Acts 4:8-12 Jesus is the ransom for our sins!

 1 Timothy 2:5–6

For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time, 

For God did not send His only begotten Son into the world to condemn the world but that through him the world could be saved. All praise and glory belongs to our Triune Godhead who so loved the world they created that they gave us Jesus, all God and all man, that through Him alone we could be saved. Carla

Acts 4:8-12

8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders of Israel: 9 If we this day are judged for a good deed done to a helpless man, by what means he has been made well, 10 let it be known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by Him this man stands here before you whole. 11 This is the ‘stone which was rejected by you builders, which has become the chief cornerstone.’ 12 Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” 

In Acts, this term filled, seems to denote a special empowering by the Holy Spirit that is in addition to His work of enabling believers to trust God and to live faithfully (Acts 2:4; 4:31; 9:17; 13:9).

This empowering of the Spirit reflects Jesus’ promise of power (1:8) that will allow the apostles to speak in a way that amazes their audience and confirms the truth of their message (verse 13). It also denotes the miracle-working power seen in the ministry of the apostles.

Peter addresses the rulers as those who have been given authority over the Jewish people. The Greek word used here, anakrinō, for examined can denote an official judicial proceeding. Peter points out that trials are convened for crimes, not for acts of mercy and love. He implies that the religious leaders are corrupt. Peter uses the opportunity of the proceedings to publicly proclaim the gospel. Referring to a person’s name was shorthand for their character and reputation. Peter turns the trial back on his judges, accusing them of the real crime. (Luke 22:52, 23). God, the ultimate authority, raised the one whom the council rejected—Jesus. The religious leaders have dramatically misunderstood both the true identity and mission of Jesus and their true standing before God.

Peter quotes from Psalm 118:22 concerning the stone. This metaphor is picked up again by Peter (1 Peter 2:4) and Paul (Romans 9:32–33; Ephesians 2:20). Jesus cites this psalm in Matthew 21:42.

From the perspective of the Jewish leaders Peter addresses, Jesus’ crucifixion is like a stumbling block (1 Corinthians 1:23), because anyone who hung on a tree (or a cross, in their view) was viewed as cursed by God (Deuteronomy 21:22–23). Just as the builders did not perceive the stone’s value in Psalm 118:22, so Israel’s religious leaders did not recognize their Messiah.

There is salvation in no one else. Salvation refers to deliverance from God’s wrath and to enjoyment of His favor. This is only given through faith in Jesus, who grants new life to all who follow him and embrace the message of His death and resurrection for the forgiveness of their sins (Acts 3:19–21). Faithlife Study Bible

This is the second description in the Book of Acts of someone being filled with the Holy Spirit (verse 31; 2:4; 9:17; 13:9). The initial filling accompanied the baptism in the Spirit. This filling brought boldness for God’s work. Jesus had promised His disciples that they would stand before kings and rulers and that the Spirit of God within them would implant in their minds exactly what to say to these leaders (Matthew 10:16–20).

The Old Testament refers to the cornerstone as the foundation of the earth (Job 38:6), the foundation (Isaiah 28:16), the stone for the corner (Jeremiah 51:26), the head cornerstone (Psalm 118:22), or the headstone (Zechariah 4:7). Thus the image of a cornerstone is used as both the chief stone and the stone at the corner of a foundation. In the first century a.d., the expression chief cornerstone was also used to refer to the stone placed on the summit of the Jerusalem temple. Thus Peter used the phrase to point out that when the people rejected Jesus Christ, they rejected the One who completed the plan of God for humankind. The phrase and its significance here would have been well understood in the first century, especially among the Jewish rabbis and people who knew the Scriptures.

Only by placing faith in the historical Jesus—the One who came, died, and was raised again—can a person be saved. The NKJV Study Bible

Psalm 118:22

The stone which the builders rejectedHas become the chief cornerstone.

Acts 2:24

whom God raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that He should be held by it. 

Acts 3:6–8

Then Peter said, “Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.” And he took him by the right hand and lifted him up, and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength…

Matthew 1:21

And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins.”

It my “business”, it is easy to talk about what we believe. Yes, much easier to talk about it. Practice is another thing altogether.

