Wednesday, Jan. 28

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Wednesday

Now there was in Joppa a disciple named Tabitha, which, translated, means Dorcas. She was full of good works and acts of charity.  In those days she became ill and died, and when they had washed her, they laid her in an upper room.  Since Lydda was near Joppa, the disciples, hearing that Peter was there, sent two men to him, urging him, “Please come to us without delay.”  So Peter rose and went with them. And when he arrived, they took him to the upper room. All the widows stood beside him weeping and showing tunics and other garments that Dorcas made while she was with them. But Peter put them all outside, and knelt down and prayed; and turning to the body he said, “Tabitha, arise.” And she opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter she sat up. And he gave her his hand and raised her up. Then calling the saints and widows, he presented her alive. And it became known throughout all Joppa, and many believed in the Lord.   - Acts 9:36-42

The outstanding characteristic of this woman, Dorcas, was grace and ministering in selfless love. She helped others. Her very name, both in Hebrew and Greek, means Gazelle (I’m guessing she went by the Aramaic version her name Tabitha, rather than the Greek version Dorcas).  A gazelle is an animal characterized by grace.  We are also told that she was a disciple, this means she was a sincere follower of Jesus and an important leader in that Christian community.  The believers in Joppa have heard that the apostle Peter is in the neighboring village of Lydda, and in their grief they send for him to come to Joppa.  We don’t know for sue if they thought that Peter could raise her from the dead, or if they only wanted the comfort he might provide in the midst of their loss.  

The real question is, what is the purpose of this story?  What is the account of this miracle meant to show us?  Here again (just as in the previous miracle of the paralytic being healed) we get a story that shows us not only God’s power to heal physical disease and death, but His mighty power to bring us to life spiritually!  

In the same way that a paralyzed person cannot take any steps toward Christ until He first heals him, neither can a dead person live a life pleasing to God until He first brings them back to life.  The New Testament makes this point abundantly clear - we are DEAD in our sins until Jesus heals us and brings us to life.  

And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world.  - Ephesians 2:1-2

When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins.  - Colossians 2:13

The name of Jesus is able to do what no amount of human persuasion or human power can ever do.  He alone can impart strength and sensation to paralyzed legs.  His power alone can raise a corpse from the dead.  He alone can call a soul out of spiritual bondage and give it eternal life.  

We are only His instruments, and if we think that any of the power depends on us, we misunderstand how He works. In fact, it is only when we sense our complete inability, as Peter surely did when he knelt and prayed for Dorcas to be raised, that we are in the place God wants us.  If you have any confidence in your ability to lead a soul to faith in Christ, it is misplaced confidence. But if you cry out, “O Lord, who am I to raise the dead?  But You can do the humanly impossible through me” - then, God will work wonders!

Jeff Frazier

Tuesday, Jan. 27

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Tuesday

Now as Peter went here and there among them all, he came down also to the saints who lived at Lydda. There he found a man named Aeneas, bedridden for eight years, who was paralyzed. And Peter said to him, “Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you; rise and make your bed.” And immediately he rose. And all the residents of Lydda and Sharon saw him, and they turned to the Lord. - Acts 9:32-34

Here we have a story about the healing of paralysis of the body. For eight years it held this man impotent, unable to fulfill life as God intended human life to be lived.  We don’t know much at all about this man.  We are not told if he was a member of the church in Lydda, or if he was just some guy in the town.  All we know is his name, Aeneas, which was a very common greek name in the first century.  I think the point is that this could be anybody, this guy represents us all, he pictures the condition of humanity apart from Christ.

He was paralyzed; he could not move. This can happen to the spirit as well. In fact it does happen to many of us. Some of you are suffering from paralysis of the will, from paralysis of the spirit. There are things you have been wanting to do, knowing that you ought to do them. For years you have been saying, "Oh, I wish I could do that. I'd like to. Someday I want to do it." But you never have. You are suffering from paralysis of the will because you are looking to your own resources. You hope that someday, somehow you will get some new desire, and then when you feel motivated, then you will do it.

The truth is that apart from the power of Jesus Christ, you and I can no more take steps to change our sinful condition than a paralyzed man can get up and walk!  It is to this very condition of the soul that this story makes its appeal. Jesus Christ says to you, "Rise, and begin to live. Do what I’ve called you to do, and do it in my name!”  That is what this account is for - to show us that Jesus Christ can heal us from the paralysis of death.

It is very interesting to notice that the miracle Jesus does through Peter here in Acts 9, closely parallels a miracle that Jesus Himself performed in Matthew 9 - And behold, some people brought to him a paralytic, lying on a bed. And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Take heart, my son; your sins are forgiven.”  And behold, some of the scribes said to themselves, “This man is blaspheming.” But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, “Why do you think evil in your hearts?  For which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’?  But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he then said to the paralytic—“Rise, pick up your bed and go home.”   - Matthew 9:2-6

In this account, not only does Jesus also heal a paralytic, but He actually gives us the reason for why He healed him.  He is showing the religious leaders, and us, which is the greater miracle!  I think we have a strong tendency to focus on the wrong things.  We too often focus our hopes on the material world and the on the hope of a physical healing, but the greater miracle is not the fact that Jesus can make a lame person walk or a sick person well, it is the healing that Christ does in our hearts; the forgiveness of our sins and our redemption through the Cross!

Jeff Frazier

Monday, Jan. 26

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Monday

In the last year or so of Paul's life, when he was imprisoned in Rome, he wrote a letter to his son in the faith, Timothy. And, looking back across the years of his ministry, he spoke of the coming of our Savior Christ Jesus, "who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel." (2 Tim. 1:10). That is the great and central fact in the good news about Jesus Christ: He has done what no other can ever do - he has abolished death. That is what is unique about the gospel!

Death has many forms. We actually begin to die long before we take our last breath. Death seizes us in many areas of our life other than the physical. There are many forms of death. Boredom is death. Sickness, of course, is death, but despair is also death. Fear and worry are forms of death. Mental illness is death, but so is bitterness of spirit. Death can seize our life while we live, and rule over great areas of our life long before we ever die. We know that from experience. But the great good news of Jesus Christ is that he has come to abolish death, death in every form, whatever it may be.

