Go, Team, Go!
Acts 20:4-6 (HCSB) 4 He was accompanied by Sopater, son of Pyrrhus, from Beroea, Aristarchus and Secundus from Thessalonica, Gaius from Derbe, Timothy, and Tychicus and Trophimus from Asia.5 These men went on ahead and waited for us in Troas,6 but we sailed away from Philippi after the days of Unleavened Bread. In five days […]
After the Uproar
1 When the uproar had ended, Paul sent for the disciples and, after encouraging them, said good-by and set out for Macedonia.2 He traveled through that area, speaking many words of encouragement to the people, and finally arrived in Greece,3 where he stayed three months. Because the Jews made a plot against him just as he was about […]
Spiritual Warfare and Union Bosses
In our study of Acts, we come today to the great riot in Ephesus (Acts 19:23-41). A man named Demetrius was angry with the church and incited a mob in the city center. There were two issues at hand. The first was economic – because of the great number of converts to “the Way,” the […]
Decisions, Decisions
Acts 19:21-22 (HCSB) 21 When these events were over, Paul resolved in the Spirit to pass through Macedonia and Achaia and go to Jerusalem. “After I’ve been there,” he said, “I must see Rome as well!”22 So after sending two of those who assisted him, Timothy and Erastus, to Macedonia, he himself stayed in the […]
Abra Cadabra Jesus!
Acts 19:13-16 (HCSB) 13 Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists attempted to pronounce the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, “I command you by the Jesus whom Paul preaches!”14 Seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this.15 The evil spirit answered them, “Jesus I know, […]
Marketing Miracles
Acts 19:11-12 (HCSB) 11 God was performing extraordinary miracles by Paul’s hands,12 so that even facecloths or work aprons that had touched his skin were brought to the sick, and the diseases left them, and the evil spirits came out of them. Years ago, a friend of mine in college was a “prayer partner” for […]
In the Way
Acts 19:8-10 (HCSB) 8 Then he entered the synagogue and spoke boldly over a period of three months, engaging in discussion and trying to persuade them about the things related to the kingdom of God.9 But when some became hardened and would not believe, slandering the Way in front of the crowd, he withdrew from […]
Baptism in the Spirit
Acts 19:1-7 (HCSB) While Apollos was in Corinth, Paul traveled through the interior regions and came to Ephesus. He found some disciples and asked them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” “No,” they told him, “we haven’t even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” “Then with what ⌊baptism⌋ were you baptized?” he asked […]
God’s Word for You
Acts 18:7-11 (HCSB) 7 So he left there and went to the house of a man named Titius Justus, a worshiper of God, whose house was next door to the synagogue. 8 Crispus, the leader of the synagogue, believed the Lord, along with his whole household; and many of the Corinthians, when they heard, believed […]
When Good News and Hubris Meet
Acts 18:5-6 (HCSB) 5 When Silas and Timothy came down from Macedonia, Paul was occupied with preaching the message and solemnly testified to the Jews that the Messiah is Jesus.6 But when they resisted and blasphemed, he shook out his clothes and told them, “Your blood is on your own heads! I am clean. From […]
Footnotes in History
Acts 18:1-4 (HCSB) 1 After this, he left from Athens and went to Corinth,2 where he found a Jewish man named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla because Claudius had ordered all the Jews to leave Rome. Paul came to them,3 and being of the same […]
Ignorance is bliss
Acts 17:30-31 (NIV) 30 In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent. 31 For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising him from the […]
