Paul’s strategy in fulfilling the Great Commission was not complex.

After Paul’s conversion, his time in the desert of Arabia, and his ministry in Tarsus, the Spirit uses Barnabas to join Paul to a ministry team in Antioch of Syria, where they serve the Antioch Church in leadership with a team for a period of time.

As we study Paul’s first missionary journey, the basic elements of his strategy loom into our vision and a pattern emerges.

1.       From the home base of Antioch, Paul and his teammate are sent out for the mission the Holy Spirit has for them.

2.       They target certain cities in a loop pattern to declare the gospel and call the inhabitants of those cities to repent and believe into Christ.

3.       They target the Jewish centers first by going to the synagogue in virtually every city they enter.

4.       After presenting Christ as the resurrected Messiah, when the majority of the Jews reject the message, Paul and Barnabas move on to the Gentiles.

5.       When disciples are made, they are instructed on the first principles of Christ and the Apostles to form unity and purpose.

6.       These disciples are formed into congregations.

7.       The congregations have elders set over them to shepherd them and lead them into unity.

8.       These elders are to replicate the work Paul had done with them.

9.       The church is to continue in unity the work of evangelizing, establishing believers, and entrusting to emerging leaders as they plant other churches to saturate the area with the gospel.

10.   In summary, Paul’s missionary strategy is to evangelize strategically, form local congregations, and entrust the congregation to faithful men who will replicate the process.

From Acts:

13:1-5 Antioch, Seleucia, Cyprus, Salamis 
The sending church in Antioch is key to Paul’s missionary activity. The Holy Spirit delegated the authority of the church to send out Paul and Barnabas for the task He had foreordained. The fellow prophets and leaders of the church are made aware of the task after prayer and fasting and the church sends them on their way. The authority of the church as the entity that affirms the call of the missionary is vital to the proper trajectory of the task and it is to the Antioch church Paul will return and report to when He is finished.

13:6-12 Paphos 
Paul continues his strategy of contacting an audience and communicating the Gospel. In the previous verses he contacted his audience through the synagogue. Here he God brings them into a searching individual who occupies a government post. A fo9retaste of Jewish opposition is represented through the Jewish sorcerer’s efforts, but despite the opposition, hearers are converted by the power of the Gospel message. Saul’s name is changed to Paul at this point. Could it be because of his connection with his convert Paulus?

13:13-50 Perga, Pisidian Antioch
This part of the 1st missionary journey allows us to lean over Paul’s shoulder and read the content of what would probably be typical of the message of the Messiah he proclaims to a Jewish audience, usually in the synagogue. He declares Christ as the fulfillment of the Old Testament Law, Prophets, and Psalms, who was resurrected after dying at the hands of the Jews, and offers the forgiveness of sins and justification only through Christ apart from the Law and a warning against rejection.

The second time Paul speaks in the synagogue, Jewish opposition breaks out in fervor, Paul turns his message specifically to the Gentiles upon the Jewish rejection, and Gentiles turn to Christ in great number as the Jews expelled them from the region.

13:51-14:5 Iconium  
As Paul returns to the synagogue in the new city, Jewish opposition g=follows him and seeks to stir up the people against him. Many Jews and Gentiles did believe and and a plot to stone Paul and Barnabas was sought after.

14:6-20 Lystra 
A miracle of healing convinced a heathen crowd to worship them as gods, and Paul argued that it was the true God they should worship. Paul was interrupted before he could proclaim Christ as the Jews seized the opportunity to cause a riot against Paul and stoned him for dead, but God raised him up and they headed out.

14:21-28 Derbe, Lystra, Iconium, Antioch (Pisidian), Pamphylia, Perga, Attalia, Antioch 
Disciples are made in Derbe and Paul begins the trip back to the sending church of Antioch to report back. On his way back he visits the disciples that were made in journey in the cities and strengthens them in the faith, appoints elders to shepherd them, thus setting place local churches, and commits them to their care and the Lord through prayer and fasting.  The work is described as completed for that journey as the first phase of the task the Holy Spirit has set them apart for. The Antioch church gathers and they rehearse what God had done with the Gospel to the Gentiles and stayed there for a while.

The definition of missions is unnecessarily broad in evangelicalism. If it is not connected to the planting and establishing evangelical churches, then any attempt at missions misses the point of missionary work. The local church must be central to missionary enterprise for the following reasons.

