Set Apart for God’s Work

IIT UBF - University Bible Fellowship at IIT

Set Apart for God’s Work

Date: Oct. 5, 2025

Passage

Acts 12:25-13:12 (ESV)

25 And Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem when they had completed their service, bringing with them John, whose other name was Mark.

1 Now there were in the church at Antioch prophets and teachers, Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen a lifelong friend of Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. 2 While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for 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. 5 When they arrived at Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews. And they had John to assist them. 6 When they had gone through the whole island as far as Paphos, they came upon a certain magician, a Jewish false prophet named Bar-Jesus. 7 He was with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, a man of intelligence, who summoned Barnabas and Saul and sought to hear the word of God. 8 But Elymas the magician (for that is the meaning of his name) opposed them, seeking to turn the proconsul away from the faith. 9 But Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him 10 and said, “You son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, full of all deceit and villainy, will you not stop making crooked the straight paths of the Lord? 11 And now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you will be blind and unable to see the sun for a time.” Immediately mist and darkness fell upon him, and he went about seeking people to lead him by the hand. 12 Then the proconsul believed, when he saw what had occurred, for he was astonished at the teaching of the Lord.

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version (ESV) is adapted from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. All rights reserved.

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Daily Bread

Key Verse: 12:13:2

And when he knocked at the door of the gateway, a servant girl named Rhoda came to answer.

Barnabas and Paul had been in Jerusalem. They went there on a mission to deliver aid to help the brothers and sisters in Judea because of a severe famine. John Mark was there with them. The Antioch church to which they returned was an illustrious one. They had many prophets and teachers there. One day, while they were worshipping and fasting, the Holy Spirit came on them and directed them to set apart Barnabas and Paul for mission work. God wanted to send the two of them out as missionaries. So, the Antioch church fasted and prayed, laying their hands on the two as they sent them out. It was difficult losing two great Bible teachers. But they obeyed and sent them.

Barnabas and Paul took Mark, sailed for Cyprus, and proclaimed the gospel there. At Paphos they met a sorcerer, an attendant of the proconsul. When the proconsul believed the gospel, the sorcerer tried to dissuade him. But Paul, in the Holy Spirit, rebuked the sorcerer, telling him he would be blind for a time that he may know who the true living God is. When the proconsul saw what happened, he believed, amazed at the teaching about the Lord.

Prayer: Father, help us to proclaim your word boldly, even in stiff opposition.

One Word: Proclaim the Lord’s word

“he Can’t Save Himself”

Mark 15:16-32

Key Verse: 15:31

So also the chief priests with the scribes mocked him to one another, saying, “He saved others; he cannot save himself.

Today's Question

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