The Slave Girl; The Earthquake; The Jailer

Reader : Amy Caruana Preacher : Jonathan Smith First we meet a girl who is doubly enslaved - owned by men who profit from her, and possessed by a spirit that speaks through her. When Paul commands the spirit out in the name of Jesus, her exploiters don't rejoice at her freedom; they calculate their lost revenue and start a riot (v.19). The demonic and the greedy had been in comfortable partnership, and the gospel assaulted both. Later, Paul and Silas are beaten, thrown into the inner cell of a Philippian prison, and fastened in stocks. At midnight they're praying and singing, and the other prisoners are listening (v.25). It's one of the most poignant images in Acts. The earthquake that follows frees every prisoner - but no one escapes. The jailer asks the question everyone needs to ask: What must I do to be saved? Paul's answer is the simplest in the New Testament: Believe in the Lord Jesus and you'll be saved (v.31). By morning, a suicidal man is rejoicing with his newly-baptised family. Red Door is an Anglican Church in Melbourne, Australia. We exist to be a community of people helping people make all of life all about Jesus.