Acts
The Acts of the Apostles
The book of Acts is the story of the early church. It tells in many ways and in many places this same story; of ordinary people participating in extraordinary events in the name of Jesus.
The book of Acts begins in Jerusalem, here with Peter and John and the crippled beggar in the Temple, and it ends in Rome. It covers nearly 3 decades.
It begins here in the Temple but most of the action in the book of Acts happens in private homes … as well as a few public places, roadsides and court rooms. But as I said before, home is the most important, for people learning about fellowship and family and belonging and worship and the breaking of bread. God moves house.
It is the story of women and men who discover that they can do and be so much more than they believed possible.
It’s about strong personalities trying to work together in team, sometimes succeeding and sometimes splitting. It’s about leadership and arguments and surprises and disappointments. It is always about prayer. It is always about the risen Jesus at work through his Spirit.
Part One: Acts chapters 3 & 4 and the healing of the crippled beggar guy
... a narrative sermon about the healing and what happened next.
... concluding with a reflection inviting you to enter into his experience
His story is a leaping and jumping one, moving from being stuck, stationary, sitting on the Temple steps day after day, never entering into the presence of God, always outside … to going right into the Temple, and then finding the presence of God even more powerfully, not in the Temple but in the home of the church.
He went from a life-long bone-deep weight of shame, being under God’s curse, to a utterly unexpected body-hurling declaration of God’s grace and favour.
The book of Acts is the story of the early church. It tells in many ways and in many places this same story; of ordinary people participating in extraordinary events in the name of Jesus.
The book of Acts begins in Jerusalem, here with Peter and John and the crippled beggar in the Temple, and it ends in Rome. It covers nearly 3 decades.
It begins here in the Temple but most of the action in the book of Acts happens in private homes … as well as a few public places, roadsides and court rooms. But as I said before, home is the most important, for people learning about fellowship and family and belonging and worship and the breaking of bread. God moves house.
It is the story of women and men who discover that they can do and be so much more than they believed possible.
It’s about strong personalities trying to work together in team, sometimes succeeding and sometimes splitting. It’s about leadership and arguments and surprises and disappointments. It is always about prayer. It is always about the risen Jesus at work through his Spirit.
Part One: Acts chapters 3 & 4 and the healing of the crippled beggar guy
... a narrative sermon about the healing and what happened next.
... concluding with a reflection inviting you to enter into his experience
His story is a leaping and jumping one, moving from being stuck, stationary, sitting on the Temple steps day after day, never entering into the presence of God, always outside … to going right into the Temple, and then finding the presence of God even more powerfully, not in the Temple but in the home of the church.
He went from a life-long bone-deep weight of shame, being under God’s curse, to a utterly unexpected body-hurling declaration of God’s grace and favour.
Part Two: Acts 10, "This car runs on love"
Readings: John 15 and Acts 10
Our Bible readings today are about love. Jesus tells his friends before he died: as I have loved you, love one another. I know, I know, you’ve heard a lot of sermons about love … so, OK, what does it mean, love one another? The problem is, in the church, we tone it down, make it easier. So we think it says ‘be nice to one another’. Or maybe even, heaven forbid, ‘Be polite to one another’.
... What I really love about Acts 10 is how they meet on equal terms. Jew and Roman, fisherman and commanding officer, healer and benefactor, with children and servants and the grandparents and all. Divisions and distinctions, hierarchies and race … that evening as they ate together none of that mattered. Peter spoke and their hearts burned and they were filled with the Holy Spirit. God is in the relationship business. God opens the way for people to love one another, just as Jesus loved his friends.
Readings: John 15 and Acts 10
Our Bible readings today are about love. Jesus tells his friends before he died: as I have loved you, love one another. I know, I know, you’ve heard a lot of sermons about love … so, OK, what does it mean, love one another? The problem is, in the church, we tone it down, make it easier. So we think it says ‘be nice to one another’. Or maybe even, heaven forbid, ‘Be polite to one another’.
