Goodbook messages arrive every Tuesday and Friday with a Scripture reading and ideas for how to apply the reading in our lives. We are reading through the book of Acts. For additional Scripture reading, you can follow the Advanced Track.
Reading: Acts 20:4-6
He (Paul) was accompanied by Sopater son of Pyrrhus from Berea, Aristarchus and Secundus from Thessalonica, Gaius from Derbe, Timothy also, and Tychicus and Trophimus from the province of Asia. These men went on ahead and waited for us at Troas. But we sailed from Philippi after the Festival of Unleavened Bread, and five days later joined the others at Troas, where we stayed seven days.
Application:
You may have read this and thought, “Ugh. Another Bible passage with lots of names and places that are hard to pronounce.” I would not blame you if you thought this. But this passage is worth all the hard names and places. They tell a really powerful story.
If you have been reading along in Acts with us, you may recognize these places. They are all places that Paul had traveled in his missionary journey. Everywhere Paul went he developed relationships with people who became his traveling companions and ministry partners.
Here’s another neat detail in the passage. You may have noticed a shift in the writing from third person to first person. Up until this point the author has been writing in first person, referring to the characters as “he” or “them.” Now the author begins writing in the first person, speaking about the group as “us.” The author is also a person with whom Paul developed a relationship and included on his missionary ventures. Paul had a lot of friends.
Our small groups are going through the Daniel Plan, which is a journey toward health in five key areas. One of those areas is Friends. God designed us to thrive in relationships. We are better together. The author of Ecclesiastes put it well: “Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor. If either of them falls down, one can help the other up,” (4:9-10).
Paul was very intentional about the friend factor. How about you? Do you build healthy relationships everywhere you go? This is an area I can definitely grow in. Here are a few suggestions from the Daniel Plan about how we can be a friend…
1) LISTEN to each other. (James 1:19)
2) LEARN from each other. (1 Peter 5:5)
3) LEVEL with each other by speaking the truth in love. (Proverbs 27:5-6; Ephesians 4:15)
4) LIBERATE each other by loving and forgiving like Christ. (Ephesians 4:32)
Think about the places you go and the people you are with. Who can you be a friend to? How can you develop relationships by listening, learning, leveling, and liberating?
Share your comments and application ideas...
Application:
You may have read this and thought, “Ugh. Another Bible passage with lots of names and places that are hard to pronounce.” I would not blame you if you thought this. But this passage is worth all the hard names and places. They tell a really powerful story.
If you have been reading along in Acts with us, you may recognize these places. They are all places that Paul had traveled in his missionary journey. Everywhere Paul went he developed relationships with people who became his traveling companions and ministry partners.
Here’s another neat detail in the passage. You may have noticed a shift in the writing from third person to first person. Up until this point the author has been writing in first person, referring to the characters as “he” or “them.” Now the author begins writing in the first person, speaking about the group as “us.” The author is also a person with whom Paul developed a relationship and included on his missionary ventures. Paul had a lot of friends.
Our small groups are going through the Daniel Plan, which is a journey toward health in five key areas. One of those areas is Friends. God designed us to thrive in relationships. We are better together. The author of Ecclesiastes put it well: “Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor. If either of them falls down, one can help the other up,” (4:9-10).
Paul was very intentional about the friend factor. How about you? Do you build healthy relationships everywhere you go? This is an area I can definitely grow in. Here are a few suggestions from the Daniel Plan about how we can be a friend…
1) LISTEN to each other. (James 1:19)
2) LEARN from each other. (1 Peter 5:5)
3) LEVEL with each other by speaking the truth in love. (Proverbs 27:5-6; Ephesians 4:15)
4) LIBERATE each other by loving and forgiving like Christ. (Ephesians 4:32)
Think about the places you go and the people you are with. Who can you be a friend to? How can you develop relationships by listening, learning, leveling, and liberating?
Share your comments and application ideas...
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