Paul's Missionary Journeys Story - Bible

After Saul became a follower of Jesus, he began to be called Paul. The Holy Spirit spoke to the church leaders in Antioch. He said, 'Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul. I have called them to do special work for me.'

So the church fasted and prayed. They placed their hands on Barnabas and Saul and sent them off. This was the beginning of Paul's first missionary journey.

Paul and Barnabas went to the island of Cyprus. They traveled through the whole island until they came to the city of Paphos. There they met a Jewish false prophet named Bar-Jesus. He was an attendant of the proconsul, Sergius Paulus. The proconsul was an intelligent man. He sent for Barnabas and Paul because he wanted to hear the word of God.

But Elymas the sorcerer opposed them. He tried to turn the proconsul from the faith. Then Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked straight at Elymas. He said, 'You are a child of the devil. You are an enemy of everything that is right. You are full of all kinds of deceit and trickery. Will you never stop perverting the right ways of the Lord? Now the hand of the Lord is against you. You are going to be blind for a time. You will not be able to see the light of the sun.'

Immediately mist and darkness came over Elymas. He groped about, seeking someone to lead him by the hand. When the proconsul saw what had happened, he believed. He was amazed at the teaching about the Lord.

From Paphos, Paul and his companions sailed to Perga in Pamphylia. Then they went to Pisidian Antioch. On the Sabbath they entered the synagogue and sat down. After the reading from the Law and the Prophets, the synagogue rulers sent word to them. They said, 'Brothers, if you have a word of encouragement for the people, please speak.'

Paul stood up. He motioned with his hand and said, 'Fellow Israelites and you Gentiles who worship God, listen to me. The God of the people of Israel chose our fathers. He made the people prosper during their stay in Egypt. With mighty power he led them out of that country. For about forty years he endured their conduct in the wilderness. He overthrew seven nations in Canaan and gave their land to his people as an inheritance. All this took about 450 years.

After this, God gave them judges until the time of Samuel the prophet. Then the people asked for a king. He gave them Saul son of Kish, of the tribe of Benjamin. After forty years, God removed Saul and made David their king. God testified concerning him, 'I have found David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart. He will do everything I want him to do.'

From this man's descendants God has brought to Israel the Savior Jesus, as he promised. Before the coming of Jesus, John preached repentance and baptism to all the people of Israel. When John was completing his work, he said, 'Who do you suppose I am? I am not the one you are looking for. But there is someone coming after me whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.'

Fellow children of Abraham and you God-fearing Gentiles, it is to us that this message of salvation has been sent. The people of Jerusalem and their rulers did not recognize Jesus. In condemning him, they fulfilled the words of the prophets that are read every Sabbath. Though they found no proper ground for a death sentence, they asked Pilate to have him executed. When they had carried out all that was written about him, they took him down from the cross and laid him in a tomb. But God raised him from the dead. For many days he was seen by those who had come with him from Galilee to Jerusalem. They are now his witnesses to our people.

We tell you the good news. What God promised our fathers he has fulfilled for us, their children. He has done this by raising up Jesus. As it is written in the second Psalm, 'You are my son. Today I have become your father.'

Therefore, my friends, I want you to know that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you. Through him everyone who believes is set free from every sin. This is a justification you could not be set free from under the law of Moses. Take care that what the prophets have said does not happen to you. They said, 'Look, you scoffers, wonder and perish. I am going to do something in your days that you would never believe even if someone told you.''

As Paul and Barnabas were leaving the synagogue, the people invited them to speak further about these things on the next Sabbath. Many of the Jews and devout converts to Judaism followed Paul and Barnabas. The two men spoke to them. They urged them to continue in the grace of God.

On the next Sabbath almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord. When the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy. They began to contradict what Paul was saying. They heaped abuse on him.

Then Paul and Barnabas answered them boldly. They said, 'We had to speak the word of God to you first. Since you reject it and do not consider yourselves worthy of eternal life, we now turn to the Gentiles. For this is what the Lord has commanded us. He said, 'I have made you a light for the Gentiles. You may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.''

When the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and honored the word of the Lord. All who were appointed for eternal life believed. The word of the Lord spread through the whole region.

But the Jewish leaders stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas. They expelled them from their region. So Paul and Barnabas shook the dust off their feet as a warning to them. Then they went to Iconium. The disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.

Paul and Barnabas continued their journey. They went to Iconium, Lystra, and Derbe. They preached the good news in many towns. They returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch. They strengthened the disciples and encouraged them to remain true to the faith. They said, 'We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God.'

