At the end of chapter 15, we are told that Paul and Barnabas went their separate ways to again travel around spreading the message of Jesus. Paul teams up with Silas; we will be following their travels through chapter 18. They return to cities Paul had visited before. Paul鈥檚 plan was to continue to preach in the region we call Turkey, but God directed him to Macedonia, which is on the Greek Peninsula. In Philippi, Paul again starts his ministry with Jews, but because there are so few Jews in Philippi, they don鈥檛 even have a synagogue. This means Paul鈥檚 ministry is now going to almost exclusively involve Gentiles. In Philippi, Paul and Silas are arrested but have a great opportunity to lead their jailer to Jesus before they are released.
The simplicity of Paul鈥檚 message to the jailer is a favorite of many. The message is simple, but believing in Jesus is not always so simple. We don鈥檛 need to complicate the message. Our challenge should be for people to trust Jesus for the forgiveness of their wrongdoing.