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!

There’s a phrase we say sometimes, though it may be slipping into antiquity: “He/she is from the wrong side of the tracks”. It was a phrase used to describe a person who came from an undesirable part of town, back when railroad tracks often divided towns between the upper, middle class residential areas and the lower income, industrial sections. A person from the wrong side of the tracks was looked down upon because of economic, cultural or ethnic status. Often all three of those went together.

We’ll be returning to our study in the book of Acts this Sunday after an awesome Easter service. We’ll be continuing the story of Peter and Cornelius in Acts 10:24-48.

Clearly, God’s love is loose in the world, smashing through boundaries both ethnic and religious. Peter makes the profound statement “God is no respecter of persons”. This is a message that has been presented all the way through the Old Testament to the New – God doesn’t judge by outward appearance like we do, he discerns the heart. If we are called to emulate God, how well do we do this? Are there people you’d rather avoid, people who are defined in your thinking as “them”? How easy is it for you to depersonalize someone if they hold a different set of values than you or have a worldview you are unfamiliar with? What steps can we take to recapture this revelation of Acts 10:34?

As you read through v36-43, how would you summarize Peter’s presentation of the gospel? What words does he use that would lead you to believe that this news is good? How much does Peter say to Cornelius about hell, or heaven for that matter? What do you discern as the emphasis of Peter’s description of the good news about Jesus? What can we learn from this section about how we represent the gospel in the world in which we’ve been placed?

In v44-48 an amazing outpouring of the Holy Spirit occurs, hearkening back to the events of chapter 2. When Peter sees that the same Holy Spirit has been given to this Roman soldier and his family, he calls for  immediate baptism, accepting them into the community of God. What does his lack of other requirements say to us about who we should welcome into the family of God? This immediacy is a repetition of the Eunuch’s baptism in chapter 8. Does this repetition say anything to you?

Hope to see you this Sunday!

 

 

I remember when the Berlin Wall came down. What an amazing event that re-drew the maps of Eastern Europe and signaled the end of the Cold War as I had known it all my life. A wall of division was removed and a whole new world of freedom was dawning for the people of East Germany.

We’re going to be reading Acts 10:1-23 this Sunday, where another kind of wall came down 2,000 years before. A wall that Paul described as a “wall of hostility” in Ephesians 2.

In Acts 10 we are introduced to a new character in the story – Cornelius, the Roman centurion living in Caesarea.  He is described as a “God-fearer”, meaning he was a gentile who had been attracted to the Jewish faith but had not become a Jewish proselyte. He prayed regularly and was generous with needy people. He was conscious of God, spiritually minded and kind. Sounds like a good man. Yet when the angel appears to him it’s not to tell him he’s fine just as he is, but rather to point him towards Peter. What does that tell us about what it actually is that God wants for humanity?

Like a movie, our story cuts to Peter who has a highly unusual vision. A sheet with all sorts of animals that were off the menu under the dietary restrictions of the Mosaic Law. Where does the sheet come from, and what does that indicate to you? God commands Pete to “kill and eat”, but he recoils from this picnic of uncleaness. Peter protests with the words “I have never eaten the common or unclean things”. God’s response is powerful and important. Obviously, given the entire context, this was about more than food (it included food), this was about people and the end of the Old Covenant restrictions. This was a long held belief on Peter’s part that God had to up-end. God tore down the wall of hostility. As I contemplate the ramifications of what God is saying in this passage, I feel compelled to examine my heart. Are there people who I still consider common or unclean? What beliefs or traditions have you felt God challenging you about in your Christian journey? How should we understand God’s priorities when it comes to religion and people?

The whole story of the church changes at this juncture. The impact of this chapter is still felt by us today. I think this will be a fascinating study – hope to see you there!

