Acts Devotional Week 13

Acts: Finishing the Work

July 29, 2012

Acts 20:18-28

When they arrived he declared, “You know that from the day I set foot in the province of Asia until now  I have done the Lord’s work humbly and with many tears. I have endured the trials that came to me from the plots of the Jews.  I never shrank back from telling you what you needed to hear, either publicly or in your homes.  I have had one message for Jews and Greeks alike—the necessity of repenting from sin and turning to God, and of having faith in our Lord Jesus.  “And now I am bound by the Spirit to go to Jerusalem. I don’t know what awaits me, except that the Holy Spirit tells me in city after city that jail and suffering lie ahead.  But my life is worth nothing to me unless I use it for finishing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus—the work of telling others the Good News about the wonderful grace of God.  “And now I know that none of you to whom I have preached the Kingdom will ever see me again.  I declare today that I have been faithful. If anyone suffers eternal death, it’s not my fault, for I didn’t shrink from declaring all that God wants you to know.  “So guard yourselves and God’s people. Feed and shepherd God’s flock—his church, purchased with his own blood—over which the Holy Spirit has appointed you as elders.

 This is a sad farewell.  Paul’s missionary journey is leading him into danger and he knows it.  He is speaking to his friends and fellow ministers.  He is also saying what needs to be said to prepare himself for the unknown trial ahead.  First, he recognizes where he has come from.  He has endured trouble before and it never stopped him from doing the Lord’s work.  This was the work the Holy Spirit led him too.  It was a work that saw the message of Christ shared with boldness, honesty, and humility wherever it needed to be shared. 

Second, Paul expresses where he is going.  Sometimes we need to say something out loud for it to become a reality.  The same faith that led Paul to successfully do God’s work in Asia is leading him to Jerusalem.  Speaking his intention brings clarity and accountability.  It is a reassurance.  In order to do what God has called him to do, Paul must go to Jerusalem no matter the risk.  He will have to trust God for the rest and he knows it.  He will finish the work.

Finally, Paul speaks to his friends.  He has set himself as an example to them.  Now he is going away and does not expect to return.  These disciples of his will need to continue the work.  They must not shrink from the task the Lord has given them.  They are the guardians of God’s message and the one’s responsible for the discipleship of God’s people.  They must also finish the work God began through Paul.  Will we finish the work God has begun in our lives?

Acts Devotional Week 12

Acts: Confusion, Riots, and The Way

July 22, 2012

Acts 19:23-31

About that time, serious trouble developed in Ephesus concerning the Way.  It began with Demetrius, a silversmith who had a large business manufacturing silver shrines of the Greek goddess Artemis. He kept many craftsmen busy.  He called them together, along with others employed in similar trades, and addressed them as follows: “Gentlemen, you know that our wealth comes from this business.  But as you have seen and heard, this man Paul has persuaded many people that handmade gods aren’t really gods at all. And he’s done this not only here in Ephesus but throughout the entire province!  Of course, I’m not just talking about the loss of public respect for our business. I’m also concerned that the temple of the great goddess Artemis will lose its influence and that Artemis—this magnificent goddess worshiped throughout the province of Asia and all around the world—will be robbed of her great prestige!”  At this their anger boiled, and they began shouting, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”  Soon the whole city was filled with confusion. Everyone rushed to the amphitheater, dragging along Gaius and Aristarchus, who were Paul’s traveling companions from Macedonia.  Paul wanted to go in, too, but the believers wouldn’t let him. Some of the officials of the province, friends of Paul, also sent a message to him, begging him not to risk his life by entering the amphitheater.

 Ephesus contains the temple of Artemis, which is one of the Seven Wonders of the World.  The town was very wealthy and very active.  Paul spends three years preaching the message of Jesus (The Way) here.  God is working in such a powerful way that the political and business leaders are beginning to notice.  Things are changing.  The town is becoming different and it is hitting the businessmen in their pocketbooks and the political leaders in maintaining public order.  It all comes to a head in a near riot started by a man named Demetrius who was concerned about business (and Artemis worship).

This entire event can be boiled down to one idea.  Safety.  Demetrius and the business leaders felt threatened while their profits and jobs were not safe.  The politicians (town clerk) in Acts 19:35-41 were afraid of Roman retaliation if a riot were to break out.  Their goal was staying safe.  Paul’s desire was to rush into the riot.  He wanted in.  His goal was not safety.  He saw an opportunity to stand up for God and he was eager to take it, even if it was not safe.  Paul’s traveling companions faced the wrath of a mob and Paul wanted to stand next to them.  How often does our desire to be “safe” keep us from following God?  Are we more like the business leaders and politicians or Paul in our service to God?

