1. The Fellowship of a Spirit-Directed Life
Acts 18:2-3

2. Your fb friends
How do you discover a true friend?
Is the quality of your friendship determined by the quantity of your friendship?

3. “A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.” (Proverbs 18:24, ESV)

4. Who is this friend who sticks closer than a brother?
example of David and Jonathan
was it a win-win relationship?
why was Jonathan so happy and committed to a self-defeating relationship?

5. Story of Aquila and Priscilla with Paul
Acts 18 After this, Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. 

6. Acts 18  2 There he met a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had ordered all Jews to leave Rome. Paul went to see them, 3 and because he was a tentmaker as they were, he stayed and worked with them.

7. "Since the Jews constantly made disturbances at the instigation of Chrestus, [he] expelled them from Rome" (Suetonius, Claudius. xxv).

8. 803 AUC (Ab Urbe Condita)
49 AD (Anno Domini)

9. Hardship of Aquila & Priscilla
Fire sale of home in Rome
Discrimination emboldened by the expelling from Rome
The rigor of travel
The burden and expense of setting up shop in Corinth

10. The Experience of Paul
“Paul went to see them, 3 and because he was a tentmaker as they were, he stayed and worked with them.”

11. They were Jews
They were Christians
They were tentmakers – the primary reason for this relationship was economic.

12. Christian in-speak of “tent-making.”
We need to understand “tent-making” better.

13. Something happened to these good people …
Paul entered into partnership with them on an economic basis, but he raised them to a higher level and gave them purpose to their business.

14. Good People become Great People when they live-out their life purpose
Paul’s clarity
“5 When Silas and Timothy came from Macedonia, Paul devoted himself exclusively to preaching, testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Messiah.”

15. Aquila & Priscilla learned the same clarity as Paul
Aquila & Priscilla learned the same clarity as Paul. We know this because …
They released Paul to focus on the work of the kingdom

16. Connection to me as a servant in God’s kingdom
Some: the blessing of being single vocational in ministry
Some: the blessing of perpetual bi-vocational in ministry
Some: the blessing of occasional bi-vocational in ministry

17. The picture of Paul’s occasional bi-vocational ministry is entirely consistent with the Jewish practice of grooming their children to be bi-vocational
But Paul’s passion is clearly in ministry – as is mine.

18. Connection to you
Aquila & Priscilla lived above their negative circumstances and saw God’s hand
Paul helped A & P grow even more
Start point was business, end point of Kingdom of God

19. Kingdom Enterprises (today Social Enterprises)

20. Life formation for Aquila and Priscilla
good business (Rome)  disruption
new relations
clearer vision
kingdom living

21. Great to Greater
Just when you think Aquila and Priscilla have reached their peak … they became greater

22. Acts 18 18 Paul stayed on in Corinth for some time
Acts 18 18 Paul stayed on in Corinth for some time. Then he left the brothers and sisters and sailed for Syria, accompanied by Priscilla and Aquila. 19 They arrived at Ephesus, where Paul left Priscilla and Aquila. He himself went into the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews. 

23. Paul returned to Antioch to give a report and hurried back to Ephesus to begin ministry there.
Ephesus for three years in total
Ephesus the new base for Paul
And it happened because of Aquila and Priscilla

24. Aquila and Priscilla did ministry work for sure, but their main role was support through the tent-making business
Paul was still helping out in the business. How do we know?

25. Acts 19 11 God did extraordinary miracles through Paul, 12 so that even handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched him were taken to the sick, and their illnesses were cured and the evil spirits left them.

26. Why do they need so much money for ministry when they live simple lives?

27. Acts 19 8 Paul entered the synagogue and spoke boldly there for three months, arguing persuasively about the kingdom of God. 9 But some of them became obstinate … So Paul … took the disciples with him and had discussions daily in the lecture hall of Tyrannus. 

28. Paul’s description of Aquila and Priscilla in Ephesus
“The churches in the province of Asia send you greetings. Aquila and Priscilla greet you warmly in the Lord, and so does the church that meets at their house.” (1 Corinthians 16:19.)

29. The church in Ephesus was meeting in the home of Aquila and Priscilla

30. The risk involved in having your home as a house-church
The risk involved in having your home as a house-church. Note the riot in Ephesus.
The risk of a house-church is all to apparent even today in China, which is a good approximation.

31. Paul’s description of Aquila and Priscilla in Rome
3 Greet Priscilla and Aquila, my co-workers in Christ Jesus. 4 They risked their lives for me. Not only I but all the churches of the Gentiles are grateful to them. 5 Greet also the church that meets at their house. (Romans 16:3-5)

32. Paul writing to the Romans. Aquila and Priscilla in Rome
Paul writing to the Romans. Aquila and Priscilla in Rome. After the death of Claudius, Jews returned to Rome.
They risked their lives for Paul
The Gentile churches that Paul planted are grateful to them – they were agents of God’s blessings

33. The church in Rome was meeting in the house of Aquila and Priscilla
The church in Rome was meeting in the house of Aquila and Priscilla. This tells us about …
Their generosity
Their prosperity
Their clarity – it is easy to refocus on wealth once you have it.

34. “19 Greet Priscilla and Aquila and the household of Onesiphorus
“19 Greet Priscilla and Aquila and the household of Onesiphorus.” (2 Timothy 4:19, Paul writing from Rome to Timothy in Ephesus)

35. Aquila and Priscilla moved to Ephesus with the rise of persecution in Rome.
No mention that the church was meeting in the home, but a good possibility. Persecution was on the rise, not expedient to mention where the church was meeting.

36. The Story of Great to Greater
The expulsion from Rome caused them to rethink their life and to affirm that they are only passing through this earth

37. The Story of Great to Greater
They met Paul and threw in their lot with him 100%

38. The Story of Great to Greater
Their home was intentionally turned into where the church met
Their business was intentionally conducted to support kingdom work

39. The Story of Great to Greater
They were good people who became great … and greater
They inspire us to dynamic living with a kingdom purpose

40. This is what it looks like when we:
Live-out the life purpose of loving God supremely and loving people as ourselves; and to make disciples of all nations.

41. Aquila and Priscilla lived-out a life of fellowship in purpose with Paul.
It started with a bad thing happening to good people.

42. Aquila and Priscilla were arguably the greatest couple we know in the early church, people to whom we Gentiles owe an eternal debt of gratitude.