MENU

Where the world comes to study the Bible

Appendix 2: Kingdom Prayers

Focus your prayers on the bigger issues of the kingdom, knowing the coming of the kingdom is the will of God for the those in your group and their families—”Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” Study the prayers of the New Testament and see how they involved kingdom issues: character-building in those who suffered, the glory of God in the midst of persecution, and the knowledge of Jesus in the world. Of course, pray specifically as well for healing, provision, etc. but always focus on kingdom prayers.

Examples Of Kingdom Prayers:

Pray in this way, using these verses:

  • for ____ to seek first God’s kingdom in her life. FYI: If there are monetary or physical needs involved, this is a condition necessary for God’s promise to supply to kick in. (Matthew 6:33-34)
  • for God to use this difficulty to produce endurance, completion, and blessing. (James 1:2-4, 12)
  • for ____ to trust that God gives good gifts, realizing that his gifts are better than those she wants. (James 1:17-18; 4:3)
  • for God to give ____ wisdom and the revelation of him in the midst of this time. (Ephesians 1:17-21)
  • for ____ to walk worthy and to show forth these qualities to others with whom she is having difficulty. (Ephesians 4:1-3)
  • for God to fill ____ with the knowledge of His will that she may walk worthy. (Colossians 1:9-12)
  • for God to give ____ the grace to set her mind on the things above rather than the circumstances. (Colossians 3:1-4)
  • for ____ to trust that God is at work in the midst of these difficulties for her good, not for her destruction. Pray that God will use this time to mold her more into the image of Jesus. (Romans 8:28-29)

And pray for God’s kingdom to come in your own heart and life, too.

What to Know About This Study Guide

Its Format

This study is written with few questions, but they’re thought-provoking questions. It requires listening to God through his Word, being directed by open questions, and responding to what you’ve read and heard by writing down your thoughts.

Each week’s study has three parts to make it easy to split it up or do at once, depending on your preference.

See beyondordinarywomen.org for previews of other studies or information about group purchases.

Simple Doesn’t Equate To Shallow.

This study demands your involvement. Although the layout is simple, how deeply you go depends on you. As you spend time talking to God and journaling your thoughts, he may lead you to other cross-references, but he will certainly give you insights into the verses. Don’t stop with initial surface answers, but ask God to clarify and guide. The time you spend in the scriptures with God gives him space to speak. Listen well, note your thoughts (simple journaling) share them with your small group, and glean from one another’s insights.

Studying Through Three Sections A Week

If you like doing a little study at a time, each week’s lesson is set up in three parts, but feel free to go through it in any way that works best for you. If you prefer daily time in the Word, consider spending two days on each part, writing on the optional starred section the second day. You may be amazed at what you see by reading the same passage twice. If you prefer to do the entire study in one sitting, you may want to read all the passages first and then answer the questions at the end. Of course, it’s great to be in God’s Word each day, but you may have other ways of doing that. Stick to what works for your schedule.

Additional Reading And Background Information

The lesson provides background information pertinent to your understanding. Feel free to do your own research when you have interest or questions, but the group conversation will be focused on the passages studied by everyone.

*** Three asterisks identifies optional verses or suggested study for those with time and interest. The additional reading will help you wrestle with deeper insights into the passages.

Soul Food

The verses that begin each week’s lesson are great choices for memorization and/or discussion.

What You Need

  • A quiet place, if possible.
  • A Bible that you can understand. If you don’t have one, ask your group leader for suggestions, or email us at [email protected]. Modern versions are available as downloads, through Bible apps, or in print at any bookstore. (We are using the NET Bible at lumina.bible.org, a free online Bible translation with study helps.)
  • A notebook, laptop, or tablet to use to record your insights and answers which can easily be taken to your group meetings. If you’re using a printed copy of this study, add a piece of paper after each lesson. (See Journaling 101 in the Appendix.)
  • The commitment to listen to God and write out what you hear as you read and pray.
  • Someone, or even better a group, to discuss this with you and provide support, encouragement, and spiritual challenge.

Best Practices For Group Get-Togethers (For More Detail See The Appendix & Leader Videos.)

Plan a regular place, time, and leader. The leader should—

  • read the section “Tips for Leaders” in the Appendix.
  • watch BOW’s free, short videos: “Tips for Leading a Journaling Study” (https://vimeo.com/ album/4256789) and the series Listening Well (https://vimeo.com/album/4065298). If your group includes Millennials, watch the series “Millennials: The Good, the Bad, and the Ministry” at https://vimeo.com/album/5118401.
  • start on time, not waiting for late arrivals.
  • move the group along, being sensitive to God’s Spirit.
  • encourage everyone to share without forcing it.
  • be a great encourager.
  • avoid dominating the conversation.
  • keep the focus on the women, not herself and her own thoughts.
  • provide time for the group to think and share from their journals.
  • contact absent group members to encourage them.
  • email the group weekly to remind them of the upcoming meeting, and share her excitement.

As a group—

  • come prepared and on time with your study, notebook (journal), and Bible.
  • share freely and honestly.
  • encourage one another.
  • don’t interrupt the speaker.
  • love one another.
  • don’t try to fix the other members of your group or their problems by giving advice.
  • pray for one another and entrust each other and your problems to God.
  • be honest and vulnerable, but wise in how much detail you share personally.
  • stay in touch with each other between meetings for support and encouragement.

If Your Group Meets Within A Larger Group In A Church Setting

  • Look for a woman gifted in teaching God’s Word to teach a short lesson after the small group discussion. Watch BOW’s short, free video “Why Use Live Teachers, not Video?” at https:// vimeo.com/209323216. (For help in preparing to teach, see our collection of videos at http:// beyondordinarywomen.org/bible-teaching/ or contact us at https://beyondordinarywomen.org/contact-alternative/.)
  • Because the discussion isn’t about the teacher’s comments but focuses on the members’ personal study, the discussion should precede the teaching time.
  • The teacher may spend 15-25 minutes adding to the background of the lesson, beginning and ending within the allotted time frame. The majority of the time together should be invested in small groups.
  • The teacher’s role is to clarify and extend what the group has studied, not to retell what they have discussed.

Stories

Each week’s study includes a true story that relates to the lesson. Some of our studies have such stories on video, but this study includes them in written form at the end of the lessons. The names have been changed in some cases to protect those involved.

Appendix 3: Journaling 101

What Does It Mean To Journal?

It’s NOT drawing and coloring. (I call that drawing and coloring.) Journaling is recording your thoughts. That’s it. Nothing special or difficult. When we journal, we simply write down how we interacted with God’s Word. We pen our thoughts and impressions as we read and ask God for insights. (See p. 67 for a sample journal entry.)

I learned late to journal. I began because I had a hard time concentrating during what was supposed to be my time with God. Do you relate? Instead of focusing on the verses that I was reading or the prayers that I needed to say, my mind was wandering to my to-do list, my conversation with a friend, a problem I had to handle, or any number of other things. Once I lost focus, it was difficult to get it back.

My goals were worthy, but I was struggling with how to get there.

So I began writing out my prayers. I wrote out word for word what I wanted to pray, as well as the thoughts that came to me while I wrote, believing that it was highly possible that God was guiding those. I began my time with God by reading some scriptures and usually a short devotional, and then I began to write.

Easy journaling.

Why Journal?

The term Bible study can be scary. We often think that God’s Word is hard to understand, requiring a great deal of intelligence and/or education to navigate, so we stay away from anything other than a favorite verse or two scattered throughout its pages.

We forget that God wants us to know him. We do that through the pages of his Word, his revelation of himself to ordinary people like you and me. Remember this is his story, not the story of people. God is the main character. People are in the story as they interact with him and his work on earth in reconciling them to himself and restoring creation to its perfection.

