Posts Tagged ‘ Preach ’
If you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
Romans 10:9, HCSB
Faith in Christ necessarily means we share the faith, confessing and preaching in the power of the Holy Spirit the gospel to others that they may believe and be saved by grace through faith.
I preached again!
I did not have actual notes or a PowerPoint or anything like that. I had my rougher-than-normal notes, so I will merely share the video.
This was at Paulden Christian Fellowship, and the majority of my messages will be there going forward. I am now pastoring there! You can follow the church channel (@pauldenchristianfellowship7763) or on Facebook. We also share the midweek Bible studies.
May you be as blessed with this message as I was and those gathered together were.
So faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the message about Christ.
Romans 10:17, CSB
We find joy and patience in knowing that God was patient with us yet sent others to preach the gospel to us that we might believe in Christ. May we be patient with others and learn the joy of helping them hear the gospel.
How, then, can they call on him they have not believed in? And how can they believe without hearing about him? And how can they hear without a preacher?
Romans 10:14, CSB
God guides us by the truth revealed in Scripture, the gospel of salvation in Jesus. The Holy Spirit empowers us to share the Gospel that others may find this truth and be empowered to believe and also share.
I preached again!
I was honored to once again be with the brethren in Paulden Christian Fellowship.
As usual, these are my rough notes, so not necessarily everything I said while preaching.
Ever been told news that changed everything? (Birth, Death, Dying, New Job, Lost Job, Prison, Debt [Forgiveness])
[Read passage]
v. 6c – “These men who have turned the whole world upside down” – More true than they realized. The gospel is a world- and life-changing message.
The true Roman Road was the Egnatian Way that went from Byzantium (Constantinople/Istanbul) to the west coast of Greece, about 1000 miles, to head toward Rome. Each of the cities listed are about a day’s journey by foot from each other, so that from Philippi to Thessalonica it’s about 100 miles.
Paul’s custom was to go to the synagogues in a city, and he spent three weeks showing/proving the truth of Jesus’ death and resurrection from the Hebrew Scriptures (OT: ex: Psalm 22, Isaiah 53, Zechariah 12-13).
The death and resurrection of Jesus is actually one of the most provable events in ancient history.
Three R’s: Reception, Resistance, and Recompense
Reception: v. 4: Some Jews, many devout Greeks, and a few leading women all believed.
Some Jews: We see that Jason is one who believed àRomans 16:21 calls Lucius (Acts 13:1), Jason (here), and Sosipater from Berea his “kinsmen” as an indicator that these are Jews. Jason may also have been one of the wealthier people as he housed them and had money to pay bail from prison.
Resistance: v. 5: Non-believing Jews get some wicked men of the rabble àthe lay-abouts and lazy men, prone to violence and crime, from the marketplace.
Continuing the trend begun in ancient times: the Israelites choosing the follow their idolatrous neighbors rather than what God has said. Choosing to try to kill the messengers rather than deal with their sin, like they did with the prophets.
Continuing the trend at Jesus’ arrest and crucifixion: “We have no king but Caesar!” “It is better to injure and kill these people!”
Continuing the trend seen in Acts: They’re messing up what we have, so let’s riot and get violent!
Recompense: (Payment) vv. 6-9: The people wanted retribution, but the authorities were paid the usual bail by Jason and the others. The people did not get the blood they hoped for, but it was still costly for the disciples.
Application:
Reception: What have you done with the gospel message? Do you believe, or are you resistant?
Resistance: We must realize that this fallen world will be resistant to the message, often getting violent.
Jewish Leadership (w/Jesus, Acts 4-9 … and the rest of Acts)
Roman government
Celsus (writing about 175)
Persecution around the world today. (2024: About 7,700 churches attacked; >200k displaced; >380M living under persecution)
Recompense: No, this is not where I call for giving to the church, though that is good for believers to do.
The world will want our blood, for violence to happen to us, to lie about us or misuse the truth (like with Jesus and the early Christians.)
Ironically, Paul’s letters to the Thessalonians deal with Christians who act more like the rabble seen in Acts 17, and he reminds those fearful for those who have died that we have hope in the Second Coming of Christ. God’s remuneration will come for all, with all of the verses that remind us of His vengeance and justice.
[2 Thessalonians 1:5-12]
Revelation 20-22 further reminds us that only those whose names are in the Lamb’s Book of Life will enter eternal life, while the rest receive their just punishment in the Lake of Fire.
We have hope, which helps face the troubles of this world, even with news that changes everything. (Birth, Death, Dying, New Job, Lost Job, Prison, Debt [Forgiveness])
The Good News of Jesus Christ should change everything about our lives. (Family, Friends, Work/Job/Business, seeing politics/government, community/global issues)
Change how we see truth.
Change how we see religion. Change how we think about God.
And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”
Acts 2:38, ESV
The Holy Spirit empowers us to Repent and faithfully follow Christ. Our God has sent Him that we may be sent out to lead others to forgiveness in Christ.
“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
Acts 1:8, ESV
Christ has sent us into the world, sent filled by the Holy Spirit to proclaim Christ.
How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?
Romans 10:14, ESV
God is faithful, and He calls us to faithfulness. He empowers us to faithfully share about His faithfulness. Then others can come to faith.
And when they had prayed earnestly, the place where they had gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak the word of God with confidence.
Acts 4:31, LSB
Our God calls us to Himself, and He sent the Holy Spirit to empower and embolden us to share the gospel of Christ.
“For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”
Esther 4:14, ESV
We have been tasked with calling out sin by the authority of Christ. We bring each other closer to Christ and remind each other of the hope we have in His coming.
a simple man of God 