In Acts 9 we see two stories of healing from two different kinds of death.  We will see how in each case the power of Jesus Christ abolishes death. The first incident is a picture of death's power to paralyze.

 Now as Peter went here and there among them all, he came down also to the saints who lived at Lydda. There he found a man named Aeneas, bedridden for eight years, who was paralyzed. And Peter said to him, “Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you; rise and make your bed.” And immediately he rose. And all the residents of Lydda and Sharon saw him, and they turned to the Lord. - Acts 9:32-34

If you have ever been to Israel, you have probably been to Lydda. If you fly into Israel that is where you land. The airport outside Tel Aviv is at the ancient town of Lydda.  It was to this village that Peter came on his way down from Jerusalem, visiting among the new churches of Judea and Samaria. The church had been thrust out from Jerusalem and pockets of Christianity had begun in all the villages in Judea and Samaria. In Lydda he finds a man who had been paralyzed for eight years.

Now Peter was no faith healer. He was not like the TV faith healers in America today who make grandiose claims of possessing powers to heal people. Peter never said that he had any power to heal anyone. "Jesus Christ heals you," he says. Peter was but the instrument and channel of his healing power.  This man was made well instantaneously. As we have seen before in Acts, these physical miracles are a picture of the spiritual miracle that God wants to perform in every human spirit. God heals physically. He still does, and there are numerous perfectly valid instances of modern healings. But one thing is true of those today, just as in New Testament days: God heals physically only selectively. He never heals everybody that is sick. Jesus did not even when He walked the earth.  He healed selectively, because it is intended to picture the healing of the soul. That is what God really wants. Any healing of the body is, at best, temporary. 

Every one who was ever healed in New Testament days died later on. The healing of their bodies was just temporary because it was designed to be a picture.  It is God's wonderful way of illustrating the healing of the sinful heart which would be eternal and which is really what God wants!  

Jeff Frazier

Friday, January 23rd

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Friday, January 23

Acts 10:44-48

While Peter was still saying these things, the Holy Spirit fell on all who heard the word. And the believers from among the circumcised who had come with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out even on the Gentiles. For they were hearing them speaking in tongues and extolling God. Then Peter declared, "Can anyone withhold water for baptizing these people, who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?" And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to remain for some days.

Sometimes I like to read the headlines in the tabloid newspapers that line the check-out aisle in the local grocery store.

I get a chuckle out of headlines like, “Man Gives Birth!” or “Aliens Build Hotel in Manhattan!” or “Elvis is Alive!”

Imagine the headlines in the local tabloid of Caesarea the day after this story takes place.

“Romans Receive the Holy Spirit!”

“Romans are Baptized!”

I think we can scarcely imagine the shocking and even revolutionary nature of this story!

While Peter was still saying these things, the Holy Spirit fell on all who heard the word. And the believers from among the circumcised who had come with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out even on the Gentiles.

I love that last line, “the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out even on the Gentiles.”

I’m a Gentile and you are too, unless, of course, you were born into a Jewish family. Luke is saying that there was a time when we Gentiles were considered extremely unlikely  to respond to the gospel.

“...the Holy Spirit was poured out even on the Gentiles.”

That makes me smile! We, who tend to consider ourselves as insiders, were once considered to be such outsiders that it was seen as a miracle when one of us came to faith!

I think there are several things we can take away from this story.

First of all, gratitude. We know the joy of salvation and the grace of Christ because of Peter and Cornelius. Cornelius is regarded traditionally as the first Gentile convert to Christ.

We are his descendants.

Second, as followers of Jesus, we are now commissioned to play the role of Peter. We are be the one who is willing to reach across boundaries, to break the social and religious rules of the day, in order to share the good news with those who are hungry for truth.

Who do we regard as unclean?

Who do we regard as unlikely to respond?

What prejudices or attitudes do we carry that effectively keep people as outsiders?

Peter listened to God. Peter put aside his own prejudices and assumptions. Peter went to the home of Cornelius. Peter shared the gospel and the Holy Spirit took over from there.

What a great story!

May it be our story!

Pastor Brian Coffey

Thursday, January 22nd

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Thursday, January 22

Acts 10: 34-43

So Peter opened his mouth and said: "Truly I understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him. As for the word that he sent to Israel, preaching good news of peace through Jesus Christ (he is Lord of all), you yourselves know what happened throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee after the baptism that John proclaimed: how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. And we are witnesses of all that he did both in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree, but God raised him on the third day and made him to appear, not to all the people but to us who had been chosen by God as witnesses, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. And he commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one appointed by God to be judge of the living and the dead. To him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name."

Picture the scene.

Cornelius, the Roman soldier who serves a pagan emperor, has invited a bunch of his Roman friends and family to his house so they can all hear what a Jewish man named Peter has to say about God.

Peter, the Jewish fisherman who became a disciple of Jesus, and who once tried to kill a Roman soldier with his sword, is being led to Cornelius’s house.

Just a few days earlier Peter would have considered it a sin to enter the house of a Roman. Just a few months before Peter would have hated Cornelius without even meeting him, simply because he was a Roman.

Peter preaches the gospel of Jesus to a room full of people that he would have regarded as unclean and unreachable “outsiders” just days earlier.

It’s a crazy and completely miraculous scene; one that simply could not have happened without God’s intervention and design.

God has arranged for an Apostle of the good news to be in the same room with a Roman spiritual seeker along with his friends and family.

God led Cornelius to Peter; and God led Peter to Cornelius. He brings them together by the power of the gospel and for the purpose of the gospel. Peter summarizes the gospel like this:

To him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name."

I think this story is an example of what some call a “divine appointment.”

As pastor I have the privilege of hearing lots of stories like this.

Our church has a very active food ministry, called “Shepherd’s Heart Food Pantry.” Many of our clients happen to be Spanish speaking. We are also getting ready to launch a church-wide 8-week small group experience called “The All Time Best Seller Book Club” and encouraging people to invite friends who may never have read the Bible to join the experience. Well, Erin Wise, who is the Director of Shepherd’s Heart Ministries, made sure to put a few Spanish versions of the New Testament on a table near the food pantry where they could be easily seen. Soon some of the Spanish speaking people coming for food started asking about the All Time Best Seller book Club, and before we knew it we had 17 families signed up for a Spanish speaking study group! And guess what? A couple of months ago we hired a new worship leader named Eli Munoz who happens to be bi-lingual. So Eli is leading our first ever Spanish speaking Bible study group!

