On Sunday evening, Rev. Kenneth I MacLeod preached a sermon entitled, 'God's open door', from Acts 14:27.

Nowadays, Mr MacLeod began, people are able to travel great distances with relative ease. His own mother, who is 100 years old, has only been as far as London once in her life. Yet, the present generation travel much further afield with great frequency, and barely even think about it.

The Apostle Paul was a seasoned traveler too, but not for leisure or tourism; his travel was to a much greater purpose - that of spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Far from taking his ease and enjoying the places he visited, the book of Acts tells us just how much Paul suffered: he was variously beaten, stoned and imprisoned for preaching his faith.

Nonetheless, he persevered.

It is surely significant that it was on a road (to Damascus) that the Lord revealed to Paul what the nature and scope of his ministry would be. Preaching to the Gentiles, he would be moving from place to place.

He was also told that he would suffer for Christ. At those times, when Paul was suffering for his faith, he must surely have reflected upon the similar treatment the had meted out to Christians before his conversion.

Paul was a determined and persistent preacher of the Gospel and one whose sufferings only served to make him more diligent. He was tireless, but he was also focused, with a clear strategy for spreading the Good News. His modus operandi was to preach in the larger towns and cities, charging the converts made in these places to go into the outlying area with the Gospel.

We also know that Paul's strategy extended to devising a sermon structure according to his audience. If he was preaching to the Jews, who were generally well-versed in Scripture, he would begin with the Old Testament. In preaching to the Gentiles, who were fairly ignorant of such things, he tended to begin with the God of Creation. But in either instance, his sermon always reached its peak with Jesus Christ.

In the passage examined here, Paul has just suffered a savage stoning, but far from losing heart, we find him exhorting the others to continue to preach about Jesus. Who better to persuade them to persevere than someone who has suffered for Christ but not been cowed by the experience?

Verse 27 speaks of God opening 'a door of faith to the Gentiles'. Mr MacLeod asked the congregation to consider what this image of a door conveys:

- A point of entry. Jesus is the door of entry to salvation. Doors are, of course, a way through. Looking at a door is not enough - you have to use it for its intended purpose. There is no point in admiring Christ, or His work: you have to lay hold of it for yourself. People find it hard to deny themselves, to take up a cross and follow Jesus, but it is necessary for their salvation. The broad road is easy to follow, the narrow far less so, but infinitely more rewarding.

- A security measure. Once you are in, Jesus will keep you safely with Him. The door is locked so that you will never again be outside. Like Noah, Christians are shut in by God for their own safety.

- A separation of believers and non-believers. This may not be so apparent now, but it will be one day when, as happened with the ark, the door is firmly closed by God, leaving some outside of His safekeeping forever.

The foolish bridesmaids in Matthew 25 knew the pain and separation of that locked door. Mr MacLeod entreated anyone still outside of Christ to know that the door that stands open at this very moment will not remain so forever. He urged that no one should play with their own salvation as though there is limitless time.

Go through that door, he urged, and the Lord will open others: doors to service, to witness and into the hearts of others in the love of Christ.