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1 Corinthians 11:17-34 The Lord's Supper

this Sunday we pause our study of Acts as we take the Lord’s Supper. We observe this ordinance of the church every fifth Sunday, as well as at Christmas and Easter, but it has been some time since we took the time to explain what the supper is and why we observe it. So this Sunday, we will look at 1 Corinthians 11:17-34 as Paul admonishes the Corinthians for their misuse of the Lord’s supper. As he rebukes them, he also explains the proper meaning and warning of the Lord’s supper which will be of much benefit to us as we observe this ordinance Jesus instituted. It is a vital part of the life of the church and the life of every believer.

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Acts 26 Hope On Trial

As we near the end of the book of Acts, we come to a climactic point in the book and in the narrative story of Scripture as Paul gives his defense before King Agrippa. Here before this Jewish King, Paul will finally get to give a full testimony without being interrupted by ridicule or riots. And as we examine the text of Paul’s defense, we find that it isn’t really a defense at all. Paul uses this opportunity to connect his preaching and his message with the promise of God to Israel. He shows us that the reason he has undergone all the trials and tribulations in the last five chapters is because of his "hope in the promise made by God to our fathers." In this speech, we find the thread that connects the whole of Scripture to the preaching and mission given to the church. And we see what it is all about. We see what Paul’s trials are all about, and what God’s big story is all about - It is the hope of resurrection through the Messiah Jesus Christ.

But as Paul weaves his masterful narrative and shows Agrippa all these things, we start to see something else. Toward the end of Paul’s defense, we find that it isn’t Paul who is on trial here. It is King Agrippa himself. Not only is Paul explaining that the Messiah of God has commissioned his preaching in fulfillment of the promise of God, but he is actually engaging in his mission right here as he seeks the salvation of Agrippa and all those listening to him. Not only will we see the importance of our mission to make disciples and how we engage it, but we will receive a clear, concise explanation of the grand storyline of God’s Word and how it all fits together.

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Acts 25 When Trials Go On And On

Sunday as we continue in Acts, we will talk about many things that we have seen before in the previous few chapters. As we saw Paul’s trial before Felix last week, we will see his trial before Festus this week. Acts 25-26 is really one unit, culminating in Paul’s longest speech in Acts as he testifies before King Agrippa, Governor Festus, military tribunes, and the leading men of the city. And through it all we will see God still providentially working to fulfill His word, Paul continuing to answer false accusations with truth, and continuing to be faithful as the witness Jesus has called him to be. In short, he does the same thing we saw him do before in previous chapters. The difference here is that between chapter 24 and 25, Paul has languished in prison for two whole years. Over two years, it seemed that God hadn’t moved. Paul may have felt that God was silent as he could do nothing but wait and hope. And then, when something finally does happen, Paul has to go through the same accusations, the same plots, the same dog and pony show trial as he did two years ago. But even when the trials and sufferings of living for Christ go on and on, when there doesn’t seem to be any break in the tribulations that smash against our lives, we see that God is still working for His purposes and we are still called to be faithful as witnesses commissioned for Him.

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Acts 24 A Faithful Witness On Trial

We are steadily approaching the conclusion of our exposition in the book of Acts. This Sunday we will look at chapter 24 in its entirety. In chapter 23, Paul was sent to the governor in Caesarea for his own protection. A plot to kill him was providentially discovered and the Roman Tribune sent Paul to Felix under the protection of the Roman army. Now in chapter 24 Paul will be tried by Felix. In this chapter we see the first of several trials in which Paul will bear witness. Through them all, as Paul is on his way to Rome, he shows himself faithful to his calling to bear witness to the gospel of Jesus Christ. As all faithful witnesses of Christ, Paul is facing lies and false accusations of his beliefs and behavior. But in chapter 24 he shows all believers how to remain faithful to our calling through the persecution and biases of this world. He speaks the truth from a clear conscience toward God and men, taking every opportunity to share the message of the gospel to all people. There is much to learn from this chapter as we ourselves face mounting misinformation in the world about what Christianity is and what the Bible teaches. Because we will have to work quickly to get through all of chapter 24, it will be beneficial for us all to read the chapter before Sunday. I hope to see you there.

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Acts 23:12-35 Resting In God's Providence

As we examine Acts 23:12-35, we will see God’s providence as he works to fulfill His purposes in the ordinary and unexpected events of this life. God will send Paul to Rome just as He promised, yet He will not do so through miraculous deliverance. He will do so through the schemes of the enemy, the unexpected appearance of a relative, and the selfish intentions of the authorities. Yet in all these unpredictable and unexpected "happenings" God is in control. We might not know what God is doing through certain situations, but we know that He knows what He is doing, and we can trust His providence.

