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Holy Spirit Time {Acts 1-3}

May 9, 2012 in Acts, Bible Study, Blog Series, Uncategorized with 0 Comments

You are reading a Bible Study on the Book of Acts. To read more of the series check out Bible Study on Acts, Holy Spirit Time {Acts 1-3}, and The Spirits KO {Acts 4-6}.

The first three chapters of Acts makes me laugh. Not in a “oh, this is so funny!” way, but in a “there’s so much going on, and things keep happening!” way. In just three chapters, there’s Jesus promising the coming of the Holy Spirit, Jesus’ ascension to heaven, Matthias replacing Judas as one of the apostles, Pentecost—when the apostles receive the Holy Spirit, Peter’s explanation to the crowd, the baptism of 3,000 converts, a description of the believers’ community, Peter healing a beggar, and Peter’s explanation of the healing. Whew! And things just pick up from there.

Luke, the writer of the Gospel of the same name, is also the author of Acts– and there is not much time for breathing from the end of the Gospel of Luke to the beginning of the Acts of the Apostles. It’s like Luke was on a role with inspiration from the Holy Spirit, and he just HAD to keep writing.

The first few chapters of Acts certainly support this renaming. The book starts with Jesus telling the disciples not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for what the Father has promised: the Holy Spirit (1:4-5). After Jesus’ ascension and even before Pentecost, God guides the choosing of Matthias (1:24-26). Right away, we see the apostle’s insistence that prayer and God’s actions be the basis for all they do.

And then Pentecost happens. The passage that’s read on every Pentecost Sunday, that we’ll read on May 27th this year. The disciples are gathered together. Suddenly, there’s a rush of violent wind. Tongues of fire appear over the disciples’ heads. They are filled with the Holy Spirit and the Spirit gives them the ability to speak in different languages. And some of the Jews that are gathered in Jerusalem for the festival of Pentecost crowd around, amazed that these disciples from Galilee are speaking in the different dialects and languages that the other Jews speak. And not just speaking, but telling about God and God’s powerful actions. Some of the crowd wonder what it all means, while others dismiss it all saying that the disciples are drunk. (2:1-13)

But Peter, inspired by the Holy Spirit, explains what has happened, using words from the Prophets—God has promised to pour out the Holy Spirit on all people, and that has happened. And Jesus, who was crucified and rose from the dead, is the Messiah, the one everyone has been waiting for. After Peter speaks, about 3,000 hearers are “cut to the heart” and become baptized, and then live in a community together in harmony. (2:14-47)

So, what does chapter 2 of Acts mean for us today?
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8 Thoughts for My 8 Year Old

February 26, 2012 in Uncategorized with 0 Comments

Happy Birthday!! You turn 8 today and that just blow my mind!!

Life has been crazy and I am sure that you can agree with that. We have walked with you through the highs and lows of your life. You have experienced more in your short 8 years than I did in my first 15!!

You have brought many tears to my eyes. Through your good heart which makes me so proud of you, to the times which you have felt pain, to the times when you have made me so angry with you.

Almost everyday I see you mature more and more. You have grown so much in the past year and I hope that continues.

It has been great to see how much you love life. I love going to scouting events with you, I love how you are interested in music and sports (my two loves) and I love how you are becoming more and more independent.

I hope that some of these thoughts will serve you well this next year and beyond.

1. Be Positive. Even when it starts to eat at your gut. No good comes out of negativity. You are bright, kind and you do have a sweet side to your personality. If you stick with that and if you have a good attitude with things so many doors will open for you.

2. Be Flexible. I know this is hard for you. It is hard for me too. However it will serve you well in your life. We are working on this and if you need my help just let me know. People are going to make plans with you and then change them. You are not always going to do what you expect to do — sometimes when you let things go and let God take over great things are going to happen.

3. Find your passion. Like your father you are good at many things and a master of a few. Find your passion and stick with it. I don’t care if you try a million things and choose not to do them. The important things will rise to the top and you will be the cream of the crop. I see so much talent in you I want you to succeed. There is nothing better than being praised for doing what you love. Trust me on that one.

Hello world!

August 1, 2011 in Uncategorized with 1 Comment

Welcome to WordPress. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start blogging!

Thank You

December 26, 2010 in Uncategorized with 0 Comments

Thank you for walking with me along this Advent Journey. I really enjoyed putting together this devotional for you. I hope to do something similar in the future.

I will be taking a break from this blog for the remainder of the year. I will be back in January with some fresh new content. Until then please enjoy this video. If you missed what has happened the last few days in the world you will get caught up in this Social Media Christmas Story.

