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Open Up The Heavens
Blessed Be The Name
Jesus At The Center
Big Idea for the Series: In the book of Acts, we see God advancing his Kingdom by his Spirit through his Church.
FCF: Paul’s ministry in Ephesus and his parting words to the elders at Ephesus offer us some insight on the biblical model for effective ministry. Effective ministry that honors God and advances his Kingdom is a result of boldness, perseverance, stewardship, and faith.
Intro:
Paul is now wrapping up his third missionary journey and preparing to return to Jerusalem (20:16). He intends to set out for Rome—the capital city of the Roman Empire. He’s had Rome in his sights for quite some time, but now he is actually making plans to visit.
He has spent most of his third missionary journey in Ephesus, where he’s strengthened the church there greatly. But, he eventually had to flee Ephesus because of a riot that broke out (19:21-41). So many Gentiles had become Christians in Ephesus that it was beginning to impact the local economy, particularly the craftsmen who made idols for the local gods and the Temple of Artemis.
After Paul and some of the disciples narrowly escaped being executed in the theater, Paul left and continued on strengthening the churches throughout Macedonia (modern day Greece) and Asia. On his way back to Jerusalem, he stops at Miletus, a city near Ephesus, and summons the elders from Ephesus to say his final goodbyes to them, preferring not to risk another visit to Ephesus, which might prevent him from getting to Rome. Having spent a significant amount of time at Ephesus (over 2 years), he’s grown quite attached to the church there.
So, his parting sermon to the elders of the Ephesian church are instructive for us today.
Acts 20:17–24 ESV
17 Now from Miletus he sent to Ephesus and called the elders of the church to come to him. 18 And when they came to him, he said to them: “You yourselves know how I lived among you the whole time from the first day that I set foot in Asia, 19 serving the Lord with all humility and with tears and with trials that happened to me through the plots of the Jews; 20 how I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you in public and from house to house, 21 testifying both to Jews and to Greeks of repentance toward God and of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. 22 And now, behold, I am going to Jerusalem, constrained by the Spirit, not knowing what will happen to me there, 23 except that the Holy Spirit testifies to me in every city that imprisonment and afflictions await me. 24 But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.
Prayer
Paul’s speech to the Ephesian elders would make a wonderful text for a pastor’s conference, and it’s been used as such many times. But, even though you all are not pastors, you are ministers of the gospel. My job as a pastor is, as Paul puts it, “to equip the saints for the work of the ministry.”
So, you are ministers. Of course, Paul’s words here are particularly relevant to those who are called to be elders. But, they are still more broadly applicable to anyone who desires to be effective for the Kingdom. And here in Paul’s sermon, we get some insights into what makes for an effective ministry. Do you want to be effective for the Kingdom of God? Then hear what Paul has to say to you today...
Effective ministry requires boldness.
Acts 20:18–21 ESV
18 And when they came to him, he said to them: “You yourselves know how I lived among you the whole time from the first day that I set foot in Asia, 19 serving the Lord with all humility and with tears and with trials that happened to me through the plots of the Jews; 20 how I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you in public and from house to house, 21 testifying both to Jews and to Greeks of repentance toward God and of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.
There will always be a temptation to avoid difficult and controversial subjects in Scripture. But...
Effective ministers boldly declare all that God has revealed.
Acts 20:20 ESV
20 how I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you in public and from house to house,
Now, we might be tempted to think that when Paul says “anything that was profitable” he has in mind just the Gospel, just the “ABC’s of salvation.” But, we don’t have to wonder which parts of Scripture Paul viewed as profitable, because he tells us in his letter to his protege—another young pastor named Timothy:
2 Timothy 3:16–17 ESV
16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.
What parts of Scripture are profitable? 2 Tim. 3:16-17 “All Scripture...is profitable...”
There is not a verse in Scripture that is not profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, or for training in righteousness. So, if you come to a passage or a verse that seems to you to be unprofitable, unnecessary, or unhelpful, you can be confident that it is not!
