The Confrontation of the Gospel
Today at MCC, we talked about how the apostles spread the gospel message to the people in Acts 3,4,&5, and what the reaction was to that message. We saw how their message was essentially the same in all 3 chapters: that the Jesus you killed, rose from the dead; repent and believe in Him so your sins will be forgiven. So many people believed in their message that the leaders persecuted the apostles.So how does this content of the gospel message go over in West Michigan? Are we ever persecuted for our faith? I can't think of a time where I have been overtly persecuted for sharing my faith, can you? I think an indirect example of persecution that happens is when people consider people of faith to be naive, and they discredit our opinions or devalue our worth.
Acts 5:41 The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name. 42 Day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Christ.
posted by Jewels @ 8:50 PM
3 Comments:
We were talking about the persecuted church tonight. It's too easy for me to say "I'm not persecuted". If the church is a body then when one part is persecuted I think the other part needs to respond. How? Certainly to pray for our brothers and sisters in persecution. I read Safely Home, I think by Alcorn, a few months ago and that was a real eye opener. But I think I need to do more than that. Do I identify with them? And how do I do that? It is way too easy to be lulled into complacency with our freedom to worship in the US. Being educated and informed is one step in the right direction. But only a baby step I'm afraid.
Good point anonymous, I think anything we do to support or encourage people in countries where they are persecuted is a step in the right direction.
Pray for us: Lina Joy. Your post also got me into searching and found this site: Christian Persecution Information.
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