Now there were at Antioch, in the church that was
there, prophets and teachers: Barnabas, and Simeon who was called
Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen who had been brought up
with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. 2 While they were ministering to
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
Then, when they had fasted and prayed and laid their hands on them,
they sent them away. 4 So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they
went down to Seleucia and from there they sailed to Cyprus. 5 When
they reached Salamis, they began to proclaim the word of God in the
synagogues of the Jews; and they also had John as their
helper.

I hope you'll forgive me for going way outside the ordinary way
of preaching this morning. To be faithful to this moment of
expository exultation and to the portion of God's Word that was
just read, I will point to some crucial things in this passage, but
the lion's share of this message will be an attempt to interpret
this moment in the life of our church with the help of this text
and with a view to the remarkable things that are converging on us
just now. I think we are at a defining moment this spring in the
life of Bethlehem. Before I explain that, look at three things in
this text.

While They Worshiped and Fasted

First, the Holy Spirit called out from the prophets and teachers
in Antioch two men for a new ministry while they were all
worshiping and fasting.

Now there were at Antioch, in the church that was there,
prophets and teachers: Barnabas, and Simeon who was called Niger,
and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen who had been brought up with Herod
the tetrarch, and Saul. 2 While they were ministering to the Lord
[i.e., worshiping] and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, "Set apart
for Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called
them."

Notice: The Holy Spirit "calls," and the leaders of the church
"set apart." Both are important. The divine work and the human
work. But they are not separate. The divine work of the calling is
perceived in a human heart and mind. And the human work of setting
apart is done with prayer to God and fasting, as you can see in
verse 3: "Then, when they had fasted and prayed and laid their
hands on them, they sent them away." In other words, all along the
way God is taking up the human into his purposes by calling, and
the human is relying on God in prayer and fasting.

Surely it is no mere coincidence that they were fasting and
worshiping when the word from the Holy Spirit was made plain: Set
apart Barnabas and Saul for the work I have called them to. God
acts in worship to spread worship. That's what is happening here.
Barnabas and Saul are going to leave the worshiping community.

A worshiping community is not easy to leave. Ask our
missionaries. If you have grown to love a people, and especially a
people gathered for worship, leaving them is hard. But do we just
live our lives doing what is easy? How does that make Christians
any different from the world? But the point of doing the hard thing
was this: to spread the very thing that was loved -the worship of
Jesus Christ. That is what Barnabas and Saul were going to spread
throughout Asia Minor.

Tried and Proven Men

Second, the men called by the Holy Spirit are the tried and
proven men. We don't know much about Simeon, Lucias and Manaean.
But we know a good deal about Saul and Barnabas. They were the most
prominent and the most well-known and respected teachers. Saul we
know well, since the book of Acts is structured mainly around his
great, earth-shaking ministry. Barnabas we don't know as well, but
we should know him better.

Here are the highlights. He was well-known and respected even by
the apostles from the earliest times, according to Acts 4:36. His
name was Joseph and they nicknamed him Barnabas, which means "son
of encouragement." He is the one who reached out to the despised
Saul after his conversion and vouched for him among the churches
(Acts 9:27). He is the one whom the church in Jerusalem sent to
Antioch when they heard that the Gentiles had started turning to
the Lord (Acts 11:22). So Barnabas had already left something
familiar to go to something unfamiliar at least once before. And
Barnabas and Saul were chosen by the church in Antioch to take the
offering for the poor to Jerusalem (Acts 11:30).

The point is this: These men were leaned on by the church. They
were not the kind of men abut whom you would say: Well, it won't
hurt if they leave the church for another ministry. They are the
kind who, when they leave, you take a deep breath and wonder how
things will carry on after they leave. That is the kind of people
the Holy Spirit called to leave Antioch and start a new
mission.

A Movement of Church Planting

The third observation is simply and gloriously that the result
of their going out was a movement of church planting that changed
the Roman world. In Cyprus, Antioch of Pisidia, Iconium, Lystra,
and Derbe churches sprang up - people who worshiped Jesus Christ
and laid their lives on the line for him. On that day of fasting
and worship in Antioch, these five teachers had no idea what they
were unleashing on the world. That is God's way: He calls for
obedience and faithfulness, but he keeps the future blessings of
hardship and triumph in his own secret wisdom.

A Defining Moment in Our Life Together

Now what does this all have to do with us here and now? What
does it have to do with EDUCATION FOR EXULTATION?

Three strands of God's providence, at least, are converging
right now in the history of our church - probably more - that make
this a defining moment in our life together.

Strand #1 - A Pressing Need for Educational Space

The first strand is a pressing need for educational space. This
has been obvious for over three years, and the planning since 1997
has been toward a major building project that involves tearing down
the old sanctuary and putting in its place a four-or five-level
educational wing, under the banner of EDUCATION FOR EXULTATION. In
other words, two things have led to this: the old building is
dilapidated, and the increase in the number of children has been
about 75% in the last three years. The increase in teenagers in
that time has been over 50%. Most of us would like to see that new
building in place by the fall of next year -debt free.