Because we can simply recite a creed. And this I have learned over the years: beliefs are valid as a verbal affirmation, but they only come to life, (they only have bearing and impact), when there is skin—with faces, and names, and skin—attached.

Which takes me to my very favorite story to tell an audience, and to habitually retell myself.

A little boy was having nightmares. The kind that requires a momma's reassurance. (Dads, at least from my own experience, are typically not wired for nightmare duty.) So, to his momma’s room the boy went, "Momma, momma, I'm having nightmares."

"It’s okay honey," she told him, “Here’s what I want you to do. Go back to your room, kneel down by your bed, pray to Jesus, and he'll fix it."

Back to his room, the boy knelt by his bed, prayed to Jesus, hopped back in bed, and… more nightmares. All mommas know this story. Back and forth to momma's room, throughout the night.

On the sixth visit, "Momma, I know, I know the drill. I'm going to go back to my room. I'm going to kneel down by my bed, and pray to Jesus, and he’ll fix it. But before I do that, can I just lay in bed with you, and have you hold me?"

"Sure honey, why?"

"Because sometimes I need Jesus with skin on it."

Yes. And today, more than ever, we can be—and we need to be—Jesus with skin on it. Voices of mercy. And Compassion. And Welcoming. And Healing.

Speaking of names and faces and Jesus with skin, I just read this today in Religion News Service. A story about reporter Aleja Hertzler-McCain’s travel to El Paso, Texas, in March, to shadow two Catholic sisters as they accompanied detained migrants and their families in immigration court.

Part of the Scalabrinian religious community, which focuses on serving migrants, Sisters Leticia Gutiérrez Valderrama and Elisete Signor have built a comprehensive ministry and network of volunteers that has accompanied more than 1,000 people in immigration court since last June — and has continued to work with hundreds more in detention centers, as well as their families.

“I go because he is a human being. He is a migrant who is, at this moment, possibly lonely, depressed, scared,” Signor told Hertzler-McCain in March as they waited to visit a detained Sudanese migrant.

When Signor emerged from the visit, she came back with a task: “He likes crosswords, and I’m going to buy him one tomorrow.”

This ministry “doesn’t only transform the experience of the people we accompany, but we ourselves are transformed,” Gutiérrez Valderrama said at the volunteer information session.

“We are going to encounter sacred people. What they are going to tell us is sacred,” Gutiérrez Valderrama told potential volunteers. “Because who we’re going to encounter is the Lord Jesus there,” she explained, drawing on Christian theology of Christ’s presence with vulnerable people.

Yes, names and faces. Jesus with skin on it.

So, yes and Amen. “They serve one another. They have friends to protect them.” Sabbath Moments

Romans 10:8-13 Our faith is counted as righteousness, not our works.

 Romans 3:29

Or is He the God of the Jews only? Is He not also the God of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also, 

There is no other way to the Father than through faith in Jesus and in Him whom sent Him. We are saved only by faith in the works of salvation in Jesus the Christ who willingly gave up His life to save ours. There is no longer Jew nor Greek, male nor female, slave nor free. We are all one in our faith in Him whom sent freedom to the masses! And who are the Gentiles? All who believe, in every nation, every person who believes in Him. Just believe! Carla

Romans 10:8-13

8 But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith which we preach): 9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 11 For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.” 12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. 13 For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” NKJV

There are two kinds of righteousness, by works or by faith. One is inaccessible, the other is very accessible. Paul uses the words of Deuteronomy 30:11–14 to demonstrate that righteousness by faith is not far off and inaccessible, but is as near as a person’s mouth and heart. All one has to do is repent, believe in Jesus, and confess that belief.

Confess comes before believe in this verse because “mouth” precedes “heart” in Deuteronomy (verse 8). The order is reversed in the next verse. One has to confess with the mouth to be saved. For indicates that this verse explains verse 9. The condition for righteousness, that is for being justified, is internal faith. The condition of salvation, meaning deliverance from wrath and from the power of sin, is external confession, which is calling on the Lord for help (verses 12, 13). The NKJV Study Bible

What is righteousness? Most of us immediately think of a person trying to keep a list of rules, like a little boy or girl who never steps over the line. When Paul speaks of righteousness in Romans, he means far more than this commonsense understanding of the word. He draws on the Old Testament concept of righteousness, which speaks of a proper relationship between God and a person, or between God and His people.

