Journey Through Acts

 As a part of the awareness raising campaign I did on Facebook, I did 30 daily summaries of passages from Acts about Paul's missionary journeys. Since I have finished that campaign, I decided to put them all in one place for anyone who is interested.

Day 1 - Acts 13:1-12

This is the initial calling. Paul and Barnabas are set apart to go on a journey across the Roman empire to share the Gospel. We can see their first encounter with resistance to the Gospel, a false messiah and a sorcerer/magician.

Day 2 - Acts 13:13-25

John Mark returns to Jerusalem as Paul and Barnabas continue the journey. Paul gives a speech in the synagogue, starting by outlining Israel’s history leading up to John the Baptist and Jesus.

Day 3 - Acts 13:26-43

Paul continues his speech in the synagogue, expressing Jesus’ fulfillment of scripture and His resurrection from the dead. After he presented the Gospel message, many from the synagogue were eager to hear more about Jesus from Paul.

Day 4 - Acts 13:44-52

The following sabbath, Paul’s fame from the previous speech brought many gentiles to hear about the Gospel, but the Jewish leaders were jealous and resisted the message Paul gave, leading to Paul and Barnabas being driven out of the city.

Day 5 - Acts 14:1-7

Now in Iconium, Paul and Barnabas shared the Gospel message and many believed, but many did not. This led to strife in the city and for people to flee to surrounding cities, where they continued to preach.

Day 6 - Acts 14:8-18

Paul and Barnabas perform a miracle, healing a lame man so he could walk. The reaction of the people who saw it was not to worship God but to call Paul and Barnabas gods, Hermes and Zeus respectively. They refused the worship given to them.

Day 7 - Acts 14:19-23

Paul is stoned by jewish pursuers yet he survives. Paul and Barnabas continue their journey, witnessing in Derbe and retracing their path back to Antioch. Encouraging the new churches they had planted along the way and appointing elders.

Day 8 -  Acts 14:24-28

Paul and Barnabas return to Antioch, sharing the good news of their journey and how the Gentiles were open to the faith.

Day 9 - Acts 15:36-16:5

The second journey begins on a bit of a sour note, Paul and Barnabas disagree about bringing John Mark along, who abandoned them on their first journey. Barnabas took Mark with him to Cyprus while Paul brought Silas with him through Syria and Cilicia. Paul visited the churches, informing them of the decrees decided by the apostles in Jerusalem and giving them encouragement. He also recruits a faithful young man named Timothy.

Day 10 - Acts 16:6-13

While on their journey, they were restricted by the Holy Spirit from visiting certain areas in Asia (Modern day Western Turkey) leading to a vision for Paul to go to Macedonia (in Modern day Greece). Paul and his partners traveled further westward than the first journey.

Day 11 - Acts 16:14-21

As Paul taught, Lydia, a woman from Thyatira, received the message and was baptized. She gave the missionaries a place to stay while they served in the city. As Paul and Silas preached, a young woman who was possessed by a spirit was following them around, proclaiming their purpose until Paul cast the evil spirit out of her.

Day 12 - Acts 16:22-30

After casting out the spirit from the young woman, Paul and Silas were arrested, beaten, and thrown in prison. While in prison, Paul and Silas praised the Lord and an earthquake hit the area and their chains fell off and the prison doors opened. The jailer thought he had lost his prisoners but was surprised to see they all remained.

Day 13 - Acts 16:31-40

Seeing his prisoners had not escaped, the jailer spoke with the men and believed. The next day Paul and Silas were to be released but Paul protested, saying they are Roman citizens and were beaten without a trial. Confronted with this information, The magistrates asked them to leave peacefully.

Day 14 - Acts 17:1-10a

Paul and Silas went to Thessalonica, there they gathered a following by speaking about Jesus in the synagogues. But the Jews were jealous of Paul’s popularity and started up a riot in the city, attacking those who had supported Paul. Paul and Silas were sent away at night to Berea.

Day 15 - Acts 17:10-15

Arriving in Berea, Paul and Silas started reaching out at the synagogues. The Berean Jews searched scriptures to see if what Paul was teaching was true and many came to believe. But the word got to Thessalonica that Paul was spreading the Gospel in Berea, and they came to stir up the crowds against him. Paul continued on while Silas and Timothy remained in Berea.

Day 16 - Acts 17:16-21

Arriving in Athens, Paul is troubled by the idols in the city. He shares in the synagogues and marketplaces and begins to draw the attention of the Greek Philosophers in the area. They asked for him to share so that they may know about this new teaching.

