Author: Nathaniel Colt

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Read: Matthew 28:19–20

A person can’t choose to be a firefighter and be ready right away to start fighting large house fires. And someone doesn’t decide to be a surgeon and start working in the operating room right away. These people start out with the basics. They grow in their training by studying and learning from others who know more than they do. As they learn and grow, they develop their skills and learn more about how to do their jobs.

When Jesus commanded the disciples to go into all the world, He said to go and make disciples. Disciples are followers of Jesus. Jesus wants His followers to spend time with new believers, showing them the ropes and helping them when they have questions. He wants His followers to teach God’s Word and show others what it means to live for Jesus. This command that He gave to His disciples long ago continues today. Jesus wants us to help new believers grow in following God.

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Read: Acts 9:26–31

Have you ever heard the phrase, “Don’t judge a book by its cover”? These words mean that you can’t always tell what’s on the inside based on what you can see on the outside. This is a little like what some Christians in Jerusalem were doing to Saul. They were judging him because of his actions that they had seen in the past rather than the inside change that Jesus had made. But Saul was a changed man, and he needed the support of other believers so he could stay alive and tell others about Jesus.

Sometimes, Christians have trouble looking past how someone used to live before they came to Jesus. Instead of bringing the new believers close to encourage them in their new faith, they are pushed away by other Christians. Saul needed Barnabas to stand up for him, to celebrate what God had done in his life and be a friend who helped Saul become part of the community of faith. God wants us to be like Barnabas in this way and make sure that every new believer feels welcome in the family of God.

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Read: Acts 9:19–25

Imagine that it’s your birthday. When you wake up, you’re excited for the fun day ahead. You‘re ready to celebrate and let everyone know how pumped you are that it’s your birthday. But imagine that your friends don’t want to celebrate with you, and they don’t come to your birthday party. That would make you feel really upset, and you might feel like a popped balloon.

Saul had felt the incredible power of Jesus to save and rescue. His entire life had been changed. He was a new man, and it was something that should have been celebrated. Some people were amazed, but others wanted to kill him. Saul knew how God had changed him, and he was going to share it with everyone he could. A new life in Christ is something that should be celebrated, just like a birthday. That’s why it’s so important for Christians to come around new believers and celebrate what God has done in their life.

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Read: Acts 15:12–20

Maybe you know this from your own life, but imagine how hard it would be to make a family decision if everyone was talking at the same time. Nothing would actually be decided, right? In today’s Scripture, the Jerusalem council of leaders listened quietly as Paul and Barnabas explained all the things they had seen God do and why they believed what they believed. Then others took their turn to talk. Everyone wanted the same thing—to do things the way God wanted them to and find the truth. That’s a good guide for us to remember when we disagree with other Christians.

All of us are growing in our relationship with God. As followers of Jesus, we should all want to see God’s plans happen. If we give others the opportunity to talk when we disagree, it will help us understand their point of view and allow us to come to a solution that honors God together. After all, no one is perfect, and we are trying to live for God.

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Read: Colossians 3:5–15

When we face problems, it can be easy to become frustrated and angry when we can’t find the answer we’re looking for. Maybe you’ve tried to build something, and the pieces didn’t fit right, so you threw it down and it broke. Or maybe you said unkind words in an argument. In these times, our sinful nature likes to creep up. Sometimes, we do things that don’t show the love of God. Because we are human, these things can happen in the church when there are big disagreements.

Our Scripture today can help us keep our thinking right when we face those tough challenges, especially in the church. Because we know that God’s plan matters most, we should want to treat each other the way He wants us to. We need to be sure that we are patient with each other, forgiving each other, and making allowances for each other’s faults. Even when we have big disagreements, we can trust God to help us, and we can make every effort to work together for a solution in peace.

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Read: Hebrews 13:17–21

In our world, there are all kinds of authority figures. In your home, there are parents and guardians who are there to help you grow and do the right thing. In school, there is a teacher who makes sure you are taught the things you need to know while you are in their classroom. A judge is an authority figure whose job is to help settle legal disputes.

God has given authority to pastors and leaders to help your church grow in His way and function the way that He wants. These leaders are responsible to God for leading the church in peace and making difficult decisions when there are big disagreements. When there is something difficult happening in the church, we can look to God for wisdom. We can trust our leaders to help us come to a solution.

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Read: Acts 15:1–11

Did you know that people don’t always agree with each other all the time? It’s true. Think of the last time your family was trying to decide what movie to watch or game to play. Your family members probably had different ideas. You probably had to talk it out, give reasons for why you thought what you did, and then, make a final choice. Sometimes a grown-up helps to decide how things should be.

This is like what happened in today’s Scripture reading, but it was about something much more serious than what game to play. There was a disagreement about what needed to happen for a person to be saved and become part of God’s family. So, after some long conversations, the church saw that they needed to talk about it with the leaders—the apostles and elders. God used those leaders to speak wisdom about a tough disagreement. When we don’t know how to solve a problem with another believer, we can do the same thing. We can ask for God’s wisdom, and we can trust godly leaders to help us.

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Read: Romans 15:1–6

In a brick wall, there is a type of cement that is used, kind of like a glue, that helps to hold the bricks together. The bricks may be very strong, but the whole wall can only be strong if that cement holds the bricks together. This is a little like the way Scripture can work in our life. As we study Scripture together, it can hold us together. It helps us to be strong in the Lord, and it also helps us to have a strong relationship with those we study with.

The Scripture verses today talk about how important it is to encourage each other and build each other up in learning God’s ways. The Scriptures give us hope and encouragement as we wait for God’s promises to happen. When we study God’s Word together and apply it in our everyday life, we can be stronger together and bring glory to God in the way that we live.