The Beginning of the Journey

Today’s Passages –Acts 11 – 13

(Second Milers also read –Psalms 91 – 95; Proverbs 19)

“As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them.” – (Acts 13:2)

Here in Acts 13 we see the beginning of the missionary journeys of Paul. In this passage a local church, Antioch, lays hands on Barnabas and Saul (Paul), and sent them out to start New Testament churches in Asia Minor, and later in Europe. This was the beginning of what would later be labelled by Paul’s critics as a movement that “turned the world upside down”. But it all started with a local church that trained and authorized a couple of missionaries to bring the gospel from a place where it was preached to a place where it was not preached.

It is the mission of every New Testament church to bring the gospel to the people who have not heard it. We are responsible to get the good news of salvation to the people that live in our geographic area through soulwinning outreaches; but we are also equally responsible to get the gospel to the people that live outside of our area. We do that through church planting, and missions. We are to plant churches in areas that are nearby, and also send out missionaries from our churches to areas that are far away; and we should also help support the missionaries that are sent out from other churches. My personal responsibility is to go, or give: if I cannot go to some foreign place to preach the gospel myself, I must give to those who will.

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Phil Erickson

Pastor Phil Erickson has been the pastor of Jersey Shore Baptist Church since January of 2002. Having grown up in Ocean County, Pastor Phil has always had a burden for the south Jersey area. After graduating from Bible College in Longview, Texas, he and his family moved to Galloway Township with the vision of digging in and serving the Lord and the people of Atlantic County. Pastor Phil and Cindy Erickson have been married since 1985. They have four children and ten grandchildren. Their oldest son, Phil Jr. and his wife Katelyn are serving the Lord in Egg Harbor Twp., NJ. Their oldest daughter, Melissa, is married to Wesley Clayton who is in the Air Force and is currently stationed in New Mexico. Samantha, their third child, is married to Justin Mears and they are both serving the Lord at the church in Galloway. Hannah, the youngest, is married to Lucas McCollum, and they are also serving here in Galloway. In preparation for ministry, the Lord led him through a variety of educational experiences that have equipped him to serve the Lord and His people. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Georgian Court University, a Bachelor of Biblical Studies in Pastoral Theology from Texas Independent Baptist Seminary (formerly Texas Baptist College), a Master of Religious Education in Bible from West Coast Baptist College, and a Master of Biblical Studies from The Crown College. More recently, he completed a Graduate Certificate in Biblical Counseling and a Doctor of Ministry degree from Veritas Baptist College. He is thankful for these opportunities to study God’s Word more deeply, and counts it a privilege to use whatever knowledge the Lord has given him for the building up of His church. In addition to pastoring, the Lord has given Phil the wonderful privilege of teaching as an adjunct professor at Vision Baptist College in Berlin, NJ and Veritas Baptist College.