Redeemer East Side Update

“The growing good of the world is partly dependent on unhistoric acts … to the number who lived faithfully a hidden life and rest in unvisited tombs.” — George Eliot, Middlemarch

The New Testament book of Acts recounts the history of the improbable rise of Christianity in the first century. Its pages are filled with the miraculous works of the Holy Spirit, the heroic faith of the earliest Christians, and the grassroots spread of Christianity from Jerusalem all the way to Rome. It is easy to read Acts and find your attention drawn to larger-than-life figures of the early church like Peter and the Apostle Paul.

But what if you were to take a second look at these accounts paying attention to the acts of everyday Christians and lesser known figures who carried the gospel with them wherever they went? What if the explosive growth of Christianity in its earliest days had less to do with the intrepid works of a few of great heroes, and was more a function of the everyday faithfulness of ordinary Christians, whose names we have long since forgotten? Isn’t that how gospel movements, or movements of any kind, work?

This Sunday, we’ll be starting a new four-month sermon series in the book of Acts exploring just this question. And as we look at the pivotal role that everyday Christians played in the early church, my prayer is that it would show each of us how the Spirit can use our acts of everyday faithfulness and make a movement out of it.

So, join us as we begin this ministry year with 40 Days of Prayer. And then allow the Spirit to lead you to the “unhistoric acts” that God has prepared for you to do, for his glory and the growing good of the world.

Warmly,

Rev. Abraham Cho
East Side Senior Pastor

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