I am so ADHD that honestly, I don’t know what to entitle this PODCAST. I’ve got, like, 10 different titles coursing through the frontal lobe of my mind.
“You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet” would work.
How about “A Bride Adorned for Her Husband”?
Or “God’s Best Kept Secret”?
Maybe “There’s a New Day Coming” would capture it.
I almost called it “Moving Day.”
But I’ll stick with “Glorious Scenes and Grand Sensations.”
If a rose by any other name smells just as sweet, I hope you’ll find much sweetness as you listen in.
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My prediction is this: As you listen to the PODCAST, you will be awash in waves of encouragement.
As you’ll hear, it was a crazy night to be sure. Here we sat in the midst of a citywide blackout. Yet, Peter’s message of hope and healing shined through bright and beautiful.
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As you are about to hear in this PODCAST, this passage for me (and I have no doubt for some of you) has come at just the right time. Let me explain.
Simply put, for some time I have been experiencing something of identity crisis. I have been haunted by this one question:
“Where do I fit?”
When it comes to this whole Christian scene, our contemporary Christian culture, at the risk of sounding overly maudlin—a great word that means self-pitying, tearfully sentimental—I honestly don’t know where I fit anymore.
Well, thanks to Peter, that’s not true any more!!!
I now know exactly where I fit. And soon, so shall you!!!
Please remember that depending upon your web browser and connection speed, it may take up to 60 seconds for this podcast to begin to play.
As you are about to hear in this PODCAST, last week as I was rushing at the end to complete on time our discussion of Peter’s release from prison—an effort at which I failed miserably, BTW—we mentioned-in-passing two noteworthy individuals, each of whom deserve far more than passing-mention.
Mary, a generous homeowner and gracious hostess who opened her home for going on-fourteen years by the time of this story to the earliest, first generation followers of Jesus, our ancestors in the faith.
Mary also happened to be the aunt to our old friend Barnabas, and a very close and personal friend of our even older friend, Peter.
And then there is Mary’s son and Barnabas’ cousin (Colossians 4:10)—as well as Peter’s protege—John Mark.
With glistening credentials such as these, they both do indeed deserve our special attention. Especially given the fact that immediately upon his miraculous release from prison, instinctively Peter made his very first stop to announce his release at Mary’s home.
Even more especially given that this is Mother’s Day weekend.
For this is in every sense of the word this is a Mother’s tale.
Specifically, how God in His matchless, infinite, and eternal grace melted and mended a mother’s broken heart.
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Spoiler Alert: As you are about to hear in this PODCAST, one of the disadvantages of words on a page is that we cannot hear tone; we do not see body language nor facial expression.
In this message, I am attempting tonight to place myself in Peter’s sandals, sit myself at Luke’s writing table, and to teach tonight’s passage—one of most important in NT—in the tone and with the emotions with which Peter confronted a potentially explosive situation; with which Luke recorded this nearly-catastrophic confrontation.
I do not think it a stretch that Peter was caught completely off guard, taken totally aback, disheartened and likely exasperated by the severe reaction he received upon his return to his beloved Jerusalem.
So on the one hand, I speak to you from a broken heart, as I believe Peter’s was broken too.
On other hand, this story in Acts 11 has a glorious ending; and so shall we! God will bring beauty for these ashes! As He always does. As He ALWAYS does.
Please remember that depending upon your web browser and connection speed, it may take up to 60 seconds for this podcast to begin to play.
Dewey Bertolini 