Appalachian Hills Reformed Fellowship

The night before, the risen Jesus stood beside Paul and said, "Take courage, for as you have testified to the facts about me in Jerusalem, so you must testify also in Rome." By morning, more than forty men had sworn under a curse that they would not eat or drink until Paul was dead. Somebody's word was not going to stand.

This morning we watch Christ keep His promise through an unnamed young man, a Roman commander, four hundred seventy soldiers, and even the chains Paul never got to shake off. If you feel unseen, weary, or stuck in a hard road that has not changed, this passage is for you. If you have been drifting, you are invited to come home. And if you have never trusted Christ, you will hear plainly how a sinner is forgiven and made right with God through His life, death, and resurrection.

Jesus has already spoken, and His Word will stand.

Share this with someone who needs to hear it, and let us know you are watching in the comments.

#Acts23 #AppalachianHillsReformedFellowship #ExpositoryPreaching #ReformedBaptist #Paintsville #EasternKentucky #LordsDay

Paul stood before a hostile council, faced injustice, and was carried back to the barracks without a verdict. But the council did not have the final word. That night, the risen Lord stood beside Paul and told him to take courage.

In this sermon, we see that a clear conscience does not promise an easy road, religious authority must remain beneath God’s Word, and belief in the resurrection must lead us to the risen Christ. Our courage does not rest on our strength or our circumstances. It rests on Jesus, who obeyed where we rebelled, bore our sin on the cross, rose bodily from the grave, and remains faithful to His people.

If you are not trusting in Christ, turn from your sin and trust in Him. Jesus saves all who come to Him in faith. If you are weary or facing a hard road, take courage. The Lord who overcame the world has not abandoned His people.

Appalachian Hills Reformed Fellowship
Sunday worship at 11:00 AM
Wednesday Bible study at 5:00 PM

#Acts #TheLordWhoStandsBesideUs #ChristianSermon #ReformedBaptist #JesusChrist

The crowd listened to Paul until one word touched the pride they had protected. When he spoke of God’s mercy going to the Gentiles, their anger erupted. The Roman tribune responded by preparing to interrogate Paul with a whip. Yet Paul remained faithful, used his lawful rights without seeking revenge, and trusted God with the results.

In this sermon, we see that the world rages when grace threatens what it loves, earthly power becomes dangerous when separated from justice, and Christians may use lawful protections while continuing to love their enemies. Paul’s Roman citizenship could stop the whip for a moment, but only heavenly citizenship could give him a home that suffering, government, and death could never take away.

“But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ” (Philippians 3:20 ESV).

Our heavenly citizenship was purchased, but we did not pay the price. Jesus Christ lived the righteous life we have not lived, bore the judgment our sins deserve, died upon the cross, and rose victoriously from the grave. Through the gospel, the Holy Spirit gives new life, brings sinners to repentance and faith, and joins them to Christ forever.

Love those who reject you. Speak truth to those who mistreat you. Keep sowing when the field appears barren. Our responsibility is faithfulness, while the growth belongs to God.

Paul stands before a mob that wants him dead and does something most of us would never risk. He tells them exactly who he used to be. He was educated, zealous, and utterly convinced he served God, yet he was persecuting the church of Jesus Christ with everything he had. Then Christ met him on the road to Damascus and nothing about his life stayed the same.

This sermon walks through Paul's testimony to ask a question every one of us needs to answer honestly. Do we hide the mercy Christ has shown us because our past feels shameful, or do we quietly make our old life the hero of the story instead of Him? Paul does neither. He tells the truth about who he was, he makes much of the Christ who found him, and he lets the same grace that saved him send him out to people he once regarded as enemies.

Whether your past looks respectable or ruined, this message is for you. Come expecting to hear the gospel preached plainly, and bring someone who needs to hear it too. Tune in live or join us in person, we would love to have you with us.

Sunday evening service

What do we do when we have tried to obey God, tried to walk faithfully, tried to make peace, and the road still gets harder?

In Acts 21:27–36, Paul is falsely accused, seized by an angry crowd, beaten, arrested, and carried away in chains. From the outside, everything appears to have gone wrong. Yet through every accusation, every blow, every Roman soldier, and every chain, Jesus Christ remains Lord.

This sermon examines what Scripture teaches us when obedience is misunderstood, when the crowd turns against us, and when circumstances seem completely out of control. Paul’s suffering reminds us that faithfulness does not guarantee comfort, prosperity, or an easy road. Christian obedience was never given to us as a way to control outcomes.

The crowd may lose control. Christ never does.

