The Bridge Church
Summer Road Trip - Week 7 - God's Power in Philippi
July 13, 2025
Locations & Times
Bridge Church
2410 N River Rd, Venice, FL 34292, USA
Sunday 7:45 AM
Sunday 9:30 AM
Sunday 11:15 AM
1. God's power overcomes spiritual darkness
2. God's power strengthens His people in suffering
3. God's power breaks chains and saves souls
God’s power overcomes darkness, strengthens us in suffering, and saves souls.
MY NEXT STEP TODAY IS:
I need to receive Jesus Christ as my personal Savior for the first time.
https://thebridgevenice.churchcenter.com/people/forms/500390
I need to be baptized.
https://www.thebridgevenice.com/baptism
I need to attend Starting Point.
https://www.thebridgevenice.com/starting-point
I need to join a serve team.
https://www.thebridgevenice.com/serve
I need to join a small group.
https://www.thebridgevenice.com/bridge-groups
I need to receive Jesus Christ as my personal Savior for the first time.
https://thebridgevenice.churchcenter.com/people/forms/500390
I need to be baptized.
https://www.thebridgevenice.com/baptism
I need to attend Starting Point.
https://www.thebridgevenice.com/starting-point
I need to join a serve team.
https://www.thebridgevenice.com/serve
I need to join a small group.
https://www.thebridgevenice.com/bridge-groups
Dig Deeper:
1. Have you had a moment in your life where you felt powerless? Why did you feel that way?
2. When you think about the power of God, what comes to mind? Why?
3. Describe a time in your life when you’ve witnessed God’s power on display. How did it affect you? How did it affect the people around you?
1. Read Acts 16:16. In this region, there was a temple to Apollo who believed (through mythology) to have predictive abilities, which came to him after he conquered a powerful python and took over the snake’s house. Knowing this information about the culture, why would a girl who could provide predictions be popular and profitable?
2. Read Acts 16:17. What was the girl doing here? How does this girl’s abilities differ from the predictive abilities of prophets in the Old Testament?
3. How would the girl’s proclamation about Paul and Silas provide a distraction to the work of the gospel?
4. Read Ephesians 6:12. Describe a time when you’ve witnessed this in your own life or the life of someone close to you.
5. Read Acts 16:18. Who does Paul’s address in his command in verse eighteen? What does this tell us about where the dark abilities in this girl’s life came from? How did this demon detract from the true God?
6. Read 1 John 3:8. Restate this passage another way and discuss what is shared. How was this girl a slave twice over? In whose name was she freed?
7. When we become a Christian, there are things we must leave behind. Although we may not all have participated in the occult like the slave girl, what did you repent of and leave behind when you became a Christian?
8. Read Acts 16:19. What happened to her life when she was freed? How does this passage indicate that the girl’s life was transformed?
9. How was God’s sovereignty demonstrated in this girl’s salvation? What was Paul and Silas’ role in this girl’s salvation? How can we be faithful to share (and be prepared to share) while leaving salvation to God?
10. Do you think people viewed this girl as someone who was constrained by sin with no power to escape and ultimately unreachable?
11. Read Acts 16:20-21. Why do you think the girl’s owners don’t admit why they are upset?
12. Read Acts 16:22-23. Being that her salvation led to the arrest, beating, and imprisonment of Paul and Silas, what does this indicate about the ease of sharing the gospel?
13. Read 2 Corinthians 4:8-9. Through persecution, what must we remember? Describe a time in your life when God’s power strengthened you through suffering.
14. Read Acts 16:25. How did Paul and Silas respond to their beating and imprisonment? How would you feel if you were Paul and Silas and experienced these things?
15. How do Paul and Silas demonstrate faith and dependence upon God and not happiness in their circumstances? What is the difference?
16. For Paul and Silas to be able to sing praises to God and to pray after the persecution they’d experienced, what does this express about what they believe about God and about their own lives?
17. If we are unwilling to pray or praise God in our own suffering, what does that express about our functional beliefs?
18. Read Acts 16:26. How could the outcome have been different if Paul and Silas had responded to their circumstances differently?
19. If you were a fellow prisoner or the jailers in this prison with Paul and Silas, what might you be thinking or feeling during this experience?
20. Read Acts 16:27-30. Why was the Roman soldier going to kill himself? What happened instead?
21. Reread what question the jailer asks them. Restate that question and discuss. Why do you think the soldier asked in this way? Do you think other people would ask in a similar way? If so, why?
