This long chapter starts with a diary-like recounting of the ordinary everyday of travelling on mission. It can sometimes feel in life like God is only present in the big, life-defining moments, but God is also in the detail. How has God worked in your week?

This passage is a snapshot of what God was doing in a time and an age 2000-ish years ago and 2250 miles away from B&A. It's a time and context very different to ours, but people are still people, God is still God and the good news of Jesus is still good news, so what can we learn from them?

Sometimes even good news get's lost in translation because it doesn't seem relevant to the hearer or they can't understand the message. The new movement of 'Little Christs' that we read about in Acts had a message that is Good News everyone can understand if they hear and listen.

What kind of vow makes Paul cut all his hair off? Paul set himself aside, dedicating himself to God. Often we forget to set ourselves aside each day; when someone becomes a Christian, they make a vow of sorts – to be set aside to Jesus. Do we need to reconsecrate ourselves?

All through the Bible when Paul is mentioned we see him doing 3 things: announcing the Good News of Jesus, showing people a new way to live, and building new communities of faith. These actions look a lot like Jesus, but Paul is not trying to mimic Jesus, he's allowing Jesus to compel him.

As Paul waits in Athens for the rest of his team to join him, his spirit is provoked by the way the city works. Paul sees the Athenians searching for God in all sorts of places without success and does the only thing he can to improve the situation: he brings Jesus.