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BREAKTHROUGH
Open-ended, Life-centred, Gospel-Focused Explorations of Australian P. B. Eucharistic Readings
   ACTS 16: 16-34... 7th S. of Easter / S.after Ascension C. .. (For JN 14:23-29 scroll.)
N.B. : Next Sunday, Pentecost,  we will return, with the Lectionary, to Hebrew Bible First Readings.
 
NOTES: 1] We were told about the 'place of prayer' (v.16) in v.13 last week . 2] The slave girl was believed to be possessed by & speak as directed by the 'spirit' of the god Apollo. 3] Mostly, servants & slaves were one & the same thing. 4] 'Annoyed' in v.18 means 'very troubled'; no doubt as much by the girl's state as by her drawing attention to Paul & co. 5] In (27) the gaoler could expect to be executed if a prisoner escaped.

WARMING UP:  How flexible are we in adapting to the customs of places we are visiting?

TREASURES OLD & NEW: Identify God at work in anything this week?

ENTERING INTO THE STORY:
16-18   How aware are we of people we pass as we go on our way to our 'place of prayer'? Or are we too intent on getting there to notice others? Do we give any credence to those who as 'spiritualists' of some kind (e.g. 'mediums') purport to speak for any power, or for dead persons, etc.? How active are such practices in our local community? Is that kind of thing any more compatible with Christian Faith now than it was to Paul back then? Is practising this kind of thing still mostly a form of commercial exploitation? How obvious is it to us that some people are 'slaves of the Most High God'? Do some seem to be 'slaves....' but without much of the 'salvation'?. What does 'salvation' actually consist of? If we define it as 'being saved', being saved from what, & being saved for what? Have we ever come across exorcism? Does it still work? Is there anything at all, of any kind, that we always do consciously 'in the name of Jesus Christ'?

19-24   Are our motives ever shown up as less than godly when we can't profit from someone's change of fortune, locality, status, etc. any more & they can't do something for us any more? How tested would we feel if we were to be in trouble with the law for doing something that brought salvation, in any of its senses, to someone? Does the matter of 'disturbing the city', 'being Christians', 'advocating customs that are not lawful...' ring any warning bells now that we're in an arena of politcal correctnesses that have crept into our own society? What do we think of these developments & how are we / should we be responding to them? Is it going too far to say that some of the proponents of 'political correctness' are slaves to some pseudo-god & need to have salvation brought to them? Are we up to doing that in the name of Jesus Christ? Or would that be intolerant, itself a political correctness? What part, if any does mob rule / mass hysteria play in the society we live in? Is being ill-treated, punished, discriminated against because we are Christians too much of a non-issue for us now?

25-34    Do praying & singing hymns play much / any part in our personal spirituality, except when we're 'in church'? Whether or not actual earthquakes threaten where we live, do we ever experience any 'earthquakes' that jolt us out of our spirtual comfort zone? Do we need to be jolted out of it? What 'chains' do we need to be loosed from? How big is the list, or aren't we aware of any? Has 'What must I do to be saved?' ever been a question we've asked? If so, what was the answer, & how did it come? Or is that a question we still need to ask? If we're talking about those old enough to decide for themselves, is the simple 'Believe on (in) the Lord Jesus' still sufficient to be 'saved'? Or do we still need to tie people up in doctrinal spellings-out? In a day when our households can think & speak for them- selves, can the 'you & your household' still hold good? Does 'believing in God' really bring us much joy? Or do we tend to skip that bit as an optional extra? How might our discipleship be 'improved' if we were more joyful in our belief in God through Jesus Christ?