Acts 2:42: “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.” Ephesians 4:11-13: “So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.” 1 Corinthians 12:27-31: “Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. And God has placed in the…

I like to think that all of us are living in a gradual revelation of Jesus in our lives of one kind or another. We never get there completely but I think what we experience over time is probably better than getting everything at once. Everything at once would overwhelm us. Emily Dickinson said this: “Too bright for our infirm delight The truth’s superb surprise; The truth must dazzle gradually Or every man be blind.” That’s what we see when we look at the story of the resurrection from the perspective of Mary this morning. It was a gradual revelation from darkness to being dazzled. Let’s look at the passage…

What do we do when we disagree with some of the fundamentals not only of the faith but of the created order? What do we do when we live in a culture that desires to redefine not only right and wrong but what is true and false? 1.  First, Paul is addressing not simply a particular sin – a man sleeping with his mother or step-mother – but the attitude of the church toward it. They are not only accepting of it but actually proud of their attitude toward it. They have no shame or guilt about the issue. They are completely gone over to the other side and see…

Some of you probably remember the movie “Sunset Boulevard” with William Holden and Gloria Swanson. It is the tragic story of a fading movie star (Norma Desmond) and a young writer (Joe Willis). Norma desperately believes with a break, a screen test and some powder and rouge, she can make a return. She doesn’t call it a comeback. She will not use that word, in fact. William Holden says to her when they meet, “I didn’t know you were planning a comeback”, to which she responds, “I hate that word. It’s a return, a return to the millions of people who have never forgiven me for deserting the screen.” Of…

It’s easy to read Paul’s letter to the church at Philippi and not connect it to the people to whom he wrote. The words are so lovely. The scope of the theology is extraordinary and the depth of his emotion and attachment to them has inspired millions of people for thousands of years. Other than 1 Corinthians 13 there is likely no passage that surpasses Philippians 2 in describing the character and qualities of Christian love. These must have been unusual people to have stirred such feelings in Paul and caused him to be writing them from a Roman prison a long twelve years after he first met them. They…

Acts 4:32 – 5:11 4:32: All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had. With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all that there were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned land or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone who had need. Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus, whom the apostles called Barnabas (which…

There are very few days when I come home and tell Carol  the whole world changed for me. However, there are some when you realize how routine and normal the day began and how a report from a doctor, a decision at work, an accident, news from a child, or any number of things has made this day forever different. That is how I imagine Peter and John sitting in prison and reflecting on the evening of the end of this day in Acts 4:3. Twenty-four hours earlier their day ended with Acts 2:46: “Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their…

1.  Steven Covey coined a phrase, “Begin with the end in mind” and I think that applies to the Sabbath this morning. What was in God’s mind when he spoke to the children of Israel about a day of rest? Was there something more than a day of rest in His mind? I think there was. I think that end is to be found in Paul’s letter to the Ephesians. Ephesians 2:8: “For it is by grace you have been saved through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast.” I think it was through…

In so many ways, Leviticus is the book of priesthood. We are not all prophets or kings but, according to Peter, we are a kingdom of priests. Israel was declared by God to be a kingdom of priests, a peculiar people, His own possession, a light to the Gentiles, a holy people all throughout the Old Testament. He is not talking about our doctrine of the priesthood of all believers but the role of the Church as a body. We are here to serve and fulfill the purposes of God – not our own purposes. As Paul says in Corinthians, “You are not your own but you are bought with…