That feels like a “divine appointment” to me! That feels like a Book of Acts story to me.

I could share many more stories just like that but the real question is, “What’s your story?” or, “What divine appointment might God have for you today?”

Pastor Brian Coffey

Wednesday, January 21st

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Wednesday, January 21

Acts 10:21-33

And Peter went down to the men and said, "I am the one you are looking for. What is the reason for your coming?" And they said, "Cornelius, a centurion, an upright and God-fearing man, who is well spoken of by the whole Jewish nation, was directed by a holy angel to send for you to come to his house and to hear what you have to say." So he invited them in to be his guests. The next day he rose and went away with them, and some of the brothers from Joppa accompanied him. And on the following day they entered Caesarea. Cornelius was expecting them and had called together his relatives and close friends.

When Peter entered, Cornelius met him and fell down at his feet and worshiped him. But Peter lifted him up, saying, "Stand up; I too am a man." And as he talked with him, he went in and found many persons gathered. And he said to them, "You yourselves know how unlawful it is for a Jew to associate with or to visit anyone of another nation, but God has shown me that I should not call any person common or unclean. So when I was sent for, I came without objection. I ask then why you sent for me." And Cornelius said, "Four days ago, about this hour, I was praying in my house at the ninth hour, and behold, a man stood before me in bright clothing and said, 'Cornelius, your prayer has been heard and your alms have been remembered before God. Send therefore to Joppa and ask for Simon who is called Peter. He is lodging in the house of Simon, a tanner, by the sea.' So I sent for you at once, and you have been kind enough to come. Now therefore we are all here in the presence of God to hear all that you have been commanded by the Lord."

Back in 2007 our family traveled to Kenya with an FBCG short term team. While there we participated in a short safari experience which was one of the truly memorable events in our family life.

While on that safari we met a young man who was working as a kind of busboy at the safari village. He called himself, “Joseph.”

I noticed that his earlobes had been pierced and stretched out, like we had seen when we visited a Masai village a few days earlier.

I was curious so I asked him if he was Masai.

He indicated that he was indeed from the Masai people and seemed very glad that I noticed his ears. We then started a conversation.

A few minutes later my boys walked up so I introduced them.

“Joseph, these are my sons, Jordan, Jesse, Micah and Canaan,” I said.

He shook their hands very politely, then pointed at Micah and said, “What was this one’s name again?”

I said, “Micah.”

He said, “Like the prophet in the Bible?”

I was surprised so I said, “Yes, Micah from the Bible. Have you read the Bible?”

He said, “Yes, I am a Christian.”

Now I was really curious, so I said, “Would you mind telling us how you, as a Masai, became a Christian?”

He seemed delighted to be asked!

He said that as a Masai tribesman he grew up believing in one God; the God who created the world. He just didn’t know much about that God.

He said that when he was a young man he had a series of dreams that were very clear and very powerful. In one of the dreams he was trying to climb a long ladder into heaven only to be told that he was not permitted to climb all the way into heaven.

In another dream he was pursued by a bright light from heaven that would not let him hide. The light followed him everywhere, even when he tried to bury himself in the ground.

Then one day, he said, a Christian Masai missionary came to his village and began to teach the Bible. He had never seen or heard of the Bible before, but he said he almost immediately began to recognize some of the Bible stories from his dreams.

Eventually he came to understand that the way to heaven was faith in Jesus, and that the light that pursued him was Jesus, the light of the world. And he became a Christian.

In the story Luke is telling, we learn that Cornelius is a devout man who gives alms and prays to God the best he can. But then he has a vision in which God told him to send for a man who could explain the gospel to him. God simultaneously prepares Peter to go to Cornelius’s house. When he arrives Cornelius says:

"Four days ago, about this hour, I was praying in my house at the ninth hour, and behold, a man stood before me in bright clothing and said, 'Cornelius, your prayer has been heard and your alms have been remembered before God. Send therefore to Joppa and ask for Simon who is called Peter. He is lodging in the house of Simon, a tanner, by the sea.' So I sent for you at once, and you have been kind enough to come. Now therefore we are all here in the presence of God to hear all that you have been commanded by the Lord."

Just as my Masai friend Joseph knew about God but needed a missionary to explain the gospel to him, so Cornelius needs Peter to explain how God sent Jesus to die on the cross for his sins.

God is teaching Peter that he is no longer to think of himself as an insider and the Romans as outsiders! He is not to think of the gospel as something to be hoarded and protected by insiders, but something to be shared with all people, whatever their religious or cultural background.

Have you ever slipped into thinking of the church or your faith in terms of insiders and outsiders? Many of us do. Have you ever thought of certain people as being beyond the reach of God’s grace? Sometimes it’s tempting to think that way.

Have you ever asked God to lead you to, and allow you to help someone like Cornelius? Would you be bold enough to pray that prayer?


Pastor Brian Coffey

Tuesday, January 20th

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Tuesday, January 20

Acts 10:9-20

The next day, as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the housetop about the sixth hour to pray. And he became hungry and wanted something to eat, but while they were preparing it, he fell into a trance and saw the heavens opened and something like a great sheet descending, being let down by its four corners upon the earth. In it were all kinds of animals and reptiles and birds of the air. And there came a voice to him: "Rise, Peter; kill and eat." But Peter said, "By no means, Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean." And the voice came to him again a second time, "What God has made clean, do not call common." This happened three times, and the thing was taken up at once to heaven. Now while Peter was inwardly perplexed as to what the vision that he had seen might mean, behold, the men who were sent by Cornelius, having made inquiry for Simon's house, stood at the gate and called out to ask whether Simon who was called Peter was lodging there. And while Peter was pondering the vision, the Spirit said to him, "Behold, three men are looking for you. Rise and go down and accompany them without hesitation, for I have sent them."

