Sermons on Acts (Page 2)
Uncharted Territory, Part 3: From Jew to Gentile
Uncharted Territory, Part 3: From Jew to Gentile God was using the children and the voice of Abraham to bring a message to the children of anyone else who could come by faith: you don’t have to be born physically into this. … We’re called to be pioneers to train people and teach people about the sovereignty of God — teach people about the lineage that can be found in Christ and Christ alone. And the only identity that I…
Uncharted Territory, Part 2: Persecutor to Propagator Through Conversion
Uncharted Territory, Part 2: Persecutor to Propagator Through Conversion God is a sovereign God. God has a plan. And God is going to fulfill that plan, with or without you—or me. God’s plan is to integrate and move into the hearts and lives of people in His sovereign will. Ananias was used by God to be part of God’s sovereign plan, to use Saul—Paul—to open the door for the gentile world to come to faith. … The persecutor [Paul], all…
Uncharted Territory, Part 1: From a Safe Community to the Frontier
Uncharted Territory, Part 1: From a Safe Community to the Frontier I have said that [Philip] was the very first Acts 1:8 man, so I don’t disagree that he was a pioneer. But I don’t think that Philip was trying to be a pioneer. I don’t think that he was trying to say, “Here I am! I’m the first one to try to evangelize past Samaria!” I think he was just trying to be a Christian. … My encouragement in…
Uncharted Territory: Introduction
Uncharted Territory: Introduction — Overview of the Bible We have to learn to live out the book of Acts. Whenever you study the Bible, it’s not just a book of history and story lines. You have to literally insert yourself into it. You have to personally live it. We don’t just see it as past history; we see it as current life. It’s not just stories of missionary journeys of Paul…and others. It is the story line of us. Download the…
BOTH/AND, Part 5: Staying/Going
BOTH/AND, Part 5: Staying/Going A purposeful life, for every one of us, is based on fulfilling God’s order to stay and go with purpose, recognizing that this home is not your home, this place is not your final stop; that God is using you for an indefinite period of time — you and this church you choose to be a part of — and let God make the decision about where you land. Download the PDF above to follow along with…
BOTH/AND, Part 3: Local/Global
BOTH/AND, Part 3: Local/Global Both/and. Do we go here, or there? The answer is yes. We have to discover our [global] responsibilities. That’s what our GIC — and what this church — is all about. Download the PDF above to follow along with notes.
BOTH/AND, Part 2: Serving/Proclaiming
BOTH/AND, Part 2: Serving/Proclaiming It’s that tension that develops between serving and proclaiming: do I do something good for someone, or do I just tell them about Jesus and move on? Download the PDF above to follow along with notes.
LAUNCH, Part 5: The Challenges of the Church (Acts 5-7)
I have learned that every church that chooses to truly try to do the will of God is going to face serious challenges. If you want things to go well and “kumbayah” forever, then don’t get serious about the work of God. — Billy Arnold
LAUNCH, Part 4: The Boldness of the Church (Acts 3 & 4)
Boldness comes from connecting the dots. … We are the most forgetful people on the planet. We forget what happened last week! We get so busy with life and we fill our life with noise so much that we never stop and examine: what has God done? Boldness comes from walking on a journey with God and seeing what he does, highlighting that, and saying, “My life is built on this spot!” That’s exactly what Peter is doing in this…
LAUNCH, Part 3: The Ideal Church
God has not changed his idea about the community of faith; we will be challenged on every front to be that community, that makes a difference to bring the gospel to the world. — Billy Arnold
LAUNCH, Part 2: The Power of the Church
Unholy hands — undeserved people, reckless and destructive humanity — put to death the holy One of God, this Messiah. … They unknowingly fulfilled a divine plan of God – and that divine plan of God broke the power of sin and death. Peter says, essentially, that this was a reverse courtroom judgment. Jesus himself stood on trial. The court around Jesus says, “Guilty! Hang him! Crucify him! He’s not worthy to live!” They put him on the cross. What…
LAUNCH: The Beginning of the Church (Part 1)
“Missions is not a program. It’s a purpose. It’s why we exist. … You and I won’t physically be here forever. I get that. But we are commissioned as a church body to say, are we ready to fulfill what God has called this church to do, or not? Are we ready to bring the power of the gospel to a broken world?” — Billy Arnold
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