People today are looking for community. They want something real, something that will meet their needs of companionship and identity. Whether they recognize it or not, God has made all of us with a deep desire for a relationship with Him and with one another. We long for authentic community. We can experience this authentic community when we pursue the four devotions of the early church found in Acts 2:42.
August 26, 2018
In the book of Acts, Luke described the “authentic community” of the first century church. He said they were marked by four “devotions.” They were: a shared faith, a shared family, a shared food, and a shared focus. We can experience this authentic community when we pursue these four devotions. Today, we’re going to focus on the 4th devotion, “A Shared Focus.”
August 19, 2018
There’s something about shared food, a shared meal that leads to real community. The same was true of the first century church. In the book of Acts, Luke described the “authentic community” of the first century church. He said they were marked by four “devotions.” They were a shared faith, a shared family, a shared food, and a shared focus. We can experience this authentic community when we pursue these four devotions. Today, we’re going to focus on the third devotion, “A Shared Food.”
August 12, 2018
Sin causes us to be separated from God and from each other. But when we come to Christ, He reconciles us to God and to one another and causes us to be devoted to God and one another. This is what we see in the book of Acts. Luke described the “authentic community” of the first century church. He said they were marked by four “devotions.” They were a shared faith, a shared family, a shared food, and a shared focus. We can experience this community when we pursue these four devotions. Today, we’re going to focus on the second devotion, “A Shared Family.”
August 5, 2018
While communities based around politics, sports, BBQ and regional accents may help us find people to associate with as friends, they fall far short of the authentic community that God has in mind for us. In the book of Acts, Luke described the “true community” of the first century church. He noted that they were marked by four “devotions.” We can experience this authentic community when we pursue these four devotions.
Do you remember the Three Rs of Learning from elementary school - Reading, wRiting, and aRithmetic? The three Rs of Parenting are Receive, Raise, Release. We all feel unqualified at times to raise our children, but God's Word has a lot to say about children and parenting and it is a source of help for us.
July 29, 2018
Have you noticed that every child is unique and as they grow, they change? So the parenting style that seemed effective when they were small, doesn’t work when they’re older. They need different parenting styles. Godly parents recognize their call to be leaders who make disciples. If we want to be effective, we have to match our parenting style to every child’s situation. In the book of 1 Thessalonians, the apostle Paul told them that he had discipled them like a parent according to their situation, sometimes gentle and affectionate like a mother and sometimes strong like a father in order to release them to live up to God’s calling. We can parent our children following God’s Word to match our child’s situation with a goal of releasing them to the Lord. The text gives three parenting styles that we can use in releasing our children to the Lord.
July 22, 2018
What is your parenting approach? Where did you learn how to be a mom or dad? Was it from your parents? From friends or a book? Or are you just winging it? What is your parenting style? It just so happens that the parenting style that sociologists found to be most effective is also similar to the one the Bible teaches. God’s Word teaches the importance of balancing discipline and affection in child-rearing. The apostle Paul told the Ephesians how to raise up their children according to God’s plan. As Christians, we can follow God’s Word in the training of our children and raise them up to maturity according to God’s intent.
July 15, 2018
Every parent feels under qualified at one point or another. But we have a source of help in God’s Word. In Psalm 127, Solomon wrote about the necessity of recognizing the Lord as the One builds families and watches over them, so that we receive our children and how to parent them from the Lord.
In this 3-week series, we will learn about the biblical basis for the purpose, mission and vision of our church. More than that, we will learn how God wants each of us, as members of His Church, to have a Heart for God, Heart for Each Other, and Heart for Our World.
July 8, 2018
Over the last two weeks, we’ve talked about the first two qualities of disciple-making, namely making disciples who have a heart for God and heart for each other. This week, we will focus on the third quality, Heart for Our World. In the gospel of Matthew, after Christ had been resurrected and just before his ascension, he called his disciples together on a mountain in Galilee to give them His Great Commission which expressed his loving heart for the people of this world. As disciples of Jesus, we have been given this same Great Commission to have Christ’s heart for the world.
July 1, 2018
We live in a time when it is easier to stay in touch, but people are still starving for a personal touch.What’s the solution to our increasing loneliness? A loving relationship with Jesus and through Him a loving relationship with one another. Jesus invites us to follow Him and belong to His family. In the gospel of John, Christ gave a new commandment to His disciples to love one another just as He loved them, demonstrating their heart for each other. As His disciples, we can follow Christ’s new commandment and have a heart for each other.
June 24, 2018
Christ’s Great Commission commands us to be a disciple-making church. But what kind of disciples? What qualities are we to instill in the disciples we make? That’s where today’s sermon comes in. For the Lord has not only given us the Great Commission. He has also given us the Great Commandment. Today, we’re going to focus on the first part of the Great Commandment which calls us to make disciples who have a Heart for God. In Mark’s gospel, Jesus was asked to name the greatest commandment. In a sense he was asked to simplify all of the writings of the Bible down to one simple statement. He didn’t pause. Jesus told his hearers that the greatest commandment is to love God with all your being, essentially with all your heart. Through Jesus, we can have a heart for God.