COMMENTARY

Epistle: Acts 16:9-15
Paul responds to the Holy Spirit's call to go to Macedonia. Paul was on his second missionary journey. He was planning to preach in Asia Minor, but the Holy Spirit prevented him from doing so. One night he received a call to go to Macedonia. Since Luke joined him, Luke could now say "we." They sailed from Troas to Philippi, a Roman province. Because the city was mainly a place for retired Roman soldiers, there were few Jews and the city had no synagogue. Consequently, Paul went outside the city walls to the bank of the Gangites River where a group of Jews met for worship. Among the women gathered there, one of them, Lydia, was converted, baptized, and invited Paul and his associates to stay in her house. Later when Paul and Silas were released from jail, …