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Word from Scotland
by Sandy Shaw
We are in Acts 14, and we come to this final section, verses 21 to 28. It is really all about the second half of this first missionary journey where Barnabas and Paul have been preaching and teaching and ministering, from Cyprus and across central Turkey.
We learn many basic fundamental principles in these passages. We saw a cripple man receiving faith, and soon he received the ability to walk. We saw these people in Lystra so impressed - so moved - by Paul and Barnabas that they want to worship them. But they got it so terribly wrong.
We saw that gang arriving from Antioch and Iconium to upset and hinder the work of the Gospel, winning over fickle people by their persuasive but negative reaction to the message Paul proclaimed, and to the powerful ministry he performed.
Paul is stoned - assumed to be dead - and he is dragged out of the city. This crumpled collapsed, colleague lying at the feet of praying Barnabas and the other disciples. Consider the scene as they witness the marked, motionless, scarred, wounded, bleeding body of Paul. Who wants to enroll as an apostle when this is what might await you?
Was this what they had been called to and set apart for? It looks as if it was all over for Paul?
He begins to move - slowly recovers - arises - and goes back into the city. What courage! Such is the value of having a praying a group around you, demonstrating real care and concern.
I am deliberately reviewing what we have been studying because there might just be someone who is on the point of thinking that it is all over. No - if God has called you - and if you know God has called you - get help that will see you through an arduous phase. We all have hard times.
I remember one Canadian pastor telling me, that when he began his preaching and teaching ministry, a grandmother came up to him and said that she was going to pray for him every day. He spoke of how he sensed the powerful influence of her prayers. When she died, he made sure that someone else replaced her with regard to praying for him and his ministry.
We need people who will lift us up, and help us get back upon our feet when we are down - or when we are feeling weak or in some kind of need.
If you are a leader in the church of Jesus Christ, make sure you have "a 'praying' grandmother"!
Alexander 'Sandy' Shaw is pastor of Nairn Christian Fellowship in Nairn, Scotland. Nairn is 17 miles east of Inverness - on the Moray Firth Coast - not far from the Loch Ness Monster!
Gifted as a Biblical teacher, Sandy is firmly committed to making sure that his teachings are firmly grounded in the Word.
Sandy has a weekly radio talk which can be heard via the Internet on Saturday at 11:40am, New Orleans time, at wsho.com.
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