If we replace time listening and seeking God with a “study” that tells us what to think and believe (true of some but not all studies), we bypass the relationship and knowledge that God gives us directly when we go to his Word instead of to other people to be spiritually nourished.

Imagine sitting down with the author of a book you love rather than going to a book review of it. That’s the opportunity you have with God. He has made himself available to those who seek him through the Scriptures. But there’s a caution here—he doesn’t tell us everything because he is so beyond us—incomprehensible. But he does unfold truth, insight, encouragement, challenge, and conviction into our hearts when we seek him. In the end there is a certain amount of mystery that we must learn to live with when we approach God. We are mere humans after all.

Throughout this study, I have kept my thoughts, insights, and guidance to a minimum so that you can talk about the scriptures with the true Teacher.

Journaling with only general questions to guide you allows your study to be what you make it.

This is your study. Your time. Your relationship with God. Your journal is your own. Use it in your own way that works for you.

How Much Time Do I Need To Spend Journaling?

Is your time scattered and often absent? Read the story once in the morning, maybe to your kids, with your roommate or husband during breakfast, or alone as you enjoy an early cup of coffee before work. Think about it as you drive carpool, eat lunch at work, or make your commute. Write in your journal at lunch or before you head to bed in the evening, noting the insights that occurred to you during the day.

Do you want a deep study? Spend time every day reading and rereading the stories of the week. Ask God for insights and applications. Since each week’s study has three sections, spend two days on each section. Read the verses again the second day, and ask God for new insights. Read some of the cross references in the margins of your Bible. With your journal beside you, note all of your thoughts as they come. You may be very surprised at how often your mind goes in a new direction.

Make the schedule your own. Spend little or much time on it. It is your record of how you and God interact as you read his Word.

Do I Have To Use The Questions In The Lesson?

Absolutely not. They are merely there to launch your thinking, not to determine the path of your thoughts. The questions are to help, not hinder. If something else is on your mind when you begin journaling, skip them entirely. Listen to God’s Spirit as he gives you insight into the scriptures you read.

What If I’m Stuck And Can’t Think Of Anything To Write?

Here are some general questions that you can use with any passage as you begin to journal:

  • What do I like about this passage? Why?
  • What do I not like about this story? Why?
  • What do I learn about God and his purposes in this section of Scripture?
  • What do I learn about people in general from the prophet’s message? In other words, what lessons about people do I learn?
  • What is God telling me to do from what he revealed? How and when will I do it?

If you’re a seasoned student of the Bible, you may want to look for other stories or verses that relate to what you read and journal about how they connect to each other and to you. Use the cross- references in your Bible to help you.

What Kinds Of Things Should I Write?

What follows is a journal entry that I wrote from a Bible story that is not part of this study. Just so you don’t think this is too hard, you need to know that I added paragraphs so it would be easier for you to read. I don’t write in my journal that way. Because I write only for me, not an audience, I normally abbreviate a number of words and phrases that are common in my journal, but I have written them out for you so they make sense.

I also deleted the names of people that I’m praying for, but I left the prayer itself so you could see how the story became the basis of my prayer, which included confession and intercession. I don’t normally pray through a format like PRAY (praise, repent, ask, and yield), but over a few days of journaling as I read the Word, God leads me to all kinds of prayers. You can journal with that kind of format for your prayers if you prefer.

June 17

Mark 4:35-41

Although I’ve heard, read, and taught this story many times, it still overwhelms me. God, you are so great and powerful! Why do I doubt that you can handle my small problems when Jesus speaks and immediately the wind and the waves obey? Why do I make you too small to handle problems faced by people I love? Why do I wonder deep in my heart if you care when I’m struggling? I’m just like the disciples, ridiculously asking, “Don’t you care?”

I am amazed that as the boat was filling with water and winds were whipping around, Jesus was lying in the boat asleep with his head on a cushion, perfectly at peace. They had to wake him up! That’s a deep and restful sleep! You know how storms wake me up pretty quickly.

Jesus pointed to the disciples’ fear, suggesting it was caused by lack of faith. Father God, forgive me for making you too small in my imagination, so small that you lack the power to keep me despite the storms that swirl around me. Forgive my fear that comes from lack of faith. Forgive me for fearing that you won’t take care of those whom I love. Forgive me for fearing for my grandchildren’s future. Forgive my lack of faith.

You sent your followers straight into the storm, and they learned about your great power. I know your power and protection because of previous storms. Help me remember them when I’m caught up in a new sudden storm.

I lift up my friends and family who are now in storms ____ Give them grace and faith. Make them stronger in faith. Help them persevere and bring you glory. Bring comfort to ____ In the storms’ wake, I pray they all know your power and grace in a deeper way. Amen.

You Can Do It!

Let me simply encourage you—you can do this. It allows God to move in your heart and mind in a way that specific questions may not allow for. Just read the verses, and write down what God brings to your mind. Refer back to the questions in the study, answering those that you want to answer and thinking about the others. Some wonderful insight may come to mind if you do.

I am praying that God will so encourage and speak to you through this format that you will continue to journal, never settling for fill-in-the blank Bible studies. (And I know God uses them in a mighty way sometimes, but consider journaling through the verses instead.)

Appendix 4: Tips For Leaders

1. Listen To God

It seems simple, but it can be oh, so difficult, to listen to God as you lead a group. Our fears tell us not to sit in silence. Our hearts suggest that we should give solutions or even verses to fix problems or questions. The clock indicates that we should cut others off as quickly as possible. And I have been there and done them all!

If we as leaders come to the group time doing what feels comfortable, we may miss the fullness of what God wants to do. So pray well before you go. Pray as you lead the group time. Don’t speak in response to the comments of others until you are sensitive to the movement of the Spirit as to what to say, if anything.

And what may be even more difficult is to encourage the same kinds of listening skills with the others in the group. Listening to God before answering someone’s comments or intervening in what God may want to say to her about her problems is very difficult. I feel that way and likely you do too:) Many in the group will struggle, but we can all improve if you remind yourself and the group each week to pause and listen to God before speaking.

Watch our BOW videos on listening as a small group leader at https://vimeo.com/album/4065298 for additional help.

2. Keep Discipleship Goals In Mind

Goal #1: Encourage Your Group In Personal Learning

If you want the group to be in the Word for themselves, start the discussion by letting them share what excited them. Stay away from your own thoughts and listen to them. To involve them, ask very general open questions, such as those in the lesson. Choose questions from the lesson; use some from the list given on p. 70 (#3 Ask Open Questions), or write your own questions.

Because the group will journal as they study, see which way the discussion goes before inserting your own direction to the lesson. That said, don’t let it linger on speculation about things the Bible doesn’t reveal. It’s okay for a few minutes, but refocus the conversation to what God has made clear, not what he chose not to tell us.

Goal #2: Set Discipleship Goals For Each Lesson

What do you want to accomplish in your discussion? If you randomly ask questions, you may enjoy a good discussion, but it may not move the group closer to Jesus. Your goal should not be simply getting people to talk but to encourage spiritual growth in the group.

See yourself as the leader, not a teacher or a facilitator. What is your goal? What do you want the group to leave with that will help them grow as believers? It could be a deeper faith through a better understanding of who God is and how he works. It could be a principle that helps them live out genuine faith in a culture that is looking for what is real.

For most lessons, consider these questions as you review the lesson:

  • What do those in your group need to know about God from this lesson?
  • What does the lesson reveal about real faith?
  • How does the story and/or verses fit with the big story gospel of Paradise, Ruin, Reconciliation, and Consummation?
  • What principles from the lesson need to be obeyed? What application do you want them to prayerfully consider—a way of believing about God that intersects with real life or types of actions to take?

