Swimming Against the Stream

HOW TO USE: This blog is written to serve as the basis for discussion. Find a partner or group to read through it together! Take turns answering the questions and listening to each other’s answers. Comment, email, or share your insights from your discussion with us! You hand in an assignment. Once it’s graded, you get a stern talking-to for not following instructions. The thing is, there were no instructions. You are sent on a work order. The customer complains because it wasn’t done to their satisfaction. The problem is, they never made their preferences clear when the order was submitted. You get broken up with because you didn’t respond to your significant other’s big news in the appropriate way. The problem is, you didn’t realize it was big news from the way they were revealing it to you. Sometimes we can’t catch a break. Sometimes we make honest mistakes. Sometimes we could really use a little grace, a little patience; someone to meet us where we’re at. When we are confident in our actions, we don’t like our motivation to be questioned. But when we make mistakes or seem to be out of the loop, then we would love for someone to read our intentions and notice where our heart is at. In Acts 18 we see Paul’s tremendous skill in reading people’s hearts. More than that, we see how vital it is to a congregation’s life not to punish people for being out of the loop or make mistakes, but to gently and lovingly bring them along, with kind, compassionate --- even forgiving -- instruction. Read Acts 18:1-17 Paul reads the hearts of his opponents in the Corinthian synagogue, and performs the most obvious display of disapproval he could – shaking the dust off his cloak. Compare this action to what Jesus says in Matthew 10:14. How can you tell this was not just Paul losing his temper? What must he have already gone through to reach the point of “giving up”? In Matthew 18:15-20, Jesus gives us instructions on how to deal with stubborn clinging to sin among fellow Christians. In what ways are we permitted – even commanded – to read intentions? Where is the line at which it becomes inappropriate or gossipy? By the end of the section, Paul sees that Jesus’ special encouraging promise came true. Talk about a time when you were tested, but you witnessed a comforting promise in God’s Word hold true for you. Read Acts 18:18-28 Don’t fall to the temptation to gloss over Paul’s travel itinerary. Notice how Luke (the author of Acts) describes what Paul is doing in each area he travels too. What do you find significant about the word choice? In the cases of Priscilla, Aquila, and Apollos, we see that Christianity was spreading rapidly around the Roman Empire – so much so that people Paul hadn’t met before we being drawn into the faith. Yet, as is often the case, new converts didn’t always understand every article of the faith right away. Apollos was stuck thinking that John the Baptist’s baptism was the most important, even though it had served its purpose already, and Christ-instituted baptism was now the norm in Christianity (see Matthew 28:16-20). Notice how Priscilla and Aquila, and later the church leaders address Apollos’ confusion: They DON’T accept Apollos’ position as a difference of opinion They DON’T punish or ridicule Apollos for his misunderstanding They DO seek to teach him and advance his knowledge of the faith They DO this privately in the warmth and comfort of their home  Knowing that each new Christian will have some level of misunderstanding, how must a congregation imitate this practice described in Acts 18? God bless your meditation and discussion! Pastor Mike Cherney

HOW TO USE: This blog is written to serve as the basis for discussion. Find a partner or group to read through it together! Take turns answering the questions and listening to each other’s answers. Comment, email, or share your insights from your discussion with us! Your four-year-old’s voice pipes up from the backseat of your car. Time slows down as you hear those infamous words uttered in such a small and sweet voice. You’ve joked about this moment before, but now it’s happening to you. You would give anything to get out of this conversation, but you can’t. You’re stuck in the car with your kid who has just asked you, “Where do babies come from?” What do you do? You know what not to do. You know what you could say, but shouldn’t. You have known the answer to the question ever since you took your first biology class in high school. Ignorance is not what stresses you out; rather, how to frame your answer in an appropriate way that will satisfy your child’s curiosity, but save the troubling details for a later date. It’s hard to meet people where they’re at. Whether you’re answering your child’s complicated questions, or you’re trying to explain a concept to someone who barely speaks your language, you leave the conversation mentally exhausted or even frustrated. Therefore, when you read Acts 17, notice Paul’s tremendous ability to meet people where they’re at and speak to them on their level. Put yourself in his shoes, and imagine the effort he’s expending in this chapter to talk to people in terms they might understand. Then, imagine yourself going and doing the same thing, not in answer to awkward questions, but to the most joyful and important question, “So, what has Jesus done for me?” Read Acts 17 Standing before a congregation of Jewish folks in Thessalonica, Paul connects the Old Testament prophecies about the Messiah with their fulfillment in Christ. Standing before the Athenian elites, the foremost intellectuals of that part of the world in that time, he can’t start with the Old Testament, but instead finds common ground in the philosophies popular at the time. From there, Paul ventures to explain the significance of Jesus’ work. How do Paul’s methods explain what he means by “I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some” (1 Corinthians 9:22b)? Why do the Berean Jews get kudos for “fact-checking” Paul’s teaching? What about their process of “fact-checking” is the most worthy of imitation? To what degree is it appropriate to “second-guess” your spiritual leaders (pastors, teachers, etc.)? Paul was educated in the Hebrew Scriptures, and probably philosophy as well. Not all of us have access to high quality education, though. Brainstorm the ways we can learn about the thoughts and experiences of the people in our communities. What are your favorites? How can you use what you learn about how people think to do what Paul did: venture to explain the significance of Christ in words they’ll appreciate? From a business point of view, getting a few converts after his big speech in Athens might not have been worth the trouble and the ridicule. However, from a Kingdom point of view, the results were outstanding. Explain how this can be true. How far should a church be willing to go to meet people where they’re at? Is there a point at which a church can err by doing this too much? Where is that point? On the other hand, what dangers befall a church that isn’t willing to us “all possible means” in order to “save some” (1 Corinthians 9:22b again)?  God bless your meditation and discussion! Pastor Mike Cherney

