Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

Some time later Paul said to Barnabas, “Let us go back and visit the believers in all the towns where we preached the word of the Lord and see how they are doing.” Barnabas wanted to take John, also called Mark, with them, but Paul did not think it wise to take him, because he had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not continued with them in the work. They had such a sharp disagreement that they parted company. Barnabas took Mark and sailed for Cyprus, but Paul chose Silas and left, commended by the believers to the grace of the Lord. He went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches.

• Acts 15:36-41

Paul came to Derbe and then to Lystra, where a disciple named Timothy lived, whose mother was Jewish and a believer but whose father was a Greek. The believers at Lystra and Iconium spoke well of him. Paul wanted to take him along on the journey, so he circumcised him because of the Jews who lived in that area, for they all knew that his father was a Greek. As they traveled from town to town, they delivered the decisions reached by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem for the people to obey. So the churches were strengthened in the faith and grew daily in numbers.
Paul and his companions traveled throughout the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia. When they came to the border of Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to. So they passed by Mysia and went down to Troas. During the night Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” After Paul had seen the vision, we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.
From Troas we put out to sea and sailed straight for Samothrace, and the next day we went on to Neapolis. From there we traveled to Philippi, a Roman colony and the leading city of that district of Macedonia. And we stayed there several days.
On the Sabbath we went outside the city gate to the river, where we expected to find a place of prayer. We sat down and began to speak to the women who had gathered there. One of those listening was a woman from the city of Thyatira named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth. She was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message. When she and the members of her household were baptized, she invited us to her home. “If you consider me a believer in the Lord,” she said, “come and stay at my house.” And she persuaded us.
Once when we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a female slave who had a spirit by which she predicted the future. She earned a great deal of money for her owners by fortune-telling. She followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved.” She kept this up for many days. Finally Paul became so annoyed that he turned around and said to the spirit, “In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!” At that moment the spirit left her.
When her owners realized that their hope of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to face the authorities. They brought them before the magistrates and said, “These men are Jews, and are throwing our city into an uproar by advocating customs unlawful for us Romans to accept or practice.”
The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered them to be stripped and beaten with rods. After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison, and the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully. When he received these orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.
About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everyone’s chains came loose. The jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped. But Paul shouted, “Don’t harm yourself! We are all here!”
The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. He then brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”
They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.” Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house. At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his household were baptized. The jailer brought them into his house and set a meal before them; he was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God—he and his whole household.
When it was daylight, the magistrates sent their officers to the jailer with the order: “Release those men.” The jailer told Paul, “The magistrates have ordered that you and Silas be released. Now you can leave. Go in peace.”
But Paul said to the officers: “They beat us publicly without a trial, even though we are Roman citizens, and threw us into prison. And now do they want to get rid of us quietly? No! Let them come themselves and escort us out.”
The officers reported this to the magistrates, and when they heard that Paul and Silas were Roman citizens, they were alarmed. They came to appease them and escorted them from the prison, requesting them to leave the city. After Paul and Silas came out of the prison, they went to Lydia’s house, where they met with the brothers and sisters and encouraged them. Then they left.

• Acts 16:1-40

Noted Biblical Scholars, Teachers, and Preachers Comments

Acts 15:33-40 ‘Paul and Barnabas both had valid points’: “As usual in this kind of thing, both Paul and Barnabas were, in a sense, in the right. Paul was thinking back to all the opposition they had faced in Turkey. john Mark had not even made it to Turkey but had gone back home from Cyprus (Acts 13:13). Paul knew he desperately needed people he could rely on totally, whatever happened. Barnabas, the ‘son of encouragement’ living up to his name (Acts 4:36), could no doubt see that John Mark was only a youngster and that he had simply panicked on the previous trip. Giving John Mark a second chance would show the Jerusalem church that they, Paul and Barnabas, wanted to cement the partnership between Antioch and Jerusalem which had been firmly and publicly established through the Jerusalem Council. Luke could quite easily have found a less embarrassing way of explaining the new missionary pairings.
“Anyone who suggests that Luke is trying to whitewash early church history or imply that the apostles were angels should think again. By including this unhappy episode, Luke adds credibility to all he has written. I have a hunch that he told this shocking little story partly because he wanted this lesson to be heard and taken to heart. God can take the greatest human folly and sin and bring great good from it.”

