Acts 18:18 to Acts 19:20

Grace

That we find and invite Jesus as disguised among ‘the least of these’ into our lives and open homes.

Readings

Reading deeper…
Jim Reiher, The Book of Acts: A Social Justice Commentary, pages 187-191.

Devotion 1

Wait: Take time to sit in silence together, allowing space for God’s voice to be heard.

Read: Acts 18:18-28

What stands out to you in this reading?

Ask:

Share:
Communion

Pray:
End with the Lord’s Prayer

Devotion 2

Wait: Take time to sit in silence, aware of the presence of God’s Spirit

Read: Acts 19:1-10

Where do you hear God’s voice in this story?

Ask:
In light of this story, how might we live out the way of Jesus this week?

Share: Communion

Pray:
Pray for those in your neighbourhood
End with the Lord’s prayer

Devotion 3

Wait: Take time to sit in the silence of thanksgiving together, aware of God’s loving kindness toward us.

Read: Acts 19:11-20

Reiher writes:
“As a historian, I know that the times in history where there have been massive book-burning events have not been good times. They have been times of cultic propaganda and evil dictatorships. Whether it is Hitler burning the works of Jews and anti-Nazis, or Romans burning the Library of Alexandria, or the Middle Ages Catholic Church with its Inquisitions and list of banned books—not much good can ever come from book-burning.”1

And reflecting on his own book-burning as a young Christian, he says:

“Perhaps if you have been saturated in a world-view or practice that you now think is seriously wrong or even evil, then you might feel a need to destroy the stuff that you collected and used in that lifestyle. Maybe these folk in Acts 19 did the right thing for them, since they would have no further use for books detailing practices they were forsaking. In my case, however, I had not come out of any of the other world religions. I was just interested in understanding them. I don’t think my situation was actually like these people’s situation at all. I could have donated the collection to my nearest theological college, for goodness sake!”2

Ask:
What do you see that is helpful or helpful in today’s reading?
How does this reading call us into deeper discipleship?

Share:
Communion

Pray:
End with the Lord’s Prayer

 1. Jim Reiher, The Book of Acts: A Social Justice Commentary. Dandenong: UNOH, 2014, 189-190.

 2. Reiher, Acts, 190.

Devotion 4

Wait: Take time to sit in the silence of repentance together, aware of our inadequacy and God’s grace.

Read: Luke 15:1-32 (Lent Reading)

“If we hold in abeyance, at least for the moment, the rush to read repenting and forgiving into the parable, then it does something more profound than repeat well-known messages. It provokes us with simple exhortations. Recognize that the one you have lost may be right in your own household. Do whatever it takes to find the lost and then celebrate with others, both so that you can share the joy and so that the others will help prevent the recovered from ever being lost again. Don’t wait until you receive an apology; you may never get one. Don’t wait until you can muster the ability to forgive; you may never find it. Don’t stew in your sense of being ignored, for there is nothing that can be done to retrieve the past.

Instead, go have lunch. Go celebrate, and invite others to join you. If the repenting and the forgiving come later, so much the better. And if not, you still will have done what is necessary. You will have begun a process that might lead to reconciliation. You will have opened a second chance for wholeness. Take advantage of resurrection—it is unlikely to happen twice.”3

Ask:
Where do you hear God’s voice in this reading?
Are there ways that God is stirring you to take steps toward reconciliation?

Pray:
Spend time praying for each of those present in the room and for the wider UNOH team.

Share: Communion

 3. Amy-Jill Levine, Short Stories by Jesus: The Enigmatic Parables of a Controversial Rabbi. EPub edition, HarperOne: 2014. 75.