Gospel

Bigger than an Earthquake!

/ pastorpete51 / 2 Comments

Then he called for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas, and brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? Acts 16:29-30 KJV

On first reading the story in the book of Acts of Paul and Silas singing in their cell at midnight, we might come away with the idea that the climactic moment was the earthquake which God sent. But the biggest event that night wasn’t a geological one, and here are three important details that tell us why. First, the jailer must have been listening in while Paul and Silas were singing and praying. Because when he comes running in the first question he asks is not, “What is going on?” but instead he cries out, “What must I do to be saved?” Paul and Silas had hoped that the prisoners would respond to their message. Little did they know that the jailer was listening too! The second detail rarely mentioned is that the jailer took Paul and Silas somewhere in the middle of the night to wash their wounds and be baptized. We don’t know the exact location, though possibly it was the river which ran through Philippi. This jailer’s response to the gospel was no hesitant walk down to an altar while music is quietly played. Instead, He took a huge risk leaving his duties at the jail while the prisoners sat unshackled, and the doors lay in ruins from the earthquake. But what he wanted most of all was to wash the wounds of those men who had been beaten the day before and for them to baptize him. The most important detail of this story: is not the songs or the earthquake but the jailer’s baptism by torchlight at midnight. Paul and Silas didn’t tell them to wait for a six-week class on Christianity and baptism. Instead, they followed through on the very reason that God had sent them to Philippi, by spreading the Gospel of Jesus with the very people they thought least likely to listen!

Photo by Daniel & Hannah Snipes on Pexels.com

Breaking News!

/ pastorpete51 / 1 Comment 
"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because He has anointed me to proclaim Good News to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, and to set at liberty those who are oppressed. " Luke 4:18 ESV

Whether you turn on the CBS Evening news, The Fox Report or CNN news, it is likely that the headlines are all bad news stories. As the old saying goes, “If it bleeds it leads.” With unimaginable cruelty, unending wars and merciless natural disasters pummeling our airwaves, it is easy to suppose that things have never been so bad. But with the slaughter of worshippers in the temple by Pilate, multitudes of blind, crippled and lepers begging in the streets and the hypocrisy of the religious leaders, in the days of Jesus, it seems that things weren’t really all that much different back then. So, you might think that in His first sermon, Jesus should have denounced the Roman atrocities, demanded fair treatment of slaves or condemned the religious charlatans who held power in Jerusalem. But instead, Jesus went to the ancient prophetic writings of Isaiah and announced to everyone longing for better things, that He had come to proclaim God’s Good News, and that this news was especially for the poor. Why the poor? Were they any more deserving of this message than anyone else? No! Rather this good news for them was like a home cooked meal to a starving man, a storm shelter in a tornado or a Spring thaw after many subzero weeks of Winter.

Sharing this message of Good News with the precious residents of Discovery Villages this past Sunday was a real blessing. I found that God’s word didn’t need to be hyped up, twisted into modern relevancy or updated, for it to bring hope to their hungry hearts. If you are also thirsty for that same good news of Jesus, then I pray that this little message will lift you up today.

Seeing Clearly

/ pastorpete51 / 5 Comments

Now among those who went up to worship at the feast were some Greeks. So these came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.”  John 12:20-21 ESV

Recently I realized that I needed an updated eye exam and glasses. Road signs were appearing slightly blurred and reading had become a real chore. Finally, I made an appointment with a local vision center and a couple of weeks later happily walked out with a brand-new set of glasses. What a delight it was to easily read again, and the road signs now stood out crystal clear. When I read today’s passage, I think that maybe the disciples needed something like my eye exam and new glasses. Greeks had come looking for Jesus and those kinds of people were not at all who they were comfortable with. That morning as they had followed Jesus along the road, they had heard shouts of praise from the crowd and walked over palm branches that had been laid in the path. Then, while their heads were spinning from the pace of events, some Greeks came looking for Jesus. “Greeks!” Philip thought. “Oh no! We had to deal with those Pharisees, then the Samaritans, but now Greeks!” Philip, being unsure of what to do decided what many of us do in pressure situations: He passed the buck!

“Hey Andrew, there are some Greeks here who want to see Jesus. What do you think?” he asked. Andrew being no more certain of what to do than Philip, passed the buck again: this time to Jesus, “Jesus! You won’t believe it. Now there are even Greeks who want to see you. What are we supposed to do with Greeks?”

Jesus’ answer must have puzzled the disciples. “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.” John 12:24-25

Today is no different. All around us are people we are not comfortable with. They come from faraway places, don’t speak our language and don’t even like our food, but they want to see Jesus. Passing the buck is not an option. Instead, Jesus said that we must be like a seed planted in a garden that dies before it grows. His plan is for us to surrender our plans and goals to Him, before He shows Himself to others through us. Then, when we turn in our old set of glasses and put on His Gospel lenses, we will begin to see people as Jesus does, and as a bonus we will see Jesus for ourselves more clearly than ever!

Photo by Oziel Gu00f3mez on Pexels.com