• N. T. Wright, Acts (from the For Everyone Bible Study Series)

Acts 15:36 ‘see how they are doing’: “In addition to proclaiming the gospel, Paul also recognized his responsibility to mature the new believers in their faith (Matt. 28:19, 20; Eph. 4:12, 13; Phil. 1:8; Col. 1:28; 1 Thess. 2:17). So he planned his second missionary journey to retrace his first one.”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics

Acts 15:39 ‘contention … parted’: “This was not an amicable parting—they were in sharp disagreement regarding John Mark. The weight of the evidence favors Paul’s decision, especially since he was an apostle of Jesus Christ. That alone should have caused Barnabas to submit to his authority. But they eventually did reconcile (1 Cor. 9:6). Cyprus. See … 13:4.”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

Acts 15:39-41 ‘Silas joins Paul – somehow’: “Those with sharp eyes will have spotted that there is no ‘verse 34.’ The earliest and best manuscripts of the New Testament have the text as we now see it. But there is a puzzle. Luke says (15:33) that Judas and Silas returned to Jerusalem; but a few verses later (15:40). Paul chooses Silas to go from Antioch on his next journey. So did Silas go back to Jerusalem or did he stay in Antioch? There is no necessary contradiction. Paul could have sent a message to Jerusalem calling Silas back. But at some point two scribes, independently, decided to tidy things up to explain what Silas did. When the New Testament verse-numbering was added centuries later, this additional material was still in the text people were using at the time and it was labeled as verse 34. All contemporary translations now omit it.
“Silas is the same person as ‘Silvanus’ who appears in the two letters Paul wrote to Thessalonica, and who is also mentioned in 2 Corinthians 1:19. Whether or not he is the same as the ‘Silvanus’ mentioned in 1 Peter 5:12 is impossible to say.”

• N. T. Wright, Acts (from the For Everyone Bible Study Series)

Acts 15:40 ‘Silas’: “He was perfectly suited to be Paul’s companion, since he was a prophet and could proclaim and teach the Word. Being a Jew gave him access to the synagogues (see note on 6:9). Because he was a Roman citizen (16:37), he enjoyed the same benefits and protection as Paul. His status as a respected leader in the Jerusalem fellowship helped to reinforce Paul’s teaching that Gentile salvation was by grace alone through faith alone (see note on v. 22).”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

Acts 16 ‘The calling of Timothy’: “If you pray for wisdom about a particular decision, and then find yourself coming to a conclusion you hadn’t expected, you either go with it or you decide that you didn’t really mean that prayer in the first place. It is likely that Paul went through such a process before he chose Timothy as a travel companion and assistant. Paul knew he would need help of various kinds and at various stages, and after previous experiences he knew he had to have someone he could totally trust. He became convinced of that in Timothy’s case.”

• N. T. Wright, Acts (from the For Everyone Bible Study Series)

Acts 16:1-15 ‘Timothy’s circumcision’: “Paul’s missionary method, whenever he got to a new town, was to go to the Jewish synagogue first.  That meant he and his traveling companions had to be acceptable as fully fledged Jews, able to move freely among the Jewish community without putting up a barrier. Timothy was Jewish because his mother was Jewish; but because his father was a Greek, he had not been circumcised as a baby. Paul circumcised Timothy not because Timothy needed circumcision to become a full member of God’s people, but because it would be much easier to advance Paul’s mission if his companions could all be seen as proper Jews. This is the opposite of what happened with Titus, a Gentile (Galatians 2:1-5).”

