This week in Acts, we see another repeated theme in the early Church: the reality of persecution. Peter and the Apostles continue to speak and demonstrate the good news of Jesus. Healed, forgiven and empowered, they are healing, forgiving and empowering. This is the rhythm of effective ministy.
Where do you see these rhythms occurring in your own life? What is either enabling effective ministry to occur in your life or community ... AND ... what is inhibiting such ministry from taking place?
God's work is not always warmly welcomed in this world. Powerful systems of resistance seem to be constantly working against greater health, liberation, and justice in our world. Edwin Friedman, a family therapist and ordained rabbi, often addressed this reality in his writings and lectures. He says that any movement towards health will be met by some resistance. In fact, he says, the efforts can be outright sabotage. Therefore, we should be prepared for such resistance as we seek to grow in our lives. Moreover, in the face of such resistance, what is needed is bold action and courageous leadership. This requires perseverance.
Where in your own life are you facing resistance to something positive or healthy in your spiritual journey?
How can you remain persistent and focused on the right things in the midst of this tension?
Who do you need to remain around in order to move towards health? Who do you need to avoid?
Also, sometimes the resistance comes from ourselves. Be honest ... are you really challenging yourself to grow, or have you become complacent?
We grow by going to the right source for our strength, hope and transformation. This means finding - as Peter and the apostles found - what God has available to us in Jesus Christ. Unfortunately, in our fallen condition, we have the habit of seeking our comfort or security or satisfaction in any number of other things. When we do this, we are self-sabotaging our own journey towards greater maturity, peace or joy.
We explored this on Sunday by lifting up the illustration of Halloween and Trick-or-Treating - how we all go knocking on different doors to find our hope, security, comfort. There are many different doors to knock on in our day and time:
The door of having a "good image."
The door of achieving financial security and independence.
The door of finding our worth in social agendas or seeing our "party" win.
The door of being a part of the "in crowd."
When you look at your own life, what doors have you been knocking on to find your worth, joy or satisfaction? Are they working?
One way to consider where we are putting our energy, time and effort is to look at our calendar and our pocketbook. What does your calendar say are you highest priorities? What about your pocketbook or credit card statement?
We closed with the exercise of listening to Ephesians 1:3-6 and all that God promises us when we knock on the door of God's house. What word or phrase grabs you in this section from Paul's letter to the Ephesians?
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, 4 just as he chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before him in love. 5 He destined us for adoption as his children through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of his will, 6 to the praise of his glorious grace that he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.
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