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Text Box: It was a time a big government, hedonistic life styles, and seeking personal gratification.  The gulf between the “haves” and the “have-nots” was huge, a time of great wealth for some and poverty for others.  It was a time of religious freedom, as long as your religion didn’t challenge the status quo.  Political debates were common, with each side blaming the others for the failure of the government to address the social ills of the day.  Sound familiar?  No, I am not describing the 21st century in America, but the first century in the Roman Empire.    Paul writes to Galatia:  “And that's the way it was with us before Christ came. We were slaves to the spiritual powers of this world.   But when the right time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, subject to the law.   God sent him to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law, so that he could adopt us as his very own children.  And because you Gentiles have become his children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, and now you can call God your dear Father.   Now you are no longer a slave but God's own child.  And since you are his child, everything he has belongs to you.   Before you Gentiles knew God, you were slaves to so-called gods that do not even exist.   And now that you have found God (or should I say, now that God has found you), why do you want to go back again and become slaves once more to the weak and useless spiritual powers of this world?” I have been studying the work of the apostles in the book of Acts, shaping and informing my notion that the church has the same fruitful opportunities today as the first disciple-builders found in the first century.  There we find the blueprint for building communities of faith, around tables and in homes.  There we find a preacher’s notes, powerful and stirring sermons that the Spirit empowered to bring profound responses.  We find risk and danger, freedom and slavery, hope and awe.  We find faithful witnesses doing whatever it takes to share the news that this Jesus is Lord and Savior and the fulfillment of the demands of the law.    Given the similarities in the culture of the first century to our culture in the United States in the 21st century, and given the instruction/guidance of those first disciple-builders, and given the message of hope Paul proclaimed and the challenge laid before us, what are we then called to do?  Throughout the book of Acts, the responses of the people to the message and the presence of the Spirit were amazement and awe.  Perhaps we need a little more awe.  Perhaps we should be amazed at what the Spirit is doing in our midst.  Maybe the “good old days” were a lot further back in history than we typically think, and perhaps God is ready to do another great thing in our day.  Keep this congregation in your prayers.  The leaders of this church are stepping up and stepping out in ways we couldn’t have imagined a few years ago.  God has uniquely gifted us and has promised wonderful things, amazing and awe-inspiring things, as we seek His will and do His work in the world in which we live.  Watch and pray.  Get involved.  Read the manual (the book of Acts).  Build disciples and be amazed! Pastor's Page
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"Scripture should more than inform us. It should transform us."
PHONE 478-923-8856 • 1139 Watson Boulevard, Warner Robins, GA 31093 • firstpreschurch@bellsouth.net