Do it again, Lord!

This morning I was reading in the book of Acts, and I noticed how the early church grew numerically from about 120 in 1.15 to about 3,000 in 2.41. Wow! I wonder how many verses of "Just As I Am" it took for Peter to receive that many people at the end of his sermon! :)

Following that we have a passage that is often referred to as a paradigm for church life, Acts 2.42-46. In these few verses we see several characteristics of the early Christians that I hope to see in the lives of Christians today. First, there was devotion, not just to anyone or anything, but specifically to the Apostles' teaching and fellowship, the breaking of bread, and prayer. Today many Christians appear to be more devoted to other things besides these spiritual disciplines. Lord, restore us to a wholehearted, single-eyed devotion to you! Second, there was a sense of awe and wonder! I have previously posted about this (see Amazed and Afraid), but may it be that we rediscover this sense of amazement at the power of God displayed in our midst. Third, there was unity and compassion. Each one looked not only to his own interest, but also to the interests of others (see Philippians 2). The early Christians were not primarily concerned about "me and mine." In our day of self-absorption we need to encourage this others-focused orientation. Fourth, there was consistency. The early Christians did not view the Way as a "once-a-week" type of experience. Instead, they were day by day giving themselves to the pursuit of godliness, righteousness, service, and worship. The result of all this was favor with the people and a daily increase in the number of those who were being saved!

Is it possible for us to experience something similar in our time? I believe it is, but not in a mechanical sense (i.e. "we do this and God does that"). Instead, the key is for us, individually and corporately, to examine our lives light of these characteristics and seek to foster and encourage them in our time for the glory of God and the good of others!

PP

Responding to the Virginia Tech Massacre

Like many of you, I have watched and listened to the coverage of the shootings that took place at Virginia Tech earlier this week, and my heart is saddened by the tragic loss of life. I mourn with all of the family members and friends of those who were killed, and I hope you will join me in remembering them in prayer. This is an opportunity for us to demonstrate the love of Christ to people everywhere who are truly hurting and searching for answers.

Over the past couple of days time and time again I have heard people say something like, "This is just unimaginable," "I can't believe something like this could happen," "No one could have anticipated such a tragedy." Those statements are all too common these days. I have to wonder if we really should be so surprised that something like this did happen, and should we not anticipate that something similar will most likely happen again? Without doing any research I can recall school shootings in Colorado, Mississippi, and Arkansas. I think of the mall shooting in Utah earlier this year, the D.C. sniper shootings, the anthrax scare, the numerous bomb threats at schools, businesses, and government buildings, the terrorist attacks on 9/11, the grisly domestic crimes and numerous other stories that indicate we are living in a society that is becoming increasingly violent and dangerous. How do we respond? How do we explain this?

Reflections on Easter

Yesterday, Christians all over the world celebrated the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and I am glad to say I was part of that celebration. We had a great day at Emmanuel. Actually, we had a great Easter weekend. On Friday night we had a communion service, in which we reminded ourselves and others of Jesus' sacrificial death on the cross. On Saturday we had a churchwide family picnic and egg hunt. We had a lot of fun and were able to share the gospel with those who came. Then on Easter Sunday we provided a nice breakfast prior to our worship service, during which the choir presented the musical, "You Thought of Us."

This morning I am grateful for the investments made by so many people. There is no way I could acknowledge them all by name, but God knows them and He saw them in their service, whether it was hiding eggs, preparing and serving food, setting up tables, singing songs, serving the Lord's Supper, handling sound and lights, helping people find a seat, playing with children, cleaning up after events, opening and locking doors, etc., and he will see to it that they receive their reward. What a joy and privilege it is to serve!

Now that Easter is past, the tendency is for many Christians to relax, but now is when the real work begins. The challenge is for us to learn how to live in this world post-resurrection. I think we would do well to look at the lives of the early Christians as models for how to do that. The world in which they lived was very much the same after that first Easter as it was before, but they were very much changed, and their personal transformation was the catalyst for the rapid spread and advance of the gospel. As they gave themselves to the teaching of God's Word, prayer, worship, evangelism, and fellowship, so must we, and as we do may the Lord be pleased to bestow upon us the same grace and power that the early church experienced.

Amazed and Afraid

This morning I preached a message from Mark 10.32-34. Through the course of my study and preparation two words stood out, amazed and afraid, two words not usually associated with discipleship. It struck me that as Jesus walked ahead of his disciples in typical rabbinic fashion, "they were amazed and those who followed were afraid." We may wonder what could be so amazing or fearful about following Jesus on the road. What is the big deal? The big deal is that Jesus, unlike us many times, was moving with purpose and intention. He was moving toward a specific place (Jerusalem) for a specific purpose (his passion), and he was leading the way. Knowing all that would transpire--"the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death and deliver him over to the Gentiles, and they will mock him, spit on him, flog him, and kill him"--he never hesitated or wavered in his commitment to do the work the Father had sent him to do.

I am concerned that many in the church have either lost or never had a sense of amazement and fear in their relationship with God. Why is this? I think it is partly due to our dilution of Christ's call to discipleship. We have taken the Lord's call, "Follow me," and inserted all kinds of clauses, excuses, and reasons for not following him; yet, his call remains clear. Following Jesus is more than attending a service, saying a prayer, reading a book, giving an offering; it is a total surrender of all that we have, all that we are, all that we hope to be. It is a surrender of everything to walk in his steps, to be "covered in the dust of our rabbi."

My prayer is that God would restore to his people a sense of amazement and awe as we renew our commitment to follow Jesus.