AIM FOR HIGHER IMPACT
Opening Prayer
Loving Father, please give us God-sized dreams and the faith to partner with you in seeing them come to pass, in the mighty name of Jesus.
Read ACTS 13:42–52
For additional translations of the passage, use this link to Bible Gateway.
42 As Paul and Barnabas were leaving the synagogue, the people invited them to speak further about these things on the next Sabbath. 43 When the congregation was dismissed, many of the Jews and devout converts to Judaism followed Paul and Barnabas, who talked with them and urged them to continue in the grace of God.
44 On the next Sabbath almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord. 45 When the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy. They began to contradict what Paul was saying and heaped abuse on him.
46 Then Paul and Barnabas answered them boldly: “We had to speak the word of God to you first. Since you reject it and do not consider yourselves worthy of eternal life, we now turn to the Gentiles. 47 For this is what the Lord has commanded us:
“‘I have made you[a] a light for the Gentiles,
that you[b] may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.’[c]”
48 When the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and honored the word of the Lord; and all who were appointed for eternal life believed.
49 The word of the Lord spread through the whole region. 50 But the Jewish leaders incited the God-fearing women of high standing and the leading men of the city. They stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them from their region. 51 So they shook the dust off their feet as a warning to them and went to Iconium. 52 And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.
Footnotes
- Acts 13:47 The Greek is singular.
- Acts 13:47 The Greek is singular.
- Acts 13:47 Isaiah 49:6
New International Version (NIV)Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
Both in local outreach and in global missions, what do you see as common denominators for successful growth of the church?
When Paul returns to speak on the next Sabbath, some Jews incite the crowds to turn against him, so he turns to the gentiles. This develops Luke’s theme that everyone is welcome in the Jesus movement, regardless of ethnicity, geography, gender, social status, or anything else. The Old Testament quotation also functions as a proof from prophecy, validating the divine legitimacy and necessity of the gentile mission. Luke is revealing his conviction that God’s mission is for everyone, Jew and gentile alike, and that this was God’s plan from the beginning.
Gentiles believe in Christ as a result of Paul’s invitation, and a new church is born in Pisidian Antioch (v. 48). Luke then says, ‘The word of the Lord spread [or was carried] through the whole region’ (v. 49). Luke is implying that messengers carry the word throughout the whole region that Antioch controls. Luke makes no claim that Paul is directly involved in this wider outreach, instead reporting his quick expulsion from the city (vv. 50, 51). This highlights a vital missional strategy. Paul establishes the initial nucleus of believers, only staying long enough to establish foundations of faith and mission.
We can assume that local missionaries with their own social networks and credibility (which Paul lacks), drawn from the recently established churches, carry out this regional mission. Paul begins this process and probably has a role in training them, but the implication is that local believers are empowered and mobilized to take responsibility for outreach in their surrounding areas, initiating a reproducing strategy of growth capable of impacting large areas relatively quickly (v. 49).
Apply
Christians impacting their region is the repeated pattern in Acts: Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the ends of the earth.1
Closing prayer
Lord, expand my faith and empower me by your Spirit; give me greater vision for what you are able to do through your people—for what you able to do through me—to build your kingdom.
1 Acts 1:8
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