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   READING THE BOOK OF ACTS: CHAPTER 20 Thursday, December 29, 2022   INTRODUCING ACTS, CHAPTER 20 This chapter records the last stages of Paul’s 3 rd missionary journey. He visited the churches that he and Barnabas had planted in modern-day Turkey. Form there, he traveled southwest to the province of Asia to the church in Ephesus. We read about these experiences in Acts, chapter 19. In Acts 20, Paul is visiting the churches in Macedonia and Greece before returning to Judea. He meets briefly with Philip and evangelist in Caesarea before going to Jerusalem and there getting arrested. For the next two years Paul will remain under house arrest before taking a dangerous sea voyage to Rome. We will see this beginning in Acts. 21.  ( https://www.bibleref.com/Acts/20/Acts-chapter-20.html ) 1) Verses 1-6, Through Macedonia and Greece, Pt. I JEANNIE When the uproar had ended, Paul sent for the disciples and, after encouraging them, said goodbye and set out for Macedonia...

    READING THE BOOK OF ACTS: CHAPTER 19 Wednesday, December 8, 2022   INTRODUCING ACTS, CHAPTER 19 Acts 19 is the meat of Paul’s third missionary voyage. He has already revisited the churches in central modern-day Turkey (Acts 18:23). Now he returns to Ephesus for a three-year stay. After firmly establishing the church there, rescuing many from pagan magic and the worship of Artemis, he returns to Macedonia and Greece. A threat on his life sends him back up to Macedonia and across to Troas. He meets briefly with the Ephesian elders to tell them they will not meet again (Acts 20). When he returns to Jerusalem, he is arrested and, eventually taken to Rome. ( https://www.bibleref.com/Acts/19/Acts-chapter-18.html ) 1) Verses 1-11, Paul in Ephesus, Pt. I JEANNIE While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul took the road through the interior and arrived at Ephesus. There he found some disciples   2  and asked them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when [ a ...

   READING THE BOOK OF ACTS: CHAPTER 18 Wednesday, November 16, 2022   INTRODUCING ACTS, CHAPTER 18 Paul is in the middle of his second missionary voyage. He and Silas left Syrian Antioch and traveled by foot north and west through central modern-day Turkey. In Lystra, they met Timothy. Paul saw Timothy had the potential to be a leader in the church and brought him along. The Holy Spirit forbade them to spread Jesus’ message in the large southwestern province of Asia or the northern province of Bithynia. Instead, the team traveled to the port town of Troas where they picked up Luke and sailed across the Aegean Sea to Macedonia. They had great success in Philippi, though Paul and Silas were beaten and imprisoned overnight. They met strong resistance in Thessalonica, and honest intellectuals in Berea. When Jews from Thessalonica came to Berea to threaten them, Paul escaped to Athens where he debated Stoic and Epicurean philosophers.  ( https://www.bibleref.com/Acts/18/...

  READING THE BOOK OF ACTS: CHAPTER 17 Wednesday, November 9, 2022   INTRODUCING ACTS, CHAPTER 17 Acts 17 continues Paul’s second missionary journey. He and Silas have traveled through Galatia in modern-day Asia Minor, visiting the churches Paul and Barnabas established in their first journey. In Lystra, they found a young man named Timothy and brought him along. After receiving guidance from the Holy Spirit to bypass the western and northern provinces, the three traveled to the western port town of Troas. There, they met Luke, the narrator and author of the book of Acts. All four took a ship across the Aegean Sea to Philippi. In that city, they planted a strong church, but Paul and Silas were also arrested, beaten, and imprisoned overnight. (Acts 16). Acts 17:1-9 indicates that Luke stayed in Philippi, but the other three traveled southwest through Amphipolis and Apollonia, then west to Thessalonica. The Thessalonians act much like the people of Antioch and Iconium. Some beli...

    READING THE BOOK OF ACTS: CHAPTER 16 Wednesday, October 26, 2022   INTRODUCING ACTS, CHAPTER 16 Acts 15 ends with Paul and Silas spreading the news that Gentile Christians don’t have to be circumcised. Acts 16 begins with Paul circumcising a Jewish man, Timothy, to prevent difficulties in preaching to older Jews as the boy grows into church leadership.  Since Timothy’s mother is Jewish, he is Jewish, but his father is Greek, so he was not circumcised.   Paul’s second missionary trip finds the church growing east, into Philippi, Thessalonica, Berea, Athens, and Corinth. On his way back to Syrian Antioch, Paul will stop by Ephesus and soften the Jews for the extended ministry of Priscilla, Aquila, and Apollos. During his first trip, Paul planted churches and ordained elders; in his second, he commissions more missionaries.  ( https://totallyhistory.com/acts-chapter-16/ ) 1) Verses 1-10, Timothy Joins Paul & Silas and Paul's Vision, MS ELNORA Paul cam...