We also thank God constantly for the way you received his word when you heard it from us. You didn’t accept it as a human word, but for what it is, the word of God. And that word is truly at work in you who believe.
James, Peter, and John, who are respected as pillars in the church, recognized that God had given me this privilege. So they shook hands with Barnabas and me to welcome us as partners. They agreed that we should go to the Gentiles while they went to the Jews.
Saul had agreed that Stephen should die. On that day an attack began against the church in Jerusalem. The believers, except for the apostles, were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria.
The Berean Jews were more reasonable than those in Thessalonica. They received Paul’s message gladly and studied the Scriptures carefully every day to see if what Paul said was true.
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.
But the seed that fell on good soil stands for those who hear the message and understand what it means. They produce a crop that’s 100, 60, or 30 times more than what was planted.”