The Acts of Jesus: Continued - Freedom
Opening Prayer:
Lord God,
May we who experience the freedom that You bring have the courage to join You in bringing freedom to others.
May we live into our identity as Christians, as “little Christs” representing you with our whole lives.
In Jesus’ name,
Amen.
Key Scriptures:
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.
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.
19 When her owners realized that their hope of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to face the authorities. 20 They brought them before the magistrates and said, “These men are Jews, and are throwing our city into an uproar 21 by advocating customs unlawful for us Romans to accept or practice.”
22 The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered them to be stripped and beaten with rods. 23 After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison, and the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully. 24 When he received these orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.
25 About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. 26 Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everyone’s chains came loose. 27 The jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped. 28 But Paul shouted, “Don’t harm yourself! We are all here!”
29 The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. 30 He then brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”
31 They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.” 32 Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house. 33 At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his household were baptized. 34 The jailer brought them into his house and set a meal before them; he was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God—he and his whole household.
35 When it was daylight, the magistrates sent their officers to the jailer with the order: “Release those men.” 36 The jailer told Paul, “The magistrates have ordered that you and Silas be released. Now you can leave. Go in peace.”
37 But Paul said to the officers: “They beat us publicly without a trial, even though we are Roman citizens, and threw us into prison. And now do they want to get rid of us quietly? No! Let them come themselves and escort us out.”
38 The officers reported this to the magistrates, and when they heard that Paul and Silas were Roman citizens, they were alarmed. 39 They came to appease them and escorted them from the prison, requesting them to leave the city. 40 After Paul and Silas came out of the prison, they went to Lydia’s house, where they met with the brothers and sisters and encouraged them. Then they left.
Acts 16:11-40
Sermon Summary
Our series “The Acts of Jesus: Continued” carries on this week. Below is a summary of this week’s sermon from Amelia Smith:
Questions to Consider:
What is freedom? What meaning does it have in today’s society?
How has this definition changed over time? How might the definition be different for a follower of Jesus?
What is salvation? What does it look like?
What was Lydia’s immediate response to her salvation? Why is this important?
What were Timothy, Paul and Silas doing both when Lydia was saved and before they were imprisoned?
What happened as a result of the jailer’s faith?
How has faith in Christ set you free? How have you seen freedom come in the lives of others?
Where do we see Jesus in the world around us and where do we go to join in His work in the world?
Where is freedom most needed today? What is Jesus expecting us to do to help freedom come?
How can we continue the acts of Jesus?
Practices to Consider:
Pray. Give. Go.
Pray - Consider joining in on our global devotions by contacting global@swbc.org,nz
Give - How are your daily economic practices contributing towards bringing freedom to the world?
Go - Is God prompting you to go to join with others in walking alongside the poor and least reached, in order that more people would know freedom in Jesus? if this is you contact John Robertson for a kōrero.
Prayer Prompts:
Pray for the places and people in the world where you know freedom is lacking.
Additional Resources:
Find the full sermon recording here
For a printable version of this guide click here
If you are interested in going deeper the bible project have a helpful guide to the book of Acts, you can find it here