Get Back to Jerusalem ( Respect Established Order!)
- Baptist Daily Devotional
- 6 hours ago
- 2 min read
Rev. Enoch Thompson | May 12 2025 | Acts 8:25
KEY VERSE: “When they had testified and proclaimed the word of the Lord, Peter and John returned to Jerusalem, preaching the gospel in many Samaritan villages.” Acts 8:25 (NIV)
MESSAGE:
“Peter and John returned to Jerusalem.” Why did they not stay in Samaria? They preached the Gospel in many Samaritan villages, which could have formed the basis of a new and vibrant ministry, possibly rivalling the Jerusalem church. They could have named it THE SAMARITAN CHURCH OF THE HANDS-LAYING APOSTOLIC DUO. But “Peter and John returned to Jerusalem.”
Christian faith is entered into individually, but that personal choice immediately makes us part of the universal Body of Christ, the Church (1 Cor. 12:13). We are born again alone to be grown in sanctification and ministry together with other Christians. Christian ministry must not be freelance and unaccountable. The early Apostles of the Lord felt a sense of responsibility and accountability to the leadership of the Church in Jerusalem. The Apostle Paul in his time found the Church in Antioch as his home and sending-church and reported his missionary exploits back to that base (Acts 18:22-23).
We must have a church-base for any and all the many gifts God has given us as individuals. No amount of gifting should make us detach from a local church commitment, which becomes our reference point and our reporting ground. For individuals with itinerant gifts like singing, playing instruments, preaching, or teaching, whatever our gifts, we must submit to some pastoral authority in some local church so that God’s work in and through us is seen as the extension of the life of the Church together.
FEET AND HANDS FOR THE MESSAGE:
Are you committed to a local church to which you are accountable in your Christian walk and ministry? Keep it up; it is important to your walk with God.
PRAYER:
Lord, thank you for your Church and its expression in local churches. Please help me love my local church and find the support I need for my life and ministry. Lord bless our church leaders so that they will be a blessing to all of their members. For your dear Name’s sake, Amen.
THERE SHALL BE SHOWERS OF BLESSING.
SHOWERS! BLESSINGS!!
The 365 DAILY BIBLE READING Day 132: Judges 17-18 - Micah and the Danites
DAILY word study: RETURNED The word returned in Acts 8:25 comes from the Greek ὑπέστρεψαν (hupestrepsan), a form of ὑποστρέφω (hupostrephō), which means to turn back, to go back to a place one came from. It implies intentionality and responsibility.
Peter and John had fulfilled their mission in Samaria. Instead of staying to build a new base, they returned to Jerusalem, their spiritual and leadership centre. The word here shows more than travel; it reflects submission to spiritual order.
Reflection
When God gives you a platform or a gift, don’t disconnect from your base. Go back. Stay rooted. Like Peter and John, let your journey end where accountability and spiritual covering remain strong. See Acts 14:26-28 for another example of returning to a sending church.
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