The apostles find themselves before the Sanhedrin again, the High priest asks: "We ordered you to stop!" Peter responds: "We must obey God rather than men." he goes on to describe Jesus' resurrection, exaltation. The leaders furious, want to kill the apostles. Gamaliel intervenes: "If this is from God, you can't stop it; if not, it'll fail on its own." The leaders are persuaded and the apostles are flogged, ordered to stop speaking about Jesus, and are then released. There is a sense in this passage that God can work however God wants to. There is also this element of exploring the movements that went before the Jesus movement--the ways they missed it, and the ways we are still missing it 2000 years later.

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In Acts 5:12-26, we see the community grow despite what is referred to as "fear" in the text. Simultaneously, Peter's shadow heals people, signs and wonders are present. In the midst of this, Jewish religious leaders throw the apostles in prison. An angel breaks them out at night, and tells them "go tell the whole message."

This text encourages us to consider the church as a "brave space" rather than "safe space." The invitation toward healing in community can be messy, and scary, and sometimes we find ourselves as an instrument of invitation for someone else's healing.

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Thank you for joining us today! If you feel led to give to DCC, you can do so here: https://pushpay.com/g/denverchurch?src=hpp