Wednesday, November 12 – Acts 19:21-27

After Paul was in Ephesus for 2 years (Acts 19:10), Paul felt the urging of the Spirit to move on to the next place. Acts 19:26 reinforces what we could already tell from the rest of Acts 19; Paul had a major impact on Ephesus. Paul’s work of leading the church in Ephesus led to a financial deficit for those who made idols. Our story tells of one of those silversmiths trying to lead an uprising against Paul and the church because of the damage they had done to his business and others like it. They truly made a difference in their community.

This is the type of disruption we can make in our community as well. When we work at something regularly, we can cause lasting change. We can be a thorn in the side of less reputable business owners who take advantage of people. We can hurt the bottom line of people earning money through dishonorable means. We can show people the truth concerning the place in which we live. But we can only do this type of good if we are committed to the work and keep at it. Paul made a difference in Ephesus; we can make a difference together in Gonzales.

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts%2019%3A21-27&version=NASB

Tuesday, November 11 – Acts 19:11-20

You get some pretty good stories when you’ve spent enough time with certain people. This coming May, it will be 20 years since LeeAnn and I started dating. Now, I know most of you have us beat by 10, 20, 30, 40+ years, but sharing life with someone for 20 years gives you plenty of good stories. In fact, we don’t even have to tell the whole story to one another. We will be in a place or see something, turn to one another, and say, “You remember that time?” The other one of us will usually say, “Yep.” That’s all we have to do to reminisce about some memorable story from our past.

I feel like the story in Acts 19:14-16 is one of those stories that everyone involved would remember. “Hey Paul, remember that time some people tried to perform exorcisms in Jesus’ name, and the spirit attacked the men, causing them to run out of the house naked?” Seems pretty memorable. It became known throughout Ephesus and led to people turning away from their magic and witchcraft. The burning of the books associated with witchcraft totaled $4 million in today’s money. That’s a story worth retelling.

What stories do you have with your church family that are worth retelling? What events have transpired because you have invested in forming a community with the people of First Baptist Gonzales? You never know what might happen next.

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts%2019%3A11-20&version=NASB

Monday, November 10 – Acts 19:1-10

Because of how quickly we can read through Acts, we imagine that Paul is running from place to place and never in one place for a long time. We think of Paul hosting revival services over a weekend and moving on. That is not what happens. As we read in Acts 19:10, he stayed in Ephesus for two years. That’s not a revival service with an evangelist. That’s a church with a pastor. Paul truly had a pastoral relationship with many of the churches he started, especially in Ephesus.

It takes time to develop a community. As one of our core values, community does not mean Gonzales. Instead, community means our time together, our fellowship, our hospitality with one another. And on Sunday, we get the opportunity to have a community together at our annual Thanksgiving lunch. If we do not take the time to enjoy one another’s company, we can’t build the community we need to have as a church. I hope that you plan to eat and fellowship with one another this coming Sunday.

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts%2019%3A1-10&version=NASB