The Church of the Forward Pass

September 22, 2024

Scripture: Acts 11:19-26

A couple was going on vacation. The wife was on a business trip, so the husband got to their vacation spot the day before her. When the husband got to the hotel he decided to reach out to his wife. He sent her an email. The thing about emails is, you get one letter off, and it makes a big difference! The email went to another woman, whose husband had passed away the day before. The woman read the email, screamed and fainted. Her children rushed in and found her on the floor. They looked at her computer, at the email that said:

Dearest wife,

I just got checked in and everything is prepared for your arrival tomorrow.

P.S. It sure is hot down here!

He had the right message, but the wrong audience.

As Christians, we have a great message, the best in the world: that God loves everyone and wants to be in relationship with us all! The challenge is getting it out.

I’m not a huge football fan, but today we’re going to learn some football history, about the great innovation called the forward pass. Football was a very different game with very different rules in the 1800s. President Roosevelt threatened to ban football in 1905 because there were 19 fatalities that year. At the time, football was played mob-style. You just all ran into and battled each other. The rules did not allow you to make a forward pass.

In 1906 they legalized the forward pass. But most teams didn’t use it. You still just ran into the other team. St. Louis University was the team that first three a forward pass. The first time they fumbled the ball. But they kept with it.  While everyone else was running they became the team of the forward pass. That year they won 11 and lost zero games!

We are a church of forward pass. We take some risks. Today is our outside worship and picnic! That’s a risk: you never know the weather. If you’re here, you’re a forward pass person!

Many years ago, there was a church a few hundred miles north of Jerusalem in Antioch. That church is not around today. We read about it in Acts 11:19-26.

In Acts 8 persecution of the church started. Many Christians had to flee Jerusalem. They were primarily Jewish Christians, which means they were Jewish before they became Christian. As they ran from persecution, they took the gospel with them. They went to places where there were many Gentiles, non-Jews. They did what they always had: told the good news of Jesus Christ to the Jewish folk, not to the Greeks who were not Jewish.

Some Christians did it a little different. They decided to do what no one had done to reach those who have never been reached before.

Acts 11:20 says, Some of them, however, men from Cyprus and Cyrene, went to Antioch and began to speak to Greeks also, telling them the good news about the Lord Jesus. These Jewish Christians decided to go to the Gentiles, the non-Jewish Greek speakers. ²¹ The Lord’s hand was with them, and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord.

The Lord’s hand was with them! Sometimes, we think the Lord’s hand is with us, we’re blessed, when we’re comfortable. When we get the seat we want in church, the Lord’s hand is with us. How was finding a seat today? You’re not in church in your usual spot! Or we think the Lord’s hand is with us when we get the perfect parking spot at church.

But this Scripture says the Lord’s hand was with them, when they didn’t do the usual. When they weren’t so comfortable. They were speaking to a type of people they never had before! But the Christians didn’t mind the discomfort so much, because a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord! The Hand of the Lord was on them, they were blessed, because they helped people know God, and it was so inspiring! They were the church of the forward pass: risking something new.

When the church in Jerusalem hears about this, they decide to send Barnabas to check this out. They wonder, is this a bad thing these Christians are doing? Barnabas comes to Antioch. He is a good man. His name means, “Encourager.”

Verse 23 says,When he arrived and saw what the grace of God had done, he was glad and encouraged them all to remain true to the Lord with all their hearts. 

Do you know the names of the Christians in this passage who reached out to the Gentiles? I don’t. We don’t know because it is not in the Scripture. They were pioneers! If you know about the early Christian church and outreach to the Gentiles, you may think of the apostle Paul. But this was before Paul ministered. These nameless people did something novel, something uncomfortable, and we don’t know their names. Still, the hand of the Lord was on them, they were blessed!

Barnabus left there and went to Tarsus to find Paul. I think he knew Paul was just the guy for this ministry! Paul was a Jewish Christian, but he was a Roman citizen and had lived among Gentiles all his life. Barnabus and Paul got involved in the ministry of the church in Antioch to the Gentiles, teaching there for a year. The Christians found a way to move the ball down the field, and a great number of believed and turned to the Lord!

The church of the forward pass is not just history. We can throw a forward pass, too!

What are some ways you and I can speak to people about Jesus? How can we be the church of the forward pass? By risking for God. In the bulletin under the “talk it over” heading, number 1 says, “Listen for “come sit with me” opportunities. What does that mean? Pay attention to people you hear say one of three things: “I’m not a church person.” And you say, that’s ok, “Come sit with me. Come sit with me in church. It’ll be great! You don’t have to be a church person.”

Or they might say, “Things are not going well.” I don’t know how to pay the bills, my kid’s in trouble, or the doctor gave me bad news. Things are not going well. And you say, “Come sit with me. Church helps.

Or they might say, “I’m not prepared for…this new job, a new baby, a move, or getting married, and you say, “Come sit with me in church. See what God can do.”

My challenge for you is to listen every day for the three “nots.” I’m not a church person, Things are not going well, I’m not prepared for this. Invite them, not to come to church, but to come sit with you. They won’t be alone. It’s ok if they say no. Sometimes it takes several invitations from different people. If you invite, maybe you were part of a chain of people inviting them. Maybe finally, two more people invite after you, and they go!

Jesus told his disciples, he will build his church, and the gates of death, or hell, will not be able to stop it! Not by our power, but by the power of God, the church is still here, 2000 years later! 2 billion Christians strong!

The unnamed church missionaries in Acts 11 decided to try something new in Antioch. They didn’t do the comfortable thing. They didn’t do what they were used to. They didn’t do what they had always done before. They tried something new and different! They were the church of the forward pass. Many people came to know Jesus because of what they did. God doesn’t call us to be comfortable. He calls us to risk and be the church of the forward pass. We are the ones who decide whether the church reaches the next generation. So, let’s be the church of the forward pass! Amen.