Pilgrims And ForeignersSample

Priscilla and Aquila – Expelled, but with open doors (18:1-4)

The apostle Paul met the couple Priscilla and Aquila when they were in exile in Corinth. Luke tells us that they were of the same trade, and that Paul lived with them and worked in their workshop, evangelizing on Saturdays (Acts 18:1-4). This couple, who had had to leave Rome when the emperor Claudius expelled the Jews from the capital, came to be the initial core of the great church of Corinth. After a year and a half this missionary trio moved on to Ephesus, where Pablo continued with his apostolic work (Acts 18:18-19). In the first century persecution and exile were circumstances that God used to plant churches in the world of the Roman Empire. When Paul wrote his letter to the Romans, Priscilla and Aquila were back in Rome and there was a church in their home. In the list of greetings that Paul sends to the believers in Rome, he refers with all fondness to this missionary couple and he describes them as “my fellow workers in Christ Jesus, who for my life risked their own necks, to whom not only do I give thanks, but also all the churches of the Gentiles” (Romans 16:4).

In Europe today, migration, voluntary or forced, continues to be a path that God uses for the extension of the church. Together with the missionaries, dedicated completely to the work of announcing the Gospel and training new disciples that arise, there are millions of missionary volunteers who like Priscilla and Aquila dedicate their homes, their time and service, and their brotherly affection, to the spreading of the Kingdom of God. Let us pray that the Lord continues awakening missionary callings and also mobilizing common, everyday believers like Priscilla and Aquila. God has allowed their story to appear in the book of Acts and Romans so that today we can follow their example.

Samuel Escobar

Motives of gratitude:

· Lord, we are thankful for your threads of love, people, situations, obstacles, etc. In all of them your love has been the motor. 

· Thank you for the circumstances we experience, easy or difficult, because everything works for good (Romans 8: 28) 

· Thank you for the brothers and sisters that have laid their lives at your feet. 

Confession:

· We regret not having a more eternal view of life to perceive everything that happens as something that you are going to use for good 

· We ask your forgiveness for not making the most of current circumstances of migration in Europe to advance your Kingdom. 

· Forgive us, Lord, for not putting everything we are and have at your service. 

Requests: 

· For each one of the missionaries that are using their lives for the kingdom of God. 

· Wherever God placed us may we be missionaries and may we devote our homes, time, service and brotherly affection to the advancement of the kingdom of God. 

· May the Lord keep awakening missionary vocations and also mobilizing common, everyday believers, such as Priscilla and Aquila, for the mission field.