Last week in our Acts series we saw the church in Jerusalem discussing whether the Gentile believers should have to conform to Jewish Law. This week Chris looks the letter they sent to Antioch in response. Alongside their response Paul, Barnabas, Silas and Judas were also sent to vouch for its authenticity. In the letter, and in the rest of the New Testament, we see that through Jesus’ fulfilment of the purpose of the Law the non-Jewish believers are not required to conform to the Laws of the Old Testament. Instead we are given the ability (through the words of the Bible and the Holy Spirit) to discern and cast off the things that, as individuals and as a community, separate us from God.
Ant leads the rest of the service, speaking a little about trusting in God whilst Pete and Nick lead our sung worship.

We return to our series in Acts, with Chris this week focussing on Paul and Barnabas’ return to Jerusalem and the discussion in the early church as to whether Gentile believers should have to conform to the Jewish Law of the Old Testament. It is clear that disagreements in church governance are nothing new! We see the Apostles listening to both sides of the argument and together the church ultimately discerning God’s way forwards, giving us a model that we still strive to follow today.

Karen leads the rest of the service as James brings an update on our mission of the month, Asia Link, and Pete and Nick lead our sung worship.

This week we return to our semi-regular series in Acts, looking at the conclusion of Paul and Barnabas’ missionary journeys through Galatia. In this passage we see them re-tracing the steps that they had taken over the previous 2 years and revisiting many of the churches they planted, before returning to Antioch and reuniting with…