Exodus, Passover Lamb, and the People of God (Acts 12:1–25)
This has been a hard week with news of the assassination of Charlie Kirk. Regardless of the political nature of his voice and organization, Charlie was a clear and animated Christian and his death is appalling and saddening. What to make of something like this? How do hold both the sin and accountability of the murderer in one hand and the sovereign and glorious purposes of God in the other. We must.
Acts 12 has a lot to say to us in the moment, as well as in general about suffering, the Christ who will not be thwarted, and the increase of the Christian movement with the blood of martyrs.
--------
--------
Defending God's Work Among the Gentiles (Acts 11:1-30)
Grace is scandalous. It ruins our well laid plans that legalism affords us. Don't eat. Don't touch. Do this. Vote this way. Affirm that. Identify as such. Jesus +. So, it is not a surprise that as the grace of God is given to the Gentiles, the Jewish believers were surprised and even perturbed. But, the Spirit's work and the Scriptural truth was clear. The gospel is gift. Jesus ALONE is the way. And, so grace among the Gentiles was and is a beautiful thing. Are we a Jesus ALONE church? Are there any ways our church, and our personal lives, still have some Jesus +?
--------
--------
The Gospel Crosses the Threshold (Acts 10:1-48)
Acts 10 is our upcoming passage as we get back into our exposition of Acts. This is a pivotal passage in Acts and in the entire NT! It is the longest narrative of Acts because of its purpose - to describe and explain that God wants the nations to know Him and worship him. The gospel crosses a threshold to to tends of the earth (Acts 1:8). This passage is designed to convict the believer that there are people who we consider unclean and we avoid them, but God has planned to save them - and He wants to use us to do that. And, this passage is a powerful word to God-fearers today, seekers if you will, that still need to know that the Almighty God is known in Jesus.
--------
--------
Keep It Simple, Saint (Acts 2:42-47)
We are back to the book of Acts and this launch Sunday we will reorient ourselves back to it with Acts 2:42-47, a key passage in Luke's account of the early church. In that passage we see the basics of a healthy and fruitful church, basics that are just as true today, than ever. Maybe these basics are especially true in this day of distraction, decadence, and information overload. The basics can be internalized with the acronym FLOW: fellowship, learning, outreach, worship. Those four things are what God is calling us to do most of the time, as best we can, by his grace. If we do, the gospel is going to advance. It just might surprise us how powerfully it advances, too.
--------
--------
Lift Up Your Eyes (Psalm 121)
This Psalm of ascent encourages the singers and worshippers to lift their eyes to the maker of heaven and earth, the one who is our helper. Join us as we conclude our summer series on the Psalms with this beautiful song of hope.
Brasil