Q. What do you have in your home?
Elisha
asked this questions and the widow replied, “Nothing, just a little bit of oil”.
God takes that little bit of oil and
multiplies it to remove her debt
Don't look at another church but look
at what you have in your body. Celebrate it and give thanks for them and start
working with them. If we are faithful
with little, God will entrust much to us
Acts 19: 6-10
The
importance of this is to step into the Bible and live that life. We see it is
very much like what we are doing and we can learn something.
Paul
arrived in Ephesus and arrives there and finds some disciples of John. The
Spirit comes on them. He entered the synagogue, spoke boldly there for 3 months
and daily had discussions in the lecture hall of Tyrannus. This continued for
two years, so that all the Jews and Greeks who lived in the province of Asia
heard the word of the Lord. I want to take this 2 year period in the lecture
hall of Tyrannus and give some understanding to what could have happened.
Take
the life of a young man and show how God
can do great works. Tyrannus had a lecture hall in which he used to teach
during the mid-day period when it was very hot - many would go and sleep. So
Paul finds this slot during the day - so all those working could come during
the break. Paul would give understanding of the Word of God. He saw an
opportunity which he grabbed.
He
saw that Ephesus had gathered people from all over Asia. It was an economic
hub. People came into Ephesus from all over, to trade and to make some money. When
the workers heard the message of the gospel - not only about salvation, but
about the kingdom of God and the rule of God coming to the nations- this young
man/worker, hears the message and God gets hold of him
In
Colossians Paul has a visitor - Epaphras from Colossi. He has travelled 2000k
on foot and by boat over many days to bring a report to Paul. When Paul was in
the hall of Tyrannus, many like Epaphras sat day after day listening to the
apostle’s teaching. But he didn’t just sit there - God was building up this young man and the time came that a burning
desire to reach the nations was in him. Eventually, Epaphras leaves Ephesus
and goes back to his own town and starts preaching the gospel. There is a
community there. Philemon, Epaphras , etc. come together that there is a
community of the Spirit formed
In 2 years - Paul is able to say, the whole
of Asia-minor has been reached. It must have been such a warm embrace when
Epaphras meets Paul. I bring you greetings from the Church of Colossi, and all
the stories of the people there.
I
cannot tell you how Paul must have felt when he heard about the church in
Colosse
Q. How did he get this right- that the
whole of Asia Minor is reached? He only went to a few places for such a short time.
In Acts 20 Paul speaking now to the Elders
in Ephesus. A few years ago there were 12 men who had not even heard that the Holy
Spirit had been given.
Q. What was the secret to his impact?
Is
it his anointing? His brain? His understanding of theology? Signs and wonders?
What enabled Paul to raise up so many people so quickly and touch so many
lives.
The answer
is in Acts 20: 18 “You know how I lived
the whole time I was with you from the first day I came into the province of
Asia.”
You want to raise people - share your life:
the good, the bad and the ugly. I believe it is the most effective way. As
we share life, we put our teaching on display. We have to deal with life’s
complications and act in power, faith and prayer and so we model something.
Paul
writes to some of the other churches as well "You know how I lived
when I was with you". I said to my elders who do most of my teaching
in Gateway, “I have so many 5 points, etc. I want you to share your life in the
congregation” Someone asked, “Isn’t that being boastful?”No. Start telling
people about the mistakes you made, how God proved his faithfulness to you, the
prayers that have not been answered, the storms that came. Tell them, you do
not need to win my approval. I believe
God has brought us together so I am going to share my life with you. Don’t
worry about reputation, etc.
Paul
says, I served the Lord with great humility, with tears, although I was
severely tested by the plots of the Jews. If you want to be a good disciple
find a leader who will share his life with you. So Paul at Miletus says "There is nothing hidden about me.” That is the key. I believe Epaphras saw
something modeled in Paul that he wanted to follow
However,
there is no one complete leader. As
we see others we say "I want to be like that".
Epaphras
- goes back with the little has and starts in time a community of the Spirit is
born in Colossi. He is one of my heroes of the bible. I long for God to raise
up many more Epaphras’ in our movement- among the government, the poor, the
airport, etc. We know that Epaphras saw humility modeled
I
want you to see a little secret here. It’s not only colossi but the letter to
Philemon also goes here. After seeing humble servant leadersihip, and even though Epaphras had success, he
knew he was building for another.
I
didnt understand this in Clarens. I thought I was Gods answer to church
planting. This is not about be, not for
me, not by me and won’t happen through me because I am weak. By then Simon
and Gary were starting to model apostolic ministry and so I started building
the work for then. You then feel you are an overseer and a caretaker. You are
not only accountable to Jesus - his sheep, whom he died for.
Epaphras
goes all the way up across the Mediterranean to Rome and says to Paul - here is
the community. Paul knows the people so well through Epaphras - but never got
there and met them. True apostolic doctrine is given in the letter to the
Colossians. Apostolic ministry is about
giving ourselves to one another, living life together. That we remain
humble and true to God’s word not get to a point of saying this is my church. That is why team is so important
Word of Grace is an Evangelical (Born Again), Spirit filled (Charismatic), Reformed, English speaking church in Pune that upholds the Bible as God's inspired Word for life. We are a church community that have people from every part of India and parts of the world. We are here to put the Great Command and the Great Commission into practice by equipping and releasing every member into works of service. To know more about us please log onto www.wordofgracechurch.org.
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