Readings and Ideas for the week of July 21, 2024

 Sermon Notes

Douglas Wilson, listened on July 21, 2024
Acts of the Apostles #1  (Acts 1:1)

Luke is Volume 1- what Jesus began
Acts is Volume 2 - what Jesus continues through the expansion of His body, the Church
Luke and Acts, written by the same man, dedicated to the same mystery man, Theophilus

Connect the Gospel of Luke to the book of Acts of anointed and appointed servants who are the hands and feet of Jesus Christ in us.

Jesus is in Heaven, His Spirit is in us, therefore Christ remains in the world completing His work.
Acts 16:8 - "They" came to Troas, 3rd person
Acts 16:9 - Paul's vision of the Macedonian (Northern Greece) man asking for help, possibly Luke
Acts 16:10 - "We", Luke joins Paul somehow

Luke was a sophisticated writer who knew Greek well and a first-class historian. (Ex. Herod the Tetrarch, more precise than 'King Herod'). Also a medical doctor as per Colossians 4:14, beloved physician.

Unsure of who Theophilus was, it's remembered that others have dedicated their Christian writings to unbelieving magistrates or public people as an apologetic work to explain aspects of Christianity. (Example: Jean Calvin dedicated Institutes to King Francis 1, Catholic King of France)

Luke answers two main questions as his own apologetic work:
1. Who was this Jesus?
2. Who are these Christians?

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Rodney on preparing for breaking of bread:
The Word of God as bread feeds us. We know it feeds us because it gives to us what we do not have already, understanding and nourishment.

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A Meditation on Psalm 8
Psalm 8:1
God set His glory, His radiance above the heavens, beyond the reach of men. They can ignore Him, but they cannot dethrone Him.
Psalm 8:3-5
When we view that which has been created beyond our reach in the heavens, it teaches us to remember how fragile and small we are, yet we are told that we were created by the same Creator of the heavens and that further, we are remembered by Him with care and covered with glory and honor. What an astonishing and humble act of goodness we have been given.
Psalm 8:6-8
And if that thought wasn't enough, God, the Transcendent Creator gave to His image-bearers, the responsibility and privilege to rule over His works of creation that He put into place before men and women were even created. Therefore any act of caring for creation must be rooted in understanding that we are acting on God's behalf in His creation. So rather than covering ourselves with our own virtue in caring for the earth, we see ourselves as caring for God's creation at His command.

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A couple of weeks ago, I listened to Ken Boa on The Theology Pugcast talk about beauty and science. It was at times a little more complex on science topics, but overall it was an excellent historical and theological primer on how science reveals in increasingly complexity the beauty and order that can be found. I plan to listen to it again.
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The concept of noblesse oblige has come up twice in the last week or so. First in an episode of To the Manor Born, where the previous owner of the manor admonishes the new owner of his responsibilities to do good with his estate for the benefit of the community. And second in a post on X discussing the regulating of vice.