Preaching in Macedonia

Acts 16:6-10

Paul, Silas take the gospel to Europe

The doors were closed to Paul when it came to preaching the gospel where he was. This must have been a little perplexing to him since he was a Roman citizen in a Roman colony trying to preach. The Spirit kept telling him no and he kept searching.

How did the Holy Spirit send this message to him? We don’t know. Common ways in the early church were through a prophet of the Lord, it may have been by a vision, or it may have been an inescapable conviction of his own. Another way of communication could have been his ill health-his thorn in the flesh. At any rate, the message was clear to Paul. How do we react to these sorts of things? Could it be that we are being led in a particular direction?

What makes Paul’s health a possibility is that in verse 10 the story changes from third person telling to first person witnessing. Luke was a doctor making it more likely that Paul was suffering from some ailment that he felt needed attention. This is an example to us that Paul took his weakness as being a messenger from God.

Next, week is Paul’s dream and the first conversion from preaching in Europe.

Acts 16:11-15

Review: The dream of the man in Macedonia gave Paul guidance to seek to go on to Macedonia to preach the good news. What do Christians see as guidance from the Lord / Holy spirit today? Consistent study of God’s Word gives us guidance through faith in our convictions based on our study. We have read before that the amount the Holy Spirit works through us is a direct result in our attitude and growth in faith.

Are we paying attention? We have talked about the times in our lives when a check showed up in the mail on the day a bill was due or the milk ran out for the baby when there was no other money to pay for it. Are we paying attention and looking for these instances in our lives when something occurs by God’s intervention?

Do we keep searching for an answer or do we quit and wait for the answer to come to us? The search for answers can get exhausting and it is work. In our society today the prevailing attitude of young people is that it has to easy or I’m not going to be taking part. I don’t care what the consequences are. The addage of nothing worth-while comes without effort seems to have been lost to a certain extent these days.

In Philippi, the Jews didn’t have synagogs, but they had a place of prayer where they met each Sabbath. These places were generally along a river in a lonely, shady place. Paul’s work was so extraordinary there because of the cross section of people that were there. Lydia was among the most wealthy in the city being a merchant of purple. This was very costly because the dye was gathered drop by drop from a certain shellfish.

What do you think about the Lord opening Lydia’s heart to Paul’s message?

Lydia’s immediate reaction was to extend hospitality to Paul and his friends. When Paul was explaining Christian character he said that Christians should extend hospitality (Romans 12:13). Peter urged the same thing about hospitality on his converts recorded in 1 Peter 4:9.

Hospitality is hard for me because of the amount of effort it takes to get the kids on board for the hospitality program, clean the house, and have the energy to entertain. Then, there is the issue of space. Growing up, we had people around many times, but not really like what Paul and Peter are describing. I have started a new program in my business life that I hope will change this and get hospitality into our program giving us more motivation to do more of this.

Next week, the slave girl who tells the world Paul and Silas are preaching the Word of God.

Have a Great Week!

Brad

Something new: http://HeartFelt.myctmh.com

Led by the Holy Spirit

Acts 16:11-15

Paul, Silas take the gospel to Europe

The doors were closed to Paul when it came to preaching the gospel where he was. This must have been a little perplexing to him since he was a Roman citizen in a Roman colony trying to preach. The Spirit kept telling him no and he kept searching.

How did the Holy Spirit send this message to him? We don’t know. Common ways in the early church were through a prophet of the Lord, it may have been by a vision, or it may have been an inescapable conviction of his own. Another way of communication could have been his ill health-his thorn in the flesh. At any rate, the message was clear to Paul. How do we react to these sorts of things? Could it be that we are being led in a particular direction?

What makes Paul’s health a possibility is that in verse 10 the story changes from third person telling to first person witnessing. Luke was a doctor making it more likely that Paul was suffering from some ailment that he felt needed attention. This is an example to us that Paul took his weakness as being a messenger from God.

The dream of the man in Macedonia gave Paul guidance to seek to go on to Macedonia to preach the good news. What do Christians see as guidance from the Lord / Holy spirit today? Consistent study of God’s Word gives us guidance through faith in our convictions based on our study. We have read before that the amount the Holy Spirit works through us is a direct result in our attitude and growth in faith.

Next week, the first conversion from the preaching in Europe (Lydia)

Have a Great Week!

Brad

Paul and Timothy

The Second Missionary Journey – Introduction

Paul's narrative of the second journey occupied about three years of time. The record of this journey is from Acts 15:36 – 18:23 beginning from Antioch. The biggest part of this journey is that Paul extends his ministry beyond Asia and into Europe.

Acts 16:1-5 – Timothy

Paul finds Timothy and decides to take him on the journey. By deciding to accept Timothy as a Jew, Paul is breaking down more barriers. Timothy was the son of a Jewess but his father was Greek. The strict Jews would have grieved the loss of their daughter and carried out a funeral when she married a gentile. Paul circumcised Timothy because of the Jews in the areas they were going to preach the gospel.

