The Way Into Unity

Sunday, January 21, 2024

Introductory information

We are resuming our study of the book of Acts now in Chapter 13

Stepping away for a moment from Barnabas and Saul, chapter 12 focused on what was happening with King Herod, Peter, and the church in Jerusalem

Now in Chapter 13 we are picking back up with Barnabas and Saul on their return to Antioch (1)

The two had been sent by the church in Antioch to provide famine relief for the church in Judea and Jerusalem

READ

Question to consider as we read:

How does church unity happen?

Acts 12:25–13:4 CSB

25 After they had completed their relief mission, Barnabas and Saul returned to Jerusalem, taking along John who was called Mark. 1 Now in the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen, a close friend of Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. 2 As they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” 3 Then after they had fasted, prayed, and laid hands on them, they sent them off. 4 So being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia, and from there they sailed to Cyprus.

EXAMINE

What are the key points in this passage?

#1 | The church leadership was diverse but unified (2)

Christ had united them from different walks of life, cultures, and ethnicities

Acts 13:1 Now in the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen, a close friend of Herod the tetrarch, and Saul.

Unity in the church isn’t about sameness - it's about alignment

We become aligned with one another as we pursue alignment with Jesus, through the empowerment of the Holy Spirit

#2 | The Holy Spirit spoke when they pursued Him together

They were worshipping and fasting - two proven methods of pursuing God’s Spirit

Acts 13:2 As they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.”

How do these two methods work?

Worship is a way of pursuing God’s Spirit with our mind and emotions

Fasting is a way of focusing our desire and appetite on God

In fasting, we put natural food aside to eat the spiritual food of God’s presence

“Fasting expresses, rather than creates, hunger for God.” - John Piper

Furthermore: fasting and worship both reduce focus on self and ego, which further enables cooperation and unity

They continued worshipping and fasting after the Holy Spirit spoke (Acts 13:3a)

This was probably to confirm that they had heard correctly (1 Thess 5:20-21) and also a discipline of patient listening (Psalm 25:5)

#3| The Church and the Holy Spirit acted as one

Consider this question: Who sent Barnabas and Saul on their missionary journey?

Acts 13:3–4 Then after they had fasted, prayed, and laid hands on them, they sent them off. 4 So being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia, and from there they sailed to Cyprus.

Verse 3 says that the church sent them

Verse 4 says that the Holy Spirit sent them

Luke’s words show that the Church was totally “in step with the Spirit” (Gal 5:25)

They were so aligned with the Holy Spirit that their actions were His

They achieved this by pursuing God’s Spirit, not by pursuing their own goals, opinions, and desires

Again, we must consider the benefit of worship and fasting

Both worship and fasting are ways of putting our goals, opinions, and desires, out of the way in order to discover what God’s are

APPLY

Explore and apply the passage with these questions:

[These questions must be focused, yet very open-ended. Allow the conversation to go where people take it - we want to encourage everyone to share and explore the topics of the passage. You don’t have to ask all these questions. Sometimes a group may only get through one or two questions. Select the questions you think are right for the conversation. Then, as it comes time to wrap up, refocus the conversation to “land the plane.”]

How do our “appetites” and “cravings” get in the way of unity? (With God and with others)

What are the different ways we can fast? (surrender our appetite)

What are the different ways we can worship? (surrender our focus)

Where we want to “land the plane”

We must pursue this same lifestyle of being “in-step with the Holy Spirit” and unified with one another, through the practices of worship and fasting.

REFLECT

Prayer Point for Today

Ask the Lord to show us where our priorities, opinions, or desires are getting in the way of unity with Him and one another

Devotional Question for the Week

Often we pursue unity by trying to get people to agree with us. But that’s not unity, that’s control. Is it possible that you don’t actually want unity with God or others? What might you need to surrender, in order to pursue unity?

FOOTNOTES

As for the reference to Mark, it provides the transition from 12:12, where Mark is by implication in Jerusalem, to 13:5b, where he accompanies Barnabas and Saul as they set out from Antioch to Cyprus. If (as is most probable) this is the Mark mentioned in Col. 4:10, the latter passage informs us that he was Barnabas’s cousin. F. F. Bruce, The Book of the Acts, The New International Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1988), 243.

The diversity in the backgrounds of the leaders of the church at Antioch shows the cosmopolitan nature of the church. Barnabas was a Jew from Cyprus (4:36). Simeon was also a Jew, but his Latin nickname Niger not only indicates he was of dark complexion but also that he moved in Roman circles. He could be the Simon of Cyrene who carried Christ’s cross (Matt. 27:32; Mark 15:21), but this is highly debatable. Lucius was from Cyrene in North Africa (cf. Acts 11:20). Manaen had high contacts for he had been reared with Herod the tetrarch, actually Herod Antipas, who beheaded John the Baptist and who treated the Lord so shamefully at His trial (see the chart on the Herod family at Luke 1:5). One in that court (Manaen) became a disciple; the other (Herod) an antagonist! At the end of the list, for he was last on this scene, was Saul, a Jew trained in Rabbinical schools. Despite their variegated backgrounds, these men functioned as one. Stanley D. Toussaint, “Acts,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, ed. J. F. Walvoord and R. B. Zuck, vol. 2 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985), 387.