* About
  + 
* Resources
January 22, 2025
Today’s reading from **Encounter with God**
# STRATEGIC STRENGTHENING
*Please see the links to our EXTRA Bible Study notes at the bottom of the page.*
#### Opening Prayer
Father, thank you for your Word, for its story that spans all of the world’s history and shows me your great power and love, from creation and into eternity.
#### Read ACTS 14:21–28
*For additional translations of the passage, use this link to* .
### The Return to Antioch in Syria
21They preached the gospel in that city and won a large number of disciples. Then they returned to Lystra, Iconium and Antioch, 22strengthening the disciples and encouraging them to remain true to the faith. “We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God,” they said. 23Paul and Barnabas appointed elders] for them in each church and, with prayer and fasting, committed them to the Lord, in whom they had put their trust. 24After going through Pisidia, they came into Pamphylia, 25and when they had preached the word in Perga, they went down to Attalia.
26From Attalia they sailed back to Antioch, where they had been committed to the grace of God for the work they had now completed. 27On arriving there, they gathered the church together and reported all that God had done through them and how he had opened a door of faith to the Gentiles. 28And they stayed there a long time with the disciples.
#### Footnotes
1.  Or *Barnabas ordained elders*; or *Barnabas had elders elected*
New International Version (NIV)Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
#### Reflect
‘Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.’1
It would have been much easier for Paul and Barnabas to
The visiting of existing churches represents a new stage in Paul’s missional strategy. After the founding of the core of a Christian community, he tends to leave quickly, often forced out by threats and persecution. He wants to prevent these new churches from growing overly dependent on him, allowing them to learn how to function independently. However, he does not leave them permanently, but returns for pastoral visits to train and strengthen them in their faith and mission. We know from his many letters that writing is another strategy with a similar goal. Galatians is probably written to these very churches in Iconium, Lystra, and Pisidian Antioch.
In addition to strengthening and encouraging these infant churches, Paul appoints ‘elders’ (v. 23) for each new congregation. This results in a long-term, local leadership structure that will help them to develop in a healthy way. It allows local leaders to emerge and provide the pastoral care these churches require and supplies the young communities with much-needed stability, sustainability, and direction for further missional growth.
#### Apply
Paul’s top priority is always the church. What can you do to build up and strengthen your spiritual community?
#### Closing prayer
Lord Jesus, please give me your loving heart for the church. Thank you for the part you give me to play in it; help me to encourage and strengthen believers around me today.
**1** I Cor 12:27 **2** Acts 14:22; 15:32; 15:41; 18:23
#### Book and Author Intros
#### Extras
 to sign up to receive the EXTRAs via email each quarter.
© 2025 Scripture Union U.S.A. All rights reserved. Reproduction of the whole or any part of the contents without written permission is prohibited.
Encounter with God is published in the USA under license from Scripture Union England and Wales, Trinity House, Opal Court, Opal Drive, Fox Milne, Milton Keynes, MK15 0DF.
### THROUGH THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR
 GENESIS 45, 46; PSALMS 11, 12
#### Get ENCOUNTER:
#### in your email:
Please enable JavaScript in your browser to complete this form.
###
Click Here
##### in Print:
 | 
 Info@ScriptureUnion.org
 1-800-621-5267
 PO Box 215
Valley Forge, PA 19481
!!    EIN 25-1228715
!!
  !
© 2025 SCRIPTURE UNION
January 21, 2025
# SUFFERING AND SOVEREIGNTY
Father in Heaven, help me to seek your righteousness today, to represent your kingdom in ways that will enable others to see your grace and mercy.
#### Read ACTS 14:8–20
### In Lystra and Derbe
8In Lystra there sat a man who was lame. He had been that way from birth and had never walked. 9He listened to Paul as he was speaking. Paul looked directly at him, saw that he had faith to be healed 10and called out, “Stand up on your feet!” At that, the man jumped up and began to walk.
11When the crowd saw what Paul had done, they shouted in the Lycaonian language, “The gods have come down to us in human form!” 12Barnabas they called Zeus, and Paul they called Hermes because he was the chief speaker. 13The priest of Zeus, whose temple was just outside the city, brought bulls and wreaths to the city gates because he and the crowd wanted to offer sacrifices to them.
14But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of this, they tore their clothes and rushed out into the crowd, shouting: 15“Friends, why are you doing this? We too are only human, like you. We are bringing you good news, telling you to turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made the heavens and the earth and the sea and everything in them. 16In the past, he let all nations go their own way. 17Yet he has not left himself without testimony: He has shown kindness by giving you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons; he provides you with plenty of food and fills your hearts with joy.” 18Even with these words, they had difficulty keeping the crowd from sacrificing to them.
