Chapter Blog

⁸Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them: “Rulers and elders of the people! ⁹If we are being called to account today for an act of kindness shown to a cripple and are asked how he was healed, ¹⁰then know this, you and all the people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed.

I wish Chapter 11 was a stand alone read so we can really get this.  I have said in the past, move on if ou are stuck but not this time.  God needs you to understand Chapter 11 because it is the true History of your Church.  And not just that,  but what is your feelings, heart,  or Judgment on the Jewish people today that do not believe in Christ?  Ok Ok. let me put it bluntly would you say “I don’t get it!!! How can they possibly NOT see that Jesus is the Messiah?”  In our arrogance,  we may think that.  This chapter is written directly to the Gentiles.  God wants us to know not only that we were a plan from the beginning but THROUGH the Jewish nation we were brought to Salvation.  God was able to use the foreknowledge of the hearts of some to be hardened to allow us to be grafted into the Plan from the very beginning. 

What does that mean? I want to remind the ones that have read the Old Testament to recall the geneology of the 12 Tribes.  Two of the Tribes were from Joseph right? Joseph married an Egyptian princess. Soooo 2 of the Tribes were the sons that were half Jew half Gentile.  If I take that one step forward, Joshua was from this tribe line.  Joshua, in Hebrew means “Saves” and the Hebrew word for Joshua is “Jesus”.  See we have always been a larger part of the Plan than people think about.  Now what is Chapter 11 about? (I tell that better than I write it so call me if that was muddled)

Paul is talking to the Gentiles, explaining to them that there was always a remnant of Jews that were kept to the Lord by Grace. (this goes back to the exile).  These are called the elect.  Now the others that were following Baal (false god) and trying to please the Lord through deed,  well God closed their eyes and shut their ears to the coming Messiah.

Go to verse 17.  Some of the branches were broken off (they were dead, the hardened hearts of the Jews), a wild olive shoot (Gentiles) have been grafted in to share in the same nourishing sap (Jesus) from the ROOT (God).  WHy were they broken off? Read the whole paragraph again:

If some of the branches have been broken off, and you, though a wild olive shoot, have been grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing sap from the olive root, do not boast over those branches. If you do, consider this: You do not support the root, but the root supports you. You will say then, “Branches were broken off so that I could be grafted in.” Granted. But they were broken off because of unbelief, and you stand by faith. Do not be arrogant, but be afraid. For if God did not spare the natural branches, he will not spare you either. (Romans 11:17-21)

Jewish people are the natural branches, his Chosen people.  We should never be so arrogant in our Faith to forget that.  Why don’t many of them believe in the Messiah? because their forefathers were blinded to seeing it SO THAT the branch could be cut off and we, the gentiles could be grafted in to the plan.  Paul also warns us that if He is willing to cut a branch off of His CHildren, what will he do to us Gentiles that do not believe.  Let me put it this way: every hear someone say “Ohhh God wouldn’t do that, He is a God of Love”.  Well first, God LOVES us so much he was willing to blind a few to allow us access to Him HOWEVER, if He can take his hand off His own children clearly He will do that to a Gentile.  So be careful.

(I am not a good writer, but a better “tawker”.   Please call me if you want to talk that out)

Hillsong Church's City Campus in Sydney's Waterloo area

It would be a phenomenon that I would observe in many others places on these travels – Redding, Seattle, New York – but I saw experienced and saw it at work first at Hillsong Church Sydney. It was not new to me, but often it seems to make a real difference seeing things work in the flesh compared to reading about them in a book, or hearing them described in a seminar.

What I saw was simply this – Hillsong Church, like many others, is evangelizing and growing most effectively through a campus strategy. What I mean by this is that the church does not seek to grow one meeting in one place by trying to make that meeting serve all kinds of needs, and overcome all the multiplicity of cross-cultural mission issues that are commonly found in any cosmopolitan metropolis these days. Neither does the church just seek larger meeting places in order to accommodate more people. Certainly it can already accommodate thousands. But even a mega-church needs to keep advancing and growing in order to fulfill the great commission, and Hillsong does not look to do this through just seeking to attract more people to its current services. No, instead the church seeks to reach and serve as many people as possible by providing as many options as possible for as many people as possible to experience the presence of God in a church service, hear the Gospel, be included in a spiritual community, feel like they belong, engage, etc.

