Worship into the Week- Pay Attention

 

Worship into the Week-

Lydia of Philippi Believes in Jesus

Acts 16: 9-15

Paul has the vision of the man 

asking him to come to Macedonia.

He sails into Neopolis, modern day Kavala.

This is from our May 2025 visit there.

He heads to Philippi, a major city of that district

 of Macedonia and a Roman colony.

On the Sabbath he goes a little way outside 

of the city to a riverbank 

hoping to find people there in prayer.

The riverbank outside of Philippi.

The Church- The Baptistry of Lydia

There he met Lydia from Thyatira, 

who was a merchant of expensive purple cloth.

She was a worshiper of God.

She listened, paid attention 

and the Lord opened her heart.

She accepted what Paul was saying.

She and her household were baptized 

and Paul and company stayed as her guests.

This small church stands 

where this story took place by the river.

It is a beautiful church

and it is used especially for baptisms.

As we visited this day in May 2025,

 a huge storm suddenly

 broke loose and we fled to the church for shelter.

Suddenly a massive thunder clap brought us

 to attention and we certainly felt 

the presence of God close by.

As we waited out the storm we thought about

this story and 

how a simple faith can change the world.

This small stream serves as a reminder 

that it doesn't have 

to be majestic gold-gilt 

to catch our heart on a Footsteps of Paul journey.

This remains oe of my favorite spots on our tour.