Paul Encourages the Churches in Macedonia and Greece (Acts 20:1–6)

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Paul Encourages the Churches in Macedonia and Greece (Acts 20:1–6)

Prepared and preached by Pastor Steve Rhodes at Bethel Friends Church on Sunday, November 16, 2025

Tony Evans shares:

In the 1996 Olympics, Keri Strug, the Olympic gymnast, had the weight of the Olympic gold medal for her team on her shoulders. All she had to do was have a successful vault, and the United States would get the gold. There was one problem. When she did her first vault, she sprained her ankle, and she could barely walk. She fell; she did not get the score she needed for the U.S. team to win. As she sat there on the mat with tears falling down her face, she cried for two reasons. One, she was in pain. And two, there was no way she could make the score to win the victory in this situation.

But she had another jump. She had another vault. She got up. She felt like giving up, but her coach stood on the sidelines and said, “You can do it, Keri. You can do it, Keri. I believe in you. You can do it.”

As she limped to get ready to try to do a vault, she could barely move. She told an interviewer, after the vault, that all she could do to keep going was keep her eyes on the coach. He kept her from focusing on her ankle. This girl was really hurting. She was crying. But she had an encourager who believed in her. She found strength from his encouragement that she didn’t have. Even with the limp, she took off running, and did her flip on the vault. She had to nail the landing in order to win. She had to try to do this with an ankle that was injured. With her coach’s encouragement holding her up, she conquered her impossibility. She earned a high enough score for the U.S. team to win the gold—all because of her coach’s encouragement. Encouragement changes your performance.233,[1]

My theme today is: Paul encourages the churches in Macedonia and Greece.

  1. Let’s start with the context.
    1. Acts 20:1 reads: After the uproar ceased, Paul sent for the disciples, and after encouraging them, he said farewell and departed for Macedonia.
    2. What uproar?
    3. Remember, in the previous verses, there was an almost riot in Ephesus.
    4. The town clerk (Acts 19:34) quieted the crowd.
    5. So, here in Acts 20:1 Paul is in Ephesus, but leaving for Macedonia.
    6. Macedonia was the Roman province of Macedonia in Greece.[2]
    7. The ESV SB: helps: Paul Completes His Ministry in Greece. Paul made a final visit to the churches of Macedonia and Achaia, spending the winter in Corinth.[3]
    8. Achaia would be the broader area around Corinth.
    9. The uproar ceases; Paul sends for the disciples.
    10. He says farewell and leaves for Macedonia.
  2. Paul in Greece (Acts 20:1-3).
    1. Acts 20:1–3 (ESV)
    2. After the uproar ceased, Paul sent for the disciples, and after encouraging them, he said farewell and departed for Macedonia. 2 When he had gone through those regions and had given them much encouragement, he came to Greece. 3 There he spent three months, and when a plot was made against him by the Jews as he was about to set sail for Syria, he decided to return through Macedonia. 
    3. Macedonia would include Berea, Thessalonica, Philippi, and other cities. Corinth was south of Macedonia in Greece.
    4. Picking up at verse 2, Paul had gone through those regions.
    5. Notice in Acts 20:1 and Acts 20:2, Paul is encouraging the churches.
    6. Paul is also carrying an offering for Jerusalem (Romans 15:25-27).
    7. One writes:
    8. Paul collected offerings from the Gentile congregations of Macedonia and Achaia (Greece), and presumably from Galatia and Asia Minor, in order to support the brothers and sisters in Jerusalem. This offering would serve as a concrete expression of love, support, and solidarity. Paul tells the church in Rome that those in Macedonia and Achaia were pleased to make this offering (Rom 15:26–27). They were “cheerful giver[s]” (2 Cor 9:7).[4]
    9. Which regions? CSB: Paul probably went to Philippi and Thessalonica in Macedonia before going to Greece (Achaia), where he stayed for three months, possibly in Athens and Corinth. [In verse 3 we see] Paul’s Jewish opponents plotted against him, which caused him to change his travel plans. He decided to travel overland from Greece to Macedonia, where he caught a ship at Philippi.[5]
    10. Notice that Acts 20:2 reads that he is giving them much encouragement.
    11. Do we aim to encourage?
    12. Then he comes to Greece. That is the same as the Roman province known as Achaia, which is where Corinth is located.
    13. He spent three months there (Acts 20:3).
    14. Once again, there is a plot against him by the Jews (Acts 20:3).
    15. He changes his travel plans to return through Macedonia. This is a land route, rather than a sea route.
    16. Macedonia was the Roman province of Macedonia in Greece.[6]
  3. Paul heads to Troas (Acts 20:4-6).
    1. Acts 20:4–6 (ESV) 4 Sopater the Berean, son of Pyrrhus, accompanied him; and of the Thessalonians, Aristarchus and Secundus; and Gaius of Derbe, and Timothy; and the Asians, Tychicus and Trophimus. 5 These went on ahead and were waiting for us at Troas, 6 but we sailed away from Philippi after the days of Unleavened Bread, and in five days we came to them at Troas, where we stayed for seven days.
    2. In verse 4, we see that seven people joined him.
    3. In Acts 20:5 Luke writes they went ahead and waited for “us.” Since Luke writes “us,” I believe Luke is also with Paul.
    4. They sail from Philippi.
    5. It is interesting that they sailed after the days of Unleavened Bread. That would be Passover week.
    6. The days of Unleavened Bread refer to the week following Passover. Originally an agricultural festival commemorating the beginning of harvest, it was celebrated for seven days beginning on the fifteenth day of the month Nisan (March–April). It was later combined with Passover (Exod 12:1–20; Ezek 45:21–24; Matt 26:17; Luke 22:1).[7]
    7. They stayed seven days in Troas.
    8. Troas was a port city (and surrounding region) on the northwest coast of Asia Minor. From Philippi to Troas was about 125 mi (200 km).[8]
  4.  Applications
    1. How can we encourage our brothers and sisters this week?
    2. How can we encourage through giving to our brothers and sisters this week?
    3. How can we serve our brothers and sisters this week?
    4. Who can we visit this week?

