This week’s lesson is on Giving Yourself Away to Aliens, Orphans, and Widows. The Bible is full of examples of this. James 1:27 reads, “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress.” The message in Exodus 22:21-24 is “Do not mistreat or oppress a foreigner, for you were foreigners in Egypt. Do not take advantage of the widow or the fatherless. If you do and they cry out to me, I will certainly hear their cry. My anger will be aroused, and I will kill you with the sword; your wives will become widows and your children fatherless.”

Why are aliens, orphans, and widows singled out? Aliens are without their country, orphans are without parents, and widows are without their spouse. Essentially, they are all alone and God created us to be in community, not isolated. God destroys barriers between Him and Them, to create a WE.

There are so many ways to help these people if we try. One individual can affect many people and the actions of a few can affect the whole community. Find those people who are alone and welcome them into their new community. Be the We.

God commands us to love the poor, but in this world people can be so terribly broken it can be hard for us to even approach them - loving them could feel unimaginable. If we are honest with ourselves, we will admit that helping others who are in desperate need is inconvenient and messy; or maybe we don’t trust them and we’re afraid of how it could go wrong. In James 2:1-4 we read, “Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in filthy old clothes also comes in. If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes but say to the poor man ‘sit on the floor by my feet’ have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?”

If you find that you are judging someone because they are poor, ragged and unkempt, look at your own reflection, and remember that you have received mercy yourself. Be a big enough person to extend mercy to someone who needs it desperately. Be the blessing God wants you to be. God's plan for us is to help others, to show compassion, and when someone ‘falls out of the boat’ to extend our paddles to help them.

Think about the poor people you see every day; how can you help them? It’s not always about money. Look for ways that you can give of yourself. As Mother Teresa said “Give, but give until it hurts.”

As it says in Luke 6:27-31, “But to you who are listening, I say, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you… Do to others as you would have them do to you.” This may be the most difficult lesson in the Bible. Do you remember how Saul tried, repeatedly, to kill David? David never retaliated. He knew that “the Lord will strike him. I must not strike God’s anointed.” David truly lived the gospel of loving his enemies.

Our culture, our society will often encourage revenge rather than turning the other cheek. But let’s not lose sight of who we are. We may be sinners but, as children of God, we will be forgiven and He will give us everlasting life. So dig deep and find the strength to forgive someone you are estranged from. Do good and show mercy to those who are troublesome to you. Luke 6:35-36 reads, “Love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great.”

"Give Yourself Away” is about living our lives to serve, to be other-centric, to love others as ourselves. While our modern day culture tells us to be the best, have the most, and be admired for our accomplishments, the Holy Spirit calls us, instead, to think about others.

At the Passover meal (Luke 22:25-26) we learned: “Jesus said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who exercise authority over them call themselves Benefactors. But you are not to be like that. Instead the greatest among you should be like the youngest, and the one who rules like the one who serves’”. He states clearly that the one who serves at the table is greater than any of those reclining at the table.

So if we are to obey Jesus, we must give up our seat at the table to serve one another. We do this even though when we are at the table, we are comfortable and we don’t want to leave. Indeed, it can be a daily battle to leave that table. But the message is crystal clear: the greatest among us are those who serve. As a church, we all must strive to leave the table and lead others to Christ.

KATARTIZO is a word from the ancient Greek language. It was used several times in original Bible texts, but was then translated in different ways. The meaning is to make fit or ready, or to make complete. When talking about fishing nets in Matthew 4:21-22, it was translated to “prepare” the nets for fishing. In Hebrews 11:13 the universe was “formed”. In 1 Peter 5:10, God will “restore” you. In Hebrews 13:20-21, He will “equip” you with everything.

While these words can be used about things, the important thing is how they relate to us. We need to be “prepared” to do what God wants us to do. He will “restore” us and make us strong. He will “equip” us with all we need and “supply” what is lacking. Our entire relationship with God through the Holy Spirit is a relationship of KATARTISIS. He wants us to live as fishermen, to cast our nets, share our faith, and bring others into the church. It won’t be that hard, because we are being fully prepared, fully formed, fully supplied, fully trained, and fully equipped to live as His humble servants.

We tend to think of anointing as something done with oil, but in Acts 10:38 we learn “how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him.”

In truth, we have all been anointed with the Holy Spirit and power. 2 Corinthians 1:21-22 reads “Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.” Let there be no confusion, we are ALL anointed. Galatians 3:28 clarifies, “There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”

So use the power of the Holy Spirit to stretch yourself, to live on mission, to speak boldly and let the Holy Spirit change your life. Tomorrow is not guaranteed; let’s live with that as our truth. Let us be humble servants and use the power of the Holy Spirit to raise our voices to sing His praises always.

Last week we learned about how Stephen, who was full of the Holy Spirit, was murdered by members of the Sanhedrin. In Acts 8, the story continues with Saul, who began destroying the church, pulling people from their homes, and imprisoning them. But (Acts 8:4) “Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went.” Philip went to Samaria and performed signs and miracles which brought the people there great joy.

Later on the road, Philip met an Ethiopian eunuch who was reading the Book of Isaiah the prophet; he asked Philip to explain that Scripture to him. When they came to some water, the eunuch asked Philip to baptize him and the eunuch went on his way rejoicing.

Acts 9:31 continues, “Then the church throughout Judea, Galilee and Samaria enjoyed a time of peace and was strengthened. Living in the fear of the Lord and encouraged by the Holy Spirit, it increased in numbers.“

A question from Galatians 4:15 -- What has happened to your joy and blessing? I tell you, the place was so thick with love that if it were possible, you would have plucked out your eyes and handed them to me.

Anywhere the Holy Spirit moves, people are filled with joy. When we have challenges, when the enemy is trying to tear us down, God comes to lift us up again with the encouragement of the Holy Spirit. We can all have joy when we stay grounded in Jesus.

The Holy Spirit nourishes, leads, resurrects, heals and empowers. This is just a fraction of what we can truly understand about Him. But what if, instead of trying to confine and define the Holy Spirit, we step aside and let Him transform and direct us? Let's learn together the blessing in relinquishing control and being led by the Holy Spirit.

Join us as we follow the story of the first Christian martyr, Stephen, and the powerful words he shared with the religious leaders of his day.

Stephen accused them of resisting the Holy Spirit? Have you have wondered whether we do the same thing as Christians today?