{"id":32326,"date":"2024-08-28T22:00:48","date_gmt":"2024-08-29T05:00:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/acts-18_1-11-copy\/"},"modified":"2024-07-30T21:37:36","modified_gmt":"2024-07-31T04:37:36","slug":"acts-18_12-28","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/acts-18_12-28\/","title":{"rendered":"When You Love Someone Enough\u2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

Acts 18:12-28 \u00a0 (CLICK HERE FOR\u00a0BIBLE VERSES)<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is Acts 18:12-28.\u00a0 As usual,\u00a0I encourage you to read the passage yourself first and see what you can glean with the Holy Spirit\u2019s help, then read the GAME sharing below.\u00a0 Let’s go!<\/p>\n

Acts 18:12-17 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n12\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0While Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews made a united attack on Paul and brought him into court.
\n13\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“This man,” they charged, “is persuading the people to worship God in ways contrary to the law.”
\n14\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Just as Paul was about to speak, Gallio said to the Jews, “If you Jews were making a complaint about some misdemeanor or serious crime, it would be\u00a0reasonable for me to listen to you.
\n15\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0But since it involves questions about words and names and your own law–settle the matter yourselves. I will not be a judge of such things.”
\n16\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0So he had them ejected from the court.
\n17\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Then they all turned on Sosthenes the synagogue ruler and beat him in front of the court. But Gallio showed no concern whatever.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 12-17:\u00a0 In the past, in virtually every city where Paul preached the gospel, Paul faced persecution and harassment.\u00a0 But while Paul was in Corinth, the Lord said to Paul, \u201cDo not be afraid\u2026I am with you, and no one is going to attack and harm you, because I have many people in this city” (see Acts 18:9-10).\u00a0 Here in verses 12-17 we see the Lord making good on His promise that no one would harm Paul.\u00a0 Some Jews start legal proceedings against Paul and bring him to court before the proconsul Gallio, all with the hope of having Paul imprisoned or otherwise punished.\u00a0 But nothing happens to Paul.\u00a0 In fact, in court, Paul doesn\u2019t even need to speak to defend himself, for before Paul is able to speak, the proconsul Gallio dismisses the claims of Paul\u2019s opponents and ejects them from the court.<\/p>\n

What can we learn from this?\u00a0\u00a0God is true to His Word.\u00a0 When God promises anything to you, you can rest assured that it will happen.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Also, when God promises that you won\u2019t be harmed, it doesn\u2019t necessarily mean that you won\u2019t go through trouble, but that the trouble ultimately will not harm you.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Acts 18:18-23 (NIV)<\/strong><\/em>
\n18\u00a0<\/sup><\/em>\u00a0Paul stayed on in Corinth for some time. Then he left the brothers and sailed for Syria, accompanied by Priscilla and Aquila. Before he sailed, he had his hair cut off at Cenchrea because of a vow he had taken.<\/em>
\n19\u00a0<\/sup><\/em>\u00a0They arrived at Ephesus, where Paul left Priscilla and Aquila. He himself went into the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews.<\/em>
\n20\u00a0<\/sup><\/em>\u00a0When they asked him to spend more time with them, he declined.<\/em>
\n21\u00a0<\/sup><\/em>\u00a0But as he left, he promised, “I will come back if it is God’s will.” Then he set sail from Ephesus.<\/em>
\n22\u00a0<\/sup><\/em>\u00a0When he landed at Caesarea, he went up and greeted the church and then went down to Antioch.<\/em>
\n23\u00a0<\/sup><\/em>\u00a0After spending some time in Antioch, Paul set out from there and traveled from place to place throughout the region of Galatia and Phrygia, strengthening all the disciples.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 18-23:\u00a0 God guaranteed Paul\u2019s safety in Corinth, and yet starting in verse 18 we see Paul setting sail again for other places where God did not guarantee Paul\u2019s safety.\u00a0 Paul visits the churches in Syria (v18), Ephesus (v19), Caesarea (v22), Antioch (v22-23) and various locations throughout Galatia and Phrygia (v23), strengthening the disciples in each city.\u00a0 Paul\u2019s love for the churches was so strong that he was willing to risk his own safety to see them and be with them.<\/p>\n

