Opposition 2/28/10
Sermon Series: Acts – Faith Explosion
Title: Opposition
Text: Acts 12:1-5
“About that time Herod the king laid violent hands on some who belonged to the church. He killed James the brother of John with the sword, and when he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter also. This was during the days of Unleavened Bread. And when he had seized him, he put him in prison, delivering him over to four squads of soldiers to guard him, intending after the Passover to bring him out to the people. So Peter was kept in prison, but earnest prayer for him was made to God by the church.”
Introduction: It seems like every John Wayne movie you ever see has basically the same basic theme. There is something going on that is unjust and big John has to wade into the middle of it with fists swinging and guns blazing in order to set things right.
Transition: As we continue to study the relatively young movement of Christianity which has exploded across the ancient world we see both ends of the spectrum. On one hand Luke records incredible conversion stories several times. We see 3000 converted one day, 5000 another time; the incredible movement of God among the Samaritans and the conversion of Saul and Cornelius and the Greeks at Antioch; but on the other hand that they also faced incredible opposition to their message and faith. In the passage that we are studying today we see not only the scope of the opposition but the answer to it as well as we live out our own faith in a world which is becoming increasingly incompatible to people of genuine Christianity.
