Pastor Dain: Acts 28. The Book of Acts Hasn't Ended
I thought it would be fun to mix it up a bit, and get to hear from all (or most) of you. After a shorter-than-normal teaching, I want to hear from you guys about what stands out most when you look back on the Book of Acts.
COMMENTS MADE AT THE STUDY:
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Mike mentions three people that impressed him:
Julius the Centurion. He was the guy responsible to take Paul to Rome. What a job that turned out to be!
Luke: Humbly never put himself in the forefront of the story.
Paul: This man tried to save the Jews of Jerusalem. Jesus knew many would not repent; He predicted the destruction of the temple that took place shortly after Paul probably died. If they had repented, Jesus may have made a different prediction!
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Garrett likes the story of the demon-possessed servant girl. Paul cast the spirit out and for his troubles he was flooged and thrown in jail. He and his pals sang hymns, the earthquake opened the doors and the jailer and his family was saved.
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Donna loves the story of Peter and John before the Sanhedrin in chapter 4, especially the part where thy proclaim they must obey God rather than men.
Dain reponds with the thought that we all need to have that king of strength in our conviction that God is true and real.
Conrad adds that the only charge the Sanhedrin could come up with somebody got healed.
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Kirk points out that Acts has multiple instances of the Church showing great hospitality to its members. Dain responds by acknowledging that so many people are very kind to him (especially with food).
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Dave mentions things currently in the news regarding efforts to shut down churches (for example, Canada building a fence around a church to prevent people attending services). His point is that the Church is not made up of buildings and meeting places. The true Church, the worldwide body of believers, cannot be contained by any force of man. Even the arrest of Paul did exactly the opposite of what was hoped--the Church grew greatly in number everywhere Paul went.
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Stephanie says her husband Steve's favorite story is when the demon says, "Jesus I know, and I know about Paul, but who are you?" That's Acts 19:15.
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Tom Clemmens tells the legend of the Three Fountains. Apparently when they beheaded Paul, his head bounced three times and that's where the fountain sprung up. Did we say that this is a legend?
Dain points out that not knowing anything about Paul's death may very well have been God's intent so that we would not turn Paul's grave site into a gigantic shrine. It keeps the focus where the focus needs to be.
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Louis talks about Enoch, Elisha, Moses; saints who either went straight to God without dying or, in Moses' case, whose body was never found. Paul could be one or the other.