We celebrated 5 years as a church just a few weeks ago, and in this message, we look ahead to what’s coming down the road for the next five years. Updates on the building, potential hiring opportunities, sabbaticals, etc
Peter begins to share the gospel with Cornelius, and before he is done speaking, the Holy Spirit falls on the Gentiles, and the game has shifted for the rest of human history - Gentiles are included in the promises of God!
Peter is sitting down to eat lunch one day, when he falls into a trance and sees a heavenly vision about eating unclean animals. After the vision, some unclean men arrive at the door asking him to come with them. The Lord instructs Peter to go with them “with no doubts.” And he ends up in the home of a Romans centurion. The “bridge” that is the church of God is starting to come together in Christ!
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.
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?
Today we zoom out from the text of Acts for a Sunday, and ask the question, "How do we handle our suffering when we're one of the crippled people who didn't get healed that day?" How do you biblically process watching God answer the prayers you pray – but for other people? What can you hold on to in those moments to keep you from getting tossed around?
Peter and John leave the Sanhedrin and head straight for the people who share their story. The entire group turns immediately to prayer. As they pray, they also reveal some markers for how we today can biblically make sense of persecution to this day.
Peter, John and the healed man end up spending a night in jail and then being put on trial before the Sanhedrin. But it’s not only in the miraculous where the Holy Spirit is evident. Peter stands up to speak, and he is filled with the Holy Spirit to boldly confront these religious leaders with their sin. What will their response be?
Two of the apostles are headed to the temple for worship when they encounter a crippled man panhandling at the temple gate. A miracle of healing gives opportunity for a gospel presentatio
Peter’s message presents the gospel, and God opens the eyes of 3000 people to repent of their sin and turn to Jesus. Now, those 3000 are looking to live out this new identity in Christ as this gospel begins to bear fruit in their lives.