encouraging one another

Good evening friends,
I hope you have a chance to enjoy this lovely evening. In our reading yesterday we read how Paul was stoned and left for dead by an angry crowd. Today he and Barnabas continue their journey by returning to the churches in the region they have worked to encourage them. Having faced persecution, Paul's words to the other believers that the way to God's kingdom goes through suffering are poignant since he has been on both sides of persecution. The second paragraph features Paul and Barnabas returning to their home town church in Antioch. In many ways this is my dream for Laurelton, that we would go out in ministry from the church and come back each week to tell the stories of what God is doing and find encouragement together.

God bless you in your ministry,
Sam

Acts 14:21-28

The next day he went on with Barnabas to Derbe. 21 After they had proclaimed the good news to that city and had made many disciples, they returned to Lystra, then on to Iconium and Antioch. ²²There they strengthened the souls of the disciples and encouraged them to continue in the faith, saying, ‘It is through many persecutions that we must enter the kingdom of God.’ ²³And after they had appointed elders for them in each church, with prayer and fasting they entrusted them to the Lord in whom they had come to believe.

24 Then they passed through Pisidia and came to Pamphylia. ²⁵When they had spoken the word in Perga, they went down to Attalia. ²⁶From there they sailed back to Antioch, where they had been commended to the grace of God for the work that they had completed. ²⁷When they arrived, they called the church together and related all that God had done with them, and how he had opened a door of faith for the Gentiles. ²⁸And they stayed there with the disciples for some time.

commission and conflict

Good afternoon friends,
We've read a little about the church in Antioch before. It was one of the most important churches for the first several hundred years of Christianity and was a major center of learning. We've read before that Saul and Barnabas were there. Today we see them commissioned for a new evangelistic mission. We also see them in conflict with someone we see called a false prophet. We also see Saul getting his new name: Paul. Unlike many people in the Bible who get a new name, we don't learn anything about when or how Paul changed his name. Luke just announces it and from there on, he is Paul.

Blessings on your weekend,
Sam

Acts 13:1-12

Now in the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen a member of the court of Herod the ruler, and Saul. ²While they were worshipping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, ‘Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.’ ³Then after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off.

4 So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia; and from there they sailed to Cyprus. ⁵When they arrived at Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews. And they had John also to assist them. ⁶When they had gone through the whole island as far as Paphos, they met a certain magician, a Jewish false prophet, named Bar-Jesus. ⁷He was with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, an intelligent man, who summoned Barnabas and Saul and wanted to hear the word of God.

⁸But the magician Elymas (for that is the translation of his name) opposed them and tried to turn the proconsul away from the faith. ⁹But Saul, also known as Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him ¹⁰and said, ‘You son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, full of all deceit and villainy, will you not stop making crooked the straight paths of the Lord? ¹¹And now listen—the hand of the Lord is against you, and you will be blind for a while, unable to see the sun.’ Immediately mist and darkness came over him, and he went about groping for someone to lead him by the hand. ¹²When the proconsul saw what had happened, he believed, for he was astonished at the teaching about the Lord.

miscellany and insight

Good evening friends,
Today's reading is short and simple, but it gives us some great insights into this time in the church's life. Remember that Barnabas was the one who vouched for Saul so the leaders in Jerusalem would trust him. Now he and Saul team up to lead the church at Antioch. Antioch was one of the most important cities for the development of early Christian teaching and study for the first 400 years or so of church history. It's cool to see this foundation of that legacy. We also meet Agabus, a minor character who we won't see again until the last chapters of Acts when he reappears in his prophetic role. Finally, we see Saul and Barnabas commissioned to bring donations from the church in Antioch to Jerusalem. Not only does this give us a view of how interconnected the church was, it also echoes Paul's letters in which he talks often about collecting assistance for Jerusalem.

God bless,
Sam

Acts 11:25-30

²⁵Then Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul, ²⁶and when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. So it was that for an entire year they associated with the church and taught a great many people, and it was in Antioch that the disciples were first called ‘Christians’.

27 At that time prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch. ²⁸One of them named Agabus stood up and predicted by the Spirit that there would be a severe famine over all the world; and this took place during the reign of Claudius. ²⁹The disciples determined that according to their ability, each would send relief to the believers living in Judea; ³⁰this they did, sending it to the elders by Barnabas and Saul.