Disturbing

We are currently following Paul’s second missionary journey. There is a link in the “sites” section that will allow you to interactively track his journey.


Acts 17
1 Paul and Silas then traveled through the towns of Amphipolis and Apollonia and came to Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue. 2 As was Paul’s custom, he went to the synagogue service, and for three Sabbaths in a row he used the Scriptures to reason with the people. 3 He explained the prophecies and proved that the Messiah must suffer and rise from the dead. He said, “This Jesus I’m telling you about is the Messiah.” 4 Some of the Jews who listened were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, along with many God-fearing Greek men and quite a few prominent women. 5 But some of the Jews were jealous, so they gathered some troublemakers from the marketplace to form a mob and start a riot. They attacked the home of Jason, searching for Paul and Silas so they could drag them out to the crowd. 6 Not finding them there, they dragged out Jason and some of the other believers instead and took them before the city council. “Paul and Silas have caused trouble all over the world,” they shouted, “and now they are here disturbing our city, too. 7 And Jason has welcomed them into his home. They are all guilty of treason against Caesar, for they profess allegiance to another king, named Jesus.” 8 The people of the city, as well as the city council, were thrown into turmoil by these reports. 9 So the officials forced Jason and the other believers to post bond, and then they released them.


Disturbing. The teachings of Jesus are very disturbing. They disturb your finances (Matthew 6:24). They disturb your relationships (check out Matthew 10:34-37). They disturb your goals (Matthew 16:24-26). They disturb your priorities (Matthew 22:35-40). They disturb your plans (Matthew 28:18-20). They disturb our desire for security and our pursuit of the “American Dream”. Have the words of Jesus disturbed you lately? Maybe you need to read them again.