Daily Bread 2011 - Acts 16
Paul’s Vision of the Man of Macedonia
6 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. 7 When they came to the border of Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to. 8 So they passed by Mysia and went down to Troas. 9 During the night Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” 10 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.
Lydia’s Conversion in Philippi
11 From Troas we put out to sea and sailed straight for Samothrace, and the next day 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 named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth from the city of Thyatira, who 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.
What Does This Mean?
As Paul continues his missionary journeys, we again see the power of the Holy Spirit leading and directing where to go and maybe more importantly not to go! And we also see the Holy Spirit communicating to Paul through a vision of the Macedonian man begging him to come over and preach the Gospel. Philippi, which is part of the province of Macedonia, later became one of the most thriving churches in the early church.
Interestingly, we see that the church at Philippi is founded by a woman, Lydia, who was a dealer in purple cloth. Philippi was known for its expensive dyes and colors, and this woman who was a dealer in these, opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message and importantly it says her whole household were baptized. This likely included the children. We see in this story, and the next one with the Philippian jailer, that both when they had come to faith had their whole households baptized.
What Does This Mean For Us?
Sometimes the Church, especially here in the U.S., dangers on buying into the very individualist, Western mindset. I call it the “me and Jesus” mindset. But we see here in both of these conversion stories, whole households came to faith. Most of the conversion movements we see out the U.S., also report a similar phenomenon of people coming to faith within their families. Please don’t understand that I am saying you are saved by being in a family. Each person must come to saving faith in Jesus Christ, but it seems as if the ideal portrayed here is within the family/household structure, which was of course much different than today. I.e. There were many servants in each household that were practically part of the family.
The challenge for us today is to think of families and how we can minister to them, so that families are united in their faith life and practice in the home. When faith is lived out consistently in the home there is a much better retention rate among adolescents. I.e. When kids get confirmed they leave the church when they get to high school, sometimes never to return!
This gets at an important point that often we think all programs have to be “church-based”, when in fact the most successful ones often are in the home. There is a term for this “oikos” which means “household” in Greek. As the church becomes more “oikos” based it will become more organic and I think more effective in reaching others for Christ and retaining the next Generation.
Heavenly Father, thank you for the early church that flourished in the framework of the household where whole families came to faith and were baptized. Help us to learn from this model so we can be more effective at making disciples today. Amen.
6 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. 7 When they came to the border of Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to. 8 So they passed by Mysia and went down to Troas. 9 During the night Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” 10 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.
Lydia’s Conversion in Philippi
11 From Troas we put out to sea and sailed straight for Samothrace, and the next day 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 named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth from the city of Thyatira, who 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.
What Does This Mean?
As Paul continues his missionary journeys, we again see the power of the Holy Spirit leading and directing where to go and maybe more importantly not to go! And we also see the Holy Spirit communicating to Paul through a vision of the Macedonian man begging him to come over and preach the Gospel. Philippi, which is part of the province of Macedonia, later became one of the most thriving churches in the early church.
Interestingly, we see that the church at Philippi is founded by a woman, Lydia, who was a dealer in purple cloth. Philippi was known for its expensive dyes and colors, and this woman who was a dealer in these, opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message and importantly it says her whole household were baptized. This likely included the children. We see in this story, and the next one with the Philippian jailer, that both when they had come to faith had their whole households baptized.
What Does This Mean For Us?
Sometimes the Church, especially here in the U.S., dangers on buying into the very individualist, Western mindset. I call it the “me and Jesus” mindset. But we see here in both of these conversion stories, whole households came to faith. Most of the conversion movements we see out the U.S., also report a similar phenomenon of people coming to faith within their families. Please don’t understand that I am saying you are saved by being in a family. Each person must come to saving faith in Jesus Christ, but it seems as if the ideal portrayed here is within the family/household structure, which was of course much different than today. I.e. There were many servants in each household that were practically part of the family.
The challenge for us today is to think of families and how we can minister to them, so that families are united in their faith life and practice in the home. When faith is lived out consistently in the home there is a much better retention rate among adolescents. I.e. When kids get confirmed they leave the church when they get to high school, sometimes never to return!
This gets at an important point that often we think all programs have to be “church-based”, when in fact the most successful ones often are in the home. There is a term for this “oikos” which means “household” in Greek. As the church becomes more “oikos” based it will become more organic and I think more effective in reaching others for Christ and retaining the next Generation.
Heavenly Father, thank you for the early church that flourished in the framework of the household where whole families came to faith and were baptized. Help us to learn from this model so we can be more effective at making disciples today. Amen.
Comments
Post a Comment