Plenary Session 2
Recap: There were discussions of Christian response to real world events, such as climate change, etc. There was discussion on sexual orientation, definition and our response in love – again, it was reiterated for us to declare and display Christ.
1 But some men came down from Judea and were teaching the brothers, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.” 2 And after Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and debate with them, Paul and Barnabas and some of the others were appointed to go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and the elders about this question. 3 So, being sent on their way by the church, they passed through both Phoenicia and Samaria, describing in detail the conversion of the Gentiles, and brought great joy to all the brothers. 4 When they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and the apostles and the elders, and they declared all that God had done with them. 5 But some believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees rose up and said, “It is necessary to circumcise them and to order them to keep the law of Moses.”
6 The apostles and the elders were gathered together to consider this matter. 7 And after there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to them, “Brothers, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe. 8 And God, who knows the heart, bore witness to them, by giving them the Holy Spirit just as he did to us, 9 and he made no distinction between us and them, having cleansed their hearts by faith. 10 Now, therefore, why are you putting God to the test by placing a yoke on the neck of the disciples that neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear? 11 But we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will.”
12 And all the assembly fell silent, and they listened to Barnabas and Paul as they related what signs and wonders God had done through them among the Gentiles. 13 After they finished speaking, James replied, “Brothers, listen to me. 14 Simeon has related how God first visited the Gentiles, to take from them a people for his name. 15 And with this the words of the prophets agree, just as it is written,
16 “‘After this I will return, and I will rebuild the tent of David that has fallen; I will rebuild its ruins, and I will restore it, 17 that the remnant of mankind may seek the Lord, and all the Gentiles who are called by my name, says the Lord, who makes these things 18 known from of old.’
19 Therefore my judgment is that we should not trouble those of the Gentiles who turn to God, 20 but should write to them to abstain from the things polluted by idols, and from sexual immorality, and from what has been strangled, and from blood. 21 For from ancient generations Moses has had in every city those who proclaim him, for he is read every Sabbath in the synagogues.”
The Council’s Letter to Gentile Believers
22 Then it seemed good to the apostles and the elders, with the whole church, to choose men from among them and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. They sent Judas called Barsabbas, and Silas, leading men among the brothers, 23 with the following letter: “The brothers, both the apostles and the elders, to the brothers who are of the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia, greetings. 24 Since we have heard that some persons have gone out from us and troubled you with words, unsettling your minds, although we gave them no instructions, 25 it has seemed good to us, having come to one accord, to choose men and send them to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, 26 men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. 27 We have therefore sent Judas and Silas, who themselves will tell you the same things by word of mouth. 28 For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay on you no greater burden than these requirements: 29 that you abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from what has been strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell.”
30 So when they were sent off, they went down to Antioch, and having gathered the congregation together, they delivered the letter. 31 And when they had read it, they rejoiced because of its encouragement. 32 And Judas and Silas, who were themselves prophets, encouraged and strengthened the brothers with many words. 33 And after they had spent some time, they were sent off in peace by the brothers to those who had sent them. 35 But Paul and Barnabas remained in Antioch, teaching and preaching the word of the Lord, with many others also.
Acts 15:1-35
The Missional Community as God’s New Society
Dr. Anne Zaki (Egypt, North Africa & The Middle East) speaks.
Everyone on a boat may be strong individually but they all need to row together to move. The Antiochan church in Acts 15 was described to be the strongest church with the weakest crew – they were quarreling among each other regarding salvation and circumcision; It undermined the death and resurrection of Jesus unto salvation… it compromised the union of Jew and Gentiles by the Holy Spirit.
In the same chapter, we see the first church gathering / council. The Pharisees were part of this council, and discussions certainly ensued… until, in verse 7 we read Peter standing up and speaking up – According to Dr. Zaki, he demonstrated the courage of leadership. He stepped out and put his neck on the line for the sake of the Truth, which he himself learned from his own experiences.
Prior to this, Peter was visiting Antioch and it was there that Paul confronted his hypocrisy – details of this confrontation were in Paul’s epistle to the Galatians. Because of Paul’s fear, even Barnabas stumbled. But thankfully, the corrected Peter is, in Acts 15 a courageous Peter.
Paul’s courage to speak up against Peter may very well have given Peter the courage to stand up as well. What if Paul never confronted Peter? What would have become of Barnabas’ faith?
What if we don’t stand up against false teachings? What if we allow false teachers to say there are other ways to be saved – through works and/or self deprecation? What if these sorts of lies were propagated to the rest of the brethren, through the silence of the leaders?
When we are silent when the truth must be told, the longevity of church is at stake. Every missional community will have to pay a cost, eventually. Will we pay the cost of staying silent, or the cost of standing up and breaking the silence?
Peter stood up and broke the silence, breaking any distinctions between Jew and Gentile. Jesus made His distinctions at His time… but He certainly made no distinctions between Jew and Gentile, according to social status or political beliefs… in that, and through Christ, we are all One. Do not divide where Christ has united.
Now, therefore, why are you putting God to the test by placing a yoke on the neck of the disciples that neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear? 11 But we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will.”Acts 15:10-11
After Peter mentions this, Paul and Barnabas shared their own accounts of the signs and wonders towards the Gentiles… and then the entire congregation fell silent… and this was a convicted silence, a convinced silence… it was a surrendered silence acknowledging the Holy Spirit.