We also see the danger of assumptions, gossip, false accusations, religious zeal without grace, and the temptation to answer sin with sin. Paul’s experience points us back to his Master, Jesus Christ, who was falsely accused, rejected in Jerusalem, crucified for sinners, and raised bodily from the grave.

Our suffering does not save us. Christ’s suffering saves His people. Our obedience does not earn righteousness. Jesus Christ obeyed perfectly, bore the judgment our sins deserved, died upon the cross, and rose again.

The chains around Paul’s wrists were not outside the providence of God. They became part of the road Christ would use to carry His witness toward Rome. What looked like interruption was still under the rule of the risen King.

If you are walking through circumstances you do not understand, do not measure Christ’s faithfulness by the comfort of the moment. Be faithful today. Tell the truth today. Love your neighbor today. Repent where you are wrong. Pray. Trust Christ.

And if you do not know Christ, you do not merely need God to make your circumstances easier. You need your sins forgiven and you need to be reconciled to God. Jesus Christ receives sinners who come to Him.

“Whoever comes to me I will never cast out.” John 6:37 ESV

Paul walks back into the city that once knew him as a persecutor, and this time the church receives him with joy. Thousands of Jewish believers have come to Christ, but a dangerous rumor is already spreading, and how the church handles it says everything about whether their zeal is rooted in grace or in performance.

Join us as we open Acts 21:17-26 and ask what's actually feeding your obedience. Is it the finished work of Jesus, or is it comparison, reputation, and the fear that grace might not be enough? We'll watch Paul surrender his personal liberty out of love without ever surrendering the gospel, and we'll see why obedience was never meant to guarantee an easy road.

Whether you're walking through a season of blessing or bracing for a storm you can't yet see, this word is for you. Tune in live or catch the replay.

Following Christ does not always mean He leads us around suffering. Sometimes He leads us straight through it. In Acts 21, Paul continues toward Jerusalem knowing that chains await him. Along the road, the Lord gives him companions, prepares him for what is coming, teaches those who love him to surrender their desires, and shows that Jesus is worth following wherever the road leads.

God is not a genie we command. He is the Lord and Savior who leads His people and brings them home. Biblical faith asks boldly and bows humbly, trusting that the hands guiding our path still bear the scars of the price Christ paid to redeem us.

“And since he would not be persuaded, we ceased and said, ‘Let the will of the Lord be done.’” Acts 21:14 ESV

Join Appalachian Hills Reformed Fellowship as we open God’s Word and see why no road appointed by Christ can ever lead His people away from Him.

#Acts21 #TheLordWhoLeadsUsHome #AppalachianHillsReformedFellowship #ReformedBaptist #BiblePreaching

The church does not belong to a pastor, a founding family, a denomination, or its largest giver. The church belongs to Jesus Christ because He purchased her with His own blood.

In Acts 20:28–38, Paul gives his final instructions to the Ephesian elders. He commands them to watch themselves, care for the entire flock, guard the church against wolves, depend upon the Word of grace, help the weak, and remember that everything ultimately depends upon God.

“Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood” (Acts 20:28 ESV).

This sermon follows four truths from Paul’s farewell.

1. A Church Purchased by Christ

2. A Church Guarded by Christ’s Truth

3. A Church Built by Christ’s Grace

4. A Church Shaped by Christ and Bound for Christ

The church began because Christ obeyed the law we had broken, bore our guilt upon the cross, shed His blood for sinners, and rose victorious over sin and death. She is preserved by His grace, shaped by His self-giving love, and destined to dwell forever in His presence.

If you are without Christ, do not wait until you believe you have made yourself worthy. Turn from your sin and trust completely in the crucified and risen Savior. Jesus said, “Whoever comes to me I will never cast out” (John 6:37 ESV).

Preached from Acts 20:28–38 at Appalachian Hills Reformed Fellowship.

#Acts20 #JesusChrist #ReformedBaptist #ChristianSermon #Gospel #ChurchLeadership #BiblicalPreaching #AppalachianHillsReformedFellowship

Paul is hastening toward Jerusalem, and suffering waits for him there. He knows the cost, and he keeps walking anyway. Not because he has some strength unavailable to the rest of us, but because the grace he preaches is what holds him on the road.The calendar could not stop him. Opposition could not stop him. Fear could not stop him. Because the gospel he carries belongs to a King who cannot be stopped."But the word of God is not bound!" (2 Timothy 2:9 ESV)Tune in this morning as we walk through Acts 20:13-27 and see what it looks like to finish the course God has set before us, no matter what stands in the way.#AppalachianHillsReformedFellowship #ActsSeries #ReformedBaptist #PaintsvilleKY #GospelOfGrace