Missionaries to other  lands often encounter people  with no background in religious  beliefs similar to what  missionaries bring.  Sometimes the hearers get  confused by what they hear.  For instance, when Paul,  Christ’s apostle, appeared to  Greek intellectuals in  Athens (see Acts 17:18)  they believed Paul was  preaching about two “divinities:”  Jesus and Anastasis  (Resurrection). Of course,  the last thing Paul would  want people to get from his  preaching was that he was  preaching more than one  God. Paul and all Jews were  reared believing “The Lord  our God is one Lord” (Deut.  6:4). The same is true of  Christians.  We love to teach those  grand words written by Paul  in Ephesians 4:4-6:

“There  is one body and one Spirit,  just as you were called to  the one hope that belongs to  your call, one Lord, one  faith, one baptism, one God  and Father of us all, who is  above all and through all  and in all.”  And, along with Paul, we  preach about Jesus and resurrection,  Christ’s resurrection  and our resurrection  (please read Romans 6:1-4).  Also, one might benefit  from reading the entire 15th  chapter of I Corinthians.  We hope we never find  ourselves preaching to folks  who become confused by  our words, or by our handling  of scripture. We urge  people who are seeking  teaching and clarification of  the great and wonderful  words of God to visit us, let  us help make the message of  our Lord clear and compelling.  Come see us.  We’ve been your neighbors  in Coquille for more  than fifty years.

Coquille Church of Christ  2nd and Gould  www.coquillechurchofchrist.  org.)

Paul, Apostle of Christ,  missionary to the non-  Jewish world, visited many  ancient capitols, as recorded  in the Acts of the Apostles.  He visited Jerusalem, of  course, Ephesus, Philippi,  Corinth, and ultimately  Rome. But it is Athens (Acts  17:26-34) that provides very  special insight for us who  follow God’s salvation history.  Athens was the intellectual  center of Greek civilization-

- Thales, Aristotle,  Socrates, Plato are among  the long list of philosophers  who had been here. But  Athens was not at its  strength when the Christian  evangelists visited her  streets. Greek philosophy  had declined and Greek religion  was dead. The gods  Homer had discussed centuries  before, the gods who  reigned from Mt. Olympus,  had proven to be frauds.  They didn’t exist.  So the Greeks no longer  bragged of what they knew,  but spoke more of what they  did not know. Among the  empty symbols of their religious  life, the Greeks had an  altar to “an unknown God.”  (See Acts 17:23). That  inscription was Paul’s  opportunity to preach a  wonderful sermon (Acts  17:23-31).  Paul told his audience he  actually knew God.

God  was not unknown to the  Apostles, nor is God  unknown to us. We don’t  have to live in ignorance of  God. And we can know  God’s will. That’s the whole  point of the Christian faith -  - to know and believe Jesus  Christ who doesn’t leave us  to speculate about eternal  realities, but who reveals  God to us (see John 1:14).  Is God still unknown to  you? Let us tell you about  Jesus Christ, who makes  things very clear - - “He  who has seen me has seen  the Father (John 14:9).”  We’ve been your neighbors  in Coquille for more  than fifty years.

Philippi. What a town! Pastor - Carl Kelley  Not only was Philippi “a  leading city of the district of  Macedonia, and a Roman  colony (Acts 16:12),” it rapidly  became a leading city  in the Kingdom of God.  In our last entry in this  space, Paul and his traveling  companions met and baptized  a remarkable woman,  Lydia, and her entire family.  Now this would have been a  great confirmation for the  missionaries that the Lord  was with them. But then  trouble arose–trouble that  could have been quite discouraging  (see Acts 16:16-  24). In jail, for goodness  sake! By their preaching,  Paul and Silas ran afoul of  the Roman authorities,  accused by the owners of a  disturbed slave girl of doing  things contrary to Roman  custom. The girl, you see,  was the source of income  for her owners, since she  had “a spirit of divination,“  which was exorcised by  Paul. So, to jail went the  preachers. And there they  sat until “about midnight”  (Acts 16:25). Then God  moved.

An earthquake shook the  prison and opened its doors.  It was God at work. The  jailor assumed he had done  something wrong and the  prisoners were gone (Acts  16:26-28). He thought he  might as well take his life.  But, no, the Apostle Paul let  him know that what had  happened was done, not to  kill the jailor, but to save  him.  The jailor cried out for  direction: “men, what must I  do to be saved?” (See Acts  16:30-34). That question is  asked often in the New  Testament. The answer is  always the same: believe in  Jesus Christ. Well, the jailor  and his whole family  believed. And right away,  they were immersed in  water. So Philippi rapidly  became the epicenter of  Christian evangelism in  Macedonia–whole families  turned to Christ. What a  town!  What about you and your  family? Let’s talk about it.  Coquille Church of Christ  2nd & Gould  (541) 396-2508

“The Lord opened her Pastor - Carl Kelley  heart to give heed to what  was said by Paul.” Her  name, of course, was Lydia,  a woman from the city of  Thyatira in western Asia  Minor, but was in Philippi  when Paul first preached  there (Acts 16:11-15).

