Pray the word with David Platt is a resource from Radical.net.

Acts chapter 15 verses 36 through 41. It's so long your passage, but you'll see why.

And after some days Paul said to Barnabas, let us return and visit the brothers in every city where

we proclaim the word of the Lord and see how they are. A Barnabas wanted to take with them John

called Mark, but Paul thought best not to take with them, one who had withdrawn from them in

Pemphilia and had not gone with them to the work. And there arose a sharp disagreement so that

they separated from each other. Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed away to Cyprus, but Paul

chose Silas and departed, having been commended by the brothers to the grace of the Lord. And he

went through Syria and Selissia strengthening the churches. So amidst all the amazing breath taking

jaw, dropping incredible things we see happening in the book of Acts as the gospel is spreading,

the church is multiplying and yet it's not easy. Acts 15 is full of not easy as there's a huge

discussion in Jerusalem about all of these Gentiles who are coming into the church. What do we do

with them? How to relate to Jewish law? And then at the end of Acts 15, we see Paul and Barnabas,

who in Acts 13 and 14 were going and we were reading about the word spreading throughout the whole

region and everybody from the city gathering together to hear the word. But now Paul and Barnabas

have a sharp disagreement. That's the language that verse 39 in Acts 15 uses in such a way that

they'd part ways. Barnabas takes John called Mark with him and they go in one direction and Paul

chooses Silas and they depart in another direction. So apparently things weren't all perfect in

the early church in the first century and amidst all of the incredible things that were happening,

there were internal challenges in the church. But we see here in Acts chapter 15 that there is a

way for internal challenges to not lead to the destruction of the church. Part of the reason I

wanted to read that whole passage is because of the way it ends in verse 41. Paul went through

...