Priscilla & Aquila

Well, tonight we are entering part two of a short series that we're going to be looking

at together through the month of February, and the series is called Christians from Monday

to Friday. And the basic theme of it is to look at the fact that our Christian lives

are not simply lived on a Sunday, but they affect us throughout the whole week, particularly

in regard to our daily routine, whether that's work or school or studies or responsibilities

at home or involvement in our community and roundabout. It's a great, what we want to

emphasize is the fact that following Jesus affects every single part of our lives, and

a relationship with Him is relevant to every single day. Tonight I want us to look together

at what I think is a great example for us in scripture of what we're trying to look

at. And this example is a married couple whom we read about in Acts chapter 18, and that's

Acts 18 · chapter mention

Priscilla and her husband Aquila. Let's read again at Acts 18. After this, Paul left Athens

and went to Corinth, and he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, recently come

from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to leave

Rome, and he went to see them, and because he was of the same trade, he stayed with them

and worked, for they were tent makers by trade. When you read through the New Testament, very

often our attention is drawn to some of the big names. We think of people like Paul and

Peter and Luke and John and Timothy and James, these huge figures who were so prominent in

the spread of the gospel in these early years and in the building up of the early church.

There's lots of big names that we associate with the New Testament, but at the same time,

if you read through the New Testament, you'll see that there's actually a constant stream

of what we could call ordinary people who get mentioned. A great example of that is

the passage at the very end of Romans, which we'll study in more detail when we reach that

point in our morning series. But I'm just going to put it on the screen. This is an

abridged version, because I'm just focusing on the names. It starts with Priscilla and

Aquila. You'll see it says Priscia there. That's just a variant of the same name. Paul

is writing to Rome and he's sending greetings at the end of the letter. He says,

greet Priscia and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus. Then he goes on to say,

greet my beloved Epennetus, Mary, Andronicus, and Junia, Ampliatus, Urbanus, Stachis, Epelaus,

the family of Aristobulus Herodion, the family of Narcissus, Thrifenea, that was a difficult

one, and Thrifosa, Persis, Rufus, his mother, Asincritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrabus, Hermas,

the brothers who are with him, Philodgulus, Julian, Eris, and his sister, and Olympus,

and all the saints who are with them. Now, there's something very important about that

list. We've got pretty much no idea who any of them are. We know about Priscilla and Aquila,

and there's one or two others that are possibly mentioned elsewhere, but on the whole, these

are people whom we know very little about. In other words, they were very ordinary. They're

not big names. They're not key figures, but yet they were special to Paul, and they were

crucial to the life and work of the church. And that reminds us of a really, really important

point about the Christian church. The Christian church is not elitist. At least it should

never be. It's not for those who are super strong, super clever, super successful. It's

the complete opposite. The church throughout the past 2,000 years has been the greatest

beacon of equality and inclusion that the world has ever seen. And today, I want us to

look at two of these ordinary names that we read about in the New Testament, Priscilla

and Aquila. We read about them at the start of Acts chapter 18. There are married couple,

Acts 18 · chapter mention

Aquila is a Jew, and he was born in Pontus. Now, here's our wee test for you. Here comes

a map. I want you to see if you can find Pontus. Okay? Can you see it? Can you see Pontus?

Quick, quick, quick, quick, quick, quick. Anyone's got it? Have you got it? I'm sure

some of you do have it. Pontus is way up there. You all knew that, of course. There's Pontus.

That's where Aquila comes from, but they had been living in Rome way up on the other side

of the map. That's possibly where Priscilla was born. We don't know for sure, but that's

generally, certainly some people suspect that that might be the case. They'd been living

there, but as we were reading, Emperor Claudius expelled the Jews from Rome. This was one

of the early Acts of the Roman Empire that affected the Christian church. Probably happened

about AD 49. Just incidentally, it's mentioned by a Roman historian, say, you told me, yes.

Just as we reminded that what the New Testament says and what the historical ex-the biblical

records say match up. It seems to be the case that Priscilla and Aquila were part of the

church, the Christian church in Rome, but at that point, to the outside of the Christian

church, just looked like it was part of the Jewish religion. They didn't really understand

it. Outsiders didn't really understand that it was a bit different. When the Jews got

expelled, the Christians got thrown out with them. As a result, they came to Corinth right

there in the middle. We've got this Christian married couple in the early church. How did

God use these two ordinary people? What do we learn from them when we think about our

Christian lives from Monday to Friday?

