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A Study of Priscilla and Aquila
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Good morning. I'm Timothy Ateek, lead pastor here at Watermark. My hope for every person in this room this morning—whether you are spiritually skeptical or spiritually strong—is that you would take either your first or your next step with Jesus Christ, and that you would leave here sensing that you have met with and heard from the living God.
I want to share a personal story about my journey with physical fitness over the past couple of years. I was doing very little in the department of physical exercise—weeks could go by without me doing anything. Then we went on a family trip to Galveston, and I had a realization: something needs to change.
I started going to a gym regularly. Two years later, I feel better. I can see results. I've loved the people I've met. I've gotten to pray with people and share my faith with them. And what strikes me most is this: I wish I could have gotten to this place sooner.
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But I'm sharing this with you not to talk about physical exercise. I'm sharing it because what I've experienced physically is what I hope we all experience spiritually this morning. My hope is that many of you will leave here saying, "Something needs to change," and that many others will say, "I don't want to settle. I don't want to settle at all."
I want to guard you from getting to a point someday, looking back and saying, "It took me too long to experience the fullness of joy in Christ. I wish I had found it sooner."
So this morning, I want to unpack for you a picture of the normal Christian life. I use that phrasing very intentionally for two reasons.
First, we take our cues from the Bible. Whatever picture Scripture paints of the Christian life—that's the normal Christian life. There is a version, a distorted version of Christianity that's been created by the American church. When contrasted with biblical Christianity, American Christianity would make biblical Christianity out to be radical. But what is radical is actually normal.
Second, today we're not learning from the Apostle Paul. We're learning from just a married couple in Scripture. Priscilla and Aquila had a normal 8-to-5 job—they weren't W-2 employees of the church. They were just church members who fully understood that they only had one life to live, and because of that, they wanted to leverage every second of their lives for the glory of Jesus Christ.
This is where fullness of joy is found. My hope for you is that you would get a picture for a life with Jesus Christ that is packed full of joy—and that you wouldn't settle for anything less.
Let me give you a quick overview of their story in Acts 18.
"After this, Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. And he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to leave Rome. And he went to see them. And because he was of the same trade, he stayed with them and worked, for they were tentmakers by trade."
Here's what we learn: Priscilla and Aquila are followers of Jesus Christ. They were expelled from Rome because of their relationship with Jesus. They relocated to Corinth, where they meet Paul. They work with leather as tentmakers.
They become very important to Paul. We know this because Paul mentions them in his letters—Romans, 1 Corinthians, and 2 Timothy. They're not W-2 employees of the church. Just normal church members.
"After this, Paul stayed many days longer, and then took leave of the brothers and set sail for Syria, and with him Priscilla and Aquila."
They've already been uprooted from Rome. Now they're relocating again—this time to Ephesus with Paul.
"Now, a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was an eloquent man, competent in the scriptures. He had been instructed in the way of the Lord, and being fervent in spirit, he spoke and taught accurately the things concerning Jesus, though he knew only the baptism of John. He began to speak boldly in the synagogue, but when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately."
We see them together as a married couple, discipling a man named Apollos and helping him grow in his faith.
Listen to what Paul says about them:
"Greet Prisca and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ, who risked their necks for my life, to whom not only I give thanks, but all the churches of the Gentiles give thanks to them as well. Greet also the church in their house."
Paul calls them his fellow workers. They risked their lives for the sake of the gospel. And there are churches all over the place who have heard of their faith and ministry, and are thankful for them.
They hosted the church in their home. This is a power couple for the sake of the gospel—normal church members who experienced the joy of the normal Christian life.
My hope is that their example would encourage you to not settle for anything less. If you're looking for joy, I'll tell you: this is where you find it.
The first thing we learn from Priscilla and Aquila is that they were on mission together. They were on mission together as a married couple. Anytime they're mentioned, they are mentioned together.
They moved with Paul together. They hosted the church in their home together. They discipled Apollos together. What this tells us is that Priscilla and Aquila understood the point and purpose for their marriage.
Whether you're married or hope to be married one day, let me ask you this: What is the ultimate point and purpose of your current or future marriage?
A lot of people live and operate like the ultimate point and purpose of marriage is happiness or companionship. Marriage is a cure for loneliness. You get into marriage to be happy; you get out because you aren't happy.
Others live like the ultimate point and purpose of marriage is to have and raise kids.
