Josh Sneed covers the Gentile Pentecost of Acts 10.

In prelude to the Gentile Pentecost, Peter heals Aeneas and raises Tabitha. These episodes continue to stretch Peter’s understanding and involvement in the gentile mission. Luke is likely contrasting these individuals with characters from Virgil’s Aeneid to highlight that the expansion of the kingdom of God brings life in contrast to the destructive expansion of the worldly kingdom of Rome.”

Paul comes to life and exits exile as the church affirms Paul’s conversion and is baptized. Paul immediately begins acting on the calling that the Lord has given him by ministering to both Jew and Gentile audiences, proclaiming Christ to them. A few years later, Paul engages with the Apostolic headquarters in Jerusalem largely thanks to Barnabas’ affirmation of Paul. Paul escapes death threats once again, this time heading for his hometown of Tarsus.

Saul, later called Paul, begins as one who opposes the church but is transformed on the Damascus Road. In a story of ironic spiritual reversals, the heavenly light of Christ shows Paul that he remains in personal spiritual exile while the church of many nations has found the way out of exile. In a parallel text, Paul receives his commission to act as a mini-Isaianic servant who is a light to the Gentile nations.

In this lesson, we review chapters 1-8 of Acts as we return to our study of the book. Main points from this lesson are: Jesus reigns. The restoration of all things has begun. The true temple is spreading across the world in the Gospel.

These two lessons aimed to assist parents in grasping what the self is in order to more clearly aid their child in understanding who they are. We discussed that there are matters essential to our identity with uniquely essential parts of our identity given to us in union with Christ. Beyond the essential matters of identity, there remain “accidental” portions of our identity which require careful instruction from parents to children. Despite the transient nature of these accidental qualities, our essential qualities as Christian, human persons should be brought to bear on these matters. Because of this, every quality about our persons (and every introspective identity thought) should ultimately have its terminus on God, increasing His beauty in our minds and decreasing our prideful self-absorption and idolatry.

This lesson provides a biblical basis for a discussion of "identity" which prepares for part 2, application of identity questions to parenting.

This lesson discussed the Scriptural directives regarding how parents are to transmit the story of God to their children. Some “best practices” on how to accomplish this were offered regarding education generally and spiritual education according to cognition, affection, and volition. Within the topic of spiritual education, the what, who, when/where, and why of discipline were addressed as parents represent the loving chastisement of God our Father. These best practices were considered together in the culminating activities of familial and corporate worship. Lastly, because Scripture sets the provocation of children in direct contrast with raising them to love the Lord, fourteen “worst practices” of provocation were educed for consideration.

The idyllic end of the story is an absolutely essential hope in the parent-child relationship. This ideal is not merely some ethereal, fairy-tale ending; rather, Jesus incarnates and embodies the ideal. At His first coming, He inaugurated the restoration of all things which is first seen in the new nature of Christians. Like all humans, children must participate in the ideal. This is only possible by the Father’s election, the Son’s accomplishment, and the Spirit’s application of redemption. Often through parental evangelism, God frequently and graciously imparts faith to the hearts of children which transforms their cognitive, affective, and volitional heart functions. As more and more hearts are redeemed, the sin issues both within and without of a child begin to disappear as righteousness prevails. Ultimately, these redeemed hearts congregate into a spiritual family called the church. By virtue of Jesus’ person and work, the creation mandate is fulfilled in the church which allows all individuals to participate in parent-child relationships despite physical calling. Parents, both physical and spiritual, thus participate in the sanctification of the redeemed hearts found in their children.

These two lessons have attempted to argue that story itself is of principle importance to parenting because story is how we make meaning of the world. Secondary to this then we must be sure that our children are receiving the right story. The story of Christianity offers that the problem of humanity is sin. This sin issue is found both within our child and without the child in the external world. Initially, parents function to protect them from the evils of life, but ultimately, good parents are preparing children to transcend their guardianship in order to dynamically navigate the evils of this life as part of the church.