Reflection on Acts (Chapters 17-20)

by Elizabeth Etta

Acts 17-20:

Paul and his companions continue to travel, preaching and spreading the good news throughout Thessalonica, Berea, Corinth and Athens. Surprisingly, there are still people who do not believe this good news message.

This is still the same in our world today where some people might hear about the bible, about Jesus and to them it is a fairytale. But as for those of us who believe the truth of Jesus, we are assured salvation.

Acts 17:11 mentions that the Bereans were of noble character for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.

This passage stood out to me as to why it is mentioned in the bible. You see a lot of people today are where they are due to ignorance and when it comes to our eternal life, there is no excuse for ignorance. Some of us as Catholics have walked in ignorance for so long, myself included, that reading this verse was like a lightbulb moment in my brain. We have traditions, when someone asks us about them, we don't know why we follow them, we just go with the motions? When someone asks us something about our faith, we don't have reference from scriptures to back it up, to explain Why? Or worst still, not every message we hear or receive into our spirits is true. We must test this according to the bible and this is what the Bereans did. They did not just accept Paul's message, it was wise of them to stay guarded. And once they realized that Paul's preaching was in line with the scriptures, did they believe.

While reading this verse, I thought about our brothers and sisters who have not yet known Christ Jesus as their saviour, e.g. The Hindus, The Muslims, what about them? Acts 4:12 says Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven by which we must be saved. They do not believe in Jesus, does this mean they are not saved? I struggled with these thoughts, because they are some of the nicest, genuine people I know. I have had interesting conversations with my Muslim friends about My God, Your God, My Jesus, Their Prophet. This often is interesting but yet at the end of the day we all still believe what we believe, because especially when you are raised a certain way, it leads you to believe that is the right way.

Anyway my point here is that we cannot wait for the truth to come to us, we have to actively search for truth as is the case of the Bereans. Our eternal life depends on the seeking of who God is, who Christ really is. What is amazing is that God's grace is sufficient, He wants us to know who He is. He wants us to have that relationship with Him, but you cannot stay comfortable where you are, because to be a follower of Christ comes with a risk and perhaps that is a risk most people are not willing to take and so they prefer to stay where they are. This is why especially in our Christian walk we must actively want to know the truth, which has been revealed to us through the bible and through prayer which is an amazing gift for God to be able to reveal Himself to us. As long as we want to pursue righteousness, our God who is full of Grace and Mercy will reveal Himself to us, for He is the Way, the Truth and the Life.

Reflection on Acts (Chapters 15 & 16)

by Elizabeth Etta

Acts 15:

This chapter stood out to me because of the disagreements. The Christian walk is not without disagreements. We disagree on many issues like even within our Catholic faith most people might disagree on certain things such as use of contraceptives, homosexualism, pre-marital sex, living together without marriage, whatever it may be.

Differences of views can often bring arguments which are not healthy for the church and can discourage people, result in loss of souls rather than salvation.

Reading this chapter, it is my believe that as Christians we should not make it difficult for people who do not conform to the laws (for eg being homosexual) At the end of the day, we are all trying to seek God and rather than pass judgment, we need to instead preach love, repentance, forgiveness and salvation. This must also be shown through our actions, how we act towards others, what we say. Our job is to encourage rather than discourage and when we do this, we allow the Holy Spirit to do the work on our hearts and minds.

Acts 16:

Timothy is introduced here as the man who joins Paul and Silas on mission. Timothy was half Jewish and half Greek (Well, he must have been good looking as all mixed kids I know are :) ). Anyway it is obvious that Paul must have taken a liking to him. The brothers at Lystra and Iconium spoke highly of him. This can only mean that he was a fervent follower of Christ. Paul on meeting Timothy would have recognized that zeal in him and because of Timothy's Jewish and Greek heritage, it is easy to see that he would have a great influence leading people to Christ.

This chapter asks the question... In life what do you want to be recognized for? Most importantly on the last day, what would you want God to recognize you for?

Chapter 16 is another proof that God's salvation is indeed for all.

Paul and Silas are imprisoned but when they start singing hymns to God, an earthquake happens and everyone's chains are loosed. No doubt, this would have led to conversion of the prisoners there. Also, had Paul and Silas not been put in prison, then the jailer would not have been saved along with his whole family.

Whatever situation you find yourself, good or bad, it is an opportunity that God can use to the glory of His name and for our salvation..

Reflection on Acts (Chapters 9-14)

by Elizabeth Etta

Acts 9:

Saul's conversion is a true testimony of God's grace. Saul was a persecuter of the church at the time. His encounter with the Lord, forever changed him. This chapter got me thinking about how we should not judge people, many of them are awaiting an encounter with Christ to transform them and when this happens, we should be ready to welcome them into God's family.

An encounter with Christ is truly life changing. Saul recognizes that he has been saved by the grace of Jesus and so filled with the Holy Spirit, he begins his mission by joining the other disciples and spreading the good news of Christ

Acts 10:

What stood out for me was Acts 10:34.

