Strengthening the Soul
Sermon notes from Pastor Andy George at Crossroads Fellowship on Acts 14: conviction, humility, and continuing in faith because God is still working.
Remembering God's faithfulness
The opening worship called the church to trust God in battle, praise him in the middle of uncertainty, and remember his faithfulness.
Introducing Come Thou Fount, the worship leader explained that Ebenezer means “stone of help,” a reminder of how God had brought his people through. When our hearts wander, we ask God to turn them back toward him.
1 Samuel
Connecting and giving
The service encouraged people to connect through small groups, serve on volunteer teams, and practice generosity with their time, talents, and finances.
Volunteer team training and appreciation was announced for August 15 at the Millbrook campus.
The invitation was to say yes to the next step God was asking, with a heart willing to give back to him.
2 But the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brothers.
3 So Paul and Barnabas spent considerable time there, speaking boldly for the Lord, who affirmed the message of His grace by enabling them to perform signs and wonders.
4 The people of the city were divided. Some sided with the Jews, and others with the apostles.
5 But when the Gentiles and Jews, together with their rulers, set out to mistreat and stone them,
6 they found out about it and fled to the Lycaonian cities of Lystra and Derbe and to the surrounding region,
7 where they continued to preach the gospel.
8 In Lystra there sat a man crippled in his feet, who was lame from birth and had never walked.
9 This man was listening to the words of Paul, who looked intently at him and saw that he had faith to be healed.
10 In a loud voice Paul called out, “Stand up on your feet!” And the man jumped up and began to walk.
11 When the crowds saw what Paul had done, they lifted up their voices in the Lycaonian language: “The gods have come down to us in human form!”
12 Barnabas they called Zeus, and Paul they called Hermes, because he was the chief speaker.
13 The priest of Zeus, whose temple was just outside the city, brought bulls and wreaths to the city gates, hoping to offer a sacrifice along with the crowds.
14 But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul found out about this, they tore their clothes and rushed into the crowd, shouting,
15 “Men, why are you doing this? We too are only men, human like you. We are bringing you good news that you should turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made heaven and earth and sea and everything in them.
16 In past generations, He let all nations go their own way.
17 Yet He has not left Himself without testimony to His goodness: He gives you rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling your hearts with food and gladness.”
18 Even with these words, Paul and Barnabas could hardly stop the crowds from sacrificing to them.
19 Then some Jews arrived from Antioch and Iconium and won over the crowds. They stoned Paul and dragged him outside the city, presuming he was dead.
20 But after the disciples had gathered around him, he got up and went back into the city. And the next day he left with Barnabas for Derbe.
21 They preached the gospel to that city and made many disciples. Then they returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch,
22 strengthening the souls of the disciples and encouraging them to continue in the faith. “We must endure many hardships to enter the kingdom of God,” they said.
23 Paul and Barnabas appointed elders for them in each church, praying and fasting as they entrusted them to the Lord, in whom they had believed.
24 After passing through Pisidia, they came to Pamphylia.
25 And when they had spoken the word in Perga, they went down to Attalia.
26 From Attalia they sailed to Antioch, where they had been commended to the grace of God for the work they had just completed.
27 When they arrived, they gathered the church together and reported all that God had done through them, and how He had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles.
28 And they spent a long time there with the disciples.
A prayer for formation
Father, thank you for how you have moved throughout the history of the church. You are not distant or silent, but present and powerful.
Open our eyes to see your Spirit at work. Prepare our hearts to receive your truth. Shape us into a church that acts more like Jesus, listens well, loves generously, and shows up regularly in our neighborhoods and everyday lives.
Let our study of Acts be more than something we talk about. Let it change us and lead us toward action. Amen.
2 While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.”
3 And after they had fasted and prayed, they laid their hands on them and sent them off.
4 So Barnabas and Saul, sent forth by the Holy Spirit, went down to Seleucia and sailed from there to Cyprus.
5 When they arrived at Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God in the Jewish synagogues. And John was with them as their helper.
6 They traveled through the whole island as far as Paphos, where they found a Jewish sorcerer and false prophet named Bar-Jesus,
7 an attendant of the proconsul, Sergius Paulus. The proconsul, a man of intelligence, summoned Barnabas and Saul because he wanted to hear the word of God.
