Acts 14:27 (ESV Strong's)
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.
Subject: The Gospel
In chapters 13 and 14 of Acts we have the story of the first formal missionary journey of the church. Paula and Barnabas went from city to city and declared the Gospel of Christ. In each city they were meet with opposition and yet saw great fruit. The above verse is the summary of their work that they declared to the Church. The key to the passage is the statement that they declared "all that God had done with them" and "how He had opened a door of faith." The work that was accomplished was accomplished by God. This is not a report of how skilled Paul was as an orator or as an apologist for the Gospel: Although this might be true. God did not need either of these two men to accomplish the task He wanted to accomplish: Faith the Gentiles. The work we do in presenting the Gospel is the work of Christ. It is God's work in man's lives and He simply chooses to use us. He doesn't need us. Paul and Barnabas gave praise to God for the door "He opened." We ought not to fear presenting the Gospel - it is the power of God unto Salvation. The above verse is the proof of it in the early church.
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