"Devoted" - Preaching at Harderwyk - Acts 13-14 - June 27, 2021

Resources For "Devoted" Series From Each Harderwyk Preacher

I. New For This Week

Paul's Missionary Journeys - Acts 13-20 - The Bible Project - CLICK HERE for a 5-minute video overview of the central events and organizing theme - Paul's Missionary Journeys -of the rest of our Acts series.

The "Category-Defying" Christian Commiunity - In this 5-minute video, Rev. Tim Keller picks up one of the themes from the Bible Project video - though without animation - mentioned above: Why in the world did people become Christians in the first centuries when the church was severley persecuted.  CLICK HERE for that YouTube.  This video is part of a 9 part playlist comprised of brief segments from a single presentation done by Keller called How To Reach The West Again.  All are worth seeing.

The Jesus Storybook Bible: Every Story Whispers His Name by Sally Lloyd-Jones - Don't get this book for your children or grandchildren.  Get it for yourself.  Read all the stories.  Read them again.  See how the Gospel of God's Grace is pointed to in every story of the Bible, both Old and New Testaments.  Then sit down and read it to your children or grandchildren.  CLICK HERE for the Amazon link.

II. From The Commentaries On This Passage

Some background on Zeus and Hermes in regards to Lystra from The Message of Acts by John Stott:

“The crowd’s superstitious and even fanatical behaviour is hard to comprehend, but some local background throws light on it. About fifty years previously the Latin poet Ovid had narrated in his Metamorphoses an ancient local legend. The supreme god Jupiter (Zeus to the Greeks) and his son Mercury (Hermes) once visited the hill country of Phrygia, disguised as mortal men. In their incognito they sought hospitality but were rebuffed a thousand times. At last, however, they were offered lodging in a tiny cottage, thatched with straw and reeds from the marsh. Here lived an elderly peasant couple called Philemon and Baucis, who entertained them out of their poverty. Later the gods rewarded them, but destroyed by flood the homes which would not take then in. It is reasonable to suppose both that the Lystran people knew this story about their neighbourhood and that, if the gods were to revisit their district, they were anxious not to suffer the same fate as the inhospitable Phrygians. Apart from the literary evidence in Ovid, two inscriptions and a stone altar have been discovered near Lystra, which indicate that Zeus and Hermes were worshipped together as local patron deities.”

Thoughts on Paul’s sharing of the gospel from The Message of Acts by John Stott:

“I do not doubt that wherever he went his message included the good news of Jesus Christ, which does not change. This must be what Luke means when he says that the missionaries preached ‘the word of God’, the ‘message of salvation’ (13:26), ‘the message of his grace’ (14:3) or ‘the good news’ (or ‘the gospel’). Nevertheless, although the substance of his message was invariable, he varied his approach and emphasis. …

We need to learn from Paul’s flexibility. We have no liberty to edit the heart of the good news of Jesus Christ. Nor is there ever any need to do so. But we have to begin where people are, to find a point of contact with them. With secularized people today this might be what constitutes authentic humanness, the universal quest for transcendence, the hunger for love and community, the search for freedom, or the longing for personal significance. Wherever we begin, however, we shall end with Jesus Christ, who is himself the good news, and who alone can fulfil all human aspirations.”

III. Ongoing Resources

1) Spiritual Formation Resources Page - CLICK HERE - This is still a work in progress, but be a part as we look to build.

2) Scotty Smith’s Heavenward Daily Prayers - CLICK HERE to see the daily prayer blog of Scotty Smith.  You will see an option to have them delivered to your email inbox each day as well.  

3) Simple Lectio Divina Overview - CLICK HERE for a simple introduction of the spiritual practice of a more personal way of experience the Word through contemplation and reflection.