Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Opening: Ever been mistaken for someone else? Do people tell you that you remind them of a family member or a famous person?

Scripture: Read Acts 21:37-22:29.

Insights:

• Here was a case of mistaken identity. The commander thought Paul was a noted Egyptian revolutionary who three years before had appeared in Jerusalem claiming to be a prophet. He led a large group to the Mount of Olives and told them to wait until the walls of Jerusalem fell at his command.[1] His followers had been Dagger-bearers, violent nationalists who were deliberate assassins. They concealed daggers in their cloaks, mixed with the mob and struck as they could. The Romans had dealt swiftly and efficiently with his followers but he himself had escaped. The commander thought Paul was this revolutionary Egyptian come back.  
• Acts 22:14 is a summary not only of the life of Paul but also of the Christian life. We are:

1.    To know the will of God. It is the first aim of the Christian to know God's will and to obey it.

2.    To see the Righteous One. It is the aim of the Christian daily to walk in the presence of the Risen Lord.

3.    To hear God's voice. It was said of a great preacher that in his preaching he paused ever and again as if listening for a voice. The Christian is ever listening for the voice of God above the voices of the world to tell us where to go and what to do.[2]

• The crowd of people listened to Paul, but then he said “Gentiles” and that did it; they blew a gasket again. The Bible told them that they were supposed to be a light to the Gentiles, telling them about the one true God.[3] But they had renounced that mission by becoming separatist and exclusive. They thumbed their nose at God’s mission and purpose for their nation. As a result, the Gentiles (including us) would receive the message of salvation and be accepted into God’s family.  
• The commander tells Paul he bought his citizenship. He was probably Greek by birth.[4] Persons who obtained Roman citizenship other than by birth usually took the name of their sponsor. The commander’s name was Claudius Lysias (see Acts 23:26) which may indicate he purchased his citizenship through the sponsorship of the emperor Claudius. Being a citizen by birth was especially prestigious.

Life Questions:

• Paul was given the opportunity to share his testimony, all while chained between two Roman soldiers. (Can you imagine how that looked, especially if Paul was a speaker who moved his arms and hands!) What life experience have you been through that you could use to share your faith with someone else?  
• What is your mission and purpose? What is the universal Church’s mission and purpose? What is our church’s mission and purpose? Don’t know? Don’t you think you should find out?

Prayer Focus: That we would know God’s will, see Jesus working in our midst, and hear God’s voice telling us where to go, what to do, and what to say.

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[1] Like Joshua and Joshua 6:21?

[2] Barclay's Daily Study Bible, Acts 22:11-21

[3] See Isaiah 42:6; 49:6

[4] Compare Acts 21:37

Monday, October 22, 2012

Opening: Ever return from a trip or vacation and find a big problem at home? Broken water line filling the basement for who knows how long? A home break-in? No heat? What emotions do you have? Do some “ugly” words come out of your mouth?

Scripture: Read Acts 21:17-36.

Insights:

• When Paul arrived in Jerusalem, he reported to the Church leaders, who accepted him and saw God's hand in his work. They praised God for it.  
• But Paul was faced a church with a problem. The Judaizers were at it again! They accused Paul of encouraging Jews to forsake their ancestral faith. This Paul had never done. True, he had insisted that the Jewish Law was irrelevant for the Gentile, but he never sought to draw the Jew away from the customs of his fathers.[1] It was ok for Gentiles to abstain from eating food offered to idols, from consuming blood or the meat of strangled animals, and from sexual immorality.[2] But Jews were held to a different standard.  
• The proposed solution to Paul: join four men in a Nazarite purification – you even pay for it all[3] – then Jews will see that you are ok. Paul was probably not very happy about it; for him the relevancy of things like that was gone by the grace of God through the Cross of Christ. But he did it because he felt that he should “become all things to all people, that I might by all means save some.”[4] It is the sign of a truly great person that can subordinate his or her own wishes and views for the sake of the Church.  
• Paul's compromise led to disaster. It was the time of Pentecost. Jews were present in Jerusalem from all over the world and certain Jews from Asia were there[5], who no doubt knew how effective Paul's work in Asia had been. They had seen Paul in the city with Trophimus, an Ephesian Gentile who someone knew. The business of the vow had taken Paul frequently into the Temple courts and these Jews assumed that Paul had taken Trophimus into the Temple along with him, which was unlawful. It was so serious that even the Romans allowed the Jews to carry out the death penalty for this crime.  
• What a riot. It was so bad that the Roman commander assumed that Paul was dangerous enough that he had him bound with two chains, not just one. Or maybe the commander was trying to protect Paul by chaining each arm to two soldiers.

Life Questions:

• Luke points out that the seven days of the purification ceremony were nearly over. Just a little bit longer, and Paul would have been out of the limelight. Sometimes it seems that circumstances rule our world. What do you think about the possibility that God was using all of this for His purposes? Is it also in the realm of possibility that the circumstances of your life might also be vehicles for a work of God that you may not understand right now? Do you have one of those in your life today?  
• The prophecies regarding Paul’s binding came true (see Acts 21:10-11). In the past, Paul had the freedom to go wherever the Holy Spirit led to preach the Gospel. From this point on, he would have to devise a new strategy for his work, since many years would be spent in prison. We can discover this true for us as well. Have you ever determined that you or the church would need a new strategy for doing the work God wanted done? What was it? How do you feel in the transition? Bound like in chains? Confused?

