Lydia
HEROES OF THE FAITH • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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· 1 viewWe are called to be and build the church where we are and with what we have.
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Scripture Passage
Scripture Passage
Acts 16:13–15, 40 (NLT)
Acts 16:13–15, 40 (NLT)
13 On the Sabbath we went a little way outside the city to a riverbank, where we thought people would be meeting for prayer, and we sat down to speak with some women who had gathered there. 14 One of them was Lydia from Thyatira, a merchant of expensive purple cloth, who worshiped God. As she listened to us, the Lord opened her heart, and she accepted what Paul was saying. 15 She and her household were baptized, and she asked us to be her guests. “If you agree that I am a true believer in the Lord,” she said, “come and stay at my home.” And she urged us until we agreed...
40 When Paul and Silas left the prison, they returned to the home of Lydia. There they met with the believers and encouraged them once more. Then they left town.
Focus Statement
Focus Statement
We care called to be and build the church where we are and with what we have.
Point of Relation
Point of Relation
Throughout the years I have been the recipient of hospitality...
I easily can think back to the time when I was a teenager...
All teenagers are wonderful to their parents, always, obedient and respectful, and never cause melodrama around the house, right?
Well, let me be honest, I was no different than any other teenager in that regard.
And there were times that I would threaten to run away...
And, well it wasn’t a threat, because I did leave the house...
But guess where I went?
To my friends house.
And guess who showed me A TON of hospitality? My friends parents...
Little did I know they were calling my parents, who knew where I was…that I was safe…and that I would eventually make my way back home again.
It takes a village to raise a single child, right?
I also lived in a household that showed hospitality to everyone.
Our neighbors remember when my mom used to bake pies and other things for them...
just to show her appreciation of them.
Things to Consider
Things to Consider
Let’s look at the ways our church has adapted since COVID-19 hit our world…in order to show hospitality to our congregation and those seeking hope during a pretty hopeless time...
We immediately went from in-person services, with about 70 people or more at worship between the two services...
To completely online…with the church leaders doing what was necessary to keep the church running.
We also had to apply for PPP…to show hospitality to our staff...
Which resulted in our staff getting paid, rather than laid off, during the pandemic
We had online fellowship and continued to meet for online Bible Study…in order to keep people who were otherwise isolated…connected.
Our small groups such as our Afternoon Book Club…switched to the online format as well…to accommodate its members during that time.
Which brings us to another change we implemented:
WE SUBSCRIBED TO ZOOM…which was a life-saver for the church, honestly.
WE ARE STILL UTILIZING IT making it possible for people like Carol in Florida
and my Mom in South Carolina to join Bible Studies here in New Jersey.
And people whose health keeps them from participating in-person can now continue to participate from a distance due to that technology.
That my friends is HOSPITALITY TOO.
Which is why this is a great technology that all churches are now utilizing.
We also showed our hospitality to frontline healthcare workers by participating in a district car parade at Bristol Glen as well as creating and sending cards to Newton Medical Center in order to support the well-overworked and exhausted staff.
And those are just a few of the many changes that we made to continue showing hospitality to people during a pretty inhospitable time...
Think about it. People were literally dying alone in hospitals and no one but doctors, nurses and aides were allowed anywhere near to support them…
How horrifying…and we’ve seen the results…and which should remind us that
HOSPITALITY should be the key to everything we do.
What Scripture Says
What Scripture Says
In today’s Scripture we see that
First, God uses the most unlikely people to achieve God’s purposes.
As a dealer in purple cloth...
(Fun Fact, by the way, the dye was extracted by a certain kind of shellfish that was highly costly)...
As a dealer in purple cloth,
Lydia would have had access to people in power and prestigious people,
and she would have had wealth.
In converting to Christianity,
she was taking a heroic leap of faith,
because all of those worldly riches could have been jeopardized.
Second,
God opens our hearts.
As we see in today’s passage, God opened Lydia’s heart,
resulting in her whole household being blessed by her faith.
The baptism of Lydia’s entire household, presumably children too,
reminds us that infant baptism is a long tradition in Christian history.
Finally,
Christians are called to hospitality.
Lydia’s household becomes the church in Thyatira...
the same church that the Risen Jesus writes to in Revelation 2:19-29...
Addressing them as a church of love, faith, service and patient endurance.
Prounounced (Thyra-tie-ra).
She shares her hospitality with Paul and Silas.
Even after they’ve been released from Prison...
Meaning she’s associating with “known trouble makers”.
Her home becomes a hub where siblings in Christ find encouragement.
Let’s pause here to think about how faith is looked at today in our society…and maybe among some here in our congregation...
In today’s society...
Faith is considered PERSONAL...
NOT TO BE SHARED
TO BE KEPT TO ONESELF.
Mention the word EVANGELISM…and you will see what I mean.
People get very uncomfortable and that is when you will start to hear things like “We don’t talk about religion at the dinner table…or the picnic table…or the sofa…or heck, even in our household! #GoAway
Yet, in Lydia we see th eBiblical model of how faith ought to be...
It is NOT PERSONAL or INDIVIDUAL...
BUT COMMUNAL...
FAMILIAL...
How can we move beyond seeing faith as beliefs and practices
held and lived out by individuals
to creating cultures of hospitality and encouragement
in our homes and communities?
What This Means for You
What This Means for You
Lydia was blessed with access to financial and social resources
and used them to establish a house church in her community.
What gifts are you blessed with that can help you build up the community of faith and transform lives?
How is God calling you to provide hospitality to further the kingdom?
Whether new to the faith or seasoned,
there are ways in which you can discern your Spiritual Gifts.
Our own UMC Disicpleship Website has a spiritual inventory
which you can access at umcdiscipleship.org/spiritual-gifts-inventory
to assess what your own Spiritual gifts.
What This Means for Us
What This Means for Us
As a body of believers,
what is the legacy we are presenting as a community of faith?
We are once again holding Fellowship Hour...
We are hosting a potluck dinner and building a community literally through fellowship and food.
We are starting a brand new small group called Theology on Tap, this Thursday at 6 p.m....
Meeting people where they are rather than expecting them to come to us first...
What are the resources we collectively have,
and how do we use them in such a time athis to further the kingdom?
Together, with Christ my friends, there is nothing that will stop what God has in store.
Let us then have the heroic faith of Lydia and open ourselves to what God is calling us to do! Amen? Amen?