Wednesday – Change It – Pioneers and Power
We saw yesterday that Paul was given himself a chance to defend himself in front of two powerful men, King Agrippa and his local ruler, Festus. He started in an unusual way, describing his story of coming to know Jesus, and how that transformed his life. He was preaching the very message that got him […]
Wednesday – Change It – Pioneers and Profit
We’re studying a story in the Bible where the Christian movement began to threaten the bottom line for some silversmiths, who made a lucrative business making idols, objects of worship. One of them, Demetrius, incited a riot that got out of control, filling a theatre with people yelling how great their city’s goddess was, and […]
Wednesday – Change It – Pioneers and Philosophers
Yesterday, we saw Paul, an early Christian travelling speaker, who made some mistakes. He found himself in a totally new context, the Greek city of Athens, and ventured right into the marketplace where Greek philosophers heard him saying some nonsensical things. They thought he was preaching about foreign gods, when it was likely just a […]
Wednesday – Change It – Pioneers and Politics
This week we’ll read three short stories from the Book of Acts in the Bible, that show different people with different interests encountering the Christian message. Yesterday, we read about a wealthy woman who welcomed the Christians who came to her town. She wasn’t above listening to the Christian story, or being baptized, and put […]
Wednesday – Change It – Pioneers And Prerequisites
This week we’ve been studying the debate in the book of Acts over whether new Christians needed to become Jewish first, marked by having their males circumcised, or if they could simply become Christians. The Christian leaders who’d been caring for each group, the Jewish Christians and the non-Jewish Christians, came together and decided that […]
Wednesday – Change It – Pioneers And Pagans
Yesterday, we studied a story where Paul and Barnabas, two early Christian leaders, travelled to a pagan town where people worshipped many gods. Paul healed a man. Instead of pointing people to the God who raised Jesus from the dead, this prompted people to worship Barnabas and Paul like gods. Just as a pagan priest […]
Wednesday – Change It – Pioneer Pork
Yesterday, we learned about a story where Peter, one of the early Christian leaders, breaks his nation’s religious rules by associating with a non-Jew named Cornelius, even entering his home. In a nation with strict rules about keeping a distance from other, unclean people, this was a big deal. I asked you yesterday to think […]
Wednesday – Change It – Pioneer Prodigy
This week we’re learning how Jesus interrupted the life of a man named Saul, a notorious attacker of Christians, and turned it right around. He did it by throwing him off his horse on a Christian hunting trip, blinding him, and leaving him blind and thirsty for three days. Not just a private hallucination, the […]
Wednesday – Change It – Pioneer Progress
This week we’re studying Pioneer Progress – how the early Christian movement suddenly reached a tipping point and started to grow beyond religious, ethnic and national boundaries. We’re particularly looking at the story of Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch this week. Yesterday we read the beginning of the story, where Philip ran after the chariot […]
Wednesday – Change It – Pioneer Players
Yesterday we learned about a man named Simon, who became a Christian and was baptized. He’d been a magician before that, and people called him the Great One. He amazed people all the time, but today he was amazed himself by Philip, who was preaching the good news about Jesus, and decided to join Philip’s […]
Wednesday – Change It – Pioneer Priorities
Yesterday we studied a short line from the Bible about a complaint against the Christians, accusing them of being partial. The more culturally integrated Jews, the Hellenists, were feeling that their widows weren’t getting free food from the Christians, while the more orthodox Jews were. If this was happening, it was clearly a mistake. The […]
Wednesday – Change It – Pioneer Proof
We saw yesterday how the first Christians were hauled before the Sanhedrin, the Jewish ruling council, because they hadn’t stopped preaching about Jesus, and specifically accusing the Sadducees of being complicit in Jesus’ death. Even standing before the court, Peter and the first Christians didn’t back down, but restated their message and accusation. Here’s what […]
Wednesday – Change It – Pioneer Pushback
Yesterday, we saw three important ruling authorities in first century Judaism allied against Peter and the Christian movement. We asked you how each group responded. The strongest response is from the Sadduccess, the ruling council. Why are they so upset? They were challenged by three things: 1. The Resurrection …greatly annoyed because they were teaching […]
Wednesday – Change It – Pioneer Preaching
Yesterday we read about Peter’s opportunity to speak to thousands, and how he chose to Retell the story of Jesus’ death, pointing the finger squarely at the gathered crowd, saying “you did this”. Why would he be so negative? Well, all this terrible news about Jesus dying at their hands gets a surprising but happy […]
Wednesday – Change It – Pioneer Practices
Yesterday, we read this: And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were […]