As Jesus ascended into Heaven, the disciples needed to be challenged on what they were going to do next.
Most of us know what it’s like to mean every word of a commitment to God and then watch ourselves fail it just the same. Peter, the disciple who promised to die for Jesus and then denied him three times, knew that feeling better than anyone. John 21 is for all of us who find ourselves in that failed committer camp.
This week Pastor Tim turns to the book of Acts to think of how God’s Spirit helps us to be the people He made us to be.
We keep wanting knowledge and power to get to what we think will make ourselves secure. God calls us instead to see how He makes us secure.
We can be inclined to delay approaching God, too busy obsessing on our doubts to come, much like Thomas in John 20. But Thomas did come and so should we.
This week Pastor Tim turns to the book of Acts to think of how God’s Spirit helps us to be the people He made us to be.
Excitement will only get us so far. To fulfill the mission of this life, we need more.
Most of us would rather keep our doubts quiet than be caught not having it all figured out—especially around people who assume we do. Nicodemus, one of the most respected religious teachers of his day, came to Jesus under cover of night with exactly that tension, and in John 3 Jesus meets him there, in the dark, unfinished.
Where do we go from Easter? Acts 1 gives us an idea as we see how Jesus prepares and gives purpose to His disciples.
You think the picnic went great until you start to itch and realize you brought ticks home with you. What tick bites—those sneaky sins whose venom is already inside before you notice—do you have? Those are the ones Jesus came to rescue us from.