The Word of God is a gold mine and there is not an inch of this mine in which a dedicated miner cannot strike gold. In some passages, the gold is lying there on the surface and all you have to do is pick it up. Other passages require a little more digging, a little more effort. Some passages you may have to recruit a friend or hire a backhoe to get to the gold. But, it has been my experience that the work is always worthwhile. The passages that require the most digging often produce the richest veins of gold.
So, as you are reading Scripture or as you are preparing a Sunday School lesson, dig! When you come to a passage that seems unprofitable, ask yourself and ask God: “Why did you include this passage in my Bible, Lord? What profit do you wish for me to gain from it?”
Acts 20:26–27 ESV
26 Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all, 27 for I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God.
The word Paul uses here which the ESV translates as “counsel” is βουλή boule, which elsewhere is often translated purpose or plan. Paul is saying “I wasn’t afraid to declare to you all that God has been planning, all his purposes.” Paul didn’t spare the church at Ephesus the “tough topics,” he preached whatever God had revealed to him.
In fact, this word for plan or counsel is the same word used in Ac. 4:28 and Eph. 1:11.
Acts 4:28 ESV
28 to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place.
Ephesians 1:11 ESV
11 In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will...
In fact, in his letter to the church at Ephesus, he dives headfirst into predestination in Eph. 1:3-14!
That’s just one of many topics that we wrestle with in Scripture. We could talk about the Trinity—how God is three persons in one God—or the endtimes, or any number of controversial topics.
Obviously, Paul didn’t major in the minors, and neither should we. But Paul also didn’t dismiss those things as “irrelevant.” They are in our Bibles for a reason, and we ought to seek to understand what God has revealed and boldly proclaim whatever God has revealed.
Some passages are controversial. The world does not value the things of God. What Scripture considers as gold, the world regards as rubbish. But, do not let that stop you from believing it and proclaiming it.
If you want an effective ministry and to grow in the faith, stop settling for the milk!
I think that one of the main reasons that we are not bold in our faith—one of the main reasons that we “shrink away” from declaring what God has plainly revealed in Scripture—is that we are more afraid of man than we are of God.
Boldness requires exalting God, not man.
Some people will attempt to disguise their reluctance to proclaim what God has revealed as humility. But humility and boldness are not opposites. Paul said that his ministry among the Ephesians was marked with “all humility...”
Acts 20:19 ESV
19 serving the Lord with all humility and with tears and with trials that happened to me through the plots of the Jews;
For modern readers with modern sensitivities, Paul’s writings seem anything but “humble.” In every city Paul goes to, he declares to them the message that if they don’t repent, they’ll be cut off from God!
Acts 20:21 ESV
21 testifying both to Jews and to Greeks of repentance toward God and of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.
For modern people, saying “This is truth and everything else is false” seems anything but humble. So, how can Paul describe a ministry in which he went around telling people they needed to repent or they would be cast into Hell and say “I served the Lord with all humility.”
So, what is the relationship between boldness and humility? Is it possible to be both bold and humble? Boldness and humility oftentimes to us seem like opposites. But, they are perfectly consistent when we understand them rightly.
The opposite of boldness is not humility but cowardice. This usually comes from a fear of what people will think. This happens when we care more about what people think of us than what God thinks of us. So the opposite of boldness is not humility, it’s cowardice. Cowardice comes from a fear of man that is greater than your fear of God, and in God’s eyes, that’s actually pride, not humility.
Humility is compatible with boldness when we order things rightly. In both Biblical boldness and Biblical humility, there’s a proper ordering to our priorities:
Biblical Boldness & Biblical Humility: God > Others > Self
The problem is that in our world, this paradigm is flipped. People value self above others, and other people above God. The world inverts this paradigm of priorities because it doesn’t value humility, boldness, or God—it only values self.
Oftentimes, biblical boldness comes across to people as arrogance because Scriptural boldness puts God first and people second. It seems as though we don’t care what others think. But it isn’t that we don’t care what others think, it’s that we care more about what God thinks. We don’t presume to know what is best—we presume that God knows what is best. So we proclaim that.
Whether we stay silent or speak out, act or wait, etc. should be rooted in our concern for how God will evaluate our actions, not man.
This is humility in the sight of God, and it is perfectly compatible with boldness.
A wonderful example of this is found in the story of Martin Luther.
