Pastor's Ponderings: Monday & Tuesday Bible Study on Acts of the Apostles 20:17-21:16 (August 3 & 4, 2026)

August 3, 2026:  Monday Bible Study on Acts 20:17-38

Good Monday morning to you.

Let us all begin our day praying for safety from flooding rains and dust storms, which are both predicted for later today. Our members, Joyce and Larry, are still working to get into their new rental town home, but an inspection revealed several things that the owners would need to repair. They have been on a short delay to get into their new home. Prayers are appreciated. Please be reminded once again of a very important special congregational meeting for members coming up on the 16th of August after worship, a pizza lunch, some time for discussion, and a vote for the future or our congregation because we have a looming financial crisis with inadequate funds and offerings to cover the cost of our facilities and ministry staff. You should have received by email a question-and-answer sheet of common questions about the vote that will take place on the 16th of August. If you have not received it there are copies of it in your mailbox at church. If you need it hand delivered to you in Tucson, or the surrounding area, please call the office and we will bring it to your home. We do need to know how many people will be participating in this special meeting to let Domino’s Pizza know how much pizza we will need. This Pizza lunch is being provided free of charge from Domino’s. I am confident that our faith family will be present to make this necessary decision.

In our relatively long reading for today from Acts 20:17- 38, we have a passionate farewell conversation from Paul, who is on his way to Jerusalem with the financial offering for Peter's and James' work with the disciples in the mission to the Jews.

I must admit that sometimes it feels to me, especially when Paul talks about his premonition of the Spirit, that the offering which he brings has several purposes. It may be that Paul sees this offering as a means of growing the unity with Jerusalem and the churches of Asia Minor and Greece. Or perhaps he is hoping to soften the "welcome" that he expects may be coming from Peter and others who have been working so hard to succeed in Jerusalem. But let's set that aside for a while. Our reading for today is a heartfelt and emotional conversation with the church in Ephesus leaders. Ephesus was a difficult community for Paul's mission work, and yet, in the midst of all the problems there, a strong community was developed. Paul’s worry is that in Ephesus, a city that was full of troublemakers for the new church, that the leaders of the church there were going to need to be extra diligent with regards to the truth of Paul's message about Christ. There will be interlopers who try to come in to destroy that teaching of Paul, and the Truth and reality of Christ's sacrifice out of God's love for all people, breaking the barriers and burdens of sin for all who come to believe in Christ's fulfillment of God's love and forgiveness for all people, both Jew and gentile alike. It is obvious that Paul's heart is filled with love for this, and every other community of faith, which has been encouraged and set in place by Paul on his mission journeys. He is concerned for the safety of their Christ-work, and even for their ability to survive what lies ahead for them. There is a foretelling in this conversation around Paul's final departure, from which he believes he will never return to be in their midst. He reminds them of his diligence on behalf of the Savior, working to support himself, and having a generous heart for the needs of others in the community as well. Paul hopes that the example that he has set has the strength to continue in his absence, with the leaders of the church in Ephesus picking up and continuing what Paul has done. A pastoral leader always wants the successes and sense of unity and love to be able to continue once they are no longer present in that setting any longer, and like Paul, pray for the power of the Spirit to sustain and protect the Gospel Truth, and its work, so that the Spirit's work will continue in their absence.

So here is a quick overview of this long passage and conversation which Luke tells us about:

1. Paul has lived an example of speaking the Gospel's Truth fearlessly in the face of persecution and trouble in Ephesus.

2. Paul had lived independently. In other words, not off the resources of this church, especially as he is now carrying this offering to Jerusalem. A note: There are indeed communities where the chosen leader, often not ordained, works outside of their ministry. In the ELCA, an ordained clergy is a highly educated theologically trained, graduate studied person examined by the leaders of the larger church before they can move into parish ministry. That education costs the same as any doctor or lawyer whose expertise is valued by their clients. Thirty-five years ago that three years of course work, teaching parish work, and hospital ministry overseen by a Dr of psychiatry, the costs of personal library books and materials, and a year-long internship requiring a move to a community and supervising pastor setting in a congregation is very different than an independent, non-denominational leader who continues to work to provide for their own expenses without the requirements of a four year Masters of Divinity, or even longer, and more expensive, getting a Doctorate of Theology, allowing them to teach in the church institutions of higher learning.  In all of this we must remember the years of training that Paul had received as a Pharisee. In his conversion he carried with him an extended education in the laws of the Jewish faith community, and he had wielded a great deal of power through his work.

In all this Paul reminds the leaders of the Ephesus Christian community that they too bear great responsibility for maintaining the Gospel message in the new church.

