Hello Again,
Read Acts 14:1-28
Today’s passage details the rest of the first missionary journey through Iconium, Lystra and Derbe, before Paul and Barnabas return to the church in Antioch that sent them.
There are two big things that strike me about today’s passage and those are the boldness of Paul and Barnabas and the fickleness of crowds. The way Luke tells it, most of the people respond really well to Paul and Barnabas’ message (14.1, 11-18, 21). However, in almost every case the positive response is met by an incredible negative response (14.2, 5, 19). I mean, Paul and Barnabas go from being called the Greek gods Zeus and Hermes to being dragged out of town where Paul gets stoned and left for dead (14.12, 19). Fickle.
Yet, even in the face of all this opposition Paul and Barnabas display an incredible amount of boldness. Even after unbelieving Jews stir up the Gentiles and poison their mind against Paul and Barnabas, they remain in Iconium a long time speaking boldly for the Lord (14.2-3). After being almost stoned to death in Lystra, Paul still goes back into town before moving on to Derbe. To top it all off, Paul and Barnabas realize how important it is to check in on these new believers and so they revisit all these towns on the way back to Antioch, strengthening and encouraging disciples and appointing elders (14.22-23).
How do you respond to opposition when talking about your faith in Jesus? How do these passages show us the danger of crowds or trusting in popularity as our guide for how things are going? In what ways has the church been co-opted into thinking being popular is good? What are the idols of today the church gets associated with/confused with like when Paul and Barnabas were called Zeus and Hermes? How do we maintain our focus and identity in Christ in the face of so many other influences today?
Grace and Peace,
Matt
Inductive Questions: (These will be included each day and your work on them will be the foundation we build upon at our Wednesday evening in-person and Zoom Bible Study as we explore the church, mission, and Holy Spirit in Acts.)
Pick at least one of these to be a focus for all of Acts, but answer as many of them as you want.
- What does the church look like in Acts? Who is a part of it? What do they do? How is it formed? How does it relate to mission and the Spirit? In other words (fancy, technical terms) What is the ecclesiology of Acts?
- What does mission look like in Acts? Who does it? What do they do? How does it happen? How does it relate to the church and the Spirit? In other words (fancy, technical terms) What is the missiology of Acts?
- What does the Holy Spirit look like in Acts? What does the Spirit do? How is the Spirit active? How does it relate to church and mission? In other words (fancy, technical terms) What is the pneumatology of Acts?
Answer the question with the language of Acts as much as possible and cite the chapter and verse reference in your notes.