The Word of God Keeps Going Forward

In one paragraph

Pastor Ray walked through the first twelve verses of Acts 13, the passage most people treat as the beginning of Paul's first missionary journey, and then brought it to life with a firsthand report from a recent trip to South Africa. The two halves fit together around a single idea: the word of God goes forward through ordinary people who are sent out, and it reaches an astonishing variety of...

Read together

1. Hebrews 4:16 used as an opening call to worship, inviting the church to come boldly before the throne of God to receive mercy and grace
2. Psalm 27:1 quoted during worship: the Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear
3. Revelation 5:9 cited to argue that every tribe, tongue, and nation will be represented around the throne
4. Revelation 7:9 cited alongside Revelation 5:9 to reinforce that all peoples are represented around God's throne
5. Ephesians 4 referenced to show the four classifications of church roles, including prophets and teachers
6. Acts 12:24 described as a summary statement about the word of God continuing to grow and multiply after Herod's death
7. Acts 13:1-12 the main sermon text, covering the church at Antioch, the sending of Barnabas and Saul, and the confrontation with Elymas on Cyprus
8. 1 John 1:9 cited during communion as the promise that if we agree with God about our sin, He will cleanse us from all unrighteousness

Talk about it

1. Pastor Ray pointed out that when the church at Antioch was fasting and serving the Lord together, the Holy Spirit spoke and directed them to send out Barnabas and Saul. What does that pattern suggest about how a church, or a small group, should go about discerning what God wants them to do next?
2. The list of prophets and teachers at Antioch included people from very different ethnic and social backgrounds, a Cypriot, a man called Niger, a North African, a man raised in a royal household, and Saul of Tarsus. Pastor Ray said this diversity was intentional and pointed to Revelation five nine and seven nine. Why do you think that kind of diversity mattered to the early church, and does it matter to us?
3. Elymas opposed Barnabas and Saul because he did not want to lose his influence over the proconsul. Pastor Ray noted that whenever people undertake a great work for the Lord, there will be both external and internal pressure against it. Where have you seen that kind of opposition, and how did it get handled?
4. Pastor Ray described the women in the South African Bible study standing up one at a time, singing a song, and giving a short testimony, including one woman who had been a practitioner of Shinbei and said the word of God had replaced everything she once believed about how the spiritual world works. What does a testimony like that stir up in you?
5. Pastor Ray connected the Crossroads ministry in South Africa to the pattern he saw in Acts, where Barnabas, who knew the culture of Cyprus, led the way into his home territory. He said knowing the spiritual and cultural landscape of a place matters. How does that apply to the way we try to reach the people right around us in Jackson?