Now we begin Paul and Barnabas’ second missionary journey.  But it starts with a problem: conflict.  Is the overall big-picture ministry the top priority?  Or are the individual people involved in the ministry the top priority?  Yes.  Despite the separation we know from later New Testament passages that Paul reconciled and collaborated with both Barnabas and John Mark.  The journey into Europe and Philippi was a both a tremendous sacrifice and a tremendous success, all prompted by the intimate leading of the Holy Spirit, a vision from God and man’s obedience.

In this passage we come to the theological center of the book of Acts.  It is not the most important chapter in regard to characters or narrative, but it forms the gravitational pull of theology and doctrine for the entire book.  The rise of the Christian church and the influx of Gentile Christians has highlighted a problem: do Gentiles have to become like Jews before they can be saved Christians?  The apostles and leaders gather in Jerusalem over several days to discuss, study, pray and listen to God.  Paying close attention to the testimony of God as Gentiles have been saved, they decide that legalism is not the answer.  More rules and conditions is not what God intends.  There is one condition to salvation: faith in Christ.  Nothing else.  And to maintain clear and healthy channels of evangelism and encouragement, the church should be wise in its conduct towards Jews and Gentiles.

Now we are jumping into the first organized and commissioned missionary journey of Paul in Acts.  He is sent out from Antioch with Barnabas and John Mark and they have quite the adventure in the great plan of God.  As we read their story, we see clearly how God has planned out a gorgeous groove for each of us.  He has called us to a specific life, with specific gifts designed for specific service.  It is in this groove that we find the life that God has created us for.  And because of His calling and grace, we can fully trust Him to see us through it, just like Paul.

Yeah, I know, the title for this sermon includes big words…crazy words.  The first one – omnipotent – is a real word that means “all powerful.”  The second one – omnirelevant – we invented to communicate the idea “meaningful in every situation.”  When we come to this passage in Acts, we see our main character, God, overcoming several major obstacles in the life of His church and His leaders.  These obstacles include persecution, famine, need, murder, prison and a bad king.  Even in similar obstacles in our life today, we see that God’s purposes cannot be thwarted.  That is because He is all powerful.  That is because His Word is meaningful in every situation.  We see these two truths come alive in this marvelous passage.

At seventy-eight verses, this episode is the longest single episode in the book of Acts.  It is second in importance only to Acts 2, the Day of Pentecost.  Everything changes in this section.  Back in Acts 8 we see the gospel received by a Gentile, the Ethiopian eunuch, but Dr. Luke does not treat this as a critical opening to the Gentiles as a whole.  That comes here in this section with Peter’s work northwest of Jerusalem in Caesarea with a Roman centurion named Cornelius.  But first Peter must be taught by a revelation from God.  What happens is nothing less than a Gentile Pentecost, the Holy Spirit falling on them “just as they did on us [the Jews] in the beginning [Acts 2].”

Rejoining our ongoing study of Acts, we come once again to the person of Saul of Tarsus. Last time we were introduced to him he was smiling approvingly at Stephen’s stoning.  Since then he has continued in his murderous threats and chasings of the young church.  But God has a magnificent plan to show His magnificent grace.  The hunter soon becomes the hunted.  The persecutor becomes the persecuted.  He who chased members of The Way to lands outside of Israel must be lowered through a hole in a city wall to escape with his life.

In this sermon we again dive into the rich and beautiful saga of the early church’s attempt to come to grips with the relevance of their new life in Christ and empowerment of the Holy Spirit.  In this text we learn a few things.  First, our contemporary experiences with the Holy Spirit, if Biblical, are valid, legitimate and life-changing.  God still works in believers in magnificent ways.  Secondly we learn that when understood holistically throughout the New Testament, the Holy Spirit baptizes those who put their faith in Christ at the moment of belief, granting the fullness of the Holy Spirit as the seal of His redemption, and yet He is pleased afterward to supernaturally “fill” believers at any time, for special reasons and in life-changing ways.  This colorful narrative of Philip in Samaria and on the southern desert road again has as its hero God himself, who is involved with His church, leading them in truth, validating their wise decisions and perhaps most importantly, protecting them from unforeseen danger, division and deception.

As the first of the seven servants mentioned at the beginning of the chapter, the narrative of Acts now focuses in on Stephen, a man described as being “full of grace and power.”  His speech is the longest in the book (fully one third of the book is contained in speeches), but what is his point?  In this study we find Stephen speaking directly to his accusers and drawing illustrations from Israel’s history and theology.  He says, “just like your fathers disowned Joseph and Moses, yet God saved the nation through them, you have disowned your Messiah.”  Stephen’s trial and execution are also cast in the shadow of Jesus’ trial and execution.  Finally, the Son of Man stands to receive him.

This week we experienced some significant technical difficulties in the sermon recording.  This is the reason for the delay in the post.  We sincerely apologize.

With this sermon, Teaching Pastor Scot takes us from opposition to the twelve apostles as a group to the appointment of seven “servants” in the church.  As in every episode in Acts, we see clearly that God is the main character, active and involved, showing his favor and his providing power through His Spirit.

Sometimes you just run out of it!  That’s what happened to Teaching Pastor Scot Pollok as he discussed the two episodes in this passage.  What we find is that the story of Ananias and Sapphira is really about God and His chosen ambassadors, the apostles.  The next episode is linked as God continues to intervene for the sake of the apostles, even as they are jailed and flogged.  We should be careful not to abuse this principle with “untouchable” modern-day “apostles,” as some have taught.  That’s not what it meant then, and it doesn’t mean that now.  We should, most importantly, spend time meditating on our truthfulness, our promotion of the truth, our suffering for the sake of the gospel and our trust in the Father’s care.

Today, Teaching Pastor Scot Pollok takes us through the long episode of the healing of a lame man and the outcome of this miracle.  In the previous chapter we see the church enjoying “favor with all the people,” as they go to the temple day by day and see the signs and wonders at the hands of the apostles.  We see all of these specific things in this next episode except the young church no longer enjoys “favor with all the people.”  Religious leaders rise up against Peter and John and command that they no longer speak “in the name of Jesus.”  They cannot agree and pray to God for boldness.  God validates the entire scene by visiting them with another filling of the Holy Spirit and an answer to their prayer for boldness and courage.

A century ago in England, weavers spoke of the fabric in their loom as the warp and woof.  We use the phrase today to speak of the foundation of something, its basic essence or cornerstone.  Teaching Pastor Scot Pollok resumes our study of Acts today by looking at Acts 2:42-47, which describes the warp and woof of the first church in Jerusalem.  The four devotions and eight results in this passage are as beautiful as they are indicting.