Every wondered the source of the word "simony"? Well, Acts chapter 8 gives us that story, as Philip goes to Samaria to preach the gospel. In that area a sorcerer has enjoyed fame and popularity--even God-like status--which is quickly challenged by God's power through signs and wonders as the gospel is preached. Simon becomes a believer but then wants to purchase this power from the apostles, generating a strong rebuke from Peter (who along with John had come when they heard the work God was doin...
Aug 28, 2016•41 min
This week we finished the sermon that Stephen gave under the power of the Holy Spirit before the Sanhedrin. His sermon ended with some strong words of correction that could either be taken to heart, or cause resentment and anger. We quickly find out which way the religious leaders took it as they immediately were so filled with anger that they dragged him out of the city and stoned him, starting a season of intense persecution towards the young Jerusalem church. As Pastor Steve noted however, Go...
Aug 21, 2016•45 min
In the middle of Acts chapter 6, we are introduced more fully to Stephen, one of the deacons chosen in the first part of the chapter who is clearly teaching by the power of God and His Spirit, and it is causing much frustration against the religious elite who can't win debates against him! They arrest him, falsely accuse him, and in front of the Sanhedrin he begins the longest recorded sermon in Acts, teaching them through the Old Testament the history of their own faith and God's ways, which in...
Aug 14, 2016•44 min
As we enter chapter 6, the church has obviously continued to grow and are facing other challenges--like the demands of ministry, and complaints from those who feel like they are being overlooked. God gives wisdom to the apostles and they appoint godly men, filled with the Holy Spirit, to do the work of ministry so that the apostles can focus on teaching the word. This is the beginnings of what we call the role of deacon within the church.
Jul 31, 2016•33 min
As we continue our study through Acts, the frustration within the religious elite is starting to show. During this next trial, after arresting all the apostles this time, they accuse them of spreading their message throughout all Jerusalem, and obviously they have been unable to stop it due to the power of the Holy Spirit and the boldness provided by God to this growing band of followers! Signs and wonders follow the teaching, as well as God's divine intervention in their prison stay, releasing ...
Jul 24, 2016•51 min
The early church response to their first significant persecution was not to run, but to go to God and pray for boldness to continue teaching in His name! Persecution also brings purity, and as the incredible love and sharing of the church bring about gifts of property and acts of sacrifice, a couple who decide to lie about their gift gets swift judgement from God directly as Peter confronts them. Listen in as Pastor Steve teaches from the final sections of Acts chapter four and the beginning of ...
Jul 17, 2016•51 min
After the healing and sermon by Peter in Acts chapter 3, the religious leaders and temple authorities are upset at the resurgence of the name of Jesus and the teaching that is being done in His name on the temple grounds. Given the healing has brought wonder and amazement to the crowds, they don't like the fact that the crowds are now listening intently to Peter and more are starting to believe the message and join the early church. To try and correct this they arrest Peter, John, and the lame m...
Jul 11, 2016•43 min
In Acts chapter 3, Peter has another chance to preach after the healing of the lame man at the temple gate called "Beautiful". The healing had gotten the people's attention, but instead of drawing attention to themselves, Peter uses it as another chance to share the truth of the power of Jesus Christ to bring about healing--not just physical but emotional and spiritual. Peter preached that He was the one who made us whole again and blotted out our sins by His power!
Jul 04, 2016•53 min
The response to Peter's sermon in Acts chapter two is amazing! From the 120 disciples gathered on the day of Pentecost, now 3000 are added after just one sermon! So, what did they do? They began the early church practices of teaching, prayer, fellowship, and breaking bread together. Pastor Steve applies these principles to our church life today and calls us to be more intent on living out this loving fellowship that was such a draw in the early church.
Jun 27, 2016•48 min
As we enter the main section of Acts chapter 2, the day of Pentecost arrives along with the promised pouring out of the Holy Spirit. One of the outcomes is Peter's powerful sermon that cuts to the heart of the hearers. Listen in as Pastor Steve teaches through this section of chapter two as we continue our discovery of the Holy Spirit in Acts!