Martin Luther was a Catholic monk in the early 1500’s, during a time in which the corruption of the Papacy and the Roman Catholic Church was at its peak. Luther had witnessed the countless abuses of many Catholic priests and the Pope himself, who had turned the church into a money making scheme. Luther spoke out against it.
The Pope wished to complete the construction of a new basilica--St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. It was an inordinately expensive project and ultimately took about 120 years to complete. To help with the funding of the project, Pope Leo X permitted the issuance of indulgences. An indulgence allowed someone to do a good deed or donate money to the church in exchange for the removal of the temporal penalty of sins. Since it was taught that most people are not good enough to go straight into heaven, most people had to spend some time in purgatory first to pay off the penalty of their sins before they could go to heaven. But, indulgences offered a way to do good deeds or pay money and get your loved ones out of purgatory a little earlier.
To increase revenues, a salesman named Tetzel was hired to promote them. Tetzel traveled around from town to town giving his guilt-trip sales pitch:
Consider that all who are contrite and have confessed and made contribution will receive complete remission of all their sins. Listen to the voices of your dear dead relatives and friends, beseeching you and saying, “Pity us, pity us. We are in dire torment from which you can redeem us for a pittance.” Do you not wish to? Open your ears. Hear the father saying to his son, the mother to her daughter, “We bore you, nourished you, brought you up, left you our fortunes, and you are so cruel and hard that now you are not willing for so little to set us free. Will you let us lie here in flames? will you delay our promised glory?” Remember that you are able to release them, for
As soon as the coin in the coffer rings,
The soul from purgatory springs.
Here I Stand: A Life of Martin Luther (64–65).
Martin Luther was having none of it. The idea of indulgences is not taught anywhere in Scripture--nor is purgatory for that matter--so Luther objected to what he saw as a policy that preyed upon people’s love for their family in an effort to enrich the papacy. He published an essay of 95 objections, or “95 Theses,” he had against the Pope, indulgences, and the authority of the papacy arguing that Scripture, not church tradition or the Pope, was the ultimate test of doctrine.
Well, the Pope was none too pleased with Luther’s accusations, and before long, Luther was accused of heresy and summoned to Rome to answer for his “crimes” against the papacy. Luther refused to travel to Rome, knowing that a charge of heresy was no insignificant matter. In those days, if you were convicted of heresy and didn’t recant, you would be executed--usually by being burned at the stake. In fact, that is exactly what happened several years later to William Tyndale for translating the Bible into English, and many other reformers after Luther.
Luther dodged the Pope for a while, but eventually he found himself on trial before a court at Worms, Germany (the “Diet of Worms”). In his trial, the accusers were not interested in debating matters of theology or hearing a reason explanation of Luther’s views. They asked him bluntly if he stood by all that he had written in his books, or if he would recant any of it.
Luther felt the weight of the question. He knew that this question was a matter of life or death. Not only that, but since the matters were matters of the teachings of Scripture on salvation, God, and his church, Luther knew that his views would be ultimately judged not by a human court, but by God himself. His interrogator’s words, no doubt, played in his mind. His interrogator had accused him: “Martin, how can you assume that you are the only one to understand the sense of Scripture? Would you put your judgment above that of so many famous men and claim that you know more than they all?” Knowing the weightiness of the matter, Luther requested a day to carefully consider his response.
The next day, the interrogator asked again, “Do you or do you not repudiate your books and the errors which they contain?”
Luther replied,
“Unless I am convicted by Scripture and plain reason—I do not accept the authority of popes and councils, for they have contradicted each other—my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and I will not recant anything, for to go against conscience is neither right nor safe. Here I stand, I cannot do otherwise. God help me. Amen.” Here I Stand: A Life of Martin Luther (181–182).
The emperor had heard enough. He responded, “A single friar who goes counter to all Christianity for a thousand years must be wrong. Therefore I am resolved to stake my lands, my friends, my body, my blood, my life, and my soul.”
Here I Stand: A Life of Martin Luther (183).
You need to understand that most of Luther’s opponents did not appeal to Scripture to discredit his convictions. They did not show chapter and verse where Scripture teaches indulgences or purgatory or the authority of the Pope—they couldn’t, because such teachings aren’t in Scripture. Instead, their method of attack was to attempt to isolate him and make him feel alone in the world, standing against everyone else. The doubt they tried to sow was:
