May 13, 2007am    The Prayers of the Purple Passion     Acts 16:9-15

By Ronald E. George Jr. at the Fayetteville Baptist Church

   A mother was concerned about her only son going off to college. She wrote the following letter to the college president:

   "Dear Sir: My son has been accepted for admission to your college and soon he will be leaving me. I am writing to ask that you give your personal attention to the selection of his roommate. I want to be sure that his roommate is not the kind of person who uses foul language, or tells off-color jokes, smokes, drinks, or chases after girls. I hope you will understand why I am appealing to you directly. You see, this is the first time my son will be away from home, except for his three years in the Marine Corps."    --James S. Hewett, Illustrations Unlimited (Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc, 1988), p. 376.

  As we began to pastor our first church, my wife, Lori, and I found we were going to have a third child. Several weeks later, Lori was going through her clothes, which no longer fit. Watching her, our 5-year-old son asked, "Mom, now that you're going to have a baby, are you going to have to wear 'eternity' clothes?"    -- Rev. Bill McKibben, Woodlake , Cal. "Kids of the Kingdom," Christian Reader.

The story of a purple passion which became a passion for prayer through Jesus. 

 ^9 During the night Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” ^10 After Paul had seen the vision, we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia , concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them. ^11 From Troas we put out to sea and sailed straight for Samothrace , and the next day on to Neapolis. ^12 From there we traveled to Philippi , a Roman colony and the leading city of that district of Macedonia. And we stayed there several days. ^13 On the Sabbath we went outside the city gate to the river, where we expected to find a place of prayer. We sat down and began to speak to the women who had gathered there. ^14 One of those listening was a woman named Lydia , a dealer in purple cloth from the city of Thyatira , who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message. ^15 When she and the members of her household were baptized, she invited us to her home. “If you consider me a believer in the Lord,” she said, “come and stay at my house.” And she persuaded us. ^[1]

1.  Have You Seen the Vision?  Paul went to Macedonia because of the vision God gave him.  This is a story of how a woman comes to know Christ as her Savior. 

2.  Would you go out of your way to pray?  On the sabbath day we went to river to the place of payer.

3.  Would you gather with others to pray?  Women were gathered there to pray.

4.  Would you worship the Lord?  Lydia was a worshipper of God. 

5.  Would you set aside one day per week for the Lord?  Lydia had gone to pray on the Sabbath. 

6.  Would you listen to word of the Lord?  She listened to the message from God through Paul. 

7.  Would you be willing to work to support others?  She was dealer in purple cloth.  She maintained a household.  Her household could have included a husband. 

8.  Would you be willing to take the first step?  She was a leader.  She took the lead in her community and home. 

9.  Would you be willing to consider God’s word for your life?  Could there be more for you?  Lydia opened her heart to listen eagerly to what was said by Paul.

10.  Would you be willing to invite Jesus into your heart?  She was saved and baptized and her household.  

11.  Would you be willing to give of your time, talent, and treasures to support the Lord’s work?  She opened her house to Paul and Luke.  She urged them to come.