 

 

I remember overhearing a conversation between a few people at a gathering I attended where one guy was telling another guy just how important he was. The evidence he provided was the fact that he had over 1,000 Facebook friends and well over 2,5000 followers on Twitter. That sounded like a lot to me, but in many circles, that’s small stuff. It’s just weird to me that we would ever present that as some sort of indication that we were somehow impactful in this world.

Even among those who have a disdain for social media, there can be a tendency to assign the most importance and influence to those who do heroic things or find cures for diseases or start huge charity organizations.  Not that there is anything wrong with any of that – it’s wonderful stuff to do if the opportunity presents itself. There’s nothing inherently wrong with having a lot of Facebook friends either.

But the text we’re going to read this Sunday reminds us that we don’t have to do great things to make a big impact on the world around us. As Mother Theresa is attributed as saying, “We can do no great things, only small things with great love”. This Sunday we’ll be reading Acts 9:32-43 – which include two accounts of healings done by Peter.

The temptation is to focus in on the healings and the amazing miracles God did through his apostle. But I’d like to look at something else. I’d like to look at these characters who are described in the text as “saints” and “disciples”  and consider the implications of what a saint and a disciple looks like in real life.

It’s quite possible to read Acts and get all excited about the big stuff that was happening and forget that the church was largely made up of people unknown to the text, who carried out the Kingdom Project in obscurity. This is the actual heart of the church.

As you read these two accounts, we realize that even saints and disciples suffer from paralysis and sudden death. How can that help us to better evaluate the quality of our Christian walk? Stephen didn’t get delivered from death, but here, Dorcas does. What can that tell us about hardships and troubles for Christians in this life?

I love how Dorcas is described. She’s called a “disciple” – and the word used there is unique, appearing only one time in the New Testament.  What was she known for? Her ministry was so important to the widows of that town they lamented and hoped it was possible for God to raise her back to life.  We don’t know anything about what she ever said – only what she did. What things are in front of you that you could set your hand to in making a difference in this world? Do you ever look past to help out in some way that seems insignificant while you wait for some big opportunity to witness? What can Dorcas teach us?

Both Eeneas and Dorcas have their situations reversed, reminding us of the nature of God’s kingdom – he brings wholeness and life. How can we cooperate with God’s work to bring wholeness and life in our own situations and in the world where we’ve been placed?

I hope this proves to be an encouraging exploration of this section of Acts. Hope to see you there!

Sorry about that title.

Honestly, I was just stumped. We’re going to be reading an account that includes a eunuch in our passage this Sunday, as we explore Acts 8:26-40.

We read about Philip last week as he took the gospel north to the region of Samaria. As we pick up the story we find that while this big evangelistic effort is going forward in Samaria, God has another plan for Philip’s ministry.

In this account we find the Holy Spirit directing Phil to head south, but without any real instruction as to why. Have you ever felt led to do something that seemed unusual at the time, but unfolded as being an important move in some way? How easy or hard is it for you to follow those inward nudges of the Holy Spirit to change your immediate course or do something for reasons that aren’t very apparent? How can we be more open to those types of Spirit-inspired events?

Phil is directed towards the limo of an Ethiopian court official, who is described as being a eunuch.  The Ethiopian was returning from worshiping in Jerusalem, making him either a “God-fearer”, a gentile who had taken an interest in the Jewish faith; or a gentile proselyte who had converted to Judaism; or one of the Ethiopian Jews of the Beta Israel community. He’s reading the scroll of Isaiah – so no matter what his connection to Judaism, he is a seeker.

The thing is, as a eunuch, he would not have been allowed into the temple to worship and would have been excluded from the larger community of faith. I wonder if he knew that before going to Jerusalem to worship?

Lets think about this guy. He’s an outsider racially as an Ethiopian. He’s an outsider physically because of the condition of his genitalia – he doesn’t fit the model of created order for males. He’s an officiant in a pagan culture. He may have wealth and position…but from the religious perspective he is sequestered in the margins. He is an outsider.

God told Phil to leave the exciting work of leading all those Samaritans to Jesus in order to go find this one man…one outsider.