In the Old Testament, righteousness is fundamentally an attribute of God (Psalm 71:15; 119:42). He alone is truly righteous. He is the One who remains faithful, to His promises, His covenant with Israel, and the Law. In turn, the Israelites as God’s people had the responsibility to exemplify God’s righteousness on this earth. Ultimately, this meant they had to love and worship the living God alone. 

The Law of Moses could be summed up in that command and its corollary, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Leviticus 19:18; Mark 12:31). Tragically, the Israelites did not comply. They proved unfaithful to the covenant, although God proved Himself as faithful. By sending prophets to His people, the Lord warned them again and again of their sinfulness. Finally He had to discipline them, with famine, military defeat, and even exile in Babylon. But God remained faithful, and He restored His people to the land and to Himself when they repented and turned to Him.

After their return from Babylon, the Israelites confused righteousness with a strict adherence to the Law as recorded in the Pentateuch. Indeed, the Jewish religious leaders added numerous amendments to the Law to ensure that no one would inadvertently break it. Zealous obedience to the Law was equated with righteousness. Yet mere external compliance to a set of rules did not please the Lord. What God wanted was repentant, humbled hearts that truly worshiped Him. He wanted to be the God of their hearts and minds, and the center of their devotion.

In his letter to the Romans, Paul clearly states that no one has achieved this standard; no one has completely loved and worshiped the Lord as they should (3:23). All have sinned. No good work or outward appearance of piety can restore a proper relationship with the Holy One. (Isaiah 64:6). 

On the one hand, the Gentiles did not pursue a right relationship with their Creator, so they had been given over to all kinds of evil (1:18–31). On the other hand, the Jews through external obedience to the Law and their traditions were attempting to justify themselves before God (9:31, 32). Both failed. 

Jesus is the only One who can stand before the glorious God; He is the only One who is truly righteous. Remarkably, He has offered us a way out of our slavery to sin. By placing our faith and trust in Him, we can be declared righteous. We can have a righteousness that has nothing to do with our own works but instead relies on Jesus’ sinless life and His sacrificial death for our sins. The Lord forgives us and declares us righteous because of our identification by faith with the righteousness of His So. Through Jesus, we can finally be released from the guilt of our sins. Not only can we approach the Holy One in praise and thankfulness, but we can do God’s will. The NKJV Study Bible

Deuteronomy 30:12–14

It is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will ascend into heaven for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ Nor is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘Who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’…

Joel 2:32

And it shall come to pass

That whoever calls on the name of the LORDS

Shall be saved.

For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be deliverance,

As the LORD has said,

Among the remnant whom the LORD calls.

Isaiah 28:16

Therefore thus says the Lord GOD:

“Behold, I lay in Zion a stone for a foundation,

A tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation;

Whoever believes will not act hastily.

Matthew 10:32

“Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven.

We are on this journey together.

That is where we find our bearings for resilience.
That regardless of fear, we can choose hope.
That regardless of uncertainty, we can choose to trust other people.
That regardless of ugliness, we can choose to give and receive grace.
That regardless of discord, we can choose to seek harmony.
That regardless of animosity, we can choose kindness.
That regardless of intolerance, we can choose inclusion.

Or John Pavlovitz’s reminder today for the child in every one of us. “And I’ll remind them that even when bad people are rewarded, doing the right thing is still the thing most worth doing.I’ll teach them that when hatred seems the most treasured currency, love is still worth more than gold.”

Rev. Cameron Trimble’s reflections were good for my heart today. “Howard Thurman wrote about the ‘growing edge’ of a society, the place where new life is possible because people refuse to accept what diminishes human dignity. That edge is not held by those in power alone. It is held by communities, by individuals, by those who choose to remain grounded when the systems around them begin to lose their balance.”

We cannot control the interior life of those who hold high office. We can decide how we will live in response.

We can refuse to mirror instability with instability. We can resist the pull toward fear-driven thinking. We can stay rooted in relationships that hold us accountable and keep us connected to reality.

This is the work of disciplined, mature leadership. It is the work of remaining human in a moment when power itself seems to forget what that means. The biblical witness does not promise that such moments resolve quickly. It does insist that they do not have the final word, because power that loses its mind eventually collapses under its own weight.