In order to see that together, I want us just to focus on three things very briefly. We're

going to look at their work, their home, and their marriage. At the start of Acts, chapter

Acts 18 · chapter mention

18, it's really interesting to notice that Paul came into contact with Priscilla and

Aquila primarily through their work. You can see at the end, because he was of the same

trade, he stayed with them and worked for they were tent makers by trade. Here you can

see the amazing providence of God as he brings things together. Priscilla and Aquila had just

arrived in Rome from the east, from the west, sorry. Paul had made his way across from Athens,

having traveled from the east. You see these two trajectories, one coming from the west,

one coming from the east, and God brings them together in Corinth through their jobs. In

doing so, God was meeting a great need. If you imagine that you were Priscilla and Aquila

arriving at Corinth, they had just been thrown out of Rome. They were probably thinking,

well, what is going to happen to this Christian church? They may have felt dissolutioned, they

may have felt worried, they may have felt a great sense of concern, thinking, what's

going to happen next? They arrive at Corinth and they employ the greatest missionary that

the world has ever seen. And likewise for Paul, meeting Priscilla and Aquila was a huge

help to him. It's always interesting whenever you read the book of Acts, it's good to remember

that quite often, particularly in the travels of Paul, you can find out a little bit more

information if you go to some of the letters. So for example, when you read about Paul arriving

at Corinth, as we read at the beginning of chapter 18, if you go to the letter of the

Corinthians, you can find out a little bit more about what was going on. Because in chapter

18, verse one, it says, Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. That sounds simple enough,

doesn't it? But if you go to 1 Corinthians chapter two, verse three, it tells us Paul

said, I was with you, so I was with you in Corinth, in weakness and in fear and in much

trembling. So when Paul arrived there, he was feeling very low. And it's no surprise that

Paul felt low when we just taste back what happened in chapter 16 and 17 of Acts. Back

in chapter 16, Paul received what we call the Macedonian call, where he was at the end,

the western edge of Asia Minor, and he received this call from God. Let me go back. There

we are. A vision appeared to him the night, a man from Macedonia said, come over and help

us. And so that's exactly what he did. Paul was in Macedonia, Paul was in Asia Minor.

He went across to Macedonia to Philippi, and there he went to preach the gospel. What happened

at Philippi? He was thrown into prison with Silas. But they were released shortly. So

he traveled to Thessalonica. You can see it there. He's following a path. What happened

at Thessalonica? There was a riot, and Paul had to escape during the night. So Paul and

Silas traveled on to Berea next. But the Jews from Thessalonica followed them there. And

again, they stirred up trouble and put Paul in danger. So in order to combat this, they

sent Paul off on his own to Athens. And in Athens, Paul was horrified by the idolatry

that he witnessed. And he spoke to some of the prominent leaders there. And a few of

them listened to him. But many were unsure, and some of them mocked him. And I just want

you to imagine for a moment being Paul. Imagine getting that Macedonian call where you think

to yourself, wow, this is so clear what God wants me to do. I've had this vision. God

is saying, come across to Macedonia. And sometimes in our lives, we can think, wouldn't it be

so great if God just made it so clear what we were supposed to do? And we think, well,

to have a call that was so definite, it would be easy, wouldn't it? Easy to follow him.

And yet the reality was incredibly difficult for Paul. He follows God's call. And then

it was blow after blow after blow. And by the time he got to Corinth, just there, he was

dejected, weak, afraid, and trembling. But there in Corinth, God had a lovely Christian

couple waiting for him. And God brings them together through their job. They were all

tent makers, and they worked together. And there's two really important things there

just to mention briefly. First, all of this reminds us what an amazing encouragement Christians

can be towards each other. Paul was desperately low, and yet he meets these two people who

become great friends in the fellowship of the gospel. And that's a theme that Paul

emphasizes again and again in his life. You see it throughout the letters. In Romans 1,

he says, I long to see you. He longs to be encouraged, to be mutually encouraged by each

other's faith. Same when he talks about Timothy, he speaks about longing to see him, that he

might be filled with joy. It's a really important reminder that as Christians, we need each

other. We are made for fellowship. We're made to be together. From the very beginning

of creation, it was not good for humanity to be alone. God wants us to be together.

God wants us to support, encourage, comfort, and help one another. And Helen spoke of that

so clearly when she mentioned city groups. That's exactly what we're trying to do, to

come together in the middle of the week to help and support and encourage one another.

