Sunday Praise & Worship 10:00
Christian Education - 10:00 - Casual Dress - Loving Childcare
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“They joined with the other believers and devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and fellowship, sharing in the Lord's Supper and in prayer.” The second chapter of Luke’s Acts of the Apostles reads like a utopian dream of what the church should have been. The apostles performed “many miraculous signs and wonders” and the believers met together “constantly” and shared “everything they had”. Little wonder that “each day the Lord added to their group those who were being saved”. This is such a different kind of church community that the ones we have grown up knowing and experience now. There is among these believers an immediacy and a vital nature of their faith community we lack. How did it happen? After waiting in Jerusalem as Jesus had instructed them to do, the disciples (many more than the twelve) tell the Good News of Jesus during the Jewish feast of Pentecost in the fiery power of the Holy Spirit. Peter (who will never fish again on a boat) preaches about Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection, and his words deeply convict many who hear him. They do not argue with Peter or run from his convicting words. They simply ask: “What should we do?” Peter answers: turn from your sins and turn to God; be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Those who were willing to receive God’s promise and calling, to be saved from a generation that had gone astray did three things:
They believed what Peter said; The way God calls us to experience a welcome home has not changed in these many years: Conviction—Turning—Baptism—Gifting—Joining—Devotion—Sharing. Prayerfully accept these words of a journey into faith in God and you will see that this path moves in only one direction: there is no turning back. But then, why would anyone want to? The life of following Christ cannot be sampled and dabbled in, but must be embraced in a transforming way. Realize as well that this process may be repeated as God calls you deeper. To walk in the light is to be launched into a new way if existing in the world. Jesus called the turning point death and new life and invited us to lose our lives for his sake in order to find true and abundant life. Paul wrote that if we are crucified with Christ, we will also be raised to new life with him. Now here’s the thing: all this is a miracle from God. God’s calling and conviction, Jesus Christ’s forgiveness through baptism, and the Holy Spirit’s gifting and welcome to the family of God. You may examine this miracle but you will never understand it. This welcome into new life awaits everyone who leaps into God’s welcoming arms without thought for what litters the path behind. And this welcome is for you. Questions for Reflection 1. Think of a time when you welcomed someone home. Was it in an airport or at a train station? Was it in your front driveway? Had they come for a short visit or were they returning for good? What did you experience when they finally arrived? 2. Why must conviction begin God’s welcoming process? What does it mean that God does not chase us down, but will only call persistently until we turn toward God and return home? 3. Why is baptism so necessary for a proper reception into the Body of Christ? If you have been baptized, what does the gift of the Holy Spirit have to do with Jesus Christ’s forgiveness of your sins? 4. We celebrate the Lord’s Supper only in the sanctuary when we worship. How might the significance of this celebration change for us if we began to celebrate the Lord’s Supper, like this early church community, in our homes? For Next Week We continue running the race of faith together at Skyline by celebrating the ways God equips us for a life of faith. Please read 2 Timothy 3:14-17. The key verses are 16-17, the theme statement is: “Equip—God Feeds Our Hunger”, and the teaching statement is: “God's Word in the community of followers prepares us to live as God's blessing to the world”. How many servings of God’s Word do you enjoy each day?
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Key Verse: Acts 2:42