Afleveringen
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The legal system exists to maintain the status quo; it almost always has. It is often controlled by self-serving, powerful, rich individuals and corporate interests who like how things are and want to keep them that way. When prophets come who point out flaws in the system, it feels threatened, and the system seeks to stamp out critique and dissent with extreme force and a thin veneer of legality. Little did those systems know that the Jesus Revolution could not be killed: crucifixion only paves the way for resurrection, and a people willing to suffer and love against all odds, in the power and name of the Spirit, can endure and overcome injustice. Ever since Pentecost, every time those Spirit-filled people have formed non-violent, enemy-loving movements outside of the system, the world has changed, and the systems have been forced to bow in a prophetic nod to Jesus' second coming. Will you bow? Will you live in Him and for Him, and welcome His soon return? This week, Benjamin Chua walks our church through Acts 24.
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This week Carrie Buckner continues our series on Acts, talking through Acts 23:12-22. It's the story of a plan concoted by a group of Jewish religious zealots (or, Jewish nationalists) that reached to the highest levels of the Jewish religious system. The people to whom God entrusted His law and now openly planning to break it. How do people, especially people who claim to love, follow, and represent God, succumb to and participate in the type of zealotry that embraces political violence, bearing false witness, and murder? How do people reach a point of subordinating their religious convictions to achieve their political desires? These are questions that faced Jewish people in and around Jerusalem in the first century, as well as Christians here in America today.
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Zijn er afleveringen die ontbreken?
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Jesus instructed His disciples to be wise as serpents and gentle as doves. In Acts 22:22-29 (NIV) the apostle Paul is living these words. He was lynched in the Temple and then arrested and at no point did he fight back or physically defend himself. He was gentle. And now, he's about to be tortured by the Roman state when he asks a soldier, "Is it legal for you to flog a Roman citizen who hasn't even been found guilty?" It's a shrewd question. Paul knows it's illegal for a Roman to be flogged when they haven't been proven guilty in a court. He's leveraging his privileged status as a citizen to advance the Kingdom. In our current cultural moment, it's a timely lesson for all of us. This week Pastor Shaq Hager walks us through what it means to be gentle and wise, willing to sacrifice our bodies, like Paul, for the sake of the Kingdom.
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Paul knows the Gospel crosses every boundary and eradicates racial and ethnic hatred. He's given his life to proclaiming a Gospel that knits Jews and Gentiles into a new "family" rooted in Jesus. And yet, in Acts 21:37-22:22, when Paul tells a crowd of Jews who are zealous for the law that God sent him to proclaim the Gospel to the Gentiles they shout, "Rid the earth of him! He's not fit to live!" These Jews embraced a segregationist theology that told them who was superior and who was inferior based on ethnicity. It's a theology still at work in our country and churches today. Building a multi-ethnic church is an elusive dream. But it's always been God's vision to knit together a multi-ethnic, multi-racial people founded in Jesus. This week Pastor Dennis Allan talks through how the church is meant to be a signpost to the world that, in Jesus, unity and equality are possible.
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This week, Pastor Dennis walks through Acts 21:26-36. Paul is in Jerusalem, trying to prove to the Jewish Christians who are "zealous for the law" that he isn't trying to abolish the law. In fact, while Paul is actively observing and upholding the law he's captured and beaten in the temple by a crowd of "law-observing" Jews. We see in this passage what can happen when people believe their political desires align with God's will for a nation. We can embrace the false idea that "the ends justify the means," which is not a way of living or being we ever see Jesus embrace. We are oftentimes "zealous for Jesus" until He becomes an obstacle to our worldly pursuits. So, how then are we to live and act? This story begins helping us figure out what faithfulness to Jesus might look like in this fraught political and cultural moment in America?
*This sermon includes an excerpt of Rage Against the Machine's song, "Killing in the Name," which is available on Apple Music here.
