The Birth of the Missionary Endeavor - Acts 12:25-13:13

Introduction  We often assume that the way things are today is how they have always been. We see missionaries being sent to the foreign mission fields and think that from the beginning of time it has been so. Yet, that is not the case. Here in Acts 13 we witness the birth of the Christian missionary endeavor.  I. General Comments about the Passage  A. This is the first time that Saul is called Paul, 9.  B. Luke purposefully sets forth Peter's and Paul's ministries as parallel ministries.  C. The general route of the first missionary journey.  II. Establishing the Blueprint, 4-5  A. Luke makes sure that we understand that the work that Barnabas and Saul were doing was instituted and commanded by God, 4.  B. In the very first stop, we see the missionaries establishing a pattern that they will follow for the rest of their missionary lives, 5.  C. They took John Mark as their assistant, 5.  III. Facing the Messenger of Satan, 6-11  A. Bar-Jesus, also known as Elymas, was an apostate Jew, 6.  B. Elymas had become part of the entourage of the proconsul Sergius Paulus, 7.  C. Elymas was also an intelligent man and saw that Barnabas and Paul's message would destroy his message and livelihood, so he opposed them, 8.  D. Paul does not take the opposition to the gospel lightly; instead, he exposes Elymas for all he is, 9-11.   IV. The Teaching Generates Faith, 12  A. Upon hearing the gospel and seeing the secondary evidence of Elymas' blindness, the proconsul believed.  B. Some have doubted his conversion because there is no mention of baptism.  V. Departing from Them, Back to Jerusalem, 13  A. It is not clear why Mark left.  B. But it is clear that the reason for his departure was not something that Paul approved of.  C. Paul really didn't want Mark to go with them again on second missionary journey, 15:37-39  D. Whatever reason Mark had to leave the party, this shows us that it is not always easy to serve the Lord faithfully.  Conclusion – May he give us the grace and the strength to serve him faithfully and powerfully. http://olympiabp.blogspot.com/2013/07/the-birth-of-missionary-endeavor-acts.html

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