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Transcript

December 3 - Acts 18 · A Chapter a Day Bible Reading

• 0:11
  Hello, friends. It's Sean here.
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  Yeah, that's right. It's me.
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  You've tapped on play, and here I am.
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  And you and I are going to do what we do each day, read
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  another chapter of God's Word. And as we continue reading
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  through this fascinating book called the Acts of the Apostles,
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  we hear story after story of Paul preaching the good news.
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  And we'll hear other names like Barnabas and Silas who accompany
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  Paul. And so we feel like, ah, there's
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  lots going on and there are a few people as key leaders in
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  this church. But do not be deceived.
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  No, this is just one strand of this incredible growth that was
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  happening in so many directions in so many different places.
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  And today we get kind of a brief taste as toward the end of this
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  chapter, we hear about this new preacher by the name of Apollos.
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  And this just shows that there are all sorts of people that the
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  Holy Spirit has moved in and they have been convicted that
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  Jesus is indeed Lord, and they have begun preaching.
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  And so God's church is just, you know, how you watch some of
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  those movies where there's a pandemic or an alien invasion
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  and you see the map where the red circles get bigger and
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  bigger, and they say, general, in four days we will have lost
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  Europe. Well, maybe not at that pace of
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  accelerated spread, but this is the way the gospel was spreading
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  far beyond just this one linear thread that we're following in
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  the book of Acts. God's church was growing in all
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  directions. And today we get a bit of a
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  taste of that. Oh, wonderful stuff.
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  This message certainly is life changing and it was changing
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  lives and growing dramatically. So let's continue the story as
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  we read together. Acts chapter 18.
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  Then Paul left Athens and went to Corinth.
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  There he became acquainted with the Jew named Aquila, born in
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  Pontus, who had recently arrived from Italy with his wife
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  Priscilla. They had left Italy when
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  Claudius Caesar deported all Jews from Rome.
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  Paul lived and worked with them, for they were tent makers just
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  as he was. Each Sabbath found Paul at the
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  synagogue trying to convince the Jews and Greeks alike.
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  And after Silas and Timothy came down from Macedonia, Paul spent
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  all his time preaching the word. He testified to the Jews that
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  Jesus was the Messiah, but when they opposed and insulted him,
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  Paul shook the dust from his clothes and said, Your blood is
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  upon your own heads. I am innocent.
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  From now on I will go preach to the Gentiles.
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  Then he left and went to the home of Titus Justice, a Gentile
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  who worshipped God and lived next door to the synagogue.
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  Crispus, the leader of the synagogue, and everyone in his
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  household believed in the Lord. Many others in Corinth also
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  heard Paul became believers and were baptised.
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  One night the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision and told him don't
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  be afraid, speak out, don't be silent, for I am with you and no
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  one will attack and harm you. For many people in this city
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  belonged to me. So Paul stayed there for the
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  next year and a half, teaching the word of God.
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  But when Gallio became governor of Ikaya, some Jews rose up
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  together against Paul and brought him before the governor
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  for judgement. They accused Paul of persuading
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  people to worship God in ways that are contrary to our law.
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  But just as Paul started to make his defence, Gallio turned to
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  Paul's accusers and said, Listen, you Jews, if this were a
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  case involving some wrongdoing or a serious crime, I would have
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  a reason to accept your case. But since it is merely a
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  question of words and names and your Jewish law, take care of it
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  yourselves. I refuse to judge such matters.
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  And he threw them out of the courtroom.
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  The crowd then grabbed Sosthenes, the leader of the
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  synagogue, and beat him right there in the courtroom.
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  But Gallio paid no attention. Paul stayed in Corinth for some
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  time after that, then said goodbye to the brothers and
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  sisters and went to nearby sangria.
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  There he shaved his head according to the Jewish custom,
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  marking the end of a vow. Then he set sail for Syria,
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  taking Priscilla and Aquila with him.
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  They stopped first at the port of Ephesus, where Paul left the
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  others behind. While he was there, he went to
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  the synagogue to reason with the Jews.
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  They asked him to stay longer, but he declined.
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  As he left, however, he said, I will come back later, God
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  willing. Then he set sail from Ephesus.
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  The next stop was the port of Caesarea.
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  From there he went up and visited the church at Jerusalem
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  and then went back to Antioch. After spending some time in
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  Antioch, Paul went back through Galatia and Phrygia, visiting
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  and strengthening all the believers.
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  Meanwhile, a Jew named Apollos, an eloquent speaker who knew the
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  Scriptures well, had arrived in Ephesus from Alexandria in
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  Egypt. He had been taught the way of
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  the Lord, and he taught others about Jesus with an enthusiastic
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  spirit and with accuracy. However, he knew only about
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  John's baptism. When Priscilla and Aquila heard
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  him preaching boldly in the synagogue, they took him aside
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  and explained the way of God even more accurately.
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  Apollos had been thinking about going to Akaia, and the brothers
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  and sisters in Ephesus encouraged him to go.
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  They wrote to the believers in Akaya asking them to welcome
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  him. When he arrived there, he proved
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  to be of great benefit to those who, by God's grace, had
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  believed. He refused the Jews with
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  powerful arguments in public debate.
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  Using the Scriptures, he explained to them that Jesus was
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  the Messiah. Oh, Jesus, your arrival and your
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  plan to save us was long planned and foretold by the prophets all
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  through your scripture. Yeah, Lord, faith in you is not
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  faith in a new fandangled idea. But you are the God who was
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  there from the beginning. It was your creative spirit at
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  creation. It was your presence all through
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  that story of you and your Father and the Spirit moving
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  with your people all through history.
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  And here we are, 2000 years after the words were written
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  that we read in today's reading. And still you are with us, and
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  you move in US, and you shape the world around us and drive us
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  to be workers of your Kingdom in our daily lives.
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  Lord, thank you for your ongoing commitment to us, your people,
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  that you draw us to yourself, and you invite us into your
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  Kingdom to share this incredible news that you have for humanity.
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  We are yours, and we thank you. And we pray all of this in your
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  saving name, Amen.