Microchurch Minute
Hello church family, I pray that you are having a restful and joyous Holy Week. We began our gathering reading record accounts of Jesus’ riding into Jerusalem from all four prophets. Though Matthew, Mark, Luke and John all have slightly varied accounts, we can confidently rest in the truth that Jesus was fulfilling Zechariah’s prophecy in His act of riding a young donkey into town. What do we learn about Jesus here? He arrived humble, on a colt, symbolizing His willingness to serve and work for His people. Jesus showed His strength in complete surrender to the Father’s will. “HOSANA” shouted the masses as they gathered to wave their palms in honor of their King and Savior. These people knew that Jesus was the son of God, they knew that He was their source of victory. Yet, how fickle humans can be as the same crowd would soon be shouting crucify. Where do you find yourself in that crowd? See, they praised Jesus but did not persevere through the impending hardship. When we are finding that what we see God doing isn’t meeting our expectations, are we spiritually bound to continue through the muck with Him? Here on earth, He has turned the idea of royalty upside down. The first came to be last, the greatest came to be the least. The high and mighty came to earth to be served. It’s time then for His people to lay down our crowns and follow Jesus as He is.
We know that Friday is good because Sunday is coming. In your joy of anticipated resurrection, let us not forget the truly horrific suffering that took place. The agony that Christ endured on the cross, the sacrifice He gave with your name in his heart.
Microchurch Minute
As we concluded Holy Week with the joy of Easter Sunday, we read through all resurrection accounts in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Why is the resurrection important? By completing the seemingly impossible task of rising from the dead, Jesus laid the cornerstone of our faith. Jesus is the only man to defeat death! It validated His earthly claims that He truly is the Messiah, He knew that He would be killed and raised on the third day. We can rest assured in this claim as a multitude witnessed His resurrected body on earth in the days before His ultimate ascension to sit at the right hand of the Father. Not only that, but Jesus chose to first reveal Himself to female followers. Women, who had no societal standing at the time, were elevated in their importance to Him. Jesus truly does flip the script on earth, when He elevates both women and children and their importance in the kingdom of God. God demonstrates His ultimate power and shows us that He is trustworthy, by fulfilling ancient prophecies. He is worthy of praise, glory and all authority. There is no resurrection apart from Christ. It is why we gladly participate in baptism, to demonstrate that by accepting the truth of Jesus’ act on the cross, we are able to also defeat death by dying to our earthly selves and being raised again as a new creation through the power of the Holy Spirit. Wow! As believers, we have divine peace, knowing that this earthly life we live is not the end for us. While the feeling of losing our loved ones to earthly death is never an easy season to walk through, we can have faith the spiritual family that has gone before us are eternally alive and well with their Heavenly Father! Death has lost it’s sting, we have eternal paradise to look forward to. Rejoice, my friends, that He is risen!
Microchurch Minute
Hey there, church family! We had a great time gathering Sunday as we jumped into Acts 17 to keep along with Paul’s journey as he went through Thessalonica, Berea and Athens. We can learn valuable lessons at each of his stops. Thessalonica was a Roman powerhouse that thrived under the rule of Caesar, meaning that any claim challenging Caesar’s supremacy was immediately shut down as a form of political rebellion. But that didn’t stop Paul, from his actions we learn that declaring the good news of Jesus should never cease, even when it is widely unpopular or uncomfortable. Berea had the advantage of being a much smaller city, with the freedom to explore what they heard from Paul, while being wise enough to test all of his claims against scripture. Isn’t this what we are also called to do? We are so grateful to have individuals in our lives and church that are blessed with he gift of shepherding. But never let that take away from the urgency in you personally knowing what is written in the bible. Finally, we see Paul’s heart in distress as he enters Athens, finding a plethora of idols and false gods. I think that it’s beautiful when God stirs that discomfort in our souls and encourages us to lean into those people that so desperately need to hear the truth. Paul made sure to share the gospel in public settings, as the general population welcomed new ideas. It was imperative that he found them right where they were, outside the walls of the temples. I’m willing to bet you have multiple opportunities on a regular basis to level with the social crowd God has placed you in. Take the time to listen well, so that you can build a rapport that will allow them to accept the truth in your message and the loving nudge toward Jesus.
Microchurch Minute
Three Main Takeaways from Acts 18:
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God provides encouragement and people for the mission (vv.9-11):
As Paul faced resistance, God appeared to him in a dream and declared “Do not be afraid… I have many people in this city.” Regardless of your leadership level in the church, we can all use reassurance from the Lord that He is going ahead of us to prepare hearts and circumstances for the Good News to be received.
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Faithful partnership strengthens ministry (vv.2-3, 18-28):
watch what we see from Aquila and Priscilla, they not only worked with Paul, but hosted him, learned from him and eventually were able to disciple Apollos. They faithfully used their gifts of hospitality, eagerness to learn and abilities to teach to greatly impact believers in the Kingdom.
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The gospel flourishes even amid opposition (vv.6-17):
Contrary to popular belief, resistance doesn’t stop God’s plan, but in this case was use to highlight the power of His message. We see Jewish opposition and legal challenges that would be enough to discourage anyone. But the conversion of Crispus, support of Titus Justus and the way Gallio dismissed charges all contributed to a strategically fruitful period for this major city.
Microchurch Minute
Good afternoon, house church family. We gathered on mother’s day and discussed humility modeled after Christ, as we saw in Paul’s letter to Philippi. How do we actively model our lives after this type of perfect humility? It’s tough! We are called to pursue the unity that comes from living amongst believers. We aren’t to place ourselves above others and elevate our own importance or agendas. The only final plan here that matters is God’s plan. He has provided all that we need (and more). Every resource that we have been blessed with ultimately belongs to Him, we get to care for it for a short period of time before He nudges us to pass it on. In the beginning uprisings of Christianity we saw groups selling off their wealth to live in community and elevate one another. If the Creator of the universe could humble Himself to be a lowly son of a carpenter on earth, what gives us the right to selfishly pursue the wants of our earthly greed? The fallen world is filled with temptations of self-centeredness. I pray that the posture of our hearts is so in tune with God’s plan, that we can separate from the lure of self-want and remain unwaveringly committed to exalting Jesus, making ourselves less important, and freely distributing what God has temporarily placed in our hold.
