Pastor's Ponderings: Tuesday Bible Study on Acts of the Apostles 11:11-18 (January 27, 2026)

January 27, 2026:  Tuesday Bible Study on Acts 11:11-18

Good morning, dear friends in Christ. I pray that this is a day filled with calm for you, our entire community at American, here in Tucson, and across our country. In the events of the last several days in Minnesota, there have been troubling videos of the killing of a VA ICU nurse. I am certain that you might like to know where I stand on all this immigration enforcement that has been taking place under the President. I will tell you that I have very strong feelings personally, which I struggle to give up to the judgement of our Savior, Jesus Christ. However, my call is to serve the Gospel, and to proclaim its power in the face of the brokenness and sin of God's creation and world. My call to serve the Gospel means that I cannot, nor will I, allow my own struggles with the current national situation to shadow my love for God's children, or to become the pastor who turned away people because politics bled into my preaching and teaching.  I have always said that we all have a responsibility to vote our conscience as Christians who are saved by the LORD. What higher calling could be greater than this? Yet, like many of us, I suspect that right now you are having personal struggles to know how to move forward in such times as we have seen recently in our cities, states, and nation. I pray that the Lord's Spirit who brought you to your Baptism, will restore your trust and faith in God's justice for all people. Please pray for a change of heart for those determined to commit violence and upheaval in any of our cities and pray too for God's justice to always be on people's heart and minds as we live in the world, filled with the Love of Jesus Christ for all people.

Today, we find Peter defending himself against those new Christians who were still so deeply connected to Jewish law, even though they had accepted Jesus as their Savior. However, Peter knew that he had done all of this by the call of the Holy Spirt, and he even brought 6 witnesses to share the veracity of his actions while he was with Cornelius, his family, household servants, and other gentile visitors who came to see what this Roman Centurion was about to do.  On one side of this miraculous event, we have Cornelius and all who gathered at his home accustomed to worshiping a multiplicity of gods, including their own Caesar, with at least his gentile visitors unaware of who was going to break into their lives turning their hearts for good, and on the other side you have Peter and his 6 witnesses, all of whom were tied to the One True God, un-nameable (too Holy to be spoken), all powerful, giver of the immutable Law of Moses.  But Peter did not need to worry, the Spirit broke into these situations, which meant that Peter would not have to battle. The change in Cornelius and all who were gathered with in, was undeniably the act of God's Spirit, and the vision which Peter shared helped the new heavily Jewish influenced Christians to find their way through to welcome the Gentile Christians who would previously have been claimed unclean and deserving of condemnation for just being who they were!  But through the Spirit, everything that had been previously thought to be important was found instead needing to be set aside, and the Gospel story of Jesus' Life, Punishment, Death, and Resurrection, and the change of heart that comes from receiving Jesus as the Savior became hope, joy, and forgiveness and love.

God bless you all, in all that you think, speak, and do! It flows from our love of our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ!

With Love and Peace in Christ, Pastor Kim