06.07.06 thequest UPdate

thequest family,

I'll start with the point I want to make >> It seems like Jesus builds His Church through the common folk first, then the "big name" folks get to jump in too. I know for some of you this sounds just like how God normally works. But for me, I have recently had a reminder about this point.

I've been re-reading Acts and there were two spots where this point really grabbed me. The first is right after Stephen is murdered. Stephen was testifying in the court of the religious council. In those moments, he gave a powerful history of God's workings in the people of Israel and the fact that Jesus was their Messiah (chapter 7). But at the end, the council was so infuriated by his fact-telling, that they bum-rushed him and took him to the outskirts of Jerusalem and killed him.

Here's how the story continues:

A great wave of persecution began that day, sweeping over the church in Jerusalem; and all the believers except the apostles were scattered through the regions of Judea and Samaria. 2 (Some devout men came and buried Stephen with great mourning.) 3 But Saul was going everywhere to destroy the church. He went from house to house, dragging out both men and women to throw them into prison. 4 But the believers who were scattered preached the Good News about Jesus wherever they went. Acts 8:1-4 NLT (bold mine)

The big names--Peter, James, John and the rest--stayed home. But the no-names, they hit the road to spare their lives and they spread the Good News everywhere. Jesus started to build His Church into Judea & Samaria by the common folk.

Later in Acts, we come back to the story of these "nameless" people.

Meanwhile, the believers who had been scattered during the persecution after Stephen's death traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch of Syria. They preached the word of God, but only to Jews. 20 However, some of the believers who went to Antioch from Cyprus and Cyrene began preaching to the Gentiles about the Lord Jesus. 21 The power of the Lord was with them, and a large number of these Gentiles believed and turned to the Lord. Acts 11:19-21 NLT (bold mine)

The no-names did even more for Jesus. They took that Great Commission (Matt 28:18-20) of their Savior seriously. In their going, they made disciples of all the nations...not just the Jewish peoples, but they got so excited about Jesus they told EVERYONE about Him. Beginning in Judea & Samaria (8:1) and all the way out to 300 or so miles from Jerusalem. And Jesus was with them building His Church.

Did you see that? Verse 21 says that the "power" or "hand" of the Lord was with them. That is JESUS. Jesus was with the no-names out in front of the pack building His Church.

Going backward in the text from here, the story in Acts 10-11 is explaining how Peter (a big name) realized that God didn't show partiality, but was the salvation for everyone who would believe in him (10:34-43). That is just before the spot above. The "no-names" were out doing it (with Jesus' hands), and the big-names (and the church at large) were catching up.

We need to celebrate the common, "no-name" folk who are doing the extraordinary work of Jesus on the front edges of mission. In the example in Acts, the bulk of the church is a little bit behind...trying to catch up with what is going on.

The book of Acts reminds us that it seems like Jesus builds His Church through the common folk first, then the "big name" folks get to jump in too.

And those of us like them--ordinary, broken, sinners, needing a Savior and King--there is a place on the front edge of mission for us. We don't need stories written about us or anyone to know our name. We do want more than anything for people to know His Name, the Name above All Names--Jesus!

Press on!



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