Paul and Timothy

The Second Missionary Journey – Introduction

Paul's narrative of the second journey occupied about three years of time. The record of this journey is from Acts 15:36 – 18:23 beginning from Antioch. The biggest part of this journey is that Paul extends his ministry beyond Asia and into Europe.

Acts 16:1-5 – Timothy

Paul finds Timothy and decides to take him on the journey. By deciding to accept Timothy as a Jew, Paul is breaking down more barriers. Timothy was the son of a Jewess but his father was Greek. The strict Jews would have grieved the loss of their daughter and carried out a funeral when she married a gentile. Paul circumcised Timothy because of the Jews in the areas they were going to preach the gospel.

Timothy had a great heritage with his mother and grandmother (1 Timothy 1:5). He had been taught well and well prepared for the ministry he was beginning. He would become Paul's messenger when Paul was 'detained' (1 Corinthians 4: 17, 1 Thessalonians 3:2-6). Timothy was with Paul in Rome when Paul was in prison (Philippians 1:1, 2:19; Colossians 1:1; Philemon 1). Timothy and Paul had a special relationship with Paul. When Paul wrote the Corinthians (1 Corinthians 4:17), he called Timothy his beloved son. When he wrote to the Philippians (Philippians 2:19-20), he said there was no one whose mind was so much like his own. He saw in Timothy the continuation of his work. Paul believed in Timothy and gave him the gift of training and example to further the work of the gospel.

Next Paul will take the gospel to Europe week after next. Next week we will be celebrating my parent's 50th wedding anniversary - Charles and Erma Jean Loveland!

Have a Great couple of weeks!

Brad

Who Believes in You Now?

Acts 15:36-41

Who Believed in You as You Grew Up?

Paul was always moving around. During the preparations for this particular journey, a large disagreement surfaced between Paul and Barnabas. Barnabas wanted to bring John Mark along and Paul did not. Paul refused to work with John Mark for whatever reason. Logically, we can see that John Mark had been with them on the first journey and left them to go home from Pamphylia. Perhaps Paul felt that he would not be up to completing a long, hard mission? We really don't know what Paul's reasons were, but he felt strongly enough about them that he and Barnabas went their separate ways after this.

Clearly, Barnabas believed in John Mark enough to stick by him and go a separate way from Paul. He was fortunate to have someone to believe in him like Barnabas. We have seen before when Barnabas' heart showed through large and warm.

Over the years, there have been a parade of beginning ministers who have preached at Putnam. Batsell Barrett Baxter and Paul Faulkner just to name a couple. A relationship evolved that helped both the congregation and the preacher. All have gone further into the ministry or have become missionaries. God uses the people we are around to lead us to where we are supposed to go.

One gentleman was intent on going to New Zealand. As they were preparing to go, the family had a child who could not thrive well in New Zealand's climate. God led them to Africa. They are missionaries, but at a different location than they originally planned. Remember to keep your mind open to God's will. It may not be exactly what you thought it would be.

Who do you believe in deeply?

Do you encourage them much and often?

Barnabas believed in John Mark, and in the end John Mark justified that belief in his ministry during life.

The Second Missionary Journey – Introduction

Paul's narrative of the second journey occupied about three years of time. The record of this journey is from Acts 15:36 – 18:23 beginning from Antioch. The biggest part of this journey is that Paul extends his ministry beyond Asia and into Europe.

Have a Blessed Week!

Brad

PS Join the study of Matthew by emailing the group subscription address at matthew@bradloveland.com

The Personal Touch

Acts 15:22-35

The “Official” Letter with Messengers

Last week, we learned that Peter and the other leaders of the early church presented their case on the question of what would “qualify” the gentiles for salvation under the mercy of Christ. The decision was made and the letter was written with efficiency and courtesy.

My experience in sales taught me face-to-face contact is much more effective and the correct message is most often fully achieved this way. Letters and fliers just don't achieve the same effects. The church leaders of the early church understood this as well. They sent Judas and Silas back with Paul and Barnabas to put a personal face-to-face quality with the official sounding letter. The kindness, caring, and concern for their brethren was conveyed through Judas and Silas.

The people of Antioch and beyond may have been suspicious of a letter carried only by Paul and Barnabas. Remember that they had a significant group of enemies in this area that would have doubted the authenticity of this letter. Here Judas and Silas were guarantors that the letter was authentic and from the leaders of the church in Jerusalem.

Build the bridge now to today and think about electronic communications. Many people of our world today communicate more with email, instant messengers, “texting” on mobile phones, and “blogging” than they do with face to face or even voice communication. How has this impacted our society? Our churches? The fellowship with our brethren?

Every one reading this knows someone that has a closer relationship with a character on a television series than they do any real person they know. Why is this? Is this healthy for spiritual growth? Remember to always check what I say with the Word of God, the Bible which is the ultimate authority.

