Union Church

Acts 15:1-21 - Transforming Enemies

Listen along as we continue our series through Acts.

Notes//Quotes:

Slide 1
God promised salvation to Israel...
     God's blessings would come to the Nations through
     the covenant with Abraham... 
          Circumcision was the standard means of entering 
          into full participation with the covenant people... 
               These Gentiles had not been circumcised... 
                    They remained outside of Israel and therefore
                    could not participate fully in God's promises 

Slide 2
Amos 9:12 (MT)
     12 that they may possess the remnant of Edom 
      and all the nations who are called by my name,” 
      declares the LORD who does this.

Amos 9:12 (LXX)
     12 so that the remnant of the people, 
       and all the nations upon whom my name was invoked     upon them, 
       will search for me,” says the Lord who is making these things.

Slide 3
אדום = Edom
אדם= adam/ humanity

Slide 4
Deuteronomy 30:6 
6 And the LORD your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live.

Acts 14:1-28 - The Miraculous and Mundane

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Notes//Quotes:

Acts 14:1-28

Assumption: Every day for Jesus' first followers were God-soaked. Something is wrong with me, or I am doing something wrong because I don't have many God-soaked days. 
Reality: Scripture authors recorded a truncated history to show us who God is. Jesus and the first followers experienced many mundane days. 

Contextualization is not - as is often argued - ‘telling people what they want to hear.’ Rather, it is giving people the Bible’s answers, which they may not at all want to hear, to questions about life that people in their particular place and time are asking, in language and forms they can comprehend, and through appeals and arguments with force they can feel, even if they reject them - Tim Keller

Acts 13:13-51 - The Gospel and Grit

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Notes//Quotes:

Acts 13:13-52

“This section relentlessly present’s Israel’s history as the history of God’s activity. From v. 17 through 23 almost every verb has God as it’s subject.” Beverly Gaventa

1 Cor 15:1-4

Evangelism is not persuading people to make a decision; it is not proving that God exists, or making out a good case for the truth of Christianity; it is not inviting someone to a meeting; it is not exposing the contemporary dilemma, or arousing interest in Christianity; it is not wearing a badge saying 'Jesus Saves'! Some of these things may be right and good in their place, but none of them should be confused with evangelism. To evangelize is to declare on the authority of God what he has done to save sinners, to warn men of their lost condition, to direct them to repent, and to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. - Mark Dever

Romans 8:28-30

Matthew 13:1-9,18-23

Acts 13:1-12 - People, Practices, Opposition

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Notes//Quotes:

Acts 13:1-12

"Words make you think. Music makes you feel. A song makes you feel a thought" — Yip Harburg

“To pray is to accept that we are, and always will be, wholly dependent on God for everything….Prayer turns theology into experience.” Tim Keller

“The Spirit led the church in its mission. As throughout Acts, God took the initiative in every new development of the Christian witness; however, the church did its part. It fasted and prayed, seeking the divine leading in a mode of expectant devotion." - J.B. Polhill

Map

Acts 12:1-25 - Murder, Rescue and Justice

Listen along as Anthony continues our series through Acts.

Notes//Quotes:

Acts 12:1-25-  Nathan
Title: Murder, Rescue, & Justice

“You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am to drink?” They said to him, “We are able.” 23 He said to them, “You will drink my cup, but to sit at my right hand and at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father.” (John 20:22&23)

“Whatever it will cost you to be with God is nothing compared to what it cost Him to be with you.”
 —Timothy Keller

“A Christian happens to mean a man who has discovered that Christianity is true, not that it is pretty or even practical. It may be a very strange discovery for a modern man to make; but some of us happen to have made it.” — G. K. Chesterton

“That force of earnest, halting prayer was mightier than Herod, and mightier than hell.” —G. Campbell Morgan

Long my imprisoned spirit lay
 
Fast bound in sin and nature’s night;

Thine eye diffused a quickening ray,

I woke, the dungeon flamed with light;

My chains fell off, my heart was free,

I rose, went forth, and followed Thee.
- Charles Wesley

“Indeed, one cannot fail to admire the artistry with which Luke depicts the complete reversal of the church’s situation. At the beginning of the chapter Herod is on the rampage—arresting and persecuting church leaders; at the end he is himself struck down and dies. The chapter opens with James dead, Peter in prison and Herod triumphing; it closes with Herod dead, Peter free, and the word of God triumphing. Such is the power of God to overthrow hostile human plans and to establish His own in their place. Tyrants may be permitted for a time to boast and bluster, oppressing the church and hindering the spread of the Gospel, but they will not last. In the end, their empire will be broken and their pride abased” —John Stott

 

Acts 11:1-30 - First Called Christians

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Notes//Quotes:

Acts 11:1-30 -Kim reading

Slide 1
A biblical proposition… needs interpretation. It does not simply interpret itself… The only way to interpret… is to look at the biblical story that reveals God’s character through his actions… 

The task of the church is to “faithfully improvise” the “rest of the story.” Christians are not called simply to live in the story; they are called to continue the story in their own cultural contexts. First, they must be grounded in the story. They must be people for whom the story “absorbs the world.” Second, they must together (communally) improvise the “rest of the story” faithfully to the story given in the Bible.
Roger Olson

Slide 2
Ritual Practices of a Typical Roman Meal
- A portion of the food being offered to the gods.
- Wine libations and the reciting of prayers in honor of the gods or of the dead.
- Possibly even being given a dining wreath with flowers considered sacred to the gods upon arrival.

