This week’s text is Acts 13, particularly looking at how Paul articulates the gospel to the religious Jews of his day. We’ll use that to connect to how churched people need to hear and rehear the gospel, even if we think we believe it. Our aim is to show us that evangelism happens as much among churched folks as among pagans.
Week 10 - "Conversion, Part 3"
This week’s text is Acts 10-11, the conversion of Cornelius. The focus is again on what conversion is and how it happens, and what results in a truly converted life. We will contrast conversion with “getting religious” this week, as well as highlight the Spirit’s yearning to make a multi-cultural family (Jews and Gentiles, people from every tribe & tongue, all worshipping Jesus).
Release Date: April 15, 2018
Week 9 - "Conversion, Part 2"
This week’s text is Acts 9, the conversion of Saul/Paul. While it is a wild story of encounter with the risen Jesus, there are key elements that we see present in every genuine conversion. Conversion happens when we encounter the Risen Jesus, and his resurrection changes everything!
Release Date: April 8, 2018
Week 8 - "Conversion, Part 1"
Acts 8:26-39
The theme for this message is “New Life in Jesus.” We’ll look at Philip and the Ethiopian, talk about how the Spirit brings about conversion, the necessity of community, and the power of the gospel to transform a life. The Ethiopian is a great story of rescue, and a great opportunity to celebrate Jesus!
Release Date: April 1, 2018
Week 7 - "Stephen's Witness"
Acts 6-7
So far in the book of acts, the followers of Jesus have dedicated themselves to understanding what Jesus death and resurrection accomplished, to praying to boldly share the gospel, and expecting the Holy Spirit to be a witness and everything is nice and comfortable. What happens when there is persecution to the point of death? And what could bot so important that it was worth dying for? The answers are in Acts 6-7.
Release Date: March 25, 2018
Week 6 - "Opposition"
Acts 4-5
This week’s text is basically all about how the Spirit led the church through resistance to the gospel mission. The fragile new church movement experiences opposition from without (religious leaders) and from within (hypocrisy and strife). And in each instance, the Spirit of God continues to move them toward mission fulfillment and a bold witness to Christ.
Release Date: March 18, 2018
Week 5 - "Word & Deed & Community"
Acts 3:1-4:4
This week’s text is a fascinating account of healing and gospel proclamation. While there’s much unique about the incident - this is a couple of Apostles uniquely anointed for a miraculous healing and gospel opportunity - there’s also much about the incident that is intended to be normative. In particular, Jesus is always healing and changing lives, and that ought to always create a stir and an opportunity for speaking of Jesus. Peter makes a beeline from the healing to speaking about Jesus, even making sure to minimize his own role in so that Jesus is clearly the hero of the incident. The Spirit of God is always changing lives by faith in Jesus and creating opportunity for gospel to go forward.
Release Date: March 11, 2018
Week 4 - "New Community"
Acts 2.37-47
This week’s text is the conclusion to Peter’s sermon and the description of the life of the early church. When Peter finishes preaching, the people exclaim, “What shall we do?” It is a great question, and gospel preaching always leads to a decision - you have to do something with the message of Jesus the crucified, resurrected, and ascended King of the World. You can’t simply shrug it off! The hearers are cut to the heart, and begin to repent and put their faith in Jesus, signified by baptism. The result is a unique and beautiful community, built on the gospel word, shaped into rhythms of shared life and worship, and wonderfully attractive to a watching world.
Release Date: March 4, 2018