What can we learn from this?<\/p>\n

First,\u00a0<\/strong>when you love someone enough, you\u2019ll risk your own personal safety just to see them and to be with them.\u00a0 That\u2019s what Paul did for these churches.\u00a0 That\u2019s what Jesus did for us: He sacrificed His life just for the chance to be with us.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Second,\u00a0obeying God\u2019s calling and fulfilling His mission is more important than our personal comfort and convenience.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Acts 18:24-26 (NIV)<\/strong><\/em>
\n24\u00a0<\/sup><\/em>\u00a0Meanwhile a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was a learned man, with a thorough knowledge of the Scriptures.<\/em>
\n25\u00a0<\/sup><\/em>\u00a0He had been instructed in the way of the Lord, and he spoke with great fervor and taught about Jesus accurately, though he knew only the baptism of John.<\/em>
\n26\u00a0<\/sup><\/em>\u00a0He began to speak boldly in the synagogue. When Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they invited him to their home and explained to him the way of God more adequately.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 24-26:\u00a0 If there was one man we read about in the book of Acts that I wish had left some writings behind for us, other than Barnabas, it would be Apollos.\u00a0 I would have loved to experience for myself Apollos\u2019 thorough knowledge of the Scriptures, his teaching about Jesus, and his passion for God.\u00a0 Yet notice here that early in Apollos\u2019 ministry, Apollos, while knowledgeable in the Scriptures and teaching about Jesus accurately, was still seemingly incomplete in his knowledge about the Holy Spirit, for \u201che knew only the baptism of John\u201d (v25).\u00a0 What exactly Apollos was missing is not certain, but what we do know is that after hearing Apollos speak in the synagogue, Priscilla and Aquila invite him to their home and supplement whatever it was that Apollos had been missing.<\/p>\n

What can we learn from this?\u00a0 Notice that Priscilla and Aquila went out of their way to build a relationship with Apollos first before trying to correct him.\u00a0 First they invited him to their home, served him with hospitality and got to know him and then they \u201cexplained to him the way of God more adequately\u201d (v26).\u00a0 Notice also that Priscilla and Aquila corrected Apollos privately rather than publicly.<\/p>\n

What can we learn from this?\u00a0\u00a0We live today in a hyper-sensitive, easily triggered cancel culture where people feel the need to correct others whether they know that person or not.\u00a0 How much better is Aquila and Priscilla\u2019s approach where correction was born out of a loving relationship rather than simply access to someone\u2019s social media account.\u00a0\u00a0When there is someone in your life whom you don\u2019t know well and whom you think you need to correct, be careful and thoughtful in your approach.\u00a0 Where possible, try to get to know them first, serving them and establishing a trust relationship before you correct them.<\/strong>\u00a0 \u00a0Also, when correcting an individual, it is good to try to do it first privately rather than publicly.<\/p>\n

Acts 18:27-28 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n27\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0When Apollos wanted to go to Achaia, the brothers encouraged him and wrote to the disciples there to welcome him. On arriving, he was a great help to those who by grace had believed.
\n28\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0For he vigorously refuted the Jews in public debate, proving from the Scriptures that Jesus was the Christ.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 27-28: \u00a0Apollos had a good reputation with the church in Ephesus, so much so that when Apollos wanted to go to the Greek province of Achaia (where the city of Corinth was located), the church in Ephesus wrote to the church in Achaia to welcome Apollos.\u00a0 There in Corinth Apollos debates other Jews, showing how the Scriptures point to Jesus as the Messiah that the Jews have been waiting for.<\/p>\n

Just as Apollos was a great help to the church in Achaia on arrival,\u00a0may it be said of you that you were a great help to others whenever you step foot into a new place<\/strong>.\u00a0\u00a0Instead of looking to be served, make it a point to serve others with what you have.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Lord, thank You that You are faithful to every promise You give me.\u00a0 Thank You that You loved me enough that You\u00a0sacrificed Your own safety and security just for the chance to be with me.\u00a0 May I be a blessing to the people around me.\u00a0 In Jesus\u2019 name,<\/em>\u00a0AMEN!<\/em><\/p>\n

Copyright \u00a9 2022 Justin Lim. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is Acts 18:12-28.\u00a0 As usual,\u00a0I encourage you to read the passage yourself first and see what you can glean with the Holy Spirit\u2019s help, then read the GAME sharing below.\u00a0 Let’s go!\u00a0<\/p>\n

Acts 18:12-17 (NIV)
\n12\u00a0\u00a0While Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews made a united attack on Paul and brought him into court.
\n13\u00a0\u00a0“This man,” they charged, “is persuading the people to worship God in ways contrary to the law.”
\n14\u00a0\u00a0Just as Paul was about to speak, Gallio said to the Jews, “If you Jews were making a complaint about some misdemeanor or serious crime, it would be\u00a0reasonable for me to listen to you.
\n15\u00a0\u00a0But since it involves questions about words and names and your own law–settle the matter yourselves. I will not be a judge of such things.”
\n16\u00a0\u00a0So he had them ejected from the court.
\n17\u00a0\u00a0Then they all turned on Sosthenes the synagogue ruler and beat him in front of the court. But Gallio showed no concern whatever.
\n\u00a0
\nOn verses 12-17:\u00a0 In the past, in virtually every city where Paul preached the gospel, Paul faced persecution and harassment.\u00a0 But while Paul was in Corinth, the Lord said to Paul, \u201cDo not be afraid\u2026I am with you, and no one is going to attack and harm you, because I have many people in this city”.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":32328,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-32326","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gametime-sharing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32326","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32326"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32326\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32329,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32326\/revisions\/32329"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32328"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32326"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32326"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32326"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}