Timothy had a great heritage with his mother and grandmother (1 Timothy 1:5). He had been taught well and well prepared for the ministry he was beginning. He would become Paul's messenger when Paul was 'detained' (1 Corinthians 4: 17, 1 Thessalonians 3:2-6). Timothy was with Paul in Rome when Paul was in prison (Philippians 1:1, 2:19; Colossians 1:1; Philemon 1). Timothy and Paul had a special relationship with Paul. When Paul wrote the Corinthians (1 Corinthians 4:17), he called Timothy his beloved son. When he wrote to the Philippians (Philippians 2:19-20), he said there was no one whose mind was so much like his own. He saw in Timothy the continuation of his work. Paul believed in Timothy and gave him the gift of training and example to further the work of the gospel.

Next Paul will take the gospel to Europe week after next. Next week we will be celebrating my parent's 50th wedding anniversary - Charles and Erma Jean Loveland!

Have a Great couple of weeks!

Brad

Who Believes in You Now?

Acts 15:36-41

Who Believed in You as You Grew Up?

Paul was always moving around. During the preparations for this particular journey, a large disagreement surfaced between Paul and Barnabas. Barnabas wanted to bring John Mark along and Paul did not. Paul refused to work with John Mark for whatever reason. Logically, we can see that John Mark had been with them on the first journey and left them to go home from Pamphylia. Perhaps Paul felt that he would not be up to completing a long, hard mission? We really don't know what Paul's reasons were, but he felt strongly enough about them that he and Barnabas went their separate ways after this.

Clearly, Barnabas believed in John Mark enough to stick by him and go a separate way from Paul. He was fortunate to have someone to believe in him like Barnabas. We have seen before when Barnabas' heart showed through large and warm.

Over the years, there have been a parade of beginning ministers who have preached at Putnam. Batsell Barrett Baxter and Paul Faulkner just to name a couple. A relationship evolved that helped both the congregation and the preacher. All have gone further into the ministry or have become missionaries. God uses the people we are around to lead us to where we are supposed to go.

One gentleman was intent on going to New Zealand. As they were preparing to go, the family had a child who could not thrive well in New Zealand's climate. God led them to Africa. They are missionaries, but at a different location than they originally planned. Remember to keep your mind open to God's will. It may not be exactly what you thought it would be.

Who do you believe in deeply?

Do you encourage them much and often?

Barnabas believed in John Mark, and in the end John Mark justified that belief in his ministry during life.

The Second Missionary Journey – Introduction

Paul's narrative of the second journey occupied about three years of time. The record of this journey is from Acts 15:36 – 18:23 beginning from Antioch. The biggest part of this journey is that Paul extends his ministry beyond Asia and into Europe.

Have a Blessed Week!

Brad

PS Join the study of Matthew by emailing the group subscription address at matthew@bradloveland.com

The Personal Touch

Acts 15:22-35

The “Official” Letter with Messengers

Last week, we learned that Peter and the other leaders of the early church presented their case on the question of what would “qualify” the gentiles for salvation under the mercy of Christ. The decision was made and the letter was written with efficiency and courtesy.

My experience in sales taught me face-to-face contact is much more effective and the correct message is most often fully achieved this way. Letters and fliers just don't achieve the same effects. The church leaders of the early church understood this as well. They sent Judas and Silas back with Paul and Barnabas to put a personal face-to-face quality with the official sounding letter. The kindness, caring, and concern for their brethren was conveyed through Judas and Silas.

The people of Antioch and beyond may have been suspicious of a letter carried only by Paul and Barnabas. Remember that they had a significant group of enemies in this area that would have doubted the authenticity of this letter. Here Judas and Silas were guarantors that the letter was authentic and from the leaders of the church in Jerusalem.

Build the bridge now to today and think about electronic communications. Many people of our world today communicate more with email, instant messengers, “texting” on mobile phones, and “blogging” than they do with face to face or even voice communication. How has this impacted our society? Our churches? The fellowship with our brethren?

Every one reading this knows someone that has a closer relationship with a character on a television series than they do any real person they know. Why is this? Is this healthy for spiritual growth? Remember to always check what I say with the Word of God, the Bible which is the ultimate authority.

Class Break 2

Hi again!

We had a powerful time of sharing and praying this morning through our class time. I am glad we were able to pray for so many things all at once. We will have another lesson here next week.

In the meantime, here is a different way to subscribe to the study over Matthew. I would like to invite you to follow the study of Matthew we completed last spring in Putnam. The lessons are timed to come out once a week. As always, I appreciate your comments and your suggestions on the topics covered in these lessons. To join the Matthew Study send an email to Putnam Church of Christ Blog and use the subscription form on that page. Remember to confirm your subscription in the next email. There was a problem with the email subscription responder this evening.

Have a Great Week!
Brad Loveland

Class Break

Hi!

We had a powerful time of sharing and praying this morning through our class time. I am glad we were able to pray for so many things all at once. We will have another lesson here next week.

In the meantime, I would like to invite you to follow the study of Matthew we completed last spring. The lessons are timed to come out once a week. As always, I appreciate your comments and your suggestions on the topics covered in these lessons. To join the Matthew Study send an email to matthew@bradloveland.com and be sure to confirm by clicking the link in the next email you get from me.

Have a Great Week!
Brad Loveland