Weekly Study Guide

Kingdom Vision: Mission | Acts 13: 1-4; Acts 14: 24-28 | Afshin Ziafat | August 31, 2025

How To Use This Guide 

This guide is designed to take you deeper into the points of the Sunday morning message and the passage we’re studying each week. The guide is divided into two parts.

  • Read, Reflect, and Respond guides you through your own personal study of the message text, preferably before you arrive for the service on Sunday morning. This section uses the HEAR journaling method, which is an acronym for highlight, explain, apply, and respond.
  • Discuss With Others is designed to help you take the things you’ve learned in your personal study and the message and discuss them within the context of your small group.

The Passage – Acts 13: 1-4

13:1-4 Now there were in the church at Antioch nprophets and nteachers, oBarnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen, a lifelong friend of pHerod the tetrarch, and Saul. 2 While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, r“Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul sfor the work to which I have called them.” 3 Then, after fasting and praying, they laid their hands on them and sent them off. 4 So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia, and from there they sailed to Cyprus.

Acts 14: 24-28

24 Then they passed through Pisidia and came to Pamphylia. 25 And when they had spoken the word in Perga, they went down to Attalia, 26 and from there they sailed to Antioch, where they had been commended to the grace of God for the work that they had fulfilled. 27 And when they arrived and gathered the church together, they declared all that God had done with them, and how he had opened a door of faith to the Gentiles. 28 And they remained no little time with the disciples.

Read, Reflect, and Respond Using the HEAR Method

Highlight: Begin your Bible reading time with prayer then highlight verses that stand out to you as you read the passage. Note any words or ideas you want to dive deeper into and pay attention to repeated or emphasized words and phrases. This is the “observation” process – looking at the who, what, when, where of the passage.

Explain: What is the context of the passage and the author’s intended meaning within that context? This is where you can consult a Study Bible or commentary. What did the passage mean to the original listeners? Was there something in their context that was being addressed? This step is to understand what the meaning of the passage was then before you seek to understand what the applied principle is today.

Apply: What is the principle to live by today? This is when you turn the focus to your own life, setting, and culture. What is the principle that applies to your own context?

Respond: How will you respond to the application in your relationships and/or situations this week? This recognizes that the Bible is not just a set of truths to know, but is actually a guide to live by.

Discuss With Others

Use your community group time to have some conversation around the message. Start your discussion by inviting someone to read the passage aloud in its entirety.

 

  1. How does Acts 13 & 14 demonstrate the fulfillment of God’s promises to bring blessing to the nations? Where are those promises found, and how to they develop across Scripture?
  2. How does the sending of the Holy Spirit to Gentiles in Acts 10 connect to Joel 2:28–29 and Acts 2, which spoke of the Spirit being poured out on all people?
  3. Jesus commanded his disciples to make disciples of “all nations” (Matthew 28:18-20). How does Acts 13 & 14 show progress in fulfilling his command?
  4. Acts 10-11 has been called the “Gentile Pentecost” in the redemptive program of Acts 1:8. What does this event teach us about the ongoing expansion of the gospel and our role in it today?
  5. How can we grow as a church in sending workers to proclaim the gospel to those who have never heard and plant churches where they are needed?
  6. Is there an unbeliever in your life with whom you are sharing the gospel, or who needs to hear the gospel? How can your community group pray for and help you to be faithful in this area? 
  7. As a community group, earnestly pray and ask the Lord if he might be calling you to take the gospel to unreached places and people.