Gary Gleans

                                                                                          Acts 16:25-34 About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them, and suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken. And immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone's bonds were unfastened. When the jailer woke and saw that the prison doors were open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped. But Paul cried with a loud voice, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here.” And the jailer   called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas. Then he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.” And they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. And he took them the same

                                                                                  Acts 16:16-24 Once when we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a female slave who had a spirit by which she predicted the future. She earned a great deal of money for her owners by fortune-telling. She followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved.” She kept this up for many days. Finally Paul became so annoyed that he turned around and said to the spirit, “In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!” At that moment the spirit left her. When her owners realized that their hope of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to face the authorities. They brought them before the magistrates and said, “These men are Jews, and are throwing our city into an uproar by advocating customs unlawful for us Romans to accept or practice.” The crowd joined in th

                                                                        Acts 16:11-15 From Troas   we put out to sea and sailed straight for Samothrace, and the next day we went on to Neapolis.   From there we traveled to Philippi,   a Roman colony and the leading city of that district   of Macedonia.   And we stayed there several days.   On the Sabbath   we went outside the city gate to the river, where we expected to find a place of prayer. We sat down and began to speak to the women who had gathered there.    One of those listening was a woman from the city of Thyatira   named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth. She was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart   to respond to Paul’s message.    When she and the members of her household   were baptized,   she invited us to her home. “If you consider me a believer in the Lord,” she said, “come and stay at my house.” And she persuaded us. Paul knew God was calling his team to go to Macedonia, but it is a big region.  It does not appe

                                                                        Acts 16:6-10   And they went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia.    And when they had come up to Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them.    So, passing by Mysia, they went down to Troas.    And a vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man of Macedonia was standing there, urging him and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.”    And when Paul   had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go on into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.   How do we know the will of God?  This is a question that haunts many believers.  Passages like this one can make that question even more confusing.  The Macedonian call as it has come to be know has created some controversy.  On one side there are those who insist that all who go into ministry must have a special call