The resources God has given us to live a thriving life are His Word, Spirit, and People.
Read God’s Word:
Acts 9-11
Act 3: God’s New Covenant People
Scene 4: Christ’s Church: God’s People Advance the Kingdom
Background Information: Acts 9-11
Ananias and Barnabus showed great courage and faith by allowing Saul entrance into their lives. Saul could have been pretending to be a seeker in order to further his terror campaign against the church, from the inside. They were rightly afraid of him; trusting him could have cost them prison or death. Faithfulness to God doesn’t include being foolish, but it is never risk adverse. Following Jesus will require both wisdom and courage. Saul, soon to be Paul, was brought into the church and became the apostle to the gentiles as the Church made the jump from consisting of mostly Jewish background believers to people from all nations. The jump begins with two visions: one given to Cornelius, a Roman soldier who was an earnest seeker of God. The other was given to Peter, a devote Jew and leader of the early church. Cornelius’ vision connects him with Peter, who will make the gospel known to him. Peter’s vision opens his heart and mind to the reality that God saves all who come to him in faith. His vision prepared him for his ministry to Cornelius. Once again, Peter’s faith required courage. This Roman soldier/seeker could just as well have been working undercover, but Peter trusted God, not his own fears or prior prejudices. Meanwhile, word had gotten back to Jerusalem that Peter was hanging out with non-Jews. The circumcision party were Jewish believers… not yet a formal group, but they would eventually become an ongoing threat to the Church. They would seek to impose extra requirements on Gentiles who came to Christ, an imposition that would have undone the very foundation of the gospel. They heard Peter’s play by play description of what had happened and realized, to their astonishment, that God had granted eternal life even to the Gentiles. We may be thinking they should not have been surprised–clearly God’s plan has always included more than Israel. We cannot underestimate how ingrained wrong thinking was in their minds. We can easily see from where we sit what was not easy to for them to see. Our own challenge is to see beyond our wrong thinking and personal biases to what God may be doing around us. We are prone to write off people who seem to be “too far from God.” We decide, as if it were our decision, who might or might not be open to the gospel. God only knows what he is doing in a heart, and we must simply be faithful to share the gospel as we have opportunity.
Pray:
Praise God for…
Thank God for…
Confess your sins to God
Pray for God to give Jason & Lisa opportunities for many gospel conversations this week. Pray for God to shine through Alia, Anna, & Aaron as they interact with kids from dozens of different countries through their school and sports.
Ask God for… (what else concerns you?)
Reflect:
Write down one passage of scripture that stood out to you today.
Write down why this passage stood out to you.
Engage Community:
Text or call someone now and tell them…
– What you are praying for.
– What stood out from God’s word today.