'Ac 13:1-3

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Ac 13:1-14:28 INTO ASIA MINOR (FIRST MISSIONARY JOURNEY)

Zeal of the church in Antioch (Ac 13:1-3)

The church at Antioch, which was the first Gentile church, was also the first church to see its responsibility to send off missionaries to distant places. It became the ‘jumping off point’ for the establishment of other churches.

For this purpose it decided to send off its two most gifted and experienced leaders, Barnabas and Saul (now to be called by his Roman name, Paul). The church showed its identification with the missionaries as its representatives in the simple ceremony of the church leaders’ placing their hands on them and committing them to God (Ac 13:1-3).