Chapter 5 of our study of the book of Acts continues with the apostles being put on trial for daring to speak the truth of the gospel, and for showing up the religious leaders of the day, not knowingly through their talent, but unknowingly through the anointing of the holy spirit.
How did the crucifixion, the cross, become the most recognized symbol of victory when it was supposed to be a symbol of defeat? What should have solidified anger, resentment, shame, and revenge instead radiates nothing but peace, kindness, and compassion from its intended. This "victim" is our example, leading us to rise from the events of our circumstances to become greater than we are.
There is a great mystery given to Peter by Jesus, revealing to him that there are keys to the kingdom of heaven, keys to unlock. Unlock what? Keys to unlock the potential stored inside humanity.
Evangelist Simeon Costa continues his training of LifeStudies, a powerful outreach tool that draws it's effectiveness from the greatest tool of all, the living Word of God. https://www.lifestudies.cc
Why do people not grow in a healthy church environment? They attend, they worship, they "amen," yet they are no further along in their walk with God than when they first began it. In fact, they may have regressed. The answer lies in examination. Spiritual growth is determined by your choices, not your environment.
Sunday Sermon with special speaker Daryle Williams.
Famine, we can agree, is a bad thing. Biblically it's a type of testing.It produces restlessness, wandering, uncertainty, and confusion. It will drive you to a place where you are unsure of who your Father is, and his role in your life. What purpose could something so drastic serve? It restores.
Evangelist Simeon Costa begins his training of LifeStudies. A powerful outreach tool that draws it's effectiveness from the greatest tool of all, the living Word of God. https://www.lifestudies.cc
Sunday Service with Evangelist Simeon Costa
Acts chapter focuses on the boldness of the Apostles when faced with the Sadducee's persecution of their faith and their dismissal of the miracle that had taken place before their eyes. Peter, filled with the Holy Ghost, pokes holes in their arguments to dismiss this event as false.
There's a special type of "forgetting" that the Bible encourages us to put into practice. Remembering something doesn't just mean calling to memory something that happened. It also means living inside those events and letting them shape you. The church is about forward motion. Letting yourself marinate in past hurts from others, or grievances with your brother or sister will do nothing but slow you to the point of a standstill.
Pastor Brown continues our study of the book of Acts with Chapter 3, following Peter and John as they go about their daily routine at the Gate Beautiful. The only difference between this day and all the others was they were filled with the gift of the Holy Ghost, and when it whispered instructions to minister, they listened.
Memorials and remembrances are a key part of Jewish culture that date back to creation. These memorials are for the very specific purposes of reminding the people of an important event, either a promise from God or a miraculous deliverance. Without them, the miraculous is easily forgotten.
There is no task, no position, no ability that is greater than another when it comes to serving in the kingdom of God. Nor is it the responsibility of one person to perform every task, every position, and have every ability. Our responsibility to the kingdom, and our greatest joy, is to perform our task to the best of our ability as the Spirit gives us the talent. Its our differences working together that move the kingdom forever forward in unity.
At the heart, at the center of the family is the mother, there for a specific purpose. She is the nurturer, the educator, and the protector of her children. She places seeds of character in her child, watches those seeds sprout, and anchors that sapling to the shape it must grow. She is the wall the enemy runs into, seeking to draw them away from their home.
The powerful are at the top of the food chain, the weak or down on their luck are at the bottom. We look out for number 1.That's how the world works, and that's the system we've always known. The kingdom of God is the exact opposite. Blessings come only when we reach out and serve others.
The process of sanctification is a long one, our whole lives in fact. Our spiritual journey is full of ups and downs. It's in those down times we must remember the journey isn't over yet. We may have been cut down, but we never stop growing. You will get back to who you were meant to be.
In order to get on mission, we must align our view of us with God’s view of us. When you look in the mirror, do you see Jesus or do you see your failures? The enemy knows if he can can get you to focus on your past, he can knock you out of alignment with God's purpose and plan for your life. Shame comes from the enemy, not from God. When you are redeemed, Jesus sees only a reflection of himself.
God's plan is not that we go off on our own, individually being a light of the gospel, but that we "strive together as one for the faith of the gospel," just as the apostle Paul writes to the church in Philippi. We are to be partners together, standing strong when trials come and reaching out with helping hands to the lost.
If the Bible says "the wages of sin is death," why are we not dead yet? The answer dates back to Adam and Eve, the original sinners, and the original redeemed. They were covered in sin, but God clothed them in sacrifice, as nothing corrupt can stand before a holy God.
What hope is there in this life if this is it? Is there anything to look forward to? Jesus made sure there was. His life ended so we could be saved. He rose again so we could live forever with him. There is hope for more. Find it with Jesus.
When Cain flippantly asked "Am I my brothers keeper?" God didn't bother to answer because the answer was obvious, "Yes, you are." Our mission is to multiply the church with God, but we can't do that if we are divided from our brother, with that we can only add. Strife, division, gossip, etc. do nothing but hurt the mission, hurt ourselves, and hurt our brother.
"Am I my brother's keeper?" Cain sneered a mockery of exactly what he was to God. His brothers keeper, as Abel was his. It's the keeper that God honors. The keeper that protects. The keeper that fights. The keeper who stands in the way of the enemy when their brother or sister is down, saying "No. You have to come through me first." The keeper after God's own heart.
The human body can’t last long without water. 3 days, maybe 4. To be without it is disastrous. Yet, after just a moment speaking with Jesus, the woman at the well forgot entirely her purpose for going to the well and she forgot her life sustaining vessel to carry that water. He spoke Living Water into her dry and parched soul. The same is for us today, just reach out and touch Him.
Bethesda. Mercy. Those that lay by the pool hung every hope they had on a moment of chance. IF the waters were troubled, IF someone could carry them, and IF they could get there first they would receive the answer to their problems. They spent all their time waiting. Then and now, it’s so easy to focus so much on searching for the answer that we don’t see it’s right in front of us.
The early church experienced an explosion of growth when it first came to be despite mockery and persecution all around them, the rate of increase even being astounding by todays standards. What then, did they have that we have not? Not technology, not gimmicks, nor advertisements. The answer is simple: they did to others what Jesus did to them. They taught, they fellowshipped, and they loved.
Egypt and Babylon. Captivity and slavery. Israel vastly outnumbered their conquerers in both situations yet still remained in bondage. How? The tried and true tactic of demoralization. Your enemy knows this. He will do anything to snuff out your fire. Beat him at his own game. He knows he can't stand when you rise with the Lord. It's time to lift up your head.
Pastor Brown continues our study of Acts chapter 2, focusing on the power of the new covenant created when Jesus rose from the dead and the great message of hope it brings not just to the Jews and Gentiles of old, but to all mankind here and now, today.
They were devout, faithful, of sound doctrine, quick to service, but they had forgotten the love of their Lord and what he had given because of that love. Should they not remember, the church of Ephesus would no longer be remembered by Christ.
WWII, The Battle of the Bulge, also known as Hitler's Last Stand. It was a last ditch attempt to overwhelm the Allied forces while simultaneously splitting them apart. He knew the war was ending. He knew his time was short. So too is the realization dawning on our enemy. His time is short. He's throwing everything he has at you. He will fail to break you.
