Day 14
Read: Acts 16:11-40
Introduction: You can learn a lot about a person by their favorite movie. If someone’s favorite movie is a tear jerker like The Boy in the Striped Pajamas or Annie, then they are probably the kind of person that has a lot of compassion, who feels others’ hurts and pains. If someone’s favorite movie is something completely random and out there, for example Monty Python and the Holy Grail, they will most likely laugh at a dad joke. And, there are some people you can just look at and almost guess that they are fans of Marvel or Lord of the Rings. That being said, my favorite movies are the Lord of the Rings! The main reason I love them is because of the relationships between the three main characters. If you are not familiar with the story, there is a team of three unlikely partners: a man, an elf and a dwarf. In a time when their people are not unified, but instead, despise each other, these three guys break down all those walls and make a partnership that cannot be broken. Today, in a world that is divided by politics, income, ethnicity and education, the church stands out all the more as unlikely brothers united with a common goal, following Christ. From the beginning of the church, it has been breaking down societal norms and unifying people under Jesus Christ. In Acts 16, Paul is starting his ministry in Philippi and God starts the church in Philippi with three individuals that were unexpected.
Acts 16:13-14,16-18,
And on the Sabbath day we went outside the gate to the riverside, where we supposed there was a place of prayer, and we sat down and spoke to the women who had come together. One who heard us was a woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple goods, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul…As we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl who had a spirit of divination and brought her owners much gain by fortune-telling. She followed Paul and us crying, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to you the way of salvation.” And this she kept doing for many days. Paul, having become greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” And it came out that very hour…And the Jailer called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas. Then he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved.”
Think about it: When Paul went to start a church in Philippi, I bet he wasn’t expecting the first three believers to be a rich business woman from Asia, a once demon-possessed slave girl, and the jailer that held him in prison. But the gospel knows no race, gender, or wealth. God brings these three unlikely believers together to start one of the strongest, if not the strongest, churches at that time. If there is one place on earth where people can come together and stand side by side on even ground, it is at the cross of Jesus. The church is full of people who are saved by the grace of God through the saving work of Jesus, regardless of wealth, ethnicity, or anything else. There is nothing more diverse and yet unified than the church united under Jesus Christ.
Take away: God unifies the people that the world segregates.