Wait to discuss these areas by providing opportunity for the group to bring up the topic before you simply move toward your goals. Make sure you listen first. Many of the questions you want to ask will come up more naturally from within the group. If no one brings it up, then do so with a question to the group.

You don’t necessarily have to write your own questions. Use those within the lesson to launch into an area you want to cover. The lesson questions are open-ended and broad. You can have a great discussion using them. If you listen well, you can follow up with a question that clarifies or expands on their comments to move them further toward your goals.

If you want to write a few questions to summarize the material covered rather than going through those in the lesson, write open questions from the material they studied and read. Or use some of the questions in the next section.

3. Ask Open Questions

You may be used to reading a set of questions to the group and having them read back their answers. I have written many Bible studies that have that type of structure. It’s easy for the leader to follow and makes it simple for the group to provide answers.

Instead, this study is based on journaling, which isn’t comprised of answers to a number of very specific questions but rather uses open questions, meaning not yes/no or narrow answers. (See BOW’s free downloadable resource at http://beyondordinarywomen.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Asking-Open-Questions.pdf.)

When the lesson is comprised of one long story or section, it will likely work best to let the group know that they can talk about any part of the lesson instead of a specific section of the story. Your questions should allow a response on anything they want to discuss from the lesson. It’s alright if no one brings up a certain section of the story at all.

Allow the Holy Spirit to use the discussion to take the group where he wants it to go, but also keep in mind your goals and move them into those topics if they don’t go there themselves.

Here are examples of open questions that you might use:

  • What verses were most significant to you and why?
  • How did God surprise you through these verses?
  • How did you relate to the prophet and why?
  • What feelings did you have about the prophet’s message and why?
  • How did God reveal himself to you through your reading?
  • How do you see the prophet’s message intersect with God’s big gospel story of Paradise, Ruin, Reconciliation, & Consummation?
  • What excites you about this book?
  • Was there anything in this book that seemed new to you?
  • What confused you about this prophet’s message?
  • What did God say to you this week about yourself?
  • What is God asking you to do in response to this week’s study?

These questions are all very general and open. As you work toward your goals, your questions may be more specific. What often happens, however, is that some of the questions you have prepared will be answered before you ask them. So be aware enough to skip as needed.

A quiet group or a group that is new to one another may not talk quite as readily. Allow them a time of silence to consider their answers before rewording it or sharing your own answer. The Holy Spirit will lead you.

We love your questions or feedback. Contact me at [email protected].

For additional help go to beyondordinarywomen.org at http://beyondordinarywomen.org/leading-small-groups/ and watch our free short 5 - 10 minute training videos for small group leaders.

Appendix 5: Works Cited And Resources For Leaders

Works Cited

Baillie, John. A Diary of Private Prayer, rev. Susanna Wright. New York: Scribner, 2014.

Bock, Darrell L. Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament: Acts. Grand Rapids, MI; Baker Academics, 2007.

Capes, David B., Rodney Reeves, and E. Randolph Richards. Rediscovering Paul: An Introduction to His World, Letters, and Theology, 2nd Edition. Downers Grove, Il: IVP Academic: 2017.

Constable, Thomas L. “Notes on Acts, 2020 Edition.” Accessed at https://planobiblechapel.org/tcon/notes/pdf/acts.pdf

ESV Study Bible: English Standard Version. Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2008.

Keener, Craig S. The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1993.

Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance at http://net.bible.org.

Wright, N.T. Paul: A Biography. San Francisco: HarperOne, 2018.

Zodhiates, Spiros. Complete Word Study Dictionary: New Testament. Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers, 1992.

Resources For Leaders

I know how it feels to be a leader with little experience and no training. I learned by trial and error— mostly error. That is why I have spent so much time preparing training for leaders.

BOW wants to help you with your role as a small group leader if you feel inadequate or just want more training. I never quit learning as a leader.

Beyond Ordinary Women Ministries Resources (Beyondordinarywomen.Org)

Free Training VIdeos, Podcasts & Articles

At BOW we plan to continually add to our articles and video training library. So rather than provide a specific list, I encourage you to look over our resources for leading small groups at http://beyondordinarywomen.org/leading-small-groups/ and watch some of our free video training for your area of need. You can also browse our blog at http://beyondordinarywomen.org/blog-standard/ by topic to find posts of interest.

If you will have a live teacher who wants help with preparing and teaching, go to our videos for teachers at https://beyondordinarywomen.org/bible-teaching/

Monthly Newsletters

Our monthly newsletter will connect you to our latest articles and provide an encouraging message for you as a leader. Just sign up at the bottom of our home page at beyondordinarywomen.org or email me at [email protected].

Personal Contact

We are always happy to answer your questions, so contact me at [email protected] to set up a time to talk.

Appendix 1: Paul's Final Journeys

Paul’s Final Journeys1 (Maps of 3rd trip2 & Journey to Rome3)

Place

Date

Notes

Galatia & Phrygia

region (Acts 18:23)

c. A.D. 52 or 53

Ephesus Acts 19:1-20:1

A.D. 52-55

Writes 1 Corinthians from Ephesus (1 Cor. 16:8-9) & “tearful severe” lost letter to Corinthians

(While in Ephesus made painful, short visit to Corinth & back 2 Cor. 2:1)

Macedonia Acts 20:1-2

A.D. 55-56

Writes 2 Corinthians

Greece— specifically Corinth Acts 20:2-3

A.D. 57

Writes Romans (Rom. 15:25-27; cf. 1 Cor. 16:3-5)

Travels to Jerusalem Acts 20:3-21:14

A.D. 57

Jerusalem (End of 3rd Journey) Acts 21:15–23:32

A.D. 57

Caesarea Acts 23:33-26:32

A.D. 57-59

Trip to Rome Acts 27:1-28:14

A.D. 59


1 Dates based on chart “Major Events in the Life of Paul” in ESV Study Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2008), 2100.

1. Week One: A Surprising Runner

Soul Food

Since we believe that Christ died for all, we also believe that we have all died to our old life. He died for everyone so that those who receive his new life will no longer live for themselves. Instead, they will live for Christ, who died and was raised for them.

So we have stopped evaluating others from a human point of view. At one time we thought of Christ merely from a human point of view. How differently we know him now! This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!

Paul in 2 Corinthians 5:14b-17 NLT

To be frank, I’m not a runner, and I have no desire to begin running. But I want to understand it since the apostle Paul often pictures the Christian life as a race, using athletic terminology to represent what it looks like to follow Jesus.

Because considering the lives of other Christians can help us learn what it means to be a disciple of Jesus, we’ll watch Paul run for the next few weeks. Our purpose isn’t to learn ABOUT Paul but to learn FROM him about Jesus and how to faithfully follow him.

It’s usually best to start a story from the beginning. How did Paul get into this race? That’s our topic this week. Even if you’re familiar with his story, consider it from the perspective of those who knew him before he encountered Jesus. What a surprise to them that Paul was now running after Jesus!

Part One Study

Who was Paul? What do we know about his background?

The Hebrew name Saul is used in the early chapters of Acts for the apostle we call Paul. Luke, the historian who wrote the book of Acts, refers to him as “Saul, who was also called Paul” (Acts 13:9). Being of the Jewish tribe of Benjamin, his parents named their son after King Saul, the tribe’s most well-known member. Saul was his Hebrew name while Paul was likely his Roman ancestral name.11 Luke began calling him Paul when his ministry focus turned to the Gentile world.

