Bible Stories for Adults

Paul’s Second Missionary Journey - Part 2

Acts 17-18

Next Week - Paul’s Third Missionary Journey - Part 1 (Acts 18:23-20:12)
Bible Words to Remember:
If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all - how will He not also, along with Him, graciously give us all things? Romans 8:31-32

Where did Paul and Barnabas go on their first missionary journey?
Acts 13:4-6a, 13-14; 14:1, 6-7
Why was Paul's custom to go first to the synagogues in the towns where he traveled?
Romans 1:16
How were they received in these places?
Acts 13:50; 14:5, 19

Did this opposition convince them to stop?
Acts 13:51-52; 14:6-7, 20-21a
Did the fierce opposition at least keep them out of those towns?
Acts 14:21b-23
After encouraging the new churches, did they head straight home and stop witnessing?
Acts 14:24-26

Did Paul and Barnabas have a specific itinerary for their second journey?
Acts 15:36
Why didn't they end up going together to check up on the churches they had planted?
Acts 15:37-39a
How did God make good out of this human evil?
Acts 15:39b-40

What path did Paul and Silas take on this journey to strengthen the churches?
Acts 15:41-16:1a
Who joined Paul & Silas in Lystra and how did Paul prepare him for the work ahead?
Acts 16:1b-3
After revisiting the towns in Galatia, did Paul have an itinerary of places to go?
Acts 16:4-9
Who joined Paul , Silas and Timothy in Troas?
Acts 16:10

Where did they go to follow their call in Macedonia?
Acts 16:11-12
Who became the first new Christian in Europe?
Acts 16:13-15

Were only wealthy people in Philippi reached by Paul's outreach?
Acts 16:16-18
How were Paul and Silas thanked for setting this girl free from the demon?
Acts 16:19-24

How did Paul and Silas respond to their mistreatment and pain?
Acts 16:25
How could they praise God even when they were tortured and wrongfully abused?
2 Timothy 1:11-12; 2:8-10
How did God intervene?
Acts 16:26

Faced with receiving the punishment of escaped prisoners, what did the guard do?
Acts 16:27
How was the jailer's fate changed?
Acts 16:28-29
How was the jailer's fate changed even more importantly?
Acts 16:30-32
What outward indication do we have that this middle class man had been changed?
Acts 16:33-34

How long were Paul and Silas to spend in jail for disturbing the peace?
Acts 16:35-36
How did Paul use his punishment to build respect for him and the new church in Philippi?
Acts 16:37
How did the local magistrates respond to this news that could get them into alot of trouble?
Acts 16:38-39

Did Paul and Silas take the upper hand or did they leave as requested?
Acts 16:40
Where did they go?
Acts 17:1
Via Egnatia - Great Roman road from Adriatic Sea to Aegean Sea

Thessalonica - Capital of Macedonia, Main Street was part of Egnatian Way
Strategically located, Linked agricultural interior with sea routes to the east
Business center rivaled only by Corinth, Diverse population around 200,000
What was Paul's first approach in Thessalonica and why?
Acts 17:2-4
Did Paul witness day and night or only on the Sabbath?
1 Thessalonians 2:9
Did Paul get any financial help from anywhere to help him maximize his time sharing the gospel?
Philippians 4:15-16
Why did he stop teaching in the synagogue every Sabbath after 3 weeks?
Acts 17:5-7
What did the politarchs (name for magistrates in Macedonia) decide to do?
Acts 17:8-9
Was Paul happy to leave this city that rejected him?
1 Thessalonians 2:17-18
Had three weeks been long enough to have much of an effect?
1 Thessalonians 1:7-9

Where did Paul and Silas go after being forced out of Thessalonica, and how were they received?
Acts 17:10-12
Did Paul stay longer with these people of more noble character who received the gospel eagerly?
Acts 17:13-15
What did Paul do soon after Timothy and Silas met up with him in Athens?
1 Thessalonians 3:1-2
What prompted Paul to write his first letter to the Thessalonians?
1 Thessalonians 3:6

What did Paul think about the great sights he saw during his first trip to Athens?
Acts 17:16-17
Were people in Athens as upset by Paul's teachings as in the other cities?
Acts 17:18-21
Epicureans - All is by chance, gods remote & don't care, death is end, life is for pleasure
Stoics - Everything happens by God's will; Man to be logical, disciplined, self-sufficient
Areopagus - Exclusive court that dealt with homicides & public morals
How did Paul attempt to explain the gospel in terms the Athenians would understand?
Acts 17:22-23
Did he then explain how Jesus fulfilled the Old Testament or did he explain God as a Greek god?
Acts 17:24-31
Did the Council have any problem with anything he said?
Acts 17:32-34

Without the fierce opposition of other cities, did Paul spend a long time in Athens?
Acts 18:1
Corinth - Capital of Achaia, 4th largest city in Roman empire (after Rome, Alexandria & Antioch)
On main trade route from Rome to east, Cargo & small ships carried across 5 mi. isthmus
Very immoral - A renowned and voluptuous city, where the vices of East and West met.
Pagan altars - Poseidon, Artemis, Apollo, Hermes, Zeus, Heracles
Temple of Aphrodite - Contained over 1000 prostitutes
Did Paul take a working missionary approach as he had in Thessalonica?
Acts 18:2-4
Was he ever able to devote himself full-time to preaching the gospel?
Acts 18:5

Did the Jews in Corinth become abusive as they had in other cities?
Acts 18:6-8
Did the Corinthian Jews rise up strong enough that Paul had to leave?
Acts 18:9-11
Does this mean that the Jews left him alone and didn't try to silence him?
Acts 18:12-13
How did God protect Paul as He had promised to do?
Acts 18:14-16
What did the Greeks who witnessed this think about these trouble-making Jews?
Acts 18:17

How did Paul specially dedicate himself to the Lord while he worked in Corinth?
Acts 18:18
How did God use Aquila & Priscilla to help spread His gospel?
Acts 18:19-21
Did Paul go straight to Antioch from Ephesus to complete his second journey?
Acts 18:22