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Published: 05 March 2020

Has it happened to you?  Have you ever been “overcome by sleep” in the middle of a sermon?  You’re not alone.  A guy named Eutychus fell asleep during one of Paul’s sermons!  Paul!!!  Admittedly, some sermons are so boring, they have better results than Melatonin, but Paul’s sermon!?  There is some slight evidence that Paul may have been reciting the lessons of the letter to the Roman church.  The beauty and glory of the gospel, delivered by the very apostle who received it and wrote it, must have been very compelling.  But, not for Eutychus.  I feel sorry for the guy.  Not only did he fall asleep, he fell out of the upper room window and died when he hit the street.  Talk about embarrassing, the whole lesson had to stop so he could be revivified.  Why is this story even in the Bible?  Does it give us permission to sleep in church?  Is it a warning to preachers to keep it short or people may die?  Is it a reminder to not eat a big meal before listening to a sermon?  I suppose there is some practical wisdom to be gleaned from this incident but we should be careful about making the Eutychus incident the main event of the text.  In story form, we actually have a description of early local church life.  If you compare this event with how the church after Pentecost functioned (Acts 2:42-47), you’ll see some similarities.  God willing, we’ll look at those similarities this week in Acts 20.  We lose an hour of sleep this weekend, drink some coffee, please do your best to stay awake.  We’ll try to keep the service to an hour .

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Published: 29 February 2020

It sure feels good to have relationships restored.  It is so painful when we are “on the outs” with people we love.  I knew of a guy who said he fought with his wife just because he enjoyed making up so much!  I don’t recommend the fighting part.  You’ve probably heard the famous line from Augustine, “Our hearts are restless until they find their rest in Thee.”  I think a lot of people go through life seeking satisfaction in relationships, success, material wealth, status and accomplishment yet still don’t feel satisfied.  As someone else quipped, “They have reached the top of the ladder and found it was resting on the wrong building.”  Augustine was right, we’re searching, with restless hearts, for home.  For rest.  Someone else has said, “We have a God-shaped vacuum in us that is too big for anyone but God to fill.”  The restless pursuits of many in our culture are rooted in this.  It’s not a theology we’re after and it’s not having answers to all our questions.  We need the principal relationship restored.  We need to be right with the One for whom we were made.  We need to be at home in Him.  Jesus Christ made this restoration possible through His death, burial and resurrection.  Our union with Him puts us IN the Trinity.  Imagine that!  It may not always feel that way right now but that is where we are in Christ.  We have been reconciled to God through Jesus Christ.  Come to the Table on Sunday and thank Him for restoring the paradise that was lost.