Agents of the Lord

A devotional from Rev. Lisa Acts: 17:22-31 In this morning reading we join up with Saul, now fully transformed into Paul, as he continues his ministry to those ...outside of the Jewish faith, to those who would not have grown up learning about the stories of Moses and the other great heroes of what we call the Old Testament. So, you can see a difference in the way in which Paul approaches his audiences, he does not talk about the prophets of old, as these people would have no idea of who Isaiah was. Instead Paul meets people at there level, in a similar way that Jesus did during his earthly ministry, he talks to them about the Lord with words and themes that they understand, to help them to open their eyes to see the work of the Great Creator in their own lives. It also helps us when we approach this morning to understand a bit about the religious life of those who live in Athens during the time when Paul was doing his ministry. This city was very religious, they believed at the time that there was a god for everything in the world, one for water and rivers, one for the hearth, and a different one for making tools for daily life. There were so many gods that people could approach that in their big temple the had a statue for the unknown god, because they did not want to risk offended a god they had yet to meet. This is the situation that Paul is speaking to, a group of people who want to be closer to the Devine, but not always sure how to do it or which god they should approach to fill that hunger for the Lord in their heart. In many ways Paul is also talking to us right here and now, as we live in a world where there are many lower-case gods. For what is a god other then something that we dedicate our life to, our energy into the worship of it. For some people money has become their new god, as they spend all of their time trying to get more, others it me be having the best of everything, or looking the best. What are some of the new gods that you see in the world around you? And name some of them that might be a temptation for you? Now read this passage again, what part jumps out at you? What words are lingering in your mind as if God is speaking directly to you at this moment? One passage that stands out to me, Is the line that people grope around the world to find the Lord, not knowing that he is never far from them. What comes to your mind about your own faith journey when you think about your own search for the Lord? Did you always feel that He was around you, or at times did you struggle to find him during your times of need? How do you think that we as followers of Jesus are called to walk with our brothers and sisters who are still searching for the Lord in their lives? What can we learn from this reading to walk with those who are still searching for the unknown to them God? What does it mean to you to know that you a child of the living God? What words would you use to describe this to someone else?

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Acts 2:42-47 This morning were given an in this morning’s reading were given a look at what happened to the followers of Jesus, after the resurrection. For the ...book of Acts is the story of the early church, and there are many similarities between our church today and the early church. But the point that I want us to look at today is the idea of how they created a community, with in the church, as people were willing to donate their money and their gifts to be held in trust for the good of the gospel, as they gathered together to worship and celebrate God’s good gifts together. What does fellowship mean to you when you think about our church family? What are you missing the most right now? And how do you think that we could find new ways to build up the fellowship of the church? Where told that the early church family would often break bread together, one way of reading this is to see that they would celebrate communion together, but another way of looking at this is that they would invite others to their table. This would have had a big impact on their social life because at the time it was believed that you should only break bread with those who had a similar social level or a higher one? What do you think that it meant to people to break bread with their brothers and sisters in Christ rather then those who had a similar social class? Why in the past did you invite people to a meal at your table, was it because you thought that they could improve your life style, or was it because of something else? After reading this text do you think that you might find yourself breaking bread with new people again, once it is safe to do? What comes to your mind when you hear about people holding all of their things in common, do you think that this is something that could still be done today? Did you ever stop to think that this is what we do with our offerings on a regular Sunday, as all of our gifts are put together for the work of the church. Dose this change the way you look at your offering? What does it mean for you to have a good and generous heart? How do you think that we as a community could seek to grow and nourish a good and generous heart? I would like to invite you morning to take some time to praise the God, for the blessings that we have received and the blessings that are still yet to come our way.

Intro for kids to our program