Jun 20, 2016•52 min
After Jesus ascends back to heaven, the 120 disciples return to Jerusalem as Jesus instructed them, where they begin to wait and pray "all in one accord." Pastor Steve took us through the rest of Acts chapter one and the first few verses of chapter two leading up to the event where they are all filled with the Spirit, finding application along the way for us from this early unified gathering of believers.
Jun 12, 2016•52 min
Pastor Steve opens up our new study "Discovering the Holy Spirit in Acts", and takes us through an introduction and the first eleven verses of chapter one. Jesus promises the Holy Spirit to the disciples and then ascends into Heaven opening the start of the early church age.
May 29, 2016•47 min
We have finally reached the end of our study through the gospel of Mark! Pastor Steve took a few detours in this last section of Mark 16 to cover important topics like textual criticism (as verses 9-20 are not in all of the earliest manuscripts) and baptismal regeneration (which cannot be taught from these verses), as we made our way through Jesus's commissioning of the disciples for ministry to "go and preach" throughout the world. Steve encouraged us to listen and heed the call of God wherever...
May 23, 2016•51 min
Dave Vollmer, one of our assistant pastors, gave a challenging message from Hebrews chapters 3 and 4 about being careful not to harden our hearts. Rather we can approach God with boldness because of our position in Christ. He admonished us to cherish the Word as a treasured letter from our Father.
May 16, 2016•49 min
We move from the finality of the end of chapter 15--where Joseph of Arimathea, a wealthy member of the Sanhedrin, asks for Jesus's body as a final way to honor Him (as he was a secret disciple)--into chapter 16, the amazement of that Sunday morning with the stone rolled away and an empty tomb. It is the women who come early to also pay their respects to Jesus, not even knowing how they would deal with a sealed tomb, but they encounter an angel and are told the amazing news that his is "no longer...
May 09, 2016•43 min
Continuing in Mark chapter 15, we finally have the end of the trials and Jesus is handed over to be crucified. Unable to carry his cross, Simon of Cyrene is conscripted to do so from the crowd as they make their way to Golgotha--the place of the skull. Pastor Steve details the prophetic events unfolded from Psalm 22 and the need for us to live the "crucified" life and accept the suffering that is ours as followers of Christ if we truly align ourselves with him.
May 01, 2016•52 min
We now enter chapter 15 in the gospel of Mark which continues the trial of Jesus, now being brought before Pilate and the Roman authorities, which the Jews need because their only hope for a death sentence is via the Romans. Pastor Steve brought us back to Isaiah 53 and the picture of the "suffering servant" that definitely points to Jesus as the fulfillment.
Apr 24, 2016•46 min
This week we finally finish up the 72-verse long chapter 14 of Mark's gospel! In this final section we move to the courtyard where the high priest and a partial Sanhedrin condemn Jesus in the middle of the night, breaking many of their own rules of order to do so. The focus turns to Peter, however, and his blatant and strong denial of even knowing Jesus as he watches the proceedings from a distance. Pastor Steve applied this picture of a serious fall to our own lives and had us consider the rest...
Apr 17, 2016•50 min
Jesus and His disciples have left the upper room and their Passover meal, crossed the Kidron Valley and have gone into the Garden of Gethsemane where Jesus has an intense time of prayer with the Father. Judas is already unfolding the plan with the religious leaders to betray Him. In all of this we can learn about true surrender--surrender to the Father and His will over our own. Listen in and see three pictures of surrender in this next section of Mark chapter 14.
Apr 10, 2016•51 min
On this communion Sunday, Pastor Steve took a brief section of our continued study through the gospel of Mark, only looking at the few verses where Jesus predicts Peter's denial that night after the arrest. We, like Peter, can be overly confident in our strength and underestimate our lack of courage in the face of possible hardship. The good news is that Jesus already knew that he would return and be restored, just as we can when we are weak and stumble. We need to have the filling of the Holy S...
