Return to Your Antioch (Acts 14:19-28)
A. Trust in the Lord
1) Grace that accompanies hardship
Then some Jews came from Antioch and Iconium and won the crowd over. They stoned Paul and dragged him outside the city, thinking he was dead. But after the disciples had gathered around him, he got up and went back into the city. The next day he and Barnabas left for Derbe. (19,20)
2) Appointing elders
They preached the good news in that city and won a large number of disciples. Then they returned to Lystra, Iconium and Antioch, strengthening the disciples and encouraging them to remain true to the faith. "We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God," they said. Paul and Barnabas appointed elders for them in each church and, with prayer and fasting, committed them to the Lord, in whom they had put their trust. (21-23)
B. Returning to the place from which you were sent
1) Your Church as a home port
After going through Pisidia, they came into Pamphylia, and when they had preached the word in Perga, they went down to Attalia. From Attalia they sailed back to Antioch, where they had been committed to the grace of God for the work they had now completed. (24-26)
2) What is gained here
On arriving there, they gathered the church together and reported all that God had done through them and how he had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles. And they stayed there a long time with the disciples. (27,28)
Summary
The journey of Paul and Barnabas is much like our weekday lives. We are sent out from this church, accomplish the tasks we're given to do, and return back on Sunday with successes, challenges, fulfillment, and tiredness. As we hear God's words of comfort, healing, and encouragement, we are able to begin a new week. In our day-to-day lives, we need to remember that we experience grace even in hardship, and that we need to trust God and relinquish our need to control everything.
For Discussion
1) Why did Paul and Barnabas talk about hardships that are faced before entering God's kingdom?
2) What did they need to do back in Antioch?