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Acts: Grace for the Nations (Part 1)
Text: Acts 9:31-10:16
In order to convert Cornelius, and to show the Jewish Christians the gospel was for everyone without distinction, God had to “convert” Peter – not to Christianity but to the implications of Christianity. Peter had to be convinced that the gospel is for everyone, including those completely outside the Jewish nation.
Acts: Conversion
Text: Acts 9:1-19
In Acts 9, we read of perhaps the most famous conversion in the history of Christianity. The conversion of Saul of Tarsus is actually one of the most important events – aside from Jesus’ resurrection – in the history of the world. Saul’s conversion plays a monumental role in the advancement of the kingdom across nations and centuries.
Acts: Living Out God’s Mission
Text: Acts 8:26-40
Already the church is advancing across ethnic and social lines when Philip, having established the mission to the Samaritans, becomes involved in an even more far-reaching missionary breakthrough. His witness to this Ethiopian man reveals the global nature of God’s offer of salvation and the gift of seeing a servant living out God’s mission.
Acts: The Gospel for the Nations
Text: Acts 8:4-25
Luke describes how the gospel was spreading through ordinary people in various situations. Despite the brutal murder of Stephen, God continued his mission of redeeming a people for himself – a people from every tribe and tongue. In fact, God uses persecution to launch His people into Samaria of all places.
Acts: Christlike
Text: Acts 6:8-8:3
Luke describes Stephen’s Christlike character, ministry, and death. To be like Jesus does not mean simply gathering facts about Jesus’ life and then copying them. As Christians, we must realize that we can pursue likeness to Jesus because we have been united to Jesus. Through that union with Christ, we can live out Christlike lives.
Acts: Challenges
Text: Acts 6:1-7
In Acts 6 Luke describes the blessings and the challenges facing the rapidly growing body of Christ in Jerusalem. We see that gospel-centered growth brings blessing, challenges and opportunities. Luke goes on to describe how the early church handled the challenges and continued to advance the mission.
Acts: The Gospel Advancing
Text: Acts 5:12-42
Faithful gospel ministry results in both blessing and opposition. As the apostles continue to minister to the people in word and deed, it was enriching the poor in spirit and enraging the prideful. Persecution intensified and their opponents moved from threats, to floggings and eventually it will escalate to death. However, this energized the church as they rejoiced and continued proclaiming the gospel.
Golden Promise and Golden Rule
Text: Matthew 7:7-12
The guarantee of answered prayer is truly a golden promise. Doing to others what you would want them to do to you is also a golden rule. Like the two great commandments to love God and others, these two nuggets of gold first direct our attention to our God. Then they direct our attention to others. The order is crucial. First, I talk to God about His good gifts. Then, one of these good gifts is the supernatural ability to live out the golden rule.
Judgment and Discernment
Text: Matthew 7:1-6
To judge others without examining and correcting oneself is detrimental, dysfunctional and self-deceptive. However, it is biblical and wise to discerningly judge those who abuse God’s message. Our goal is to treat others as God, in Christ, has treated us.
God is on His Throne
Text: Matthew 6:25-34
The great battle of the Christian life are fought in our minds. This is certainly the case when it comes to worry or anxiety. One of the things we are going to learn is that worry is a sin, because it is a symptom of unbelief. We need to remember that the God who took care of our greatest problem at the cross can certainly be trusted to take care of anything else we may face daily in this life.
The Imperishable Riches of God’s Kingdom
Text: Matthew 6:19-24
Jesus says the mark of a citizen of God’s kingdom is that his eyes are fixed on heaven not earth. His spiritual vision is single and not divided and he servers the right master not the wrong one. Jesus understood that we have a limited amount of devotion, love, and service to give. This requires making difficult decisions .The more we love money, the less we will love God. As our obsession for money increases, our passion for God decreases. If you sell your soul to money, then you will forfeit your soul.
