Something Greater

Scattered Seed The religious rulers had decided upon a policy regarding the heresy called Christianity: Attack, Assault and Arrest . Saul became their chief Enforcer, ravaging the church in Jerusalem and surrounding towns. "Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word. Philip went down to the city of Samaria and proclaimed to them the Christ. And the crowds with one accord paid attention to what was being said by Philip when they heard him and saw the signs that he did. For unclean spirits, crying out with a loud voice, came out of many who had them, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed. So there was much joy in that city." Acts 8:4-8 (ESV) The Christians were scattered. SCATTERED: diaspeiro (to sow throughout, to distribute); from dia (through, as a channel) and speiro (to scatter or sow); from spao (to draw) Elsewhere, the Bible describes this scattering as extending throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, as far as Phenice, Cyprus

The Prayer As they were stoning Stephen, his last words were to Jesus alone, as final prayers: "He called out, - Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. - And falling to his knees he cried out with a loud voice, - Lord, do not hold this sin against them." Acts 7:59-60 (ESV) SPIRIT: pneuma (a current of air, breath or breeze; figurative for the human rational soul, vital principle, mental disposition; used to refer to an angel, daemon, God, Christ's spirit, the Holy Spirit); from pneo (to breathe hard, a breeze) Stephen was dying. His last words reflect what he passionately believed was true: Jesus was his Lord , his body was injured beyond repair, the only imperishable portion of his life was his spirit, the very breath of God given him at his conception, returning now to the One to Whom it truly belonged. The Babe in the womb of Mary was conceived by God's Breath. Jesus assured His disciples that God's breath would speak through them, especially in times

Earthen Vessels A friend, Jeremy, lives in Israel. He was in a small village, inspecting some earthen pots which traditionally were used to store drinking water. His hosts told him that they were considered the best for the task since the water would actually become cooler once placed inside of them without any modern refrigeration – an incredible advantage for inhabitants of arid lands. The very idea seemed too good to be true, but it turns out that the villagers were not making this story up and that this is common knowledge in some parts of the world. While swallowing this bit of information my friend was reminded of a verse written by Paul regarding the ministry of reconciliation between God and man. His thoughts encourage me: "But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us." 2 Corinthians 4:7 (ESV) Paul was describing how God committed his greatest work into the hands of men formed from the dust – in

Safe! I sometimes have a hard day at work. No big surprise in that, right? We all have hard days at work, at home, at church. When I have a hard day at work, and I can't let go of the stress when I return home, despite the encouragement and care of my wife, I often will crawl into bed and have only one word of prayer that I can offer up to God: "Safe!" The warmth of the bed, the protection of my blanket, the quietness of the darkness, the security of my home create an image in my mind of safety. With one word, safe, I thank God for His oversight of my life, His guidance and direction and providence , despite the difficulty I've experienced in getting through the day. But my bed and blanket are only an image. Little force is required to violate the security and quiet of my home. My blanket provides small protection from the storms and raging violence of this world . It fails to protect me from even the smallest irritations and upsets. We are surprised

When Glory Becomes Dim Listen: When Glory Becomes Dim (mp3) Watch: When Glory Becomes Dim (Powerpoint) "When the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from him until an opportune time. And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and a report about him went out through all the surrounding country. And he taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all." Luke 4:13-15 (ESV) ENDED: synteleo (to complete entirely, to execute); from syn (with or together) and teleo (to end, complete, execute, conclude, discharge); from telos (the point aimed at as a limit, the conclusion or termination, result, purpose, impost or levy); from tello (to set out for a definite point, goal) Luke says that the devil ended every temptation of Christ. "Ended" is a word of finality...a word for successful completion. In what did the devil succeed? Jesus, after enduring without sinning the temptations of the devil, was empowered by the Holy Spirit to teach

A Kingdom in Search of a People "Now many signs and wonders were regularly done among the people by the hands of the apostles. And they were all together in Solomon’s Portico. None of the rest dared join them, but the people held them in high esteem. And more than ever believers were added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women, so that they even carried out the sick into the streets and laid them on cots and mats, that as Peter came by at least his shadow might fall on some of them. The people also gathered from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing the sick and those afflicted with unclean spirits, and they were all healed." Acts 5:12-16 (ESV) PEOPLE: laos (a people) Many signs and wonders were done among "a people" . "A people" held the apostles in high esteem. "A people" brought their sick and demen-oppressed ones to the apostles for healing. "A people" in the Greek is in the genitive form, meaning possession. "

