Don’t Fall Asleep In Church

Don’t Fall Asleep in Church

Q: What young man fell asleep in church and plunged to his death?

• a. Barnabas
• b. Eutychus
• c. Timothy

Have you ever dozed off during a church service? If you have, probably the worst thing that happened was your parents gave you an earlier bedtime or took away a privilege. But for one young man who fell asleep during Paul’s sermon, the consequences were much worse.

On Paul’s last day in Troas, everyone gathered in an upper room to hear him speak. It got late, but Paul kept speaking. There were many candles burning and a large number of people gathered, which made the room overly warm. The late hour and the warmth were too much for Eutychus, who was sitting in an open window. The young man fell asleep and tumbled from the window three stories to his death.

Paul lifted Eutychus and brought life back to him through God’s power. The people all went back upstairs to have a meal and continue listening to Paul until dawn.

Some Bible scholars judge Eutychus harshly for falling asleep while the Word of God was being taught, but the young man meant no disrespect to God, the Scripture, or Paul. It was the middle of the night, and he’d probably been up since early morning. He was just too drowsy to stay awake any longer. If he had planned to fall asleep while listening to Paul, he would certainly have picked a safer seat.

For You

You may find it hard to pay attention in church at times, but if you focus, you can learn something useful for your life. Try jotting down the pastor’s sermon points and Scripture references in a notebook. Write down one way the Scripture applies to you and try to put it in practice during the week.

Answer: b

As Paul spoke on and on, a young man named Eutychus, sitting on the windowsill, became very drowsy. Finally, he fell sound asleep and dropped three stories to his death below.   Acts 20:9

(The Whole Story: Acts 20:7-12)