How Kingdom Citizens Pray
Text: Matthew 6:9-15
The Lord’s Prayer serves as a model prayer, an easily memorized outline that serves as a lesson in how to approach God as Father and how we are to speak to Him. However, it also serves as an outline of the Christian life by providing certain fixed points of concern for the family of God. It underlines life’s priorities and helps us to get them into focus.
Kingdom Citizens Live for the Audience of One
Text: Matthew 6:1-8, 16-18
In Matthew 6, Jesus deals with how citizens of God’s kingdom practices acts of righteousness. Once again, Jesus is going to address matters that deals with the heart. We need to be careful in how we practice acts of righteousness because motives matter. We should be giving, praying and fasting sincerely before God, who gives eternal reward, instead of hypocritically before people, whose reward fades quickly.
Kingdom Citizens Love Like Their Heavenly Father
Text: Matthew 5:43-48
Love for neighbor was the essence of Old Testament ethics, but Jesus deepens that ethic in a surprising way. We are to love our neighbors even when they are hostile and do evil acts against us. Love for enemies is meant to be shown in acts of kindness. The model for this difficult activity is nothing less than God Himself. Like obedient children, we must imitate our Father and act toward evil people as he does. If God can be merciful to wicked as well as good people, so must we.
Kingdom Citizens Speak Truthfully and Act Graciously
Text: Matthew 5:33-42
Jesus teaches us as citizens of God’s kingdom, everything we say should be true and good, because God witnesses everything we say and do. As citizens of God’s kingdom, we reflect the character of our King in the way we treat others. We look to the cross as we see how our King did not respond in violent aggression but laid down his life graciously to save us (enemies of God) so that we can be children of God.
Alive with Christ
Text: 1 Corinthians 15:1-11, 20-22
In 1 Corinthians 15 Paul highlights the good news of Christ’s resurrection, the power of His resurrection, and the result of His resurrection, what it means for us today. Through this passage, we get the heart of the story of Scripture: Jesus died and rose again to save sinners. The truths taught in this passage demand our attention as well as our affection as we are strengthened in our faith by thinking about the substitutionary life and death, resurrection, and return of Christ.
Good Friday
The purpose of Good Friday is for us to be reminded of Christ’s suffering and death on the cross for our sins. During this time, we are going to read scripture about the events leading up to Christ’s death. In between each part of the text, we will give you a time to reflect, pray, repent, sing and sorrow.
Kingdom Citizens Protect the Sanctity of Marriage
Text: Matthew 5:31-32; Matthew 19:1-9
Jesus directly address the popular view of divorce in his day. He teaches that marriage is sacred and we dare not trifle with it. Marriage is a sacred union between one man and one woman for life. What makes marriage sacred is because it is a gift from God. God uses our spouses to save us. Divorce may be the norm in our culture, but it must never be the norm in our churches, for God desires reconciliation.
Citizens of God’s Kingdom Pursues Purity
Text: Matthew 5:27-30
In our hearts there is a place reserved only for Christ. Jesus certainly wants to lead and guide our behaviors, but first and most importantly, he wants our hearts. What he bought, we should gladly and freely give to him. Treasure Christ above all in your heart, and the eyes, the hand and the rest of the body will happily follows its lead.
Citizens of God’s Kingdom Reconcile
Text: Matthew 5:21-26
Jesus’ teaching and His interpretation of the law transcend the literal demands of the law. Jesus surpassed the law by insisting that one should not only avoid sinful actions, but also avoid sinful attitudes. We must guard our hearts before it gives way to evil actions. As citizens of God’s kingdom, we must live at peace with others and seek to reconcile broken relationships.
What the King Believes about the Scriptures
Text: Matthew 5:17-20
What you think about Jesus will ultimately influence what you think about the Bible. Our theology of the Living Word (Jesus) and the written word (the Bible) go hand in hand. Because of the lordship and authority of Jesus, the Scriptures proclaim Him as its central message, are completely trustworthy, and require obedience and righteousness from the heart and spirit.