ECC-Evangelical Covenant Church
The Kingdom of God took root in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.
With the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon early Christians, the Kingdom of God began to take shape in the world.
The book of Acts begins with the Apostles “sheltering in place” as they await the promised Holy Spirit. From there, it grows and bears fruit. It is a story of action, faith, courage, and boldness in uncertain and anxious times. Then, it was persecution that deployed the Church; today, it is a virus. How might the Kingdom take shape in our world, as it did then?
Join us Sundays at 10:30am (ecclife.net/stream or facebook.com/ecclife) as we rediscover the passion and power of the early Church and what their experiences have to teach us in our uncertain and anxious times today.
The Kingdom Takes Shape: We Are Not in Trouble
April 19, 2020
Second Sunday of Easter
Pastor Stacey Littlefield
Acts 11:1-14 NIV
Write the Next Steps you sense God leading you to take in the space below.
Write this week's good news statement below.
A Model for Reading the Book of Acts
SIX PANELS
1. Acts 1.1-6.7 ~ Ascent of Jesus, descent of the Holy Spirit, the early Church in Jerusalem.
HINGE VERSE: 6.7
2. Acts 6.8-9.31 ~ The gospel goes to Judea and Samaria
HINGE VERSE: 9.31
3. Acts 9.32-12.24 ~ The gospel goes to the gentiles
HINGE VERSE: 12.24
4. Acts 12.25-16.5 ~ The gospel goes to Asia Minor
HINGE VERSE: 16.5
5. Acts 16.6-19.20 ~ The gospel goes to Macedonia and Achaia
HINGE VERSE: 19.20
6. Acts 19.21-28.30 ~ The gospel goes to Rome
Jesus' Four Goals in Forty Days
1. He offers proofs of his resurrection.
2. He teaches about the kingdom of God.
3. He promises the gift of the Holy Spirit.
4. He outlines the mission of the Church.
The Power Narratives (from James Bryan Smith's, The Good and Beautiful God). Memorize them. Stick them to your mirror or refrigerator. Repeat them at mealtimes. Allow them to shape your heart, mind, and prayer life!
I am one in whom Christ dwells and delights.
I live in the strong and unshakeable kingdom of God.
The kingdom is not in trouble and neither am I.
Questions to ponder.
Have you ever found yourself "at your wit's end" and unsure of what to do next, or what you believed God wanted you to do next? What was that situation? How did you deal with it? What decision did you eventually make and why?
Questions to ponder.
What is the bravest, boldest things you've ever had to do and what gave you the courage to do it?
Questions to ponder.
Take a look at Matthew 28.18-20; Mark 16.15-18; and Luke 24.45-49. Each of these passages deals with some of the same ideas and mission Jesus mentioned in Acts 1. How are they similar to one another? How are they different? What, if anything, do you learn from each of them that you might not learn from the others.
Quotables.
If we only had eyes to see and ears to hear and wits to understand, we would know that the Kingdom of God in the sense of holiness, goodness, beauty is as close as breathing and is crying out to be born within ourselves and within the world; we would know that the Kingdom of God is what we all of us hunger for above all other things even when we don’t know its name or realize that it’s what we’re starving to death for.
The Kingdom of God is where our best dreams come from and our truest prayers. We glimpse it at those moments when we find ourselves being better than we are and wiser than we know. We catch sight of it when at some moment of crisis a strength seems to come to us that is greater than our own strength. The Kingdom of God is where we belong. It is home, and whether we realize it or not, I think we are all of us homesick for it. (Frederick Beuchner, The Clown in the Belfry)
For children.
What the scariest thing you've every had to do? Were you able to do it? Why or why?
Prayer for the Second Sunday of Easter
Almighty and everlasting God, who in the Paschal mystery established the new covenant of reconciliation: Grant that all who have been reborn into the fellowship of Christ's Body may show forth in their lives what they profess by their faith; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.