Chewing on Sunday - Acts 2:14-24 sermon post - and some Maine shots

 

We have had the privilege to be in Maine for another fall season and more family has been able to visit us. Here we are with my older brother Matthew and his wife Patti.  We are at West Quoddy Head Lighthouse, the easternmost point of the United States.  It was truly a beautiful day. 

This was a great place to climb out on the rocks, experience the incoming tide and its actions upon the rocks, and get another view of the lighthouse.

My sister-in-law caught us 3 out on the rocks!

One last picture of the trip and of my ever beautiful bride.  

We ventured into the very first sermon of the Christian church given by Peter.  It is our fourth sermon in the study of Acts.  It gave me an opportunity to speak about the importance of the preaching of God's Word when the saints are gathered.  Preaching is highlighted all through the book of Acts.  I am able to take this one sermon and stretch it over 3 weeks to cover a major point each Sunday.  The first was Peter's use of the prophecy from the Old Testament book of Joel.  As if Peter was saying to the gathered group of devout Jewish men from all over the world, "This is just a taste of what is to come because we are in the last days and the Day of the Lord is coming.  Therefore, call upon the name of the Lord to be saved!"  Next week Peter will use the words of David found in the Psalms to make point number 2.

Part of point number one in explaining what was going on with the pouring out of God's Spirit in the form of them hearing the mighty works of God in their own language and dialect was to tie it to what had just happened with the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  All of this was God's plan.  Even the minute details were spoken of by Jesus to His disciples and prophecies 700 to 1000 years laid out that what just happened was going to happen because God said it would happen.  God is in control.

If the life, death and resurrection of Jesus was in God's plan and all of its details then we need to look at what is to come with as much certainty.  The Day of the Lord is coming and with it is judgment, the wrath of God against sin, and so we should be about what Christians are to be about in the last days.  We are told that we should be praying.  We are told that we should be making disciples.  We are told that we should be putting our light on a lamp stand because we are the light of the world and making sure the salt of the world is salty.  

Our world is in turmoil and confusion.  They are questioning what is going on.  We, as Christians and the church, should be pointing them to the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ so that they hear the gospel.  Hearing the gospel is part of the process of them responding and if with repentance then another one is saved by the blood of Jesus.  The transformation begins to be Christ-like and therefore what we see on the evening news that is not God honoring is not an option anymore.  The more Christians, those truly saved, who grace our community affects the morals and actions of our community.  Those who are not saved are blessed with some common grace given by God to them through His children who have experienced saving grace living out their salvation.  

We don't shut down churches in times like these but we actually should want them to be meeting all the more because of the message they carry.  Those who are not saved might not understand this but they surely can feel the affects of the Christians of the community living out their lives openly and following after King Jesus.  They will be living it out on the streets, in their homes, at the work places, and down the halls of the schools.  They will think about what would glorify God before posting, tweeting, or protesting.  I'm not saying they wouldn't do those activities but Another would be guiding their words and actions.  

You, as a truly converted Christian, are a common grace of God to those He has put around you.  You following after Him allows others to experience someone who has experienced God's saving grace and how that transforms our lives in all areas.  Our homes, churches, schools, communities, and country need more Christians.  Not to make this just a better place but to share about One who is preparing a better place for those who call upon Him.  Remember, the Christian does not go from good to bad at the end of their physical life but from good to better because they are spiritually alive through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  The ultimate answer is Jesus!

Pastor Adam