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May 22, 2024
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Acts Continued
In our short miniseries, “He’s Alive, What’s Next?”, so far we’ve covered the following: the disciples being born again in John 20, and then Peter got restored from his regrets in John 21. In Acts chapter one I entitled the message “Prepping for Pentecost”. Then last Sunday being Pentecost Sunday we discussed “empowered witness.” So, what’s next? I felt we should continue for a period of time in Acts. We will likely not cover the whole book, but enough to catch the culture of how the first church operated while also being empowered by the Holy Spirit. I recently attended a seminar on healing. I was reminded of how easy it is to grab hold of modern-day ideas of thought and propose them as biblical. Perhaps not meaning to end up that way, we entertain certain messages that are not correctly interpreted, or the presenter has a certain bias that overshadows the writer’s real intent. All of us are guilty; that’s why we have the word of God to continually go back to and reference to make sure our thoughts are in alignment with His thoughts. Even with the written word of God, we have to be aware of translation leeway and in some cases even doctrinal objections. I just learned that every “new” translation of the Bible must be 10% different from other translations to be considered valid! Hopefully, all the new modern translations that we have available went back to “original source” material to determine their interpretations. The tension that is often faced with translation practice sways between accuracy and meaning. For example, I could choose a word from Greek and then choose one from English that best represents the word. The syntax of the English language, however, is different from how a Greek sentence is constructed. Therefore, I could be extremely accurate, but you would have no idea what it means to you personally or even what God is saying in the passage. On the other hand, I could focus on meaning. As a result, I would add commentary in the text to give it meaning. Yet, in doing so my personal bias may come in tilting the verse in a different direction than what God intended. It is for these reasons why I often use several translations to zero in on a basic understanding and often visit the exact Greek/Hebrew text to make sure what is being translated is what is intended. I think Wanda said it well that in biblical understanding you have the information, the interpretation, and the application. All three must be in alignment with each other; beyond that you have context and culture to consider. If you think it is getting a bit complicated it can be, that is why we are given the Holy Spirit, community of believers, and the historical church to guide us in the right way! How does this relate to our continued study of Acts? It provides us with a rule of practice in how the kingdom of God expanded through the beginning church. What they taught, how they thought, what actions they took, and how people responded are key for us today to study and practice. We obviously are in very different cultures, but the principles they implemented are still relevant. I look forward to diving into the latter part of Acts 2. See you Sunday. |
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Please Pray For:
John D. - Pray for a release of finances to the companies and for the healing of family members. Leslie M. - Please pray for the Andella family. My mom and my Aunt Ida are not doing well both in their 90’s. My uncle Mario had a pacemaker with a defibrillator put in yesterday because his pacemaker quit working on Sunday. Marty G - Prayer request from Rosa in Mexico, I am taking care of my Mom who has been very sick. The doctor who came last night said that through a treatment of less aggressive chemotherapy, she might live for a few more months. Honestly, it is a very hard decision to make for my sister and I. We need to seek God's will on this. Only our Lord can do a miracle. For more infomation visit: https://crossroads.elvanto.net/form/148466d6-068d-43a5-ab33-dad865ef3b19
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Dates To Remember
May 22 - Intercessory Prayer 12 pm May 24 - Pray Winchester 8:00 AM & 7:00 PM May 25 - Saturday Soaking 7 pm May 27 - Prayer For The Nation 12 pm May 29 - Intercessory Prayer 12 pm May 31 - Pray Winchester 8:00 AM & 7:00 PM June 02 - Discover Crossroads 3-7 pm For more information on upcoming events click below For more infomation visit:
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