The God Who Protects Series

This is a picture of Anatoly, a 26-year-old member of Irpin Bible Church in Ukraine. His last act on earth was carrying the suitcase of a young mother and her two children, as they raced across a collapsed bridge. All four died when a bomb landed nearby.

After evacuating his wife Diana and other family members to safety, Anatoly returned to help his church minister to people.

His pastor said, “Anatoly was deeply spiritual, with a good Christian character. When he saw a need, he tried to help...we miss him very much, it is a tragedy for his family and the church. God has a plan beyond our understanding, but it is difficult.”

On Tuesday, after our pastoral team prayed for churches and ministries in the Ukraine, I asked this question: “Would we stay and serve our church and our community if we were being bombed?” None of us said anything as the weight of that question settled on our souls. We all wanted to say yes but didn’t want to do so flippantly.

Pastor Romanuk added, “The most important task for the church right now is to continue preaching. Churches have become a lighthouse of hope.”

We will keep preaching, praying, and providing help so churches in Ukraine can continue to be lighthouses of hope. If you’re looking for a way to help, we recommend directing your generosity to Samaritan’s Purse. They have already set up a field hospital and have been partnering with 3,200 churches inside Ukraine. As conflict erupted, they were in the process of distributing 600,000 Operation Christmas Child gift-filled shoeboxes. I wonder if some of those were filled by Team Edgewood! They are in contact with ministry partners and meeting needs as they are able. Simply go to samaritanspurse.org to donate.

We’ve been praying for a family from Ukraine by name the last couple weeks. We just received word they miraculously received their visas to come to the United States and resettle in the Quad Cities! We rejoice with Sasha and Sophia, along with their children: Lucas (4) and Emma (1). As we hear of their needs, we’ll share them with you.

We’re nearing the end of our journey through the Book of Acts. Last week, in Acts 24 we discovered this truth: When your faith is challenged, defend it cheerfully.

One of the keys to understanding the Bible, as Jason Crosby has been teaching in his Growth Group elective, is to identify the literary genre a book or section of Scripture is written in. The different genres include apocalyptic, biography, exposition, parable, poetry, prophecy, and narrative.

When I began studying Acts 25, I wondered what kind of message God wanted me to preach from this passage. Since this section of Scripture is story, I struggled to find a preaching outline. BTW, over 40% of the Bible is made up of narrative. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 reminds us how every word of God’s Word is inspired, important, and instructive: “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” God wants us to learn and live out this passage so we can grow in doing good work and bringing Him glory.

Here’s our main idea for today: God providentially accomplishes His purposes through people.

Since narratives by their nature contain characters, let’s approach this section through the perspective of the individuals we come across. I decided to give them nicknames to help us remember and relate to them.

• Festus: the people-pleaser.

• The religious: status-keepers.

• Paul: the gospel-preacher.

• Agrippa and Bernice: the pleasure-seekers.

• Jesus: the life-changer.

1. Festus: the people-pleaser. In verses 1-6, we’re introduced to a new governor named Festus: “Now three days after Festus had arrived in the province, he went up to Jerusalem from Caesarea. 2 And the chief priests and the principal men of the Jews laid out their case against Paul, and they urged him, 3 asking as a favor against Paul that he summon him to Jerusalem—because they were planning an ambush to kill him on the way. 4 Festus replied that Paul was being kept at Caesarea and that he himself intended to go there shortly. 5 ‘So,’ said he, ‘let the men of authority among you go down with me, and if there is anything wrong about the man, let them bring charges against him.’ 6 After he stayed among them not more than eight or ten days, he went down to Caesarea. And the next day he took his seat on the tribunal and ordered Paul to be brought.”

Festus became governor after Felix flamed out. If Felix was a procrastinator, Festus was a proactive people-pleaser. He quickly realized the mood was tense in the country, in large part because of Paul, who was a prisoner in Caesarea. Wanting to get on the good side of the Jewish leaders, after being in office just three days, he traveled 70 miles from Caesarea, the political center, to Jerusalem, the religious center. When Festus arrived, the religious leaders brought up charges against Felix’s leftover, Paul.