A Tale of Three Cities

In one paragraph

Pastor Ray walked the congregation through Acts 14, the final chapter of Paul and Barnabas's first missionary journey, covering their work in Iconium, Lystra, and Derbe. The passage gave a frame for thinking about what faithful gospel witness looks like when it is welcomed, when it is violently resisted, and when it comes back around to strengthen the people it left behind. Communion and a...

Read together

1. Acts 14:1-28 the main passage for the sermon, covering Paul and Barnabas in Iconium, Lystra, and Derbe
2. Acts 4 Peter and John beaten and imprisoned, praying to speak boldly rather than to escape harm
3. Hebrews cited for the word meaning to stir someone up into love and good works, contrasted with the negative stirring up in Acts
4. Galatians Thursday men's study passage, Paul asking who has bewitched the Galatians for turning back to the law from grace
5. Mark 16 great commission cited as go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation
6. Matthew 28 great commission cited as go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing and teaching
7. John 16:33 Jesus telling disciples that in the world they have tribulation but to take courage because he has overcome the world
8. Psalm 19 the heavens are telling of the glory of God, their expanse declares the work of God's hands
9. Romans 1 since the creation of the world God's invisible attributes have been clearly perceived, leaving people without excuse
10. Matthew 5 sermon on the mount, God causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good and sends rain on the righteous and unrighteous
11. Genesis referenced loosely as the Adamic covenant where Adam walked with God then fell away
12. Hebrews Christ's sacrificial death described as sufficient once for all
13. 1 Corinthians 11 on the same night Jesus was betrayed he took bread, instituting the Lord's Supper
14. John recording of Jesus saying this is the new covenant in my blood at the Last Supper

Talk about it

1. Paul and Barnabas kept returning to the synagogue to present Jesus as Messiah, even after being driven out of previous towns. What does their persistence say about how they understood their mission, and what does it challenge in the way you think about sharing the gospel?
2. Pastor Ray pointed out that when the crowd in Lystra thought a miracle had happened, they credited the gods they already knew rather than the living God. Where do you see people today, or yourself, attributing God's work to something or someone else?
3. Paul quoted from what we would call general revelation, the rain, the seasons, the heavens declaring God's glory, to reach people who had never heard the gospel. How do you think general revelation functions as a starting point for conversations about faith, and where does it fall short on its own?
4. After being stoned and left for dead in Lystra, Paul got up and went back through those same cities to strengthen the disciples and appoint elders. He told them it is through many tribulations that we must enter into the kingdom of God. How does that expectation of difficulty sit with you, and how has it matched or not matched your own experience of following Jesus?
5. Roseanne Welch went to Kenya as a missionary in her retirement, and at 91 she started a Bible study in her assisted living facility because there was not one. Pastor Ray said you do not ever have to stop ministering. What does that look like practically in whatever season of life you are in right now?