Acts 13:13-52

As God works through his church to set-apart and send people with the gospel to different places and people, we need to be sure that while our methods may vary depending on the context, we clearly proclaim the one message of salvation that God has entrusted to us. Now we look at the preaching of the apostle Paul on his first missionary journey and what we can learn about proclaiming the gospel of God and trusting his sovereign Spirit with the results.

Acts 13:1-12: We often hear of a church being "missional" or "mission-minded" or "missions-focused." By that we usually mean a church that takes seriously it's role in Jesus' great commission to be his witnesses in taking the gospel to the ends of the earth. As we return to our series in the book of Acts, the focus now turns to that missionary task of going global with the gospel. We come back to Acts and see how God works through his church to get the gospel where He ordains that it go, and what it means for us as God's people as we seek to live sent lives in obedience to his call.

Acts 12

Jesus made it very clear to his followers that the world would persecute and hate them just as it persecuted and hated him. But he also told them to take heart in the face of such trouble because he has overcome the world. The attempt of Herod to snuff out the church in Acts 12 holds surprising parallels to the attempt of his ancestors to snuff out the head of the church, Jesus Christ in the gospels. Not surprisingly the results are the same. Now we see two executions and an escape that remind us that even the gates of hell will not prevail over Christ's kingdom and the advancement of his church.

Our journey in the Book of Acts (11:19-30) brings us to Antioch, focusing again on those who had been scattered due to the persecution that arose over Stephen (see Acts 8:1). What we find is a growing, thriving church that is working in unique and strategic ways to live out the truths of the gospel. And, interestingly, it is also there in Antioch that the disciples are first called ‘Christians’. Here we consider what this name ‘Christian’ means, and discover what the disciples were doing that led them to be called such a thing.

Acts 10:34-11:18

The gospel of Jesus Christ is at the same time both the most universally exclusive and inclusive news ever heard. It is exclusive in that it proclaims the only means by which sinful man can be reconciled to, accepted by and given access to God the Father. It is inclusive in that those benefits are available to anyone, no matter who they are, through repentance and faith. Maintaining the gospel's exclusiveness while embracing its inclusiveness has always been a challenge to the church from the beginning. Here we look at how the early church wrestled with this challenge as the gospel granted the Gentiles equal access to the Father.

Acts 10:1-34

Here we see the gospel break through another significant barrier as God responds to the prayers of two men in a most unusual way, bringing them together in order that the gospel might go forth to the Gentiles. We pick up in Acts 10 and the divine appointment between the apostle Peter and a man named Cornelius.

More than a century after the Reformation was in full swing, a group of reformers met at Westminster in London to put together a confession of faith and catechisms to guide the Church of England. The Westminster Catechism began with the question, "What is the chief end of man?" The familiar answer given - "To glorify God and enjoy him forever" - reflects the truth that God alone is to be glorified. Now we look at the last of the five "solas", Soli Deo Gloria, and consider what it means to live for the glory of God alone.

There is no argument that to be a Christian is to have faith, to believe in God, and in particular to believe in Jesus Christ as Savior of sinners. But is that all that is necessary? What about obedience and good works? What about our seeking of God and desire for salvation that leads to faith? Don't those count for something? And what about faith itself? Don't we at least contribute that to the salvation equation? These questions get to the heart of the issue that shaped the Reformation debate, and led to the restoration of the biblical doctrine of justification by faith alone as a central tenet of the true gospel. Here we continue in our series on Why the Reformation Still Matters and look at Sola Fide - Faith Alone.

How do dead people come alive? How are enslaved people set free? How are condemned people forgiven and justified? In his letter to the Ephesians, Paul is clear that all of us as sinners before a holy God fall into those categories. We are spiritually dead, dominated and doomed, and thus unable to contribute anything to salvation. Which is where God's grace comes in. It is by God's grace alone that we are saved and this truth serves as the bedrock of the gospel as good news. Here we look at another great hallmark of the Reformation's return to the foundations of our faith: Sola Gratia. It is God's grace alone that saves us.

In all the heated debates that occurred during the Protestant Reformation, there was one issue that could be found at the center of all of them: were the Scriptures a sole Divine authority for God’s people? While reformers like Luther demanded this, their counterparts in the Roman Church insisted that it was both Scripture and Church tradition that were divine authorities for God’s people. Join us as we consider what it means for the church to embrace the truth of Sola Scriptura, and see that while tradition is both important and needed, only God’s Word is the ultimate authority over God’s Church.