 Alright, good to have you all back, so far we saw how there was that first missionary journey where various cities were impacted by the ministry of Paul and Barnabas. So the last image that I showed you, it was actually that image was meant to show the time before Paul's missionary journey, so that's why I was wondering all the arrows are in the wrong places, but let me quickly put up the actual first missionary journey. I know, I already showed you but in acts you can't really overdo looking at the maps, so it's always nice to look at the maps, so here it is for us, we can see Antioch, Salusia, Salamis, Paphos, Perga, and then Antioch, Iconium, Listra, Derb, back to Listra, Iconium, return to Antioch, then of course they make their way back to Perga, Atalia, another place, and then back to Antioch to report whatever God had done among them, so that is your first missionary journey, about two years duration. Alright, so now let's get back to Acts chapter 15, they went twice to every place, they went twice to every place, yeah, yeah, so Jefina was asking they went twice to every place, that's true, that's so that they get strengthened, so they did not abandon the new believers, that's also something for us to observe, that's why I shared right, apostolic ministry to really build people up and also to groom leaders, so that's how they, and they did a powerful work, they preached the Gospel, they were filled with the Holy Spirit, science wonders and miracles, and I'm sure they would have preached to people of various categories. Now let's read on from Acts chapter 15, and we'll see what exactly will happen over here, now let's go to getting off this passage, so this passage, the key feature of Acts 15 is the Jerusalem Council, now we will see throughout this particular chapter that there will be an issue in the Church of Antioch, and to resolve the matter, the leaders of Antioch will tie in with the leaders of Jerusalem because they are the final authority, because the Apostles are in Jerusalem, so they will go to Jerusalem, join this primary team of Apostles, make the decisions and a decree will be sent out or released to all the believers across the region, so that is what is going to happen, so this team that decides on what needs to happen is what is known as the Jerusalem Council, so Acts 15 primarily is about the Jerusalem Council, so what is going on in this passage, fine, when we come to verse 1 over here, it says, certain men came down from Judea and taught the brethren, unless you are circumcised, according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved, so far we know that the teaching of the Apostles, the doctrine is faith by grace, isn't it, like they need to believe in God because of what Jesus has done, however there is a new teaching that is coming through some propagators and they are saying that circumcision is essential, without circumcision you cannot be saved, is that what the Apostles were preaching, not at all, isn't it, even when you find that Cornelius and his household got saved, it was all about putting their faith in the Lord Jesus, Acts 4 12, salvation is found in no other name, no other name under heaven was given to men by which we must be saved, so salvation is by grace, but a wrong teaching came into being regarding works and that particular work which they were insisting on was circumcision, now when Paul and Barnabas heard this, verse 2 it says they had no small dissension and dispute with them, that simply says that they were so upset that they almost argued with the men who were teaching this theology of works and they wanted to make sure Paul and Barnabas wanted to make sure that they clarify this matter to everyone and so they decided to go up to Jerusalem, meet the Apostles and elders about this question, so notice now we must see the progress of the church, okay, we saw earlier Peter and John and then slowly we saw other names Philip, Stephen and then gradually we went on to people like Paul, Barnabas and John Mark, but now in Jerusalem we also have a picture of elders, so along with the Apostles what has happened, there is the emergence of another set or second line of leadership, you have elders, till at 14 there is no such mention like what is elders, but now church government, we call this church government, evolution of church government, there is the set of elders, okay and Paul and Barnabas they want to go meet this team of Apostles and elders and discuss the matter, alright, so now they go there and they report all things, you know that God has done among them and they bring up this particular matter, so in verse 5 they share this issue, they say but some of the sect of the Pharisees who believed rose up saying it is necessary to circumcise them and to command them to keep the law, Moses, okay, so even when they went up and they shared this matter, so what's happening is that some among the group of the council also feel like yeah actually isn't it, this is what Moses taught us, he kept the customs, so what's wrong with that, so there is a difference of opinion within the council itself and we'll see how this matter will actually be settled, so let's come to verse 6 and I think it may be useful for us to quickly read through it, we can read till verse 21, so someone is up for that, Acts 15, 6 to 21, Acts chapter 15 verse 6 to 21, now the Apostles and elders came together, consider this matter and when there had been much dispute Peter rose up and said to them, men and brethren you know that a good while ago God chose among us that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe, so