Westminster Presbyterian Church, Alexandria Va

We have been focused on the Book of Acts this summer, in which its author Luke traces events and developments in the earliest decades of the church, first under the leadership of Peter, then of Paul. These early Christians and their leaders take the hope and idealism that came out of the resurrection and the gift of the Holy Spirit they had received at Pentecost and lead the Christian movement from its roots in Judaism and Jerusalem into the Greco-Roman world culturally, religiously, geographically. For the last sermon in the series, I want us to follow as a disagreement arises between Paul and other leaders in the church, concerning whether, in light of the impending threat to his life, Paul should go to Jerusalem. I ask you to pay particular attention to the role of the Holy Spirit in what on the surface appears to be a dispute over where next to travel. Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward preaches on the twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time. The Scripture lesson is Acts 21:1-6.