8 But Elymas the sorcerer (for that is what his name means) opposed them and tried to turn the proconsul from the faith.
9 Then Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked directly at Elymas
10 and said, “O child of the devil and enemy of all righteousness, you are full of all kinds of deceit and trickery! Will you never stop perverting the straight ways of the Lord?
11 Now look, the hand of the Lord is against you, and for a time you will be blind and unable to see the light of the sun.” Immediately mist and darkness came over him, and he groped about, seeking someone to lead him by the hand.
12 When the proconsul saw what had happened, he believed, for he was astonished at the teaching about the Lord.
13 After setting sail from Paphos, Paul and his companions came to Perga in Pamphylia, where John left them to return to Jerusalem.
14 And from Perga, they traveled inland to Pisidian Antioch, where they entered the synagogue on the Sabbath and sat down.
15 After the reading from the Law and the Prophets, the synagogue leaders sent word to them: “Brothers, if you have a word of encouragement for the people, please speak.”
16 Paul stood up, motioned with his hand, and began to speak: “Men of Israel and you Gentiles who fear God, listen to me!
17 The God of the people of Israel chose our fathers. He made them into a great people during their stay in Egypt, and with an uplifted arm He led them out of that land.
18 He endured their conduct for about forty years in the wilderness.
19 And having vanquished seven nations in Canaan, He gave their land to His people as an inheritance.
20 All this took about 450 years. After this, God gave them judges until the time of Samuel the prophet.
21 Then the people asked for a king, and God gave them forty years under Saul son of Kish, from the tribe of Benjamin.
22 After removing Saul, He raised up David as their king and testified about him: ‘I have found David son of Jesse a man after My own heart; he will carry out My will in its entirety.’
23 From the descendants of this man, God has brought to Israel the Savior Jesus, as He promised.
24 Before the arrival of Jesus, John preached a baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel.
25 As John was completing his course, he said, ‘Who do you suppose I am? I am not that One. But He is coming after me whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.’
26 Brothers, children of Abraham, and you Gentiles who fear God, it is to us that this message of salvation has been sent.
27 The people of Jerusalem and their rulers did not recognize Jesus, yet in condemning Him they fulfilled the words of the prophets that are read every Sabbath.
28 And though they found no ground for a death sentence, they asked Pilate to have Him executed.
29 When they had carried out all that was written about Him, they took Him down from the tree and laid Him in a tomb.
30 But God raised Him from the dead,
31 and for many days He was seen by those who had accompanied Him from Galilee to Jerusalem. They are now His witnesses to our people.
32 And now we proclaim to you the good news: What God promised our fathers
33 He has fulfilled for us, their children, by raising up Jesus. As it is written in the second Psalm: ‘You are My Son; today I have become Your Father.’
34 In fact, God raised Him from the dead, never to see decay. As He has said: ‘I will give you the holy and sure blessings promised to David.’
35 So also, He says in another Psalm: ‘You will not let Your Holy One see decay.’
36 For when David had served God’s purpose in his own generation, he fell asleep. His body was buried with his fathers and saw decay.
37 But the One whom God raised from the dead did not see decay.
38 Therefore let it be known to you, brothers, that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you.
39 Through Him everyone who believes is justified from everything you could not be justified from by the law of Moses.
40 Watch out, then, that what was spoken by the prophets does not happen to you:
41 ‘Look, you scoffers, wonder and perish! For I am doing a work in your days that you would never believe, even if someone told you.’ ”
42 As Paul and Barnabas were leaving the synagogue, the people urged them to continue this message on the next Sabbath.
43 After the synagogue was dismissed, many of the Jews and devout converts to Judaism followed Paul and Barnabas, who spoke to them and urged them to continue in the grace of God.
44 On the following Sabbath, nearly the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord.
45 But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy, and they blasphemously contradicted what Paul was saying.
46 Then Paul and Barnabas answered them boldly: “It was necessary to speak the word of God to you first. But since you reject it and do not consider yourselves worthy of eternal life, we now turn to the Gentiles.
47 For this is what the Lord has commanded us: ‘I have made you a light for the Gentiles, to bring salvation to the ends of the earth.’ ”
48 When the Gentiles heard this, they rejoiced and glorified the word of the Lord, and all who were appointed for eternal life believed.
49 And the word of the Lord spread throughout that region.
50 The Jews, however, incited the religious women of prominence and the leading men of the city. They stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas and drove them out of their district.
