September 22, 2021 — Acts 21:1–14

“After we tore ourselves away from them, we put out to sea, and sailing a straight course, we came to Cos, on the next day to Rhodes, and from there to Patara. We found a ship crossing over to Phoenicia, went aboard, and put out to sea. After we sighted Cyprus and left it behind on our port side, we sailed on to Syria and put in at Tyre, because the ship was to unload its cargo there. After we located the disciples, we stayed there seven days. They repeatedly told Paul through the Spirit not to set foot in Jerusalem. When our time was over, we left and went on our way. All of them, with their wives and children, accompanied us outside of the city. After kneeling down on the beach and praying, we said farewell to one another. Then we went aboard the ship, and they returned to their own homes. We continued the voyage from Tyre and arrived at Ptolemais, and when we had greeted the brothers, we stayed with them for one day. On the next day we left and came to Caesarea, and entered the house of Philip the evangelist, who was one of the seven, and stayed with him. (He had four unmarried daughters who prophesied.) While we remained there for a number of days, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. He came to us, took Paulʼs belt, tied his own hands and feet with it, and said, “The Holy Spirit says this: ʻThis is the way the Jews in Jerusalem will tie up the man whose belt this is, and will hand him over to the Gentiles.ʼ” When we heard this, both we and the local people begged him not to go up to Jerusalem. Then Paul replied, “What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be tied up, but even to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.” Because he could not be persuaded, we said no more except, “The Lordʼs will be done.” Acts 21:1-14

Paul often exhibits amazing strength, and faith. “Paul replied, “What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be tied up, but even to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.” And though we think we do not have that kind of strength; we often see strength in the least likely of places. Such an example of faith was found on the wall of a concentration camp in World War II. On it a prisoner had carved these words: “I believe in the sun, even though it doesn’t shine, I believe in love, even when it isn’t shown, I believe in God, even when (God) doesn’t speak.”

Can we imagine the person who wrote these words? Try to imagine the skeleton-like hand gripping a broken piece of stone or a shard of glass to cut this powerful statement of faith and strength into a wall. Imagine the eyes squinting through the darkness to see each letter after it was carved. This is what happens when we come out of ourselves and allow G-d to work within us. Meister Eckhart puts it this way: “God expects but one thing of you and that is that you should come out of yourself insofar as you are a created being and let God to be God in you”. When we see such faith and conviction in the midst of images of horror, we are reminded yes, of man’s inhumanity against man, but also of the power of faith.

Let Us Pray,

Lord Jesus, help me to believe in the sun, even though it may not shine today; to believe in love even if it eludes me today; and to believe in G-d, even if I have trouble hearing you today. Amen.

Pastor Dave

September 21, 2021 — Acts 20:17–38

“When they arrived, he said to them, “You yourselves know how I lived the whole time I was with you, from the first day I set foot in the province of Asia, serving the Lord with all humility and with tears, and with the trials that happened to me because of the plots of the Jews. You know that I did not hold back from proclaiming to you anything that would be helpful, and from teaching you publicly and from house to house, testifying to both Jews and Greeks about repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus. And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem without knowing what will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit warns me in town after town that imprisonment and persecutions are waiting for me. But I do not consider my life worth anything to myself, so that I may finish my task and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the good news of Godʼs grace.

“And now I know that none of you among whom I went around proclaiming the kingdom will see me again. Therefore I declare to you today that I am innocent of the blood of you all. For I did not hold back from announcing to you the whole purpose of God. Watch out for yourselves and for all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God that he obtained with the blood of his own Son. I know that after I am gone fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. Even from among your own group men will arise, teaching perversions of the truth to draw the disciples away after them. Therefore be alert, remembering that night and day for three years I did not stop warning each one of you with tears. And now I entrust you to God and to the message of his grace. This message is able to build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified. I have desired no oneʼs  silver or gold or clothing. You yourselves know that these hands of mine provided for my needs and the needs of those who were with me. By all these things, I have shown you that by working in this way we must help the weak, and remember the words of the Lord Jesus that he himself said, ʻIt is more blessed to give than to receive.ʼ” Acts 20:18-35

Paul obviously knows that his time is running short — that he will not be around too much longer. He will hardly have a chance to see things “grow old”. It is hard to see things grow old — or hard to know we will not see the fruits of our labors. We can see this in our hometowns, when we return after being away for a long, extended time. Houses get torn down or boarded up — old movie houses disappear, or drive-in theaters get knocked down for grocery stores. We often wish we could make everything last forever, but we can’t. Everything is always changing — sometimes for the better, many other times for the worse. But we trust that G-d can and will make all things new – we live in the faith that G-d can and will restore. G-d remakes all things in G-d’s time, and in G-d’s way.

Jesus will come again to make all things new in the new creation. Until then, we live in the hope and the promise that G-d can and will restore vigor, energy, faith, hope, and the soul. This is the trust we live into, this is the hope we have in Jesus Christ.

Let Us Pray,

Lord Jesus, you are our rock and our salvation. In you we have all that we need. As we grow older, give us the wisdom to see your presence in all things. Amen.

Pastor Dave