Acts 13 begins Paul’s first missionary journey as the Holy Spirit calls the church at Antioch to set apart Barnabas and Saul for the work of spreading the gospel.

But this Acts 13 Bible study is not only about missionaries leaving home. It is about a church learning to open its hands.

Throughout the book of Acts, the Holy Spirit moves first and the church struggles to catch up. Philip preaches in Samaria. The Ethiopian eunuch is baptized on a desert road. Peter enters the home of Cornelius and watches the Holy Spirit fall upon the Gentiles. But in Acts 13:1–12, something changes. For the first time, a local congregation hears the Spirit before the journey begins and willingly releases its own leaders into God’s mission.

“As they served the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, ‘Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to ...