Week 16 Day 1

    April 24, 2023 | Be On Mission

    Paul’s Successes & Struggles in Galatia


    Scripture: Acts 14:1-28 (NIV)

    1 At Iconium Paul and Barnabas went as usual into the Jewish synagogue. There they spoke so effectively that a great number of Jews and Greeks believed. 2 But the Jews who refused to believe stirred up the other Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brothers. 3 So Paul and Barnabas spent considerable time there, speaking boldly for the Lord, who confirmed the message of his grace by enabling them to perform signs and wonders. 4 The people of the city were divided; some sided with the Jews, others with the apostles. 5 There was a plot afoot among both Gentiles and Jews, together with their leaders, to mistreat them and stone them. 6 But they found out about it and fled to the Lycaonian cities of Lystra and Derbe and to the surrounding country, 7 where they continued to preach the gospel.

    8 In Lystra there sat a man who was lame. He had been that way from birth and had never walked. 9 He listened to Paul as he was speaking. Paul looked directly at him, saw that he had faith to be healed 10 and called out, “Stand up on your feet!” At that, the man jumped up and began to walk.

    11 When the crowd saw what Paul had done, they shouted in the Lycaonian language, “The gods have come down to us in human form!” 12 Barnabas they called Zeus, and Paul they called Hermes because he was the chief speaker. 13 The priest of Zeus, whose temple was just outside the city, brought bulls and wreaths to the city gates because he and the crowd wanted to offer sacrifices to them.

    14 But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of this, they tore their clothes and rushed out into the crowd, shouting: 15 “Friends, why are you doing this? We too are only human, like you. We are bringing you good news, telling you to turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made the heavens and the earth and the sea and everything in them. 16 In the past, he let all nations go their own way. 17 Yet he has not left himself without testimony: He has shown kindness by giving you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons; he provides you with plenty of food and fills your hearts with joy.” 18 Even with these words, they had difficulty keeping the crowd from sacrificing to them.

    19 Then some Jews came from Antioch and Iconium and won the crowd over. They stoned Paul and dragged him outside the city, thinking he was dead. 20 But after the disciples had gathered around him, he got up and went back into the city. The next day he and Barnabas left for Derbe.

    21 They preached the gospel in that city and won a large number of disciples. Then they returned to Lystra, Iconium and Antioch, 22 strengthening the disciples and encouraging them to remain true to the faith. “We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God,” they said. 23 Paul and Barnabas appointed elders for them in each church and, with prayer and fasting, committed them to the Lord, in whom they had put their trust. 24 After going through Pisidia, they came into Pamphylia, 25 and when they had preached the word in Perga, they went down to Attalia.

    26 From Attalia they sailed back to Antioch, where they had been committed to the grace of God for the work they had now completed. 27 On arriving there, they gathered the church together and reported all that God had done through them and how he had opened a door of faith to the Gentiles. 28 And they stayed there a long time with the disciples.


    Devotional

    We return briefly to the chronological narrative in the book of Acts. When we last left Paul and Barnabas, they were in the middle of their first missionary journey, taking the gospel of Jesus Christ into parts of what is now Turkey, where they were expelled from Pisidian Antioch. In today’s passage, they traveled on to the region of Galatia with a stop in the city of Iconium.

    In Iconium they preached and taught, performed signs and wonders, won converts and gained adversaries. All in a day’s work. When they discovered the plot to stone them to death, they went on the run again. This time they went to the region of Lycaonia, a subdivision of the province of Galatia. There they stopped in the city of Lystra. Same song, second verse. Once again they ministered in the name of Jesus, won many converts and rose to the level of gods themselves. But the detractors from their two previous stops caught up with them. They threw stones at Paul until they thought he was dead.

    Paul and Barnabas had been expelled from Antioch, plotted against in Iconium, and stoned in Lystra. That is why, when they were having uncontested success in the city of Derbe, verses 21-22 are so fascinating: “They preached the gospel in that city and won a large number of disciples. Then they returned to Lystra, Iconium and Antioch, strengthening the disciples and encouraging them to remain true to the faith.”

    Wait! What? They returned to the very places where they were persecuted? Yep. Why? They knew that these converts to Jesus would need local spiritual leadership for their new faith journeys. In fact, Paul would return to these same cities on his second and third missionary journeys. For him, winning people to Jesus, then strengthening and encouraging them in the faith, was more important than life itself.

    Throughout this study we have been encouraged to share the gospel among those where we live, work, learn and play. How does today’s lesson challenge you in that call?


    Poem

    Battle Of The Gods

    There are gods who love chaos, disunity, fights
    There are gods of destruction, division, blind sight
    There are gods who crush humans, of evil and blight
    There are gods who want death and your child sacrificed
    There are gods of full bondage, and death as your plight
    But there’s one God who offers forgiveness and light

    This God made creation as chaos withdrew
    This God has the power to make all things new
    This God heals the body, the mind and the soul
    This God reconciles as the ultimate goal
    This God is the one who gives life for all time
    This God is the one who puts love on the line


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