Good morning and welcome to Monday’s podcast. My name is Alan and it is a real privilege to be taking you through the next few chapters of Acts this week. A big thank you to James for last week’s podcasts and I hope to tee up Liam well for his input next week.

REFLECTION:

Today’s passage is Acts 5:27-42, I am going to focus on v38-39:

For if their [the apostles] purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail.  But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God.”

A question to get the cogs whirring this morning: When have you been most conscious of God at work in your life? When the chips are down and the pressure mounts, what are the moments in your life that you look back on when you knew that God is with you, he’s for you and he’s really rather fond of you?

I have recently taken on the leadership of STC Training – the latest incarnation of Form or STC College, YAPS or Tribal Training. It’s the question I asked each of the 5 new trainees when we were doing introductions. Their responses varied wildly, from healings to provision of a job and volunteering role, to breakthroughs in mission, to the overwhelming presence of God in times of brokenness and loss.

You see… God is good! He has a plan for our lives. He has designed us to live fruitful abundant lives. In fact our fruitfulness will bear testimony to the fact that we are Christians, that we have been with Jesus and his Holy Spirit has taken up residence in our lives.

So we look back and we remember the moments when God has shown up and revealed himself, we praise God and we are thankful… but it doesn’t stop there. Instead it leads us on to think about today. Are we conscious of  God working in our lives today? Are we aware of his presence and his prompting in our ordinary, everyday lives? Are we being fruitful? Are our lives overflowing and abundant?

In today’s passage the apostles are in front of the very same court that very recently condemned Jesus to death. They have been in the temple courts healing, preaching and teaching in the name of Jesus. They were arrested, thrown in prison, busted out by an angel and then went straight back to the temple courts and continued doing the very thing, in the very place that they had been arrested for before.

What conviction. What courage. The court wants to put them to death… the court has previous form…

And then a prophet stands before them and says:

… if their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail.  But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God.”

There is a scene in the Lion King – one of my favourite films – where Simba has lost his way. He is met by a vision of his dead father in the clouds… in the vision his father says to him, “You have forgotten who you are, and so forgotten me. Look inside yourself, Simba. You are more than what you have become.”

The same is true of every one of us. God hasn’t set us apart to make our lives a little bit better. He has set us apart to be salt and light, to shine like stars, to reclaim lives that have been lost to darkness and destruction. He has called us and gifted us to demonstrate how life is supposed to be lived, a life of love, kindness and generosity, free! Free from fear and more than conquerors! Not because we are awesome but because HE is awesome; not because we are strong but because we are weak… and in weakness we have learnt to trust him, to speak for him and to love others on his behalf.

If our ordinary everyday activity is of human origin – if we do what we please, when we please, because we feel like it, then our endeavours will fail… but if our activity is from God… if we wake up to his voice, to his daily promptings, if we pursue him and discover who he has made us to be… no-one and nothing – NO-ONE AND NOTHING will be able to s...