Now Is The Time: Acts Youth JourneySample

WHAT A STORY! – MIRACLE AFTER A THIRD STORY FALL

PRAY:

Your Word is so amazing, Lord; it is like nothing else we read. Let me treasure it, and share it with someone else.

READ:

Acts 20.1-38

The uproar in Ephesus ended and, once again, Paul is on the move. After spending three months in Greece, he and a group of followers head to Troas, which is located in modern-day Turkey. Paul was preaching for hours, and a young guy who had been sitting in a window sill, falls asleep and plunges three stories to his death. Paul then prays over the guy and immediately he comes back to life. Amazing!

Paul then heads out again and ends up in Miletus. There in that town, Paul meets with the elders from Ephesus for whom he had called. He tells them that the Holy Spirit has told him to go to Jerusalem. Paul openly shares his heart with these guys and says that he knows that, just like every other city he has been in, trouble awaits him in Jerusalem. But, Paul says he is not worried about his physical safety as long as he finishes the work God has called him to do. “And this work is to tell the good news about God’s gift of undeserved grace” (v 24b). Paul shares his love and his heart for the leaders of this church, and in an emotional farewell, he prays with them, hugs them, reminds them of their responsibility to give support to the work of the church, and weeps as they put him on a ship bound for Jerusalem.

REFLECT:

God gave Paul an awesome responsibility. Can God trust you to take his precious gospel to someone who has never heard it before? Would you be willing to risk your life to spread the gospel?

RESPOND:

Paul had a deep and sincere love for the people in the church. Find opportunities to bless and show love to the people in your house of worship.

Lord, you teach that it is more blessed to give than to receive. Teach me to give willingly and generously.