God who knows the heart acknowledged them by giving them the Holy Spirit just as he did to us and made no distinction between us and them purifying their hearts by faith, now therefore why do you test God by putting a yoke on the neck of the disciples which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear, but we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved in the same manner as they, then all the multitude kept silent and listened to Barnabas and Paul declaring how many miracles and wonders God had worked through them among the Gentiles and after they had become silent James answered saying men and brethren listen to me Simon has declared how God at first visited the Gentiles to take out of them a people for his name and with this and with this the words of the prophets agree just as it is written after that after this I will return and will rebuild the tabernacle of David which has fallen down I will rebuild its ruins and I will set it up so that the rest of the mankind may seek the Lord even all the Gentiles who are called by my name says the Lord who does all these things known to God from eternity or all his works therefore I judge that we should not trouble those who those from the Gentiles who are turning to God but that we write to them to abstain from things polluted by idols from sexual immorality from things strungle and from blood for Moses had throughout many nations those who preach him in every city being read in the synagogues every Sabbath so what we are observing here is we saw that Paul and Barnabas bus were very upset about the wrong teaching they go to Jerusalem they present the idea to the council over there but some of the believing Pharisees they stand up and say but isn't it there in the custom of Moses to actually circumcise so what is wrong about this there's a difference of opinion but the matter gets discussed further you know whether they have to insist that circumcision is needed for the Gentiles but after this whole you know it was a difficult discussion it was not easy but when there was no conclusion we find that Peter is static and he is trying to provide his view regarding this matter and he quotes from the book of Amos where God had promised that he will rebuild the tabernacle of David he will rebuild its ruins and then a portion of what was said by Amos was that God will minister to the Gentiles and that ministers that Gentiles will come to know Jesus Christ so he's saying that God already had a heart to bring the Gentiles into the kingdom of God and that the Jews should not make it difficult for the Gentiles to actually be accommodated in that family of the believers so when people come up with teachings new teachings like this which have no bearing in what the Lord Jesus has done on the cross what happens is an additional burden is put on the Gentiles so he says Simon says that you know let us not put this additional responsibility on the Gentiles where we are telling them yes you can put your faith in the Lord Jesus you can be born again but you still have to be circumcised to be fully saved so that is the burden that Paul is talking about and he's saying we should not be putting this additional responsibility on them however he understands the reason why you know some guidelines may be necessary for the Gentiles so we have to now look at the entire believing community it is composed of people from different backgrounds different cultures different languages different you know social standings but peace needs to be maintained among all of them so Peter proposes he says the Gentiles who are coming to know the Lord let's not say that they need to be circumcised because no such requirement was given by God but we can share some other practical guidelines for the Gentiles which may be valid and so he brings up this list he says I have stayed from things polluted to idols from sexual immorality and things strangled and from blood so the Gentiles are anyway going to come into the fold and they don't have to be circumcised to be saved okay but for them to really live out this holy life that they're being called to and leave behind their practices why don't we propose some of these guidelines which will help them live a holy life and be integrated into the body of believers okay so I'll just put that in a nutshell in case my communication was a little confusing for us so what is happening is there is a requirement which is being insisted which is circumcision but Peter clarifies that there is no such requirement for salvation okay even if it were to be circumcision it's not a requirement for salvation people can be saved because of their faith okay now that matter is resolved however as many Gentiles are coming into the believing community we may need to guide them using some instructions that is to leave behind their old ways and what would they propose guidelines be stay away from idols worshipping of idols sexual immorality and things which are strangled and from blood because maybe the Gentiles had these practices which could have been disturbing for the Jewish community and that is why they share some guidelines for the Gentiles so this is the final conclusion of Peter now let's see how the others take it so it was 22 it's a very nice verse because in church governance it's giving us some idea about like a grouped ministry it's not just one individual's decision where you know somebody decides okay this is what we are going to say and let's say it but people are including the others other leaders other elders and then collectively come into a conclusion so it was 22 it