... God can use any of us and all of us. As the old Gospel hymn puts it: “If you cannot preach like Peter, if you cannot pray like Paul; Just tell the love of Jesus, and say He died for all.” This is true whether you are the thirteenth apostle...or the thirteen billionth! We may never know exactly what happened to Paul along the Damascus road. But what happened to Paul ultimately? For the rest of his life—over thirty years—he was to be a missionary for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Luke (in the Acts of ...
... Peter Cartwright, Charles Grandison Finney, Francis Asbury, and George Whitefield. They were all people who were commissioned by God to take the gift of life, hope, and forgiveness to others. They had all, in some sense, walked with Jesus and witnessed his resurrection. An apostle, therefore, does not need to be theologically trained and ordained. A woman by the name of Inez was an artist in Flint, Michigan. After her devastating divorce, she ended up living at the YMCA in a small room with a narrow bed in ...
... bordering, perhaps, on idolatry and/or superstition. The significance of the story that Luke tells about Matthias is simply that a man who had not played a very important part in the ministry of Jesus was chosen to move out of anonymity and become a trusted apostle of Jesus Christ. That makes him more than a zero, doesn’t it? How careful they must have been in casting those lots for Judas’ successor; his perfidy had led to Christ’s crucifixion and death. They had all been burned once and they didn’t ...
... . Let there always be a home for God in us, which God will use to unleash God's power, that we may be God's tools through giving, helping, and saving. And it is important, even as God is at home in us, that we be unknown and partially known apostles remembering that God and the Savior are also partially known. For we do our giving, helping, saving, not for adulation in the eyes of men and women, but for the love of God. While of course it is important that we make known to whom the glory belongs, and also ...
... word of choice because all a creed could do, then or now, is offer a "representation" of the faith - no words could ever completely tell the story). From the Old Roman Symbol developed the statement that has come down to us today. A word here on the title, "Apostles' Creed." It was first identified as such in 390 AD in a letter sent by a church Synod to the current Pope.(5) Legend had it that it was composed by the Twelve after the Ascension with each one contributing a clause. True? Of course not, but the ...
... need to enter boldly into a brave new world, a different world, a changed world, to be stability in a culture in flux. Peter, one of the most creative leaders of the new movement we now call the early church, recorded in the Acts of the Apostles and his letters to those hiding in their homes: “You have a pure and enduring inheritance that cannot perish –an inheritance that is presently kept safe in heaven for you. Through his faithfulness, you are guarded by God’s power so that you can receive the ...
... , The Creed, The Commandments, (Louisville: Westminster/John Knox Press, 1990), p. 160 2. H. A. Williams quoted by John Killinger, You are What You Believe: The Apostles' Creed for Today, (Nashville: Abingdon, 1990), pp. 89 3. Quoted by Killinger, p. 90 4. John A. Redhead, Jr., Uncommon Common Sense, Volume III: The Apostles' Creed, (Greensboro, NC: Worth Family Foundation, 1997), p 168 5. Book of Confessions, "Westminster Confession of Faith," Chapter XXVII/Chapter XXV, "Of the Church," (Louisville: KY ...
... that are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to him." The scripture tells that many were cut to the heart and wanted to know what they could do. "Repent," Peter replies, "turn your lives around." And thousands were baptized, and shared with the apostles in prayer and study and fellowship and communal meals. We too have heard the good news of the Resurrection. We have been baptized into the life of Christ and the love of God. And now we seek to live -- to think, speak, act, hope -- as people whose ...
... running over us. As an American citizen, I appreciate it. But as a Christian, I can not accept it. I can not accept it. The Miranda Rights? No, I'm OK with them. It's the remaining silent part I can't live with. I'd like to propose The Apostle's Rights. "I do not have the right to remain silent. Everything that I say can and will be used to witness to others about the love and forgiveness of Christ. I have the right to speak to anyone who is willing to listen and to have the Holy Spirit ...
... 's Digest, 1967, p. 557 3. Further details come from Douglas Linder, via Internet, http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/scopes/scopes.htm 4. Walter Brueggemann, "The Book of Genesis," New Interpreter's Bible, CD-ROM, (Nashville: Abingdon, 1997) 5. John Killinger, You Are What You Believe: The Apostles' Creed for Today, (Nashville: Abingdon, 1990), pp. 37-38
"I believe in God the Father, Almighty..." Do you now? Is this the same God that the folks down in Colombia believe in, the folks who have just lost homes, health, and loved ones in that devastating earthquake Monday? The same God to whom prayers are directed from those trying to survive the ethnic slaughter in Kosovo? The same God to whom the family of Tiffany Long [a local 10-year-old found raped and murdered] prayed for her safe return from school? "God, the Father, ALMIGHTY...?" Right! In Russell Baker ...
"I believe in God, the Father, Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary..." After all, we call ourselves CHRISTIANS...CHRIST-ians. Of course, we believe with Simon Peter that Jesus is the Christ. Let me press you on that. Be specific. What exactly do you believe about Jesus? Some years ago, in my seminary days, our first course in Systematic Theology dealt with that question. Our professor described Jesus as "the ...
