Our summer series deals with the life and missionary trips of a man named Saul who we also know as the Apostle Paul.
Here is a review of what we've learned so far:

1. Birth: Acts 21:39
Born in a Jewish family in about 5 A.D. and was a Roman citizen.

2. Training: Acts 22:3; 26:4-5
Received training in Jerusalem to be a Pharisee and mentored under Gamaliel.

3. Persecutor: Acts 9:1-2; 26:9-11
Saul was a zealous defender of everything Jewish and lashed out at the followers of The Way (these were people who had put their faith and trust in Jesus as their Lord and Savior).

4. Conversion: Acts 22:6-8
Saul had an encounter with Jesus that forever changed his life.

5. Mission: Acts 9:15-16; 19b-20
Saul was given a three-fold mission for his life and then immediately began to tell those in Damascus about Jesus. The Lord also tells Saul that this mission isn't going to be easy.

6. The Quiet Years: Galatians 1:17-18a; 2 Corinthians 11:32
Saul went to Arabia to spend time with the Lord and to begin teaching the Gentiles in Petra. Then he came back to Damascus where he had to be hidden and sneak away to avoid being arrested/killed.

7. The Escape to and from Jerusalem: 2 Corinthians 11:33; Galatians 1:18-19; Acts 9:26-30
Saul's friends helped him escape and he went to Jerusalem to meet with the church leaders. While there he tried to reason with his fellow Jews but they turned on him. Again, Saul had to escape back to the home he had left about 15 years ago.

Saul has now followed Jesus for about 3 years and he's already been misunderstood, mistrusted, hunted, threatened, and had his life plotted against.
2 Timothy 3:12
Saul went back to Tarsus which he writes about in Galatians 1:21. It is likely that he learned a trade and we learn later in Acts that he is a tentmaker.

Here are some interesting insights as Saul made his way along the Road to Antioch:
- The length of time in this region to be about 10 years.
- Saul obviously was responsible for churches being started in the region (Acts 15:41)
- Saul suffered numerous hardships while in this region from Jews and even Gentiles who didn’t want someone preaching Jesus to them (2 Cor. 11:22-27)
- During this period of time, many Gentiles had come to faith (Acts 10-11)
- The 3rd largest city in the Roman Empire – Antioch – had 500,000 people and was a collection point many of these new followers of The Way.
- Saul is then summed to Antioch to begin a co-teaching ministry with Barnabas to all these new Christians and Churches. (Acts 11:19-26)

The road to Antioch was long and grueling, but led to Saul becoming the guy named Paul that we've heard so much about.

What can we learn from Saul's Road to Antioch?

First - We are all SINNERS and Jesus is our only HOPE.

Second - Jesus will do WHATEVER it takes to get our ATTENTION.

Third - God SAVES US to USE US.
John 15:16a

Fourth - Obedience is the primary CHANGE that VALIDATES our faith.

Fifth - The road we travel IS NOT, and WILL NOT be, free from trouble.

Sixth - God has people along our road to HELP and PARTNER with us.

Seventh - People need to GO in order to SOW and GROW.