This is achieved through establishing fresh congregations or campuses. Depending on how you define your terminology, these refer to different times and locations of services. I tend to mean the following by these terms:

campus = a separate geographical venue or location for a church gathering

congregation = a particular group of people meeting at a specific time

Hillsong has been innovative and flexible with its strategy in these areas over the years. Obviously because it sees itself as a city church and thereby reaches out to a cosmopolitan area inhabited by multiple millions, there are many differences between the manner in which this church goes about things and the way in which we might do things as a church on a rock inhabited by 65,000 people. There would still be marked differences if we were comparing it to a city of perhaps 500,000. Nevertheless there are, I believe, fundamental principles at work which can speak to us in Guernsey and indeed into every situation if we are teachable and wise.

Most days I spent meeting a pastor or leader responsible for a particular area of ministry, training or pastoral oversight. Some had been in leadership, indeed in membership at Hillsong Church for only a few years, others virtually since the beginning in the early 1980s. There was nevertheless a clear picture which emerged from my conversations with each of them. I was seeking answers to the questions I had formulated long before I set out on this time away, and we spent time at each meeting talking through some of these issues. (See blog entry Tempus Fugit for details of these questions.)

There are two specific strategies which seemed to help answer my questions at Hillsong. As my time spent there developed the Lord seemed to anoint both of these phenomena particularly in my thinking so that I would say they both became a revelation to me of God speaking directly to my heart for revival and church growth. I will talk about the second of these in the next post. Here I will cover the campus strategy. Certainly this strategy at Hillsong impinges upon the first three of my questions. Right from the very start, it was seemingly in Hillsong’s DNA to establish campuses in order to reach people who would otherwise struggle to come regularly to church or feel part of a community, and catch them up in the vision and mission of the church. A campus in this sense is not an independent church, although it may look different on the surface in size and make-up. It is one in mission.  As mentioned in a previous post, the Hills

Old Logo of Hills Christian Life Centre

Christian Life Centre (as Hillsong was originally called) was established in the Northern Suburbs of the city by Sydney Christian Life Centre (SCLC – now the city campus of Hillsong Church) largely because there was a massive suburban housing development taking place in the late 70s and 80s; in order to reach the many thousands of people moving into these new towns and estates, the leaders of SCLC at the time realized they needed to establish a presence right there in the centre of things. You don’t have to get terribly spiritual to think through this, although it is clearly what happened in the days of the early church, as you discover in the book of Acts – when people moved out of Jerusalem into the surrounding areas, even when the reason was persecution, they took the Gospel and therefore the Church with them. Other expressions of human community and activity also establish and reestablish and develop themselves in this way, e.g. schools, sports clubs, societies, associations, super-markets, banks, shopping malls, even offices, work-places and government agencies.

Certainly there are some people who are willing to travel or drive (if they can afford to) through miles of suburban traffic and past many alternatives in order to get their child to the right school. However for the vast majority this is not a viable option. As a result, schools, clubs, shops, etc. get established near where people live and work because these institutions are people-focused, community-dependent, and empower people to make the choice to use them. The church of Jesus is God-focused and therefore also people focused and people-empowering, because God so loved the world He did not wait for the world to come to Him (we could not!) He took the initiative and came to us. And wherever the church of Jesus exists it should empower people to experience God – it should give those who currently do not or cannot experience the presence of God and the family of God the opportunity of choosing to do so. The church is a community within the community, a city within the city, for the glory of God and extension of His Kingdom.

Jesus modelled this principle by going from village to village and town to town preaching the message of the Kingdom of Heaven; he did not expect everyone to come to Nazareth Community Church! In fact more than that, he trained and appointed the Twelve also to go about preaching the Good News into more regions beyond. So I’m saying there is a pattern to follow here based on a missional principle. You can even discover in the New Testament what happens when this is not the focus of attention – it took persecution and the raising up of Paul and Barnabas at Antioch to refocus Christians on the as yet unreached – to get on with the very last instructions of the Lord here on earth – Matt 28; the Jerusalem church and leadership seemed somewhat caught up in their own little ‘Jewish world’ to begin with. We must remember that the ‘ends of the earth’ start at the ends of our streets!