But God had a different understanding of marriage when he created it. God's the inventor of marriage, and he created it for a very particular purpose: He brings a man and woman together to show Christ to the world. That's why marriage exists. Marriage exists for a husband and wife to put Christ on display to the world.
Let me take you back to the creation of marriage. Genesis 2:24 says:
"Therefore, a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh."
Marriage is two separate people who come together, and in coming together, in God's eyes, they become one. Marriage is the closest picture we get to a triune God. God is three co-equal, co-eternal persons that exist in one essence: God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. From the beginning, marriage has existed to reflect God.
But we get more clarity in Ephesians 5. Paul says:
"Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her."
The love that a husband is to have for his wife is meant to be an advertisement to the world of the love waiting for them in Jesus Christ.
If you're here this morning and you really don't understand Christianity—if you think it's just about voting a certain way or being very religious and coming to church—that's not ultimately what it's about.
Christianity is about you experiencing a supernatural love that can only come from Jesus Christ. It's about understanding that there is one who loved you enough to leave heaven, come to earth—Jesus Christ—and lay his life down for you. If you ever wonder if you matter, well, Christ died for you.
Why did he die? He died to make payment for everything that separated you from God. He rose and conquered the grave to display that his payment for your sin and mine was sufficient. When you give your life to Jesus Christ, you are made right with your maker. He secures your presence with him for all of eternity.
Marriage is supposed to reflect that love. The point of marriage is to point to Jesus. It's to make much of Jesus together.
Priscilla and Aquila got that. They moved together for the sake of the gospel. They hosted the church in their home for the sake of the gospel. They discipled Apollos together for the sake of the gospel. Priscilla and Aquila leveraged their lives together. They were on mission together for the glory of Christ. That's the point of marriage.
When my wife Cat and I stood on the altar at First Baptist Church in Wichita Falls on October 14th, 2006, when we said yes to one another, we were saying yes to being on mission together. We were saying yes to making much of Jesus together.
You want to experience joy? Then be on mission together.
If your marriage doesn't display Christ in the way you communicate, care for one another, or handle conflict, then let me encourage you: check out re-engage this Wednesday night so you can begin to experience again the ultimate purpose of marriage.
I'm so encouraged by all the couples who serve as merge or foundation or re-engage leaders. I love that there are married couples serving as student ministry leaders, or in our kids ministry classrooms. You can disciple others together. You can disciple your kids together. Engage the lost together.
Anytime Cat and I have hosted unbelievers in our home, it's been so fun to feel like it's a team effort together, being on mission together.
I would encourage you to pray together. Here's a challenge for every married couple: for the next 7 days, pray together every day this week. And when you pray, ask God to show you how you can be on mission together.
If you're single, be on mission for Jesus now. Let's be clear: you don't need to be married to have a varsity-level impact for Jesus. The Apostle Paul wasn't married.
But if you're looking for a spouse, let me just beg you: don't marry someone who isn't on mission with you. Don't marry someone hoping to convert them through flirtation—that's so dumb. Marry someone with whom you can be on mission. Marry someone with whom you can be on mission.
The second thing we see from Priscilla and Aquila is that they lived with anchors and sails up. Look at verse 18:
"After this, Paul stayed many days longer and then took leave of the brothers and set sail for Syria. And with him, Priscilla and Aquila."
Think about it. Priscilla and Aquila were forced out of their homes in Rome because of their relationship with Jesus. They've already been relocated once. And now they establish roots in Corinth, they meet Paul, and what do we see them doing? We see them uprooting again, and now they move to Ephesus with Paul.
I love that the text says they "set sail." I know that's talking about what they were doing physically, but the reality is that it was also what they were doing spiritually. They were setting sail.
A sailboat is such a beautiful picture of the normal Christian life. The normal Christian life involves putting your sails up and being carried along by the Spirit of God. In the Bible, both in Hebrew and in Greek, the word for spirit is the same word for wind. Just as the wind is carrying them along from Corinth to Ephesus, the wind of the Spirit of God is carrying them forward in mission.
Priscilla and Aquila lived with their sails up to God. They wanted to go whenever and wherever his wind was blowing. They had no anchors that would hold them back.
Normal Christianity—not radical Christianity, normal Christianity—is a sails-up, anchors-up Christianity.
