THE LIFE OF PAUL

UNIT THREE

IF YOU WERE A MISSIONARY...

If you were a missionary, ready to change the world, where would you start? What sort of people would you approach first: those who know you best, your hometown,

family, and co-workers those strangers who are most like you English-speaking people of a different country people of an entirely different culture

WHAT WOULD BE THE ADVANTAGE?

Consider the choices you had and the one you decided on. What was the advantage of that choice?

Which would be the most difficult situation in which to evangelize people?

WHERE DID PAUL GO?

Read Acts 13:13-16. In his first missionary journey, where did Paul choose to begin?

What would make this a natural -- and an unnatural choice -- for Paul?

Read Acts 13:17-25. What common experience and background does Paul stress with his audience?

JESUS AS THE FULFILLMENT

Notice the line Paul describes: Saul, David, John. Now comes Jesus, Acts 13:26-41. Notice how Jesus does more than David, v. 36ff, and Moses, v. 39.

What is the reaction of the audience, vv. 42-45? Explain why this mixture of responses might be?

THE UNSTOPPABLE GOSPEL

How does Paul respond to the Jews, Acts 13:46-52?

Notice how the Gentiles do not reject Paul as one who came to them only after being rejected. It is interesting to see that the Gentiles, unaware of much of the Old Testament, are themselves the fulfillment of it, v. 47, (Isaiah 49:6).

SO WHAT’S THE PROBLEM?

When you were in a particular group, how did they expect you to appear and act in order to fit in? Think of how this works in: The Army or Navy A corporate, office workplace A particular neighborhood

SO WHAT’S THE PROBLEM WITH THE GENTILES?

How do the Gentiles not fit in? Read Acts 15:1-5? Why would this difference be a challenge for the Jews?

Consider the role that Gentile believers might play as moral leaders in the church, as the majority of the church, and as examples of salvation.

SO WHO COULD BRING THESE TWO TOGETHER?

Ephesians 2:11-22 is a summary statement of Paul by which the dividing wall between Jews and Gentiles is overcome.

Notice that the violence between the two is settled by violence done upon God’s Son. He can’t escape this hatred, or settle it by command, but enters it.

THE PHILIPPIANS AS AN EXAMPLE

Could a church flourish despite these sharp differences? Read about the church in Philippi, Acts 16:13-34. Who are the first three converts in this church?

How are they radically different from one another?

PAUL CONTINUES TO ATTRACT

Following the Philippian church, Paul travels to Athens. There he finds a city with spiritual vacuum. Read Acts 17:22-27. How does Paul find a vacuum in their actions?

Think of how this can be done by us in our society? What are the altars to unknown gods among us?

SAVING PRIVATE RYAN

“WE’RE GOING TO GET HIM”Would you have agreed with General

Marshall in sending a squad to get Ryan?

Why does Marshall decide to get Ryan home?

THIS RYAN BETTER BE WORTH IT

Is one man worth the lives of eight men?

Is any one soldier worth more than another?

I KNOW SOMEONE LIKE THAT

How is the motivation of the soldiers in the squad different from that of Christ’s? What sort of person will they perhaps die for? For whom will Christ die? Read Romans 5:6-8 for that difference.

IS ONE MAN WORTH EIGHT?

Is the Son of God worth the entire world of sinners? How could that be?

Read 2 Cor. 5:14-21 speaking of one man sacrificing himself for the many.

BURDEN OR GIFT?

Someone has died for you. How does 2 Cor. 5:14-15 and Galatians 2:20 make this an energizing gift for us?

How then do we live in the face of the cross?

SUMMARY

Paul serves as the combination of Jew and Gentile himself as a the missionary to both.

He fearlessly enters the worlds of both Jew and Gentile to proclaim the common Gospel.

He turns us to the Gospel which appeals to each age through their unknown gods.