Feb. 3, 2010, Exodus 35 & 36, Acts 10

Feb. 3, 2010, Exodus 35 and 36, Acts 10

S: Ex 35:2 “For six days, work is to b e done, but the seventh day shall be your holy seventh day, a Sabbath of rest to the Lord. Whoever does any work on it must be put to death. Do not light a fire in any of your dwellings on the Sabbath day.”
O: So many verses are for the time before Jesus when we were not under forgiveness and grace…. But we pick and choose…. Don’t hear anyone preaching about not lighting a fire not turning on the furnace on Sunday (which would be deadly in parts of Canada in the winter)
A: Although I know I will not die for doing something on Sunday that does not mean that a morning Sunday service is all that is necessary…. It is a day… a whole day…a day of rest and I should remember this.
P: To rest and worship on Sunday…. Our day of Sabbath.


S: Ex 35:21 “..and everyone who was willing and whose heart moved him came and gave an offering to the Lord.”
O: Although it is rare to hear a sermon about not shopping on Sunday anymore I have heard the mention of tithing – and yet that also was for the pre-covenant church. Now we should be giving as we have purposed in our hearts (2 Co 9:7) and we should be generous but the 10 % rule does not carry over to the redeemed…. We do not live under legalism but that should mean that we give as much as we can. In fact that is very much the wording of Ex 35:21 – “whose heart moved him” -- God gets along fine without our money but I have to learn to be generous because it changes who I am…. It makes me less grasping and takes away that lover of money part of our personality.
A: Give generously.
P: Help me to plan my giving so that I always have enough on hand to give.

S: Ex 36:5-7 “ The people are bringing more than enough for doing the work…..No man or woman is to make anything else as an offering for the sanctuary. And so the people were restrained from bringing more….”
O: When God is in on it and there is willingness there is abundance. I have heard begging on the radio and on television and even in a church or two and have never heard an announcement that the giving should stop as there is more than can be used….something must be wrong with the giving or with the dispersing… not sure.
A: A heart change on this.
P: Just do it.

Acts 10
S: Acts 10:4 The angel answered, “Your prayers and gifts to the poor have come up as a remembrance before God.”
O: Although God does not need us to help the poor as he can call 10,000 angels – when we pray and when we do good – these things come up to God --- He sees and He is pleased.
A: Deeds – not done for brownie points with God or because He cannot do it without us but because we cannot stop ourselves from doing such things…. It is our passion both to please God and to give others comfort.
P: To do good as often as possible.

S: Acts 10:11-15 “He saw heaven opened and something like a large sheet being let down…..it contained all kinds of four-footed animals, as well as reptiles…then a voice told him, “Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.” Surely not, Lord! Peter replied. “I have never eaten anything impure or unclean.”
O: Peter is willing to do anything for his Lord however to change his religious rituals….that is almost overwhelming to him. How similar are we… a change in pastor or a change in the music and the stern faces in the congregation showing displeasure from people who dedicate their whole lives to God. Something to learn from this… if God is in on the change…. Just go with it. By changing his expectations Peter understands that God wants him to preach to the Gentiles and to Cornelius and his gathering. There would not have been the conversion of the Gentiles if Peter had been unwilling to change.
A: Yes, the music and style is different at church with a change of pastor but …. I know it is right to be supportive and just go with it. What else will be a change this year… perhaps big things…. If God is in it… I will go with it.
P: That we will go with the change and that God will bring it on.

S: Acts10:44 “While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message.”
O: All were speaking in tongues and the Holy Spirit fell on all of them. There was not the special gift for one or two or some of them but they were all who heard the message. This should be still be happening. If it not why not? Looking forward to things to come.
A: I know that I attend a church that holds back on the gifts and yet they have so many good things that happen there. Not sure if I am wrong to attend a church that is not a full charismatic church or not.
P: Revival oh Lord , in our churches, in our land.