says please the apostles and elders with the whole church to send chosen men of their own company to anti of the fallen vanguards namely Judas who was also named a pacifist and Silas leading men among the brethren and then why are they sending these men we'll see down below to give a letter this letter clearly states the decision of the Jerusalem council which means the entire body of leaders and they're all saying the same thing what are they saying they're saying you don't need to be circumcised to be saved but if you are a Gentile you need to follow certain guidelines to be part of the body of Christ okay so that's all they're not putting an additional requirement for salvation but as a set of leaders with one heart they are sending across a decision so what do we observe here one is collective responsibility in decision-making that has started to happen so they're all happy with the decision earlier they were all arguing but finally all of them are on one mind in one mind and they say okay this is the final decision second order we see the way they communicated now imagine if Jerusalem council had made the decision they had discussed among themselves and kept it only they wouldn't know you know that circumcision is not mandatory for the Gentiles but what they did is they wrote out a letter and they sent it with a bunch of people whom they selected and said please take it forth go ahead share this news make it clear to everyone so you see the title of that letter there it's in verse 23 it says to the brethren who are of the Gentiles meaning this is for the entire Gentile community in Antioch, Syria, Silesia so in the region where this wrong doctrine is spreading in those regions we are clarifying that Gentiles do not need circumcision to be shared yet we must follow some of these guidelines okay so that's what actually happens right so we can move on from there from the decision of Jerusalem council and let's see some more extended ministry that takes place we'll read from verse 30 to verse 35 would someone like to read through that oh Pasha can I ask one question yes yes sure sure job yeah Pasha regarding the the the council yeah decision or the guideline which was proposed yes so it also mentions about the food that is strangled to death so is it not allowed for even us now just thinking about how we eat pork yeah yeah so see I believe this is my understanding that what was mentioned for the Gentiles may have had to do with the practices of worship okay so it's not necessarily regarding things that they could eat because God had already clarified through the vision that Peter had in Acts 10 that don't call anything unclean and all so I think from that point onwards we don't really have to worry you know regarding all this you know which foods God is calling pure and pure impure and all but this has got to do more with the practices of worship of the Gentiles so that's where there was the issue I hope it makes sense yeah but the thing was like some people used to take this was you know even I have faced this so some people used to take this was it not supposed to eat strangled yes because that's the only only this is said does not to be eaten and that's the reason I asked but I correct but I would look at it in its context John because earlier like I think Acts 10 is very very clear because the proven God said don't call anything common that whole law which was there earlier right the practices as far as the dietary practices and the customs which were given through the law of Moses God is actually negating that so in that one instance we can be quite clear that you know we don't really have to follow these customs this particular passage is more to do with the worship of the Gentiles so yeah just to stop with that yes yeah thank you thank you sure sure sure all right yeah thank you and I see one comment here in the chat I look at it 16 yeah so Jefina is asking it says the tell the reference of us okay sure I haven't done that Amos 9 yeah so yeah Amos 9 versus 11 and 12 so he's just repeating that is quoting from Amos so John actually after this even another year when I taught someone asked me regarding apparently even blood right so there are some communities with the way they cook their meat sometimes they they don't really cook it thoroughly so like even you know anywhere don't get into the details of certain dishes but even there they had a concern and they said oh what about blood are we sinning against God but then you see that's not what this is actually saying it's it's referring more to the worship practices of the Gentiles okay now coming down okay sure and so coming down here to verse 30 verse 30 to verse 35 so after this decision was made and the team was decided with the letter they were sent off who are the people now in the team let's just have a quick look we have Paul Parnabas which is your usual team and then you have additionally Judas and Silas okay so they are the ones who are joining Paul and Parnabas now coming to verse 30 this team they came to Antioch and when they had gathered the multitude together and delivered the letter when they had read it they rejoiced over its encouragement now Judas and Silas themselves being prophets also exhorted and strengthened the brethren with many words so remember I was telling you multicultural team okay you could even say multidisciplinary team in the sense that teachers we already had okay we were Nikkor and Maneis all those names your Paul and Parnabas they are teaching but now you have prophets Silas and Judas who are they prophets and they are encouraging exhorting