"I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried..." They killed him. They taunted him...tortured him. They killed him. Why? What had he done? The answer of our faith over the centuries has been NOTHING. He was the only perfect one who ever lived. Sinless. Yet the record remains and our affirmation is repeated: "...suffered ...
... . It is likely that he betrayed the Lord with the intention to force his hand and show his power. Judas' plan went frightfully wrong. His plan was ill conceived. In bitter remorse, he hung himself. Judas' plan was not God's plan. Jesus had told all of the apostles, including Judas, that God's plan was that he would go to Jerusalem to die and then be raised again to life. Judas stubbornly clung to his own plan that apparently was that Jesus should conquer the Romans and become the new Jewish king. It was the ...
... (28), a dust storm is punishment for forsaking God. The dust of sin is the dust of the grave. In Jewish tradition, to be in mourning meant to push on ashes and sackcloth, and often to sit in the dust. But this is not the advise of Jesus to his apostles. They are not to fall into mourning for the ones who will not listen. But to kick off the dust from their feet, and to walk on to the next place. This kicking off of the dust has many layers of meaning therefore. In the Hebrew scriptures, God promises that ...
... by four, but with a question that would get them focused and moving forward. “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward heaven?” (Acts 1:11). It’s time to get busy. Stop star gazing and naval gazing. It’s time to get busy. Jesus left the apostles with a specific promise of power from the Holy Spirit and a precise mission to witness for Jesus to the ends of the earth. Jesus gives us the same promise and the same mission. How does the Lord get your attention? How does the Lord move you from ...
... Jones said, “Be careful how you pray. You may be the answer.” (3) He’s right. If we pray in the spirit of deomai, begging the Lord to work in and through us, then He will answer us. And we will be that answer. The next calling of the apostle is the calling to go, offer peace and heal the sick. In verse five of this lesson we read, “When you enter a house, first say, ‘Peace to this house . . .’” Have you ever thought about how critical peace was to Christ’s ministry? There is a great story of ...
... the corporate bottom line ... is that your argument? All I hear from you, Mr. Gaitius, are rationalizations! That's a fine way to be a Christian in the world!" Billius' assailant moved closer to him. "My friends and I have already requested that the presbyter write to the apostle Paul about you. We don't worship here anymore; we're proud to say we don't eat meat at all; we're thinking of starting our own church. We can't associate with fools like you who worship idols and don't think anything of it. When ...
... to circumvent. Don began dreading each day of drudgery. He wondered how much more debilitated Donna would get. He wondered what size pipe was necessary for 100 toilets. Don became so weary he didn't care whether he lived or died himself. It may have been like that for the apostle Paul when they finally dragged him off to the slammer in Rome from which he wrote the words we hear in today's lesson. "Dying is gain." "My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better" (Philippians 1:21-23). The ...
... was the Mount of Olivet, after all, where all this was supposed to happen! (see Zechariah ch. 14). While the apostles were staring at the clouds, suddenly two angels interrupted their silent musing. “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up ... of power is given. Here is where our mission is articulated and our specific purpose in life is clarified. So, what did the apostles actually do when they got back to Jerusalem? What are we really supposed to do within the church? How does a general promise become ...
... in our minds. The problem, however, is that we often do not seem to know who or what God looks like. We are like the apostle Philip who asked of Jesus, "Lord, show us the Father, and we shall be satisfied." Jesus was deeply disappointed by Philip’s request and said ... all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth" (Acts 1:8). It was he whom Christ had sent as an apostle to the Gentiles, it was the world in which he lived that was his stewardship responsibility - and he never forgot it. We might ...
... , "To give repentance and forgiveness of sins." And praise be his name, the risen Lord still has authority on earth to forgive sins! And only he can! But this good news is not accepted as good news by everyone. These men were furious and wanted to have the apostles put to death. Why wouldn't they? They killed Jesus, now they'll kill his followers. Yes, we'll have some problems if we walk with obedience to our Lord. Not everyone will like us and talk about how nice we are. Sometimes, in spite of all we ...
... great that you wondered how you would ever get through it? When a close call came, have you ever felt that God either didn't care or that he was asleep because you couldn't reach him? That is what is going on in our story, the story of the apostles in a little boat during a violent storm on a lake called Galilee where the wind rushes down from the hills with such velocity that even seasoned fishermen are sure they are going to die. This storm is called a "furious squall" in the NIV of the New Testament. The ...
... that when God wants something done, most of us really hope that He will call somebody else’s number? Mother Teresa, or the Pope, or Billy Graham, or at least the pastor. But God has got our number and, upon occasion, He does call each of us. We, too, are “apostles,” sent with a message to deliver. There is a familiar poem by Annie Johnston Flint (1862-1932) which says it well: Christ has no hands but our hands to do His work today; He has no feet but our feet to lead men in His way; He has no tongue ...
... .” We believe that God used people to write these books, and God used people to collect these books, but in these books we have exactly the books God wanted us to have that contain exactly the information He wanted us to know. As one of the Apostles, himself, Peter, put it, “Knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone's own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. (2 Peter ...