Delta Church - SPI

Acts 4:10-12

Jesus is alive! On Good Friday death was dealt, but on Easter Sunday the tomb was robbed. On Sunday the jaws of death were broken by the One who is the Resurrection and the Life. Praise God! In our text, Peter focuses on this very truth and all the resurrection means for us. Evil men crucified Jesus. God raised Jesus from the dead. And Peter says this leads to one unavoidable conclusion—we must be saved by the crucified and resurrected Jesus. Christ is risen. He is risen indeed!

John 12:12-19

Palm Sunday puts us on the front end of Holy Week. As Jesus makes his way into Jerusalem he does so as the King of Kings. But John makes clear that Jesus arrives with remarkable reversal. The crowd rightly sees Jesus as king. But their expectation of what he will accomplish is wrong. Thus, John shows us that Jesus is the expectation reversing king we need. He is the hero we need who will deliver us according to what we need—salvation from sin and death.

Acts 13:1-12

This is the day we celebrated the sending of Gospel Community Church from Delta Church to plant in Athens, IL. Thus, we turned to the church in Antioch in Acts 13 to glory in what happens when a church follows the Spirit and sends Everyday Disciples so people hear and believe the gospel.

Acts 9:1-19

We watched a Spirit-filled disciple in Philip be used by God as the Ethiopian eunuch went from unbelief to belief in Jesus. We read this account and rightly get fired up! But what about those who seem so far from God that you cannot help but conclude—if anyone is not being drawn to God, it must be this person. Luke knows this is a temptation of ours which explains why we puts the conversion of Saul right after the episode with the eunuch. Luke wants to prove that the saving power of Jesus knows no bounds. And he wants this records of Saul’s salvation to give us concrete hope that when Spirit-filled, bold, and powerful witnesses follow the Lord’s leading, we will see sinners saved. Main Idea—Jesus the Hound of Heaven pursues sinners—and Everyday Disciples get to join the pursuit.

Acts 1:6-8; 8:26-40

Attitude and action. In so many areas of life, one leads to the other because what we believe [ the attitudes of our heart ] shape how we behave [ the actions we take ]. Previously in Acts 4 we learned that Spirit-fullness results in boldness. This is a key attitude the Spirit produces in the life of the Believer. But if this is the attitude, then it begs the question—“What is the resulting action?” Acts 8 provides an answer: if boldness is the attitude, then powerful witness is the action. For most of us, we will never have a Peter-like moment of preaching to thousands. But every one of us will have Philip-like moments for one-to-one witness in everyday life. So what does the action of a Spirit-filled witness look like? It looks like two simple things—they follow the Spirit’s leading, and they explain the good news of Jesus. Main Idea—Spirit-filled witnesses follow the Spirit and explain the good news of Jesus.

Acts 4:1-31

Acts 2:42-47

Now what do I do? Have you ever asked yourself that question? This is what the crowd asked Peter after his Pentecost sermon. Peter has just preached the gospel with Spirit-empowered authority. And as a result, many “were cut to the heart” (v. 37). Luke records their immediate question—“What shall we do?” On one hand the answer was repent and be baptized. But notice, Luke does not leave the question there. The Spirit was reigning—and now there were three thousand spiritual newborns. But salvation was not the conclusion of the Spirit’s work. Once they came up out of the water, He did not step back. Why? Because if the Spirit truly reigns, then His rule would shape not only how these men and women were saved, but also how they were to grow. This text shows us what Spirit-filled disciples do as the Spirit continues to reign in their life. Main Idea—Where the Spirit reigns, a people devoted to spiritual growth will rise.

Acts 1:1-5; 2:1-13

Moving toward the church plant, we are turning to the book of Acts to see how the Holy Spirit was active in the early church. We will see many great ways in which the Spirit is working but before we get to seeing all those ways we need start first with a truth—the need to be Everyday Disciples filled with the Holy Spirit. This is language used throughout Acts and into the New Testament as well. This is what part and parcel of what it means to be a Christian! Power, boldness, joy—these are ours in Christ as men and women filled with the Spirit.

Isaiah 26:6-9

In the face of death, the loss and sorrow can be disorienting. But praise God that in His Word we have much hope that can and does sustain us in the face of death. Isaiah 25 is one such place. Here the prophet declares that God will swallow up death forever. The Lord has spoken and it will be done. This has been fulfilled greatly in the resurrection of Jesus and will be fulfilled finally in the return of Jesus. Lord hasten the day!

Genesis 1:26-31