As we come to the close of our study of Mark we find Jesus giving the disciples the great commission: preach the gospel to the whole world. “After the Lord…
When you die what would you want the epitaph to say on your tombstone? An epitaph is an inscription on a tomb in memory of the person buried there. It…
In our last visit I introduced the impact statement in Acts 11:24. “He was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith.” Using Barnabas’s life, I believe a…
Let’s continue amplifying the impact statement in Acts 11:24, “He was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith.” What does it mean being full of the Holy…
We have considered in recent visits the impact statement in Acts 11:24, “He was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith.” Let’s conclude this study by focusing…
Everyone desires a good friend. But a good friend is hard to come by. Jonathan, David’s friend, was the kind of friend everyone needs. To show you what I found…
Everyone desires to have a good friend. As we saw in our last study, Jonathan, David’s friend, was the kind of friend everyone would like to have. In collecting information…
In doing a biographical study of Jonathan’s life as recorded for us in 1 Samuel 13 through 2 Samuel 1 we started by collecting as much information about him as…
In doing a biographical study of Jonathan, David’s friend, as recorded in 1 Samuel 13 through 2 Samuel 1, I discovered some characteristics that should be found in true friendships.…
Alexander the Great had a secret strategy known as the “Macedonian Phalanx.” I read that this was little more than a simple military formation with a straightforward mandate: “You never…
I am excited about the study adventure I’m beginning with you today. Let me introduce you during the first weeks of this year to the apostle Paul, then I’ll take the…
In our last visit I began to introduce you to the apostle Paul by starting a biographical study of his life. There are three steps in a biographical study: collect information…
If you’ve started reading in the book of Acts about the life of Saul, better known as Paul the apostle, I’m sure you’ve noted he was an unusual man. Start…
In our last visit we amplified the information gathered about the apostle Paul before his conversion experience on the road to Damascus as recorded in Acts 9. Most people don’t…
We’ve been looking at Paul’s life pre-conversion. Many people touched his life as he violently went around “breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples” (Acts 9:1). Only God knows…
There are some things we can learn from others; other things we can learn by our own study; but some things you will only learn from God through the Holy…
Earlier in our biographical study of Paul’s life I suggested another outline from the one we’ve been using. All we’ve studied thus far could be placed under the first point…
As mentioned in our last visit I raised the question: were Barnabas and Paul ready to launch out on a second missionary journey. According to Acts 15:36-41 Paul suggested to…
In our last visit we discussed the heated blow up Paul and Barnabas had as they contemplated a second missionary trip. I suggested, had they followed the pattern seen in…
One key to growing in our walk with God is to learn from our experiences. Paul didn’t want to take Mark on the second missionary journey because he deserted them…
Over the years Paul never forgot the lesson he learned from Barnabas. It was hard earned. He had to humbly acknowledge the wisdom of Barnabas to give Mark another chance…
As Paul pressed forward on his second missionary journey he ran into some obstacles. He “and his companions (were) kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the…
As mentioned in our last visit, though hindered from reaching some regions, there was no indication this kept him from pressing on with his mission. Eventually he landed in Troas. …
As mentioned in our last visit Paul and his team ran into some obstacles during the early stages of his second missionary journey. Once they saw their first converts in…
It’s encouraging to see Paul continuing to grow as he pressed on to take the Gospel to people who had never heard. He began delegating responsibilities to teammates. But…
Paul concluded his visit to Athens with a powerful message to the Council which drew the following response: “a few men became followers of Paul and believed. Among them was…
As seen in our last visit, with the encouragement of faithful friends and supporters, as well as teammates, Paul ministered for an extended period of time in Corinth. When God gave…
As mentioned in our last visit, Paul refined his strategy by focusing his attention on major cities. If strong churches were planted in major cities like Corinth, Ephesus or Rome,…
In our last visit I concluded that Paul’s strategy of focusing on major cities worked well so long as the churches stayed healthy. That’s why he worked so hard trying…
As we’ve seen Paul’s mission strategy in our biographical study of his life there is one final piece I’d like to focus on. Paul poured a lot of time into…
As we continue our biographical study of the life of Paul the Apostle we now come to the last point in our outline: his legacy. What was the lasting impact…
The ministry of reproducing yourself to extend your ministry through others is a major legacy of the apostle Paul. He penned the famous words in 2nd Timothy, 2:2, “The things…
It’s hard to fully comprehend the legacy of the apostle Paul. Probably the best way to understand it is to read his 13 letters in the New Testament. They…
Continuing our study of the life of Paul let’s expand the point that the books he wrote provide the long term legacy of his life. The two books he wrote…
On Paul’s 3rd Missionary journey he wrote two books to the church at Corinth. We saw in a recent study the Corinthian church was the result of Paul’s year and…
In our last visit I made reference to 1st Corinthians 13, what I might call Paul’s “legacy of love.” In officiating at my daughter’s wedding I said the following based…
Paul’s prison epistles are profound expressions of truth, compassion and challenge. They’re like beautiful flowers growing and blooming in a dismal garbage dump, dug up, potted and sent to brighten…
Paul wrote in Philippians 3:10, “I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death.” …
Paul wrote this in the book of Philemon while a prisoner in Rome: “Confident… that you will do even more than I ask” (Philemon 21). Philemon was a wealthy man…
After Paul was released from his first imprisonment in Rome it’s not clear where he went to minister. Some think he tried to fulfill his longtime plan of reaching Spain,…
We’ve been considering Paul’s legacy, especially the legacy he left us through the letters he wrote. We’ll spend the rest of this year studying his most important book, the book…
“In your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have”…
In recent visits we’ve demonstrated the first two things involved in doing a “3C Biographical Study” of the life of Agabus: collecting information about his life and correlating it into…
Today I would like to start a “3C” Biographical Study of another Biblical character: John Mark. We know him better as just Mark. Yes, he is the one who wrote…
In our last visit we began a “3C” biographical study of the life of Mark. Barnabas, who was an older cousin to Mark, took him under his wing and groomed…
We’ve been doing the first step in a “3D” biographical study of the life of Mark by collecting information about him. Now we need to correlate this information into an…
We’ve been doing a “3C” biographical study of the life of Mark. We started by collecting information about his life in the Bible. Then we correlated it into an outline. …
In our last visit we began to crystallize what we learned from doing a “3C” biographical study of the life of Mark. Let’s continue developing applications we can make based…