The Story: Early Life of Paul - The Church Expands

Focus Passage: Acts 8-16

Change brings blessings. Think what life would be like if we all still used horses and wagons or lit our homes with kerosene lamps. Think of what it is like when your furnace goes out or if the electricity is gone for a night. People used to live like that all the time, but I doubt that we would go back. Yet, churches are not supposed to change. Try and change the style of service or the way the voter’s meeting is run and you will have a mutiny on your hands. Yet, as we will see change comes even in the church. The church expanded into new areas and new people. God wants the church to reach the world and have the blessings that it brings.

A. God changes hearts Acts 9:15 Three years after the first Easter, God changed a heart that became a movement. Saul was a persecutor of the church and was one of those who did not want any changes to the Old Testament way of doing things. Then God stepped in with a blinding light and a disabling blindness. His message delivered by Ananias to Paul was that Paul would take the Gospel out to the world. God is still changing hearts because he wants the church to expand. People need to know that God wants to include them into His family.

B. God moves beyond Palestine Acts 13:2 For fourteen years, the gospel had been centered in Palestine. Now it was time for the church to move beyond Judea and Syria. God called Paul and Barnabas to begin this ministry in earnest. The church at Antioch would be their base and give them support for the ministry. God wants us to move beyond these walls to places we care about. It might be a family that needs the comfort of the gospel. It might be a coworker who is struggling and needs a friend. The Gospel was not meant to be contained in these walls. It must expand and reach out into the community.

C. God moves beyond the Jews to the Gentiles Acts 15:19 Yet the success of the ministry made some uncomfortable. They wanted the Gentile Christians to follow all the Jewish rules if they were to be part of the church. The church wondered, “Did you have to be Jewish to be loved by God?” The answer came back no. Gentiles should obey the Ten Commandments and keep themselves pure, but the gospel was being freely given to them. God wanted all these people to be part of His family just as He did the Jews. God did not want to make it difficult for all men to be saved.

D. God moves beyond Asia into Europe Acts 16:9 Paul began his second missionary journey seeing many of the churches in Asia Minor that he had started two years before. A new chapter was beginning and it was to places unfamiliar to Paul. The cities of Greece and later Rome were places filled with people crying out for the message of the gospel. These were the home of Lydia, Luke, Pricilla, and Aquila to name a few. God loved the whole world. Today we see the gospel expanding onto all the continents and with all kinds of people. The world is His.

Expansion of ministry is a blessing Acts 8:1 You might think that it was easy to expand the gospel, but human nature tells you that it was not easy at all. The early church enjoyed the fellowship of each other and did not seem eager to disperse. An expansion is a blessing. We may not want to do it at first, but God knows how much it will be a blessing. The early church moved from the safety of Jerusalem and started going out into the world around them. New people became part of the church and it prospered. God knows the blessings. He knows the new friends that people can make. He knows how the church expanding will impact its community for good. He wants those blessings for His people and so He nudges his people out of the comfortable nest.