The Way of God More Accurately

In one paragraph

This message worked through Acts 18 as Paul wrapped up his second missionary journey and began his third, covering a stretch of travel that looks routine on the page but carries real weight. Along the way, the pastor traced the story of Apollos and the twelve disciples in Ephesus, both of whom knew part of the gospel but needed someone to explain the way of God more accurately. The connecting...

Read together

1. Acts 18:18-22 Paul leaving Corinth, sailing to Syria, cutting his hair at Cenchreae, visiting Ephesus, then Jerusalem, then returning to Antioch
2. Acts 18:24-28 Introduction of Apollos, his eloquence and knowledge of only the baptism of John, and Priscilla and Aquila explaining the way of God more accurately
3. Acts 19:1-7 Paul finding disciples in Ephesus who had received only John's baptism, then baptizing them in the name of the Lord Jesus, after which the Holy Spirit came on them
4. Matthew 3 Quoted to explain the baptism of John, including John's preaching of repentance, his rebuke of the Pharisees and Sadducees, and his declaration that one mightier than he would baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire
5. Matthew 3 Jesus arriving at the Jordan to be baptized by John, the Spirit descending as a dove, and the voice from heaven saying this is my beloved Son
6. John 3:30 John the Baptist saying he must increase but I must decrease
7. Acts 2:4 Day of Pentecost, the Spirit descending and disciples speaking in other tongues
8. Acts 8 Peter and John going to Samaria and the Holy Spirit descending on believers there
9. Acts 10 Peter at the house of Cornelius in Caesarea and the Holy Spirit falling on the Gentiles there

Talk about it

1. Paul made a Nazarite vow as a way of identifying with Jewish people he was trying to reach, doing something that was not required of him. When have you gone out of your way to meet someone where they are in order to share something important with them?
2. Apollos was eloquent and knew the scriptures but had an incomplete understanding, knowing only the baptism of John. What did it look like in his life that something was missing, and how does that connect to the difference between knowing about Jesus and actually knowing Jesus?
3. When Priscilla and Aquila heard Apollos speaking in the synagogue, they took him aside privately and explained the way of God more accurately to him. What made that moment go well, and what could have made it go badly?
4. Paul was hindered from going to Ephesus in chapter 16, got there briefly and had to leave, and finally returned for two full years. He said 'I will return to you again if God wills.' How do you personally sit with a door that feels closed, not knowing whether it is a never or a not yet?
5. The sermon closed with the warning from First Corinthians about factions, people saying they follow Apollos or this leader or that one. What are the signs, in a church or in your own heart, that loyalty to a person or a style is starting to crowd out unity in Christ?