Acts

The Daily Church

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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 …

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The Whole Counsel of God

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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

Live It (7 Sons of Sceva)

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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

Spiritual Warfare

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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

The Lord’s Prayer

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“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

The Same Call

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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.

“Call Me Jeff”

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  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

Empowered by the Spirit

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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.

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The Withstanding Church

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07 - THE WITHSTANDING CHURCH

 

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:

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The Lying Church

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06 - THE LYING CHURCH

 

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:

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