E-Free Church - Gaylord Campus
We will study the life and ministry of the Apostle Paul. We will start when he was first mentioned in the book of Acts and follow him through his first missionary journey. Paul, the guy who was the terrorist becomes one of the greatest teachers in the history of the church.
Acts 11:19-21 NASB1995
The MOVEMENT of the Gospel (11:19-21)
Where did the believers move? believers moved to the surrounding areas of Phoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch
Why did these believers move? Due to the persecution by Saul that started with the martyrdom of Stephen as described in Acts 8:4
What did these believers do as they moved? They proclaimed the Word to other Jews
What did the Greek speaking Jews do as they moved? Greek speaking Jews from Cyprus and Cyrene (who were nameless in the text) preached the Gospel to Greeks in the city of Antioch
What was the result? God blessed them and a large number of Greeks in Antioch turned to Jesus
What was the city of Antioch like?Antioch was the 3rd largest city in the Roman Empire behind Rome and Alexandria (600,000 people) that was full of pagan worship and sexual immorality
What Meeting & Moving principles do we learn?
Church History shows that God uses even the persecution of His church
If you want to reach people that no one is reaching you have to do things that no one is doing.
The key to effective meeting & moving is an absence of self-fain and self-promotion (Philippians 2:3-4)
Philippians 2:3-4 NASB1995
Acts 11:22-30 NASB1995
The MINISTRY of Barnabas (11:22-30)
PASTORING the people (v22-24)
News of this large group of converts in Antioch reached the Apostles in Jerusalem and they sent Barnabas who would be accepted because he too was from Cyprus (v22; Acts 4:36-37)
When Barnabas arrived he saw that this was obviously a work of God’s grace and rejoiced and began to encourage these new believers to stay strong in the Lord (v23)
Barnabas’ character was similar to that of Stephen’s = full of the Spirit and faith (v24; Acts 6:3-5)
This is the same Barnabas who vouched for Saul as a new convert in Jerusalem (Acts 9:27)
The result was many more Greeks coming to Christ and the number of new converts too much for Barnabas to pastor alone
Acts 4:36-37 NASB1995
PARTNERSHIP with Saul (v25-26)
Knowing Saul, Barnabas goes to Tarsus to look for Saul in order to have him come help with the ministry in Antioch (v25)
“Look of” is the idea of a laborious search
Saul’s waiting Saul has been in Tarsus for some 5-6 years completely out of the limelight of Biblical history
God uses this time of waiting in Saul’s life to prepare him for the role He has for him in His church
Saul re-enters public ministry as Barnabas brings him back to Antioch where they devoted themselves for a full year in teaching these many new believers in Jesus
Christian- The ministry in Antioch was such a success that it was here that believers were first called “Christians.”
The term literally means “of the party of Christ” and was a term of derision that became a badge of honor
PROVISION for the Poor (v27-30)
Prophets came from Jerusalem including one named Agabus who prophesies by the Spirit that a great famine would occur in Judea which happened in AD 45-46 during the reign of Claudius
The believers in Antioch sent a collection to hurting believers in Judea due to the famine, delivered by Barnabas and Saul
A healthy church is characterized by a balance of Truth & Love