As people who have spent our lives as North American Christians we don’t tend think of food in religious terms. We feel pretty much free to eat anything that we find palatable, from cheeseburgers to pulled pork sandwiches. We might have medical or health reasons, like a peanut allergy, to avoid certain foods; or we might choose a vegetarian or gluten free diet; but we don’t think of food in terms of sin or disobedience to God.

Except for brussels sprouts! I personally believe brussels sprouts are evil, but that’s a story for a different time!

But first century Jews thought of food in religious terms.

Back in the Old Testament God had given his people certain commands about certain foods as a reminder of his holiness.

For example: They were to avoid shellfish and pork because those creatures consumed human waste and were therefore regarded as “unclean.”

These laws about food helped define them as a people, as “insiders.”

So when Peter says, “I have never eaten anything common or unclean...” he is saying that his obedience to food laws is part of made him acceptable to God. It was part of what made him a spiritual “insider.”

And the voice came to him again a second time, "What God has made clean, do not call common." This happened three times, and the thing was taken up at once to heaven.

Throughout scripture when God says something 3 times; as when he called to young Samuel three times, or asked Peter three times “Do you love me?” he is saying or asking something very important.

Luke tells us that three times Peter hears a voice say, “What God has made clean, do not call common.”

What does this mean and why is it so important?

God is shifting the discussion from food to people.

The ancient Jews not only regarded certain foods as unclean, but certain people as well. Anyone who was not a Jew was considered unclean before God and therefore beyond the reach of the blessing and grace of God.

God is telling Peter; “Not so!”

God is telling Peter that the gospel changes the game. Just as Jesus had forgiven Peter for his three denials, Jesus could forgive a pagan Roman.

Are people different from each other? Yes! Are there people who are spiritually lost or far from God? Yes! But there are no “unclean” people in the sense of being unreachable or unlovable!

I think it’s difficult for us to understand how earth-shaking this would have been for Peter. God is turning upside down everything he has always believed about God, about himself and about the world around him. God is telling him it’s possible to care for and love those he once despised and avoided. God is telling him that, in Jesus, his love and forgiveness is as available to the pagan as it is to him, a Jew.

God is preparing Peter for his encounter with a Roman centurion named Cornelius.

Who might God be preparing you to meet?

Pastor Brian Coffey

Monday, January 19th

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Monday, January 19

Acts10:1-8

At Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion of what was known as the Italian Cohort, a devout man who feared God with all his household, gave alms generously to the people, and prayed continually to God. About the ninth hour of the day he saw clearly in a vision an angel of God come in and say to him, "Cornelius." And he stared at him in terror and said, "What is it, Lord?" And he said to him, "Your prayers and your alms have ascended as a memorial before God. And now send men to Joppa and bring one Simon who is called Peter. He is lodging with one Simon, a tanner, whose house is by the sea." When the angel who spoke to him had departed, he called two of his servants and a devout soldier from among those who attended him, and having related everything to them, he sent them to Joppa.

I began my life in ministry as a Youth Pastor and spent roughly 10 years working with Junior and Senior High School students.

As any student pastor will tell you, when working with adolescents you are constantly looking for creative ways to hold their attention, have fun and teach them something important about God; all at the same time.

I tried all kinds of things; some worked pretty well, some not so much.

But one of the games/group exercises that did work very well every time I tried it went like this:

First, you selected 2 or 3 students that would serve as your “guinea pigs,” and had them stand off to the side. Then you told the rest of the students to form themselves into groups; 6 to 8 students in each group.

So you have 5 or 6 groups of kids and 2 or 3 individual kids off to the side. Then the only instruction you had to give was to say to the individual students that their job was to get into one of the groups. That’s it. I wouldn’t give the groups any instructions at all; I only told the individual kids to try to get into one of the groups.

What do you think happened?

Total mayhem.

The students who were in the groups would immediately lock arms and turn themselves into an impenetrable wall of backs, arms and elbows, doing everything they could to discourage the individual students from getting into their group.

The students who were outside the groups would fight and scratch and claw to get into a group, sometimes launching themselves like human projectiles trying to break through the wall.

Each time I tried it I had to cut off the game before it got too violent; before someone got hurt; and before I lost my job!

But the teaching point was clear and powerful. As I debriefed the experience I would ask the individual kids why they tried so hard to get into the groups. They would say, “Because you told us to! And because we wanted to be included!”

Then I would ask the groups why they worked so hard to keep the individuals out of their groups. They would say, “Because you told us to!” Then I would say, “No, I didn’t! I only told the individuals to try to get in, I didn’t say anything to the groups about keeping them out! You could have simply welcomed the newcomers into your group with open arms, but you didn’t; why not?”
Then the discussion would begin!
Isn’t it true that the whole world, in a sense, is about who’s in and who’s out? From ethnic groups to religions to elite universities to exclusive peer groups in high school, everything seems to be about who’s acceptable and who’s not.
That’s the issue Luke raises as he begins this story.

At Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion of what was known as the Italian Cohort...

Caesarea was a coastal town located right on the Mediterranean Sea. The city was named after Roman Emperor Caesar Augustus, who was, you will remember, the ruler who declared that a census should be taken for a new tax, which, in turn, forced Mary and Joseph to travel to Bethlehem, where, of course, Jesus was born.

Right off the bat Luke is reminding his readers that Israel was being ruled by the power of Rome; and the Romans were resented bitterly by the Jews.

We are told that Cornelius was a “centurion of the Italian cohort.” This means simply that he was an officer in the Roman Army. He served in the Italian regiment (or battalion) stationed in Caesarea. A cohort was a company of approximately 1000 soldiers and, as a centurion, Cornelius would have  had charge over a hundred soldiers, making him the equivalent of a captain in today's army.

Luke is making it very clear that Cornelius was different; Cornelius was an outsider.

Over the past couple of weeks, as we have studied through chapters 9 and10, we have seen several stories of the gospel reaching those who would have been considered “outsiders.”

We saw this theme in the story of the conversion of Saul of Tarsus. Saul was a persecutor of the church, an arch enemy of the gospel, who was confronted by Jesus himself in a light from heaven. 

With the help of Ananias Saul not only becomes a follower of Jesus, but a powerful witness to the gospel as well.