51 So they shook the dust off their feet in protest against them and went to Iconium.
52 And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.
From receiving grace to continuing in grace
In the previous chapter, Paul traced Israel's history and God's faithfulness, showing how the story pointed toward Jesus. His listeners had to decide how they would respond to God's grace.
Acts 14 continues Paul and Barnabas's first missionary journey. The question is not only how we receive grace, but how we become people who continue in it.
Receiving grace begins the journey. Continuing in grace requires a strengthened soul.
Beginning is not the same as becoming
Pastor Andy recalled bringing his oldest son home from the hospital and wondering how anyone trusted him with a child. Becoming a dad required more than that first day. It required a consistent yes, day after day.
In the same way, following Jesus means becoming the kind of person who can see a thing through.
God strengthens our souls so that we can faithfully carry his work wherever he has placed us.
The work continues
Paul and Barnabas travel through Galatia, the region to which Paul would later write his letter to the Galatians.
Some people believe; others oppose them. A man is healed. The missionaries are mistaken for gods. Paul is stoned and left for dead. Yet they continue making disciples, strengthening churches, and declaring what God has done.
The work continues, not because the journey is easy, but because God is still working.
Galatians
Two true accounts of the same journey
Measured by comfort, popularity, or uninterrupted progress, this journey looks like a disaster. Paul is harassed, misunderstood, attacked, and left for dead.
But people also believe in Jesus. A man who has never walked is healed. Disciples are made, churches are formed, and a door of faith opens to the Gentiles.
Both accounts are true. The suffering was real, and God was still working.
When we lose sight of the work of God, it can become easy to abandon the call of God.
1. Hearts full of conviction
How do we continue without being silenced by opposition, distracted by praise, or overcome by discouragement?
The first need is a heart full of conviction: a heart rooted in what is true before pressure arrives.
2 But the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brothers.
3 So Paul and Barnabas spent considerable time there, speaking boldly for the Lord, who affirmed the message of His grace by enabling them to perform signs and wonders.
4 The people of the city were divided. Some sided with the Jews, and others with the apostles.
5 But when the Gentiles and Jews, together with their rulers, set out to mistreat and stone them,
6 they found out about it and fled to the Lycaonian cities of Lystra and Derbe and to the surrounding region,
7 where they continued to preach the gospel.
Belief and resistance
Paul and Barnabas enter the synagogue in Iconium and speak about Jesus. A great number of Jews and Greeks believe.
But others actively turn people against the missionaries and the new believers. They question motives, poison minds, and divide the city.
So they remained
Notice the word so. People were turning against them, so they remained. The city was divided, so they remained. Their motives were questioned, so they remained.
They did not recklessly ignore danger. Eventually, the threat became serious enough that they left. But they did not let opposition silence their witness.
They had already settled what was true: Jesus is Lord, his grace is real, and people need the good news.
Conviction is not aggression
Conviction is not greater volume, winning every argument, or becoming more aggressive. It is knowing what is true and acting faithfully because of it.
Often it looks ordinary:
- Having a conversation we have avoided.
- Refusing to participate in something wrong.
- Offering to pray when we do not know the response.
- Acknowledging that we follow Jesus.
- Making decisions based on Scripture rather than pressure.
Our problem is often not a lack of information. It is that obedience may become uncomfortable.
Obedience in a grocery store parking lot
At Food Lion, Pastor Andy noticed a mother and her two children lingering near the self-checkout with only a few items. He sensed that he should ask whether they needed help, but he wanted to get home and avoid an awkward interaction.
He bargained with God: he would walk slowly to his car, and if they came out without groceries, he would speak to them. They did.
When he offered to go back inside and buy their groceries, another woman joined them and said she had felt God prompting her to do the same thing.
While he was negotiating, God was already stirring someone else's heart.
One next step
Sometimes shrinking back looks like trying to get to the car before obedience catches up with us.
Where are you tempted to go quiet because faithfulness may cost you something?
You do not need to plan ten steps. Identify one: send the text, begin the conversation, offer prayer, tell the truth, apologize, set the boundary, or refuse compromise.
Strengthened souls remain rooted in the truth of Christ when resistance comes.
2. Hearts on guard against ourselves
Opposition is not the only danger. Sometimes the danger comes when people celebrate us.
We need hearts on guard against ourselves so recognition does not distract us from our mission.