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Hebrews 2:14-18 Why God Became Man

Sunday we will continue focusing on the birth of the Savior. Last week in Philippians 2:5-11, we studied how the eternal God emptied Himself to become man and then humbled Himself to become obedient to death. And we rejoiced in the fact that now, the eternal Son of God is now the exalted Lord who is both God and Man. This Sunday we will turn our focus to the question, "Why?" Why did the eternal God become Man. Why was it necessary? What does it accomplish for us? How do we walk in what Jesus has done? To answer these questions, we will delve into Hebrews 2:14-18 and examine the reasons given to us by the Spirit through the author of Hebrews. In His coming, His death, and His resurrection, Jesus destroyed the one with the power of death, He delivered us from our slavery to the fear of death, He became our perfect High Priest, and He is able to help us who are being tempted. Sunday we will examine these four reasons in depth, and what they mean for our lives.

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Philippians 2:5-11 The Glory of The Gospel At Christmas

This Sunday, we will take a break from our exposition of Acts to focus ourselves on celebrating the birth of the Savior. Of course, we can’t discuss the birth of Jesus without also having an eye toward His purpose in coming. So Sunday, we will examine one of my very favorite passages of Scripture, Philippians 2:5-11. Often called the "emptying" passage, we will see how the eternal Son of God, the second person of the Trinity, emptied himself by taking the nature of a human being and entering into His own creation. Not only did He enter His creation, being born in Bethlehem, but He humbled Himself even becoming obedient to death so that the wages of others’ sin would be paid in full. And finally we see Jesus exalted to the right hand of the Father and given the name above every name. We will examine all these things in full and marvel at the love of God in the coming of the Savior. The story of Christmas and the truth of Jesus’ exaltation as God and Man is the foundation of everything. It is the joy of our lives, the glory above all others, and the very need of our souls. I hope you can join us the Sunday.

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Acts 22:22-23:11 Wisdom For Witnesses In Hostile Situations

This Sunday we find Paul in a very unenviable situation. In fact, it looks utterly hopeless. Paul has been mobbed and arrested by the Romans. The Roman Tribune allowed him to speak to the crowd in the hopes that he would calm them and disperse them. Last week we examined what Paul said to the crowd as he explained the testimony of how the Lord Jesus transformed and called him. However, Paul is not allowed to finish his proclamation to the mob in the Temple courts. As we pick up in Acts 22:22, the crowd again goes berserk at the mention of Paul being sent to invite the Gentiles into God’s covenant. At this point, things go from bad to worse. From Acts 22:22-23:11 we will examine how Paul navigates the impossible situation he now finds himself in. Though Paul does not act sinlessly throughout the next events, we do see some principles of wisdom in his actions that Jesus’ witnesses must understand in order to be faithful in hostile situations. Whether we are speaking of overt persecution and attacks from the world or hostility from individuals to whom we bear witness, we must be ready to give a defense for the hope that is within us, and to do so with gentleness and respect. Sunday we will see how to do so even when circumstances seem chaotic and hopeless.

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Acts 22:1-21 Prepared To Make A Defense

Paul speaks to the crowd that just mobbed him in the temple court. He delivers the testimony of how Christ transformed his life

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Acts 21:27-40 A Witness In Chains

This Sunday we will look at the rest of chapter 21. This will be part 1 of Paul’s first defense after his arrest. Acts 21:27-22:29 is actually one unit so we will take it in two parts. Over the course of Paul’s journey back to Jerusalem multiple people warned him not to go because imprisonments and afflictions awaited him. And once he arrived in Jerusalem, he was immediately confronted with a problem among Jewish Christians. They had heard rumors about his teaching about Moses and Jewish customs. To ease the consciences of the Jewish Christians in Jerusalem, Paul humbles himself and participates in a purification ritual in the temple. Our text Sunday picks up as he is in the temple doing just that. While Paul is doing all he can to honor God, keep peace among the churches, and show love to the Jewish Christians, he is accused and mobbed by the Jews in the Temple court. They are intent on killing him and the only thing that stops them is the Roman garrison stationed there. But things go from bad to worse as Paul himself is arrested and put in chains. From this point in Acts, Paul will not again be a free man.

