Last week, at Wednesday night prayer meeting, we continued our series using the book of Acts as a guide for our own prayers. We came to Acts 7-8 and looked at Stephen’s prayers at the time of his stoning and Simon Magus’s prayers for forgiveness.
Below is the guide I used for that passage. It would work for group or individual use.
Prayer in Acts, Part 4 – Prayer Meeting 01272016
Tags: Acts, Prayer, Prayer Meeting, Acts 7, Acts 8, Forgiveness
Still reading The Presidents’ Club. Here’s another illustration from it: John F. Kennedy inherited a really tough situation when he came into office. Eisenhower had started plans to undermine Castro through military training for Cubans living in Guatemala. However, the planning and preparation began to move beyond Eisenhower’s original ideas, and American involvement became deeper and more advanced. In the transition period between presidents, the planning picked up momentum and took on a life of its own.
Kennedy came in and didn’t want to cast aside the brilliant general’s plans, but he modified the plan enough (removing air strikes, for example) that it was definitely doomed to failure – as history proved. Along the way, he was given a LOT of bad advice by his top advisors. However, when the Bay of Pigs Invasion turned into a tragic fiasco, Kennedy stepped up and took full responsibility. He refused to blame Eisenhower or his advisors; he openly admitted that as president he had made the call and that he would take the blame. Significantly, this seems to have benefited Kennedy in two ways: 1) his popularity just TWO weeks after the Bay of Pigs debacle was shown by a Gallup poll to be 83 PERCENT (p. 143 of the book), and 2) it seems (in my opinion) to have set Kennedy up for his success during the Cuban Missile Crisis. I think manning up in the Bay of Pigs failure personally and internally prepared Kennedy to face down Khrushchev, and it might have helped Khrushchev take Kennedy seriously when he did so.
I think this is a good potential illustration for passages that deal with honest confession of sin, openly dealing with mistakes or sins you have committed, and being a responsible steward of what we’ve been entrusted with. Some passages: Genesis 3 (as a contrast to the blame game played by Adam and Eve), Psalm 32, Psalm 51, Matthew 18, and Matthew 25:14-30 (Parable of the Talents).
Still reading The Presidents’ Club. The book talks a lot about the power of current and former presidents working together, but it also describes disunity and vitriol that has occurred between these men over the years. One example of this took place between Truman and Eisenhower, despite the fact that they had been friends who greatly respected one another while Truman was Eisenhower’s commander-in-chief.
Truman was a Democrat, Eisenhower a Republican. Eisenhower was immensely popular because of his heroic record during WWII. Truman decided not to run again in 1952 and had supported Eisenhower’s candidacy before Ike’s party affiliation became public. Even after this information was out, Truman was friendly to Ike while remaining loyal to his own party. But several misunderstandings along the campaign trail combined with the divisive influence of Senator Joe McCarthy, with the result that the men had become bitter enemies by the time Ike’s inauguration rolled around. The interactions between the two administrations on that day were some of the coldest and most awkward of any Inauguration Day before or since.
The bitter, very public relations between the two men continued all throughout Eisenhower’s eight-year presidency and into the Kennedy administration. That is, until November 22, 1963, when Kennedy was assassinated. Tragedy changed everything, and the grievances of the past seemed to pale in comparison with the events of that day. On the day of Kennedy’s funeral, Ike overheard that Truman, for some reason, did not have a vehicle to transport him to the service. He quickly reached out to Truman and offered for the two men and their wives to ride together – an invitation Truman accepted. At the end of that very long, very difficult day, the Eisenhower’s were dropping off the Truman’s and were about to drive back to their farm in Gettysburg, when Truman turned back to the car and said to the Eisenhower’s, “How about coming in for a drink?” They accepted, and with these two small actions in the wake of a national tragedy, a great presidential healing took place. The two families spent the afternoon together, eating, drinking coffee, and genuinely enjoying one another’s company. The bitterness never returned.
I’ve given a lot of detail here, but that’s probably because it was a story I was unfamiliar with and really loved learning. I’m guessing most of your sermon audience would feel the same way. This could be used to illustrate Habakkuk 3:17-19, Romans 5:3-5, Romans 8:18, Romans 8:28, Ephesians 3:13, 2 Timothy 1:8, James 1:2-4, and 1 Peter 2:19, along with other passages that speak of God growing us and bringing about good in the midst of evil. I think the story could also illustrate passages that talk about Christians comforting those who are hurting and doing ministry in the midst of crisis, because it demonstrates the human tendency to be open to true change when given a new perspective through tragedy and suffering. In the midst of suffering, we have opportunities to show Christ’s love. Example passages of this: Job 1, Job 2, Job 3, Psalm 23:4, Ecclesiastes 4:1, Isaiah 61:1-3, Matthew 25:31-46, Romans 12:15, 2 Corinthians 1, and 2 Corinthians 7. This story could probably also be used for some passages that deal with bitterness, forgiveness, and reconciliation, too – like Matthew 18:15-20 and Hebrews 12:15.
Sermon Illustr8r 