Rome or Bust
As I noted yesterday, our Women's Bible study is reading, The Unexplainable Church by Erica Wiggenhorn. Today's reading on pages 238-243 included a look at Acts 28:11-29. It's a convicting lesson regarding the sacrifices of Paul in his willingness to obediently follow God's will for his life.
Yesterday, we saw Paul shake off the viper and spend three months on the Island of Malta where even though he's shipwreck on his way to Rome, he prays and performs miracles of healing on the people of the island. His Rome or Bust tour had it’s fair share of toils and troubles, yet Paul persevered on his journey. He apparently walked 130 miles on the last leg of the trip from the Port of Puteoli to Rome. Erica notes at the bottom of page 239, “These early believers received the good news of the gospel with such joy they couldn’t help but share it with others—even when it included sacrifice.” On page 240, she follows up with questions and a scale of 1 to 10 about how much have we sacrificed to share the gospel with others.
She ends this session on pg. 243 by stating, “Through ways and means Paul would never have believed if he had been told ahead of time, God orchestrated his movements and protected him, allowing the message to spread farther and farther.” Erica showed us the model Paul gave us about how he was willing to spread of the gospel message at all costs to himself. So the hard question for us continues to be, "How much are you and I willing to sacrifice for the world to hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ?"
Yesterday, we saw Paul shake off the viper and spend three months on the Island of Malta where even though he's shipwreck on his way to Rome, he prays and performs miracles of healing on the people of the island. His Rome or Bust tour had it’s fair share of toils and troubles, yet Paul persevered on his journey. He apparently walked 130 miles on the last leg of the trip from the Port of Puteoli to Rome. Erica notes at the bottom of page 239, “These early believers received the good news of the gospel with such joy they couldn’t help but share it with others—even when it included sacrifice.” On page 240, she follows up with questions and a scale of 1 to 10 about how much have we sacrificed to share the gospel with others.
She ends this session on pg. 243 by stating, “Through ways and means Paul would never have believed if he had been told ahead of time, God orchestrated his movements and protected him, allowing the message to spread farther and farther.” Erica showed us the model Paul gave us about how he was willing to spread of the gospel message at all costs to himself. So the hard question for us continues to be, "How much are you and I willing to sacrifice for the world to hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ?"
Acts 28:7-10
There was an estate nearby that belonged to Publius, the chief official of the island. He welcomed us to his home and showed us generous hospitality for three days. His father was sick in bed, suffering from fever and dysentery. Paul went in to see him and, after prayers, placed his hands on him and healed him. When this had happened, the rest of the sick on the island came and were cured. They honored us in many ways; and when we were ready to sail, they furnished us with the supplies we needed.
Convicting.
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