The kingdom of God is upside down. It inverts the expectation of everything in this world.  Luke uses this scene to exemplify the truth of the accusation made against Paul and company - these people are turning the world upside down - the kingdom of God is wrecking the systems and ideas of this world. 

The Lord is calling all kinds of people unto himself. His missionaries must go to great lengths at great sacrifice that all might be brought in. The gospel is for everyone. God’s desire is for all people to find life in his gospel and he is working in the world to draw all peoples unto himself. 

The Spirit of God guides his church and guides his mission. We can trust him, risk for him, and follow him for the sake of the kingdom.

Conflict and disagreement, even passionate conflict, are not a basis for division. The gospel means we can be diverse and joyfully unified around the kingdom of God. We must strive for unity even in the midst of conviction, disagreement, conflict, and diversity. 

We are all saved by the grace of God through faith. This should create holiness and unity.

Pastor Jim of West County Bible Church shares a message from the book of Philippians.

The gospel work is hard and unpredictable, but oh so worth it. God is the one doing the work and he will see it through when we walk forward in obedience. 

The preached word will have its effect through the Holy Spirit. To the saved it will be a fragrance of life, to the perishing the stench of death.  We are to be a people of perseverance in gospel mission, knowing that results could be divisive and violent (uncomfortable at best), and that the Holy Spirit will show up to both empower us and work in the lives of people.  The gospel is ALWAYS good news to us. It compels us to persevere when mission is hard.

In Jesus, there is forgiveness from sins and freedom that the law can’t give. Freedom from a false identity and freedom from the tyranny of our own efforts.

The Jews were tempted to find their identity in their place as God’s chosen people rather than in the God who did the choosing. This is why they get jealous and angry when gentiles are excited about their inclusion in the gospel. If their identity was more in their God than their special place they would have rejoiced at more coming to Christ. 

This whole story is insane, but it follows Paul for the rest of his life - people who found identity in religion, separation, and authority get their whole identity attacked when God shows up with real freedom in something new.