9 This man was listening to the words of Paul, who looked intently at him and saw that he had faith to be healed.
10 In a loud voice Paul called out, “Stand up on your feet!” And the man jumped up and began to walk.
11 When the crowds saw what Paul had done, they lifted up their voices in the Lycaonian language: “The gods have come down to us in human form!”
12 Barnabas they called Zeus, and Paul they called Hermes, because he was the chief speaker.
13 The priest of Zeus, whose temple was just outside the city, brought bulls and wreaths to the city gates, hoping to offer a sacrifice along with the crowds.
14 But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul found out about this, they tore their clothes and rushed into the crowd, shouting,
15 “Men, why are you doing this? We too are only men, human like you. We are bringing you good news that you should turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made heaven and earth and sea and everything in them.
16 In past generations, He let all nations go their own way.
17 Yet He has not left Himself without testimony to His goodness: He gives you rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling your hearts with food and gladness.”
18 Even with these words, Paul and Barnabas could hardly stop the crowds from sacrificing to them.
Servants, not the Savior
In Lystra, a man unable to walk since birth is healed. The crowd sees God's work but interprets it wrongly, calling Barnabas Zeus and Paul Hermes. The priest brings animals and garlands to offer sacrifices.
Paul and Barnabas tear their clothes and rush into the crowd. They insist that they are ordinary people and redirect attention toward the living God.
The work may move through us, but it is not ultimately about us. We bear the good news. We are not the good news itself.
How ego enters the work
We may begin serving because we love Jesus, then slowly begin needing recognition, appreciation, control, influence, or the feeling of being needed.
Ego does not always look like arrogance. It can look like resentment when no one notices, control when we will not trust others, or overcommitting because being needed makes us feel valuable.
We can confuse being needed with being fruitful, or visibility with significance. We can do work for Jesus while slowly making that work about ourselves.
Our value is not our usefulness
Pastor Andy acknowledged his own struggle with arrogance. During a difficult season, God reminded him that what mattered was not his job title, but the God he served.
Am I serving because I love Jesus, or because I need this work to tell me that I matter?
Jesus has already told us that we matter. Our value is established by his grace, not by our usefulness.
We do not have to be indispensable or have every answer. Jesus is Savior; we are participants in his work.
Questions that expose ego
- Am I struggling to release responsibility?
- Do I need to control all of it?
- Do I feel threatened when another person succeeds?
- Am I judging my value by how much people need me?
- Am I confusing being busy with being faithful?
Someone else's success does not make you a failure.
Practice serving where no one notices. Celebrate another person's success without turning the conversation back to yourself.
Pray: Jesus, let me be faithful without needing to be central.
A healthy church shares the work
A healthy church cannot be built around a handful of people who need to be indispensable.
We equip one another, trust one another, partner with one another, and remember that Jesus is the head of his church.
Our goal is not to become necessary. Our goal is to become faithful.
Strengthened souls refuse to become the center of the work.
3. Hearts anchored in the work of Christ
The crowd that wanted to worship Paul is about to turn against him.
We need hearts anchored in Christ's work so hardship does not persuade us to stop following him.
20 But after the disciples had gathered around him, he got up and went back into the city. And the next day he left with Barnabas for Derbe.
21 They preached the gospel to that city and made many disciples. Then they returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch,
22 strengthening the souls of the disciples and encouraging them to continue in the faith. “We must endure many hardships to enter the kingdom of God,” they said.
23 Paul and Barnabas appointed elders for them in each church, praying and fasting as they entrusted them to the Lord, in whom they had believed.
24 After passing through Pisidia, they came to Pamphylia.
25 And when they had spoken the word in Perga, they went down to Attalia.
26 From Attalia they sailed to Antioch, where they had been commended to the grace of God for the work they had just completed.
27 When they arrived, they gathered the church together and reported all that God had done through them, and how He had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles.
28 And they spent a long time there with the disciples.
When discouragement says to stop
Opponents arrive from Antioch and Iconium and persuade the crowd to turn against Paul. He is stoned, dragged outside the city, and left for dead.
If any moment could have caused him to abandon the journey, this was it.
Discouragement tells us that nothing is changing, faithfulness is producing nothing, and the cost is greater than the fruit. It suggests that perhaps it is time to stop.
He continued
Luke does not tell us everything about Paul's injuries, what the disciples said, or what Paul was thinking. But he tells us that Paul got up, entered the city, and left with Barnabas for Derbe the next day.
