Reflections — Pastor’s Blog

“These men have turned the world upside down” (paraphrased as “These men have caused trouble all over the world”) was the false charge brought against Paul by rabble-rousers in Thessalonica. The charge was false, but it unwittingly described the impact that Paul and his band of missionaries were having on the world as Luke describes the gospel reaching Thessalonica and Berea. The world was upside down, and the good news was turning it right side up! How can the church today have an impact on a society that seems increasingly hostile? Learn from Acts 17:1–15.

Paul left Philippi and traveled west to Thessalonica. Luke’s account of his ministry there and in Berea challenges you to search the Scriptures. It focuses first on the need to understand the Scriptures. Paul followed the Egnatian Way, built for the mobility of Roman armies, westward to Thessalonica. This city had a larger Jewish population than Philippi, and Paul began by speaking in the synagogue and continued that for three successive Sabbaths. Paul reasoned with them from the Scriptures. Did he use Psalm 16, unpacked elsewhere in Acts? Did he focus on Isaiah 53? Did he proclaim the messianic kingship of Jesus from Psalm 110? In any case he reasoned from the Scriptures, and explained and proclaimed that Jesus is the Christ. The methods of evangelism, the focus of building the church, has to be the Word of God. Paul did not shy away from doctrine, from digging into the Word. Even in Bible-believing churches, too often what we believed is reduced to a dozen bulleted points. A gospel that shakes up the culture has to run deep, and we don’t need to be afraid of that. The Word, read and proclaimed, is used by the Holy Spirit, and it has a powerful impact. See 1 Thessalonians 1:4–10.large number of God-fearing Gentiles and prominent women turning to the Lord. They joined Paul and Silas—in other words, they were incorporated into the fellowship of the church.

Continue reading “Turning the World Upside-Down”

How often do you celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ? On Easter Sunday? On the first day of every week? As you read what Paul says in Ephesians 2:4–7, how about every day? And what is the best way to celebrate it?

You were dead. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is worth celebrating! The New Testament Scriptures (unlike Israel’s worship in the Old Testament) do not require the observance of holy days – with the exception of the example of the one weekly holy day, the Lord’s Day. This isn’t the place to get into a discussion of the Christian Sabbath, but remember that the Fourth Commandment has not been abrogated. Christians are not under obligation to observe Lent (think of Zwingli and the affair of the sausages) or other days. But what about the resurrection of Christ?

Continue reading “Resurrection Sunday, Every Sunday, and Every Day!”

After my first year in seminary I served a summer internship in a church in Iowa. On my side of the pulpit was a brass plaque with the words, “Sir, we would see Jesus,” which I recognized from today’s text. At first glance, the quote might seem out of context, but both that summer and through the years since I have appreciated how profoundly appropriate it was and how crucial for the preaching and hearing of the Word of God—and how important it is for your life as a child of God.

The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. John provides an account of Greeks coming to Philip with the request, “Sir, we would like to see Jesus.” Philip consults Andrew, and they convey the request to Jesus. The Greeks were not Greek-speaking Jews, but apparently Gentiles who had been attracted to the worship of the God of Israel. Something about Israel’s God and his Law contrasted with the polytheism and immorality of pagan life. They wanted to see (meet with) Jesus. Remember that a godly life accompanied by words that point to your Savior can have a profound impact on a culture that is not just drifting, but steaming full speed away from God, as evidenced by the way that we undervalue human life at its most vulnerable times and as we depreciate the importance of marriage as a union of a man and a woman made in God’s image.

Continue reading “What Do You See When You See Jesus?”

First century Europe was a continent enslaved in the darkness of paganism. In the Macedonian city of Philippi, the power of the good news began to shine. As Luke describes that in Acts 16:11–40, think of the places in your life and in your community where that power needs to come to bear.

Trust your powerful God. Thank God that he opens hearts. The city lacked the ten men minimum to form a synagogue, so Paul and Silas went to the place of prayer on the bank of the river. Dramatic events follow in this chapter, but do not overlook the power of God in opening the heart of Lydia. She and her household were baptized. The good news touched her life, and she opened her home, insisting that the missionary party accept her hospitality. That same power would soon be evident in the conversion of the jailer.

Continue reading “Believe in the Lord Jesus”

What should the church, the body and bride of Christ, look like? How should it be distinguishable from the world around her? The question is not new, as Acts 15 indicates.

Live by faith in the God who chose you. You are saved by God’s grace through faith. The issue was, do you live by faith? The church at Antioch, from which Paul and Barnabas had been sent on their missionary journey, was composed both of Jewish believers in Jesus the Messiah, and of Gentiles, former pagans who had come to trust in him. Visitors from Jerusalem, perhaps concerned that the church was looking less and less like the Pharisaic community, a portion of the church at Jerusalem, from which they came. They insisted that the Gentile believers had to receive the sign of circumcision and, by implication, keep the details of the ceremonial dietary laws. The issue would continue to disturb the church through the first half-century or more of its existence, as Galatians indicates. Behind this issue was the important question: is anything necessary for your justification beyond the work of Christ? On that hangs the whole issue of the sufficiency of the work of Christ. Is it Christ’s work plus my works of penance, Christ’s work plus my efforts, Christ’s work plus my decision? Or is salvation totally dependent on the grace of God? The issue focuses on the work of Christ, on the justification of sinners. That individual has strong implications for the church, and the question of dietary laws has an impact on the gospel, which is why Paul had to rebuke Peter, Galatians 2:11–21.

“Evangelism must lead with the gospel, not with a call to cultural conformity or moral reformation. Repentance is not adopting the evangelist’s clothing style, speech patterns, or taste in music. It is seeing the horror one’s sin and receiving the forgiving grace of Christ, embracing the Savior in faith for washing from sin’s guilt and liberation from its tyrannical control.”

Dennis E. Johnson, The Message of Acts in the History of Redemption, p. 136

Continue reading “A People for Himself”