Acts 21:17-25 When church and non-churched meet
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- Written by: Chris Appleby
When Church and Non-Churched Meet audio (6MB)
Acts 21:17-25
Well, we’ve skipped over the rest of Paul’s journey from Troas to Caesarea Philippi and now, finally we come with Paul to Jerusalem. He’s been planning this visit for a long time and finally he gets there, despite the warnings of those on the way who are worried about what the Jews might do to him. [By the way have you noticed the parallels between Luke’s account of Paul’s journey to Jerusalem and his subsequent trials and Luke’s account of Jesus’ final journey to Jerusalem and his subsequent trials? You might like to think about that in your small groups, particularly looking at the various trials both Jesus and Paul went through.]
I wonder have you thought about how Paul expected things to go here. Everywhere he’s been through Asia and Greece he’s experienced opposition from the Jews and now here he is in their home town. He must expect opposition here even more than elsewhere; but what about from within the church itself?
Well we read in v17 that they were welcomed warmly upon their arrival. But as you read on you realise that all isn’t as smooth below the surface as it is on top.
Hence Paul’s visit the very next day to James and the elders of the Church in Jerusalem. James is James the brother of Jesus, not James the Apostle and by now he’s clearly the leader of the Church in Jerusalem. Peter and John have left, Peter to Jerusalem and John ultimately to Ephesus. And as we read on we discover there’s a bit of tension in the air.
Acts 20:13-38 - Paul and the Ephesian Elders
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- Written by: Chris Appleby
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Acts 20:13-38
Let’s begin today by thinking about the way Paul exercised his ministry in Acts. We’ve seen how he moved out from Antioch to basically cover the entire region from Jerusalem to Corinth, never staying very long in one place, apart from Corinth and Ephesus. But we saw last week that he not only visited these churches to proclaim the gospel but he later went back to encourage them. He also went back to appoint elders to take over the leadership of the church. He didn’t do that straight away because he and they needed time to discover who had the necessary gifts and wisdom for leadership.
In fact the only place he didn’t revisit appears to have been Ephesus, which is where we come to today. We saw last week that he’d been delayed by a plot to kill him and now he’s in a hurry to get back to Jerusalem in time for what, even then, was a major Christian festival: the feast of Pentecost
Paul can’t spare the time to visit Ephesus so instead he sends a message to their elders to come and meet him in Miletus. The river at Ephesus was becoming silted up and Miletus had become the preferred port for loading and unloading trade goods. So the ship was probably there for 3 or 4 days, giving Paul time to send to Ephesus for the elders to travel to meet him there. And when they arrive he sets out to both encourage and to warn them. He begins by reminding them of his own example of ministry.
Acts 20:1-12 - How do we care for one another?
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- Written by: Chris Appleby
How do we care for one another? audio (6MB)
Acts 20:1-12
If you were here last week you’ll remember that Ephesus has just been engulfed by a tremendous riot: with people shouting out their city slogan – “great is Artemis of the Ephesians”, protesting at this new religion that Paul had brought to their fair city. Of course their protest wasn’t really about religion it was about market economics. Paul was ruining the trade in silver statues of the god Artemis.
So what does Paul do? He calls the disciples together and says farewell. So was he just running away? Getting out before someone got to him directly? Perhaps he figured he deserved some well-earned R&R – a few months off in Greece to recover from the stress of the past few weeks?
The first verses of the chapter actually remind me a bit of my long service leave last year. A long string of cities visited with 3 or 4 days in each place until each city looks the same as the last.
But there’s actually a lot more to it than that. Look at the previous chapter, in v21: “21Now after these things had been accomplished, Paul resolved in the Spirit to go through Macedonia and Achaia, and then to go on to Jerusalem. He said, "After I have gone there, I must also see Rome." 22So he sent two of his helpers, Timothy and Erastus, to Macedonia, while he himself stayed for some time longer in Asia.” (Acts 19:21-22) So Paul has already planned to leave soon and the riot has just been the catalyst to get him going.
2 Cor 3 & 4 Letters and Clay Jars
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- Written by: Chris Appleby
Farewell Sermon Letters and Clay Jars audio (6MB)
2 Cor 3:1-7; 4:1-16
Paul was clearly having problems with the church at Corinth. You can see from his opening sentence in this chapter that he was under criticism. They thought he was always promoting himself and wasn’t nearly as good as he thought he was. They’d clearly forgotten that he’d spent 18 months of his life teaching them and building them up.
So how does he respond?
He says, he doesn’t need to commend himself because he has them as his letter of commendation. Their spiritual maturity, that they’re so proud of, is his CV. He says they’re a letter prepared by him and the other apostles, but written with the Spirit of the living God.
Radical Discipleship - Balance
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- Written by: Chris Appleby
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1 Peter 2:1-17
As we think about what it means to be a disciple of Jesus, particularly a radical disciple, one of the questions we need to ask is who are we meant to be? You see, it’s important to ask that question if you want to know how you should act. Sometimes the way we act determines what sort of person we are. But more often who we are as a person determines how we act, the way we speak, the way we relate to other people.
So who are you as a Christian? In the passage we just read, Peter gives us a series of metaphors to help us think through that question.
Radical Discipleship - Simply Care
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- Written by: Ruth Newmarch
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Gen 1:26-28
Acts 4:32-37
Today is George and Sarah’s last Sunday here. Last Sunday George preached his last sermon as curate of St Thomas, and a number of people commented on how helpful it was. He reminded us of Jesus’ final instructions - Go and make disciples (or learner-followers) of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit and teaching them to keep everything Jesus had commanded them. George reminded us that St Thomas’ mission statement reflects this: Speak the gospel - God’s incredible grace, which causes people to become disciples/learner-followers, Teach the Bible - because that’s where we’ll find what Jesus taught, and Build community that demonstrates God’s love - community grows from the people of all nations who become disciples.
I think George wanted to leave us with a sense of his and Sarah’s enthusiasm for this!...so we follow in their footsteps – put our sadness at their leaving into positive action!
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