... What I really love about Acts 10 is how they meet on equal terms. Jew and Roman, fisherman and commanding officer, healer and benefactor, with children and servants and the grandparents and all. Divisions and distinctions, hierarchies and race … that evening as they ate together none of that mattered. Peter spoke and their hearts burned and they were filled with the Holy Spirit. God is in the relationship business. God opens the way for people to love one another, just as Jesus loved his friends.
Part Three: Acts 12
Peter's dramatic escape, and women in new roles
A sermon for Mother's Day
Readings: Acts 12: 1-18 John 17: 6-11
Women experienced in the early church a radically different foundation for their identity ... As a woman this is who I am. Yes I am a wife and a mother, but I am not just a wife and a mother. I am loved of God. I have received the word and the spirit of God – not because I am ordained but because I am a follower of Jesus. The word and the spirit is available to all because Jesus has given them to us.
Women were valued in the early church, and are valued in our church today, not because of what we can do, not because of our faces or our bodies or our clothes or our bank accounts. Women are valued in Christ simply because Jesus Christ chose us.
Peter's dramatic escape, and women in new roles
A sermon for Mother's Day
Readings: Acts 12: 1-18 John 17: 6-11
Women experienced in the early church a radically different foundation for their identity ... As a woman this is who I am. Yes I am a wife and a mother, but I am not just a wife and a mother. I am loved of God. I have received the word and the spirit of God – not because I am ordained but because I am a follower of Jesus. The word and the spirit is available to all because Jesus has given them to us.
Women were valued in the early church, and are valued in our church today, not because of what we can do, not because of our faces or our bodies or our clothes or our bank accounts. Women are valued in Christ simply because Jesus Christ chose us.
Acts 12 is Rhoda's story. What does it tell us about the early church?
First and foremost, the story is about the power of prayer. And this is a theme which is utterly central to the book of Acts. Nothing happens that has not been prayed into.
Second, Acts tells of real people. It is not air-brushed. The people in Acts have personalities, and conflicts and emotions. This story is deliberately unflattering.
Thirdly, we can see a little of the cost of being an follower of Jesus in those times.
And, fourthly, this glimpse into church life highlights the key role of women in the early church.
First and foremost, the story is about the power of prayer. And this is a theme which is utterly central to the book of Acts. Nothing happens that has not been prayed into.
Second, Acts tells of real people. It is not air-brushed. The people in Acts have personalities, and conflicts and emotions. This story is deliberately unflattering.
Thirdly, we can see a little of the cost of being an follower of Jesus in those times.
And, fourthly, this glimpse into church life highlights the key role of women in the early church.
Part 4: Tell the Pentecost Story
an interactive story-telling of Acts 2
(The silly Lectionary gives you the rest of Acts before Pentecost so you have to finish a series on Acts with Pentecost Sunday!)
.. every person who was there, every person who had seen the risen Jesus and who loved him, every man and every woman, every old person and every child, was lit up. With the light came a feeling, a feeling of energy and power. And the light looked a bit like fire, almost as though each person was a candle shining brightly with a flame that danced and flowed around them as they moved.
What would you look like if you had spirit fire shining all around you?
The fiery energy made it quite impossible to stand still, and it made it quite impossible to stay silent. They didn’t just sit there feeling nice and warm inside, they just couldn’t! They told each other how amazing God is, because it was totally obvious to them that this feeling, this energy, was God energy.
an interactive story-telling of Acts 2
(The silly Lectionary gives you the rest of Acts before Pentecost so you have to finish a series on Acts with Pentecost Sunday!)
.. every person who was there, every person who had seen the risen Jesus and who loved him, every man and every woman, every old person and every child, was lit up. With the light came a feeling, a feeling of energy and power. And the light looked a bit like fire, almost as though each person was a candle shining brightly with a flame that danced and flowed around them as they moved.
What would you look like if you had spirit fire shining all around you?
The fiery energy made it quite impossible to stand still, and it made it quite impossible to stay silent. They didn’t just sit there feeling nice and warm inside, they just couldn’t! They told each other how amazing God is, because it was totally obvious to them that this feeling, this energy, was God energy.