Episode 8: Missionary Journeys, The Road to Rome
Finish Strong; Don’t Look Back
Listen as Ed Underwood teaches on Acts in episode eight of the Recentered on the Word podcast.
Books 6 and 7 record the growth of the church through the missionary efforts of Paul. Paul’s second missionary journey to Cyprus and Asia Minor brings the issue of the relationship between the Law of Israel and the grace of the church to a head. Choosing grace instead of the Law, the early church leaders rightly concluded that the body of Christ was for every tribe, tongue, and nation and that the grace of God was for all who believed. We read of Paul’s Spirit-led passion to take the Gospel to the epicenter of the Gentile world—Rome. His “travel agent” on the road to Rome would be the Lord Jesus, who directs the Apostle of Grace’s steps through persecution, arrests, trials, defense, and ministry. Over six years, from 56 through 62, Christ overrules Paul’s plans repeatedly. Every overruling is an opportunity for ministry that Paul seizes. All the divine interventions add up to an impact the Apostle could never accomplish with his own strengths and strategies.
Against all odds, the church expands west to the Aegean shores of Europe and Asia Minor as the Holy Spirit directs Paul’s steps to prepare people in strategic cities. Next, it extends to the center of the Roman world as Jesus Christ directs Paul to achieve his passion for proclaiming the Gospel to all peoples—including the Jews—through his arrest, trials, defense, and release.
When it’s time to move on, finish strong, and don’t look back!
