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Ordinary People
Doing Extraordinary Things!

By Nancy Boyle

RELATIONAL BIBLE STUDY

to model how a relational study
is done and provide questions
relating text to the FAW theme
for individual or group use.

We in the modern church have unquestionably lost something. Whether it is the quality which the New Testament calls "faith", whether it is due to a stifling churchiness, whether it is due to our sinful complacency over the scandal of a divided Church or whatever the cause may be, very little of the modern church could bear comparison with the spiritual drive, the genuine fellowship, and the unconquerable courage of the Young Church.

The conclusion of the introduction to The Young Church in Action, a Translation of the Acts of the Apostles, by J.B. Phillips written in 1955 still has a contemporary ring and a thought provoking challenge to us today!

Using people from the Book of Acts for the Bible Study series on Faith we have discovered ordinary people doing extraordinary things!

Chapter Sixteen in Acts is a wonderful illustration. The wind of the spirit, the unlikely people and a kaleidoscope of events almost leave us breathless! These are the people who "Turned the world upside down!" (Acts 17:6). What can they teach us about how faith is renewed?

Listen: Act 16

Read Acts 16 aloud and in several translations. Note the events and the people that capture your attention. This seems to be a first person account, perhaps an excerpt from Luke's diary. The events move rapidly. Use a map to find the locations. (This is generally known as Paul's second journey and is found in the back of many Bibles). Read again very slowly and try to picture the scenes and the people. What captures your imagination? What people stand out?

Reflect: Acts 16, II Timothy 1:3-5, Philippians 4:10-23

Paul has new traveling companions. Barnabas and Mark have gone one way and Paul and Silas another. He chooses Timothy to accompany them, a young man with an interesting background, a son of a mixed marriage but obviously from a religious household. (II Tim. l: 3-5). Look at the next events through the eyes of this young man. A visit with a group of women by the river produces the leader and founder of perhaps Paul's strongest church. (Philippians 4:10-23). Lydia, a successful business women opens her heart and her home. The slave girl and the jailer also make a fascinating addition to the story. Do you think that any one of them had any idea when they woke up that morning how their lives would change? What might Timothy have learned? What could have been Lydia's reason for prayer by the river? Timothy was probably at Lydia's house when Paul and Silas were released. Imagine the reaction to their story!

Connect:

Entering the Bible with our imagination certainly enhances the story, raises questions and helps us connect with the text. Faith is renewed by creative imaginative bible study. We see ordinary people doing extraordinary things. Timothy's mother and grandmother nurtured and shared their faith with him with little thought as to its impact. Timothy's faith is sustained by remembering this instruction. (II Tim 3:14-17). Paul takes a chance on this young man and realizes his own need for a person to mentor. Faith is renewed through sharing and teaching. Lydia gathers a group to pray and talk by the river never dreaming it was the nucleus of a church! Faith is renewed in a small group. Paul and Silas sing to keep up their courage and as a way of praising God and an entire family is baptized as a result. Faith is renewed as we meet difficulties with courage and joy. Many of these actions seem ordinary as we look at them this way. What makes them extraordinary is God's use of them! Does some of the energy come from their inclusiveness? (It takes a lot of energy to exclude.) What about spontaneity? Vulnerability? Risk-taking? What are your reactions to these stories? What are some ways that your faith has been renewed? What keeps your faith exciting to you?

Act:

Using the phrase "faith renewed" implies that faith does not remain constant for any of us. Bible Study and sharing in a small group as well as teaching others is certainly important. Sharing another's spiritual journey or mentoring someone discovering the gospel for the first time, is a way of keeping your own faith fresh.

Have you noticed another common thread? None of these events took place in a church. Where we live and work, if we are attentive, is where our faith impacts our lives. Ordinary people living a life of faith and obedience produces extraordinary events!

Advent is a time when we meet some more ordinary people who were available to the Spirit and whose lives were forever changed. Will you be open to new events and opportunities that can renew your faith?