Seventh Sunday of Easter Acts 16:16-34

Textual Overview

We’ve reached the last Sunday of Easter, the last Sunday before Pentecost, and by this point in Acts we’ve come a long way from that resurrection morning. The good news about Jesus Christ has burst out of the tomb, out of Jerusalem, out of Judea, out of Judaism itself and made it all the way to the Roman colony of Philippi, set about 10 miles off the coast in Macedonia. The church in Philippi would later receive Paul’s letter to the Philippians. That epistle drips with joy, revealing how deeply Paul loved and cherished the believers there.

The lectionary passage picks up in verse 16, and most versions of the lectionary readings will adjust the beginning of verse 16 to provide the location and setting, which Luke includes in…

1. In Luke’s account, we get to hear from everybody affected by the exorcism except the slave girl? How do you think she felt about all this?

2. Can you think of any particular business models today to which the message of the gospel poses a grave threat? How can Christians overcome such economic objections to the gospel? 

3. Are there any places in your life where you’ve felt the love of money run counter to the love of Jesus?

4. What songs would you sing if you were thrown in…