Let me ask you a question this morning. Can anyone tell me where in the Bible it says, “God helps those who help themselves”? Can anyone tell me how many books in the Bible? Can any one tell me what John 3:16 says? Then I have just 2 other questions; So what? and Has this knowledge made a difference in your life for the glory of God? For many years in the American Evangelical Church, discipleship has been neglected, generally speaking. If a church had a discipleship group, it mostly centered on informational learning, not transformational learning. This produced Christ followers who had a lot of knowledge, but not a whole lot of change in character from the inside out. Please don’t misunderstand me. We need informational learning from the Scriptures, but we also need to own our beliefs and let the Holy Spirit change us from the inside out. Paul’s strategy was always go to a major city to share the gospel, plant churches, and release people to take the gospel to the surrounding areas. He also started in the synagogues and used a very effective technique that is conducive for learning that produces change from the inside out. The technique is actually very simple. Paul Reasoned With Them From the Scriptures  v. 1-4Paul believe that; “16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the servant of God p may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” The New International Version (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2011), 2 Ti 3:16–17.Teaching e.g. informationalRebuking e.g. show us what is right in God’s eyes and what is wrongCorrecting e.g. urges us to confess before God and get back on track with HimTraining e.g. letting the Holy Spirit mold us from the inside out to produce fruit for God’s gloryPaul Explained the Scriptures and Proved from the Scriptures Who Jesus IsThe Person and work of ChristLife, suffering, death, and the resurrectionThe word translated “explained” means to dialogue with questions and answers.When Jesus walked this earth, He would teaching people about Himself and His mission in several ways:Asking a question to provoke thought about an issue concerning salvation and the kingdom of GodUsing real life illustrations or even parables to drive His teaching homeThen issuing a challenge to a person which is the, So what? question.Paul Proclaimed the ScriptureThe focus of His proclamation is the Messiah, the Lord Jesus ChristHe never intimidated or argued anyone into the kingdom of GodHe depended on the Holy Spirit to persuade people from the inside out.Some of the Jews, a large number of Greeks and quite a few prominent women believed in ChristPaul Continued to Disciple or Mentor Believers Using the Same TechniqueBy asking questions, tough questionsDialogueSearching the Scriptures and using the process in 2 Timothy 3:16-17Satin Doesn’t Want a Christ Follower to Have Transformational Growth v. 5-9The non-believing Jews were jealousThey convinced some bad characters to form a mob and create a riot over Paul and Silas’ teachingsThey went to Jason’s house, Jason may have been a close friend or relative, to look for these 2 men who were proclaiming the transformational truth of the gospelThe unbelieving Jews wanted to mob to “take care of them”They exaggerated and made up false chargesJason had to post a peace bond, but that didn’t stop the gospel or the churchTest All Teaching By the Word of God v. 10-15Paul and Silas stopped in BereaThey went to the synagogue to teaching and proclaim the ScripturesThe Bereans were of more noble character then the people in ThessalonicaThey were ready to receive the WordThe examined the Scriptures every dayNotice this happened every day!They  were testing everything that Paul taught by the ScripturesWe should be doing the same thing!The Holy Spirit opened hearts and many of them believed and also a number of prominent Greek Women and  many Greek men!Here Comes the Spiritual WarfareThe trouble makers from Thessalonica and agitated the crowd againBut the gospel continued on! Closing:  This passage has several applications for Christ followers:TeachersListeners or Students