Busting the Door Wide Open
5/29/22
Busting the Door Wide Open
Acts 16:16-33
1. Persecution is not new.
Jesus taught us in John 15:18, “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you.”
“Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” ~ 1 Peter 5:8
2. Persecution can come from multiple angles
When her owners realized that their hope of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to face the authorities. ~Acts 16:19
3. Encountering the Gospel promotes Questions
…fix our eyes, not on what is seen, but on what is not seen, for what is seen is temporary but what is unseen is eternal. ~2 Corinthians 4:18
4. What you are going through is what God is bringing you through!
“Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” ~ 1 Thess. 5:16-18
5. When you worship, your circumstances get smaller and your God gets bigger.
In the reverent and worshipful fear of the Lord there is strong confidence, and His children shall always have a place of refuge. ~Proverbs 14:26 amp
6. The Gospel presents a choice
They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.” 32 Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house. 33 At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his household were baptized. ~Acts 16:31-32
- The power of God through the Gospel changes lives … ALL lives