“Elder Innocence” – Acts 20:13-38

 

Do you recognize the rhyme that the picture above this week’s Scripture verse represents? It represents a rhyme my grandmother taught me when I was a very young boy. Give up? It goes like this, “Here is the church, here is the steeple, open it up and see all the people.” If you were to open many steepled churches today, you wouldn’t see many people. And while there is a decline, in our country, of the number of Christians, as a percentage of the entire population, there is not a decline in the number of those claiming to be “Christian.” So where are all the people then? And does it really matter as long as you’ve got Jesus? Well, our passage this week certainly does indicate that it matters. In fact, it matters a great deal. The church is how God cares for you if you are a Christian.

 

Come find out how and why God cares for you in that relationship this Sunday morning at 10:30. Also, come join us for Sunday School at 9:15. We have many new classes this year- something for every stage and age of your Christian journey. Everyone is welcome!

“Word of Comfort” – Acts 20:1-12

 

If you’ve ever fallen asleep in church, you’ll take comfort in this week’s passage, featuring a young man named Eutychus, who fell asleep and to his death as the Apostle Paul was preaching.  Well, I meant that you’d find comfort in the fact that someone else had fallen asleep in church, not that doing so may result in your own death.  Thankfully, falling asleep is not the kind of comfort this week’s passage is getting at.  Nor is it trying to tell you that there can be dire consequences to falling asleep in church, although, in a sense that’s true.

No, Luke, the author of the book of Acts wants us to see something else this week.  He gives us another inside look at the early church, hoping to provide you with comfort, encouragement, strength and help.  Ultimately, he’s pointing us to grace as it was dispensed by Paul and others in the first years of Christ’s church.  God is still dispensing that same grace to you and me today, and it’s free for the asking!

Join us for worship at 10:30 on Sunday and for Sunday School at 9:15. We have many new classes this year.  Everyone is welcome!

“Seismic” – Acts 19:21-41

 

What difference can we, as Christians, really make in the world? I doubt that’s the question the church in Ephesus was asking but they soon would find out, as the Gospel of Jesus Christ changed not only individuals but an entire culture. You see, the Gospel is so pervasive it causes seismic shifts wherever it’s taken. Luke, the author of Acts, gives us a good look at the extent the Gospel affected that city in this week’s passage, and provides hope for the impact we too can make on the world around us.
Making that kind of impact doesn’t require you to be obnoxious, uber-radical or to give up your day job and move half way across the world. It happened in Ephesus by living a normal Christian life. It happened by being what faith in Jesus had made them. When you start with Jesus, the outworkings of the Gospel flow from you to the world around you. It really is that simple and at the same time that seismic.
Don’t forget to join us for Sunday School at 9:15 and worship at 10:30. Everyone is welcome!

“Start Here” – Acts 19:1-20

 

On your mark, get set, go!  Yes, we’ve just crossed the starting line of a new year in many ways.  School has started, you can actually get something done at work now that vacation season is over, and you’ve probably begun any number of other activities that have restarted after a summer hiatus.  It’s the time of year when things begin to start up again at our church too.  Sunday school kicks into gear, a new fiscal year is upon us and Sunday worship returns to its start time of 10:30.   It’s, naturally, a time when many of us hope to make a new start in life.

What exactly does it mean to “make a new start” as Christians?  Is there any benefit to it and, if so, what can we realistically expect?  Our passage this week in the book of Acts seems to something more significant than simply making a new start.  It seems to suggest that God is at work in us in a way that’s not subject to the colossal failure rate of so many other “new starts” we’ve been involved in before.  In fact, I’d like to show you, on Sunday, several reasons why simply trying to make your own new start can fail.  It’s easy to make a new start, but starting at the right place makes all the difference in your success.

Don’t forget to join us for the 8 A.M. All Church Breakfast, followed by Sunday School at 9:15 and worship at 10:30.  We’ll have plenty of pancakes and the Word of God endures forever, so please invite a friend or family to join you this week!  Maybe your invitation will point them toward a fresh start!