Adult Bible Study Guide

Jul Aug Sep 2015

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Adult Sabbath School Bible Study Guide

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IBLICAL

MISSIONARIES

Brge Schantz, Principal Contribu

Biblical Missionaries
Our Goal

We will look at mission first

and foremost as Gods means
for commu-nicating the gospel.
Mission is a core part of Gods
sovereign activity in the
process of redeeming
humanity.
We will study how Gods
eternal purpose has been

Biblical Missionaries
Contents
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13

The Missionary Nature of God

Abraham: The First Missionary
The Unlikely Missionary
The Jonah Saga
Exiles as Missionaries
Esther and Mordecai
Jesus: The Master of Missions
Cross-Cultural Missions
Peter and the Gentiles
Philip as Missionary
Paul: Background and Call
Paul: Mission and Message
Must the Whole World Hear?

Biblical
Biblical Missionaries
Missionaries
Lesson
Lesson 11,
11, September
September 12
12

Paul: Background
and

Call

Paul: Background and Call

Key Text

Acts 9:15, 16 NIV

But the Lord said to

Ananias, Go! This man is my
chosen instrument to
proclaim my name to the
Gentiles and their kings and
to the people of Israel. I will
show him how much he must
suffer for my name.

Paul: Background and Call

Quick Look

1. Paul, the Man

(Acts 13:9, 10)
2. Paul and the Mission
(Acts 26:16-18)
3. Paul and
Multiculturalism
(Galatians 2:11-14)

Paul: Background and Call

Initial Words

MORE is known about Paul than

any other first-century
Christian. He is especially
remembered for his significant
contri-butions that have
influenced Christian outreach
during the past two millennia.
His missionary visits and
activities to the nations around

Paul: Background and Call

1. Paul, the Man

Acts 13:9, 10 NKJV

Then Saul, who also is called

Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit,
looked intently at him and
said, O full of all deceit, and
all fraud, you son of the devil,
you enemy of all
righteousness,

1. Paul, the Man

Saul of Tarsus

Sauls parents were Diaspora

Jews from the tribe of
Benjamin.
Also, since he was a Pharisee,
Paul probably had a wife,
though we know nothing about
her. In fact, we dont know
much about his family at all,
though a sister and a nephew

1. Paul, the Man

Saul of Tarsus

Saul was probably educated in

a synagogue school in Tarsus
until 12 years of age, followed
by rabbinic study in Jerusalem
with the famous Rabban
Gamaliel (vs. 3).
Like most Jewish males, he
learned a tradein his case,
tent making (18:3).

1. Paul, the Man

Saul of Tarsus

The Pharisees insisted that all

the
laws of God, both those written
in
the books of Moses, as well as
those handed down verbally by
generations of scribes, were
binding on all Jews.
This could make them appear

1. Paul, the Man

Saul of Tarsus

Pauls pharisaic background

was an important element in
his successful missionary work
for both Jews and Gentiles. It
equipped him with detailed
knowledge of the Old
Testament, the only Scriptures
available to early Christians. It
also acquainted him with the

1. Paul, the Man

Saul of Tarsus

He was thus the apostle best

qualified to discern between
timeless, Scripture-based
divine absolutes on the one
hand and later Jewish cultural
additions, which were not
binding, and which therefore
could be ignored by Gentile
followers of Jesus.

1. Paul, the Man

From Saul to Paul

Paul was clearly a man of

great conviction and zeal. He
used his zeal to persecute the
early church.
Pauls zeal showed as he
dedicated his life to the
preaching of the gospel,
despite incredible hardships
and challenges.

Paul: Background and Call

2. Paul and the Mission

Acts 26:16-18 NKJV

I appeared to you...to make

you a minister and a witness....
I will deliver you from...the
Gentiles, to whom I now send
you, to open their eyes and to
turn them from darkness to
light, and from the power of
Satan to God,

2. Paul and the Mission

Results of Authentic Missionary Work

1. Open peoples eyes. Make

God and Jesus real, present,
active, and appealing.
2. Move from darkness to
light, ignorance to knowledge
a core gospel theme. (see
Luke 1:78, 79).

3. Turn from the power of

2. Paul and the Mission

Results of Authentic Missionary Work

4. Receive forgiveness of sins.

The problem of sin has a
solution. This is the living,
healing, core message of
Christians.
5. Receive a place among the
sanctified, this means
membership in Gods church,
regardless of ethnicity,

2. Paul and the Mission

Three Elements of Pauls Work

1. Proclaiming Jesus. No
matter where he went, the
preaching of Christ and Him
crucified was central to his
message.
2. Planting Church. Central to
his work was to raise up
churches, to start Christian
communities region by region

2. Paul and the Mission

Three Elements of Pauls Work

3. Nurturing Churches. Many

of his letters were written to
established church
communities.
In other words, included in
Pauls missionary endeavors
was the work of pastoral care,
edification, and nurturing the
churches.

Paul: Background and Call

3. Paul and Multiculturalism

Galatians 2:11-14 NKJV

When Peter came to Antioch,

I withstood him to his face...for
before certain men came from
James, he would eat with the
Gentiles, but
when they came, he withdrew
and

3. Paul and Multiculturalism

Jew/Gentile Divide

For For many ancient peoples,

there were only two
categories of humanityus
and them, our tribe and not
our tribe.
For Greeks, all non-Greeks
were barbarians. For Jews,
all non-Jews were Gentiles.

3. Paul and Multiculturalism

Jew/Gentile Divide

As we have seen already, the

success of the Gentile mission
forced the infant church and
its leaders to deal with the
Jew/Gentile divide.
The question, at heart, was
whether a Gentile could
become a Christian without
first becoming a Jew.

3. Paul and Multiculturalism

Jew/Gentile Divide

Paul faced the issue with Peter

and took a firm stand for what
today could be called a
multicultural church.
Pauls complex background
eminently qualified him to
distinguish timeless,
unchanging divine absolutes
on one hand and their

Paul: Background and Call

Final Words

Modern missiology applies the

term contextualization to
Pauls mission methods.
Contextualization is defined as
attempts to communicate the
Gospel and to establish the
church in ways that make
sense to people within their
local cultural context...thus