阅读经文 

不久前，我被拘留在异国他乡的一所警察局里。我犯了什么罪？开车时掉头，用警官的话说是“妨碍交通”（事实并非如此）。那天，我做了很多无声（但愤怒）的祷告——最终神派了一位“好撒玛利亚人”（一位报社记者）前来，帮我交了保释金，我才得以回家。

保罗和西拉在这里也被不公正地拘留了。但他们的处境却大不相同。他们一直在分享耶稣的信息，却被诬告从而引起了骚乱，于是他们遭到殴打并被关进了监牢。（参徒 16:16-24）在牢里，他们祷告，唱诗，其他囚犯则在一旁聆听。他们深信神能使用他们的不幸遭遇来吸引他人（哪怕是罪犯和狱卒）转向神，使他们加入祂属灵的大家庭。

当神差遣地震打开了牢门，松开了所有人的锁链时，保罗和西拉向狱卒保证没有人逃跑。狱卒本来准备自杀殉职，但他相信了耶稣也明白了救恩。然后，狱卒和“属乎他的人都受了洗”。（在当时，“属乎他的人”通常包括妻子儿女、年迈的父母、奴隶或仆人。）在这样的例子中，神清楚地向我们显明，祂愿意每个相信之人的全家都加入到祂的盟约大家庭中来！

Not long ago I found myself detained in a police station, in a country not my own. My offense? Taking a U-turn while driving and, as the police officer put it, "obstructing traffic" (which was not true). I prayed lots of silent (but angry) prayers that day—and eventually God sent a "good Samaritan" (a newspaper reporter) who helped me post bail so that I could go home.

Paul and Silas found themselves unjustly detained. But their situation was much different. They had been sharing the message of Jesus and were falsely accused of causing an uproar, so they were beaten and thrown in jail (Acts 16:1624). In prison they prayed, and they sang hymns to God while the other prisoners listened. They had a deep confidence (faith) that God could use even their misfortunes to draw others (even criminals and jailers) into his family.

When an earthquake sent by God opened the prison and unchained everyone, Paul and Silas assured the jailer that no one had escaped. And the jailer, who had been ready to kill himself, learned about salvation through belief in Jesus. Then the jailer and "all his household were baptized." (See also Acts 16:15.) In that time a "household" often included a wife and children, aging parents, and slaves or servants. In examples like this, God makes clear that he wants whole households brought into his covenant family!