Paul and Barnabas appointed elders for them in each church. They prayed and fasted. They committed the elders to the Lord, in whom they had put their trust. After going through Pisidia, they came into Pamphylia. When they had preached the word in Perga, they went down to Attalia. From there they sailed back to Antioch, where they had been committed to the grace of God for the work they had now completed.

On arriving there, they gathered the church together. They reported all that God had done through them. They told how he had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles. And they stayed there a long time with the disciples.

After some time, Paul said to Barnabas, 'Let us go back and visit the believers in all the towns where we preached the word of the Lord. Let's see how they are doing.' This was the beginning of Paul's second missionary journey.

Barnabas wanted to take John, also called Mark, with them. But Paul did not think it was wise to take him. Mark had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not continued with them in the work. They had such a sharp disagreement that they parted company. Barnabas took Mark and sailed for Cyprus. But Paul chose Silas and left. The believers commended him to the grace of the Lord.

Paul traveled through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches. He came to Derbe and then to Lystra. A disciple named Timothy lived there. His mother was Jewish and a believer. His father was Greek. The believers at Lystra and Iconium spoke well of him. Paul wanted to take him along on the journey.

As they traveled from town to town, they delivered the decisions reached by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem for the people to obey. So the churches were strengthened in the faith and grew daily in numbers.

Paul and his companions traveled throughout the region of Phrygia and Galatia. The Holy Spirit kept them from preaching the word in the province of Asia. When they came to the border of Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to. So they passed by Mysia and went down to Troas.

During the night, Paul had a vision. A man from Macedonia stood and begged him, 'Come over to Macedonia and help us.' After Paul had seen the vision, they got ready at once to leave for Macedonia. They concluded that God had called them to preach the gospel there.

From Troas, they sailed straight for Samothrace. The next day they went on to Neapolis. From there they traveled to Philippi, a Roman colony and the leading city of that district of Macedonia. They stayed there several days.

On the Sabbath, they went outside the city gate to the river. They expected to find a place of prayer. They sat down and began to speak to the women who had gathered there. One of those listening was a woman named Lydia. She was a dealer in purple cloth from the city of Thyatira. She was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul's message. When she and her household were baptized, she invited them to her home. She said, 'If you consider me a believer in the Lord, come and stay at my house.' She persuaded them.

Once when Paul and his companions were going to the place of prayer, a female slave met them. She had a spirit by which she predicted the future. She earned a great deal of money for her owners by fortune-telling. She followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, 'These men are servants of the Most High God. They are telling you the way to be saved.' She kept this up for many days.

Finally Paul became so annoyed that he turned around and said to the spirit, 'In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!' At that moment the spirit left her.

When her owners realized that their hope of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas. They dragged them into the marketplace to face the authorities. They brought them before the magistrates. 'These men are Jews,' they said. 'They are throwing our city into an uproar by advocating customs unlawful for us Romans to accept or practice.'

The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas. The magistrates ordered them to be stripped and beaten with rods. After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison. The jailer was commanded to guard them carefully. When he received these orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.

About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God. The other prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everyone's chains came loose.

The jailer woke up. He saw the prison doors open. He drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped. But Paul shouted, 'Don't harm yourself! We are all here!'

The jailer called for lights. He rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. He then brought them out and asked, 'Sirs, what must I do to be saved?'

They replied, 'Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved. You and your household will be saved.' Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house.

At that hour of the night, the jailer took them and washed their wounds. Then immediately he and all his household were baptized. The jailer brought them into his house and set a meal before them. He was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God, he and his whole household.

When it was daylight, the magistrates sent their officers to the jailer with the order, 'Release those men.' The jailer told Paul, 'The magistrates have ordered that you and Silas be released. Now you can leave. Go in peace.'

But Paul said to the officers, 'They beat us in public without a trial, even though we are Roman citizens. They threw us into prison. And now do they want to get rid of us quietly? No! Let them come themselves and escort us out.'

The officers reported this to the magistrates. When the magistrates heard that Paul and Silas were Roman citizens, they were alarmed. They came to appease them and escorted them from the prison. They requested them to leave the city.

After Paul and Silas came out of the prison, they went to Lydia's house. They met with the brothers and sisters there. They encouraged them. Then they left.

Paul went on many other journeys. He preached the gospel in Athens, Corinth, Ephesus, and many other cities. He faced many hardships. He was beaten, stoned, shipwrecked, and imprisoned. But he never gave up. He wanted everyone to hear the good news about Jesus. He wrote letters to the churches he started. Those letters became many books in the New Testament. Paul gave his whole life to telling others about Jesus. At the end of his life, he could say, 'I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race. I have kept the faith.'

The Paul's Missionary Journeys story teaches dedication and courage. It shows the importance of spreading God’s word. This story highlights perseverance and faith.