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.
May 12th Mother’s Day
May 12th Hillview Youth Leadership Development will not meet at 9:30 am.
May 18th Church Clean Up Day at Hillview! 8am – 12pm,
May 18th Management Board Meeting at 9am.
May 19th Baptism Sunday. If anyone wants to be baptized, contact La Tany Dunn.
May 25th Hillview Youth leadership gathering and barbeque. It will be at Sis Debbie’s home 15202 Parallel Rd. Basehor, KS 66007 at 6:30pm. for 6th -12th grade. Youth will need to bring a side. Please contact Sis. Debbie for the list. Meats will be provided.
May 27th Memorial 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 May.
Offering Envelopes are located on the wall outside of the sound booth.
Church of God News
What was the primary difference between Paul and Barnabas? When you look at Barnabas’ credentials compared to Paul’s credential’s they were a match made in Heaven. As far as the ministry to the Gentiles, I can think of one reason why Paul’s influence increased, and Barnabas’ decreased.
Acts 9:15
15 But the Lord said to Ananias, “Go! This man is my chosen instrument to carry my name before the Gentiles and their kings and before the people of Israel.
God chose Paul as His instrument to carry His name before the Gentiles and their kings and before the people of Israel, not Barnabas, though Barnabas had an impactful ministry.
When the dual of Paul and Barnabas started Barnabas was probably the key figure because the Jews were still trying to make sure Paul was legit. It was Barnabas’ influence that covered Paul for a season. But as time went on Paul took the lead.
Acts 14:11, 12
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.
Now talk of a second missionary journey is being discussed. Part of the reason for this journey was to be able to share with the churches the decision of the church in Jerusalem about what was required to be saved.
A problem arose because Barnabas wanted to include Mark in their journey, but Paul did not because of how he had left them on the first journey.
“Barnabas wanted to bring Mark because he considered him a useful member of the mission team. He probably thought it would be a good opportunity for him to make up for his past actions. It’s also likely that Barnabas was partial to Mark because they were related.”1
There was a sharp disagreement between Paul and Barnabas on this issue causing a split between them. Barnabas returned to Cyprus with Mark, and Paul enlisted Silas to be his new partner, and he agreed. Now we have two teams, and they could cover more territory in less time. It is interesting to note that Barnabas disappears from the Acts narrative after the split.
Paul and Silas set off from Antioch and traveled north heading to Tarsus, then unto Syria and Cilicia. They strengthened the churches as they went. From Tarsus they traveled to Derbe, then to Lystra.
In Lystra, Paul met a disciple named Timothy. His mother was Jewish and a believer, but his father was a Greek. Timothy was well spoken of in the region. Guess what, since Timothy’s father was a Greek, he had not been circumcised. Paul wanted to take Timothy on the journey with him. The content of the letter Paul was delivering to the churches stated that males did not have to be circumcised to be saved. Why did Paul ask Timothy to be circumcised?
“Paul asked Timothy to be circumcised to remove some of the stigma he may have had with Jewish believers. Timothy was not required to be circumcised, but he voluntarily did this to overcome any barriers to his witness for Christ. Sometimes we need to go beyond the minimum requirements in order to further the kingdom of God.”2
Acts 16:6-10
6 Paul and his companions traveled throughout the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia.
7 When they came to the border of Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to.
8 So they passed by Mysia and went down to Troas.
9 During the night Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.”
10 After Paul had seen the vision, we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.
They sailed from Troas to Samothrace. From Samothrace they went to Neapolis to Philippi, a Roman colony and the leading city of that district of Macedonia.
On the Sabbath they went outside the city gate to the river expecting to find a place to pray. They found some women there and began to talk to them. Isn’t it amazing what women bring to the church. I heard one pastor say, “Give me 25 women and I can build a church.” The women’s ministry at this church is thriving, the men’s ministry is on life support.
In the group of woman Paul was addressing was a woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a dealer in purple cloth. She was a worshipper of God but had not heard the Gospel. The Lord opened her heart and she responded to Paul’s message. She was baptized along with other members of her household, then invited Paul and his entourage to stay at her home.
On another occasion, on their way to pray they encountered a female slave girl that had an evil spirit that gave her the ability to tell fortunes, making her masters a great deal of money. She would follow Paul and his team around and shout, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved.”
In essence, she was giving Paul positive advertising about what he was about. Paul became annoyed after several days and said to the evil spirit, “In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!” At that moment the spirit left her.”
Would you get frustrated if you kept getting in trouble for doing God’s will. Remember on the first missionary journey Paul was stoned and left for dead. God brought him back to life. Now the owners of the slave girl, realizing their golden goose had been cooked, grabbed Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to face the authorities. The charge against them was, “These men are Jews, and are throwing our city into an uproar by advocating customs unlawful for us Romans to accept or practice.” Their punishment was to be severely flogged and cast into prison. It’s interesting that Paul didn’t inform the magistrates at that time that he and Silas were Roman citizens. It would have changed how they were treated. Evidently, this was a divine appointment for Paul to minister to the jailer.
