11/2/25 “Priscilla & Aquila”
“Priscilla & Aquila”
Acts 18:1-3; 18-28
Support.
It is – perhaps – one of the most important words in the English language.
Support is something we can give monetarily…as in financial support for a particular cause.
Support is also something that can be applied to a particular idea or truth-based statement…
For instance, One could say something like this: “It is an established fact that my wife loves Hobby Lobby”….it is also an established fact “there will soon be a new Hobby Lobby store opening up in the Dells”….
these statements support the expectation that Andy will soon be spending lots of time aimlessly wandering around a new Hobby Lobby store…carrying the 5 tons of items his wife is purchasing.
….maybe I should just apply for a part-time job there so at least I’ll be making some money while my wife is shopping! 😊
We can support an athletic team or musical artist by purchasing tickets to their events…or wearing their merchandise.
In the building trades, support can be in the form of pillars, posts, bars, floor joists, and concrete….as they providing support for a structure of some kind...
But – when it comes to emotional & spiritual support – that kind of support can be felt.
As many of you know, this was a rough week for my family….and not only my family, but for the Schyvinch family as well….
But…The emotional support we’ve received has been unlike anything I have ever experienced before…
It has been truly miraculous & extremely humbling.
…My family could feel the prayer support coming from many of you here this morning who prayed for my family after the sudden – and tragic – loss of my dad last Sunday…
…and I believe that I can speak for the Schyvich family as well regarding the heartbreaking loss of Shelly….a devastating loss that affects our entire church family.
Inherent in the word support, is the idea that a force is established to push back against another force.
With buildings, and bridges, and airplanes….the force supported against - is the force of gravity.
With financial support for a specific cause, the force worked against is the force of time…
But with emotional support, the force one works against – is the force of hopelessness, loneliness, and despair.
These are the strongest default forces of our world.
Sin has corrupted the creation to the extent that – without the love of Jesus in a person’s life to provide support against these things – one will inevitably become depressed….discouraged…and dejected.
We all need the support of others in our lives – regardless of what we are going through – to keep us lifted…faith-filled…and full of hope.
The apostle Paul says in 1 Thessalonians 5:11 “Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing”
Also, in Galatians 6:2, he writes, “Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way, you will fulfill the law of Christ.”
These passages call for Christ-followers to provide support to others in their time of need…
….and my family has been blessed to be the recipients of your amazing support this entire week…
…and I believe the Schyvinch family would echo that sentiment as well.
Our passage of scripture for today tells about a husband & wife team who specialize in providing support…
Ministerial support for Paul…
Theological support for Apollos….
…and who knows what other kinds of support for other individuals whom they encountered along the way.
Their names are Priscilla and Aquila.
How many of you remember reading about – or hearing about – Priscilla and Aquila?.....
They aren’t the most often mentioned couple in the Bible….but they just may be the most inspiring couple in the bible…and we’ll get into why that is in a minute.
In case you weren’t sure, Priscilla is the wife – and Aquila is the husband.
It’s interesting to note that scripture most often refers to this married couple by mentioning Priscilla first…a practice that would have been very rare in the paternalistic culture of the time.
Most scholars believe that it may have had something to do with Priscilla having a greater level of involvement in ministry support than that of Aquila….
…but that’s just conjecture……we really don’t know.
So, before we go any further, let’s get to know some of the back story of Priscilla and Aquila
Verse 2 (Acts 18:2) of our passage for today provides a few details about this couple.
Aquila was a Jewish man originally from a region known as Pontus….
Pontus was located on the south shore of the Black Sea – an area known as Asia minor at the time…
We’re not told exactly where Priscilla was from….but most theologians believe it was Rome since Aquila had moved there as a young man….
and we don’t know for sure if Priscilla was a Jew - or if she was a Gentile…
But in either case, Priscilla and Aquila at some point become believers in Jesus….
…and they eventually leave Rome when emperor Claudius issues a decree that all people of Jewish descent must flee the city.
The couple traveled eastward, eventually deciding to settle down in the city of Corinth.
