As the Jesus movement spreads and grows, opposition reaches a fever pitch against one of the early church deacons, a man named Stephen. As he teaches that Jesus is the fulfillment of the Scriptures, the temple, and the law, he is misunderstood to be against these things. What can we learn from this story and the ways that we misunderstand Jesus even today?
Moses and Jesus | Acts 6:8-15
As the Jesus movement spreads and grows, opposition reaches a fever pitch against one of the early church deacons, a man named Stephen. As he teaches that Jesus is the fulfillment of the Scriptures, the temple, and the law, he is misunderstood to be against these things. What can we learn from this story and the ways that we misunderstand Jesus even today?
Serving The Needs of the Church | Acts 6:1-7
Despite the amazing things that God did in and through the earliest followers of Jesus, the church community was far from perfect. In the early verses of Acts 6, we learn of a situation that requires wise, skilled, and dedicated servant-leaders. We also see that when this type of servant-leader does well, it shows the way that Jesus loves and serves all of us.
Jesus Life is Our Life | Acts 5:12-42
At the end of Acts 4, the followers of Jesus were living a radical, new life of generosity, selflessness, and compassion for one another.Barnabas is set out as an example of this type of living. However, the enemy attacks the believers by appealing to the sinful flesh and raising up greed, pride, and deceit. God’s swift and righteous judgment reminds the believers that sin is serious and that he has saved us to live a new life.
Sharing and Theft | Acts 4:32-5:11
At the end of Acts 4, the followers of Jesus were living a radical, new life of generosity, selflessness, and compassion for one another.Barnabas is set out as an example of this type of living. However, the enemy attacks the believers by appealing to the sinful flesh and raising up greed, pride, and deceit. God’s swift and righteous judgment reminds the believers that sin is serious and that he has saved us to live a new life.
Peter and John Arrested | Acts 4:1-31
In Acts 4, Peter and John face political consequences as a result of their healing ministry and their preaching ministry. When faced with persecution, these disciples have a chance to evaluate their relationship with the politics of the day. In this evaluation, they respond with perseverance, with prayer, and with bold proclamation of the gospel.
The Healing of a Lame Man | Acts 3:1-26
As Peter and John enter the temple courts, they encounter a man who knew that he was broken and in need of redemption. God uses these men to not only heal his physical body but also to heal his sin-diseased soul. When we are truly honest about how unwell we are, we can truly experience Christ’s healing, and we can share that healing with others.
The Community of Jesus | Acts 2:42-47
Today we finish out chapter two in our sermon series in the Book of Acts. As a result of the coming of the Spirit, we now find the people of God seeing through new eyes, and experiencing the fullness of the not so common Spirit-indwelled life that God has called his people to — the committed life of Christian fellowship that overflows into evangelism and mission.
The Spirit and Pentecost | Acts 2:1-41
In Jewish tradition, Shavout is the day the Torah was given to Moses. In the New Testament, Shavuot is the giving of the Holy Spirit. Same day and no coincidence! While many believe Acts 2 is the birth of the Church the disciples understood that what happened to them there was equal in importance to what happened on Mt. Sinai. It was the empowerment by the Holy Spirit that gave them the revelation to preach the gospel for the first time to Jewish people, in the Temple courts, in Jerusalem! Today, the Holy Spirit still empowers followers of Yeshua to turn from our sins, lead us to better living and save us from judgement.
Poised For Action | Acts 1:12-26
Christianity exploded onto the scene in the latter half of the first century. Through miracles, persecution, and missionary endeavors the gospel spread. Over the centuries followers of Jesus have transformed the world. It all started with 120 people gathered in an upper room in Jerusalem waiting for the Holy Spirit to lead, guide, and empower. What can we learn from them to help us spread the gospel today?
Jesus’s Ascension | Acts 1:1-11
Without the book of Acts we would not know what happened in the initial grass-roots phase of Christianity. Still worse, we would not know how the truth of Jesus' Ascension launched his disciples off into a hostile world to proclaim the authority of their new King. Praise God that from Acts, to today, till Jesus comes back, He is King!
How Does The Story End? | Job 42:10-1732
Does the end of the book of Job teach that we should expect things to always turn out happy after we go through a period of suffering? When understood in the context of the entire book (as well as the rest of the Bible), we can confidently say that is not what the end of Job is teaching. As followers of Jesus, we know that the ultimate end of the story is eternal joy, even if we experience hardship and suffering in this life.
God’s Wise Rule | Job 38-41
Many modern readers struggle with God’s response to Job near the end of the book. Many people hear it as a power play in which God deflects Job’s questions and puts him in his place. However, this misunderstanding is due to our failure to see God’s parental and personal heart of love for Job in these chapters. When rightly understood, God’s invitation to Job is the same invitation to all of us: trust in him because he is perfectly wise.
Justice vs. Wisdom | Job 4, 28
Sermon Description
It has been said that in the book of Job, Job goes through trials, but it is God himself who is on trial. Specifically, the question is raised whether it is right for God to reward people for righteous behavior. It is this issue that is behind the majority of the book of Job, some 33 chapters of dialogue between Job and his friends. In the end, we are invited to see that the world is far more complex than we often think, and we are invited to trust in God’s wisdom as he governs the world.
