Homiletics

 Acts 20:1-38

Content:

1. Paul journeys to various places, staying various lengths of time with a variety of people encouraging believers. 1-6
2. In Troas, there was a late night gathering anticipating Paul's departure. 7
3. In the warm upstairs room, Eutychus falls asleep and out the window, dead. 8-9
4. Paul throws his arms around him declaring he is alive, reviving the man and they continued with breaking bread. 10-12
5. Paul walks on foot meeting others at Assos sailing to Milytene and on to Miletus. 13-15
6. Bypassing Ephesus due to eagerness to reach Jerusalem, Paul sends for Ephesian elders to meet him at Miletus. 16-17
7. Paul recounts his bold ministry in spite of persecution when with them, declaring faith in Jesus to Jews and Gentiles. 18-21
8. Paul is compelled to go to Jerusalem knowing by Holy Spirit hardships are ahead. 22-23
9. Paul states his life mission declaring it as gospel of God's grace. 24
10. Paul makes his farewell speech. 25
11. Paul has done his part declaring truth to them without hesitancy. 26-27
12. He encourages the Elders in their work as Shepherds of the church to be on guard and protect the flock. 28-31
13. Paul commits them to God and the word of his grace. 32
14. Paul reminds them of his example of laboring for Jesus. 33-35
15. There was a tearful farewell as they knew it was last time they would see him. 36-38

Divisions:

1. Paul travels place to place encouraging believers. 1-6
2. Paul revives Eutychus who falls out of a window at an all night meeting. 7-12
3. Paul calls for Ephesian elders at Miletus recounting his story of ministry. 13-27
4. Paul encourages elders in their own ministry. 28-38

Subject Sentence:

• Paul revives Eutychus and encourages Ephesian elders during missionary journey.

Aim:

• To cause me to encourage whomever I meet in my life journey with the gospel of God's grace through word and deed. 

Application:

1. Do I make an effort to encourage others with the gospel of grace?
2. Who in my path might I need to go to with loving embrace and Holy Spirit's power to revive or restore?
3. Do I freely share my story of God's grace in my life for encouragement of others? What platform or  opportunity is Cod giving me?
4. How do I or can I encourage others in their own ministry of the gospel?

Homiletics

 Acts  19:1-41

Content:

1. Paul ask Ephesus disciples if they have received Holy Spirit and they didn't know what he was referring to. 1-2
2. Paul explains the baptism of John (water) they received was of repentance and spoke of belief in Jesus. 3-4
3. These 12 men were baptized in name of Jesus receiving Holy Spirit. 5-7
4. After verbal abuse in the Synagogue, Paul left and spent two years teaching disciples in lecture hall at Tyrannus spreading word of the  Lord. 8-10
5. God did miracles of healing through Paul. 11-12
6. Some Jews tried driving out evil spirits to only be revealed by the very spirits that they were fake. 13-16
7. As a result the name of Jesus was revered and resulted in dramatic change in those who practiced sorcery. 17-20
8. Paul and followers make plans to journey visiting disciples on the way. 21-22
9. Demetrius , maker of shrines for god Artemis gathers and stirs up protest  because of the threat Paul's message of Jesus is to their business. 23-26
10. Demetrius also says it is a threat to the goddess herself invoking a riot. 27-28
11. Paul's travel companions Gaius and Aristarchus were taken into the theatre but Paul was warned to stay in hiding. 29-31
12. There was an assembly of confusion and chaos based on frenzy. 32-34
13. The city clerk calms the crowd down using facts (as they believed them.)35-36
14. The city clerk tells them they must make grievances in a legal manner because this riot is also subject to legal charge and the assembly was dismissed. 37-41

Divisions:

1. Paul tells Ephesus disciples of baptism of Holy Spirit which they receive. 1-7
2. Paul's ministry of miracles caused dramatic transformation in lives in Asia. 8-22
3. Paul's ministry results in a a chaotic riot by Artemis supporters, threatened by the spread of the gospel.  23-41

Subject Sentence.

• Paul's ministry results in empowered believers, transformed lives, and rioting.

Aim:

• To Cause Me to trust that as I live and speak the Gospel truth of Jesus , God will transform lives through his Holy Spirit.

