Hello and welcome to Monday’s podcast. I’m James and I’ll be sharing a short thought each day this week. I’ve just taken the podcast on from Mick who did something different with them last week as we looked to launch our Vision and Purpose for 2020 as a church. Mick was getting us to think about “Join Us for the Better Life”. We will hear more about that into the new year and I would definitely recommend giving them a listen if you haven’t had a chance yet. For this week, and as we head into Christmas, we are still focusing on the book of Acts as we are not finished yet, and do keep in mind the 2019 vision of Join us and Grow.

Today and tomorrow we are going to hear two stories of how Jesus changes lives. Both very different people but we will take a similar approach both today and tomorrow, asking who they are, what Jesus means to them and how they are impacted.

REFLECTION:

So first of all, let’s look at Lydia. You might have heard of this story before, but maybe you haven’t, let me explain it again very briefly. This starts at Acts 16:13 – On the Sabbath we went outside the city gate to the river, where we expected to find a place of prayer. We sat down and began to speak to the women who had gathered there. One of those listening was a woman from the city of Thyatira named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth. She was a worshipper of God.

We learn a few things about Lydia straight away from these sentences. First of all, she is from a different city, so whatever is going on in her life – it affords her the chance to travel around a bit. Secondly, we learn she was a dealer in clothes. Meaning she was a business woman. Presumably doing very well for herself if she is making clothes for more than her extended family. Thirdly, she was a dealer in purple cloth. It was very expensive to pay for the process that dyed cloth purple for whatever reason. We know this from the historic writers of the time. There are multiple different reasons for it but we know that only very wealthy people could afford purple. It was considered very exclusive, luxurious and beautiful. A sign of being rich. Basically, Lydia sold beautiful clothes to powerful people. I guess the equivalent would be a trendy high-end fashion boutique in the city centre. Maybe even having a couple extra shops in the city region or Leeds and Manchester etc. You’re getting the picture. It is impressive.

One of the most impressive things about this woman is that we are told she was a worshipper of God. She’s not only an entrepreneur and has pulled together a successful business, but she’s loves God and is open to conversations about him, a woman of high integrity.

So why does a woman like this need to hear about Jesus? I mean from our perspective, it looks like she has it all together and is living a successful life.

Well it says here that they were praying – I’m looking at verse 13 again – basically having a Bible study. And what stands out to me is the words “We sat down and began to speak to the women who had gathered there.” They sat down… this means it probably was not a big group or a big presentation. It was a conversation. Not a pitch but something more natural, a back-and-forth. A low pressure conversation and Lydia was open to it. Not only open to it, but it says, “The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message.” We’re often encouraged to look at the meanings of the word when we share from the Bible, especially when it is a few verses, and the word here for respond actually means to be attracted to. For example, in another part of the Bible this word is used to describe how it is bad to be addicted to wine! What this word “respond” really means is that Lydia began to be really attracted to what Paul was saying… not just convinced that his ideas where good but that the message of Jesus was beautiful and powerful news.

Lydia, who sold beautiful clothes to powerful people,