We see it in the story of the Ethiopian Eunuch; a man from a different culture, who enjoyed elite political status as servant of the Queen of Ethiopia, who had been physically altered as a eunuch. God sends Philip to explain the gospel to him. One could scarcely imagine a more unlikely pair! But the Ethiopian comes to faith in Jesus.

Now we have a Roman centurion. Remember, the Romans would have been considered pagans by the Jews, and it was Roman soldiers who nailed Jesus to the cross then thrust the spear in his side to make sure he was dead.

The early Christians were all of Jewish background and they would have immediately seen Cornelius as one of “them;” a Roman, an outsider!

Yet, what we are going to see as we move through chapter 10 is that God loves the outsider as much as he loves the insider. We’re going to see that through the gospel God reaches right through the barriers that we often use to separate people and that he changes forever our understanding of “insiders” and “outsiders.”

Are you ready for the journey?

Pastor Brian Coffey

Tuesday, Jan. 13

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Tuesday

Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word. Philip went down to the city of Samaria and proclaimed to them the Christ. And the crowds with one accord paid attention to what was being said by Philip when they heard him and saw the signs that he did. For unclean spirits, crying out with a loud voice, came out of many who had them, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed. So there was much joy in that city.    - Acts 8:4-8

 Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Rise and go toward the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” This is a desert place.  And he rose and went. And there was an Ethiopian, a eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure. He had come to Jerusalem to worship and was returning, seated in his chariot, and he was reading the prophet Isaiah.  And the Spirit said to Philip, “Go over and join this chariot.”      - Acts 8:26-29

It may seem to some people that it was not worth it to take Philip away from the great work of an entire city and region being transformed by the gospel just to go meet one stranger in the middle of nowhere. But the truth is that God does not see things the way we see them.  Jesus makes this point clear when He told the parable of the lost sheep in Luke 15.  

What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.’ Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.   - Luke 15:4-7

But the truth is that it was not just the salvation of a single soul only that was involved in this story from acts 8.  The Ethiopian eunuch was a great dignitary (the C.F.O. of the entire nation), next in rank to the Queen; and the influence which the conversion of such a man would be immense and far-reaching.  In fact, Christian tradition holds that he was responsible for the conversion of Queen Candace herself and many of her subjects.  

Archaeologists and historians tell us that there is evidence of Christian communities in North Africa (Ethiopia, Nubia & Sudan) as early as the middle of the first century A.D.  It is very likely that this Ethiopian Eunuch was the beginning of this ancient Christian community that lasted for nearly 1,000 years!  

God used Philip to reach him and God used him to reach an entire region of North Africa (Ethiopia in ancient times included the modern countries of Eritrea, Sudan, and northern Somalia).  The conversion of this one man on a desert road prepared the way for the wonderful work which took place among the Ethiopians at a later period, when the whole nation became Christian, and the ancient prophecies of Scripture, that Ethiopia would yet lift her hands to God, were fulfilled (Psalm 68). 

The point of all of this is that you and I cannot possibly know all that God is doing, but we can trust that He is up to good and great things, and in His amazing grace, He chooses to us if we will trust and follow Him!

Jeff Frazier

Monday, Jan. 12

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Monday

 Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Rise and go toward the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” This is a desert place.  And he rose and went. And there was an Ethiopian, a eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure. He had come to Jerusalem to worship and was returning, seated in his chariot, and he was reading the prophet Isaiah.  And the Spirit said to Philip, “Go over and join this chariot.”  So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?”  And he said, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.  Now the passage of the Scripture that he was reading was this:

“Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter

    and like a lamb before its shearer is silent,

    so he opens not his mouth.

In his humiliation justice was denied him.

    Who can describe his generation?

For his life is taken away from the earth.” And the eunuch said to Philip, “About whom, I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?”  Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this Scripture he told him the good news about Jesus.  And as they were going along the road they came to some water, and the eunuch said, “See, here is water! What prevents me from being baptized?”  And he commanded the chariot to stop, and they both went down into the water, Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him.    - Acts 8:26-38

One of the many remarkable things about this story is that a very unlikely candidate for conversion to Christ is found and converted through the supernatural leading of the Lord himself, and not through any human planning. This man was from Ethiopia in Africa and had come all the way up to Jerusalem (a journey of well over 800 miles!) to worship God (v. 27).  Just think about that for a moment, out of all the tens of thousands of Jews and Gentiles and Samaritans that need Christ, God cared enough about this one man to send an angel to Philip, to tell him, "Rise and go toward the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza."

Notice that God does not explain the agenda t oPhilip ahead of time.  God does not give Philip any rational explanation for why he should leave Samaria, where by the way he was experiencing a miraculous outpouring of God’s Spirit in the conversion of many Samaritans!

How many of us have thought to ourselves at one time or another, “if only God would just tell me directly what He wants me to do, if I could just get some clear sign or direct communication from God about His will, then I would feel better.”?  But what if God’s direct communication to us about His specific will made no rational sense at all?  How would we respond if God asked us to go somewhere or do something that just didn’t make sense to us at all?

Philip has fled from Jerusalem because of the persecution there.  He ends up preaching the gospel in Samaria (the last place a faithful Jew would think to go) and he experiences God using him in powerful ways to spread the message of Jesus Christ. He must’ve thought to himself, “Aha, now I understand why I had to flee Jerusalem.”  Then suddenly an angel shows up and tells him to head south to the middle of a desert road, but doesn’t tell him the reason. 

Philip goes, like Abraham before him, not knowing all that God has in mind to do. But when he gets to the road, the Spirit tells him the next step to take. God rarely tells us about step two until we have taken step one.  This supernatural guidance comes one step at a time. In verse 29 the Spirit says, "Go up and join this chariot." That's all he says. Not what for. Nor who is in the chariot. Just go to the chariot.  Philip obeys each step that God shows him, and the result is a changed life!

Will you just take the step(s) that God is showing you?  Will you simply step out in faith without knowing every detail, but trust God enough to know that even if you can’t see how it will all work out, God can and God does!

Jeff Frazier

Friday, January 9th

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Friday, January 9

Acts 9:17-22

So Ananias departed and entered the house. And laying his hands on him he said, "Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road by which you came has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit."

