Matthew 3:13-17, Acts 4:1-22, Psalm 6, Genesis 15-17

Recall:
Acts 4:13-17 "Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John and realized that they were uneducated and ordinary men, they were amazed and recognized them as companions of Jesus. When they saw the man who had been cured standing beside them, they had nothing to say in opposition."

Reflect:
It is so simple. The proof is in the pudding. We spend time with Christ. Lives are transformed. And there is nothing that needs to be, that can be said.

Respond:
I so often make things so complicated. Jesus, I want to experience more of you. I want my life to be trasnsformed and transforming.

Matthew 3:1-12, Acts 3, Psalm 5, Genesis 12-14

Recall:
Matthew 3:10 "Even now the ax is lying at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire."

Acts 3:6 "But Peter said, 'I have no silver or gold, but what I have I give you; in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, stand up and walk."

Genesis 13:17 "Rise up, walk through the length and the breadth of the land, for I will give it to you."

Reflect:
John the Baptist's statement is powerful and its easy to fall into a view of a fierce, retributive God which, honestly, is the view of God that John the Baptist had. The statement is true, however. Not because God is walking around with an ax at our knees, but because if we're not bearing good fruit, we put ourselves in the fire. It's never for good though, we can always hop out, no matter how charred we are.

I love the scene with Peter and John at the temple. What I have I give you. We can only give what we have--we are only responsible for giving what we have.

God's words to Abraham, at best, are words to a specific person at a specific time in a specific place. But this morning, I can't help but hear them as God's words to me. "I will give it to you." I'm not sure what "it" is, but I know God wants good for me.

Respond:
I want to give what I have. I want to be fruitful. Continue to fill me God. Make me an example of what you can do in a life.

Reading: Matthew 2:13-23, Acts 2:22-47, Psalm 4, Genesis 9-11

Recall:

Acts 2:46-47 "Day by day, as they spent much time together in the temple, they broke bread at home and ate their food with glad and generous hearts praising God and having the good will of all the people. And day by day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.

Psalm 4:8

"I will both lie down and sleep in peace; for you alone, O Lord, make me lie down in safety."

Genesis 11:6-7

And the Lord said, "Look, they are one people, and they have all one language; and this is only the beginning of what they will do; nothning that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. Come, let us go down, and confuse their language there, so that they will not understand one another's speech."

Reflect:

The passage from Acts is so profound, so ideal. But is it too ideal? I wonder if that is the way it actually was. What could a church be like if it "they broke bread at home and ate their food with glad and generous hearts praising God and having the good will of all the people." Is what they experienced so powerful that the issues that tend to create ill will fell by the wayside?

I love the last verse of Psalm 4. My peace, my safety, comes from God.

The story of the Tower of Babel is just so bizarre. Why would God care whehter or not they built a tall tower? And what is with the second-person plural--"we, let us"" Of course, we could assume it is the Trinity. But why the emphasis here and not in the previous story about Noah and the flood? Puzzling.

Respond:

God, you are my safety, I rest in you.

I want to spend the rest of my life with a glad and generous heart, praising God and having the good will of all the people. That is a choice I believe. The circumstances of Acts 2 might have given them a little bump, but at some point, they would have had to make the choice to be that. I am making that choice.

Matthew 2:1-12, Acts 2:1-21, Psalm 3, Genesis 5-8

Recall:

Matthew 2:10 "When they saw the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy."

Acts 2:16 "...this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel..."

Psalm 3:6a "I am not afraid of ten thousands of people..."

Reflect:

Boy, it's nice when the star stops--or I guess it is. For me, it doesn't seem like the star stops or the day of Pentecost comes or the prophecy is fulfilled. It's always about following, always about waiting.

I love the Psalmist's words "I am not afriad of ten thousands of people..." What a great proclamation. And David, if this is David's, went through a lot with people. If one want s to lead, if one wants to accomplish anything, he or she has to stand up to the fear.

A couple of interesting things I noticed in the Genesis passage: in chapter 5, in the list of family histories, none of these guys had their first child until they were in their 60's, 70's, 80's. What were they doing in their 20's and 30's? Weren't they, ummmm, interested in sex? Or maybe they were just having daughters up until then. It must be there for a reason. I wonder why.

And the Noah story--usually when the story is portrayed, there are people making fun of Noah at first, then they wanted to get on the boat. That isn't in scripture. Maybe it just makes sense that people would have razzed him. But it doesn't seem that anyone cared what he was doing, before or after.

Response:

God, I will continue to follow, I will continue to wait, I will continue to build the ark, no matter what the people (real or imagined) might say or think.