In Matthew 16, Christ promised to build His church on the truth of His identity as the Son of God. This new entity of the church that Christ would build shortly would be laid on the foundation of His words and would be on the winning side despite the hatred expressed by Satanic onslaughts against it as the authority and power of Christ Himself would stand with His church. Mission work then must participate in the building of Christ’s church.

This progressed into Jesus’ instructions to His Apostles before he left them so that they would know how to accomplish the work he delegated to them of participating in the enterprise of building his church. They were to make disciples by going into all the world to preach the gospel in evangelization, baptize converts into the name of the Father, Son and Spirit, and their identity of the church, and edify them with continued instruction of all that Christ had commanded them. The local church is hinted at in this Great Commission as the task of missions is outlined.

Where we really see the centrality of the church in the practice of New Testament missions is in the book of Acts, where the Sprit’s power is unleashed in Jerusalem and a church is launched. This church is organized and established with rhythms in Acts 2:42-47 and the Satanic opposition against it in the form of persecution results in disciples fleeing persecution and taking the task of missions with them and other churches being launched in more Gentile regions.

Eventually one of these churches becomes a strategic launching base, and Antioch becomes the leader in mission work among the Gentiles as some of its particular leaders are chosen to evangelize for the purpose of pioneering the work of new churches through the propagation of the Gospel.

The strategy consisted of Paul’s preaching the Gospel, discipling converts, and organizing the disciples into churches that were led by appointed elders to continue the shepherding process and teaching after Paul left.

This practice in Acts confirms Jesus words in Matthew 16 that He would build His church and shows that He builds His church by using leaders and faithful disciples to plant and establish churches. This IS the work of the Great Commission—to not simply see individuals evangelized and edified—but to see the process of discipleship to continue of individuals through the vehicle God has chosen to display His glory—the local church.

It is the local church that sends and supports missions and the workers of missions.

Missions is the work of planting and establishing churches and churches are to do the work of planting and establishing churches according to the practice of the New Testament.  

Declaration of Purpose (Matthew 16:13-20) 
 Jesus, the Son of God has come with a stated purpose that he reveals to Peter. His purpose is to build his church. Everything that he does, then, is within this stated purpose of his promise to build the church. Christ is the rock foundation on which he will build it and as immoveable a Christ is, so the church that is built on him will be. This church will be protected by Christ and empowered to be on the offensive for him so that even the very gates of hell will not prevail against it.

Declaration of Process (Matthew 28:16-20) 
 These words to the Apostles before his ascension unpack the process of how Christ delegated the building of the church. The Apostles were to go to the nations to make disciples that they were to baptize and teach all he had commanded. The baptism pictures the baptism of the Spirit that identifies a disciple as purchased by the Trinity and placed in the New Testament church. The Great Commission is not to be severed from the task of building the church.

Declaration of  Perpetuity (Luke 24:44-49) 
 The charge to the Apostles to preach forgiveness of sins is part of the fulfilment of the Law, Prophets, and Psalms. The OT is tied to the NT in God’s eternal redemptive plan that began with the promise of a Redeemer and continues with his display of his glory in his church that he builds in the unfolding plan of God.

Declaration of Power (Acts 1:6-11) 
 The second volume of Luke’s book unpacks the catalyst for the promised building of the church through the message. The Spirit will empower the Apostles to be the witnesses of Christ as the messages spreads to the unreached world. There will be no building of the church through the witness of His followers without the empowering indwelling presence of the Spirit on them.

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Description of Community (Acts 2:42-47) 
 The message of Christ formed a shepherded community, not isolated individuals. This community was the church Christ promised to build through the Spirit. The forming of community through the Spirit was the overflow of love toward one another unselfishly. The description of the community in these verses could only be explained by a new humanity formed by the Spirit by the means of the Gospel message.

Description of Course (Acts 13:1-14:28) 
 The Great Commission extending to the Gentiles begins the local church and the Spirit directed leaders setting Paul and Barnabas apart for the work of church planting. Their practice is to target strategic cities, share the message of the crucified and risen Messiah with the Jews, share Christ to Gentiles after Jewish rejection, win converts, and form churches from the new converts. On their way back to Antioch, they followed up on the new communities formed, strengthened them in the Lord, and appointed elders over the congregations to shepherd them as they committed them to the Lord.

