Wednesday, March 15, 2017

Acts 19 - A City Break in Greece

Scripture Reading

Acts chapter 19

Scripture Verse

Ephesians 2.8 ‘For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God’

Some people like travelling; some people don’t! Some people like their own beds; some people can sleep anywhere! I wonder what you are like?

I don’t know if Paul liked being at home but he didn’t seem to stay anywhere for long. We have already read about him travelling about a lot. “And where is he now?” you must be thinking. He has just arrived in Ephesus where he will live for a couple of years.

Ephesus was a busy place. Many people came here to do their shopping. Others came to sporting events, just like people today go to the Olympics or the Commonwealth Games. Sometimes visitors came because they had been told that their God would bless them if they visited this city. But, sadly, there were a lot of bad people who came to Ephesus. Some came to steal and hurt people. Others came to hide as they would have been in prison if they had stayed back home.

Paul knew that these people needed to hear about Jesus. And so, he came to tell them. When he arrived, he found the street where the synagogue was. For three months, he visited the synagogue to tell his Jewish friends about Jesus. They were a bit shocked as Paul really made them think about what the Bible says. Some folks got cross and were rude about the people who followed Jesus. After this Paul used a local school as a place to talk about the teaching of the Lord Jesus. Every day for two years’ people were invited from all around the area to come and hear.

Did you spot how long Paul stayed in Ephesus? If you like working things out go back through our previous posts and add up how many places Paul visited and how long he stayed in each one. It makes interesting reading but more importantly please consider the emphasis that Paul put on making people aware of the truth.