The Hand of God

   Rehearsal
It takes a lot of preparation/work/practice to do something great. People do not usually show up for the rehearsals. They see the finished product. It looks easy then.


God’s Grace
   Acts 11:19-30


Antioch and Tarsus are across the northeast corner of the Mediterranean Sea from each other. Tarsus is where Saul grew up, and where he was sent back to after becoming too hot for Damascus and then Jerusalem. He stayed there under the radar for possibly as much as a decade, unheard from. Barnabas went to get him after visiting Antioch. He had been sent to Antioch to check on the church starting there. What he recognized was the work of God – “the hand of God” and “the grace of God” - the kind of thing we want to see, and not what we can work up.

Barnabas and Saul stayed there for a year, teaching, and the disciples became known as Christians. There was something distinct about them. What will be true about us one year from now? (Let’s check in a year.) What will be needed to make that happen?



Peter’s Prison
   Acts 12:1-17


Herod had James killed, which made the Jewish leaders happy. Peter is next - in prison, waiting trial and probable execution. People prayed for God to save him.


Peter was sleeping soundly! When an angel appeared, lit up the prison, and made chains fall off, he kept snoring. The angle poked him. Wake up, get dressed, we are leaving. Peter was escorted out of prison, thinking he was dreaming or seeing a vision. The hand of God worked a miracle, and Peter did not recognize it until it was over.


Neither did the church. They were too busy praying to be interrupted by the answer to their prayers. How much of the grace of God do we not recognize? Sometimes there is more to something than you know. Pray that we will not miss what God is doing, especially when we are standing in the middle of it.



King’s Conceit
   Acts 12:18-24


Yik! Eaten by worms, and died. (not the other way around) Instead of failing to recognize the work of God, Herod accepted acclaim as God - failing to recognize God. Delusion of Grandeur. Then the work of God was not pleasant. An angel came again, and worms  ate this guy. He died. The glory of God is not something we get. It is only His. Do not fail to recognize that.



   Revelation


This is Palm Sunday. It commemorates Jesus arriving in Jerusalem surrounded by praise. He accepted the acclaim, because it was appropriate. He was/is God. People seemed to recognize the work of God in Him, but not for long. They lost it.


How quickly and how often do we lose track? Even when God shows up, reveals Himself and we recognize Him in what we see, in a little while we can have it slip away. OR in a year’s time, we can become more Christian than ever.