Acts 14:8-18
As I have been thinking about the book of Acts, the progress of the Great Commission, and the preaching of the gospel, I have noticed an interesting idea. The idea appears in our text this week that begins with Barnabas and Paul preaching in Lystra. Paul sees a lame man; knows that the man has faith to be healed. Paul heals him. Then a very lavish and comic chain of events begins to happen.
The fact that the faith was already there before Barnabas and Paul began to preach. The Lord Jesus was already there before the apostles even came to the city. The announcements at the resurrection are that Jesus is going before the disciples to Galilee. The promise of the Great Commission is “I am with you always.” God is not just with us, God is leading us, the Holy Spirit is preparing hearts and situations for us to minister. And the success of our efforts is dependent on what God has already done.
This brings encouragement to me. God is already in the world, God is already bringing faith to those that we are going to encounter, and that God is in places that we may never be able to reach. This is not to encourage laziness in us because it is all up to God. It is to comfort us as we work because we know that our labor is not in vain in the Lord.
May 05
The Lord Goes Before Us
Apr 27
The “Ideal” Church in Acts
There is a tendency for Christians to think that the church in Acts was the model for all churches. There are some things to imitate. The generosity of the church where everyone sold what they possessed, and no one went without. The church devotes itself to prayer for the release of Peter from prison. The church sent out its leaders to do the work of evangelization to other countries. The Ephesian elder’s unwavering support for Paul as he faced imprisonment and death.
Yet, there are enough events that show us the flaws of the church. Ananias and Sapphira lying to the Holy Spirit. Simon tried to buy the spiritual gift. The leaders in Jerusalem rejecting the conversion of the Gentiles. Paul and Barnabas argument and division. We also read of the problems in churches like Galatia and Corinth that are happening during the time of Acts.
Acts is not a picture of the ideal church, but it is the story of how the gospel changed lives, how believers faced problems and challenges, and how God was faithful in every situation. In our own situation, with the story of our church and the churches around us, we should not think there is an ideal that somehow, we’ve missed nor there is a secret that we can uncover that will allow us to be an ideal church.
The need of the hour is not for us to mimic an outward manifestation we see in Acts. The need of the hour is for God’s people to be faithful. To listen to the exhortations to be prayerful, compassionate, sharing, and ready to give a witness of the goodness of God. We will never carry out the Great Commission perfectly, but we can wholly follow the Risen Christ celebrating the good news that he has given to us.
Pastor Greg
PS—Thank you for your prayers for my family in the death of my brother, Mitchell on this past Sunday. The service will be in my hometown of Winder, Georgia, and Karen and I will be with my mother for a couple of days following.
Apr 21
How Inclusive is God?
Acts 10-11
When God gives a vision, everyone gets uncomfortable.
This Sunday’s text is the account of the conversion of Cornelius. It is such a significant event that it takes up a large portion of the book. The central person is Peter and how he has to come to terms with God’s vision.
Peter has been taught the Bible (especially the Torah). Peter has learned that a good portion of God’s Word, the Torah, talks about being clean or unclean before God. He knows he has been redeemed by Jesus Christ, he has met the Resurrected Christ, but God gives him a vision that reinterprets all that he has understood about the Bible and the Resurrected Christ. The radical revelation that causes everything to change for Peter is “I truly understand that God shows no partiality.”
God sends visions to God’s people, especially through God’s prophets. Then the prophetic word does not change reality but helps us to see God’s reality in a clearer focus. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was a prophet. He took the words that Americans knew as true, “All men (sic) are created equal, and are endowed by their Creator with inalienable rights…” Since he spoke that prophetic vision, we Americans realized those words in a way that confronted our comfort zone and brought us to a place of decision.
This Sunday let us consider the vision that God sent through Peter, how its making us uncomfortable today.
Apr 13
The Never Ending Story
Matthew 28:16-20
When we come to the end of most stories we hear a “The End.” Matthew makes sure you realize that this is not the end. It is the last few verses of his Gospel, but the story, the work of Christ, and Christ’s interaction with people does not end with the Gospel. Matthew makes sure we know that it is until “the end of the ages.”
Not only does the Resurrected Christ tell us that this story will continue through the ages, Christ emphatically says “I will be with you.” Matthew is giving us a story that comforts us. Christ is with us.
The task is also never-ending, Christ is with us when we take this Good News to all nations. This Good News is for all peoples, they are to become just like the Apostles that Jesus originally gives this task to. They too will become disciples, they too will be baptized, they too will obey the instruction that is to love God and neighbor.
This Sunday’s sermon will examine the greatness of the Great Commission. The last two sermons in April will be from the book of Acts. These will examine the barriers that are destroyed by the gospel and the distinction of the gospel message from the idolatry of this world.
Pastor Greg
