Pastor's Ponderings: Monday Bible Study on Acts of the Apostles 11:19-21 (February 2, 2026)

February 2, 2026:  Monday Bible Study on Acts 11:19-21

We are all living in the warmth and light of our Savior Jesus Christ.

May our hope and trust in Christ fill our lives and truly create in us a desire to offer invitations for others to join us surrounded by God's Grace and Love. That is called evangelism. We seem to often be afraid of it, but as we look at our passage from the Acts of the Apostles today, this is exactly the means by which the early church grew and expanded its ministry for the Gospel. Please keep Lisa in your prayers as she has surgery tomorrow to remove cancer from her body. Our prayer support is vital for her peace of mind and healing. At worship yesterday I made a decision to bring together an Easter offering for Tucson's Community Food Bank. It has become much more difficult for them to provide supplementary food. So please start giving now for that offering. Collect your loose change, a few dollars, or more if you are able, every week, to build our offering in this difficult time for food support in our nations.

In our passage today, we see one of the true miracles of the spread of the Gospel. After Stephen was killed, the Christians did not run and hide, in face they moved out away from Damascus, and began sharing the Word of the Gospel of Jesus Christ first with Jews, and eventually with gentiles. Initially, like Peter, those early evangelists felt that the message of the Messiah was meant only for the Jewish community, but after traveling and evangelizing the Jews in Phoenicia and Cyprus. It was then that the men who were sharing this message departed for Antioch and began sharing the Good News with gentiles who lived there, and according to our text, "great" numbers of converts became members of the early church, turning to the LORD. This amazing early growth in the Church happened because of the courage of those traveling men who came to share what they had learned and even share from their experience with persecution in Damascus. It is difficult for us to understand for ourselves how they found the courage to do it. They really felt the Spirit's presence in their prayers for their teaching and preaching, in their confidence that they would be guided with words and deeds that would convince the gentiles of the power of the Christ of God who had been killed and then resurrected for the sake of all people. In our time in the via de Cristo lay renewal movement we learned a good way to remember what all of this takes. We said, "Make a friend. Be a Friend. Bring a friend to Christ."  Within each one of us, and around us, is the living Spirit of Christ. We can know with confidence that She is always there, helping us to be friends with people through our joy in living without the burden of our sin any longer now that we know Christ is always with us too. We can be praying for them in their need, we can offer kindness and gentleness when we are in their presence, we can be present supportive people in their lives, and ultimately, the Spirit will give us opportunities to share our faith journey as our friendship grows and blossoms with the fruit of loving kindness that is truly the living presence of the Savior in us that is meant to be shared.  This is the warmth and light of Christ that is always in, with, and around us. The message that the believers in the Savior share is filled with the Spirit of Christ. And here in Acts we see its outcome for the life of the Church on into the future of God's gifts for His much-loved children. Outside of Antioch there was an orchard of laurel trees, that the religion of the area held were there because of the great love of Daphne and Apollo. She had been changed into a laurel tree to preserve her life. Both lovers, a god, and a woman, were worshipped in that grove. It was into this setting that the Christian evangelists came, and here, the power of the Gospel spread in amazing ways. What it tells us, is that we are never without hope when we allow Christ and His Spirit to accompany us when we become the people who bring the message of God's Love to others we meet in our lives.

It is uncanny how today's passage from Act speaks to our need in our own congregation. We are always called to make a friend, be a friend, and to bring a friend to Christ. Getting surprised by the Word is such a wonderful part of our life journey together with Jesus.