Acts: Go & Be Chapters 19-28Sample

What is this passage saying?

Paul departs from Ephesus and continues ministering in Asia Minor, Macedonia, and Greece. Paul resurrects Eutychus after he falls to his death.

What is this passage teaching?

I was assigned a book in my college preaching class about audience-engaging sermons. The book's title was “Saving Eutychus” – a poignant reminder that boring sermons can kill people. While that was not the book's main point, this passage reminds us of the weightiness of what Paul was called to. He knew he was leaving the following morning and was unsure whether he would ever return. He did not preach and teach all night because he was particularly chatty but because the church's health depended upon Paul’s faithful teaching and preaching. Eutychus’ death and subsequent resurrection do not end Paul’s preaching but extend it to daybreak as the church hangs on the truth being given by the apostle.

How do I respond?

Often believers in our day are disturbed if a sermon goes too long or we are delayed to our Sunday lunches. Believers in Paul’s day would sit through midnight teaching sessions, hanging on every word of truth. Many would suffer the plundering of their property, being imprisoned, and terrible execution because they refused to recant or deny the truth that Jesus is Lord and Savior. They knew that only the name of Jesus had the power to resurrect dead people to life again. Friend, what we obtain too cheaply, we esteem too lightly. Is your relationship with Jesus just a spoke in the wheel of your life, or is He the center of your life? Commit yourself to the seriousness of knowing God through His word and pray that God would stir in you a desire to know Him like the church at Troas.