Tuesday Talk - Camera Day

According to my National Day of the Year Calendar, it is National Camera Day.  In celebration here are a few pics from my phone camera.

Homiletics Acts 3

 Acts 3:1-26

Content:

1. As was daily practice, crippled man begs money from Peter and John at temple Gate. 1-3
2. Peter calls his attention and beggar looks expectantly. 4-5
3. Peter said "I don't have money to give but I give you Jesus healing. 6
4. Peter helps man up and he is instantly healed. 7
5. Man responds with walking, jumping, and praising God causing great wonderment in people who saw him. 8-10
6. Peter uses as opportunity to address the crowd. 11-12
7. Peter says God glorified Jesus - you rejected him and had him killed. 13
8. You disowned the Holy and righteous one 14
9. You killed author of life BUT GOD raised him. 15.
10. It is by faith in the name of Jesus this man has complete healing. 16
11. You acted in ignorance BUT GOD was fulfilling his promises of suffering Christ. 17-18
12. Repent and turn to God so sins wiped out and you are refreshed. 19
13. Jesus in heaven until God fulfills his promise. 20-21
14. Moses and the prophets point to Jesus 22-25
15. Jesus sent to Jews to bless them through repentance from wicked ways. 26

Divisions:

1. Peter heals cripple man, drawing a crowd. 1-10
2. Peter uses opportunity to tell them about God's plan for Jesus 11-18
3. Peter calls them to repentance. 19-26

Subject Sentence:

    Peter heals crippled man, preaches Jesus and calls for repentance. 

AIM:

TCMT (to cause me to) live by faith in the name of Jesus and the attitude of "BUT GOD" for healing restoration and strength.

(I came up with several possible Aims but this one was the most personal and stuck out the most to me this week.)

Application 

1)  What circumstance or habit do I find crippling or debilitating? What physical means am I looking to for relief or change?

2) How might following up thoughts about such crippling situations with BUT GOD  change my thinking, attitude or action? What would it look like in my life to live by faith in Jesus in such crippling situations?

3) What specific repentance is God calling me to, so I might experience his blessing and refreshing.

Today's Tip - Subject Sentence.

I often find my subject sentence is a combination of the division sentence.  I look for repeated works.  In this case they all started with Peter so it seemed like a good place to start my Subject Sentence.  I look for words that will identify it's passage.  The Subject sentence should make someone think, oh this is about that passage in Acts where Peter heals the crippled man.  It may or may not include a biblical truth or principle.  That comes out in the aim.  The Subject Sentence is the briefest of identifiable summaries of a passage.  I often start by writing out whatever comes to mind after looking at the divisions sentences no matter how many words.  Then I start slashing, condensing and substituting words as well as rearranging in an effort to create a sentence that is 10 to 12 words.  

Tuesday Talk - Peter

 I am grateful that:

Peter takes his meds on his own.

Peter says the meds help keep him from crying all the time.

Peter's meds keep the voices and paranoia away.

Peter is committed to his job at Papa Johns.

Peter is pleasant to be around.

Peter has his sense of humor.

Peter and I have the best relationship we have had.

Peter can accept some of my suggestions.

Peter does not easily get angered or irritated.

Peter went with Mom and I on a road trip last weekend and it was enjoyable.

Peter makes efforts to get out of his room and be around people. 

Peter enjoys the porch swing

Peter spends much of his time listening to music, a fair portion of it Christian music (by choice.)

Peter is always grateful for rides, food, help etc.

Peter is choosing not to drive (which gives me much relief.)

Peter has plans.

I am sad, fearful and concerned that:

Peter is isolated (some by his choices some by others choices.)

Peter's plans and ideas aren't always grounded in reality.

Peter has refused therapy or counseling.

Peter's struggle with room and personal hygiene has decreased following diagnoses last year.

Peter spends A LOT of time looking in the mirror.

Peter is not progressing towards independent living.

Peter needs an advocate and case worker to keep doctor appointments and get meds. It's currently me.

Peter has and continues to experience a lot of rejection.  People don't reach out even when given opportunity.