Here I Stand: A Life of Martin Luther At the Wartburg
“Are you alone wise? Have so many centuries gone wrong? What if you are in error and are taking so many others with you to eternal damnation?”
And when you stand against the tidal waves of culture on the Word of God, that is the doubt which Satan still uses today. When you hold fast to the Word of God when everyone around you forsakes it, when you are bold for God, others will call you arrogant. They will accuse you of thinking that you are better than everyone else.
But boldness is not arrogance, it is simply that—as Luther said—
[Our] conscience is captive to the Word of God. [We] cannot and [we] will not recant anything, for to go against conscience is neither right nor safe. Here [we] stand, [we] cannot do otherwise.
It seems very arrogant to modern listeners to say that there is one way to heaven and that those who do not bend the knee to Christ will not inherit eternal life, but that is precisely what Scripture teaches:
John 14:6 ESV
6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
It seems very arrogant to modern listeners to say that gender is fixed by God and not fluid, that marriage is between one man and one woman, and that divorce is a sin. But those aren’t our opinions that we came up with, they’re God’s words:
Matthew 19:4–6 ESV
4 He answered, “Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, 5 and said, ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? 6 So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.”
It seems arrogant to say that the pastoral office is restricted to only men—that women can’t be pastors, but those aren’t our words or ideas, they’re God’s. In fact, it was this same Paul, the Paul who said he served in Ephesus in “with all humility” who later instructed young Timothy...
1 Timothy 1:3 ESV
3 As I urged you when I was going to Macedonia, remain at Ephesus so that you may charge certain persons not to teach any different doctrine...
Then he goes on to instruct Timothy on how to manage the churches and on qualifications for elders and deacons and this is what he says to Timothy:
1 Timothy 2:11–15 ESV
11 Let a woman learn quietly with all submissiveness. 12 I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet. 13 For Adam was formed first, then Eve; 14 and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor. 15 Yet she will be saved through childbearing—if they continue in faith and love and holiness, with self-control.
There’s probably not a passage in Scripture that is more detested and hated in our modern society than that passage. Oh, do people hate it! Even many who call themselves Christians would love nothing more than to take a pair of scissors and cut that section out.
And when I read that, as a male pastor, it sounds soooo arrogant. Who am I to say that a woman can’t preach or teach to men or pastor a church? And what do I care what other churches do? The fact is that I’m nobody and I really don’t care what other churches do—that’s between them and God. And I could point out that he is only talking about teaching and authority over men—the Bible does not forbid, and in fact it encourages, women to teach other women and children, and it encourages women to serve in many other ways in Scripture. But that caveat won’t make this passage less offensive to most.
I didn’t sit around one day thinking, “How can I really tick off the feminists and modern culture?” and then come up with this theology that restricts the office of pastor to men. I didn’t write this.
And can I be honest with you? I’ve tried to explain this passage away. I’ve tried, like many others, to find some cultural explanation as to why this applied to just the church at Ephesus or just in Paul’s day, because I know so many godly women who are good teachers and have a heart for the Lord. And I know of so many male pastors that have no business being in ministry—Joel Osteen, Benny Hinn, Creflo Dollar, just to name a few. Wolves in sheep’s clothing, that prey upon the people and distort the gospel to make themselves rich, and just about any woman in this church would make a better pastor than those wicked men.
But my conscience is bound by Scripture and Almighty God. And Paul, speaking in the Holy Spirit, does not ground his prohibition against women pastors in some passing cultural fad, he grounds it in the order of creation itself—in God’s intentional choice to create man first, then the woman from the man.
And we could spend all day unpacking the reasons that Paul gives, but what is inescapably true in that passage is that the office and function of elder/pastor is restricted to men, not for some cultural reason but because that’s what God intended. So, in boldness and humility, with tears and trembling, I proclaim to you what God has proclaimed to me.
“...my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and I will not recant anything, for to go against conscience is neither right nor safe. Here I stand, I cannot do otherwise.”
