Paul's Disciplemaking Friendships, Acts 20:1-6

It's been the Olympics all week. I do have favorite moments, but the love of, curling for this year has been particularly delightful. Take a look. (Video of Older Couple brooming a Roomba, Curling Style.)

All right. A whole other reason to get a Roomba and have some fun.

We're six weeks into the year, and I was reflecting on the journey Renee and I have had of reading the Bible with friends. What an enjoyable, um, dimension that's added to our  marriage is not just that we read through the Bible every year together, but we have friends in it. And so before we get to Acts twenty, I want to remind you that we don't read it to check off a box, but to grow our disciplemaking community and our friendships.

And I want to invite you if you haven't jumped in yet this year. Uh, go to the website, go to Grace dot com, and you can click to join the plan. We're reading as a community, as friends. And this week, the message I'm sharing came from one of those read-through moments where something stuck.

But as I looked at this challenge to keep reading together, I ran back across to Acts two twenty-four. It says all the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, to fellowship, to sharing in meals, and to prayer. And the thought came to my head, what did  they mean? What did they think of when they devoted themselves?

I'd love for you to turn to someone near you and say, here's what I think devoted themselves looks like if it were me in Acts two.

So I did a little bit of research. I looked into what the early believers meant by devoted themselves. And I ran across this. They arranged their lives around these rhythms. That's beautiful. That's putting it on the calendar. That's staying with it. It's prioritizing it. It's saying this is a priority.

So I want to invite you, if you haven't been jumping in and reading Scripture with us this year, and reading with friends. Just remember, this is a no guilt invitation to devote yourself this year. And sometimes it isn't about us. What we've done before is getting started. Take a look.

The greats didn't start great. They just started. Here's to getting your start. (Video:  Walmart Olympics Commercial, Just Start.

Alright. I hope you'll get started reading the Bible with friends this year. And if you want, jump in with us. You can find that link at GraceFC.com or at CadreMissionaries.com.

Now, this week, as we've been reading through this plan with friends, we ran into Acts 20 and a couple of verses about Paul and his friendships, which caught my attention and led us in the direction we're going today.

Let me read us through Acts 20:1-6. If you have a Bible, I suggest you turn there to  mark it and get a first-hand glimpse of this adventure.

Acts 20:1 When the uproar had died down, Paul sent for the believers (disciples in Greek) and encouraged them.

Fyi. Do you know that encouragement is putting courage into someone's life who's lost it? And that Paul, throughout his journey, keeps saying his primary role was to encourage, which includes coming alongside, but in a mutually beneficial way? And I think that's something we can all do, and we can all learn how to do.

And so listen to the rest of this.

2-3. Then he said goodbye and left for Macedonia. While there, he encouraged the believers in all the towns he passed through. Then he traveled down to Greece, where he stayed for three months. He was preparing to sail back to Syria when he discovered a plot by some Jews against his life, so he decided to return through Macedonia.

4-6 Several men were traveling with him. They were Sopater, son of Pyrrhus from Berea; Aristarchus; Secundus from Thessalonica; Gaius from Derby; Timothy; Tychicus; and Trophimus from the province of Asia. They went on ahead and waited for us at Troas, and as the Passover ended, we boarded a ship at Philippi in Macedonia and, five days later, joined them in Troas, where they stayed together for a week.

Something hit me here.

(Video: 2026, iPhone Selfie Camera Commercial with Forest Wildlife.)

The new iPhone has made a big deal about the front camera and the ability to automatically grab different people in a picture and add them, so the selfie can expand to  include as many people as are available. This feature is selling millions of iPhones, but it's actually had me think about this.

I think Luke & Paul took one of the first selfies, which was probably a cartoon sketch artist along the roadside. Still, Luke pauses here and says several men were traveling with him—Sopater, Aristarchus, Secundus, Gaius, Timothy, Tychicus, Trophimus—and he lists where they're from.

It caught me. Do I even know much about them? Why are these people being called-out?

This group selfie isn't random. Luke carefully zooms in on Paul's companions. These were apostolic partners, trusted co-workers in the gospel, and they're present at this moment. It tells us much about Paul's relational leadership and his disciplemaking strategy.

