The Way of God More Accurately

In one paragraph

On July 6, Pastor Ray walked First B through Acts 18:18 through the end of chapter 19's opening verses, covering the close of Paul's second missionary journey and the start of his third. The thread running through the whole passage was ordinary life in motion: people traveling, arriving, leaving, being corrected, and carrying a more complete understanding of the gospel further down the road. It is...

Read together

1. Psalm 103:1 opening call to worship before singing
2. Psalm 146:2 read before singing of God's goodness, 'I will praise the Lord as long as I live'
3. Psalm 89:1 read before singing, 'I will sing of the Lord's great love forever, with my mouth I will make your faithfulness known through the generations'
4. Acts 18:18-19:10 main sermon passage, Paul's travels through Corinth, Ephesus, Caesarea, Jerusalem, Antioch, and back to Ephesus
5. Matthew 3:1-12 read to explain the baptism of John that Apollos and the twelve disciples knew
6. Matthew 3:13-17 read to show Jesus being baptized by John and the Trinity present at that moment
7. John 3:30 John the Baptist says 'He must increase, but I must decrease'
8. Acts 2:4 cited as prior instance of speaking in tongues at Pentecost in Jerusalem
9. Acts 8 cited as prior instance of the Holy Spirit descending when Peter and John went to Samaria
10. Acts 10 cited as prior instance of the Holy Spirit descending on the household of Cornelius in Caesarea

Talk about it

1. Pastor Ray described the Nazarite vow Paul took as a way of showing Jewish people that he was with them and trying to bring them along, even though the vow was not required of him. When have you found yourself meeting someone where they are in order to earn a hearing for a truth you wanted to share?
2. Apollos was eloquent and proficient in the scriptures, but he only knew the baptism of John, which Pastor Ray described as knowing you need to repent but not yet knowing the full picture of what Jesus provides. Have you ever realized, looking back, that your understanding of the gospel was incomplete in some way? What changed it?
3. Priscilla and Aquila did not correct Apollos publicly. They took him aside and explained the way of God more accurately to him, and he received it with humility. What does that exchange suggest about both how we should correct others and how we should respond when someone corrects us?
4. Pastor Ray pointed out that Paul was twice hindered from going to Ephesus before he finally got there, and that when he did arrive, those twelve disciples were waiting. How do you personally handle a door that seems closed to something you feel called toward?
5. Paul posted up in the school of Tyrannus for two years, having daily discussions in an open public forum, and the text says all who lived in Asia heard the word of the Lord. Pastor Ray drew a contrast between religious institutions that mostly draw people who already believe and the daily places where everyone moves. Where are the everyday spaces in your own life where the gospel might reach people who would never walk into a church building?