๐ช๐๐ฅ๐ ๐จ๐ฃ
โข Who do you look up to as a father figure? What qualities do you appreciate about this person?
โข Have you tried using someoneโs name to get something you want? How did it turn out?
โข How do you introduce yourself to someone youโve just met? What would you want the other person to know about you?
๐ช๐ข๐ฅ๐
โ๐๐ถ๐ต ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ค๐ฆ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฐ๐ญ๐บ ๐๐ฑ๐ช๐ณ๐ช๐ต ๐ฉ๐ข๐ด ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด๐ฆ๐ด ๐ช๐ฏ ๐๐ฆ๐ณ๐ถ๐ด๐ข๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฎ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐๐ถ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ข ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐๐ข๐ฎ๐ข๐ณ๐ช๐ข, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ต๐ฉ.โ ๐๐๐ง๐ฆ ๐ญ:๐ด
๐๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฆ๐น๐ต๐ณ๐ข๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฏ๐ข๐ณ๐บ ๐ฎ๐ช๐ณ๐ข๐ค๐ญ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฃ๐บ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ข๐ถ๐ญ, ๐ด๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ค๐ฉ๐ช๐ฆ๐ง๐ด ๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ข๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ๐ถ๐ค๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ด๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ข๐ณ๐ณ๐ช๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ธ๐ข๐บ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ช๐ค๐ฌ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ช๐ณ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ด๐ฆ๐ข๐ด๐ฆ๐ด ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ง๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐ท๐ช๐ญ ๐ด๐ฑ๐ช๐ณ๐ช๐ต๐ด ๐ค๐ข๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ.ย ๐๐๐ง๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ต:๐ญ๐ญ-๐ญ๐ฎ
(Read also ๐๐๐ง๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ต:๐ดโ๐ญ๐ฌ, ๐ญ๐ฏโ๐ฎ๐ฌ.)
Paul was called to be an apostle to the Gentiles, not just Jews. In one of his journeys, he visited Ephesus and laid hands on some disciples so that they would be baptized in the Holy Spirit, something they had never experienced before. As a spiritual father to the Ephesian church, Paul preached to different kinds of people while also performing miracles. Today, letโs look at how God caused a remarkable spiritual awakening in Ephesus through Paul as the church grew rapidly.
๐ญ. ๐๐ ๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ป๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ ๐บ๐ถ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐น๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ๐บ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ต๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐ด๐ต ๐ฃ๐ฎ๐๐น.ย
๐๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฆ๐น๐ต๐ณ๐ข๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฏ๐ข๐ณ๐บ ๐ฎ๐ช๐ณ๐ข๐ค๐ญ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฃ๐บ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ข๐ถ๐ญ, ๐ด๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ค๐ฉ๐ช๐ฆ๐ง๐ด ๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ข๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ๐ถ๐ค๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ด๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ข๐ณ๐ณ๐ช๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ธ๐ข๐บ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ช๐ค๐ฌ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ช๐ณ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ด๐ฆ๐ข๐ด๐ฆ๐ด ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ง๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐ท๐ช๐ญ ๐ด๐ฑ๐ช๐ณ๐ช๐ต๐ด ๐ค๐ข๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ.ย ๐๐๐ง๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ต:๐ญ๐ญ-๐ญ๐ฎ
Miracles support the preaching of Godโs word. Paulโs stay in Ephesus was no different. He spent three months preaching in the synagogues before moving to the lecture hall of Tyrannus, a strategic place where people could learn. Paul and the Ephesian disciples continued to do this for two years while also performing extraordinary miracles to both Jews and Gentiles. What do you think those extraordinary miracles were?
๐ฎ. ๐ฃ๐ฒ๐ผ๐ฝ๐น๐ฒ ๐ณ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ผ๐ฑ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ป๐ฎ๐บ๐ฒ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฑ ๐๐ฒ๐๐๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ ๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ผ๐น๐น๐ฒ๐ฑ.
๐๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ค๐ข๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ช๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ฑ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ด๐ถ๐ด, ๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ ๐๐ฆ๐ธ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฌ๐ด. ๐๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ง๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ ๐ง๐ฆ๐ญ๐ญ ๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฏ๐ข๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฅ ๐๐ฆ๐ด๐ถ๐ด ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ฆ๐น๐ต๐ฐ๐ญ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฅ. ๐๐๐ง๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ต:๐ญ๐ณ
While many people came to believe in Jesus, others doubted and even used the name of Jesus for the wrong reasons. There was a group of exorcists known as the sons of Sceva who attempted to cast out evil spirits in a man without them being followers of Jesus. Because of this, they failed and were wounded. The people in Ephesus heard about this and understood the holiness of Jesusโ name. God used this event to cause people to fear God and praise Jesus. How does this affirm the importance of having a genuine relationship with God?
๐ฏ. ๐ฃ๐ฒ๐ผ๐ฝ๐น๐ฒ ๐๐๐ฟ๐ป๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ฎ๐๐ฎ๐ ๐ณ๐ฟ๐ผ๐บ ๐ฒ๐๐ถ๐น ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐.
๐๐ญ๐ด๐ฐ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ๐บ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ช๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด ๐ค๐ข๐ฎ๐ฆ, ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ง๐ฆ๐ด๐ด๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ท๐ถ๐ญ๐จ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ช๐ณ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ข๐ค๐ต๐ช๐ค๐ฆ๐ด. ๐๐๐ง๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ต:๐ญ๐ด
When people come to accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior, their lives are changed from the inside out. This is exactly what happened to the new believers in Ephesus. As they feared God and His holiness, they turned away from their evil practices and worldliness. Those who had books in magic arts burned them in public as a declaration of their faith. They sought something far more valuable than what they hadโa life with God. Share about what you turned away from when you turned to Christ.
๐ฐ. ๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฑ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ผ๐ฑ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ฎ๐ถ๐น๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐บ๐ถ๐ด๐ต๐๐ถ๐น๐.
๐๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฅ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐ถ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ค๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ด๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ท๐ข๐ช๐ญ ๐ฎ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต๐ช๐ญ๐บ.ย ๐๐๐ง๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ต:๐ฎ๐ฌ
Godโs word is trustworthy and is demonstrated through preaching and the miraculous acts of the Holy Spirit. The lives of people in the book of Acts were changed because they believed in the preaching of the gospel and encountered miracles. Godโs word continues to increase to this day. The growth of the Ephesian church reminds us to expect miracles not just for the sake of experiencing it, but so that the gospel may be proclaimed. What does it mean for Godโs word to prevail mightily? What do you think that would look like today?
๐๐ฃ๐ฃ๐๐๐๐๐ง๐๐ข๐ก
โข How do you think you can have a lifestyle of making Jesus known and being a conduit of His miracles?
โข Apart from Godโs guidance and grace, we may end up pleasing others rather than honoring Him. Ask God for a deeper understanding of who He is so that you may point people to Him.
โข Who in your community needs healing or deliverance? How can you minister to this person? Ask God for a miracle and for boldness to minister.
๐ฃ๐ฅ๐๐ฌ๐๐ฅ
โข Praise God for using His people as channels of His miracles and the preaching of His word. Thank God that peopleโs lives are changed as His name is made known.
โข Ask God for forgiveness for trusting in your own abilities even with good intentions. Pray that you would always be in step with God instead of trying to do things alone.
โข Pray for someone who desperately needs Godโs healing. Pray that God would use you to demonstrate His love to that person in the coming days