• N. T. Wright, Acts (from the For Everyone Bible Study Series)

Acts 16:1 ‘certain disciple … Timothy’: “A young man (late teens or early twenties) of high regard, a ‘true child in the faith’ (1 Tim. 1:2; cf. 2 Tim. 1:2), who eventually became Paul’s right-hand man (1 Cor. 4:17; 1 Thess. 3:2; Phil. 2: 19; see … 1 Timothy). In essence, he became John Mark’s replacement. After being commissioned by the elders of the local church (1 Tim. 4:14; 2 Tim. 1:6), he joined Paul and Silas. his father was Greek. The grammar likely suggests his father was dead. By being both Jew and Gentile, Timothy had access to both cultures-an indispensable asset for missionary service.”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

Acts 16:3 ‘circumcised him’: “This was done to aid his acceptance by the Jews and provide full access to the synagogues (see … 6:9) he would be visiting with Paul and Silas. If Timothy had not been circumcised, the Jews could have assumed he had renounced his Jewish heritage and had chosen to live as a Gentile.”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

Acts 16:6-10 ‘The Macedonian Call’: ” Paul and Silas traveled through Lystra and Iconium, where they picked up a young disciple named Timothy, who was of Jewish and Greek heritage (15:40—16:2). Paul had him circumcised before they traveled on to Mysia and Troas (verses 7-8). During their journey they spoke and taught at various places, strengthening the churches and seeing their numbers increase (verse 5). As they passed through the Phrygian and Galatian regions, the Holy Spirit forbade them to speak the Word of God in that area of Asia Minor (verse 6). Also, at Mysia the ‘Spirit of Jesus did not permit them’ to teach and preach the truth (verse 7).
“By a prophetic vision that appeared to Paul in the night, a certain man of Macedonia ‘was standing and appealing to him, and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us (verse 9). Ger writes, ‘Free of qualm or quandary in interpreting the vision as a divine directive to evangelize Macedonia, the missionaries made immediate plans to sail from Troas to Europe’ (The Book of Acts, p. 227). This was a clear prophetic message that told Paul, ‘God had called us to preach the gospel to them’ in that region (verse 10). After the vision, Paul and his companions immediately sought to travel into Macedonia. Much pain and persecution would follow when they arrived at Philippi, a city in the district of Macedonia. Though they would know the joy of Lydia’s conversion (verse 14), Paul and Silas would later be thrown into prison for the disturbance that followed over the casting out of the spirit of divination in the slave girl (verses 16-24). But their imprisonment made it possible for the jailer and his household and many others to come to Christ (verses 25-34).
“Johnson writes that just as ‘Peter was drawn to the edge of Palestine before being shown that he was to preach to Gentiles, so is Paul given a vision of a “certain Macedonian man” who implores him for help. On the basis of that [prophetic] vision, Paul and his companions decide that God is “summoning them” to preach the gospel also in Europe’ (The Acts of the Apostles, p. 290).”

• Tim LaHaye and Ed Hindson, Exploring Bible Prophecy

Acts 16:6 ‘Holy Spirit … Asia’: “Paul was not allowed to fulfill his intention to minister in Asia Minor (modern Turkey) and to such cities as Ephesus, Smyrna, Philadelphia, Laodicea, Colosse, Sardis, Pergamos, and Thyatira.”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

Acts 16:9 ‘the best help’: “The best help Paul could render to the Macedonians was ‘to preach the gospel to them’ (v. 1 0). The best help we can give men socially is to help them religiously, and the best religious help is to preach the gospel to them.”

• Charles H. Spurgeon, from sermon notes

Acts 16:13 ‘to the riverside’: “Evidently, the Jewish community did not have the minimum of ten Jewish men who were heads of households required to form a synagogue. In such cases, a place of prayer under the open sky and near a river or sea was adopted as a meeting place. Most likely, this spot was located where the road leading out of the city crossed the Gangites River. women who met there. In further evidence of the small number of Jewish men, it was the women who met to pray, worship, and recite from the OT Scriptures.”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

Acts 16:13 ‘a prayer meeting’: “This was probably the first religious meeting or Christians that was ever held in Europe. It is remarkable that it was a prayer meeting—one attended by women, to which two ministers came and preached the gospel. To be able to be present at a prayer meeting ought always to be reckoned a great privilege to all of us who are Christians. In this way the gospel first came to us. In this way the gospel will be best preserved to us. And in this way we may best obtain guidance from God as to how we may carry the gospel to others.”