HOW TO USE: This blog is written to serve as the basis for discussion. Find a partner or group to read through it together! Take turns answering the questions and listening to each other’s answers. Comment, email, or share your insights from your discussion with us! When someone wants to join a church, what should they have to do? Does it seem inappropriate to require anything from people who just want to participate in the church’s ministry? Isn’t the gospel for everyone, and couldn’t making new members jump through hoops prevent people from hearing it? To be sure, the message of salvation through Jesus is one everyone needs to hear. Therefore, we must share it with everyone. However, we don’t want to info-dump about Jesus without sticking around for the inevitable follow-up question, “So, now what?” The Gospel of Luke shared the importance of the life, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus. The book of Acts, Luke’s second work, is a worth answer to the “So, now what?” question. Throughout the events of Acts, we have seen that the gospel is the Holy Spirit’s tool to change hearts (Romans 1:16,17). And we have also observed that where that gospel is preached and believed, communities form. The gospel creates relationships. “Churches” spring up in their proper sense (“church” in the New Testament means “gathering” or “congregation”). But when those churches form, the question, “So, now what?” resurrects. What do we do when we gather? How do we minister to people who are now coming to Christ, leaving behind various religious beliefs and practices? How should we conduct ourselves so as to fully enjoy the fellowship of being one in Christ? A church’s requirements for membership should never be an attempt to withhold the gospel from anyone. Instead, they will be the conscientious and Scripture-led answer to the question, “We all believe the gospel of Jesus. We want to enjoy the fellowship with each other that the gospel creates. So, now what?” Read Acts 15 to see the budding Christian Church work through their first major issue of what it means to belong to Christ and to belong to each other. What was the issue that kicked off this controversy? How did Peter reveal what was at the heart of this issue? James (the half-brother of Jesus) was recognized as a prominent leader in the congregation at Jerusalem, not because of his family relationship to Christ, but because of his character. How does he show his gifts as a Scripture-led leader of the church? How do Peter, James, and the leaders show their reliance on God’s Word to guide them through issues that arise in the church? How do Peter, James, and the leaders show concern for the diversity of the church? How do Peter, James, and the leaders show their understanding that they are supposed to be conduits of God’s grace? Why was it wise to draft a letter? Of the things new Gentile believers are supposed to avoid, “food sacrificed to idols,” eating food with blood still in it, and meat of strangled animals were all Old Testament Levitical laws (Leviticus 18:16-18) that found their fulfillment in the work of Jesus (Colossians 2:16-17). However, the Jewish Christians would have been so engrained in these dietary practices that they would still consider eating these things disgusting. Even though nothing is wrong with eating these types of meats, why is it wise to still ask that they not be served at church pot lucks? How does this show the concern for fellowship and cohesion? On the other hand, they mention that Gentile should abstain from sexual immorality (sex outside of marriage). This is not a matter of conscience, but is God’s clear plan for human sexuality. Yet, the Gentile Christians were so engrained by their hypersexualized culture that the reminder was absolutely necessary, What things does the church have the right to advise against, even though they may not be sinful in themselves? Is there a line that churches may cross in meddling too much in non-Scriptural areas of its members lives? If so, where is that line? If new members don’t fully understand God’s will for their lives and the sins they should avoid, how should the church go about helping them grow in that understanding? Is there a right way and a wrong way to do this? If so, what are they? What is the blessing of working through these tough conversations together? How must we imitate the leaders in Acts 15 as we do? God bless your meditation and discussion! Pastor Mike Cherney

As you read Acts 14, and find encouragement in your own struggle to accept hardship for the sake of the beautiful gospel.

As you read Acts 13, be encouraged by the power of God’s Word to bring people the joy of the gospel as it has for you. Be empowered to be witnesses of the forgiveness of sins to the people in your life!