A community of hope

What does it mean to follow Jesus and end up changing our minds about something important? Owen Lynch looks at Paul’s movements in Acts of the Apostles, which were not just physical across Europe, but changes in his long-held beliefs about what the long hoped-for Jewish messiah - their anointed leader - would look like. Many were quoting “clobber” passages from scripture to prove that Jesus could not take this role, but Paul’s experience forced him to rethink.

How much has Jesus changed our minds since we first encountered him? Do we expect Jesus to change our perspectives from time to time when we read the Bible? What deeply held views, beliefs or doctrines might Jesus be inviting us to reconsider?

What effect has the gospel of Jesus had on the way we see the world? Owen Lynch looks at the way this gospel spread across Europe in the time of Jesus’ first followers. It met with opposition from ruling powers and traditional institutions, but was received and spread in an inclusive, progressive and hopeful way. What could make anyone think it should be about exclusivity, regression and fear? Why does the church look like that to many today? How does Jesus want to move us forwards with him?

How does life with Jesus shape us? Owen Lynch looks at the range of people described in Acts of the Apostles who became and grew as believers together. Between them, there were many roots of identity. Were they forced to abandon their sense of who they were, or was God deepening their relationships in their communities?

What do we expect from people joining a journey of faith? Owen Lynch looks at the disputes which arose in the early church around following the Jewish law, why this was important to many people, and why the opening of God’s kingdom to all was a challenging, counter-intuitive idea to them.

Two key leaders, Peter and Paul, found themselves in dispute, but the story of Acts, and their letters which are also in the New Testament, show how God changed their understanding and revealed Christ as their foundation. How should this set our expectations and maybe change the way we treat others who are looking to follow Jesus?

What does God need to do to change our minds? Owen Lynch follows the story of the first believers in “The Way” of Jesus and sees how his call for them to adopt a new perspective - what is often translated “repent” in our Bibles - might happen more than once, and could take dramatic forms. Peter had a vision from God which not only changed his mind but changed how people were accepted into faith and community, opening this to everyone. Have we now learned everything we need to know about this, or are we open to God changing our minds too?

How expansive and inclusive is God’s kingdom? Owen Lynch looks at the story of Saul who, as part of the duty he felt to uphold God’s law, travelled to oppose Jesus’ followers and take them prisoner. But the risen Jesus intervened, met Saul and changed his mind and his name. As Paul, God would use him to take the gospel message far beyond the boundaries of Jewish culture, but first Saul had to experience vulnerability and learn to depend on God.

Can we recognise anything from this situation in ourselves or the church around us? Have we lost sight of Jesus’ purpose to include everyone in the blessing of God? What difference would it make for us to be less defensive, prescriptive or exclusive, and more humble, vulnerable and inclusive, when we look for more of God’s kingdom to come?

How far would this revolution go? Owen Lynch looks at the way scattered believers in the early days of the church encountered new believers who looked like they would not fit in. While the law, as people understood it, seemed to put them on the margins or outside the boundaries of acceptability, an African eunuch had not only found status in a royal household, but also found scripture which pointed them to Jesus. Why was their baptism so remarkable? How could it revolutionise religious people’s understanding - and ours - of the Kingdom of God?

Do we get that there’s a massive movement building? Owen Lynch looks at the growing expectation among Jesus’ followers early in the book of Acts that their world would change. Believers were living in revolutionary ways which changed how they saw and handled possessions, hoped and worked for equality, and fought and dealt with corruption.

There began to be deadly consequences, both for a couple whose corruption undermined the integrity of the movement, and for man inspired by God to share the movement’s story as part of the history of Israel.

These stories might be familiar to us, but we might have read wrongly or applied them unhelpfully if we haven’t understood their context. What can we do to understand and learn from them better today?

What if you expected a power struggle in your life? Owen Lynch looks at Jesus’ followers soon after his resurrection and ascension to heaven, and the giving of his Holy Spirit, which came with power. Peter and the other disciples expected a new Kingdom to come which would challenge the ruling authorities, political and religious. These authorities would not react well. But what did each party want and believe, and how would they handle their conflicts?

How did Jesus give his followers power after he went up to heaven, and what was this for? Owen Lynch looks at what happened at Pentecost, a Jewish celebration of the founding of their nation, and how Jews who had grown up in many different cultures heard Jesus’ disciples in their own languages. A community of hope was gathering around one story which was including and uniting a diversity of people without destroying their origins, and it had the signatures of God at work among them. What would it do?

What would you want and expect if you were promised power? Owen Lynch looks at the situation of Jesus’ first followers and the ways they were desperate for their country to be run differently and better. When Jesus overcame execution by the authorities, rose from death and promised the arrival of the Kingdom of God, what did the people closest to him expect? What would their promised power look like, and what they want to do with it? And for us, what are wanting, expecting and hoping to see God do in our lifetimes?

What does it mean to have hope in Jesus? Owen Lynch looks at the difficulties and divisions in society in Jesus’ time and we might relate to some of them today. People were not looking for a nice idea to make them feel better, they needed a restoration of hope, and the way Jesus offered this transformed their world. How can it do the same for us?