What do I mean by sails up? I mean you position yourself before the Lord and you say regularly:
"God, look, my life is your life. Jesus Christ, you gave your life for me. I give my life to you. I will go wherever you want me to go, and I will do whatever you want me to do."
That's what sails-up Christianity looks like.
What do I mean by anchors up? I just mean that there's nothing that we would let hold us back from saying yes to Jesus.
Let me just ask you a question: What could Jesus ask you to do for the sake of the gospel that you don't think you could say yes to?
Be honest with yourself. What could Jesus ask you to do for the sake of the gospel that you don't think you could say yes to?
Maybe it's leaving the forever home that you built. Maybe it's moving from Dallas to help plant a church. Maybe it's leaving the country to take the gospel to the nations. Maybe it's selling your company or taking a major pay cut or giving away a crazy amount of what you own or fostering or adopting.
I would encourage you to wrestle with your community this week. Think about what Jesus could ask you to do for the sake of the gospel that you don't know if you could say yes to.
Maybe shrink it down to a smaller size. What about sharing the gospel with a co-worker or neighbor? What about forgiving someone who has hurt you? What about saying no to some good things to have more time to invest in your family, friends, or the church?
Normal Christianity is an anchors-up Christianity.
I was talking to a friend not too long ago who had gotten a new boat, and he was struggling with figuring out how to truly drop and set the anchor. The reason you drop and set the anchor is so that your family can get out and swim and the boat doesn't just drift away. But he was struggling to get the anchor dropped and set so that it wouldn't move.
That's normal Christianity. Normal Christianity is a Christianity where you have trouble dropping and setting the anchor—where you're unwilling or unable to move when Christ asks you to move. We always want to have trouble with the anchors in our lives that could keep us back from a resounding yes to the Lord.
I'm so encouraged by so many people in this church who live with their sails up. I think about people who have left incredible jobs, taken ridiculous pay cuts because of what God was calling them to, to leverage their life for the sake of the gospel. I think about people who have fostered or adopted. I think about those in our church family that have sensed the call to leave Dallas and go to places where their lives are at risk because they feel like God has called them to take the gospel to those who have never heard it before.
We reject American Christianity here at Watermark. We reject the notion that this type of Christianity is radical. No, it's normal.
If you want to experience joy, the most joyful people are the people who have come to a time in their life where they have gotten on their knees and said, "My life is yours. I will go wherever you want me to go. I will do whatever you want me to do."
I want to encourage you this week. That prayer might feel incredibly dangerous. I'm just telling you: there's joy waiting. Remember the one you're praying it to. This is the one that left heaven and came to earth for you. This is the one who laid down his life for you. This is the one who conquered sin and death for you. You know he cares. You know he has your best in mind. And he holds all things together. Surely he holds your life together.
The third thing we see with Priscilla and Aquila is that they were all in with the church. They move from Corinth to Ephesus with Paul, but Paul ends up leaving Ephesus. So Priscilla and Aquila have relocated with Paul, Paul has left Ephesus—what do they do? They anchor down in Ephesus and host the church in their home.
1 Corinthians 16:19 says:
"The churches of Asia send you greetings. Aquila and Prisca together with the church in their house."
If you read Acts 20, you see that there are elders in the church in Ephesus. And yet Priscilla and Aquila play a key role in the church being able to gather. They were all about the church. They ordered their lives around the church.
This is so important for us to gain agreement on here at Watermark: there is not a divide between church staff and church members. Every church staff member is a church member. We're all members together.
Let me explain it this way. I went to Texas A&M University for college. One of the traditions at A&M is that the student body stands for the entire football game. The whole time they stand. The student body is called the "12th Man." The student body standing represents that every single person standing is ready at any moment to go into the game if called upon.
But here's the reality: The head coach does not want anyone standing in the stands in the game. He has a couple dozen professionals that he has entrusted to show up and do the work while the other 100,000 watch. Out of 100,000 people in the stands, a couple dozen do the work and the rest watch.
That divide does not exist in the church. It doesn't exist.
Jesus Christ is the head coach. The elders aren't. The head coach is Jesus, and he expects everyone on the field. Everyone is playing their part. There is not this major divide between professional and laity.
Have the elders been given a very specific responsibility? Absolutely, and we take our responsibility seriously. But one of our greatest responsibilities is ensuring that everyone on the team is in the game. We have been called to do ministry to you. We've been called to do ministry through you—to empower you, for every member to view themselves as a minister of the gospel.
