MEETING AGENDA
- OPENING PRAYER – Ask one person to open the meeting in prayer.
- GROWTH QUESTIONS – Ask everyone the Growth Questions.
- ATTENDANCE – Take attendance through the DG Attendance System.
- TODAY’S LESSON – Go over this week’s DG lesson.
- GIVING – Encourage everyone to give on the App.
- CLOSING PRAYER – Ask for prayer requests and pray.
CONNECTED, EQUIPPED, AND UNSTOPPABLE!
TODAY’S PASSAGE:
Acts 19:1-10 (NLT) – 1 While Apollos was in Corinth, Paul traveled through the interior regions until he reached Ephesus, on the coast, where he found several believers. 2 “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” he asked them. “No,” they replied, “we haven’t even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” 3 “Then what baptism did you experience?” he asked. And they replied, “The baptism of John.” 4 Paul said, “John’s baptism called for repentance from sin. But John himself told the people to believe in the one who would come later, meaning Jesus.” 5 As soon as they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 6 Then when Paul laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in other tongues and prophesied. 7 There were about twelve men in all. 8 Then Paul went to the synagogue and preached boldly for the next three months, arguing persuasively about the Kingdom of God. 9 But some became stubborn, rejecting his message and publicly speaking against the Way. So Paul left the synagogue and took the believers with him. Then he held daily discussions at the lecture hall of Tyrannus. 10 This went on for the next two years, so that people throughout the province of Asia—both Jews and Greeks—heard the word of the Lord.
- When Paul arrived in Ephesus, he immediately found several believers. This was not an accident!
- Paul was looking for believers to meet with. This was his regular practice wherever he went while on his missionary journeys (Acts 17:2).
- This shows us that no Christian should be doing ministry alone. We should be looking for other believers too.
Hebrews 10:25 (NLT) – And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.
- As Paul talked with the believers in Ephesus, he discovered that there was an area of lack in their lives. They hadn’t even heard about the Holy Spirit!
- Like these believers, you may not realize there is an area of lack in your life until someone points it out and shares the truth with you.
- That’s why it’s so important to have leaders like Paul in our lives who can help us fill in the missing components in our walk with God.
Hebrews 13:17 (NET) – Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they keep watch over your souls and will give an account for their work. Let them do this with joy and not with complaints, for this would be no advantage for you.
- Paul preached boldly and argued persuasively about the Kingdom of God for over three months in the synagogue.
- When stubborn opposition arose, he didn’t quit, he simply changed his preaching location!
- Remember that some will receive and some won’t. Our job is not to save everyone. Our job is just to share the Gospel with them.
- Then he took up residence at a local lecture hall where he preached daily for more than 2 years!
- We need to have this same habit in our lives! Studying and teaching the Word daily should be our practice too!
- As a result of this ministry, EVERYONE in Asia heard the Good News!
Acts 19:10 (ERV) – He did this for two years. Because of this work, everyone in Asia, Jews and Greeks, heard the word of the Lord.