As a local church Hillsong has established multiple campuses and congregations in the city (even now into Brisbane which is nearly 1000km/600 miles away). It is true that its City and Brisbane campuses are effectively adoptions of existing churches, but the principle remains. Additionally Hillsong has over a dozen other campuses meeting in school halls and other rented buildings each weekend. Hillsong Church does not call these campuses – although they fit my definition – instead these are referred to as extension services and are aimed at local communities of various ethnic, national, cultural or language backgrounds. These communities often link with either the Hills Campus or City Campus for Sunday evening services (which are not duplicates of the Sunday morning services).

The advantage of a campus philosophy is that in this way resources and can be shared and you are not so dependent on raising up all the additional infrastructure you need to make church happen in each location. Key ministries can be shared, training can be shared, funding can be shared, there is better stewardship, things can be done in bulk, there are more opportunities to serve, be an apprentice, strengths can be shared and weaknesses covered more easily. Hillsong have developed these strengths in every area and continue to do so. By using common ministry models in a manner which might be described in the world of commerce as branding they create a larger net to work with, eg. their women’s ministry – Sisterhood and its annual Colour Conference, their various children and youth ministries – Hillsong Kids (primary school age), Fuel (school years 7-9), Wildlife (years 10-12), Powerhouse (ages 18-25), Frontline (25-35), can all be resources and developed centrally, hold joint camps, events and training;  a small success can be celebrated and enjoyed by all, creative excellence can be achieved, a broader group of people are reached, and costs are kept to a minimum, particularly in areas such as children’s curriculum development, and event promotion.

Chris with Nathan McLean, Children's Pastor

Although it may not be visible unless you search hard and deliberately for it, much is made of the use of technology, especially information on databases, communication using IT, and a standardized method of integration and follow-up of all newcomers. I was given a glimpse into how this works and I must say it looks excellent, especially from a pastoral perspective, and especially too for the purpose of minimising communication and information failures as the church grows. It is inappropriate to go into great detail here; suffice to say that there is a clear understanding of how membership is expressed – not by a signing on the dotted line attitude, nor by having completed a course, certainly not by giving a tithe, although none of these things are despised in themselves. Rather, the pastors and key leaders see membership expressed in various degrees from simply regularly attending a worship service, belonging to a Connect Group (home groups which meet fortnightly), or serving in a ministry area, and then right the way through to becoming a pastor or key leader. This flexible, grace-focused paradigm helps the leadership “correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction” as they watch over the growing flock of God in accordance with the teaching of Paul in 2 Tim 4:2.

For an upcoming beach mission, I am currently preparing 6 kids talks. They’re going to be on CRAZY Bible stories, I think it’s going to be pretty fun. I’ll be writing some reflections on this blog as I write the talks, so here is a brief outline of the talks.

CRAZY!

Talk 1 – Writing on the Wall (Daniel 5)

Introducing the series and speaking about how God speaks to us today through the Bible, after first telling the story.

Talk 2 – Babel (Genesis 11:1-9)

Saying that even though God has told us how to live through his word, we rebel against him and we deserve punishment for this.

Talk 3 – Jesus Calms the Storm (Mark 4:35-41)

Jesus is God, and he has power over creation. He is incredibly powerful. We shouldn’t doubt him.

Talk 4 – Daniel and the Lions Den (Daniel 6)

God saves Daniel in this story from the lions. God saves us from the punishment we deserve through Jesus’ death on the cross.

Talk 5 – Jesus’ Resurrection (Matthew 28:1-8)

Jesus is alive today and he is the boss of the world!

Talk 6 – Saul to Paul (Acts 9:1-22)

Saul becomes and Christian and follows Jesus. Learning about how to live a new life for Christ.

The Bible has some crazy stuff in it. But there is nothing crazier then what God has done for us. This talk series will use the crazy stuff as a base to introducing the even crazier stuff!

