Acts 17-18

Paul continues to carry out God’s orders that he received through a vision while he was in Troas. “Come to Macedonia,” the vision said. The part the vision didn’t say was that the Macedonians would not like Paul very much. Once he reached the capital city of the region – Thessalonica – his preaching caused a stir among the people. Many people of all social strata gave their heart to Jesus as the King. This sent the town into turmoil and instigated the great chase. A group of anti-Paul “mobsters” chased Paul out of Thessalonica and into Berea. They did not let him stay there long and forced him to flee to the coast, sail south, and hang out in Athens until Silas and Timothy were finished establishing a strong church in Berea. After sharing the resurrection of Jesus with the Greek philosophers, Paul moved on to the capital of Achaia – Corinth.

In Corinth Paul met what would become dear friends from Rome named Aquila and Priscilla. This husband and wife team became a vital aspect of Paul’s life and God’s Kingdom work in the world. They eventually ministered in Ephesus for a while and then returned to Rome to build the church there.

In Corinth Paul experienced a time of peace and was able to establish a true ministry hub among the Gentile people. Corinth was a perfect city for this operation since it was located at a crossroads of North/South trade in Greece and East/West trade across the Isthmus (a small land bridge across which sea captains would roll their ships on logs rather than cross the stormy southern coast of Greece.)

At the end of the section we are introduced to a dynamic new teacher and missionary named Apollos. This man would eventually move into Corinth and continue to build Jesus’ Kingdom through his teaching ministry.

At this point of the story our tree has truly grown strong. Not only has the center shifted from Jerusalem to Antioch, but it has actually dropped seeds in Greece and begun a whole new root structure in the city of Corinth. Jesus’ Kingdom was truly beginning to become a Kingdom of the world where Jews and Greeks were equal as its citizens.

Visual Commentaries

You Are A Missionary

Acts 18:1-4 and 1 Corinthians 1:1-18