Acts 14:1-7
GETTING STARTED:
- The door closed in Antioch Pisidia – with believers filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit. But it was time to move on.
- Paul and Barnabas stay with the strategy that God gave them. The synagogue first and then a church is started.
KEEP DOING WHAT GOD CALLED YOU TO DO.
- In your life – God has opened a door for you to work – to learn – to move forward in calling and relationships with others. Keep doing that.
- Paul and Barnabas continue to preach and to train leaders and to see miracles. Look at verse 3.
- So when it was time to leave – that is what they did. They were committed to preaching the Gospel where it had not been heard.
WE ARE PEOPLE WHO ARE FILLED WITH HOLY SPIRIT POWER. Acts 14:8-20.
- The gifts of the Spirit were in full operation. Paul has a word of knowledge that he speaks to a man who has a gift of faith operating in his life that leads to the working of a miracle.
- Paul understands that this is the Holy Spirit working through them. They are not gods – they are filled with power by the Living God.
- Because of a strong presence of deception in this town – they must cast down confusion. BUT DON’T MISS THIS. The power of the Holy Spirit is at work in us. We are not of this world – Greater is the one in us than the one who is in the world. KEEP MOVING FORWARD IN HOLY SPIRIT POWER.
JESUS IS BUILDING HIS CHURCH THROUGH FAITHFUL FOLLOWERS.
- Take note that they go back through the places they had done ministry and they trained leaders there so that the Gospel would keep going forward.
- This is what ministry looked like in the local church in Acts. They preached the Gospel – They believed for miracles and healings – They loved people – They taught and trained disciples -they endured hardships – and they raised up leaders. Rinse and repeat.
- They returned back home and reported what God was doing to their base church. They spent some time resting and being spiritually strengthened for the next missionary journey that will launch at the end of chapter 15. All of us need seasons of rest and seasons of being spiritually strengthened.
THE LESSON FOR US TODAY: Don’t become so consumed with what is next that you
miss what God is doing now. When it’s time for the next thing God will open that door –
but today – be present with what God is doing through your life.