Chapter Blog

⁵The next day the rulers, elders and teachers of the law met in Jerusalem. ⁶Annas the high priest was there, and so were Caiaphas, John, Alexander and the other men of the high priest’s family. ⁷They had Peter and John brought before them and began to question them: “By what power or what name did you do this?”

The Christian doctrine of the trinity applies to the unity of God’s three-fold person-hood: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Those familiar with the Bible will know that the trinity is never explicitly mentioned in the Bible, nor is the modern understanding explicitly stated. In fact, the Trinity didn’t become officially sanctioned doctrine until around the 4th century. The explicit trinitarian doctrine arose more as a response to theological questions posed during the 3rd and 4th century, than it did as an explicit Biblical principle. However, it can be argued that trinitarian principles exist implicitly within the Bible.

Trinitarian doctrine can be difficult to explain.  God consists of three essential persons: Father, Son, Holy Spirit. Each of these persons is exclusive in relation to each other. However, none are exclusively God. The three are one, unified God. Yet, the three are not simply unique roles that the single God takes on depending on the situation. Jesus is God, but he is not the Holy Spirit or the Father. The Holy Spirit is God, but she is not Jesus or the Father. The Father is God, but he is not Jesus or the Holy Spirit.

Trinitarian doctrine attempts to answer questions that were being posed during the 3rd and 4th century by divergent schools of Christian thought (namely, Arianism, Docetism and Sabellianism). These divergent views, eventually labeled as heresies, challenged either the deity or humanity of Jesus. Athanasius, the Council of Nicaea and several other councils eventually denounced these views in favor of the doctrine Christianity hold today.

Obviously, for one who rejects the notion of God as a causal personality, the trinity seems a difficult concept to accept. While the Bible never explicitly mentions or explain the trinity, it does refer to the three persons of God. These persons are not difficult for me to accept. Of course, I do not see them as literal persons. Rather, they are the expressions and embodiment of the Divine Mystery.

In scripture, God the Father is the creator. Mystery, the desert, the blank spaces in our lives, are fertile grounds for growth. From the creation account, to the Israelites in the deserts, to the woman at the well in Samaria, beauty springs ex nihilo. For example, one may not always understand how beauty arises from personal tragedy, why humans persevere in the face of unimaginable hardship, or the mysteries of the origins of the universe. God the Creator is embodied when order arises out of chaos.

God the Holy Spirit prompts and guides humans throughout scripture. Akin and often synonymous with our conscience according to popular Christian belief, she is a powerful, mysterious force by which people wrestle with decisions. She is our ethical compass, the impetus for compassion and love.

God the Son is the physical and active manifestation of God. God’s Kingdom is brought to completion through the work of the Son. Jesus’ actions challenged the corrupt and sinful systems of this world, challenging social norms and aggressively assaulting oppressive and devaluing systems. God the Son is embodied in restorative and saving acts of justice.

Chapter Blog

¹The priests and the captain of the temple guard and the Sadducees came up to Peter and John while they were speaking to the people. ²They were greatly disturbed because the apostles were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead. ³They seized Peter and John, and because it was evening, they put them in jail until the next day. ⁴But many who heard the message believed, and the number of men grew to about five thousand.

Through him and for his name’s sake, we received grace and apostleship to call people from among all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith. And you also are among those who are called to belong to Jesus Christ.

Through the Jewish nation will come the Gospel to the Gentiles.  That is why the opening of this book declares Jesus as the Messiah the Scriptures spoke of: Promised through the Prophets and Scriptures, a descendant of the throne of Davis, and the SOn of God so that the Jews would open their hearts to The Christ.  This book is fully intended for both Jews and Gentiles for Obedience FROM Faith.

OK…are you ready, this is AMAZING.  Let’s start with 1:18 forward.  God’s Wrath Against Mankind”.  OK, let me rephrase the statement “Why would God send people to Hell?”  If you are ever going to push the Gospel forward this may be the first obstacle you face by a unbeliever.  Get your pen out and look at 1:24, 1:26, 1:28…what do you see in common? “gave them over”.  God does not put anybody into the path of Wrath, he simply takes his hand off of them and lets them have their own choices.  If you read the Old Testament with us one of the most important moments in the Old Testament was when God lifted his hand off his people, the ultimate protection, allowing them to be taken by the hands of the enemy.

