Acts 20:13-38 - Paul and the Ephesian Elders
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- Written by Chris Appleby
Paul and the Ephesian Elders audio (6MB)
Acts 20:13-38
Let’s begin today by thinking about the way Paul exercised his ministry in Acts. We’ve seen how he moved out from Antioch to basically cover the entire region from Jerusalem to Corinth, never staying very long in one place, apart from Corinth and Ephesus. But we saw last week that he not only visited these churches to proclaim the gospel but he later went back to encourage them. He also went back to appoint elders to take over the leadership of the church. He didn’t do that straight away because he and they needed time to discover who had the necessary gifts and wisdom for leadership.
In fact the only place he didn’t revisit appears to have been Ephesus, which is where we come to today. We saw last week that he’d been delayed by a plot to kill him and now he’s in a hurry to get back to Jerusalem in time for what, even then, was a major Christian festival: the feast of Pentecost
Paul can’t spare the time to visit Ephesus so instead he sends a message to their elders to come and meet him in Miletus. The river at Ephesus was becoming silted up and Miletus had become the preferred port for loading and unloading trade goods. So the ship was probably there for 3 or 4 days, giving Paul time to send to Ephesus for the elders to travel to meet him there. And when they arrive he sets out to both encourage and to warn them. He begins by reminding them of his own example of ministry.
Acts 20:1-12 - How do we care for one another?
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- Written by Chris Appleby
How do we care for one another? audio (6MB)
Acts 20:1-12
If you were here last week you’ll remember that Ephesus has just been engulfed by a tremendous riot: with people shouting out their city slogan – “great is Artemis of the Ephesians”, protesting at this new religion that Paul had brought to their fair city. Of course their protest wasn’t really about religion it was about market economics. Paul was ruining the trade in silver statues of the god Artemis.
So what does Paul do? He calls the disciples together and says farewell. So was he just running away? Getting out before someone got to him directly? Perhaps he figured he deserved some well-earned R&R – a few months off in Greece to recover from the stress of the past few weeks?
The first verses of the chapter actually remind me a bit of my long service leave last year. A long string of cities visited with 3 or 4 days in each place until each city looks the same as the last.
But there’s actually a lot more to it than that. Look at the previous chapter, in v21: “21Now after these things had been accomplished, Paul resolved in the Spirit to go through Macedonia and Achaia, and then to go on to Jerusalem. He said, "After I have gone there, I must also see Rome." 22So he sent two of his helpers, Timothy and Erastus, to Macedonia, while he himself stayed for some time longer in Asia.” (Acts 19:21-22) So Paul has already planned to leave soon and the riot has just been the catalyst to get him going.
Matt 21:1-11 - The Humble Entry
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- Written by Chris Appleby
The Modest Entry audio (4MB)
Matt 21:1-11
Have you ever wondered whether Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem on that first Palm Sunday surprised people? I mean, if he was entering the city as a king why didn’t he ride a chariot or a warhorse. You certainly wouldn’t expect him to ride a donkey, would you? Yet that’s exactly what Jesus does. He climbs on the least impressive of mounts and rides it into the city. And to our modern minds it all seems a little strange. Of course most of us have heard the story so often that we’re probably no longer surprised by it, but it is a surprising story, and no doubt it was just as surprising to many of those who witnessed it.
In fact what he does in riding a donkey is as significant to those of his day as the US President arriving on Air Force 1 would be for us.
2 Cor 3 & 4 Letters and Clay Jars
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- Written by Chris Appleby
Farewell Sermon Letters and Clay Jars audio (6MB)
2 Cor 3:1-7; 4:1-16
Paul was clearly having problems with the church at Corinth. You can see from his opening sentence in this chapter that he was under criticism. They thought he was always promoting himself and wasn’t nearly as good as he thought he was. They’d clearly forgotten that he’d spent 18 months of his life teaching them and building them up.
So how does he respond?
He says, he doesn’t need to commend himself because he has them as his letter of commendation. Their spiritual maturity, that they’re so proud of, is his CV. He says they’re a letter prepared by him and the other apostles, but written with the Spirit of the living God.
1 Cor 3:1-17 - Building God’s Church
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- Written by Chris Appleby
Building God’s Church audio (3MB)
1 Cor 3:1-17
Well it’s great to celebrate two years in this great building, to see how well it’s been used over that time and how well the congregation has grown. But perhaps a day like this is an opportunity for us to stop and think about what sort of church we’re building and how to make it stronger. In the passage we’re looking at today Paul uses the image of a building to describe the Church. In fact he uses three different metaphors to teach the Corinthians what it takes to build a healthy church. So let’s look at the passage and see what we can learn for ourselves.
He begins by pointing out that no matter how mature they thought they were, their actions actually showed the opposite. They thought they were filled with the Spirit and so were mature Christians but what he sees is quarrelling and jealousy.
