December 27, 2024

Dear Church Family,

Travel can be fun and exciting, but it can also involve waiting, delays, detours, cancellations, etc. Whether by car, plane, or boat, long distance travel is always involved. I was reading in Acts 16 this morning and was reminded how much travel was involved in the missionary journeys of Paul. This chapter explains how the Gospel makes it to Macedonia. It involves guidance and intervention by the Holy Spirit. It also involves a lot of travel. These verses describe one part of the journey.

Acts 16:11-12 (ESV)
So, setting sail from Troas, we made a direct voyage to Samothrace, and the following day to Neapolis, 12 and from there to Philippi, which is a leading city of the district of Macedonia and a Roman colony. We remained in this city some days.

When I read that they made a direct voyage to Samothrace, I thought of how nice it is to make a direct flight. Their direct voyage, though, was much more involved than that! It sounds so simple, Troas to Samothrace to Neapolis to Philippi. But think of all that was involved in that “simple” journey! It was costly, dangerous, and difficult. This is just one little leg of the many miles Paul would travel during his missionary journeys. It’s estimated that Paul traveled nearly 10,000 miles during his missionary journeys. Why would Paul and his companions be willing to go to such great lengths to travel their known world? Whenever we travel, we have some purpose in mind: some person(s) to visit, some task to accomplish, some thing(s) to see. For these missionaries, we find out the answer in the previous verses of Acts 16.

Acts 16:9-10 (ESV)
And a vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man of Macedonia was standing there, urging him and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” 10 And when Paul had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go on into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.

They went because God called them to preach the Gospel to them. The people of Macedonia, needed to hear the Good News. They were willing to face unpleasant travel, long walks, hardships, persecution, delays, redirections, shipwrecks, and more, because they believed in the life-giving truth of the Gospel. I was convicted when I thought about their willingness to go to such great lengths. What lengths am I willing to go to? Am I willing to cross the street or start a conversation? Am I willing to take time out of my day to stop when I sense the leading of the Holy Spirit? How about you? Who needs to hear the Good News in your life? May we be willing to bring the Gospel to them!
–Pastor Dave