God does not send anyone to Hell, He gives them over to themselves.  They choose.  There is so much to Chapter 1 we could park here for weeks (trust me we could). But let’s move on to Chapter 2 BECAUSE  you all stopped at verse 7 and thought, “will Trish write about this” lol  right? Well, let’s break this down both in NIV and NLT.

To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. ⁸But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger. ⁹There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile; ¹⁰but glory, honor and peace for everyone who does good: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. ¹¹For God does not show favoritism. (NIV)

He will give eternal life to those who keep on doing good, seeking after the glory and honor and immortality that God offers. ⁸ But he will pour out his anger and wrath on those who live for themselves, who refuse to obey the truth and instead live lives of wickedness. ⁹ There will be trouble and calamity for everyone who keeps on doing what is evil—for the Jew first and also for the Gentile. ¹⁰ But there will be glory and honor and peace from God for all who do good—for the Jew first and also for the Gentile. ¹¹ For God does not show favoritism. (NLT)

What are we seeking? Glory Honor and immortality.  Seeking God.  Seeking a life with Christ.  How? By Persistence.  We seek a relationship like no other, by loyalty, obedience and behavior.  Out eternity is not given on the doing “good” but by the seeking of the relationship.  When we seek the Lord what does he do? He gives us Grace. That Grace flows through us and what does it look like? It comes out the other end in doing Good.  Not By Doing Good.  Look at the NLT, you are either living for others or you are living for yourself.  The evidence in your seeking relationship with the Lord is acceptance or rejection.  And last, the answer to a question we asked weeks ago…do Jews go to Hell? God says in verse 11 He shows no favoritism.  The Gospel had been brought to both the Jew and the Gentile and He will not treat them any differently according to Salvation. (If none of that made sense to you I have a Piper sermon standing by just let me know I can post it) But don’t let Satan whisper in your ear and contradict scripture for you.  Only Scripture interprets Scripture.

OK, this blog is long enough…the rest is soooooooooooooooooooooooooo good though.  If anyone has any discussion or comments, I would love to hear them.  This is a deep deep book and if when you read it your forehead hurts form concentrating it is ok.   Peel off another layer when God reveals more to you.  Walk away with the most important part of the read today though:

This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished— he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.  (Romans 3:22-26)

Logos Gathering 12.6.09

Chapter Blog

²⁴“Indeed, all the prophets from Samuel on, as many as have spoken, have foretold these days. ²⁵And you are heirs of the prophets and of the covenant God made with your fathers. He said to Abraham, ‘Through your offspring all peoples on earth will be blessed.’^{[c] 26}When God raised up his servant, he sent him first to you to bless you by turning each of you from your wicked ways.”

Apartheid—meaning separateness in Afrikaans (which is cognate to the English apart and -hood)—was a system of legal racial segregation enforced by the National Party government in South Africa between 1948 and early 1994.

We have had the civil rights movement. We had a woman who defied the local bus system’s seating chart. The blacks were supposed to sit in the back of the bus, and she (Rosa Parks) decided to sit in the front. Her act helped set in motion a movement for change, especially for the African people, especially those who lived in America at the time and even now. Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu had a hand in breaking the chains of apartheid and brought hope into a hopeless situation. They sought to essentially redraw the boundaries and invite even their enemies into this new kind of circle that everyone could be a part of. It was a journey to aggressive inclusiveness that we are still partaking in.

I wonder if in the language and theology of the Church (historically speaking) if we too have condoned a spirit of apartheid?