How Great Our Savior! "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus." Romans 3:23-24 (ESV) JUSTIFIED: dikaioo (to render just or innocent, to show or regard as as just or innocent); from dikaios (equitable in character or act, innocent or holy); from dike (right, as self-evident, justice); from deiknyo (to show) REDEMPTION: apolytrosis (the act of ransom in full, riddance or salvation); from apo ("off" or away) and lytron (something to loosen with, a redemption price, atonement); from lyo (to "loosen") Jesus Christ became our ransom, the payment in full that loosened off the sentence of death required by our sin against God. The Ransom allowed God to declare us to be innocent, equal in character to that of His Son , justified in His sight as entirely right in character and act. How great our sin, yet how great our Savior! Image provided by mo

It's Not Okay to Lie How would you respond to someone who casually says, "It's okay to lie because all I have to do is ask God for forgiveness and He will forgive me?" Paul expected a similar question from his Roman readers: "If our unrighteousness serves to show the righteousness of God, what shall we say? That God is unrighteous to inflict wrath on us?...If through my lie God’s truth abounds to his glory, why am I still being condemned as a sinner? And why not do evil that good may come?" Romans 3:5,8 (ESV) Paul's answer: God is Judge of the world! A judge rewards right and administers punishment for wrong . Were God to forgive sin simply because one asked for forgiveness, God would cease to be a righteous Judge. God does not forgive because people ask Him for forgiveness... He cannot unconditionally forgive sin and still remain the righteous Judge of the world. The entire world is held accountable to God for violating His Law (Romans 3

Astonished and Silenced Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus. Acts 4:13 (ESV) BOLDNESS: parresia (all out-spokeness, frankness, bluntness, publicity, assurance); from pas (all) and rheo (to utter, speak or say); from rheo (to flow, or "run") ASTONISHED: thaumazo (to wonder or admire); from thauma (wonder); from theaomai (to look closely at, to perceive or visit) The religious leaders greatly admired the bold, out-spokenness of their speech. Notice that their wonder resulted from seeing Peter and John, rather than listening to them. It was not so much as their words of reason, but their boldness in speaking that caused others to look closely at Peter and John in wonder and admiration. The astonishment came because of the constrast between what the crowd had expected of Peter and John before they saw them preaching. Notice tha

My Box I'm a little boy, holding a little box. On the box is a scrap of paper with a childish scrawl: My Life . I hold that box so tightly, hiding it from others, allowing only a few to peek inside and share my treasures. There are times that I am forced to open my box and share. Many days I take my box to Work and carefully open the lid to my box only a crack, sharing a bit of my strength and skill in trade for food and shelter and perhaps a bit more that I can call my Wealth. With my closest friends, or those that I wish were my closest friends, I open my box sporadically, quickly, picking out a few treasures that I think might please them. But I'm quick to guard against injury to my box. Even a critical word, or a stony glance or a surprised question will cause me to slam my box shut and I run to the nearest corner to pout or castigate myself. With my dearest partner, my lover and wife, I share much more of my box . I confront some of my fears and prides and let her

Our Spiritual Sacrifice The Apostle Peter described the Christian life as being one of offering "spiritual sacrifices" : "You yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ." 1 Peter 2:5 (ESV) I find myself a bit fuzzy with what "spiritual sacrifice" looks like. After looking a a few (of the many) references to sacrifices, both in the Old and New Testaments, I'm convinced that it means this : Jesus Christ IS our spiritual sacrifice . Lifting Him up, making much of Him, speaking of Him to the world, depending upon Him and delighting in Him as our greatest Treasure are the expressions of the truest sense of "spiritual sacrifice". Giving money to charity, singing to others, spending our time and energy, cleaning the church or sharing our food with the needy is only one degree removed from actual, blood-spilling sacr

Passing Over Former Sins What is the meaning of the phrase, "God passed over former sins"? What value did this act of God give to the work of salvation by Christ? "Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins." Romans 3:24-25 (ESV) God's plan, the death of His Son Jesus Christ, was to show the righteousness of God. God's righteousness had been in a sense "tarnished" , or hidden, by withholding punishment for "former sins". What were the "former sins"? As Creator, God has every right to immediately punish evildoers for sin . He demonstrated His justice in casting Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden, and in the world-wide flood that destroyed nearly all life, and the sudden, complete destruction of Sodom and Gommorah. Yet hundreds of generations of human civilizations,

Doing Good Works versus Undeserved Grace How would you communicate the concept of undeserving grace to someone who is hung up with doing good works to get into heaven? How could you relate this truth from your own application in life? There are hundreds of laws, commands and parables in both the Old and New Testaments that require obedience. They can be summed up in just two: "Which is the great commandment in the Law? You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets." Matthew 22:36-40 (ESV) There is absolutely no doubt that the Bible teaches that people are to obey God's commands by living a life of good works. We are to treat God, and other people, with love . LOVE: agapao (to love in a social or moral sense, to have a strong personal atta