Memorize & Ponder for Sunday Jan 4, 2015
A Profile of Pastor Paul – Part 1
Acts 9:17 (NRSV)
So Ananias went and entered the house. He paid his hands on Saul and said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on your way here, has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.”
Being the Church in Christ: Wisdom from Pastor Paul
(The Brentwood Sermon Series for 2015)
Throughout 2015, the Christian community at Brentwood Presbyterian Church will be considering how to be the church in Jesus Christ, guided by the wisdom of Pastor Paul. We invite you to listen for what the Spirit is saying in the text, then question how those insights might change the ways you see things and act in the world. Share your thoughts during the week on the meaning the Spirit creates for you in this text by posting a comment on our website – brentwoodpc.ca.
A Provocative Pondering
Let us hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who has promised is faithful. And let us provoke one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together … (Hebrews 10:23-25a)
After a year of getting to know Jesus, the Christ, better from the witness of the various gospels, we turn our attention to the witness and work of the most influential of early Christians, the Apostle Paul.
We will look at his writings from the perspective of him being a pastor to early Christian communities, most of which he had a central role in planting and nourishing. This is a man called by Jesus Christ to nourish these communities into faithful flourishing in the grace of Jesus Christ in order to participate in the evolution of the Reign of God. This rule or lordship was shaped by the core values of hospitality, peace, and justice.
Our M&P text this week points to a pattern of growing in the faith that is worth noting in any age and place – regaining sight and being filled with the Holy Spirit.
I’m inclined at this early stage of our exploration of Paul’s work and witness to see these words of Ananias encouraging Paul to see the truth of what God had already done in Jesus Christ – redeemed the creation by activating the Holy Spirit in a new way in everyone.
What would a new and deeper realization of the presence and power of the Holy Spirit within you mean for the way you lived in and blessed the world around you?