The Story Ch 29 Paul's Mission

Cold Open

When we last spoke 2 weeks ago we talked about the beginning of the church and the conversion of a man named Saul, who had been hunting down and arresting or murdering Christians.

This week, that very same man, now called Paul, embarks on 3 epic missionary journeys, teaching the Gospel and planting churches throughout the grecco-roman world. Today is Sunday, November 8th, 2020. Let’s get into it.

Intro Videos

Paul’s Missionary Journeys

In the book of Acts, Paul goes on 3 missionary journeys, each one more epic than the last, starting from his home church in Antioch.

Paul and his traveling companions meet all kinds of challenges along the way, but it never slows them down.

On the island of Paphos, there is a Jewish sorcerer and false prophet who tried to turn the Roman governor of the region against them, but God struck him blind!

Everywhere that Paul and his companions went, they would first enter the synagogue, because they believed in what Jesus had said that the gospel was to come “first to the Jew, then to the Gentile”. Everywhere they went, Jews and gentiles alike submitted to the Gospel and were saved, but everywhere they went, their enemies plotted against them.

Paul’s journeys were always led by the Holy Spirit, they went to the towns and cities that they were led to, and sometimes they were even kept away from areas until the time was right for them to enter! One example of this is when Paul has a vision of a Macedonian man pleading for help during his second missionary trip.

Acts 16:6–10 NIV

Paul and his companions traveled throughout the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia. When they came to the border of Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to. So they passed by Mysia and went down to Troas. During the night Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” After Paul had seen the vision, we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.

And so they went to Philippi in Macedonia, and when they were there they met a woman named Lydia, and she was baptized, along with all of her household, after Paul preached the Gospel to them.

Shortly after this, Paul and Silas came across a woman who was kept as a slave, because she was possessed by a spirit that gave her power to predict the future. She followed Paul and those who were with him shouting “These men are servants of the Most Hight God, who are telling you the way to be saved!” After several days, Paul was so annoying at the constant yelling, and he commanded the spirit to come out of the woman.

The slave owners who had been exploiting the woman, realizing that Paul had cost them their source of income, brought false charges against Paul and Silas and had them thrown in jail!

Now think back to our earlier studies in Acts, how well does it usually work for the authorities when they try to imprison people God doesn’t want in prison? Yepppp

So while Paul and Silas are basically leading worship in the jail later that night, praying and singing hymns to God while the prisoners listened, there was a huge earthquake that shook the whole jail and flung the doors wide open! When the guard ran in and saw this, he drew his sword to end his own life, because he knew the punishment that would come to him for losing the prisoners, but Paul shouted “Don’t! We are all still here!”

That was a powerful witness for the jailer, and that night he and his whole household also submitted to Christ in baptism and were saved.

And so it went that Paul and his traveling companions would speak in town squares and synagogues all around Greece and Asia minor, planting churches as they went. Basically they would travel and preach until the Gospel really took hold some place, and then they would stay there for a while and train up the people so that they could continue the mission.

Paul’s Letters

Since Paul continuously traveled, rarely staying in one place more than a few months or a year, he wrote letters to many of the churches that he had planted to encourage them, and to offer correction if they were straying from the Gospel they had been entrusted with. Those letters now make up the biblical books:

Romans

1st and 2nd Corinthians

Galations

Ephesians

Philippians

Colossians

1st and 2nd Thessalonians

1st and 2nd Timothy

Titus

Philemon

Hebrews

And its from these letters that we actually get a lot of our information about how and why the church should do certain things, because Paul was explaining them to the churches he had planted.

I’m hoping to study some of these letters with y’all in depth in a future series!

Conclusion

So, to wrap things up, Paul was the most prolific missionary of the early church, he spread the gospel from Antioc across asia minor, and throughout macedonia. He was repeatedly imprisoned, beaten, and chased by angry mobs but nothing could keep him down because he was sent by God to accomplish this task. Between his visits to churches he would write letters filled with earnest prayers and offering love, support, and correction the the churches he had planted. And next week we will look at what happens when Paul returns to Jerusalem ahead of his final journey, where he’d bring the Gospel all the way to Rome itself.

Let’s pray before we go