grow up and surpass you and multiply the good works of God through you so that God God gets all the glory.

31 · The preacher closes with a pastoral prayer asking God to reveal Jesus, produce spiritual fruit, increase faith, and help the congregation trust that God is forming them for the good works He prepared in advance

Let's pray. Well, Lord, we're looking to You to reveal the glories of Jesus in us and through us. We long for You to produce in greater and greater measure joy and soul satisfaction and love and tenderheartedness, mercy, wisdom, power, the power of the Holy Spirit. How's it gonna happen unless you You fill us with all the fullness of God. We're trusting you today. I pray that you would increase the faith in this dear flock, whatever they're walking in these days, that you are for them, you're forming them for good works that you have prepared in advance for them to walk in. We look to you, Lord, for the joy, the goodness of seeing all these things unfold. In Jesus' name, amen.