Labor Day 2020 and the first sermon post of Acts

 


Yesterday launched myself and the church into a new study on Sunday mornings in the Acts of the Apostles.  It seemed fitting to go from the author Luke's first book the Gospel According to Luke to his sequel, the Acts of the Apostles.  It answers the age old question, "What happened next?"  The author Luke follows the pattern of movie writers today to give a little trailer of more details of the last scene of the first movie and then give an outlook of what will be coming up in the sequel.  This is my assessment of Acts 1:1-11.  

I have completed the 14th month of this assignment with progress toward seeing the ultimate goal of a permanent pastor to stand behind this pulpit that I have been serving.  It is a good charge.  The congregation is hungry for the word of God and praying for a pastor who has a passion to preach and share it with them.  We are operating on God's timing, which is always right, and striving to not step ahead of Him.  With my finite mind, I can see how it would seem right at this time but we keep praying to the Infinite for clear discernment of His will.  Please pray with us!

A word of instruction on Sunday morning was to not forget the clear message that we as Christians and churches are to proclaim to the world.  We also teach it in our homes and display it with lives as living examples striving to live Christ-like lives.  In the midst of some many messages, I fear we have slowed up on the message of the gospel that transforms lives as people respond to Jesus in faith with repentance and belief.  We take up other messages and leave the clear command to be Christ's witnesses of a risen Lord on the bench for awhile.  We might think it is not as important at this moment or that we can just pick it up later when things settle down.  The answer to our world has not changed.  It has always been and will always be Jesus.  The answer to the sin that we see displayed every day on the television is a repentance of sin conquered by Jesus' death on the cross and resurrection from the grave.  May we pick up and proclaim His message all the more.

Adam



A simple man serving a great God and the local pastor of Stillwater Community Chapel (stillwater-chapel.org). We are in our 38th year of full time ministry. God directed us to this local body of believers on the Western Range of the Rockies to grow with them in mission and mindedness of Christ.

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