Intermediate Level, Block 10—Spread and Propagation
Week 98
Barnabas and Saul Being Sent Out
Point to Emphasize: We can be those who are entrusted with matters at school or by our parents.
Reading Reference: Acts 13:1-4, notes 23, 32
Memory Verse: …He has counted me faithful, appointing me to the ministry. (1 Timothy 1:12b)
Story Sample
In the city of Antioch, there was a group of five persons. These five were from different races and backgrounds and were all very distinct: a Levite, someone who was probably of African origin, someone from Cyrene, a noble person, and lastly, a Pharisee. It is like saying that there was a Caucasian, an Asian, an African, a Hispanic, and an American Indian. They were all from different races. But what was unique was that they were not divided. They were all together in the same place for the same purpose and were used by God in a big way.
These five persons were faithful. They wanted to proclaim everything they had seen and heard about Jesus to many other cities. So they gathered together and prayed to see how God would lead them in this endeavor. As they were praying, they were led to send out two of them, Barnabas and Saul. Out of the five, two would go and three would stay. The Bible says that “the Holy Spirit said, Set apart for Me now Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them…and laid their hands on them, they sent them away” (Acts 13:2-3). When they laid hands on them, they were assured that Barnabas and Saul were sent out by God to carry out His great commission to spread the good news about Jesus to other cities. Whether they were the sending ones or the sent ones they were all carrying out the same commission.
Barnabas and Saul, the sent ones, were entrusted to do something, and they acted as representatives of the ones who stayed. Have you ever been entrusted with a task in which you were representing others? When I was in fifth grade, my school decided to put together a special program. For this, the teachers chose two students to represent each class. After the teachers got together, they chose the two students from each class and I was one of the children chosen. We needed to read a poem in front of everyone. I was so nervous. I remember thinking, what if I make a mistake? Well, my classmates all got together and encouraged both of us. When we were up on stage, we knew that our classmates supported us. We were representing each one of them. [Storyteller, insert a story in which you were entrusted a task.]
Based on this story in the book of Acts, we can see that each one of you can be the one who is entrusted to do something. Throughout your lives, you will have many opportunities in which you will be entrusted to do something. You need to be one who accepts the task and trusts that the ones who gave you the task knew you were the right person.