Articles for tag: Stuart Powell

January 4, 2021

Communion & Lord's Supper Theology & Bible

Vaccine

By Stuart Powell In the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, humanity began a quest for a one-word treasure: vaccine. The entire world sought an antidote that would trigger each human body to build a defense against the ravages of the novel coronavirus. The journey has involved dozens of pharmaceutical companies plowing through billions of dollars to fund untold hours of research by thousands of scientists. The search for a vaccine was fueled by the desire to destroy the curse of this virus and restore life to relationships severed by the virus’s spread. We know life is not meant to

December 21, 2020

God’s Ways

By Stuart Powell Have you ever thought you were the last to hear about something important? Why is that? Do you lack influence or political connections? Is your opinion not valued because of your lowly social status? Do you live in the wrong neighborhood? If the emptiness of your life is exposed by these questions, you are in good company. And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the

December 14, 2020

Communion & Lord's Supper Theology & Bible

Week 4: The Angels

By Stuart Powell Note: This is the final installment of a four-week series of Communion meditations in which we consider essential features to the story of the birth of God’s Son. This week we focus on the angels. Angels appeared six separate times in the Gospel accounts of Jesus’ birth and early childhood (Matthew 1:20-21; 2:13, 19-20; Luke 1:11-20, 26-38; 2:9-15). Luke tells us the angel Gabriel spoke to Zechariah and Mary. No names were mentioned in the other four visits. Most times a single angel appeared, which is how the encounter with the shepherds began. Yet after the message

December 7, 2020

Communion & Lord's Supper Theology & Bible

Week 3: The Shepherds

By Stuart Powell Note: This is week three of a four-week series of Communion meditations in which we consider essential features to the story of the birth of God’s Son. This week we focus on the shepherds. Luke recorded surprisingly few details of what occurred in the stable on the day of Jesus’ birth. We might boil them down to these: Jesus was born, a feed trough was used as a cradle, and some excited shepherds arrived. There are many reasons why we wouldn’t put either of the latter two incidents in a story about God’s Son. We could use

November 30, 2020

Bible Study Theology & Bible

Week 2: Bethlehem

Note: Over a four-week period leading up to Christmas, our Communion meditations are considering four essential features to the story of the birth of God’s Son. This week we highlight the town of Bethlehem. By Stuart Powell When Rome ruled the Mediterranean region, many cities rose to prominence in the empire while others lingered in obscurity. Bethlehem was an insignificant place by then, though it had been the birthplace of King David a thousand years earlier. Long before the Romans conquered much of the civilized world, the luster of Bethlehem’s importance had been forgotten. That was the situation 300 years

November 23, 2020

Bible Study Theology & Bible

Week 1: The Patriarchs

Note: Over the next four weeks, we will consider four essential features to the story of the birth of God’s Son: the patriarchs, Bethlehem, the shepherds, and angels. This week we focus on the patriarchs. By Stuart Powell The four weeks before Christmas are a time for believers to make preparations for the coming celebration of Jesus’ birth. It’s important to note that God began making preparations for the first Christmas generations before Gabriel’s announcement to Mary. The first book of the Bible is filled with the stories of the Jewish patriarchs—Abraham, Issac, and Jacob and his 12 sons. When

November 2, 2020

The Spectacle of the Cross

By Stuart Powell The first-century Romans knew how to create spectacles. In the theater, stories from Roman history were glamorized to build legends. In their military parades, known as the “Republican triumphs,” the spoils of Rome’s conquests were prominently displayed. Even when carrying out executions, the Romans attempted to draw the attention of the crowds by putting the condemned on display as graphic examples of the consequences of rebelling against Rome. The intention of crucifixion was to create a spectacle by causing the one convicted to suffer in a visually striking way for their crimes against the empire. In Jerusalem,

October 26, 2020

Not a Waiting Room

By Stuart Powell What do you do before you see a doctor? Most people simply sit and wait. Many idly leaf through old magazines or survey their surroundings to pass the time. Have you ever pictured the Christian life this way? I hope not, because the Christian life most definitely is not a waiting room. Paul explained the life of grace to Titus using these dynamic words: For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting

September 28, 2020

Full Hands

By Stuart Powell God intended to keep the wonders and miracles of the exodus alive in the hearts and stories of the Israelites. To help with that, he preserved the narratives and established new traditions where the stories could be retold and relived. As part of the Law, God established three weeklong holidays—the feasts of Passover and Unleavened Bread, Pentecost, and Tabernacles. (The Feast of Tabernacles is celebrated this week.) At each feast, a sacrifice was brought before God, to be dedicated to remember him. Listen to part of God’s description for what he intended in Israel’s celebration. “Celebrate the

September 21, 2020

Save Us!