Those of you who are with us in the run up to Christmas, we were studying the gifts of

the Holy Spirit, speaking about all the different skills and attributes that God gives to his

people in different ways. But I hope you can remember what the key reason for those gifts

were. They weren't to make us look great. They're there for us to serve and help one

another. A great reminder that in God's family, we need each other.

So that's a really important thing to remember when you come to church. You're not just here

to grow in your own knowledge, and you're not just here to increase your own faith. You're

actually here to boost each other as well. And that's why it's so brilliant that you're

here. It's a fundamental truth of the Christian church that we need each other. And it all

makes perfect sense. And I always remember that everything that God says and does makes

perfect sense. We desperately need each other. We need each other's support. We need each

other's encouragement. We need each other's comfort. And that's why the New Testament

categorically bans criticism, jealousy, gossip, and division from the Christian church. Because

all of these things are the very opposite of what we need and of what God wants for us.

We're not here to tear each other down. We're here to build each other up. So if you've

had a rotten week, then please just press on remembering that God is with you and that

we are here for you. We're right behind you to support you. If you're feeling low about

yourselves, we want you to know that we love you as a church. We're so thankful that you're

here and we really value you. I remember hearing a story about a doctor who was often dealing

with people who had very low sense of self-esteem. And he used to always say that they were worth

his time that he cared for them and that he thought that they were valuable. And he demonstrated

that by giving the time that he had very little time, but he always gave his time to these

people who thought they were worthless and had hugely low self-esteem. Anybody who feels

that they're worthless, as a church, we value you so much. And it is so brilliant that you're

here and that you're part of our family here. And for those of you who have good news, we

rejoice with you and we are so encouraged by the blessings that are in your life. Yesterday,

two of the people in our congregation, Hamish and Anna, got married and the service was

here and it was a brilliant service and a brilliant occasion to see them. And it's a

reason for us all to rejoice as a family together. Whether things are going well or whether things

are hard, we're being reminded from God's word that we need each other. The church of

Jesus Christ should be a place of total and constant togetherness. So we're seeing that

we need each other. But the other thing that we're seeing here is that God can use us

through our jobs. And that's something that's really encouraging for us all. The means that

God used to bring a dejected, worn-out Paul into fellowship with this exiled Christian

couple was making tents. It wasn't a missionary conference. It wasn't a communion weekend,

as we still have in the Highlands and Islands. It wasn't a theological debate. It wasn't

some massive Christian event. It was a very, very ordinary job. And the point that that's

highlighting for us is that our jobs are an amazing opportunity for the work of God's

kingdom. In Romans 16, Paul speaks about Priscilla and Aquila and he refers to them as his fellow

workers. And I think that's a wonderful phrase because in a way it kind of has a double meaning

to it because when he talks about Priscilla and Aquila, they were his fellow workers because

they were his fellow tent makers. They shared the same trade. But of course, there was more

to it than that. They were also fellow workers for Jesus. And you're exactly the same as

a Christian. Your job is a brilliant opportunity for you to reach out with the gospel. And

your job has a double meaning as well. So you might be a teacher, a builder, an engineer,

whatever you may be. But you are also a worker for Jesus. And every Sunday, God brings his

church together for worship and for mutual encouragement. And then every Monday morning,

he scathers us all about the city, all about the country to be a witness and to be a servant

of Jesus in our daily lives. And it's really important to remember that sometimes our jobs

can feel dull and frustrating. Sometimes we can feel we don't really know what we want

to do with our lives. We think there's this massive career decision and I have to try

and find this one perfect career that if I miss out on, I'm going to wreck my life. Sometimes

we can feel years down the line that I should have done something different and I've squandered

my life. We can feel that the whole thing is falling apart. But if you are trusting in

Jesus, then all of a sudden, whether you're a lawyer or a butcher or a tent maker, all

of a sudden your job has amazing potential. And the opportunities to serve Jesus through

your work are huge. You can show other people around you that you're different through your

attitude and conduct. You can stand out in your workplace by being patient and encouraging

towards your colleagues. If you are a boss and there's plenty bosses in here, if you

are a boss, then you can show amazing Christian concern for your staff. You can bring joy

and enthusiasm to your workplace because Jesus is your savior. You can show love towards

people by taking an interest in their lives and being a support to them. And you can pray

and pray and pray for people that you work with. You can plead with God for their salvation.

And do you know how often you can do that kind of thing? Every day. Every single day.