Day 17 - Acts 17:22-34

Paul speaks to the philosophers of Athens, using the idol “TO AN UNKNOWN GOD” as a stepping stone to the Gospel message. The subject of the resurrection came up and it divided the crowd but some came to believe.

Day 18 - Acts 18:1-11

After Athens, Paul moved to Corinth, working with Aquila and Priscilla as tent makers to earn a living, speaking at the synagogues on the Sabbaths. When Silas and Timothy arrived in Corinth, Paul was able to resume his full time focus on the ministry of the Word. Paul faced more challenges and resorted to focusing on the gentiles in the region. Paul was encouraged by the Lord and stayed in Corinth for a year and six months.

Day 19 - Acts 18:12-22

The Jews brought Paul before the proconsul, but the proconsul refused to hear the case against Paul since it did not relate to his responsibilities as proconsul. Paul then takes the journey back to Antioch, stopping by Ephesus on the way. This ended his second missionary Journey.

Day 20 - Acts 18:23-28

Paul starts his third journey by going through Galatia and Phrygia, encouraging and strengthening the disciple along the way. The story then takes a side note, sharing about how Priscilla and Aquila in Ephesus met Apollos, who was speaking the things of Jesus but given some explanation from Priscilla and Aquila.

Day 21 - Acts 19:1-10

As Apollos was also travelling, Paul arrived in Ephesus and explained Baptism and the Holy Spirit to the disciples there and they were baptized, received the Holy Spirit, and spoke in tongues. Paul stayed in Ephesus for two years, teaching so that all in the region heard the Gospel.

Day 22 - Acts 19:11-22

Miraculous signs and powers surrounded Paul, people were healed by touching his garments and evil spirits were cast out. The word of God was spreading in the region and many who had practiced magic were confessing and burning their books of magic. Paul felt called to move on from Ephesus and sent Timothy and Erastus ahead of him while he remained for a while longer.

Day 23 - Acts 19:23-41

The idol makers fight back, identifying the message of Jesus spoken by Paul as the reason for the decline of their business. The idol makers gathered on the verge of riot but the disciples refused to let Paul enter the theater where they had gathered. Instead, a city official calmed the crowd, encouraging them to take legal action rather than be held responsible for a riot.

Day 24 - Acts 20:1-12

After the uproar had settled down, Paul continued his travels, going through Macedonia and traveling with several of his disciples. One day as Paul was intending to leave the next morning on his journey, he spent the night speaking. As he spoke, a young man fell asleep and out of a 3rd story window. He was found to be dead but Paul brought him back to life.

Day 25 - Acts 20:13-16

As Paul’s companions traveled via ship, Paul traveled over land. They met up at another port and Paul got onboard. He intended to return to Jerusalem by Pentecost yet decided to make a quick visit to Ephesus along the way.

Day 26 - Acts 20:17-38

Paul visits Ephesus and meets with the elders there. He gives them a farewell speech, encouraging them that he was faithfully pursuing God’s calling for him, even through the afflictions he must face. He also encouraged the elders to continue the work of Jesus that he had started in Ephesus. Then he weeped with the elders as they accompanied him to the ship.

Day 27 -  Acts 21:1-6

After detailing the journey from Ephesus to Tyre, Paul stayed with the disciples in the city for seven days. They warned him not to return to Jerusalem but he continued on his journey anyway. They escorted him to his ship and bid him farewell.

Day 28 - Acts 21:7-14 +

Arriving in Caesarea, Paul stayed with Phillip the evangelist. He once again was warned that if he returned to Jerusalem, he would be bound and arrested. But Paul assured them that he was ready to be bound or even die for the sake of Jesus. Paul would arrive in Jerusalem (v17), visit the temple (v26), was attacked (v30), and he was arrested by the Romans (v33).

Day 29 - Acts 28:1-10

During his trials, Paul made an appeal to Caesar (Acts 25:10-11), which meant that he would remain arrested and taken to Rome for Caesar to hear his case. On the journey to Rome, Paul was shipwrecked (Acts 27:14-44) and found safety on the island of Malta.

While he was on the island, he was bit by a viper. The locals assumed that he was a murderer, that after surviving the shipwreck, he would be bit by a snake. Yet, nothing happened to Paul and he was fine. He also performed healings while he was on the island

Day 30 - Acts 28:11-16,30-31

Paul’s journey to Rome completes, he arrives and meets with the brethren in Rome. As news of his arrival spread, more came from the regions around Rome to see Paul. He was given personal quarters with the soldier who guarded him. As he stayed in Rome, he continued to share and teach the Gospel message.