22. Read Acts 16:31. What was their response to his question? Discuss how salvation is by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone.
23. How did Paul and Silas’ reaction to their circumstances help open the door for the jailer to listen to their witness to the gospel? How can our reactions to life give a better foundation for sharing the gospel? Are there areas in which we need to see God’s help to respond in a way that more accurately reflects Him and His character?
24. Read Acts 16:32-34. Describe the immediate difference in the soldier’s actions in this passage. What caused the difference?
25. Read Acts 16:40. What did they do at Lydia’s house? Why is that significant?
26. God used Paul and Silas’ circumstances to spread the gospel to people who may not have heard it otherwise. What circumstances have you experienced, or are experiencing, that make room for you to be able to live out and share the gospel with people whom others may have difficulty reaching?
27. In all three of these conversions, gospel truth was spoken. What does this indicate about the need for both living the gospel and sharing the gospel with words?
28. The church in Philippi began with three unexpected converts - three Gentiles (two of which were women, one a slave, and one a Roman jailer). What truth does this picture illustrate of God’s grace?
Live It Out:
God’s power overcomes darkness, strengthens us in suffering, and saves souls.
1. God’s power overcomes spiritual darkness. Read Philippians 1:6. Write down all the ways in which God has done a good work in you. Next to each item, write down how it was God that is doing the work. Then, write down names of people in your life who you consider unreachable or “too far gone” because of spiritual darkness. Write out a prayer that you can pray for them this week. List opportunities to build relationships with them, and pray about those, too.
2. God’s power strengthens His people in suffering. You may feel similar to Paul and Silas. Maybe you are facing a difficult time even in the midst of serving God faithfully. May God strengthen you in this season as He works out His plan for you. Read Philippians 4:12-13. List times when you have experienced God’s power amidst suffering. How did He strengthen you? Why did He strengthen you?
3. God’s power breaks chains and saves souls. Read Acts 16:31. Write down and remember the time in your life you understood the gospel and what Jesus did for you. List all the ways you praise Him because of this. For some of us, we relate to the Philippian jailer and his family. You know that you need faith that is found in Jesus Christ alone. Today can be your day of being born again into a relationship with Christ. What must we do to be saved? The answer is the same as it was 2,000 years ago when Paul told the jailer, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved…”. If you’ve never surrendered your life to Christ, you can do so now. Pray: “Lord Jesus, thank you for dying on the cross for my sin. Thank you for conquering death. I believe that you lived, died, and rose again. I surrender my life to follow You. In Jesus name I pray, amen.”
1. Have you had a moment in your life where you felt powerless? Why did you feel that way?
2. When you think about the power of God, what comes to mind? Why?
3. Describe a time in your life when you’ve witnessed God’s power on display. How did it affect you? How did it affect the people around you?
1. Read Acts 16:16. In this region, there was a temple to Apollo who believed (through mythology) to have predictive abilities, which came to him after he conquered a powerful python and took over the snake’s house. Knowing this information about the culture, why would a girl who could provide predictions be popular and profitable?
2. Read Acts 16:17. What was the girl doing here? How does this girl’s abilities differ from the predictive abilities of prophets in the Old Testament?
3. How would the girl’s proclamation about Paul and Silas provide a distraction to the work of the gospel?
4. Read Ephesians 6:12. Describe a time when you’ve witnessed this in your own life or the life of someone close to you.
5. Read Acts 16:18. Who does Paul’s address in his command in verse eighteen? What does this tell us about where the dark abilities in this girl’s life came from? How did this demon detract from the true God?
6. Read 1 John 3:8. Restate this passage another way and discuss what is shared. How was this girl a slave twice over? In whose name was she freed?
7. When we become a Christian, there are things we must leave behind. Although we may not all have participated in the occult like the slave girl, what did you repent of and leave behind when you became a Christian?
8. Read Acts 16:19. What happened to her life when she was freed? How does this passage indicate that the girl’s life was transformed?
9. How was God’s sovereignty demonstrated in this girl’s salvation? What was Paul and Silas’ role in this girl’s salvation? How can we be faithful to share (and be prepared to share) while leaving salvation to God?
10. Do you think people viewed this girl as someone who was constrained by sin with no power to escape and ultimately unreachable?
11. Read Acts 16:20-21. Why do you think the girl’s owners don’t admit why they are upset?
12. Read Acts 16:22-23. Being that her salvation led to the arrest, beating, and imprisonment of Paul and Silas, what does this indicate about the ease of sharing the gospel?
