Acts 17
Pastor Farrell Lemings
If you had a book that held all the secrets to effectiveness in life, how to resolve all your problems, and how to find joy and fulfillment…would you read it? I am guessing that you would purchase the book and dig into it with great excitement and intentionality.
The good news is that you already have the Book! God our Creator fashioned a Manual to tell us how to get the most out of life. The One who made us knows what we need “to be” and “to do” for effectiveness, and He laid it out in the Bible.
The next part is up to us. We have to read the Book.
In Acts 17, we read that Paul came to the town of Berea during his missionary travels and discovered a group of people that were open and responsive to the gospel message. Yet what is amazing about the Bereans is their eagerness to examine the Scripture: “…they received the message with great eagerness and examined The Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.” (Acts 17:11)
They heard the message from Paul, but wanted to make sure that what he was saying was in alignment with God’s Word that had been established in the Old Testament. What a great model for us to follow! We don’t want our theology – or understanding of God - to be shaped by our experience or simply by what someone else says. Like the Bereans, we need to search out God’s Word daily to discover His truth for our lives. As we learn the Truth and apply it, our lives will be changed.
I challenge you to be a student of God’s Word and discover the fullness that God has for your life.
In addition to his multi-faceted role as Grace Covenant Church’s Lead Pastor, Pastor Farrell is collaborating with ministry teams to develop “The Father’s Heart” and marriage ministries in this season.
