jn_en_2018_05_08
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====== Chosen to Serve ... ====== | ====== Chosen to Serve ... ====== | ||
- | Tuesday, May 8, 2018. | + | Tuesday, May 8, 2018. When the church started, the apostles which Jesus himself chose led the church. We |
+ | hear of problems with serving food to widows, and seven gifted and spiritual deacons are chosen to serve | ||
+ | the people of the church, to enable the apostles to serve their way with prayer and teaching. | ||
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- | ** ...** | + | ** Problems Clearly Named ...** |
- | + | Reading the first chapters of the book of Acts, we find quite a lot of clear speeches about the role | |
+ | of Jesus for Jews and all people. He is the one who frees from sin, he is the lamb of God, the source of | ||
+ | new life. Peter preaches this, but also Paul and also Stephen, one of the deacons of the church. In Acts | ||
+ | 7 we read a long speech of Stephen. These early sermons are a breathtaking read, have a look into it: | ||
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- | + | Let me first note that Stephen as the other apostles of his time does not fear conflict. He is telling | |
+ | people where they fail. He is directly attacking his audience, telling them where they commit murder and | ||
+ | betrayal. These speeches are very clear and demand decisions. You can be for it and against it - being | ||
+ | without a decision or reaction is difficult to do. | ||
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- | ** ...** | + | ** Heart and Ears ...** |
- | + | Stephen points to " | |
+ | for the Jews. But your heart can be far from God. You can be part of the church, but you do not hear and you | ||
+ | do not listen and act. Stephen points to a long history of such behaviour. And indeed, a lot of the Old | ||
+ | Testament is about God struggling with the Israelites, to follow his spirit. | ||
+ | |||
+ | We are not better today. We can be Christians, can be member of some church. Yet: are our hearts circumcised - | ||
+ | to stay in this image. Is our heart fully with God? Do we understand him? Do we long to listen and to do? | ||
+ | Are we full of truth, of trust, do we have a genuine upright heart? Do we follow God's commands? Today this | ||
+ | is about Jesus himself, about his words, his commands, his guidance! | ||
+ | |||
+ | The holy spirit is there to guide us. We can follow the spirit, yes, we can listen and do. Stephen invites us | ||
+ | to make our own decisions. What about me? What about you? Do we hear, do we understand? Do we follow? Come, | ||
+ | go into prayer today, and ask the Lord to guide you through the spirit. Tell him that you want to follow. | ||
+ | And then, when you start to see, then do! Go ahead in the spirit. It is possible, today, and tomorrow! | ||
(Roland Potthast) | (Roland Potthast) | ||
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jn_en_2018_05_08.1525764578.txt.gz · Last modified: 2018/05/08 09:29 by potthast