Pastor's Ponderings: Monday/Tuesday Bible Study on Acts of the Apostles 19:1-12 (June 29/30, 2026)

June 29, 2026:  Monday Bible Study on Acts 19:1-7

Good morning my dear friends in Christ. Welcome to our Monday morning Bible study on the Acts of the Apostles. This coming weekend (the 5th of July) American Lutheran in Tucson has Gospel Music Sunday with music led by our Gospel singers, drums with Jeff Daniels of Black Cat Bones, and Pastor Taylor at the piano. After our worship service we will gather for a Summer Picnic themed carry-in meal. Pastor and Melody will provide all beef hotdogs, and chicken dogs for the enjoyment of all who are attending, just bring a dish to share. This weekend is the 250th anniversary of our nation. It is a time for celebration, but please be careful. At our home we are planning a BBQ for the family. We will not be out and about just because we are concerned about safety, ours, and that of others who are out celebrating. We will have music on Sunday that is certainly appropriate for the nation's 250th birthday. Come join us, and sing along, sharing in the Gospel of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.

Today we continue in the 19th chapter of the Acts of the Apostles but first let’s visit Paul's reality in Ephesus.

Here are some descriptions of the city:

1. Ephesus was the market of Asia Minor. It was a center of foreign trade and shipping. Called the "Treasure house of Asia" and "The vanity fair of Asia Minor."

2. Ephesus was an Assize Town. (first time I've heard this name) It means that from time to time the Roman Governor would come to town to bring the justice of Rome, along with all its pomp and circumstance.

3. Ephesus was the home of the Pan-Ionian games. This was attended by literally the whole population of Asia Minor.

4. Ephesus was the home of criminals. If a criminal could reach the grounds area around the Temple to Diana, they were free from apprehension and trial.

5. Ephesus was a center of pagan superstition, famous for charms, (the Letters of Ephesus). People from all over the world of the time came there to purchase a lucky parchment to guarantee fertility, safe travel, business success, and far more. Such parchments and lucky crystals were often worn by the purchaser.

6. Ephesus was the home to the most amazing temple to Diana (Artemis). It had 127 pillars, with 36 of them gilded and made of reflective marble. Its dimension was also amazing. 425 feet long by 220 feet wide, and 60 feet high.

This is the setting into which Paul carries his mission for Christ.

In his travels Paul goes through some upper districts and ultimately arrives at Ephesus. Apollos had remained in Corinth. Upon arrival Paul discovers a group of new believers in Christ, who had not been Baptized, and had never heard of the Holy Spirit. The group had received John's baptism for repentance of sins. This, however, was not the Baptism in Christ for the forgiveness of sin. When Paul explained to them about the Messiah Jesus, His death, and His Resurrection, they received the new Baptism in Christ and were filled with the Holy Spirit as Paul laid his hand on them. They then spoke in tongues and prophesied. You and I must remember that John the Baptist's preaching was really a threat meant to call people to repentance. Jesus’ preaching was a telling of God's Love and Forgiveness, and God's desire to enfold those who believed in Christ in His Kingdom. The message for you and me is the same.

I think that sometimes it is difficult for us to remember how we came to belief in steps and stages in our lives. We often started with children's Sunday School, week after week and year after year, as the stories of Christ became more complicated, and we studied in confirmation about the reality of the Savior's sacrifice for all of God's creation. But even that was not the end. You and I continue in our lives to study God's Word in Scripture, joining in worship with a community of believers, and then regularly receiving the living presence of Christ in the meal of Holy Communion. All of this is a lifetime journey. One of our difficult issues today is that everyone expects everything to be instant, knowledge at the fingertips with immediacy. I don't need to learn much except how to run a smart phone or manipulate my computer. There, in those places, are all the answers, but the Holy Spirit may, or may not, be present in the flicker of faith that using such tools can all too often produce. On the smart phone, or computer, there is no Paul filled with the passion of his faith, trusting in the promises of Christ, that forgiveness, life with God now and forever, and Salvation are ours through the victory of Christ dying on the cross for all our sin. All too often parents of children don't remember the many Sunday School Classes, and they don't even bring their children to regular worship to hear Christ's Good News proclaimed.