• Charles H. Spurgeon, from sermon notes

Acts 16:14 ‘Lydia … from the city of Thyatira’: “Her home city was located in the Roman province of Lydia, thus the name ‘Lydia’ was probably associated with her place of origin. seller of purple. ‘Purple’ fabrics. Because purple dye was extremely expensive, purple garments were usually worn by royalty and the wealthy. As a result, Lydia’s business turned a nice profit, which enabled her to have a house large enough to accommodate the missionary team (v. 15) and the new church at Philippi (v. 40). who worshiped God. Like Cornelius, she believed in the God of Israel but had not become a full proselyte (cf. 10:2). The Lord opened her heart. This is another proof of the sovereignty of God in salvation (see note on 13:48).”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

Acts 16:16-18 ‘what most high god did the girl mean?’: “The girl with a spirit that could predict the future kept shouting that Paul and Barnabas came from the most high God to announce salvation. (vv. 16-18). Now that was true; but probably not in the sense either that she meant it or that people would understand it. God Most High to someone living in Philippi wouldn’t mean the God of Abraham, the One God of Jewish monotheism. It would mean either Zeus or whichever god they thought was at the top of the local pantheon. And salvation wouldn’t mean what it meant to a Jew or a Christian, but ‘health’ or ‘prosperity’ or ‘rescue’ from some kind of disaster (as we see in vv. 30-31).”

• N. T. Wright, Acts (from the For Everyone Bible Study Series)

Acts 16:22 ‘magistrates’: “Every Roman colony had two of these men serving as judges. In this case, they did not uphold Roman justice. They did not investigate the charges, conduct a proper hearing, or give Paul and Silas the chance to defend themselves. beaten. This was an illegal punishment since they had not been convicted of any crime. The officers (v. 35) under the command of the magistrates administered the beating with rods tied together in a bundle. Paul received the same punishment on two other occasions (2 Cor. 11:25).”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

Acts 16:25 ‘faith in times of tumult’: “Great acts of faith are seldom born out of calm calculation.
“It wasn’t logic that caused Moses to raise his staff on the bank of the Red Sea.
“It wasn’t medical research that convinced Naaman to dip seven times in the river.
“It wasn’t common sense that caused Paul to abandon the Law and embrace grace.
“And it wasn’t a confident committee that prayed in a small room in Jerusalem for Peter’s release from prison. It was a fearful, desperate, band of backed-into-a-corner believers. It was a church with no options. A congregation of have-nots pleading for help.
“And never were they stronger.
“At the beginning of every act of faith, there is often a seed of fear.”

• Max Lucado, In the Eye of the Storm

Acts 16:30-31 ‘absolute trust in Jesus’: “No man has any hope for eternal salvation apart from trusting completely in Jesus Christ and His atonement for men. Simply stated, our Lord Jesus is the lifeboat and we must fully and truly be committed to trusting the lifeboat.
“Again, our Lord and Savior is the rope by which it is possible to escape from the burning building. There is no doubt about it—either we trust that rope or we perish.
“He is the wonder drug or medication that heals all ills and sicknesses—and if we refuse it, we die.
“He is the bridge from hell to heaven—and we take the bridge and cross over by His grace or we stay in hell.
“These are simple illustrations, but they get to the point of the necessity of complete trust in Jesus Christ—absolute trust in Him!”

• A. W. Tozer, Who Put Jesus on the Cross?

