The text says that Barnabas and Paul were set apart for this mission. Often saying ‘yes’ to God means saying ‘no’ to the things that keep us from fulfilling the call. What might God be asking you (or us) to say ‘no’ to to fulfill God’s call?We didn't necessarily stay with that thought, but feel free to respond to those. We also took side trips in discussion regarding how we go about sharing the message of Jesus. What is the approach considering what the stetting is and who the audience is? How do we go about sharing the love and grace of God? Hmmm...I can't remember what else we discussed. Feel free to chime in!
Some people end up rejecting Jesus because of the way He changes our relationship with other people. Some would rather hold on to their bitterness and animosity towards others than turn to Jesus and be reconciled.
Monday, August 27, 2007
Acts 13
Last night we looked at Acts 13...all 52 verses of it. As Ryan said, "52 verses of unadulterated fun!" Nice! So, yeah, we talked about Acts 13 and the sharing of the message of Jesus on Paul's first missionary journey. Here are the talk points that we began with:
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There is so much in these unadulterated verses that stand up and scream and can draw attention.
First, PaSaul just seems like something out of a fantasy tale. When Ryan mentioned that the book was reading like the Lord of the Rings (here we see Frodo (aka Peter) and then we see Gandalf (aka Paul)), it really struck me just how much like a fantasy hero Paul is. He comes and speaks with effective, but straight forward, speech. And, he's casting level three blind spells on people! It's amazing. It really makes you wonder how close to God he was to have those abilities, and why we see no one with those abilities today (either of them).
Then, above that, stands out the fact that PaSaul really has "street cred", and that helps him effectively preach the Gospel. He shows an understanding of the people he is talking to, either because he's been persecuted, he's been a persecutor, he's been blinded by God, or he's studied the scripture and missed the giant neon sign over Jesus' head that said "MESSIAH". He's not some exalted person (which I sometimes think of him as), he's one of the people he's preaching to. He understands their confusion, their doubts, their plights, their paths, and their sins. And that makes him relevant.
And maybe that's how we become more effective at preaching the good news that Christ is risen, and in that resurrection is the forgiveness of sins: by becoming more relevant. By being real. By not preaching at people, but by living with them. By waiting for an invitation to say Jesus, but living each day portraying Jesus. By not judging people from afar, but by walking 2 miles in their shoes.
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