Today's Daily Lesson comes from Acts chapter 18 verses 9 and 10:
One night the Lord said to Paul in a vision, “Do not be afraid, but speak and do not be silent; 10 for I am with you, and no one will lay a hand on you to harm you, for there are many in this city who are my people.”
I love this Scripture; and I can hardly begin to tell you what it has meant to me over the years.
In a very challenging time, when things seemed very much to be going poorly at my previous Church Second B as a Sunday School class full of young families was imploding because of LGBTQ affirmation, I read this text from when Paul was in Corinth, was kicked out of the synagogue, and had this vision telling him to press on, trusting in the hope that there while many were rejecting him, there would be many others to come who would not. "There are many of my people in this city," -- I have clung to that hope time and time again over the years.
It was a Saturday that I read this Scripture and took such hope in its promise. I know that because I remember the next day a young couple walked forward to join the church. I didn't recognize them but they said they had been visiting us and some other churches in the area but kept coming back to Second B.
In fact, they said that very Sunday morning they had gone to another Church and sat down and opened the worship guide to see the sermon title: "Homosexuality and the Bible".
The husband turned to the wife. "What do you think this means?"
"I don't know," she said, "but I don't think we're going to like it."
"Well, there's still time to make it to Second B . . ."
They did make it. And they made my day also.
And come to find out, there were many more in the city also. Many, many more.
And there still are . . .
NOTE: We are reading the whole Bible through this year. Tomorrow we will start by reading the first four chapters of 1 Corinthians -- the book Paul wrote to that church in the city where there were many of God's people.
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