Acts 16:31 ‘in the jailor’s case …’: “In the Philippian jailor’s case, his conversion happened at once. Nothing in his previous life led up to it. What impressed this man to believe? It may have been the behavior of Paul and Silas, who had no curses on their lips when he made their feet fast in the stocks. Then, when an earthquake shook the prison and opened the doors, he heard, ‘Don’t harm yourself, because we’re all here!’ What a surprise for him! He to them, ‘What must I do to be saved?’ They plainly told him the way of salvation. Probably he did not understand it when he first heard it, so ‘they spoke the word of the Lord to him along with everyone in his house.’ The jailor believed, and he was saved at once.
“Second, in the Philippian jailor’s case, his baptism happened at once: ‘Right away he respectfully addressed them as ‘Sirs’ and earnestly cried and all his family were baptized’ (v. 33). There was no good reason for delay. He was not hindered by selfish considerations. He did not take his employment or position into consideration.
“Third, in the Philippian jailor’s case, he became useful at once. What could he do? First, he performed an act of mercy: ‘He took them the same hour of the night and washed their wounds’ (v. 33). Then he exercised hospitality: ‘He brought them into his house, set a meal before them’ (v. 34).
“Fourth, in the Philippian jailor’s case, he became perfectly happy at once: he ‘rejoiced because he had come to believe in God with his entire household’ (v. 34). He rejoiced that he was saved, and he rejoiced that all his household was saved.”

• Charles H. Spurgeon, from sermon notes

Acts 16:37 ‘Romans’: “To inflict corporal punishment on a Roman citizen was a serious crime, and made more so since Paul and Silas did not receive a trial. As a result, the magistrates faced the possibility of being removed from office, and having Philippi’s privileges as a Roman colony revoked (see … v. 12).”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

 

My Thoughts

Paul and Barnabas want to return to the churches that they planted to see how they are doing.  Barnabas, the encourager, wants to take John Mark.  John Mark had deserted them once they reached the Asia Minor coast.  Paul did not trust him.  This created a rift between Paul and Barnabas.  Barnabas took John Mark to Cyprus.  They were related.  We first hear of Barnabas as selling land on Cyprus.  They go there while Paul takes Silas.  Paul later reconciles his relationship with John Mark and with Barnabas.  Silas and Judas Barsabbas had been released to return to Jerusalem.  We do not know if a messenger was sent and stopped them on their journey or had they already gone to Jerusalem and the message arrived there.  It could be they had been released to return but had not left yet, but the wording of Paul and Barnabas staying behind does not lead us to that scenario.  However, Silas got the call, he returned and accompanied Paul overland to Lystra and Derbe.

In Derbe, he picks up Timothy as a John Mark replacement, maybe not that much different in ages.  But Timothy is well instructed in the Scriptures.  He is half Greek and half Jew, requiring circumcision to be allowed in synagogues.  As a Greek, Timothy can relate to the Gentiles.

Some see an inconsistency with Paul circumcising Timothy, but he did not do so for salvation’s sake, but to allow Timothy entrance into groups of Jews.  This gave the mission team a strong Jewish presence: Paul, Silas, and Timothy.  Paul and Silas were Roman citizens.  And Timothy was half Greek.  Culturally they could mix in with the people they met.  Others would join them, but as Paul started speaking in places other than the synagogue, it was of less importance to circumcise the others.  They made a distinction between the Jews and Gentiles for visiting synagogues and later, the temple.  Not that it mattered to God or to salvation, but Paul did not wish to offend the Jews.

When they reach a crossroads, the Spirit of Jesus forbids them to go to the area where Ephesus and Thyatira and other cities of that area.  They are being led by the Spirit to Troas.

But before we go to Troas, why not Ephesus?  When Paul established the church at Ephesus, he stayed there a couple of years.  After going into Greece a second time, he tried to skip Ephesus, but the church leaders went to where he was staying to encourage him not to go the Jerusalem.  If he had established this strong family connection earlier in his ministry, Paul would find it more and more difficult to uproot and continue his missionary journeys.

