August 9, 2026

Acts 14

Faithful Resilience

Sunday Sermons

Resilience is a buzzword in our time. The paths we’re offered to more resilience usually lead back to the self. Personal grit, a little more hustle, or a stoic indifference. But personal grit has a limit, and hustle has a boundary called burnout. In Acts 14, Paul and Barnabas finish a fourteen hundred mile journey marked by resistance at nearly every turn, and when they finally arrive at home base in Antioch, bruised and worn, the first thing they do is gather the church to say, “look at what God has done!”

Join Pastor Tommy as we walk the last miles of that first missionary journey and consider the kind of resilience that sustained them. It was not sourced in themselves. It was rooted in the grace of God, the mission of God, and the people of God, and it is the same grace given to us in our own callings today.

Speaker

Tommy Bailey

Series

Acts of the Apostles

Go to Series

Scripture

Acts 14

Topics
Growth & Discipleship Worldview & Culture

Sermon Notes

Acts 14

Faithful Resilience

Pastor Tommy Bailey

“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
Acts 1:8

“…For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.”
Colossians 1:19–20

“But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.”
Philippians 3:7–8

“One of the reasons God saved you is that you might bear fruit in this world. You are living in a hungry world where people are starving for spiritual reality.”
Warren Wiersbe, Abide

1. Rooted Resilience

The rooted resilience of Paul and Barnabas:
  • The grace of God (v. 26)
  • The mission of God (vv. 26-27)
  • The people of God (vv. 27-28)

“The enemy will attack. Temptation will come. But left to yourself, you are like a tumbleweed in a tornado, a handkerchief in a hurricane. The lion will roar, the viper will strike, the flaming arrows of temptation will fly, and you will fall — apart from grace. That is why you need God. Beware of self-confidence.”
Brian G. Hedges, Watchfulness

“Blessed is the man
who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,
nor stands in the way of sinners,
nor sits in the seat of scoffers;
but his delight is in the law of the Lord,
and on his law he meditates day and night.
He is like a tree
planted by streams of water
that yields its fruit in its season,
and its leaf does not wither.
In all that he does, he prospers.”
Psalm 1:1–3

2. Missional Resilience

3. Tempered Resilience

“One of the most interesting and remarkable things Christians learn is that laughter does not exclude weeping. Christian joy is not an escape from sorrow. Pain and hardship still come, but they are unable to drive out the happiness of the redeemed.”
Eugene Peterson, A Long Obedience in the Same Direction

“We are endlessly in need of God. And what a wonderful thing that is. For He is full of all that we need, moment by moment, forever and ever.”
Jackie Hill Perry

Discussion Questions

  • Read the passage together: Before today’s sermon, what did you already know or believe about this passage? Did anything in your understanding shift after hearing the message?
  • Challenge and Reflection: Was there a part of today’s message that was particularly challenging or surprising for you? Why?
  • Unpacking the Message: Pick a quote from today’s sermon notes. Discuss what it means to you.
  • Personal Impact: What’s one specific way you feel called to change or grow after hearing this message?
  • Practical Application: What’s one step you can take this week to put today’s message into practice?
  • Connecting Scripture: Are there other Bible passages or stories this message reminds you of? How do they expand or confirm this teaching?
  • Gratitude: What aspect of God’s character stood out to you in today’s message? How does it inspire praise or gratitude?
  • Pray the Scripture: After hearing the message, is there a specific area where you feel led to pray? How can we pray for one another in light of today’s teaching?

Songs, Readings & Prayer

Songs

“This Is My Father’s World“ by Maltbie D. Babcock, Mary Crawford Babcock, and Franklin Lawrence Sheppard
“How Great Thou Art“ by Stuart Wesley and Keene Hine
“Behold Our God“ by Stephen Altrogge, Jonathan Baird, Meghan Baird, and Ryan Baird
“Great Is Thy Faithfulness“ by Thomas Obediah Chisholm and William Marion Runyan
“Doxology” by Thomas Ken and Louis Bourgeois
All songs are used with permission. CCLI License no. 2003690

Looking for our Hymns of the Week or resources to worship anytime? We’ve curated a playlist of hymns TVC Worship has led on our YouTube Channel!

Call To Worship: Make a Joyful Noise

Leader: Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth! Serve the Lord with gladness! Come into His presence with singing!
People: I will praise the Lord as long as I live;I will sing praises to my God While I have my being.

Leader: Believers in Christ, bless the Lord; Let all that is within you Bless His holy name!
People: My soul magnifies the Lord, And my spirit rejoices in God my Savior!
All: Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, For His steadfast love endures forever! Amen!

Confession of Faith

New City Catechism
Part 2; Christ, Redemption, Grace Q. 21, 22, 23

Leader: What sort of Redeemer is needed to bring us back to God?
People: One who is truly human and also truly God.

Leader: Why must the Redeemer be truly human?
People: That in human nature He might on our behalf perfectly obey the whole law and suffer the punishment for human sin; and also that He might sympathize with our weaknesses.

Leader: Why must the Redeemer be truly God?
People: That because of His divine nature His obedience and suffering would be perfect and effective; and also that He would be able to bear the righteous anger of God against sin and yet overcome death.

Classic Prayer: Isaac Ambrose

There is an excellence in knowing you, Lord Jesus, above all other knowledge in the world. There is nothing more pleasing and comfortable, more animating and enlivening. You are the sun and centre of all divine truth. Only you are the whole of our happiness: the sun to enlighten us, the physician to heal us, the wall of fire to defend us, the friend to comfort us, the pearl to enrich us, the ark to support us. You are the rock to sustain us under the heaviest pressures; as a hiding place from the wind, as a covert from the tempest, as rivers of water in a dry place, and as the shadow in a weary land. Only you are the ladder between earth and heaven, the Mediator between God and man. All other things are vanities, but you are real, solid, substantial, excellent, glorious. All other things are temporary, but you are an enduring substance. All other things are thorns and vex our spirits, but you are full of joy and comfort, altogether lovely. Oh, may your melting love WIN my heart to you, and wean me off all other things!

TVC Prayer Ministry

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Praying for the Persecuted Church: Tunisia

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