Pastor's Ponderings: Monday Bible Study on Acts of the Apostles 13:14-15 (March 2, 2026)

March 2, 2026:  Monday Bible Study on Acts 13:14-15

It is good to be back with you this morning. I hope that you had an opportunity to spend some time over the last four days enjoying the 101st Rodeo, its parade, and the Rodeo Grounds if you are so inclined. At least once we decided to head off to Disney Land over Rodeo. That was a great choice, but it rained! Yesterday we had a wonderful Gospel Music Sunday Worship. Our singers were in great voice, our drummer held us all to a great standard of tempo, and one of our group was absent helping to run a pet adoption day. Thanks to all of them for helping to carry us musically through another Lenten Sunday Worship. I am so thankful to God for their willing hearts and love of Christ. I am not certain that I told you that our member Lisa Kartchner in Hawaii is now cancer free according to her oncologist. She will continue with a precautionary treatment regimen for a short time. Say a prayer of thanksgiving to God for Lisa's great good news. Our Jesse started his new job this morning saying in a text that it is pretty chill. In the next two weeks we will be registering Josiah in the phlebotomy program at Pima Medical. It will be a three-month program that will end with a job placement as well. We are really excited for him as this part of his life now takes shape for his future. I do have to admit that this next step in their lives is one that has taken me some getting used to. It is kind of like sending your 5-year-old off to kindergarten, joy and excitement flavored with some sense of personal loss as their parent. I will miss having them around the house every day.

Today we move to Acts 13:14-15.  Paul and Barnabas have moved on from Pamphylia to Antioch, where they are received by the local synagogue, and its members willingness to hear what these two missionaries from the Christian Church have to say to them.

This doesn't say much about the reality of these few verses, but this journey was not an easy one. Pisidia of Antioch was located on a 36oo foot plateau in the Taurus mountain range, which meant that Paul and Barnabas had to take a treacherous road that had serious ups and downs as they journeyed to Pisidia Antioch. One must imagine that such a journey might be discouraging to many who considered going there, but it certainly did not deter Paul and Barnabas. This road, not unlike the road from Jericho to Jerusalem, was filled with robbers and brigands, as an added kind of danger from opportunists who saw that isolated road as a chance to rob and kill with little danger of being caught. So why did Paul choose to leave Pamphylia, which was located on the coast. On this first journey of Paul, he did not preach the Gospel there! On the surface it seems like there must have been something wrong with the community, some violence or refusal toward Paul and Barnabas, but that is not what happened. Paul did not preach the Gospel there because of his health. The most reasoned, and perhaps the best explanation for this having happened to Paul, is that he had a persistent health issue that really weakened him to the point of not being able to preach and teach there. This "thorn" in Paul's life may well have been that he had contracted Malaria. Malaria presents in its victims debilitating headaches. That would have grounded Paul from completing the work he was about until his symptoms had eased. It also could have been related to the lightning strike that had been so close to Paul on his trip to Damascus to persecute the Christians. We have heard of the lasting health implications of a person who has experienced that too. Later Paul would write a letter to Derbe, Pisidia, Iconium, and Lystra. That letter is one with which you and I are familiar, the Letter to the Galatians. Pamphylia sat on a narrow strip of ocean level land, which, if Paul did have Malaria, might have caused his extreme headaches to multiply due to the high humidity. Perhaps he and Barnabas headed to Pisidia Antioch to try to get relief from the burden of his illness. If you have ever had the misfortune to have severe headaches, you know that finding relief for the pain becomes the number one goal.

Tomorrow, as we continue in the Acts of the Apostles, we will be encountering the only full sermon which we will find in Acts, it is quite lengthy, and we will have a chance to compare it to the important points which Peter's preaching held. May the LORD of heaven and earth, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit surround each of us today, tomorrow, and every day in our future journey with Christ.

With Christ's Love, Pastor Kim

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March 3, 2026:  Tuesday Bible Study on Acts

Dear Bible Study friends. Today both Jesse and I woke up with some early stomach issues. I will not be doing today's study. I am resting to get better for worship tomorrow at Noon. Please keep us both in your prayers today. Pastor Kim