The Vicissitudes of Life

In one paragraph

The pastor preached from Acts 21:1-14, the final leg of Paul's third missionary journey, using Paul's determined walk toward Jerusalem as a lens for thinking about the will of God, the voice of the community, and the unpleasant changes that come with following Christ. He closed with the Lord's Supper, asking the congregation to come to the table in humility and unity as First B navigates its own...

Read together

1. Acts 21:1-14 the main passage preached, covering Paul's journey to Jerusalem and the warnings from disciples and Agabus
2. Acts 20:22-24 Paul says he is bound by the Spirit to go to Jerusalem and must also see Rome, and does not consider his life dear to himself
3. Luke 9:51 Jesus set his face like flint toward Jerusalem, used to parallel Paul's own determined journey
4. Acts 1:8 wait in Jerusalem for power from on high, then be witnesses to the uttermost parts, cited as the commission being fulfilled through Paul's journeys
5. Matthew 15 the Syrophoenician or Canaanite woman whose demon-possessed daughter was healed, used to illustrate the gospel reaching beyond Israel
6. Luke 24 disciples on the road to Emmaus who did not yet understand the significance of the crucifixion until Jesus walked alongside and explained the scriptures
7. Matthew 6:9-10 the Lord's Prayer quoted as a benediction closing, your kingdom come your will be done on earth as in heaven

Talk about it

1. The pastor described the vicissitudes of life, the unpleasant changes, as something the body of Christ in Jackson Hole faces constantly as people come and go. How have you personally experienced that kind of loss, and what has helped you hold onto a sense of gratitude rather than grief in the middle of it?
2. The Syrophoenician woman called Jesus 'Lord' and 'son of David,' bowed before Him, and persisted even when He seemed to be ignoring her. The pastor said God always answers the cry of faith. What does her persistence tell you about what genuine faith looks like in practice, and where do you find that kind of persistence hardest to sustain?
3. The disciples at Tyre and the prophet Agabus were both reading the same message from the Holy Spirit about what awaited Paul in Jerusalem, yet they drew opposite conclusions about what Paul should do. How do you personally try to tell the difference between the Spirit warning you about a hard road ahead and the Spirit telling you not to take that road at all?
4. Paul told the weeping disciples that they were 'slapping his heart on the rocks' by begging him to stay, yet he held firm because he believed he was bound by the Spirit to go to Jerusalem. Have you ever had to move forward on something you believed God was calling you to do, even when the people closest to you were urging you not to? What did that cost you, and how did you work through it?
5. When Paul would not be persuaded, the group went quiet and said, 'The will of the Lord be done.' The pastor connected that directly to where First B Jackson is right now in finding a successor to Carl. What does it actually look like, in a practical and personal way, to move from 'my opinion be done' to 'the Lord's will be done' when a community is making a significant decision together?