Dear Parents, Peterone of Jesus' original discipleshad grown up in a culture where the Jews believed that God only cared about them, not the Gentiles or non-Jews. Most of the Jews looked down on the Gentiles and refused to even associate with them because Jews believed Gentiles were unclean; Gentiles didn't live the right way to please God. Any Jew who did associate wit...

Dear Parents, Paul's third missionary journey was unlike his first two because he didn't set out to plant churches. Instead, his mission was to encourage and strengthen existing churches. Paul wrote letters to the churches, but he knew some guidance was best given in person Paul's journey began when he traveled to the city of Corinth. To make a living, Paul was a tentmak...

Dear Parents,Paul and Silas had been released from prison in Philippi (FIH-lih-pigh). Before leaving the city, they met with believers at Lydia's house and encouraged them. Then they traveled to Thessalonica and stopped at the synagogue to explain to the Jews that Jesus is the Messiah. A large number of Greeks and influential women believed in Jesus. Before long, Jews in ...

Dear Parents,Paul was back at the church of Antioch in Syria. The church had sent out Paul and Barnabas to preach the gospel to Jews and Gentiles in places like Lystra and Derbe. Then they returned to the church of Antioch. Some time passed, and Paul wanted to return to some of the cities he visited on his first journey to see how the new believers were doing. Silas accom...

Dear Parents,The church in Antioch praised God for His grace to Paul on his first missionary journey. Though Paul and Barnabas were strongly opposed in some places, many people heard the gospel and believed. Paul and Barnabas took the gospel to both Jews and Gentiles. But a problem arose when some Christians began saying that the new followers of Jesusthe Gentile believers...

I'm going to break down my rationale for membership into two parts: why I'm a member of any church body at all, and why I'm a member of The Well specifically. Why Membership? Maybe you're the kind of person who doesn't see the need for formal churchy commitments. Maybe you think they're legalistic. Maybe you're like me and thoughts like this have run through your mind: ...

Hey there, church. As we looked into Acts 17 this past Sunday we saw that Paul made intentional connections to the gospel by 1. Seeing what the culture valued. 2. Affirming that value and 3. Extending it to its full culmination in Christ. Here are two helpful resources for growing in your ability to share the gospel in these kinds of ways. 1. Bible Study (two parts): The...

Dear Parents,Jesus' followers preached the gospel in Jerusalem, and the good news spread to places like Judea and Samaria. More and more people believed, and new churches began as both Jews and Gentiles began to follow Jesus. Barnabas went to Antiocha city about 300 miles north of Jerusalemwhere he brought Paul to help teach the believers. The church in Antioch grew. It wa...

Dear Parents,Saul was no stranger to religion. He grew up in a religious household. He was a devout Jew who was born in Tarsus (Phil. 3:5) and inherited his Roman citizenship from his father. So when people began talking about this man named Jesus and claiming that He was the promised Messiah, Saul was defensive. Saul believed strongly in the Jewish faith of his ancesto...

A great pastor and leader was assassinated today in 1968. I first studied Dr. King's speeches in college, then again in seminary. His rhetoric is breathtaking, his passion unparalleled. His message is from God. Certainly, he was a prophet for the times, then and now. In Memphis the night before his murder, Martin Luther spoke to a group of sanitation workers saying this: ...