Description of Care (Acts 20:17-28) 
 The care these elders were to have over the community was compassionate, serving, shepherding leadership out of the Word. They were to continue the work of establishing believers in the faith as they watched over themselves and the church of God. Paul, through the Holy Spirit entrusted them with the care of the flock of God as under-shepherds with the expectation that the work would carry on without dependence on Paul. 

Here are 20 foundational blocks for the base of SHCC's members to push up from into spiritual maturity. SHCC needs established believers who are committed to the truth, love, and task Christ calls His church to. 

We use the First Principles as the tool in assisting us with these concepts. The next round of First Principles groups is arriving shortly. 

Read through the concepts and ask yourself where you are as you assess your maturity in these concepts.

1)    The Gospel (Acts 10:44-48)

2)    The dual meaning of baptism (Mt. 28:18-20)

3)    First principles (Col. 2:6-8)

4)    Renewing one’s mind (Rom. 12:1-2)

5)    Freedom in Christ (Rom. 14-15:7)


Goal: Can summarize their personal story clearly to show how God sovereignly worked to bring them into a relationship with Christ through a clear understanding of the Gospel


6)    The church as Christ’s plan (Eph. 2:11-3:18)

7)    The church as a family of families (1 Tim. 3:14-16)

8)    The individual family (Eph. 5:16-6:9)

9)    The church family (Tit. 2:1-15)

10)           Spirit-filled walk (Eph. 5:15-21)


Goal: Can clearly articulate the centrality of the church in Christ’s plan and how the church is constructed as an extended family along with their steps for lifelong involvement in it.


11)           Worldwide mission of the church (Acts 13-14:28)

12)           Local mission of the church (Tit. 2:1-3:14)

13)           Sharing the gospel (Col. 4:2-6)

14)           Defending the faith (1 Pet. 3:8-17)

15)           Home as a mission center (Acts 10:1-33)


Goal: Can express how they are going to participate in the progress of the gospel—both home-based & church-based.


16)           Prayer for full comprehension of His plan (Eph. 3:14-21)

17)           Personal habits (Col. 3:1-17)

18)           Family habits (Eph. 6:1-4)

19)           Church community habits (Heb. 10:23-25)

20)           Lifework habits (1 Thess. 4:9-12)

Goal: Has developed a personal strategy around the 4 spheres of life and is putting into place the habits necessary to mature and be effective in ministry.

Acts is broken down into 6 panels with each panel ending with a summary statement telling the reader that the Church was expanded and established. Studying each of these panels, the reader will begin to note several keys that contributed to and unlocked the summary statement. The Acts course in the Antioch School assigns a project to write an annotated list of the keys to establishment and expansion of the 1st century Church for each of the 6 panels of Acts. Here is an attempt at the sixth and final panel:









6.  The Gospel to Rome (Acts19:21-28:30)
1)      Opposition is used for encouragement in the work of the church. (20:1-2)

2)      Elders are installed to continue the planted church’s work. (20:17)

3)      The message of the Gospel and it’s advancement through church planting was worth the trials of the workers.  (20:17-27)

4)      Alertness to the fact of wolves within the congregation and the feeding of truth from the word of grace would enable the overseers to participate in the Spirit’s work of building His church. (20:28-35)

5)      The cause of the advancement of the Church of God was worth even death. (21:13)

6)      The arrest and trial is an opportunity to share the message of the resurrected Christ with a captive audience and get the Gospel to the premiere city of the day, Rome. (25:12)

7)      Paul is preserved by God to get to Rome and continue the work along the way and under house arrest of the expansion of the kingdom of God through the Gospel forming disciples, emerging shepherding leaders and missionaries, and churches. (28:30-31)

8)      God’s purposes have His way and Jesus by the Spirit builds His church by His grace and will continue till he comes again.

Acts 28:31 preaching the kingdom of God and teaching the things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ with all confidence, no one forbidding him.

