We can be quick to judge the potential of the people around us, but God sees differently than we do. Through obedience to the Spirit, Paul and others see both encouragement and harvest.

Paul engaged a variety of cities with the gospel, each with their own context. He made his case that Jesus is the hope of all people everywhere.

The church in Phillipi began with three unlikely conversions. All three stories were dramatically different but equally valid pathways to encounter Jesus.

Despite disagreements, cultural barriers, and apparent setbacks, the gospel advances and the church is strengthened.

The early church proved that humans tend to add prerequisites to God’s grace. The Jerusalem Council recognized this and determined that the door was open for all people everywhere to follow Jesus no matter their starting point.

On their first missionary journey, Paul and Barnabas found a deeply divided response to the Gospel. Instead of being stopped by confusion and persecution, they pushed through and found an open door to the Gentiles.

Paul and Barnabas were sent out by the church in Antioch and immediately faced push-back from those to whom they were sent. This missionary movement is marked by Spirit-empowered resilience and simple obedience.

We can approach the sovereign God in a variety of ways. We can be confused, religious, or rebellious, but He calls us to expectant faith.

While Paul is the leading character in the second half of Acts, Barnabas was the vessel that God used to platform Paul. Every part of the body of Christ is needed for the gospel to go forward.

Throughout time, humanity has strongly leaned towards division and polarization. Creating a new kind of society, the Holy Spirit bridges that gap and invites us into it.