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Published March 13, 2023

Loving Christ’s Church

For the past several weeks, the Apostle Paul has been in Ephesus on his third missionary journey – preaching the Word of God, doing miracles, and as usual, causing riots and uproars!

As we’ve been following Paul on his journeys through the book of Acts, it seems every city he visits ends up absolutely divided in their opinion of him! Either the people love and accept Him as a brother – or they reject and hate him as public enemy #1.

And the city of Ephesus is no exception to that rule. Last week the entire city was in an uproar against Paul – stirred to action by the silversmith Demetrius (who accused Paul of destroying his lucrative idol-making business and undermining the worship and the credibility of their goddess Artemis.)

Thankfully, the mayor of Ephesus didn’t see things quite the same way. He didn’t see Paul or Christianity as a threat to their city and he was able to disperse the mob before things got out of hand.

But now today, in contrast to that angry mob, we’re going to see the opposite side of that spectrum. Today we’re going to see just how dearly loved Paul was to the many who had been transformed by the power of the Gospel! It seems that Paul never had a neutral effect – you either loved him or you hated him!

Paul actually wrote about this in 2 Corinthians 2:15…

15 Our lives are a Christ-like fragrance rising up to God. But this fragrance is perceived differently by those who are being saved and by those who are perishing. 16 To those who are perishing, we are a dreadful smell of death and doom. But to those who are being saved, we are a life-giving perfume.

2 Corinthians 2:15-16a

I really like Paul’s metaphor here of being a fragrance – and it certainly fits his experience!

Now to be sure, Paul was certainly a strong scent. He was kinda like smell of garlic… You either love it or you hate it! There was no middle ground! But one way or another, Paul’s life made an impact on the people around him.

  • To those who wanted nothing to do with God – Paul’s life was a stench and everything about him was repulsive to them.
  • But for those who were seeking a real, authentic relationship with the God of heaven – Paul’s life was a breath of fresh air – like the smell of freshly-baked bread or the country air after a spring rain! For those who would come to Christ, Paul’s life and his message was absolutely refreshing!

And I think that’s really what we are called to be like as well. Jesus describes us as salt and as light – two things that should made a tremendous impact on the environment in which we find ourselves. As salt, we should be packed with flavour – and as light we should be like a million-candle-power flashlight! What a tragedy it would be if our lives were like a 1 watt bulb – or just a single grain salt in a big batch of french fries! NO! We need to be like Paul – packed with flavour – lighting up the darkness like a floodlight! Or to use Paul’s analogy, people should be able to smell us a mile away!

Perhaps that’s not the most attractive analogy, but do you get my point? God didn’t leave us on this planet to be neutral, to be unnoticed, to be inconsequential to the world around us. Like Paul, God has us on this planet to make an impact – one way or the other – for Him.

And today, as we read through Acts chapter 20, Paul is going to tell us exactly how He did that – and how we can do that as well.

Continue Reading This ArticleLoving Christ’s Church
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Published March 6, 2023

To Whom Do We Cling?

Last Sunday we were reminded all over again about the incredible power of our God. As we read through the beginning parts of Acts chapter 19, we saw God do some amazing things through Paul and in the city of Ephesus in general!

  • We saw people being healed simply by touching Paul’s handkerchiefs & work aprons.
  • We saw evil spirits being cast out in the same manner.
  • We saw both Jews & Greeks throughout the province of Asia being taught the Word of the Lord through Paul’s teaching.
  • And we saw many people believe in Christ, confess and repent of their sins, and choose to live whole-heartedly for Christ!

As we read in our concluding verse last week:

20 So the message about the Lord spread widely and had a powerful effect. Acts 19:20

God was clearly at work in Ephesus – just like He is today – even in our town of Penhold! God is always at work, carrying out His good will through His people – people like you, me, and Paul.

And of course, Paul was willing to carry out God’s work where ever God would lead him. And at this particular time, God was preparing to move him on to Macedonia, Achaia, to Jerusalem, and eventually on to Rome.

In verse 21, we see the Holy Spirit beginning to nudge Paul in those directions. It says…

21 Afterward Paul felt compelled by the Spirit to go over to Macedonia and Achaia before going to Jerusalem. “And after that,” he said, “I must go on to Rome!” 22 He sent his two assistants, Timothy and Erastus, ahead to Macedonia while he stayed awhile longer in the province of Asia.