Christ’s witness are accused wrongfully and treated unjustly all through scripture and all through church history. Jesus has sent us into a fallen world intent on using any means necessary to silence His message. It should not come as a surprise when suffering, affliction, and even imprisonment happens to disciples because of their witness for Christ. We are often slandered, misrepresented, and demonized in the culture and media. And things may get alot worse in the near future. But what we see in this passage is Paul sees all this injustice and affliction happening to him because God has called him to it. Paul sees this as an opportunity to preach the gospel to this mob intent on killing him. He understands that God’s priority is the glory of His name and the furthering of His kingdom. Paul’s safety, comfort, and preference is irrelevant. God places his witnesses where he wills so that they will be His witnesses especially through hardship. So even when obeying Christ means risk to our health, safety, reputation, or comfort - we can be faithful knowing that this world is not our home, and this life is meant for honoring Jesus.

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Acts 21:17-26 All Things To All Men

As we continue in Acts 21 this Sunday, we are quickly coming to the last time that we see Paul as a free man. Over the last few weeks, we have seen much of Paul’s heart for Christ and for the gospel mission. Last week in Acts 21:1-16, we saw Paul committed to finish the course Jesus had set him upon, despite everyone around him counseling against it. Paul said that he was not only ready to be imprisoned but ready to die for the name of Jesus. That is what Jesus commands of all those who follow Him. Jesus said, "For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and for the gospel will save it." (Mark 8:35). In Acts 21:17-36, we find that Paul was not only willing to give his physical life but was also willing to humble himself and lay down some of his personal liberties in Christ for the sake of unity among the body of Christ. As he enters Jerusalem and meets with the elders of the Jerusalem church, they share that misinformation has been circulating about him among the Jerusalem church. The Jewish Christians have been told that Paul is teaching all Jews outside of Jerusalem that they must stop living like Jews in order to be faithful to Christ. To remedy this, they propose Paul go through a "purification" ritual in the temple so that the Jewish Christians will know these things are not true. That sounds like something Paul, who rails against anyone suggesting the law (or any part of it) can be added to the gospel, would never do. But he does! Why? That is the question we will examine this Sunday.

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Acts 21:1-16 Faithful To Finish The Course

There is definitely alot going on at FBC! I am thankful for our church’s faithfulness to follow God’s calling wherever He is leading. That is exemplified in our text for Sunday. In Acts 20:1-16 Paul is on his final journey back to Jerusalem as a free man. As he spoke passionately to the Ephesian elders in ch. 20, he told them that in every city the Spirit was revealing to him that imprisonment and afflictions awaited him in Jerusalem. Yet, Paul did not sway from his calling. As we follow him on his return journey, Paul will stop in several places and minister to believers in the churches of different cities. The love and hospitality between all the believers is striking as Paul and his ministry team lodge with different believers. But everywhere Paul stays, everyone around him warns him not to go to Jerusalem. Indeed, even his own ministry team will join the chorus to keep him from heading into danger and tribulation. They love him dearly and want him to avoid suffering. This has a profound effect upon Paul’s heart, but he does not deviate from what he knows Jesus has called him to do. He is quite literally following in the footsteps of his Lord. 

Paul is devoted to the will of Christ despite what everyone around him thinks and despite the consequences that he knows will result. He is living out Jesus’ call for the one who would follow Him to "deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow Him."

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Acts 20:28-38 Faithful Pastoral Ministry Part 2

Sunday we continue examining Paul’s final words to the elders of the Ephesian church in Acts 20:28-38. As we saw last week in verses 17-27, Paul began by reminding them of his example among them. He lived and served among them for three years with humility and tears, despite the trials he faced. He taught the whole counsel of God unapologetically and therefore was innocent of anyone’s blood. Paul gave this reminder as an example of what the pastors of the church must do now that he is leaving them for good. As we examine the rest of his speech (v. 28-38) Paul moves to the direct exhortation of what pastors and church leaders are called to do. Without ambiguity, he lays out their responsibility before God as well as the ways and means they are to fulfill their calling.

This passage has been particularly convicting and formative for me over these last two weeks. Here we find God’s infallible testimony of what elders / pastors are called to be and to do. Here we find Paul’s pastoral theology and practice laid out in the Holy Scriptures, and it is here that the church is informed as to what God expects of those who are called to teach and lead as overseers of Christ’s church. Sunday we will look at what it must look like for the God called pastors to "shepherd the church of God, which He obtained with His own blood." We will also examine the under-shepherd’s call regarding "keeping watch" for the "fierce wolves" that arise from outside and inside the church.

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