churchadmin July 10, 2013 – Acts 23:1-11, Paul before the Jewish Council
And looking intently at the council, Paul said, “Brothers, I have lived my life before God in all good conscience up to this day.” 2 And the high priest Ananias commanded those who stood by him to strike him on the mouth. 3 Then Paul said to him, “God is going to strike you, you whitewashed wall! Are you sitting to judge me according to the law, and yet contrary to the law you order me to be struck?” 4 Those who stood by said, “Would you revile God’s high priest?” 5 And Paul said, “I did not know, brothers, that he was the high priest, for it is written, ‘You shall not speak evil of a ruler of your people.’”
6 Now when Paul perceived that one part were Sadducees and the other Pharisees, he cried out in the council, “Brothers, I am a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees. It is with respect to the hope and the resurrection of the dead that I am on trial.” 7 And when he had said this, a dissension arose between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the assembly was divided. 8 For the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, nor angel, nor spirit, but the Pharisees acknowledge them all. 9 Then a great clamor arose, and some of the scribes of the Pharisees’ party stood up and contended sharply, “We find nothing wrong in this man. What if a spirit or an angel spoke to him?” 10 And when the dissension became violent, the tribune, afraid that Paul would be torn to pieces by them, commanded the soldiers to go down and take him away from among them by force and bring him into the barracks.
11 The following night the Lord stood by him and said, “Take courage, for as you have testified to the facts about me in Jerusalem, so you must testify also in Rome.”
Ever wondered who all those Pharisees, Sadducees were? Click this link and read a great article.
Wednesday Night Bible Study – Acts 22:12-30 – Paul’s Baptism and Gentile Commission
12 “And one Ananias, a devout man according to the law, well spoken of by all the Jews who lived there, 13 came to me, and standing by me said to me, ‘Brother Saul, receive your sight.’ And at that very hour I received my sight and saw him. 14 And he said, ‘The God of our fathers appointed you to know his will, to see the Righteous One and to hear a voice from his mouth; 15 for you will be a witness for him to everyone of what you have seen and heard. 16 And now why do you wait? Rise and be baptized and wash away your sins, calling on his name.’
17 “When I had returned to Jerusalem and was praying in the temple, I fell into a trance 18 and saw him saying to me, ‘Make haste and get out of Jerusalem quickly, because they will not accept your testimony about me.’ 19 And I said, ‘Lord, they themselves know that in one synagogue after another I imprisoned and beat those who believed in you. 20 And when the blood of Stephen your witness was being shed, I myself was standing by and approving and watching over the garments of those who killed him.’ 21 And he said to me, ‘Go, for I will send you far away to the Gentiles.’”
Paul and the Roman Tribune
22 Up to this word they listened to him. Then they raised their voices and said, “Away with such a fellow from the earth! For he should not be allowed to live.” 23 And as they were shouting and throwing off their cloaks and flinging dust into the air, 24 the tribune ordered him to be brought into the barracks, saying that he should be examined by flogging, to find out why they were shouting against him like this. 25 But when they had stretched him out for the whips,[d] Paul said to the centurion who was standing by, “Is it lawful for you to flog a man who is a Roman citizen and uncondemned?” 26 When the centurion heard this, he went to the tribune and said to him, “What are you about to do? For this man is a Roman citizen.” 27 So the tribune came and said to him, “Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?” And he said, “Yes.” 28 The tribune answered, “I bought this citizenship for a large sum.” Paul said, “But I am a citizen by birth.” 29 So those who were about to examine him withdrew from him immediately, and the tribune also was afraid, for he realized that Paul was a Roman citizen and that he had bound him.
Paul Before the Council
30 But on the next day, desiring to know the real reason why he was being accused by the Jews, he unbound him and commanded the chief priests and all the council to meet, and he brought Paul down and set him before them.
Mission Lab Post #2
Mission Lab Post # 2
We started Monday with a morning devotion time. After devotion we quickly made our way to the cafeteria for breakfast. We were served scrambled eggs, sausage, bacon, biscuits, gravy and grits. In front of me in line were some teens from Arizona, they had never tried grits before and thought they were like potatoes. It took some convincing to get them to try grits. After I got my tray I saw two men that didn’t need persuasion to eat grits, they were very happy that it wasn’t pizza again.
