Resources for Discussion Class Hour on October 31, 2018
Sermon Title: Why We’re Here: Breaking Bread Text: Acts 2:42-47 (ESV) Resources: Click here to listen to or watch the sermon Download tonight’s printable study guide Brief summary (what’s the point of this text/sermon?) This is the third of a four-part series called “Why We’re Here.” I’m aiming to help us as a church think introspectively about some practical reasons why God put us here. To do this, we’re considering Luke’s description of the earliest Christians. The third thing Luke…
Rejoice
I suppose a certain level of anxiety is part of living on this fallen earth. I haven’t yet met the person—even among those following Jesus—who lives a completely carefree life. Do you worry at times? Get stressed out? Lie there staring at the ceiling in the wee hours of the morning? I doubt we’re the first ones to struggle with it. It seems like every page of Scripture says something about it. Take this one, for example. To one of…
Resources for Discussion Class Hour on October 24, 2018
Sermon Title: Why We’re Here: Sharing Text: Acts 2:42-47 and 2 Corinthians 8:1-7 (ESV) Resources: Click here to listen to or watch the sermon Download tonight’s printable study guide Brief summary (what’s the point of this text/sermon?) We live in a world where many people—especially younger adults—are turning away from organized religion. They still believe in God, but for different reasons they no longer see the need to be a part of a church—a local, visible community of people who…
Who in the world is Epaphroditus?
You’ve got big names in Bible history, and then you’ve got Epaphroditus. We know a lot about Abraham, Moses, David, and Paul. They’re the movers and shakers on the human side of God’s story. But Epaphroditus? He gets six verses. But as one of my old Bible teachers used to say, they’re chock-full of meaning. Try not to hurry through them. I have thought it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus my brother and fellow worker and fellow soldier, and…
Resources for Discussion Class Hour on October 17, 2018
Sermon Title: Why We’re Here: Becoming Disciples Text: Acts 2:42-47 (ESV) Resources: Click here to listen to or watch the sermon Download tonight’s printable study guide Brief summary (what’s the point of this text/sermon?) It’s important for churches to ask themselves the question in the sermon title: Why are we here? And it’s important for members of churches to ask themselves a similar question: Why am I a member of this church? What is God doing through this church and…
Genuinely concerned
Like Timothy, Christians are “genuinely concerned” for one another’s welfare. They feel pain when someone else hurts, and they smile when a fellow Christian rejoices.
I think that’s what’ll make our evangelistic efforts work. People don’t know—and don’t care—what we believe about various doctrines, but they’ll notice the compassion.
Resources for Discussion Class Hour on October 10, 2018
Sermon Title: And Change the World Text: Acts 3:24-25; 17:6 (ESV) Resources: Click here to listen to or watch the sermon Download tonight’s printable study guide Brief summary (what’s the point of this text/sermon?) Our theme for 2018 has been “Love God. Love People. Change the World.”This past Sunday we turned our attention to the last of those three descriptions of what we are called to do: Change the World. Few would disagree with the fact that the world is…
Self-made
She’s a self-made millionaire. He’s a self-made man. Self-made? It starts early in many of us. When one of our kids was a toddler, she shied away from accepting our help with almost anything she was trying to do. “I do it self!” she would say (quite emphatically). Tempting, isn’t it? We’re much too socially conscious to say it out loud, but we’ve been tempted to think the same thing, with only a slight modification. Maybe it’s success on the…
Resources for Discussion Class Hour on October 3, 2018
Sermon Title: Courage to Walk on the Spiritual Waters of Faith Text: Matthew 14:26-33 (ESV) Resources: Click here to listen to or watch the sermon Download tonight’s printable study guide Brief summary (what’s the point of this text/sermon?) For anyone to Walk on the Spiritual Waters of Faith, they must have courage . . . Courage is the mental or mortal strength to venture, persevere, withstand danger, fear, or difficulty. In a world full of Hypocrisy, with so many engulfed…
The Omega
Most of us have been tempted by the buy-now-and-pay-later mantra. After all, why wait for something when you can have it right now? It’s effective with us because of our finite nature as human beings. We’re bound—to a great extent, at least—by time. We’re aware of the past, and we anticipate the future, but more than anything, there’s today. That causes problems, of course. The Lord referred to himself as the Alpha and Omega in several places. He’s our Alpha,…
Resources for Discussion Class Hour on September 26, 2018
Sermon Title: Walking with Abraham: God’s Test Text: Genesis 22 (ESV) Click here to listen to or watch the sermon Download tonight’s printable study guide Brief summary (what’s the point of this text/sermon?) In so many ways Abraham’s life has always been moving here. It’s been 40+ years since God first appeared to him, making him the promise about a land, a nation, and a blessing. It’s been 15+ years since the promised son Isaac was born, and Abraham and Sarah…
The Alpha
You’ve made bad decisions, right? Some of them were really bad, resulting in things you’re embarrassed about, stuff you won’t share with anyone who doesn’t already know. Welcome to normal. It must be written in our DNA. Decision-making is a complex process, of course, and unfortunately, we can’t will ourselves into always making the right decisions. But here’s a good place to start: When the Lord revealed himself to John near the end of the apostle’s life, he said: “I…