Vacation Bible School "Sky" 2012

Vacation Bible School is done for the year!  We had a great time.  This video is the highlight video.  Sky was our theme this year.  Everything is possible with God!  Our kids and leaders all had a great time.  Thanks to all for your hard work.  We are excited to see how God will use this years VBS in the life of the church.

Acts Devotional Week 11

Acts: Shaking Off the Dust

July 15, 2012

Acts 18:4-11

Each Sabbath found Paul at the synagogue, trying to convince the Jews and Greeks alike.  And after Silas and Timothy came down from Macedonia, Paul spent all his time preaching the word. He testified to the Jews that Jesus was the Messiah.  But when they opposed and insulted him, Paul shook the dust from his clothes and said, “Your blood is upon your own heads—I am innocent. From now on I will go preach to the Gentiles.”  Then he left and went to the home of Titius Justus, a Gentile who worshiped God and lived next door to the synagogue.  Crispus, the leader of the synagogue, and everyone in his household believed in the Lord. Many others in Corinth also heard Paul, became believers, and were baptized.  One night the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision and told him, “Don’t be afraid! Speak out! Don’t be silent!  For I am with you, and no one will attack and harm you, for many people in this city belong to me.”  So Paul stayed there for the next year and a half, teaching the word of God.

What drove Paul?  His trade is tentmaking or leatherworking (Acts 18:1-4).  Yet he stops this when Silas and Timothy arrive.  Their financial support empowers Paul to focus on sharing the Word of God.  This was his passion, but did it drive him?  He shared God’s Word with the Jews in the synagogue every Sabbath, yet they did not listen.  They continued to refuse Jesus as the Messiah.

Paul’s response to this refusal is to shake the dust from his clothes.  This symbolizes a cleaning out, removal from, or separation from.  Interestingly, Paul doesn’t see their opposition to God’s Word as an attack against him.  Instead, he views their rejection of Christ as opposition against themselves.  Their refusal to take God’s Word seriously is harmful to themselves first and foremost.  By shaking the dust from his clothes Paul leaves the fate of those who refuse to listen in their hands and walks away.

Walking away may seem harsh, but Paul was driven to make disciples and that work was happening among the Gentiles.  Paul walked away from those who refused God and walked toward those searching for God.  Sometimes there are things a people we need to walk away from in order to do God’s work.  Paul’s refocused attention led to many being baptized.  Perhaps walking away from some things will open us up to a greater work of the Lord.  In the end, Paul received a message of assurance from the Lord.  God encouraged Paul.  God protected Paul.  God still works this way in us. Let us follow Him.

Acts Devotional Week 9

June 24, 2012

Acts 16:16-24

One day, as we were going to the place of prayer, we met a slave-girl who had a spirit of divination and brought her owners a great deal of money by fortune-telling.  While she followed Paul and us, she would cry out, “These men are slaves of the Most High God, who proclaim to you a way of salvation.”  She kept doing this for many days. But Paul, very much annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, “I order you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” And it came out that very hour.  But when her owners saw that their hope of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace before the authorities.  When they had brought them before the magistrates, they said, “These men are disturbing our city; they are Jews and are advocating customs that are not lawful for us as Romans to adopt or observe.”  The crowd joined in attacking them, and the magistrates had them stripped of their clothing and ordered them to be beaten with rods.  After they had given them a severe flogging, they threw them into prison and ordered the jailer to keep them securely.  Following these instructions, he put them in the innermost cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.

Who sets people free?  Here we have a slave-girl and a prison.  The girl was a slave who made money for her owners.  She was enslaved to a spirit who controlled what she was able to see and speak.  She was not allowed to be who God created her to be.  In the name of Jesus, Paul and Silas freed her.  She found freedom in Jesus Christ.

Yet that freedom had a cost.  The girl’s owners lost a source of income.  They were upset so they decided to go after Paul and Silas.  All Paul and Silas were trying to do was go to a place to pray.  They were not seeking attention or trying to cause trouble.  Yet they find themselves seized, put on trial, stripped, beaten and put into prison.  In freeing a girl in Jesus’ name they found themselves in prison.

