Recalculating week 2

Week 2

Text: Topic(s): God’s Will, Spirit-led, Obedience

Big Idea of the Message: There are times when the Lord changes our plans and/or makes his plans very evident.

Application Point: The simplicity and beauty of knowing God’s plan for a season in a believer’s life depends on their “seeing” and then obeying his will.

Sermon Ideas and Talking Points: Obedience is not always going; sometimes it is not going (v.6). “The Spirit of God had something else in mind. We are told that the Holy Spirit forbade him to preach the Word down in Asia.  That is really amazing, isn't it? Paul wanted to go there, and the Spirit of God wanted the Word of God given out, but the Spirit of God wanted Paul in a different place at this time. So Paul naturally thought that if he could not go south, he would go north.  Bithynia was in the north, along the Black Sea. That also was a large population center, and there was a very heavy concentration of Hebrews in that area. This section is in Turkey today”Regardless of who the man may have been in 16:9, it is important to hear the voice of the Lord from whomever he speaks through. “It was the sight of a man from Macedonia which finally gave Paul his guidance.  Who was this man Paul saw in the vision? Some think it was Luke himself, for Luke may have been a Macedonian.  Some think the question should not be asked since dreams need no explanations like that.  But there is a most attractive theory. There was one man who had succeeded in conquering the world. That was Alexander the Great.                                  Now it would seem that the whole situation was designed to make Paul remember Alexander.  The full name of Troas was Alexandrian Troas after Alexander. Just across the sea was Philippi, called after Alexander's father. Farther on was Thessalonica called after Alexander's half-sister.  The district was permeated with memories of Alexander; and Alexander was the man who had said that his aim was ‘to marry the east to the west’ and so make one world. It may well be that there came to Paul the vision of Alexander, the man who had conquered the world, and that this vision gave Paul a new impulse towards making one world for Christ” Another aspect of knowing God’s plan is the unity it brings among the participants and then the accord in working his plan. “The steps taken would be in the way of enquiry how and when they could get across the sea to Europe. Here the writer begins to speak in the first person as if at this point he became a sharer in St Paul’s labours. This he continues till ” 

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Also, of note, is the understanding that a believer cannot yoke personal safety and personally defined success with knowing God’s plan. “‘God has called’ This is a PERFECT PASSIVE INDICATIVE. The Spirit's leadership was not for safety, but for evangelism. This is always God’s will” Unity,regardless of the cost, is seen in this classic clip from Spartacus: https://www.wingclips.com/movie-clips/spartacus/i-am-spartacus.