Slices
Prepare
Prayerfully ask the Lord to bring to your mind those who have influenced you in your faith journey. Thank him for them.
Bible passage
Lydia’s conversion in Philippi
11 From Troas we put out to sea and sailed straight for Samothrace, and the next day we went on to Neapolis. 12 From there we travelled 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 from the city of Thyatira named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth. She was a worshipper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message. 15 When she and the members of her household were baptised, 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.
Explore
Are you on social media? Do you follow any influencers or fashion designers? Lydia was in that world, trading in the most expensive purple cloth; a person of means, an entrepreneur, able to have her own household (vs 14,15) with room for hospitality. She was from Thyatira, an important centre of the cloth trade, and had already become a worshipper of God.
Maybe Lydia was also an influencer. Paul later wrote a very personal letter to the Philippian church, full of joy; and a church grew in Thyatira too (Revelation 2:18). Did Lydia take the message home with her on a visit? We don’t know for certain, but from this little group of women the gospel undoubtedly spread.
Where do you interact with others? For instance, social media, work, school, the gym, travelling, commuting or shopping? You may not be either an influencer or an entrepreneur, but, like Lydia, we each have people and places in our lives where we can be an influencer in the power of the Holy Spirit. How might the Lord be calling you to be an influencer, talking about his good news to others?
Respond
Lydia devoted herself to the Lord (v 15). Ask the Holy Spirit to help you be an influencer and to refresh your vision and calling as you devote yourself to the Lord and to his good news.
Bible in a year
Read the Bible in a year: Proverbs 21,22; 1 Thessalonians 3
Pray for Scripture Union
Join the SU Cymru/Wales team in giving thanks for the long-standing work of beach missions in Criccieth, Nefyn and Abersoch which have recently finished for this year. Pray that those who attended will continue to think about what they heard.