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This week Benjamin Chua walked through the story of Paul's return to Jerusalem in Acts 21:17-25. Almost immediately after entering Jerusalem, Paul learns the church there is fiercely enthusiastic for the law, not Jesus. For the Jewish Christians in Jerusalem their belief wasn't rooted in the foundational story of God's covenant family culminating in Jesus and looking ahead to the fullness of His kingdom on earth as it is in heaven, but in a rigid, backwards-looking interpretation of the law, in which they used Jesus to rubber-stamp their rule-following theology. The church is to be a community cradled in the love of God, with love for one another. This is what Paul fought for and it's what we should fight for, too.
*The music at the end of the sermon is "3 Hours of Soaking in His Presence" by William Augusto. The full song can be found here.
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In Acts 21:1-16 Paul is en route to Jerusalem. He's resolved in his heart after discerning through the Spirit this is where he's supposed to go, even though he knows suffering and imprisonment likely await him there. In these sixteen verses we see people who love Paul try to discourage him from continuing his journey. They encourage him to abandon this trip, to not go to Jerusalem, and even claim they've heard from the Spirit, too. These people, who love Paul, demonstrate a belief many of us fall prey to - that if something involves suffering it can't possibly be God's will for us. And yet, just because our journey might involve suffering, it doesn't mean it isn't God's will.
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Pastor Shaq Hager continued our Acts series by discussing Acts 20:28-38, the second half of Paul's speech to the Ephesian Elders. Paul believes this is the last time he'll see these leaders he loves so much. It's heartfelt and emotional. Paul knows these leaders will need to shepherd their congregation within an empire that believed the early church to be anti-imperial and a subversive threat to Rome. It's why he wants these leaders to take their role seriously - care for people and love Jesus. It's an invitation for everyone of us. We are to love our neighbors and God with all that we are.
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The apostle Paul endured great suffering. A kind of suffering that works like a crucible, forging his soul more into the shape of Jesus.* This week, Pastor Dennis walks us through the end of Acts 19 and into Acts 20 exploring the end of Paul's ministry in Ephesus and how his letter, 2 Corinthians, reveals the depths of suffering he endured there. Suffering is part of the human condition and experience. Jesus and Paul suffered, and we will, too. Our suffering doesn't disprove God's existence or His love for us. Instead, our suffering can draw us closer to Jesus' heart, shape our hearts and souls more into the image of Jesus, and help us provide comfort and hope to others.
*This is language used by John Mark Comer in his book, Practicing the Way.
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This week Pastor Dennis lead a conversation focused on Acts 19:23-41, a story about people in Ephesus rioting because they believed Jesus' followers were actively seeking to undermine the financial, economic, and religious systems that shaped the city. It's a story that makes clear Jesus' words in Matthew's Gospel about two roads - a narrow road and a wide road. The narrow road leads to Jesus and the wide road leads away from Him. The story serves as an invitation for us to join Jesus on the narrow road and, in so doing, to be people whose very way of living challenges the power structures and value systems of the majority culture in our neighborhoods.
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Julia Allan continues our Acts series by focusing on Acts 19:8-20. It's a story that demonstrates the power of Jesus' name. Jesus' name is capable of healing people, liberating people from sin and darkness, and leading people out of bondage to the occult and into the freedom of the Kingdom. But, many of us want Jesus' power without wanting His lordship. We want healing and liberation without submission. If we're going to be people who demonstrate and live out Jesus' power, we must be humble and submitted to Jesus, and we must know His power is meant to advance His name, not ours.
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It's Easter, the day we gather to celebrate Jesus' resurrection. This year, Pastor Dennis focused on John 20 and the story of the empty tomb, Jesus appearing to Mary Magdalene, and how Jesus, in His death and resurrection fulfills the work God had entrusted to Adam and Israel. Jesus, through His death, creates a royal priesthood whose sins are forgiven and, through His resurrection, He invites His people into His kingdom mission of making all things new. God's begun His work of new creation and we're all invited to join in!
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This week, Palm Sunday, Pastor Shaq Hager walked through Matthew 1:11 (CSB), the story of Jesus' triumphal entry. When Jesus entered into Jerusalem the crowds met Him like they would a conquering king, bringing their expectations to Jesus, anticipating Him to be a Messiah who would overthrow Roman rule and restore Israel to a place of cultural and political prominence. The crowds, in many ways, missed Jesus because they were distracted by their own desires. How might we be distracted from seeing and hearing the real Jesus this Holy Week?
