Set Apart by the Holy Spirit

In one paragraph

The pastor preached from Acts 13:1-12, tracing the sending of Barnabas and Saul from Antioch and their confrontation with the sorcerer Elymas on Cyprus. He wove in reports and photographs from a recent trip to South Africa, showing the same pattern of gospel advance still at work. The service also included the Lord's Supper. Acts 13 opens right after the events of chapter 12, where Herod died and...

Read together

1. Acts 12 recap of James killed by Herod, Peter delivered, Herod struck dead and eaten by worms
2. Acts 12:25 Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem to Antioch, bringing John Mark with them
3. Acts 13:1 prophets and teachers at Antioch listed: Barnabas, Simeon called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen, and Saul
4. Ephesians 4:11 gifts to the church including prophets and teachers
5. Revelation 5:9 every tribe, tongue, and nation around the throne singing with one voice
6. Revelation 7:9 every tribe, tongue, and nation around the throne, cited alongside Revelation 5:9 as the vision for Christian diversity
7. Acts 13:2 Holy Spirit said to set Barnabas and Saul apart for the work to which He called them, spoken during fasting and serving the Lord
8. Acts 13:3 they fasted, prayed, laid hands on Barnabas and Saul and sent them away
9. Acts 13:4-5 sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went to Seleucia, sailed to Cyprus, proclaimed the word of God in the synagogues at Salamis, with John Mark as helper
10. Acts 13:6-12 found magician Bar-Jesus at Paphos, confrontation with Elymas, proconsul Sergius Paulus summoned Barnabas and Saul, Paul filled with the Holy Spirit struck Elymas blind, proconsul believed being amazed at the teaching of the Lord
11. Acts 14 Barnabas and Saul are called apostles, referenced as a coming development

Talk about it

1. Pastor Nathan described the prophets and teachers at Antioch as a remarkably diverse group, from Barnabas the Cypriot to Simeon the black man to Manaen who grew up in Herod's royal household. What does that diversity tell us about how God builds a church, and what does it challenge in how we think about our own congregation?
2. The Holy Spirit told the church at Antioch to set Barnabas and Saul apart for a work He had called them to, and the church responded by fasting, praying, and laying hands on them. What does that process say about how a local church ought to be involved when one of its own is sent out?
3. Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, confronted Elymas directly and called him a son of the devil who was making crooked the straight ways of the Lord. Pastor Nathan noted that Christians are often seen as harsh, yet here Paul is sharp and direct. How do you tell the difference between speaking truth filled with the Holy Spirit and just being harsh on your own?
4. Sergius Paulus is described as a man of intelligence who had a false prophet as his closest advisor, and yet he was the one who sought to hear the word of God. What does that tell us about assuming we know who is and is not ready to hear the gospel?
5. Pastor Nathan shared stories from South Africa of people like TD, who showed up with nothing to offer but a willingness to serve, and the Sangoma woman whose life was transformed when she heard the word of the Lord and simply believed it was true. How do those stories sit alongside the account of the proconsul in Acts 13, and what do they stir in you about your own role in taking the gospel forward?