Hillview Family and Friends!
Children’s Ministry will be with the Ministry leader during worship time starting in the fall. Pray with us in our transition. Sis Debbie.
Youth ministry will meet in the fellowship hall at 9:30 am. Youth Ministry will be meeting every 2nd Sunday of the month at 9:30 am.
April 13th Church Clean Up Day at Hillview! 8am – 12pm.
April 14th Hillview Youth Leadership Development will meet at 9:30 am.
April 17th Dinner 5:30pm. Bible Study 6:00 pm.
April 20th Board Meeting at 9am
April 22nd Earth Day
May 12th Mother’s Day
Jaxon will be attending a Sternberg Museum Summer paleontology camp this summer. The camp is 2 weeks June 9-21st at Fort Hayes University. Jaxon is in need of financial support. The cost is due April 8th. If you would like to donate, you can go https://gofund.me/f5f7052e
If you want to volunteer to be on the calling team, please contact LaTanya Dunn.
Anyone who would like to volunteer at Stony Point North Elementary, here are the instructions on how to sign up online. If you have any questions, you can contact John Neiderhiser (913)627-4519. Click Here
We will need volunteers to help with cleaning the Sanctuary, Foyer, and vacuuming. Contact LaTanya Dunn hillviewchurchofgod@gmail.com
Happy Birthday and Wedding Anniversary to all family and friends celebrating in the month of April.
Offering Envelopes are located on the wall outside of the sound booth.
Church of God News
I shared last week that Paul changed his name from Saul to Paul after his conversion. As I am continuing to study the life of Paul, I came across some additional information that refutes my statement. It turns out that since Paul was both Jewish and a Roman citizen, he had two names. His Roman name was Paul, and his Jewish name was Saul. Though Paul usually went to the local synagogue when he visited a city using his Jewish name made sense. However, when his ministry became primarily focused on the Gentiles and Hellenistic Jews he used his name Paul. I am telling you this fact about Paul, so you know I am not perfect. As you study the Word of God with me, if you disagree with my interpretation of it, I encourage you to question what I say, in Love, on Wednesday evening or schedule a time for us to meet.
Acts 13:9, 13 (show a transition of the use of Saul to Paul after his conversion)
9 Then Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked straight at Elymas and said,
13 From Paphos, Paul and his companions sailed to Perga in Pamphylia, where John left them to return to Jerusalem.
Today we are going to look at Paul’s first missionary journey. One of the things that jumps out about Paul’s ministry was Paul didn’t decide one day let’s go on a missionary journey. Acts 13:2, 3 says, “While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” So, after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off. We need to value this principle of waiting on God to initiate what He wants us to do as a church rather than starting a program and wanting God to join us.
The missionary journey started in Cyprus. Why start in Cyprus? “Barnabas was from Cyprus. He had family and friends there, and there was a sizable Jewish community there, maybe he hoped to share the gospel with them. There was even a small Jewish Christian community there since several believers went to Cyprus after Stephen was martyred.”1
The ship that Paul, Barnabas, and John took to Cyprus docked in the harbor of the city of Salamis. Salamis was the principal city in Cyprus for many centuries until Paphos became the provincial capital. When the trio visited several synagogues in Salamis Paul was treated as a visiting Rabbi and was invited to read Scripture and provide some instruction.
Point to remember: “Paul always went to the synagogue first, since Jesus was the Jewish Messiah, and salvation is offered to the Jew first and then to the Gentiles.”2
Romans 1:16
16 I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.
We’re not given any report on the success of Paul’s preaching and teaching while in Salamis. They left Salamis and traveled across Cyprus, to Paphos, about 100 miles. Paphos was the seat of the proconsul or governor of the island and where Paul had his most important encounter.
1 Peter 5:8, 9 tells us:
8 Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.
9 Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.
It should be no surprise that Paul encountered opposition to his mission.
Acts 13:6-11
6 They traveled through the whole island until they came to Paphos. There they met a Jewish sorcerer and false prophet named Bar-Jesus,
7 who was an attendant of the proconsul, Sergius Paulus. The proconsul, an intelligent man, sent for Barnabas and Saul because he wanted to hear the word of God.
8 But Elymas the sorcerer (for that is what his name means) opposed them and tried to turn the proconsul from the faith.
9 Then Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked straight at Elymas and said,
10 “You are a child of the devil and an enemy of everything that is right! You are full of all kinds of deceit and trickery. Will you never stop perverting the right ways of the Lord?
11 Now the hand of the Lord is against you. You are going to be blind, and for a time you will be unable to see the light of the sun.” Immediately mist and darkness came over him, and he groped about, seeking someone to lead him by the hand.
The governor witnessed this encounter between Paul and Elymas.
Acts 13:12
12 When the proconsul saw what had happened, he believed, for he was amazed at the teaching about the Lord.
Sometimes you must see or experience the move of God before you surrender to His will.
Paul, Barnabas, and John left Paphos and sailed to Perga. At Perga John returned to Jerusalem. John’s leaving and returning to Jerusalem will be a point of contention with Paul in the future. From Perga Paul and Barnabas traveled to Pisidian Antioch in Galatia. Sergius Paulus had family there and may have requested that Paul go there and share the gospel with them.
