The life of faithfully following Jesus begins with, is sustained by, and looks forward to continually abiding in God. As we seek to honor God in this life and await the life that is to come, we must remain connected to Him. Today we’re going to discover how we can abide in Christ and what we can look forward to in doing so.

The Book of Acts begins with Jesus’ promise that He would send forth the Holy Spirit who would empower and guide believers to proclaim Christ and His gospel (Acts 1:5-8). The Book of Acts records the fulfilling of that promise.

Storms can be a metaphor for the difficulties, struggles, crises, and challenges of life in a fallen world. How do we feel in the storms of life? At times hopeless (20), afraid (Mark 4:35), and overwhelmed (Psalm 107:23-31). Yet, God the Father has provided God the Son and Holy Spirit so his people can experience His peace in the midst of storms.

Storms can be a metaphor for the difficulties, struggles, and challenges of life in a fallen world. These include: physical and emotional, familial, relational, financial, and existential. In the midst of storms it can be challenging to trust God and experience His peace. Yet, God has given us His Spirit to help us to navigate storms and appropriate and appreciate His peace. Let’s discover how to trust God in the storms of life. 

Each one of us has a completely unique life story. But more important than your life details is the story of your relationship with God. For believers, the God of the universe has forgiven you, adopted you, and given you an eternal inheritance. This part of your unique story has cosmic implications and is worth sharing with others. Let’s learn from Paul as he demonstrates how to share our own testimony with others.

God has called us to be His ambassadors to urge people to be reconciled to God through faith in Christ (2Corinthians 5:18-20). As you contemplate your story (testimony) of God’s transforming work in your life there is ample opportunity to represent Jesus and his gospel to others (friends, family, and neighbors where you live, work, study, play and worship). God has given us the Holy Spirit to guide, and empower us to represent Jesus and His gospel as we tell His story and ours. Today, we will consider how.

As we endeavor to live on mission for Jesus, we will face times of uncertainty. In these moments, God is still working even when we can’t see it or don’t understand how. Let’s discover the peace found in trusting God through uncertainty.

The gospel offers us life with God through faith in Christ. Life with God is experienced through commitment to follow Jesus. Yet, in a culture that may be opposed to the gospel, and in many respects encourages the pursuit of this world as a means of experiencing contentment, it can be difficult to commit to Christ. The Holy Spirit has been given to believers to empower us to commit to Christ (Acts 1:5-8) and experience real life. Let’s discover how as we consider Paul’s defense before Roman leaders.

We believe that the Bible only affirms a marriage covenant relationship between a man and a woman. We do not affirm same sex behavior in any context. For a more detailed discussion of same sex attraction and the issue of same sex marriage view the link from an earlier teaching.