Nicole and Sharon talk about remembering, today. Why is it important to think back on wonderful things God has done in the past? How does that keep us going in times when we don’t seem to see Him moving? We’re talking about Stephen, one of the first martyrs of the church, today. Let’s study what Stephen had to say about remembering and why we mustn’t forget.

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Speaker 1:

It is time for a pause in your day. Welcome to a podcast where we press the pause button on our busy lives for a few moments, and we focus on God’s word with Sharon and Nicole. We pray this is a time of refreshing for you. The Sweet Selah Moments Podcast is a cooperative production of Word Radio and Sweet Selah Ministries.

Nicole:

Welcome to Sweet Selah Moments. This is episode 136, Don’t Forget to Remember. Today we’re going to look at one of the Bible’s most famous sermons preached by a man about to be stoned to death. Yes, Stephen, one of the earliest followers of Christ, has been accused and is now about to give his defense in Acts chapter seven. It’s an interesting defense, Sharon. He basically recites the history of the Jewish nation, at least in the first part of the speech that we’re gonna look at today. Why do you think he spends so much time repeating old history?

Sharon:

That’s such a good question, Nicole. It’s something that I pondered a little bit because everyone there knew the history that Stephen shared and that we will read later in today’s discussion. So why share it again? I can think of several reasons. First of all, Stephen wanted them to know that he was a devout Jew. He knew his history. He remembered all that God had done in the past. Second, I think Stephen wanted to set the groundwork for the message of Jesus by grounding it in what had happened in the past, sort of finding common ground with his accusers and showing them his orthodoxy. See, I am orthodox. I do believe all these things to be true. I do support Moses, even though you told me I didn’t, you know? He believed the scriptures as they did. And third, simply that remembering the past is super important. We need to do that too. So we’re actually gonna do that. Before we look into Stephen’s remembrances, we’re gonna share a few of our own. This has been fun preparing for. (NIcole: It has) So let’s go back and forth sharing pivotal moments in our own faith journeys. I’d like you to start, what’s one of your early memories of something that drew you closer to God? Let’s start with our childhood years and kind of walk ourselves in faith up to today. We’ve gotta remember these pivotal moments and share them with others. So it’s story time. (Yay!) Go ahead Nicole.

Nicole:

This is so fun. So one of my very first early childhood memories was right after I asked Jesus into my heart and was baptized that next Easter. We were in my favorite childhood church ’cause we had moved quite a bit with military, but this church was just my favorite. They had lots of kids programs. They had dramas and play productions. I just loved being there. And that Easter, they did a really special drama. They dramatized, Jesus’ death an...