Your job's an amazing opportunity. And from time to time, you may even get the chance

to speak to people about your faith. And these opportunities maybe don't come up very often,

but you might get asked one day, why do you go to church or what is this Christianity

all about? If you are ever in that situation, don't panic. And don't feel you have to answer.

Every question is perfectly okay to say, I don't know. But a good place to start is simply

by saying, no, in Jesus has made an amazing difference to my life. And from there, you

can maybe say a little bit more about your story. Never forget, no job is pointless.

Your job is mission work. So what's this week? As we go back to work tomorrow, is it a normal

week? Is it a dull week? Is it a hard week? Or is it an amazing gospel opportunity? Priscilla

and Aquila served through their work. They also served through their home. And this is

a fascinating topic to look at. That passage in Romans 16 speaks about Priscilla and Aquila.

And it's talks about, it says, greet also the church in their house. We see the same

thing in the letter to the Corinthians. Speaks about Aquila and Priscilla together with the

church in their house. This couple used their home as a place for the church to meet. Now

we have to pause here because before, right now, we're being reminded of a very important

point about ecclesiology. When we say ecclesiology, we're talking about the Bible's teaching in

regard to the church. And we're being reminded here that the church met in their house. And

the key point is that the church is not the house. The church is in the house. And the

same as through today, the church is not this building. The church is the people in the building.

And so if we went to another building, we would still be the church. And although we always

talk about going to church and we refer to the building as the church, we would really

be more accurate if we said that this is the building where the church meets. Because that's

really what the biblical teaching is. It's very important to recognize that the church

is God's people. The sanctuary where God, the Holy Spirit, dwells is in our hearts according

to New Testament's teaching. So not only did Priscilla and Aquila use their jobs, they

also used their home to serve Jesus. Now here we have to just kind of catch up a wee bit

on Priscilla and Aquila because they move about a wee bit throughout the New Testament. Remember

they said they started off in Rome, they were expelled under the order of the emperor. So

they came from Rome to Corinth as we pick up the story in Acts 18. But from there they

went to Ephesus. We read about that at the end of Acts 18. And then at some point after

that they must have returned to Rome. Because when Paul writes to F, when Paul eventually

writes to the Roman church, Priscilla and Aquila have returned there. So over a number

of years they've traveled a good bit. But in all of these places they had a house and

they used that house for serving Jesus. It was the place where the church met. And the

great lesson of all of that is that our homes are a great tool for serving Jesus. Now we

no longer have a house church structure for our Sunday services. It's an amazing blessing

the fact that our churches, our congregations have grown too big for that. But we all still

have homes and we can all still do great things through our homes. We can welcome people and

bring them into our homes. That can be for dinner, for coffee, for fellowship, for Bible

study. It's brilliant to get an invite to people's houses and it's great to see that

week to week people are being invited. It's amazing the dignity that you can give to a

lonely person by inviting them to your home. And there's probably far more people than

we realise who never get invited anywhere. When I left school I became a postie for about

a year and a half. And I did two Christmases as a postie. Now posties deserve their Christmas

dinner more than anybody. Christmases are a really busy time for posties. And they used

to say that in the run up to Christmas, throughout the country, royal mail handles in a day at

Christmas what it normally handles in a week. So there's mountains of mail, mountains of

Christmas cards, mountains of parcels and presents and you're delivering constantly

to all of these different houses tons of cards. Back in the day when people still sent loads

and loads of Christmas cards, what struck me was that there were many houses that got

none. Absolutely none. And we as a church can give dignity to people in situations like

that who are so lonely that they don't even get a single Christmas card. So we can welcome

people into our homes. We can also make things in our homes so we can contribute to church

activities. So like yesterday at Haymish and Anna's wedding loads of people did baking

at home when they took it here. Doesn't sound like much but it was brilliant. My poor wife

made a lovely tray bake and left it at home. But I'm secretly delighted because now I get

to eat it. We can use our homes to make stuff to help the church. But today in God's providence

you can actually reach the whole world through your home. And that's one of the astonishing

things that technology now enables us to do. You can pick up your phone, your computer and

you can send a message of encouragement to a missionary anywhere in the world. Katrina's

in Valencia and she can send us prayer points so that we can pray for her. People who you

know who are serving, you can go home tonight and send a message of encouragement to them.

You could text them right now on WhatsApp or whatever and give them a message of support.

It's amazing what you can do through technology. And it doesn't actually even need to be technology.