This is rooted in a biblical concept known as the priesthood of the believer. 1 Peter 2:9 says:
"You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood."
That's who we are as the church. We are a royal priesthood. Our identity determines our activity.
When Christ went to the cross, he went as a priest. He was offering a sacrifice for your sin and mine. And through his priestly activity, he has secured a new identity for everyone here: you are now a priest. Not by ordination, but by redemption.
What does it mean that you're a priest? It means three very clear things.
As a priest, you have direct access to God. You can just march right into the holy of holies. You can boldly approach the throne of grace. Isn't that incredible news?
When we gather on Sundays, what do you think we're doing? We are walking straight into the holy of holies, straight up to the throne of God, and we are encountering his presence because Christ, our high priest, has secured our direct access. That's what we get to do as priests.
Reject this individualistic American Christianity that is such a distorted reality. Normal Christianity is the church—the collective priesthood, all the priests walking into the throne room together.
It also means daily sacrifice. Romans 12:1 says:
"I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship."
This is what we do as priests. We offer everything to God. Christ offered everything for us. We offer ourselves to God—our thoughts, our words, our decisions, our aspirations, our appetites, our conversations, our talents, our gifts, our actions. They're all to be presented to Christ. Nothing is to be withheld from him.
Part of being a real royal priesthood is us offering our time and our treasure, our talents right here to the body of Christ.
Third, being a royal priesthood means outward proclamation. 1 Peter 2:9 says:
"...that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light."
The priesthood exists to declare and proclaim the excellencies of Christ. We proclaim Christ's excellencies to one another and to an unbelieving world.
So, what's the point? If you're a priest, get on the field. Stop watching.
You need to know: the elders and I, we don't measure success by attendance. We could snap a picture of this room right now. Attendance only tells you how many people showed up. It doesn't tell you at all who left here changed.
If everyone slept through this message, is that a win? For thousands of people to be here sleeping? No, it's not a win.
What's success? Success is you realizing: I'm a priest. That's my identity. And my identity determines my activity. Why would you just attend when you have direct access? Part of being a priest is offering daily sacrifice. It's outward proclamation. Declaring Christ to one another.
Get in the game. Jesus has saved you into his presence to offer yourself completely and to declare his excellencies with your fellow priests.
Before I move on, let me point something out. Priscilla is usually mentioned before Aquila, which is interesting because Priscilla is the wife, and the norm in the first century was for the man's name to be mentioned first. The fact that Priscilla's name is mentioned before Aquila's name is an indication that Paul viewed Priscilla's contribution as very significant. That was one of the ways Paul communicated the significance of her contribution. She wasn't just Aquila's wife. It wasn't just that Aquila was doing the ministry and Priscilla was just a support. No, she was a key player in God's kingdom work. In fact, Priscilla played an important role in discipling a man alongside her husband.
Women in the room, you're priests, too. Not JV priests. You're priests. And you are an important part of the royal priesthood here at Watermark.
I just want to say this to some of you in the room: It is not unbiblical to be a strong, driven, ambitious woman. Priestly living fully surrendered to Jesus takes different forms. But research indicates that women attendance at church is declining. So I just want to make sure you hear me say: You don't have to go outside the church to maximize your impact for the kingdom of God. We need you here.
The final thing we see Priscilla and Aquila doing is they made disciples.
Apollos comes to the church. He's skilled. He loves Jesus. He's passionately talking about Jesus. But listen to verse 26:
"He began to speak boldly in the synagogue, but when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately."
Interestingly, Priscilla and Aquila notice some deficiencies in Apollos' beliefs. And what do they do? They take him aside. They don't correct him publicly and embarrass him. They pull him aside and they help him grow.
If you track with Apollos in Scripture, if you read 1 Corinthians, you see Apollos mentioned a lot. He went to Corinth. Who had been in Corinth previously? Priscilla and Aquila. So most likely Priscilla and Aquila told Apollos about Corinth and actually stoked his desire to go and make an impact there.
If you read 1 Corinthians, people are so amazed by Apollos that they're actually name-dropping him more than Paul—and it's causing issues because of what an impact he has for the sake of the gospel. And Priscilla and Aquila played a key role in his impact because of the way they discipled him.
The normal Christian life is a life where you disciple others. You get discipled and you make disciples.
