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Thursday 24 November 2011

Day 329: Paul’s third missionary journey

Corinth is going to be a cause of heartache for Paul.

Third Missionary Journey AD 54-58
Antioch to Ephesus
Acts 18:23-28
Paul teaches at Ephesus
Acts 19:1-12
Jewish exorcists disgraced
Acts 19:13-20
Demetrius stirs up trouble
Acts 19:21-32
The city clerk calms the crowd
Acts 19:33-41
First letter to the Corinthians: Paul’s greeting
1 Corinthians 1:1-9
Divisions in the church
1 Corinthians 1:10-16
The power of the gospel
1 Corinthians 1:17-31
God’s wisdom revealed by the Spirit
1 Corinthians 2:1-16

The first mention of Apollos - a lively though not always well-informed preacher. He became quite a favourite a Corinth, not always to Paul’s liking.
Paul meanwhile is back on the road. He encounters some Christians (possibly some of Apollos’ converts) who don’t know the whole Christian message. He has to explain to them about the Holy Spirit (some Anglicans need the same!) Ephesus was a place of some turmoil - and Paul’s success there upsets the local tradespeople because their sales of silver idols were in sharp decline. A crowd that sounds remarkably like a football crowd starts chanting and threatening a riot, until the brave town clerk manages to calm them down and send them on their way.
Round about this time, Paul was trying to sort out the church in Corinth, which, though enthusiastic, tended to lurch this way and that on various matters.
He begins by warning them about their divisions. Various different teams being supporter here - Paul, Peter and Apollos all have their fans in Corinth, and Paul wants them to forget this trivial rivalry and concentrate on worshipping Jesus Christ. They are so in danger of forgetting God’s wisdom and relying on the human sort, letting their enthusiasm run away with them. Paul needs to remind them about God’s small, mustard-seed way of working. Not flashy, but effective.

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