After making disciples there, they returned through Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch, the very places where they had been opposed, misunderstood, and attacked.
They returned to strengthen the disciples and encourage them to continue in faith.
Honest discipleship
Paul and Barnabas do not promise an easy road. They prepare new believers to continue through tribulation.
Difficulty does not mean God has abandoned us. Unmet expectations do not mean the work has failed.
Discouragement says, “This is harder than I expected.” Despair says, “Nothing will ever change.”
A strengthened soul does not ignore disappointment. It refuses to let disappointment become despair.
Faithfulness without controlling the outcome
Some of us have not quit following Jesus, but we have quietly stopped hoping in one area of life. We are still present, but no longer expect change.
Hand the outcome over to God, and ask:
- Was I faithful?
- Did I speak with grace and truth?
- Did I love the person in front of me?
- Could God still be working?
Discouragement may describe how we feel, but it does not determine what is true. God is still present, faithful, and forming us.
Perseverance is not stubborn repetition
Not every plan must continue forever. Perseverance may mean changing our approach or asking for help.
It means taking the next faithful step God has given us because we believe he is still working.
Strengthened souls refuse to let discouragement become despair, not through their own strength, but through hearts anchored in Christ.
Remember and declare the work of God
Back in Antioch, Paul and Barnabas gather the church that sent them. They could center their report on everything they endured. Instead, they declare what God has done.
God worked with them, opened doors, drew people to faith, sustained them through hardship, and formed churches.
We strengthen our souls by learning to tell our stories with both realities intact: the pain was real, and God was faithful.
- This season was painful, and God was faithful.
- The outcome was not what I wanted, and God still forms me.
- I was wounded, and God sustains me.
This is not positive thinking. It is Christian remembering.
Repeated prayers form us
The church has prayed the same Acts prayer throughout this series because repeated prayers shape our convictions.
We are asking God to form us into people filled with the Holy Spirit, grounded in Christ's truth, devoted to one another, willing to speak through opposition, humble enough to redirect praise, and strong enough to continue through hardship.
We do not simply want to admire the church in Acts. We want God to form that life within us.
Gathered for formation, scattered for mission
Church gatherings and ministries are not meant merely to fill calendars or increase attendance. They create places where convictions deepen, egos are challenged, discouraged souls are strengthened, and people learn to recognize God's work.
Whether gathering to pray, serving on a team, investing in the next generation, or walking with someone through grief, the purpose is formation into the image of Christ.
God forms us when we gather so that we will faithfully represent Christ when we scatter.
Grace in ordinary places
God has already placed people around us: neighbors, coworkers, parents beside us at practice, and students in our classrooms.
This does not mean forcing every interaction into a sermon. It means loving people genuinely, being present, and noticing opportunities for ministry in ordinary moments.
The soul becomes strong as we repeatedly remember:
- Christ is true when we are opposed.
- Christ is central when we are praised.
- Christ is faithful when we are wounded.
- Christ is working when we cannot see the outcome.
One place. One danger. One faithful step.
- Identify one place. Where has God already given you relationships and opportunities to reflect Jesus?
- Name one danger. Is it opposition and fear of others' opinions? Recognition and the need to be appreciated? Discouragement and the belief that nothing will change? Name it honestly and pray against it.
- Choose one faithful step. What is the next right thing? Not ten things. One.
You do not have to control the outcome. You only need to take the next faithful step.
An invitation to respond
For those who had not accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior, Pastor Andy invited a prayer of surrender. The words did not have to be his; the intent was to surrender to God.
God, I have made this life all about me, and I do not want that any longer. My soul needs to be strengthened. I need community. Would you form me into a man or woman who looks more like you each day?
The church was invited to respond in song and prayer, with the prayer team available for anyone facing discouragement, opposition, or a struggle with ego.
Continue in faith
God is working in our homes, workplaces, schools, and places where we do not yet see fruit.
Let us be people with hearts full of conviction, people who refuse to make ourselves the center, and people anchored in the faithfulness of Christ.
Let us continue in faith because the gospel is true and God is still working.
The closing worship invited the church to make Christ central and magnify him in their lives.
Go and be a blessing
The service closed with the blessing from Numbers 6 and an invitation to trust God's faithfulness and be a blessing to those around us.
25 may the LORD cause His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you;
26 may the LORD lift up His countenance toward you and give you peace.’