Currently I serve as Peter's driver, landlord, advocate, case manager, counselor and best friend.  I  feel like I am not doing it well and would like for him to have a broader base of support.  And I don't know how to go about it.

Thank you for praying as so lead.

Homiletics Acts 2

 Acts 2:1-47

Content

1. Gathered disciples experience descension of Holy Spirit, violent wind and tongues of fire resting on individuals. 1-3
2. filled with Holy Spirit spoke in tongues drawing a crowd of nationally diverse Jews hearing own languages. 4-6
3. Crowd utterly amazed and bewildered, they sought understanding while some scoffed. 7-13
4. Peter addresses crowd clarifying they were not drunk but fulfilling OT prophesy. 14-21
5. Jesus was accredited by God through his actions and given over to die. 22-23
6. BUT GOD raised him from the dead 24
7. Peter quotes David's Psalms as testimony 25-28
8. David spoke of one of his descendants, prophesying resurrection of Christ. 29-31
9. Jesus is the Christ, disciples are witnesses to this. 32
10. Jesus is exalted, received promised HS (Holy Spirit) and pouring it out  and that is what crowd is witnessing. 33
11. David's words testify to this. 34-35
12. God has made this Jesus they crucified both Lord and Christ. 36
13. Listeners convicted asking what do we do; Peter responds repent and be baptized and receive HS. 37-39
14. Peter pleads and warns; about 3000 added to followers that day 40-41
15. Followers devoted selves to apostles teaching, fellowship, breaking bread and prayer. 42
16. many miracles done 43
17. believers lived in community providing for each other. 44-45
18. followers meet daily in temple, shared meals in homes, praised God and others added. 46-47

Divisions

1. Holy Spirit descends on the disciples, the evidence drawing an amazed crowd. 1-13
2. Peter addresses crowd, proclaiming Jesus as the promised Lord and Christ. 14-36
3. Proclamation leads to many repenting and joining fellowship of believers. 37-47

Subject Sentence. 

Holy Spirit's descension causes miraculous speech, Peter's testimony and new believers.

Aim: TCMT (to cause me to) point others to the resurrected Savior, Jesus Christ in response to the evidence of Holy Spirit in my life.

Application:

1 Do I believe and wait upon the HS to be evidenced in me?  Am I attuned to the inquiries of others about the evidence of HS in my life?

2 Do I seek to know scripture as to support the truth of Jesus Christ so I can't point others to him. Do I point others to Jesus or myself in response to HS's work in me?

3. Am I connected to other believers mutually offering and receiving support?

Today's Tip: Divisions

In my NIV bible, there are titles.  The one at the beginning of the chapter is The Holy Spirit Comes at Pentecost.  Above verse 14 is Peter Addresses the Crowd.  And Above verse 42 is The Fellowship of Believers.  These titles can often help guide dividing the passage.  However I try not to limit myself and strictly follow them.  What I may be seeing, may be following a different pattern.  

For example my first division matches the title division in my bible.  However I divided the 2nd division between verse 36 and 37 instead of 41 and 42.  What I was seeing was the progression of 1)  the coming and evidence of the Holy Spirit 2) Peter testifying and explaining it and 3) the people's response to the HS and Peter's testimony.  I saw this response begin to be shown at verse 37 and therefore started the third division at this point.

Tuesday Talk -Need a bible????

I would say my bible knowledge is average.   But after rearranging books this past week I have concluded that I have absolutely NO EXCUSE for not knowing and studying the word of God considering the number of Bibles I have collected.

ALL the books pictured here are Bibles.  And all but one is in English.  They represent different translations, print size, commentary notes and lives.  One is my parent's family bible.  I have two that belonged to my dad and at least two that were my moms. One, I was given as a child and the other when I became an adult.  My current bible isn't even in this picture. One of these each belonged to my Great great grandfather, my great grandmother and my grandmother.  My grandmother proudly presented me with 5 generation of bibles (when one of mine and my mom's was included) for my College graduation. I have a legacy of bibles but the question is, do I put them to use. Is my study of the bible and application of it leaving a legacy for the Lord I profess to follow.  Am I studying the word of God or simply letting it be an ornament.  May this collection motivate me to study the word of God, pray for those who don't have access, and freely share with those in need of the word.