From Perga to Pisidian Antioch was 150 miles. It was an arduous trek that took them about ten days to accomplish. “Pisidian Antioch was the first of several cities Paul and Barnabas visited in Galatia. They enjoyed a successful one-year ministry in Galatia.3
On the first Sabbath after arriving in Pisidian Antioch, Paul and Barnabas went to the local synagogue. It appears they were recognized as visiting rabbis and were invited to speak a “word of encouragement,” Paul accepted the invitation and delivered a powerful sermon.
In his sermon, “Paul summarized the history of Israel and presented Jesus as the culmination of all God had done and promised. He demonstrated that Jesus was the chosen descendant of David as the fulfillment of the prophesied Messiah. He spoke of Jesus’ baptism, his rejection by the Jewish leaders, his crucifixion under Pontus Pilate, his death, and his burial. But it was his resurrection that made Jesus the Messiah.”4
I don’t know about you, but when I hear a powerful sermon, I lose track of the time. I can’t get enough of what is being shared. In a similar fashion, the hearers of Paul’s sermon were entranced by it. Many believed and were saved. However, probably as many rejected what Paul said.
Acts 13:44 says, “On the next Sabbath almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord.”
Because of the size of the crowd that gathered to hear Paul, the Jews became jealous.
Acts 13:46 says, “Then Paul and Barnabas answered them boldly: “We had to speak the word of God to you first. Since you reject it and do not consider yourselves worthy of eternal life, we now turn to the Gentiles.”
Paul and Barnabas had to leave Antioch, but on leaving they left behind a large group of new believers who were now filled with the Holy Spirit and with joy.
Their next destination was Iconium.
Acts 14:1-7
1 At Iconium Paul and Barnabas went as usual into the Jewish synagogue. There they spoke so effectively that a great number of Jews and Gentiles believed.
2 But the Jews who refused to believe stirred up the Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brothers.
3 So Paul and Barnabas spent considerable time there, speaking boldly for the Lord, who confirmed the message of his grace by enabling them to do miraculous signs and wonders.
4 The people of the city were divided; some sided with the Jews, others with the apostles.
5 There was a plot afoot among the Gentiles and Jews, together with their leaders, to mistreat them and stone them.
6 But they found out about it and fled to the Lycaonian cities of Lystra and Derbe and to the surrounding country,
7 where they continued to preach the good news.
They left Iconium and went to Lystra and Derbe. “At Lystra it was the first time Paul ministered to an almost exclusively pagan gentile context. The Jewish population was so small in Lystra that there was no synagogue. The lack of a synagogue coupled with the paganism of the gentiles makes for one of the most colorful accounts in Acts.”5
Acts 14:8-20
8 In Lystra there sat a man crippled in his feet, who was lame from birth and had never walked.
9 He listened to Paul as he was speaking. Paul looked directly at him, saw that he had faith to be healed
10 and called out, “Stand up on your feet!” At that, the man jumped up and began to walk.
11 When the crowd saw what Paul had done, they shouted in the Lycaonian language, “The gods have come down to us in human form!”
12 Barnabas they called Zeus, and Paul they called Hermes because he was the chief speaker.
13 The 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.
14 But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of this, they tore their clothes and rushed out into the crowd, shouting:
15 “Men, why are you doing this? We too are only men, human like you. We are bringing you good news, telling you to turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made heaven and earth and sea and everything in them.
16 In the past, he let all nations go their own way.
17 Yet 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.”
18 Even with these words, they had difficulty keeping the crowd from sacrificing to them.
19 Then 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.
20 But 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.
Never take credit for what God has done.
Acts 12:21-23
21 On the appointed day Herod, wearing his royal robes, sat on his throne and delivered a public address to the people.
22 They shouted, “This is the voice of a god, not of a man.”
23 Immediately, because Herod did not give praise to God, an angel of the Lord struck him down, and he was eaten by worms and died.
Paul and Barnabas left Lystra and went to Derbe. In Derbe they preached and won many disciples. Then they returned and passed through the cities they had previously visited on their way back to Antioch where they had started.
Acts 14:22-28
22 strengthening 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.
23 Paul 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.
24 After going through Pisidia, they came into Pamphylia,
25 and when they had preached the word in Perga, they went down to Attalia.
26 From Attalia they sailed back to Antioch, where they had been committed to the grace of God for the work they had now completed.
27 On arriving there, they gathered the church together and reported all that God had done through them and how he had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles.
28 And they stayed there a long time with the disciples.
Paul and Barnabas gave the disciples in Antioch a good report of what God had accomplished through them, especially how He had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles. Let’s get excited at what God has planned for Hillview. Let’s pray and fast for His guidance and get ready to move.
Topic: Paul’s First Missionary Journey
Text: Acts 13:1-5
1 In the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen (who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch) and Saul.
2 While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.”
3 So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off.
4 The two of them, sent on their way by the Holy Spirit, went down to Seleucia and sailed from there to Cyprus.
5 When they arrived at Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God in the Jewish synagogues. John was with them as their helper.
Support Hillview’s Greeting Card Ministry – We have anniversary, birthday, and get-well cards on the table by the front entrance for you to send to others to let them know you are thinking of them. A donation of $1.00 will help cover the cost of cards and postage.
Continue to pray for the sick and shut-ins and support their spouses or caregivers
Weekly Events
Sunday:
[/text_output]