We Christians don’t sit around trying to think up offensive beliefs because we think we’re better than everyone else. We don’t say these things because we thought them up and would like to impose them on everyone else. We say them because there is a higher authority than the opinions of man and we are bound in humility towards God to honor his ways as higher than our own. And as stewards of the truth that God has given to us in his Word we boldly proclaim the way of salvation to our fellow man.
Embracing biblical boldness and humility enables and requires us to do follow the rest of Paul’s example, because if you’re going to humble yourself before God and boldly proclaim his word, you better have perseverance...
Effective ministry requires perseverance.
Acts 20:22–24 ESV
22 And now, behold, I am going to Jerusalem, constrained by the Spirit, not knowing what will happen to me there, 23 except that the Holy Spirit testifies to me in every city that imprisonment and afflictions await me. 24 But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.
Effective ministers expect trials.
Acts 20:22–23 ESV
22 And now, behold, I am going to Jerusalem, constrained by the Spirit, not knowing what will happen to me there, 23 except that the Holy Spirit testifies to me in every city that imprisonment and afflictions await me.
Paul suffered more in his ministry than most of us can imagine. His words here—that “in every city...imprisonment and afflictions await” proved true, as we have already seen. His life was one of constant opposition and persecution.
How did he keep a positive perspective in the midst of all that? Many of us, if we have one sour day begin questioning God’s goodness! How did Paul keep his head up when he was floating in the ocean in a shipwreck, being stoned, flogged, rotting in the dungeon, and watching loved ones be executed for their faith?
One of the keys to perseverance in our faith is found in what we expect. If you expect that becoming Christian is going to make your life here on earth easier, that God is probably going to make you happy, healthy, and wealthy here on earth, then you will not persevere long in your faith.
Paul held no such illusions. He knew his savior. Scripture calls Jesus a “man of sorrows, acquainted with grief.” Paul knew that to be a follower of Christ was to accept the sufferings of Christ.
What do you expect out of this life? Do you view Christ as your ticket to financial freedom, health, wealth, and prosperity? Or do you expect that you are enlisting as a soldier of Christ in a cosmic war with the powers of darkness? Hear the wisdom Paul shared to young Timothy:
2 Timothy 2:3–4 ESV
3 Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. 4 No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him.
The most effective soldiers are not the ones sitting in comfortable offices with A/C, they are the ones who are in the jungles army crawling through the mud with bullets whizzing overhead as they advance the frontlines against the enemy.
Your effectiveness as a minister of Jesus is directly proportional to your expectations and your willingness to suffer for the name of Christ.
How do you do that? How do you maintain that perspective and willingness to suffer for the name of Christ?
Effective ministers keep their focus on God’s grace.
Acts 20:24 ESV
24 But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.
I like to listen to war stories from soldiers who have been in combat. The bravery and courage they exude inspires me to press on.
And I do not have personal experience in combat to draw upon here, I have only the testimonies of those who have been in combat and my personal experiences as a prior missionary in New Guinea to compare with.
But, one of the things that has struck me is a common theme among the most elite soldiers and heroes. The most effective soldiers are not those who are motivated by duty, but those who are motivated by gratitude and love.
Duty says, “This is what is expected of me, this is my obligation.” That breaks down in the trenches when the bullets start flying. Who cares what is expected of you when the results will mean your death?
But the soldiers who are overwhelmed with love for their country, for their fellow soldiers, and for their commander, with gratitude to their country for their freedoms—those are the ones that do truly great things.
What will keep you in the trenches when things get rough? When your bank account is in the red? When tragedy strikes and sickness comes? When persecution arises? Gratitude for the grace of God. If you’re going to be effective in ministry, you must keep your focus on the grace of God towards you. Remember who you were before Christ found you.
Ephesians 2:1–3 ESV
1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the flesh and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.
What keeps you in the trenches when the enemy attacks? Remembering that you were once an enemy combatant, a dead enemy combatant. You were once a child of wrath—an enemy to Christ. You were dead in your sins.
Ephesians 2:4–5 ESV
4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—
