THE CHURCH MULTIPLIES – ACTS 16:22-40

hillside The Church Multiplies - ACTS 2020

Gospel Family

TRANSCRIPTION OF THIS SERMON

OUTLINE

I.  Different 16:22-24
II.  Direction 16:25-26
III. Despair 16:27-29
IV. Dependance 16: 30-31
V. Deeds 16:32-34
VI. Delight  16:35-40

 

QUESTIONS

  1. What stuck out to you today from Pastor Dave’s message?
  2. Acts 16 shows us a picture of the church family started in Philippi.  What differences do you see in Lydia, the slave girl and the jailer?Why does God seems to delight in our differences?  How do you view differences?  Why do differences tend to divide us?
  3. Lost people aren’t the problem, they are the point.  How does Paul build a bridge in each of these cases?  How does he interact with them differently?  Do you tend to build barriers or bridges with lost people?
  4. I am where I am, but God has a plan.  Paul finds himself tortured and in prison.  Have you ever found yourself in a hopeless circumstance and seen God show up? No matter where we are, God instructs us on who we are to be.  How does Paul’s rejoicing open up a door to reach the prison guard? Where do you struggle most to rejoice? (Acts 16:25-26)
  5. We all trust in something or someone to save us.  Most of us ask, “What must I do?”. How does trusting what Jesus has done change everything for us?  Where do you struggle most to focus on what Jesus has done on the cross for you?  (Acts 16:30-31)
  6. We tend to focus on behaviors rather than on beliefs, but behavior flows from our beliefs.  Why is it foolish to ask non-believers to act like believers?  How did the jailers behavior change once he believed and was born again?  How do you understand Christ living in and through you?  How have you experienced Jesus changing you from the inside out? (Acts 16:32-34)
  7. In the final verse (16:40) we see a picture of a Gospel family.  Jesus is the hope of the world, the only one who can bring unity in the midst of diversity- what is one step you can make today to reflect the beauty of His gospel family?

 

SCRIPTURE REFERENCE

Acts 16:22-40 NASB

22 The crowd rose up together against them, and the chief magistrates tore their robes off them and proceeded to order them to be beaten with rods. 23 When they had struck them with many blows, they threw them into prison, commanding the jailer to guard them securely;24 and he, having received such a command, threw them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks.

25 But about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to God, and the prisoners were listening to them; 26 and suddenly there came a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison house were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were unfastened. 27 When the jailer awoke and saw the prison doors opened, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped.28 But Paul cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here!”29 And he called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas, 30 and after he brought them out, he said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”

31 They said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.”32 And they spoke the word of the Lord to him together with all who were in his house. 33 And he took them that very hour of the night and washed their wounds, and immediately he was baptized, he and all his household. 34 And he brought them into his house and set food before them, and rejoiced greatly, having believed in God with his whole household.

35 Now when day came, the chief magistrates sent their policemen, saying, “Release those men.” 36 And the jailer reported these words to Paul, saying, “The chief magistrates have sent to release you. Therefore come out now and go in peace.” 37 But Paul said to them, “They have beaten us in public without trial, men who are Romans, and have thrown us into prison; and now are they sending us away secretly? No indeed! But let them come themselves and bring us out.” 38 The policemen reported these words to the chief magistrates. They were afraid when they heard that they were Romans, 39 and they came and appealed to them, and when they had brought them out, they kept begging them to leave the city. 40 They went out of the prison and entered the house of Lydia, and when they saw the brethren, they encouraged them and departed.

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