Creekside Church, Sunday, November 15, 2020
How To Start A Revolution | The Way Jesus Changes People | Part 1
Locations & Times
Creekside Church
660 Conservation Dr, Waterloo, ON N2J 3Z4, Canada
Saturday 9:00 AM
Acts 16:1-18
When you became a follower of Jesus you experienced a deeply personal event that was both “divine” and “human”.
TWO KEY QUESTIONS TO HELP IDENITFY THE WAY JESUS CHANGED ME
Question #1
“What approach did God use personally with me that awakened me to his love for me and my need to trust in Jesus?”
Question #2
“What door did I personally open up to respond to the gospel?”
There were two people the missionaries encountered in Philippi who were changed by the gospel
THE FIRST ENCOUNTER WAS WITH A WOMAN NAMED LYDIA:
Acts 16:11-15
11 From Troas we put out to sea and sailed straight for Samothrace, and the next day we went on to Neapolis. 12 From there we traveled to Philippi, a Roman colony and the leading city of that district of Macedonia. And we stayed there several days.
13 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. 14 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. 15 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.
How did God personally reach out to Lydia?
Through a conversational, likely apologetic, presentation of Jesus.
What doorway was the one through which the gospel touched the will of Lydia?
It was likely her intellectual door.
THE SECOND ENCOUNTER WAS WITH A SLAVE GIRL:
Acts 16:16
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. 17 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.” 18 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.
a spirit by which she predicted the future. The most literal translation goes like this, a female slave who has the spirt of the python.
How did God personally reach out to the slave girl?
There was a power encounter.
What doorway was the one through which the gospel touched the will of the slave girl?
If she did respond to the gospel, and we do not know that, it was likely through the experiential door.
These are two different women. They are about as different as you can get. Both were touched by God, nudged by God, invited by God, called out to by God, and they then responded to that touch of God on their lives in a unique and personal way.
So how about you? If you are a believer in Jesus then . . .
1. How did God personally reach out to you?
2. What doorway was the one through which the gospel touched your will?
When you became a follower of Jesus you experienced a deeply personal event that was both “divine” and “human”.
TWO KEY QUESTIONS TO HELP IDENITFY THE WAY JESUS CHANGED ME
Question #1
“What approach did God use personally with me that awakened me to his love for me and my need to trust in Jesus?”
Question #2
“What door did I personally open up to respond to the gospel?”
There were two people the missionaries encountered in Philippi who were changed by the gospel
THE FIRST ENCOUNTER WAS WITH A WOMAN NAMED LYDIA:
Acts 16:11-15
11 From Troas we put out to sea and sailed straight for Samothrace, and the next day we went on to Neapolis. 12 From there we traveled to Philippi, a Roman colony and the leading city of that district of Macedonia. And we stayed there several days.
13 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. 14 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. 15 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.
How did God personally reach out to Lydia?
Through a conversational, likely apologetic, presentation of Jesus.
What doorway was the one through which the gospel touched the will of Lydia?
It was likely her intellectual door.
THE SECOND ENCOUNTER WAS WITH A SLAVE GIRL:
Acts 16:16
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. 17 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.” 18 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.
a spirit by which she predicted the future. The most literal translation goes like this, a female slave who has the spirt of the python.
How did God personally reach out to the slave girl?
There was a power encounter.
What doorway was the one through which the gospel touched the will of the slave girl?
If she did respond to the gospel, and we do not know that, it was likely through the experiential door.
These are two different women. They are about as different as you can get. Both were touched by God, nudged by God, invited by God, called out to by God, and they then responded to that touch of God on their lives in a unique and personal way.
So how about you? If you are a believer in Jesus then . . .
1. How did God personally reach out to you?
2. What doorway was the one through which the gospel touched your will?