Christ Church (Moscow, ID)

The great apostle had invested much of himself in the course of his ministry at Ephesus. It was one of his most successful ventures, and he had poured himself into it. He was about to let go, departing from them, commending them to God forever. This in-person farewell happened in the mid-50’s, and he wrote the book of Ephesians to them in the early 60’s. They stayed on his mind, in other words.

As Paul traveled around the Roman world, he had made numerous disciples in various places. They were all regular people, and they all had different home towns. But they began to congregate around him, and the truly international nature of the Christian church began to take shape. It was becoming visible. The secularists play at unity and diversity, but it always veers to one side or the other. It...

Mammon is frequently a behind-the-scenes god. The celebrity goddess has an impressive sacred space dedicated to her, which cost a lot of money, but that was just the investment, the outlay. The returns come in the form of the merch. The sacred space was there on the hill, but going in or coming out you would be likely to walk past the Stoa, where the T-shirts and knick-knacks were for sale. We hav...

I want to take a step back and highlight certain patterns in the first nine chapters of Acts, lest we miss the forest for the trees. This section has particular relevance for us given the events of the last ten days. We want to read the story that we’re in, in light of God’s story in the Scriptures, because while history does not repeat itself, it does rhyme.

Ephesus was one of the places where the apostle Paul invested a goodly amount of time. On this occasion, he was there for two years, and you should recall that he had visited earlier in Acts. It was a port city in western Asia Minor, and the temple to Diana there (Artemis) was one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. It was a notable city. We know it as Christians from the riches found in th...

As we have seen in the book of Acts, the time between the resurrection of Christ and the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70 was a time of overlap between the old and new covenants. Christ Himself was the sacrifice of the new covenant, which was better by far than the blood of bulls and goats. Christ is the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world and our text today is designed in order that...

As we continue through Acts, we come to a passage that is filled with a number of interesting details—details which spread out in different directions. And although various subjects are addressed here, we will come to see that all of it represents the grace of God to us.

The next city that Paul came to was Corinth, which came to be the home of one of the more important churches in the New Testament. Corinth is about 48 miles southwest of Athens, and is situated on the Isthmus of Corinth, a narrow strip of land that connected Attica (northern Achaia) from the Peloponnese (southern Achaia). Corinth was an important trading center, with access to the sea in both east...

So Paul was in Athens, waiting for Silas and Timothy to join him as soon as possible. While he was waiting, he found himself greatly vexed and provoked over the rampant idolatry there. Athens was disease-ridden, and their sickness was images. This passage tells us what happened next.

Postmillennialism is the conviction that prior to the Second Coming of Christ, the earth will be as full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. The church’s marching orders, the Great Commission (Matt. 28:18-20), will be successfully fulfilled. All the enemies of Christ will be subdued by the power of the gospel, with only one exception—that exception being death itself, which w...

Thessalonica was a major city in Macedonia. It had a huge harbor and was situated on a major trade route. It had been established by a Macedonian king named Cassander in 315 B.C., who named it after his wife Thessalonike. Paul was supported financially in his mission here by the saints in Philippi, the city he had just come from (Phil. 4:16).

This is the place where Luke joins up with Paul’s entourage (v. 10). He may have been the man in the vision, but regardless, we know that he joined them here. When they cross over to Macedonia, this is the first recorded evangelistic foray into Europe. This is where the Philippian church is established, and reading Philippians alongside this narrative will be especially rewarding.

In this portion of the book of Acts, we are first introduced to Timothy, Paul’s companion and co-worker over the course of years. As we get to know Timothy, we are going to get to know Paul better, and we are going to see some areas where we can be strengthened and encouraged.

The early church, no less than ours, was a church that was filled with personalities. Sometimes those personalities clashed. Sometimes it was messy. And still the Word of God grew and flourished.