bpchurch Sermons

It makes sense to focus on what you want to see happen. We are concerned about the lost, we look toward them and how we might reach them. When concerned about our own spiritual growth, we look to ourselves, take inventory and determine what we ought to do. But what if we are missing something. This week Acts 2:42-47 has been speaking to me about both spiritual growth and how we might share our faith in Christ with those around us. To do so, it seems our first priority is to look away from these needs, to the Lord and to His priorities.

It can be hard to identify the church today with the church in the first century we read about in Acts.  The church today seems hesitant and cautious in comparison. In Acts 2, Peter reminds Christians what confidence in God’s future in the midst of contrary present experience looks like. Peter also helps us to be clear about the gospel God has called us to share with others around us.

There are a couple of intimidating paradoxes in Acts 2:22-24. First there is the tension between God sovereignly working His purposes in Jesus's death, while people are held guilty before God for crucifying Jesus. Intermingled with that is the tension between such crushing guilt and such a wonderous promise that God does not abandon us in our condemnation. These are truths worth slowing down and soaking in, but what do they have to do with jumping in a pool?

Acts chapter 2 is a game-changer in the New Testament. This chapter inaugurates what God began with the incarnation, death, and resurrection of Jesus. Those world-shaking events were for this, and this is for you. Pentecost is not about whether you are charismatic or not; it is the foundation of what God is doing through the Church today.

Have you ever witnessed a major disaster? I'll never forget the moment I watched the space shuttle Challenger, at 73 seconds into its flight going nearly Mach 2, explode into a massive fireball. The world stopped. As we stood in shock, the flight controller uttered the words, "Obviously a major malfunction." It was a great catastrophe. In the following months investigators would figure out what went wrong. But are we shocked in the same way when we see the catastrophe of sin in our lives? When we see the disaster of sin, do we want to understand what went wrong so that we don't repeat the steps that led to the catastrophe? We see a clear example of the catastrophe of sin in the life of King David, what went wrong, and God's plan of redemption. In studying the life of David, we see into ourselves, and how our gracious and merciful God can redeem us from the disaster of sin in our lives. Let's take a look at , the Anatomy of a Catastrophe.

I remember, as a young child, being given a blank page and being asked to draw an animal. The result was unrecognizable. This was discouraging to me and disappointing to whomever assumed I had some artistic ability. But if they had given me a page with "connect-the-dots," I could have delivered a near masterpiece (for connect-the-dots anyway)! Sometimes knowing what God would have us do next seems like being given a blank page and being asked to draw an elephant. The result will be seriously distorted by our own limitations. What if we could connect-the-dots? I'm not suggesting a formula for finding God's will, but I think Acts 1:12-26 does give us some dots to follow.

In the midst of the stuff of life, we long for God's kingdom. Through heartaches we long for the day of no more death. In our failings we long to be free from the presence of sin. In love for our Lord, we long for Him to receive on earth the glory and adoration which He is due. But we are not yet in that day. While we wait in these last days, we are not to pass our time imagining the future. Jesus is very clear about what He has given us, as His body, to do.

Sometimes I find myself looking at what is going on around us and saying, "What is happening? How did we ever get here?!" Then in my head I hear myself say, "We are rushing back to the first century." When the church was born in the first century, there were hard times, political chaos, pressure to conform, and Christians were at various times either marginalized as odd and irrelevant, or they were violently attacked as a threat to society. How did they respond? How was this also the time when the Gospel turned the world upside down? Don't miss this Sunday, when we begin a new sermon series in the book of Acts. This week we will see how devotion to God in a sanctified life intersects with the mission which God has given to us. We will be His witnesses.

Have you ever had a really important day that you had to wake up early and get ready for? Maybe it was your wedding day, or maybe you were going on a trip somewhere. And even though it was early and still dark outside you had to live as though it was daytime, you had to turn the lights on in the house and get ready for the big day ahead of you. This is what Romans 13:11-14 is all about. There is a very important day coming and we have to wake up and get ready for it. Are you awake? Are you getting ready, or did you hit snooze? Either way, wake up early enough to join us this Sunday as we worship, know, and serve our Savior together.

Have you wondered at times what we do all these things for? Sunday morning singing, serving, and sermons. bpAcademy, D-Groups and journaling, Small Groups and relationships, reaching out to neighbors... These are things we do as God's Church, but what is it all for? This Sunday, in 2 Corinthians 3:18, God tells us what he is working on and gives us a clear image of what (or who) sanctification, or growing in holiness, looks like