In this message, we take a look at how the early church decided to choose a new apostle. The were in community, they looked to the word of God, the used common sense, they prayed, and then they cast lots. Is this how we should do it? We also answer the question, "Are there apostles today?"

In this introduction to our study through the book of Acts, we look briefly at Luke who is the author, and some interesting parts of Acts where the story catches up with him.

We also take note of the theme of those first fourteen verses, which is the command from Jesus to "wait". This is a common thing throughout the Bible, where the Lord causes us to "wait" for the promise He's given. Waiting does some wonderful things in our hearts and souls , and we noticed the example of how to wait which the disciples provide for us.

- Do You Recognize Jesus? (Luke 2:21-35)

Simeon is one of those men in the Bible who doesn't get a lot of press, though He had a pretty amazing experience. In this message, Pastor Pat tells the unique story of Simeon and his Spirit-led discovery of the God-Baby, Jesus.

- Our guest speaker this week was Pastor Jon Ruby from Union City Church. Jon led us through the passage, and he has such an interesting and refreshing perspective because of his background in recovery. In addition, his insights on the law of sin and the fuel of grace were insightful.

Keywords: Recovery, Different, Grace, Addiction

- I wanted to go back and focus our attention on two words in verse 18, where Jesus says “all authority” has been given to him. To discover what that means, we went back through the gospel of Matthew looking at all the ways that the word “authority” is used in relation to Jesus. It was an incredibly rich study for me, and I hope it was the same for the church. I took the opportunity because of the move, and because the focus was on “go and make disciples” to tell some of the early stories from Calvary, in how we got here, and what the Lord has done.

Keywords: Authority, Power, John Allen Chau, Justice

- Matthew ends his gospel by documenting the account of Jesus commissioning the eleven disciples. But what is a disciple? And how do we make one? And what about Christmas? Is it possible to use the Christmas season to make disciples?

- Because Jesus commissions the women to pass along his instructions to his disciples, this seems like it’s contrary to Paul’s instructions about women in 1 Timothy 2. So, in this study, we looked at both the role and place and significance of women in the New Testament, and then looked afresh at the qualifications for an overseer in 1 Timothy 3.

Keywords: Pastor, Overseer, Women, Leadership

- Our Bible Study was from the first 10 verses of Matthew 28, which is Matthew’s record of the resurrection. We looked at the details he gave us, in that it was on Sunday morning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to view the tomb, and how they were commissioned by the angel, and then by Jesus to share the good news with the disciples. Lastly, we took note of the way Matthew emphasizes the significance of the resurrection.

Keywords: Sunday, Women, Resurrection, Gospel Proclamations

- In our text, Jesus’s body is buried by Joseph of Arimathea, and the Jewish leaders request a seal and a guard. It’s a fascinating passage because of the repeating structure. We talked about the necessity of Jesus’ death and burial and how it had to be that same day and a rich man doing it. Beyond that, we saw the things that Jesus’s death accomplished. We finished by looking at how death and resurrection become part of the Christian life.

Speaker: Andy Falleur

Keywords: Death, Promise, Faithless, Death of a Vision

- This week we studied the section in Matthew where Jesus is on the cross and darkness covers the land. He cries out “My God, My God why have you abandoned me?” and then yields up his spirit. We reviewed crucifixion, looked at the reference to Psalm 22, the way Jesus died, and then what happened spiritually, naturally, and to humanity when He died.

Keywords: Quantum Science, Suicide, Prophecy, Crucifixion