Bold Moves In The City: Bold Moves

 ACTS 16:12-24 (NIV) 12) From there we traveled to Philippi, a Roman colony and the leading city of that district of Macedonia. And we stayed there several days. 13) 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. 14) 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. 15) 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. 16) 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. 17) 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.” 18) 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. 19) 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. 20) They brought them before the magistrates and said, “These men are Jews, and are throwing our city into an uproar 21) by advocating customs unlawful for us Romans to accept or practice.” 22) The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered them to be stripped and beaten with rods. 23) After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison, and the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully. 24) When he received these orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.TAKEAWAYS1. God Prepares Hearts   2. God Uses All Types   3. God's Detours Open Other Doors  4. God Uses Hospitable and Generous People--------------------------------------------------------------------------1. Conversions and baptisms celebrated  2. A Kingdom mindset  3. There will be intentional going out to reach the disconnected  4. We will not be embarrassed to give an invitation  5. Church members will feel a burden to share Christ  6. United prayer  7. Church growth will affect community behavior  8. Churches will plant churches in places, where there are no churches, or revitalize existing churches  9. The leaders and members are hospitable and generous