pramsay posted on December 13, 2005 01:16 1377 views

The Gospel Outreach Team was coming together. The Apostle Paul could have said something like this: “Sopater, Aristarchus and Secundus, welcome to the team. I am also glad to have Gaius and Timothy along with Tychicus and Trophimus with us. Luke, our team is growing. We have our work cut out for us. We’re not called the GO Team for nothing! Our ship will be leaving dock shortly and our first stop will be Troas.”

We are not told why the boat trip from Philippi took so long. Five days was most unusual. If I was on Paul’s GO Team, I would have become very impatient with the slow sail. “This is ridiculous men! We could have hit several cities with the Gospel by this time. We’ve got to speed this thing up. Riding a snail would be faster than this. Why would we be going so slow, when there are so many people to preach to and so much territory to cover for Christ?”

And we sailed away from Philippi after the days of unleavened bread, and came unto them to Troas in five days; where we abode seven days. And upon the first [day] of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow…“(Act 20:6-7)

Already behind schedule, the boat docks at Troas. I wonder what the reaction of the team was when Paul announced that they would be staying in Troas for seven days. The five day boat trip was bad enough! Did someone say: “Pardon me, Paul – but are we really going to twiddle our thumbs for a full week here at Troas? We must have our priorities mixed up. Aren’t there souls to see saved? Why is our GO Team stopped?”

Listen to Paul as he tells the team: “We must stay for the seven days, so we will not miss the weekly remembrance of the Lord’s death. This GO Team stops! As important as preaching and teaching is, we can never relegate worship and thanksgiving to second place. Service must never take priority over worship. Participating in the Lord’s Supper is worth the 7 days wait. It’s our responsibility and it’s our privilege. Jesus said just before He went to the Cross: ‘This do in remembrance of Me.‘” (Luke 22:19)

“But Paul, how often should the Lord’s Supper be? Like isn’t once a year or once a month enough?” Paul wrote these words: “For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death till he come.” (1Co 11:26) The Apostle’s practise was the first day of every week.

What an impression Paul’s choice must have made on the GO Team. After that experience, they would never even entertain the thought of catching an earlier boat out of any place, if it meant skipping the Lord’s Supper. They would never miss the Lord’s Supper because the flight to Honolulu or Cayman Islands left two hours before the Lord’s Supper. I am pretty sure, they would take a later flight at the higher price.

How about me? How much of a priority is the Lord’s Supper to me? Do you belong to a community of believers that STOPS once a week for the Lord’s Supper?

Translate