Week in Review, plus Feb 14-20 reading schedule

Sunday's Discussion
What a great discussion we had Sunday night! Rusty didn't even get to a third of the questions he prepared as we started with a bang and then the group ran with it for the rest of the time.

If you missed it, we (of course) missed you, but you also missed what was one of the best discussions yet. We pretty much solved all of our church's problems, and since Alan sits in on staff meetings every week, we are going to get him to strong-arm the rest of the staff to implement all of our solutions. Because the truth is, the stuff we want to do is right and anyone who disagrees with us is obviously out of sync with God's will for their life. (If you take offense to anything in the previous two sentences, please leave this blog and go read THIS.)

Dr. Compton is preaching a sermon series about what a Christian's life should look like if the Holy Spirit is working in them, this past week, we read a lot in Acts, where we are seeing the Holy Spirit really getting to work, and on Sunday night, our small group also touched on the Spirit as well. (A coincidence?)

 We talked about how we can get church just like we want it, it can be attractive and bring people in the doors in large numbers, but that doesn't mean that the Holy Spirit is involved.

In his book, The Forgotten God, Francis Chan says the same thing:

"I bet you'd agree that a group of talented, charismatic leaders can draw a crowd. Find the right creative team, musicians, and speakers, and you can grow any church. It doesn't even have to be a Christian church. I can probably 'pull off' a fairly adequate church on my own as well. But who wants or needs that? I don't want my life to be explainable without the Holy Spirit." 

The point is, that while we can set up a service, or even an entire church that makes us feel good. If the Holy Spirit isn't involved, we are wasting everyone's time. The Holy Spirit's presence and involvement is what makes any effort we put forth valuable.

In The Valley of Vision, a collection of Puritan prayers, there is a prayer to the Holy Spirit that contains the following excerpt:

"Vain are all divine purposes of love
and the redemption wrought by Jesus
except thou work within,
regenerating by thy power
giving me eyes to see Jesus,
showing me the realities of the unseen world."

 For those of you who don't speak the King's English, the writer of that prayer is saying, "Without the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives, we can't even realize the redemption that Jesus extends to us."

Wow.

How catastrophic it is for us to neglect to seek after the Spirit with our worship instead of our own comforts and desires like song preferences and sermon topics! If we get distracted by those things, we are holy missing the point! (You like what I did there, don't you? Get it "wholly" & "holy"? They are homonyms. I'll be here all week.)

Questions from Sunday
Below are the questions that Rusty came up with for our discussion on Sunday night. While we only covered a couple of them, they all are very useful for reflecting on what we read last week.

Acts 14-20 details some of the missionary journeys of Paul. Throughout your reading this week, how did God speak to you, and what did He point out to you that stuck with you?

Acts 14
What do you feel it was about being rejected that caused Paul and Barnabas to spend considerable time speaking boldly?

How do you think that Paul knew that the crippled man had the faith to be healed?
How do you feel the crowd could be so easily changed from worshiping Paul to stoning him?

Acts 15
The early church was making it difficult for the Gentiles who were turning to God by forcing them to obey the Jewish Law...can you think of ways the modern church makes it difficult to turn to God?

Paul and Barnabas had an argument that caused them to part company.  Does the Bible say either of them was right? What do you think was the real cause of their disagreement? Do you think Paul was right to part ways with Barnabas?

Acts 16
Why do you think a demon would want to promote the gospel (vs 17)?

Acts 17
Since Paul received mostly rejection in the synagogues, why was it his custom to always go there first?

Acts 18-19
What do you think prompted Paul to ask the disciples (vs 2) if they had received the Holy Spirit?

What is the difference in baptism by John and baptism by Jesus?

What do you feel was the motivation of Demetrius in opposing Paul?

Acts 20
Why do you think Paul sent the disciples on ahead of him?

Schedule for February 14-20
Also, I know most of you have a copy of the reading schedule, but here is the schedule for this week:

Sunday - Lev. 23:3; Ps. 24; Acts 21
Monday - Lev. 25:17-19; Ps. 25; Acts 22
Tuesday - Lev. 27:30; Acts 23
Wednesday - Num. 2:34; Acts 24
Thursday - Acts 25
Friday - Num. 6:24-26; Ps. 22:8-11; Acts 26
Sunday - Ps. 23; Acts 27

Have a good week. Feel free to comment, as some of you have promised you'll do. See you on Sunday.

January 31 - February 6 Reading Schedule

What up, Smallies?  Here is our reading schedule for this week. Keep in mind that we won't be meeting on Sunday due to some sporting event that some people think is a big deal, but I'm not sure what it is. I mean, the World Cup doesn't start until June 11. 

So, for your own study and reflection, I have included a few questions, as well as some of my selected thoughts. If you have any comments you'd like to make, please use the comment section. I'm sure the 2 people that read this blog would benefit from your point of view.

