TAMING THE TONGUE David understood that his tongue was beyond his control. We need help from the Lord to tame the tongue. So, David prayed that God would take control of his words and set a guard over his lips. The Spirit inspired the apostle James to write about the same topic saying, “If
THE FIRST CHURCH MISSIONS REPORT Although the 72 disciples that Jesus sent out two-by-two were perhaps the first to offer a missions report, this report by Paul and Barnabas to the church at Antioch may have been the first to a church. While there was no mention of souvenirs brought back, nor a slide show
ARE YOU GLAD FOR GOD’S ATTENTION? The psalmist David wrote of his wonder at God’s constant awareness and attention towards him. He considered it wonderful that God would be so attentive to him. Yet, not everyone wants God to see everywhere they go and know everything they do. They desire a secret life hidden
ARE YOU RIGHT WITH GOD? Paul and Barnabas preached justification by faith in Christ alone while visiting the synagogue in Pisidian Antioch, which was a prominent Roman city located in what is now Southwest Turkey. This was Paul’s first missionary journey. He and Barnabas made it clear that what the law of Moses could never
SENDING CAPACITY OVER SEATING CAPACITY Imagine attending a worship service that ends not with an invitation to lunch, but with a commissioning service that puts you on the next boat going out to sea. That’s what happened to Barnabas and “Saul” (“Paul”). O to have worship services so Spirit-filled that people immediately surrender to
HAVE YOU BUTCHERED THE OXEN AND BURNED THE PLOW? God directed Elijah to anoint a prophet from behind a plow. He didn’t send him to a finishing school for prophets, but to a farm where Elisha was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen before him. His father must’ve been wealthy to have so many servants
WOULD SAUL HAVE BECOME PAUL WITHOUT BARNABAS? When the apostles in Jerusalem heard about the great number of Gentiles coming to the Lord at Antioch, they sent their trusted representative, Barnabas, to the city. His real name was Joseph, but he had been nicknamed “Barnabas” by the apostles, which according to Acts 4:36 meant “Son
GOD’S PROMISE TO BLESS THE NATIONS After Elijah warned King Ahab about the coming drought in Israel, he fled to the wilderness. Eventually, the Lord sent Elijah out of Israel to the land of Sidon, where God had commanded a widow to provide for his needs. In this way, God both protected Elijah from Ahab
THE BLESSING AND BEAUTY OF UNITY Psalm 133 was written by David and is one of the fifteen psalms with the inscription, “Songs of Ascent.” These psalms (120-134) were to be sung while ascending up to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem to worship. In this way, worshipers brought their praise with them to the Temple.
BE LIKE BARNABAS After Saul became a follower of Jesus at Damascus, he returned to Jerusalem. There he sought to meet with the apostles, but they didn’t trust that the former persecutor had really changed and were afraid to see him. But a believer named Barnabas, whose name means “Son of Encouragement,” vouched for Saul