God Bless

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GkHNNPM7pJA&feature=player_embedded

Advent Devotions: Out of Place

December 10, 2010 in Community, Faith, Uncategorized with 2 Comments

Read Matthew 3:1-6

I grew up thinking our living room was the natural place for a Christmas tree. But after I had grown up it finally dawned on me-a tree is not supposed to be sitting right in the middle of your living room! It’s totally out of place there! Trees belong outside in the yard! The tree belongs outside-where it can live and grow year round. What are we doing to our poor trees?!??!

That phrase “out of place” fit John the Baptist perfectly. John wore different clothing from everyone else, and he ate very different food from everyone else, and he lived in a very dif¬ferent place than everyone else. Why? Because John was the prophet God sent to prepare the way for His Son. His message was repent! In other words, reverse the direction of your life because the Kingdom of God is at hand.
We too must recognize how often we are going the wrong way in life because of our sinful nature. We often see it pretty clearly in our broken family relationships, our strained friendships, and our divided congregations. Just like an evergreen tree that is cut down and then propped up in a living room and decorated, we are all dying.
John came to show us why we need a Savior. So John dressed differently, and he preached out in the wilderness. And if you wanted to hear what God had to say to you through John, you had to go out of place too. You had to join him in the wilderness.

Just as John the Baptist left his home in the hill country of Judea to live in the wilderness, Jesus left His heavenly throne and lived among us. The glorious Son of God, Creator of all, became a human baby and lived out His earthly life among us in poverty and want. He was rejected, suffered, and died that we might find peace and forgiveness. Jesus was out of place on earth so that you and I would be made right for heaven, His home.

(Just to let you know we do decorate our house with a Christmas tree.
But it is silly if you think about it )

THE PRAYER: Lord Jesus, thank You for going out of place for us when You left Your home in heaven to live with us here on earth. Move us to leave our sinful lives and walk with You.

Photo Credit:  Some rights reserved by Zellaby

$1800 Dip in the Lake

September 8, 2010 in Uncategorized with 0 Comments

Mindy had not gone swimming since 1991 — she hasn’t even owned a bathing suit since 1996.

So a bunch of her friends got together and said to Mindy “if we raise $1000.00 to help send campers to Camp Calumet will you go in the lake?”

Not thinking that this would happen Mindy said “Yes”

Eight hours later, Mindy’s friends raised $1800.00 to help send campers to Camp Calumet. Mindy had to find a bathing suit and a banana outfit, and then she went swimming in Lake Ossipee. What a wonderful day for Mindy, her friends, and all the kids that will benefit the $1800.00.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Eu_Kys6d6s

What a Week

August 9, 2010 in Uncategorized with 0 Comments

It is amazing what can happen in a week.

This time last week we were just getting home from a week’s vacation. We were relaxed, excited to be together as a family once again and ready to come home.

Once we got home we got acclimated to home life again, we got back to reality and it has been crazy!

This week I have experienced many different aspects of what it means to be a Pastor — I have been walking with people through different life experiences, those with whom life has given to much to handle, to those who have experienced loss in their life, to those who are helping me plan the next chapter in the life of the church. It has been a crazy, but good week of ministry.

As I posted, my blog has taken a whole new look (not on purpose). I still have a lot of work to do in order to get the blog to a place where I am completely happy with it. But I think it is taking shape. My biggest problem is importing my posts from November of last year. I have them saved in my Google Reader, and the only way I know how to retrieve them is by cutting and pasting. Not the best way to import them but it is better than completely losing all that work.

Now that I have caught up some at work, I hope to finish getting things ready at the church for the fall. It is going to be a busy and fun time at St. Mark’s.

Up and Running…..kinda

August 3, 2010 in Uncategorized with 0 Comments

So yesterday was a bad day for my blog.

I have been thinking about the goal and purpose of my blog. I have so many interests that I want to write about I started to feel like my blog had not purpose or direction. I had some ideas to help with that, so I started tinkering with some themes. Well in the midst of tinkering, I received a fatal error…….no one likes the fatal error.

After some googling and conversations with friends who know more about computers than I do, I came to the realization that I had to uninstall and reinstall wordpress.

Over the next several weeks I am going to be putting most of my time and energy into getting this blog up and running again — one of the things that I realized is that I have not backed up my posts since November of last year. I thought I lost everything! But thanks to a friend, I realized that I have the posts saved in Google Reader. Granted I have to copy and past them into a new blog post but at least they are there.

Thank you for your patience during this time and I look forward to showing you a new look and better, consistent content.

I Lost Everything

August 2, 2010 in Uncategorized with 0 Comments

For those who visit my blog regularly, you may notice it looks completely different.

Well as I was playing with some features today, I got a critical error which let me to uninstall WordPress and reinstall it. Well that whole process completely wiped out my blog and everything that went with it.

I hope to find some backup of my blog post but something is telling me that might not be possible.

This really stinks…….