And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and he regained his sight. Then he rose and was baptized; and taking food, he was strengthened. For some days he was with the disciples at Damascus. And immediately he proclaimed Jesus in the synagogues, saying, "He is the Son of God." And all who heard him were amazed and said, "Is not this the man who made havoc in Jerusalem of those who called upon this name? And has he not come here for this purpose, to bring them bound before the chief priests?" But Saul increased all the more in strength, and confounded the Jews who lived in Damascus by proving that Jesus was the Christ.

I met Charlie during my freshman year of college. We lived on the same floor with 25 other freshman guys and two upperclassmen who served as “Hall Counselors.” Charlie and I weren’t close friends but got to know each other a bit simply by living on the same floor.

Here’s what I knew about Charlie: he did almost everything I had been taught not to do! He was the classic college party dude. He drank lots of beer; his girlfriend stayed in his room on weekends; and while I never saw him smoke pot, his end of the floor often reeked of marijuana. He could also be quite creative in his use of profanity. Charlie was also very smart and for some reason I remember that Charlie was an English major.

I, on the other hand, was the preacher’s kid who didn’t drink, smoke or swear but, other than those lifestyle choices remained rather private about my faith.

I wasn’t looking to make any kind of spiritual impact on anyone; I wasn’t asking God to use me as an influence on my classmates; I was just trying to be one of the guys without compromising my faith. I was just hoping not to be too weird.

If you had asked me to share the gospel with Charlie I would have balked, and said something like, “I don’t think Charlie would be interested...” or, “I’m not sure even God could reach Charlie!”

Charlie and I didn’t see each other much after freshman year and both of us graduated four years later and went our own ways.

Fast-forward 15 years or so. I was sitting at breakfast glancing through the quarterly magazine from my alma mater and I came across an entry in the “class notes” section for the class of 1978.

It read, in part,

“Charlie so-and-so and his wife will be serving their first term with Wycliffe Bible Translators.”

I almost dropped my coffee cup! This was my old hall-mate Charlie! He had become a Bible translator? A missionary? Are you kidding me? Charlie? How was that even possible?

Then I remembered he was an English major.

Here’s how Luke describes the transformation of Saul of Tarsus:

And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and he regained his sight. Then he rose and was baptized; and taking food, he was strengthened. For some days he was with the disciples at Damascus. And immediately he proclaimed Jesus in the synagogues, saying, "He is the Son of God." And all who heard him were amazed and said, "Is not this the man who made havoc in Jerusalem of those who called upon this name? And has he not come here for this purpose, to bring them bound before the chief priests?" But Saul increased all the more in strength, and confounded the Jews who lived in Damascus by proving that Jesus was the Christ.

Can you imagine the shock those early Christians would have felt hearing Saul of Tarsus proclaim that Jesus was the Son of God?

Can you imagine my surprise in learning that my old classmate had become a Bible translating missionary?

Is there someone in your life right now that you tend to think of as “unreachable?” Do you have a friend or family member who is disinterested or even hostile toward the gospel? Do you know someone that you can’t even imagine becoming a follower of Jesus?

Most of us do.

Are you willing to pray for that person? Would you be willing to commit to praying every day for 30 days that Jesus would reach the unreachable, and that, if he so chooses, he would use you to help with the reaching?


Pastor Brian Coffey

Thursday, January 8th

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Thursday, January 8

Acts 9:17-22

So Ananias departed and entered the house. And laying his hands on him he said, "Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road by which you came has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit."

Let’s stop here just for a moment because this is an amazing scene! Just days earlier Ananias would have been one of Saul’s targets, but now he’s been sent by God to minister to Saul!

And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and he regained his sight. Then he rose and was baptized; and taking food, he was strengthened. For some days he was with the disciples at Damascus. And immediately he proclaimed Jesus in the synagogues, saying, "He is the Son of God." And all who heard him were amazed and said, "Is not this the man who made havoc in Jerusalem of those who called upon this name? And has he not come here for this purpose, to bring them bound before the chief priests?" But Saul increased all the more in strength, and confounded the Jews who lived in Damascus by proving that Jesus was the Christ.

One of the great conversion stories of my lifetime is the story of Charles Colson. Colson rose to political power during the Nixon administration and was often referred to as “Nixon’s hatchet man.” He was known for his ruthless ness and was once quoted as saying he would “walk over his grandmother for Richard Nixon.” By his own admission Colson was responsible for a good measure of the moral decay in the White House in the early 1970’s.

In 1974 he was convicted on charges related to the Watergate scandal and served 7 months in prison.

But something happened to Charles Colson along the way.

The turning point in Colson's life came when he met with an old friend named Tom Phillips, who was the CEO of a company called Raytheon. Colson was hoping to jump start his own legal career but discovered that Phillips had had recently experienced a spiritual awakening after hearing Billy Graham preach. Instead of talking about business Phillips talked with passion about his newfound faith and read aloud some passages from Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis.

Colson first thought his friend’s new faith was ridiculous, but the reading from the chapter on pride in Lewis's book struck home. He was also impacted by the prayer his friend prayed at the end of the evening, asking Jesus "to open Chuck's heart and show him the light and the way." Later that night, Colson broke down in tears at the wheel of his car and offered a prayer of his own. As he climbed into bed, he told his wife, Patty, that he thought he'd had a conversion experience—but he didn’t know what the term meant.

To make a long story short, Colson served his time in prison and emerged from with a new mission: mobilizing the Christian church to minister to inmates. He launched a ministry called “Prison Fellowship” that eventually reached thousands of prisons all over the world.

Of Colson’s spiritual conversion the Boston globe wrote in 1973 “If Mr. Colson can repent of his sins, there just has to be hope for everybody.”

“Conversion” means to be changed.

The New Testament word most closely associated with conversion is the Greek word metanoia. In Peter’s first sermon in Acts 2 he says:

“Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.”

When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”

Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.” Acts 2:36-39

The word translated “repent” is metanoia, and it carries the primary meaning of change of mind; change of heart; change of direction.

In it’s fullest sense conversion, metanoia, means to be saved from something and to be saved for something.

We see both in the story of Saul.

And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and he regained his sight. Then he rose and was baptized; and taking food, he was strengthened. For some days he was with the disciples at Damascus. And immediately he proclaimed Jesus in the synagogues, saying, "He is the Son of God."