If apartheid is defined as separateness then maybe we have. If the idea of salvation is defined as something we can pray into, that would be akin to someone seeking membership into a club where there is a membership fee to join. What if salvation is more than something we verbally say to God? To use a familiar phrase, what if salvation is something that we do by voting with our feet? (What if faith is action? Sure, the author James seems to differentiate between the two, but to him, it seems like their is a symbiotic partnership that takes shape over time.) Salvation is simplistically translated from the Greek and Hebrew as ‘healing’. If you talk with a doctor they might inform you that healing is a process that happens over time. It doesn’t happen in the moment. And I would argue that the healing of Jesus is more of a movement we can join in by not only experiencing healing from his hands, but by promoting healing in the lives and situations of other. Maybe the reason why we are healed isn’t to join a club, but rather to heal others. To take that healing to those in need. But when we attempt to minimize the message of Jesus down to a prayer or a small exclusive band of followers we without knowing it have minimized the global message of healing for everyone that has already taken place through the powerful act of Jesus on the cross. Which also includes Jesus coming back after the 3-day nap. It is these two acts together that signify a metaphor for daily living. We die to destructive decisions and selfish ways or another way to say it is “we learn from them”, and then through the process of rebirth we come to discover more of who we are meant to be. But when we take the message of Jesus and transform it from being a powerful inventive movement of love that everyone could join in on, we become a community (albeit, without knowing it at times) who supports a sort of religious apartheid that separates one another from the love of God. Jesus crafted a message that allowed all people from all backgrounds who have light and dark histories to go and build a new way of life into their immediate and global contexts. This is a part of what it could mean to be saved. To be saved from ideas and theologies that seek to minimize the inclusive message of Jesus and go and restore cities and hearts and lives back into the healing of the Christ-man. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we all could be a part of a movement that condoned peace, grace, love, redemption and forgiveness and through these acts bring people into the movement of Jesus?

Acts 2:16 “But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:

17`And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, That I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your young men shall see visions, Your old men shall dream dreams.

18 And on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days; And they shall prophesy.

19 I will show wonders in heaven above And signs in the earth beneath: Blood and fire and vapor of smoke.

20 The sun shall be turned into darkness, And the moon into blood, Before the coming of the great and awesome day of the LORD.

21 And it shall come to pass That whoever calls on the name of the LORD Shall be saved.’  (Joel 2:28-32),

Peter reminded the men of Israel how they had rejected Jesus, God’s Son, who had been sent for their salvation. They had taken Him by lawless hands, crucified Him, and put Him to death. But God had raised Him from the dead and He is now Lord and Christ.

Acts 2:32 “This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses.

33 “Therefore being exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He poured out this which you now see and hear.

34 “For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he says himself: `The LORD said to my Lord, “Sit at My right hand,

35 Till I make Your enemies Your footstool.”‘

36 “Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.”

Chapter Blog

²¹He must remain in heaven until the time comes for God to restore everything, as he promised long ago through his holy prophets. ²²For Moses said, ‘The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own people; you must listen to everything he tells you. ²³Anyone who does not listen to him will be completely cut off from among his people.’^[b]

I haven’t written any posts in a while, partly because I’ve been trying to figure out what to do with this blog. Sometimes it feels too difficult to make posts that people will care about reading. While finding my way in the blogging world, I did conclude that adventure poems are probably not the way to go, at least for this blog. Instead, I think I’ll try focusing primarily on more religious things. I guess we’ll see.

I have thought this evening about a passage from Amos 3:7:

Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets.

I have heard mainly two interpretations of this verse. One of them is that the Lord will always speak through a prophet if He is going to do anything among us. That is what I believe Amos was saying.

God does speak through His prophets. And He has only left His children without a prophet during times of great wickedness, when the majority of the people apostatize from the right way and reject Him. Peter reminded us, in Acts 10:43:

To him [Christ] give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins.

How grateful I am to live in a day when there are prophets on the earth. Many people don’t believe there is a prophet through whom the Lord speaks today, but I do. His name is Thomas S. Monson.

President Monson

At a conference two months ago, he said:

I bear my testimony to you that this work is true, that our Savior lives, and that He guides and directs His Church here upon the earth. I leave with you my witness and my testimony that God our Eternal Father lives and loves us. He is indeed our Father, and He is personal and real.

In Acts 9, Saul of Tarsus is journeying to Damascus to do what he loves to wake up in the morning for: persecute Christians.  But in a life-changing encounter, the risen and exalted Lord Jesus speaks to him on the Damascus Road:

“I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he said (Acts 9:5).