Tony Evans writes:

Many churches are in need of what every football team has: cheerleaders. The job of a cheerleader is to tell everybody “we’re going to make it.” No matter how bad things look on the scoreboard, there is still hope. Cheerleaders cheer all the way to the end of the game and will act like the team is winning by a big score even when there may be no way that a victory is possible. Their job is to be a cheerleader.

When folks come into today’s sanctuary with broken lives, they need to run into some cheerleaders, folks who are willing to cheer them on and tell them that they are going to make it.239,[9]

[1] Tony Evans, Tony Evans’ Book of Illustrations: Stories, Quotes, and Anecdotes from More than 30 Years of Preaching and Public Speaking (Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers, 2009), 85.

[2] Biblical Studies Press, The NET Bible First Edition Notes (Biblical Studies Press, 2006), Ac 20:1.

[3] Crossway Bibles, The ESV Study Bible (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2008), 2128.

[4] Tony Merida, Exalting Jesus in Acts (Nashville, TN: Holman Reference, 2017), 299.

[5] Stanley E. Porter, “Acts,” in CSB Study Bible: Notes, ed. Edwin A. Blum and Trevin Wax (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2017), 1756.

[6] Biblical Studies Press, The NET Bible First Edition Notes (Biblical Studies Press, 2006), Ac 20:3.

[7] Biblical Studies Press, The NET Bible First Edition Notes (Biblical Studies Press, 2006), Ac 20:6.

[8] Biblical Studies Press, The NET Bible First Edition Notes (Biblical Studies Press, 2006), Ac 20:6.

[9] Tony Evans, Tony Evans’ Book of Illustrations: Stories, Quotes, and Anecdotes from More than 30 Years of Preaching and Public Speaking (Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers, 2009), 86.

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