That is one strand of God's providence: a dilapidated old
building that has served us well for over 115 years, and a bulging
children's and youth ministry. That is what we saw and felt in 1997
when we conceived of this new building.

Strand #2 - Unexpected Growth of Sunday Worship Attendance

But we made a miscalculation in our assumptions, and that leads
to the second strand of this defining moment: namely, the sudden
and unexpected growth of Sunday morning worship attendance. I went
back yesterday and read the 18 assumptions in the key 1997 vision
document. The explicit assumption was that in 1998 we would have
1296 in worship, in 1999 we would have 1399, in 2000 we would have
1510, and in the year 2004 we would break 2000, and so on.

Well, we have been taken completely off guard by what has
happened. Last week the attendance in worship was 2,105. On four
out of the first seven Sundays this year, the attendance has been
over 2,000. And that's not counting the nurseries or preschool kids
who are not in the sanctuary. In other words, the second strand is
not just the need to meet the expanding educational demands, but to
dream a fresh dream for what would please God in the way we handle
this growth in worship attendance. This is the question that will
rest most heavily on the elders tomorrow night. In a few minutes I
will call for you to fast and pray for them. Be thinking about
it.

Strand #3 - The Call to Send People to Grace Church
Richfield

But now there is a third strand of God's providence that is
converging on this moment. In a kind of Gideon venture, God is
calling us to send people away in the very moment when we will be
trying to pray in millions of dollars. I have no doubt in my mind
that this is of the Lord, and that he means it for his greater
glory and for your joy - especially for the joy of those of you who
will hear his call to go.

Here is what has happened. Grace Church Richfield, located at
7101 Nicollet Avenue South, has been without a preaching pastor for
over two years. One of our own attenders, Paul Dreblow, has been
the interim for almost two of those years. During that time, and
for several years before this interim, strong ties between our two
churches had been developing. During the int erim, the elders of
Grace (who are here with us this morning), along with their people,
forged a document that is in the packet of materials to put in your
EDUCATION FOR EXULTATION notebooks this morning: The Chief End of
Grace Church Richfield, attached to the February 11 letter from
Rick Gamache. This document captures the Biblical and spiritual and
mission vision of Grace Church Richfield. When I first read it
about a year ago, I thought it was one of the finest statements of
God-centered philosophy of ministry I had ever seen.

In March of last year, Kenny Stokes and Paul Dreblow wondered if
there should not be a fuller partnership between Grace Richfield
and Bethlehem since they needed a pastor and we dreamed
of some
kind of church planting. They prayed and fasted and discussions
began, including a key time at Chuck Steddom's house. On July 25
last year, the members of Grace said yes to the document, The Chief
End - that is who we are. On August 15, as a whole church, they
gave the green light for the elders to explore some kind of
alliance with Bethlehem. We at Bethlehem were supportive of this
and were excited about it.

On October 19 last fall, the pastoral staff at BBC received and
read a letter from the elders at Grace Church Richfield proposing
what they called "Partnership for Rebirth." This would involve
several possibilities: our sending them a preaching pastor, an
infusion of worshipers, and new members and workers and leaders.
That morning, in my memory, was like Antioch in Acts 13:1-5. Here
we were, bulging at the seams and struggling with where to put
everybody. And there was a church - deeply like-minded, eager to
spread a passion for the supremacy of God in all things for the joy
of all peoples - in a place that hundreds of our people could get
to more easily than getting here, and asking us to dream with them
about an alliance that would give a rebirth of life and growing
fruitfulness to their witness in Richfield and around the
world.

We took this very seriously and went to prayer. When we looked
up from prayer, three of us said, almost simultaneously: "I think
Rick Gamache should be their pastoral candidate." It was as if the
Holy Spirit had spoken - I think he had. Rick has been at Bethlehem
for 12 years. For four of those years he has been the Manager for
Theological Support in Desiring God and Manager of the Bookstore.
For three of those years he lived with his wife Delaine in the
other part of my family's duplex. And he has been the teacher of
the Joint Heirs Sunday School class. Rick and Delaine have four
children: Bronte, Thaxton, Cosette and Yaroslav, whom they just
adopted from Russia. Rick is a graduate of Bethel Seminary. We knew
that we would not be able to keep him in DG forever.

We were so moved by God's action in that prayer meeting that we
went straight to find Rick and said, "We want you to come to the
staff meeting right now." When he came, we said what we thought God
was doing and asked if we could pray for him. We gathered around
and laid our hands on him and prayed. There were other names that
came to us in that prayer time as well. One was Randy Westlund, one
of our long-time elders. Randy and Kathi have committed to go with
Rick, and the church there is designing a way for Randy to move his
eldership there and so join the leadership team.

To condense a whirllwind of activity between October and now: On
January 30 Rick preached his candidating sermon at Grace, on
February 6 they voted to call him as the preaching pastor, and last
Sunday Grace voted to give me the green light to trumpet the call
today for as many of you as the Lord moves to go with Rick and
Randy.

