LaurenC

KRISSI brings us interesting points on civil disobedience in light of scripture. Our study question is quiet wide. On the other hand I see our text of Peter before the Sanhedrin, refusing to obey men rather than God is in context of evangelism. But as citizens what should be our attitude? What does God require of us? From Micah 6:8 “ to act justly, show kindness ( love faithfulness) and walk humbly with your Lord.” If I want to build a fence around my house, I must submit to local government laws. My neighbors must be consulted so that I do not interfere with their “amenity”. There must be thousands more little restrictions I must adhere to, for community harmony. My rights of freedom are restricted by my responsibility to others. I am personally prepared to submit to government health orders not just to protect my own health but to protect vulnerable members of my community. Recent survey of my church as we come out of lockdown, found 60% of us said we should comply with mandatory vaccination requirements to protect the vulnerable. A further 30% thought people should not be excluded from church because they chose not to vaccinate. I Should clarify 90 % of my state in Australia will be double vaccinated by 18th Oct and we are generally more accepting of being regulated than USA. While I respect Krissi’s right to her decisions, I just present another cultural viewpoint. I wonder how much are we reflecting our own cultural norms? But even if Australians agree to protect each other in this way from covid, we are slack in rejecting state laws that fail to protect the life of the vulnerable unborn and frail aged.

Thanks for your thoughts, Luke. Maybe we can view group(corporate) prayer and individual prayer as having different purposes. Matt 18:19 is in context of advice to the church. Is Jesus establishing/predicting corporate prayer in his Church? We hear of faithful people praying in a back room for the Spirit to move in hearts of those in an evangelistic meeting. SImultaneously, a sinner in the meeting is convicted by the Spirit and pleads for God's forgiveness in Christ's name.The Spirit is at work in both prayers. One of LUke's in Acts is to show the growth of the new church, so commencing with a united corporate prayer meeting may set an example for church fellowship. Thanks

Yes, I agree. If the apostles dispersed to receive The Holy Spirit, their witness would be less effective. Baptism was understood as immersion and concept of washing away the old to be filled with a new mindset. So here the filling by the Holy Spirit was a powerful transformation of mind, will and capabilities of the apostles.