“Do you know what it means that you are God’s workmanship? What is art? Art is beautiful, art is valuable, and art is an expression of the inner being of the maker, of the artist. Imagine what that means. You’re beautiful, you’re valuable, and you’re an expression of the very inner being of the Artist, the divine Artist, God Himself” – Tim Keller

We are God’s masterpiece, “poiema”, word only used at creation and in Ephesians 2. We are a new creation “kainos” – Greek for “new, of a whole new kind; never seen before, uncommon, unprecedented, unheard of, novel.”

God, Elohim (Creator) says of us: “I have chosen you,” “I am with you”, “I am your God,” “I will strengthen you,” I will help you.” “You are mine,” “I formed you.”

Isaiah 40:31, “But those who wait upon the LORD will renew their strength” or another translation “those who entwine their hearts with Yahweh will experience divine strength.”

Somehow our recording failed to upload – so sorry about that. But here’s song from the our Spotify Who You Are, Says Who playlist to go with this week’s lesson: Elohim from Hillsong.

Check out the Who You Are, Says Who playlist on Spotify

Paul & Silas have left Athens and headed to Corinth where he will connect with his new friends and fellow compatriots Aquilla & Priscilla. But rather than go into everything, here’s our chat:

This week we catch up with Saul just after he and Barnabas have gone their separate ways after a disagreement over John Mark. Their first journey presented the Gospel to the Jews (Acts 13) and to the Gentiles (Acts 14 – the Greeks) as they had been tasked. They also sought wisdom from the Council at Jerusalem to smooth some inevitable issues as the freedom for which Jesus set us free bumps into the Law (those who had banked their lives on melding with those who looked to everything other than it.)

Which is where we ourselves in Acts 16. We are invited us to travel along with Paul, Silas and their new addition to the crew, Timothy – “a disciple” “whose mother was Jewish and a believer but whose father was a Greek” on the second missionary journey.

We get to see prayer, faith, trust and utter obedience in action – in tough situations dealing with broken relationship, mis-use of power, persecution alongside power and peace in the midst.

But rather than go into it all, here’s a link to our chat:

In Acts 11 we find Peter facing some critics of his communing and dining with sinners – which is a bit of an understatement of the enormity of this shift God had gently urged Peter into through and with Cornelius in Chapter 10. Peter offers us a brief case study of dealing with conflict. He never tried to prove himself or set himself up as “right – he didn’t argue or put down those coming after him. He humbly (which might be the operative word) and simply presented the facts, took it to God and let His word (Scripture) stand (or not stand) for itself with the statement, “Who was I that I could stand in God’s way?”

But rather than go into it all, here’s a link to our chat:

And this week, we circled back to Peter as he leaned into his front row seat not only to see, but to experience even more freedom for which he (we!) had (have) been set free. Through Aeneas, Tabitha & Cornelius God reveals his power to breathe life into bodies and souls. He hears our prayers, sees our need, meets our needs (even those we didn’t know we had) and displays his faithfulness in ways exceedingly, abundantly more than we can ask or imagine. Which He continues to do today – every day.

She walked us through the beautiful background and story of Paul then his conversion as we see up close and personal God’s sovereignty (over all things seen and unseen) and faithfulness.

In Acts 1, Jesus told the disciples, ““It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

In chapters 7 and 8, we’re getting to watch it play out. From Stephen’s brilliant testimony in Acts 7 to Philip’s sharing in Samaria and the beginning of the ends of the earth as the Ethiopian eunuch learns that the answer to his questions is Jesus – Redeemer, Savior.

But rather than go into it all, here’s a link to our chat:

We continue right where we left off last week. Steven, facing the Sanhedrin and charges manufactured against him, sets forth in sharing a beautiful story. Beginning with Abraham in Genesis , he weaves his way through a familiar landscape for his “brothers and fathers (v.1) that offers more to the story than they had ever seen before – mainly a common theme woven throughout, manifested in Christ: eternal redemption and salvation.

Rather than go into it all, here’s a link to our chat:

Another terrific discussion this week as Candy led us through Acts 6. We talked about wisdom, about God’s word (that cannot be bound) about giftedness, leadership, calling and resting in Truth – knowing that God is beyond our understanding and always F A I T H F U L.

We had a lively and thought-provoking discussion of a Ananias & Sapphira’s difficult story followed by great inspiration of Peter and the disciples determination in the face of persecution.