I remember when I was in Carlaway we had a very sudden death in the congregation and

it was a massive loss for us as a congregation and it was a massive, massive loss for the

widow of the man who died. And I went to visit her a week or two later and she showed me

a letter that somebody from Edinburgh had sent to her. And it was the most moving, gentle,

supportive letter that I've ever read. It was only a page long and the person who had

written it had just sat at their computer and just typed it up. He wouldn't even have

moved from his desk and yet it made an amazing difference to that person. So you can do

awesome stuff from your house. So you're not going to bed until, I don't know, 11 o'clock

tonight so do something awesome for the Christian church between now and then. And I suppose

a key point in all of this is that we belong in each other's homes and the reasons for

that are theological. And I want to emphasize that the reasons for that are theological.

As Christians we are adopted as God's children. We are united to Jesus Christ by faith. Therefore

we are now brothers and sisters in Christ. We are bound together in Him. We are part

of one body. We are part of one family. We belong together. And that's why being in each

other's homes should just be something that's very, very normal in the life of the church.

Now some of us are more sociable than others and that is absolutely fine. And we're not

saying that everybody has to be the extrovert who's ready to welcome everyone. But please

do remember just what an amazing source of potential your home is for the work of the

Gospel. So Priscilla and Aquila use their work, they use their home. Finally I want

us to just notice the fact that they used their marriage. One of the interesting things

about Priscilla and Aquila is that they're always mentioned together. They're a married

couple and in that marriage they worked together to serve Jesus. And this is interesting because

if you look through the New Testament there's not a huge number of examples like this of

married couples working together. Even people who were married like Peter, they never really

mentioned in connection with their wives. And Paul himself placed a great emphasis on

the blessings of being single and he highlights the value of that. And one is not better than

the other. Both have blessings and both have challenges that they bring. But in terms of

Priscilla and Aquila there are a couple, they're always mentioned as a couple. But the interesting

thing is that very, very, very often it's Priscilla who's named first and it was very

unusual for the wife to be named first. And there's various suggestions as to why that's

the case. Sometimes people think that she was maybe of a higher social class than Aquila

so maybe that brought her more status. Others suggest that she was maybe the more prominent

personality so maybe she was more talkative. Although for the wife to be more talkative,

I don't know if that could ever be the case. It could have been any of these things. It

could have been both. But what I want to emphasize is this. Priscilla was absolutely at the heart

of the early church's life and she was a she. And it's a great reminder of how incredibly

important you women are in the life of the church. People often accuse Paul of being

anti-women. The truth is he was the opposite. One of his best and closest co-workers was

a woman. It was Priscilla. And even though Paul taught that eldership is for men and

we would agree with that as a church, that does not mean for one second that women have

a secondary role. Women played a vital role in the life of the New Testament church and

women have done so throughout the history of the church over the past 2,000 years. So

even though women may not be elders, they may not be deacons, they are still co-workers.

And that qualifies you women to support and help and participate in every single part

of the church's work. So it wasn't just that Priscilla was Aquila's wife and the fact that

she's mentioned first is really important. It's not just that it was always Aquila and

Priscilla's kind of just tagging along as the faithful, obedient wife. She was a co-worker

in her own right. And even if she hadn't been married to him, she could still have served

and done great things for the gospel. So they have this wonderful couple in their own right

serving together as co-workers. They came as a team and they served God as they could.

And it appears that they've got many gifts. They had a very hospitable home and they seem

to be very good at using that. But we're also seeing in chapter 18 of Acts that there was

another gift that they had. They seemed to be very good at talking to people as a couple.

And there's a great example for us there that I'm just going to read because I think it's

very significant what this says. A Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus.

He was an eloquent man competent in the Scriptures. He had been instructed in the way of the

Lord and being fervent in spirit, he spoke and taught accurately the things concerning

Jesus, though he knew only the baptism of John. He began to speak boldly in the synagogue.

But when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the way

of God more accurately. Now, here we have this guy Apollos who's come from Alexandria, way

down there. And he's heard about Jesus and he knows certain things that are true. But

he doesn't seem to have a full, complete understanding of the gospel message. Priscilla and Aquila

hear him. They're listening to this man and they're thinking, okay, he's kind of getting

this but he's also kind of getting it wrong. And what do they do? They take him aside and

they explain to him the way of God more accurately.