But in going to Troas, Paul receives a vision about a man from Macedonia, begging Paul for help.  As they set out for Macedonia, we see the pronoun “We.”  Luke has joined the mission team.

They land and then go inland to the Roman colony city of Philippi.  There is no synagogue.  They met women at the riverside at a place of prayer.  Of the women who gathered to hear them, one was Lydia, a wealthy woman, a seller of purple.  She invites Paul and the entire team to her house.

Now they commuted from her house to the place of prayer at the riverside.  A girl, possessed by a demon, started shouting that Paul and Silas were missionaries from God and were preaching about the way of salvation.  This irritated Paul, after a few days, he said that in the name of Jesus, the demon must leave the girl.  It did.  Now she could not tell people’s fortunes anymore.  The slave girls owners, losing their income, had Paul and Silas arrested on false charges.  They were beaten and thrown into prison by order of the two local magistrates, without the magistrates investigating.  A cursory investigation would have yielded the citizenship of Paul and Silas.  The magistrates were sloppy trying to quell a riot.

Then we have the miraculous story of the prison break that did not happen.  Paul and Silas are cooperative with the jailor.  They are placed in irons.  There is an earthquake, and the jailor is convinced the prisoners have escaped, but Paul and Silas tell him to not fall on his sword.  Everyone is still there, singing songs of praise to God.  The jailor wants to know what it takes to become saved.  He believes, but as one of the scholars mentions, he probably knew nothing about Jesus.  Paul shares the Gospel and the jailor cleans their wounds, begs to be baptized and all of his household.  And then he feeds them.

The next morning, the magistrates order that Paul and Silas be released and escorted from the area.  But now is when Paul pulls out his credentials as a Roman citizen.  Now the magistrates know they are in deep trouble.  They come to the prison and escort Paul and Silas to the edge of town.  They beg them to leave rather than ordering them to do so.  But Paul and Silas double back to Lydia’s house.  Now the new church at Philippi had leadership and they met at Lydia’s house.  The Philippi church all sent the mission team off with their blessing.

Paul was not going to escape.  He wanted to press his point regarding the Roman citizenship.  And in that zeal, he finds a jailor and his family who all believe.  God has led them into Europe and Gentiles there, less influenced by Jews as those in Asia Minor, are coming to the Lord.  Paul is making enemies, but his mission team is also growing.

Some Serendipitous Reflections

Acts 15:36-16:5 Disagreement between Paul and Barnabas 1. When have you given up your ‘rights’ in order to better represent Christ to others? How can you do so now?
“2. Are you more person-oriented (like Barnabus) or task-oriented (like Paul)’? What are the pros and cons of your type? What does this show you about God’s use of various types of people?
Acts 16:6-15 Paul’s Vision of the Man of Macedonia 1. How did the Lord open your heart to respond to the gospel? What people did he use as part of the process?
“2. Where do you have an ‘open door’ for ministry now: ln your home? School? Work? Community? How will you take advantage of it?
Acts 16:16-40 Paul and Silas in Prison 1. The girl‘s owners rejected the gospel because it cost them financially. What financial concerns keep some people from faith today? Are any of these a factor for you?
“2. About 12 years later, Paul wrote the letter to the Philippians from another prison. How could the events here be the basis for what Paul said in Philippians 4:4-7,12-13? What can you learn from his example about knowing peace and joy, even in hard times?
“3. If asked, ‘What must I do to be saved?’, how would you answer?
“4. What can you learn from the disciples‘ experiences that will help you as you encounter difficult times?”

• Lyman Coleman, et al, The NIV Serendipity Bible for Study Groups

There is three sets of questions as shown above for these verses of Acts 15 and all of Acts 16.

Substitute whatever group for any reference to a small group or ask who could come to your aid.

If you like these Thursday morning Bible studies, but you think you missed a few, you can use this LINK. I have set up a page off the home page for links to these Thursday morning posts. I will continue to modify the page as I add more.

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.