Acts Chapter 18 Study Guide

Family Study Guide for January 11, 2006 - January 17, 2007
(Read Acts 18 Online)

Reflections on Acts 18 by Mark Chesner, Coach

As a teenager, life seems like a very ordered and well-planned operation. You're born, you grow up, you enter grade school, play soccer, learn to play a musical instrument, go to middle school, join youth group, enter high school, take the S.A.T.'s, find a college, graduate, get a job, get married, and so on. Especially those of us here in America tend to think that there is one way of doing a "normal" life, and that we need to plan for every step along the way.

But in Acts 18, we are reminded that while God wants us to be thoughtful and considerate about our plans, His plans for us are not always those we can predict. Paul comes to Corinth and sets up shop with two local tentmakers. He preaches in the synogogue and in the main thoroughfares of town. Based on past experience, we would now expect Paul to be opposed by the local Jewish leaders and driven out of town. But God changes things up this time. Paul finds opposition, but they can not get the local authority to punish him. This time, suddenly, Paul has a chance to put down some roots, and preach for over a year! It would appear that God has decided Paul's place for the rest of his life. But that was not God's plan. Instead, God sends Paul to Syria and Ephesus. And as he leaves Ephesus, Paul says something that sums up his view of God's working in his life.

But as he left, he promised, "I will come back if it is God's will." Then he set sail from Ephesus.
Acts 18:21

Paul realizes that his life is not his own to plan. God takes His people where He will, whether it fits with their plans or not. We need to realize the same thing. Even as we plan for the future, we need to be open when God's plans and our plans are not the same. And we need to be ready to be obedient and realize that His plans are the better ones!


Questions to Consider
- What plans do you have for your life that God may think differently about?
- What is one promise you want to make, that you need to add "if it is God's will" to the end of?
- When have you see God change your plans for you? Are you ready for the next time?

Bible.Org Outline for Acts 18
E. Corinth (18:1-18a)
1. With Aquila and Priscilla: Tentmaking and Preaching (18:1-4)
2. With Silas and Timothy: Eighteen Months of Ministry (18:5-11)
3. Before Gallio (18:12-18a)
F. Return to Antioch (18:18b-22)
1. From Cenchrea to Ephesus to Caesarea (18:18b-22a)
2. Arrival in Antioch (18:22b)
G. Ephesus (18:23–19:19) [Paul’s Third Missionary Journey (18:23–21:16)]
1. Return to the Galatian-Phrygian Region (18:23)
2. Apollos in Ephesus: Forerunner to Paul (18:24-28)
a. Apollos’ Arrival in Ephesus (18:24)
b. Apollos’ Instruction by Aquila and Priscilla (18:25-26)
c. Apollos’ Departure for Corinth (18:27-28)