Pastor's Ponderings: Monday Bible Study on Acts of the Apostles 14:1-7 (March 23, 2026)

March 23, 2026:  Monday Bible Study on Acts 14:1-7

Good Monday morning to you. I needed to spend some time this morning going through my emails that came while I was on vacation. I want to share some thoughts with you on the email letter from the Church Council which came to you this past week. There seems to be some confusion about needing to reserve if you are coming. That is not the case. The meeting is open to everyone. There is no need to make any kind of a reservation. Come celebrate Palm Sunday/Gospel Music/healing service/Communion and then join us for refreshments and snacks in the parish hall. This will be an opportunity for conversation and thoughts about how to move forward and offer ideas for what that would mean for us all as a chartered congregation of the ELCA. I hope that every one of you will plan on being with us. Please pray for our member Maddison and her family in Green Valley. Her Grandmother has stage 4 cancer and is being cared for by Maddison's mother and grandfather. Please pray too for our son Joshua and his wife Shannon as they travel cross-country from North Carolina to Tucson right before Easter, and for Mark and Linda as they prepare to return to Wisconsin for their Easter celebrations in their home congregation. Pray for God's Speed for all people who will travel over the Easter holiday!

Today we begin chapter 14 of the Acts of the Apostles where we discover in the first seven verses that Paul and Barnabas have brought Christ's message to Iconium. It is interesting that Luke tells us that they entered the synagogue by the same doors as the Jews who worshiped there and then presented their message for Christ's Gospel. In addition, they also did signs and miracles in the midst of the people. Their message split the Jews ,and Gentiles who had been incited by the Jews, who objected to the Gospel being presented in their midst  It wasn't long before the practice of stoning those who seemed to be offering words of the Messiah's having already come into the midst of His people, and at that, having come for the gentiles too would raise their ire!  The result of the threats was that Paul and Barnabas left Iconium and headed out for their safety to other communities. They went to Lycaonia, Lystra, and Derbe, where they offered the Good News of Jesus Christ. A question that I have is what happened to those who came to belief in Iconium? It seems obvious that those new believers would have been persecuted and isolated too. There is no doubt that Paul and Barnabas were brave men. As they traveled into the more isolated areas and communities where the Romans had not bothered to maintain their peace, it was far more likely that the two men would encounter violence aimed at them as they preached the Gospel. But this is how the spreading of the Gospel began, men headed out in pairs, into communities that were isolated and dangerous to strangers, let alone those who carried a message that would challenge the powerful people in those communities with loss of their position. In our own nation today, we still have communities which really need to hear the truth of Christ's power and Grace but instead have chosen to use that message for gaining power and wealth. These Christian nationalists are determined to undo the Gospel, and to tear it apart for their own use, claiming that evil people now in power are really God's gift for Christians to find ways to be in power! Jesus said that many would come in His name, and today, there are some "churches" who are using His Name to achieve dominance in all the parts of people's lives. When the authentic Church continues to present the Love of Christ, and humility of service, and the Grace of God that brings forgiveness of sin and a change of heart, granting those who have heard the Spirit's call to faith and Salvation, the Christian Nationalists will attempt to call that sharing of God's Truth, evil!  I am afraid that persecution of the authentic Christians is still with us, just as it was with Paul and Barnabas. Humility, faith, a generous nature and heart, and living with the hope that can only come from our Savior when we are faced with such rampant brokenness from those who would use Christ for their own power and benefit, while deriding those of us who know the True Christ of God is where the power of the Great I AM still resides.

God bless you all. I will be with you for tomorrow's study, and I certainly hope that we will be together in church on Palm Sunday and the entry into Holy Week.

With Christ's Love, Pastor Kim