In this first Sunday of our Advent series, Pastor Andrea invites us to name our darkness while still daring to await the promised light of Jesus, whose arrival brings hope into places of fear, injustice, and exhaustion. True hope is not passive optimism but a courageous, active refusal to let darkness have the last word, trusting that God is already at work and that the dawn is breaking in.

Acts 28 shows that God meets us in the in-between places, where vulnerability opens us to receive and share the Spirit’s surprising kindness, healing, and love. Even in constraints and uncertainty, like Paul under house arrest, the Spirit remains unhindered—forming us, sending us, and working through ordinary acts of welcome, courage, and faithfulness.

Guest speaker Rev. Dr. Essentino Lewis, Jr. (Clifton Park Baptist Church) continues our series in Acts, preaching on Acts 27.

Pastor Andrea teaches on Acts 25:23-26:32, where we’re reminded that even when we feel bound by circumstance, God’s Spirit gives us the freedom to speak truth and bear witness through our own stories. Discover how your story, no matter how unfinished or ordinary, can become an act of resistance, faith, and transformation in a world that tries to silence what the Spirit is still writing through you.

When Paul stands on trial before Festus in Acts 25, he shows us what faithfulness looks like inside a broken system—telling the truth, using what we have, and remembering where our true citizenship lies. 

Guest speaker Rachael Wade, founder of the Olive Us ministry, preaches on Acts 24, where Paul is put on trial before the the governor of Caesarea because he was deemed to be a "troublemaker." This was not Paul’s first trial, or his first imprisonment. What can we learn from Paul on how to continue despite persecution, pain, and imprisonment? Where might we also need to stir up some "good trouble"?

In a world where control feels elusive and power is often abused, Acts 23 reveals that followers of Jesus are called to wield a different kind of power. This message from Pastor Justin reminds us that true power looks like love: speaking truth with integrity, showing up in solidarity, and trusting that God is still at work, even through ordinary people and unlikely circumstances.

Guest speaker Pastor Anthony Parrott from The Table Church teaches on Acts 21 - 22. What does God call us to do in the face of crowds of opposition? What do we say when we are outnumbered by those who refuse to believe the truth?

In Acts 21, Paul's journey to Jerusalem shows us how the Spirit leads us not around hardship but through it, inviting us to confront fear, persist in resistance, and trust that God is still at work even when we’re exhausted. In a time marked by collective weariness, our call is to endure, and to be rooted in the Spirit.

As Paul makes plans to leave Ephesus and say farewell in Acts 20:1-38, we can recognize six important lessons from Paul's time that feel particularly relevant for today.