What can we learn about advancing the kingdom of God from Philip’s experience? In what ways will we need to look past the outsider status of people in our world to share the hope of Christ with them?

How did Philip begin his interaction with this man? What can we learn from that?

When the Ethiopian saw some water, he asked what prevented him from being baptized? Depending on what translation you read, Philip either said “simply believe on Jesus with all that you are”….or he said nothing, just jumped in the water with him. What can that teach us about how willing we should be to include others in the family of God?

It will be a challenging yet encouraging study this week. Hope to see you there!

 

People love street magic, don’t they? It always amazes people and the person doing the stuff always has such an air of mystery and power about them. It’s intriguing to observe how quickly we assign importance to people who can entertain us, isn’t it?

This Sunday we’ll be reading Acts 8:4-25 and we’ll encounter a magician…more appropriately, a false prophet who held sway over people until the Kingdom of God invaded his space.

As you read through the text, do you see any contrasts between Philip and Simon? What did Philip preach, and what did Simon present? What was the result of Philip’s message and power compared with Simon’s?

Do you read anything in the text that would make you suspicious of Simon’s conversion experience?

Peter is harsh with his response to Simon’s offer – what message do we get from that? Is there anything in our contemporary understanding of church and Christianity that we should examine in light of Peter’s sharp rebuke?

It’s interesting that Simon appears in several other non-Biblical writings. One of the most intriguing to me is Justin Martyr’s mention of him in his second apology. I wrote a paraphrase of that section several years ago – if Justin’s record is correct, it would seem that Simon didn’t follow Peter’s instructions.

Let’s seek better things in our experience of following Jesus – let’s learn our lessons from the story of Simon.

Hope to see you this Sunday!

Have you ever had someone get really mad at you…I mean, really mad, to the point that they seemed like they were snarling? I’ve only had that happen a few times in my life, as I recall. It’s not pleasant, is it? What about a whole group of people, snarling and raging and in your face with anger…ever experience that? How would you feel in a situation like that? What would you want to do? Calm the situation by trying to reason with the people? Run?

I can think of few things that seem more frightening than an angry mob.

This Sunday we’ll be reading Acts 7:54-8:3 in our study of the Ragamuffin Revolution – the book of Acts.

We’ll continue the account of Stephen, one of the first “deacons” – a person who was attending to the needs of the church community. In the story so far, he’s been accosted by his fellow Jews for his preaching of Jesus as Messiah, he’s been brought before the Sanhedrin to stand trial for false charges that he is trying to introduce a whole new religion among the Jewish people, he’s preached the longest sermon in the whole New Testament…and in this section, we’ll see the resulting action of that sermon (spoiler: it is not repentance and acceptance).

As you read about what it is that Stephen suddenly sees in v56, how would what he perceived have helped him endure this unjust treatment?

Stoning is a grizzly business and a brutal way to die. Astonishingly, it is a punishment still meted out by some nations to this day. Stephen was likely young…this would have taken some time to bring him down, hence the men strip off their coats because this type of murder is a sweaty business.

What do you think of the young man in v 58 who is more interested in the safety of the coats than the man in the ditch being pummeled mercilessly by rocks? What should God do to a scoundrel like that?

In v59 Stephen prays for himself. In v60 he prays for someone else. Who does he pray for? What does he pray for them? Who does this remind you of? Do we see a pattern that deviates from the world’s normal patterns in this? How does it challenge us in our own heart’s response to the villainy we see perpetuated against our fellow believers in other parts of the world?

Chapter 8 brings us back to that young man again, the one who guarded the coats. Does he seem to feel bad for what happened to Stephen? He seems pretty sold out to his destructive worldview and the path it puts him on. What do you think God should have done to him in light of his continuation of this wicked intent?

Oh yeah…and where do you think Christianity would be without that young man?

This will not be an easy study….just sayin’. Maybe this article (which is more like a punch in the head) can help us get ready for it.