Bethel AME Church

09/07/2026

09/06/2026

Please join us for Sunday Worship Service today at 10:30AM. In person worship or virtual service. We look forward to seeing you!
Zoom ID: 847 4042 1316 PWD: 261341
Dial-In By Phone 929-205-6099
Rev. Lisa M. Williams, Pastor

09/05/2026

Acts 14 covers the final leg of Paul and Barnabas's first missionary journey, highlighting both intense opposition and the growth of the early church.

(14:1–7)Paul and Barnabas preach in the local synagogue, leading many Jews and Greeks to believe.Unbelieving Jews stir up the local Gentiles and divide the city against the apostles.Hearing of a plot to mistreat and stone them, Paul and Barnabas flee to the Lycaonian cities of Lystra and Derbe.

The Miracle and Mistaken Worship in Lystra (14:8–18)In Lystra, Paul heals a man who was lame from birth.The awestruck crowd thinks Paul and Barnabas are Greek gods, calling Barnabas "Zeus" and Paul "Hermes".Priests bring oxen to offer sacrifices to them, but Paul and Barnabas tear their clothes and urge the people to worship the living Creator instead.

Stoning of Paul and Journey to Derbe (14:19–21)Hostile Jews from Antioch and Iconium track Paul down in Lystra.They turn the crowd against Paul, stone him, and drag him outside the city, leaving him for dead.As believers gather around him, Paul miraculously gets up, goes back into the city, and travels to Derbe the next day.

The Return Trip and Report to Antioch (14:21–28)The missionaries retrace their steps through Lystra, Iconium, and Pisidian Antioch.They encourage the new disciples and appoint elders in every church through prayer and fasting.They travel back to Syrian Antioch, where they report to their home church all that God had done through their ministry to the Gentiles.
TGBTG 🙏🏾 🙏🏾 🙏🏾

09/04/2026

(Acts 14:21–28)
In Derbe, Paul and Barnabas' farthest point, they make more disciples. Then, instead of crossing the mountains to Tarsus and then making the relatively short trip back to Syrian Antioch, the two return the way they'd come, encouraging the new churches in Lystra, Iconium, and Pisidian Antioch. They travel south to Perga where they share Jesus' offer of salvation, then go to the port town of Attalia on the southern coast. From there, they sail home to Syrian Antioch and tell the church how God worked in the hearts of Jews and Gentiles and established new churches.

09/02/2026

Acts 14: 8-20
The small town of Lystra is no less troublesome, but for a different reason. After Paul heals a man born lame, the pagan-influenced populace declare that Barnabas is Zeus and Paul, who has done most of the speaking, is Hermes. This seems to be influenced by a local story where those two deities drowned most of the town due to inhospitality. The two evangelists barely keep the priest of Zeus from leading a sacrifice to them in worship. Just when things are calming down, Jewish leaders from Pisidian Antioch and Iconium arrive. They incite the crowd in Lystra to stone Paul, drag him outside the city, and leave him for dead. Jesus isn't finished with Paul, so the bedraggled apostle survives and the next day he and Barnabas travel east to Derbe.