2021-11

We look at the first gentile who is documented in the Bible as being baptized, and we consider a man who was sick in the hospital and who considered himself a Christian, and yet wanted to finally be formally baptized.  We see that in both cases, an individual must make the commitment and go from being a believer to being a fully committed believer.

I grew up in Southern California.  When I was young, I tried very hard to learn to surf.  I never became much of a surfer: I was tossed around badly by the waves.  We look at the Book of James where we are told that our faith must not be weak, like a wave blown by the wind.  In Ephesians, we are told that our faith must not be tossed to and fro by waves.  We look at the use of ocean waves as a metaphor for the intense power that our faith must be able to withstand.  

Many people are turned off to Christianity because they have been taught a narrow, limited "Old Testament" notion of God.  They believe that God is punitive, cruel, self-indulgent, even pompous - the ultimate Hollywood celebrity.  What these people do not know is that the Christian God is indeed the God of the Old Testament (as well as the New Testament), but that God is both high and low at the same time.  Our God will become humble in order to reach down and help us.

My wife and I were recently driving up into the Rocky Mountains when we came across a 700 pound bull elk standing in the road, blocking traffic.  He calmly stared down the driver of the first car in a long line of cars all waiting for that elk to move.  We must be like that elk in the road, making ourselves seen, showing the world what it means to live like a true Christian.

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.