Dear Student of the Word,
It's that time again, in fact it's past time, for your next installment from the book of Acts. Every time I send one of these out, I promise myself I will send the next one out sooner than the last one. Yet it seems that time slips away and I don't keep the promise. Oh well, that gives you extra time to study the last installment, so I will trust the Lord is in my delays. This week we begin to look at Paul's first missionary journey with Barnabas. I wrote in part three of this seven-part study:
Study Sixteen, Part Three
13 From Paphos, Paul and his companions sailed to Perga in Pamphylia, where John left them to return to Jerusalem. 14 From Perga they went on to Pisidian Antioch. On the Sabbath they entered the synagogue and sat down. 15 After the reading from the Law and the Prophets, the synagogue rulers sent word to them, saying, "Brothers, if you have a message of encouragement for the people, please speak." 16 Standing up, Paul motioned with his hand and said: "Men of Israel and you Gentiles who worship God, listen to me!
13:13 – We see here that John Mark left the team and will discuss this more later. We do see that Luke mentions Paul first among the team from this point forward. This is due in part to Paul’s encounter and role in Paphos and in part because Paul had accepted his new identity as signified by his new name—Paul. From the perspective of purpose, this was a significant act. We also see that Paul and Barnabas had other people traveling with them. Paul traveled with a team whenever possible, knowing that they were more effective. Who is part of your “team?” Who helps you accomplish God’s purpose for your life? Of whose team are you a member?
13:14 – Paul always went to the synagogue first, and that was a personal value that he had. If it is a Scriptural mandate, we would have to do the same thing today! But this was unique to Paul and he undoubtedly did it because of the debt he felt to his Jewish heritage to try to win some for Jesus. Paul was never an effective worker among Jews, even believing ones. That is because his purpose was expressed when he went to the Gentiles.
When he went to the Gentiles, God went with him and he got results. He would have gone to the synagogue because Gentiles who believed in one God were there as well. These Gentiles were not Jews, for they refused to live a kosher lifestyle and observe the rite of circumcision. They rejected a multiplicity of gods and that made them prime candidates for Paul’s message. Paul had a strategy to fulfill his purpose—take on a Roman name, go to the synagogues, preach until the Jews reject the message, then work with the Jews and Gentiles who wanted to follow Jesus. What is your strategy to fulfill your purpose?
13:15 – The synagogue was a place of “interactive” worship. Any visiting rabbi was asked to come and address the people, and then they could comment. Would that more of our modern worship services were the same. Too many people leave and they haven’t “connected” with the message, leaders or people. Perhaps this could be remedied if we took more time for questions or some other practice that would engage the people. What can you do in your life, work and ministry to connect with people more effectively?
13:16 – Doesn’t Paul sound like a prophet of God here? He stood up and commanded the people to listen to him. He knew he had something from God and didn’t apologize for it. In fact, he commanded the people to pay attention, seeing that this was what God wanted him to do. Do you apologize for doing God’s will? Don’t! It’s what you were created to do!
As always, I welcome your comments to this week's study. For additional Bible studies, check out my website archive, which contains a complete collection of all my verse-by-verse New Testament studies, along with the unpublished volume of The Faith Files.
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KENYA UPDATE: We have secured space for one of the libraries in Kenya! There's no turning back now. Read Pastor Peter's thank you here and then give generously to The Big Blessing project that is desgned to raise money for food, books, and jobs in Kenya. You can send a check to PurposeQuest, PO Box 8882, Pittsburgh, PA 15221-0882 or give through Paypal on my website. $280 came in last week, so we are off to a great start.
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