The Gospel in 5 (Double) Truths (Luke 24:44-49)

In Luke's version of the Great Commission, the risen Lord summarizes the gospel in 5 truths:

1. The double event: the death and resurrection of the Messiah (Lk 24:46).
2. The double proclamation: forgiveness [the gospel offer] and repentance [the gospel demand] (Lk 24:47a).
3. The double scope: "to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem" (Lk 24:47b).
4. The double attestation/accreditation: the OT witness (Lk 24:44, 46) the NT witness (Lk 24:48).
5. The double mission. The Great Commission involved a double sending: the sending to them of the Holy Spirit (Lk 24:48) and the sending of them into the world (Lk 24:47, 49). The 2 missions go together, for the Holy Spirit is a missionary Spirit.

Jesus has given us a beautifully balanced and comprehensive account of the gospel. We are commissioned to

• proclaim repentance and forgiveness (Lk 24:47) on the basis of him who died and was raised (Lk 24:46),
• to all humankind [Gentiles and Jews] (Lk 24:47b),
• according to the Scriptures [OT, NT] (Lk 24:44, 46, 48),
• in the power of the Spirit given to us (Lk 24:49).

Reference: John Stott, Through the Bible Through the Year. Daily Reflections from Genesis to Revelation. 2006.

What the Holy Spirit Does (Acts 2)

What the Holy Spirit Does for You (Acts 2).

• In the past week how much time have you spent reflecting on Christ and Scripture? Based on Acts 1,
• what has Jesus begun in you (Ac 1:1), and
• what are ways that you can be a "witness" (Ac 1:8)?

1. What is "the day of Pentecost" [50th] (Ac 2:1; Exo 23:16; 34:22; Num 28:26; Dt 16:16)? Who were "they" (Ac 1:15)? Why were they "all together" (Ac 1:4, 12-14)?  "...in one place" (Ac 1:13; 2:46)? What is the timeline of the Resurrection, Ascension and Pentecost (Ac 1:3, 9)?
2. What was the sound (Ac 2:2; Exo 14:21) [audible], sight (Ac 2:3; Ex 3:2, 4-5; 13:21-22; 19:18) [visual] and speech (Ac 2:4, 6, 8, 11) [oral] that they saw and heard? Why did this happen (Ac 1:4; 2:16-20, 33; Jn 14:16-17; Num 11:29; Isa 32:14; 44:3; Eze 36:27; Joel 2:28-32)? How is this the continuing work of Christ in the world (Ac 1:1)?
3. Why were the Jews from every nation gathered in Jerusalem (Ac 2:5, 9-11a)? What did they hear (Ac 2:6-8, 11b)? Why is this international gathering significant? How is this a reversal of Babel (Gen 11:7-9)?
4. What did Peter do (Ac 2:14)? Why was it absurd to suggest that drunkenness was the cause (Ac 2:13, 15)? How did Peter explain what happened (Ac 2:16-21; Joel 2:28-32)?
5. What does Peter's imperative, "listen to this" (Ac 2:22) suggest? What is his subject (Ac 3:13-26; 4:10-12; 5:30-32; 10:36-43; 13:23-41)? Describe the story of Jesus in 6 stages:
1. Ac 2:22--Jesus' _____ and __________.
2. Ac 2:23--Jesus' ________.
• How do you explain the paradox of divine predestination and human freewill (Ac 2:23; 4:28)?
3. Ac 2:24-32--Jesus' _______________.
• How does Peter use David's prophetic words to explain the resurrection (Ac 2:25-32)?
4. Ac 2:33-36--Jesus' ____________.
5. Ac 2:37-39--Jesus' ____________.
6. Ac 2:40-41; 42-47--Jesus' _____________.
• What are the 4 elements that characterize a Christian gathering (Ac 2:42, 43-47)?

