by Stuart Gray
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They gathered the church together and reported all that God had done through them and how he had opened a door of faith to the Gentiles (Acts 14:27).
Read Acts 14:19–28
One thing I really like about travel is that it takes you out of your routine and comfort zone. It makes you live at a more conscious level. You may confront unfamiliar airports, train stations and road rules. Overseas, we may confront different languages, customs and foods. Sometimes, travel can be exhausting, but a good trip creates lots of stories to tell friends and family.
When reading the Book of Acts, at times, I have felt exhausted by the pace of travel that Paul, Barnabas and others undertook to spread the word of God.
In this passage, having been left for dead, a revived Paul set out the next day to go to another city that needed to hear about God’s saving grace. Then he and Barnabas returned to the three cities where they had encountered opposition but had also created new churches that needed support. Then, they were off again to other cities before returning to Antioch.
When the people of Antioch first heard the word, Paul was challenged by the Jews who stoned him. That must have made it difficult for the Christians of Antioch, new to a faith that the powerful people in their city strongly opposed.
How encouraged the newly converted at Antioch must have been to hear the stories of all God had done through Paul and Barnabas on opening the door of faith to the Gentiles! The Christians at Antioch were not completely isolated; their faith would have been reinforced and validated by hearing of the faith of others.
I have been very moved by stories of people’s conversion to Christianity, what it means to them when they talk of a sense of freedom, being loved and supported, and how their lives have been transformed.
But with all travel, even our life’s journey, we need to stop and take heed of all that has happened and to reflect, consolidate and take care of ourselves and others around us. It’s good to know Paul and Barnabas stayed in Antioch ‘a long time’.
Heavenly Father, help us to be ready with stories of how you work in our lives and how Christ died for all. Sustain us on our journey of life. We thank you for the people around us who support and validate us in our faith journey. Amen.
Stuart, with his wife Pamela Dalgliesh, lives in Mansfield, Victoria. Stuart has a background in agricultural science, rural journalism and corporate affairs. He loves living on a small farm in the beautiful High Country of Victoria, being involved in the Mansfield community and travelling. He is currently travelling in Europe, which will include a visit to the Poznan region of Poland, where some of Australia’s original German Lutherans came.
by Stuart Gray
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We are bringing you good news, telling you to turn from these worthless things to the living God (Acts 14:15a).
Read Acts 14:1–18
In this and many other passages in Acts, God’s word is a sword through the fabric of the communities in which the word is preached. We are told on many occasions that the preaching was effective, and many people came to believe. But there is active opposition to the preaching of Paul and Barnabas, and the Jews who refused to believe ‘stirred up the other Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brothers’ (verse 2).
And then some misunderstand or struggle to grasp the point because this new teaching is so foreign to them. Even though Paul and Barnabas have been preaching the gospel in their midst, the people at Lystra are so amazed by the miraculous healing that Paul and Barnabas perform that they hail the missionaries as gods! All they know are their existing gods – Zeus and Hermes – and their familiar ways of worshipping. They are trying to make this new teaching, this new God, fit their existing ideas.
When Paul and Barnabas realise what is happening, they are horrified, tearing their clothes. How can they redirect the focus of their listeners, pagan people with no background in the Old Testament or real knowledge of Christ crucified? Their message is simple: reject worthless things (the old gods, the old ways) and turn to the God who made heaven, the earth, the sea and everything in them. And the evidence of this God? Well, he has given you good things, such as rain, crops and plenty of food, and fills your hearts with joy.
No doubt Paul and Barnabas would have followed up with the preaching of God’s love and saving grace through Christ crucified as they did so effectively with the Jews and Gentiles in many places. But, during this moment, they need to point the people first to the God of all creation, who gives them all good things.
There are many people in our society who are so disconnected from Christianity that simple messages are needed to connect with them, such as pointing to the wonders of God’s creation, that God created us to be in relationship with him, and we can be in relationship with him through Christ crucified.
The opposition to Christianity we see in today’s society, particularly in Western countries, is nothing new, yet through all of that, the church survives and, in some areas, prospers.
As God’s people, we need to share the good news at a level that people can understand, that meets them where they are and helps them grow in their knowledge from there. Sometimes, a simple message may be the best one.
Heavenly Father, help us tell people about you, the good you provide to all and, in particular, your saving grace. We pray we can relate to people at many levels with appropriate messages about your love and grace. Amen.
Stuart, with his wife Pamela Dalgliesh, lives in Mansfield, Victoria. Stuart has a background in agricultural science, rural journalism and corporate affairs. He loves living on a small farm in the beautiful High Country of Victoria, being involved in the Mansfield community, and travelling. He is currently travelling in Europe, which will include a visit to the Poznan region of Poland, where some of Australia’s original German Lutherans came.
by Stuart Gray
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We had to speak the word of God to you first. Since you reject it and do not consider yourselves worthy of eternal life, we now turn to the Gentiles (Acts 13:46b).