Slide 3
Table comparing Acts 8:1 and Acts 11:19
https://services.planningcenteronline.com/plans/80966647#

Slide 4
That's a great way of putting it. Grace is something you can see. Presumably when you watch Judeans and gentiles sharing in prayer, sharing in the Lord’s supper, sharing their whole lives as brothers and sisters. You can’t fake that. It’s grace made visible. 
- N.T Wright; The Challenge of Acts

Slide 5
Acts 26:28
28 And Agrippa said to Paul, “In a short time would you persuade me to be a Christian?”

1 Peter 4:14–16
14 If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. 15 But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler. 16 Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name.

Slide 6
Romans 15:26–27 
26 For Macedonia and Achaia have been pleased to make some contribution for the poor among the saints at Jerusalem. 27 For they were pleased to do it, and indeed they owe it to them. For if the Gentiles have come to share in their spiritual blessings, they ought also to be of service to them in material blessings.

Slide 7
When grace is visible, when the story of God is lived out in the world, when the church is truly carrying the name of Christ… The standard conventions for who is accepted and who is left out are re-evaluated, the standard ways of giving and receiving are upended and the standard ways in which we categorize our theology can be challenged. 

Acts 10:1-48 - Hostility, Enthusiasm, or Indifference?

Listen along as Mike Gaston continues our series through Acts.

Notes//Quotes:

Acts 10:1-48 - Jack reading

 

Slides

 

Slide 1

 

Big Idea

 

Christ’s plan includes not just us, but all the nations of the world. How will we respond?

 

Slide 2

 

(Map of Israel showing Joppa and Caesarea, to be emailed separately)

 

Slide 3

 

“It is more likely, therefore, that the point is that the Lord’s command frees Peter from any scruples about going to a Gentile home and eating whatever might be set before him. It would be a short step from recognizing that Gentile food was clean to realizing that Gentiles themselves were ‘clean’ also.”

Tyndale Commentary, I. Howard Marshall

 

Slide 4

 

“The conversion of Cornelius was a landmark in the history of the gospel’s advance from its strictly Jewish beginnings to its penetration of the Roman Empire. True, it did not settle any of the issues relating to Jewish-Gentile relations within the church, nor did Jewish believers take it as a precedent for direct outreach to Gentiles. But it did show that the sovereign God was not confined to the traditional forms of Judaism and that He could bring a Gentile directly into relationship with himself through Jesus Christ and apart from any prior commitment to distinctive Jewish beliefs or lifestyle.”

Richard N. Longenecker

 

Slide 5

 

John 10:16

And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.

 

Slide 6

 

Matthew 28:18-20

And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

 

Slide 7

 

Three possible responses to God’s plan for the nations

Hostility

Indifference

Enthusiasm

 

Slide 8

 

Mike’s Definition of Missions:

 

God is using the preaching of the gospel to turn rebellious sinners around the world into redeemed worshippers of His Son Jesus Christ …

 

… and WE GET TO HELP!

 

Slide 9

 

“Lord, where do I fit?”

 

Acts 9:32-43 - Questions, Holy Disruptions, And The Ministry Of Small Things

Notes//Quotes:

Acts 9:31-43 - Faith
Title: Questions, Holy Disruptions, And The Ministry Of Small Things 

“The three Peter-stories Luke selects are i) a double miracle story how Aeneas was healed and Tabitha raised from death), (ii) a conversion story (how Cornelius was brought to faith), and (ili) an escape story how Peter was rescued from prison and so from Herod's evil intentions). Each may be seen as a confrontation - with disease and death, with Gentile alienation and with political tyranny. Moreover, in each case conflict gave place to victory - the cure of Aeneas, the resuscitation of Tabitha, the conversion of Cornelius, and the removal of Herod.” 
- John Stott

“Gazelles—small antelopes spoken of in the Bible—are known for their grace and beauty. Some live where rains provide water. But one type, the Dorcas gazelle, can spend its entire life in the desert without drinking—receiving hydration only from plants. This gives it a mysterious quality rather like that of a Christian, whose source of life and love is an invisible fountain of living water, as Jesus promised (John 7:38).”
- In Touch Ministries 

“The riddles of God are more satisfying than the solutions of man.” 
-  G. K. Chesterton

“Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.” (James 1:27)

Acts 9:1-31 - How Grace Works

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Notes//Quotes:

