The Way
Back to the Same Cities
Walking back down the road where he was stoned
Story
Paul and Barnabas preached the gospel in Derbe and won many disciples. From there, just over the Cilician Gates, Paul's hometown of Tarsus was not far. But the two turned back. They went again into Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch, where they had been driven out and stoned.
In each city the two strengthened the disciples and urged them to remain in the faith. Paul and Barnabas said, “We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God.” They appointed elders in every church, and with prayer and fasting they entrusted the disciples to the Lord in whom they had believed.
The two preached the word in Perga, went down to Attalia, and sailed back to Antioch, where they had first set out. They gathered the church and told everything God had done with them, and how he had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles. And they stayed there a long time with the disciples.
Walk this scene on the map →Words of the Lord and of Paul
We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God.
The two appointed elders in every church, and with prayer and fasting they entrusted the disciples to the Lord in whom they had believed.
The two gathered the church and reported all that God had done with them, and how he had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles.
The sayings are fresh renderings of the original meaning in today's language. Text: Acts 14:20–28
Background
Derbe was a town east of Lystra, at the edge of the Lycaonian plain. From here they could have crossed the Taurus Mountains by the Cilician Gates and gone straight to Tarsus, but the two went back the way they had come.
Pause and Reflect
Do I go back to visit and hold up those who are struggling?