Read Acts 13:44–52
There are several verses I could have highlighted in this passage, so rich is its content. What would bring out almost a whole city to hear a speaker? How often do we see jealousy drive contrary actions? When the Gentiles heard the word, they were glad and honoured it. However, the text that struck me most was the dramatic turning point described in the focus text.
God wanted the Jews to know that the promise of a Messiah had been fulfilled, so the disciples and teachers concentrated on telling the good news to the Jews. However, many non-Jews were hearing and believing the word, and this created jealousy amongst the Jews.
The jealousy was such that Paul and Barnabas saw that being stuck in their point of view was even more important to the Jews than eternal life.
What a turning point in the history of the church. Like other great turning points in history (Martin Luther’s 95 Theses comes to mind), we see dramatic divisions between peoples, with one group usually holding onto the past and another taking a turn in a new direction.
This works at a personal level as well.
It helps greatly if we are aware of what is holding us back and when we need to take a new direction. Luther said we should ‘die daily to sin’. My interpretation is that we must choose the direction of Christ each day anew.
This is not easy. Just think of the turning points in our own lives, positive and negative. We have the big things in our lives that make us change direction, such as completing education, taking a new job, getting married, having children and experiencing the death of family members and friends. Each requires us to adjust to new ways of being, a new paradigm.
Through all of those turning points, we need to be aware of the need to turn to Christ, the risen Lord, in the big and little events of our lives and daily.
Heavenly Father, thank you for giving us a beacon in Jesus, so we know in which direction to turn. Give us the power and desire to always turn to Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour, in all we do. Amen.
by Stuart Gray
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For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world (John 6:33).
Read John 6:24–35
I find preparing these devotions very challenging. I am not trained in theology, so I am constantly wondering whether I have made the right interpretation of the texts, if relating my life’s experience is relevant and whether the devotions are engaging enough for people to read.
But the challenge is so very rewarding. I am forced to read widely, compare translations, ponder and contemplate, pray for guidance, and draw on personal experiences to illustrate points and to share my thoughts and feelings.
In preparing for this item, I read the online NIV version of the text and then looked at my NIV study Bible to check the notes when I noted a small but significant difference in the highlighted text.
‘For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world’ (online version).
‘For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world’ (NIV study Bible).
The second version, by personalising Jesus as the bread of heaven, was an ‘ah-ha’ moment for me, a tangible deepening of understanding of an important biblical truth.
Yes, I know the texts say that Jesus is the bread of heaven, that Jesus is the bread of life, but on reading ‘For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven …’, within moments, I had a greater depth of understating of the interconnectedness between the Israelites supported by manna from heaven during their wandering in the wilderness, Jesus, as the bread of life, sustaining us and giving us eternal life and the sustaining wonder of the Eucharist, ‘unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you’ (John 6:53).
It was an awesome moment – I was literally in awe of God’s plan for his people and how he executes that plan through Christ, the bread from heaven who died for our sins, so we may be in relationship with God, and who sustains us with the sacrament of the Eucharist.
Heavenly Father, thank you for the rewards you give us when we study your word. We pray that we gain new insights and new understandings that reflect on who we are in the church and the community. We thank you for Christ, the life-giving bread from heaven who sustains us until we are eternally in your presence. Amen.
Stuart, with his wife Pamela Dalgliesh, lives in Mansfield, Victoria. Stuart has a background in agricultural science, rural journalism and corporate affairs. He loves living on a small farm in the beautiful High Country of Victoria, being involved in the Mansfield community and travel. He is currently travelling in Europe which will include a visit to the Poznan region of Poland, from where some of Australia’s original German Lutherans came.
by Sal Huckel
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Yet he commanded the skies above and opened the doors of heaven, and he rained down on them manna to eat and gave them the grain of heaven (Psalm 78:23,24).
Read Psalm 78:23–29
‘Yet’. Today’s lectionary reading starts with this small, three-letter word directing us to what goes before to get the full sense of our passage. We need to look to the beginning of this Psalm to understand today’s reading.
Psalm 78 is headed: ‘Tell the coming generation’. Today’s passage comes from the second longest psalm in the Bible, which tells of God’s miraculous provision of food to the Israelites in the desert. So, why the ‘yet’?
