Pastor's Ponderings: Monday Bible Study on Acts of the Apostles 15:6-12 (April 13, 2026)

April 13, 2026:  Monday Bible Study on Acts 15:6-12

Dear friends in Christ,

Good morning and God bless you all. This online study gets shared with folks in Tucson, Colorado, and Hawaii, and there may be a few of which I am unaware. Thank you to all of you for coming back after my post Easter break last week. Easter service at church was wonderful with all the special music, organ soloist, Gospel Group, and Bell Choir. If you were unable to be with us, please be certain to go to the Church Web Site, godsplaceforgrace.org and click on the link for Sunday, April 5. We were truly blessed to be able to be with our children and their families. I believe that our daughter Melissa was the only one not with us for lunch after church. Please pray for Sharyn Burt who continues to heal from an issue with her feet. They are slowly improving. And pray too for her friends Sharon and Bobbie who both have serious health problems. Please pray too for Annette and Steve as they deal with their health issues, and now, they are under pressure to move to a new home. Please pray too for the unsheltered and hungry in our community. We need to realize that it may well be people we know who need assistance. The great news from yesterday was that we received gifts of about $1,750.00 to send to our community food bank. I thank God so much for your generosity. Starting in May on Sundays at 9AM, except for May 31st, I will be offering an adult education class in the Sanctuary on the recent social statement of the ELCA, called "Faith and Civic Life: Seeking the Well Being of All". We will have coffee and donuts each morning that we hold Adult Education. I hope to see many of you there to join in this conversation. This Saturday, April 18, Melody and I will host a Romantic Comedy movie at 1PM in the Sanctuary. Snacks are provided or bring a snack to share.

Today we encounter a serious conflict in Jerusalem in the 15th chapter of the Acts of the Apostles. Paul and Barnabas have come home telling the Jerusalem Church about their Gospel Work with the gentiles who lived in all those places we read about last week. Imagine! Gentiles being offered the hope and Grace of God! There were certainly moderate Jews in the new church in Jerusalem, but the conservative Jews made their understanding clear, Circumcision and obedience to the Decalogue were critical in earning one's way into heaven. We need to remember that this is 10 years after Paul and Barnabas headed off on their mission journey. A lot of water has flowed under the dam of conversion by the Spirit of Christ, but low and behold, Gentiles accepted the missioner's words, and the Spirit of Christ gifted them with faith. I have to wonder if Peter had spoken very often about his much earlier experience with Cornelius and his entire household. Thankfully, in this statement of Peter's, we are reminded that he too has experienced the Spirit's work even before Baptism had been offered to Cornelius and his entire household. So here we are, Peter, some number of years before Paul would write his Letter to the Romans where he would offer teaching about justification by faith which Peter, 10 years earlier, brings to the front of the conversation. Works will never get you into a right relationship with God. No matter how hard you try, it will never be enough! what is required is faith, the gift of the Spirit of Christ, the only way anyone can come to, and continue to live in faith. Obviously, this was difficult teaching for many to hear, and then to move on to learning. The Jews were certain that the Law was enough. Peter knew that only God's Grace would be sufficient. Only the perfect unblemished Lamb of God could pay the price for sin, as you and I know, it was, and is, the only way to be received by our God who loves us more than we can ever imagine.

Happy Easter! Christ is Risen! He is Risen Indeed! And it is all for every one of us!

With Love in Christ, Pastor Kim