Acts of the Apostles by Allen Ronald J

Author:Allen, Ronald J.
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-1-4514-2644-1
Publisher: Fortress Press
Published: 2013-05-01T04:00:00+00:00

You Will Be My Witnesses to the Ends of the Earth:

The First Missionary Journey Involves Commissioning,

Confrontations, Conversions, and Mistaken

Identity (Acts 13:1—14:28)

While Acts does not use the expression “missionary journey,” Acts describes three trips that Paul and companions make to establish congregations: Acts 13:1-14:28, Acts 15:36-18:22, and Acts 18:23-21:17.[5] One purpose of the missionary journeys is to encourage Luke’s congregation toward mission as the appropriate way to live through the delay in the apocalypse. Mission is not just an activity in which the church engages but is an expression of the church’s identity. To be the community of the Realm is to reach out in the same way Paul does on the missionary journeys. This word could be renewing in congregations today who regard their mission to be maintaining the institution.

Prior to the Hellenistic age, travel and communication were limited in the Mediterranean world. Beginning with Alexander the Great, a revolution in communication possibilities took place that was important to Paul’s missionary success: new roads, accessible sea travel, commonplace letter writing. We live in another communication revolution. What are theological criteria for the appropriate use of particular communication possibilities today? How can the church employ media in theologically appropriate ways? In my view, most congregations need a major infusion of creativity in these regards.

The preacher could help the congregation get a picture of Paul’s travels by projecting drawings of ancient ships, maps showing Paul’s movements, and photographs of the ruins of ancient roads and other artifacts associated with Paul’s travels.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.