Those words were shocking to Saul, for two reasons.  First, he now realized that Jesus was not a dead false Messiah but the risen and exalted Messiah.  Second, he learned that his actions against Christians were ultimately against Jesus himself.

Jesus takes persecution personally.  While Saul was persecuting the church because of his zeal for the name of God, he had actually aligned himself against the purposes of God by persecuting the followers of the Messiah.

When people across the world persecute believers, Saul’s lesson on the Damascus Road needs to be relearned again and again: Jesus takes persecution personally, and aligning yourself against God is no safe place to be.

Theme: Alcohol

Aim: To teach the young people that we shouldn’t let anyone pressure us to drink and that Jesus satisfies us in ways that alcohol can’t.

As young people grow up and enter their teenage years, the need to fit in with others can often have negative effects, even on the most secure of people. It can be really hard to stand up against the crowd and say no to drinking. This Rock Solid session challenges your young people to think about the alternatives to drinking that Jesus has given us, why this is better for us, and how to avoid peer pressure.

Key Bible Verses: Acts 2:1-21

So there are two books of the Bible that are the readings for this time. The interesting thing is that the Bible is no included as one of the Great Books. But here is what editor-in-chief Robert Maynard Hutchins says about that in his introduction.“Readers who are startled to find the Bible omitted from the set will be reassured to learn that this was done only because Bibles are already widely distributed, and it was felt unnecessary to bring another, by way of this set, into homes that had several already. References to the Bible are, however, included in both the King James and the Douai versions under the appropriate topics in the Syntopicon.”

The Syntopicon is made up of two volumes in the set designed to help people find readings about various topics. It is sort of a set-wide index. Hutchins wrote this in 1951. I wonder how things have changed over the years and whether or not Bibles are as widely distributed and whether it would make sense to include them in a modern day set.  

 I have the King James version and will base my readings and post on that. If you happen to comment please mention which version you are using.

Chapter Blog

¹⁷“Now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did your leaders. ¹⁸But this is how God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, saying that his Christ^[a] would suffer. ¹⁹Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, ²⁰and that he may send the Christ, who has been appointed for you—even Jesus.

Jesus’ promise of the pouring out of the Holy Spirit came to pass a few days later on the day of Pentecost. As the 120 were waiting before the Lord, the Holy Spirit of promise filled them all. The sound of the rushing wind and the many voices caused a multitude to soon gather and ask, “Whatever could this mean?”

Acts 2:1 When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.

2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting.

3 Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them.

4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

5 And there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men, from every nation under heaven.

6 And when this sound occurred, the multitude came together, and were confused, because everyone heard them speak in his own language.

7 Then they were all amazed and marveled, saying to one another, “Look, are not all these who speak Galileans?

8 “And how is it that we hear, each in our own language in which we were born?

9 “Parthians and Medes and Elamites, those dwelling in Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia,

10 “Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya adjoining Cyrene, visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes,

11 “Cretans and Arabs—-we hear them speaking in our own tongues the wonderful works of God.”

12 So they were all amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “Whatever could this mean?”

13 Others mocking said, “They are full of new wine.”

Peter explained the event by quoting from the prophet Joel.

Acts 2:14 But Peter, standing up with the eleven, raised his voice and said to them, “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and heed my words.

15 “For these are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day.

God was fulfilling at least three great promises at one time.    1) Joel’s prophecy of the pouring out of the Spirit on all flesh.       2) God’s promise to gather His people from every nation under heaven to pour out His Spirit on them. (Ezekiel 36:21-27)  3) God’s promise to Abraham that through him and his Seed, Jesus, all the nations of the earth would be blessed.  (Genesis 22:15-18; Galatians 3:8-16)

Devout Jews from every nation under heaven were in Jerusalem, as Ezekiel had foretold. (Ezekiel 36:24) Each of them heard the disciples glorify God in their own language. Some said they were drunk.  But Peter explained what was happening by quoting from the prophet Joel. May we also heed his words?

Chapter Blog

You disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a murderer be released to you.

¹⁵You killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead. We are witnesses of this.

¹⁶By faith in the name of Jesus, this man whom you see and know was made strong. It is Jesus’ name and the faith that comes through him that has given this complete healing to him, as you can all see.