Sep 04, 2026 When Christ Comes To A City – Words of Grace Blog – September 4, 2026
Acts 16 has long been a fascinating chapter to me. It records highlights of the gospel of Christ coming to the city of Philippi. Reading it moves me to pray.
Paul received a vision in the night in which he saw a man from Macedonia asking him to come over and help. Paul knew what that meant. Christ wanted him to go to the eastern edge of Europe and preach the gospel. He went and landed in Phillipi. Here he preached the gospel, resulting in the first recorded converts, which led to the first established congregation in Europe. The glory of Christ shone brightly in this city.
Luke’s report of Christ coming to Philippi highlights three people who encounter the grace of God. There is Lydia, a businesswoman of means who was already devoted to God but did not yet know Christ. The Lord opens her heart to hear the gospel and believe.
There is a slave girl with an evil spirit of divination. She was being exploited by her master as she brought him income by her fortune-telling. The Lord delivers her from demonic oppression, and now she is free.
Finally, a loyal government worker, the jailer at the local prison, has an encounter with the Lord Jesus Christ. When he does, his loyalties are reordered. He still goes to work every day, but with a new heart and a new confession upon his lips.
To be clear, the saving and transforming grace that Christ brought to Phillipi was not received by all. There was persecution. This should be expected because when light clashes with darkness, spiritual warfare plays out in human affairs. But this warfare is evidence of the existing evil in the world and the sovereign authority of Christ over evil to establish his Lordship in hearts and his church in cities.
Why does this chapter of Acts lead us to pray? Because Acts is not only history. It is a record of the ongoing work of Christ by his Spirit in the world. Some things in Acts will not be repeated because they were one-time occurrences that played a role in redemptive history. But other things, like Christ’s gospel being preached with power and effectively saving and transforming people, are the work of the Spirit now as then. For this we pray.
Along with prayer, what else are we to do? We live faithfully under the Lordship of Jesus Christ, loyal to him above all. By doing so, we show that Jesus, not money, government, culture, or our appetites and desires, is Lord.
We live faithfully in congregations that exist for the glory of Christ. By doing so, we make visible what life in Christ is like. Without using gimmicky means to attract people to ourselves, we become attractive to those whom the Lord is calling to himself.
We faithfully share the gospel with clarity of speech and quality of life to make the way to Christ clear to others.
Christ came to Phillipi and brought light to darkness. May the glory of Christ shine brightly in our city as well.
Read Acts 16 and pray on these things this weekend. I look forward to seeing you Sunday.
-Scott