Work in progress

Both the Gospel and Judaism point to a Messianic King and Saviour to be descended from King David 's line .Both believe in one God who will set them free . Paul shared with the God fearing Jews and Gentiles at the synagogues that John the Baptist pointed to Jesus as the Messianic King .He shared on the Old Testament of the Messianic King . The essence of the Gospel is that Christ came into the world to save sinners : He died in our place and was resurrected .He gave us His righteousness to all repentant believers.

Paul viewed his calling to preach as a sacred trust (appointed by Christ ) and as a necessity in obedience to the calling . Paul teaches us the importance of using our gifts and fulfilling the ministries given to us in trust .We are servants who are called to be obedient . As such we need to be good stewards of our gifts . We would be disobedient if we treat the gifts nonchalantly ,irresponsibly . The gifts are to be used to serve the body of Christ ,not for our own satisfaction or pride .

The church leaders seek God through corporate prayer and fasting per the norm in the olden days .The community come together as a body of Christ to seek God 's counsel and guidance regarding the many numbers of Gentile believers. God affirmed the decision by telling them to set apart Barnabas and Paul for the ministry Nowadays we don't see this as much probably due to too big a congregation .Likely the pastors and the select few lay personel team still practice Prayer n fasting when seeking God 's counsel .Also in our fast Internet age , likely things get speed up and people set up Prayer chat groups instead . Present day churches do believe in the importance of praying n seeking the anointing of the Holy Spirit before we implement our plans and programs. The chosen missionaries need the conviction and power of the Holy Spirit to go before ,alongside and behind them ,in order to do evangelistic work as they share the gospel and to plant new churches . Without God 's blessings , nothing will amount much .

Paul called out openly to Peter because Peter was a leader yet behaved like a hypocrite,thus causing confusion to the Christian community between Gentile believers n Jewish believers . The reason for Peter 's hypocrisy was Peter did it to please the Jewish Christians and to avoid further criticism from them . However Paul felt that the Gentile believers should be treated equally as Jewish believers ,even though the Gentiles were not circumcised .Paul believed that God regarded the Gentile believers to be equally saved based on their repentance for their sins and through their faith in Christ , Salvation is not based on Law but by grace thru faith in Jesus as the Messiah . Same goes for us Gentiles .We are saved by grace through our faith in the redemptive work of our Lord Jesus ,the Son of God ,at the Cross .Salvation is not based on works or following the Law .The Holy Spirit convicts us of our sins and we repent .We are justified through Christ 's righteousness .

Patience is a virtue manifested as one of the fruit of the Holy Spirit .It is not easy to wait patiently before the Lord as we may feel we must be doing sth to influence + bring about change. Pray as we mature in Christ ,the Holy Spirit grants us more patience to wait upon the Lord and simply to rest in the Lord . Practising listening to the prompting of the Holy Spirit through intentional discipline of Quiet Time ,Reading His Word , Meditation and Prayer and Fellowship as we grow and walk more closely with Christ .This would not be possible without God 's grace as we are distracted by worldly affairs .

Abram believed and obeyed God 's call to migrate to a different land that God would show him. Each time he obeyed God's command and God considered him righteous because of his faith n obedience .Abraham 's heart was with God . Our justification for righteousness comes by Grace through Faith in Christ 's redemptive work at the Cross ,When we ,believers confessed and repented of our sins (ROM 10:9), before Lord Jesus as our Advocate , we are saved from God 's wrath and punishment for our sins.(IJohn 1:9) Really trusting God for our salvation involves sanctification and walking daily in faith and obedience to God 's will . We need to spend time communing and having fellowship with God ,obeying His call to fulfil the Great Commission and love our neighbors. Believe ,trust and obey to fulfil God 's will and purpose in our lives . Prov 3:5-6

God wants us to trust Him completely and to depend on Him alone as the only one true God . He wants us to surrender fully to Him in obedience .Our salvation is by grace through faith in Christ - his sacrificial act at the Cross ,to pay for our sins .Christ gave us His righteousness.We didn't become reconciled to God through our own efforts . However we try to manage things on our own strength .We try to be self sufficient .We become more legalistic -focussed on achieving success in following the rules (do s n don't ) rather than on obeying the heart of the matter . Spiritual pride sets in when our egos become puffed up with self pride upon achieving success of our achievements and we rely less on God .This prevents us from developing trust and intimacy with God.

Saul (Paul) was struck blind when he encountered Jesus on the road to Damascus .He then holed up, waiting for deliverance .This also give him time to reflect while being dependent on people..Previously Saul was an arrogant ,self righteous Pharisee ,going around persecuting Christ followers. Ananias(believer) was tasked by God ,to connect with Saul, to heal and baptise him,welcoming Paul into the community of Christ followers .Also through this way ,Ananias would become Paul 's first witness of his conversion and could vouch for Paul as a true convert when they returned to the Christian community in Damascus and began preaching to the Jews that Jesus is the Son of God. Ananias argued with God when given the task to visit Saul ,due to Saul 's notorious reputation as a persecutor of Christ followers with authority from the chief priests to arrest them .He was afraid for his safety and was unsure if Saul had truly accepted Christ as his Lord .It took him courage to obey God in this case. Ananias obeyed God in the end and went to the house ; he laid hands on Saul saying ,"Brother Saul,the Lord- Jesus ,who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here -has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit .Saul regained his sight ,got up and was baptized . It would be very hard to go up to strangers and give a prophetic word of wisdom or to share the gospel with strangers .I haven't done this successfully yet . It would be easier to do that with people I know eg ,to encourage or give advice as in fellowship group . And it would become easier when one has a closer walk with Christ .

We ,as God 's children, are the body of Christ with Christ as our Head .and each part just as important .So when we persecute His people, we are nailing Christ to the Cross again . Because Abba Father is a loving ,gracious but holy God ,it hurts Abba Father more when we go astray and disobey Him .And when He has to discipline and chastise us .