Paul and Silas were missionaries of the Lord telling the Gospel story to anyone that would listen.  Their journey had taken them outside Israel to Asia.  Chapter 16 of Acts tells us of several failed attempts to witness in towns in Asia until Paul and Silas felt led to Philippi, Macedonia, Greece.

Paul’s normal approach when entering a new city was to go to the synagogue where learned men would speak of spiritual things. Paul would be permitted to speak and would witness to his knowledge of the Messiah.

When Paul and Silas arrived in Philippi, they found no synagogue. With no synagogue, they believed that people might gather on the Sabbath at the river’s edge, so they headed for the river and sure enough, they found a small group of women.

Philippi was a Roman city made up of retired Roman soldiers. For a synagogue to be built, there had to be ten married Jewish men and that quorum did not exist in Philippi, so the Jewish women gathered at the river for worship.  

Lydia, was a cloth merchant specializing in purple cloth, the most expensive color. That meant she was likely a successful business person and a widow or divorcee.  Paul spoke with the women and witnessed to his knowledge of the Messiah.  Lydia accepted Christ and invited Paul and Silas to her house to witness to everyone in her household. At the conclusion, Lydia invited Paul and Silas to stay in her home.

Lydia began by offering herself.  Then, she offered a gift – a talent – that is often in abundance but under appreciated in our churches today and that is hospitality. She simply offered hospitality to Paul and Silas.  From there, a house church sprang up – the first church in Europe. We know it grew because later chapter 16 of Acts says Paul and Silas returned to greet the “brothers and sisters”, so now men were part of the group.

Philippi is the town where Paul and Silas were imprisoned for casting the evil spirit out of the slave girl. Through the evil spirit, she was able to foresee the future and she earned a lot of money for her owners. Once freed of this spirit, the owners lost their money producer and they had Paul and Silas arrested. An earth quake hit and the jailer was terrified for his life (he would be killed if his prisoners escaped).  Though Paul and Silas were free, they had not fled.  The jailer accepted Christ as did his entire household. Ultimately, Paul and Silas were thrown out of the city and had to move on.

So what happened to the “first house church in Europe”?  It flourished under Lydia’s leadership and was a stepping stone for churches to rise up in the whole of Europe and eventually on all continents.

The day that Lydia met Paul, did she awake that morning expecting to be called personally by the Lord?  Did she expect to be called into service? Did she expect to be offering her home to strangers?  Did she dream of one day starting a house church that would be the precursor to the Christian faith going to the entire world?  I doubt it.  She simply responded to His invitation, offered the gifts that she had been given for His service and walked through the doors that He opened.

One woman – one offer of hospitality – one home – one church – was an integral part of bringing Christ to the world!