{"id":21048,"date":"2022-04-12T22:00:17","date_gmt":"2022-04-13T05:00:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/acts_13_1-12-copy\/"},"modified":"2022-04-05T22:38:57","modified_gmt":"2022-04-06T05:38:57","slug":"acts_13_13-25","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/acts_13_13-25\/","title":{"rendered":"It All Points to Jesus in the End"},"content":{"rendered":"

Acts 13:13-25 \u00a0Click here for Bible Verses<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Hi GAMErs!<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is Acts 13:13-25.\u00a0 Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

Acts 13:13-15 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n13\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0From Paphos, Paul and his companions sailed to Perga in Pamphylia, where John left them to return to Jerusalem.
\n14\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0From Perga they went on to Pisidian Antioch. On the Sabbath they entered the synagogue and sat down.
\n15\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0After the reading from the Law and the Prophets, the synagogue rulers sent word to them, saying, “Brothers, if you have a message of encouragement for the people, please speak.”<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 13-15:\u00a0 Here John Mark decides to leave Paul and Barnabas and go back to Jerusalem, while Paul, Barnabas and the rest of their team continue a physically challenging and dangerous journey to Pisidian Antioch.\u00a0 You can\u2019t tell from Acts 13:13 that John\u2019s decision to leave bothered Paul, but it did.\u00a0 In fact, John\u2019s decision to leave would become a point of contention between Barnabas and Paul later on (see Acts 15:37-38).<\/p>\n

Dealing with the frustration of John Mark leaving in the back of his mind, Paul still gets up to speak a word of encouragement to the people in the synagogue, with the aim of pointing them to Jesus.<\/p>\n

What can we learn from Paul\u2019s example?\u00a0 As a minister in God\u2019s kingdom, you will from time to time be disappointed by people, yet still you will be looked upon to speak an encouraging word to the people around you.\u00a0\u00a0How can you encourage others when you yourself are discouraged, disappointed or frustrated?\u00a0 Fix your eyes not on your disappointment, but on Jesus.<\/strong>\u00a0 Notice that everything that Paul is about to say in the verses that follow is pointing his listeners to Jesus.\u00a0 Paul\u2019s actions here remind me of Hebrews 12:1-3, where it says:<\/p>\n

Hebrews 12:1-3 (NIV)<\/em><\/strong>
\n1\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.
\n2\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Let us fix our eyes on Jesus<\/u><\/strong>, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
\n3\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.<\/em><\/p>\n

When you fix your eyes on Jesus, you can persevere and stand up even while disappointed and discouraged and speak a blessing.\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>Other people will come and go, but Jesus will always remain and its His example that we want to learn from.<\/p>\n

Acts 13:16-25 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n16\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Standing up, Paul motioned with his hand and said: “Men of Israel and you Gentiles who worship God, listen to me!
\n17\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0The God of the people of Israel chose our fathers; he made the people prosper during their stay in Egypt, with mighty power he led them out of that country,
\n18\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0he endured their conduct for about forty years in the desert,
\n19\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0he overthrew seven nations in Canaan and\u00a0gave their land to his people<\/strong>\u00a0as their inheritance.
\n20\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0All this took about 450 years. “After this,\u00a0God gave them judges<\/strong>\u00a0until the time of Samuel the prophet.
\n21\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Then the people asked for a king, and\u00a0he gave them Saul<\/strong>\u00a0son of Kish, of the tribe of Benjamin, who ruled forty years.
\n22\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0After removing Saul, he\u00a0made David their king<\/strong>. He testified concerning him: ‘I have found David son of Jesse a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do.’
\n23\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“From this man’s descendants\u00a0God has brought to Israel the Savior Jesus<\/strong>, as he promised.
\n24\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Before the coming of Jesus, John preached repentance and baptism to all the people of Israel.
\n25\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0As John was completing his work, he said: ‘Who do you think I am? I am not that one. No, but he is coming after me, whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.’<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 16-25:\u00a0 Notice that in recounting Israel\u2019s history, Paul\u2019s focus is on what God did: \u201cGod<\/em>\u00a0chose our fathers\u201d (v17).\u00a0 \u201cGod\u00a0<\/em>made our people prosper\u201d (v17).\u00a0 \u201cGod<\/em>\u00a0endured the Israelites\u2019 conduct\u201d (v18).\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cGod<\/em>\u00a0overthrew nations and gave the Israelites their land\u201d (v19).\u00a0 \u201cGod<\/em>\u00a0gave them judges\u201d (v20). \u00a0\u201cGod<\/em>\u00a0gave them Saul\u201d (v21). \u201cGod<\/em>\u00a0made David their king\u201d (v22).\u00a0 \u201cGod<\/em>\u00a0brought to Israel the Saviour Jesus\u201d (v23).\u00a0 What can we learn from this?\u00a0 When you look back at your history, or the history of your family or nation, have an eye for what God was doing.\u00a0\u00a0Try to see history through a lens of God at work.\u00a0 Also, when you\u2019re feeling discouraged and disappointed like Paul was, remember that God is still in control and isn\u2019t finished with your story.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Also, we learn from this part of Paul\u2019s sermon that\u00a0all of Israel\u2019s history culminates in the coming of Jesus Christ.<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0The history of Israel is like a gift that has so many layers of gift wrapping around it.<\/strong>\u00a0 You peel off one layer called Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and then another layer called Israel by Moses, then another layer called Israel led by judges, then another layer called Israel led by kings, then another layer called Israel in exile, then another layer called the ministry of John the Baptist, and if you keep on peeling, the gift you uncover in the end is Jesus Christ, the ultimate king and Saviour of Israel.<\/p>\n

As we scan the history of Israel in the Bible, we see that\u00a0God is in the business of providing leaders to lead His people.\u00a0 But all of these leaders are like imperfect shadows pointing to the real deal: His name is Jesus.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Jesus, through all the ups and downs I go through, may my eyes be fixed on You, because You\u2019re the one that all of history, including my story, are ultimately pointing to.\u00a0 In Jesus\u2019 name, AMEN!<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi GAMErs!\u00a0<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is Acts 13:13-25.\u00a0 Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

Acts 13:13-15 (NIV)
\n13\u00a0\u00a0From Paphos, Paul and his companions sailed to Perga in Pamphylia, where John left them to return to Jerusalem.
\n14\u00a0\u00a0From Perga they went on to Pisidian Antioch. On the Sabbath they entered the synagogue and sat down.
\n15\u00a0\u00a0After the reading from the Law and the Prophets, the synagogue rulers sent word to them, saying, “Brothers, if you have a message of encouragement for the people, please speak.”<\/p>\n

On verses 13-15:\u00a0 Here John Mark decides to leave Paul and Barnabas and go back to Jerusalem, while Paul, Barnabas and the rest of their team continue a physically challenging and dangerous journey to Pisidian Antioch.\u00a0 You can\u2019t tell from Acts 13:13 that John\u2019s decision to leave bothered Paul, but it did.\u00a0 In fact, John\u2019s decision to leave would become a point of contention between Barnabas and Paul later on (see Acts 15:37-38).<\/p>\n

Dealing with the frustration of John Mark leaving in the back of his mind, Paul still gets up to speak a word of encouragement to the people in the synagogue, with the aim of pointing them to Jesus.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":21051,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21048","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gametime-sharing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21048","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21048"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21048\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21052,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21048\/revisions\/21052"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21051"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21048"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21048"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21048"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}