Principles for growth – Acts 15:41 to 18:22

HOW THE KINGDOM OF GOD

EXPANDS
Acts 15
Antioch

 36 - Some time later Paul said to Barnabas,

"Let us go back and visit the brothers in all the
towns where we preached the word of the
Lord and see how they are doing.“
…
Paul chose Silas and left…
41 - He went through Syria and Cilicia,
strengthening the churches.

1 - Right motivation:
“Peter, do you love me?”
Acts 16

 1He came to Derbe and then to Lystra, where a

disciple named Timothy lived, whose mother was
a Jewess and a believer, but whose father was a
Lystra
Greek. 2…
Derbe

4
As they travelled from town to town, they
delivered the decisions reached by the apostles
and elders in Jerusalem for the people to obey.

5
So the churches were strengthened in the faith
and grew daily in numbers.

2 - Never on his own

 6 - Paul and his companions travelled throughout the region of Phrygia and Galatia,
having been kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia.
7 When they came to the border of Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit
of Jesus would not allow them to. 8 So they passed by Mysia and went down to Troas.
9 During the night Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him,
"Come over to Macedonia and help us." 10 After Paul had seen the vision, we got
ready at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the
gospel to them.

Troas

Listra

3 - Always led by the Spirit

 11From Troas we put out
to sea and sailed straight
for Samothrace, and the
next day on to Neapolis.
12From there we travelled

to Philippi, a Roman
colony and the leading city
of that district of
Macedonia. And we
stayed there several days.
Neapolis
 13 On the Sabbath we went
outside the city gate to the river,
where we expected to find a place
of prayer. We sat down and began
to speak to the women who had
gathered there. 14 One of those
listening was a woman named
Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth from
the city of Thyatira, who was a
worshiper of God. The Lord opened
her heart to respond to Paul's
message. 15 When she and the
members of her household were
baptized, she invited us to her
home.

4 - Watching out for God’s

appointments
Paul and Silas in Prison
 16Once when we were going to the place of
prayer, we were met by a slave girl who had a
spirit by which she predicted the future…
She earned a great deal of money for her
owners by fortune-telling. 17This girl followed
Paul and the rest of us, shouting, "These men
are servants of the Most High God, who are
telling you the way to be saved." 18She kept
this up for many days. Finally Paul became so
troubled that he turned around and said to
the spirit, "In the name of Jesus Christ I
command you to come out of her!" At that
moment the spirit left her.
…
22The crowd joined in the attack against Paul

and Silas, and the magistrates ordered them

to be stripped and beaten.
 25About midnight Paul and Silas were
praying and singing hymns to God, and the
other prisoners were listening to them.
26Suddenly there was such a violent

earthquake that the foundations of the

prison were shaken. At once all the prison
doors flew open, and everybody's chains
came loose. 27The jailer woke up, and when
he saw the prison doors open, he drew his
sword and was about to kill himself because
he thought the prisoners had escaped. 28But
Paul shouted, "Don't harm yourself! We are
all here!"
 29The jailer called for lights, rushed in and
fell trembling before Paul and Silas. 30He then
brought them out and asked, "Sirs, what
must I do to be saved?"

5 - People’s chains come off when we have

the right attitude
Acts 17
In Thessalonica
 1When they had passed
through Amphipolis and
Apollonia, they came to
Thessalonica…

…they dragged Jason and

some brethren to the rulers
of the city, crying out, “These
who have turned the world
upside down have come
here…”

6 - The Church of Jesus brings

Revolution
 10 As soon as it was night,
the brothers sent Paul and
Silas away to Berea. On
arriving there, they went to
the Jewish synagogue.

11 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 what Paul
said was true.

7 - It’s about teaching people to

walk on their feet, through the
Word of God
 16 While Paul was waiting for them in
Athens, he was greatly distressed to
see that the city was full of idols.
17 So he reasoned in the synagogue
with the Jews and the God-fearing
Greeks, as well as in the marketplace
day by day with those who happened
to be there.
…
20You are bringing some strange
ideas to our ears, and we want to
know what they mean." 21(All the
Athenians and the foreigners who
lived there spent their time doing
nothing but talking about and
listening to the latest ideas.)
 22Paul then stood up in the meeting
of the Areopagus and said: "Men of
Athens! I see that in every way you
are very religious. 23For as I walked
around and looked carefully at your
objects of worship, I even found an
altar with this inscription:
“TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. “
Now what you worship as something
unknown I am going to proclaim to
you.

8 - We need wisdom & good use of

opportunities
Chapter 18
 1After this, Paul left Athens and went to Corinth.
2
There he met a Jew named Aquila…Paul went to
see them, 3and because he was a tentmaker as
they were, he stayed and worked with them.
4
Every Sabbath he reasoned in the synagogue,
trying to persuade Jews and Greeks.  5When Silas
and Timothy came from Macedonia, Paul devoted
himself exclusively to preaching, testifying to the
Jews that Jesus was the Christ. 6But when the Jews
opposed Paul and became abusive, he shook out
his clothes in protest and said to them, "Your
blood be on your own heads! I am clear of my
responsibility. From now on I will go to the
Gentiles."
 9One night the Lord spoke to Paul in
a vision: "Do not be afraid; keep on
speaking, do not be silent. 10For I am
with you, and no one is going to
attack and harm you, because I have
many people in this city." 11So Paul
stayed for a year and a half, teaching
them the word of God.

18
Paul stayed on in Corinth for some
time. Then he left the brothers and
sailed for Syria, accompanied by
Priscilla and Aquila.
19
They arrived at Ephesus, where Paul
left Priscilla and Aquila.

9 - No need to Fear
1 - Right motivation: “Peter, do you love me?”
2 – Never on his own
3 – Always led by the Spirit
4 – Watching out for God’s appointments
5 – People’s chains come off when we have the right attitude
6 – The Church of Jesus brings Revolution
7 – It’s about teaching people to walk on their feet, through
the Word of God
8 – We need wisdom and good use of opportunities
9 – No need to fear