Acts Sermon Series: Part II: Life Change
 

Starting January 12, we will enter into the next chapter of our sermon series in Acts. We have seen the church become established in light of the resurrection of Jesus. The disciples are seeking to fulfill the Great Commission that Jesus left for them: to go into the world, telling others about Jesus and making more disciples. So the disciples have spoken truth, weathered questioning and opposition, and have seen the Holy Spirit work in their actions to bring people into a relationship with Christ.

But we left off at a point of hardship for the church. No sooner does the church establish some new leadership to help with growing needs, one of those leaders, Stephen, is arrested by the Jewish religious leaders and brought before them. Stephen wonderfully and suitably calls these leaders a “stiff necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears” (Acts 7:51). He calls them unyielding, unrelenting, and useless, perpetually opposing God’s desires for them. The whole group is so outraged that they drag Stephen out and stone him to death.

“And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria...” (Acts 8:1)

Things have changed for the early church. When there was a time that they had some admiration and respect from the people, that time was gone. Where there was comfort and encouragement, there was now hostility and demoralization. What is more, there is a young man named Saul who not only approved of Stephen’s death, but was ardently determined to stamp out the followers of Jesus Christ.

Things have changed. For the church, life has changed.

Yet, this is how things are. Our lives are never static and God works to change our lives in the midst of new challenges and circumstances. This is what we will discover in the next part of Acts: life change. New events and new people bringing changes that we never dreamed of. Please encourage each other as we walk through this refreshing book of the Bible in our worship services and be attentive to the way God is calling you to experience life change

 

With a new year beginning, we have the opportunity to examine our regular habits and routines. One of those habits that is essential for our spiritual health is reading the Bible. For 2020, we are excited to invite you into a one year Bible reading plan called Read Scripture. This plan has been developed by The Bible Project (www.thebibleproject.com) and is designed to give us a comprehensive understanding of the Bible’s story and how that story points us to Jesus.

Each day features a portion of the Bible that takes you further into its story. You will also read and pray though one Psalm per day to keep you rooted in prayer. Periodically, there are also additional video resources that help explain the section that you are entering into or a key concept that is going to be introduced.

Please join us as we read Scripture in this new year, determining to understand God’s Word, to obey out genuine hearts, and to grow as faithful disciples of Jesus.