1. These leaders did not choose their own place in the new church but had been chosen for the keeping of the people of Christ, and Christ's Truth in their midst. The servants of the Good Shepherd must also be shepherds of this flock of believers.

2. Paul reminded these leaders of the dangers that surrounded them, and in some cases, would come from the sin in their own lives. There would be a constant battle and warfare ahead of them to keep the faith of the believers intact. I just want to say here, that this is the work of every pastor as they joyfully battle against the burden of a still sinful world, even though that sin has all been defeated by Christ. Sometimes it shows up in a parish's life and ministry, sometimes it challenges a leader and congregation from outside the life of the congregation, and sometimes it is the burden of sin which every person carries in their own life. Altogether, it is the reality that everyone is simultaneously a saint in Christ, and an unrepentant sinner. This is why the church is so important to us. We need the courage and strength with which the Body of Christ surrounds us, and Christ needs us all to bear His Love to the people who are all treasured by Him. If a church, or her members somehow lose the love of Christ in their lives, in any way, whether from the inside of a congregation, or by the influences which are outside of a congregation, then, regardless of wealth, or power, it becomes obvious that church is not being the presence of Christ in the world, and is not bearing our Lord's redemptive Love and compassion for every person outside of its own interests. This was Paul's warning to the leaders of the Ephesus community, but it remains a warning for every faith community today too. Whether between groups of people, or individuals in the faith community, or outside of the community, Love is always right and good and just.

3. Faith, Hope, and Love abide, these three, but the greatest of these is LOVE!

Right now, I believe that my Tuesday study will be a little later in the day due to commitments for a meeting at the church in the morning.

With the Love of Christ, Pastor Kim

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August 4, 2026:  Tuesday Bible Study on Acts 21:1-16

Good afternoon, dear friends in our Tuesday Bible Study.

I am so thankful that no one in our congregation was faced with the tornado which was present for our indigenous brothers and sisters west of Tucson in the Sells area. I haven't heard if there was any substantial damage to homes and businesses on the reservation, but, even if not, it was a scary night out there. Let's pray that there is no repeat this afternoon of that terrible weather. Please keep Camille in your prayers for her medical treatment and her unanswered questions about other health issues. My meeting went well this morning, and that is enough said for now. I must tell you that I am so excited about worship at American this September and beyond, even with the decision that the congregation will make for American's future. Our meeting is on August 16 after worship and a generously contributed pizza lunch from Domino’s. In the same way, that a congregation is moved by the Spirit to receive and call a clergy leader in the Gospel, I am confident that in this decision the Spirit will lead us too. Please let us know that you will be with us on that day. We need your presence, and the vote the Spirit has moved you to make!

In our long passage from Acts today, we see Paul's determination to go to Jerusalem has not been softened in any way by the appeals of the congregations where he has stopped for rest.

1. Paul is so determined to continue that he chooses to ignore, or perhaps the better words are not to fear the outcome of the prophecy that indicates that in some way he will be bound for trial in Jerusalem. At this point in Luke's narrative, it is unclear what the cause of that binding might be. Could it be at the hands of Peter and James to whom he is bringing the offering for their mission? Could it be at the hands of the religious leaders in the Temple who thought that they had really gotten rid of Jesus and His determined followers? Maybe it will be at the hands of the Romans who are in control of Israel and its people.

2. In the midst of this uncertainty, there is a wonderful thing that happens as Paul travels. In every community Paul is met by Christians who are new to their faith, but so happy to have the opportunity to be with Paul who they know has been the major mentor for their congregations' forming. It is true for us too. As a Lutheran Christian in the ELCA, we are greeted in like congregations with warmth and love. I can tell you again about the wonderful warm loving reception we had in Traverse City, Michigan when we attended services at Bethlehem Lutheran Church, an ELCA congregation not far from Grand Traverse Bay and Lake Michigan. I am confident that in most churches of our type, faithful, open, supportive, and affirming, each one of us will be received in the very same way that we receive others as they visit us.

The prophet Agabus didn't speak his prophecy, but like others in the line of prophets used a physical example to get his message across.

If the text that you are reading for your study uses the word carriages at the end when it speaks of Paul and the others leaving for Jerusalem, it does not mean they rode in carriages, rather the language of the 15 and 16th centuries, the word carriages meant cases which were carried. Quite a different picture than we might have had for packing up and leaving.

On Monday of this coming week, we will be in 21:17-26 in the Acts of the Apostles. I think it might begin to help us unravel the prophet's message to Paul about being bound up. God bless you and hold you in his care.

In Christ's Love, Pastor Kim