Church Planting

Chapter 14

v.3 - Luke tells us plainly why God allowed for these "sign" miracles: confirmed the message of his grace by enabling them to do miraculous signs and wonders. God allowed Paul and Barnabas the ability to do miracles solely to bring attention to God and the Gospel. If someone today claims the ability to perform miracles, pay attention to what Acts which teaches: (A) not all miraculous activity is Divine (see chapter 8 & 13, where non-believers were doing miracles), and (B) all miracles from God are designed to bring Him all the glory (not men) - see vv.11-15 for further proof.

v.6 - get outta town - when they find out there is a plot to kill them, Paul and Barnabas cruise out of town and head to Lystra & Derbe. Was this a lack of faith that God could protect them in Iconium? Or were they Spirit-led to leave? Or were they using the good sense and brain God gave them? Where is the line between faith, the Holy Spirit, and common sense? It's hard to say and this passage doesn't really answer the question. It seems that we would be silly to say that Paul, Barnabas or any of the early church leaders lacked faith/were scared - pretty much all of them died a martyr's death. Therefore, I have to believe they were Spirit-led to move on to the next town.

vv.8-10 - who does this sound like? Paul heals a man who was crippled from birth. See chapter 3 and read the first few verses. I believe this story and several others are Luke's attempt to say that Paul is on par with Peter (which Jerusalem Christians would need to know). This also helps set the stage for the debate that is going to take place in the next chapter and why Paul will have authority to speak to the issue.

vv.11-13 - the applause of men - what a temptation this is!! It is so hard to stay above this and remember that we live our life for an Audience of One.

vv.19-20 - the comeback kid - Paul gets stoned to the point that the guys stoning him thought he was dead. Paul gets up after regaining his strength (and probably his consciousness) and gets back to work. Holy Cow! My response would've been to take it easy for a few weeks and really evaluate my commitment. When you read something like this, it is embarrassing in light of my commitment level. Paul goes on to say in verse 22 "we must go through many hardships to enter the Kingdom of God." Doesn't Paul know that kind of sermon doesn't play? Contrast Paul's willingness to do anything with the reaction you get if you ask someone to move pews, park farther out in the parking lot, or change small group rooms at your church.

v.23 - one verse - that's all Luke takes to explain the leadership training that went on for these church plants. There's got to be more to it than that. Or we're making church too complicated.

Finally, I think it's hugely important to notice that Paul and Barnabas do not think it is enough to simply tell people of the Gospel and allow them to give their lives to Christ. P & B establish local bodies of believers (churches) and it is a no-brainer here that those new Christ followers would join with other Christ followers. Christianity has both an individual element to it, but it also absolutely has a communal aspect to it. It would've been absurd for a new believer in one of these cities to say, "I'm on board with Jesus and salvation, but I don't really want to go to (or join) a church."