Set Apart

    Graduation

It is the time of the year when people are finishing one part of their life and preparing to start whatever comes next. Saul is about to become the Paul we all know.

Returns
    Acts 12:25 -13:13
        Sent, successful

Barnabas and Saul were set apart and sent out, without a full itinerary or job description. They went to Cyprus, where Barnabas came from. It is there that things change from “Barnabas and Saul”, to “Paul and his companions”. Barnabas was the more prominent until then, but he was the kind of guy willing to invest in someone, and willing to see them do well.
BtW, Paul did not decide to blind the sorcerer, but declared that the hand of God was on him and therefore he would be blind. He said what he saw.



Rehearsal
    Acts 13:14-23
        Divine doings

Paul speaks and re-tells the story of the Israel. It is not just the story of things that happened, but the story of what God did. God chose, delivered, destroyed, distributed, gave… It is all about Him. Maybe we should see our lives that way.




Remission
    Acts 13:26, 29-32, 38-39
        Promise preached

The message leads up to David being the king, and the prophet who predicted that Jesus would not be left in the grave. It is the same point made by Peter in Acts 2. Unlike when Peter preached in Acts 10, when Paul says that forgiveness is available because of Jesus, there is no immediate response. The Holy Spirit does not fall. Paul warns the hearers not to miss the salvation promised by the prophets, as the prophets predicted many would.



Reception
    Acts 13:42-52
        Mixed multitude

Paul and Barnabas ended up leaving the town, shaking the dust off their clothes. Even so, notice the joy mentioned. The believers who were left behind had joy, because they had Jesus. Even Paul and Barnabas could have joy as they left, because they had been faithful to their calling.


    Graduations
Paul and Barnabas moved from one place to another and from one stage to another. That happens a lot. Don’t think of one of them as The One that your whole life revolves around. There are many graduations in life before all is said and done. The time you are in now is not just preparation for something else. It is life, here and now. And there is more to come.