Tag Archive - Acts

Listen, Day 19: Acts 7-11

October 5, 2008 in Listen with 0 Comments

Trying to catch up on posting our thoughts on our LISTEN series schedule. Nathan took Micah’s lead from the other day and took notes on paper for this section, too. (They were trying to see who could come up with the most notes – who do you think won?)

Nathan:

  • The Pharisees finally asked something reasonable when they asked Stephen if they were saying the truth
  • They wanted to go back to Egypt even though they were suffering there as much as in the desert
  • It was cool how Stephen asked the Lord to forgive them just before he died, instead of when he was preaching
  • We heard this story [Philip and the Ethiopian] in Treehouse Kids
  • When Saul had the vision I wonder if God gave it to him in a dream or just a vision
  • That’s funny that her name was Dorcus
  • John baptized with water but God baptizes with the Holy Spirit

Micah:

  • Joseph’s brothers sold him to Egypt
  • Moses’ mom was the queen
  • One of the Egyptians pushed Moses
  • Moses found God in the burning bush
  • God told Moses to go let the Israelites free
  • The Israelites praised a statue calf
  • They were talking about their ancestors
  • Jesus yelled at the people and told them, “God gave you the Bible but you don’t obey it.”
  • They killed Stephen
  • Saul ran around houses and killed women and men
  • Peter told Simon that he could not buy God’s glory but earn God’s glory
  • Philip ran up to a chariot and found somebody reading the Bible and helped him
  • Philip baptized him
  • Saul tried to tell people not to obey Jesus
  • Saul was blind for three days
  • God told Ananias to heal Saul
  • Saul was baptized
  • People were planning to kill Saul
  • Peter healed somebody from the dead
  • Peter was telling the people what happened when he was on the roof of somebody’s house
  • I wonder how fast their life was
  • Ananias told God, “Saul has the permission to kill Christians.”
  • Peter told God, “I have never eaten unclean food.”

Dan’l:

  • How well could we recount biblical or even American history in that detail off the top of our heads – Stephen knew the Scriptures
  • I think this was probably an example of the Holy Spirit giving him the words to say (see Matthew 10:19-20)
  • I’ve always loved the phrase that Simon “claimed to be somebody“
  • Sometimes God puts us somewhere for the benefit of just one other person
  • I didn’t remember the story of Aeneas
  • Peter had a serious problem with prejudice even as a church leader (see also Galatians 2:11-21). Leaders aren’t perfect; we need lots of prayer and support, too.
  • “Took control” is a great translation that also explains what Holy Spirit-filling really is
  • A lot of church problems would stop if we just focused on what God is doing

Listen, Day 18: Acts 1-6

October 2, 2008 in Listen with 1 Comment

Finally back to LISTEN together as a family. Here is what we heard.

Apparently, something happened to my notes from Saralynn and Nathan. I can’t find them anywhere. David (and Rachael) noticed that they said “David” about 15 times (his count).

Micah (got out paper and pen to take notes while we listen):

  • They named all the disciples.
  • Peter healed the lame man.
  • Peter told everyone about Jesus.
  • 3,000 people got baptized.
  • Peter stood up for God and told the men that God gave them the power to heal people.
  • God stayed with the disciples and then went up to heaven while some of the disciples were watching
  • Maybe God killed people when they sin?
  • They told Peter that he could not teach about God.
  • All of the stories so far have mentioned Pharisees.

Dan’l:

  • I’ve always wondered if it was really necessary to replace Judas. Was Peter right to use Psalm 109:8 in this situation? Or was this the first instance of using church tradition to make plans? (Jesus chose 12 so that must be the magic number forever.) We never hear of Matthias or his ministry again in the Scriptures.
  • How can we explain God’s work if we don’t know God’s Word? Peter used an obscure passage of the prophet Joel to explain what was happening. Could you do that?
  • This was so different than the healing services done today. It had nothing to do with the man’s faith. He was completely healed immediately. Everyone praised God – not the people on stage.
  • Peter was able to blame these people for Jesus’ death because most of them were there 50-60 days earlier when it happened.
  • I wonder how many people across our planet have to pray this prayer every day.
  • What if we dealt with sin immediately today? How powerful could the church be?
  • We don’t have to run around trying to stamp out false teachers. God can take care of his own light work.
  • God’s blessing is a result of wise leadership.

Vision, Part 6

June 17, 2008 in Vision with 0 Comments

I’m laying out my vision for our church across several posts. There are eight pieces to it. This is number six:

I envision lost people regularly giving their lives to Christ.

“Every day they continued to gather together by common consent in the temple courts, breaking bread from house to house, sharing their food with glad and humble hearts, praising God and having the good will of all the people. And the Lord was adding to their number every day those who were being saved.” Acts 2:46-47 (NET)

I think sometimes how awesome that would be to have been a part of those first days in the church – regular, daily contact with each other; eating together regularly; having a great reputation in the community (“good will of all the people”).

But even more than that – lost people regularly giving their lives to Christ. I mean, think about it, how many people were being saved? Hundreds, thousands? According to Acts 2:41, following Peter’s message 3,000 people were saved and joined the new church. Talk about a revival! There are some estimates that say there were possibly 60,000 believers in Jerusalem by Acts 15, about 17 years later. That’s over 3,100 new Christ-followers per year!

