Romanian Missionary. REMM - Traditional

In one paragraph

Peter, a missionary from Romania with the Romanian Evangelical Medical Mission, brought the message this Sunday. Drawing from Acts 1, he traced the thread from the disciples praying together in the upper room to the spread of the gospel across the world, and set that alongside what he witnessed in Romania when communism collapsed in 1989. The two stories, separated by two thousand years, kept...

Read together

1. 1 Samuel 2:2 quoted after singing Holy Holy Holy: 'there is no one holy like the Lord, there is no one beside you, there is no rock like our God'
2. 2 Timothy 1:12 quoted while singing: 'I am not ashamed for I know whom I have believed and I'm persuaded he is able to keep that which I've committed unto him against that day'
3. Acts 1:12-14 read aloud introducing Peter's message, the disciples gathered in the upper room constantly in prayer
4. Acts 2 referenced by Peter describing Pentecost and people from all nations hearing the wonderful things of God
5. Acts 3-4 referenced by Peter recounting the healing of the crippled man and Peter and John brought before the Sanhedrin
6. Acts 5:34-39 referenced by Peter recounting Gamaliel's warning to the Sanhedrin not to fight against God
7. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 quoted by the worship leader after Peter's message: 'Rejoice always and pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you'
8. Romans 15:13 quoted as a blessing at the close: 'May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope'

Talk about it

1. Peter opened by pointing out that the same disciples who fell asleep while Jesus prayed were later found praying constantly in the upper room. What do you think changed them, and what does that kind of shift look like in a person's life today?
2. Peter said that when Lech Walesa and Vaclav Havel were called heroes by journalists, they both deflected the credit and pointed to God. Why do you think that kind of response is so rare, and what makes it hard to do in our own lives?
3. Peter described a Romanian preacher who prayed publicly for the day when the gospel could be preached in stadiums and on television, even while people whispered that it was impossible. Has there been a time when you prayed for something that seemed completely out of reach? What happened?
4. Peter said that when God's people in Romania prayed together in that 'upper room' and focused only on helping orphans, Gypsies, and villages, God had a much larger plan at work that none of them anticipated. How does that shape the way you think about the prayers and small acts of faithfulness happening right here at First B?
5. The sermon closed with the reminder from 1 Thessalonians to 'pray without ceasing,' and Peter connected that directly to what he saw God do behind the Iron Curtain. What would it look like practically for you to build that kind of persistent prayer into your week?