River Christian Fellowship

River Christian Fellowship This is the official page of River Christian Fellowship, a Bible-based church group serving the northwest suburbs of Cleveland, OH.

07/28/2021

The Acts of the Apostles, Part 9 - You Meant it for Evil

After Stephen was martyred and persecution came to the new community of Jesus followers in Jerusalem, I wonder how many of them said to each other, "You know, God is going to bring good out of this"?

As they were being dragged out of their houses and into prison do you think that any of them said to the Temple's military police, "You guys meant this for evil, but God means this for good." While they awaited their trials did they assuage their fears by stating, "...God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose"? If these new believers were anything like most of us, I seriously doubt that they responded in any of those ways.

When I face profound troubles, trials, or persecution, my initial response is not to look for the spiritual "silver lining" in the dark cloud which is enveloping me. Neither do I look ahead in time to prognosticate what future good may come out of my present problem.

In distress, I have never broken the prophetic admonition, "Woe to you who call evil good and good evil" (Isaiah 5:20a). I call it as I see it when I am the one getting the short end of the stick. Knowing that God WILL eventually, somehow, in some manner, to someone at some unknown place and time bring good as a result of my suffering does little to alleviate my present mental and emotional consternation.

It is rare when God grants one of His people to clearly perceive the good which has come out of their previous sufferings. One such example is contained in Stephen's prosecution of the priestly members of the Sanhedrin when he mentions the patriarch Joseph's comprehension of the good brought about by his brothers selling him into slavery decades before (Acts 7:9-14).

However, it is highly unlikely that any of the new believers in Jerusalem understood in the least the great good that would soon be brought about by their present oppression. But Luke, the author of Acts, is quick to show us the near immediate good which came out of this first organized persecution of the new community of Jesus followers. This particular good is directly linked to the mission He has called His followers, including you and me, to fulfill.

07/28/2021

The Acts of the Apostles, Part 8 - Living Happily Ever After?

The very encouraging opening chapters of the Book of Acts would make readers presume that all which started so well for the new Christian movement would continue to be positive. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, the twelve apostles were transformed into fearless teachers, miraculous healers, and formidable apologists.

The new community of Jesus' followers began with a huge influx of converts and was steadily growing larger by the day. The practical care among these believers was astounding and attractive to the watching world. The angelic rescue of the apostles and their being officially exempted from Jewish persecution gave them the ability to minister and speak in Jesus' name with impunity.

The geographic impact of the Messianic message was reverberating regionally from Jerusalem into Judea. The fact that others were now demonstrating the Spirit-given power to heal and preach forecast even greater grace and growth.

It would be wonderful if this trajectory would continue so the new community would continue to enjoy the blessings of fellowship, healings, teaching, protection, and expansion. It might take only a decade for the entire world to begin to follow Jesus. Skeptics would be won to faith in Christ by the well-reasoned presentation of the Gospel supported by innumerable miracles and transformed lives. If this occurred, then they all would live happily ever after.

However, that was not God's plan. In today's text, the chronicle of the new community of believers in Jesus takes an unforeseen and shocking turn. The growing utopia of God's grace in the capital city comes to a harsh end which no one anticipated.

These events left many emotionally and spiritually shipwrecked, causing them to ask "How could God allow this to occur?" Like their Hebrew forefathers who were dismayed in the desert after leaving Egypt, and like us when we face serious trials, they wondered deeply about why God would permit this to happen.

07/28/2021

The Acts of the Apostles, Part 7 - It Only Takes a Spark...

In a few short months following Jesus' return to heaven, it appeared inevitable that Judaism would be swallowed up by the new community of His followers.

At the end of our last Sunday's discussion Bible study the question was not "Would the new community of Jesus' followers survive?", but rather "How much longer would ritual Judaism last?" If we stopped at that point in history and didn't know the future we would predict that the nation of Israel would succumb to the truth and the rising tide of the Christian movement. Ritual Judaism would soon cease to exist and be replaced by faith in Jesus as its Messiah.

At the point of Acts 6:7, the new Christian community had all the momentum on its side. The attesting miracles and apostles' preaching were prompting increasing numbers of Jews to understand and believe the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.

The transformed lives, joy, generosity, and internal witness of the Holy Spirit in the lives of new converts powerfully and personally corroborated the Christian message. As the new movement of Jesus' followers grew, the old loyalty to ritual Judaism decreased. It seemed likely that Israel as a nation would soon recognize and embrace Jesus as its Messiah.

