Strange Things in the Bible –A Deadly Sermon – November 5, 2023
Welcome, Introduction, and Opening Prayer
SHARE – Icebreaker – In this sermon series, we are exploring some of the strange stories in the Bible. This Sunday we are exploring a story about when Paul revives a young man Eutychus who fell asleep and fell out a third-story window during Paul’s long-winded sermon. Can you recall a time you thought a sermon or speech would never end? What did you do to endure it?
STUDY - Text: Acts 20:7-12 (NRSV)
7 On the first day of the week, when we met to break bread, Paul was holding a discussion with them; since he intended to leave the next day, he continued speaking until midnight. 8 There were many lamps in the room upstairs where we were meeting. 9 A young man named Eutychus, who was sitting in the window, began to sink off into a deep sleep while Paul talked still longer. Overcome by sleep, he fell to the ground three floors below and was picked up dead. 10 But Paul went down, and bending over him took him in his arms, and said, “Do not be alarmed, for his life is in him.” 11 Then Paul went upstairs, and after he had broken bread and eaten, he continued to converse with them until dawn; then he left. 12 Meanwhile they had taken the boy away alive and were not a little comforted.
One commentator has called this “the most pivotal sermon in the life of young Eutychus.” Can you recall a particularly pivotal sermon or message that impacted your life and faith in an especially meaningful way?
This story evokes an earlier portrayal in Acts 2:42-47 in which the church’s life together generated a sense of awe in those who witnessed it as well as those who would read and hear about it later. What are some ways you experience a sense of awe in worship? How do you experience awe in the world?
The book of Acts alternates between scenes of the church at worship and the church at work in the world, as if to suggest there is a natural rhythm and balance between the two. This is a worship scene. How does our worship inspire and impact our witness for Christ and our work in the world? And how does our work in the world inform our worship of God?
SUPPORT - Blessings and Burdens: What has been life-giving for you this week? What has been life-draining for you?
Closing Prayer