“Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.” Matthew 28:19 (NLT)
Acts 9:26-27
When Saul arrived in Jerusalem, he tried to meet with the believers, but they were all afraid of him. They did not believe he had truly become a believer! 27 Then Barnabas brought him to the apostles and told them how Saul had seen the Lord on the way to Damascus and how the Lord had spoken to Saul. He also told them that Saul had preached boldly in the name of Jesus in Damascus.
Saul was a very smart man. But before he began following Jesus, he did some terrible things, like hurting Christians—people who follow Jesus. Even though Saul had done some terrible things to Christians, Jesus saved him. Saul repented of his sin—he turned away from his sin and started following Jesus instead.
The other people who followed Jesus were afraid of Saul because they knew he had been really mean and had been hurting Christians. But Saul’s friend Barnabas told them the good news: God had saved Saul from his sin so he could follow Jesus and tell everyone about Him. The believers didn’t need to be afraid because Saul had become one of them—he was now a believer too.
Saul was once separated from God by his sin. But then God saved him. This is the type of people who make up the church—people that God has saved from their sin and now follow Him.
The church is not a building. It’s the people who meet inside the building The church is all the people that follow Jesus in the whole world. If you follow Jesus, that makes you a part of God’s church too! If you don’t follow Jesus yet, Jesus loves you and wants to save you from your sin. All you need to do is admit that you’ve disobeyed God, believe that Jesus died and came back to life, and choose to follow Him. Doing this means you get to have a relationship with Jesus. You get to follow Him, be a part of His church, and tell others all about Him too.
As followers of Jesus, we get to tell others about Him.
How can you share Jesus with others? Who could you share the Good News of Jesus with this week?
Thank You, God, for giving us a church community. We know that You love us, and You sent Your Son to save us from our sin. We love You, and we want to share Your Good News with others. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
“Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.” Matthew 28:19 (NLT)
Acts 14:1-31The same thing happened in Iconium.[a] Paul and Barnabas went to the Jewish synagogue and preached with such power that a great number of both Jews and Greeks became believers. 2 Some of the Jews, however, spurned God’s message and poisoned the minds of the Gentiles against Paul and Barnabas. 3 But the apostles stayed there a long time, preaching boldly about the grace of the Lord. And the Lord proved their message was true by giving them power to do miraculous signs and wonders.
Before Saul became a believer, he was hurting Christians. But then God saved him from his sin, and Saul began following Jesus. God even changed his name from Saul to Paul to show how He had saved him.
It was Paul and his friend Barnabas’s mission to tell people about Jesus. Many people became believers because of Paul and Barnabas’s teaching. But some people were so upset that Paul and Barnabas were teaching about Jesus that they started twisting their teaching into lies and convincing people to believe them. That did not stop Paul and Barnabas from teaching the Good News. God gave them the power they needed to keep teaching and to show the people what was true.
As followers of Jesus, wherever we are and whoever we are with, we are part of His church, and God’s church was made to love Him and to love other people. One of the ways we love other people is by telling them about Jesus.
Just like Paul and Barnabas, we will have times when people are excited to hear about Jesus and believe. There will also be times when people are not happy and do not want to hear the Good News. But no matter how people respond, we can know that we are the church, and we can share His Good News with others because God wants us to tell people about Him. Even when it’s hard, He will give us the power to do so.
What does it mean to be part of God’s church?
Why is it important to keep telling people about the Good News of Jesus?
Thank You, God, for giving us a church community. We know that You love us, and You give us the power to teach others about You. We love You, and we want to share Your Good News with others. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
“Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.” Matthew 28:19 (NLT)
Acts 15:36-41
After some time Paul said to Barnabas, “Let’s go back and visit each city where we previously preached the word of the Lord, to see how the new believers are doing.” 37 Barnabas agreed and wanted to take along John Mark. 38 But Paul disagreed strongly, since John Mark had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not continued with them in their work. 39 Their disagreement was so sharp that they separated. Barnabas took John Mark with him and sailed for Cyprus. 40 Paul chose Silas, and as he left, the believers entrusted him to the Lord’s gracious care. 41 Then he traveled throughout Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches there.
The church isn’t a building—it’s all of God’s people, everyone who follows Jesus. In the church, sometimes believers don’t agree on things.
Paul and Barnabas were going from city to city, sharing the Good News of Jesus. They had the same mission: to teach people about Jesus. But they had a disagreement so strong that they had to go separate ways.
This wasn’t the end of Paul and Barnabas’s journeys. Barnabas went with his friend John Mark to one city, and Paul went with his friend Silas to another city, but their mission stayed the same.
Their disagreement didn’t stop their mission or make one of them more or less a part of the church! It just took them to different places. In fact, it shows us that God’s church is everywhere.
Disagreements don’t always mean that we’re going to go our separate ways. There are many places in the Bible that show us Paul and Barnabas probably stayed friends from afar, which is a great picture of the church. Right now, there are believers all over who are loving God and loving others. Through disagreements and through distance, our mission as the church stays the same—to love God and to love other people!
Paul and Barnabas splitting up made it possible for more people to hear about Jesus, and the church was able to grow. We are the church, which means that God has given us all a mission to love Him and others so that more people can know Him. All believers should agree that we are saved from our sin by admitting that we’ve sinned against God, believing that Jesus died and rose again to save us, and choosing to follow Him. But when we disagree over something, we can remember that we are all God’s church, and nothing will stop our mission!
What does this story teach us about having a disagreement with someone in church?
Can you share about a time when you had a disagreement with a friend or sibling and how you resolved it?
Thank You, God, for giving us a church community. We know that You love us, and You can use everything—even our disagreements—for Your good. We love You, and we want to share Your Good News with others. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
“Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.” Matthew 28:19 (NLT)
Acts 18:24-26
Meanwhile, a Jew named Apollos, an eloquent speaker who knew the Scriptures well, had arrived in Ephesus from Alexandria in Egypt. 25 He had been taught the way of the Lord, and he taught others about Jesus with an enthusiastic spirit[a] and with accuracy. However, he knew only about John’s baptism. 26 When Priscilla and Aquila heard him preaching boldly in the synagogue, they took him aside and explained the way of God even more accurately.
Apollos was a man who was good at speaking, and he knew a lot about the Bible. Aquila and Priscilla were a husband and wife who faithfully shared the Good News of Jesus, teaching others how to follow Him.
Apollos knew the Bible very well, and he was very good at teaching others about it. But he was missing some important pieces—like Jesus’ death and resurrection, what the Holy Spirit does, and what the church was made for. When Aquila and Priscilla saw that he was teaching people God’s Word but didn’t yet know these important parts, they helped him. They pulled him aside and taught him about all these things. As believers, Aquila and Priscilla were a part of God’s church, and they were teaching someone else how to be the church too.
Aquila and Priscilla helping Apollos shows us that, as believers in the church, we need each other to teach each other how to be followers of Jesus. Not only do we need to know who Jesus is and what He did, we also need to know how to follow Him. Just like Apollos needed Aquila and Priscilla to teach him, we need other believers to help teach us.
Sometimes, we will be more like Apollos and be the ones who need help understanding what the Bible says. Other times, we might be more like Aquila and Priscilla, and someone else will need our help. That’s what the church does—we help each other know Jesus better!
How can we, as believers in the church, help each other learn more about Jesus and how to follow Him better?
Can you share about a time when you helped someone else learn more about Jesus and know Him better?
Thank You, God, for giving us a church community. We know that You love us, and You want us to help each other learn more about You. We love You, and we want to share Your Good News with others. In Jesus’ name, Amen.