Although he was a Jew, Paul was of the diaspora, those born outside of Israel, as he identified himself to a crowd in Jerusalem: “I am a Jew, born in Tarsus in Cilicia, but brought up in this city, educated at the feet of Gamaliel according to the strict manner of the law of our fathers, being zealous for God as all of you are this day” (Acts 22:3 ESV). In Acts 16:37 Paul identifies himself as a Roman citizen. “Roman citizenship in the provinces in this period was a mark of high status (especially because Paul’s family was from Tarsus, not a Roman colony, and thus must have received it for special service or as freedpersons of a well-to-do Roman.)”2

Tarsus was located in the southeast corner of modern Turkey. With that background, Paul “is thus completely at home in the worlds of both Jewish story and non-Jewish philosophy,”3 making him God’s perfect choice as his witness to the Gentile (non-Jew) world.

Keep that culture in mind as we consider what else we learn about Paul’s background.

Read Philippians 3:5-7 And Comment On These Questions:

  • In that day “a person’s identity was wrapped up in the reputation of his or her family, community, and people group.” Honor from one’s social group defined success.4 Why would Paul’s background impress his social group?
  • What in your background—family, hometown, education, etc. tempts you to hold on to your “resume” rather than trust God alone?
  • What positives in your life have you or would you have to leave behind to fully follow Jesus? Any thoughts about what that would look like?

*** Research Gamaliel, Tarsus, and/or the Pharisees, recording your thoughts.

Part Two Study

We’ll start this section by reading the first biblical mention of Saul. What seems like only a passing remark at the end of the story of Stephen in Acts 7:58 becomes extremely relevant once Luke begins to focus on Paul’s story later in Acts.

Read Acts 6:8-7:2a; 7:51-8:3. Read Also Paul’s Description Of Himself In Acts 22:1-5 And Galatians 1:13-14 As You Consider This Question:

  • Considering Saul’s background and actions, what is most interesting or noticeable to you about him from these passages?

Paul repeats the word zeal or zealous to describe what led him to persecute the church in Acts 22, Galatians and Philippians, (yesterday’s reading). In our day the word means “PASSION, ardor, love, fervor, fire, avidity, devotion, enthusiasm, eagerness, keenness, appetite, relish, gusto, vigor, energy, intensity; fanaticism.”5 I generally think of it as passionate devotion, but zeal in Israelite tradition involved “actual violence, not just strong emotion.”6

N.T. Wright comments: “. . . one of the solid things that we know about young Saul—[he] followed the ancient tradition of ‘zeal.’ Violence would be necessary to root out wickedness from Israel.”7

The Israelite tradition of zeal began with Phinehas, Aaron’s son, whose zealous actions in killing a couple guilty of sexual immorality stopped a plague in Israel’s camp. The other Old Testament zealot was the prophet Elijah. Wright says about his story, “Most of the Israelites had started to worship Baal, a Canaanite fertility god. …… Step forward the prophet Elijah. He lured the Baal worshippers into a contest that Israel’s God won, and he had the whole lot killed. Once again, great zeal and a great victory.”8

*** Read about Phinehas, “the hero of zeal”9 in Numbers 25:1-13, and note God’s comments about his zeal. If time permits, check out Elijah’s victory in 1 Kings 18:20-40. Journal your thoughts.

With all that in mind, write down your thoughts on these questions:

  • Obviously zeal for God was considered positive. What motivates such strong emotions? Consider how you confront the idolatry in your own heart and that common to your church culture. What would it look like if you were motivated as Paul was?
  • What is God saying to you today?

Part Three Study

  • Acts picks up Paul’s story again three or four years after Jesus’s resurrection (about A.D. 34). Read Acts 9:1-19a, and respond to these questions:
  • In light of what you’ve previously read about Paul, what does this story reveal about God— his character and/or his actions?
  • Meditate on this week’s Soul Food, our verses for this week (2 Corinthians 5:14-17), and write down your thoughts and any parallels you see between your story and Saul’s.
  • How do you sense God encouraging you through this story as you look at your own failures and mistakes?

*** Read one or both of Paul’s own accounts of this event in Acts 22:3-16 and Acts 26:4-23. Journal any additional insights that you gain.

Are you a Christ-follower? If not, God is reaching out to you in his great love. The journey to faith is different for each of us. Some of us, like Saul, are religious and believe that we’re serving God. And yet we don’t believe that Jesus is God himself who became man so he could die and bring us to God, proving his divinity by his resurrection. Maybe you’re sensing that Jesus is who he claimed to be and that he wants you to follow him. He greatly desires that you turn from seeking life apart from him, going your own way instead of God’s. Jesus died to reconcile you to the great Creator God who loves you and wants you to come home to him where true life and peace await.

Talk to God about it, contact your small group leader, or email me at [email protected].

Each week we share a true story that connects to the week’s study. This one is from Kay H.

A Runner’s Story: Kay H

Who was it who said, “Our part is to run away from God as far and as fast as we can and God’s part is to come after us and save us,” or something like that? Well, that’s what I was doing and that’s what God did. It’s surprising that God chose me because before he did I didn’t know anything about him and I really wasn’t making any effort to find out.

At the time I left home for college I had been to church only a handful of times in my life. I had never even read, much less studied the Bible. My thoughts about God and religion were purely philosophical. I had never heard the gospel, at least that I can remember. I definitely had no understanding of what a “personal relationship with God” meant. In fact, I really had no interest in God at all. Never mind—he was interested in me anyway.

At school I was suddenly surrounded by people who had something I didn’t—a relationship with God that was real and personal, based on knowing him from the Bible and a belief in his Son Jesus who died to take away their sin and rose again to eternal life. At first when they tried to talk to me about it, I either ridiculed them or just literally shut the door in their faces. I argued and debated, and I thought I had all the right intellectual answers based on good reason and logic.

My testimony could be something like Paul’s: I thought I was pretty smart. In a worldly sense most people might have agreed with me. But God wasn’t impressed. He knew my reasoning and logic couldn’t come close to his wisdom. Now I see that what was once my greatest source of pride and accomplishment actually caused me the greatest sense of shame and humility. But thanks be to God, he hadn’t given up on me and his grace was bigger than my sinfulness, pride and stupidity.

Despite my stubbornness and refusal to listen to most of the people who tried to talk to me, God was breaking down my resistance and beginning to speak to me through a few individuals. Through their prayers with and for me (which I met at first with “Sure you can pray for me. I don’t think it will do any good, but if it makes you happy knock yourself out.”), kindness, and even time talking to me about what the Bible really says, God eventually showed me that he’s real, and it doesn’t matter what I or anyone else thinks about him. He also showed me that I’m a sinner and his Son Jesus is the only one who is uniquely qualified to take away my sin, and that he did. It surprised a lot of people when I stood up at a campus evangelistic meeting and declared my faith in Jesus Christ, but it didn’t surprise God. He had plans for me.

Would anybody from my past be surprised to see me following Christ and spending my time and energy on his activities rather than the things that motivated me before? Yes, pretty much everyone who ever knew me would be! That fact has caused some painful conversations over the years, but it’s also created some great opportunities to share the gospel of Jesus Christ and the reality of 2 Corinthians 5:17: “So then, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; what is old has passed away —look, what is new has come!”


1 David B. Capes, Rodney Reeves, E. Randolph Richards, Rediscovering Paul: An Introduction to His World, Letters, and Theology, 2nd Edition (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2017), 41.

2 Craig S. Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1993), 370.

3 N.T. Wright, Paul: A Biography (New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 2018), 17.

4 Capes, 23.

5 Apple Dictionary version 2.3.0

6 Wright, 4.

7 Wright, 29.

8 Wright, 32.

9 Wright, 31.

2. Week Two: A Unique Race

Soul Food

Make a careful exploration of who you are and the work you have been given, and then sink yourself into that. Don’t be impressed with yourself. Don’t compare yourself with others.

Paul in Galatians 6:4 MSG

The Christian race isn’t a sprint nor is it a competition. Rather we run a great endurance race together in community that requires perseverance and faithfulness to finish well.

