happy blessed sunday hope this speaks to someone. What Does It Take to Make Me Quit? Acts 14:1–28 Paul and Barnabas teach us what faithfulnesslooks like when following Jesus gets hard. “But the apostles stayed there a long time, preaching boldly about the grace of the Lord.” — Acts 14:3 1. Don’t Let Opposition Determine Your Obedience What does it take to make you quit? Opposition? Following Jesus will eventually put us in situations where obedience is unpopular, misunderstood, or resisted. The question is what we do when obedience to Jesus meets resistance. • Don’t assume opposition means you’re outside God’s will. • Don’t think that because something is hard, God is closing the door. • Staying or leaving requires discerning the voice of God. Paul and Barnabas eventually left Iconium, but they didn’t leave the mission. The location changed. The audience changed. The circumstances changed. But their calling didn’t change. “And there they preached the Good News.” — Acts 14:7 2. Don’t Let the Crowd Determine Who You Are Acts 14:8–20 One minute the crowd declared: “These men are gods in human form!” — Acts 14:11 A few verses later, they stoned Paul and left him for dead. If the crowd gives you your identity, the crowd can take it away. Paul and Barnabas refused to receive glory that belonged to God. They also showed us how to communicate the gospel to people who don’t already understand Scripture: Paul didn’t change the gospel. He changed his starting point. We have to know the gospel well enough to communicate it to people who don’t already “speak Christian.” 3. Don’t Let Suffering Convince You to Quit What does it take to make you quit? Getting hurt while doing the very thing God called you to do? After Paul was stoned and left for dead, he got back up. He and Barnabas continued preaching—and then returned to the very places where they had experienced opposition. Why? Because there were people who needed strengthening. “They encouraged them to continue in the faith, reminding them that we must suffer many hardships to enter the Kingdom of God.” — Acts 14:22

happy sunday i pray u have a fabulous day. MAKING ROOM Acts 13:13–52 42 As Paul and Barnabas were leaving the synagogue, the people invited them to speak further about these things on the next Sabbath. 43 When the congregation was dismissed, many of the Jews and devout converts to Judaism followed Paul and Barnabas, who talked with them and urged them to continue in the grace of God. 44 On the next Sabbath almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord. Vs. 42-44 “On the next Sabbath almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord.” Acts 13:44 When God starts drawing people, His people start making room. “How do we make room for the people God is already sending?” The synagogue wasn’t the destination. It was the launching point. “We don’t leave behind what God has done; we build upon it for what God wants to do next.” 100 MORE SEATS = 100 MORE OPPORTUNITIES “It’s room for people we haven’t met yet.” Growth always asks something from the people who were already here. “Somebody made room for us. Now it’s our turn to make room for somebody else.” “The word of the Lord spread through the whole region.” — Acts 13:49 The goal isn’t a full church. The goal is a region reached with the gospel!