Navigating the Road: Yield
Yesterday we continued thinking about how we navigate the road as we seek to discern purpose along the way. Our traffic sign this week was the “Yield” sign, which invites us to slow down and look both ways for any oncoming traffic, before we keep moving forward. One resource Pastor Clare found talked about that oncoming traffic as “conflicting” traffic—traffic that is running counter to our current direction that we need to yield to in order to avoid a collision. What is true on the road is also true in our lives. Sometimes, we need to yield to the Sprit’s movement, to a person God sends our way with different experiences or ideas, that can help us better understand our purpose once we give them the right of way.
In Acts, both Paul (Acts 9) and Peter (Acts 10) have experiences of God showing up and asking them to yield, which bring about significant transformation in their lives and in their ministry. Later in Acts 15 we watch their witness become the “Yield” sign for the church as a whole, as the Jerusalem Council discerns through their guidance that Gentile Christians should be welcomed into the faith without requiring them to observe Jewish law. Our understanding of the Gospel and the church’s mission and reach have been deeply shaped by this willingness to yield found in the book of Acts.
In her sermon, Pastor Clare reflects on why yielding is important in our own lives, as we seek to live faithfully over the years. After a week where the world remembered and looked back on the life of Dolly Parton, who died this past week at the age of eighty, Pastor Clare reflected upon how Dolly’s life is an example of just that. Listen for more at the sermon link below!
Here are things Pastor Clare referenced in her sermon yesterday, if you would like to dig deeper this week.
Scripture - Acts 9 - Saul who becomes Paul’s Conversion Story
Scripture - Acts 10 - Peter’s Vision that leads him to Cornelius
Scripture - Acts 15 - Paul and Peter at the Jerusalem Council
There are plenty of articles and memorials to Dolly Parton available right now. You can find the documentary, Dolly Parton: Here I Am that was filmed in 2019 and first released in 2020 on a number of streaming platforms online.