There's two vital lessons here. First of all, we've been reminded that accuracy is very

important in the Christian church. We must always strive to make sure that we understand

God's word accurately. That means we must never be blasé or casual. It means we don't

make up our own opinions. We want to be scriptural and precise in every way that we can be. That's

why our studies in the New City Catechism every Sunday morning are really good because

resources like that and older Catechisms, the Westminster Confession of Faith, things

like that are so good for giving us an accurate understanding of God's word. So it tells us

that accuracy matters. But secondly, I want you to notice how they handle Apollos. So

Apollos is full of enthusiasm. He's eloquent. He's fervent in spirit, but his understanding

was not perfect. And so Priscilla and Aquila did two things. They went alongside him and

they spoke to him and explained things. Now notice what that says. They went to him and

they spoke to him. Far too often, when somebody is wrong, we keep away from them and we talk

about them. Priscilla and Aquila did the complete opposite. They didn't mock him. They didn't

rebuke him. They didn't keep away from him. They didn't criticize him. They didn't divide

from him. They quietly, gently took him aside and explained things to him more accurately.

And that's exactly how we should be. If an individual or a group or even another congregation

has inaccurate knowledge, how should we respond? Do we throw stones at them from a distance?

Do we criticize them? Do we mock them? Do we say we are never going to have anything

to do with them? Or do we go alongside them and try to explain what the Bible says? And

notice what they said. They didn't go and explain their own opinions. They went to explain

to him the way of God more accurately. In other words, they went to explain what God

has said. And that's fundamental to how we help others. We don't go to people with their

own opinions. We go to constantly lead people back to what God has said in his word.

I'm going to give you a great quotation from my hero. William Cunningham, who was a theologian

about 170 years ago, here's a great quote. Well, I think it's a great quote because I

love William Cunningham. He says, in theology, there is, of course, no room for originality

properly so-called. For its whole materials are contained in the actual statements of

God's word. And he is the greatest and best theologian who has most accurately apprehended

the meaning of the statements of Scripture. Christianity is not our way. It's not Thomas'

way. It's not St. Columbus' way. It's not the free church's way. It's God's way. We

always want to be biblically minded. And Priscilla and Aquila are a wonderful example to us.

So what it means to disciple somebody. They go alongside Apollos and they help them to

grow and to understand. And we want to be the same. We want to learn from one another.

So Priscilla and Aquila used their work, their home, and their marriage in God's service.

It's a great reminder that all of life is to be lived for Jesus. Our whole lives are

an opportunity to stand out assault and light for Him. We want to be in contact with the

world, that we want to show that we are different and that there's something special in our

lives. So whatever you are doing from Monday to Friday this week, do it as Priscilla and

Aquila would do it. Your job, your family responsibilities, the school run, whatever

sports you get involved in, whatever it is you're doing, do it all in a way that glorifies

God and that shows that you love Jesus. But last of all, if you are not yet a follower

of Jesus, if you're not trusting in Jesus or if you're not sure where you're standing,

what does all this say to you? Well, one thing it shows you is that following Jesus will

take a normal life and make it an amazing life. That's something that we can often be

afraid of. We think, if I'm going to start following Jesus, it's going to muck up my

life. Priscilla and Aquila show you that that's not true. So you might have a really ordinary

job, but Jesus can do amazing things through it. You might have a very modest home, but

it can be alive with the joy of the Lord. And you might be a very ordinary couple or

a very ordinary person. But if you follow Jesus, you will have joy and peace and purpose

for your whole life. If you look out in Edinburgh today or at Scotland or really all of modern

life, you'll see that it's very much fulfilling what was described in Ecclesiastes chapter

Ecclesiastes 1 · chapter mention

1. What does man gain by all the toil at which he toils unto the sun? A generation goes and

a generation comes, but the earth remains forever. The sun rises, the sun goes down,

and hastens to the place where it rises. The wind blows to the south and goes around to

the north and around and around goes the wind, and on its circuits the wind returns. All

streams run to the sea, the sea's not full. To the place where the stream flows, there

they flow again. All things are full of weirdness. A man cannot utter it. The eye is not satisfied

with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing. What has been is what will be. What has been

done is what will be done, and there's nothing new under the sun. For many people, that's

what Monday to Friday is like. Priscilla and Aquila show us that if you trust and follow

Jesus, life will never be like that. Let's pray. Dear God or Father, we thank you, and

for all that your word teaches us about Priscilla and Aquila. We thank you for the way in which

you use them through an ordinary job and an ordinary home and as an ordinary couple. We

come before you as those with ordinary jobs, ordinary homes, and as ordinary people, those

who are married, those who are single. And we pray that just as you used Priscilla and

Aquila, please use us as well. Amen.