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This week Benjamin Chua continues our Acts series. Paul is in Ephesus (Acts 19:1-7) and he meets a group of people who haven't heard about the Holy Spirit. It becomes a conversation about two different baptisms - John's baptism and baptism in Jesus' name. Paul lays his hands on them, prays for them, they receive the Spirit and beginning speaking in tongues and prophesying. Yet, this passage is about so much more than speaking in tongues and prophesy. It's about identity, belonging, gifting, and how we as individuals and a community experience salvation as a pouring out so others can be invited in, so the church can be built up, and so we can join in to Jesus' life and invite the world to "Come!" (Rev. 22:17)
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This week, Carrie Buckner walks through Acts 17:10-15 (NIV). In these six verses Paul and Silas arrive in Berea where they visit the Jewish synagogue and reason from the Scriptures that Jesus is the Messiah. Luke, the author of Acts, makes it clear the Berean Jews receive Paul's message with open minds and eager hearts, ready to examine the Scriptures to see if what Paul claims about Jesus is true. It's a stark contrast to the Jews in Thessalonica who hear Paul's Gospel and start a riot (Acts 17:1-9 NIV). The Berean Jews were willing to doubt their own beliefs and reexamine their Scriptures in light of Paul's Gospel proclamation. What if we, too, were free to doubt trusting that on the other side of our doubts we might find a stronger, more vibrant faith?
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In Acts 16:11-15 Paul encounters a group of women praying. One of those women, Lydia, is a well-resourced business person. She hears the Gospel and believes, and then her house becomes the place the Philippian church uses as its home base. Paul and his companions stay with Lydia, she resources their ministry, and she leads in the church. Pastor Shaq Hager discusses how this story lays the foundation for why women should be empowered to lead in the church.
Note: The first few seconds of the sermon were not recorded due to an audio issue.
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In Acts 16:6-10 Paul, Silas, and Timothy are continually âkept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the wordâŠâ Honestly, it doesnât make sense. Jesus, Himself, commissioned the church to go and make disciples of all nations. Paul and his team wanted to proclaim the Gospel. So, why would the Spirit prevent them? What was Paul missing? It seems Paul was intent on going a direction the Spirit didnât want him to, at least not at this time. So, through a vision, Paul discerns the Spiritâs leading and his team agrees. But how did Paul discern the Spiritâs leading? How did he posture himself to hear? Prayer.
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What does it mean for followers of Jesus to be free? Paul talks about freedom in his letters, including 1 Corinthians. For Paul his freedom isn't just so he can live however he wants. His freedom is something to be used, sacrificed even, and for a purpose. But, then, what is our freedom in Jesus for? That's what Pastor Dennis talked through this week as we restarted our study of Acts. We focused on Acts 16:1-5, the story of Paul meeting Timothy and inviting Timothy to join his ministry team.
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In the third week of our Advent series Pastor Dennis Allan walks through Joseph's story in Matthew 1:18-25. It's the story of a faithful person who knows God's ways and character, acts with compassion and mercy, and submits himself fully to God. Joseph endured public scorn and shame, relinquished control over his life and his family's life, and even risked his and his family's physical well-being and safety. All because of the joy set before him. Joy isn't an emotion so much as it's a state of being. It's knowing that even though we may endure scorn and give up control over our lives, we're deeply loved by God, that we get to be in relationship with the Savior of the world, and that we get to participate in His ongoing redemptive work.
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This week Julia Allan continued our Advent series by focusing on the story of Mary's disorienting visit with the angel Gabriel. Mary is a young woman from a village so small and insignificant it wasn't included on maps. And yet, this unknown and unimportant person experiences God's unmerited kindness as her entire life is upended with the news that she is pregnant and will carry and give birth to a son named Jesus who is to be the Savior of the world. We see Mary experience peace at a time when she should've experienced great turmoil. We can experience peace, too, by engaging the spiritual practices of worship, prayer, and submission. Mary's humility and faithfulness show us how the peace of God is available to us when we most need it.
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