The Book of Acts tells the fascinating story of the birth and early history of the Christian Church. Tradition tells us that Acts was written by Luke, a physician and travelling companion of the Apostle Paul. Luke wrote Acts for a patron by the name of Theophilus. Acts is something like a sequel to the Gospel of Luke. In Luke 1:3-4 (TNIV), the author of the Gospel of Luke writes: "I too decided to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you might know the certainty of the things you have been taught." The Book of Acts then begins: "In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach until the day he was taken up to heaven ... " -Acts 1:1-2 (TNIV). So begins Luke's telling of the history of the early church -- a history filled with Christian act(s)ion heroes such as Peter, Paul, Stephen, Barnabas and Philip. If you haven't read the Book of Acts, or you would just like to brush up on it, here is a tremendous little video that condenses the whole book into three action-packed minutes:
This week, we had four nominations for the Wesley Award for the Best Story from Acts. Nick nominated the story of the Stoning of Stephen, which you can read in Acts, Chapter 7 here.
Stephen became the first Christian martyr, getting stoned to death for boldly proclaiming to the religious leaders that they had murdered "the Righteous One" -- Jesus -- by playing a part in the events that led to his crucifixion. A young man named Saul was in the crowd when Stephen was stoned. Luke tells us that Saul "approved of their killing him." -Acts 8:1 (TNIV). Saul later became a living example of the redemptive power of Christ, being transformed from a persecutor of Christians to a great Christian missionary and teacher!
Wes selected a particularly gruesome story ... the Death of King Herod. You can read about it in Acts 12:19-24 here. Herod Agrippa, whose image is seen on the coin below, was struck dead by an angel when his subjects likened him to a god and he did not correct them and give credit where it was due -- to the God of his forefathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
Luke tells us in Acts 12:23 (TNIV) that "the Lord struck him down, and he was eaten by worms and died" ... eeuuww!
Adrienne picked the Earthquake Jailbreak found in Acts 16:16-40 (TNIV). We read there that an earthquake freed Paul and Silas from their chains while in prison. But they didn't flee the scene. They stayed put until their jailer and his entire household had come to believe in God!
And our winning scripture was chosen by Paige, who picked a story we can all fall for! In Acts 20:7-12, we read this about a man named Eutychus: "On the first day of the week we came together to break bread. Paul spoke to the people and, because he intended to leave the next day, kept on talking until midnight. There were many lamps in the upstairs room where we were meeting. Seated in a window was a young man named Eutychus, who was sinking into a deep sleep as Paul talked on and on. When he was sound asleep, he fell to the ground from the third story and was picked up dead. Paul went down, threw himself on the young man and put his arms around him. 'Don’t be alarmed,' he said. 'He’s alive!' Then he went upstairs again and broke bread and ate. After talking until daylight, he left. The people took the young man home alive and were greatly comforted." -Acts 20:7-12 (TNIV).
I'll bet your pastor never preached someone to death! And then helped bring him back to life! Do you think that Paul's all-night sermon (and Eutychus' fall) helped church attendance the following week or hurt it? Congrats to Paige for selecting our Wesley Award Winner of the week. Join us next week, when we bestow the Wesley Award for Best Epistle Passage.
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