WORSHIP WITH US THIS SUNDAY!! – 10:30 am in-person, on our Worship page, or on YouTube. We hope to see you there!
It Seemed Good to the Holy Spirit and to Us
2024-10-8 | Pastor Stacey Littlefield
In Acts 15, an early church council met to make an important decision: how are these newly formed Jewish Christians to relate to Gentiles—non-Jews—who are now coming to faith in Jesus? Should Gentiles be required to keep the Jewish Law as a prerequisite for becoming Christians?
In the end, after Barnabas and Paul have shared how they have seen God do “signs and wonders” among the Gentiles, the leadership makes the decision not to require Gentiles to keep the Jewish Law except for two restrictions: they are to avoid certain kinds of foods and to abstain from sexual immorality.
What I love is how they came to this decision. In a letter to these young Gentile Christians, they write, “It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us not to burden you with anything beyond” these two requirements.
“It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and us…” That is the intent and hope for us, too, as we meet to hear reports, to approve budgets, to vote in new members, and yes, to vote on changing our name. That is what we hope happens every time we come together as a congregation to make decisions like these.
We are a community of people who are called to live together, worship together, serve together, and lead together. We are our best when we do these things as a prayerful community. So, please join me and others as we come together for our next meeting, on Sunday, October 13, that we may sense the leading of the Holy Spirit together.
Immediately following worship, we will enjoy a fellowship meal together (for which we will need help in serving and cleaning up!), and then we will meet for about an hour, celebrate what God is doing, and make some decisions together!
Please let us know you will join us for the meal and if you need childcare during the meeting by clicking the buttons below. And, if you haven’t already done so, please download the Name Change FAQ document by clicking below, as well.