April 10, 2016 - Synagogue Worship

Tony and Michelle Pawlak

MEMORY VERSE

Not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another; 

(Hebrews 10:25)

Have you ever been taught something that you later found out wasn’t true?  It happens all the time; even in CHURCH!  Sometimes it is just a mistake on the part of the teacher but sometimes someone is trying to trick you on purpose.  Satan himself is called the “Deceiver” and always wants you to believe things that aren’t true.  That is one reason that God gave us the Bible, so we could always check to see if something we’ve been taught is true or not.

This week, we are talking about the

Apostle Paul during his second missionary journey.  The first thing Paul would do when he came to a city was look to see if they had a Synagogue there.  If they did, he would go there and teach the people about Jesus.  Now, a Synagogue is sort of like what we call a church.  It was where Jewish people would go to worship and learn about God when they weren’t near the Temple in Jerusalem. 

That was just what happened in Thessalonica.  Paul went to the Synagogue and started to teach the people.  The Jews

had been hearing for many years about a Messiah or Christ that God would send to become king and save them all.  Paul began to teach them that Jesus was the Messiah they had been waiting for.  He also told them the Scriptures had taught that the Messiah would have to suffer and die for the people.

The Thessalonians were not easy people to teach.  Paul had to teach them three times before some of them finally began to believe.   However, some of the people didn’t like what Paul was teaching about a king.  They went to the City Council and complained.  The council did not like what Paul was teaching either so they went looking for Paul. 

All they found was Jason, the man that Paul and his partner Silas were staying with.  They told Jason that he had to make Paul leave Thessalonica immediately.  So the next day, Paul left.

Next, he and Silas came to a city called Berea.   Just like before, Paul went to teach at the Synagogue.  This time, the people were eager to learn about God.  Also, each time

they heard Paul preach, the Bereans went and checked with the Scriptures to see if what he was saying about Jesus was true or not.  When they saw that it was true, they went back to hear more.  The Bible says that the Bereans were more noble because of this.

Unfortunately, the same troublemakers from Thessalonica followed Paul and Silas to Berea and started causing trouble

there too!  So, once again, Paul had to leave town but this time there were many people who believed in Jesus because they read and believed their Scriptures.

Even today, we still need to read our Bibles and know them well.  You never know when the devil will try to use a false teacher to trick us and we need to be prepared.  Always check with God’s Word before believing something you hear.