The more things change, the more they stay the same. We feel like we are such a different culture in 21st century America than the Athenian society we discover in Acts 17. Yet the people Paul encountered are surprisingly very much like us. In our sermon today we'll find out just how much our challenges... and solution... remains the same.

Do you know the reasons why your faith in Christ is real? Is your faith reasonable? Could you explain it to someone who didn't understand or believe as you do? Are you prepared for others to shun your faith in Christ? Are you prepared for others to shun you because of your faith in Christ? We discuss these questions as we study Acts 17:1-15.

Do you have no peace or do you know peace? We consider Acts 16:31-40, when Paul and Silas were unfairly beaten and imprisoned. As a Roman citizen, Paul had citizenship rights, which were violated. Doesn't sound very peaceful. How did Paul respond? How do we respond when our rights are violated? How do we find peace in unpeaceful situations?

We continue our Resolutions series with resolution #9: "I resolve to be generous not selfish." We will consider what God's Word tells us about both selfishness and generosity. We will discover that the kind of generosity God has in mind for us is all about attitude - formed both in our hearts and in our minds. Will you resolve to be generous?

We discuss an uncomfortable truth about our Christian faith: the deeper we go with Jesus, the greater the trials we face. As we are reminded in the Bible, our battle is not with the physical but with the spiritual forces of evil. These trials disguise themselves as physical difficulties in the here and now, but we learn to see these difficulties as they really are - strikes against us from the evil one. What should we do? How should we respond?

We continue our study of Acts, examining 16:11-15. Paul had expectations of what he would find in Macedonia, but he discovered something... and someone... very different than he expected. It could even be that Paul had a bias that blinded him to the possibility of what he found. Could we also have biases that interfere with our ability to minister?

What should we do when it feels like every door is closed? When our plans just aren't working out? Should we stubbornly try even harder or should we ask if God has something different in mind for us? We study Acts 16:6-10 and discover that Paul's plans were literally roadblocked at every turn. We'll learn what to do - and not to do - when it seems like God is changing our plans.

We continue our 2019 monthly mini-resolution series today. Our August resolution is focused on our attitude of eagerness rather than compulsion. Or as our title suggests, we get to not got to! What a difference this attitude makes. We will consider five areas where an eager attitude matters in our lives.

When we are building a team for ministry, we don't want just any team. We want a great team. We want the A Team! In this sermon we consider Acts 16:1-5 and discover how Paul added Timothy to his team. What did Paul see in Timothy? What should we look for when either we become a team member or we want to add someone else to our own ministry team?

Is is ok to disagree with fellow Christ followers? We study Acts 15:36-41, where we discover that Paul and Barnabas had such a sharp disagreement that they parted company. Along the way we will learn the right way to agree to disagree when we think someone else just isn't right!