SCRIPTURE: Acts 14:21-28
“Strengthening the disciples and encouraging them to remain true to the faith.” (Acts 14:22)
As a missionary, Paul keeps moving on after starting a church.
I think about the new believers as he moves on, how weak in their faith.
No bibles, no Christian book stores, no internet sermons, no churches.
Nothing but the memory of what Paul preached… oh yeah, and the Spirit of God.
Like the church in China in the last century, when western missionaries were expelled.
** Under Chairman Mao and Chinese Communism, professing Christians in China grew from 1.5 million in 1970 to 65 million in just twenty years. **
Church leaders killed, bibles destroyed, churches closed – was that the end of the church there?
No, because this is the story of what God is doing, and how He opens doors for faith.
The Spirit finds ways to strengthen and encourage the disciples.
In this case, Paul is able to return to the churches he started, and raise up leaders.
God also found a way to raise leaders and grow the church in China – it multiplied under persecution.
Maybe we should get rid of all our church advantages, so we can prosper and grow too, in the Spirit.
What do you sense the Lord saying to you?
PRAYER
Lord, may Your Spirit strengthen and encourage us as a church, so that we can grow like the early church did – without relying on man-made programs and advantages.