Blessing Our oikoj with the Gospel

Acts 18:1-8

Survey of Acts 17

Paul versus The Bereans

“they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so”

Paul versus Mars Hill

“I found… an altar… ‘To the unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you”

Paul versus Corinthian Jews

“they opposed and insulted him”

Acts 18:1-8

1 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,

Acts 18:1-8

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.

Acts 18:1-8

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.”

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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.

Blessing Our oikoj with the Gospel

Acts 18:1-8

Paul Finds a New Mission Field

Paul’s 2nd Missionary Journey

JerusalemðAsia Minor ð Troas ð Philippi ðThessalonica ð Berea ð Athens ð Corinth

Verse 4, “4 And he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath, and tried to persuade Jews and Greeks.”

Paul Finds Opposition in Corinth

Versus 5-6

Acts 13:48-51 – Paul & Barnabas in Antioch

Luke 9:5 – Jesus sending out His disciples

Paul Finds a ‘Person of Peace’

Verse 7

Luke 10:1-7

A person of peace is a pre-believer who is open to hear the gospel—often someone who is prominent in the community or someone who lives in a strategic location.

Paul Finds a Gateway for the Gospel

Versus 7b-8

Why did Paul receive opposition when teaching in the Synagogue, and yet was accepted by the ‘ruler of the synagogue’ when teaching the same thing next door?

Reasons for the Gateway…

#1 – most likely, Crispus and Justus were friends.

#2 – being outside the Synagogue, Crispus no longer felt threatened by Paul’s teachings.

#3 – it was the plan of God to reach a larger portion of the wicked city of Corinth.

Engel Scale of Evangelism

The goal of evangelism is to move a pre-believer from one level on the scale to the next.

oikoj – the Greek word used to refer to one’s household; this would include all members of the immediate and extended family, servants, concubines and sojourners (visitors);

John 1:35-42; Acts 16:13-15, 30-33

Blessing Our oikoj with the Gospel

Acts 18:1-8