Acts 19:21-22

In just a short while, Paul would leave Ephesus and as he had hoped, would indeed go on to Rome to preach the Gospel – but it probably wouldn’t be in the manner that he expected. Little did he know, he would be arriving in Rome in chains – preparing to stand trail before Ceasar!

But of course, that’s all quite a bit down the road yet. For now, he stayed a little longer in Asia – long enough to find himself in the centre of a great uproar in Ephesus!

And that’s what we’re going to look at today. So if you have your Bibles, you can turn to Acts chapter 19.

Now just before we read, keep in mind that there has been a great revival in Ephesus during Paul’s time in the city. Last week we read about how people were being dramatically transformed by God. For example: many people who had been practicing sorcery had burned all their incantation books at a public bonfire – burning up millions of dollars worth of books! So the Gospel has clearly been impacting this city in some majors ways! And we’re going to see that even more clearly today: So we pick up the story now in verse 23.

23 About that time, serious trouble developed in Ephesus concerning the Way. 24 It began with Demetrius, a silversmith who had a large business manufacturing silver shrines of the Greek goddess Artemis. He kept many craftsmen busy. 25 He called them together, along with others employed in similar trades, and addressed them as follows:

“Gentlemen, you know that our wealth comes from this business. 26 But as you have seen and heard, this man Paul has persuaded many people that handmade gods aren’t really gods at all. And he’s done this not only here in Ephesus but throughout the entire province! 27 Of course, I’m not just talking about the loss of public respect for our business. I’m also concerned that the temple of the great goddess Artemis will lose its influence and that Artemis—this magnificent goddess worshiped throughout the province of Asia and all around the world—will be robbed of her great prestige!”

28 At this their anger boiled, and they began shouting, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”

Acts 19:23-28

And we’ll stop here for now. So here we have this fellow Demetrius – a man who’s business was directly connected with idol worship. And in Ephesus, business was booming – or at least it had been! Demetrius had employed many people and grown quite wealthy by manufacturing silver shines of the Greek goddess Artemis. But as the Gospel spread throughout the whole province of Asia, the business of making idols had taken quite a hit!

And so Demetrius gathers up all the craftsmen and all the folks in similar trades, and gives a rousing speech designed to stir up the people against Paul. And he makes two main arguments against Paul – points that he knows will certainly stir up people’s emotions.

Continue Reading This ArticleTo Whom Do We Cling?
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Published March 1, 2023

Power in Ephesus

If you are just joining us today for the first time, we have been working our way through the book of Acts for the last several months. We are now in Acts chapter 19 and the start of Paul’s third missionary journey. 

Paul had been commissioned by God to bring the message of the Gospel to Kings, gentiles, and his fellow Jews throughout the Roman empire. And this is the third major excursion that Paul has undertaken to accomplish this task. However, this third journey is little bit different from his first two journeys.

In his first two journeys, Paul was really a pioneer of the Gospel! He brought the Good News to places far from Jerusalem – places that had never heard the message of Jesus. But now in his third missionary journey, he actually spends most of his time strengthening the church – working in places where he had already planted churches earlier.

If you look at the maps of Paul’s journeys, you can see that journey number three includes many of the same places that he had already visited during journey number two. But this fits well with Paul’s desire not only to preach the Gospel – but to help people grow and mature in the Lord. As we’ve mentioned before, Paul didn’t want to merely make believers – but he wanted to make disciples – followers of Jesus Christ would who grow, mature, and make more disciples of Jesus. This is part of the reason why Paul wrote all those letters that make up a good portion of our New Testament today – these were written to give instruction and encouragement for those new believers in the churches that he had planted.

And this is really the expectation that Jesus has for all of us! Not to write letters that will one day become part of the Bible, but to help each other grow and mature in the Lord. Jesus said to his disciples in Matthew 28:19…

19 Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. 20 Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. Matthew 28:19-20a

The second part of this command – to teach these new disciples to obey all of the commands of Christ – is just as important as the initial step of making disciples and baptizing them! And so as Paul traveled the world preaching the Gospel, he was very intentional about helping these new disciples grow in their faith and understand of Jesus. And we’re going to see that very clearly in our passage today.

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Published February 21, 2023

Gallio, Sosthenes, and Apollos

In our passage today, Paul is about to conclude his second missionary journey. This journey has taken him roughly 3 years to complete and during this time, he has traveled about 2,500 miles – which by comparison, is roughly the distance between here and Florida! So this has been quite a journey for Paul and his companions.

