ripple effect: vacaville

Read Acts 13:1-12.

1. OK, so we get a roll call of the leaders of the church at Antioch. A motley crew: Barnabas (we know he’s the encourager from the island of Cyprus), Simeon (who apparently has a country in Africa named after him), Lucius, Manaen (who apparently was raised as royalty beside Herod), and Saul (our boy, of blinded by the light fame). What a crew!
2. God gave them clarity. God wanted Barnabas and Saul to off and do something special. No worries there. They sent them off.

3. Cyprus was where Barnabas was from. They had John with them, too, as they preached to the Jews in the synagogues. OK…
4. Bar-Jesus sounded like an interesting guy, a sorcerer and a false prophet. He also seemed to be connected to the political leader, Sergius Paulus (who seemed to be interested in hearing the truth). But this sorcerer (who was also known as “Elymas”) ran static. Jerk…
5. This is the first time we hear that Saul changed his name to “Paul.” Saul means “king.” Paul means “nothing” (as in, “nothing without God). Talk about a turnaround.
6. Wow…Paul didn’t pull any punches with this dude. He told him like it was. And, apparently, he struck him blind! That made a believer out of the proconsul. Sheesh!