God designed each of us for a particular race. Some of our races are more visible while others involve more difficult obstacles. Just as God creates us with certain physical attributes, he also gives us spiritual gifts that fit his purposes for us as individuals. As Jesus’s disciples, we’re designed by God to fill particular places of service. Each of us runs a unique race, so comparisons with others take the focus off the goal.

This week we’ll consider Paul’s race. Although we don’t have the same call from God as Paul, we can learn how to run and finish well from him.

Consider memorizing your Soul Food verse. It’s a message we often need to remember.

Part One Study

When Paul met Jesus on the road to Damascus, he already fervently loved God, but that encounter caused him to understand the fullness of what that meant. He recognized that Jesus was one with the God he had always served. His path was no longer persecuting followers of Jesus but making them.

From last week’s study we saw that the Lord described Paul to Ananias as “. . . my chosen instrument to carry my name before Gentiles and kings and the people of Israel. For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name” (Acts 9:15–16). Years later Paul quoted Ananias’s words about him: “The God of our ancestors has already chosen you to know his will, to see the Righteous One, and to hear a command from his mouth, because you will be his witness to all people of what you have seen and heard” (Acts 22:14–15).

We’ll eventually read about these other occasions when Paul shared his story. At one point he spoke before Governor Festus, the Jewish King Agrippa and his sister Bernice, sharing with them some of Jesus’ words on the Damascus road: “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. But get up and stand on your feet, for I have appeared to you for this reason, to designate you in advance as a servant and witness to the things you have seen and to the things in which I will appear to you. I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles, to whom I am sending you to open their eyes so that they turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a share among those who are sanctified by faith in me.” (Acts 26:15b-18).

From What You’ve Read Today, State In One Sentence God’s Purposes For Paul’s Life.

So what happened then? How did Paul begin fulfilling that call on his life? Below is a chart outlining what Paul did in the years immediately after he began following Jesus.

As you go through the chart on the next page, read as many of the verses as you can. Before that, however, read the Part One questions on page 22 so you have them in mind as you read.

Paul’s Early Travels

This chart adopts the chronology found in Rediscovering Paul.1

Bible passage

Location

What happened there?

Dates

Acts 9:1-19b (You read this in Week One)

Trip to and time in Damascus

Jesus revealed himself to Saul & called him to obey. After Ananias laid hands on him, Paul regained his sight and was baptized. Soon left for Arabia.

Total 3 years

A.D. 34-37

Galatians 1:17

Arabia

Paul spent time in Arabia.

Galatians 1:17; Acts 9:19b-25*

Damascus

Paul proclaimed Jesus in synagogues, amazing everyone and confounding them by proving Jesus was the Messiah. Some Jews plotted to kill him, but Paul escaped in a basket over the city wall.

Galatians 1:18-20; Acts 9:26-30

Jerusalem

Paul met with Cephas (Peter) for 15 days, seeing only him and James, the brother of Jesus. Hellenists tried to kill him so he returned to Tarsus.

A.D. 37

Gal. 1:21 & possibly 2 Cor. 11:23-27

Syria & Tarsus in Cilicia

Preaching

A.D. 37-46

Acts 11:25-26

Antioch

Barnabas, having been sent to Antioch by the church leaders to check out the new church there, went to Tarsus and got Saul. They taught great numbers of people there.

A.D. 47

Galatians 2:1-10; Acts 11:27-30**

Jerusalem

2nd visit to Jerusalem with Barnabas & Titus taking a gift to church for famine relief. Paul checked out the accuracy of his gospel presentation with church leaders. James, Cephas, and John approved & agreed Paul would go to the Gentiles while they went to Jews.

A.D. 48 (based on 14 yrs. from Paul’s conversion)

Acts 12:25

Antioch

Return to Antioch with John Mark

A.D. 48

*Some scholars place Acts 9:19b-22 (Paul’s time teaching in Damascus) after the trip to Arabia and some place it before. Luke, the author of Acts, simply skips the Arabian stay, forcing speculation as to the specific chronology since he spent time in Damascus both before and after Arabia.

**There is debate as to whether Galatians describes Paul’s visit to Jerusalem in Acts 11 or the one in Acts 15.

Now Record Your Insights Into Paul’s Early Days Of Following Jesus With These Questions In Mind:

  • What insights do you have into the man Saul as he grew as a disciple and witness for Christ?
  • Describe the reactions to Saul from the various people he encountered after his life changed. How do you think you would have reacted and why?
  • What do these passages reveal about God?

*** Consider what you’ve learned about Barnabas from the verses in the chart and also in Acts 4:32-37. Do you need a Barnabas in your life who believes in you and encourages you? If so, where can you put yourself with strong Christian women who’ve walked with God longer than you have? Once you connect with someone, ask her to coffee to simply talk and ask questions about her life and her walk with Christ. If you want to meet further, ask her if she would meet with you periodically. OR perhaps YOU need to be a Barnabas for a younger believer. Look for women who need to be encouraged to recognize and respond to opportunities to serve God.

Part Two Study

Today we’ll read an incident in Acts 11 which begins when Saul is in Tarsus in Cilica, as noted on the chart on Part One. Then we’ll read in Acts 13, which occurs after the dates on the chart.

Read Acts 11:19-26 and Acts 13:1-4 (c. A.D. 48). Then journal your thoughts on these questions:

  • What impresses you about the church in Antioch?
  • How did God use this church in connection with his purposes for Paul?
  • What does this story reveal about God?
  • What is God saying to you from Paul’s story?

In our individualistic society, it seems reasonable to push for what we believe is God’s agenda for us rather than wait on God’s Spirit to confirm his will for us through the church body. When God is ready to send his people forward, you can bet that he can and will. He is sovereign over all.

***Read the story in John 21:15-23. What is Jesus’ answer to our tendency to compete with others in the race of the Christian life?

Part Three Study

Today we’ll investigate Paul’s unique race further. Paul is called an apostle. The word apostle is the Greek word apostolos, from the verb meaning to send. It means one sent, an ambassador. “It designates the office as instituted by Christ to witness of Him before the world.”2

Read these passages and then comment on the questions below: 1 Corinthians 4:1-2, 9:16-17; 2 Corinthians 5:18b-20; Colossians 1:25-29; 2 Timothy 1:8-12.

  • What is the common thread in what Paul says about his ministry? Why do you think he emphasized this in his letters to various churches?
  • How does that relate to the ways Paul adjusted his life in order to follow God’s plans for him?
  • What is God saying to you from these verses today?

Despite having grown up in the church, I was clueless that God prepared each Christian for a unique race which requires his/her God-given gifting. Once I realized that God expected me to use my gifts, I needed direction as to what they were. My Bible teacher suggested that God would give me a desire to do the work for which I was gifted. At that time the only thing that sounded remotely interesting to me was teaching the Bible because I had been greatly influenced by a former teacher, so I asked God for an opportunity to use that gift if I had it. The next morning the leader of our small group Bible study asked me to step in and lead at the last minute because she woke up very sick. I was scared to death, but I couldn’t say no when I’d prayed for a chance to do that very thing. To my surprise, teaching the Bible gave me energy and excitement, and despite me, God used me. Before I had that teaching opportunity, I had served in other ways, but my efforts were unsuccessful and totally tired me out—good clues I didn’t have the needed gifts.

Clearly, Paul’s call was more specific than most of us experience because Christ personally identified his ministry. We, however, often have to eliminate and try out possible gifts to be sure.

  • What do you know about your spiritual gifts and the strengths that God has given you? Plan to share that with your group. How do you need to adjust your life to use those gifts and follow him? If you don’t know, ask your group for suggestions of where to start.

