Text: Acts 21:1-26 | Listen to Message Does God Want Me To Be Safe? We are arguably the safest, most comfortable generation in the history of the world. We feel entitled to safety and comfort, and these are major factors in how we view “God’s will” for our lives. Certainly, we tell ourselves, God wants me to be as safe and successful as possible. And so we automatically assume God’s will means less risk and more (short-term) reward. We instinctively pursue the experiences, relationships, and material things that we think will make us most comfortable. This is the kind of...
Text: Acts 20:17-38 | Listen to Message Guarding God’s Truth Imagine you live in a small, primitive village in the middle of nowhere. The life and health of your village depend on the clean water drawn from a single well. Recently – whether due to mischief or sabotage – the well has begun filling up with rocks, making it difficult to access the water. But the situation is even more dire, as it’s come to your attention that someone is trying to poison your well. How do you think you’d react to these existential threats in order to protect your...
Text: Acts 19:8—20:1 | Listen to Message Empty Promises An idol is anything you look to other than God for your ultimate sense of significance, security, or identity. So an idol is not just that statue in a faraway temple you’ll never visit, it’s also that thing you’re convinced you need in order to be happy. It’s money. It’s sex. It’s affirmation. It’s leisure. It’s family. It’s your reputation. It’s your work. It’s love. It’s sport. It’s anything you live for to prove to yourself and to others that your life has value. We’re drawn to idols because they promise...
Text: Acts 18:18—19:7 | Listen to Message Together for The Gospel Throughout the book of Acts you see Christians partnering with other Christians and churches partnering with other local churches to spread the name of Jesus. Paul, arguably one of the greatest missionary church planters the world has ever known, was quick to train his own replacements and to hand over the reigns of leadership to other godly men. The impact of these partnerships was stunning. So why don’t we see more ministry partnerships today – especially amongst Gospel-preaching churches that minister in the same cities and neighborhoods? This is...
Text: Acts 18:1-18a | Listen to Message How does God lead? Corinth was one of the great crossroads of the Roman Empire, a center for commerce, politics, religion, and the arts and entertainment. Corinth was also a notoriously immoral place more interested in sport and sex than in anything spiritual. So when the apostle Paul arrived here on his Second Missionary Journey, he admits he came “in weakness and in fear and much trembling” (1 Cor. 2:3). He was at an emotional crossroads, having been weakened and discouraged by so much apathy and opposition toward the Gospel. This text is...
Text: Acts 17:16-34 | Listen to Message Who Is God? Athens was the philosophical center of the ancient world – home to Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Zeno, and Epicurus. It was the cradle of Western civilization, the birthplace of democracy, and a mecca for the arts and sciences. But when the apostle Paul walked the streets of Athens, instead of being impressed, he was discouraged. Everywhere he looked, from the Acropolis to the agora to the Areopagus, Athens was overrun with temples, statues, and inscriptions to idols. And Paul didn’t just pity the idolatrous Athenians; he was perturbed. He was irritated;...
Text: Acts 17:1-15 | Listen to Message Share Your Faith Though most Christians will never preach in the technical or official sense, we’re all called to share the Gospel. But many believers are so intimidated by evangelism, they never really share Jesus with anyone. And, yes, it can be daunting to tell someone about the justice and grace of God, but it doesn’t have to be as intimidating as we make it. Here are five simple ways from our text that you can share the Gospel in everyday conversation: Proclaim: This simply means to announce something. Think of how news...
Text: Acts 16:25-40 | Listen to Message Purpose in Your Pain Paul and Silas found themselves in prison, the victims of gross injustice. Their only “crime” was delivering a demon-possessed girl from the exploitation of her masters. But predators are too devious to be troubled with facts, so they’ve had the missionaries beaten and imprisoned on false charges. This is the cost of doing God’s business in Philippi. But the missionaries’ response to pain, adversity, and injustice is remarkable. As everything is caving in around them, they choose to pray, and sing, and witness to their captive audience! Even...
Text: Acts 16:11-24 | Listen to Message We all need grace On the surface, people’s lives are as different from one another as night and day – and as different from one another as the two women Luke highlights in this section of Scripture. The first is a devoutly religious and successful businesswoman who’s made a small fortune selling beautiful things to beautiful people. The second, at the opposite end of the socio-religious spectrum, is a demon-possessed, exploited slave girl who’s been stripped of her dignity and name. But underneath their radically different situations in life, are they really...
Text: Acts 15:36-16:10 | Listen to Message How is God leading me? People often expect God’s leadership in their lives to be both spectacular and specific. They want a voice from heaven that speaks their name and provides fresh, detailed instructions regarding that upcoming decision. But more often than not, God’s leadership comes through other means. 1. Are you led by the priorities of Jesus? When Jesus walked this earth he was all about proclaiming the Gospel of the kingdom: forgiveness, healing, and restoration were all happening because the King had returned to lavish grace on his broken people. Then...
