Surrender

Acts 18:18-28

Summary

On Sunday, as we gathered around Acts 18, Pastor Kevin walked us through the latter part of Paul’s missionary journey and the movements of Paul, Priscilla, Aquila, and Apollos as they traveled from city to city, planting and strengthening churches.

He also drew a meaningful connection between these early believers and our own church family as we recently sent a church-planting team to Whitefish, Montana. It reminded us that the story of Acts was never meant to feel like a closed chapter. We are still being invited to participate in God’s redemptive work wherever He sends us.

At the center of Sunday’s message was the call to absolute surrender.

Through the lives of Paul, Priscilla, Aquila, and Apollos, Pastor Kevin showed us what it looked like to move beyond surface-level commitment to Christ and into a posture of continual, daily surrender. He reminded us of four important truths: God expects our surrender, God accomplishes our surrender, God accepts our surrender in its imperfection, and God maintains our surrender by His grace.

The call was not to perfection. It was to a willing, ongoing yielding of every part of our lives to the lordship of Jesus Christ.

Key Verses

• Acts 18:18

• Acts 18:21

• Acts 18:26

• Matthew 26:39

Questions

• Pastor Kevin described the ending of Acts as feeling more like an open invitation than a tidy conclusion. In what ways has your own faith journey felt like an ongoing story rather than a finished one?

• Pastor Kevin showed us Paul shaving his head as an act connected to a vow of surrender. Have you ever made a specific commitment to God as an expression of surrender? What prompted it, and what came from it?

• Paul told the church in Ephesus that he would return “if God wills” (Acts 18:21, CSB). How did that phrase challenge the way you typically make plans? What might it look like to hold your plans more loosely before the Lord?

• Priscilla and Aquila were displaced from their home, yet they continued to use every move and relationship for the sake of the kingdom. How have you seen God use a difficult or unexpected change in your life for His purposes?

• Apollos was gifted, eloquent, and capable, yet he humbly received correction from Priscilla and Aquila. Why can it be difficult to receive instruction from someone we may see as less experienced or qualified than ourselves? What did Apollos show us about humility and life in the body of Christ?

• Pastor Kevin reminded us that “God expects from us only what He can accomplish in us.” How did that truth change the way you thought about surrender, particularly in the places where you have felt inadequate or where you have failed before?

• Pastor Kevin pointed out how easily we can begin reclaiming control only a few days after surrendering something to the Lord. What things in your daily life most often tempt you to take control back? What practices help you return to a posture of surrender?

• On Sunday, we were challenged to think about surrender in very ordinary places: our marriages, families, workplaces, schools, and relationships. Which area feels most difficult for you to surrender to God right now? What might one practical step of surrender look like this week?

Life Application

This week, identify one specific area of your life where you have been holding something back from the Lord.

It might be a relationship, a decision about work, a financial concern, your family, or simply a fear about what comes next.

Write it down. Pray over it each morning. Consider using Paul’s words, “if God wills,” as a simple reminder that your plans, desires, and circumstances belong under His authority.

If you are comfortable, share that area with someone in your group. Ask them to pray with you and to check in with you before you gather again.

Surrender often becomes more tangible when we name what we are actually trying to control.

Key Takeaways

• Absolute surrender was a defining posture throughout Acts 18. Paul, Priscilla, Aquila, and Apollos repeatedly yielded their plans, locations, abilities, and futures to God’s purposes.

• Surrender was not presented as a one-time decision, but as a continuing way of life. Paul submitted his plans to God’s will. Apollos submitted his understanding to correction. In different ways, each of them kept placing their lives back into God’s hands.

• God both expected and accomplished our surrender. We were reminded that we are not left to manufacture surrender through sheer willpower. The same grace that saves us is the grace that enables and sustains us.

• God accepted imperfect surrender. Because we are saved by grace and not by our performance, surrender does not have to be flawless before God can receive it and work through it. We simply keep returning to Him with willing hearts.

• The local church was one of the primary places where surrender was strengthened. In Acts, believers taught one another, corrected one another, encouraged one another, and sent one another out. We need that same kind of life together. We were never meant to live surrendered lives alone.

Ending Prayer

Lord Jesus, we thank You for the time we shared together and for the truth of Your Word that stirred our hearts on Sunday.

We confess that surrender does not come naturally to us. We are quick to take back what we have already placed at Your feet.

Thank You that You do not ask us for flawless surrender. You ask for willing hearts, and by Your grace, we offer ours to You again today.

Maintain our surrender in the days ahead. By Your Spirit, make us aware when we begin reaching for control again. Teach us to trust You with our marriages, our families, our workplaces, our friendships, our decisions, and our futures.

And Lord, make us the kind of church that continues to say yes to You. Wherever You send us, whatever You ask of us, and however You choose to use us, may we be willing.

We trust You with all of it.

In the mighty name of Jesus, amen.