1He came to Derbe and then to Lystra, where a disciple named Timothy lived, whose mother was a Jewess and a believer, but whose father was a Greek.
4As they traveled from town to town, they delivered the decisions reached by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem for the people to obey.
6Paul and his companions traveled throughout the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia.
11From Troas we put out to sea and sailed straight for Samothrace, and the next day on to Neapolis. 12From there we traveled to Philippi, a Roman colony and the leading city of that district of Macedonia. And we stayed there several days. (Acts 16 NIV)
My evening bible reading right now is somewhere in the middle of the book of Acts, a book that is largely about the apostles being on the move and spreading the Gospel. The Holy Spirit directed these early disciples to teach, preach, and travel telling everyone they could about the Good News of salvation through Jesus Christ. And scripture records huge numbers of people being saved – 2000 here, 3000 there – and tells stories of specific people like Timothy or Lydia.
Our whole church staff is ‘on the move’ this week. The four ministry staff persons are traveling to a church conference 13 hours away and our administrative assistant and her husband are preparing to move to Australia to continue in missions work there. Each in their own ways are like God’s call to Abram: “Go to the place I will show you.”
So I pray for them:
God, I pray for safety as each of them travel…
…for their families that will be here at home…
…for new learning and direction you will give them…
…for development of godly relationships on their journeys…
…for protection over their hearts, souls, minds, bodies, and families…
…that these places where they are on the move – physically or with new ideas in ministry – would be places where your Spirit has already laid the groundwork for your Word and Kingdom to be proclaimed and furthered…
Maranatha, Lord Jesus Come. Amen