July 6, 2019
PAUL’S FAITHFUL WITNESS Paul was held prisoner by the Roman procurator of Judea, Marcus Antonius Felix for two years. Felix understood the religious culture of Judea better than most Romans, having married the daughter of Herod Agrippa I, Drusilla. Both of them divorced their first spouses in order to be together. Paul’s captivity during
July 4, 2019
REMEMBERING OUR DUAL CITIZENSHIP Paul’s Roman citizenship was often a help to him as he traveled throughout the empire spreading the gospel. Being a Roman citizen gave him certain rights. One of those rights was the right to a trial before any punishment might be administered. It was this right that Paul brought to the
July 3, 2019
ARE YOU TELLING EVERYONE ABOUT JESUS? Paul gave his Damascus Road testimony and explained the calling that the Lord Jesus had given him to the rioting crowd in Jerusalem. As he spoke in their native tongue of Aramaic, the crowd grew quiet, listening to Paul. When most people would’ve been in a hurry to escape
June 30, 2019
WHAT WORK HAS JESUS ASSIGNED TO YOU? The apostle Paul reminded his friends from Ephesus of the calling he had on his life from Jesus. Even though he knew that suffering and jail awaited him, he was determined to fulfill his life purpose of telling others the Good News about God’s wonderful grace. Protecting his
June 29, 2019
PRAYING FOR REVIVAL IN OUR CITY The preaching of Paul and the apostles and the story of how demons acknowledged the name of Jesus and even of Paul, caused a “solemn fear” of God to come over the city of Ephesus and the “name of the Lord Jesus was greatly honored.” A spiritual awakening took
June 26, 2019
THREE RESPONSES TO THE GOSPEL The apostle Paul was called before the Areopagus, which was the high council of Athens, where they invited him to explain what he was teaching. For the Athenians were known for their interest in new philosophies, many of them spending much of their time discussing new ideas. They listened closely
June 22, 2019
THE FIRST CHURCH MISSIONS REPORT Although the 72 disciples that Jesus sent out two-by-two were perhaps the first to offer a missions report, this report by Paul and Barnabas to the church at Antioch may have been the first to a church. While there was no mention of souvenirs brought back, nor a slide show
June 20, 2019
HOW CAN WE BE MADE RIGHT WITH GOD? Paul and Barnabas preached justification by faith in Christ alone while visiting the synagogue in Pisidian Antioch, which was a prominent Roman city located in what is now SW Turkey. This was on Paul’s first missionary journey. They made it clear that what the law of Moses
July 12, 2018
PAUL’S MALTA MISSION
Paul spent three months on the island of Malta after being shipwrecked there. He healed people from all over the island, including the chief official’s father, in the name of Jesus. What should’ve been a disaster turned out to be a divine opportunity. Paul had been rejected in Jerusalem, but he was honored in Malta. The gospel was going out to the Gentiles.
July 10, 2018
MIRACLE ON THE MED
When it appeared that Paul and the 276 people aboard the ship would survive the storm, he and his fellow prisoners were threatened by the soldiers. Yet, even in this, God protected Paul, giving him favor with the commanding officer. The storm, the sailors and the soldiers, all at different times, threatened Paul’s life, but God intervened every time. Not only did Paul survive, but all 276 passengers did as well. Many a ship and all aboard have lost their lives in lesser storms on the Mediterranean Sea, but God had called Paul to go to Rome, and to Rome he would go. The miracle on the Med gave Paul a platform to preach the gospel to every passenger with great credibility.