But their journey is not yet complete. As of verse 11 in Acts chapter 18 where we left off last week, Paul still has about 1/3 of the journey to complete. And so today, Luke is going to zip us through that final leg of the journey – using only five verses to summarize it all! (I guess not much interesting happened on the way home.)

But as I said, we’re not there yet. At the moment, Paul is still in Corinth – having been assured by God in a vision that no one was going to attack & harm him here as they had in other cities. And so Paul stayed in Corinth for about a year and a half – preaching the Word of God and building up the church.

However, even though God has promised Paul that he would be safe, that didn’t guarantee that he would be free from opposition. And as we begin our passage today – opposition is exactly what we see. Starting at verse 12.

12 But when Gallio became governor of Achaia, some Jews rose up together against Paul and brought him before the governor for judgment. 13 They accused Paul of “persuading people to worship God in ways that are contrary to our law.” Acts 18:12-13

As we’ve seen many times before (in fact, in most of the cities where Paul has visited) it’s not long before the Jews are plotting together to either kill or silence Paul. These Jews had refused to believe Paul’s message – and they were not happy that other Jews had believed. And so as these verses tell us, they rose up together against Paul; and brought him before the new governor of Achaia. 

Continue Reading This ArticleGallio, Sosthenes, and Apollos
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Published February 13, 2023

The Watchman in Corinth

If you were with us last week, you’ll recall that Paul’s missionary team of four had whittled down to just one. Luke had remained in Philippi (presumable to pastor the first church in that city) and Silas & Timothy had stayed behind in Berea while Paul went on to the city of Athens. Of course, Silas & Timothy would rejoin Paul before too long, but for now, Paul was left to minister on his own.

And so, following his typical pattern, Paul preached the Good News to anyone he could find – both in the Jewish synagogues as well as in the public square! But for all of Paul’s preaching, it seems that the city of Athens had little appetite for the Word of God and only a few people accepted the Lord in that city.

And so, always eager to share the Good News with more and more people – Paul didn’t linger long in Athens and soon made his way to Corinth – and that’s where we are going to pick up the story today.

At this point, Timothy and Silas have yet to catch up with Paul, and so he is still ministering alone – but that won’t be the case for long. As we will read today, God graciously provided yet another set of co-workers for Paul – a married couple that would work together with him in Corinth and would later travel with him to Ephesus.

But that’s not the only thing that God provided for Paul in Corinth. As we go through this chapter we will see that God not only provided co-workers for Paul, but He also provided for Paul’s physical needs, He gave him encouragement and a renewed sense of calling, and he also gave him protection from those who wanted to harm him.

It really is a great chapter for us to see how God graciously provided exactly what Paul needed – and exactly when He needed it.

Our passage today is Acts chapter 18 – and we’re going to start at verse 1 as Paul leaves Athens and makes his way to Corinth.

Continue Reading This ArticleThe Watchman in Corinth
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Published February 6, 2023

Presenting the Gospel in Athens

As most of you know, for that last several weeks we have been following Paul on his second missionary journey. Although Paul had begun this journey with just Silas as his partner, their missionary team had grown as their journey progressed. In Lystra, they picked up Timothy – a young disciple who had come to know and follow Christ during Paul’s first missionary journey. Then later, they were joined by Dr. Luke in the city of Troas – just before they entered Macedonia.

But then, in the city of Philippi – their team began to shrink again. Luke stayed behind in Philippi – quite possibly to be the first pastor for the newly planted church in that city. And now in the city of Berea, trouble-makers from Thessalonica had stirred up the city against Paul – and so the believers whisked him away to the city of Athens – while Silas and Timothy stayed behind (at least for a little while) – presumably to continue ministering to church in Berea just a little bit more before they moved on.

So now in our passage today, we find Paul all by himself in the city of Athens – waiting for Silas and Timothy to rejoin him. And we don’t know exactly how long Paul was waiting… Based on distance and travel times from Berea, we’d guess probably somewhere between a week to a month – although it could have been even longer!

But of course, Paul didn’t spend all that time just waiting around doing nothing! While in Athens He continued preaching to both Jews and Gentiles – pointing them to Jesus Christ and urging them to trust in Him for salvation!

Of course, this is exactly what we would expect from Paul, but it’s HOW he does this that is of particular interest for us today. 

Our passage today is Acts chapter 17 and we’ll be starting at verse 16.

Continue Reading This ArticlePresenting the Gospel in Athens
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