TODAY’S SCRIPTURE
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 16:40
Read: Acts 16:35-40
Listen: Acts 16
TODAY’S MESSAGE
Paul and Silas leave Philippi behind with something extraordinary—a church. A seemingly insignificant gathering of the most unlikely group of people you could imagine. A roster of those who attended the first service probably included an affluent businesswoman and her family. A corrections officer and his household. And possibly a former fortune-teller who’d been possessed by a demon. It was the strangest concoction of people who had just one thing in common—the grace of God in Jesus.
The concoction at Ada Bible is just as strange. A farmer worships side-by-side with a business executive. A woman working on her GED is in small group with a woman with a Ph.D. A lawyer serves on a team that includes a former inmate. Someone who lived all their life in Saranac now serves in the children’s ministry next to a millennial just moved from New York. The only thing they all have in common is that they’ve all experienced God’s grace through Jesus. God seems pleased and honored to collect people who are in each other’s company who otherwise never would be.
IN YOUR CHAIR TIME TODAY
Consider who’s not like you that God is calling you to walk beside. It might be someone with a different level of education, stage of life or occupation. It might be someone who has a different personality or communication style. The only thing you might have in common is Jesus. Contact that person this weekend and schedule some time together. Begin to explore what God might have in store.
Download a printable PDF of the BTW week here.
