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Peter Becomes Bold and We Need to Do the Same

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The First Next Step in Building God’s Kingdom Here on Earth

Last week we discussed Jesus’ earthly journey coming to an end and how Peter got scared and denied knowing Jesus. Admitting to knowing and following Jesus can be a scary thing still for us today.

I also told you that Jesus’ death wasn’t the end of the story…just the beginning. In Acts, Luke tells us how the followers of Jesus were scared and lost and didn’t know what to do.

They were feeling lost and wondering “where do we go from here?”.

This is something that is common for us still today. We wonder what to do, where to go, and how to get there.

As some of the followers were together, Jesus showed up and shared God’s plans for building His kingdom here on earth. (Acts 1:4-8) These plans are still the same today. Just like the followers of Jesus then, we have everything we need.

After Jesus finished giving them the instructions, He went up into the sky while they watched. (Acts 1:9-10) Then two men dressed in white told them that He would come back.

Then, when about 120 followers were meeting and praying, focused on a single purpose, the same Peter that had denied Jesus, stood up and began speaking. He shared how the Holy Spirit had told David about Judas and what would happen. (Acts 1:16-19) Peter went on to say that…

“We need to tell others that Jesus was raised from the dead.”

On the day of Pentecost all the Lord’s followers were together in one place. Suddenly there was a noise from heaven like the sound of a mighty wind! It filled the house where they were meeting. Then they saw what looked like fiery tongues moving in all directions, and a tongue came and settled on each person there. The Holy Spirit took control of everyone, and they began speaking whatever languages the Spirit let them speak.

Many religious Jews from every country in the world were in Jerusalem. And when they heard this noise, a crowd gathered. They were surprised because they were hearing everything in their own languages. They were excited and amazed, and they said:

“Don’t all these who are speaking come from Galilee? Then why do we hear them speaking our very own languages? We are from a lot of different places, yet we all hear them using our own languages telling us of the wonderful things God has done.”

Everyone was excited and confused. Some of them even kept asking each other, “What does all this mean?”

Others mocked the Lord’s followers and said, “They are drunk.” (Acts 2:1-13)

Then, the “not so scared” Peter stood up and spoke in a loud voice to the crowd. “You are wrong to think they are drunk, it is only 9:00 in the morning!” Then he told them what the prophet Joel had said about the Holy Spirit being given to everyone. (Acts 2:14-21) The followers continued meeting and worked together to build the church and God’s kingdom.

We are still presented with the opportunity to continue building God’s kingdom today.

We have everything we need to accomplish this. We have the Bible which is the blueprint for building God’s kingdom. We have the workforce, otherwise known as the church. This workforce provides all the different skills needed. We can communicate directly with the Architect through prayer.

Now like Peter, be bold and don’t be afraid to do your part in building God’s kingdom here on earth.

The Lord is My Shepherd and Boy Do I Need a Good Shepherd

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There’s a Good Reason Why We’re Compared to Sheep in the Bible

Isn’t it interesting how once a subject shows up, it continues showing up everywhere? The similarities of people being like lost sheep is one such case.

Pastor Lee’s sermon this week was about the importance of a shepherd to the sheep. Without a fence or a shepherd sheep wander off and get lost. I’ve written about this over the past few weeks, i.e., my cousin Keith’s sermon about laughing with the sheep and I touched on this in last week’s post about curiosity.

We are easily led astray, just like a flock of sheep following the wrong things. It’s easier to just follow rather than lead. The problem is that there are wolves everywhere. We’re told to be “shrewd like snakes and harmless as doves” Matthew 10:16 while we’re among the wolves.

There’s a good reason we’re so often compared to sheep in the Bible. Because we act like them…we need a Shepherd! Our “sheepness” is an issue of blindly following the wrong things.

Think things through before blindly following.

There are thousands of people reported missing every day. Many of these cases are resolved within a few days, but there are several that never are. These include kids running away from home, mental health issues or people who choose to be detached from society.

Ultimately in most of the cases the problem is a lack of a Good Shepherd. Jesus is constantly looking for these “lost sheep”. He will leave the 99 sheep that are safe to go look for the 1 that is missing. Mathew 18:22

As we discussed the sermon in Sunday School we talked about the differences of goats and sheep. How sheep are often considered dumber. How goats are more curious than sheep. Upon researching the difference between sheep and goats I found some things that make the Biblical comparisons very fitting.

…Sheep have a reputation for being stupid and just sort of worthless. The sheep of today are much different than sheep as they were created, they have been bred in such a way as to produce fluffier, dumber sheep. But they are, and have always been, dependent on their shepherd. Goats, on the other hand, have a reputation for being independent, opinionated and curious at best—or vulgar, dangerous and destructive at worst.

Shepherds protect sheep from their environment, whereas goatherds protect the environment from their goats. So for us to be God’s sheep, we must depend on Him to defend us. If we push, take, destroy and bully, we are goats.

Sheep follow the voice of their shepherd and trust him to lead them to food, water and safety. If they wander, which some do, the shepherd will go out and rescue them and bring them back to the safety of the flock.

A goat, however, doesn’t follow anyone. A herd of goats goes where it wants, and the goatherd follows behind. Instead of grazing, goats “browse”—foraging for whatever strikes their fancy. So that tells us that if we are allowing ourselves to be led, being sensitive to the pull of God’s Spirit, and following the path of our Shepherd, we are sheep.

If we are headstrong, going our own way, and pulling back against God’s Spirit, we are goats.

Follow the Good Shepherd and don’t be a goat.

You Don’t Have to Be Lost

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How to Avoid Ending Up as Unclaimed Baggage

 

 

We’ve all experienced times when we felt lost, wondering what to do, unsure of a decision. We don’t have to stumble around in the dark, bumping into things.


There is an Unclaimed Baggage Center in Alabama where an average of 7,000 unclaimed airline items go every day. It amazes me that much luggage is unclaimed or lost. I understand things get lost, but if it was my luggage, you can be sure that I would be looking long and hard.


Most of us are familiar with the stories Jesus tells about the lost sheep and coin in Luke 15:1-10. Both tell about the importance of being found, the importance of finding, and the joy when the lost are found. We are one or the other, either the lost or the ones seeking the lost. God is looking for the lost and can use help.

 

Everyone can be found.


Many people choose not to be found; they prefer the darkness. Less is required of us if we’re unseen, in the shadows. Life is easier with the light turned off.


Hank Williams wrote the famous song “I Saw the Light” 1948. “Williams often sang his song as if he was a man facing the end, desperate to believe in a salvation that he didn’t think existed. Was he trying to convince himself of the reality of the Gospel?


He sang: “I wandered so aimless, life filled with sin; I wouldn’t ask my dear Savior in. Then Jesus came like a stranger in the night; Praise the Lord, I saw the light!” The chorus went, “I saw the light, I saw the light. No more darkness; no more night. Now I’m so happy no sorrow in sight. Praise the Lord, I saw the light!”


Near the end of his life he was doing a show in San Diego but stumbled drunk off stage after only two songs. His friend, country performer Minnie Pearl tried to sober him as they rode around town in the back seat of his Cadillac so he could do his second show. She got him to join her in singing “I Saw the Light” thinking it might help sober him, but after one verse, Hank put his head in his hands and said, “O Minnie, Minnie, I don’t see no light. There ain’t no light.”


“But there was light, only it seems Hank refused it.”


Don’t spend your life in a pile of unclaimed baggage in some dark corner somewhere.

 

Turn on the light.


If you can’t find the switch or don’t know how to turn it on, ask for help. There is someone out there who can help you.