God shows no partiality but in every nation, anyone who fears Him and does what is right is acceptable to Him.

Acts 12:

Pride comes before a fall.

Herod was a powerful king who was persecuting the Christians at the time. The bible said he did not give glory to God when the people were praising him calling him a God. He was struck down and in a humiliating fashion, was eaten by worms and died. A true attribute of every Christian is humility. We should try to outdo each other in service and give God all the glory for each and every one of our accomplishments.

Acts 14:

Paul and Barnabas continue spreading the good news. They performed miraculous signs but still some people refused to believe. At this time, Paul continued to perform miracles using the name of Jesus and here he healed a cripple. The people started to consider Paul and Barnabas as Gods.

In this chapter I am reminded about humility. The disciples did not take credit for the miracles but gave glory to God and used this as a way to witness to the people. Also this chapter brings to mind the fickleness of human nature and how important it is to stay guarded.

The same people who hero-worshipped Paul and Barnabas after seeing the miracle on influence by the Jews turned around and dragged Paul outside the city and stoned him to death.

This is a strong reminder that if we become proud in our successes in life, and work hard to gain recognition, money or whatever the reason for our success it is all pointless because people change. They are those that will be there to take over your position, other factors can come into play like illness, old age, accidents and if you don't have Christ? What do you have, what you measured as success will come to mean nothing. However if you boast, you can boast in Christ Jesus because that is constant.

Reflections

So far the Acts of the Apostles is about the exemplary lives of the early Christians. Like Fr. Vic says Church is not a building but it is the people that make up the church. We as members of the church must continue in the ways of the early church, building one another in faith. We are blessed to have StAY, a gathering where we can come together in prayer and fellowship like the apostles. We need to keep rejoicing and strengthening and praying for one another as we walk with God. This is so that God's spirit can move us to draw more people to Christ who is the only way and hope of our salvation.

Reflection on Acts (Chapters 5, 6 & 8)

by Elizabeth Etta

Acts 5:

Reading chapter 5 re-emphasizes that the wages of sin is death. It reminds me of the trap of the Devil especially in our world today which comes in the form of money, wealth and riches. The devil is out to deceive us that these things are more important than doing God's will.

This chapter also shows God's righteous anger. The Lord sees all that we do, all our sins and without confession and repentance, his wrath remain, as in the case of Ananais and Sapphira.

Also our leaders, our priests, our parents, they are God's representative on earth. Therefore we must respect them, because God can use them to either pronounce blessings or melt our justice according to his purpose.

Acts 6:

This chapter describes Stephen as a man filled with God's grace and power. This incited jealously among the Jews. As a result he was arrested and falsely testified against. Yet again he is bold, standing before the leaders and preaching. The elders are furious and they stone him to death. Stephen's life inspires us to live a Godly life. Stephen's story shows us that God is with us in life and in death.

There are always people who will oppose the Gospel, who think

Christians are deluded and unfortunately for them  (I am not being judgmental, just honest) unless they repent and accept Jesus as the Lord of their lives, they are condemned. This is the reason why we as Christians need to pray to the Holy Spirit for boldness to reach out to the lost. It is the same Spirit that was in Stephen and the disciples that is with us still today.

Finally, Stephen prayed that God does not hold the sin against them. It really is remarkable how Stephen followed the example of Jesus when he prayed, "Father forgive them" I believe it is because of Stephen's prayer that Saul was saved and had an encounter with Jesus and would later be used for His ministry.

Acts 8:

This chapter asks the question: "What is holding me back from experiencing the full grace and spirit of the Lord Jesus in my life:

The magician Simon of Samaria, was very powerful in the acts of magic as he performed many signs and wonders and the people paid attention to him saying that he must be using the power of God.

Many of us today, even Christians, are being led astray by signs and wonders. Some of us believe horoscopes, palm readings. It is important to ask in prayer that the things we see, we read, we hear, do not lead us astray and that we do not believe false teachings and consider them Godly teachings. It is only the Spirit that can reveal this to us.

Also we see that Simon had gotten baptized, but yet he wasn't fully convinced about God, he is still craving power, hence he tries to pay Peter and John for the power of the Holy Spirit. Most times we try to gain God's favour, maybe if I serve in church, maybe if I give more money to charity, maybe if I volunteer, etc then God will bless me. While these are all very important aspects of the Christian walk, we must not forget that our salvation is by the grace of God through Jesus Christ.

Another interesting part of Chapter 8 is that of the encounter between Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch. The Eunuch is led to understand the scriptures by Philip and this leads him to believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and the Eunuch did not hesitate to be baptized immediately.

God knows our hearts, if we truly want to know more about Him and His word, He is willing to teach us and extend His mercy toward all.

Dear Lord,

Help me to understand that Your desire is for my salvation and to not take it for granted. I also pray that You reveal the areas in my life where things may be holding me back from fully living my life according to Your will. Let me not be distracted by the things of the world, but continue to look to You for my sustenance.