July 7th, 2012
Today’s reading from Encounter with God

To the Ends of the Earth

Please see the links to our EXTRA Bible Study notes at the bottom of the page.

Opening Prayer

Heavenly Father, Your words are truly life-changing and transforming. I open myself to receive them from You now.

Read Acts 12:25-13:12

[25] When Barnabas and Saul had finished their mission, they returned from Jerusalem, taking with them John, also called Mark. [1] Now in the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen (who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch) and Saul. [2] While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” [3] So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off. [4] The two of them, sent on their way by the Holy Spirit, went down to Seleucia and sailed from there to Cyprus. [5] When they arrived at Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God in the Jewish synagogues. John was with them as their helper. [6] They traveled through the whole island until they came to Paphos. There they met a Jewish sorcerer and false prophet named Bar-Jesus, [7] who was an attendant of the proconsul, Sergius Paulus. The proconsul, an intelligent man, sent for Barnabas and Saul because he wanted to hear the word of God. [8] But Elymas the sorcerer (for that is what his name means) opposed them and tried to turn the proconsul from the faith. [9] Then Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked straight at Elymas and said, [10] “You are a child of the devil and an enemy of everything that is right! You are full of all kinds of deceit and trickery. Will you never stop perverting the right ways of the Lord? [11] Now the hand of the Lord is against you. You are going to be blind for a time, not even able to see the light of the sun.” Immediately mist and darkness came over him, and he groped about, seeking someone to lead him by the hand. [12] When the proconsul saw what had happened, he believed, for he was amazed at the teaching about the Lord.

Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. All rights reserved throughout the world. Used by permission of International Bible Society.

Meditate

“Mission is the global outreach of the global people of a global God” (John Stott).

Think Further

For a church to give up two-fifths of its leadership to world mission was as great a challenge in the first century as today. The multicultural leadership of the multicultural church in Antioch was well placed to be in the vanguard of a mission to bring the Gospel into the Gentile world. The persons to be appointed were also well prepared. Saul had already received a personal call to this ministry (9:15). Both had proven track records as teachers and leaders. Both had demonstrated the vision of crossing cultural boundaries to establish communities of Christians. Few churches today are ready to make the same sacrifice as the Antioch church and too few church leaders sense a call to missionary work.

The need for well-prepared and called people was demonstrated immediately in Cyprus. The Gospel was to redeem people from both pagan and Jewish backgrounds. Opposition to the Gospel message comes from a syncretistic Jew who is concerned to maintain his own status and by his name, Son of Jesus, is presented as an antithesis to the new humanity created in Christ Jesus. He is given the physical blindness that conforms to his spiritual state. The judgment of God that had been revealed against Herod is now applied to another obstacle to the Gospel’s advance.

Luke has a clear message that the Christian church is to advance into the entire world and that the forces of opposition will fail. At the center of that advance are churches and people obedient to the prompting of the Holy Spirit and ready to make the necessary personal and corporate sacrifices. As we conclude this section of Acts, the message is about to go into a part of Asia that had never heard it. There are still such places today.

Apply

Make the Great Commission not just an article of faith, but also the practical outworking of your life as you listen to what the Spirit is telling you today.

Closing prayer

Lord and God of all, create in me a renewed hunger for You, and a re-energized involvement in global outreach for Your holy name’s sake.

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