Application:

1. Do my words and lifestyle promote salvation by works and rules or do I live by and speak of salvation by grace and empowerment of the Holy Spirit?
2. Am I trying to change people or am I trusting the power of God to transform them as I remain faithful to Jesus and where he leads me to speak gospel truth?
3. Do I let opposition of others or dramatic rejection discourage me or am I willing to trust that God is at work in and through it?

Homiletics

 Acts 18:1-28

Content:

1. Paul leaves Athens for Corinth joining Aquila and Priscilla in tentmaker work, teaching in Synagogue on Sabbath. 1-4
2. Silas and Timothy's arrival allow Paul more concentrated teaching time to Jews. 5
3. Jew's opposition lead Paul to concentrate on preaching to Gentiles and he moves out of Synagogue to preach, gaining converts. 6-8
4. Lord appears in night vision to Paul confirming he was to stay in Corinth preaching word of God. 9-11
5. Jews tried to take Paul to court for trying to persuade people to worship in ways contrary to the law. 12-13
6. Gallio the proconsul rejected the case from the court saying he was not judge over such matters. 14-16
7. They took their anger out on Sosthenes the Synagogue leader and Gallio didn't care. 17
8. Paul, Priscilla and Aquilla head for Syria and they stop at Ephesus for a time. 18-20
9. Paul leaves Priscilla and Aguila at Ephesus promising to return if God's will. 21
10. Paul greets church in Caesarea, spends time in Antioch and strengthens disciples throughout Galatia and Phrygia. 22-23
11. Meanwhile  Priscilla and Aquilla in Ephesus learn of Apollos and they disciple him in the way of God. 24-26
12. Apollos goes to Achaia with Ephesus brother's endorsement where he proves in public debate through scripture that Jesus is the Christ. 27-28

Divisions:

1. While in Corinth, God leads Paul to focus on preaching the gospel to the Gentiles. 1-17
2. Paul travels to Ephesus, Caesarea, Antioch and Phrygia strengthening disciples. 18-23
3. Meanwhile in Ephesus Priscilla and Aquilla disciple Apollos who then goes on missionary journey to Achaia. 24- 28

Subject Sentence:

• Paul preaches Jesus to Gentiles in Corinth and beyond, increasing disciples.

Aim:

• God uses people with different gifts and passions in a variety of ways to spread the truth of the gospel. 

Application:

1. What group of people is God leading me to focus my ministry on.  Who am I to concentrate my energy in sharing the Gospel with?  What things might I need to let go of to do so?
2. What acts  (like Paul's vow) do I need to do for my own spiritual growth and self discipline? Where or in doing what, do I need to be spending time so that my life helps to encourage and strengthen other believers.
3. Who is God showing me to invest time in so that they know truth? Do I value teaching and discipling others in what feels like a small or simple way, trusting that God will use to send them out to share the Gospel?

Flying Miss Millie

Okay so I didn't fly the airplane but I did fly with mom out to Kansas last weekend so she could visit family.  She has wanted to go and see her siblings this whole year but Covid and her own health had prevented it.  In the past month, mom's walking has improved and she has been feeling more energized.  In addition, the Covid numbers seemed to be going downs and we had some Delta vouchers from a 2020 canceled trip.  Not knowing what her health (or that of f her friends and family would be next Spring) we decided now was the time to go.  I took off 2 days of work giving mom 4 days to fly and visit multiple people.  Mom being the gifted administrator that she is, created an itinerary that allowed her to visit friends and family.  I am proud to say that we stayed on schedule the whole time except for once and we blamed it on the Apple pie we had to eat.  And we are SO glad we did - one of the best pieces of Apple pie I have ever had.  At the end of trip Mom felt like she really had seen and done all that she wanted to in the 4 days.  We rented a car and stayed in a hotel  so that we could keep up our busy schedule throughout the day and have a place of quiet when the day ended.  Personally I enjoyed connecting with family, watching my mom interact with long time friends and family, as well as spending unrushed time with mom.  We are so grateful to those who hosted us for a meal and carved time out of their busy schedules to visit with us. I am including a few pictures to help tell the story of our journey.

Early morning flight!

Lee and Frank, Our first stop.  Lee made us the best pork chops!!!

Close friends ever since they were newlyweds.

Mom and Shirley were college friends.

