There’s nothing like a near-death experience to give one clarity about what’s most important. It’s in this context that Paul got thinking about succession: leaving a legacy, establishing a lasting influence, and investing in the next generation. In this text we see the shift in Paul from being primarily a sower, to becoming both a sower and a weeder/tiller/pruner. So instead of moving on…
We are made to worship. God engineered our souls to thirst for increasing doses of delight. So throughout our city as in the 1st century city of Lystra men and women seek pleasure in many unsatisfactory quests. In this text the Apostle Paul succinctly declares the secret for every soul, “Turn from these vain things to a living God, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them.” Listening to this message will clarify for you why only God will satisfy your soul and equip you to expand your delight in Him.
Have you noticed how some followers of Jesus seem to have something special when it comes to helping others come to believe in and follow Jesus as Lord? The Apostle Paul was used by God to point thousands of people toward a relationship with God through Jesus Christ. As we seek to be disciples who help others to become disciples, this message unveils values that God used in Paul to draw many to become disciples of Jesus. What if we all learned from Paul as he learned from Christ?
Many years ago Saint Augustine wrote, “You have made us for Yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in You.” In today’s message, we meet Sergius Paulus, a Roman proconsul on the island of Cyprus, who appeared to have it all. Yet he longed for more. Overcoming great distances, a dangerous ocean and discouraging words, God sent messengers…
Why do we still send out missionaries in our contemporary world? Aren’t there enough needs to address locally? Since people’s spiritual framework is intertwined with their culture, isn’t it disrespectful to enter their world for the purpose of influencing their religion? If you ever grapple with questions like these this message will provide three God-centered motivations for followers of Jesus to join our centrifugal God by sending missionaries and/or going ourselves until the whole earth is “filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.”
Have you noticed how often a difficulty arises once you take a step to faithfully do what God wants you to do? In our passage today, strong opposition came against God’s people when king Herod killed James and captured Peter to kill him as well. If you desire to see God break through like only He can do this message will encourage you to anticipate opposition, pray to our King and know with certainty that He will deliver you in His time according to His plan for His glory and your amazement.
Aspen forests grow as each tree distributes seeds and sends out root sprouts. Similarly, our exalted Jesus expands His Kingdom here on earth in various ways through ordinary people like you and me. In this message by Dean Wertz, united with a God exalting testimony from Uriel Luebcke, founder and Pastor of SkateMinistry.org, you will be inspired to discover, and then remain steadfast to, your divine purpose.
God and His will are unchanging. It has always been His desire that the gospel be nondiscriminatory and that it eventually be received by all nations and all peoples. This was revealed to Peter, yet his Jewish heritage made it difficult for him to overcome his prejudice against the Gentiles. By submitting to God, he was able to bridge the gap with people he despised in order to share the truth and love of Christ. We ought to do likewise.
The pervasive impact of God’s kingdom continues to change lives. Saul has become Paul and instead of breathing murderous threats, he now speaks boldly in the name of the Lord. The book of Acts now picks up again on the mission work of Peter and we see how both powerfully and ordinarily God’s kingdom grows – through the amazing acts of healing and raising the dead, as well as the humble acts of service. In the presence of everyday life, the kingdom comes.