Central West End Church

We all learn ways of getting through life that work for us, but they still feel upside down. The gospel shows us what right side up looks like. 

What if your ultimate safety wasn’t in being protected from suffering, but in the goodness of a God who carries and transforms you through the suffering? That is definitely not a safe question. But it is the question this passage helps us answer.

Even though our culture is deeply influenced by Christianity, many people have a distorted or false picture of Christianity. It doesn’t make any sense to them. How do you make sense of Christianity to people for whom Christianity doesn’t make any sense? This passage helps us. 

It’s often hard to recognize God’s work in our lives and in the world, because it doesn’t look like what we think it should look like. How can we take care not to miss what God is doing? In this passage, the apostle Paul shows us it’s all wrapped up in understanding the story we’re in.

Evangelism is a controversial and fearful topic for many people, and for many reasons. But the word has its roots in the idea of "good news," specifically the good news about Jesus. This passage helps us recover a healthier and happier understanding of this much misunderstood word. 

God's vision for the world has always been a multiethnic, multicultural vision. This story is one of the most powerful examples of that. In this passage, Peter recounts how he was led to a summit experience in the expansion of the gospel to all the world. 

This famous passage is not just a story about one man and how he met the risen Jesus. It's also a powerful lesson about what it means to be the church. 

What if the gospel of Jesus Christ is the only thing that can really affirm and honor all the different cultures of the world because it’s the only thing that can truly fulfill our deepest spiritual longings? This passage shows us how. 

The quest for meaning and control is at the heart of our lives. This story about a magician looking for the same things has a lot to show us about this quest and its ultimate fulfillment.