Acts 16

Paul circumcised Timothy, who was half Jewish (Acts 16:3). He did it apparently to make Timothy more acceptable among the Jews Paul hoped to convert. He didn’t want Timothy to become a distraction. Given the fact that Paul’s big thing was to convert non-Jews, and to resist the argument that those non-Jewish Christians needed to obey all the Jewish laws—especially the law of circumcision—what do you think about his decision to circumcise half-Jewish Timothy?

News about the ruling of the Jerusalem Council (Acts 15:29) “strengthened the faith of the people” (16:5) and gave a big boost to church growth. Why do you think the ruling had that effect?

As Paul and Timothy traveled around what is now western Turkey, they wanted to go on to the west coast—an area then called Asia. That’s where they would have found one of the largest cities in the Roman Empire: Ephesus, a city Paul would visit years later. “But the Holy Spirit kept them from preaching to people in Asia” (Acts 16:6). The writer doesn’t say how the Holy Spirit did that. How do you think God’s Spirit communicates messages like that?

The writer of Acts starts including himself in the story when he reports that “we” (16:10) left the city of Troas, in what is now western Turkey, and took the road trip into what is now Europe. What does that tell you about the writer, and what does it suggest about the reliability of his reporting?

Of all the churches Paul started, the church in Philippi is the only one on record from which he said he accepted gifts to support his ministry (Philippians 4:15). What does that tell you about what happened during this visit Paul and his colleagues had with Lydia and the other believers?

So Paul healed a demon-possessed girl not out of compassion but out of irritation: “Paul had all he could take” (Acts 16:18). Does that bother you?

When the owners of the slave girl presented Paul and Silas to the city officials, they seemed to hint at bigotry. They said, “These guys are Jews” (Acts 16:20). Why say that? What difference could it make if the men worshiped God, Zeus, or Caesar’s mother-in-law?

What do you think it says about Paul when he insisted that city officials personally escort him out of prison (Acts 16:37)? Character flaw or leadership trait?

LIFE APPLICATION. It seems interesting that the owners of the slave girl didn’t tell the city officials the real reason they wanted Paul and Silas arrested. They said, “These guys are . . . disturbing the peace” (Acts 16:20). Paul and Silas did nothing of the kind as far as we can tell in Acts. Some people do the same thing today. We do something they don’t like. Then they do whatever it takes to hurt us, telling lies if necessary. Do you see any tips from Paul and Silas about how to deal with people like that?