After breakfast our teens split into two groups, Brad’s group went to F.P. Jackson Park to lead a bible school for the local children and Anita’s group went to Schaber Park to do the same. When I get some photos from the other group, I’ll post them here also.
When we arrived at Jackson Park, we found a playground that was overgrown with grass, so Dale traveled with our NOBTS guide Cody back to the campus and picked up a lawnmower and weed eater. You can see in the photos how tall the grass was, the video of Dale running the lawnmower really emphasizes how much work we had just to get the playground ready for the Bible School.
We had five sisters in attendance on the first day of Bible School. They ranged in age from 13 – 1 year old. You can see in the photos that they enjoyed making para-cord bracelets, playing UNO, playing basketball and listening to our Bible lesson presented by Chelsea. Brad even enjoyed sliding down the slide with the youngest sister, she climbed up to the top unassisted and needed help getting down safely.
After lunch our teams recombined and walked through the French Quarter handing out backpacks that were packed with bottled water, small snacks, band aids, tape and other useful supplies for homeless people to use. They were all very grateful for the gift and thanked us multiple times.
In Jackson Square, in front of St. Louis Cathedral, Avery offered a backpack to an older man sitting on a tattered quilt under the trees. His arms were damaged by too much exposure to the sun and he had a thick gray beard. When Avery began talking to the man he sat up and started asking numerous questions about Jesus, and what it takes to get to Heaven. His first big point was that you cannot get to Heaven by works. He took a piece of paper and folded it as he spoke with us. I watched as he carefully tore off pieces of the paper and sat them under his mat. We could tell he was up to something, when he was finished he had created a cross from the paper. The scraps of paper he tore away were assembled to spell Hell. He was doing his best to witness to us! It was a great experience to find a man in the park posing as homeless so that he could share the Gospel with people that are seeking salvation through works. We handed out over 40 backpacks and plan to return after supper tonight.
Mission Lab Post #1
We started out this day with a commissioning from our church. We had pizza in the fellowship hall, then loaded up the two white vans and Mr. Dale Parra followed pulling the trailer with his truck. We traveled via Highway 45 South and soon looked back and did not see Mr. Dale’s truck, since Dale had Randy with him we felt it would be alright to continue and proceeded along at a reasonable pace.
As we neared Macon, MS we looked ahead and there were several fire trucks and other emergency vehicles blocking our side of the highway. There had been a horrible accident at the 4 way stop ahead. As we got closer, we saw that there was a helicopter landed in the highway and it airlifted one of the victims away from the scene. We were diverted through a restaurant parking lot along with other traffic. We were reminded to be extra careful as we proceeded on our route.
In Meridian, we stopped at a service station for a rest stop and called Dale to see where they were. Dale reported that they were nearly to Greenwood. Brad just responded, “Okay”, then he turned and said, “I guess they are going the other way.” I was confused by the discussion.
We stopped again in Picayune for fuel and to clean off the windshield of the van. As we traveled over Lake Pontchartrain I snapped a couple of photos with my iPhone. If you look really close on the second one you can see the skyline of New Orleans. Our next stop was on the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary campus.
At the campus we were welcomed in through the main gate and guided to our check in area. We then picked up all our registration information, our devotion books, our lanyards with our meal passes and schedules, and T-shirts for everyone. On the way back from dinner, we posed for a photo on the grounds of the school.
As the rest of the group walked down to the worship meeting, Mr. Dale and I took a trip to the local Wal-Mart to pick up some additional supplies we needed for the VBS with the children tomorrow. Apple Maps took us through scenic areas of New Orleans, we saw many of the people that we hope to reach out to this week. I was able to snap a photo of a man sleeping on the ground under a tree, it appears that all his possessions are around him. We saw many others as we drove, but no other opportunities to make a photo without being noticed.
All the students wore T-Shirts with a series of numbers on them that represent Colossians 2:6-7 “6 Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, 7 rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.”
Brian tells me it’s time to go to bed now. Happy Birthday Brian.
Morning Worship – MissionLab Commission Service
Come join us Sunday morning as we commission several of our youth and adults as they travel to New Orleans, LA, to participate in MissionLab, a mission sponsored by New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary.
We will have regular worship, followed by a brief message out of Acts 1, 13 and Matthew 28 and the commission our mission team.