God’s kingdom work depends on all of us doing our part. As we work together in our various areas of gifting, the Holy Spirit works through us and God receives the glory. You are essential to the work of God in this world. Discover your gifting, learn from those who have that gift, and serve.

*** Read the New Testament passages on spiritual gifts: Romans 12:1-8; 1 Corinthians 12; Ephesians 4:4-16; 1 Peter 4:1-11. Ask for input from several believers who are knowledgable about spiritual gifts as to how they see you gifted, OR volunteer in an area of interest and ask for input about how it went. How did you feel about serving in that way? Find out how others think it went. Feel free to contact us at BOW3 for help discovering how God has made and called you.

This week’s story is from Jana who discovered the passion that helps her fulfill God’s calling.

A Runner’s Story: Jana

I’ve always had an affinity for working with women and children. They’re whom I’m most comfortable around and seem to relate to the best. I really became aware of this when I started traveling, both for fun and on mission trips.

On my mission trip to Africa, I ended up helping with the nightly service for children. I so enjoyed interacting with them, playing games with them, and teaching them how much God loved them.

On my trip to China, I went for the purpose of determining how best our church could help with children’s ministries. I ended up having lots of encounters with the mothers and other women there and had the opportunity to encourage them and see the challenges they were dealing with. This inspired me to try and connect them with resources here that would help them with studying God’s word and receiving training on how to teach and lead women.

These encounters helped me realize how much the women and children here at home also need training, encouragement and love. They inspired me to seek ways of helping here at home. Wherever God leads, I hope to have more opportunities to serve women and children.


1 Capes, 78–79.

2 Spiros Zodhiates, Complete Word Study Dictionary: New Testament (Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers, 1992), 238.

3 https://beyondordinarywomen.org/contact-alternative/

3. Week Three: A Bold Runner

Soul Food

Therefore we do not despair, but even if our physical body is wearing away, our inner person is being renewed day by day. For our momentary, light suffering is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison because we are not looking at what can be seen but at what cannot be seen. For what can be seen is temporary, but what cannot be seen is eternal.

Paul in 2 Corinthians 4:16-18

Courage requires overcoming fear—fear of others, fear of loss, fear of all sorts of consequences. Out of self-protection, we often shy away from speaking truth. As Christians, we’re called to be bold because we trust in God—not that he’ll protect us from all harm but that he’ll go with us through any hard consequences and reward us in the end for being bold in the face of suffering for Christ.

I can’t think of any biblical character, except Jesus of course, who better exhibits this kind of courage over the course of many years than Paul, as we’ll see. This week’s study focuses on that aspect of his character.

Part One Study

Last week we read that the Spirit told the church leaders to send Paul and Barnabas out on God’s work (Acts 13:2). We’ll see today that they took with them a young man, John Mark (Acts 12:25; 13:5) the author of the gospel of Mark, on what we now call Paul’s first missionary journey. You might want to download a good online map of Paul’s trip or look in the back of your Bible if you like visuals. (I found this free map1 easy to understand.)

As you read the stories, notice Paul’s boldness—a necessity when spreading a revolutionary message. In a world that called Caesar Lord (Greek Kyrios), the gospel called people ruled by Rome to embrace Jesus as the one and only Lord (also Kyrios), serving him alone. As N.T. Wright says, “Paul’s ‘missionary’ journeys . . .were aimed at the establishment of a new kind of kingdom on earth as in heaven. A kingdom with Jesus as king. The kingdom—Paul was quite emphatic about this— that Israel’s God had always intended to set up.”2

The last page of this lesson (p. 30) provides a chart listing the places Paul visited on this first journey

—for those of you who like keeping track of such things. As you read about this mission trip, fill in the chart as you go.

Read Acts 13:4-14:28, And Write Your Insights Into These Questions:

  • How do you see Paul’s boldness on this journey?
  • What do you learn about Paul and Barnabas’s strategy from this first missionary journey?
  • What do you learn about God from these stories?
  • What is God saying to you from these stories?

*** Read from Bible study sources and commentaries about the places and/or events that interest you from this reading.3

Part Two Study

We ended Part One with Paul and Barnabas back in Antioch where their first mission trip began. “And they remained no little time with the disciples” (Acts 14:28 ESV). It was likely during this furlough that Paul wrote the first of his thirteen epistles in our Scriptures, the letter to the Galatians, a region where he had planted churches on his previous trip.

From the outset of Paul’s ministry, he met Jewish opposition, as we’ve already seen. But resistance also arose from Jews who, like Paul, now followed Jesus. Their transition from the Law of Moses (given only to Israel) to the church (comprised of Jew and Gentile) was a hard one.

Wright explains: “It wasn’t simply that the idea of the One God becoming human was a shock to the system … It was, just as much, that the implications of all this for the ancestral way of life were either not clear or all too disturbingly clear. Paul’s own question, what it would look like if the One God created a new single family of ‘brothers and sisters’ in the Messiah, had potentially revolutionary answers. And traditional societies do not welcome revolution.”4

Many of these Jewish believers insisted that it was necessary for Gentile believers to follow the law of Moses by being circumcised. Paul’s letter to the Galatians indicates that such men had arrived in Galatia after his visit there, convincing the new believers that they must be circumcised. The authors of Rediscovering Paul point out the seriousness of the issue: “For Paul himself … the question of law was not merely academic. It threatened to divide the body of Christ.”5

***God’s covenant with Abraham required men to be circumcised to be members of God’s covenant people. Read Genesis 17:9-14 where God initiated the covenant of circumcision. Read Exodus 4:18-20, 24-26 for a strange story that emphasizes how strongly God felt about its necessity. Journal your thoughts.

Read Galatians 5:1-6 First, And Then Read Galatians 2:11-14, Filling In The Chart On P. 30 And Journaling About The Questions Below:

  • What was Paul’s stand on the need to circumcise Gentiles who followed Jesus? What do you find in Paul’s language that suggests the importance Paul gave to this issue?
  • Imagine Paul publicly calling out Cephas (Peter), an apostle who walked with Christ long before Paul did. What do you think you would have done if you had seen Peter and other leaders pleasing a group of Jewish Christians by refusing to eat with Gentile Christians (likely because of the Law’s dietary restrictions)? Why? Consider what message their actions sent about the church to Gentiles and why this rebuke was a public one. Journal your thoughts.
  • Read Acts 16:1-3. (We’ll reread these verses next week as we look at Paul’s second journey.) Read also Galatians 2:1-5, contrasting how Paul treated the issue of circumcision differently with Timothy and Titus. Consider what made their situations different. Note: Although by the 2nd Century A.D. Jewish law decreed that a child with a Gentile dad and Jewish mom was considered Jewish, he still had to be circumcised.6
  • How, where and/or with whom is God asking you to be more bold?

The church today is divided on many issues. Some of them are gospel issues while others are secondary. Racial unity takes on added importance when viewed as a gospel issue in light of Paul’s message in Galatians. (BOW’s conversation on the subject “Leading Toward Racial Reconciliation —It’s a Gospel Issue” is available on video or podcast.)7

When is it right to take a strong stand and when do we simply live in peace? Paul’s position provides guidance regarding divisions that undermine the gospel that says all are sinners and all Christians are one in Christ. But many issues aren’t as central. You might watch BOW’s free video “Choosing Trustworthy Resources 3--Determining the Central Truths of our Faith”8 for helpful guidelines. (The whole series is available on video or podcast.)

Part Three Study

After Paul completed his first missionary journey, he spent some time in Antioch and then went down to Jerusalem for an important meeting (c. A.D. 49) purposed to deal with the kinds of theological issues we’ve already seen arise because of Gentile believers (Acts 15:1-6). We now call it the Jerusalem Council. Keep in mind that the early church was made up of Jews and Jewish proselytes for several years (before Acts 10 when Peter shared the gospel with the Gentiles), so including Gentiles involved questions that the church had not previously dealt with.

