Open-ended,
Life-centred,
Gospel-Focused Explorations of Australian P.
B.
Eucharistic Readings
Acts, not Hebrew
Bible, in Easter, hence ACTS 11: 1-18...
5th S. of Easter C. .. (For
JN 13:31-35 scroll.)
NOTES: 1] The focus is back on
Peter again. Read Ch.10 first for the context. A serious & divisive issue facing
the young church was whether non-Jews could belong, & if so,
whether they had to be circumcised into Judaism before they could be
baptised into Christianity. 2]
Here early Christians are beginning to realise that not only to they
have to move on from their Hebrew background, but also move on from the
Jesus-on-earth era into the era of Holy Spirit.
WARMING UP: How important to us is it to 'keep ourself
clean'?
TREASURES OLD & NEW:
Identify God at work in anything this week?
ENTERING INTO THE STORY:
1-3 How aware are we of what's
going on in other parts of our church or other churches? Is the term
'the word of God' immediately intelligible to anyone who hears it, or
does it need interpreting? Are we always sure which meaning of 'word of
God' is being expressed in our church circles? Is one side effect of
using the term 'word of
God' so much, & in different ways, a sense of 'word-iness'? Does
God ever become the 'victim' of our wordiness? Do we make ourselves
& others too victim of 'word-iness? What do we actually
mean when we call Jesus
himself
the 'Word of God'? If the Gentiles in this story have 'received the
word of God', who or what is it they've actually received? Could the
same be
said of us?
How
critical are we / can we be of other Christians who see things
differently from us? Where is the line to be drawn between 'fair' &
'unfair' criticism, & who draws it? How good are we at filtering
what's of God from what's not - garbage from pearls?
4-16 How
experienced are we at telling our own story of how we have responded to
God's word in this situation or that? Should we have / take more
opportunities of telling our story within our
church? Outside it? What kinds
of things hinder our willingness or our ability to 'tell our story'?
What makes Peter so able to tell his story in this situation? Is it
reasonable to expect that we should be able to tell our story as
effectively as Peter tells his here? Is there much point in Peter
telling
his story (& Luke re-telling it in Chs.10 & 11 for us) if we
can't: a) enter into it too? b) pass it on? c) add our own story along
with Peter's? Is telling our own story as part of the 'word of God' any
less legitimate than re-telling someone else's story from 2000 years
ago?
17-18 Can the
'word of God' stay up to date if we don't keep updating it?
If we don't let God keep updating it in us? Is being given Holy Spirit,
or 'baptised with Holy
Spirit' maybe another way of describing the way God is continuously
'updating' us for life in God's world? (Do we sometimes forget that it
is God's world, & what our own place in that world is?) Is it
possible that some of us, some of our views of God, some church
attitudes & stances 'hinder God'? When something new happens in our
life, in our Big C or little c church, are we more likely to: a) be
silenced? b) praise God? c) become more open & accepting of others
& 'where they're coming from? d) dig our personal trenches deeper?
Who or what determines the kind of response we make? How central to our
own discipleship is 'repentance that leads to life'? Can we ever
genuinely repent & find life except by God's gift of Holy Spirit?