What remains, and what rebuilds, are the communities that learned how to live with clarity, courage, and care in the midst of it.” Sabbath Moments

Trump’s Easter Message of War Crimes & Profanity…how sad for our Country!

 https://youtu.be/GIxXflQcOas?si=JK9mYReiS4chAKgc

Holy Post Media

John 5:24 Believe in the mercy and goodness of our Father that is shown in the person of Jesus the Christ!

 John 12:44

Then Jesus cried out and said, “He who believes in Me, believes not in Me but in Him who sent Me. 

Greater is Holy Spirit in believers than he that is in this fallen world.  Jesus gave up His life and overcame death in the battle of good and evil…it is finished. Trust God to accomplish what was and is impossible for mere humans. In the power of Holy Spirit we are protected from the wiles of the evil one. Just believe! Carla

John 5:24

“Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life. John 5:24

The phrase believes in Him who sent Me is unusual. Christ, not the Father, is usually the object of this verb in John. The issue in this passage is the unity of the Father and the Son (verses 17–23). 

All who believe in the One who sent Christ will believe in Christ. 

A judgment to decide a person’s eternal destiny is no longer possible for the one who has already been given eternal life. However, all believers will stand before the judgment seat of Christ (Romans 14:10; 2 Corinthians 5:10), not for punishment of sin, but to determine inheritance in Messiah’s kingdom. The NKJV Study Bible

This discourse in passages 19-47 focuses on the person and authority of Jesus. This passage is the clearest summary of Jesus’ relationship with the Father, His position as judge of all things, and the witnesses to His mission as Messiah found in the New Testament. Faithlife Study Bible

John 3:15–18

that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life…

1 John 3:14

We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love his brother abides in death. 

John 20:31

but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.

1 John 5:9–13

If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater; for this is the witness of God which He has testified of His Son. He who believes in the Son of God has the witness in himself; he who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed the testimony that God has given of His Son…

Sarah is an ordinary woman with a peculiar habit. You see, every Saturday, when the Jehovah's Witnesses make their neighborhood rounds, she invites them in. And begins by saying, "I'm glad to see you. I'm not going to covert you, but you all are welcome to stay for tea." And every Saturday, the missionaries do just that.
Another time, a salesman dropped in—just an old-fashioned door-to-door salesman, selling vacuum cleaners.
"Come on in," she tells him. "I need to tell you that I'm not going to buy, and my baby is asleep, so no loud demo, but you look like you've had a long day, would you like a cup of coffee?"
"Why?" the salesman asked.
"Well, this may sound strange, but I actually believe that God may be found in any person, so I'm offering you coffee because you might be Jesus."
I'm certain that for the salesman, it was easily his strangest house call ever; but even so, he sat for a spell, and enjoyed the coffee.
There was a time where I would have overlooked this story (adapted from Lauren Winner's, “Still”). Or more likely, would have dismissed it. It falls under the category of too-good-to-be-true.
But here’s the deal: more than ever, we need it.
In a world where it’s too common to hear, “I feel like I can't even relate to them (family and friends) anymore.”
In a world where, because of fear and apprehension, we mistrust just about everyone, and everything. And yes, even kindness. Especially kindness.
I read that in some countries it is the ruse of would-be pickpockets. They pose as persons needing direction, and when kind strangers stop to help, those who help are fleeced. Is it the exception? Yes. But even so, fear carries the narrative of our time, and our relations, and our conversations.

"If we have no peace," Mother Teresa reminded us, "it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other."
That’s why I love this story about Sarah. And I do have a hankering for kindness.
But, this is not a Sabbath Moment about kindness. Per se. Because our temptation is to bottle up whatever Sarah had, or find a way to teach it or market it online.
Lord knows, we find multiple ways to complicate life.
It is not enough, apparently, just to offer a smile, a kind word and a cup of coffee.
Sarah's story is about letting life in. Every bit of life.
Sarah's story is about making space. About the healing power that flourishes when we root ourselves in love and hospitality, and warmth and generosity.
“They serve one another.”

Let us pause this week, and take the time to reach out and to say “thank you” to those who have made space and shelter for us. “Sabbath Moments”