strengthening remember when we studied about prophecy that's what we said prophecy exhort edify comfort the people so the prophets have now come in and what are they doing they're doing their function or their role of encouraging the people strengthening the people with prophetic words and verse 33 and after they had stayed there for a while for a time they were sent back with greetings from the brethren to the apostles okay so they did the ministry and returned however Silas remained here and you'll notice that Silas will now team up with Paul and start off on the second missionary journey very soon so for some time now after the message or the degree was passed you find Paul and Banevis remaining in Antioch their home church and what are they doing there they continue to build up their own people so they are teaching and preaching the word of God with many others also so that's a very encouraging passage there are lots of people lots of leaders now who are serving together in the church and we are now let's talk about this person known as John Mark remember we saw earlier in Acts 13 that he left the team during the first missionary journey but after coming back from the Jerusalem Council they have this thought of going on the next missionary journey and what happens is there is a proposal from Banevis to take John Mark along so just quickly read those lines from verse 36 then after some days Paul said to Banevis let us now go back and visit our brethren in every city where we have preached the word of the Lord and see how they are doing now Banevis was determined to take with them John called Mark okay now comes the problem verse 38 but Paul insisted that they should not take with them the one who had departed from them in Papallia and had not gone with them to the work then the contention became so sharp that they parted from one another can you imagine these guys they have done ministry together facing opposition and you know they have a you know their history goes way back Banevis was the one who convinced the apostles that Paul is a true minister of the gospel and so much has happened okay in their history but now regarding a matter about John Mark they both are not able to see eye to eye okay and it gets bad because the passage here says they had a contention and it became so sharp many they probably had an argument they probably had you know like I don't know what exact word to use but it ended up in both of them parting ways so definitely it wasn't good whatever happened why do things like this happen among ministers any any thoughts regarding that both are good ministers of God we have no point here that says you know something was wrong Paul's doctrine or Barnabas's doctrine or their you know attitudes no but they still had an issue between both of them what could have been the problem here yeah you speak it to the yeah I I think because ultimately we are all humans in the end sure and we may have different desires friendships and that's one thing I see here he definitely wants done with him and pauses no and I think that's maybe because just because we are humans we have different thoughts and desires yeah sure so that's true Jeffina I think we must see how God works with us he has given all of us personalities and somewhere those personalities become an integral part of the way in which we minister so it may not be all that easy to work alongside other people who have a different personality altogether and sometimes you have personalities which clash but we are all ministers of God and we are supposed to work together and you know unfortunately as a situation like that came in the life of Paul and Barnabas we know Paul to be this super passionate man who cannot you know like a no-nonsense person but at the same time you know Barnabas is so gracious and accommodating and he thinks the best of every individual and he probably is the one who is quick to forgive and analyze the situation some more and you know way the matter better or more deeply so both of them having this difference in the way they approach matters ended up flashing okay now we can always ask the question could they have done this better maybe maybe they could have discussed it in a better way that they didn't have to part ways and make two separate teams but yeah it happened okay and the Luke records it that they parted ways know what would have happened if they never parted ways and Barnabas continued with Paul what kind of ministry would they have done we don't know these are all questions that remain unanswered but some lessons for us to learn we must realize we will meet people who are different from us when we are serving the Lord they will have you know a difference of opinion or a different way of doing things but we must make every effort to work with unity as far as it's possible the Bible says live peaceably with everyone and maybe some situation like this no parting ways and all it it's best avoided and we too could you know work on ourselves in order to see these things happen so this is how matters work but you see it's it does not be end of the story okay because we will read later on Paul he writes in the first Corinthians let me just check that passage Colossians yeah no he writes in Timothy requesting for John Mark to come and join him so he says in 2 Timothy 4 and verse 11 he makes the statement later on in his life okay and 2 Timothy is towards the end of his life when you know he writes to Timothy and he says things like I fought the good fight of faith I've finished the race so we can also assume okay it's an assumption that now Paul is