Lesson from Sunday, April 25th, 2010
The readings for this week all come from the book of Acts and focus most on Paul’s missionary journeys in the last two-thirds of the book. These texts cover his first missionary journey from 46 – 48 A.D. (Acts 13-14), second 49 – 52 A.D. (15-18), and third 53- 58 A.D. (18-21). It begins with Saul/ Paul’s conversion. Importantly, in Acts 9: 4 when Jesus appears to Paul on the road to Damascus he says, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” This is interesting and important because Paul was actually persecuting Christians and the Church but in this statement Jesus makes the point that our identification with him is so close, that these are the same thing. There is also a clear pattern in these chapters of the gospel being first offered to the Jews, but then also offered to the Gentiles. By the end of the book, the church has spread well beyond Jerusalem and well beyond the first Christians who were Jewish. In class we will focus on Paul’s engagement with those not yet of the faith, in particular in Acts 17:16 – 34, but also, if there is time, Acts 14.