1. OK, so Timothy lived in Lystra. He has the best of both worlds, a mom who knew the Jewish traditions but a dad who was a Gentile. These “hybrid” Christians were probably going to increase over the next few years. But, Timothy represented a whole new generation of believers. And the people spoke well of him. So he was cool.
2. Interesting that Timothy subjected himself to being circumcised to please the Jews who lived in the area. Hmm… I guess he did it to honor his heritage on his mother’s side.
3. They told all the churches about the church leaders’ decisions regarding the law, so people were getting an understanding of the real parameters of what it looked like to be a Christian.
4. I wonder why the Holy Spirit didn’t want them to preach in Asia. Regardless, Paul got a vision to go to Macedonia, which I think is in Asia (not sure). So…I guess he just had to wait on the green light from God.
5. Philippi (like the Letter to the Philippians). Hey, did anyone else notice that it turned first-person in this section? All of a sudden, it says, “WE put out to sea…WE stayed there several days.” Interesting. We know that Luke wrote the Book of Acts, so he must have been in on this too.
6. OK, so down on the riverbank was a gathering of women. One of the women was Lydia (who must have had some money to be selling purple cloth), and it says that she was a worshiper of God. Cool. Notice that God initiated her heart being open to receive Paul’s message. “Conversion” is first and foremost a God thing. She and everyone in her household were baptized.
7. Hmm… OK…I’m feeling frisky. I’m going to go ahead and address an issue that always seems to come up with Lydia. For one, if you google “Lydia” and “example of woman leadership” you get all kinds of interesting responses. For one, “Lydia” is the largest Christian women’s magazine in Europe. Two, the Presbyterian Church has the “Lydia Fund” that helps women become pastors. Interesting. The only reason I say that is because, when I look at that passage, I don’t really see any signs that Lydia was actually a leader in the church. To me, it looks like she was definitely a believer; and she definitely had a positive impact on her family (through the grace of God). To me, the only things she “provides” is a willingness to follow God’s promptings, income through her cloth-selling, and hospitality for the disciples. Am I wrong here? If Lydia is being held up as a “prime example” for the role of women as leaders in the church, I would think that it is definitely a stretch. She is definitely a believer. She definitely selflessly cares for those around her. But I don’t see her as a leader. Anyway, I couldn’t neglect mentioning what I saw. What do you see in this passage?
