Continually Filled with Joy and the Holy Spirit

In one paragraph

The pastor was away on April 20 for Easter, performing a wedding in Georgia, so this was his first Sunday back in the pulpit. He picked up Acts 13 right where he left off, walking through Paul and Barnabas's first missionary journey from Paphos to Pisidian Antioch, and wove in stories from his own recent trip to Uganda to show that God is still moving the same way He always has. After John Mark...

Read together

1. Acts 13:1-12 noted as the previous week's passage, beginning of the first missionary journey
2. Acts 13:13 John Mark leaving Paul and Barnabas at Perga
3. Acts 13:14-15 Paul and Barnabas entering the synagogue at Pisidian Antioch on the Sabbath and being invited to speak
4. Acts 13:16 Paul standing and addressing men of Israel and those who fear God
5. Acts 13:17 God choosing the fathers and making the people great during their stay in Egypt
6. Acts 13:18 God putting up with Israel for about forty years in the wilderness
7. Acts 13:19-20 God destroying seven nations in Canaan, distributing the land, and giving judges until Samuel
8. Acts 13:21 Israel asking for a king and God giving them Saul son of Kish for forty years
9. Acts 13:22 God removing Saul and raising up David, described as a man after God's own heart who will do all God's will
10. Acts 13:23 from David's descendants according to promise God brought forth a savior, Jesus
11. Acts 13:24-25 John the Baptist proclaiming a baptism of repentance and declaring he was not the one but one greater was coming
12. Acts 13:26 the message of salvation sent to sons of Abraham and those who fear God
13. Acts 13:27-28 those in Jerusalem not recognizing Jesus or the prophets, finding no grounds for death yet asking Pilate to execute him
14. Acts 13:29-30 after carrying out everything written about Jesus they took him down and laid him in a tomb but God raised him from the dead
15. Acts 13:31 Jesus appearing for many days to those who came from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are now his witnesses
16. Acts 13:32-33 proclaiming the good news of the promise fulfilled by raising Jesus, quoting the second Psalm
17. Psalm 2:7 quoted as written proof of the resurrection: you are my son, today I have begotten you
18. Acts 13:34 God speaking that he will give the holy and faithful mercies of David, Jesus never returning to decay
19. Acts 13:35 another Psalm quoted: you will not allow your holy one to undergo decay
20. Acts 13:36-37 David underwent decay but Jesus whom God raised did not, showing Jesus is the fulfillment
21. Acts 13:38 through Jesus forgiveness of sins is proclaimed
22. Acts 13:39 everyone who believes is freed from all things from which the law of Moses could not free them
23. Acts 13:40-41 warning not to let the words of the prophets come upon them, quoting Habakkuk
24. Habakkuk 1:5 quoted as warning: look you scoffers and be astonished, God is accomplishing a work you would not believe even if told
25. Acts 13:42-43 people begging Paul and Barnabas to speak again next Sabbath, many following and being urged to continue in the grace of God
26. Acts 13:44-45 nearly all the city gathering the next Sabbath, Jews filled with jealousy and contradicting Paul, described as blasphemy
27. Acts 13:46 Paul and Barnabas declaring it was necessary to speak to Jews first but since they rejected it turning to the Gentiles
28. Acts 13:47 the Lord's command quoted: I have appointed you as a light to the Gentiles to bring salvation to the ends of the earth
29. Acts 13:48 Gentiles rejoicing and all who had been appointed to eternal life believing
30. Acts 13:49 the word of the Lord being spread throughout the whole region
31. Acts 13:50-51 Jews inciting prominent women and leading men, persecution against Paul and Barnabas who shook dust off their sandals and went to Iconium
32. Acts 13:52 the disciples continually filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit
33. 2 Corinthians 1:20 used as benediction: no matter how many promises God has made they are all yes in Christ

Talk about it

1. Paul reminded the synagogue crowd that God made Israel great during their years of slavery in Egypt, and suggested that hard times make for great men. When have you seen difficulty produce something meaningful in your own life or in someone you know?
2. Pastor Nathan pointed out that when we think of David, many of us go straight to Bathsheba and Uriah before we get to 'a man after God's own heart.' Why do you think it is easier to remember a person's failures than the overall posture of their heart toward God?
3. Paul told the crowd in Pisidian Antioch that the law is good at showing you where you fall short but cannot redeem you. Where do you find yourself still trying to earn your way rather than resting in the grace of God?
4. When the crowds showed up the second Sabbath, the regular synagogue attenders were filled with jealousy rather than joy. Have you ever caught yourself feeling that way when someone outside your usual circle responds to the gospel? What was underneath that feeling?
5. Pastor Nathan described ordinary people like Joram the driver and Brenda the photographer carrying the gospel with them everywhere they went, not as sent missionaries but simply as believers. What would it look like for you to carry the gospel that way in your everyday life this week?