“When we had finished the voyage from Tyre, we arrived at Ptolemais; and we greeted the believers and stayed with them for one day. The next day we left and came to Caesarea; and we went into the house of Philip the evangelist, one of the seven, and stayed with him. He had four unmarried daughters who had the gift of prophecy. While we were staying there for several days, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. He came to us and took Paul’s belt, bound his own feet and hands with it, and said, “Thus says the Holy Spirit, ‘This is the way the Jews in Jerusalem will bind the man who owns this belt and will hand him over to the Gentiles.’ ” When we heard this, we and the people there urged him not to go up to Jerusalem. Then Paul answered, “What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be bound but even to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.” Since he would not be persuaded, we remained silent except to say, “The Lord’s will be done.” Acts 21:7-14

“Paul and his team of Silas, Timothy, and Luke were joined by other believers from the Gentile provinces as they traveled to Jerusalem with a special gift for the poor (Acts 20:4, 24:17). This entourage of believers stayed with Philip, one of the original seven who had successfully helped alleviate a food crisis among Greek-speaking widows in Jerusalem during the early days of the church (Acts 6:1-7). With a backdrop of helping those in need, Luke once again emphasized the importance of women. Philip’s daughters prophesied before Paul and his entourage. Peter’s sermon on Pentecost had emphasized that both men and women would prophesy in the last days with the coming of the Spirit (Acts 2:14-18; cf. 1 Corinthians 11:4-5). Luke emphasized the importance of women in many ways in his story of Jesus and the early church in Luke and Acts. Their role in God’s plan of salvation history was crucial to Luke’s account. Women must also be an essential part of the church today, both publicly and privately, if we are to impact the world as the early church did.”  (heartlight.org commentary Acts 21)

As Christians, we will find that once in a while we are bound and required to make difficult decisions. By the nature of being followers of Jesus, there will be times where we have to make the unpopular decision, follow the unwanted call, and sometimes move into the middle of the fray rather than run away, because we are “bound” in this calling to be disciples for Christ. And by disciples for Jesus this does not mean just the men of the congregation – even though Jesus twelve disciples were all men. Women have always played an important role in the life of the church, just as women played an important role in the ministry of Jesus.

As the commentary suggests above, women must, must, must play an essential part within the life of the church. There is too much to do and women have too many gifts to offer to our Lord to leave it up to just men. And when I speak of “essential” I am not just suggesting the cooking, cleaning and general upkeep of the building. Women are pastors, lay leaders, council presidents, and lectors. Woman chair committees, they read lessons, and they serve as lectors, lay assistants, and acolytes.   

As much as the medieval church reduced women to “observers” and not “servers’, the church of the 21^st century is reliant on all brothers and sisters to share their gifts. Each of us needs to see how Christ may be calling us to “serve the Lord”.

Let us pray,

Lord Jesus, we pray that we will value women in your church today as Jesus and the early church did. Thank you for blessing us with talented, godly, and servant-hearted women to bless your people and grow your Kingdom. Amen.

Pastor Dave

“You know the commandments: ‘You shall not commit adultery; You shall not murder; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; Honor your father and mother.’ ” He replied, “I have kept all these since my youth.” When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “There is still one thing lacking. Sell all that you own and distribute the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.” Luke 18:20-22

“While most of us can say we have never been guilty of murder, adultery, or possibly even stealing, very few of us can honestly say that we have never spoken false words in conversation and have always done what is honorable toward our parents. Even in the best of lives, there is some hedging of the truth or exaggeration that slips into the conversation. Even in the best of children, there are weak moments or difficult periods where we have done less than we could and should to honor our parents. Jesus helped the man confront the real issue in his life by answering his question even though the basis of the question about eternal life may have been false. This man, however, claimed to be a law keeper deluxe! He said he had obeyed all the laws since he was young. However, he surely wasn’t being fully honest with himself. I know I couldn’t say what he said, and I have never met a person who could honestly say the same. How about you? Can you justify yourself based on keeping the law? Are you trying to be righteous simply by being better and obeying more completely than others? In the discussion that followed, Jesus penetrated to the heart of the issue. What would Jesus need to say to speak to your heart?” (Heartlight.org commentary)

“He will make a holy experiment out of you” (Oswald Chambers) Did you ever think that you were possibly a grand experiment on the stage of life? I have often felt as if my whole life was an experiment — and the more I did, the more I experienced, the more I learned about life, the universe and everything (to quote one of my favorite authors, Douglas Adams).

We have to live life to learn about life, and in living life, we learn to try new and different ways to deal with the situations that come upon us. Sometimes we think we have kept all of the commandments, have done all that we “should” have. And then other days we begin to see ourselves as we truly are – sinners trying to make it through another day. So, yes just living life is a grand experiment. And when G-d uses us for G-d’s will, we become a “holy experiment”. We must be open and more prepared than ever to be a test-case for Christ — a case experiment in love, mercy and Grace.

Let us pray,

Lord Christ, I ask that you humble me gently until I can see that my righteousness is based on Jesus’ perfect gift and not my own works. I ask by the power of your Holy Spirit that you conform me more perfectly to the person you want me to be. Amen.

Pastor Dave