Acts – Peter Gowesky

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Carry the Conversation

August 24, 2009 3 Comments

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Last night was fun… Man I love when we get together at the Five. Thanks for coming! If you weren’t there, check over here for the Podcast from last night’s teaching. It is www.thefiveonline.com there it is… put it in your favorites…

Anyway, we continued in the teaching series “Empowered”. I hope that this has been as challenging to you as it has been to me. Let’s keep the conversation rolling from last night… As usual, we have the text questions throughout the service and there were two really good ones that came in last night. I would love to hear your feedback as well on them. So here they are…

1. You talked about God having plans laid out for us. Where does this leave free will?

God has a plan for our lives. God had a plan for Jeremiah’s life and He has a plan for your life and mine. Free will comes in to play here: what do we do with the plan that God has laid out for us. A builder gets all kinds of plans and sketches done for how to build and frame a house. Now when it gets into the hands of the framers, the HVAC guys, the masons, the fireplace guy, the carpenters, the tile guys, then you can see what ends up where and how well they stick with the plan. That’s where free will comes into play. It’s your choice wether or not to follow what God has planned for you.

2. So how do you know when to say no to serving opportunities? I mean obviously bad things but like the whole “some things are good to do but some things are best” discussion.

Well this is a tough one. I think that this is where prayer comes into play. If I were you I would pray and ask God to clearly lead you in the direction that He would have you go. That way you know without a doubt that you are doing the right thing. I would pray and ask God to show you which area of service you are needed most. This is where checking your attitude comes in to play too. Sometimes it’s easy to get the attitude of “I’ve already done enough…” We need to be careful about not having this attitude.

I think the reality is that you need to be the judge of how much is to much. You need to know when doing one more thing will take away from your effectiveness of all the other things that you are doing. When you can become aware of that and remain balanced, that is where you will know when to not do the next “good” thing. Stick with those things that you do “best”.

What do the rest of you think? What has helped you? Thoughts?

~Peter

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Carry the Conversation

August 10, 2009 No Comments

Empowered

Last night was awesome! It was one night that was packed with all kinds of great stuff… Last night we unveiled our new website: www.thefiveonline.com. This is where we will have our podcast hosted as well as much more information. I am so excited for this! Again, it’s just a tool to help us be the Church and do what God has called us to do. Go ahead over there and check it out!

Thanks to all of you guys being there last night! I love what God is doing through each one of you here at FBC! It was tons of fun for me to get to know our friends from the Philippines, as well as to learn how to properly say their names! It is so cool to see what God is doing around the world through others, isn’t it? My favorite part was when Pastor Faustino was talking about how excited their church gets for worship. So cool…

I am proud to let you know that last night alone we received $602.65 for our Filipino friends at PhilSol. You all continue to amaze me. Having just heard about the opportunity to give, that is very impressive! Let’s see what we can do next week! Let’s come prepared to come alongside of them and support them in their efforts to purchase a base of operations for this vital ministry in the Philippines.

Thank you to all of you who made our Second Sunday dinner such a huge success! Many many thanks to the Simmons, the Rhoads, Gastgebs, Meg Burger, and others who were hanging out helping to clean up! You guys are all incredible! I watched as everyone chipped in and made the whole evening happen. It doesn’t ride on two peoples shoulders, but everyone! Great job!

We had one question last night so here it is…

Do you use a commentary, and if so which one?

Yes, I definitely use a commentary… Actually I use several! I rely on learning and studying as much as I can, and commentaries and other sources are so helpful in this area. I take each and every opportunity that I have to stand in front of you all as a privilege and a very high calling. So, in my effort to be prepared and accurate I use a couple different commentaries.

Here are a few of my favorite:

The Teacher’s Commentary
The New Bible Commentary
The Bible Exposition Commentary
N.T. Wright has written commentaries on many books of the Bible entitled “For Everyone” (great book to read alongside of your particular book of the Bible)

Hope this helps!

There is so much to be excited about! Let’s make movement in our communities! Be the Church!

~Peter

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Hero to zero- FEAR

October 21, 2008 No Comments

Okay, so what truly scares you? I hate spiders… They creep me out, scare me, and just all around bother me like nothing else. Several months ago, I hear my name being yelled from the basement of our townhouse and Tiffany says, get down here now! So, of course like any good husband would do, I bolt down there to aid my damsel in distress. I get down there to see a monster spider just chillin’ in the middle of our carpet, hanging out like I wanted him there or something. So, upon seeing the sight, I said, what do you want me to do about it? You kill it! Talk about manly, knight in shinning armor momments, this was not one of mine. I hate spiders… Did I mention that? I think I threw a stack of magazines in that general direction in hopes that my shot gun approach would in fact disable the spider to the point of death. I was successful.

So, we are back to Acts today. Acts 9:10-19… Check it out here…

Here is this guy Ananias who gets a call from God to go and do the scariest thing possible. Go and visit Saul. Saul (later Paul) had permission from the High Priest to take out any of the believers that were following “the way”. Ananias says, “God, I’ve heard the bad things this guy can do to me… Like for real? You want me to do that?” God replies yes! I have called you to this… This is for you. Face your fear, and be obedient to me.

Ananias, a normal guy, we have no idea where he comes from, or where he goes after this, but God has called him to this task. To face his fear and obey God.

What scares you? What do you think God is asking you to do that just terrifies you? Let’s hear em…

~Peter (still scared of spiders)

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My Hearts Desires…

October 18, 2008 No Comments

I’ve been reading in Acts, and I’ve come up to the conversion of Saul of Tarsus. It’s actually Acts 9:1-9. Check it out here.

So, anyhow, I was thinking about this today, and I have been pairing my reading with a great book by a huge thinker in our day, N.T. Wright. He writes a book called Acts for Everyone. It makes for an excellent study aid. Here is something I never knew before… So, back in the day, the Jews used to meditate on certain scriptures, chapters, and such. One such meditation is from Ezekiel 1:26-28. They would actually look to see God in the sky, coming in on a chariot. They would meditate on this.

Can you imagine Saul’s surprise to find out that he is literally looking upon the very God of the universe with his own two eyes?

It made me think… What are the meditations of MY heart. What am I longing to see God do? What do I set before my mind at all times waiting to see what God will do with it?

So, here’s the deal, Saul, got what he was meditating on, with an added twist. “Saul, why do you persecute me?” That must have been a shocker, eh? Here is a guy thinking He is doing the right thing, seeking after the right and God honoring thing. Then, BAM! He is asked that question… Why do you persecute Me?

So… This made me think about the things that I am seeking after, meditating after, longing for, and yearning for. Are these things that would please God?

What do you think? Respond, lets start the coversation…

~Peter