The Journey
Acts Chapters 1-5
We begin our study of Acts of the Apostles this Sunday. Acts is an important book of the Bible for us because it shows us how Jesus’ closest followers lived their lives and shared His love after His death and resurrection. There are 28 chapters in Acts and I’ve heard it said that Acts 29 is how we live our lives as Christ followers today.
As you read these first five chapters, notice the flow of the story and how the apostles are trying to figure out how to live their lives after Jesus’ death. The word apostle means the eleven Jesus sent out to share the Good News of God’s love, mercy and forgiveness before His death and Matthias who was chosen to replace Judas (Acts 1:12-26). Even though they had traveled with Jesus for 3 years, they still had to find a “new” normal since He wasn’t with them on earth any longer. And that “new” normal helps us realize that through the centuries following Jesus hasn’t been easy or convenient or popular. And they followed Him anyway because God’s call to them was more powerful than anything else in their lives. Now it’s our turn. Even when it isn’t easy or convenient or popular, how faithful are we to living our lives in the footsteps of Jesus?
Prayer
Well, God, I admit I want it to be easy to follow You. I don’t want to suffer at all because I follow You. But I guess if I am going to be faithful to You, I may have to make some tough decisions about my life like how I spend my time or how I spend my money. Ok, I’ll try…show me the way. Amen.
Pastor Susan
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