Barnabas Was Seeing So Many People Come To Jesus ...  PRO

-Barnabas was seeing so many people come to Jesus that he knew he needed more help. So, he set out for Tarsus (probably on foot) to find Saul. Tarsus was 100 miles around the NE corner of the Mediterranean Sea from Antioch. It probably took him a few days to get there. Why did he go to all that trouble to find Saul? Because he knew that Saul could offer great insight into the Scriptures, which would help these new Christians grow and become strong in their faith. What was the result of Barnabas and Saul investing one year of their lives in the city of Antioch? V.26 says they taught great numbers of people. Now, obviously this was all about the Lord, not about Barnabas and Saul; however, the Lord used them to build His church in that city. Sometime in the 4th century (maybe 300 years after Barnabas and Saul were there) Chrysostom relates that the Christian population of Antioch was about 100,000 people. Not bad for a city with a population of 200,000.

-Do you think we could ask God to help us reach half of our city. If there are around 2000 people in Elgin and the surrounding area, couldn’t we ask God to bring 1000 of them into right relationship with Him? This is not to limit God, but if 1000...

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