God Uses Paul and Barnabas to Bring Salvation to the Gentiles
Theme: Living by Faith in Christ Alone
Theme Verse: "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." Galatians 2:20 NIV
Readings: Acts 13:13-52
Memory Verse: For this is what the Lord has commanded us: "'I have made you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.'" (Acts 13:47)
Paul and Barnabas sail from Paphos in Cyprus to Perga in Pamphylia on the South Central coast of Turkey -- John Mark leaves and goes home. They continue into the interior of Perga to Psidian Antioch (all these are part of Galatia). Notice that they traveled through a number cities and areas before they stopped and entered a synagogue to share. It is clear that God is leading them where he wants them to witness (compare Acts 16:6-7). God gave them an opening to speak where he wanted them to witness. They were invited to speak a message of encouragement. A word received: I want you to be prepared to give a word of exhortation and encouragement when I provide an opportunity for you to do so. Pray for eyes to see the openings the Lord sets up and for a heart to respond. Pray that the Lord will show you then what you should say.
Notice the congregation in the synagogue was made up of Jews and Gentiles who worship the God of Israel -- often called "God-fearers" -- as well as Gentile converts (see verse 26). Many Gentiles were drawn to Judaism but did not want to convert to the whole package. When Paul began in a synagogue he would find not only responsive Jews but the most open and prepared of the Gentile population.
Paul starts out with what seems like just a history lesson. It was common ground (look for common ground to start with) and showed the Jews there that Paul knew the scriptures.
Paul starts with what God had done in the past and introduces Jesus, the Savior God had promised centuries before. God has finally fulfilled his promise! Real encouragement! Paul again refers briefly to the prophecies in the Hebrew Bible they all know (verse 27) and again in verse 32. Then Paul talks about the role of John the Baptist, whom they had almost certainly heard about. John preached repentance as preparation for the coming of Jesus. Then (verse 26) Paul makes it personal, "Brothers, children of Abraham, and you God-fearing Gentiles, it is to US that this message of salvation has been sent" A word received: I want you to be prepared to speak a word of salvation to people.
Then Paul begins to give the key points of this word/message of salvation: 1) God has fulfilled his promise to send a Savior, 2) the rulers of the Jews did not recognize who Jesus was and fulfilled the prophecies by having Pilate execute him, 3) Jesus was buried after fulfilling all the prophecies about his death, 4) God raised Jesus from the dead and he was seen by many who traveled with him and who are now witnesses to this.
The resurrection of Jesus is absolutely central to the Gospel, the Good News. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15:14, 15, 17, "And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith...we are then found to be false witnesses about God...and...you are still in your sins." Many in the American Church today, including some bishops absolutely reject the Resurrection of Jesus. Paul is right. There is no good news without the resurrection of Jesus.
Then Paul repeats the Good News: God has kept his promises. Then he goes into some Scriptural prophecies of the Resurrection of Jesus and Who Jesus is (Psalm 27, Isaiah 55:3 and Psalm 16:10): David is dead, Paul says but Jesus rose and is alive now. A word received: I want you to proclaim My resurrection.
The 5th thing Paul preaches is the purpose of Jesus death (verse 38). Through Jesus, the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you. 6.) The way to receive this is to believe in him (verse 39) and then you will receive forgiveness for all "you could not under the Law of Moses." A word received: I want you to hear this; I want others to hear it from you.
If you had 20-30 minutes to tell people who knew the Old Testament about Jesus, what would you emphasize? A word received: Paul is a model for you here. I want you to be able to witness to who I Am as Paul did. Many people, some clergy included, do not want to hear about sin or Jesus the Messiah's atoning death on the cross for our sins. It implies that something is terribly wrong with us human beings that only God can fix and He does it by paying the price himself. Paul is not preaching a warm and fuzzy love of Jesus who not only loves as we are (true) but one who doesn't want to leave us there. Jesus offers a free gift but that means we have to accept it and we have to change. We have to make a choice. This includes correct doctrine/teaching but goes beyond it to changed lives. God's secret for changed lives is "Christ in you." Through Jesus, God the Father offers to do in us what we cannot do for ourselves. Remember last year's lesson about "circumcision of the heart"? It runs through both the Old and New Testaments.
Then Paul issues a warning (verse 41) A word received: I want you to be prepared to admonish people to heed the risk of missing what I have prepared for them.
The response, at first, was very positive and people wanted to hear more the next week. When "almost the whole city gathered to hear" the next week, the attitude of many Jewish leaders changed. They got jealous of the crowds. Why? They had never experienced such popularity. Maybe they felt if people believed this their importance would be diminished. Jealousy is a really ugly sin that causes spiritual blindness. Remember how Barnabas rejoiced when he saw the grace of God in Antioch. It happens in churches today when one church draws crowds and others don't, they sometimes get jealous instead of rejoicing and find out what God is doing and joining it. It is easy to slip from admiring another ministry to being jealous. Prayer: Guard us Lord, that when we pray for growth of your church that we will have hearts filled with your grace to rejoice about it and have eyes to see what you want to show us. (Pun: you can't jell (be together) if you are full of jeal-ousy.)
In response to the jealousy and abusive talk Paul and Barnabas speak boldly and warn the people that they have judged themselves by rejecting the Good News so now God was sending them to the Gentiles. A word received: I want you to speak my truth as Paul and Barnabas did.
Paul quotes Isaiah 49:6 about God's plan to make his people -- and Jesus -- a light to the nations/Gentiles in order to bring salvation to the ends of the earth! (See the memory verse.) That was God's plan in Isaiah's time, in Paul's time, and today(!) that his people bring God's light and salvation to the whole world. God's provision is for the whole world. He is gracious and loving and he wants to use us to be a part of this.
God's purpose was fulfilled (verse 49). God's word spread and many believed, but persecution started against Paul and Barnabas and they got kicked out of town. (They followed Jesus' advice and shook the dust of the town off their feet and went on to the next town.) They and the new disciples were persecuted yet filled with joy and the Holy Spirit!
Some Discussion Questions
How did the church spread to the Gentiles (the non-Jewish world)?
How would you give a brief summary of the Gospel?
What has been the Good News for you, in your experience?
Are you willing to be bold?
What gives you conviction and hope?
How do you cope with discouragement and opposition to telling about Jesus?
Can you rejoice in the success of another's ministry without being jealous?
Give examples of when God has provided an opportunity to witness. How did you respond?
Is there some part of the basic Good News about Jesus that you have trouble with?
Suggestion: Divide class in groups of three and ask them to practice sharing how you would answer questions 2 & 3.
Teaching Ideas for Lesson 09
Please read the Study Guide first. Go over Memory Verse to make sure the children understand it and then if they have memorized it.
Remind them their parents need to sign a report slip monthly if they have read the lessons, so they will get credit at the end of the year.
Make sure they know what happened in the story. Get them to tell you.
Basic points of the lesson for little ones:
1. The Gospel is about Jesus' love for us and how he died for our sins and rose from the dead.
2. God wants us to share his love with others.
3. God also wants us to share the story of Jesus' death and how he came back to life and how he forgives our sins.
4. God wants us to warn people in a loving way because we care about them when they are doing wrong.
How to teach word for SS teachers: Paul and Barnabas were faithful in speaking My word. I want you to be faithful as well.
Read the Words and then spend time in prayer about helping children tell about Jesus. We need to model this for kids. EX. Tell about our best friend and then tell about Jesus in the same way. We need to tell about Jesus no matter what circumstances are when God prompts.
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