Through his encounter with the risen Christ, Saul was transformed from a hate-filled persecutor of the church to a grace-filled apostle of good news. He was saved from his own pride, arrogance and self-righteousness; and he was saved for the great purpose of taking the gospel of Jesus to the Gentile world.

Here is the beauty and power of the gospel! Jesus loves us and pursues us as we are; but he doesn’t leave us as we are! He saves us from our sin and he saves us for his great purposes. He wants to change our minds; change our hearts and change our direction.

We saw the change in Charles Colson. We see the change in Saul of Tarsus.

What changes has Jesus made in you?


Pastor Brian Coffey

Wednesday, January 7th

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Wednesday, January 7

Acts 9:10-16

Now there was a disciple at Damascus named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision, "Ananias." And he said, "Here I am, Lord." And the Lord said to him, "Rise and go to the street called Straight, and at the house of Judas look for a man of Tarsus named Saul, for behold, he is praying, and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him so that he might regain his sight."

But Ananias answered, "Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to your saints at Jerusalem. And here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on your name." But the Lord said to him, "Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name."

Way back in the winter of 1981 or so I was working at Taylor University in Upland, Indiana and completing my graduate degree at Ball State University in Muncie, which was about 25 miles away. So I would drive 40 minutes every evening to my 6:30 pm class; then drive the 40 minutes back home again at about 11 o’clock at night.

One night I walked out of the classroom building and found myself in the middle of a blizzard. It was cold, I was tired, and just wanted to get home. The 40 minute trip was probably going to be at least an hour with all the snow so I wasn’t very happy. Then it got worse.

I only made it a couple of blocks when my 1973 Thunderbird stalled out at a stop light and wouldn’t start up again. It was 11 at night; snowing like crazy and I was stuck right in the middle of an intersection in Muncie, Indiana, no cell phone, no smart phone, no idea what to do next.

As I sat there feeling sorry for myself I saw a guy walking across the intersection toward my car. He was wearing a dark hooded jacket pulled low so I couldn’t see his face. My first reaction was to lock my doors because he looked kind of dangerous. I mean, what kind of person is walking around at 11 at night in a snowstorm. He walked straight to my car and as he approached he motioned for me to roll the window down. I rolled it down about an inch.

He said, “Pop the hood.”

I had no choice so I did what he said. I could hear him doing something under the hood but I couldn’t see what was going on. I had visions of him stealing my battery and leaving me there to freeze to death.

After a few seconds he yelled, “Try it now!” I turned the key and my car started right up.

The guy just waved and walked away; I never even got his name.

Jesus has confronted Saul; but Saul needs help.

Now there was a disciple at Damascus named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision, "Ananias." And he said, "Here I am, Lord." And the Lord said to him, "Rise and go to the street called Straight, and at the house of Judas look for a man of Tarsus named Saul, for behold, he is praying, and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him so that he might regain his sight."

We don’t know much about this man Ananias. He was evidently a Jewish background follower of Jesus living in Damascus. Some scholars think he was likely a leader of the church in that city and may have had prophetic gifts. What we know for sure is that God calls Ananias to do an extraordinary thing!

He tells him to go to a certain house, giving him the exact street address, and to help a man from Tarsus named Saul.

Had I been Ananias, I think I may have responded like this:

“Uh... excuse me Lord? For a moment there I thought you said Saul of Tarsus!

“Maybe you haven’t been paying attention to the news lately, but I don’t think Saul of Tarsus is very interested in my help! In fact, I’m pretty sure he’s more interested in dragging me off to prison or worse. Come to think of it, Lord, I’m not very interested in going to help Saul of Tarsus!”

So it’s quite understandable that Ananias’ initial response is one of hesitation.

But Ananias answered, "Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to your saints at Jerusalem. And here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on your name." But the Lord said to him, "Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name."

We’ll find out tomorrow that Ananias accepts his divine assignment, but can you imagine how strange it must have seemed to him?

Earlier in the fall I told the story of the five young missionaries from Wheaton College - including Jim Elliot and Nate Saint - who were speared to death in 1956 while trying to share the gospel with an indigenous tribe in the jungle of Ecuador.

But I didn’t share the rest of the story.

Within a year Jim Elliot’s widow Elizabeth and Nate Saint’s sister Rachel returned to the very people who had murdered their husband and brother and continued to share the love of Christ with them. The result was the establishment of a church in that tribe.

Has Jesus ever asked you to do a hard job?

Has Jesus ever asked you to move toward someone you knew to be hostile toward the gospel?

Has Jesus ever asked you to reach across a boundary for the sake of the gospel?

Remember the mandate Jesus gave back in Acts 1:

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” Acts 1:8

If being a witness for Christ was easy, we wouldn’t need the power of the Holy Spirit to accomplish the task! Sometimes to be a witness means to risk rejection or misunderstanding. Sometimes it means to risk far more than that.

Jesus asked Ananias to reach out to a man who once took delight in putting followers of Jesus in prison or worse. He asks Ananias to be his own hands and feet. He asks Ananias to trust his word and his Spirit.

He asks us to do the same.


Pastor Brian Coffey

Tuesday, January 6th

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Tuesday, January 6

Acts 9:1-9

But Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. Now as he went on his way, he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. And falling to the ground he heard a voice saying to him, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?" And he said, "Who are you, Lord?" And he said, "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do." The men who were traveling with him stood speechless, hearing the voice but seeing no one. Saul rose from the ground, and although his eyes were opened, he saw nothing. So they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. And for three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank.

A number of years ago I got a strange voice mail at my East Campus office. The caller identified himself as being an agent with the “United States State Department.” He went on to say that I was listed as a reference by someone applying for a State Department job and he needed to ask me a few questions. It was late morning on a Tuesday, as I recall, so I thought I would just return the call the next day.

Later that same night I was in an FBCG Board meeting in a small room behind the East Campus chapel. The meeting ran until about 9:45 pm and when I came out of the meeting to head home I was met by a man in trench coat standing in the darkened chapel. He stepped out and said, “Mr. Brian Coffey?” Scared me half to death! What’s a guy in a trench coat doing in the East Campus at almost 10 at night? He opened his coat enough to show me some kind of official looking badge and said, “Can I ask you a few questions?” Something about his tone told me he meant now!

