Archive for category: GAMEtime Sharing

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Acts 22:17-30.  As usual, I encourage you to read the passage yourself first and see what you can glean with the Holy Spirit’s help, then read the GAME sharing below.  Let’s go! 

Acts 22:17-21 (NIV)
17  “When I returned to Jerusalem and was praying at the temple, I fell into a trance
18  and saw the Lord speaking. ‘Quick!’ he said to me. ‘Leave Jerusalem immediately, because they will not accept your testimony about me.’
19  “‘Lord,’ I replied, ‘these men know that I went from one synagogue to another to imprison and beat those who believe in you.
20  And when the blood of your martyr Stephen was shed, I stood there giving my approval and guarding the clothes of those who were killing him.’
21  “Then the Lord said to me, ‘Go; I will send you far away to the Gentiles.'”

On verses 17-21:  In Paul’s mind, it seemed to make so much sense for him, when he first became a Christian, to stay in Jerusalem, since he was well known in Jerusalem as the most zealous persecutor of Christians and now had become a Christian himself.  But God had different plans for Paul. God knew that people were bent on killing Paul in Jerusalem, so God sends Paul far away to the Gentiles.  It turns out that there was wisdom in God’s plan after all.

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Acts 21:26-40.  As usual, I encourage you to read the passage yourself first and see what you can glean with the Holy Spirit’s help, then read the GAME sharing below.  Let’s go! 

Acts 21:26-36 (NIV)
26  The next day Paul took the men and purified himself along with them. Then he went to the temple to give notice of the date when the days of purification would end and the offering would be made for each of them.
27  When the seven days were nearly over, some Jews from the province of Asia saw Paul at the temple. They stirred up the whole crowd and seized him,

On verses 26-36:  Now we see why it was such a dangerous and risky idea for Paul to go to Jerusalem, and why others tried to discourage him from going.  Paul was a wanted man in Jerusalem, with many people bent on taking his life.  The violent opposition Paul faced in Jerusalem is reminiscent of what Jesus faced in Jerusalem.  Both Jesus and Paul knew that danger awaited them in Jerusalem.  In Luke 13, when people tried to discourage Jesus from going to Jerusalem, Jesus himself said, “In any case, I must keep going today and tomorrow and the next day–for surely no prophet can die outside Jerusalem!” (Luke 13:33). 

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Acts 21:1-14.  As usual, I encourage you to read the passage yourself first and see what you can glean with the Holy Spirit’s help, then read the GAME sharing below.  Let’s go! 

Acts 21:1-6 (NIV)
1  After we had torn ourselves away from them, we put out to sea and sailed straight to Cos. The next day we went to Rhodes and from there to Patara.
2  We found a ship crossing over to Phoenicia, went on board and set sail.
3  After sighting Cyprus and passing to the south of it, we sailed on to Syria. We landed at Tyre, where our ship was to unload its cargo.
4  Finding the disciples there, we stayed with them seven days. Through the Spirit they urged Paul not to go on to Jerusalem.

On verses 1-6:  Paul believed that the Holy Spirit was leading him to go to Jerusalem (see Acts 20:22).  Yet in verse 4 we read that “[t]hrough the Spirit” Christians in Tyre “urged Paul not to go to Jerusalem”.  Was the Holy Spirit giving contradictory directions? 

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Acts 20:13-24.  As usual, I encourage you to read the passage yourself first and see what you can glean with the Holy Spirit’s help, then read the GAME sharing below.  Let’s go! 

Acts 20:13-16 (NIV)
13  We went on ahead to the ship and sailed for Assos, where we were going to take Paul aboard. He had made this arrangement because he was going there on foot.
14  When he met us at Assos, we took him aboard and went on to Mitylene.
15  The next day we set sail from there and arrived off Kios. The day after that we crossed over to Samos, and on the following day arrived at Miletus.
16  Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus to avoid spending time in the province of Asia, for he was in a hurry to reach Jerusalem, if possible, by the day of Pentecost.
 
On verses 13-16:  When I read these verses I get the sense that Paul is engaged in a race against time, as if every second counts and every moment matters.  As he travels from place to place, he doesn’t take the scenic route.  Nor does he stop to veg out.  Instead, Paul goes from Troas on foot to Assos, then takes a ship to Mitylene.  The next day he sails to Kios (v15), the day after to Samos, the following day to Miletus.  He skips past Ephesus so that he can get to Jerusalem as soon as possible. 

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Acts 19:28-41.  As usual, I encourage you to read the passage yourself first and see what you can glean with the Holy Spirit’s help, then read the GAME sharing below.  Let’s go! 

Acts 19:28 (NIV)
28  When they heard this, they were furious and began shouting: “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”  

On verse 28:  Artemis was believed to be the many breasted goddess of fertility and should not be confused with Artemis, the Greek goddess of the hunt.  According to the New American Commentary, the temple of Artemis was located in Ephesus and was very large at over 50,000 square feet (about 165 feet by 345 feet).  Ephesus was thus the centre for the worship of Artemis and Ephesus’ economy was closely connected with Artemis worship.