more matured you know and he has raised many leaders so that father heart which he was developing has come to full bloom and so at that point in his life early in his life passionate young man he's saying forget about John Mark what a you know what a guy he could not even finish he just midway stopped the journey so he's not good enough to continue the race with us but towards the end of his life he says verse 11 2 Timothy 4 only Luke is with me take Mark and bring him with with you for he is profitable to me for the ministry and then we wonder Paul what happened to you now are you the same person you're ready to accept John Mark now but he may have found out the actual reason why you know John left and you know now he's more forgiving of people when he's much older and his view has changed but yeah very sad situation here Paul and Martin this actually part ways so then what happens now that Paul does not want Mark they parted ways so what are the two teams which are formed now and also notice they're not going alone usually they go at least two people in a team for their missionary journey so Barnabas is taking Mark and he sails to Cyprus you remember the map we saw right you need to go to the island of Cyprus so Barnabas is going there and Paul he chose Silas Silas who came from Jerusalem didn't go back or Silvanus is another name which is usually used for Silas so Silas is with him Paul and Silas they depart also okay and the Church of Antioch the leaders of Antioch they they encourage them they pray for them and then they set out these two teams now Paul and Silas they went through Syria Silicia strengthening the churches so the work still continues and they are moving on now let's see the very specific second missionary journey which will be undertaken now for whatever reason you see Paul Luke is bringing the focus back to Paul in a very strong way remember I mentioned right we started with Peter and then there was the Church of Antioch Paul and Barnabas acts 11 then slowly even when the first missionary journey started Barnabas is on the team Luke is still talking more you know regarding Paul and now after acts 15 it's completely about Paul there is another team Barnabas and Mark we don't really see anything mentioned by Luke about that particular team but he starts to talk about Paul and Silas and where exactly they travel so let me now show us the image of the second missionary journey and then we can start to talk about it okay so here we go so this is more like the second missionary journey which was longer earlier you know we just said a year or two years but that's what the first missionary journey duration was the second one is around three years time and all the journeys obviously they start from Antioch and we said right that Paul and Silas they spend some time strengthening the churches in Syria Silesia so somewhere here they are you know serving the Lord and then they will continue on to the same churches where they administered earlier Derb, Lystra, Iconium, Antioch of Sidia but from this region okay led by the Holy Spirit they will move on to the region of Macedonia shortly so that is part of the second missionary journey in Macedonia we will see some important places you know places port places like Neopolis where business used to happen it's close to the sea and then places like Philippi which are also prominent cities of the region and you know they'll just move on from here so they'll cover the Macedonian region we'll see how they'll come to a place called as Thessalonica in all the places even from Philippi they'll start facing opposition as usual but some severe opposition in Philippi severe opposition in Thessalonica from there again they'll escape or escape to a place called Beria and from the Macedonian region we will find that they will then move on to the next region here which is the Achaean region here the Achaean region and a prominent prominent place in the Achaean region that we will learn about is Corinth okay Corinth is another very major populousity in this place so the ministry of Paul over here is something that we will look at we'll also see how he will minister to people in a place known as Athens it's an intellectual city where you have philosophers thinkers and Paul will have a certain approach to minister to the people of Athens and then eventually we'll find that you know the the journey will go on to the Asia minor region once again and a populousity by the name of Ephesus is where Paul will minister now this place Ephesus is also you know quite important later on as the church of Ephesus we will see a long stretched ministry in Ephesus so there'll be a school of tyrannous where Paul will station himself and he will start to teach the word of God for you know over a year and this in Ephesus okay this place people from the rest of the region they'll come to Ephesus they'll learn from the teachings of Paul and so a great impact happened through the ministry of Paul in Ephesus and when the church of Ephesus is strengthened we'll also see that eventually he will assign Timothy as the leader for the church of Ephesus okay so that is also part of the second missionary journey once he completes that he will move on and the usual way is to go back right go back to Antioch but this time at the end of the journey he would just prefer to go to Syria Caesarea and Jerusalem and then move on to Antioch so this is the way in which the second missionary journey will happen so I want you to look at the map so that at least the the names are familiar then the stories will make more sense for us as we go