Study on Acts 19:1-20

Study on Acts 19.1

We'll be uploading the studies for Neighborhood Groups here 3 times a month. They'll be up the week before the sermon!

     

Through the Deep Waters -- April 7th

Revelation 21:5 -22:5

As we finish our walk through the story of Scripture, we come to this astonishing note of hope for the future. God is coming to make all things new, through Jesus' work in the incarnation, death and resurrection. He is the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. All of history is encompassed in Christ and his work.

It is appropriate that we finish this series on Easter Saturday... the day between Good Friday and Easter Sunday. This is the day when we remember that we live in the promise of resurrection, the 'now, but not yet' anticipation of the coming kingdom. Our tragedy and grief is wrapped up and fulfilled in the cross of Christ. Our hope and future is wrapped up and fulfilled in the resurrection.

The vision of eternal life in the Bible is not one of disembodied, spiritual existence. It is deeply communal - described as a city. God is bringing his people together, and He will live with them. He will be their light, and their temple. A new community gathered around the presence and gracious rule of God is our future.

Even as we struggle to imagine and fight for a city that reflects the peace of God, we acknowledge that God is at work on this Easter Saturday, in the midst of struggles and hope... anticipating the joy of Easter... not just Easter Sunday, but an Easter Future that will never end. Even so, come Lord Jesus come.

Prayer: Lord, thank you for your story. Thank you that you started it. Thank you that you will finish it. Thank you that you have made it a good news story. May we be a part of writing the chapters today. Amen

Through the Deep Waters -- April 6th

Isaiah 52:1-10

The hour is coming and is now here. The victory of God over oppression is now a reality. God’s reign is here and His sovereignty has overtaken us. This is a beautiful passage with dual meanings, with the first meaning describing the joy of seeing the messenger bringing the news of Jerusalem's deliverance from Babylon and the return of God's reign over Jerusalem. But this passage also has a second meaning, relating to the good news of the redemption of all creation in Jesus Christ. In both scenarios people hear the good news, in the practical that they can now leave Babylon and return to Jerusalem, and in the spiritual in that they can now escape the bondage of sin and have eternal life in heaven. But though they have heard and seen the messenger, they still must choose to act on what they hear and see.

In the previous chapter of Isaiah the people of Israel were lying in the dirt groveling and faint in their captivity but now it’s time to wake up, get up, and loose the bonds of slavery that were holding them captive and to dress themselves in splendor as their God reigns. Similarly, the powers of sin that have held us captive have been destroyed in Jesus Christ. We are called to wake, get up, and loose the bonds of sin that hold us captive as they no longer have power over us. We too have heard and seen the messengers, bringing the Good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and we too must choose to act on what we hear and see and accept this Good News into our hearts. We too are to dress ourselves in splendor which is the robe of righteousness given to us by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ who lives and reigns now and forever.

Prayer: O Lord Jesus how horribly you suffered in my place as you bore all of the pain and anguish of my sin. What kind of love is this? Help me Jesus by your grace to walk worthy of this love for you this day. Amen.

Living With Our Neighbors

Great quote from G. K. Chesterton:

"We make our friends; we make our enemies; but God makes our next-door neighbor."

This is why a church that reflects its neighborhood matters so much. Churches that only reflect a certain demographic miss out on the amazing joy and character formation that God gives us in our neighbor... whoever they might be.

Through the Deep Waters -- April 4

Isaiah 2:1-5

One of my favorite characters in literature is found in Anna Karenina, by Leo Tolstoy; the character of Levin.He is a wonderfully imagined character who actually strives to be good. What makes him such a powerful character is that Tolstoy manages to imagine a character who is wonderfully, believably and truly good. That's really rare in literature. We can imagine bad things... its really hard to imagine new good things.

It's hard to imagine true good in our city; especially a city like Oakland that gets slandered all the time. This passage invites us to imagine a future where good is not an ideal, but a lived out reality. That incredibly pithy image of spears being bent around to become fishing hooks shows such an imagination. How do we see the streets, the stores, the cars, the buildings, the trees, the institutions around us as objects of real good.

God is imagining these good things as we speak. May we join him in that.

Prayer: Lord, may we walk in the light of your good imagination. While we wait for you, help us to build things that are really good in our homes, our streets and our workplaces.

Through the Deep Waters -- April 3rd

Luke 7:11-23

The Jewish people in their long history had long known YHWY to be both transcendent and immanent. YHWY was in heaven but they also experienced YHWY in their midst. When Jesus raised up the widow’s son from the dead the people who witnessed it began glorifying God saying, “A great prophet has arisen among us!” and “God has visited His people!” Jesus Immanuel means “God is with us”. Jesus, the Son of God, was walking in their midst and He demonstrated His power over spirits and nature and life and even death.  This resurrection miracle of the widow's son is one of the powerful signs of the Messiahship of Jesus Christ. Jesus says in Revelation, “Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and Hades.”

John the Baptist was in prison and was soon to be martyred by Herod. John understood that his ministry was to prepare the way for the coming of the Messiah but he was getting anxious to know if this was fulfilled in Jesus. The Jewish expectations were for a different kind of Messiah, one that would defeat the Roman army and bring judgment upon evildoers. Seeking peace of mind, John sends messengers to Jesus to inquire if he is the Messiah. Jesus answers John by pointing to the signs of the Kingdom of God already present within their midst, “Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have good news preached to them. And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.” John received his peace as he would have recognized these signs from Jesus as the signs of the day of salvation of the Lord as foretold by the prophets. Jesus indeed is the Messiah, the Son of God, present and in our midst. Jesus Immanuel, "God is with us."    

Prayer: Gracious God we know that you are so very near to us and that you are always present with us. Forgive us when we doubt and look to our own expectations instead of to you. Help us today to see you and to hear you more clearly. Amen.        

Through the Deep Waters -- April 2nd

Psalm 47

How fitting to praise God this morning with this psalm after Palm Sunday. God reigns as King over all the earth and we are summoned to praise Him this morning. Shout to God with loud songs of joy and praise all throughout the day today as God is worthy of all praise! According to Jewish tradition this psalm was sung in the temple seven times before the trumpet blast inaugurating the New Year acknowledging the reign of God. The early church used this psalm to celebrate the ascension of Jesus acknowledging His reign over all the earth. Our Lord reigns, He has subdued the nations under His feet and He has ascended on high to rule over all the earth.

Sing praises to our God, sing praises!

Sing praises to our King, sing praises!

For God is the King over all the earth; sing praises with a psalm!

We celebrate because God has acted on our behalf in Jesus who has defeated sin and death and who has given us eternal life. We sing praises to God because of His victory and because He reigns over all and is worthy of all our praises. The Kingdom of God is at hand and our Lord reigns over all peoples and over all nations. We acknowledge His reign in this psalm and we sing to Him all our praises.

Prayer: O Lord we offer up to you all our praises today as we bow low before you to begin the day. We rise up to lift up our voices in praise to you all throughout the day. May all creation give you praise worthy of your holy name. Amen.