*** Read Luke’s account of the Jerusalem Council in Acts 15:1-35. Journal anything you find significant about the issues that Paul boldly stood for in his letter to the Galatians. What do you learn from the leaders of this meeting?

Now Read Passages From Paul’s Writings That Help Us Understand His Courage Or Boldness In The Midst Of Many Difficult Hardships. Write Your Thoughts From The Questions Below On These Verses: Romans 1:15-17; 15:14-22; 1 Corinthians 4:1-5, 14-16; 2 Corinthians 1:8-11; 3:11-12; 4:7-18 (Including Our Week’s Verses); 2 Timothy 4:14-18.

  • From the hints in these passages from Paul’s letters, how would you describe what motivated Paul’s boldness?
  • What do you sense in these passages about what made it hard for Paul to courageously keep going at times?
  • What is God saying to you this week about your own boldness? If you feel you have failed to be bold, ask God for forgiveness and the faith to trust him when you should be bold.

This week’s story is from Dr. Sandra Glahn, Professor at Dallas Seminary.9 I asked her to write it because I so admire her bold, yet gracious way of standing for truth.

A Runner’s Story: Sandra Glahn

My husband and I endured years of infertility that included multiple pregnancy losses, failed adoptions, and an emergency surgery for an ectopic pregnancy. And all that heartbreak spanned a decade before we finally had the successful adoption of our daughter.

Along the way, our spiritual journey resulted in a public ministry. It started when I attended an informal support group for fertility patients. Among these friends I found that when I shared my own heartache with strangers of other faiths or no faith, we often transitioned naturally into discussions about life’s big questions. Why am I here? Is there a God? Does he have a plan? And much as my heart was breaking, I found God always carried me. So, in speaking with those who walked alone, part of me wanted to tell of my hope. And doors opened for me to share with a broader audience. But a big part of me just wanted to keep my journey to myself.

A story God used to change my heart was the one in the Gospel of Mark in which Jesus heals a woman with a twelve-year menstrual issue (Mark 5:25–34). Rather than allowing her to slip away into the crowd without telling anyone about the goodness of God, Jesus calls out and asks who touched him. Busted. She comes and falls at his feet and tells him everything—her whole menstrual history and how he fixed it—right there in front of God and everybody. Why would he require that? So that everyone present might know he is God. And he is good.

Revisiting that story moved me toward more boldness. So, I began to share more. And to my pleasant surprise, I found that my openness contributed both to others’ healing and also to my own as I saw God using me.

Decades later, that experience has spilled over into other areas. For example, my infertility journey led me to explore lots of questions about God’s design for men and women. Is motherhood actually a woman’s ultimate calling? Did God make men to lead and women to follow? Can we take verses with commands to wives and husbands and assume from them something innate about men and women? Does a closed womb mean God’s disfavor? So. Many. Questions. And in answering them, I’ve had to relook at the Bible but also at influences of culture, including my evangelical Christian subculture. Consequently, as I’ve gone public with what I’ve learned, I’ve had thousands of conversations with men and women about “the role of women.” Sometimes that topic makes people angry. People sometimes make assumptions about my motives. And my character. But I try to share freely. Because after many conversations on this topic, other people make statements like, “I finally feel like I have wings,” and “So God doesn’t like men better than women” or “So I don’t have to be an Alpha Male to be a good man?”

Jesus was full of grace and truth. And I need both. I try to listen. And I seek to discern how much information my conversation partner actually wants. But ultimately love compels me to share—not abrasively—but boldly. Gently. With grace. I don’t always get it right. But I have a great model in Christ. And I sense him urging me to share with the crowd—because he and his word have always been faithful. And that is really great news.

Paul’s First Missionary Journey (Link To Map)10

Place Visited

Acts

Notes/Outcome of the visit

Seleucia

13:4

Salamis on Cyprus

13:5

Paphos on Cyprus

13:6-12

Perga in Pamphylia

13:13

Pisidian Antioch

13:14-52

Iconium

13:51,

14:1-6

Lystra

14:6-20

Derbe

14:20-21

a

Lystra, Iconium & Pisidian Antioch

14:21b-2

3

Perga in Pamphylia

14:24-25

Attalia

14:25


1 https://www.conformingtojesus.com/images/webpages/pauls_first_missionary_journey1.jpg

2 Wright, 106-107.

3 Dr. Thomas Constable’s free notes can be found at https://planobiblechapel.org/tcon/notes/pdf/acts.pdf

4 Wright, 77.

5 Capes, 140.

6 Keener, 366.

7 https://vimeo.com/album/4826757 for video or https://beyondordinarywomen.org/racial-reconciliation-a-gospel-issue/ for podcast

8 https://vimeo.com/261199690 or link to https://vimeo.com/album/5065391 to watch the entire video series or listen to the podcasts at https://beyondordinarywomen.org/bow-podcast-episodes/

9 Sandra Glahn’s complete bio is on our website. Her blog at aspire2.com covers many of the issues she mentions in this story.

4. Week Four: Paced By The Spirit

Soul Food

And when they had come up to Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them.

Describing Paul and his companions in Acts 16:7 ESV

Although I have absolutely no experience with long distance races myself, I do have a daughter who has run in two marathons and several half marathons, which gives me some experience by osmosis or something. I do know that it’s wise to run with a group progressing at the same pace. If a runner starts too fast, she grows so tired that she may not complete the race. If she runs too slowly, her time won’t be her best. As I watched my daughter run the Chicago marathon, I noticed certain runners holding signs with a pace time so that anyone wishing to run at that speed could run with them.

As one running in God’s race, Paul was paced by the Spirit. We, too, must learn to listen and follow the leading of the Spirit in our lives so that we complete the race well without burning out or failing to finish the unique work God has given each of us.

After the Jerusalem Council ended, Paul returned to Antioch from where he soon left on a second missionary journey, which likely occurred about A.D. 50-52. You’ll find a chart of the second journey at the end of this lesson to make notes on his travels as you read.

As we follow this part of Paul’s journeys, keep in mind our focus this week—to consider how God’s Spirit paced and led him.

Part One Study

Before reading about Paul’s second trip, let’s look at how God led the first trip. Luke doesn’t provide a lot of information about what Paul and his companions were thinking or praying as they moved from city to city, but let’s use the information we have to at least consider God’s pacing.

Review Paul’s First Journey (Last Week’s Lesson), Either Using The Chart On P. 30 Or With A Quick Review Of Acts 13:4-14:28, Focusing On What Caused Them To Move From Place To Place. Keep These In Mind As You Read Today’s Stories.

Now we’ll turn to Paul’s second journey. Here’s a free map of this second journey1 to help. Record your insights into this second journey on the chart at the end of this week’s study on p. 36 as you go.

As You Read Acts 15:36–16:5, Journal Your Thoughts On The Following Questions In Light Of Your Review Of The First Journey As Well As This Part Of The Second. (We’re Saving The Paul/Barnabas Dispute For Another Lesson.)

  • What events, etc. do you note that pushed Paul and his companions on from city to city? Look for the big picture, i.e. patterns. What would you say is God’s part in this?

Acts 15:36 says that Paul suggested this second trip as a follow-up visit to the churches that he and Barnabas had planted on the previous trip, and Paul and his new mission partner Silas did return to Syria, Cilicia and southern Galatia, strengthening the disciples, as planned. Meanwhile Barnabas and Mark visited the churches in Cyprus, which was Barnabas’s home.

Now where?

Read Acts 16:6-12.

In two short verses (Acts 16:6–7), Luke describes why Paul’s travels may have felt aimless after they left the church plants in southern Galatia. The scriptures suggest that no ministry took place during that time (Acts 16:5-12).