This would be where they would meet the apostle Paul…and a close lifelong friendship would form between this married couple, and that of the unmarried evangelist from Tarsus.
Verse 3 (Acts 18:3) tells us that Priscilla and Aquila shared the same occupation as Paul did….that of a tentmaker.
We often don’t think about Pual as anything other than the super-evangelist that he was…going from town to town teaching the truths of the Christian faith and planting churches…
…But Paul was – by trade – a tentmaker.
…and on occasion – when money from ministry ran a bit short – he would use his tentmaking skills to garner enough money to get by.
While there in Corinth, Priscilla and Aquila invite Paul to stay with them at their house…making tents – and more importantly - making disciples for Jesus.
Imagine the rich theological training Priscilla and Aquila would have gotten while living under the same roof as Paul for a number of years there in Corinth…
It would be like receiving a seminary degree at home – with the professor living with you.
Lisa & I are so blessed to have my mom living with us now…but, mom, don’t put the bar of theological teaching in your new home to be anywhere near that of the apostle Paul, ok?.....just sayin. 😊
Verse 18 (Acts 18:18) informs us that after a number of years, Priscilla, Aquila, and Paul leave Corinth…and go to the city of Ephesus
Ephesus was about 350 miles away from Corinth….so it would have taken the trio at least 3-4 weeks to make the journey on foot.
The text goes on to tell us that Paul eventually leaves for his third missionary journey, while Priscilla and Aquila stay working in Ephesus….and ministering to the church there.
One day, a traveling evangelist named Apollos came to town…
Verses 24 & 25 (Acts 18:24-25) describe him as a Jew from the city of Alexandria, Egypt….
…Alexandria was where a great deal of Christian men were learning to be ministers and evangelists…
A few early church fathers who studied in Alexandria were Clement, Origen, Cyril, and Athanasius….just to name a few.
At one point, Alexandria became second only to Jerusalem in terms of Christian academic influence.
Think of it this way…if Jerusalem was Nashville – Alexandria was Branson, MO
We read that this man Apollos was not only extremely intelligent…but he was a very polished and persuasive speaker as well.
Enormous crowds would gather to listen to Apollos whenever – and wherever - he spoke.
He would go from place to place – point by point - proving the validity and truth of Christianity…
In some ways, you could say that Apollos was the Charlie Kirk of the first century….no one could win a debate against him…
…few people – it seems - would even try to take him on.
Yet verse 25 (Acts 18:25) tells us that, despite Apollos’ great knowledge…he lacked a bit of understanding concerning one specific aspect of the faith.
This is where Priscilla and Aquila come into the picture…
They invite Apollos to their home and in verse 26 (Acts 18:26) we read that they gently corrected him as to the area where Apollos had been mistaken.
Remember, Priscilla & Aquila trained under arguably the greatest Christian thinker of all time in the apostle Paul…
Those many tutoring sessions that would have undoubtedly occurred while the three of them stitched tents for days on end back in Corinth…
….they would have come in very handy here as they humbly and respectfully guided Apollos toward the right theological understanding of both the atonement…as well as the truth behind the indwelling of the Holy Spirit
To Apollos’ credit…it seems as though he took the instruction well from Priscilla and Aquila.
This would have required a great deal of humility on Apollos’ part…
…as well as a great deal of Berean-like confidence on the part of Priscilla and Aquila.
There are only 2 other places in scripture that mention Priscilla and Aquila.
One is in the book of Romans.
Paul writes, “Greet Priscilla and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus. They risked their lives for me. Not only I but all the churches of the Gentiles are grateful to them. Greet also the church that meets at their house.” (Romans 16:3-5)
Obviously, Paul had tremendous respect for this married couple…and how they supported not only his ministry….but the ministry of numerous congregations all across Asia minor.
Everywhere Priscilla and Aquila went, they made an impact for the Kingdom of God…even standing firm for the faith amidst dangerous situations.
They were the couple at church that you always want to spend more time with…because of their spiritual wisdom – their patience – their humility – and their genuine walk with the Lord.
I thank God every day that there are numerous couples – and individuals - here at this church who remind me of Priscilla and Aquila in this way….