The jailer was instructed to guard them carefully after their flogging. So, he put them in an inner cell and put their feet in stocks. The pain they were experiencing should have had them moaning and groaning. The Scripture describes what actually happened.
Acts 16:25-34
25 About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them.
26 Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everybody’s chains came loose.
27 The jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped.
28 But Paul shouted, “Don’t harm yourself! We are all here!”
29 The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas.
30 He then brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”
31 They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved– you and your household.”
32 Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house.
33 At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his family were baptized.
34 The jailer brought them into his house and set a meal before them; he was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God– he and his whole family.
That morning the magistrates sent officers to the jailer with the order to release Paul and Silas. Paul sent them a message, “They beat us publicly without a trial, even though we are Roman citizens, and threw us into prison. And now do they want to get rid of us quietly? No! Let them come themselves and escort us out.”
They were alarmed at finding out that Paul and Silas were Roman citizens. So, they came to the prison to appease Paul and Silas, but they made sure to ask them to leave the city.
On leaving Philippi, Paul and his team arrived in Thessalonica where there was a Jewish synagogue. On three consecutive Sabbaths Paul reasoned with them from the scriptures how Jesus had to suffer, die, and rise from the dead. Jesus is the Messiah. Many Jews believed Paul and Silas and joined them along with a large number of God-fearing Greeks and quite a few prominent women. Again, a large segment of Jews that were not persuaded by Paul caused a big stir in the city and they had to leave.
By night Paul and Silas went to Berea. As was Paul’s nature, he went to the Jewish synagogue. These Berean Jews were of more noble character than the Jews in Thessalonica.
Acts 17:11, 12
11 Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.
12 Many of the Jews believed, as did also a number of prominent Greek women and many Greek men.
You need to be like the Berean Jews and check the scripture to see if what I am saying is true.
Paul left Berea because of the Jews from Thessalonica coming to Berea and agitating the crowds. He left Silas and Timothy in Berea, and he was escorted to Athens.
In Athens Paul went to a meeting of the Areopagus, so the people could get a better understanding of what he was advocating.
Acts 17:19-23
19 Then they took him and brought him to a meeting of the Areopagus, where they said to him, “May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting?
20 You are bringing some strange ideas to our ears, and we want to know what they mean.”
21 (All the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there spent their time doing nothing but talking about and listening to the latest ideas.)
22 Paul then stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said: “Men of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious.
23 For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. Now what you worship as something unknown I am going to proclaim to you.
Paul went on to proclaim to them the same things we have been taught, that we would be saved.
- The God who made the world and everything in it I the Lord of heaven and earth.
- God is not served by human hands as if He needed anything.
- God gives everyone life and breath and everything else.
- From one man He made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth.
- God marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands.
- God did these things so that we would seek him, reach out to him, and find him.
- God is not an image made by human design from gold or silver or stone.
- God demands that we should repent because He has set a day where He will judge the world with justice by the man He has appointed.
- That man is Jesus and God raised him from the dead.
Many believed, some even wanted to hear Paul again. Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. In Corinth Paul continued to go to the synagogue on the Sabbath to reason with the Jews and Greeks. Silas and Timothy joined Paul in Corinth. The Jews opposed Paul and became abusive.
Acts 18:6b-11.
6b he shook out his clothes in protest and said to them, “Your blood be on your own heads! I am clear of my responsibility. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.”
7 Then Paul left the synagogue and went next door to the house of Titius Justus, a worshiper of God.
8 Crispus, the synagogue ruler, and his entire household believed in the Lord; and many of the Corinthians who heard him believed and were baptized.
9 One night the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision: “Do not be afraid; keep on speaking, do not be silent.
10 For I am with you, and no one is going to attack and harm you, because I have many people in this city.”
11 So Paul stayed for a year and a half, teaching them the word of God.
Paul left Corinth with some new friends he had made, Priscilla and Aquilla, fellow tent makers. He left them in Ephesus and set sail for Caesarea where he went up to Jerusalem and greeted the church then he returned to Antioch where he had started.
It didn’t end here for Paul. Join me next week as Paul takes a third missionary journey.
Topic: Paul’s Second Missionary Journey
Text: Acts 15:36-41
36 Sometime later Paul said to Barnabas, “Let us go back and visit the brothers in all the towns where we preached the word of the Lord and see how they are doing.”
37 Barnabas wanted to take John, also called Mark, with them,
38 but Paul did not think it wise to take him, because he had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not continued with them in the work.
39 They had such a sharp disagreement that they parted company.
40 but Paul chose Silas and left, commended by the brothers to the grace of the Lord.
41 He went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches.
29 If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.
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
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