If the apostles were the protagonists in this narrative, the Jewish leaders were the antagonists...and they had a lot to lose. In addition, they still had significant assets with which they could oppose this new movement:

Religious - They were regarded as holy men, intercessors for the sins of the people, teachers of the Old Testament, and guardians of the ancestral traditions of their forefathers.
Economic - Thousands of people in and around Jerusalem made their living from the sacrificial and ceremonial religion which they officiated.
Cultural - They had the esteem and reverence of the masses, who traditionally perceived them to be vastly more knowledgeable and religiously significant than common people.
Political - They had influence with the Roman occupiers and delegated civil authority over the nation.
Practical - The glorious Temple in Jerusalem was under their authority, as were the Temple police and other assigned military personnel.

So what may seem to be an inevitable outcome at this point is not a sure thing. Even though the Sanhedrin - the ruling council of the Jews - has agreed to leave the twelve apostles alone, that does not mean that they are no longer willing to forcefully oppose the Christian movement. An unforeseen spark was about to be struck that would set the city of Jerusalem ablaze.

07/27/2021

The Acts of the Apostles, Part 6 - A Lot on Their Shoulders

The Nicene Creed includes the statement, “I believe in one, holy, catholic, and apostolic church.” The word “apostolic” refers to the fact that the Christian faith is not only founded upon the life and ministry of Jesus but that it is also built upon the ministries and message of the twelve Apostles. It is evident from our Sunday morning discussion Bible studies that this new phase of redemptive history begun at Pentecost was placed by God squarely upon their shoulders. Peter was the primary spokesman but all twelve healed, preached, and taught. Their healings drew people to the new Christian faith and their teachings grew people in the new Christian faith.

Additionally, they became the central point of benevolence within the new community in both receiving and distributing goods, food, and funds to needy believers. The central venue for their activities was the Jewish Temple and the target audience seemed to be exclusively the Jews. They were unafraid of the Jewish leadership which had opposed and orchestrated Jesus’ ex*****on only months before. They had a seeming disinterest in the Roman occupiers and the politics of the day.

The twelve apostles were the God-ordained means to publicly proclaim the facts of Jesus’ ministry, miracles, and message. They testified as witnesses to His death, resurrection, and ascension. Through the preparation of Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit, they linked the Old Testament Scriptures to the events which took place in Jerusalem months before. They promised to any who would believe in Jesus as Messiah that by His crucifixion their sins would be forgiven.

They shouldered a lot during these early months. It was now time for them to focus on what was most important for the health and expansion of the new community of Jesus followers. Others needed to take some of the responsibility to fulfill the mission Jesus had given them to take the Gospel “to the remotest part of the earth.”

In today’s text God begins to set them apart from others so they may focus upon their unique role, and others believers are seen joining in to expand and build the new community of Jesus followers. Changes were coming to this new community of believers in Jerusalem, but no one knew just how significant these changes would be.

07/26/2021

The Acts of the Apostles, Part 5 - What Could Possibly Go Wrong?

For the apostles, the first several weeks after Pentecost were dizzying and exciting. They had been told by Jesus to wait in Jerusalem for the Holy Spirit to be sent to them, yet they never foresaw how dramatically and publically the Spirit would arrive. They did not perceive that thousands would listen and respond favorably to the Holy Spirit speaking through them.

Nor did they know how quickly thousands of people would be moved to actually believe in Jesus that very same day and that they would be thrust into leadership of a new community of His followers. They had not been aware that God would be doing through them the exact kind of miraculous healings that Jesus had done. Neither did they envision that by God’s power their previous fears would be abated when they would come face to face with their nation’s leaders who had only two or three months earlier orchestrated the ex*****on of Jesus.

Within weeks this new community of those who had publicly professed to Jesus as Messiah was over 5,000 men and their families. None of the apostles had ever been in leadership of such an explosive or expansive movement. The practical needs of the people who were now believing in Jesus were being met spontaneously by others within the new community. But how long could that last? Formal opposition by the Jewish leadership was restrained, at least temporarily, by the size and enthusiasm of the people who had publicly aligned with the apostles and their teaching that Jesus had resurrected from the dead and was undisputedly both God and Messiah.

