“And every day in the temple and at home they did not cease to teach and proclaim Jesus as the Messiah.” Acts 3:42
It was very strange, yesterday, not to be able to worship together like we normally do. Of course, we are heeding the advice of the local health district to limit gatherings to less than 20. It was hard to hear our local authorities advising against us worshipping together. I missed worship. Yet, we know that God’s people have often faced barriers to meeting regularly.
In the book of the Acts of the Apostles, the Christian church experiences the miracle of the Day of Pentecost, and times of tremendous numerical growth, and seasons of many people being healed. These are examples of the many episodes of great blessings in the Book of Acts.
But the Book of Acts is also a book of suffering, for the apostles and the early Christians faced great opposition. Here in the third chapter of the Book of Acts, they were forbidden to meet together by the Pharisees. Some of the apostles were thrown into prison for defying the authorities. How did they respond? By rejoicing that they were worthy of suffering for the sake of the name of Jesus!
But what strikes me most about this chapter, is that in spite of every obstacle: logistics, hostility, and even prison time, the early worshippers of Christ “did not cease to teach and proclaim Jesus as the Messiah.” Sometimes, worship happened in the temple. Other times, it happened in people’s homes. But it always happened, every single day: Jesus’ name was proclaimed!
While we may not be able to meet together every Sunday because of COVID-19 restrictions, we can still proclaim Jesus as our Messiah in our homes! And I hope and pray that we will.
Elsewhere in the book of Acts, we find that even prison walls were no barrier to God’s will. So, the fact that we cannot physically be together should not prevent us from praising God, each and every day.
My prayer for all of you, is that we continue to proclaim Jesus as Lord, at all times, and in all places.
Prayer for the Day:
Holy Lord,
In the midst of trying circumstances, and restrictions which upset our routines, help us to remember that you are ultimately, in charge of our daily calendars. Whether we are together, or in our individual homes, help us to remember to lift up the name of Your Son as the Messiah, and Our Savior! We pray this prayer in His holy name. Amen.