But God stepped in and gave you new life. He resurrected your dead heart, he pardoned and paid for your sins and saved you. Not because you deserved it! You were an enemy, a traitor to the throne. You deserved death! But God gave you life instead. Undeserved, unmerited grace. And not only did he pardon you and give you life...
Ephesians 2:6–9 ESV
6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
He pulled you out of the enemy trenches, a filthy, hateful traitor to the throne of God. He pardoned your sins, gave you new life, clothed you in the righteousness of Christ, adopted you into his family—the royal family of God—and then he promoted you to a prince or princess in his kingdom. He raised you up with Christ and seated you with him in the heavenly places.
When you understand what Christ has done for you it fills you with a love and gratitude that overflows. That is how you can say with Paul, when you’re in the trenches,
Acts 20:24 ESV
24 But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.
Suffering for Christ is not our duty, it is our privilege.
Just yesterday, I received an update from our missionaries in SEA, the ones who came and presented here in the fall (whose names and location I can’t reveal for security reasons).
They’re in a majority Muslim country where everything is totally different, the foods are strange, the language is strange, they’re thousands of miles from family and loved ones, they hear the Muslim call to prayer from their home blasting over speakers in their city five times a day.
[Insert image]
They took a hike recently and snapped a picture in front of this sign. It’s such a great illustration of perseverance in the Christian life.
How do they endure the suffering of that life? They keep their focus on the grace of God and the privilege of serving him and his kingdom.
When the world sees us suffer with a smile on our face and joy in our hearts, it sees something unexpected. Something different. When you endure financial hardship, loss of a loved one, chronic pain, loneliness, rejection, cancer, and persecution with joy and peace in Christ without rejecting your faith, it testifies to the surpassing worth of Jesus Christ.
Conclusion: Paul’s ministry in Ephesus—and everywhere—followed a pattern that made it remarkably effective. Paul was so effective in his ministry because the gospel had completely transformed his life. He was bold in his proclamation of the gospel. He didn’t shrink back from declaring the Word of God, no matter how offensive it was to the people of his day. He humbled himself under the authority of God and cared more about what God thought than what man thought. And he persevered through suffering as a soldier of Christ. He expected trials because he looked to the example of Christ’s suffering and knew that if he wanted to be more like Christ, he would have to suffer like him. He was able to endure that suffering because he remembered where he came from and what Christ had done for him. His gratitude for the grace of God in his life overflowed into joy in the midst of unspeakable suffering.
What about you? Are you living in fear of man? Or in humility towards God? Are you ashamed of the gospel? Or do you unashamedly and boldly proclaim it? Do you expect and embrace suffering as a grateful soldier? Or do you expect comfort and ease? What, and who, are you living for?
Reflection Questions:
In what ways can we exhibit boldness in our own ministries based on Paul's example?
What is the relationship between humility and boldness in ministry? How is it possible to be both humble and bold?
Have you ever had to take a stand for the gospel when it was costly? How did you handle it?
Think of a time when you did not endure suffering well. Why do you think you didn’t handle it well?
What are some practical steps you can take to prepare for future trials you may face in your Christian walk?
What does 'keeping your focus on God’s grace' mean for your everyday challenges?
- - Acts 20:17–24ESV
- - Acts 20:18–21ESV
- - Acts 20:20ESV
- - 2 Timothy 3:16–17ESV
- - Acts 20:26–27ESV
- - Acts 4:28ESV
- - Ephesians 1:11ESV
- - Acts 20:19ESV
- - Acts 20:21ESV
- - John 14:6ESV
- - Matthew 19:4–6ESV
- - 1 Timothy 1:3ESV
- - 1 Timothy 2:11–15ESV
- - Acts 20:22–24ESV
- - Acts 20:22–23ESV
- - 2 Timothy 2:3–4ESV
- - Acts 20:24ESV
- - Ephesians 2:1–3ESV
- - Ephesians 2:4–5ESV
- - Ephesians 2:6–9ESV
- - Acts 20:24ESV
Jesus At The Center

Effective ministry requires boldness.

Effective ministers boldly declare all that God has revealed.

Boldness requires exalting God, not man.

Biblical Boldness & Biblical Humility: God > Others > Self

Effective ministry requires perseverance.

Effective ministers expect trials.

Effective ministers keep their focus on God’s grace.

[Insert image]

Reflection Questions:

Acts 20:17–24ESV

Acts 20:18–21ESV

Acts 20:20ESV

2 Timothy 3:16–17ESV

Acts 20:26–27ESV

Acts 4:28ESV

Ephesians 1:11ESV

Acts 20:19ESV

Acts 20:21ESV

John 14:6ESV

Matthew 19:4–6ESV

1 Timothy 1:3ESV

1 Timothy 2:11–15ESV

Acts 20:22–24ESV

Acts 20:22–23ESV

2 Timothy 2:3–4ESV

Acts 20:24ESV

Ephesians 2:1–3ESV

Ephesians 2:4–5ESV

Ephesians 2:6–9ESV

Acts 20:24ESV