For two whole years Paul stayed there in his own rented house and welcomed all who came to see him. He proclaimed the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ—with all boldness and without hindrance! (Acts 28:30-31, NIV)
At our Links Fellowship in Visalia, California, we spent 2017 working our way through the book of Acts, finishing with a couple of sessions in January, after we flipped into the new year. This is a big group of about 30 men and women, so open discussion doesn’t work so well. What we are able to do, though, is consider big questions.
Big questions sometimes carry the added weight of getting personal. No longer are we simply asking whether a fact is being learned but whether a truth is being applied. South Central region director Randy Wolff has often shared that he ends Fellowships with this arrow: “So what are you going to do about it?” In the old Methodist class meetings, the question went like this: “How is it with your soul?”
Men and women of faith are not the only people who press themselves with penetrating questions, of course. Professional golfers might evaluate a round not only by asking “Where did that shot end up?” or “What happened with that swing?” They may go a step further by inquiring of themselves, “What was I trying to accomplish on that shot?” Follow-up questions like these help a player make better decisions when a similar situation arises in a later round.
But so far we have only been speaking in generalities. When we came to the end of Acts at the Visalia Fellowship, we recognized that the close of this particular book invites the biggest of questions for all believers, both as individuals and as groups.
You see, Luke’s record in Acts traces the earliest works and teachings of the apostles. But that was 1,900 years and more ago. And surely God, by his Spirit, has been at work in every hour since then. So here is the question put one way: How has he been at work in you? And another: What is your role in Acts 29?
Acts 29 isn’t a chapter you will find in your Bible. It is a tag for all that has come in the life of the church since Luke gave us those final sentences about Paul’s ministry in Rome. Acts 29 is where you and I live.
In Acts 1, Jesus told his disciples that it would become their work to witness to him “in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Rome was the end of Paul’s earth, the place where his mortal days would end. He had been an agent in fulfilling Christ’s prophetic words for his disciples.
Since then, the company of disciples has multiplied into each generation, right through to us. What is the end of our earth? Where are we called to be Christ’s witnesses? These are big questions, and they may blitz us personally. But by answering them, we recognize that the Holy Spirit is alive in us and continuing to build the kingdom of God through his people.
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Jeff Hopper
February 26, 2018
Copyright 2018 Links Players International
The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday-Friday at www.linksplayers.com.