The situation facing the church in Jerusalem was seemingly hopeless. King Herod had just executed the Apostle James, and Peter was in prison awaiting execution as well. The church was praying for his release, but they really didn’t think it would do any good. How would they continue without Peter and James? Is there really power in the prayers that we pray? Can we really trust that God hears us and acts upon our prayers?
For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. Ephesians 2:8
Up to this point, each time the Israelites cried out to God, He sent a deliverer; however, this time He first sent a prophet to proclaim the message from the Lord before sending a savior to deliver them from the hand of the Midianites. God reminds the Israelites…
What does it mean to be called a Christian today? We live in a time when the term Christian has become one of the most unclear descriptors in the English language. Many people today are willing to say, “I am a Christian” but would never consider saying that they are “disciples” of Jesus Christ. They are merely cultural Christians. Sometimes I wonder, if people were to look at us and our church and evaluate us today, what nickname would they give us?
As we look at a long section of Scripture today, we will see how that God is methodically moving Peter to see that the gospel is for everyone—not just the Jewish elite. In His sovereignty, God moves Peter from one situation to the next, opening his heart to ‘the Nations’ and releasing a lifetime of bigotry and prejudice. It is sometimes hard for us to imagine the Apostle Peter as bigoted or prejudiced, but we must consider who he is within his cultural context and the Jewish people looked down upon the Gentiles. In this passage, God uses a series of events to open Peter’s eyes to the simple truth that the gospel “is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes—the Jew first and also the Gentile” (Romans 1:16b). So it is time for us to ask, “When will we get beyond our prejudice, our misconceptions and our elitism and be willing to seek after all people with the gospel?”
After spending seven weeks looking at the first three chapters of the Book of Judges, we will be studying all of chapters 4 and 5 this evening. These chapters are unique in that chapter 4 is an historical accounting of the story of Deborah, Barak and Jael; while chapter 5 relates the events through the eyes of a poet or song writer, which provides us with a greater understanding of the story as a whole. Chapter 4 provides us with some understanding of the passage, but it is not until chapter 5 that we are able to see the hand of God continually at work to bring about His plan and His purposes.
In our study today, we will spend some time thinking about the transformational work of Jesus in the life of Saul. Saul was a brutal and bloody man whose goal was nothing short of the complete annihilation of those “belonging to the Way.” God interrupted Saul’s plans with a miraculous encounter with Jesus. This encounter dramatically changed Saul’s life, but we cannot overlook the years and years that it took to prepare Saul/Paul for his eventual mission to the Gentiles. It takes time to build a life that can be effectively used in the service and ministry of God. In the same way, God is still working on you and me—shaping us according to His will.
Lecture 7 – With the death of the first judge, Othniel (3:11), the Israelites once again enter into a cycle of sin. Judges 3:12 says, “And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord.” As a result of their sin, God “strengthened Eglon the king of Moab against Israel.” Starting with the story of Ehud, each of the judges (for whom we have a full story) is what the world would describe as an ‘unexpected’ leader. In this lesson, we will look at Ehud’s apparent weakness to see how God used him, not in spite of but through his weakness.
Part 2 – In this week’s message, we continue to learn more about Philip and how God used him as a witness of the gospel. Last time, we saw how God used him to transform a large group of people in Samaria, but this time God has a different kind of assignment for Philip. So what was God’s big new plan for Philip? How would God use His transforming touch next? God sent him down to Gaza—which the Bible refers to as a deserted place. To go from a growing church to a place where no one even lives—I would have struggled to understand what God was thinking if I were Philip. We cannot know what Philip was thinking, but we do know what Philip did. Let’s read this story to find out!