singing in the chains

today's church was wonderful. we sang. then prayed. then later, i got prayers from two people, cos my birthday falls on the month of july (it's a custom to get prayers on your birthday month). the sermon was from acts 16:16-40. it may be long, but a must read. really. to summarize it up, they are all below:

i. the slave set free
a "python spirit"
source of good income for her owners
free but unwanted publicity
she was delivered in the name of jesus christ

sometimes doing what god wants leads to trouble.
doing the things that god wants us to do often leads us to trouble.

ii. singing in chains
owners realized they had lost good income
arrested, accused, beaten and thrown in jail in stocks.
a funny sound coming from the dungeon
an earthquake, and then everyone is free

even in trouble, we can rejoice.
however, we must learn to be like paul and silas. even in trouble, they still rejoice.

iii. a household saved
jailer's life is forfeit.
paul seems to have kept everyone there.
paul shares the good news
not just the jailer, but his whole household was saved

a life lost, and then gained.
through paul and silas' trouble, a jailer's (and his household) life is gained.

iv. a citizen's rights
paul and silas released
rights of citizenship
a proper escort and courtesy
farewell, and then continue on

paul was a good citizen of rome.
often, we only criticize our president and never once prayed for him/her. thanks to pastor dave's reminder, i will start praying for our president tonight. btw, i got this anti-drug sms from our indonesian president. did you? it's a great personal touch, isn't it?