God Will Make A Way

Have you ever realized how much is said about persecution in the New Testament? Recently in my study for the two sermons each week I started realizing how prevalent it was with the early church. I think the most significant entry had to do with the stoning of Stephen. It happened all because of people thinking they were losing their power within the spiritual structure of the faith community in the area at the time.

But that was just the start of it. Persecution went on for centuries. Paul, who wrote a fair amount of the literature in the New Testament, started out by witnessing Stephen's stoning. He joined and became part of the problem. But then the light of Christ blinded him into a new reality. And for some of us, something similar needs to happen.

Things haven't changed much over these centuries. There are still problems with being a follower of Christ and other religions as well. Sometime the persecution is visible and sometimes invisible. Sometimes it's within the groups themselves and sometimes it's just plain a power struggle that takes on a life of its own.

Then there is the pandemic that we are engulfed by at this time. It doesn't have anything to do with religion or fanaticism or power, or so we are lead to believe. It just started and now the world is suffering. No one is immune to the virus. And as it progresses, the virus and the possible results to our health is zapping our energy to share the gospel of Jesus' love. We are being held back from sharing the love of Christ to the world even as they need it now more than ever.

What does this mean? It means we have to tell others about God's love just like the early church did - in the face of persecution or pandemic. We believe Christ died to pay for our sins, and we believe there is a heaven Christ is calling us to. That's the message, and that is . . .

Something to think about

Rob