Acts is broken down into 6 panels with each panel ending with a summary statement telling the reader that the Church was expanded and established. Studying each of these panels, the reader will begin to note several keys that contributed to and unlocked the summary statement. The Acts course in the Antioch School assigns a project to write an annotated list of the keys to establishment and expansion of the 1st century Church for each of the 6 panels of Acts. Here is an attempt at the fifth panel:









5. Strong Gospel Bases (Acts 16:6-19:20)
1)      It is the Spirit that sets the agenda for the work. (16:6-10)

2)      A beachhead for the advance of the church is established. (16:11-15)

3)      Through opposition, the advance continues. (16:16-40)

4)      The message of Christ transforms the influential into fellow-laborers. (17:4; 12; Phil. 4)

5)      Conversations with the public earn the curiosity of a larger hearing which leads into a conversation of how God and humanity are connected by the resurrected Christ and his demands and offer. (17:16-32)

6)      Networking and expanding the ministry team in Corinth lead to more churches formed. (18:1-18)

7)      Follow up of the churches was essential in further strengthening. (18:23)

8)      Clearer training of emerging leaders and the humility to allow them to take leadership expanded the gospel in Ephesus. (18:24-19:6)

9)      Ephesus becomes a base of operations and the church plants other communities in the surrounding geography (19:8-11).

10)   When counterfeit charismaticism is exposed, the name of Christ is honored. (19:17-20)

Acts 19:20 So the word of the Lord grew mightily and prevailed.

Acts is broken down into 6 panels with each panel ending with a summary statement telling the reader that the Church was expanded and established. Studying each of these panels, the reader will begin to note several keys that contributed to and unlocked the summary statement. The Acts course in the Antioch School assigns a project to write an annotated list of the keys to establishment and expansion of the 1st century Church for each of the 6 panels of Acts. Here is an attempt at the fourth panel:

4. Restructuring to Reach the Gentiles (Acts 12:25-16:5)


1)      Leaders emerge from serving faithfully in their local churches and are selected for gospel expansion work. (13:1-4)


2)      Straight teaching of the Word breaks opens hearts despite opposition. (13:4-12)


3)      Preaching connected the audience to a response to Jesus and His work, especially His resurrection (13:13-42)


4)      Those that responded to be disciples of Christ by grace were entrusted to continue in grace (13:43; Galatians)


5)      Through Israel’s rejection, Gentiles were responding with joy as part of the plan of God (13:48)


6)      The gospel advances in spite of opposition as the church is filled with the Holy Spirit and joy. (13:52)


7)      The Lord validates the Gospel witness with signs of the Spirit. (14:3)


8)      Persecution causes the Gospel to be spread in other communities. (14:6-7)


9)      Persecution is used as a tangible teaching moment to strengthen the disciples by reminding them that it is the path to the kingdom. (14:23)


10)   Converts are committed to God by being formed into communities, strengthened, and s\appointed shepherds to continue the work after prayer and fasting. (14:23)


11)   It is God’s grace that carries this movement  and completes the first phrase that the missionaries rehearse to their sending church as an extension of Antioch. (14:26-28)


12)   Attacks from within on the Gospel are dealt with immediately in a discussion manner of wise dealing in light of the biblical theology of the plan of redemption for the nations. (15)


13)   A wise decision is reached that instructs freedom in Christ but without using the freedom as a cloak of maliciousness and it enhances the mission of the church. (15:19-21)


14)   Communication and proper relational delivery enhanced the church. (15:30-33)


15)   Even disagreement between good men served as a tool of the Spirit to expand the mission of the church. (15:36-41)


16)   Testing, training, and affirming emerging leaders to serve in a ministry team setting proves to be a crucial part in the expansion (16:1-5)



Acts 16:5 So the churches were strengthened in the faith, and increased in number daily.

Acts--The Problem of Historical Precedent, by Gordon Fee and Douglas Stuart:

"...he (Luke) was trying to show how the church emerged as a chiefly Gentile, world-wide phenomenon from its origins as Jerusalem-based, Judaism-oriented sect of Jewish believers, an how the Holy Spirit was directly responsible for this phenomenon of universal salvation based on grace alone. The recurring motif that nothing can hinder this forward movement of the church empowered by the Holy Spirit makes us think that Luke also intended his readers to see this as a model for their existence. And the fact that Acts is in the canon further makes us think that surely this the way the church was always intended to be--evangelistic, joyful, empowered by the Holy Spirit." (p. 98)

 "...we believe that much of Acts is intended by Luke to serve as a model. but the model is not so much in the specifics as in the overall picture." (p. 93)