Paul and Barnabas’s split over Mark reminds us that even devoted believers can clash, but God can still use the fallout for greater mission impact. Later, Paul’s restored relationship with Mark shows how grace, growth, and unity can heal what once was broken.
Without a clear guide for a church’s leadership, a congregation will continually face unnecessary issues hindering ministry. Discover Scripture’s descriptive wisdom for a church’s prescriptive plan.
Acts 13:1-3 – As individual local churches seek to increase their membership, it becomes easy to overlook the larger context. We need intentional people mobilized for church planting and replanting to reach our city and beyond.
Generalized approaches can never adequately address distinct disciples. We cannot depend upon widespread methods hoping to address the specific needs of everyone.
This gospel is too great to keep to ourselves. That’s why we want to include all our members in some aspect of God’s worldwide mission.
As Christianity spread throughout the world after Jesus’ ascension, the leaders attempted to keep the movement to Christ’s example and intention. The mission advanced quickly through the establishment of churches and the spreading of letters.
Saul’s conversion dramatically changed the missional focus of the early Church and Christianity as a whole. During that time, the gospel opened the door to both Jews and Gentiles, and the Jerusalem Council ensured it would stay that way.
The Holy Spirit empowered the disciples on Pentecost, but they required persecution to move them out of Jerusalem. God uses varied catalysts to send His people out on mission.
Nothing strikes fear into the heart of a disciple quite like the expectation to share Christ with another person. We must learn to embrace our commitment to Jesus so much that it becomes an easy thing for us to talk about Jesus to others.
Even when we understand the message of the Gospel and the method we would like to share, we can struggle to learn the best way to begin a conversation. Crossing the bridge into a spiritual conversation can be difficult but is much needed.
Some churches pit organic and organized evangelistic efforts against each other. Both are important. You want the natural relational evangelism to take place, but churches would benefit by creating organized efforts too.
We often strategize ways to impact international fields with the gospel, but Western culture is also in great need. Understanding this mission field is necessary as we seek to engage the people around us.
Acts 1:6-11 – Until Christ comes, He has called us to go with the gospel until all have heard. Our lives are purposed to join Him in making disciples of all nations.
Jesus didn’t die so that we can have real estate with steeples on top. He died so that we could be reconciled to God and restored to one another.
There are primary purposes in ministry which should be prioritized, but if the secondary issues are unaddressed, they will eventually cause you to neglect the most important ones. Make sure you address secondary issues so you can fulfill your primary purpose.
After Jesus’ commissioned his disciples, he sent the Holy Spirit to empower them for the tasks assigned. On the day of Pentecost, the apostles were transformed from unsure disciples into bold missionaries. The world changed.
Ministry often happens by unexpected opportunities, but they are often crafted and even encouraged by intentional gatherings. Programs aren’t evil. They are even somewhat necessary.
We all know the discouragement that comes when we attempt to read the Bible with great eagerness only to quit once a personal streak is broken. If we are going to be committed to knowing the God of the Bible, we must maintain our time in it.
We often pit ministry ability and availability as competing goals, but, in reality, they are complimentary parts of the whole. To impact people significantly, we cannot neglect either the public or the personal side of ministry.
One of the greatest blessings is when a small group begins to feel like a family, but that is also one of the greatest dangers as well if it prohibits others from experiencing the same thing. Are we willing to sacrifice for the sake of others?
As I was working in the church office one day, we noticed someone siphoning gas from my truck. Who in the world would drive to a church campus just to take? More people than you can possibly imagine.
In Acts 26, we read Paul’s story and find him in prison telling his story to King Agrippa. Before Paul became a Christ-follower, he was actually being unkind to Christians. The good news is that on the Road to Damascus, God got his attention with a bright light and Paul turned from his sin. Paul changed the way he lived.
The current state of the world has changed all of our plans. No graduation. No trip. Change in job. Expectations unmet. Disappointments abound. You wonder why a door that was supposed to be open has now been slammed shut. It’s time to go the 2nd mile in respecting closed doors.
The Book of Acts is a unique book in all of Scripture. Being the only narrative-based book in the New Testament that isn’t a Gospel, extra hermeneutical precaution must be made.
The Word The Daily Church (Acts 2:42-47) As the Holy Spirit empowered the disciples, the early church was born. This body of believers met together daily and saw God do amazing acts in their midst. CONTEXT Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection changed everything. As Jesus commissioned the disciples in his heavenly ascent, he told them to wait for the gift …
for I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God. -Acts 20:27 In Paul’s farewell speech to his beloved family in Ephesus, he makes a startling and yet glorious statement. In his 3 years in that city (Acts 20:31), he taught them the complete counsel of God. He wanted to make sure that they understood the …
At Fuge 2016, I preached a morning mini-message on “Live It” pertaining to how we are supposed to live out the gospel. It was day 3 in the “Unashamed” theme. We studied the seven sons of Sceva from Acts 19:11-20 and talked about a life that annoys the devil because it is so busy for the Kingdom. Sermon Audio
In this 5th session of our prayer course, we tackle the topic of “Spiritual Warfare” Audio Notes The Christians who get annihilated are the ones who never acknowledge that they are at war. We have a real enemy and his name is Satan. Satan is called the ruler of this world (John 16:11). Satan leads people to walk in the …
“Lord, teach us to pray…” -Luke 11:1 Out of all the things the disciples saw Jesus do, they asked him to teach them how to pray. He gave what we know as the Lord’s Prayer. Oftentimes, it is repeated verbatim, but ultimately, it was given as a template for our prayers. Below are some notes and audio recording from the …
I will never forget how I felt staring out the window of the airplane as we took off. As my friends and I began our journey to take the gospel into a closed country, the gravity of it all hit me. These nine guys had decided to join me on this mission trip, and we had no idea what was awaiting us. …
On Sunday, we surprised Jeff and Sandy Lethco with a banquet after morning services to celebrate their 15 years at North Side. We shared testimonies, gave 15 gifts, and thanked God for their influence in our lives. I spoke to many who were excited about this time, but who got very emotional during the service. They had the intention …
But when the Father sends the Counselor as My representative–and by the Counselor I mean the Holy Spirit–He will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I Myself have told you. –John 14:26 (NLT)
Jesus Christ was an amazing example for the disciples to follow as they learned how to be on mission to tell the world about the grace and love of Jesus Christ. As Jesus ascended into heaven, He told the disciples to wait for the Holy Spirit to come over them because Jesus knew that the Spirit would serve as a guide and a teacher in His physical absence.
