Sunday, July 8th
Read: Acts 14
There’s no doubt about it. True revolutionaries live extraordinary lives. Put yourself in the shoes of Paul and Barnabas:
You walk into a new city. You scope it out, meet the people. There’s a chance people will accept you. There’s also a really good chance they’ll try to kill you. It seems everywhere you go, people want you dead. This might be the last place you tell anyone about Jesus. But something inside you can’t stop. Jesus is just too good to keep to yourself—you need to tell the world. So if it gets you killed, that’s okay.
Welcome to the life of Paul and Barnabas. These men constantly had a question all revolutionaries have to come to terms with: “Who’s on my side, and who isn’t?”
Unfortunately for these two, those who weren’t on their side usually wanted them dead. In Iconium they preached with God’s power so that many people believed in Christ. God even backed up their message by giving them the power to do miracles! A lot of people were buying into what Paul and Barnabas were doing. On the other hand, there were a lot of people who tried to kill them and Paul and Barnabas barely escaped with their lives.
Paul and Barnabas faced a completely different problem in the next town. When God gave Paul the power to heal, the people began to worship him and Barnabas as gods! This time, God’s messengers had a lot of people on their side, but for completely the wrong reasons. They were all about the flashy stuff, but they didn’t accept Jesus. To follow that up, Jews from Antioch came afterwards, got the crowd behind them, and stoned Paul.
Being a revolutionary isn’t easy. It nearly got Paul killed a lot of times, but because of his revolutionary commitment to Jesus, a lot of people heard the gospel and the course of history was changed forever. Jesus wants to use you just like he used Paul and Barnabas. You can be a revolutionary too. Are you willing to put yourself on the line to tell others about Jesus?
Process:
– Who will be on your side when you tell others about Jesus? Why do you want to be a revolutionary?
– Can you tell about a time when you felt you were in danger because of your faith?
Are you in it because it sounds fun/because you think you should/because someone else told you to, or are you in it because you want to follow Jesus?
– Can you say that you are fully committed and devoted to Jesus? What needs to happen for you to be able to honestly claim that?
Youth Department