Now that he has met Jesus face to face, Saul's entire outlook on scripture and Jesus has changed. He now begins preaching Jesus as the Messiah to the very people he used to work with, and twice they try to kill him. He heads for the Jerusalem believers and they aren't so sure either. Only one guy, an encourager named Barnabas takes him in.
Persecution is taking place in and around Jerusalem with the aim of taking out the church and shutting down the name of Jesus. One of the leaders of the movement against the church is on his way to arrest believers 135 miles from home when all of a sudden his story is interrupted by the grace of Jesus.
In Acts 8, two kingdoms collide as one kingdom’s representative (Philip) interacts with the other kingdom’s representative (Simon). In the verses that ensue, and Simon apparently switches teams, the question soon becomes, “Where does his allegiance really lie?” Does he actually want Jesus, or does he just want the power to do some cool things?
Jesus tells a fisherman to do the impossible, touches a leper, and forgives the sin of a cripple who didn’t ask. The kingdom is here!
Is the gospel like a billboard – inviting, but powerless? Is God like a cosmic business owner, biting his nails hoping we will "stop in" for some of his "goods"? Proverbs 16 shows us the wisdom of understanding God's sovereignty in the world.
No matter what hardship you might face tomorrow, when you feel like God has moved – you’re right. But the resurrection proves he hasn’t moved away from you; he’s moved TO you!
Enigo Mentoya in “The Princess Bride” said, “there’s not a lot of money in revenge.” Yet Hollywood would disagree. We love a good revenge story! Yet if we follow the example of Jesus, he shows us a different way to handle injustice.
Kids playing often tell a friend, “you’re not the boss of me!” when a friend wants them to do something they don’t want to do. This message addresses that attitude when it comes to civil authority. Do we, armed with our identity in Christ, get a pass when it comes to obeying authorities here on earth?
The Holy Spirit has been given to the church as the power to do what we’ve been called to do – which is what? In this message from one of River City’s Leadership Team, we look at what the church is empowered to do.
When the Pharisees approach Jesus, they ask him to do a magic trick. And he replies with, "Like Jonah was dead (in the belly of a fish) for three days and then rose again (came back to land alive), so the Son of Man will be resurrected." What else does the story of Jonah have to say about Jesus' life and ministry, death and resurrection?