…Just another reason why Lisa & I are so blessed to serve this congregation!
The only other reference to Priscilla and Aquila comes from Paul’s concluding salutation in the book of 1 Corinthians.
He writes, “The churches in the province of Asia send you greetings. Aquila and Priscilla greet you warmly in the Lord, and so does the church that meets at their house.” (1 Corinthians 16:19)
Both of these scriptural references talk about the church that met at Priscilla and Aquila’s house.
Here’s a married couple that opened up their home to others wherever they happened to be at the time…and facilitated the teaching of God’s Word to others…
They prioritized the things of God…and that helped to keep their marriage strong.
Involving God in everything we do will ALWAYS strengthen our relationships with others…especially the marital relationship!
As prep work for this sermon series, I’m currently reading a book called ‘Marriages in the Bible’….it’s written by Dr. Gary Lovejoy.
(No…I’m not making that up…his last name really is Lovejoy 😊)
And I appreciate what he has to say about how Priscilla and Aquila became closer to each other through becoming closer to Christ.
Dr. Lovejoy writes, “It’s fitting that Aquila and Priscilla, who lived and worked together, would become believers in Christ together, and grow together in their knowledge of God’s Word. It served all the more to deepen their marital commitment to one another…” “From that time on, Christ’s eternal love for them infused their existing love for each other to create an indissoluble bond for faithfully ministering in the early church.”
I especially like the description of Christ’s love for Priscilla and Aquila infusing their existing love for each other….to bring them closer together….resulting in an indissoluble bond
(Indissoluble, if you don’t know, means ‘something that cannot be destroyed’)
How many of you have ever had the experience of tasting the whipped butter at a Texas Roadhouse restaurant?
If you haven’t tried it…put it on your bucket list…
For me, Texas Roadhouse butter is on my personal 7 wonders of the culinary world list…(If you want to know the other 6 on my list, meet me after service 😊)
I had always wondered what made Texas Roadhouse butter so good…but it was only recently that I found that the butter is infused with – honey.
Honey!....honey is the secret ingredient.
This reminds me of Dr. Lovejoy’s words of Christ’s love being infused into the marriage of Priscilla and Aquila.
It’s like sweet honey infused into a relationship when both parties seek Jesus first before anything else in life…
When both people in a relationship submit 100% of their time, energy, and talents to following Christ….that relationship will experience a sweet, supernatural infusion of love, peace, and joy.
It will be a taste of heaven here on earth.
This is what a marriage rooted in Jesus is supposed to be like.
And this is what we see in the union of Priscilla and Aquila.
They each are so connected to Jesus, that their godly horizontal marriage is just a natural outflow of that vertically focused priority in their lives.
Their continued experience of being supported by the savior inspired and motivated them to support each other…
..and those are the blueprints to a happy, healthy marriage.
Priscilla and Aquila worked together…ministered together…shared life together….
And they found satisfaction in life by collectively focusing on the needs of others
Philippians 2:4 simply says, “Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others,”
One thing that many people often realize much too late in life is that by focusing on the needs of others…that is actually the secret to experiencing Joy and peace in one’s own life…and in one’s marriage.
You will always find support for your own wellbeing when you intentionally make the decision to support others….ALWAYS
It seems counter-intuitive…but it works.
Try it this week.
If your marriage- or your close relationships with family or friends – has hit a rough spot lately…
If your marriage has been stuck in the mud of apathy…or bitterness…or anger…or loneliness…
Try taking on a project this week where Jesus can be glorified through it…and tackle it together.
Pray about it first…allow the Holy Spirit to guide you both into something where spiritual support is needed…and just go for it.
…and just see how God uses that healthy decision to heal your unhealthy relationship.
God is a God of restoration…and if you submit to allowing Him to restore your marriage…or your strained relationship with a sibling…or child…or parent…or friend…or co-worker…
…if you humbly submit to Jesus in this way…you will experience something that can only be done supernaturally.
Support is just a phone call away…
Dial up the Lord in prayer this afternoon…lean upon His support…and His strength..
…and watch Him work a miracle in your marriage.
Let’s Pray.