13. Read 2 Corinthians 4:8-9. Through persecution, what must we remember? Describe a time in your life when God’s power strengthened you through suffering.
14. Read Acts 16:25. How did Paul and Silas respond to their beating and imprisonment? How would you feel if you were Paul and Silas and experienced these things?
15. How do Paul and Silas demonstrate faith and dependence upon God and not happiness in their circumstances? What is the difference?
16. For Paul and Silas to be able to sing praises to God and to pray after the persecution they’d experienced, what does this express about what they believe about God and about their own lives?
17. If we are unwilling to pray or praise God in our own suffering, what does that express about our functional beliefs?
18. Read Acts 16:26. How could the outcome have been different if Paul and Silas had responded to their circumstances differently?
19. If you were a fellow prisoner or the jailers in this prison with Paul and Silas, what might you be thinking or feeling during this experience?
20. Read Acts 16:27-30. Why was the Roman soldier going to kill himself? What happened instead?
21. Reread what question the jailer asks them. Restate that question and discuss. Why do you think the soldier asked in this way? Do you think other people would ask in a similar way? If so, why?
22. Read Acts 16:31. What was their response to his question? Discuss how salvation is by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone.
23. How did Paul and Silas’ reaction to their circumstances help open the door for the jailer to listen to their witness to the gospel? How can our reactions to life give a better foundation for sharing the gospel? Are there areas in which we need to see God’s help to respond in a way that more accurately reflects Him and His character?
24. Read Acts 16:32-34. Describe the immediate difference in the soldier’s actions in this passage. What caused the difference?
25. Read Acts 16:40. What did they do at Lydia’s house? Why is that significant?
26. God used Paul and Silas’ circumstances to spread the gospel to people who may not have heard it otherwise. What circumstances have you experienced, or are experiencing, that make room for you to be able to live out and share the gospel with people whom others may have difficulty reaching?
27. In all three of these conversions, gospel truth was spoken. What does this indicate about the need for both living the gospel and sharing the gospel with words?
28. The church in Philippi began with three unexpected converts - three Gentiles (two of which were women, one a slave, and one a Roman jailer). What truth does this picture illustrate of God’s grace?
Live It Out:
God’s power overcomes darkness, strengthens us in suffering, and saves souls.
1. God’s power overcomes spiritual darkness. Read Philippians 1:6. Write down all the ways in which God has done a good work in you. Next to each item, write down how it was God that is doing the work. Then, write down names of people in your life who you consider unreachable or “too far gone” because of spiritual darkness. Write out a prayer that you can pray for them this week. List opportunities to build relationships with them, and pray about those, too.
2. God’s power strengthens His people in suffering. You may feel similar to Paul and Silas. Maybe you are facing a difficult time even in the midst of serving God faithfully. May God strengthen you in this season as He works out His plan for you. Read Philippians 4:12-13. List times when you have experienced God’s power amidst suffering. How did He strengthen you? Why did He strengthen you?
3. God’s power breaks chains and saves souls. Read Acts 16:31. Write down and remember the time in your life you understood the gospel and what Jesus did for you. List all the ways you praise Him because of this. For some of us, we relate to the Philippian jailer and his family. You know that you need faith that is found in Jesus Christ alone. Today can be your day of being born again into a relationship with Christ. What must we do to be saved? The answer is the same as it was 2,000 years ago when Paul told the jailer, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved…”. If you’ve never surrendered your life to Christ, you can do so now. Pray: “Lord Jesus, thank you for dying on the cross for my sin. Thank you for conquering death. I believe that you lived, died, and rose again. I surrender my life to follow You. In Jesus name I pray, amen.”
Reading Plan
Monday: Acts 16:16-18, Ephesians 6:12, 1 Johs 3:8
Tuesday: Acts 16:19-23, 2 Corinthians 4:8-9
Wednesday: Acts 16:25-28
Thursday: Acts 16:29-31
Friday: Acts 16:32-33, 40
Saturday: Philippians 1:6, 4:12-13
Monday: Acts 16:16-18, Ephesians 6:12, 1 Johs 3:8
Tuesday: Acts 16:19-23, 2 Corinthians 4:8-9
Wednesday: Acts 16:25-28
Thursday: Acts 16:29-31
Friday: Acts 16:32-33, 40
Saturday: Philippians 1:6, 4:12-13