Job’s Advocate | Job 16:15-22
Throughout the Book of Job, Job expresses his desire to meet with God and work out whatever the problem is. In multiple places, he cries out for an advocate, somebody to mediate between him and God. For a moment, it looks like the surprise character of Elihu might be that mediator. But in the end we see that the advocate that Job longs for is surpassed in every way by Jesus.
The Sin of Self-Righteousness | Job 3, 31
At the beginning of the book of Job, we are introduced to a man who is blameless and full of integrity; God himself speaks of Job’s outstanding moral character. But at the end of the book, Job is rebuked by God and repents of his prideful speech. What happens to Job that leads to this dramatic change? A careful look at the words of Job shows that he despairs because, at the end of the day, he trusts in his own righteousness and not the mercy of God.
Job’s Comforters | Job 2:11-13
Sermon Description
Job’s wife and friends come to him in his sufferings, but their counsel and comfort leave much to be desired. As followers of Jesus, what can we learn from Job about how to enter into the pain and suffering of those around us with the love of God?
The Tests of Health & Wealth | Job 1:13-2:10
Sermon Description
Job is tested to see if he loves and serves God only because God blesses and protects Job. As the blessings and protection are removed, we see that Job continues to worship God because God is worthy independent of the blessings.
Discussion Questions
Is it possible to have a disinterested righteousness? (Spiritual allegiance that does not depend on external circumstances; True devotion to God without thought of reward and punishment)
How have you seen the “prosperity gospel” or other transactional approaches to God at work in others or in yourself?
Why is it dangerous to become over-focused on the benefits of a relationship with God?
Compare Job’s response in today’s passage to Moses’ in Genesis 22. Imagining yourself in those situations, how would your devotion to God compare?
Has there been a time of loss or difficulty that has helped you refocus on the Lord because he is worthy independent of his blessings?
Prayer Points
Pray for God to protect his people from the dangerous message of the “prosperity gospel” and other similar misleading falsehoods.
Pray that God will help you treasure him above all other things. Pray this for your church family as well.
Pray that our witness to Jesus will communicate the true Gospel that leads to faith and life.
More Resources
The Satan and the Sons of God | Job 1:6-12
Sermon Description In the introductory section of Job, we witness a scene where God meets with his divine council, the “sons of God.” In this meeting, the satan comes and challenges God’s perspective on Job’s integrity. A scene like this in the Bible invites us to remember that our world is not merely natural; there are things happening in the supernatural realm all around us.
Discussion Questions
When it comes to the supernatural, which “ditch” are you more prone toward: the over-fascination ditch, or the stay-away-from-it ditch? Why?
Read Genesis 11:1-9, then Deuteronomy 32:7-9, then Psalm 82. Is the idea of God ruling the nations by means of a divine council new to you? How does this perspective help us to make sense of the Bible’s teaching on the spiritual realm?
Jesus came, died, and rose again to bring us (the nations) back into God’s family. How does this aspect of the gospel story affect you personally?
Why is it important to remember that “the satan” no longer has access to the throne room of God? How does this truth give you confidence: for life, for worship, for evangelism?
Prayer Points
Pray that God would help us to view the world around us biblically: both natural and supernatural. Pray that we would not become accidental naturalists.
Pray for boldness and confidence to share the gospel with those who are still under the control of the kingdom of darkness.
More Resources
Supernatural book by Dr. Michael Heiser
Four-part lecture series on The Unseen Realm also by Dr. Michael Heiser
Were the Sons of God in Genesis 6 Fallen Angels? Q&A video from Dr. Peter Gentry
Glossary of Spiritual Beings PDF
There Was No Covenant | Job 1:1-5
Sermon Description
The Book of Job is notoriously hard for modern people to read and understand. Why is Satan in heaven talking to God? And why does God take him up on a bet? Why does Job suffer so much? While Job is undoubtedly a dense and challenging book, one key that helps us understand the book is this: the people in the book of Job do not have a covenantal framework to know how to relate to God.
Discussion Questions
Have you ever read (or tried to read) the book of Job before? What questions did you have? Did you struggle to understand it? Why or why not?
What is your understanding of the term “covenant”? Do you think of it as the ancients would have, as a “completely normal word”? Or do you exclusively think of it in divine terms?
Why is “no covenant” such an important key to understanding the book of Job? How might Job’s actions and the friends’ conversations be different if they had clear rules of engagement with God?
Even though all of God’s covenants are good, why is the new covenant in Jesus’ blood the best one possible? How does the new covenant give us confidence? Why should we be thankful and loyal?
Prayer Points
Pray that God would use this series in the book of Job to grow our trust in him, to deepen our resolve in times of hardship, and to make us more like Jesus.
Pray that Jesus would give us opportunities to help people come into right relationship with God through the new covenant that has been offered to us.
More Resources
How to Read Job book by Tremper Longman and John Walton
God’s Names in Job blog post by Michael Minkhoff Jr.
The Covenants lecture by R.C. Sproul
Bible Project video on covenants