Daily Read InterVarsity Alabama

Acts 20:1-12 (NIV)
Read by: Tammy Eckhart

Have you ever felt stuck spiritually in a place? Have you ever had to return to that place later in life?

In today’s passage we journey with Paul and his companions as they return from their journey to Macedonia to Troas. Traps was the place were they arrived after being blocked by the spirit, they did not know what to do or where to go and they had to wait on God. Then Paul had a dream of a man calling him to come across the sea, and so they went.

But now after having experienced the faithfulness of God they are headed back through this place on their way back but now filled with faith. They are returning to the place where they experienced confusion and ambiguity but now with stories of God’s faithfulness.

Some of us are faced with returning home to the place where we were once stumped in our faith. We have to face people or situations from our past and bring our new increased faith to bear there. Today’s passage gives us an example of that. What would it look like for you to return to a previous context with renewed faith?

----------REFLECT----------

1. What moment in this passage stood out to you?

2. How might you relate to Paul and his companions in this story, how might you feel distant from their experience?

3. What would it look like for God to show up in spaces where you previously experienced spiritual ambiguity and hardship? What dead things would come to life?

----------GO DEEPER----------

Bible Project: Acts 13-28 Overview >>

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Acts 19:23-41 (NIV)

Do you think the Gospel you’ve heard or live out has the power to disrupt cultural and economic structures that don’t honor God?

Cities today are known for their architecture. Think of iconic landmarks like the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, the Empire State Building in New York City, or the Eiffel Tower in Paris. For Ephesus, the building that would have come to mind was the enormous temple to the Goddess Artemis. People from around the region would travel here to worship at her temple seeking fertility in their crops or their business or their families. And not totally unlike we do today, people would take a miniature version of whatever it is they came to ephesus to see home with them.

Metal workers across Ephesus would cash out on the sale of miniature replicas of the Goddess Artemis. But ever since this guy Paul showed up talking about the risen Jesus, fewer and fewer people seem to be interested in buying their replicas. In today’s passage this causes a riot, and it brings into sharp focus the reality that following Jesus has had an impact in society from the very beginning, and it should today too.

----------REFLECT----------

1. As you listened, and imagined yourself there, what if any emotions came up for you?

2. The cultural and economic realities of Ephesus were disrupted because people started to follow Jesus. What cultural or economic realities do you think would rightly be disrupted if people began to follow Jesus in your context?

3. The Gospel Paul preached was indeed to blame for challenging the status quo, but was preached in a way that didn’t allow anyone to hold anything against them. This often isn’t true of us, we’re either not challenging what we say and do, or we say and do things in such a way that people rightly find fault in us. Ask Jesus to help you walk this tension out today.

----------GO DEEPER----------

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Acts 19:13-22 (NIV)
Read by: Ginger Montalvo

Have you ever found yourself trying to use the name and the power of Jesus for your own gain?

In today’s passage, Luke contrasts two groups of people and their response when they recognize the power of Jesus. One one hand we see the seven sons of Sceva, and on the other hand we have the people of Ephesus, particularly a number of people who practiced sorcery. The sons of Sceva are a group of Jewish men who try to cast out a demon by invoking the name of Jesus without actually knowing him or submitting to him. This does not end well for them.

The people in Ephesus and especially those practicing sorcery, were all too familiar with all kinds of magic incantations and pagan practices. As we’ll see in tomorrow’s passage Ephesus was a city that was known for its pagan worship. So, while it may sound strange to us, sorcery in that time was much more normal and less terrifying than it is today. Sorcerers would help people deal with things that they could not control and charge them to do so, albeit by means that did not honor the LORD. But when they recognize the power of Jesus, their reaction can actually teach us a lot about what it means to submit to Jesus.

----------REFLECT----------

1. What moment in this passage surprised you? What did you not expect?

2. The sons of Sceva get whooped because they try to baptize actions that are not actually submitted or empowered by the LORD by saying “in the name of Jesus.” How are you tempted to do this? To associate something you’re doing with Jesus without actually following His leadership?