Turns out we there to wish Mom's brother Walt a happy 88th birthday

My father's brother recently died.
We got to see his wife Edith before she moves to Texas.

Mom and her sister Phyllis spent Sunday afternoon
going through family pictures.

It's always fun to see cousin Christine

I regret that I forgot to get picture with cousin Timmy and Uncle Slim
 but we got a selfie with cousin Tonya.

Thanks to Cousin Dale for making biscuits and gravy
 for mom on Monday morning!  

Mom and Elsie have been lifelong friends
having gone to school together 1st through 8th grade.

This is Dad's tree with a view of his and Larry's stones.

Our traditional "Man it is cold out here" Cemetery Selfie.

We decorated the plot for Fall with a little help from Dollar General.

This is the house Mom grew up in.

This is the rural one room school house mom went to grade school. 

Mom and Carolyn are 2 of the 10 classmates that were in their graduating class. 
She makes AMAZING Apple Pie!

My mom's brother-in-law Delbert,  niece Joy (and Gerald) and
nephew Deon (and Mary).

Sharing memories with my dad's cousin, Deloris.

Crazy enough when we returned home, a Nebraska cousin (technically her mom and my mom were cousins) was in the area for the week. I took an extra day off so that we could meet up with her in the cute little town of Helen.  I attended Nadine's wedding when I was 10 and it is one of my favorite childhood memories (and where I fell in love with weddings! )

For these people and this journey, we are grateful!

Delays

So if you haven't noticed, my homiletics have not been quite on schedule.  I could give you a list of excuses but they would be just that, excuses.  There has been a lot going on and I have been busy but it still would be excuses.  The one I just posted was actually written a couple of weeks ago.  As I typed it in this evening I was challenged by the content.  I have chosen other things over diligent bible reading/study and prayer.  I know this does not alter my salvation or God's love for me in any way.  But I do think it contributes to why  I have felt so much stress.  Plus it certainly doesn't give me the truth quickly in my head so that I may share it as Paul demonstrates in Acts 17.  So if I cross your mind and you send up an arrow prayer on my behalf, you can pray that I will want to make bible study a priority as well as I will work through my procrastination issues (which contribute to my not getting important things done.)

Watch for the next post.  It will give you a glimpse of one of my "excuses" for post delay.

Homiletics

 Acts 17:1-34

Content:

1. Paul preached in Jewish Synagogue @Thesalanica using scripture to prove Jesus as Christ. 1-3
2. Some Jews, God-fearing Greeks and prominent women joined Paul. 4
3. Jealous Jews started a riot rushing and terrorizing house of Jason, Paul's host accusing them of defying Caesar. 5-9
4. Following this, the brothers sent Paul and Silas to Berea where message was received eagerly and many believed. 10-12
5. Thessalonian Jews go stir up trouble in Berea causing Paul to be sent ahead to Athens. 13-15
6. Waiting in Athens for Timothy and Silas, Paul begins to reason with Jews and Greeks in Synagogue. 16-17
7. Paul caught attention of philosophers who invite him to the Areopagus to explain this foreign teaching.  18-21
8. Paul appeals to their religious nature as a lead to the gospel. 22-23
9. Paul explains that God who made heaven and earth does not live in a man made temple. 24
10. God made man and gave him breath determining his times and purpose. 25-26
11. God did this so we would seek him.  27-28
12. We are God's offspring called to repent from idol worship. 29-30
13. God will judge the world with his appointed and his proof is Jesus' resurrection. 29-31
14. As a result of Paul's teaching, some sneered and others followed him. 32-34

Divisions:

1.  Paul's preaching at Thessalonica results in new followers as well as riot prompting his leave. 1-9
2. At Paul's next stop, Berea, many diligently study scriptures leading many to believe. 10-15
3. Paul invited to address philosophers in Athens and he shares gospel meeting them where they are at. 16-34

Subject Sentence

• Believers result from Paul's teaching in Thessalonica, Berea and Athens.

Aim:

• To cause me to teach truths of scripture to whomever I encounter seeking to meet them where they are.

Applications:

1. Am I faithful in proclaiming Christ or is it my own agenda?  Do I see opposition as a sign that I am speaking truth?
2. Do I receive the gospel message with eagerness and examine scripture daily for truth?
3. Do I seek to meet people where they are and address it with the truth of God.