The Story of His Church List

Farewells and Warnings

On the night before he left, Paul met with the believers in a large room on the third floor. They broke bread together in memory of the last supper Jesus ate with his

disciples before he was crucified. Then Paul preached until midnight. Paul knew he would never see these people again, and his heart was full of things to tell them.

While Paul preached, a young man named Eutychus sat in an open window listening. Time passed and Eutychus got sleepy. His head began to nod. He should have known how dangerous it was to go to sleep in a third-story window. In his sleep he fell out of the window to the ground below.

Friends rushed down the stairs. They picked him up, but he was dead.

Paul threw his arms around the young man's body. "Don't worry," he told those standing near. "He is still alive." They took the lad away alive and were comforted.

Finally they climbed the stairs and ate again. Then Paul went on preaching. At daybreak he left the city.

Paul's next farewell meeting was with the leaders from Ephesus who had come to the seacoast to say good-by. How much he loved them! This would be their last meeting.

He said, "You know how I have worked and lived among you. I have taught you publicly and in your homes. I have testified to both the Jews and the Greeks. I feel that I must go to Jerusalem, but it is hard to tell what will happen there. In my heart I think chains and suffering await me, but this does not make me afraid. It does not matter how long I live, so that I finish with joy the work the Lord Jesus has given me. I know I shall see you no more, but I will pray for you. Take good care of the church of God over which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers."

Together they knelt and prayed. They threw their arms around Paul and wept. With heavy hearts they accompanied him to the ship, and he set sail.

The ship stopped several days at Tyre. During that time Paul and his friends met with the Christians there. When the ship was ready to sail, the men, women, and children walked to the shore with Paul.

On the shore they knelt and prayed.

The next stop was at Caesare'a. While Paul and his friends were here, Agabus came from Jerusalem. This old man was a prophet. He took off Paul's sash, or belt, and tied it around his own hands and feet. Pointing to the sash Agabus said, "So shall the man who owns this be bound and given to the Gentiles."

The Christians were much troubled when they heard this. They begged Paul not to go on to Jerusalem, but he answered, "Why do you weep and break my heart? I am ready, not only to be bound at Jerusalem, but also to die there for the name of the Lord Jesus." When they discovered that they could not change his mind, they said, "The Lord's will be done."

A few days later Paul and his friends went on to Jerusalem with other Christians from Caesarea. At Jerusalem the elders of the church welcomed them with joy.