Like our physical birth, our spiritual beginning sets the trajectory for our relationships with God, others, the world and ourselves. After investing June and July to discover many realities about God’s Holy Spirit, this week we shift to consider the role of the Holy Spirit in the beginning of our journey which Jesus describes as being “born of the Spirit.”
"Baptism" Tagged Sermons
Along with great memories and celebrations, Christmas is an annual reminder that not everything is right. Tonight we celebrate the first coming of Jesus who was born a child and yet a King. To all who believe and surrender to Him as their King (i.e. “the Lord of all”) He provides His divine presence, guidance, forgiveness and purpose so we can join Him in His mission to provide glimpses of His heavenly kingdom in our broken world until He comes again to make all things new.
A godly disciple named Stephen has been executed. Authorities have entered the Christians’ homes. Male and female disciples have been dragged off to prison. And the One who said, “Blessed are those who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness” is seated at the Father’s right hand with all authority in Heaven and on earth. What is King Jesus up to? Beginning in Acts 8, through the whole Book of Acts and up to today, we discover that King Jesus is in the process of unleashing the whole church to bring the whole gospel to the whole world. In this message, we are challenged not to waste our lives and trained how to join Jesus in this mission – until He comes again.
A question is a window into the inquirer’s soul and an open door for the careful listener to bring a blessing. When Jesus’ disciples declared the wonders of God in various unlearned languages on the Day of Pentecost, those who had previously joined in the murder of Jesus raised a question, “What does this mean?” The former fisherman, whom Jesus had called with a vision to become a fisher of men, brought an unexpected blessing to all the inquirers of his day and ours. Peter declared this phenomenon to be further proof of a most astounding reality – God has made Jesus both Lord and Christ. Did you know that God the Father has given His Son all authority in heaven and on earth? In this message we hear this declaration and are called to turn from our lesser view of Jesus in order to enter the real world in which Jesus is Lord of all.