This week Carrie Buckner started our 2023 Advent series by sharing Luke’s story of Zechariah (Luke 1:5-23). It’s a story of hope marked by waiting. Zechariah had lost hope that he and his wife, Elizabeth, would ever have a child. And then one day while… Read More »Zechariah’s Hope
This week Pastor Dennis Allan walks us through Acts 15:36-41. Paul and Barnabas have just returned from Jerusalem where they advocated for unity in the early church between Jewish and Gentile Christians. But, as they prepare for their second missionary journey, they get into a… Read More »A Sorrowful Conflict
This week Pastor Shaq Hager walked through Acts 15:22-35 where Luke records the story of the Jerusalem Council sending a letter to the Gentile Christians in Antioch informing them they don’t have to become Jewish to be Christians. The Jerusalem Council drafts a letter and… Read More »Unity Requires Work
This week Pastor Dennis Allan talked through Acts 15:1-21 (NIV), a passage frequently referred to as “the Jerusalem Council.” It’s a story about differing factions within the new Jesus-movement believing they know best how to honor God and do life together. There’s a conservative, Jewish-Christian… Read More »Chasing Unity
This week, Pastor Dennis leads a conversation on how Saul became Paul by tracing Saul’s story from his introduction in Acts 8 to the conclusion of his first missionary journey in Acts 14. When Luke introduces Saul into the Acts narrative, Saul is at the… Read More »Paul’s Dark Night of the Soul
This week, Pastor Shaq walked through Acts 14:8-20 (NIV). There, Paul proclaims the good news of the Gospel in Lystra and Derbe, two cities that seem to have no knowledge of God, but instead a very familiar with Greek and Roman gods. Paul speaks persuasively,… Read More »Turning From Our Gods
This week Pastor Dennis Allan talked through Acts 13:13-52, the story of Paul and Barnabas proclaiming the Gospel in Pisidian Antioch. Pisidian Antioch was a military city with nationalist tendencies and dependent on the emperor. The most impressive structure in the city was the Temple… Read More »It’s Always Been Jesus
This week, Pastor Dennis continues our study of the Book of Acts by focusing the conversation on Acts 13:1-3. The leaders of the church in Antioch were gathered together worshiping, fasting, and praying when the Spirit spoke to them and instructed them to send Saul… Read More »Fasting is Feasting
Pastor Dennis Allan continues our study of the book of Acts, focusing on Acts 11:19-30 (NIV). Luke begins telling the story of the church in Antioch and, in telling the story, four things rise to the surface that appear to be values the early church… Read More »Four Values for the Church
This week Pastor Dennis talked through Acts 11:1-18, the story of Peter returning to Jerusalem after sharing the Gospel with and baptizing Cornelius’ household and being met with criticism from a faction of Jewish Christians. This faction of Jewish Christians believes that Gentiles, in order… Read More »Unity Over Uniformity