It’s hard enough under any circumstances to decide which issues are worth fighting over. As Christians we are also called to handling such issues properly. The council in Acts 15 is an example of how to differ over critical issues as Christians

In Acts 14 Luke selects two encounters, one in Iconium where the message of the gospel was misrepresented by its enemies, and Lystra where it was misunderstood by its hearers. He tells us about these encounters to teach us to:

In Cyprus, Luke focused on Paphos where the gospel was preached among people who had a distorted view of God thanks to the Jewish sorceror, Elymas. In Pisidian Antioch he shows us a context in which the truth is clearly known, but Christ still causes division. Some receive the fulfilment of all they have hoped…

Barnabas and Saul, sent out from the church in Antioch, travel first to Cyprus where an encounter with a Jewish sorcerer and false prophet whose message has just enough truth in it to snare the ear of a Roman proconsul teaches them two lessons:

It’s often assumed that Acts 12:25-13:3 marks Paul’s call into missionary activity. However the truth is that he had been working as a missionary for over a decade. This is not the beginning of missionary work, this is the beginning of an unprecedented period of growth in the Church. That growth is …

Acts 12:1-24 is both a profound wound to the church, and a glorious victory for the church, as …