If you want to experience joy, make disciples. That's what we're about here. If you want to know what we're about, look at our values: Abiding in Jesus, we are making disciples together. That's what we're about. We are about making disciples.
So my question for you is: Is there at least one person in your life that you are helping know Jesus and become more like him?
If not, I'm not mad at you. I'm just telling you: you're missing out. You've been made to make disciples. Christ has saved you to become one of his disciples so that you can make disciples.
I think about watching one of my boys learn how to ride a bike. It took him a little bit longer than others because he has some balance issues. And yet we worked at it. We went to this open parking lot and man, we just worked and worked. And I'm just telling you, when I saw him finally riding—if you've ever experienced that—something inside of you is just like, mhm. You want to fist pump. You're full of excitement and joy. You can almost tear up because you see progress, you see growth.
Think about seeing a kid take his first steps. Now we're just talking about someone taking steps or riding a bike.
Imagine being used by God and getting to watch a marriage heal. Imagine getting to watch a child in our kids ministry under your leadership grasp the gospel for the first time. Imagine getting to watch someone break free from addiction. Imagine being used by God and getting to watch a high school student experience the joy of sharing their faith. Imagine watching someone reorient their entire company around glorifying Jesus.
This is what you get to be a part of. Get in the game. Make disciples.
The reason a lot of people in this church don't make disciples is for one of a few reasons.
One, you don't want to. And if you don't want to, I would just say talk to God about it. What does Jesus say in Matthew 28? "Go and make disciples." That's the call. But people don't want to.
Two, you want to, but you don't have time to. I would just say, ask God, "What does it look like in this season?" Maybe it's a once-a-month investment. I don't know. But ask God to clarify time. It might be that you're saying yes to some things that you think are non-negotiable, and those commitments might need to be renegotiated.
Three, people don't make disciples because they don't know how to. And I'd just say: we're committed to helping you with that. You can jump into serving and leading in any of our ministries, and you've got leaders who will help you make disciples.
I was talking with some of our kids directors this week, and they are thin on leaders. I just hear that and think: Church family, I long for the day when there is never a lack of leaders because people are pounding down the doors wanting to raise up and disciple the next generation. It's never babysitting. You're helping people take a step with Jesus.
This week I had lunch with a guy named Kent Lawrence. He discipled me when I was in junior high. It was just a chance for me to get with him, buy him lunch, and say, "This is a thank you for investing in my life. I'll never forget him."
I'll never forget Billy Miller, Josh Wimberly, Brian Mountjoy, Brian Fischer, Brad Thomas, Greg Mott, Reese Graves—many of whom are just guys with a normal 8-to-5 who've said, "Look, I understand my calling is to make disciples."
So I just want to invite you: get in the game.
My journey with the gym that started a couple years ago—the reason it started was honestly because I was talking with a friend and I just said, "Man, something needs to change." And he was like, "You know what? You should try this type of gym." It just started with a friend saying, "You should just try this."
And so I just want to encourage you today. Would you allow Priscilla and Aquila—who are a brother and sister in Christ who have gone before you and me, just normal people with a normal 8-to-5 as tentmakers—would you allow them to be friends to you this morning who just say, "Would you give it a try? Would you give the normal Christian life a try?"
Would you go on mission together in your marriage? Would you go all in with the church? Would you raise your sails? Would you raise up your anchors? Would you just put your life before Jesus and say, "It's yours anyway. Wherever you want me to go, whatever you want me to do, I'm in."
Would you make disciples? Why? Because there's joy waiting for you.
Jesus said, "I came that you might have life and have it to the full."
I pray that you would step into it today.
Lord Jesus, that's my hope and prayer for all of us. I pray that every single person in this room would take a step with you.
God, if there's anyone in this room who doesn't know you in a personal way, then I pray right now they would invite you into their lives. And if that's you, you can just pray with me. You can say:
"Lord Jesus, would you come into my life today? Thank you that you died on the cross for me. Thank you that you rose from the dead for me. Would you come into my life? Would you forgive me of my sins? Would you lead me into a new life?"
And wherever you're at right now, maybe you just need to pray, "God, have your way in my life. You can do it. I'll go wherever you want. I'll do whatever you want."
Maybe you just need to surrender your marriage to him. Maybe you just need to ask him, "Who does he want you to invest in?"
But do business with the Lord. God, we want to be your church. We reject American Christianity. We embrace normal biblical Christianity. We want to be on mission with you. We love you, God.
