Cheyenne Hills Podcast

Pastor Jon Simpson joins us on the podcast this week to really look at what Peter went through that night God miraculously sprung him from jail, where he may well have awaited his execution! How do we react when God springs us out of a situation we did'nt think we could be saved from? And how often is the way he answers our prayers so unlike our expectations we could almost miss it?!

We continue our journey through acts, and things are really heating up for the fledgling church. James (one of the big three!) is put to death and Peter finds himself arrested again with no way out... and he needs a miracle.

Peter had to learn to let go of the cultural traditions and rules that could stand in the way of fulfilling Christ's commission to spread the Gospel. Cultural Christianity can be just as big of an obstacle to us, today, when it keep us from being fully-formed servants of Jesus.

God speaks to Peter through a dream to prepare him to put aside his old cultural biases so his mind won't be too blown when he hears that God also sent a message to a Roman centurion — a leader of oppressive army occupying Peter's country.

Have you ever been written off as a lost cause? Paul had, but Jesus called him and he became instrumental in the early spread of Christ's Church. Which leads us to ask... who have you written off that you should still be pursuing?

Guest speaker Keith Kautz shares a few important (and a little convicting) questions that he takes from the story of Jesus confronting Saul/Paul and calling him to a new ministry for Him, rather than against Him.

We apologize for publishing the past two episodes so late. We're working to have our episodes come out more reliably, so they can be a better asset for Grow Group leaders and our congregation. This week we talk about how things that make us uncomfortable are often God's way of pushing us to the next stage in our growth.

Sometimes discomfort is the thing that stimulates the biggest growth, and so it was with the persecution of Christians in Jerusalem and the Church's growth into the world we see in Acts.

In part 4 of our Tetelestai series, Pastor Jon talks about "stepping into a moment." On the podcast we talk about what that moment looks like, the nature of being a Witness for Christ, and how exactly we might show that little bit of courage in our lives.

Stephen was the first martyr of the church after Jesus' accension. He had an opportunity to back down, or step into a moment and be courageous. When his life was threatened, he began to preach. What would our world look like if every Christian had even a little more of such courage?