Bent Oak Church

Where the gospel is preached there is confrontation. When the Lord called Saul, he called him to be an instrument to preach before Kings and Gentiles. He also promised that faithfulness to that calling would bring suffering. It doesn't take long for that suffering to begin. But the confrontation of the gospel begins first in Saul's calling itself. The gospel always confronts us before it confronts others through our message.

Acts 12 begins the transition away from the Jerusalem church and to the missionary stories of Paul. That makes this final image fo the church so significant. The world around them moves under the control of political manipulation, but the church gathers in prayer. By their prayers, they are more in touch with reality than all the kings and crowds.

Acts makes it clear that it was the Spirit that pulled the church into the world.  The challenge the church faces is how to recognize what God is doing and join in that work. Paul will describe this process as "walking in step with the Spirit." But that process isn't easy. To recognize the Spirit means facing our prejudices honestly. Peter and Barnabas become models to help us learn that process.

Peter and Cornelius could not be drawn in stronger contrasts. One a devout Jew and leader of the Jerusalem church who had never broken the food laws; the other a military man, a cog in the occupation force of Rome. Yet both receive visions from God and drawn together under one room by the Holy Spirit. As they talk, it becomes clear that neither Peter nor Cornelius is leading the conversation. God is.  It is our prejudices—our pre-judgments—that often keep us from recognizing how the Spirit is at work around us. As we go about drawing conclusions about people and experiences, we deeply stunt our ability to recognize a God who is at work in places and ways we often write off.

The conversion of Saul on his way to Damascus is one of the most famous passages of Scripture.  But tucked into the story is another man, Ananias. His story, like Saul's, shapes not only the way we think about the initial moment of our conversion but also how we continue in the way of Jesus.

Philip is given the command to go. He isn't told where. He isn't told why. Only go. He obeys.  His obedience leads to the conversion of an Ethiopian on his way home. Through Philip alone, the gospel has gone to Samaria and to the ends of the earth. The call feels absurd, but often it is the miraculous opportunity of the Spirit's leading.

With new persecution in Jerusalem, the church began to spread and as they went they continued to preach. Philip was just one of those who covered the Judean and Samaritan towns with news of the Gospel. In Samaria, Philip met Simon, a magician who dealt in amazement. But Simon's faith is more complicated than it first appears. Simon's faith is not interested in change but in the acquisition of control and power.

The death of Stephen is the culmination of an escalating tension in Jerusalem. The religious leaders had finally had enough. Stephen would become the first martyr of the Christian church, but not before he could deliver one of the most important speeches in Acts. Stephen's speech is the largest portion of Acts 7, but it was more than his words that are remembered. Stephen was given a vision of Jesus Christ. His vision is a powerful word to the church.

Luke offers us two examples of life inside the church, Barnabas and Ananias with his wife Sapphira. We are most familiar with their story as an example of financial giving. But close attention reveals more going on. Acts 5 is a warning that the greatest threats to the church are not external but internal.

Storm clouds of persecution are blowing in on Jerusalem. The threat Jesus had posed to the political establishment was now being found in his followers. You would imagine prayers for favor and protection, but the first Christians prayed for boldness. What is unique about the boldness of the apostles and the first-century church.