Lydia  was a business woman, a  seller of purple-dyed goods  produced in her hometown.  When we come upon the  this scene, Paul and  Barnabas were on their second  missionary journey.  Philippe was a prominent  Greek city of Macedonia. It  was named for the father of  Alexander The Great - -  Philip of Macedon. The city  had received praise from the  Roman government because  its citizens has captured and  held the assassins of Julius  Caesar.

Commerce was  bustling in Philippi, thus  Lydia has brought her wares  there and was available  when the evangelists went  out to the side of the river to  preach Christ. Lydia “was a  worshiper of God,” that is  one who was drawn to the  Jewish community, but not a  convert.  Lydia gave “heed to what  was said by Paul” and the  dramatic result was that she,  “with her household,” was  immersed into Christ.  Obviously it was convenient  for these immersions to happen  there, as the river was  nearby. What a day! A  whole family!  Well, over one’s lifetime,  one might witness such an  event several times, that is,  an entire family turning to  Christ, being immersed in  water, rising to “walk in  newness of life” (Rom. 6:4).

In fact, we in churches of  Christ keep trying to duplicate  that ancient scene, hoping  to see families “give  heed to what was said by  Paul.” but, truth is, it usually  happens one believer at a  time. Praise God when it  happens! How is it with  you? Or with you and your  family? We urge you to give  heed.  We’ve been your neighbors  in Coquille for over  fifty years.  Coquille Church of Christ  2nd & Gould  (541) 396-2508

“Go into all the world and  preach the gospel to the  whole creation. He who  believes and is baptized will  be saved; but he who does  not believe will be condemned”  (Mark 16:15,16).  Those were among the last  words Jesus spoke to His  disciples during his earthly  ministry. It might have been  hard for the disciples to  visualize what Jesus was  saying; but by the time the  story reaches the middle of  the Book of Acts, what  Jesus had in mind is becoming  clear.

God’s outreach to the  world beyond the Jewish  nation started fairly early  (see Acts 8 and Acts 10), but  what our Lord had planned  became boldly obvious by  the time we read Acts 13:1-  3. “Set apart for me  Barnabas and Saul for the  work to which I have called  them,” vs. 2. And by the  time Saul’s name was  changed to Paul (from a  strong Jewish name to a  Greek name), evangelism of  the wide world was under  way. And by the time Paul’s  ministry and life were near  their end, he wrote, probably  from a Roman prison  cell, that the hope of the  gospel “has been preached  to every creature under  heaven” (Colossians 1:23).

Amazing!  As Christ ordered it and as  God inspired it, evangelism  is a permanent part of the  church’s life. We continue to  preach the gospel and to live  out the creed of the Christ  who died on Calvary and  was raised from the dead on  the third day. Some part of  everything we do is  designed to draw others to  Jesus Christ. Come see us  sometime soon.  We’ve been your neighbors  in Coquille for over  fifty years.  Coquille Church of Christ  2nd and Gould

The Book of Acts,  Chapter twelve:

Historians  date the death of King  Herod in about 44 A.D.,  meaning the Risen Lord  Jesus Christ left the earth  fourteen years earlier (see  Acts. 1:6-11). So after fourteen  years of the church’s  life focused in Palestine,  God moved to spread the  borders of His Kingdom  westward to Asia Minor and  even to southern Europe.  To get the job done, God  brought together a duo of  spirit-filled evangelists  whose names still stir powerful  memories among  believers. Barnabas and  Saul.

See Acts 11:25,30 and  Acts 12:25). Saul would  come to be known as Paul  (Acts 13:9). He had been  encountered by Jesus Christ  on the Damascus Road  (Acts 9). In the meantime,  Saul had apparently been  preparing for the hour God  would pair him up with  Barnabas for the mission to  the Gentiles (Acts  13:46,47).

If you are Paul  you will want a man like  Barnabas with you. He was  a generous and upbeat man  (see Acts 4:36, 37) who  would be a fine partner for  Paul. The two missionaries  “spoke out boldly” (Acts  13:46) against the initial  opposition posed by Jewish  leaders. (There is a letter,  “The Epistle of Barnabas,”  that survived from the early  Christian period that many  believe was written by  Barnabas.)  Oh, my, Paul and  Barnabas were busy men.  They were used as couriers  to carry relief funds for  believers in Judea who were  victims of famine, and they  were commissioned to  preach the gospel wherever  the Spirit would direct them  (see Acts. 13:2).

They gave  maximum devotion and  energy to every aspect of  God’s calling. They started  on the Island of Cyprus and  from there, Paul and  Barnabas ministered widely.  Wherever they went they  encountered opposition from  some, but they also found  receptive hearts–hearts hungry  for the grace of God and  relief from sins (see Acts  13:6,15).  Do you hunger for grace?  Do you long for forgiveness?  That’s where we come  in. We keep trying to carry  out the mission Paul and  Barnabas started.  We’ve been your neighbors  in Coquille for over  fifty years.

Coquille Church of Christ  2nd and Gould