Missionary Renegade: Reflecting God - "Speak of Forgiveness" by Mark Hendrickson - – Embrace Holy Living - The Global Church of the Nazarene's Foundry Publishing House in Kansas City, Missouri, United States for Tuesday, 1 May 2018

Tuesday, May 1, 2018

Reflecting God - "Speak of Forgiveness" by Mark Hendrickson - – Embrace Holy Living - The Global Church of the Nazarene's Foundry Publishing House in Kansas City, Missouri, United States for Tuesday, 1 May 2018 - Acts 26:9-18

Reflecting God - "Speak of Forgiveness" by Mark Hendrickson -
– Embrace Holy Living - The Global Church of the Nazarene's Foundry Publishing House in Kansas City, Missouri, United States for Tuesday, 1 May 2018 - Acts 26:9-18

"Speak of Forgiveness" by Mark Hendrickson - Acts 26:

9 “I used to think it was my duty to do all I could to combat the name of Yeshua from Natzeret; 10 and in Yerushalayim I did so. After receiving authority from the head cohanim, I myself threw many of God’s people in prison; when they were put to death, I cast my vote against them. 11 Often I went from one synagogue to another, punishing them and trying to make them blaspheme; and in my wild fury against them, I even went so far as to persecute them in cities outside the country.

12 “On one such occasion, I was traveling to Dammesek with the full authority and power of the head cohanim. 13 I was on the road, and it was noon, your Majesty, when I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, shining around me and my traveling companions. 14 We all fell to the ground; and then I heard a voice saying to me, in Hebrew, ‘Sha’ul! Sha’ul! Why do you keep persecuting me? It’s hard on you to be kicking against the ox-goads!’ 15 I said, ‘Who are you, sir?’ and the Lord answered, ‘I am Yeshua, and you are persecuting me! 16 But get up, and stand on your feet! I have appeared to you to appoint you to serve and bear witness to what you have already seen of me, and to what you will see when I appear to you in the future. 17 I will deliver you from the People and from the Goyim. I am sending you 18 to open their eyes; so that they will turn from darkness to light, from the power of the Adversary to God, and thus receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who have been separated for holiness by putting their trust in me.’
(Complete Jewish Bible).

***
“Been there. Done that. Have the t-shirt.” This little slang phrase is helpful sometimes. It means someone has experienced something to the extent that it’s as if they stayed around and bought a t-shirt as a souvenir commemorating the experience.
Sometimes it’s easy to forget the Apostle Paul “had the t-shirt” when it came to rejecting the gospel of Jesus Christ. He planted so many churches and wrote so many helpful things it’s hard to remember his previous life as a persecutor of the Church.
In today's passage, Paul brought up his sordid past in order to highlight the magnitude of God’s grace. Paul’s new mission: to spread the word about Jesus so people may be forgiven, brought into the light, and added to the number of those being sanctified.
God gives us the same mission, no matter what kind of T-shirt we earned in our lives before Christ. Our role is to proclaim, through our actions and sometimes our words, the reality of forgiveness and new life in Jesus. It’s not something a select few who have “evangelism gifts” do. It’s something we all do. How will your life bear witness to God’s forgiveness in Jesus today?
Hymn for Today: "Ye Ransomed Sinners, Hear" by Charles Wesley.

1. Ye ransom'd sinners, hear,

The pris'ners of the Lord;

And wait till Christ appear,

According to his word:

Rejoice in hope, rejoice with me;