April 21, 2023 - Good Morning! It’s Friday, April 21.
We start today with a quiz! Here's a list of a dozen inventors. Can you guess the name of their invention?
- Amelia Bloomer
- Jim Bowie
- Louis Braille
- Rudolph Diesel
- George Ferris
- Jules Leotard
- Samuel Morse
- Emo Rubik
- The Earl of Sandwich
- Adolphe Sax
- Earl Tupper
- Frank Zamboni
The easiest quiz ever, right? The inventions (Bowie knife, Ferris wheel, Morse code, Rubik's cube, Tupperware) took the names of their inventors, took the names of their creators.
Something happened like that in the city of Antioch during the 1st century. Acts 11:26 includes this famous phrase - And the disciples were first called Christians at Antioch. The city of Antioch was a cosmopolitan place, filled with people from around the ancient world, many different ethnic groups, many different religions - many that were barely noticed and received no special name. It is telling that this new faith of "Christ followers" was bold enough to be noticed by the culture of Antioch - the culture that gave them their (our) name.
The name Christian is found only two other times in the New Testament. In 1 Peter 4:16 we read - If you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name! And then there's the extraordinary story in Acts 26 where Paul stands before King Herod Agrippa. This King was from a long line of kings who figure as some of the worst villains in the Bible. His grandfather was the Herod of the Nativity story, his uncle was the Herod of the crucifixion story, and his father was a violent persecutor of the early church. Paul stood before this King, having been arrested and in danger of being executed. But Paul did not plead for his life. Paul spoke truth to power. Paul shared the gospel with the King.
And in Acts 26:28 we find the tragic response of King Herod Agrippa... "Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian."
What if the church had started in the 21st century instead of the 1st century? Would our faith be bold enough to be noticed by the culture around us? Would we be deserving of... His name?
Meet you back here on Monday,
Bro. David
dmathis@fbccenter.org
