Christ Church Studies

In Acts 10, the apostle Peter experiences a strange vision while praying on a roof, and it forces him to fundamentally rethink the ways of God and how cross-grain our tendency is to divide up the world into the 'clean' and the 'unclean.' But God shows no partiality, and we ought not to either.

There may be no more consequential conversion in all of history than that of Saul of Tarsus. He would go on to become Paul, apostle to the Gentiles and author of much of the New Testament. In this session, we ask what Luke’s account has to teach us about the gift of salvation and the work of God through His messengers.

In this session, we study the story of Philip the evangelist and focus on what his story teaches us about God's use of human witnesses in the work of evangelism and about the distinctiveness of the Christian church as a people group.

"The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church." In Acts 6-7, we meet an exemplary of faith, Saint Stephen, the very first Christian martyr, who embodies the call to bear witness to Jesus by imitating His service, His suffering, and His love.

Evangelism often carries negative connotations, but the work of telling the good news of Jesus Christ is central to our Christian calling. In Acts 2, Peter gives his first evangelistic sermon to the crowd in Jerusalem; he models for us how to evangelize the lost.

How did a small band of Jewish believers grow into largest of all the world's religions? Acts, a book brimming with perilous journeys, political intrigue, and prison escapes, tells the inspiring story of the early church and answers fundamental questions about the church's mission, decisions, and success.

Samson's story caps this series of flawed and tragic heroes in Judges. Though the model of a born leader, Samson scorns his calling and seeks nothing more than his own gratification. God remains faithful, despite Samson's failings, as we learn the difference between deliverer we want and the deliverer we need.

Jephthah committed an atrocity, making a blood sacrifice of his own daughter, and retelling this tragic story from Judges reveals how a flawed view of the world may result in terrible consequences.

The story of Gideon is often used to teach children about humility, faith, and courage, but the truth is that Gideon is flawed: a poor role model who seems to bring as much harm as good to the people of Israel. Gideon’s story shows us the relationship between idolatry and power.

Deborah, the only female Judge, encourages the militia leader Barak to lead Israel into battle against the Canaanite commander Sisera, a story that not only teaches us the importance of encouragement, but also the relationship between courage and faith.