Acts 9:1-31 - Larry/Jorgen

Grace is something you can never get but can only be given. There's no way to earn it or deserve it or bring it about any more than you can deserve the taste of raspberries and cream or earn good looks or bring about your own birth. A good sleep is grace and so are good dreams. Most tears are grace. The smell of rain is grace. Somebody loving you is grace. Loving somebody is grace. A crucial eccentricity of the Christian faith is the assertion that people are saved by grace. There's nothing you have to do. The grace of God means something like: "Here is your life. You might never have been, but you are, because the party wouldn't have been complete without you. Here is the world. Beautiful and terrible things will happen. Don't be afraid. I am with you. Nothing can ever separate us. It's for you I created the universe. I love you.” There's only one catch. Like any other gift, the gift of grace can be yours only if you'll reach out and take it. Maybe being able to reach out and take it is a gift too. - Frederick Buechner 

Gradually, and without violence, Jesus pricked Saul's mind and conscience with his goads. Then he revealed Himself to him by the light and the voice, not in order to overwhelm him, but in such a way as to enable him to make a free response. Divine grace does not trample on human personality. Rather the reverse, for it enables human beings to be truly human. It is sin which imprisons; it is grace which liberates. The grace of God so frees us from the bondage of our pride, prejudice and self-centeredness, as to enable us to repent and believe. One can but magnify the grace of God that he should have had mercy on such a rabid bigot as Saul of Tarsus, and indeed on such proud, rebellious and wayward creatures as ourselves. - John Stott

I fled Him, down the nights and down the days;
I fled Him, down the arches of the years;
I fled Him, down the labyrinthine ways
Of my own mind; and in the mist of tears
I hid from Him, and under running laughter.
Up vistaed hopes I sped;
And shot, precipitated,
Adown Titanic glooms of chasmèd fears,
From those strong Feet that followed, followed after.
But with unhurrying chase,
And unperturbèd pace,
Deliberate speed, majestic instancy,
They beat—and a Voice beat
More instant than the Feet—
‘All things betray thee, who betrayest Me 
Francis Thompson, The Hound of Heaven

Romans 10:14

“Put all this together, and what do we have, as the central, shaping marker of the new worldview, taking the place and bearing the weight that the Jewish symbols had borne within the worldview of Saul of Tarsus? We have precisely the gospel, the euangelion, the ‘good news’, rooted in the ‘good news’ spoken of in the Great Prophet, confronting the ‘good news’ carved in stone around Caesar’s empire. We have the symbol by which Paul declared that he was himself defined, the anchor of his own vocational mindset: Paul, an apostle, set apart for the good news of God; I am not ashamed of the good news, because it is God’s power for salvation to all who believe; the Messiah did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel; woe to me if I do not announce the good news; I do it all for the sake of the good news; let me remind you of the gospel which I announced to you, which you received, in which you stand firm, through which you are saved; the gospel of the glory of the Messiah, who is the image of God. The gospel, the gospel, the gospel. It defined Paul. It defined his work. It defined his communities. It was the shorthand summary of the theology which, in turn, was the foundation for the central pillar for the new worldview. It carried God’s power. That was just as well: the worldview, and those who lived by it, were going to need it.” NT Wright

“Grace is God acting in our life to bring about, and to enable us to do, what we cannot do on our own. Grace is for all of life and not just for forgiveness. Grace is not opposed to effort (action)-though it is opposed to earning (attitude). Grace is inextricably bound up with discipline in the life of the disciple or apprentice of Jesus. “Grace,” of course, as an active agency in the psychological and biological reality of the disciple.” - Dallas Willard

Eph 1:7-10

What you need to drive out an old passion, is a new passion, a greater passion. What you need is an over-mastering positive passion. To the degree, that you see Jesus on the cross, loosing absolutely everything for you, He will become a beauty to you, He will become so beautiful in your eyes that you'll be able to change these things that control you now, they'll loose their power. Do you know how to work on your heart like that? It's only by rejoicing in and resting in what Jesus Christ has done for you. Then you can replace your idols. And if you really want to change and want to pound the Gospel more deeply into your heart - Jesus Christ must become your over-mastering positive passion. Tim Keller

All which I took from thee I did but take,
Not for thy harms,
But just that thou might'st seek it in My arms.
All which thy child's mistake
Fancies as lost, I have stored for thee at home:
Rise, clasp My hand, and come!'
Francis Thompson, Hound of Heaven

Acts 8:26-40 - God of the Desert

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Notes//Quotes:

Acts 8:26-40 

1 Thess 4:1-8 - 1 Peter 2:13-17— 1 Thess 5:16-18

Deut 23:1

”He said to them, “How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?” And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.” Luke 24:25-27

Romans 10:10-17

We do not go into the desert to escape people but to learn how to find them; we do not leave them in order to have nothing more to do with them, but to find out the way to do them the most good. But this is only a secondary end. The one that includes all others is the love of God. - Thomas Merton

"Since you cannot do good to all, you are to pay special attention to those who, by the accidents of time, or place, or circumstances, are brought into closer connection with you.” Augustine