Now, I understand that this was a huge movement of God to get the church started, and a person had to be pretty serious to join a group that was willing to stand against the main political and religious organizations of the day. And serious Christ-followers attract serious seekers.

But does that mean that it can’t happen today? I don’t think so. There are over 265,000 people in our county alone. And according to the most recent data, more than half of them claim no church or religious affiliation.

You can’t tell me that there are 130,000 in our county that are so turned against God that they refuse his salvation. There may be areas in the world where that is true, but St. Joseph County, Indiana?

So what’s the solution? For the Church to be the church that God intended from day one.

I read recently where someone wrote, “The problem with the traditional church is that it became too much ‘tradition’ and not enough ‘church’.” I think the same can apply to a non-traditional church as well.

When the Church is the Church – the Bride of Christ, the Body of Christ, the unstoppable servant of the Most High God – seekers will be able to stop seeking, families will be fixed, marriages will thrive, and lives all over our county, our state, our nation, and our world will be changed.

My vision is to see people coming to Christ for the very first time every single day.

What is your part in that?

Continue to Part 7

Vision, Part 3

May 15, 2008 in Vision with 0 Comments

I’m laying out my vision for our church across several posts. There are eight pieces to it. Numbers two and three work together.

I envision men and women becoming godly church leaders without having to be sent away to a professional institution (such as a seminary).

“And entrust what you heard me say in the presence of many others as witnesses to faithful people who will be competent to teach others as well.” 2 Timothy 2:2

I envision older professionals mentoring younger professionals in how to live godly in the world.

After this Paul departed from Athens and went to Corinth. There he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had ordered all the Jews to depart from Rome. Paul approached them, and because he worked at the same trade, he stayed with them and worked with them (for they were tentmakers by trade).

Now a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, arrived in Ephesus. He was an eloquent speaker, well-versed in the scriptures. He had been instructed in the way of the Lord, and with great enthusiasm he spoke and taught accurately the facts about Jesus, although he knew only the baptism of John. He began to speak out fearlessly in the synagogue, but when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained the way of God to him more accurately. Acts 18:1-3, 24-26

The first passage you recognize as the theme for my blog. I have also taken it as my life verse. It is this concept of intentionally planning and preparing for coming generations that has grown to be my passion.

I like the second passage (Acts 18), because it shows this concept in action – it really works. Paul brought along Aquila and Priscilla who later took Apollos under their wings and trained him into a godly leader. Paul did the same with Timothy and Titus. So did Jesus with the apostles.

I could get into a little bit of trouble here, but I really believe this: If the church (at large) were doing her job correctly, there were be no need for long-term Bible college and seminary programs. Now, it is true that certain areas of ministry need additional specialized training, just like in any other occupation. I am working on my Master’s degree, and even wrote recently about why I like graduate school. BUT… I shouldn’t have to send people away from our church to learn theology, how to give biblical counsel, or how to preach or teach! That should be done here. Even specialized areas can be started by church leaders. My former pastors started teaching me biblical Greek and Hebrew in high school.

God’s plan is for the elders of the local church to equip God’s people to do ministry – God’s work. Paul wrote in Ephesians 4:11-12,

It was [Jesus] who gave some as apostles, some as prophets, some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, that is, to build up the body of Christ…

It’s the same for those who God has designed to work in the everyday workforce. There should be godly men and women in the church who are constantly bringing along younger men and women, training them like Paul did with Aquila and Priscilla, working alongside them in their everyday jobs.

Part of being a disciple or Christ-follower is making other disciples. That’s part of Christ’s final commission to us: “Go and make disciples” (Matthew 28:19). If you are not helping someone else along their spiritual journey, you are missing out on not only part of your purpose for being here, but also one of the greatest joys of following Christ.

My vision is a self-perpetuating church. Leaders growing leaders. Servants growing servants. Always growing larger and stronger. All for the glory of God.

Continue to Part 4

Finding Truth

October 9, 2007 in Discipleship with 0 Comments

I am a firm believer that God alone is the source of truth, that His truth is absolute, and that absolute truth is found in God’s Word. However, I don’t believe that God has limited us to finding His truth only in His Word.

In fact, the Bible itself tells us that God has infused both His creation and our conscience with the truth about Him
(Romans 1:18-2:16).

But, truth is found in other places as well. Just as Paul was able to use then-modern poets and philosophers to show God’s truth, so can we (see Acts 17:22-31 and Titus 1:10-14).

I just finished Jim Collins’ excellent book, Good to Great. It’s not about the Bible; it’s about how to turn a good company into a great one. But many of the principles he presents are truth. In fact, out of the 80 sections that I highlighted in my copy of the book, next to 25 of them I wrote at least one Bible reference containing a direct parallel. And many of the rest were similar to Bible principles. I just didn’t think of an exact verse right away.

The same principles that apply to growing a great company apply to growing a great Christian and growing a great church. In fact, that sounds like a great teaching series. Stay tuned!

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