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Acts 13 - Devotion · The Five Minute Bible Podcast

• 0:00
  Welcome to Five Minute Bible in our journey through the New
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  Testament. In each episode, we take just a
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  few minutes to focus on one chapter of the New Testament,
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  exploring the truths God is teaching us through His Word and
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  expanding our view of who He is. Before you listen, make sure
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  you've gone straight to the source, either by reading
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  today's chapter of the Bible yourself or listening to today's
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  read along episode in this podcast feed.
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  If you haven't done that yet, feel free to pause and do that
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  now. And when you're ready, let's
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  dive into God's Word together. In Acts chapter 13, we again see
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  a major move of the Holy Spirit, this time at the Church of
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  Antioch. Remember this is where Paul and
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  Barnabas had been ministering after Barnabas was sent by the
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  church at Jerusalem to check in on this new church and he then
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  called Paul to help teach these brothers and sisters.
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  Well now as we enter chapter 13, God is going to call this church
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  into something even greater. Listen to the first 3 verses of
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  this chapter. Now there were at Antioch in the
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  church that was there prophets and teachers, Barnabas and
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  Simeon who was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene and Manaean
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  who'd been brought up with Herod the tetrarch and Saul while they
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  were ministering to the Lord and fasting.
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  The Holy Spirit said, set apart from me, Barnabas and Saul for
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  the work to which I've called them.
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  Then when they had fasted and prayed and laid their hands on
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  them, they sent them away. Now there is so much here even
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  in the list of the prophets and teachers at the Church of
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  Antioch. How it is that a childhood
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  friend of Herod, a former persecutor of the church, a man
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  whose nickname was black, likely because of his African descent,
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  and the son of encouragement could not just get along but
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  serve shoulder to shoulder in ministry at Antioch is a
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  testament in and of itself to the unifying, barrier breaking
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  power of the gospel. These men, whose backgrounds
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  could not have been any more different, were united by
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  something far greater, the grace of God through Jesus Christ.
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  So if you get nothing else from this devotion, at least get
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  this. You have much more in common
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  with your fellow believers then you have differences with them.
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  If you've been saved, you've been adopted into a new family,
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  best to go ahead and start loving your brothers and sisters
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  in that new forever family now. But let's not stop there.
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  These men are not just working together.
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  We see them ministering to the Lord and fasting.
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  They're in prayerful worship. They're desiring that God would
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  direct their steps. And when He does, they're not
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  surprised. But here's what's wild.
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  God answers their prayer by calling them to set apart and
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  send out Paul and Barnabas for a work that God had prepared for
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  them. Paul and Barnabas, this is the
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  A-Team, and God is calling them away from Antioch.
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  God's response to their ministry and fasting to Him is that they
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  send out their best and brightest to a new thing.
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  This sounds so counter to the way that we naturally think.
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  Why mess up a good thing? Why break up a group that's
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  working so well together? The short answer, God's plans
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  for the gospel and even His plans for the church at Antioch
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  are much, much bigger than just Antioch.
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  God is telling a story. He is unveiling a mystery, not
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  just locally, not just regionally, but to all the
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  world. He is revealing Himself to all
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  the nations and He is inviting the church at Antioch to
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  participate in that. And do not think this is not
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  costly for Antioch. Can you imagine?
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  Can you imagine 2 leading elders at your church, your main
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  teaching pastor letting you know that God is calling them out to
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  a new work? This is tough.
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  This is going to sting at Antioch.
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  But to these prophets and teachers that we met at the
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  beginning of the chapter, this was no surprise.
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  This was not something they pushed back against.
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  No, it takes them just one verse to lay their hands on Paul and
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  Barnabas and send them away. They positioned themselves in
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  God's presence, ready to obey. And when the instruction came,
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  there was no delay. I wonder what our lives would
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  look like if we had this attitude like the leaders of the
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  church at Antioch have. What would our lives be like if
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  we kept our yes on the table? What would God do with our
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  faithfulness? What would He do with our
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  willingness? And yes, it may make no sense to
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  us, but God is telling a much bigger story than we can wrap
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  our heads around. Why not live like these men at
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  Antioch? Why not hand the Lord the keys
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  to your life, to your family, to your everything, and see what He
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  does with them?