Fairfield Presbyterian Church
Connect with us
  • Home
  • About
  • Blog
  • Programs
  • Contact

RESURRECTION WITNESS: LOVING FAMILY - from Sunday, April 24, 2016

4/25/2016

1 Comment

 
Picture
We're great at labels, division, and exclusion, but lousy at the things Jesus was about like reconciliation, peacemaking, and inclusion. The earliest church struggled, too, but Jesus reminds all disciples of the priority.

We need to remember that the people of faith in Jesus as Messiah - the Jesus people - were regarded for decades after the crucifixion and resurrection as a Jewish sect. That meant keeping all the Jewish laws and codes as well as worshiping at the Temple and synagogues, keeping the holidays, and maintaining separation from profane things that would make one unrighteous or sinful before God. Eating only the right foods and staying away from wrong foods, and eating with fellow Jews and staying away from Gentiles (non-Jews) was fully expected and practiced by the earliest Jesus people. And baptism? Well, what do you think?

Cracks in that strict adherence to the Torah-Law had already begun during Jesus' ministry, and his departure left the church to figure it out going forward. It wasn't easy, just like it wasn't easy to dismantle Jim Crow segregation or integrate public schools from Little Rock to Boston. It isn't easy now with the transgender issue in the local public schools. Departing from longstanding custom and tradition to envision something new is invariably loaded with conflict.

The passage from Acts 11 is the last section of a story that took all of chapter 10 to tell. Chapter 10 details the experience of Peter and his vision (painting above by Doug Jacques), a centurion in the imperial capital of Caesarea and his vision, the bringing of them together, and a bunch of boundaries crossed and customary restrictions violated. What a mess!

In Acts 11, Peter brings news of what happened at Caesarea to his apostolic colleagues in Jerusalem. He is met with resistance - surprise, surprise! But he wins them over.

In the process, it seems Peter has recalled Jesus' teaching and discovered its meaning in new ways in light of being a resurrection witness. As it comes to us in John 13, Jesus commands "love one another."

This love ideally is the love of a family for its members. Jesus' vision of the Kingdom is that all people in God's creation regard themselves as sisters and brothers, as members together in the same family of God's promise.

It's a great story that you can check out in full with the sermon video below, and with the downloads below the video panel.

04-24-16-ff-answers.pdf
File Size: 17 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

04-24-16-resurrection_witness-loving_family.pdf
File Size: 154 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

1 Comment
Doris Erhorn
4/27/2016 09:24:40 am

One family under God is what it's all about. Sorry that your having a beehive to deal with Pam. All churches go through this from time to time. I believe you are truly a blessing to Fairfield., and always believe you have preached the true word of God and do a wonderful job with the old and new testaments. Sorry about this and will pray for the church and members. All is well with us and Fred is getting back into his golf games. My leagues start next week.

Praying for you.

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Archives

    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly