When Paul and Barnabas arrived in Jerusalem, the church and the apostles and elders welcomed them. Then they reported everything God had done through them.
When they arrived in Antioch, they gathered the church together and told everything that God had done through them. They shared how he had opened a way for the Gentiles to believe.
The church sent them on their way, and as they traveled through Phoenicia and Samaria, they told how the Gentiles had turned to God. This news made all the believers very glad.
I don’t dare to speak about anything except what Christ has done through me. He has been leading the Gentiles to obey God through what I have said and done,
Aristarchus, who’s in prison with me, sends you his greetings. So does Mark, the cousin of Barnabas. You’ve been given directions about him. If he comes to you, welcome him.
God was bringing the world back to himself through Christ and not holding people’s sins against them. God has trusted us with this message about how people can be brought back to him.
But by the grace of God, I am what I am, and his grace wasn’t wasted on me. No, I worked harder than all the other apostles—though it wasn’t me doing the work. God’s grace was with me.
Apollos then wanted to go to Achaia, and the brothers and sisters encouraged him to do that. They wrote to the disciples there and asked them to welcome him. When he arrived, he was a great help to those who by God’s grace had become believers.
Paul and Barnabas didn’t agree with this and they argued sharply with them. So the group sent Paul and Barnabas to Jerusalem with some other believers to ask the apostles and elders about this question.
Then the apostles, elders, and the whole church decided to choose some of their own men and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. They chose Judas Barsabbas and Silas, who were leaders among the believers.