45: Interlude (Paying Attention and Responding Appropriately)

The Neighborhood Church

Consider this Interlude a "Clip Show" highlighting some of the dramatic scenes in the story of Acts. When we step back from the miles we've journeyed along "The Way," we can see that Acts is a story of movement -- geographically, socially, and theologically. And, in many ways, our lives are a story of movement too! Consider how far you've traveled in the last decade. What makes us think that God isn't still moving? Let's "roll the clips" and see what we discover. NOTES -- // BIG IDEA -- Like the first followers of the "The Way," we make the road by walking with God -- paying attention and responding appropriately. // In Acts 1, it's as if Jesus says "You're going to be witnesses to everyone everywhere but you'll have to trust the Holy Spirit to see where the story goes AS you're going." // Movement 1 -- From EARTH to THE FATHER // Movement 2 -- From HEAVEN to GOD'S PEOPLE // Movement 3 -- From THE GATHERING to THE STREET // Movement 4 -- From ENEMY to FAMILY // Movement 5 -- From OLD PARADIGMS to NEW FRONTIERS // REFLECT -- What do you learn from the first generation of followers of "The Way"? Is your heart's "factory setting" resistance or openness to the new thing God seems to be doing? // QUOTE -- "The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world's deep hunger meet. The kind of work God usually calls you to is the kind of work (a) that you most need to do and (b) that the world most needs to have done." (FREDERICK BUECHNER)