From Disciple to Apostle - A Journey through the Book of Acts

Passage: Acts 24:10-27    

  Description: Conversation! That is the theme that came out for me as I read and re-read Acts chapter 24 this week. Specifically, it was the conversations that were happening between Felix, the governor of Judea, and the apostle Paul. There was one sentence that kept grabbing my attention: “Felix hoped that money would be given him by Paul, and for that reason he used to send for Paul very often and converse with him.” It is one of those sentences that tells us so much in so few words. I love those bits of scripture, ones that draw me in and get me asking, What is going on here? So, journey with me now, as I seek to answer that question.

Passage: Acts 15:1-41 & Acts 16:11-15    

  Description: Each Sunday I begin worship by greeting you with the words, “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ….be with you.” What does that mean exactly – when I wish you and bless you with the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. As I was reading through Acts chapters15 & 16 this week, each time I read through the phrase that popped out for me was “the grace of the Lord Jesus.” Peter declares that they all will be saved, healed and blessed through the grace of the Lord Jesus. Later, when the believers in Antioch are saying farewell to Paul and Silas as they set out, they commend the two to the grace of the Lord. It is a phrase that is core to the Christian tradition: “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.” Words of greeting, blessing and farewell – but what exactly are we wishing each other with these words? The word grace in Hebrew is chen. It’s root meaning is to bend or stoop in kindness to another, especially a superior stooping to help someone inferior. In Greek, the word grace is charis ????? which speaks of a manner of acting or an attitude of the heart rooted in gratitude, compassion and mercy. Out of these root words, grace came to refer to unmerited favour, unconditional love, goodness and mercy that is offered freely and joyfully. Grace can not be earned. It also is not taken away because we have done something wrong. So when I greet you with the words, “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you,” and you reply, “and also with you,” we are declaring that we believe that each of us is enfolded in the unconditional, freely given, love and compassion of God which we know through Jesus. What a beautiful thing! And what an amazing thing for the followers of Jesus to wish each other when you consider what was happening between them at the time.

Passage: Acts 11:1-18    

  Description: I hate it! I just absolutely hate it when I catch myself judging someone because of their looks, their way of speaking, or their approach. It happened this week --probably more than once, but the once that stood out was when I was listening to the radio. I was appreciating what the person was saying but I found myself thinking – what he has to say would be better received if he didn’t have that accent. Oh, I hate it when I do that. Judge someone for just being who they are. But we human beings are judgemental by nature. Partly it is a survival skill. We judge others in order to determine if they are the enemy that we need to be aware of. And there are people, abusive, violent, deceptive people, that we should be very wary of. But this judgement thing has got out of hand. Jesus knew that when he told people, “Do not judge so that you are not judged.” Jesus modeled a spiritual practice of accepting each person in front of him for who they were, welcoming them, seeing beyond outer appearances and stereotypes, rejecting societal norms & connecting compassionately & unconditionally with the person. In today’s reading from the book of Acts, Peter is challenged to drop his judgments, even the judgments made on the basis of the Jewish law code by which he had lived his whole life.

Passage: Acts 6:1-15    

  Description: Rev. Susan & Rev. David have a conversation about sharing the good news. Deacons were appointed to take care of those in need in the new Christian community. In the United Church, we are quite good at taking care of each other and helping out in the community. Apostles were to share the good news and speak the message of God's love as known through Jesus. In the United Church, we are quieter and more reserved. Here are some ideas for being able to speak our faith.

Passage: Acts 2:37-47    

  Description: We are familiar with the gospels – Matthew, Mark, Luke & John – and we understand that there are many letters, mostly from the apostle Paul, in the New Testament, but tucked between the gospels and letters is a book that we only occasionally refer to and which often, I believe, is forgotten – The Book of Acts. At the Worship Team meeting this fall, it was suggested that we learn more of about the early church – what really was going on and what can we learn from it. And that leads us to the Book of Acts. So today we begin an adventure together, an adventure in faith, following the early church as described in the book of Acts. Between now and Easter we are going to journey through the whole book. In your announcements and in the booklet I’ve put together, you’ll see that I’ve outlined chapters to read each week, and I invite you to do just that. Read the two to three chapters indicated for each week. In the service, we’ll highlight some portions of those two to three chapters. And then, every other week, on Tuesday mornings, we’ll have a Bible Study (a Scripture in the Sandbox session) that will give you a chance to ask questions about what you are reading and discuss what you are noticing in the passages. This journey through the Book of Acts is an opportunity for all of us to grow in our faith life and to deepen our relationship with Living, Loving God. I think there is so much that the Book of Acts has to offer us right now in the year 2020. You may ask: How could a book written in the 1st century have something to say to those of us living 2,000 years later in a very different context? What can we, who live in a technological world, learn from those who lived in the Classical Greek era? What do those living under the rule of the Roman Empire, who relied on runners and travellers to deliver messages have to teach us who live in a democracy and have instant access to messages from around the world? Well, I think there is more that we have in common that we might imagine.