Read a scripture and sing worship songs.

(Optional) Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. He wants all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one mediator also between God and man, the man Jesus Christ, who gave himself as a ransom for all. (Philippians 2:11b; 1 Timothy 2:4-6a)

Choose a way to cast vision for who they can become in Christ or what God can do through them by:

• a scripture that reminds them of the Father’s Heart and of the end vision.
• reflecting on the changes in their life since they started following Christ
• reminding them of what God wants to do through them

Share BIG vision “A church for every village and community, and the gospel for every person.”

In Thessalonica

¹ When Paul and his companions had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue.² As was his custom, Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures,³ explaining and proving that the Messiah had to suffer and rise from the dead. “This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Messiah,” he said.⁴ Some of the Jews were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a large number of God-fearing Greeks and quite a few prominent women.

⁵ But other Jews were jealous; so they rounded up some bad characters from the marketplace, formed a mob and started a riot in the city. They rushed to Jason’s house in search of Paul and Silas in order to bring them out to the crowd.⁶ But when they did not find them, they dragged Jason and some other believers before the city officials, shouting: “These men who have caused trouble all over the world have now come here,⁷ and Jason has welcomed them into his house. They are all defying Caesar’s decrees, saying that there is another king, one called Jesus.”⁸ When they heard this, the crowd and the city officials were thrown into turmoil.⁹ Then they made Jason and the others post bond and let them go.

In Berea

¹⁰ As soon as it was night, the believers sent Paul and Silas away to Berea. On arriving there, they went to the Jewish synagogue.¹¹ Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.¹² As a result, many of them believed, as did also a number of prominent Greek women and many Greek men.

¹³ But when the Jews in Thessalonica learned that Paul was preaching the word of God at Berea, some of them went there too, agitating the crowds and stirring them up.¹⁴ The believers immediately sent Paul to the coast, but Silas and Timothy stayed at Berea.¹⁵ Those who escorted Paul brought him to Athens and then left with instructions for Silas and Timothy to join him as soon as possible.

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Paul and team left Philippi and went to the provincial capital of Thessalonica. Paul continued his practice of going to the synagogue to find spiritually interested people. A church was planted with some Jews, many Greek men, and some prominent women of the city. The pattern of persecution often started with jealousy from the local Jewish leaders. This time they brought charges of causing civil unrest. The local authorities made Jason, who was hosting Paul and the team, pay a fine (Acts 17:7-9). 

Paul and team were forced to leave the young church after only a few months. However, their church planting mission continued in Berea, another town in the province of Macedonia. The Bereans learned eagerly from Paul and examined the Scriptures to confirm that Paul taught the truth. The new church was made up of many of the Berean Jews, prominent Greek women, and many Greek men. The hostile Jews from Thessalonica pursued the mission team all the way to Berea, finally forcing Paul to leave the province.

 

Practice needed skills or previous topics to help prepare to minister to others:

• Prayer, Care, Share
• Gospel
• Foundational Bible Studies.