Calling And Presenting (Acts 9:41)

 


Monday, June 16, 2025


Psalm 105:1-22

1 Samuel 14:52-15:16

Acts 9:32-43


Calling And Presenting (Acts 9:41)


And Peter gave Dorcas his hand and raised her up. Then, calling the saints and widows, he presented her alive.


There is a certain preaching technique that we all get taught about that I think every Christian should have on their mind. I am referring to the art of the illustration.


A lot of our faith rests on either an internal and experiential knowledge of the reality of the triune God, or a big load of abstract theological systems, or a mix of both. While both are good, they are also difficult to communicate to others in a way that really gets to the root of what Christianity is all about in the day-to-day life of the believer. And so we have illustrations – it is like something out in the world that we all understand.


Jesus was great at illustrations. We all remember his illustration of the preached word like seed falling on different types of soil. Or his illustration of the kingdom of God growing from a small seed into a big tree. Or the mix of people in the church being like a wheat field. Or that to partake of him spirituality is like eating bread and drinking wine.


Moving to today’s reading from Acts, St Peter brought a woman back from the dead. Now that is a great illustration to aid his preaching! See that woman – all who place their faith in Jesus are like her. What a fantastic tool for evangelism literal resurrection is.


We don’t really have the same power that the apostles did. God has given us in today’s church a different means by which he performs the miracle of conversion – proclamation of the gospel. Through our words and deeds, when we use them to point people to Christ, the Holy Spirit gives people a new heart for Jesus. The need for illustrations has not lessened, and our job is perhaps more difficult than that of St Peter. He was given a public resurrection – we have to think of illustrations on our own.


If the world around us speaks to us in many and various ways of the redemptive power of Jesus Christ, then we only need to pay a little bit of attention and see how many illustrations God is giving us to use in our spiritual discussions with one another. Jesus did a great job with his farming illustrations; I wonder what illustrations modern suburbia offers?


What is your experience of Christian living like? What illustrations from your daily routine point to God’s activity in your life? How might you talk about Jesus to people differently if you used those illustrations?


God of artistic beauty and goodness, whose whole creation proclaims your power, love and truth: give us eyes to see Christ at work in every aspect of our lives, and the grace to speak his works to the people around us.

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