Welcome back to the podcast! Today we’re going to spend some time studying Paul’s first missionary journey, answering the question: What are the marks of a Biblical missionary?
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Today we’re going to spend some time studying Paul’s first missionary journey. Tracing his travels through Acts, we can break his travels into three parts:
- First Missionary Journey (Acts 13-14): Paul, along with Barnabas, traveled through Cyprus and parts of modern-day Turkey, including cities like Antioch, Iconium, Lystra, and Derbe.
- Second Missionary Journey (Acts 15:36-18:22): This journey began after a disagreement with Barnabas. Paul traveled through regions of Asia Minor and then to Europe, including cities like Philippi, Thessalonica, Berea, Athens, and Corinth.
- Third Missionary Journey (Acts 18:23-21:17): Paul revisited many of the places he had previously established churches, such as Galatia and Ephesus, and continued his ministry in Macedonia and Greece.
Today we’ll answer this question: Q. What Are the Marks of a Biblical Missionary?
- Today we’ll identify Three Marks.
- First: What is a missionary?
- Defn: A “sent one” who goes to a different culture to share the good news about Jesus.
- “Missio” means to be sent. Implication: sent on God’s mission.
- In the case of Paul & Barnabas: sent by the Holy Spirit, but through the local church (13:1-3)
- Comes from Great Commission:
- Matthew 28:19 (NLT) 19 Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.
- Why does this question matter?
- Not all missionary efforts are biblical!
- Our church: do these missionaries actually make disciples?
- Think of it like an investment…
- Goal: make money
- If it didn’t make money, would you keep investing?
- At some point, NO!
- Back to biblical missions:
- Goal: make disciples
- If it didn’t make disciples, would you keep investing?
- Example: missionaries in Spain
- Living like they were retired
- No fruit, no disciple-making
- Our church: evaluating our investments
- Individually, too
So let’s get to the text, the first-ever Christian mission
- To discover Three Marks of Biblical Missionaries
- Three things that were true back then
- They’re still true today
Mark 1: Biblical missionaries proclaim the gospel. (14:1-7)
- Easy to forget this and make the focus “doing good” for society
- Some famous missionaries and their humanitarian impact:
- John Eliot (1604–1690)
- Known as the "Apostle to the Indians," Eliot was an English Puritan missionary who focused on converting Native Americans in New England.
- Eliot advocated for the rights of Native Americans, often opposing
