The lectionary reading for Easter 7 in Year C is Acts 16.16–34, and in this season the lectionary emphasises that this is the reading which should be focussed on.
It is an unusually long reading—though does not quite finish the story. Luke has carefully structured this to pair with the story of Lydia, so we have a rich woman and a poor slave girl both affected by the gospel. And the story of Paul miraculously released from prison forms a pair with the same happening to Peter in Acts 12, whilst the language of possession and deliverance matches that about Jesus from the gospels.
So there is much to preach on here!
Commentary on the gospel reading, which is John 17.20–26 can be found here.
Buy me a Coffee
How does this have Application to us in the 21st.C.?
Well, I think we might need a little more than retelling the story
as how it should be told as sometimes occurs in sermons.
One thing strikes me, and is of some experience;
Is that the demonic searches out the saints,
and does sometimes acknowledge that Christ is in us.
We are not to be Witch-finder Generals
i.e. go looking for demons, otherwise,
we will think we see them everywhere.
The thing about disciples is that they are indeed
Disturbers of a unique order.
They turn the world upside-down,
{rather than the world turning the Church upside down.}
Sometimes the mere presence of a Christian
stirs up the activities of the satanic powers.
One could note the distinctions of the satanic and the demonic.
Your reference to Revelation indicates that the saint does not become a character in happy families but becomes a target requiring a suit of armour.
There are some remarkable things here
The demonic believes in God;
They know that there is a time of reckoning Matt. 8:29
In this regard they acknowledge more than the sons of men.
Amongst people some believe about God, some in fact believe God
Is Sovereign.
In the “dragon” motif in Rev.12 I am struck by verse 15
[The]serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood.
Could this relate in any way to Jesus’s statement “As in the day of Noa …so shall it be[At the end] Luke 17:26-30; In the motif it is a flood of evil pursuing believers of God
I was reading a piece about how clerics were/are overwhelmed in their ministries:-
“pastors have navigated some of the most morally complicated and emotionally turbulent ministry environments they’ve ever experienced. The world has changed around us in unprecedented ways that we’ve only just begun to comprehend.”
It has some good pastoral insights.
[email protected]/articles/practical-counsel-for-pastors-who-are-beginning-to-discern-the-times/
Shalom.
A friend has for years taken his guitar to town to sing Christian songs and to witness. Over the years various people have taken up position to yell at passers by using loudspeakers. Recently the council forbade street preaching without a license. My friend applied for a license and now continues to do what he did before. So far the agressive ranters have been foiled…but for how long?
History repeats itself.
St.Paul was followed by a flood of zealots trying to stop him or grift off him.
Nothing new. Same old flood.
simply a great resource, spirit inspired and saturated in truth.
Thank you!