After this is the only account of James speaking in the book of Acts. He mentioned a prophecy by Amos, then shares his opinion, like one among equals, to tell the rest of the council, that we shouldn’t make things so difficult for the Gentiles, mentioning just 4 guidelines:
28 For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay on you no greater burden than these requirements: 29 that you abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from what has been strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell.”Acts 15:28-29
It was all done in a process of all people in attendance speaking WITH each other, not talking TO each other. How much time and effort could have been saved, if only the false teachers in Antioch sat down and listened?
With all this notwithstanding, the same thing ought to happen among us today. We need to discuss opposing views on the same manner with each other. This incident presents the process of the church TOGETHER (not just a leader or group of leaders) discussing, acknowledging the presence of the Holy Spirit. It takes engagement of regular believers in line with church leaders.
It’s time we restored the art of church discussions. The art of talking and listening to each other, even to those who oppose our views, on how to read the Bible, how to worship, etc; in safe spaces, to reconsider our views.
“in essentials unity; in non essentials liberty in all things charity”
Augustine
The Holy Spirit is the only One qualified to set the pace, bringing clarity and unity… He is the only able coxswain of the church.
…but why those 4 requirements as mentioned? Dr. Zavi mentions that they are a reminder that the freedom that we now have in Christ ought to be a responsible freedom.
What requirements ought we to place on ourselves today in our walk with Christ? What should we abstain from in our thoughts, words, deeds and relationships in order to maintain relationships with our fellow believers.
The greatest hindrance of the church worldwide is the failure of God’s people to live like God’s people. False teachings may compromise our unity, but when we stand up, led by the Holy Spirit’s requirements and not our own limited impositions, surely we shall flourish.
The Trinity is invested in our unity as a mission community. When we work together, we win against all odds. Let’s figure out ways to listen to each other and to unite that we achieve our mission… as in the last word of the book of Acts, ‘unhindered’.
11 And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one.John 17:11
What would it be, and what would it take for us to come together?
TED Talk 3: Personal Discipleship
Dr. Dale Stephenson speaks
The Pharisees saw that the people before them were simple and plain men… but they saw Christ in them. What did Christ do to the disciples for them to go from being fishermen to fantastic apostles?
Christ IS the Master Disciple Maker. He had NO Christians to disciples. He only had people! He set up disciple making in a way that anyone could be a disciple and/or a disciple maker.
First, He lived with His radar up – His eyes were open for what His Father was doing.
Second, He spent a night in prayer before naming His 12 disciples. He’d been watching them prior to calling them, but it was crucial for Him to pray! He KNEW He was going to call a tax collector and someone who would eventually betray Him… and He called them TO faith in Him.
This is contrary to convert, control, and whatever discipling is according to our definitions today. He lived with them, He mobilized them. His process of discipling people to faith isn’t as complex.
When He sent the 12 and the 72 out, He advised them to look for a person of peace. Every single one of us have people peace in our world – they like us, they listen to us, and the serve us. If we’re to disciple, we identify people of peace – they’re unique to us, they listen to us.
Through them we’re able to allow them to discover Truth, VERSUS Truth given. You then challenge them: “What are you going to do about what you discovered — and who will you tell?”
We disciple people to faith so that they know how to disciple other people to faith. You can too. It’s something EVERYONE in the Body can do – Not just Pastors, not just Leaders, but everyone else!
Power and Integrity Call of Global Shift in the Missional Community
Bishop Efraim Tenedero speaks
God has called us to take the Gospel to the whole world… but the number say we’re lagging behind. Why are we falling short? What can we do to rectify this situation?
5 Reformations:
- Reform from clergy dominated, to every believer ministry.
- Everyone was involved in Acts 8. In Ephesians 4:11-12, Paul says everyone should be empowered and equipped. It shouldn’t just be for professionally trained people, etc.
- Since Constantine we’ve been moving like a dysfunctional army. The generals are doing all the work and the soldiers are on the sidelines.
- Reform from the mindset of ‘mine’ rather than of Jesus’ authority.
- The possessiveness undermines collaboration. We need to be a church which only has one Head – Jesus Christ. We should work to eliminate competition and enhance collaboration. We’re building the kingdom of God, not our own empires
- We need to reiterate radical instead of nominal discipleship.
- We’re good at baptizing because that’s our KPI for attendance and performance, but we’re falling behind in teaching.
- Obeying all Christ commands is a radical discipleship – and it all could be summarized as: Love one another as Christ has loved us. Radical discipleship emphasizes humility.
- We need to realign leadership to intentionally engage the younger generation.
- Let us not relegate our young leaders.
- Work with the Youth to build the Kingdom!
- We need to revise the view of Jesus’ presence from mere security to inculcate accountability.
- It should keep us pure. We have no secrets with Jesus. Our awareness of Jesus gives us integrity and freedom from compromise.
- Our awareness of the presence of Jesus gives us assurance and accountability to walk in the light. Purity, humility, and integrity.
If there was just one thing I remember, or one thing that stuck to me through all this, is that Christ is us is not merely for our security; and, sure Bishop Efraim was telling the people in attendance that Christ in us should keep us accountable. I agree with that. But what I DO want to emphasize is that Christ in us causes us to need each other, to work together in humility.
Christ in us, the conviction of the Holy Spirit for us every single moment doesn’t just keep us from doing ‘bad’ things, but it empowers us, inspires us to do righteous things – things we’ve been re-made for.
With that said, I’m thankful to the Lord for these realizations, for myself and for everyone who cares to read. I pray that the Lord just continues to bless us throughout this week. Something good is going on.
God bless us all!
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