A trip which takes us only a few seconds to read, involved hundreds of miles of travel from southern Galatia and an unknown amount of time before Paul and his companions arrived in Troas (the area of ancient Troy)2 on the coast of the Hellespont, the four-mile-wide waterway separating Europe and Asia, where the travelers finally received direction about their next destination.

A possibility to consider: “Paul left the familiar region . . . , crossing the Aegean Sea, only after a vision from God (Acts16:9-10). Perhaps it was never Paul’s intention to take the gospel beyond . . . Asia Minor. This seems implied by Acts 16:6-7.”3

Write Down Your Thoughts On These Questions In Light Of The Verses And Information:

  • What do you understand about the importance of discerning the voice of the Spirit from these verses?
  • Describe the ways God has guided you. In light of that, which of Paul’s stories do you most relate to and why?
  • What is God saying to you through Acts today?

*** Read from additional sources about what you’ve read today.

Part Two Study

In your reading in Part One you may have noticed that in Acts 16:10, where the travelers booked their trip to Macedonia, the northern area of Greece, the pronouns change from “they” to “we.” Most scholars see this as an indication that Luke, author of Acts, joined Paul and his party at this point. As you read the rest of Acts, look for Luke’s presence by noting his pronouns.

As you read the stories that comprise the rest of the second journey, keep noting how often Paul faced persecution and opposition. (You may want to highlight every place he met that kind of trouble on the chart at the end of the lesson.)

As You Read Acts 16:11-18:22, The Rest Of The Second Journey, Make Notes On The Chart On P. 36, And Record Your Thoughts On The Questions Below The Note:

Note: In Philippi we see the first record of Paul spending time in prison. N.T. Wright helps us understand what that involved: “In Paul’s world, unlike ours, prison was not a ‘sentence’ in itself. It was where magistrates put people while they decide what to do with them. No provision was made for the prisoner’s welfare. They had to rely on friends or family to bring them food and other necessities.”4

  • What do these stories reveal about God in general and his guidance specifically?
  • Meditate on the opposition and persecution that Paul endured throughout this second journey. What do you learn from Paul’s attitude?
  • What is God saying to you today?

*** Our reading in Acts introduces a couple of great Christian women, Lydia and Priscilla. In BOW’s series of three free videos/podcasts, “You ARE On God’s Team,”5 Claudia McGuire encourages Christian women through both of their stories: Lydia’s story: “God Uses Your Availability”6 and Priscilla’s story: “God Uses Your Gifts.”7 Watch the series or one or both of the individual stories, and journal about how God is speaking to you.

Part Three Study

We saw in the scriptures in Part Two that after Paul arrived in Macedonia, he visited Philippi before heading to Thessalonica, where he spent only a short few weeks (Acts 17:1-10). Paul went on from there to Berea, Athens and then Corinth. It was during his time in Corinth when Paul likely wrote his two letters to the Thessalonians, saying, “But when we were separated from you, brothers and sisters, for a short time (in presence, not in affection) we became all the more fervent in our great desire to see you in person. For we wanted to come to you (I, Paul, in fact tried again and again) but Satan thwarted us” (1 Thess. 2:17-18).

Even though Paul recognized that Satan was at work preventing him from returning where he wanted to go, he didn’t let it stop him from doing the work that was in front of him, from doing what he could do. Satan’s efforts didn’t dissuade him or depress him. In fact, Satan is rarely mentioned in Paul’s letters and is never his focus.

Some Christians credit Satan whenever things go wrong. After all, it couldn’t possibly be God’s will or plan for his work to fail or circumstances to be difficult, or could it?

Consider these first two journeys. Yes, Satan stopped Paul’s plans at times, but so did the Spirit. We don’t always know who’s behind a closed door, but we do know that God is in control, even when it’s Satan, and so Paul kept doing God’s work, not allowing Satan to stop him completely. Since God is in charge, we accept Satan’s attempts to stop us as God’s opportunities for us to keep trusting and serving where we can. Often, Satan’s real target is our faith. He wants to make us depressed, question God’s presence or quit the race. We must be alert to what he’s trying to do in us and entrust the closed door to God.

As You Consider God’s Sovereignty Over Paul’s Travels, Read These Verses And Write Your Thoughts On The Questions: 1 Samuel 2:4-10 (Hannah’s Prayer); Job 1:6-12; 2:1-6; Dan. 4:17, 34-35.

  • What do these verses reveal about God’s rule and Satan’s power?
  • How do you generally respond when good ideas and good works don’t work out? Why?
  • Read Genesis 50:19-21, Joseph’s words to his brothers who sold him into slavery. Note your thoughts about how Paul’s story involves the same principle.

*** Read John 19:6-11, and note the last conversation between Pilate and Jesus. Write down your insights into Jesus’ words in v. 11 and the opposition and persecution we’ve seen in Paul’s story.

I love this prayer from John Baillie:

Thank you for every indication of your Spirit leading me, and for the things that seem like chance or coincidence at the time, but later appear to me as part of your gracious plan for my spiritual growth. Help me to follow where you lead and never quench this light that you have ignited within me, rather let me grow daily in grace and in the knowledge of Jesus my Lord.8

Sometimes it’s hard to see what God is doing when circumstances change and we face difficulties. Although unable to understand at the time, Ann can now look back at hurtful circumstances and recognize that God was at work for her good.

A Runner’s Story: Ann

I am from a small town in Texas and grew up with the notion that you graduated from high school and maybe went to college. Then you got married. I had dated the same guy all through high school and for two years in college, so I assumed that we would get married eventually. I was deeply hurt when he announced after our sophomore year that we should date other people over the summer. He had gotten a job in the city where we attended college, and I was going back to our home town. I was still hoping that after the summer, we would get back together. After all, we had dated for six years.

In late July I received a “Dear Ann” letter stating that he had met someone else and that they would be getting married in August! To say the least, I was devastated. I returned all of his personal items that I still had and burned his pictures, but my heart was truly broken. How could God have allowed this to happen? He had completely closed the door on that relationship.

I returned to college that fall and tried to get on with my life. I dated several people and eventually met a special person. We dated for two years and were married. Eventually we moved to Dallas for his job and to raise our family. Shortly after moving to Dallas, I was invited by an acquaintance to a Christian Women’s Luncheon where women shared their testimonies about how trusting Christ as their Savior had changed their lives. One of those who gave her testimony was the wife of my husband’s cousin. My acquaintance soon became my friend and mentor who led me to the Lord. We signed our children up for five day clubs and vacation Bible schools at several churches the next summer. We signed the kids up for Five-Day Clubs and vacation Bible schools. Our children trusted Christ, and eventually our husbands joined the family of God. Though our paths seldom cross now, she was one of the tools God used to lead me to Christ.

It has been many years since God intervened and put me on the path that eventually led me to Him through his son, Jesus Christ. He knew all along what his plans for me were, and what it would take to get me where he wanted me to be. I am thankful that He changed the direction of my life so many years ago.

Paul’s Second Missionary Journey (Link To Map)9

Place Visited

Acts

Notes

Syria & Cilicia (regions), Derbe & Lystra

15:41-16:5

 

Phrygia (area in Galatia) & Galatia

16:6

 

Mysia (region)

16:7-8

 

Troas

16:8-11

 

Philippi

16:12-40

 

Thessalonica

17:1-10a

 

Berea

17:10-14

 

Athens

17:15-34

 

Corinth

18:1-18

Likely writes 1 & 2 Thessalonians

Cenchrea

18:18

 

Ephesus

18:19-21

 

Caesarea & Jerusalem (church was “up in” Jerusalem)

18:22

 

Antioch

18:22

 

 


Pages