This week, Pastor Suzy Silk continued our series through the Book of Acts, The Fifth Act, by teaching on Act 15 and the critical role it can play in defining the time in history we are currently living in. The Early Church was still a primarily Jewish community, and as the Gentiles began to be integrated in, it disrupts their normal practices, despite Gentiles receiving the same gift of the Holy Spirit in Acts 10. A council of elders and leaders is called in Jerusalem to discuss how they should handle the influx of Gentile brothers and sisters, and the conclusion they came to should shape how we see people becoming Christians today: salvation is given by grace through faith in Jesus the Messiah—there is no other requirement.

This Sunday, Pastor Jon Tyson continued our series through the Book of Acts, The Fifth Act, with teaching on the history altering birth of the church at Antioch in Acts 11-13 and the roles Barnabas and Saul played in expanding the Kingdom from there. Following the rise of persecution in Jerusalem, followers of Jesus not only began to go to the ends of the earth, but to try and make disciples of all nations as Jesus commanded them, now that the Holy Spirit had been given to the Gentiles. Antioch marks the first place that the Gospel was actively being shared beyond the Jewish community, and it led to a radical move of God that transformed a nearly godless city to the place where believers were called “Christians” for the first time.

This Sunday, Pastor Suzy Silk continued our series through the Book of Acts, The Fifth Act, with a message from Acts 10 and 11 on the radical, history-altering gift of the Holy Spirit for all believers. In one of the most pivotal moments in the Early Church, we witness the Spirit of God falling not only on the Jewish believers, but also on Gentiles, revealing that salvation through Jesus is truly available to all. We are living in the fulfillment of what generations of believers only hoped for: the Spirit poured out on all flesh, making the unclean clean, and drawing people from every nation into the household of God.

This Sunday, Pastor Keithen Schwahn continued our series through the Book of Acts, The Fifth Act, with a teaching from Acts 9:36-43, the story of Peter taking a risk of faith that resulted in raising Tabitha, a faithful disciple of Jesus also known as Dorcas, from the dead. The early disciples were not motivated by reputation but by a desire to imitate Jesus, and the same Spirit that empowered Jesus and the Early Church is available to us today.

This week, Pastor Tim Brown continued our sermon series, The Fifth Act, with a teaching on Acts 9:1-22, which recounts the miraculous conversion of Saul. Before he became the Apostle Paul—God’s chosen instrument to proclaim the Gospel of Christ—he was Saul—a devout Pharisee and zealous prosecutor of Christians. Still, the Son of Man came to seek and save Saul, as He did for all those who are lost.

This week, Pastor Suzy Silk continued our sermon series through the Fifth Act, with a teaching on Acts 8:26-40, in which Philip follows a prompting of the Spirit, meets an Ethiopian eunuch, explains the Scriptures to him, and baptizes him in the name of Jesus. This story highlights a key transition in Acts from a focus on the ministry of the apostles to the lives of individuals who came to faith after Jesus’ death and resurrection or even after Pentecost. These accounts show regular, ordinary disciples being moved by the Holy Spirit, explaining the Scriptures, and even performing miracles, and Pastor Suzy encouraged us that through the empowerment of the Holy Spirit, we can be Jesus’ witnesses in the same ways.

This Sunday, Pastor Jon Tyson brought a report from a recent trip to the Hebrides in Scotland and an impartation from Psalm 126, calling the Church to restored hope for God’s restoration to come not only on a personal level but also communally and nationally. He emphasized the deeply rooted, biblical importance of longing and praying for renewal, and invited us into a new season of hope.

This Sunday, guest teacher, Annie F. Downs continued our sermon series through the Book of Acts, The Fifth Act, with a teaching from Acts 6:1–7, a passage centered around a pivotal moment in the Early Church when administrative changes were needed to keep up with the rapidly growing needs of the community. She noted that the men chosen to serve in this moment were known first and foremost by the presence of the Spirit in their lives and their wisdom. Their lives bore the fruit of the Spirit—a sign of maturity that every believer is called to pursue no matter how or where they are serving in the Body. 

This Sunday, Pastor Suzy Silk continued our sermon series through the Book of Acts, The Fifth Act, with a teaching on the early believers living primarily as witnesses of the Gospel. Acts 5 reveals that the disciples had an internal operating system that enabled them to be witnesses of Christ no matter the circumstances they faced. In considering the decision-making framework of our own lives, Pastor Suzy urged us to evaluate what is driving our instinctive decisions: the pursuit of comfort and a good life, or being witnesses for Jesus.

This Sunday, Pastor Keithen Schwahn continued our series through the Book of Acts, The Fifth Act, by sharing a teaching on the story of Ananias and Sapphira from Acts 4:32--5:11 to illustrate how God is willing to dismantle anything in His Church that claims His name but misrepresents His character. The invitation to the Church today is to believe again that Jesus’ vision for community--marked by worship, learning, love, generosity, and multiplication--is possible, and that confession and full surrender to the Holy Spirit will bring about this necessary revival.