Whether they're favored by the people or thrown into prison, the apostles obey, and they rejoice. That's because they know who rules the world, and so can we.

These two stories show us that our posture toward our money says a lot about our posture toward Jesus. We can give because of Jesus, or we can give in place of Jesus.

What does the church’s prayer in the face of persecution teach us about God? That He’s sovereign over all, actively carrying out His plan, and with His messengers as they tell about Jesus.

Acts is the story of what Jesus continued to do in the world after his death and resurrection. This sermon sums up what we've seen him doing through the first four chapters.

Thanksgiving psalms like this one show us how to relate to God as if we have history together, as if he's been good to us when we've needed him. What do we need to see about God so our gratitude about the past fuels hope for the future?

Psalm 62 (repost from Kew Baptist Church first Sunday of 2020 - 5th January).  It's around 1000BC and King David is the midst of some stomach-churning political fray. His enemies speak well of him but they are ultimately untrustworthy. He looks to the future and recognises that power and wealth will not last. Where will David go? Where will David's soul find relief? 

When laments begin with honesty about our experience and move through desperation that gives up on any other source of hope, laments don’t threaten trust in God’s love and care. They deepen that trust.

Israel is out of Egypt, but they are not yet in the Promised Land. In between lies a wilderness. But in this wilderness, and in ours, God continues the work he began in Egypt, showing us who he is and setting us free.

What is the wise way to respond to innocent suffering? This question is central to the book of Job. No one paying attention to the world can deny the reality of innocent suffering—that our experience of the world is far from what we wish it to be, and often our suffering doesn’t make sense. If Job’s friends show us how not to respond to this reality, Job’s own responses to his friends and to his God model authentic faith in our suffering.