Paul and Silas, Who Had True Hope (21st Founding Anniversary)

This passage covers the persecution and imprisonment that Paul and Silas went through after healing a slave girl possessed by a spirit in Philippi. As they preached the gospel they were driven into extreme circumstances of insults, beatings and prison, yet even at midnight they offered prayers and praise, revealing God's presence.

When an earthquake opened the prison doors and gave them a chance to escape, Paul stayed to save the jailer's life. His honest and holy choice drew from the jailer an earnest question about salvation, and in the end the jailer and his whole household received Christ. And Paul's boldly exercising the authority of his Roman citizenship and making his status known shows wisdom and courage for the spread of the gospel.

We look at how these hardships and choices led to the salvation of souls and the growth of the church. We must think deeply about what choices we will make now, and how we must live to stand on a rock of faith that the world cannot treat lightly.