9 April - Acts 19

Today we are reading Acts 19 together. Here are some quick thoughts:

1. This chapter records Paul’s travels and work in Ephesus. 
2. “The Way” is mentioned a couple times in this chapter. This is a term people gave to the early church. They called Christians “followers of the Way.”
3. Verses 11 and 12 tell us that God did such miraculous things through Paul that even handkerchiefs he touched could heal the sick. This was not due to any power from Paul as a person but rather through the power of God working through him. But it does sound a lot like the fake televangelists who take advantage of people today whom I personally find distasteful to say the least.
4. People throughout Ephesus held the name of Jesus in high honor after some guys unsuccessfully tried to use his name to get rid of evil spirits. The possessed man beat them and sent them out naked. The spirits said they knew the name of Jesus and even knew of Paul but refused to obey them. Admittedly this sounds really weird but the Bible does tell us that Jesus is so powerful that even at his name spiritual beings must obey him. 
5. The chapter ends with telling us about a huge riot in the town; silversmiths were mad so many people were deciding to follow Jesus and no longer buying idols they made for worship. So these silversmiths joined together to throw Paul and his companions out.

This is an intense chapter isn’t it? It’s crazy that so many people in an area were deciding to follow Jesus that they were putting people who built images to worship out of business. Talk about having an impact on the city they lived in. 

The lesson to learn today applies to all of us; believer and skeptic alike. We can all have a positive impact on others and make the world a better place. Do you have any impact on people who you live life around? How about in your city? That’s what we want to do at Tattoo Church. We want to love God and love people in such a way that we have a positive impact on our community. 

This is why we partner with Thicker Than Blood; a nonprofit organization that exists to help professional tattooers and their families who are in need due to a personal emergency or tragedy. Go check them out at www.thickerthanblood.org and buy a shirt. Put it on Facebook or Instagram and help get the word out. Every shirt sold is money used to help one of our brothers or sisters in tattooing. 100% of all profits go to help tattooers in need.