Now, honestly, this makes me recall Jesus and the journey. And a few weeks ago, we shared the message from Luke 8:1-3. Let’s revisit the selfie Jesus took in Luke 8:

Luke 8:1-3 Soon afterwards, Jesus began a tour of the nearby towns and villages, preaching and announcing the good news about the Kingdom of God. He took his twelve disciples with him, along with some women who had been cured of evil spirits and  diseases. Among them were Mary Magdalene, from whom he had cast out seven demons; Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod's business manager; Susanna; and many others who contributed from their own resources to support Jesus and his disciples.

There's this selfie moment that includes both men and women on a journey with Jesus as friends.

And then I thought, well, if Paul had taken a different selfie at some point, he could have included a few of the women he calls out as essential to the church's growth, reach, and ministry. And he celebrates these women.

The list includes Phoebe in Corinth, who was called both a sister and a deacon and was a benefactor. Sounds a lot like the role that Jesus's friends had.

There was Priscilla. She and her husband lived in Rome before they were forced to move to Corinth because of their faith. And there, Priscilla was called by Paul, a  co-laborer, friend, and ministry partner. She is also called a teacher.

Then Junia. She's respected among the apostles; she is noted as a believer before Paul even met Jesus, and she was also a co-presenter with Paul. He says, I reach out to my prison buddy Junia. And in Greek, this name is always a woman's name. And church history has affirmed this is a woman who ministered alongside Paul, including being in prison.

There's Apphia in Colossae. She was called a coworker.

There's Chloe, who is a key woman leader in the Corinthian church.

There were Euodia and Syntyche, and these were both described—now I love this—the original language says both were shoulder to shoulder with Paul, telling others the good news. Thus, the selfie moment. Shoulder to shoulder.

And then there was Nympha, as she was called, a key woman leader in the Laodicean church.

And then, finally, Lydia, who was the first recorded convert to Christianity in Europe, is called out as a founding and sustaining figure in the Philippian church.

So not only Jesus, but Paul includes disciplemaking friends of both genders joining in  key roles for the journey. And as you look at the map of the ancient lands, you’ll see that they were literally from all over.

Now, we're going to go back, and I hope you’ve already turned to Acts chapter twenty. Let's look at who these people are who were called out as Luke's friends in Acts chapter twenty.

These disciplemaking friendships definitely begin as a multi-regional team, reflecting the mission's scope. It is not just mono or identical. And think of the differences that we had so far. From Berea, we have Sopater. From Thessalonica, we have Aristarchus and Secundus. From Derby, we have Gaius. Tychicus and Trophimus were already friends, and they came with Paul from Ephesus. And then Timothy. Timothy was from Lystra. And when Paul met him, Timothy was already a mature believer. He was noted as being respected. And Paul invited Timothy to join him, not so he could bring Timothy into Christianity, but so he would have a ministry partner to do mission with.

We know from the study we conducted two years ago on Timothy's whole life that Paul was able to extend his ministry further. He was able to do more because of friends like Timothy. They weren't just mentees to him. And when we get to Acts twenty, Timothy's been a part of this journey now for seven plus years.

When we look at the map and see his friends, we see the places they're from. From where Jesus was, down in Jerusalem, in the very bottom right of the map, it spread throughout this region. And these friends come from those diverse places.

Secondly, Paul's leadership style. He shared his life. He was not a solo leader. That's why the selfie moment is so important. Paul didn't go it alone. He traveled and ministered with trusted partners who, number one, had local roots in key regions. They were from all over. And secondly, they shared practical and spiritual responsibility. They were engaged in the whole mission with Paul.

And so I love this pattern that Paul had. He formed relationships first and then invested in people who would multiply the mission. He worked with equals, not subordinates. We assume so often that Paul's the superstar. He's a celebrity. And these are helpers or background folks. But in reality, Paul's strategy was about relationships, shared life, mutual strengthening, trusting responsibility, and then multiplication.

But I love how we meet Paul in the very beginning of the book of Romans. Paul hasn't been to Rome yet, and here's what he tells the Roman people, which will give you a hint at what he's already been doing. It says in Romans 1:11 and 12, “I long to visit you so that I can bring you some spiritual gifts that will help you grow strong in the Lord.” When we get together, I want to encourage you in your faith. But I also want to be encouraged by yours. What a beautiful picture of mutual community, of mutual faith.

