The earliest Christians followed a Jewish tradition of pausing to pray, preferably together, first thing in the morning, about mid morning, at noon, about mid afternoon, and in the evening. “Just a Note” posts are brief observations made from Scripture readings not related to a lectionary. If I have one to post, it normally appears about 9:00 in the morning, at “the hour of prayer.”
Acts 5:17-26 shows that God has a sense of humor. The apostles have been locked in jail. The Jewish leaders were not supportive of their teaching and were attempting to stop this new Christian movement. However, the day after the arrest, the apostles are not only out of jail, they are even teaching in the name of Jesus in the temple. The jail cell was closed and locked and the guards were on duty. They had no idea that the Holy Spirit had broken his apostles out of the jail.
When God wishes to put his servants to work, he will be sure it is possible. It doesn’t matter what kind of obstacles are placed in the way. God can accomplish his purposes. And those purposes regularly are the same. The angel told the apostles to teach “all the words about this life.” It is a life of repentance and forgiveness. It is a life of dependence on Jesus. This is the Christian life. As long as our message is focused clearly on Jesus’ work to bring us forgiveness we’ll be right on target.
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