Class Break 2

Hi again!

We had a powerful time of sharing and praying this morning through our class time. I am glad we were able to pray for so many things all at once. We will have another lesson here next week.

In the meantime, here is a different way to subscribe to the study over Matthew. I would like to invite you to follow the study of Matthew we completed last spring in Putnam. The lessons are timed to come out once a week. As always, I appreciate your comments and your suggestions on the topics covered in these lessons. To join the Matthew Study send an email to Putnam Church of Christ Blog and use the subscription form on that page. Remember to confirm your subscription in the next email. There was a problem with the email subscription responder this evening.

Have a Great Week!
Brad Loveland

Class Break

Hi!

We had a powerful time of sharing and praying this morning through our class time. I am glad we were able to pray for so many things all at once. We will have another lesson here next week.

In the meantime, I would like to invite you to follow the study of Matthew we completed last spring. The lessons are timed to come out once a week. As always, I appreciate your comments and your suggestions on the topics covered in these lessons. To join the Matthew Study send an email to matthew@bradloveland.com and be sure to confirm by clicking the link in the next email you get from me.

Have a Great Week!
Brad Loveland

The Proof Presented at Jerusalem

Acts 15:6-12

Peter States the Case

Peter reminds the stricter Jews how he had been chosen to preach God's grace to Cornelius and his household about ten years before. God had granted those very Gentiles to have the Holy Spirit come upon them. They may have been ceremonially unclean, but the Holy Spirit from God cleansed their hearts. The attempt to earn salvation through commands is a losing battle everyone is inadequate to attain.

Peter cut to the heart of the matter by asking if we can earn the favor of God through what we do? Or are we going to have to admit our own humanity and helplessness throwing ourselves on the mercy of God? The faith of works or the faith of God's grace is the underlying question being debated. Peace cannot come until we realize we cannot put God into our debt because we owe so much more. We gain victory through surrender. Ironic, isn't it? We cannot have salvation without admitting our own helplessness and put God in control of life.

Acts 15:13-21

James Showing His Leadership

James was an outstanding individual and the brother of Jesus. He had a post resurrection appearance of Jesus all his own reported in 1 Corinthians 15:7. He was a pillar of the early church proclaimed in Galatians 1:19. He was known to be in prayer often and long. He was also known as James the Just and a strict observer of the law.

His silence followed by careful words help to overcome the last barriers between the Jewish Christians and the Gentile Christians. Why make it so hard on the Gentiles who wish to follow Christ? James then suggested a sort of compromise that would not be too cumbersome to the Gentiles, but allowed them to grow in spirit and truth as their Christian brothers. They were finally united in spirit and truth.

The letter was written and the decree went out to the brethren of the decisions of the meetings in Jerusalem of the leadership of the early church. Paul and Barnabas go back out on the road to preach the good news again.

Go ahead and read the rest of the chapter before the next lesson. Have a Great Week!

Brad Loveland, Adult Bible Class Teacher, Putnam Church of Christ

PS. Tell others who would enjoy these lessons to Subscribe to the entire list of lessons by sending me an email at acts@bradloveland.com and confirming in the return email.

The Problem of the Gentiles

Acts 15:1-5

The Problem

A continuous stream of Gentiles being added to the church would inevitably be a problem for the early church. The Jews were still in firm belief that they were God's chosen people and felt they had certain rights and privileges associated with their ancestry. The Jewish sense of national identity was based on being the chose people of God.

The problem then is this. Since the gospel of Christ was sent first to the Jews, do the Gentiles have to become Jews first to be added to the church? There were Jewish preachers of the word that taught the Gentiles must become Jews first and undergo circumcision in order to complete their conversion to Christianity. Paul comes onto the scene now and is confronted with this problem.

What hoops to we require the newly converted to jump through today? Are these requirements based on the Bible or on the wishes of man?

The Problem Becomes Acute

The statement reported in Acts 15:1 being spread by some men was that Gentiles must be circumcised to be saved. Paul and Barnabas became involved in a huge dispute over this. Things had been going well in Antioch between Jews and Gentiles but the problem was inevitable to arise. They were not able to resolve the dispute, so there was only one thing to do. They went to the leadership of the church in Jerusalem creating the meeting known to us as the Jerusalem Conference.

The principle in question was quite simple and basic to Christianity. Was the gift of God for the select few, or for all of the world? Are we to look at this gift as a privilege or a responsibility?

The basic premise of question is a division or a preference between people. Our problem with division today is not necessarily between Jew and Gentile, but we do still have divisions in our world between people. There are people divided because of income level, race, location, etc. What can we do about them?

Next week we will dive into the question more and see what the arguments presented by the church leadership gives. Read Peter's argument in Acts 15:6-12 for next week.