ahead okay so let's now come to Acts chapter 16 and we said right that Paul is still in Syria Silesia ministering let's see how the team Paul and Silas are making their journey so it says in early at 16 verse 1 he came to Derb and Lystra and behold a certain disciple who was there named Timothy so what's happening as the journey is taking place Paul is keen on identifying new ministers of God so he finds this young man Timothy a certain disciple it says meaning nothing prominent about Timothy just yet but there is a connection which Paul feels with Timothy and so he starts to work with Timothy what is Timothy's background Timothy he had a Jewish mother okay who believed but his father was Greek so because his father was Greek he may not have kept the customs the Jewish customs that's our assumption now this Timothy he had a good testimony in verse 2 it says here in Acts 16 he was well spoken of by the brethren who were at Lystra and Iconium so we can see that you know he's a young person but he has a good testimony he's probably serving God very well and Paul feels a connection with this young man and he sees his destiny that God has called this young man for something great in the future now Paul starts to work with him so in verse 3 Paul wanted to have him go on with him so it teaches us about mentoring how is Paul mentoring people in his journey one good way to mentor people is just take them with you because when we do stuff whether we are teaching preaching or we are even just like you know they observe us in our everyday life the way we behave the things the decisions that we make our lifestyle they can understand you know how a minister of God should be and what are the standards expected how should one minister so that way Paul was very courageous he was open to let people see his life and follow that same pattern so to mentor Timothy he decides okay come on let's take Timothy along with us and let him observe let him learn because he's he has a good testimony he's a good young man so he takes it but you see here Paul is thinking about Timothy not just for now but he's thinking about the future of Timothy you know parents that's how parents think for their children isn't it maybe the children don't know what to study when they're in their high school years but the parents guide them they say hey you're so talented in commerce you're so talented in this biology you study this your future will be secure so parents are thinking way ahead maybe decades ahead to ensure that the child's future is safe so Paul is being a spiritual father to Timothy and he's telling Timothy or he's looking at Timothy and he sees one problem this boy can be a minister of the Lord but he will not be accepted by the Jews you know why because his father was Greek and his mother would not have kept the Jewish customs for him so what does Paul do for Timothy to make Timothy more acceptable he utilizes his background that yeah there is some Jewish connection in Timothy's life but how about I get him circumcised because if Jews ask Timothy in the future are you circumcised actually Timothy will say I'm circumcised then culturally he'll be more acceptable and the people will be willing to accept his ministry so Paul thought like that like a spiritual father for Timothy and he's he got Timothy circumcised early on in the journey so that in the future when Timothy does his ministry as Timothy discovers his destiny as a bishop of the church of Ephesus later we'll see that he was the one who was appointed as the pastor of that wonderful church of Ephesus but Paul had already ensured that Timothy had better chances of being accepted by the people and that shows the heart of a spiritual father who is mentoring the disciples who is guiding the you know the sons or the disciples to help them become strong and establish themselves in the ministry that God is calling them to do okay so I think that that we would just pause for today if there are any questions we can address it if not we can pray and close sure all right then and I see the comments here in the chat Zellie has shared you know regarding the culture naga culture she says blood and pork and beef yeah Zellie so I think there's nothing to worry because in the context that we saw earlier basically had to do with the Gentile practices so worship okay so let's close and I request one of us to please pray as we wrap up today's class let's pray J heavenly father we come to under the name of Jesus we thank you for this day we thank you for the class that we had we thank you for everything that we are learning through the life of Paul Jesus we thank you that you choose us you call us and God fill us with wisdom like Paul like where we should speak where we should not speak speaking and how we should speak how we should reach out to the people how we should use the opportunities and how we as believers stood or should always stand together so that we can move much more boldly for your kingdom Jesus every single thing that we are learning on how to reach out the people the character things that we are learning how to be a spiritual father how to be united in our faith I just pray God everything that we are learning we will put into practice and God we will do much more greater work for your kingdom we thank you for Nancy we thank you for the knowledge that she's imparting to us I thank you for all the classmates we bless everyone over here in the name of Jesus in Jesus name I pray amen amen thank you thank you Jeffina thank you everyone God bless you we'll close for now have a blessed day and a wonderful weekend ahead bye