To marvel at our amazing God and his provision for the Israelites, and of course for us – we need to understand the context here. This psalm encourages us to teach the story to future generations and recounts the story of God’s people from Jacob onwards, and Israel’s history. Pastors and households must tell the accounts of the wonders of God’s work to our children to be passed on. When we learn of the miraculous food that rained down on the Israelites in abundance, we marvel at the works of the Lord. When we investigate the ‘yet’, we realise this: the Israelites time after time tested God, sinned against him, forgot his miracles, and complained about him some more. ‘Yet’.
Read today’s section of Psalm 78 and be in awe of our amazing God. Put it in context and worship even more our forgiving, loving God, who removes our sins from us as far as the east is from the west (Psalm 103:12). Worship God the Father, whom Jesus shows us is like the Father welcoming back his prodigal son (Luke 15:11–32). Worship Jesus the Son, who while we were still sinners, died for us (Romans 5:8 is one example of many).
What can we learn from this psalm? Just as in our previous readings in Acts, where the history was recounted up until the time of Jesus’ death and resurrection in the testimonies and teachings of the apostles, we too need to take note of this history. We must note the inability of humankind to keep God’s law – and the saving grace we have in the gospel. We will make mistakes, like the Israelites, time after time. God forgives us over and over again. ‘Tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the Lord, and his might, and the wonders he has done’ (Psalm 78:4).
Father God, you are the creator of the universe: almighty and everlasting, forgiving and loving. Through the power of your Holy Spirit help me to live daily in my baptism, to come to you for forgiveness, and to tell of your mighty acts and deeds to the next generations. May we remember our history and learn from it. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Sal is married to Pastor Matthew Huckel and they live in Victoria with their six children. Music, theology, literature, and languages are passions the family share and explore together. Sal loves writing, speaking and walking to the beach at every opportunity.
by Sal Huckel
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As they went out, the people begged that these things might be told to them the next Sabbath (Acts 13:42).
Read Acts 13:26–43
What a response to Paul’s message! When have we been so keen to hear the word of the Lord brought to us that we cannot wait to hear it again next week?
Perhaps you are part of a Bible study group and look forward to attending each week. You may look forward to Sunday, for refuelling with word and sacrament. Or perhaps many of us might feel we can miss a Sunday here and there, or that attending church once in a while is enough.
As Lutherans, we believe that the word of God is efficacious and that he works through it to produce faith and obedience. Certainly, we see an example here of that happening in the synagogue as a result of Paul’s teaching.
We have the privilege of a free country. The word of God can sit openly on our bookshelves, in our pews, on our phones and computers. Look at how much opportunity there is for God to work if we give him the opportunity. While our faith is a gift from him and not something we create ourselves – we need to allow him to work. We must move on from spiritual milk to solid food. Are we as hungry for the word as the hearers of Paul’s message?
Choose a book of the Bible, and commit to reading it daily, asking the Lord to work through his word and create a deeper faith in you. Ask him to give you desire and passion for his word and the ability to encourage others in their faith. In this world where so many voices call out to us daily, let’s give the Lord the priority of our attention. Go to church!
Father God, you declare that the word that goes out from your mouth shall not return to you empty, but it shall accomplish that which you purpose and shall succeed in the thing for which you sent it (Isaiah 55:11). Work in our lives through your word brought to us by faithful pastors and increase our desire to learn from you through them. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Sal is married to Pastor Matthew Huckel and they live in Victoria with their six children. Music, theology, literature and languages are passions the family share and explore together. Sal loves writing, speaking and walking to the beach at every opportunity.
by Sal Huckel
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After the reading from the law and the prophets, the synagogue rulers sent a message to them, saying, ‘Brothers, if you have any word of encouragement for the people, say it’ (Acts 13:15).
Read Acts 13:13–25
Visitors to the synagogue were invited to give the message from the Scriptures read that day, which is why we find Paul teaching here. We may recall Jesus being invited to do the same. Paul begins with the history of Israel in Egypt, and this passage continues to the genealogy of Jesus from the line of David, and the preparation of the people for Jesus, by John the Baptist.
We have no idea what the rulers of the synagogue were expecting when they invited Paul to speak, but one may liken this teaching to the account Stephen gives before he is stoned to death (Acts 7). Paul (Saul) was present to hear Stephen’s testimony and approve of his death. Now Paul is giving his testimony and teaching right in the synagogue. We will find out in our next passage how this turns out for Paul.
There is a small detail in this passage to cross-reference. We learn that John left Paul’s mission and returned to Jerusalem (verse 13). We hear nothing more of this as Paul continues to serve where the Lord has sent him. However, the departure of John becomes the source of a ‘sharp disagreement’ between Paul and Barnabas (Acts 15:36–41).
