Acts 16:6-24 - "The Lord Leads"

Today’s big idea is that the Lord is always leading us, so we must be prepared to follow. As we see Paul following the Lord, it’s going to raise two important points of application: 1. How might the Lord be leading us? and 2. Where might the Lord be leading us? If we can better understand how and where the Lord leads Paul and his companions, then we will be better prepared to follow the Lord in our own lives, with spiritual sensitivity and a sense of security no matter where we end up.

Acts 16:1-5 - "Cultural Sensitivity"

Sadly, sin makes us insensitive to others. Our sinful nature can have us seeing the world through a selfish, self-absorbed lens. But as Christians, Christ calls us to walk with sensitivity toward each other and our neighbors, so that we can love others well. Today’s big idea is that cultural sensitivity strengthens the Church. It does this by strengthening Christian witness and Christian community. In today’s passage, we can see the effects of a Christ-honoring cultural sensitivity both directly and indirectly at the beginning of Paul’s second missionary journey.

Acts 14:21-28 - "Strengthening the Church"

As believers, new or longstanding, we need to be strengthened in our faith and we need to continue to grow in spiritual maturity. As we will see in our passage today, believers need to be strengthened through discipleship, under the guidance of a church body and pastoral leadership, and through celebration in Christ. We need to be disciples and we need to make disciples that are growing in faith.

Acts 14:8-21 - "False Worship"

Part of our fallen condition is that we tend to assign worth to worthless things. This is what the Bible means by idolatry, which is the worship of worthless idols which can never provide what we want from them. Today’s big idea is that God alone is worthy, so He alone should be worshiped. False worship is what happens when we worship anything in place of the one, true, living God. Today’s passage gives us a glimpse into the nature of false worship, and also the character of false worshipers.

Acts 14:1-7 - "Moral Courage"

Sometimes we are hesitant to speak the truth plainly and boldly, especially when we think it might stir up division or opposition. Scripture certainly doesn’t call us to be obnoxious, self-righteous jerks. But, our Lord does call us to lovingly speak His truth clearly and confidently, for the good of the people He’s placed in our lives, and for His glory. Today’s big idea is simply that speaking truth requires moral courage.

Acts 13:4-12 - "Spiritual Opposition"

Gospel ministry will face spiritual opposition, but through Christ we can overcome it. Today’s passage models an approach to spiritual opposition that holds to both the reality of our spiritual opponents, but also the unlimited power and ultimate authority of Christ. We’re going to look at three aspects of gospel ministry: intentional outreach, inevitable opposition, and how Christ overcomes.

Acts 13:1-3 - "Awaiting Orders"

As Christians, we sometimes struggle to understand our purpose: What are our standing orders? What are we supposed to be doing as members of the Church? And do we have any special orders: something that the Lord has specifically called us to as individuals or as individual families? Today’s passage helps us make sense of all that: how to understand our standing orders as well as how to receive and respond to any special orders from the Holy Spirit. Every Christian receives orders from Christ, which means we must understand those orders in order to obey them.

Acts 12:1-25 - "Life & Death"

At the end of the day, we don’t know why God allows some people to live longer than others, or why He allows some people to go on living at all. Our very human tendency is to see such things in light of our desire for immediate justice (at least, in the case of others). Long life seems a fitting reward for the seemingly righteous, and sudden death for the really wicked. But our ways are not God’s ways, and our thoughts are not God’s thoughts. The big idea for today is that God has an eternal, purposeful perspective, and so we must trust Him with issues of life and death. In Acts 12, we have three stories of life and death that are presented in the context of God’s eternal, purposeful perspective: 1. The death of James; 2. The near-death experience of Peter; and 3. The death of Herod Agrippa.

"Proof of Payment" (Easter 2022)

The crucifixion constituted a once-and-for-all payment for sin. But the resurrection is and always will be our proof of payment. Without Easter Sunday, Good Friday would be no good at all. But the resurrected Christ did indeed conquer sin and death, so we can live with peace and hope by trusting in Him. Otherwise, we would have no basis for peace with God and the hope of eternal life.

Acts 11:19-30 - "Collaborative Efforts"

The Great Commission is a great collaboration between Christ and Christians, so we all have a part to play. Today’s passage is a turning point where the Gospel begins to go out to the nations. And it shows us how the Lord works through many different people to build up His Church and to bring more and more people into His kingdom. This morning, we are going to look at four different roles played by different Christians, who work together to build up the Church. In Acts 11:19-30, we see people evangelizing non-Christians, and also encouraging, equipping and exhorting new Christians.

Acts 11:1-18 - "The Bigger Picture"

We can’t always anticipate what God is going to do, so we must always hold loosely to our expectations and traditions. Today’s passage begins with a very human response to doing something “new” in light of tradition, but thankfully it ends with a worshipful acknowledgement of the bigger picture of what God was doing in terms of salvation and the expansion of the Church.

Acts 10:34-48 - "Good News For Everyone"

God’s ordinary means of leading people to faith in Christ is to send a person to share the good news of Jesus with someone whose heart has been prepared to hear it and to respond. And this is exactly what we see in the conversion of Cornelius. The really extraordinary thing about this story is that the person who responded to the good news of the Jewish Messiah wasn’t Jewish. Today’s big idea is that the Gospel is good news for everyone, so anyone can be saved through faith in Jesus.

Acts 10:23-33 - "Gospel Preparedness"

When we fail to trust that God is at work in our lives and in the lives of others, we tend to put too much pressure on ourselves to present the Gospel perfectly and we put too much pressure on others to immediately understand and accept it. We can’t afford to forget that God is at work on both sides of evangelism. God prepares people’s hearts for the Gospel, both to share it and to believe it. Today’s passage shows how God was simultaneously working with both Peter and Cornelius to bring about the fruit of salvation.

Acts 10:1-23 - "Divine Directions"

As Christians, we will lack usefulness if we lack prayerfulness. Turning to God in prayer prepares us to be useful instruments in the hands of our Redeemer. And God delights in choosing humans, like us, to accomplish His redemptive plans. As we see in today’s passage, God connects humble seekers with human speakers, so let’s pray for humble hearts and bold tongues.

Acts 9:32-43 - "New Life In Christ"

Today’s big idea is that we have new life in Christ, so let’s show that newness as we share the good news. In our passage, we see the “accelerant” of apostolic signs and wonders pointing to the power of Christ to save. Peter’s two miracles point to two important realities for every Christian man or woman: restoration for our spiritual disabilities and being raised to new life in Christ.

Acts 9:1-31 - "Unstoppable"

In philosophical circles, the “irresistible (or unstoppable) force paradox” asks the question: “What happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object?” The Bible resolves this issue by revealing that there is no such thing as an irresistible or unstoppable force, outside of God Himself. Today’s passage reiterates this point by showing us that Jesus alone is both immovable and unstoppable.