Pastor's Ponderings: Monday Bible Study on Acts of the Apostles 4:32-37 (September 15, 2025)

September 15, 2025:  Monday Bible Study on Acts 4:32-37

Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

In the coming week I will be sharing with you the responses of our national church bishop, and the bishops of our synods to the terrible shooting of this weekend in Utah.  Many people are personally grieving in the face of this shooting, and the myriad of shootings which are constantly taking place in our nation, from churches and synagogues, to schools, night clubs, concert events, grocery stores, and so many more.  Our nation is filled with a sense of anger, frustration, fear, and so much more that it creates for each of us a kind of daily journey that too often seems to be without the peace and comfort that we crave.  I pray for that peace and comfort, which can be ours through the Savior, to enfold us all every day.  In times like these, the people of grace in Jesus Christ, who welcome all people to the table of grace and love, must now reach out and offer the welcome of the Christ to everyone who will hear it.  Our church council is spending time considering how we might best undertake this kind of welcoming ministry which reaches beyond Sunday morning at worship.

Please remember to begin collecting items in your home for the yard sale benefit which will be on October 18 from 8AM-2PM that day on the patio of the church.  We have storage room for the items you bring, so please give it a start and let go of the things for which you no longer have need. If you can help with set up, that will be starting on Thursday, October 16 at 10AM. I know that our members in Hawaii who are battling cancer and other health issues will be thankful for the help.

Today we have a very small passage to consider, but it is an important one.  Prior to this reading we have heard the Apostles speaking with the power of Christ's own words and revealing themselves as the witnesses to Christ's Resurrection.  But now we are getting down to the nuts and bolts of this new community of believers and how they will survive amid those who do not accept Christ, or do not believe in His Resurrection from the dead.  Their answer to this difficulty was to be sure that every one of the new believers in Jerusalem received provision of their life's needs.  Food resources were share, and the wealthy who had come to believe sold their property and provided those resources for the well-being of the entire community, as well as, the mission of Peter, John, James, and the others who had the important work of sharing the Good News, and continuing to bring healing in the same kind of way as Christ had done.  These resources all made it possible for the new Christian community to prosper and support the work of the Apostle's.  When a new congregation, a mission start, takes place, it is this very same kind of resources and sacrifices which make it possible for that mission startup to move forward.  People from a variety of economic background came together to begin American too.  Some who were struggling to get by every day, to those who had stable work and sufficient income and adequate shelter and food, and yes, even some wealthy people of faith became a part of the American Mission start.  It took faith and sacrifice for buildings to be built, for a pastor to be called and paid, and for the loving care of their new buildings to take place.  Everyone contributed in some way, or it would not have happened.  Today, a new church startup costs about $500,000 dollars over a period of about five years before the larger church believes that a new congregation has become self-supporting.  Later in Acts we discover that the resources have not been adequate in Jerusalem, and Paul and others receive an offering from Greece and Asia Minor to give that mission a boost.  Yes, this is the nuts and bolts of even the early church, and it was the very same for American, and continues to be the way that our congregation can maintain its ministry.  What it really takes for this to happen is for the Spirit and Her gift of faith to enliven our congregation so that the willing heart of stewardship and sacrifice grows in the congregation's members, just like it did in Jerusalem. 

Thank you for being with me today.  May we all grow in Christ's abiding love for every person who is the LORD'S creation.

With love in Christ, Pastor Kim