Problem solved by serving. MP3

The Church had a problem, some widows were missing out, being overlooked.
They relied upon the Church for enough food to get through each day & it wasn't forthcoming!
What would the leaders of the Church do to solve this problem?
How would they stop this becoming more of a problem than it should be?
Would it grow into something that could split the young Church?
The way they overcome this issue teaches us much about handling any problems that come our way 2000 years later!
listen along to "Problem solved by serving."

Praying for boldness! MP3

Are you a bold Christian?
What a question to ask you, but one that needs to be asked!
As we read through the book of ACTS we see the early church, full of young Christians who are passionate, courageous & bold in the face of opposition & even full on persecution!
They didn't let a little mocking, pain or difficulty stop them talking about Jesus Christ & the power of His name!
Today, we see the church in the West losing this courage, this passion, this conviction.
We need to pray as the early Christians did, for the ability to "speak the word of God with great boldness" in our communities, because they desperately need to hear it & see it being lived out in our lives!
I'm 100% certain that if we genuinely pray that prayer, God will give us what we ask for, He will make us bold!
But are you ready & willing to be a bold Christian?

5, 4, 3, 2, 1! ACTS 3:1-20 MP3

ACTS chapter 3 brings us face to face with yet another miracle performed in Jesus' name, & another opportunity to hear why & how this man was healed.
Anything we can learn from this?
You bet we can!
5 things about Jesus.
4 things about the people's sin.
3 things about the Good News.
2 things about the lame man.
and then finally,
the 1 thing that really matters!

Listen along & find what they are.

Blessings
Pastor Steve

Pentecost. The Gift is given! MP3

The festival of Pentecost (formally known as the Feast of Weeks) brought God fearing people from all around the known world to Jerusalem, a perfect opportunity for God to do something incredible before them, & that's exactly what happened!
In God's perfect timing, he sent His Holy Spirit to empower Jesus' disciples so they could be His witnesses (ACTS 1:8) in Judea, Samaria, in fact, everywhere around the world!
What an incredible experience they shared that day as the Holy Spirit came upon them!
The wonderful news is that everyone who puts their trust in & believes on the name of Jesus receives this awesome gift of God, the Holy Spirit, so that we also can be His witnesses!
Listen along to "The Gift is given!"

Making Godly decisions. MP3

Everyday each of us has to make heaps of decisions don't we?
Some of them are small & trivial, while others are a lot bigger & bring with them huge ramifications!
Every decision we make can go in different ways. Basically we need help!
So how do we make the right decisions, how do we make godly decisions?
Well, as we take a look at the early church in the book of ACTS we find the answer!
In ACTS chapter 1 the followers of Jesus were faced with a situation that needed to be resolved. Judas, (the one who had betrayed Jesus) was dead & his position needed to be filled.
How would they make this decision? Who would they chose?
Listen along as we see from God's word "How to make Godly decisions."

ACTS The beginning of the church! MP3

As we start a series on the book of ACTS, a truly exciting book, we see in the very 1st few verses, a number of things.
We see the ascension of Jesus, (His rising back into heaven) we see the promise to the disciples of the Holy Spirit, we see the challenge they face to understand & obey, & we see reminders for us, in the church today.
What a great book ACTS is!
I hope you can follow along with us as we work through it to see all that God was doing in the early church, & what He still desires to do in our time as well!

Suffering.

Hi everyone, just back from the States. I attended "Together for the Gospel" conference in Louisville Kentucky & wanted to share this talk with you all.
It's vital that we understand that suffering is a reality of life, & just because we suffer it doesn't mean that God doesn't care, or that He isn't still at work in our lives.
I was vividly reminded of that by listening to Matt Chandler's story.
It's powerful!
"In this (our Living Hope) you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials." 1 Peter 1:6

T4G 2010 -- Session 8 -- Matt Chandler from Together for the Gospel (T4G) on Vimeo.