Luke’s narrative now begins to focus on the mission journeys of Paul. Paul travelled around the Roman empire preaching the good news of the Kingdom to those who would listen. Here in Acts 13 we have one of a number of sermons that Luke records. The interesting thing about Paul’s preaching is that the same message takes a different form depending on the context. There is one common thread through all his preaching, but otherwise he never follows a formula. He lets the context determine how the core message is communicated. The core message, which is the common thread in all Paul’s sermons, is that God is calling all people to himself through Christ. In one way or another that is the message that always comes through. We might think that for a conversation to ‘count’ as ‘faith-sharing’ certain facts must be included. These facts can be like a series of ‘doctrinal boxes’ that we feel we have to ‘tick’ for our witness to be effective. This sort of legalistic approach to evangelism only impedes us. It is interesting to note that this sermon in Acts 13 is the only one in which forgiveness and justification are mentioned. That doesn’t mean that these ideas are not important; they are indeed very important. The atonement of Christ is how God can accept us! My point is that there are no ‘rules’ about what you must say in every circumstance. Know what God has done for you in Christ, then share and demonstrate your faith in whatever way is most appropriate.
Ask God to give you love and wisdom in every situation to represent him more effectively.
Read Acts 13:13-52
