Acts 18:23-21:16 "Paul's 3rd Journey: Investing; Equipping; Moving On"

We notice a change of tone and emphasis in this 3rd Journey of Paul.  Last week we paid attention to the variety of people whose lives were transformed by the Good News of Jesus.  This week we see Paul take time to invest deeply in people, particularly in the city of Ephesus where he spends more than 2 years building up the believers and ensuring that all the Jews and Greeks in the province of Asia have the opportunity to hear the word of the Lord.  His emphasis is to teach the whole message of Jesus to the believers and equip them (especially the elders of the church) to be 'equippers' of others.  We respond to this story by noticing Paul's particular instructions to these elders that they should 1) 'Keep watch over yourselves'  and 2) 'all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers.'  Though he is speaking directly to elders here, we may apply it to all of us - we have all received the commission from Jesus - our first responsibility is to guard our own hearts, but then also to intentionally invest in the people around us so that they heard the whole word of God. 
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