But on closer examination, some of the events of Acts sound like stories we know well: a social conflict about whether a merchant should be allowed to continue in business after using the marketplace as a platform for religious proselytizing; a king of a majority religious group killing minority religious leaders for threatening his hold on power; a church conflict about whether to require new members to conform to time-honored traditions or to change community standards and practices as new kinds of people turn to God and join the church. In these ways, the world of Acts is very much our world.
The book of Acts is a collection of stories of what happened when God empowered a handful of people to take on the world-changing mission Jesus inaugurated. As you read the book of Acts, you’ll be invited to see the vision of a new, God-led world that Jesus shared; to join the community of faith that bears Jesus’ name; and to share in the mission of a dynamic church that’s always on the move, following the winds of the Holy Spirit as she blows through the world.
A few tips for reading the book of Acts:
- Recognize the great distances in cultures, customs and situations between your context and the contexts of the stories, yet look for timeless movements of God’s Spirit as points of connection with Christian faith and life today.
- Look for connections between stories focused on communities of faith (such as Ephesus) and on individuals of faith (such as Paul in Jerusalem). Consider how your own faith identity is both uniquely yours as an individual, and also inextricably linked with and shaped by a community of faith.
- As you study the book of Acts, you may want to take on a daily practice of simple prayer. My suggestion is to repeat the mantra “Lead me, Holy Spirit” throughout your day.
May you know God’s loving and leading presence in your life this day and every day.
Jessica Patchett
Associate minister for Christian Education