The root of that disagreement and eventual separation began here while carrying out the Lord’s mission together and bringing many to faith. Even for Paul and Barnabas, partnering in the gospel in miraculous ways, this divides their ministry. The result of this of course is that the mission is divided up and more ground is covered. What the enemy intends for evil God will use for good (read Genesis 50:20).
Again, we see through the readings this week that God has a plan. Through the early church and the members’ adversity and interference from the enemy, God works his purpose out and brings the gospel to save the lost. He works through imperfect human beings who are persecuted, who sometimes persecute each other, and who are sometimes even killed while doing his work. How are you encouraged through this knowledge today?
If you have time, seek out a recording of the hymn, ‘The Church’s One Foundation’.
Lord, you work through your people, in our weaknesses, and our disagreements. Even in times when ministries divide, you are glorified and your will prevails. Help us to remember that you are in control, you are glorified and what the devil intends for harm, you will use for good. We submit to your will in our lives for your glory. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Sal is married to Pastor Matthew Huckel and they live in Victoria with their six children. Music, theology, literature, and languages are passions the family share and explore together. Sal loves writing, speaking, and walking to the beach at every opportunity.
by Sal Huckel
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While they were worshipping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, ‘Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them’ (Acts 13:2).
Read Acts 13:1–12
We are familiar with Paul’s letters being read in church and we may think about them as we encourage each other with Scripture. Let’s take some time today to read this passage about Paul’s first mission. Grab your Bible or click on the link, if you haven’t already. I’ll wait …
Saul is new to the faith. Here, we have his commissioning, in accordance with the Holy Spirit, who instructs the apostles to set him apart from Barnabas and send them out together. On their first mission trip, they encounter a false prophet, a magician, who tries to turn a proconsul away from the faith (verses 7,8).
What stands out to you in this encounter? For me, it’s the continuance of the theme we encountered yesterday. Nothing will stop the word of God, through the power of the Holy Spirit, from accomplishing what the Lord is setting out to do.
‘But Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him and said, “You son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, full of all deceit and villainy, will you not stop making crooked the straight paths of the Lord? And now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you will be blind and unable to see the sun for a time”’ (verses 9–11).
We might remember Isaiah’s references to making straight the way of the Lord (Isaiah 40:3, 45:2). Here we have the opposite forces of the devil in effect. The false prophet’s ploy fails because Saul’s rebuke and miraculous intervention is a perfect example of the ‘highway being made straight’ through the power of the Holy Spirit.
We serve a God who does what he says he will. If we are in his service, he will flatten the highways and make straight the path of his will. We must, like Paul, resist the false prophets who exist today, sometimes in our midst. The Lord will deal with them, too, so those seeking him will find truth, despite their interference.
Lord, set us apart for your mission. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, received in our baptism, work in us to bring truth to those who seek you and give us discernment to call out and disable false teachings sent from the enemy to distract from, and confuse, your sovereign will. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
by Sal Huckel
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But the word of God increased and multiplied (Acts 12:24).
Read Acts 12:18–25
Earlier in Acts, we find wisdom from a Pharisee named Gamaliel, a ‘teacher of the law held in honour by all the people’ (Acts 5:38,39): ‘ … So in the present case I tell you, keep away from these men and let them alone, for if this plan or this undertaking is of man, it will fail; but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them. You might even be found opposing God!’
It is true we have had some heavy losses by this time in Acts. Apostles have been martyred – but not before seeing visions, appearing radiant and giving powerful testimony, and after performing many miracles through which God increased his church daily.
In our passage today, we may be mildly surprised at the harshness of the death of the unfortunate soldiers guarding Peter in the wrong place at the wrong time. However, in the context of the events up until now, we have seen many life-and-death miracles, including the deaths of Ananias and Sapphira for cheating the Lord financially. Now we see the deaths of these two soldiers and Herod himself. Gamaliel was right – his words are borne out in our reading today. To be found opposing God means death. We know that to be on the Lord’s side means death is not ‘death’ at all – it is life with Christ in eternity.
God’s kingdom is a ‘life-and-death business’. Our faith has stood the test of time: more than 2000 years later we know Gamaliel is still correct. The undertakings of man will fail – but the Lord’s work cannot be overthrown.
We read in Acts how the early church was persecuted and members put to death. We know (as the apostles did) that life in the body is not our main aim – it is life in Christ. The Lord is sovereign over his church. His will is sovereign. What he allows to die and what he allows to continue is not in our human knowledge or understanding. We take comfort in this. We must remain faithful to his word: preaching Christ in season and out.
His will be done.
Your will, Lord, be done on earth, as it is in heaven. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Sal is married to Pastor Matthew Huckel and they live in Victoria with their six children. Music, theology, literature, and languages are passions the family share and explore together. Sal loves writing, speaking, and walking to the beach at every opportunity.