By Stuart Powell Each of the Gospels rushes through Jesus’ earthly ministry until they come to the cross. Then they slow down the narrative, bringing us the full impact of Jesus’ passion. Luke shared the details of a conversation Jesus had with the two criminals as they hung on their crosses on Good Friday. One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!” But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence? We are punished justly, for we are getting

August 24, 2020

They Forgot

By Stuart Powell The book of Judges begins with the hope that Israel will complete the unfinished work Joshua left them by transforming the land into the dwelling of God’s people. Yet the generations after Joshua learned that living as holy people is not easy. It created conflict between Israel and the people around them. As the Israelites settled into their inherited houses and began gathering the harvests from the adopted gardens, something terrible happened. Judges 3:7 summarizes the tragedy: “The Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord; they forgot the Lord their God and served the Baals

August 17, 2020

Community of Outcasts

By Stuart Powell In the Old Testament book of 1 Samuel, we read about King Saul, who, filled with delusional jealousy and hatred, set out to kill David, whom he feared would take his throne. David escaped to safety and refrained from starting a rebellion. But during his time in exile, many people became connected to the young man who would become the next ruler. Scripture says, “All those who were in distress or in debt or discontented gathered around [David], and he became their commander. About four hundred men were with him” (1 Samuel 22:2). The people who first

August 10, 2020

Go and Sin No More

By Stuart Powell John 8 tells of an unnamed woman caught in adultery. The Jewish leaders presented the woman to Jesus and asked what he considered an appropriate punishment. There is little doubt the teachers of the law and Pharisees had already condemned this sinner. By presenting her before Jesus, they sought to expose how his compassion stood at odds with the Law of Moses. Without realizing it, they brought the guilty one before God’s anointed judge of all mankind. Jesus spoke first to the accusers by confronting them with the universal human condition of sin. He allowed that shame

August 3, 2020

Building God’s House

By Stuart Powell During the construction of the first temple in Jerusalem, Solomon received a message from Yahweh God: As for this temple you are building, if you follow my decrees, observe my laws and keep all my commands and obey them, I will fulfill through you the promise I gave to David your father. And I will live among the Israelites and will not abandon my people Israel (1 Kings 6:11-13). David designed the temple, Solomon built it, but God conceived the faith upon which Solomon’s temple stood. That temple in Jerusalem was one of a multitude built throughout

July 27, 2020

A Powerful Death

By Stuart Powell In his description of Good Friday, Matthew shared details about three events that corresponded with the time of Jesus’ death: At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split and the tombs broke open. The bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. They came out of the tombs after Jesus’ resurrection and went into the holy city and appeared to many people (Matthew 27:51-53). Why do we spend so little time pondering these three acts of God—the torn curtain,

July 20, 2020

The Servant of Slaves

By Stuart Powell How does Jesus enter our lives? In the same way he entered Jerusalem on Palm Sunday—as a servant. Jesus’ disciple described it this way,“Say to the daughter of Zion, ‘Behold, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden’”(Matthew 21:5, English Standard Version). Jesus’ arrival at Jerusalem, before his suffering, opened with a scene foreshadowed in Zechariah 9:9. As he rode the donkey colt down the steep slope of the Mount of Olives, passing by the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus redefined the relationship between

July 6, 2020

Enslaved

By Stuart Powell One of the most widely known Bible stories is Israel’s exodus from Egypt. We tend to frame the exodus as the nation’s permanent liberation from enslavement. The books of Exodus and Leviticus describe Israel’s journey during their first year after leaving Egypt. In Leviticus 25, God explained his plans for the Year of Jubilee as a time when property ownership was restored to the original Jewish recipient’s family and slaves were set free. God explained his reasons for this: “For to me the people of Isra’el are slaves; they are my slaves whom I brought out of

June 29, 2020

Declaration

By Stuart Powell In the late 18th century, a colonist began writing a manuscript that summarized the political unrest of his time. He produced a startling declaration read aloud in a political hall in Philadelphia: When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes

June 8, 2020

Christian Living

Has-Beens

By Stuart Powell The term has-been is a demeaning way to describe the diminished status of once-popular personalities—athletes who can no longer compete, actresses who have not aged well, singers whose vocal ranges shrank with their fan base. A has-been’scurrent status is a dim shadow of what it once was. As Christians, maybe we should consider becoming a has-been as a liberation rather than a demotion. Compare the “glory days” of our life prior to knowing Christ with the abundant life of our present faith. Would we willingly adopt the term has-been to become more like Jesus? In 1 Corinthians

June 1, 2020

The Conqueror

By Stuart Powell Julius Caesar led his Roman troops to victory at the battle of Zela in 47 BC in what is now northern Turkey. Details of the battle are relegated to history scholars and trivia buffs. Those accounts tell of a complete and rapid victory. A well-known Latin declaration of triumph is attributed to the conqueror: “Veni, vidi, vici.” In English that translates to, “I came; I saw; I conquered.” We can write these words off as the excessive boasting of an arrogant warlord who died centuries ago. But as believers, we can reapply this proclamation of victory to