Daily Lectionary Readings for August 28, 2010
Psalm 89:1-18
Job 9:1, 10:1-9, 16-22
Acts 11:1-18
John 8:12-20
Acts 11:1-18
"If then God gave them the same gift that he gave us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could hinder God."(v.17)
Peter summarizes his whole experience with Cornelius as a part of defending the reception of the Gentiles to the Church leaders in Jerusalem. First, when you are Peter in the early church you probably begin with the benefit of the doubt; they may not have been happy with his actions, but Peter is going to have a moment to be heard - he's Peter. What he says is really good - again, no surprise, he's Peter. Great question - "who was I that I could hinder God?" Suggests one of those handy end of the day kind of questions - what have I done today that hinders rather than helps God's kingdom? Truly, I don't think my actions will hinder God from accomplishing what God sets out to accomplish, that seems unlikely. What I do think is that my actions may hinder me from participating in God's plan in a way that puts me in agreement with God's will moreso than not and, in turn, helps me to experience the life abundant that comes with obedience to God. How have I hindered God today is not a question to figure out what I need to be punished for - it's a question to help me consider how to get out of my way in living towards God's will tomorrow.
Preaching tomorrow on Hebrews 13:1-8,15,16. Continuing with the series, Encouraging Words From Hebrews. The theme will focus around v.15, "Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that confess his name." The sermon title is "The Part of Life that is Potentially Not Worship (Doesn't Exist)". The uplifiting part, hopefully, will be the message that every moment is an opportunity to honor/worship God. The reality, of course, is that we miss many of these opportunities, but the challenge is to meet more of these moments with hearts that are ready to encounter God rather than tired souls simply looking to get through another day.
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