Apr 03, 2016•33 min
Romans 6 may not be a traditional "Easter Sunday" passage, but it is a powerful image of our being "united with", "joined to", or even "conjoined to" Christ in his death, resurrection, and glorification! It is both a mystery but a powerful truth when we realize that we are joined with Him, and that we have been raised to new life--to live in a new way! He is Risen!
Mar 27, 2016•42 min
Continuing in Mark 14, we are within hours of Jesus's betrayal and arrest, but at this moment Jesus is preparing to share the Passover meal with his disciples. During the meal he announces the fact that someone among them will betray Him! The other gospels tell us that "Satan has entered into Judas's heart" already and he is looking for that right opportunity. Meanwhile Jesus shares the truth of the Passover to them--that He is the bread and His blood is the cup. He is our Passover lamb and the ...
Mar 20, 2016•44 min
The opening of Mark chapter 14 begins with a huge contrast: the religious elite who are both ceremonially preparing to "worship" on the Passover, but inside are plotting the sin of murder compared with a woman, unnamed here in Mark, humbly coming and pouring out a significantly costly offering onto Jesus as an act of sacrificial worship. What is our worship costing us? What opportunities are we finding to either plot sin or humbly worship and do good to others?
Mar 13, 2016•45 min
Pastor Steve finishes up Mark chapter 13 this week with Jesus's teaching on the tribulation and second coming via the prophecy from Daniel chapter 9. We took a detour to look back at this critical prophecy and its application to the current "church age" and how it relates to what we believe as the distinct events of the rapture of the church and the second coming of Christ. The most important application is that we are warned to "be ready" at any moment!
Feb 28, 2016•53 min
Entering Mark chapter 13, Jesus's attention is drawn to the beauty of Herod's temple complex and He responds with a shocking prediction: "not one stone shall be left upon another" (v. 2). Of course this gets the disciple's attention and they want to know the "when" and the signs that would come before this. This section begins what is commonly termed the "Olivet discourse" and is an area of scripture with differing opinions and views of the meaning. Pastor Steve took us through the first section...
Feb 21, 2016•49 min
Pastor Steve steps out of our study in the gospel of Mark to talk about God's love (agape) from 1 John chapter 4. Real and unconditional love from God should overwhelm us when we really understand that "God is love" and our response should be to love one another with that same unconditional love.
Feb 14, 2016•38 min
Finishing up Mark chapter 12, Jesus challenges the religious elite with a few questions and comments of his own, and then moves into the temple court where the treasury is located. As they watch people giving, Jesus draws their attention to a poor widow who gives 100% ("all that she had") and notes that even though her monetary gift was tiny in amount, that it was greater than all the rest because of her sacrifice.
Jan 31, 2016•48 min
Only a few days from the cross in Mark 12, Jesus continues to be tested and questioned by the religious elite. Their plan is to trap him in something he says, but instead he continues to astound and confound the religious leaders with his wisdom and understanding. In the end no one dares question him anymore!
Jan 17, 2016•45 min
We continue to draw closer to the cross as Jesus spends his final week coming and going from Jerusalem during the Passover week. After his cleansing of the temple he has obviously angered the religious elite, and they--again--try and trap him in his words. He catches them in their own trap and then tells a parable that clearly implicates them, angering them even more. Pastor Warren teaches through the final verses of Mark chapter 11 and into the first section of chapter 12 in this message.
Jan 10, 2016•36 min
As we enter the final week of Jesus's ministry before the cross, Mark chapter 11 opens with the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem on a donkey, fulfilling Old Testament prophecies. Jesus cleanses the temple in this passage (for the second time) and also curses a fig tree in an unusual story recorded here in Mark. Listen in as Pastor Steve teaches through the opening section of Mark chapter 11.
Jan 03, 2016•45 min