Empowered to Witness (Acts 1)

1. Who is the author of Acts? What is "my former book" (Ac 1:1)? Why and how did he write both books (Lk 1:1-4)? What is his main theme ["Song of Simeon"] (Lk 2:30-32, 10; Ac 4:12; 5:31; Isa 40:5)? What does "all that Jesus began to do and to teach" suggest (Ac 1:1; Lk 24:19)? What happens after you are "saved by grace" (Eph 2:8-10)?
2. What is "the day he was taken up to heaven" (Ac 1:2, 9)? What were the 2 main topics of the Risen Christ "over a period of 40 days" (Ac 1:2-3)? What was his command (Ac 1:4-5)? How long did they have to wait (Ac 1:3; 2:1)?
3. What were Jesus' followers expecting (Ac 1:6)? How did Jesus correct them (Ac 1:7-8; Dt 29:29)? What is the clear evidence that you have the Holy Spirit (Ac 1:8; 2 Tim 1:7)? How does Acts 1:8 give an outline of Acts (1-7; 8-12; 13-28)?
4. How is the ascension a watershed moment (Lk 24:51; Ac 1:9)? What's wrong with Jesus' followers "looking intently up into the sky as he was going" (Ac 1:9)? What should they know about "this same Jesus" (Ac 1:11; Lk 9:26; 17:24; 21:27)? In the meantime, what should they be doing instead (Ac 1:8)?
5. How far away were the apostles from Jerusalem (Ac 1:12)? Where did they gather and who were they (Ac 1:13)? What did they do (Ac 1:14)? How important is this (Lk 18:1; 1 Th 5:17; Jas 1:5)?
6. What was the immediate problem that needed to be addressed (Ac 1:15-17)? What is the tragedy regarding Judas (Ac 1:18-19)? How did Peter resolve the problem (Ac 1:20; Ps 69:25; 109:8)? What does this teach us about Scripture (2 Tim 3:16; Jos 1:7; Ps 1:2)? What was the criteria for replacing Judas (Ac 1:21-22)? How was Matthias chosen (Ac 1:23-26)?

Who did Christ die for?

• He died for ALL (1 Tim 2:6).
• He died for ALL MEN (Rom 5:18; 1 Tim 4:10).
• He died for US ALL, for ALL OF US (Isa 53:6).
• He died for the UNGODLY (Rom 5:6).
• He died for CHRIST-DENIERS (2 Pet 2:1).
• He died for SINNERS (Rom 5:8).
• He died for EVERY MAN (Heb 2:9).
• He died for MANY (Mt 20:28).
• He died for the WORLD (Jn 6:33,51; 1:29; 3:16).
• He died for the WHOLE WORLD (1 Jn 2:2).
• He died for the WHOLE NATION of Israel (Jn 11:50-51).
• He died for the CHURCH (Eph 5:25).
• He died for His SHEEP (Jn 10:11).
• He died for ME (Gal 2:20).

Unhealthy Leadership: Alone on an Island of Recognition with Flatterers and no Frank Friends

From Katelyn  Beaty's book: Celebrities for Jesus: How Personas, Platforms, and Profits are Hurting the Church. Celebrity--defined as social power without proximity--has led to abuses of power, the cultivation of persona, and a fixation on profits and numbers.

A top leader creates a spirit of fear around them. They demand and require – sign an NDA up front [explicitly or implicitly] – not to talk in public about what happens inside. The dynamics of the demand reveal a contrast between what's seen on the outside--during Sunday worship services and major conference retreats--and the reality behind closed doors. This elevates the persona of the leader in the church's culture. Worse yet, it stunts the leader's growth.

Such leaders attract others who gain identity by proximity to the persona/person, and who gain glory by that association. So they love taking pictures with the leader, for that elevates the person. Which means the persona intoxicates others into the inner circle – it becomes a culture of propping up the persona.

Such leadership turns a person into a persona without close relationships. Plutarch wrote an important essay on this that contrasted flatterers with frankness, the latter being what those top leaders need the most – BUT those leaders have personalities that push away frankness. Personas like this "feel love" in the adoration of the crowds, but adoration is not love. What they need are frank friends. Most of these persona types push frank friends off the stage, they discredit them, they gossip about them to others, they manipulate others to discredit them and before long the person they needed — a frank friend — is gone.

Such leaders are alone on an "island of recognition." experience the paradox of loneliness. That is, surrounded by people but no one to love or who loves them because they have become isolated from others. They "The more that people know of you, the less that people can know you."

"Character splitting" means one person in church and another in real life. In some ways this is inevitable; in another sense it becomes dangerous to personal formation. The deeper the persona becomes the more exhausting it becomes to live up to those expectations. And right here is where burnout happens. It is emotionally and psychologically exhausting to maintain one's persona when it is at a distance from one's true self.

