Acts 9: 1-31

So Saul, the Christian butcher, gets a wake up call from God. Well more like a hard slap in the face. God slapped him so hard that he lost his eye sight for a few days. OK…He didn’t literally slap him, but you get the idea. Some people need a good hard slap from God before they will be willing to hear what He has for them.

Isn’t it cool to see God do the impossible with someone? This is a man that no one could have reached on their own. And no one did. It took Jesus Himself to bring Saul around. Even Ananias was pretty skeptical, but God used him as well. 

I think its awesome though, that God chose to use a man who was so far on the other side of the fence. That is what made his conversion so powerful! People looked at Saul and said, “Wait a minute!? Is this same dude who was taking out Christians for the fun of it just a few days ago? What happened?” No one is unreachable. We just have to recognize that we can’t do it all. We need to do the possible, and let God do the impossible.

Tomorrow – Acts 9:32 – 10:8

Acts 8:26-40

Isn’t it interesting how God can use you when you are willing? Philip just “happened” to be walking down a road where someone who needed to hear about Jesus just “happened” to be traveling. The traveler just “happened” to be reading a passage from Isaiah that was talking about Jesus, and Philip just “happened” to ask him about it at that exact moment. Good thing Philip was ready to give an answer!

When we are willing to let God use us and we pray and ask for meetings with people who need to hear it, God will put opportunity after opportunity right in front of your face. We just have to look for it and listen when the Holy Spirit starts talking.

Tomorrow – Acts 9: 1-31

Saul; not a nice dude. In fact he’s probably one of the worst guys I’ve ever heard of. I mean this guy pulled Christians (men, women & children) out of their homes and had them arrested for the fun of it! But God was still able to work through all of this.

Philip, who I would guess was kind of on the run from Saul and his boys, was able to reach a sorcerer! Think modern day wiccan or something similar. I’m sure we all know someone who falls into this category, like Simon. Someone who you may think is so on the opposite side of faith in Christ that its gonna take a miracle to get them to darken a church door, let alone put their faith in Christ! 

Simon’s problem though, was that he wanted the power that came along with the Holy Spirit, not the Holy Spirit himself. That would have meant giving up the right to run his own life. A lot of people want some of the stuff God has to offer, but not God himself. People want the peace, power and provisions that God offers but not the one who gives them. They don’t want the entire package, just part of it. But it doesn’t work that way. With God, its all or nothing.

Tomorrow – Acts 8:26-40

A NEW DATE WILL BE ANNOUNCED SOON!

Acts 7:17 – 60

Verses 17 – 50 are little bit like the Cliffs Notes version of the first couple books of the Bible. Stephen lays all of this out to the jewish leaders to basically point the finger back at them. Of course all they did was prove him right by getting mad and stoning him to death! Stephen had to know that this was pretty much the end for him. But he didn’t care. He had the faithfulness and the courage to stand up for Christ no matter what the cost. How many times do we back down from talking about Jesus (myself included) because all we’re afraid of is “looking dumb”? And then he prays or the people stoning him! Wow!

Notice that Stephen is put at the feet of a guy named Saul. This will be an important moment later on.

Tomorrow – Acts 8:1-25

Acts 6-7:16

The beginning of chapter 6 gives us a little insight into how the apostles were setting up the “business” of the church. Not everyone can do everything and the apostles recognized that. We all need to contribute in the way that we can help the most. What talents do you have? Is it something as simple as keeping things organized, just like these seven men that were chosen? There are so many places to serve in the church. Get involved! There’s nothing better then serving for the Lord!

Next we’re introduced to Stephen. Again, this dude was arrested for doing good things! The high council felt threatened by him though. So they start spreading lies and rumors about him. That was the only way they could make him look bad, was to lie! What about you? I would love to be able to say that the only way to make me look bad, was to lie about me. Its something we have to shoot for everyday!

Tomorrow – Acts 7:17-60

Acts 5:12 -42

It cracks me up that the apostles keep getting arrested for healing people and preaching a message of hope, love and peace. How dare they! But at the same time we need to understand that when we follow Christ and we’re living out His purpose for us, we’re gonna run into road blocks. The world, and Satan of course, want nothing more then to beat us down, lock us up and throw away the key. But we serve a God that is more powerful and will always bring us out of the darkness if we just stay faithful to Him.

Tomorrow – Acts 6 – 7:16

Acts 4:23 – 5:11

Only a 1,000 point difference after last nights games! Steal the Earth, Tug o War & 2 people got duct taped to the wall! Check out the photos here!