That is what I am doing. I am asking that you pray and think
seriously about leaving Bethlehem and becoming part of this fresh
start at Grace Church Richfield under the leadership of Rick
Gamache and Randy Westlund and the two elders at Grace, Mark
Alderton and John Huspeni.

It is a defining moment for us: Can part of our handling of
growth on this site in the years to come (and right now!) be the
transformation of Bethlehem from a mainly centripetal force
attracting people to this site, into a mainly centrifugal force
sending venturesome bands of people with faith and courage to start
new churches or to give new infusions of worshipers and workers and
leaders, as in the case of Grace Church Richfield.

Before I give a concluding challenge, I'd like you to hear from
Rick Gamache. How God Leads, A Word from Rick

I want to take just a couple of minutes and give you a peek
behind the scenes of God's leading Delaine and me to Grace Church
Richfield because I think that it serves as a lesson in how God
leads his people in general. And so I hope it will prove helpful
for those called to go to Grace Church Richfield (whether five or
fifty of you) and those called to stay at Bethlehem.

I am holding a year's worth of journal entries written by my
wife Delaine. And they represent the means by which God, more than
likely, won't lead you

to Grace Church Richfield. On June 15, 1998, God very plainly,
in the context of Word-saturated prayer and in response to a sermon
preached from this pulpit by Brent Nelson, declared to Delaine that
we would be leaving Bethlehem for the pastoral ministry shortly -
nine months before the elders at Grace Church ever approached
Bethlehem about a possible partnership!

But that kind of subjective perception leaves one with almost no
sense of confidence that what was heard was really from God, which
is one of the main reasons it is the least-common means of God's
leading. So scribbled on these pages are Delaine's prayerful
expressions of frustration and doubt because God had not seen fit
to simply declare to me that I was to be a pastor.

Though I knew God had stirred Delaine for a new venture in
ministry, I didn't know that these journals existed until I was
well into the candit ating process with the elders and search
committee at Grace Church. Delaine simply, and very wisely, put her
hand to her mouth and prayed. But I knew enough so that when Pastor
John approached me to consider this opportunity, I stood
dumbfounded only able to think over and over again, "My wife's a
prophet, my wife's a prophet." But still there was no direct
declaration from God to me.

So I went to the Word. And I judged my motives and my
qualifications for the task by it. And I prayed the Word,
specifically that I would not "be conformed to this world, but be
transformed by the renewing of my mind, so that I may prove what
the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect"
(Romans 12:2).

God's will needed to be proved. For me this meant that the
opportunity at Grace Church needed to be examined and verified by
my mind, my renewed mind. So, in utter dependence on the Holy
Spirit, I learned everything I could about Grace Church to see if
it was the right fit. I sought wisdom like James encourages us to
(in faith and without doubting - James. 1:5-6), not just external
compliance with instructions God may or may not have given to my
wife.

But, in the end, I still had two very good choices before me
-Desiring God and Grace Church Richfield. Then something very
wonderful and very startling happened. I began to desire one more
than the other. In order to prove what the will of God was, I
examined (the Word, myself, and Grace Church), verified (by
prayerful reflection, counsel, and a pulpit search committee
process), and, finally, I embraced that which I desired more - the
preaching pastorate at Grace Church Richfield. It was startling
because I love my ministry and my co-laborers at DG and Bethlehem,
and I love you all very much. And it was startling because the
desire, "intense and all-absorbing" (Charles Spurgeon's definition
of a call) as it was for Grace Church was not without it's pangs.
Delaine wrote on that day in June 1998: "This is exciting and
painful if we are to leave our beloved Bethlehem . . . to leave
would feel like birth pangs."

I don't doubt that for you five or fifty who are to come to GCR
the decision to leave Bethlehem will be painful. It will be. But I
also know that if you go prayerfully to the Word, and if you come
to the informational meeting on Wednesday and the infusion meetings
on Sundays in utter dependence on the Holy Spirit, seeking to be
transformed by the renewing of your mind in order to prove what the
will of God is for you and Grace Church, then your desire to stay
or to go will be God-shaped, and that God-shaped desire will be
your guide.

So here's my prayer for you, and I know I speak for Randy
Westlund and Mark Alderton and John Huspeni. Paul wrote it to the
Colossians, we say it to you:

Since the day we heard of the infusion of worshipers from BBC to
GCR, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be
filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and
understanding, so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the
Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good
work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all
power, according to His glorious might, for the attaining of all
steadfastness and patience; joyously giving thanks to the Father,
who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in
Light. (Colossians 1:9-12)

A Concluding Challenge

I would like to welcome Rick and Randy and Mark and John and the
Bethlehem Elders to the platform for prayer.

Here is my request: I want to call a fast tomorrow. Would you
please fast during at least one meal, and use some of the time to
pray for two things?

One is for the Elders' meeting tomorrow night as they try to see
God's way of weaving the three strands of God's providence together
at Bethlehem: a building for education, a way to handle Sunday
morning growth, and a dream for becoming a centrifugal sending base
for new and revived churches.

The other is: Should you be a part of the move to Grace Church
Richfield? And more broadly - Lord, would you send just the right
people to Grace with Rick and Randy?