Please look through the Book of Acts and choose a character you find particularly interesting (e.g., Barnabas, Philip, Priscilla, Gallio, Sergius Paulus, Sosthenes, etc.). Give a reason that character should be a "favorite Acts character," i.e., a character useful in discussing the rapid growth of the church.
Although my favorite is most likely Philip, because I enjoy his willingness to serve the Lord and his boldness as an example to evangelism in the story with the Ethiopian official; I will choose Saul/Paul.
ReplyDeleteThis option is primarily because I find him to be the most pivotal member because I feel as if he would have been fairly known by many because of fear for their lives. If you were a Christian, you needed to watch out. Since Saul was accustomed to imprisoning innocent Christians and having many put to death, he was a figure in Acts who stands out as having one of the biggest transformations. This is because he encounters Jesus.
In Acts 9, Saul gets flashed by a light from Heaven and he heard a voice say, "Saul!" Saul!" "Why are you opposing me?" After a real experience with Jesus, he was left changed. This is proven because we later see Saul become Paul and him testify in the name of the Lord all over the area. This backs up his ability to morph from a man who opposed and killed Christians, to the complete opposite...a man who realized he could only be saved through the saving power of Jesus name.
I've already mentioned one of my favorite characters being Luke in a previous post mainly because Acts allows Luke to blend his beautiful writing with a first-person perspective that we could really see in his Gospel. However, I think my all-time favorite is Paul. At first I was trying to think of more obscure or unorthodox characters to choose as my favorite since I thought choosing Paul would be cliche, but I can't escape his extraordinary feats for the growth of the church. In terms of sheer influence, Paul is arguably only second to Jesus. His missionary journeys spread Christianity far beyond Jerusalem by reaching major cities all across the Roman empire. He took and ran with the mold-breaking message of Jews and Gentiles belonging in the kingdom that Peter started fleshing out, which began turning Christianity into a global movement rather than an exclusive and localized one. The rapid expansion of the early church is hard to imagine without Paul's boldness and persistence in my eyes.
ReplyDeleteA character from the Acts of the Apostles who should be a “favorite Acts character” is Barnabas. Barnabas is important because he helped the church grow by encouraging other people and bringing them together.
ReplyDeleteWhen many Christians were afraid of Paul after his conversion, Barnabas defended him and introduced him to the apostles (Acts 9:26–27). Without Barnabas, Paul might not have been accepted so quickly, and Paul later became one of the most important leaders in spreading Christianity.
Barnabas also traveled with Paul on the first missionary journey and helped start churches in many places. In Antioch, Barnabas encouraged the new believers and then went to find Paul so they could teach together. Because Barnabas was good at encouraging and including others, more people joined the church and the church became stronger.
Barnabas is useful in discussing the rapid growth of the church because he shows that Christianity did not spread only because of famous preachers. It also grew because of people who welcomed others, built friendships, and helped new leaders succeed.