David Bahn - Reflections

When Stephen died, Luke tells us, "Some devout men came and buried Stephen with great mourning." They mourned because death is bad. It is no friend. But they did not mourn without hope. Stephen was not given over to eternal death. Stephen's died confessing Jesus as Lord, and standing at the right hand of God. Jesus had conquered death. Still an enemy, it does not have the final say. ...

Evil will always ultimately collapse under its own weight. Truth prevails. Even when evil fights dirty, it will not win the war. Saul will find that out soon enough. So the next time you are tempted to fight dirty, think again. If you have truth and the high moral ground you will prevail. I firmly believe that. I wish more of God’s people did. Do you?

Now it seems God is using the times of affluence and peace to allow us to support those who are facing persecution and hardship for their faith. There may not be anyone today like Saul of Tarsus, or Emperor Diocletian. And the golden age of the church in America seems to have passed. But God will not coerce. he wants conviction not compliance. He desires that all people be saved and come to the kn...

There may be someone you know for whom you are praying. You pray that they would repent and believe in Jesus. You pray that they would come to faith. To that I say,  keep praying! Look at Saul. He agreed completely with the killing of Stephen. He is no lover of Jesus. He is determined to bring Jesus' followers to jail. He will squash this nascent band of brothers and sisters in Christ.  Or so...

We don't really know much about the life of the world to come. We get glimpses in Revelation 21 , Jesus' teachings about the Kingdom of God as a wedding banquet, Paul's mention of being taken up to the seventh heaven (whatever that means), and this account of Stephen's vision. We do know that Jesus has conquered death for us, and promises life in the world to come. We see all this...

God's mercy, grace, and forgiveness grows ever more precious to me as I age. It's not so much that I feel like I'm staring death in the face. But it is a deepening awareness of how desperately I need God's forgiveness and the righteousness of Christ Jesus.  That became very real and personal to me at that Bible study when I shared Walter Wangerin's Ragman parable . As I was rea...

When God gathers people into a worshiping assembly eventually they will want to gather in a building. Whether a house or an awe-inspiring cathedral, the issue is not the building, but the hearts in which God dwells. There is the kingdom of God: the gracious reign and rule of Jesus in the hearts of believers - no matter what building they may be in.

Thank God for those who have gone before us and done the hard work of organizing service projects, coordinating evangelistic efforts, building church buildings, and anything else that has sustained the mission of God and furthered the growth of God's kingdom. Their hard work in the good old days is testimony to the work of God's Holy Spirit and a blessing for which we may rightly give glor...

The high priest and Jewish leaders were riled up against Stephen - God's good and faithful witness to the truth of Jesus Christ. It did not accomplish the good things God desires. When we get riled up, we need to keep in mind that God's will is done in people's hearts. God's kindness leads to repentance. We don't scare people into belief in Jesus. God's power is made perfec...

All the trials, missteps, misunderstandings, and failures - those things that didn't work - will be forgotten in The End. Tears will be wiped from our eyes. And we will be forever with our Lord, having learned how truly good, gracious, and glorious he is. One day we'll learn it fully!

All the attributions of greatness given to Moses were meant to point people to him as God's chosen leader. Even those who considered him their great leader failed to follow him as they should. Even we who put Jesus above all others fail to follow him as we should.  But we try to follow Jesus because he redeemed us, and forgives us when we fall short. That's something Moses could not do - a...

Consider how you think of God. Is he one to be followed, trusted, obeyed, and honored? Or is there a place in your life that you reserve to yourself, thinking that God is only ruler and judge. Do you see God as good and gracious, just and loving? Or do you think of him as aloof, judging, and condemning; one to be appeased. The way you think of God will shape your willingness to fear, love, and tru...

Stephen's testimony is clear: in spite of God's deliverance through Moses, the people rejected him and decided they wanted to go back to Egypt. I guess that shouldn't surprise me either. We're living that dream now 3500 years later. We have been delivered from sin, death, and damnation by the curtain-splitting death and earth-shaking resurrection of Jesus. We've been saved. But...

Humans may have good ideas. I may need to speak with someone. I may need even to contradict what they are saying. But if it's God, I'd better be doing more listening than speaking. And as I listen, I must listen with fear and trembling, faith and love, humility and trust. For God may have an assignment for me. In fact he does. His assignment for all of us is to love him first and most, and...

Sunday Message 2023-09-10 Fishers of Men Lutheran Church, Port Isabel TX

The stories Stephen is recounting are of eternal consequence. They are part of the grand sweep of the story of God's redemption. That grand story is rooted in real people, over real time, facing real challenges, and serving to advance a narrative that would climax in the birth, life, teaching, suffering, death, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth. Stephen will get to that soon. This story is...

We are all adopted into God's family unless we are of Jewish ancestry. What a privilege we have along with all the true children of Abraham. It's an adoption by the grace of God which we enjoy by faith. We enjoy fully the privileges of family membership. Second, God uses whatever circumstance we find ourselves in to shape us for his purposes. Whether we have a large part to play in the sto...

Maybe there are some bad things happening in your life now. Difficulties will challenge us to carry on day to day. Not all things that happen are good. But God is at work through all of these things. And the bad things are not the end of the story. They are the opportunities for God to intervene and show his power and glory. They may still be bad. But God is good and at work for his glory and our...

Sometimes God uses experiences foreign to the church and faith to shape and prepare us for the great work he has in store for us to do. Many times we don't even realize how we are being shaped. We may even wonder why we're learning or experiencing the things we do. (Think junior high boys having to learn algebra or English.) But God uses all truth, learnings, experiences, and even our uniq...

God’s purposes reach far beyond the momentary comfort or sensible actions of convenience we devise. Stephen’s defense will challenge them to the point of irate judgment and vigilante action of their own. They will stone Stephen. What will we do when God disturbs our sensibilities and twists the plot of our lives? Better we be open to God’s ways and interruptions, and refuse to jump to conclusions...

In the life of the world to come we will be caught up in wonder, love and praise. For we will see more fully the breadth of God's grace and his praise will ring on our lips forever and ever. Worship - true worship - is not a forced compliance. It is the unstoppable expression of glory, honor, praise, and adoration from the redeemed of God to the God of our salvation. Let the praises ring!

Sometimes God puts dreams into our hearts in the manner of Nehemiah ( Nehemiah 2:12 ). It might be of a better financial future. It could be the mending of a broken relationship. It may be of a dream vacation or dream home. But sometimes we dream of things not of God. Those dreams turn to nightmares if we follow them. May God help us to know the difference, and to follow his dreams rather than our...

God did not use jealousy to save his people. But he did work through the twists and turns of fallen, arrogant, proud, deceitful, and hateful people. Don't take this as an excuse to act out on your own worst inclinations. But use this example to remember that no matter how bad things get, God can work them for good. He has a grand plan for the redemption of the world and to the praise of his gl...

We may grow impatient when we hear a promise of God, believe it, and seek to receive it. We may even despair when we see no movement toward relief. But that doesn't mean that God is uncaring, disengaged, or not at work. There is a bigger story of which we are all a part. Some have major roles. Others are supporting actors. But we are all important to God, and his great desire is that we be sav...

Very few questions may easily be answered yes or no. Seldom are we able to give the fullest expression of our faith in a few words. Our faith is not a collection of isolated theological truths. We are a part of God's story. It all starts with God when he calls us like he did Abram, and sends us to places we do not know. And we go in faith, believing that God is leading to a perfect and gloriou...