3. One drachma is equal to one day’s wages, 50,000 drachmas are equal to 137 years of wages. Those who saw Jesus' power not only confessed and repented, they abandoned that in which they had placed their hope and it cost them a lot. We may not have sorcery scrolls, but we absolutely have things that we place our hope in that pale in comparison to Jesus’ power. What is that for you?

----------GO DEEPER----------

Bible Project: Acts 13-28 Overview >>

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We'll be back Aug. 15 with the rest of Acts and Season 5!

We want to give you our best and care for the family, so we are taking a break! 


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Acts 19:1-12 (NIV)
Read by: Theo Leu

As followers of Jesus we were made to live lives that flourish in word, deed, and power.

Today’s episode features a passage from Acts that introduces us to Paul’s work in Ephesus. Now there's a lot that we could say about to open our understanding about the city of Ephesus, but suffice it to say that it was a city of influence both civically and spiritually.  Anyone approaching the city as Paul does in today’s reading would have seen the temple of the goddess Artimus, which was one of the wonders of the ancient world.

Divination and idol worship was a mainstay in Ephesus. And the first thing that Luke wants to tell us about this important city is that Paul finds disciples, but they have only received the baptism of John. These disciples haven’t even heard of the Holy Spirit. Imagine, trying to know and follow Jesus without the power of the Holy Spirit working in you! Some of you might actually be able to imagine that, because we come from church traditions that don’t emphasize the Holy Spirit, and others can hardly imagine our church experiences without the Holy Spirit.

This passage can cause a lot of debates, but today as you listen I want to ask you to consider the ways in which you are living without the full power of the Spirit. Perhaps you are heavy in word, that is scripture and proclamation of truth, or maybe you’re strong in deed, serving others and fighting for Justice. But what about power?

----------REFLECT----------

1. What phrase stuck with you as you heard the passage?

2. The disciples had never even heard of the Holy Spirit, yet they were baptised as people who were trying to follow Jesus. As you think about the ways that you have learned to follow Jesus, are there any areas where you’ve missed large sections of fundamental teaching? Things that you've never heard of?

3. What areas of your life do you need the power of the Holy Spirit to round out the word and deed portions of your life? How can you make space for God’s spirit to come in and bring life to areas that have not moved? Ask Jesus to lead you in this time.

----------GO DEEPER----------

Bible Project: Acts 13-28 Overview >>

InterVarsity Press Selections: Acts >>

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Acts 18:18-28 (NIV)
Read by: Christy Gates

When you think about the people who mentored you in the faith, who comes to mind?

One person who I think of, when I think of my early days of following Jesus, is a man by the name of Ken McIntosh. I worked at a law firm while I was taking classes at a community college and serving the church as a fairly new chirstian. Ken was one of the founding partners of the firm and from time to time, even though he was retired, would work out of the office. And he would sit there with me listening mostly, and telling me stories about his life.

Every once in a while, when I was talking about some aspect of faith, he would begin to stand up, which took some time for a person with two knee replacements…. He would literally begin to walk out of the room we were sitting in and drop some questions like, are you sure what that passage means? Or, have you thought about that situation in this way? And he would just leave! I didn’t know it at the time but he was slowly and carefully loosening the misconceptions I had about Jesus and God’s story. He knew where I was coming from and carefully picked at the vanier that would keep me from seeing God clearly. He didn’t finish the job, but he did just enough to make it bother me in the best way.

Today’s episode of Daily read features Pracilla and Aquilla’s discipleship of Apollos. Notice there is a woman who seems to be equally responsible for giving understanding to a leading church planter in the early church.

----------REFLECT----------

1. What part of this passage stood out to you the most?

2. The text says that Apollos was teaching accurately about Jesus, but that Pracilla and Aquilla explained the way more adequately to him. Consider the difference between accuracy and adequacy. Who in your life has helped you come to know and communicate about Jesus more adequately?

3. Is there someone that you know who you might be called to care for in the way that Pracilla and Aquilla cared for Apollos, to help them understand more adequately the way of Jesus?    Take a moment to think of and perhaps pray for that person.

----------GO DEEPER----------

Bible Project: Acts 13-28 Overview >>

InterVarsity Press Selections: Acts >>

----------CONNECT----------

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