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When Paul and Barnabas were evangelizing in Lystra, they were mistaken for Greek gods - Zeus and Hermes. The people wanted to worship them accordingly. But Paul and Barnabas know that only God can be worshipped, and so despite the fact that this puts them at great physical risk, they refuse to be taken as gods. We look at the issue of how we, today, tend to worship celebrities. They have become our pagan gods.
Paul, before he is shipwrecked on the shore of Malta, tells the centurion who is guarding him that they will all survive - but only if everyone remains aboard. We look at this true story as an allegory: for us to survive as the faithful, we must all remain onboard. Just as Paul remained dedicated his entire life to spreading the Word, we must withstand to pressures of our post-Christian world and maintain our faith.
I came across a man who was suffering from the long term neurological effects of a rattlesnake bite. But this man actually viewed this incident as a very positive event in his life. I use this story, plus the story from Acts where Paul is bit by a deadly viper, to discuss our ability as Christians to use bad situations to grow our faith in God - and our faith in people.
Many adults have grim memories of being raised by alcoholics who were not present emotionally for their children. A common theme among adult children of alcoholics is that they have a very difficult time showing love and concern for their alcoholic parents as they age and become infirm. I use the example of one such woman who was struggling with her relationship with her mother to discuss the freedom we can obtain when we have full trust in God.
When I was a in my early twenties, I had a job as a programmer. We worked in a subbasement. One of the other programmers, Tommy, another young guy, had to have full length casts on his legs for eight weeks. We used to have "Tommy races", where we saw which team of two could carry Tommy up and down the stairs the fastest. I use this story to discuss the joy that we can feel when we serve other people.
