Sometimes we repeat the old adage, “Want to make God laugh?”…..”Tell Him your plans.”
We say those kinds of things because we are implying that first, there is a God, and second, He has a plan of His own and third, His plan supersedes our own plans. That would be a scary thought if we weren’t sure about this God’s intention toward us. On the other hand, if there were some way to know if this God wanted what is best for us, the thought that He had an immovable plan in action would be of immeasurable comfort, wouldn’t it?
We’re going to continue our study in the book of Acts this Sunday, and we’ll be reading Acts 13:13-52.
It’s a lot of verses – but it’s mainly one long sermon by Paul – the first one he delivers in Acts.
Paul, like Peter and Stephen before him, starts his presentation of the gospel by going way back into Israel’s history? Why do you think they do that? What can that tell us about God’s plan for the human race throughout history?
When Paul culminates the story in v38-39, he says that forgiveness and freedom are found in Jesus and not in the Law of Moses. What does that tell us about what has happened with the story in the past and the story in the present? How huge would that statement be to Paul’s Jewish listeners?
The sermon Paul gives slices through the group and divides them into two categories: those who embrace God’s plan and those who don’t. Barnabas gives some strong warnings to those who reject God’s plan. What future ramifications do we discern from this text about how we respond to God’s plan?
This Sunday is our first Surf-N-Grill of 2015 – pray that the rain stays away! See yez Sunday!
WONDERWHAT 
I love the visual!!! I am not sure why, senility or just plain stubbornness, but after all these years on the journey with Jesus I am still prone to get wigged out when things don’t go as I think they should. Perhaps the visual aide here will help burn it into the old brain…I think Paul started his sermon way back in Israel’s history to make the very point that indeed there always has been an immovable plan in place for God’s people both as a whole and as individuals. Our own scheme certainly would be sunshiney, straight and simple. Unfortunately, without the many obstacles along the way we would not be transformed from “much afraid” to “grace and glory” as was the main character in Hinds Feet on High Places. Obstacles provide opportunities to trust and watch Him work His plan! Freedom in Christ and no longer the law would have been a serious fork in the road for the Jews, not the way they thought or hoped things should go. Yet as it was clearly mapped out by Paul and Barnabus they had a choice to make. Recognizing and embracing God’s plan would mean letting go of their own plans, leaving their pleasant paths of power and status for the road of meekness and servanthood…clearly they couldn’t or wouldn’t see that the path they chose didn’t end in life.. God give us the grace to recognize your plans along our paths and give us the strength to choose the road everlasting!!