Prayer Focus: That we would continue to trust God even when life takes a sharp corner to the right.

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[1] See Galatians 5:2

[2] Acts 21:25, also Acts 15:20-21

[3] Paul would pay for the offering: a year old lamb for a sin-offering, a ram for a peace offering, a basket of unleavened bread, cakes of fine flour mingled with oil and a meat offering and a drink offering. Pretty expensive!

[4] 1 Corinthians 9:22 (NRSV)

[5] Remember Acts 2?

Sunday, October 21, 2012

Opening: Everyone knows that is the right thing to do. You know it; your friends know it; your spouse knows it; your parents know it; EVERYONE! But how do you feel when someone you love still does the wrong thing? How about when you, though you know the right thing to do, still do the wrong thing?

Scripture: Read Acts 21:1-16.

Insights:

• Today’s passage records the end of Paul’s Third Missionary Journey with stops at various places as he makes his way to Jerusalem to report to the leaders (see Acts 15:1-31; 18:22). Note that there are believers all along his way, evidence that the Church is really spreading out. 
• Luke records for the second and third time that if Paul goes to Jerusalem, there will be trouble. In Acts 20:22-23, Paul said, “But now I must obey the Holy Spirit and go to Jerusalem. I don't know what will happen to me there. I know only that in every city the Holy Spirit tells me that troubles and even jail wait for me.”[1] Here in Acts 21:4 and 10-12, prophets warned him not to go to Jerusalem. But like Jesus, Paul’s mind was set: on to Jerusalem![2] 
• Remember Philip? He was selected along with Stephen to administer the food distribution to widows (see Acts 6:5). He became an evangelist in his own right, most notably to the Ethiopian eunuch (see Acts 8:4-41). 
• Fifteen years earlier, Agabus had predicted the famine in Jerusalem (see Acts 11:27-29). Christian tradition tells us that Agabus was one of the Seventy Two (see Luke 10:1-17). And as was the custom of Jewish prophets, when words were inadequate, they dramatized their message.[3]

Life Questions:

• It is clear that the Holy Spirit revealed to many the difficulties Paul would encounter when he arrived in Jerusalem. Even Paul knew it, and though others warned him not to go, he did anyway. Was he being disobedient and hardheaded in insisting on going to Jerusalem? Or were his friends hoping to talk him out of going? How would you feel if Paul was your personal friend and you knew he was heading into a trap but wouldn’t listen to you? 
• Paul wrote to the people of Rome about the struggle to overcome sin in one’s life. Read Romans 7:14-25. We may know what we should do, yet we at times do the opposite. It is the experience of God-followers throughout history. Yet Paul comes to the conclusion that our answer to this turmoil is Jesus (see Romans7:24-25)!

Prayer Focus: That we would not only know what God wants us to do, and that we would do it, not matter what the consequences might be.

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[1] Acts 20:22-23 (NCV)

[2] Matthew 16:21; 20:17-19; Mark 10:32-34

[3] See 1 Kings 11:29-31; Isaiah 20:3-4; Jeremiah 13:1-11; 27:2; Ezekiel 4; 5:1-4.

Saturday, October 20, 2012

Opening: What was the hardest job you ever had to do, one that seemed too big to accomplish when you were first charged with it? A huge assignment at work? An overwhelming project at school or home? Eliminating a monster debt? Going through a difficult disease, ailment, injury, or rehabilitation?

Scripture: Sunday’s message is our text today. Read Luke 10:1-17 and Galatians 5:6,13-14.

Insights:

• Jesus sends out the Seventy-Two (Seventy in some manuscripts) with specific instructions:

1.    Go out with a partner. No “Lone Rangers” in ministry.

2.    Don’t take any extra money, clothes, even shoes (imagine that ladies!).

3.    Bring peace and blessings to those who welcome you.

4.    Accept the hospitality of those you stay with.

5.    Heal the sick.

6.    Proclaim the coming of the Kingdom of God.

7.    Don’t stew over rejection – shake it off.

8.    The message – accepted or rejected – is always focused on Jesus.

• The Seventy-Two returned from their mission with incredible news: even demons obeyed. 
• In Galatians, Paul is clear: what is important is faith and service in love. In our First Sunday – Spiritual Gifts class, we teach that a visible act of service, done in love, makes a Kingdom impact. Otherwise, what we have done is worthless (see 1 Corinthians 13:1-3)!

Life Questions:

• What if your name was on the list of Seventy-Two? Which of the eight duties Jesus gave the Seventy-Two would be frightening? What would your reaction be? Would it be based on your own ability or based on the knowledge that you go in the name of Jesus?  
• What is your “Love-Level” in your service? Are you doing something in the church or representing the church that comes out of our love for God and love for people? If you are burned out, could it be your “Love-Level” is low? What could you do to increase your “Love-Level?”

Prayer Focus: For tomorrow’s worship celebration, that we would truly and meaningfully worship the Christ who calls us and sends us out in love.

Message Series: “Send Me.”

Tomorrow’s Message Title: “…To Make a Difference”