There is a reason the clergy of our ELCA must study four more years beyond their BS or BA to earn a Masters of Divinity in theological education. It takes that, and more, in terms of time, to truly live as the compassionate Christ did, and like you, all clergy continue in their own lifelong journey of faith drawing on what has gone before, to inform every future possibility for the work of Christ in the world.  All this journey is guided by the work of Christ's Spirit in our lives. Only by Her action are we able to receive Christ's constant forgiveness as we sin, because the Holy Spirit yearns for our faith to grow, and our lives to become more righteous as we mature in that same faith. For the people in Ephesus who had yet to know or hear the Good News, when it was proclaimed to them, they rejoiced and their faith grew leading them to speak in tongues and to prophesy to others about the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Such Good News! May we all be blessed by its proclamation in God's Word.

With the love of Christ, Pastor Kim

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June 30, 2026:  Tuesday Bible Study on Acts 19:8-12

Good morning, and welcome to our study this morning. It is so good to be back with you doing this study. One of the largest celebrations of the year is quickly approaching this Saturday. Our nation will celebrate its 250^th birthday. Please remember to be careful when you are out and about, sadly, there will be many who overdo, and who endanger themselves and others. Take special good care of your pets too, they are often frightened of all the noise that goes with this kind of celebration. Compared to many nations in the world, the United States is still in its youth. May the inheritors of the future of our nation be able to celebrate with pride in another 50 years, 100 years, and way on beyond that in the wonderful experiment we all share, the democratic nation in which all people are considered equal, and justice is the action of our representative government because every person deserves to be treated with fairness and compassion.

Today's reading from Acts helps us to understand what kinds of obstacles Paul continued to face.  He preached in the synagogue until troublemakers began to undermine his credibility, forcing him to move on to a new site. We need to acknowledge that Paul always went to the Jewish people first to offer his message of the completed Messiah prophecies in Jesus Christ, and Paul had pretty good success with that teaching and mission work. He preached and taught there for three months, leaving for a non-Jewish site that was available. He moved on to the hall of Tyrannus where Paul preached for two years, starting at 11AM and stopping at 4PM each day. The reason for that was that workers in Ephesus stopped their morning work at 11AM and didn't start again until 4PM due to the weather conditions that made it very difficult to do one's work in the middle of the day. So, Paul used that time to spread the message of God's love and Christ's passion for all people, including gentiles. Toward the end of our passage for today, we are told something very important. Paul never owned as his own strength of faith and prowess of knowledge the miracles about which this passage speaks. These events were by the power of God, and Paul was just the hands of God's work in the world. This is really important for all of us too. It is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the Father Creator, the Son Redeemer and the Spirit sanctifier who are always at work through the believers in the Kingdom of God. I have heard many times that I have a special gift for preaching and sharing the Good News, but like Paul, I truly know that without the living presence of the Trinity which is in, with, and around me constantly, to speak of the power of God as if it is mine, I am constrained to not do that in any way.  The messages I preach are a time of great joy in my life as the Word comes through me by the power of our Savior and His Spirit. A pastor should never be placed on a pedestal for any reason. To do so is to deny the Christ that is present in all the preaching of the Word, and in the miracles of Christ which surround us. Four years of graduate theological education helps those who will be ordained to know their role in the mission of the Good News. The same is true in all our lives. Our generosity, compassion, loving fellowship, hospitality are all the actions of our loving Savior expressing His compassion and desire through our hands. This is how the Body of Christ, the Church, the church, discovers the courage and strength to move forward in faith's journey of joy in the Savior, no matter the surrounding reality and challenges.

Goodness, Paul preached in Asia Minor for years allowing the Holiness of Christ to shape the faith in the people who had the opportunity to be His hands and to do His works in the world.

Happy birthday America! May our LORD'S blessings continue to abound through our hands and hearts.

With the Love of Christ, Pastor Kim