Oh yeah, hear is my hymnal collection.  I like collecting them too!

Homiletics Acts 1

 ** No, it's not Saturday but because I will be away from my computer this Saturday, I decided to be early (I know shocking!!!) and go ahead and post my homiletics.

Acts 1:1-26

Content:

1.  In previous book, author (Luke) wrote about Jesus up to ascension. vs. 1-2
2. After suffering death, Jesus appeared to and taught followers for 40 days. vs. 3
3. Jesus told followers to stay in Jerusalem awaiting promised Holy Spirit. vs. 4-5
4. In response to disciples "what's next question," Jesus says timeframe of God not for them however promises power of Holy Spirit. vs. 6-8 
5. Jesus ascends into cloud and angels appear promising one day Jesus will return in same manner. vs. 9-11
6. Returning to Jerusalem, disciples gather in upstairs room to pray. vs 12-14
7. Peter leads group in discussion regarding Judas who betrayed Jesus and  killed himself. vs. 15-19
8. Peter uses Old Testament to determine another apostle should be chosen from followers. vs 20-22
9. 2 men Justus and Matthias proposed. vs. 23
10. They prayed Lord show us your chosen vs. 24-25
11. Lots cast and fell to Matthias. vs 26.

Divisions:

1. Following resurrection, Jesus teaches and prepares disciples before ascending into Heaven. vs. 1-11
2. Peter leads disciples in choosing replacement for Judas who killed himself after betraying Jesus. vs. 12-26

Subject Sentence:  

• Disciples witness Jesus ascension, await Holy Spirit, and choose Matthias.

Aim: 

• TCMT (to cause me to) trust the empowering of the Holy Spirit to witness for Jesus as I seek to follow him

Application:

1. Is there some future event that I am worried about and how I will respond? Do I believe and trust in the empowering of the Holy Spirit when the time comes so that I can rest today?
2.  Do I seek scripture for guidance in moving forward? Do I ask God to guide my decision making trusting he will do so?

Today's Tip - Content

Typically a content list will have 10 to 20 points in the list. One of the tricks I use in determining how detailed to make the content list is to come up with an average number of verses per list number.  I take the number of total verses in the passage and divide by 20 and then 10. In Acts 1 there are 26 verses.  Divide by 20 and its 1.3. Divide by 10 and its 2.6.  So I know this list can be fairly detailed with an average of 1 to 3 verses per point.  This isn't a rule, just a guideline that is helpful to me, particularly with longer passages.

Tuesday Talk - Mama's in Uganda

I am on "vacation" this week as the Preschool is closed for the church's VBS.  I have been using the time off to "flip" my house by purging, painting, and re-purposing the inside.  Its fun.  It will be an ongoing project this summer but excited about what I am getting done this week.  Plans are for Peter, Mom and I to take a little trip over the weekend.  Several stories have emerged in my house projects today but I have decided it is more important to share a little update from my friend Isabelle and ask for prayer for her ministry to moms with preemie babies, Mama Tulia.

According to Isabelle today, Uganda has had an increase in Covid cases with many deaths and the country is shutting down again, she said for 42 days! No church and no schools, they can't meet in large number and public transport has been hiked.  This becomes a big issue for most all people  because the majority don't have stocked fridge, freezer and pantry.  They buy to eat, day by day. Also "working remote" really isn't an option for the majority of livelihoods in Uganda. Therefore, not working means no money for rent and food.  Isabelle said people are desperate to leave Kampala for the village as they can not afford life in Kampala without work. In the villages they can live off the land easier. 

This greatly affects the mamas and preemie babies that Mama Tulia serves because without the transportation and ability to gather, it is hard for Isabelle's team to get food and supplies to them. These moms and babies already live in an extremely traumatic state, the lock down just increases it.  I would ask that as you peer into your well stocked fridge or order whatever you think you "need" from Amazon for the next month, would you please pray for the people of Uganda, especially these mamas and babies as well as Isabelle and the Mama Tulia team who seeks to help them.