No one knew how long this season would last or what tomorrow would bring. What would God do next? Where was all this going? Would the leaders of Israel sit back indefinitely and let this movement advance right in their capital city and Temple? Jesus had given them no script or timeline, yet He had given them an ample measure of the Holy Spirit as they led this new community. What could possibly go wrong? A lot! Soon they would learn that God was about to lift up His standard of holiness for those who followed His Son as well as them, the apostles His Son had chosen, to lead this new community.

07/26/2021

The Acts of the Apostles, Part 4 - Defending Their Turf

People defend their turf. You can only encroach upon what they believe is rightfully theirs for so long. Then they will use whatever means they have at their disposal to push you off. They will begin by asking you to back away, but if you don’t oblige the counter-pressure against you will increase quickly. Like Popeye, they will declare, “That’s alls I can stands, and I can’t stands no more!” Then you’ve got serious trouble.

That was certainly true concerning the first-century Jewish religious leaders who had believed that they had rid themselves of the Nazarene Miracle Worker Who had come within the thickness of matza from being crowned King of Israel. It took a very high-stakes move to convince the Roman governor to execute the popular usurper. Yet even after that, most people were convinced by first or second-hand evidence that He had come back to life, which proved to many of them that He was indeed the rightful ruler of Israel!

Then, fifty-three days after His crucifixion the Nazarene’s many disciples were back in Jerusalem working miracles and publicly proclaiming that the Jewish leaders had executed their long-promised Messiah. What made it worse was that there were now many of these miracle-working prophets of Jesus. They were healing and teaching crowds inside Jerusalem’s Temple – right on the Jewish leadership’s turf.

These uneducated, provincial laymen were also spouting off proof from the Old Testament to prove their theological points about Jesus, His crucifixion, and His supposed resurrection. Their influence among the people was growing daily, as was their numbers. Killing Jesus the Nazarene did not eliminate the threat to the nation’s leaders, it seemed to have made it worse.
If the Jewish leaders did not act soon, they would have no turf left to defend. It was time for them to push back.

07/21/2021

The Acts of the Apostles, Part 3 - The Pushback is Pushed Back

In the early morning on the festival day of Pentecost, there was a sound from heaven that startled the whole city of Jerusalem. It may have been like the noise that sounded from heaven onto Mount Sinai when God gave their ancestors the Law. The disciples of Jesus mixed with the terrified crowd, speaking about what God was doing. However, each person, no matter what nation they were from, heard them speak in their own native dialect.

A disciple of Jesus named Peter rose and called the massive crowd to know that what they were experiencing was the fulfillment of the Old Testament promise of the giving of the Holy Spirit. He declared that Jesus was their Messiah, but that He died as a sacrifice for their sins and rose from the dead as they all knew. He was now enthroned in heaven at God’s right hand.

Peter declared that they needed to repent and believe in Jesus to have God forgive their sins and save them. Three thousand men did and affirmed their belief by being baptized by Jesus’ disciples in the pools in and around Jerusalem that very day. A new community inside of Israel was begun. The tension continued in the city between those who believed that Jesus was God’s Messiah and those who did not…and everyone wondered how the nation’s religious leaders would respond.

07/20/2021

The Acts of the Apostles, Part 2 - A New Community

Fifty days following Jesus’ crucifixion and death and seven days after His ascension into heaven, the Apostle Peter would declare the certainty of Jesus’ resurrection from the dead to a massive crowd in Jerusalem who had previously witnessed His astounding miracles. For three years they had seen with their own eyes the miraculous deeds Jesus had done.

On the morning of Pentecost, there came an intensely loud noise from heaven they had never before heard, followed by the miracle of each of them hearing in their native languages what the disciples of Jesus were speaking. Peter addressed the huge crowd about the present miracle and the crucifixion of Jesus. He then turned his message to an indisputable fact they all knew, but only whispered – that Jesus had risen from the dead and was, therefore, God’s Son and Israel’s Messiah!

05/31/2021

The Acts of the Apostles, Part 1 - A New Era Begins

We will continue with the Gospel narrative as we examine and discuss how Jesus' disciples began a new era of history that changed the planet. We'll be interacting about the history of the early believers and expansion of Jesus' message as recorded in "The Acts of the Apostles".

More than that, however, we'll be interweaving the other New Testament documents into one chronological story of how Jesus changed lives throughout the world. What our discussion Bible studies through the Gospels did in bringing clarity to you about Jesus' life and ministry, this series will also do in bringing that same level of understanding to you about the early church and the rest of the New Testament documents.

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