Chapel Hill Bible Church - Sermons

Last Sunday, we began a new sermon series, "The Renewal of All Things," and we started where every honest account of the world must begin—with the bad news. Drawing from Genesis 3 and John 15, we looked honestly at what it means to live on mission in a world that is not merely broken, but is, in the deepest sense, at enmity with God.

Chapel Hill and the Triangle are places of remarkable intelligence, creativity, and opportunity—yet they are also places of profound spiritual darkness and need. Before we can talk about how Christians renew a city, we have to reckon with the depth of what we are up against, and more importantly, with the depth of grace that sends us into it.

Last Sunday, we looked at the big picture of Acts as we returned to Acts 2:42–47 to ask a simple but searching question: What does it look like for our church to continue the story of Acts? The early church wasn't complicated—it was committed. They were devoted to learning, fellowship, prayer, and mission. But as we'll see, the gap between knowing what a healthy church looks like and actually wanting it is a matter of the heart. We examined the "defeater beliefs" and hidden fears that keep us at arm's length from deeper devotion, and we considered what renewal—real, Gospel-driven renewal—looked like for each of us and for our church together.

Last Sunday, we arrived at the final chapter of our journey through the book of Acts. In Acts 28, we find Paul shipwrecked on the island of Malta, eventually making his way to Rome itself—all the while proclaiming Christ with the same unshakable boldness that has marked his ministry from the beginning.

From crushing the head of a viper on a remote island beach to teaching the Kingdom of God under house arrest in the capital of the world, Paul embodies the great theme of the entire book: the Spirit of God empowers ordinary people to keep proclaiming Christ. Even in suffering and rejection, darkness is doomed and light shines again. As we close this study, we will face the question that Luke leaves hanging in the air for every generation of the church that follows: When it comes to the city where God has placed us—when in Rome and when in Chapel Hill—will we follow suit?

Last Sunday, we entered one of the most gripping, surprising, and "Odyssey-like" chapters in all of Acts: Acts 27, the account of Paul’s shipwreck on his voyage to Rome. In a story full of howling winds, desperate sailors, and a prisoner who somehow becomes the most trusted voice on the ship, we will discover that God never wastes a storm. He uses them to purify, prepare, and save.

The promise of this text is that the same God who guaranteed Paul’s safe arrival in Rome holds your story just as firmly.

Last Sunday, we continued our journey through Acts by studying Acts 25–26 and Paul’s defense before Festus and Agrippa. In the midst of imprisonment, accusation, delay, and uncertainty, Paul displays an unshakable confidence rooted in one central reality: Jesus Christ is truly risen and truly alive. Together, we considered how a deep-seated belief in the resurrected Christ transforms how we view our time, our reputation, our suffering, and our witness. As Paul boldly proclaims the Gospel before rulers and authorities, we are invited to ask ourselves a searching question: Do we truly believe that Jesus is present with His people through the Holy Spirit—and what would change if we lived like it?