Redeemer West Side

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE | Acts 6:1-7
The disciples also experience internal tensions and threats. Cultural and ethnic discrimination and injustice crops up in the life of the church, needing to be addressed. We see that “systemic” patterns of inequity are possible even when it is not intended. We also see the importance of both word and deed ministry as new leaders are appointed for this important work of mercy and justice. The leaders who are chosen are not only people of wisdom and spiritual maturity, but they also represent the community of those being marginalized, both culturally and linguistically. Eventually, these cultural-barrier-breaking leaders are the ones God uses to push forward his mission into new frontiers. Stephen helps break the church beyond the temple and Jerusalem, and Philip later breaks the gospel through into Samaria and to the ends of the earth. God has a purpose in our ethnic and cultural identities and uses them to accomplish his purposes. As we see such threats and problems being dealt with in wisdom and the Spirit, the gospel advances (6:7).

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE | Acts 4:1-4, 18-31
The disciples quickly experience external opposition and hostility for their faith. The religious establishment is anxious about the threat to their power and influence and tries to intimidate the disciples and hinder the spread of the gospel. But the apostles boldly and courageously move forward in mission, and the prayer of the disciples is not for comfort or safety or security, but for boldness to continue joining God in the mission of the gospel. God takes holy delight in such lives of costly mission, and his pleasure is manifested in the shaking of the place’s foundations. As followers of Jesus, we are called to more than a life of security and status; there is no greater joy than joining God in mission, despite the risks and the costs. Our lives and prayers ought to be spent for that end. When we open ourselves and our prayers to God’s purposes in mission, it feels like you’re not in control, and yet you can see God clearly in control and working all around you. Suffering will be intrinsic to such a life as it challenges and overturns the things that the world lives for. Throughout the book of Acts, we see God sovereign over suffering and persecution and even using it in ways beyond human imagination to fulfill his purposes. 

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE | Acts 2:42-47; 4:32-5:11
The experience of God’s grace and the Spirit creates a surprising, deep fellowship, one that is marked by devotion to God’s word, prayer, and the sharing of all of life, including one’s resources. We see a community life that is both “attractive in its love and terrifying in its holiness”. Such fellowship is deep, energetic and costly, but in today’s individualistic world where we value our personal independence and freedom from commitments, we often experience a cheap and superficial imitation.

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE | Acts 2:1-18
The outpouring of the Spirit is the “promise of the Father,” the long-awaited fulfillment of promises made long ago, something that would transform all of life. “The prophets looked forward to a time beyond the experience of Israel as disobedient and under God’s judgment… to a time when God would establish a new covenant relationship with his people, cleanse their hearts, forgive their sin, dwell among and enable them to obey him and declare his name among all nations.” All this would only come about through the Spirit. We also see that the Spirit comes to heal all our divisions – whether of cultural barriers (tongues spoken in all different languages), or gender, age, and social/economic distinctions (2:17-18). Now all God’s people receive the Spirit and are empowered to be his witnesses to the world.

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE | Acts 1:1-11
Jesus prepares to unleash his disciples for the kingdom of God. He teaches them about the kingdom of God for forty days, and tells them to wait for the promise of the Father. But the disciples’ concept of the kingdom of God needs to be expanded to cosmic dimensions. The long-awaited age foretold by the prophets is about to break into the world, and Jesus’ followers must understand the church’s place and calling.

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE | Luke 24: 36-53
The Apostle’s Creed contains the assertion: “I believe in the resurrection of the body.”   This is a reminder that Easter is more than an annual celebration, but core to the faith of those who follow Jesus.  In this text Jesus gathers with his fearful followers, addresses their doubts and then reminds them of their vocation: “You are witnesses”. Which means that we are witnesses to Jesus’ death and resurrection and, in the midst of our doubt, are to live and tell the good news that “He is not here. He is risen as he said.”

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE | Luke 24:1-12
The Biblical story reaches its narrative peak with the resurrection of Jesus, without which ‘let us eat and drink for tomorrow we die.’ (1 Corinthians 15:32)  Luke’s account of the resurrection reveals how it was unexpected (‘they did not believe the women’)  and wonderful.   Mary Magdalene, Jesus’ mother Mary, Salome and Peter all see the empty tomb and ‘wonder’ about it.  Easter is a celebration of the wonder of Jesus’ promise to overcome death through resurrection.

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE | Luke 19:37-44 
On Palm Sunday, Jesus rode into Jerusalem as the true king. His kingdom brings peace and joy, humility and rescue. Despite the cheering of the crowds around him, Jesus weeps. He sees the heart of the people — past, present and future — all of their hatred, inconsistency, selfishness, hypocrisy, weakness, fear. He knows that within a week most of them will want him crucified, and that only a few will receive the gift of his death and resurrection.

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE | Luke 11:37-54
When a religious leader invited Jesus over for lunch, Jesus used the occasion to launch into a sharp critique of the prevailing religion of the day. Religion gone wrong is not only unattractive and oppressive to people but is an abomination in the sight of God. Jesus shows that true religion is not about practicing rituals and following rules, but about a devotion to God that spills over into a life of justice and love.

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE | Luke 6:17-31 
Luke’s biography of Jesus continues to show his growing popularity as Jesus presses the claim that he is the long awaited Messiah.  Having established that he has come to establish God’s kingdom on earth, he now lays out the values of that kingdom; values that turn the world’s understanding of happiness and success upside down.