It was the same guy who had called me earlier in the day. He had pursued me, tracked me down, to Geneva; to FBCG; to the East Campus; and to the very room where we were meeting; and had waited in the dark until I left the meeting. It was like something out of a spy movie.

The interview went just fine, but I’ll never forget the sense of being pursued!

This story begins with God in pursuit of Saul.

Now as he went on his way, he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. And falling to the ground he heard a voice saying to him, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?" And he said, "Who are you, Lord?" And he said, "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.

I think we notice two things here:

First, Jesus pursues Saul even as Saul is breathing threats and murder against the early church!

So often we hear people talk about “finding God” or “seeking for God.” But here we see that God is the pursuer and Saul is the one being pursued.

While it is true that human beings can and do pursue knowledge and understanding of God, the Bible teaches that God is always the first pursuer!

John says it this way:

This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 1 John 4:10

Did you know that God pursued you before you pursued him? God pursued you in love before you knew anything about him. God pursued you when you were not interested  in him; and even when you ran from him. It is God’s nature to pursue and he pursued Saul of Tarsus.

Second, we should notice that Saul does not recognize the one who pursues him.

After being blinded by the light from heaven and hearing a voice speak his name, Saul says, “Who are you, Lord?”

Scholars say Saul uses the word “Lord” here as a term of politeness; indicating only that he perceives that the one who speaks to him is greater than he.

So we see that Saul has given his whole life to the study of religious law, but is a stranger to the very God he claims to defend!

In this way I think Saul is a very contemporary figure. The world is full of people quite willing to use the name of God; to speak on behalf of God; or to act in the name of God but who do so without knowing the God they claim to represent.

This is the grace of God; that he pursues in love those who are far from him; that he pursues in truth those who do not know him; that he forgives those who have persecuted him; and that he makes the spiritually dead to live again.

Much later in his life Saul, now Paul, would write:

I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, that he considered me trustworthy, appointing me to his service. Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief. The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. 
 1 Timothy 1:12-14


Lord Jesus,
 
Thank you for pursuing us when we did not know you and even when we did not want to know you. Thank you for loving me when I did not deserve your love. Thank you for the abundance of your grace; and by your Spirit working in me make me a vessel of your grace to others.
 
Amen


Pastor Brian Coffey

Monday, January 5th

To listen to the audio version, click here.

Monday, January 5

Acts 9:1-9

But Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. Now as he went on his way, he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. And falling to the ground he heard a voice saying to him, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?" And he said, "Who are you, Lord?" And he said, "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do." The men who were traveling with him stood speechless, hearing the voice but seeing no one. Saul rose from the ground, and although his eyes were opened, he saw nothing. So they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. And for three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank.

If you like football this time of year is close to heaven. The NFL playoffs are about to begin and the college “bowl season” is in full swing. It seems like you can turn on the TV almost any time of day or night and see college teams playing in “The Chic-fil-a Peach Bowl,” or “The Buffalo Wild Wings Citrus Bowl,” or “The Idaho Potato Bowl,” (I’m not making that up!). I don’t know about you but I’m not sure how I could live without “The Idaho Potato Bowl!”

If you don’t happen to like football, well, good luck!

Perhaps the most famous college bowl game of all is the “Rose Bowl;” which takes place every January in Pasadena, California. Some of you will remember that one of the most famous plays in college football history took place in the 1929 Rose Bowl game between the University of California and Georgia Tech.

A young man named Roy Riegels was California’s All American center and captain of the team. His coach called Roy the smartest player he ever coached.

Midway through the second quarter of what was a scoreless game, Riegels picked up a fumble by Georgia Tech and raced toward the end zone.

He ran 69 yards, legs pumping as fast as he could go and the crowd of 100,000 screaming in excitement; but he ran the wrong way! Somehow he had gotten disoriented in the scramble for the ball and ran the length of the field toward his own end zone. His own teammates chased him, screaming at him to turn around, but with the roar of the crowd in his ears he couldn’t hear them. He was tackled at the 1 yard line and the next play resulted in a safety against his team and California went on to lose the Rose Bowl by a score of 8-7.

The play is widely regarded as the biggest blunder in college football history, and for the rest of his life Roy Riegels nickname was “Wrong Way Riegels.”

To his credit Mr. Riegels dealt with his mistake with great grace, eventually turning it into a career as a motivational speaker, encouraging people to learn from and grow through their failures.

The story we look at today is a spiritual wrong way story.

But Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.

Saul of Tarsus, who eventually became Paul the Apostle, was born in the city of Tarsus (located in the southeastern region of what is Turkey today) at about the same time Jesus was born. He was born into the highest degree of Jewish ancestry. His parents adhered strictly to the Law of Moses and sought to protect their children from “contamination” from the Gentiles.

Saul was a brilliant student who’s formal religious education was under a rabbi named Gamaliel, perhaps the most respected rabbi in Jerusalem at the time.

By this time Saul had become very influential in the religious leadership of Jerusalem and was a vicious enemy of the new sect of Judaism called “The Way;” or followers of Jesus. He regarded Jesus as a blasphemer and therefore saw his followers as having rejected the Law of Moses and worthy of judgment. He was quite willing to inflict pain and suffering on anyone who dared call Jesus “Lord.” Saul was a very dangerous man.

Luke tells us in chapter 8 that Saul stood by as Stephen was being stoned to death; lending his approval.

Here Luke says Saul was “still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord...” and that he was on his way to Damascus, a city located about 135 miles north of Jerusalem (modern day Syria), to hunt for followers of Jesus to arrest them and bring them back to Jerusalem.

This part of Saul’s story teaches us that it is possible, spiritually speaking, to be both sincere and sincerely wrong.

Just as Roy Riegels ran as fast as he could only to discover he was running the wrong way, Saul is about to find out that he’s been doing his best to wipe out the followers of Jesus but that he has been wrong in what he thinks about Jesus and wrong in what he thinks about himself.

When it comes to Jesus there are only two ways to run; toward him or away from him. Which way are you running today?


Pastor Brian Coffey