Psalm 2 is my favorite psalm; I call it the psalm that answers everything. It describes the nations' raging and the world's rebellious tantrum, "You are not the boss of me!" It exposes our vain schemes and declares God's exalted sovereignty. It assures us that God's king, Jesus, will reign and warns that God's judgement is coming. In the context, I think that the final verse is the best of all, an invitation to receive as King the Son of God and receive blessing and refuge in Him. We who believe in Jesus are His ambassadors to a world lost in rebellion and rage. We go with confidence of God's sovereign working, bringing God's gracious invitation of forgiveness and reconciliation to those around us. What will that take? What response can we expect? Come hear from God's Word in Acts 17:1-15.

When was the last time things didn't go according to plan? It probably happens all the time. Have you ever planned to have people over and then they got sick and you had to cancel? Or maybe you had a trip planned and then your car broke down? Or even worse, maybe your career plans or future marriage fell through. Making plans isn't a bad thing, but ultimately, it's God's plans that really matter. We see this in Acts 16:11-40. I am convinced that Paul did not plan for these things to happen, and yet all along the way he and Silas respond by trusting God, following the leading of the Spirit, and putting others' needs before their own. Join us as we consider how we can do the same.

Have you ever wondered, "God, what do you want me to do?" Or, maybe, "God what are you doing?!" Either question relates to knowing God's will and then trusting God's working. This Sunday we will follow Paul and his team to Philippi. This was not where they expected to go, and it could seem likely that the people of this city would not be interested in the Gospel. We are also sent places which seem uninterested in the gospel and seem unlikely to believe. What does God want us to do? Will God really do anything here, or is it time to move on? In Acts 16:6-15 we will learn some principles about knowing God's will and trusting His Word.

Sometimes we can get disillusioned or discouraged when our experience in the church or with other Christians is not what we know it should be. God's ways are perfect, but Christians are not...yet. Even in the New Testament, those whom God greatly uses in the church also have conflicts with one another or are in "sharp disagreement." This Sunday we'll hear from God's word that in the midst of conflicts and challenges in serving, God's grace abounds even more than we expect.

A week or so ago we were warned about email or phone scams pretending to be from one of the church Pastors. Avoiding being cheated by these scams includes knowing the true Pastor and paying attention to the details in the text or email that show it to be a fraud. 

These same principles will help us to recognize gospel scams. In gospel scams the enemy uses subtle changes that may sound good, but which will cheat you of your full inheritance in Christ. Lets see what God says in Acts 15 about recognizing and responding to gospel scams.

In Acts 14 this week, we will see Paul and Barnabas go from town to town sharing the wonderful message of the gospel. And yet, we will also see adversaries who oppose the gospel following them around, seeking to poison the minds of the people and turn them against the apostles. In many cases, it works, and Paul and Barnabas are run out of town.

We don’t often see this level of persecution in our culture right now, and yet there are still those who oppose the gospel. We ran into one of those realities this week. As many of you know, there was an email phishing scam targeting the church office that resulted in people’s email addresses being shared with a scammer. As a result, many of you have received emails impersonating the pastors. It grieves my heart that there are people who target churches in order to gain information and steal money from others. This kind of thing is an unfortunate distraction from the gospel, and it plays right into the enemy’s hands.

And yet, all we can do (besides being vigilant about scam emails) is remain faithful to God’s calling on our lives each day. In the midst of difficulty, we must remember that God is faithful, and that He is at work in people’s hearts—even when we don’t see it.

God gives us openings for the gospel in various ways. Sometimes a question is asked, which opens the door to sharing your testimony of what God has done. Sometimes relational connections give us an opening with someone we wouldn’t normally have the chance to talk to. Sometimes circumstances have created a new willingness for a person to hear God’s truth. In Acts 13 we see God’s faithfulness in advancing the gospel of Jesus in each of these ways. This chapter is an encouraging reminder of our privilege to be “workers together with God” (1 Cor 3:9) in his good news. It reminds us that God is at work as we step forward in Jesus’ name.

This Sunday we are returning to our journey through the book of Acts. We will pick up where we left off, in Acts 13:1-12. This is a fitting place to begin in a new year, anticipating new opportunities for ministry to people around us. Acts 13 begins a transition for the gospel from Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria, to the gospel’s extension to the ends of the earth. The only way this can happen is if God does it through us, and these verses have much to say to us about following the Lord by his Spirit. We’ll look at how to know the Holy Spirit’s leading, the filling of the Spirit for unexpected opportunities, and the power of the Spirit for answering spiritual opposition.

Let’s start the new year being better equipped to share new life in Christ with new people around us.

The Exodus is a foundational event in the life and story of Israel. The Passover commemorates it and the prophets recall it as the basis for how Israel should now live. How God’s people live for him is always based on how God has given them life. Yet, as foundational as it is, the Old Testament Exodus falls short. What is needed is a new Exodus, a better Exodus. This new Exodus is described by the Prophet Hosea, especially in Hosea 11, and from there it becomes a part of the Nativity story. This Sunday we’ll connect Hosea 11 with Matthew 2:13-15 to press a little deeper into the depths of God’s loving faithfulness revealed in Jesus.

This Sunday is Christmas Sunday. As we think about what child is this whom we celebrate, I thought it would be fun to have God’s purpose in Christmas told to us by someone who was there. So, we’ll have a guest speaker this Sunday describing three Christmas revelations. He’ll tell us how the Holy Spirit revealed it first to him, about how our Lord would reveal himself to the world, and what this would also reveal about each one of us. I look forward to seeing you Sunday as we worship God our savior.