| Have you ever taken time to study how the | | | | These testing experiences must have been |
| early Church of Jesus Christ actually worshiped? it | | | | physically exhausting, yet Paul is so willing to |
| is not all that easy to discover but we do know it | | | | speak and teach, as long as there are words |
| was based on the pattern used in the Jewish | | | | flowing through him from God. |
| synagogue. | | | | No short sharp snappy sermon from this man of |
| Come and glimpse the Church of Jesus Christ at | | | | God. Had someone told him that "sermonettes |
| worship, at Troas in Western Turkey. A few | | | | make Christianettes"? |
| years ago I had the joy and privilege of standing | | | | Spiritually hungry listeners absorbed all they could, |
| on the beach at Troas from where Paul sailed off | | | | being fed, nourished and satisfied. These believers |
| over to Europe to preach and teach. That beach | | | | would receive all Paul had to impart. Imagine them |
| at Troas has a very special significance for me, | | | | looking into his face in the light of the oil lamps. |
| but that story must wait for another occasion. | | | | You can read the recorded details of this evening |
| It is the first day of the week. Paul, Silas, young | | | | gathering in Acts Chapter 20 in the New |
| Timothy and Dr Luke attend the local fellowship. | | | | Testament part of the Bible. This was not his first |
| They gather for worship and prayer and to hear | | | | visit to Troas. We read about that in Chapter 16. |
| the Word of God, and to share bread and wine. | | | | Some might wish to criticize Paul for going on so |
| These local leaders obvious knew how to organize | | | | long, but Jesus was pleased, and that is what |
| matters and they also knew what should be | | | | matters. That always matters. That is always |
| central. | | | | important! |
| Their focus was accurate and right. We can learn | | | | There are times when we have to let people say |
| so much from studying the pattern of the early | | | | what they want to. They are usually outsiders. |
| years of the Church of Jesus Christ. | | | | We must be careful not to pay too much |
| That Saturday evening the disciples of Jesus begin | | | | attention to unhelpful comments and carping |
| singing praises to God, and the speaker is Paul, | | | | criticisms. |
| who was one of the most powerful leaders in | | | | Nobody was upset by his lengthy teaching session. |
| that young Church. | | | | Nobody would be bored, wishing he would finish. |
| He would be leaving the next day, and as Paul is | | | | That just did not happen when you had a man of |
| never to pass that way again, he just preached | | | | God with the spiritual relevance and depth of Paul. |
| and preached, right on until midnight. How might | | | | O, to have had a recording of his teaching on that |
| that go down today in certain places where | | | | occasion. If I had known he was going to |
| certain people regard twenty minutes as far too | | | | speaking that night in Troas I would have queued |
| long! | | | | to get in to the meeting! |
| Humanly speaking, Paul has been through a lot. | | | | |