Becoming dangerously narcissistic. "Dangerous" because narcissism and gospel Christoformity are polar opposites. Good brief sketches of narcissism are grandiosity, lack of empathy, yearning for adoration, and broken relationships. "The narcissist doesn't know who they are apart from what others reflect back to them" [which is why they are unable to take any frank criticism] and they are "terrified to step away."

Ecclesiastical loners. Local church autonomy is the magnet that attracts them because they can be "their own man" and "do their own thing" and "do what they want." They cannot be challenged or questioned. It becomes "their way or the highway." So, "if you don't like it, you can leave."

James, Annabelle’s baptism, Sep 5, 2022: Intergenerational blessing/Blessing the next generation

Before becoming a Christian, I had no idea what to do with my empty, boring and meaningless life, even though I became a doctor and came to the U.S. A quote by Henry David Thoreau intrigued me: "The masses of men lead lives of quiet desperation." I thought I was the only miserable person in the world, but this quote assured me that everyone else in the world was just as  inwardly desperate and miserable as I! But by God's mercy and grace I became a Christian at 25 in 1980 when I studied Genesis with Dr. John Lee, a pediatric resident at CCH. I discovered who I was and still am–a sinner condemned unclean, yet so loved by God that He gave His Only Son to die for me! I found my purpose of life: To live for Christ and His kingdom by studying the Bible and raising disciples–the bedrock of UBF ministry; this became what God has enabled me to do for the last 4 decades of my life to this day. During a recent 2 week road trip to 7 east coast UBF churches, an older missionary asked me, "What are you doing now?" I answered, "I'm doing exactly what I've been doing for the last 40 years." Despite the many good and bad, and the many ups and downs, my trajectory of life in Christ has not changed one iota in 4 decades.

 

God has blessed my wife Christy and I with 4 kids in 6 years (1983-1989), and with 7 grandkids with James 13 and Annabelle 11 as the 2 oldest. A few months ago James told his dad that he wanted grandpa to baptize him before going to Whitney Young. I was so happily surprised. Then Annabelle also asked to be baptized, which made me doubly happy. In processing my joy, I thank God that Christy and I are blessed to pass on God's blessing to our oldest son Sam and to our oldest grandson James and to our oldest grand-daughter Annabelle.

 

This is nothing but the mercy and grace of God. I thought of God's desire to bless not only Abraham but also all of his descendants for countless generations. Gen 17:9 says, "Then God said to Abraham, 'As for you, you must keep my covenant, you and your descendants after you for the generations to come.'" God called Abraham to bless not only him but also to bless "all peoples on earth" through his seed (Gen 12:2-3). The greatest blessing is not what we get, but what we give to others. What a great joy and privilege it is that despite our sins God has given us the blessing to be a blessing to others–including our grandchildren.

 

It was a joy to study the Bible with James the last few months. He loves sports, just like his dad and grandpa. He studies well and plays basketball. He is sincere, thoughtful and intelligent. And he wants to commit his life to Christ by being baptized as he goes to Whitney Young with the verse "The Lord is my shepherd" (Ps 23:1). I told James that if Christy and I live another 20 years, we pray to see him and Annabelle pass their faith in Christ to their son or daughter. May God bless James and Annabelle's baptism as their decision to follow Jesus as Lord all the days of their life and pass it on to subsequent generations. Amen.

"Hate" Those Closest to You (Luke 14:25-35)

Bishop Barron calls the large crowds following Jesus as "The Fair-Weather Fans of Jesus (Lk 14:25-26)."

1. Why might large crowds be travelling with Jesus (Lk 14:25)?
2. What might the crowd have thought about what Jesus said to them (Lk 14:26)? How is this a "slap in the face" challenge? Why did he use such strong language (Lk 13:24-27; 14:16-20; Mt 10:37-39; 22:36-40)? 
3. What does it mean to those following Jesus to "carry their cross" (Lk 15:27)?
4. What do the 2 parabolic stories (Lk 14:28-32) tell us about what we should do if we are serious about following Jesus (Lk 14:33)?
5. What does it mean for salt to lose its saltiness (Lk 14:34-35a)? What should we hear from Jesus (Lk 14:35b)?