Sermons from Sweet Home

In this text Paul stands on trial before the governor Felix. The Jews are there to bring their case against Paul. They have brought a lawyer, an expert orator to oppose Paul and put him in the guilty seat. Does it work? 

When the commander finds out that there is a crowd of assassins establishing a plot to assassinate Paul he immediately gathered a small army to escort Paul to Caesarea to face the governor of Judea. God is good, He can protect His people at any time in any way! 

The Jews, especially the Sadducees had now become unbearably uncomfortable with Paul. So a group of 40 assassins made a commitment to kill Paul. They designed a plot to have Paul brought from the Antonia Fortress to the Chamber of Hewn Stones. During this trip they planned on taking his life. But God was in control, as He always is. And Paul's "no name" nephew saves the day.  

The mob listened quietly to Paul speak, until he mentioned one word: "Gentiles". And then they erupted, the quiet listening turned into a riot. The commander was in charge of peace, so he took Paul away and ordered to have him flogged in order to get a testimony that might shed light on the rift between him and the crowd of Jews. But Paul was a roman citizen, and that complicated matters. 

The Roman solders had saved Paul from the Jewish mob that was trying to kill him. Paul is being led into the Antonia Fortress next to the Temple. He is chained. From the steps of the fortress Paul is allowed to address the crowd. And he does this well, He tells his story that culminates in the proclamation the Gospel. The crowd is silent, the power o the Holy spirit was present. What does Paul tell them? 

These are two important questions that are somewhat clouded in mystery. Yet the bible does seem to give us some revealed clues. 

Sometimes our experiences contradict what the Bible promises. One of these promises is God's promise to listen to our prayers and answer them. Yet, we sometimes hear nothing from God. So there is this contradiction, God promises to listen and answer, yet sometimes we get no answer. We pray and only hear the crickets outside...

What does the Bible say about God's silence and what does Easter have to do with it? 

Although Paul's first few days in Jerusalem seemed peaceful, it didn't last longer than a week. In this text we see Paul being brutally attacked and captured. Why? What is their problem with him?

Paul has eagerly desired to go to Jerusalem, even though everybody begged him not to go. Even the Holy Spirit warned him that prison and hardships are waiting for him there. But nevertheless Paul went. In this text we see Paul meeting with the leaders of the church. I wonder what they have to say?

The great apostle John tells us that those who claim to to be in Christ should walk as Jesus did. What does that mean? Can anyone ever walk exactly like Jesus did? Jesus obeyed God fully, but specifically Jesus obeyed on command of great significance: the command to love. In this lesson the topic of love takes center stage, because people of God always put love first. 

In this satirical sermon it is made clear that the best way to end up with a broken life and broken mind is to neglect and reject the word of God. The steps to insanity are pretty simple: Don't believe in the devil, don't trust what God says, don't love the truth, and don't memorize Scripture. If you obey these four rules you are guaranteed to experience a messed up life. 

This section of text informs us of Paul's journey down the western coast of the promised land from Tire down to Caesarea. It is at the latter town that Paul is approached by Agabus, the great prophet, who previously predicted the famine that became a reality. This time Agabus brings a prophecy about Paul's life, he is to be arrested and bound in Jerusalem.