Unstoppable! 'Proclaiming the Christ' — Acts 18:1-6

While we might skip over these verses because of their clustering of names and seemingly insignificant details, we learn a great deal about Paul and his mission efforts.

1. Paul was a tentmaker (leatherworker), so he could be self-supporting.
2. Aquila and Priscilla shared this occupation and had homes and businesses in Corinth, Ephesus, and Rome.*
3. Priscilla and Aquila had been forced out of Rome in A.D. 49 when Claudius banished Jews and Christians** from Rome for a few years because of the disagreements the Jews and the Christians were having about Jesus being the Christ (the Messiah).
4. Before turning to Gentiles, Paul continued his pattern of reaching out to the Jewish people proclaiming that Jesus is the promised Christ (Romans 1:16-17).
5. Silas, Timothy, Priscilla, and Aquila joined with Paul, which made them a great team. They helped support each other and reached more people as a team than Paul could have ever reached alone.

The early disciples grew in number because leaders built teams to help them in the work of disciple-making. They grew the early church in a world of hard challenges, varying cultures, diverse opinions, and genuine disappointments. However, their commitment to fulfilling the mission Jesus had given them, along with the power of the Holy Spirit propelling them, enabled them to have an incredible impact on their world. Let's live so that similar things will be said about our generation of believers!

* See the Related Scripture Readings below. Paul was in Ephesus when he wrote 1 Corinthians, and Timothy was in Ephesus when Paul wrote to him.

** As far as the authorities in Rome were concerned, the Christians were a sect of the Jews.