Series: Advancing
Message: Culture Makers: The Commoners
Preacher: Japhet De Oliveira
Reflection: Nathan Brown
Live Wonder: Zan Long
Live Adventure: Zan Long
Live Purpose: Jessyka Albert
Editor: Becky De Oliveira
Refresh: Begin with prayer. Ask for the Holy Spirit to open your heart to new understanding and for God’s character to be revealed.
Read: Acts 18:1–17 in The Message (MSG). Note 1–3 insights or questions.
Reflect: As we reflect on the 18 months Paul spent working and ministering in the city of Corinth, we can gain insight into his thinking and perspective—and probably what he was teaching—by reading his two letters to the church in Thessalonica (1 and 2 Thessalonians), believed to have been written in 51 and 52 AD respectively, during his time ministering in Corinth.
These letters are much quoted by Adventists because of their focus on what it means to live with the expectation of the return of Jesus and in light of the hope that this gives. But the Thessalonian letters also have a strong practical focus, including reflection on the kind of practical and ordinary life that Paul was living at the time: “Make it your goal to live a quiet life, minding your own business and working with your hands, just as we instructed you before. Then people who are not believers will respect the way you live, and you will not need to depend on others” (1 Thessalonians 4:11,12, NLT).
Given the riots, resentment, and persecution he seemed to engender wherever he went, perhaps Paul was not so great at following his own advice to “live a quiet life.” However, this seems to have been his goal. While he had a burning passion to preach and share the story of Jesus, there were periods of ordinary living, even on his missionary journeys. And it seems that in a city such as Corinth, this was one way that he won the respect of the people around him. He was not a preacher for the sake of notoriety.
Neither was Paul in it for the money. Even as an apostle with an international ministry, Paul sought to be largely self-supporting, working with his own hands and in company with close colleagues. The mentions of Paul collecting offerings were about meeting the needs of other believers.
In Paul’s writing and example, it seems that an often-overlooked aspect of living well in expectation of the Second Coming is to live an ordinary life, working hard, earning the respect of those around us, and sharing Jesus with intentionality in the ordinary work of our lives.
Recalibrate: Why are we tempted to dismiss or diminish the ordinary faithfulness of Christian living to which we are called?
Respond: Prayer for your everyday responsibilities and tasks, that they will be avenues of mission and faithfulness.
Research: Read Paul’s short letters to the Thessalonians (1 and 2 Thessalonians) in full to understand more of the message he was living and sharing at this time in his ministry.
Nathan Brown is a writer and editor at Signs Publishing in Warburton, Victoria, Australia. He has written numerous books; his most recent it Engage: Faith that Matters.
Place a balloon in your child’s hands as you blow it up. Release the balloon and let it fly. Do the same thing again, but this time name the people you love or things you are thankful for, or how you can help someone. Knot the ballon and draw a smiley face and a love heart, telling your child that playing with them fills your heart with joy.
Make a list or draw a picture of all the times your heart beat fast today. Was it fun? If it wasn’t, why not? Know that God is with us when we are having fun. And when we are scared, He promises to never leave us.
In what ways can the things you do every day honor God? Studying hard for big test? Being patient with your siblings? Helping your parents with chores around the house? Can ordinary things you do bring glory to God?