'Thessalonica' Tagged Posts
ROLE MODELS
We hear a lot these days about the need for positive “role models” to imitate. What congregation would think of setting itself up as a “model” congregation? And yet, what congregation does not want to strive for that? Paul wrote two letters to a congregation in Thessalonica (located in modern-day Macedonia). He founded this congregation on his second missionary journey (Acts 17:1-9). Paul later learned from his young co-worker, Timothy, that the Thessalonian Christians were holding on to their…
THOSE NOBLE BEREANS!
We rejoin the apostle Paul today on his second missionary journey. Leaving behind the devout Lydia and the converted jailer in Philippi, Paul heads south from Macedonia toward Greece. There are two main stops along the way – Thessalonica and Berea. We run into an interesting statement about the folks at Berea: “Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if…
“TO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH”
The Acts Of The Apostles falls neatly into two parts. Chapters 1-12 deal with the start of the early church in Jerusalem as it radiates outward. The apostle Peter is the prominent figure in these early chapters. Chapters 13-28 deal almost exclusively with the spread of the gospel to the Gentiles through the missionary journeys of the apostle Paul. These chapters of Acts are the flesh and blood background of the 13 epistles (letters) of the New Testament which Paul wrote…