During the Jewish feast of Pentecost, the disciples got what they were waiting for. The Holy Spirit, the presence of God Himself, took up residence inside ordinary bodies – their bodies. The disciples immediately hit the streets with a bold new style that the world has never recovered from.
Continuing on through the Book of Acts, we arrive at one of my favorite passages of Scripture. In Acts 5, Peter and the disciples are at it again. Preaching in the name of Jesus when they have been warned to stop.
They continue anyway.
While they are threatened, they show no sign of wavering. One of the Pharisees, Gamaliel, escorts the disciples out and tries to reason with the angered religious leaders.
His comments are incredible:
In this week’s study of the Book of Acts, we have arrived at the Lying Church present in Acts 4:32-5:16. In this section, it shows how the early church continued to grow and how no one was in need because people were actually selling land and homes and giving it away to those who had need.
Pretty incredible stuff! We think it is awesome when people give 10% to meet a need, and these people were actually selling stuff if the need was too great.
Then, they walked in.
Ananias and Sapphira were a part of the church. They were watching all the hype happening with the people. The church was celebrating individuals for their acts of holiness, and they decided to try to cash in on the excitement.
Bad, bad idea.
They did sell a piece of land. They did give some of the money to the church, but they lied about how much it was so that they could: 1) benefit themselves, and 2) receive praise from man. The Holy Spirit alerted Peter of their deception, and he calls them out individually and each of them dies in the midst of the church body.
I’m sure Peter had everyone’s attention then! Can you imagine this scene at your church house if this happened on a Sunday morning?!
Here’s what we can take away:
In Acts 3-4, we see the story of the lame man sitting outside the temple. Peter and John pass by and instead of giving him money, they get him to walk. Much better.
As they enter the temple, the man is leaping and praising God. He is also clinging to those that reached out to him. And with the great thing that happened, enemies of Jesus are against it completely.
Here are some things to note about this proclaiming church:
As we continue our study in Acts, we come to the topic of the family church. While Acts 2:42-47 is descriptive in nature, it does have some activities in which all churches should emulate.
Here’s the description of what the Church looked like after Peter’s message at Pentecost:
Week 2 in our study of Acts and we come to see what the empowered Church looks like. What could happen when the Spirit of God radically changes lives in a congregation?
One of my mentors, Chuck Lawless, once taught me that the scary thing about many people is how much “ministry” they could actually do in their own power. Natural talents and gifts could be so visible that it appears that God is blessing something when in actuality, maybe it’s just worldly success. It could be simple influence.
I don’t want to settle for influence. I want the Spirit of God.
I’m teaching through the Book of Acts this semester. I’m not teaching at Lander this Spring, but I am teaching a survey of sorts. I’m teaching it in 3 places: 1) College group at our house on Wednesday nights, 2) worship team practices on Wednesday nights, and 3) this blog. I will be sharing some insights here weekly.
I’m teaching on Acts for a few different reasons: 1) it’s a book of the Bible, 2) it’s really good, 3) we are tragically neglecting the role of the Holy Spirit in our lives, and 4) I have never known such a time as then when Christians were more confused concerning what the Church really is.
We are clueless to what the Church really is.
In church, we want any change in you that happens to be change that lasts for a lifetime. If we can’t apply the message, we are wasting our time in learning the truths (James 1:22-25).
We don’t want to make shallow commitments. We want to start walking in this truth, and we want to be faithful for the long haul. Oftentimes, we get bogged down in our past mistakes or our shallow commitments. But God is more concerned with your future than your past.
Let’s learn from Peter’s example. His words and actions changed from time to time and reveal some of our own tendencies. Look at how quickly his words and actions change:
One of your children’s most beloved books in your home might soon be your high school yearbook. Your children know you as a responsible (or somewhat responsible) adult fully equipped with bills, a job, and a minivan, yet before they ever knew you, a lot of your life had already been lived. Seeing your extracurricular activities, fashion statements, and funny hairdos in your yearbook open up an entire new world to them concerning your life.
For many of you reading this article, you also became a Christian before your children were around. Even if you became a Christian later in life, your personal testimony is not information that they inherently receive. The greatest story you will ever tell your children will be God’s story of how he brought redemption to mankind. The 2nd greatest story will be how your story intersected with God’s story – the story of your salvation.
As your children grow, they will have different levels of doubt concerning the Christian faith. You might even experience a child arguing with you concerning your personal beliefs.
While they may resort to arguments, they can’t argue with results. One of the greatest ways to teach your children concerning salvation and walking with Christ is by sharing your personal testimony with them.
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