So number three, these are proven companions. They were tested in life and ministry. These weren't just random people. Most of the companions we see in Acts chapter twenty appear elsewhere in the New Testament.

Timothy is a close companion and co-laborer with Paul. He's a recipient of two pastoral letters, First and Second Timothy. But he also collaborated with Paul in writing six other New Testament books. Here's the lesson: disciple-making friendships include pulling close quality co-followers who make disciple-making friendship the goal, not primarily  Christian education. This isn't about the content. This isn't about the head. It's about the alongside.

Then Tychicus. Later, he was sent with letters to Ephesus and Colossae. Paul describes him as a faithful brother and minister. And in Ephesians, he says Tychicus will give you a full report about what I'm doing and how I'm getting along. He is a beloved brother and a faithful helper in the Lord's work. I have sent him to you for this very purpose, to let you know how we are doing and to encourage you.

If you had stopped at “to let you know how we are doing,” you would have seen his  ministry differently. He is literally being sent to do what Paul has modeled, owned, and says we all should be doing. It's actually probably the key to disciple-making friendship: being willing to give and take in our spiritual journey with friends in selfie moments.

Then we get Gaius. Gaius says hello to you. He is my host, and he serves as a host to the whole church. Here's the lesson. Movement advanced not only through preachers, but through open homes and hospitality.

Then Aristarchus. He's dragged into a riot with Paul. He's called Paul's fellow prisoner. He stayed with Paul during the voyage to Rome. Aristarchus wasn't just a convert. He was a stay with you in suffering friend. Not just a good weather friend, but a prison  partner.

Then, Trophimus from Asia, later mentioned in Second Timothy as someone Paul left sick in Miletus. Trophimus reminds us that the mission includes real-life struggles. Companions aren't superheroes. There are lots of things that interrupt our story, interrupt our journey. And yet that's normal in disciplemaking.

Then Sopater from Berea, known for Scripture discernment. Disciple-making friendships grow when we walk with people who love Scripture and bring steady, trustworthy integrity to the journey.

So who's the missing person in all of this?

Let’s revisit Acts 20, verses four to six. Several men were traveling with him… They went on ahead and waited for us. Now who’s us? We are Paul and Luke. After the Passover ended, we boarded a ship… joined them in Troas, where we stayed a week.

Luke is in the selfie and behind the camera.

Luke is not Jewish. He's an educated Greek doctor, most likely from Antioch. He writes two New Testament books by interviewing people who were with Jesus and with Peter and Paul. That covers twenty-eight percent of the New Testament.

We first see “we” in Acts sixteen at Philippi. Then it disappears and reappears here in Acts twenty and continues through Acts twenty-eight. Church historians believe Luke stayed in Philippi for two years to ground believers before rejoining Paul.

Second Timothy four eleven says, Only Luke remains with me. Near the end of Paul's  life, Luke was at his side. Luke was Paul's friend for fifteen plus years.

Here are some insights from hanging out with Paul and his friends.

Shared ministry overflows from shared friendship.Diversity strengthens the movement.It’s not just mentoring, it’s mentoring, partnering, and sending.Mutual trust over hierarchy.It’s a people-centered mission.

When we read these simple verses and take the selfie moment, we realize Luke’s attention to names is not merely historical. It highlights people because their stories  matter.

And can I look you in the eye right now and remind you that your story matters? Your story matters a lot. God wants to see who you're connected with, what you're learning from each other, and how it’s mutual.

So in summary, Paul didn't just plant churches. He formed people. He invested deeply, shared life, and entrusted responsibility. Disciple-making isn't a solo calling. It's shared roots, shared burdens, shared joy. The mission advances best through friends who have walked with Jesus and with one another.

That’s the essence of the disciple-making journey: surrounding yourself with people who love Jesus and love you.

So my challenge this week is. How about you take a selfie? Take several selfies and share  them. Post them, text them, print them out, and put them on your refrigerator to remember the people in your group—a selfie of your journey with Christ.

Because it is only as we journey together that we discover all there is to discover about our companions and disciple-making friendships.

Your story matters! Please, send me your selfie. I’d love to pray for you and your disciplemaking friends and family! dave@cadremissionaries.com