Sunday - Ex. 29:44-46; Acts 7
Monday - Ex. 32, Acts 8:1-25 

Tuesday - Ex. 33; Acts 9:1-19, 31-43 

Wednesday - Acts 10 

Thursday - Ps. 19; Acts 11 

Friday - Ex. 40:34-38; Ps. 15; Acts 12

Saturday - Acts 13

Questions for Reflection:

Exodus

Ch. 32 - Why do you think Aaron was convinced by the people to create a golden calf for them to worship?

Ch. 33 - What do you think it means when God told Moses that "I know you by name"?

Ch. 40 - The Israelites knew when they were supposed to move when they saw the cloud moved from the tent of meeting. What are signs that we have now that help us know God's will?

Acts

Ch. 7 - Why do you think Stephen answered a Yes or No question with a 1,200 word answer? What do you think he was trying to prove to the Sanhedrin?

Ch. 8 - Simon the Magician wanted the honor associated with the powers bestowed to the apostles so much that he was willing to pay for it. What does this say about his sincerity regarding his true relationship to Christ?

Ch. 9 - Saul thought he was doing the work of God by arresting and imprisoning Christians. What are modern examples of people thinking they are doing God's work, but are really working against Him?

Ch. 10 - How can we apply the lesson Peter was taught in his vision to our lives now? Who or what do we consider unclean, when, in reality, God has made it clean?

Ch. 11 - In verse 26, it mentions the first time that the followers of Christ were referred to as "Christians." How is this term used today, and how do unbelievers view most of the people who claim to be Christians?

Ch. 12 - Herod allowed the people to call him a god, and the real God turned him into a worm farm for it. Why do we often like to take the credit for things that God has done in our lives? How is this a dangerous thing for us to do?

Ch. 13 - Look at the list of people that are mentioned in the first verse of this chapter. What a wide variety of people! Saul (a Pharisee from Cilicia in southeast Asia Minor), Barnabas (a Cyprian Levite), Simeon (a black guy), Lucius (a Roman from Cyrene in North Africa), and Manaen (formally a companion to Herod Antipas), were all gathered as brothers and fellow prophets/teachers. Why, 2000 years later are our churches so much less diverse racially, culturally, and socioeconomically?

My Thoughts:

I selected a couple of the passages above to focus on and share with you a few of my thoughts:

(The opinions and views expressed in the following paragraphs are solely of the individual whose name appears at the bottom of this post and are necessarily not the views of the Bryant-Taylor Small Groups, its parent, affiliate, or subsidiary members.)

Acts 9

Saul was on his way to Damascus to persecute followers of Jesus. He honestly believed he was doing the work that God would have him do. I started thinking of modern day examples of people who think they are doing "God's work" while they are quite obviously wrong. I immediately thought about people who shoot up abortion clinics or bomb the cars of doctors who provide abortions. I also thought about Muslim terrorists who crash planes into buildings believing they are obeying and honoring their god, when they are actually bring him into disrepute.

As I was reading this passage, my mind went immediately to Romans 5:8, which says, "You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."

Paul write these verses out of his very own experience. While he was on the road to Damascus to persecute Christians, Jesus intervened in his life. Paul did nothing to deserve this. He had made no move toward God. He was running the other way completely. Jesus saved Paul at his worst, and Paul remembered that when he wrote his letter to the Romans.

Acts 11

In his biblical commentary, Matthew Henry says being called a Christian "denotes one who, from serious thought, embraces the religion of Christ, believes his promises, and makes it his chief care to shape his life by Christ's precepts and example. Hence it is plain that multitudes take the name of Christian to whom it does not rightly belong. But the name without the reality will only add to our guilt. While the bare profession will bestow neither profit nor delight, the possession of it will give both the promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come. Grant, Lord, that Christians may forget other names and distinctions, and love one another as the followers of Christ ought to do. True Christians will feel for their brethren under afflictions. Thus will fruit be brought forth to the praise and glory of God. If all mankind were true Christians, how cheerfully would they help one another! The whole earth would be like one large family, every member of which would strive to be dutiful and kind." (Emphasis mine.)

What an honor it must have been to be called a Christian during this early time. While it was probably meant as a derogatory term from unbelievers, it meant that you were noticeably different from the world. It meant that you had made such an impact that others had taken notice of you and gave you a name for it.

Now it is often the opposite that is the case. These days, people label themselves as Christians, and then go out and engage in behavior and express opinions that are completely contradictory of the example that Jesus Christ gave us. Too often, I have called myself a Christian, and then sullied the name of Christ through my own actions and words. I have used the name flippantly, and I feel it's a violation of one of the Ten Commandments we read last week. (Ex. 20:7).