Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old had gone, the new has come!” – 2 Corinthians 5:17 (NIV)
The apostle Paul is one of the most intriguing individuals in the Bible. A younger contemporary of Jesus, he was at the forefront of the beginnings of the Christian religion. His influence on the religion is massive in scope. The book, The 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential Persons in History, by Michael H. Hart, ranks Paul as the sixth most influential person in history.
We know about Paul’s impact on Christianity through thirteen letters in the New Testament and a short travel-log of his ministry by the physician, Luke, in the Book of Acts. You might remember that Luke wrote his own gospel, as well as Acts. Paul comes to us initially as Saul, a persecutor of Christians. Yet after his conversion on Damascus Road he becomes a great champion for the new religion.
Paul’s ministry involved bringing people to Christianity and winning converts in areas like Asia Minor, Greece, Syria, and Palestine. While he did not have great success preaching to the Jewish people like Peter did, he experienced phenomenal success preaching to non-Jews. He is often referred to as the “Apostle to the Gentiles.”
During his work to further the Christian religion, Paul took four missionary journeys. The first three journeys are recorded in Acts. The fourth is alluded to in Paul’s letters. The first journey is recorded in Acts 13 and began with a stop in Cyprus accompanied by Barnabas around 46 AD. The final journey led to imprisonment in Rome.
During the month of August we will spend three Sundays looking at Paul’s travels during our worship services. We will focus on three important stops. On August 17th we will look at Paul’s time in Athens during his second missionary journey. In Athens, he preached from Mars Hill as he looked out at the Acropolis and the Parthenon. On August 24th we will focus on Paul’s time in Corinth, just across the way from Athens. Corinth was a church with significant internal conflict. On August 31st attention will be directed on his time in Ephesus. Paul spent over two years there on his third journey.
Paul is loved by some and disliked by others. For many, he is simply misunderstood. I think we can all agree he made a difference in the development of Christianity. I look forward to speaking about him with each of you.
Peace and blessings, Pastor Scott