19Then some Jews came from Antioch and Iconium and won the crowd over. They stoned Paul and dragged him outside the city, thinking he was dead. 20But after the disciples had gathered around him, he got up and went back into the city. The next day he and Barnabas left for Derbe.
‘The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name.’1
Paul and Barnabas flee persecution in Iconium and arrive in Lystra, where a lame man is healed, leading to a brief gospel proclamation. This message is noticeably different from the synagogue message in Pisidian Antioch: there is no mention of Jews or a synagogue in Lystra, so they seek to find common ground with a gentile audience through natural theology, without even a mention of the Hebrew Scriptures (vv. 14–18). Once again, we see how Paul, an expert rhetorician, feels free to contextualize his message about Jesus to be relevant to his audience.
Paul’s interaction with the Lystrans takes a violent turn when Jews from Pisidian Antioch and Iconium arrive and convince the crowds to stone him, drag him out of the city, and leave him for dead. Paul attracts riots and public disorder like a magnet throughout Acts, but this incident is one of the most serious, for his life is clearly in danger. Luke emphasizes that this is sometimes the result when one takes the mission of God seriously. Early Christians considered suffering for Christ to be an honor. Luke reassures his readers that they should not be surprised when they suffer, but should trust that God will care for them, as he cares for Paul.
The Lystran disciples gather around Paul, presumably in prayer and for his protection, and the next day Paul leaves for Derbe, where he experiences further missional success. The way Luke recounts these episodes emphasizes God’s sovereignty—human opposition can never defeat the mission, for divine providence sustains and furthers it. There seems to be plenty of room in the theological worldview of the early church for suffering, alongside a conviction that God is bigger and will use it for his glory, however painful it may be.
Do you regard suffering for Christ to be an honor? Nobody wants suffering, but stories like this can help us to be prepared, trusting God when it comes our way.
Whatever the cost, Lord Jesus, help me to follow you faithfully. Give me courage to honor you, no matter what opposition might come against me.
**1** Acts 5:41
 GENESIS 43, 44; MATTHEW 15
January 20, 2025
# SIGNS THAT LEAD TO WONDER
I come before you with praise and thanksgiving, Lord God. In this day, help me to stand firm in faith, to give all that I am to you and share who you are with others.
#### Read ACTS 14:1–7
### In Iconium
14 At Iconium Paul and Barnabas went as usual into the Jewish synagogue. There they spoke so effectively that a great number of Jews and Greeks believed. 2But the Jews who refused to believe stirred up the other Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brothers. 3So Paul and Barnabas spent considerable time there, speaking boldly for the Lord, who confirmed the message of his grace by enabling them to perform signs and wonders. 4The people of the city were divided; some sided with the Jews, others with the apostles. 5There was a plot afoot among both Gentiles and Jews, together with their leaders, to mistreat them and stone them. 6But they found out about it and fled to the Lycaonian cities of Lystra and Derbe and to the surrounding country, 7where they continued to preach the gospel.
‘Stretch out your hand to heal and perform signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.’1
Paul and Barnabas flee to Iconium after being expelled from the region of Pisidian Antioch. This is a journey of at least 90 miles, on the Via Sebaste, a broad and well-paved road connecting local Roman colonies. As is his modus operandi, Paul uses the best travel routes and stops in the next city that has a synagogue.
Paul and Barnabas speak boldly in Iconium for a ‘considerable time’ (v. 3). Luke adds that the Lord ‘confirmed the message of his grace by enabling them to perform signs and wonders’. The Greek word for sign means a distinguishing mark whereby something is known, or a confirmation. The word for wonder means something that astounds because of its transcendent associations, such as an omen or portent. These concepts summarize the role of the miraculous in the mission: it confirms the message being preached and causes people to wonder in astonishment (this is confirmed in 15:12 before the Jerusalem Council).
Luke is not interested in miracles for their own sake, but in miracles that confirm the truthfulness of the word being proclaimed and make people wonder what power is behind it. I remember being on a missions trip in Mexico as a student and praying for someone with severe scoliosis who was dramatically healed as they responded to the good news about God’s love. It was astonishing to watch a back shaped like an ‘S’ become totally straight! This and many other personal experiences have convinced me that God is still doing the sorts of miraculous things described in Acts, just as he has throughout church history. Signs and wonders still authenticate the gospel message today.
God may not heal everyone we pray for in the way we expect. But God still works miracles that cause people to wonder. Give him that opportunity by praying faithfully.
Almighty God, there is nothing too hard for you; you are the one who is able to do more than I ask or imagine. Help me to pray with persistent boldness, humbly seeking you to meet the needs I bring before you.
**1** Acts 4:30
 GENESIS 41, 42; MATTHEW 14