Where there is a work of God there is joy. We will see that this week in Acts 8. The early church will encounter extreme persecution. Saul (soon to be Paul) will be commissioned to go arrest followers of ‘the way.’ And he’s pretty successful at it. Christians will be scattered abroad, the Holy Spirit will do amazing things (like teleport Philip..) and the gospel will go throughout their land creating a massive sea of joy.
Read MoreThe early church needed some structure. Roles and responsibility from inside the church that would allow the apostles to be dedicated to prayer and the preaching of the word. They appointed men that would help. They weren't just normal men. These were men filled with the Spirit. These servants in the church were of "good repute, full of the spirit and wisdom." It was not just to serve tables that God called these men. In chapter seven we see that Stephen was out performing amazing miracles and signs of power. He was causing a scene. There was work to be done. And in the craziness the chief priests and elders get feed up and arrest Stephen.
Read MoreAs the church was growing and people were increasing, more needs in the church were increasing as well. We learn from Acts 6 that there was a food ministry of the early church. But as the church was made up of men and women, still “hungover” from the power of sin, some people were being neglected in the daily distribution of food just because of where they were from.
Read MoreThere is a lot going on in our country right now. We have a new president elect. Some are happy and some are not. And in this world of modern social media, everyone has the right go to Facebook and give their two cents about it. Because we live with those dynamics it can cause some real tension, even among believers.
Read MoreWe are grateful that there are families like yours that desire to be gospel-centered and gospel-grounded. We are grateful for a host of parents who desire to lead their families in the worship of God in their homes. We are grateful for parents that see dinners and bedtimes and car rides as an opportunity for "a declaration of war against all that is not true" (author unknown).
Read MoreThe Christian life is like a set of dominos that are all set up in a row. God sets things into motion by tipping over one domino and that one falls and knocks over the next one. Those actions continue to make more dominos fall over, and before you know it, a sequence of events has been set in motion that can never be stopped.
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