"I AM INNOCENT!"
Acts 18:1-17
Paul in Corinth
18 After this Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. 2 And he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to leave Rome. And he went to see them,3 and because he was of the same trade he stayed with them and worked, for they were tentmakers by trade. 4 And he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath, and tried to persuade Jews and Greeks.
5 When Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedonia, Paul was occupied with the word, testifying to the Jews that the Christ was Jesus. 6 And when they opposed and reviled him, he shook out his garments and said to them, “Your blood be on your own heads! I am innocent. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.” 7 And he left there and went to the house of a man named Titius Justus, a worshiper of God. His house was next door to the synagogue. 8 Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, believed in the Lord, together with his entire household. And many of the Corinthians hearing Paul believed and were baptized. 9 And the Lord said to Paul one night in a vision, “Do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent, 10 for I am with you, and no one will attack you to harm you, for I have many in this city who are my people.” 11 And he stayed a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.
12 But when Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews made a united attack on Paul and brought him before the tribunal, 13 saying, “This man is persuading people to worship God contrary to the law.” 14 But when Paul was about to open his mouth, Gallio said to the Jews, “If it were a matter of wrongdoing or vicious crime, O Jews, I would have reason to accept your complaint. 15 But since it is a matter of questions about words and names and your own law, see to it yourselves. I refuse to be a judge of these things.” 16 And he drove them from the tribunal. 17 And they all seized Sosthenes, the ruler of the synagogue, and beat him in front of the tribunal. But Gallio paid no attention to any of this.
Sermon Notes
“The Gospel is preached in the ears of all—it only comes with power to some. The power that is in the Gospel does not lie in the eloquence of the preacher, otherwise men would be the converters of souls. Nor does it lie in the preacher’s learning, otherwise it would consist in the wisdom of man. We might preach until our tongues rotted, till we should exhaust our lungs and die, but never a soul would be converted unless there were the mysterious power of the Holy Spirit going with it, changing the will of man. O Sirs! We might as well preach to stone walls as preach to humanity unless the Holy Spirit is with the Word to give it power to convert the soul!”
-Charles Haddon Spurgeon
- Paul headed to Corinth to preach the Gospel. The Jews opposed him quite forcibly. He pronounced a judgment on them “You blood is on your own head”. Have you ever sought to share the Gospel with others and been strongly opposed? How did you respond?
- Corinth is a Port City that had many pagan god’s, goddesses, and temples. It was wealthy and affluent. How would you go about reaching a community like Corinth with the Gospel of Jesus Christ?
- God gives Paul a vision to carry on preaching the Gospel without fear. This leads Paul to remain in Corinth for a much longer time preaching the Gospel. How does God speak to you? How do you know when you should move along or continue? How do you deal with frustration and opposition?
Scriptures to Consider
1. 1 Corinthians 2:1-6
2. Jeremiah 1:5-8,19; 15:19-21
3. Ezekiel 33:1-9; 34:4,6
THIS WEEK
MONDAY, January 9
9:30 am Men's Outreach Prayer
1:30 pm Women's Prayer Time
7:30 pm Monday Knight Men
TUESDAY, January 10
9:00 am - 1:00 pm Church Office Closed for Staff Training
WEDNESDAY, January 11
9:45 am Keenager’s Study
6:30 pm Worship & Prayer
6:30 pm AWANA
6:30 pm Jr. High Small Group
6:30 pm NEW! Men's Bible Study
THURSDAY, January 12
6:30 pm Sr. High Small Group
FRIDAY, January 13
7:30 pm YOUTH Hangout with Vanguard
SATURDAY , January 14
9:30 am Safety & Risk Management Training
SUNDAY, January 15
9:15 am Worship Service
11:15 am Worship Service
1:15 pm Safety & Risk Management Training
JOURNEY UPDATES
MAILING ADDRESSES: Please be sure the church office has your correct mailing address as we will be printing 2016 charitable receipts very shortly.
CHURCH OFFICE CLOSED this Tuesday morning for staff training. We will re-open at 1:00 pm
HYMN SING Jan. 8 at 6:00 pm. in the Fireside Room. This is open to all ages. Please bring a tray of goodies to share after the event.
MEN'S BIBLE STUDY: We will be starting a new weekly Bible Study beginning Wednesday, January 11, from 6:30 pm to 8:00 pm, studying the book of Ephesians. Men, please join us or contact Pastor Art for details.
AWANA: Full AWANA programming will resume Wednesday, January 11.
JR. HIGH SMALL GROUP will resume on Wednesday, January 11.
BAPTISM SERVICE January 22 at 6:00 pm. If you wish to be baptized in a smaller more intimate setting, please talk to a Pastor or contact the office today to be included in this evening.
YOUTH resumes on Friday, January 13 at 7:30 pm we will be spending an evening with students and teachers from Vanguard College. Pizza will be served. Please RSVP to Janet in the office on the MERGE Youth Facebook page so we can have enough food for everyone!
SR. HIGH SMALL GROUP will resume on Thursday, January 12 at 6:30 pm
SAFETY & RISK MANAGEMENT TRAINING: ALL Youth and adults who have been or would like to work with children, are required to be trained once per year. Please join us for this 60-90 minute training on Saturday, January 14 at 9:30 am or Sunday, January 15 at 1:15 pm. Please RSVP to Debbie and mark this on your calendar.
NEW ATTENDERS LUNCH: Are you new to SGAC? Join us on Sunday, January 29 for the thew Attenders Lunch. RSVP to the office or Pastor Art by January 25.
PRAYER
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Our Christian Workers: Ric & Kareen Strangway, Stephen & Marilyn Rigby, Ed & Marie Schmidt.
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Our Pastoral Staff: Director of Women’s Ministries - Karen Houcher. Karen is married to Dan and they have 5 children ages 16, 15, 12 and 10.
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Our Administrative Staff: Joanne Fehr. Joanne is married to Bruce and they have 2 adult children.
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Our Elders: Tim Wiebe. Tim is married to Julie. They have 3 children ages 14,12 & 10.
FAMILY MATTERS
- The Pastors want to take this opportunity to thank this generous and loving congregation for the expressions of love through the blessing tree this Christmas. We do not take it for granted that many of you sacrificed your hard earned money and time to make us feel appreciated. This gift of lovemeans a lot to us and your thoughtfulness will be remembered this whole year as we use these gift cards.
- We are looking for the names of all current Bible School students who call SGAC their church home. Please contact the church office with this information.
FINANCIAL UPDATE
Week thru Jan. 1 $17,893
27 Week Average $24,393
BUDGET $26,153 PER WEEK
BUDGET TO END OF Dec. $679,978
BUDGET SHORTFALL Dec. 31 ($39,257)
Future Dev Cash on Hand Nov. 30 $181,446
Global Adv Fund July to Dec. 31 $82,707
Canadian Fund July to Dec. 31 $20,933
Revenue YTD Dec. 31 $640,721
Expenses YTD Nov. 30 $545,726