Wednesday, October 15 – Acts 16:30-34

Follow the chain of events. Paul and Silas are arrested. Paul and Silas choose to worship. God sends an earthquake. Paul and Silas remain, sparing the life of the jailer. Because of Paul and Silas’ actions, the jailer and his family are saved and baptized. None of this happens if Paul and Silas do not worship God after their arrest. Paul and Silas’ choices allow for an entire family to see the power of God and then believe in the Lord Jesus.

What can your choice to worship mean for you and those around you? For you, it gives peace in moments when peace is hard to find. Paul and Silas experienced peace through their songs and prayers. And for others, it allows them to see your witness for Christ and wonder what you have that they don’t. Your witness allows them to think about why you are joyful when you should be anxious or angry. With that in mind, are you going to choose to worship through the tough times today? You never know what doors can be opened from that choice.

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts%2016%3A30-34&version=NASB

Tuesday, October 14 – Acts 16:27-29

As Christians, we are supposed to think of others more than ourselves. The spirit of worship that Paul and Silas were in when the earthquake came allowed them to think of the jailer above themselves.

The Romans were not forgiving people. If the prisoners escaped, they would have killed the jailer for his negligence. The excuse of an earthquake unfastening their bonds was not good enough. So, when the jailer thought that the prisoners had escaped, he was going to kill himself. I imagine falling on his sword would have been a quicker way to die than whatever form of execution the Romans came up with.

Paul and Silas had every opportunity to escape. And obviously, God wanted them to be free. He sent an earthquake! But Paul and Silas care about the life of the jailer, so they stay. Because the other prisoners were listening to Paul and Silas sing and pray, they recognized that this was also from God. They’re afraid to do anything other than what Paul and Silas do, so they stay as well.

Worship prepares you to listen to God and care for others. Worshipping God prepares your heart to do the hard work, even when that hard work benefits others more than it benefits you. Worship or serving God puts you in the right frame of mind to make a godly decision. In this circumstance, the godly decision was not to escape the prison. And that choice by Paul and Silas had eternal effects. We will read that part of the story tomorrow.

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts%2016%3A27-29&version=NASB

Monday, October 13 – Acts 16:22-26

For our devotions and sermons between now and Thanksgiving, we will be revisiting some of our core values. Throughout the next 6 weeks, we will examine 4 of our 5 official core values and add 2 more themes, which could very well be core values of ours. The only core value we won’t discuss is prayer because we just worked through that as we studied Jonah 2.

Not only will we go through some CoreValues+ over the next 6 weeks, but we will also do so through the lens of Paul’s second and third missionary journeys. The power of worship is on full display during Paul’s Second Missionary Journey as he and Silas are imprisoned in Philippi. We read the beginning of the story today as Paul and Silas are arrested, beaten, and put into chains. What we did not read was that the impetus for their arrest is casting a demon out of a fortune teller, which means her owner cannot earn profit from her powers. What would you do if you had cast out a demon in the name of the Lord and your reward was imprisonment?

What Paul and Silas did was pray and sing to the Lord. The Lord heard their prayers and songs and sent an earthquake that caused the release of the prisoners. How do we know that it was the Lord? How else does an earthquake open locked doors and unfasten chains? This is the type of power that worship has. But most importantly, no matter the result, Paul and Silas are an example for you and me that no matter what we are going through, we should worship. Paul and Silas could have been bitter about their bondage in prison; instead, they worshipped God. That is a lesson for all of us.

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts%2016%3A22-26&version=NASB