Summary: 

What if witnessing isn’t about taking Jesus somewhere He isn’t—but joining Jesus where He is already at work? In Acts 13, the Church at Antioch worshiped, fasted, prayed, laid hands on Barnabas and Saul, and sent them out. Yet Scripture also tells us that they were “sent out by the Holy Spirit.” So who sent them, the Church or the Holy Spirit? Both. 

That is at the heart of this Gospel-Centered message by Pastor Tim. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit do not call us to carry out Their mission independently. Through Jesus Christ and by the Holy Spirit, we are drawn into what God is already doing and invited to participate with Him and with one another.  

As Lesslie Newbigin reminds us: “Mission is not just something that the church does; it is something that is done by the Spirit, who is himself the witness, who changes both the world and the church, who always goes before the church in its missionary journey.”  

This means witnessing is not primarily about having all the right answers, being an extraordinary Christian, or trying to make something happen for God. Jesus is already Lord. The Spirit is already at work. We are invited to join Him. And that participation becomes wonderfully ordinary and physical. Actual hands, actual feet, actual voices, actual people, actual places. It can look like praying and laying hands on someone, knocking on a neighbor’s door, serving behind the scenes, offering encouragement, helping another person, or simply showing up and being present. Even John Mark, who appears in the passage simply as an assistant, reminds us that there are no insignificant roles in the mission of Jesus. 

We may not all do the same thing, but we are all invited to participate in the same mission. As Pastor Tim puts it: “Witnessing is not taking God somewhere He is absent. It is joining Jesus in what He is already doing in another person’s life.”  

Reflective Moment Where might Jesus already be at work around you. In your neighborhood, family, workplace, church, or in the life of someone you encounter every day? And what ordinary step might the Holy Spirit be inviting you to take with Him? We are not sent alone. We are not starting from scratch. We are not carrying a mission that belongs to us. We are participating in the mission of the Father, through the Son, in the power and fellowship of the Holy Spirit, sent together as two hands, one mission.  

Watch the full sermon and discover what it means to stop thinking of mission as something we do for God and begin recognizing the extraordinary privilege of participating with the Triune God in what He is already doing.