Posts

Discerning Call and Sending

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Job 11-12; Acts 15-16   “Then the apostles and elders, with the whole church, decided to choose some of their own men and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabus…We have heard that some went out from us without our authorization and disturbed you…they were sent off by the brothers with the blessing of peace to return to those who had sent them…After Paul had seen the vision, we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.” Acts 15:22, 24, 34; 16:10 Throughout the mission-account of the early church, we see both the discernment of who to send, and the discernment of the call. Like two bookends, the discernment of both sending and call in the mission of God involves the church. Those being sent recognize and submit to the authority of the local church. Similarly, the discernment of God’s call to mission in a particular place was a “we” moment, even if only Paul saw the vision of the Macedonian man. Submitting to authority,
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After God’s Heart

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  Job 9-10; Acts 13-14   “After removing Saul, he made David their king. He testified concerning him: ‘I have found David son of Jesse a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do.’” Acts 13:22 God has many acquaintances, but not many friends. David was a man after God’s own heart. We trust our friends to know our heart and not betray us. David was a worshiper before he was a warrior and king. David knew the freedom and peace of God’s anointing and the favor God’s anointing brought with it. The words God spoke through David continue to encourage God’s people because they reveal God’s heart, as well as the hearts of those who seek God. Does God trust us as friends to whom he can give his kingdom assignments? Are we seeking God’s heart so that our hearts will be more like his own? “Lord Jesus, you were both the root and the offspring of David. You are my root. I pray your heart would be expressed in and through my life, for your glory.”
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The Chains Fell Off

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Job 6-8; Acts 12 “After arresting him, he put him in prison, handing him over to be guarded by four squads of four soldiers each…So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him…Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared, and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him up. ‘Quick, get up!’ he said, and the chains fell off Peter’s wrists.” Acts 12:4, 5, 7 There is no bondage or prison the Lord cannot rescue us from! When we cry out to the Lord, we are appealing to the highest authority. Peter’s arrest moved the Jerusalem Church to earnest intercession, not to Herod, but to the Lord God Almighty. How are we responding to the spiritual bondage of friends, neighbors, and family members? What prisons of lust, fear, and addictions do our friends need freeing from? The light that flooded Peter’s cell was greater than the darkness of his circumstances. The most powerful military and political regime in the world at that time could not withsta
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No Favoritism

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  Job 5; Psalms 108; Acts 10-11 “Then Peter began to speak: ‘I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism but accepts men from every nation who fear him and do what is right.’…While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message.” Acts 10:34, 35, 44 The Jewish understanding that they were God’s chosen people implied that other nationalities were not chosen. In each of our stories of God’s grace to our people, we, too, can become convinced that God has a unique love and plan for us. We, too, can be blinded by favoritism to God’s call on other denominations, movements, nations, peoples, and genders. The outpouring of the Holy Spirit releases God’s gifts and fruit into the lives of men and women of every tribe, tongue, and nation. We need the gifts of every denomination and gospel movement throughout the earth for the Church to grow and mature into the image of Christ. Whose “house,” whether denominational or cultural, is God send
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Filled with the Holy Spirit

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Job 3-4; Acts 8-9   “When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them. When they arrived, they prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit, because the Holy Spirit had not yet come upon any of them; they had simply been baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus…Placing his hands on Saul, he said, ‘Brother Saul, the Lord - Jesus, who appeared to you…has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” Acts 8:14-16; 9:17 It was the priority of Jesus and the leaders of the early Church for all Christ-followers to be filled with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit came upon people with the prayer and laying on of hands by those already filled with the Holy Spirit. Simon the Sorcerer was so impacted by the dramatic difference the Holy Spirit made in the lives of the Samaritans, that he was willing to pay money to have the ability to pray with people in that way. Some people today still see the gift
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The Mission-Call of God

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Job 1-2; Acts 6-7 “’I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob’. Moses trembled with fear and did not dare to look…’I have indeed seen the oppression of my people in Egypt. I have heard their groaning and have come down to set them free. Now come, I will send you back to Egypt.’” Acts 7:32, 34 Stephen’s last sermon laid the foundation for God’s revelation of Jesus Christ as the deliverer of Israel. In quoting the Exodus account of Moses’ call, Stephen answered two essential questions that both Moses and Jesus answered: Who is God? And what does God do? God is willing to be identified with those who covenant with him and choose to walk with him. He is the God of relationship with Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and countless others in history. God sees, he hears our cry, and he moves in history to deliver his people. Our salvation-story is valuable as part of God’s eternal story of salvation. Knowing who God is and what he does, helps us answer who we are in light of God’
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The Sun has Risen

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Malachi 3-4; Psalms 148; Acts 5   “But who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears? For he will be like a refiner's fire or a launderer’s soap. He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver…Then the Lord will have men who will bring offerings in righteousness…But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings...” Malachi 3:2, 3; 4:2 The sun of righteousness has risen, and his name is the Lord Jesus Christ. Through the sacrifice of his body, once for all, for the sins of the world, those who believe are made righteous. We bring offerings in righteousness because we have received God’s gift of righteousness. We are also receiving the refiner’s fire and the launderer’s soap in the ongoing process of surrender, repentance, and forgiveness through the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit. God loves us too much to let us stumble in our sins. His invitation is to offer our bodies and lives to him as living sacrifices made
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