Co-Workers for Christ

Church family, that's our story in Acts 18—not lone wolves in the wild, but co-workers in Christ's vast field. Paul tills the soil through faithful journeys. Priscilla and Aquila prune with polite wisdom. Apollos sows with fruitful fire. And together? A harvest of souls. Today, in "Co-Workers in Christ," we'll see how God calls us to the same: tilling side by side, pruning in love, and watching faithfulness bloom. Let's pray...

We should be working along side each other as we till the soil and spread the seeds of the Gospel

Continued Cultivation

Acts 18:18–23 “18 After staying for some time, Paul said farewell to the brothers and sisters and sailed away to Syria, accompanied by Priscilla and Aquila. He shaved his head at Cenchreae because of a vow he had taken. 19 When they reached Ephesus he left them there, but he himself entered the synagogue and debated with the Jews. 20 When they asked him to stay for a longer time, he declined, 21 but he said farewell and added, “I’ll come back to you again, if God wills.” Then he set sail from Ephesus. 22 On landing at Caesarea, he went up to Jerusalem and greeted the church, then went down to Antioch. 23 After spending some time there, he set out, traveling through one place after another in the region of Galatia and Phrygia, strengthening all the disciples.”

Paul models persistent nurturing—returning to strengthen churches and revisit "tilled" soil, even after personal vows and travels.

Started in Antioch

Acts 15:35–41 “35 But Paul and Barnabas, along with many others, remained in Antioch, teaching and proclaiming the word of the Lord. 36 After some time had passed, Paul said to Barnabas, “Let’s go back and visit the brothers and sisters in every town where we have preached the word of the Lord and see how they’re doing.” 37 Barnabas wanted to take along John who was called Mark. 38 But Paul insisted that they should not take along this man who had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not gone on with them to the work. 39 They had such a sharp disagreement that they parted company, and Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed off to Cyprus. 40 But Paul chose Silas and departed, after being commended by the brothers and sisters to the grace of the Lord. 41 He traveled through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches.”

Shaved His head

Arrogant and Immoral Cultere

Continued cultivation showed Pauls love for the Gospel, the Church - Christ the Head of The Church

Derbe, Lystra, Iconiam, Pisam Antioc - The Galatioan reafion - Phrigian.

Polite Pruning

Sanctified Scrutiny

Priscilla and Aquila humbly correct Apollos privately, refining his teaching like pruning a vine for better fruit.

Tilling preps the soil, but pruning removes dead branches so the plant thrives—polite because it's done with care, not a hacksaw.

Apollos

Aquila & Priscilla

Ephesians 4:15's "speaking the truth in love." It's the co-worker's toolkit for growth without wounding.

Humility

& NOT

Huburis

Responsive

Teachable

The best teachers are teachable

Faithful Fruitfulness

True spirituality cannot be evaluated apart from fruitful faithfulness in the Christian life.

George Guthrie

All fields are not fruitful.

M. Tullius Cicero

Faithfulness is our business; fruitfulness is an issue that we must be content to leave with God.

J. I. Packer

Apollos, now equipped, faithfully proclaims Christ with power—refuting opponents and encouraging believers, yielding a multiplied harvest.

Paul famously appeals to this imagery in 1 Corinthians 3:6: “I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth.” God is the ultimate source of all living and growing things in his creation, but in this passage, God utilized the spiritual farming efforts of Paul and Apollos to achieve growth. Growth is a byproduct of an intricate series of interlocking events, conditions, and exchanges between and among living and nonliving entities.

Stephen D. Lowe; Mary E. Lowe

Paul and Apollos are compared to humble farm workers, the sort of the manual laborers the elite in Corinth despised.

Roy E. Ciampa; Brian S. Rosner