The work of the Lord can be difficult.  As God frees people from their prisons of sin and its consequences there is opposition.  Through Paul and Silas Jesus was changing the way the world worked.  Some just didn't like that.  A safe and tame message of salvation is fine, but when God changes things there is often resistance.  Ultimately, imprisonment could not stop God’s work (Acts 16:25-40).  Salvation spread and the world was changed.  God sets people free.  Will we accept that freedom or stand against it?  Will we be willing to make the sacrifice needed to set people free?

Devotional: A Father's Delight

June 17, 2012

Proverbs 3:11-12

My child, don’t reject the LORD’s discipline, and don’t be upset when he corrects you.  For the LORD corrects those he loves, just as a father corrects a child in whom he delights.

Life comes with prosperity and adversity.  We honor the Lord in prosperity (Proverbs 3:9-10).  We rejoice when the bank account has enough in it, when we have all the food we need, when the house doesn't have some major problem that needs fixed, and when our health is good.  We praise God for those gifts.  How do we treat God when we face adversity?  What will we do when we aren't sure how the bills will be paid, where the next meal will come from, when the house needs major repairs, and when our health isn't what we want or need it to be?  Often this becomes a time of questioning.  We wonder if God really is as good as everyone claims Him to be.  We sometimes view God as the punisher who has brought this trouble to us for some reason we aren't even sure of.  I wonder, is this true?

How many of us have been disciplined?  How many of us have had to discipline a child (our own or others)?  Why do we do this?  Is it out of anger or some other emotion that wants to “get” that child for what they have done?  Probably not.  Is it simple obligation to a set of rules that lead us to think a child must act a certain way just because (seen and not heard)?  Probably not.  Discipline in its truest form comes from love.  It comes from a desire to see a child grow up healthy, wise, and safe.  Discipline is an act of protection.  Discipline is an act of love.

God is not in the business of creating adversity and suffering among His people.  Most often the adversity we face is birthed out of a sinful (separate from God) attitude or action.  No father forces a child to do something harmful and/or dangerous just to teach them a lesson, but a good father will use the wrongdoing of a child to instruct them on what is the right way.  This is discipline.  The wisdom of Proverbs says that the Father (God) delights in us (His children).  Because of this, He disciplines and corrects.  He uses our wrongdoing to show us the right path.  Instead of turning away from Him when adversity strikes, maybe we should turn towards Him and discover the embrace of love our Father offers us.

Acts Devotional Week 8

June 10, 2012

Acts 15:12-19

Everyone listened quietly as Barnabas and Paul told about the miraculous signs and wonders God had done through them among the Gentiles.  When they had finished, James stood and said, “Brothers, listen to me.  Peter has told you about the time God first visited the Gentiles to take from them a people for himself.  And this conversion of Gentiles is exactly what the prophets predicted. As it is written:  ‘Afterward I will return and restore the fallen house of David.     I will rebuild its ruins and restore it, so that the rest of humanity might seek the LORD, including the Gentiles—all those I have called to be mine.  The LORD has spoken—he who made these things known so long ago.’  “And so my judgment is that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God.

Paul and Barnabas had completed their missionary journey.  It was successful wherever it went.  Many Jews and Gentiles had come to believe in Jesus Christ.  But they had faced opposition along the way.  Some tried to discredit them.  Others argued with them publically.  Still others got people agitated enough to attempt physical harm.  Paul is stoned during this journey and survived it.  Yet the message of Christ got through and now Paul is home.  Even at home there are questions about what to do with all these new believers.  Should they follow the old ways as practiced before or should we allow a new way of following Jesus to happen?

This is an age old question that follows believers every time God does a new or highly significant work.  What is the church to do when following God leads to places that don’t fit with what has been done before?  There is always resistance to change…even when it is clearly God at work.  We get comfortable in the pattern of how things are done.  Sometimes it’s hard to see how God can operate outside of that pattern.

This is what Paul and Barnabas are facing.  They are facing a council that is unsure about the changes God brought about through Paul’s work.  In that place, Peter and James stand up and declare that the old ways must change and the new believers not be given a difficult road to Christ.  They were right.  They still are.  If God is calling people we simply cannot let patterns and systems stand in His way.  It’s always been God’s Church and He should always be able to do as He sees fit in it.  May we never allow our natural resistance to change stand in the way of people coming to God.