The Living One - Week 22: Facing Idols

Awake Us Now

This teaching is on Acts 14:8-22, “Incident in Lystra,” and is an account on idol worshipers. We are living in a time of great idolatry and how do we as followers of Jesus respond, react, and live?

In today’s story, Paul is teaching about Jesus in the town square of Lystra and sees a man lame from birth, but Paul also sees the man has great faith and Paul says, “Stand Up and Walk” and the man is healed.

While this story is nearly 2,000 years old, God has not changed and God still moves in remarkable ways. So let’s take note of the following OBSERVATIONS FROM THE STORY:

1. The Power of the Messiah - the power of faith in Jesus. We see the testimony that All Authority has been given to Jesus the Messiah and in His name this man was healed and God still heals today. 2. Inherently Religious Nature - human beings are inherently religious, longing for a power higher than themselves, a need. People find something to worship in their lives because we need purpose. We look for meaning for our lives in someone, something or in ourselves - a need to find something for our focus. 3. Created to Worship - We long for things greater than ourselves or things that matter most in our lives. People worship many deities today - we think we’ve outgrown idols, but we worship what those very idols of old represented: power, money, sports, sex, politics, living for things. How does a follower of Jesus respond to these, how do we deal with the pull of idolatry? Do we turn away? Engage? Do we demonstrate by our actions and words the power of God in our lives and do we worship Him alone? 4. Living God is Creator - at this time in history there is more evidence for the existence of our Creator than ever and that evidence points to the existence of God! Do we point people to the Living God, our Creator, and help them see we are created? This is a springboard to sharing the message of Jesus Christ. Without Jesus people are lost forever. 5. Gospel Proclamation - Paul was stoned and left for dead. He left Lystra and headed to Derba. However, he returned to Lystra to share the good news of Jesus because he had a passion to share Jesus and had compassion for the lost to know Jesus as their Savior. 6. Reality of Hardship - Paul and Barnabus knew there would be difficult times, but they held to the truth of God’s assurance that He will take even the difficult times and turn them around for His glory and our good. It can be hard to be a follower of Jesus, but it is worth it.

And this Lystra story continues in a later chapter of Acts... In Chapter 16 we meet Timothy - a man Paul meets on his return trip to Lystra. God uses, to His glory, all that Paul suffered in Lystra the first time, as we see Paul become a spiritual father to Timothy. We learn more about Timothy later in Acts.

Today, many are blinded by idolatry and have lost sight of the Living God (who delivers us through Jesus His Son) so it’s important for us to practice what we learn from early missionaries as we share Jesus and honor, worship and serve the Living God.

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